Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Highest-Grade Elixir Crafted Successfully

"Elena Misha, what's the point of all this?"

"Heh! Isn't it obvious?"

Obvious, was it?

In that case, it had to be that.

"Looks like you know about Acresia. Are you also a servant of this so-called master?"

"That's right. He is my master."

She said the exact same thing as that Lich from before.

As I'd suspected, she too was a servant of that master.

The one who sought to take Acresia from me.

"And who is this master of yours?"

"He is the true master of every Rift in the world."

A vague answer.

In that case—

"Could this master of yours happen to be Archmage Yaike?"

Yaike's Treasury, which possessed abilities similar to Acresia.

Judging by the words of that Lich from before and of Elena Misha now, this master was likely the owner of Yaike's Treasury.

According to Ria, Yaike had launched the Mage War on the Continent of Bellinta centuries ago, lost, and died.

Yet there were still followers today who believed he was alive.

I had found myself thinking that, perhaps, as his followers believed, Yaike really might still be alive.

Ria had agreed it was plausible.

"Hmm."

Elena Misha didn't answer easily.

Then she opened her mouth.

"Let's just say you're half-right and half-wrong."

Another vague answer.

But if I was half-right, then he must be deeply involved.

Elena Misha stepped over beside Ji-young and brushed her cheek with the back of her hand.

Then, as she stroked Ji-young's cheek with her index finger, her sharp nail split the skin, and blood welled up.

"...What are you doing?"

"Doing what I please with my own dolls—do you have a problem with that?"

"Dolls...?"

"The ones I've Awakened become my puppets, you see."

"..."

So that meant not only Ji-young but Gerald too had been forcibly Awakened by Elena Misha.

Elena Misha continued,

"I will kill this woman."

"What...?"

Elena Misha pressed her sharp nail against Ji-young's throat.

"Do you want this woman to live? Then hand over ownership of the Treasury. Then I'll spare this woman, and you, too."

"..."

"Choose. This woman's life, or the Treasury."

A hostage situation.

A human life versus Acresia.

If I absolutely had to weigh them against each other—

"Of course a human life matters more."

And this wasn't a stranger—she was a former coworker.

Ji-young had been the adorable youngest member who kept the kitchen's mood bright.

And once, she'd had a crush on me.

I couldn't turn my back on someone like her.

"Oh? Giving up unexpectedly fast."

"I didn't say I'd give up, did I?"

"Then what do you plan to do?"

What was I going to do? This.

Though I wouldn't be the one doing it.

SHLICK!

Eriksson, who had been approaching in stealth, ambushed Elena Misha and severed the arm that held the nail at Ji-young's throat.

In that same instant, I activated Acresia's Absorption skill on Ji-young and pulled her toward me.

Before she could be absorbed into Acresia, I halted the absorption and caught her body.

'Now she's free from being a hostage—'

Huh...?

My side stung.

I glanced down.

In Ji-young's hand was a dagger.

The dagger was driven deep into my side.

'Damn it...!'

So Ji-young had been carrying a dagger inside her jacket.

Not content with having stabbed me, Ji-young, Elena Misha's puppet, now tried to tear into the side of my neck with her teeth.

Seeing this, the elder Sword Saint hastily shoved Ji-young off me.

"Master Seon-u! Are you all right?"

"...I'm fine. Santos, pin Ji-young down so she can't move."

"...Got it!"

Santos twisted Ji-young's arms behind her back and held her down.

As for Eriksson, who had ambushed Elena Misha—

"Urgh!"

he was falling back with his shoulder pierced through.

'Elena Misha's severed arm regenerated...'

The arm Eriksson had sliced off liquefied into blood, was absorbed back into the shoulder, and the arm regenerated.

A spear of blood extending from the index finger of the regenerated hand had struck Eriksson.

"So you really aren't human..."

"Of course. This body is no mere human. By my master's design, I was reborn as a noble Vampire Queen."

A vampire—did that make her undead?

"Give me what belongs to my master, human!"

She stretched her blood-talons toward the wounded me.

But the elder Sword Saint's sword blocked the blow.

"Se-a! I'll hold her off—stanch the bleeding of Master Seon-u's wound!"

"Understood!"

Han Se-a immediately came to me and lowered herself.

"Master Seon-u, I'll pull the dagger out and freeze the wound to stop the bleeding."

