EnCoffin Me Chapter 45
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 45
The vampire gave him a faint smile, one that was both reserved and haughty.
“Looks like you know who I am, which saves me the trouble of introducing myself.”
Although he brought up introductions, the vampire never once asked for Zhu Qing's name. He looked at him as if staring at a man already dead, his gaze calm, even indifferent.
Zhu Qing slowly clenched his fists.
Alexio noticed the mini camera floating beside the other man. He stepped slightly to the side, revealing Ah Wei, the camera with two metal wings behind him.
“What a coincidence,” he said lightly. “But mine's streaming on an official platform, unlike yours. Shady platforms have poor revenue splits, terrible traffic, and tons of exploitative terms. Why bother?”
Zhu Qing's streaming platform had already been discovered by the Federation. Initially, they planned to ignore the negative impact it caused, prioritizing the rescue of the conservation center and Pupil. However, Alexio appeared at the center at this critical moment. Pupil reactivated and had now seized control of most of the facility. The Federation's PR department then took action. First, they issued official statements to reassure the public, and then followed it with a partial livestream of the events, filtered for age-appropriate viewers.
Still, Alexio decided to stop the stream. The scenes to follow likely wouldn't be very pleasant. Even though he had attracted far more viewers than Zhu Qing, he glanced at the camera and shut it off with a voice command.
“Go check the other areas. I'll handle the illegal stream soon.”
Unlike Zhu Qing's live stream, which was rife with insults, the official live stream received unanimous praise and encouragement. Among all the sites, the one positioned at the edge of the Emerald Inner Sea had the highest concentration of dark creatures and the largest viewers. Augustus was stationed there, coordinating the rescue efforts for injured staff and dark creatures while also establishing defensive lines to guard against intruders from within the center.
Because access had to be made by sea and resources were being prioritized for the front lines, only limited supplies and personnel could reach the site. Here, there was hardly any distinction between staff and dark creatures. Ever since the evacuation began, the dark creatures had been exceptionally reliable.
Due to limited combat strength, the divine kingfishers had been relocated inland, replaced by sea serpents and swallow rays. Giant fish floated in pairs in the deep water, raising their brightly colored coral horns, transforming into vast islands. On their backs were wounded individuals who could no longer fight. If the situation worsened, they would retreat to deeper waters immediately.
【I just came back from the other stream. I was crying and ready to smash my lightbrain, but coming here completely healed me.】
【Everything's so orderly! Everyone's doing exactly what they're supposed to!】
【So many of the staff are injured, huhu, and it's the dark creatures who are taking care of them…】
【I really… really have such mixed feelings… really…】
【They're all amazing, huhu… How many people has Claus pulled out already?】
【Six! And it just went back in again!】
Night birds flew along the center's corridors. Whenever they spotted a wounded person or a corpse, they cried out loudly to alert the recovery teams. The center's defensive strength was gradually returning, and the remaining medical staff were doing their best to carry out rescues. All corridors with blooming shadow roses were now secured zones. As Alexio moved deeper in, the safe zones continued to expand.
The manticore carried a person on its back, with a sigil snake wrapped around them to prevent them from falling. It didn't linger. Guided by the night bird, it quickly began its return. It had to be careful not to prick the person with the venomous stinger on its tail. Whenever its focus started to slip, the night bird would smack its wings sharply against its head without hesitation.
The manticore let out a low, aggrieved whimper. Suddenly, its ears twitched slightly. It had picked up something unusual.
The night bird shrieked a warning. Without hesitation, Claus turned and fled. But the intruders were fast, keeping close on its heels all the way to the seaside corridor, so close now they could nearly reach the manticore!
And it wasn't just one person! More people were catching up. These intruders had discovered the gathering point at the edge of the inner sea!
One mercenary showed a savage grin, but before it could spread, the sigil snake slithered up from the manticore's back and sprayed venom directly into his face.
The snake's venom was extremely potent. At such close range, the spray hit the mercenary square in the eyes. He let out a scream, stumbling back as blood began pouring from his eyes, with no sign of stopping. The gruesome sight sent chills through the rest of the intruders behind him.
But they had already seen the dark creatures gathered at the edge of the Emerald Inner Sea. Remembering Mr. Theo's orders, they pressed forward without hesitation, determined to break through the refuge at any cost.
The manticore burst out of the corridor into the sunlight. A second later, the mercenaries still in the corridor heard the sound of large sheets of glass shattering. Flocks of swallow rays with sharp skeletal beaks smashed through the corridor's glass walls, gliding away on the wind, leaving behind nothing but the fully exposed corridor and a floor covered in broken glass.
The mercenaries were confused, but a creeping sense of fear began to grip their hearts. They saw the massive shapes slowly approaching the shore.
“Sea… serpents…”
Several sea serpents swam in formation, with swallow rays flying up and down around them. The sea serpents raised their ear fins, their jagged bone spines bristling. In their wide, tooth-filled maws, something bright and vivid was beginning to form—
One of the mercenaries realized what was happening and let out a scream. He turned to flee, but every floor-to-ceiling window had already been shattered by the swallow rays. With the sea serpents arranged in a precise formation, the entire corridor was about to become a blazing inferno.
Augustus, who had been ready to charge into the corridor for a final stand, froze. The security personnel beside him also stood still, their pupils trembling with shock as they took in the scene.
