The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-436

Chapter 436: The Return of the Night Hound (2)

‘Black Tounge’s Special Leeches’.

A secret weapon Vikir brought from Nouvellebag.

They were like small vampires driven by insatiable hunger and gluttony.

These creatures, which began to swell after drinking the blood on the ground, soon craved even more blood.

Specially bred by the Black Tongue to seek only their owner’s blood.

Despite their small size, they consumed an enormous amount, so much so that even Vikir, with his super-regenerative abilities, could not handle them.

Then, an opportunity arose: a substitute with the exact same blood composition as Vikir appeared, providing a perfect chance to grow these leeches.

“Eat up, all of you.”

Vikir spoke generously.

And the leeches moved as if they understood Vikir’s words.

Leeches, squeezing through torn flesh, exposed bones, and dangling tendons and fat, ravenously increased their size.

Even Death Knight Vikir, who had reached the ninth level, was helpless against their relentless gluttony.

[Death…… damn demon…… die……]

Even the mighty Death Knight was no match for the swarming leeches.

Simultaneously, the leeches clinging to the Death Knight, began to change.

Crack- Snap- Pop!

The leeches, growing from the size of beans to the size of fingers.

But it wasn’t just their size that increased.

Buzz- Bzzz-

Cackle- Cackle-

The leeches grew small heads, bodies, arms, and legs, and their features began to resemble Vikir’s.

Although their appearance was still rudimentary, like crude dolls made by children, the more blood they sucked, the more they resembled Vikir.

“…Cute. They look just like big brother.”

As Sinclaire reached out to one leech that had lost the feeding competition,

Hiss!

Suddenly, the leech glared and bared its teeth, causing Sinclaire to recoil in fright.

“What’s with that? I was just trying to help because it looked so pitiful.”

Sinclaire pouted slightly as she watched the leech waddle away to suck more blood.

At least the good thing was that those creatures showed no interest in anything other than Vikir’s blood.

Meanwhile,

[Die…… you…. Damn Demon…… die.]

The Death Knight was slowly collapsing.

Having exhausted all his mana with the nine fangs, and being struck twice consecutively by the black sun, he suffered severe external injuries and massive internal damage from mana overload.

With the special leeches developed by Black Tongue, there was no way even a death knight would survive.

Eventually, Vikir’s inner self, crumbled.

[All demons must die… All demons must……]

Even with his disintegrating self and body, Death knight Vikir tried to stand up one last time.

Vikir looked down at himself calmly.

And then,

“Don’t worry.”

He reached out and closed the eyes of his inner self.

“The era of destruction will never come again.”

And then, something astonishing happened.

The expression on the death knight, stained with black veins and even darker shadows under its eyes, began to soften slightly.

Tsutsutsu…

Gradually, Vikir’s body turned into dry ashes and scattered on the ground.

And with a gust of wind, after a few flutters, there was nothing left.

“…”

Vikir gazed dryly in the direction of the wind.

The era of destruction.

Even the most accomplished warriors, who had lived a lifetime in hatred and chaos, do not know the final destination of life.

At that moment,

Scuttle, scuttle…

A sensation of small things crawling up his feet.

As Vikir turned his gaze, he saw the bewildered leeches, now having nothing to feed on, scurrying around on the ground.

The leeches, now as big as fingers, had become miniatures resembling Vikir.

“Come on back.”

Vikir, having dropped a drop of his own blood into a leather pouch, shook it on the ground.

Scenting Vikir’s blood, the leeches immediately drooled and leaped into the pouch.

Vikir nodded as he watched the squirming leeches inside the pouch.

“Hatred towards demons… with the appearance and power of the original. They’re strategically handy if I can control their gluttony properly…”

While an ordinary person might have indulged in sentimentality after encountering their past self-image, Vikir did not even bother with such luxuries.

Rather, he utilized his painful past wounds and the burden of duty he carried as materials to fulfill his mission.

With his indifferent and composed demeanor, Tudor, Garam, Figgy, and Bianca could say nothing.

“Once upon a time, you would’ve just thought of me as a boring and stern guy.”

“But now, after witnessing the pile of resentment piled up like that…” Vikir was saying something but was interrupted…

“I feel sad for Vikir. It seems like he’s carrying too much on his own.”

“I want him to rely on us.”

It was as they said.

Dolores and Sinclaire also just stared at Vikir’s back with moist eyes, unable to utter a word.

Eventually, Vikir turned their way and spoke.

“Yeah. You asked me something, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!”

Tudor nodded vigorously.

The friends were curious about how Vikir ended up here.

