EnCoffin Me Chapter 38
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 38
Zhen waited in his room. To be honest, when Alexio asked him for help, he was quite startled. Although an unofficial organization called the Union of Dark Creatures had been formed, Zhen's plan was still to proceed step by step. Alexio was clearly more of a radical.
【First, let me handle a few things at hand】, the vampire casually outlined his plan. 【Second, we can resort to legal action. If you know any dark creatures proficient in law, you can introduce them to me. We need to be prepared for a long battle.】
【If things go smoothly, the next step is to head to the northern front and crush that light smog. Finally, independence.】
Thinking of this, Zhen raised his wide sleeves to cover his head and mentally let out an ‘aaaah!’
How many steps were skipped in this explanation?
But when Zhen tried to ask about the next step, the vampire's expression turned blank.
“Next step? What next step? Do we even need one?”
So the outcome was ‘just wing it,’ right? Aaaah!!
Zhen suddenly lifted his head from beneath his sleeves. He understood. He finally understood Alexio's way of thinking. Actually, this kind of mindset had already shown itself when Alexio asked him for help with the underwater infiltration. Alexio sensed something beneath the water during the day, thought about it for just a few seconds, decided to check it out, and immediately asked the giant fish Ceto for help. A few hours later, everything was already in motion.
What terrifying decisiveness! Was this what dark creatures from ten thousand years ago were like?!
A knock suddenly came at the door. Zhen flinched slightly, curling his fingers into a fist. He opened the door to find his caretaker standing there, barely able to hide the joy in his smile.
“Mr. Zhen, a new dark creature has arrived at the center.”
Zhen calmly closed the door to keep the caretaker from seeing the faintly glowing teleportation array. Then he looked up and beamed as usual.
“Really? This time I didn't hear a thing. Can I go see?”
Both his words and tone were as normal as ever. Only he knew there was already some sweat in his palm.
Zhen had always been the most well-behaved and easygoing dark creature, so the caretaker didn't suspect a thing. He immediately nodded, leading Zhen to check out the newcomer.
Meanwhile, beneath the surface of the Emerald Inner Sea, Alexio was sprinting forward at high speed. He held onto a long chain, the other end tied to the lunatic nearly being dragged like a kite. What would take hours by boat during the day, he was nearly done covering now. They sped past sleeping sea serpents. Alexio tugged the lunatic closer to the surface to avoid disturbing the serpents' slumber with that light energy.
“Once we find Ceto, we'll dive down together,” Alexio transmitted a voice message to the lunatic. “Try to be quick, I still want to get back for a late-night snack.”
Lucius: “……”
Although Alexio's attitude was somewhat casual, it couldn't be denied that the third-generation vampire carried arrogance in every situation. Lucius sped up to keep pace and reminded him, “This area is still safe, but be cautious once we dive.”
Alexio nodded to show he understood. He could already faintly make out the massive shape of Ceto and excitedly sped up. Feeling the pull on the other end of the long chain, Lucius sighed silently and resigned himself to following along.
Ceto had been waiting there for a long time. When Alexio arrived as promised, he nearly flipped over in excitement. Still, he remembered his enormous size and calmed himself with a slight tremor, his huge eyes fixed on Alexio.
“Where did you find that crown? Could you lead the way?” Alexio asked.
“I don't quite remember the exact spot,” Ceto replied vaguely. “Only the general area.”
The search might be much more troublesome, but there was no better option. Alexio nodded decisively and called the lunatic up onto Ceto's back.
“Get on. It'll save us a lot of effort.” Alexio spoke as if he were very familiar with this. Clearly, this was not the first time he'd dealt with giant fish among dark creatures. Lucius recalled the information he had once read at the Holy Temple—
Alexio was very well-liked among dark creatures.
He felt it had everything to do with Alexio's personality. Although Alexio sometimes sparred with him, he never held grudges. He often behaved weirdly, but it seemed more like jokes or even playful teasing… Being around such a straightforward and cheerful person would be very comfortable.
As he thought this, his body tilted slightly. At that moment, Ceto began to dive. In the boundless black water, only the long chain separated him from Alexio. Occasionally, even half of the vampire's black cloak would brush against his body. Alexio noticed and gave the cloak a slight tug, stopping those faint touches from drifting toward him.
“……”
Lucius then lightly, almost imperceptibly, tugged his cloak slightly toward Alexio's direction.
Alxcio, now with a face full of heavy cloak: “……”
“You did that on purpose! How petty can you be?!” Alexio fumed. “My cloak is nothing like yours. I can't even see where I'm going now!”