“Boom—”
Everything was burning. The air twisted with heat as the sea serpents continued to unleash streams of fire. What had once been a must-see ocean spectacle for dark creature enthusiasts had now turned into a weapon of war. Lit by the flames, the sea serpents' vertical pupils gleamed cold and sharp. The corridor had become a true hell on earth. After a brief moment of struggle, the intruders were reduced to nothing but scorched remains.
A dark elf twitched his long pointed ears. Every trace of life had vanished.
“That's enough!”
The sea serpents ceased their breath, but the fire still roared, spreading beyond the structure and creeping toward the shore.
“Put out the fire!” Augustus' heart tightened. If it kept going, the flames would reach the wounded who couldn't be moved.
At that moment, he saw the dark creatures on either side of the open ground step back again. Augustus had been puzzled from the start about why the defensive lines had been split in two, leaving a large clearing in the middle. Now, he began to understand. Looking up, he saw a vivid white line rushing from the depths of the inner sea toward the shore!
Two vibrant coral horns broke through the white waves as the giant fish surged forward, thrashing its tail with powerful strokes. Just before reaching the shore, it braked abruptly and rolled its body sideways to push a massive wave towards the land, straight into the flames!
The flames spat by the sea serpents weren't refined fire. Ordinary flames were extinguished in the seawater. A fine mist of droplets rained down over the refuge at the shoreline. Some of the little dark creatures pointed up at the sky.
“Look! A rainbow!”
【A rainbow! It's a rainbow, huhu!】
【That's amazing! Truly amazing! Who came up with such a perfectly orchestrated plan?!】
【I never knew sea serpent fire was this powerful. The travel agency used to advertise it like, “see the flames and enjoy a harmonious union for a hundred years,” pfft.】
【Pfft, makes sense. If they don't get along, just burn them to death.】
【Is the one upstair a devil? Gyaaak!】
Everything was unfolding exactly as Alexio had planned, including his confrontation with the leader of the intruders.
Sunlight flooded the corridor. The gray barrier had already been shattered by the mercenaries. The vampire stood in the lingering shadows. Zhu Qing suddenly felt a slight relief in his heart as he recalled the vampire's weakness. No matter how powerful Alexio seemed, such a long path of sunlight would be enough to severely weaken him.
He let out a cold laugh and raised the gun in his right hand, aiming it toward Zhu Heng, Helgodon, and Lucy's side.
“A resurrected relic from ten thousand years ago, what's the point of power like that?” Zhu Qing tilted his head slightly, appearing relaxed, though the thread of danger in his mind remained tightly drawn. His instincts had always been sharp. Even with a long stretch of sunlight between them, he still felt a flicker of fear.
Yes, fear. It surprised even himself. He hadn't felt this in a long time. Even when facing the temperamental Theo, he knew his own value well enough to be sure Theo wouldn't kill him so easily. And so, he hadn't feared.
But now, he did. And because of that fear, he had to speak, hoping that his own words might dilute the unease creeping through him.
“Powerful creatures always have limitations. The weakness of the vampires is widely known.” As he spoke more and more fluently, his taut heartstrings gradually loosened, and he laughed mockingly. “How about I count to three and shoot, and you try to… crawl over?”
He laughed to himself, but on the other side, the vampire's expression never changed.
Alexio glanced outside the window. It wasn't noon, but the sun was still blazing. Vampires indeed feared sunlight. Sunlight could cause irreversible damage to them, including but not limited to peeling skin, loss of large reserves of blood, and if exposure lasted too long, even burning internal organs. Death would be certain.
But that was only in general cases.
Alexio smiled faintly. The divine favor in his right eye had appeared only after he became a vampire. Unlike humans, long-lived dark creatures had the chance to receive divine favor at some point in their lives. It granted them a unique ability and a personal domain. Every creature marked by the gods was a force to be reckoned with. This was the final mercy the gods have left upon this earth.
Alexio recalled that the day he received his divine favor was also such a clear and sunny day. Freshly turned, he had been brought back to the ancient Blood Moon Castle. He stood at the grand front gates, staring at the blinding sunlight within reach, where vivid roses bloomed brilliantly in the light. Behind him, the quiet, mocking laughter of other vampires echoed.
【Do you think he'll actually step outside?】
【Every human who's been turned always clings to some lingering hope. Let him try, he'll crawl back soon enough.】
【Hahahaha!】
He held no power, had no support, and couldn't silence the loud, arrogant mouths of the elder vampires. But even as they laughed and mocked him, he still wanted to walk into the light outside like a human, to be embraced by light and warmth.
He didn't hesitate any longer. He stepped out, and the boundless, brilliant sunlight welcomed him.
Yet there was no pain, only warmth. The laughter behind him faded, bit by bit, until silence fell completely. Alexio looked down at his own hands. No burns, no exposed bone. His pale skin was now wrapped in a gentle glow beneath the sun. As he looked up again, he felt a slight warmth on his right eye. The black-haired, red-dressed goddess descended in the light, lovingly kissing his eye.
【I grant you my favor, Alexi.】
A divine sword pierced through his eye as roses bloomed vividly around it. When Alexio opened his right eye again, the sword had vanished, leaving behind only an intricate tattoo of blooming roses circling his eye.
He turned back. At some point, his vampire father had arrived, watching him in silence. His gaze was unreadable, but eventually, he offered a gentle smile.
【You've received such a beautiful gift of divine favor, my child.】
The second-generation vampire clenched his hand tightly at his side, though a smile remained on his face.
【You are the vampire race's sole…】
【…Daywalker.】