Freeze it...

Well, that was the only option right now.

I couldn't leisurely stitch myself up.

I had a highest-grade healing potion, but it took time to work.

"Please do."

I gritted my teeth to bear the pain.

Han Se-a then pulled out the dagger.

She immediately began freezing the wound.

'Whew...! That hurts.'

Pulling the dagger out had been truly painful.

But with the freezing, the pain was dulled.

I pulled out a Highest-Grade Potion, shot it back in one go, and said,

"All right, now we counterattack!"

"Understood."

Just then, Gerald, who had been standing vacantly, began to move.

His eyes were still unfocused and blank.

'This could get dangerous.'

Gerald, the world's number-one ranked Hunter.

And Elena Misha, who wasn't even being pushed back while fighting Eriksson and the elder Sword Saint.

Holding her own against the two of them meant she was at least High Transcendent-Grade.

On top of that, Eriksson and I were injured and not in peak condition.

Soon, Gerald began to move as well.

"Master Seon-u, I'll handle Gerald! Please help Eriksson, who's fighting Elena Misha!"

"Understood."

As it happened, the elder Sword Saint had been wanting to face Gerald.

He had judged he was strong enough to stand a chance now, thanks to the Sovereign's Bond.

Trusting the elder Sword Saint, I left Gerald to him and turned toward Elena Misha.

Elena Misha stared at me with eyes turned blood-red, smiling seductively.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I'm a semi-immortal body. No matter how hard you struggle, it's useless."

"Semi-immortal means not fully immortal, right? Then there must be a way to kill you."

"Heh! But here's the thing. Even if you kill me, that woman who's become my puppet—when I die, she dies too. Are you really all right with that?"

"..."

Was what she said true?

My head was spinning.

Then from behind, Han Se-a shouted,

"Master Seon-u, don't be taken in by that bloodsucker's words! If we don't kill her, we're the ones who'll die first!"

"...Understood."

For now, subdue her and see.

Eriksson, Han Se-a, and I launched a combined assault on Elena Misha.

But her claim of semi-immortality seemed at least partly true—she kept healing.

In fact, our attacks barely landed at all.

The places we struck liquefied, like slashing water with a blade.

'Physical attacks barely work.'

On the other hand, I noticed she was thrown into great distress by Han Se-a's ice-attribute skill strikes.

'Blood starts freezing from minus zero-point-five degrees Celsius.'

If her blood froze, she wouldn't be able to regenerate.

She'd be weak to flame as well.

Blood boiled at over two hundred degrees and, past that, scorched black.

I shouted to Eriksson and Han Se-a,

"You two, keep Elena Misha pinned down!"

"Got it!"

"Understood!"

The two kept pressing Elena Misha, holding her in place.

In that opening, I launched Hell Fire at Elena Misha, her feet locked where she stood.

"Get clear!"

At my shout, Eriksson and Han Se-a dodged away, clearing the Hell Fire's radius.

Elena Misha, unable to escape, was swept up in the flames of hell.

"KYAAAH!"

At the last moment she threw up a Blood Barrier, but it could not withstand the flames. She began scorching black and sloughing off in pieces.

Thanks to the barrier's initial protection, however, she escaped severe burns.

We repeated the process once more.

This time,

WHOOSH!

she was caught in the flames properly, without even managing to raise a Blood Barrier.

The flames cleared.

Her blood had scorched black, and she was nearly a charcoal husk.

She hadn't stopped breathing yet.

But no matter how High-Transcendent-Grade a Vampire Queen, she couldn't withstand a dragon's mighty Hell Fire magic repeatedly.

One more pass, and it looked like we could kill her.

"Ngh... I told you, if I die, that woman dies too...! Do you really mean to kill her?"

Elena Misha raised a charred arm and pointed at Ji-young, pinned down by Santos.

"That's why I'm not killing you right now! Miss Se-a!"

"Understood!"

Han Se-a used her second skill, Ice Wall.

A skill that sealed the target inside walls of ice.

Elena Misha was completely bound.

She might have escaped in a normal state, but with her blood scorched black, recovery would take considerable time.

I ran straight to Ji-young.

"Ji-young, pull yourself together!"

Perhaps because Elena Misha was in such critical condition,

Ji-young's consciousness had partly returned.

"...Chef."

"Yes, Ji-young. It's me."