He pawed at the lunatic's cloak, debating whether to secretly tear a hole in it. Suddenly, the cool fabric against his face felt oddly comfortable. Instantly, his anger vanished.
“I'm gonna lie down for a bit.” He started yanking the cloak toward himself. “Give me more, it’s cold.”
“……”
Alexio firmly glued himself to Ceto’s back and actually settled in to rest. Lucius watched him silently. His night vision spell ensured the darkness didn't hinder his sight. As he sat, his lowered gaze could take in the tattoo covering the vampire's right eye, as well as the small fangs peeking out from the corners of the vampire's lips.
“There's something I've always wanted to ask you,” he said slowly. The vampire, eyes still closed, gave a noncommittal hum.
“What?”
“That tattoo on your right eye… what is it, really?”
Oh, it seemed the lunatic didn't know about this yet. There was nothing to hide anyway, so Alexio simply said directly, “This isn't just a simple tattoo. It's a divine favor.”
“A divine… favor?”
“Mm.” Alexio opened his eyes. The sword part of the tattoo on his eye faded beneath his eyelid, while the blooming rose still curled around it. “The primordial era ended, the gods withdrew, but the love of the gods remains on the earth.
“When gods favor certain people, various tattoos may appear anywhere on their bodies, granting them different abilities. That is a divine favor.”
He glanced at Lucius. “You should have one. Humans always awaken their divine favor before they turn ten, and only those with divine favor can open a【Domain】. Domains come in many forms. The one you once mastered, though small in range, was incredibly annoying.”
Lucius fell silent for a moment, then said, “I'm sure I don't have the divine favor you're talking about.”
“W-what… That's impossible!” Alexio sat up. “Think carefully, do you have anything on your body that resembles a tattoo?”
“I have a tattoo.”
“You do?!”
“But I'm certain it's not a divine favor, because I remember the entire process of getting it on my shoulder.” Lucius touched his right shoulder. The tattoo was there, painstakingly inked by a Holy Temple's priest. He still clearly remembered the pain.
“The tattoo is the Holy Temple's thorny cross. Every hunter has it. I'm no exception.”
This genuinely stumped Alexio. Without a divine favor, where had the domain that the lunatic used against him come from? Magic couldn't achieve the effect of a domain. Ever since the lunatic activated his domain, Alexio had no longer been able to overwhelm him, and if he wasn't careful, he might even lose.
“That's impossible!”
Lucius thought for a moment. “If you don't believe me, I'll show you when we get back.”
Taking off his clothes now would be a bit inconvenient.
“Fine!”
Alexio's drowsiness vanished completely. Just then, Ceto stopped diving.
“It's probably nearby. I don't remember the exact spot.”
Alexio thanked him. The two climbed down from Ceto's back and watched the giant fish slowly disappear into the water above them. Then Alexio turned to look at Lucius, who silently met his gaze.
Who was going to do the work? That was the real question.
“Let's roll dice! I pick even!” Alexio had already planned this. He pulled out the carefully online-purchased dice that only landed on even numbers.
“What a coincidence. I brought one too.” Lucius also pulled out his carefully online-purchased dice, from the same shop as Alexio's, but his could only roll odd numbers.
Alexio: ……
Hadn't they just gone back to square one?
“Then… how about guessing left or right hand?” To avoid deadlock, Alexio suggested, “You hide it, I guess. If I'm right, you do the work. Fair enough?”
Lucius nodded slightly, hiding the dice and holding out both hands in front of Alexio. Alexio glanced over and was about to choose a hand when he suddenly froze, suspiciously watching the saint's expression. Seeing that expressionless face, he immediately tried to swim over and punch him.
“You bastard! Are you kidding me? Both hands neither has it!”
Oh ho, he'd been caught.
Lucius dodged his attack and said that they could start over, and this time, he absolutely, definitely wouldn't pull any tricks. Alexio was half convinced. When the saint hid the dice and placed both hands in front of him again, Alexio carefully watched his expression before hesitantly reaching out to choose one…
X-ray vision! Alexio shamelessly used magic. After all, the lunatic was the one who cheated first!
With a ‘ding,’ Alexio's x-ray spell was bounced back at him. Covering his eyes, he shot the lunatic an angry glare.
Not bad. He had actually cast a triple holy light seal!
Failing to cheat, Alexio had to rely on instinct and picked the left hand. Lucius hesitated briefly, then slowly opened it to reveal a dice. Alexio immediately burst out laughing and happily snatched the dice away.
Hit! Hahahaha!
Lucius sighed softly and slipped the dice hidden in his right hand back into his pocket.
A bet was a bet.