“As you all know, I was trapped in Nouvellebag about four years ago. I escaped.”

“…Wait, is that even possible so easily?”

“Well, it was quite a challenge. I almost died a few times.”

Vikir briefly explained the events that had transpired.

Hard labor in Nouvellebag, solitary confinement, and the volcanic eruption.

A story so unbelievable, riding pillars of fire from the volcano to the surface. If the speaker hadn’t been Vikir, everyone would have considered it mere boasting.

“When going up, I thought I was going to die. But when falling down after being flung to the atmosphere, I was certain that I’d be dead.”

“After falling, I wandered around for a while, sometimes losing my memory due to the fall. I did odd jobs like catching fish in a coastal village or drying seafood…”

Vikir furrowed his brow.

“It was fortunate that two comrades who had escaped with me found me. Seeing familiar faces made my memories come flooding back. So, I moved right on to assassinate Monte. Fortunately, he was too focused on you guys, leaving many openings.”

“Whoa! That’s too much! You could’ve given us a heads-up!”

“I deliberately didn’t tell you because it seemed like you guys were already somewhat affected by the demon’s indoctrination. Sometimes, to deceive the enemy, you have to deceive your allies first.”

Everyone nodded at Vikir’s words.

Indeed, at some point, they had all completely fallen into Monte’s scheme.

“…Damn. He has a hypnotic-like ability that makes the opponent reckless. It was incredibly dangerous to experience that firsthand.”

Vikir nodded as if he already knew Tudor’s words.

At that moment, seeing Tudor and Vikir conversing, Bianca burst into laughter.

“You guys, you’ve become quite similar while I wasn’t looking, haven’t you?”

Her words weren’t limited to just Tudor.

Over the past four years, all Night Walkers had gradually become more like Vikir.

In tone, speech, and even personality.

It wasn’t just because Vikir had a significant presence in their hearts.

The characteristic changes unique to those living in an intense and harsh era were gradually affecting everyone.

“It seems like as the era of destruction approaches, people’s personalities tend to become more alike.”

“You haven’t even seen the real thing yet.”

“Haha, then will I be talking like you in a few years, after seeing that ‘thing’?”

Vikir faintly smiled at Tudor’s playful remark.

Indeed, before regressing, most of his comrades had similar personalities.

In extreme situations, individual characteristics or qualities that one possesses may gradually wear away and conform to the overall average.

At that moment, Sinclaire suddenly remembered something and asked.

“What was your personality like before experiencing such harsh ordeals, big brother?” With that question, all eyes turned towards Vikir. Although no one said it out loud, everyone seemed incredibly curious.

It was an easy question, so Vikir gladly opened up to answer.

“According to the testimony of the nanny who raised me during my childhood… I was shy and introverted. My favorite hobbies were playing with dolls and flower arranging. Of course, those were soon prohibited due to my upbringing.”

[PR/N: From Bonita to Sigma.]

“Wow… That doesn’t really suit you, does it?”

Everyone could only nod slowly in agreement at Tudor’s words.

Eventually, Vikir gathered everyone’s attention.

“It’s time for us to leave now.”

“But how do we get out?”

“We’ll have to use the same method as last time..”

Vikir turned his head to look at Figgy.

There’s a mystical power in Figgy’s blood.

It acts as a lethal poison to demons, ultimately distorting and closing the space created by demons.

The moment Vikir met Figgy’s gaze.

[…He’s a good person.]

A strange voice momentarily flashed through Figgy’s mind.

“Huh?”

Figgy was startled, looking around, but aside from Vikir, there was no one else who had spoken to Figgy.

“…What was that just now?”

Though he sometimes heard things, it had never been as clear as it was now, so Figgy looked somewhat puzzled.

As Figgy was lost in thought, Vikir brought up the matter at hand.

“Figgy, can I borrow some of your blood?”

“Of course!!”

Vikir quickly obtained a few drops of Figgy’s blood with his cooperation.

Soon, Vikir drew a long bloodline in the air with Figgy’s blood.

Zzzip-

The space within the abyssal waters began to twist and tear.

It was the same phenomenon as before.

“As soon as we exit, we attack Chimera. He won’t be expecting us to come out.”

Everyone’s expression hardened with tension.

Attacking the opponent preemptively, who they had already lost to once, was undoubtedly a burden.

But unlike the first time, everyone’s expressions were much brighter this time.

This time, they had a dependable ally with them.

Vikir concluded with a brief sentence.

“…Let’s go out there and destroy him.”

Just like four years ago, his voice was truly reliable.