"...Chef, I'm sorry for stabbing you... Are you all right? I didn't mean to..."

So she remembered everything from when she'd been a controlled puppet.

"I know. Don't worry, I'm fine."

"...And just leave me to die."

"Leave you to die? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"...Being taken hostage like an idiot, stabbing you, and on top of that—I can't stand putting you in danger because of me anymore."

"..."

I looked at Ji-young for a moment, then flicked her forehead.

"Ow! Chef...?"

"You became the Awakened you wanted to be so badly—why would you die, you fool? Live, and help me out at the Rift restaurant by my side."

"...Chef! Sob! Suddenly hearing that makes me want to live again...!"

"Right. Live, and play with the niece or nephew who'll be born soon."

"Niece or nephew? Chef, your wife is pregnant?"

"Mm."

"Wow, an An Seon-u the Second—I want to see them so badly...!"

"So live. Live and see for yourself."

Only one method came to mind right now.

I opened Acresia and pulled out every ingredient good for the body.

Highest-Grade Potion, Glace Mushroom, Mandragora, Royal Jelly, Applecherry, dungeon wild grape.

For now, I dumped them all into a mortar and pounded them.

'Right now I'll just have to gamble.'

I wrapped the juice in a cotton cloth, squeezed it into a cup, but the Blessing of Dexterity did not appear.

'Damn, no good then.'

I'd hoped that mixing good ingredients might at least produce something, but nothing came up.

Should I just feed it to her as is?

Then something came to mind.

'I'll have to try...'

That was the Inner Core skill.

When I activated the skill, mana and bodily strength drained out of me as a bean-sized Inner Core began to form in my palm.

'Making this isn't easy.'

It felt like every bit of strength was being sucked out of my body.

If I lost focus, the Inner Core forming would dissipate.

With great difficulty, I completed the bean-sized Inner Core.

I dropped it into the teacup containing the concentrated ingredient extract and stirred well.

The brown mixture of ingredients turned white.

Then came the system message.

[Highest-Grade Ether Elixir]

[Blessing of Dexterity effect: All stats increase by 5 (not stackable). Recovery from all status ailments including injury, curse, and poisoning.]

An Elixir...

Hunters with alchemist-type skills could supposedly combine good ingredients and, at a very low probability, create a Lowest-Grade Elixir.

But this wasn't Lowest-Grade—it was Highest-Grade.

And it even bore the modifier 'Ether.'

"Unbelievable..."

By value, the price would be unimaginable.

Still, Ji-young's problem came first.

I had Ji-young drink it.

Elena Misha must have recovered somewhat, for the focus in Ji-young's eyes faded again and she began thrashing.

But with Santos's help, we pried her mouth open and forced it in.

A moment later, Ji-young came back to her senses.

"Huh... Chef... what is this...!"

"Ji-young, how did it go?"

"Well, a system message came up saying my stats went up, and that my blood bond with Elena Misha has been released."

Her bond with Elena Misha had been completely severed.

"It worked...!"

Now all that was left was to finish Elena Misha.

My mana was almost depleted now.

Perhaps because I'd burned through so much vitality, even standing up was a strain.

Still, I had to see this through.

Eriksson, Han Se-a, Santos, and I all joined together to attack Elena Misha, who had broken free of the Ice Wall.

I used my Absorption skill on her, but Acresia refused.

'Why...?'

It had refused devouring before, but to refuse the absorption itself was a first.

Which meant the only option was to finish her directly.

Proving her claim of semi-immortality, Elena Misha did not die easily.

Then the only way was to burn her away.

I released Hell Fire once more to finish her off.

All the blood in her body burned up, and she began to crumble into ash and disappear.

Before she vanished, Elena Misha moved her lips with her last strength.

Reading the shape of her mouth, she seemed to say,

'Thank you, for the freedom?'

Had she, in fact, not wished to become a vampire?

Perhaps she too had been a victim, used unwillingly by this so-called master.

"Kuh—!"

Gerald, who had been dueling fiercely with the elder Sword Saint on one side, collapsed and writhed.

Then his movements stopped.

The elder Sword Saint checked his state, then shook his head toward me.

He was dead.

'So it wasn't a lie—it was true. That when she died, the puppet would die too.'

I hurriedly looked back.

And there was Ji-young, perfectly well, waving at me.