EnCoffin Me Chapter 64
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 64
Lucius scanned his surroundings. He had snuck back on his own after parting ways with Delvie. There were patrols nearby, so to be cautious, he couldn't immediately take the cat back with him. Besides, if he brought it back now, everything he had been hiding would essentially be exposed. Alexi had always been sharp.
After thinking it through for a moment, he took off his cloak and used it along with a warming spell to make a temporary nest for the cat. He left some food behind, planning to bring the cat back once everything was over. The little black cat stared at him without blinking, looking wary, but Lucius wasn't angry. He appreciated its vigilance.
Once the nest was done and he saw the cat tentatively crawl inside, Lucius stood up and left. The only reason he'd been able to avoid Alexio's notice and meet with Delvie was due in part to his knowledge of Alexio's schedule, but teleportation magic also played a crucial role. Even so, he couldn't stay out for long. Alexi would notice.
Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts during this period, he still hadn't been able to lure Theo to the front lines…
The teleportation array lit up. In the wind and snow, the saint, uncharacteristically without his cloak, lowered his lashes, hiding the glint of coldness in his eyes.
Theo was even more afraid of Alexio than he had expected.
With his memories still unrestored, he didn't know the exact events of the past war between the vampires. He had searched through all his notes but found nothing related. This made dealing with Theo a bit tricky. He didn't believe Theo wouldn't come at all. He was simply patient, like a snake waiting for its prey, occasionally flicking its tongue but never sticking its head out of the den.
No matter. He only needed this act of defection to cause enough damage. He would definitely kill Delvie, and he also intended to take out the person Delvie mentioned, who seemed to be deeply trusted by Theo.
Patience. Composure. One clean, fatal blow.
Hunters of the Holy Temple never lacked these virtues.
He returned to the camp, which was dealing with a small-scale light burst. Many light mutants appeared. Helgodon charged ahead, completely breaking the enemy's formation. The lich's dark veil spread shadows around, suppressing the movements of the enemies. Some of the light mutants even turned on their own kind, killing their companions.
But there was no sign of Alexio.
Suddenly, Lucius felt a shift in his mind. He looked up—
The vampire retracted his bat wings and dove toward him. His expression was unclear against the light, but he felt the scene was like when the vampire once flew toward the silver cross.
Alexio had long since spread his shadow wings and hovered in midair. He had been holding Cravenson's hand, but now he had let go. For the first time, he realized that fallen angels could be afraid of heights. Their genes shouldn't even contain such a thing, right? Of course, he wouldn't indulge him. Grabbing the trembling Cravenson, he flew high into the sky, forcing the fallen angel, who could only fly low, to learn to fly high.
“See? That wasn't so bad, was it?” he said with disdain. “How did you manage to fly so close to the ground for decades?”
Like a moth.
Cravenson, the former moth, flitted excitedly up and down.
“……”
Well, at least he fulfilled his duty as a teacher.
Alexio looked down and immediately spotted the saint walking back slowly. He had heard that the lunatic had gone to repair the signal tower and was returning at a decent pace. Just as Alexio prepared to fly down, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and a sharp fang appeared at the corner of his lips.
The second round of the shoulder-tap game!
His shadow wings flapped, granting him terrifying speed. The vampire dove from the sky, targeting the cloaked-less saint on the ground. The saint noticed him too. His eyes flickered, and he raised his left hand. Several chains rose into the air.
The vampire brushed past the chains, rushing straight at the saint, but the chains suddenly changed direction mid-air and closed inward, aiming to bind his wings. Alexio realized the lunatic was regaining his old strength. The lunatic's advantage wasn't offense but defending his position and always finding chances to counterattack.
But that wouldn't stop him!
In a flash, the chained shadow wings dissolved. Lucius hesitated for less than a second. Yet that brief pause was enough for the scales of victory to tip fully toward Alexio. He instantly touched Lucius' shoulder, then, with a flashy teleport, appeared behind him and opened his mouth to declare complete victory.
“How's that? I…”
Suddenly, his body lost weight as a chain silently wrapped around his leg. With a slight pull, it threw off his balance. Alexio was a bit surprised, but he always dragged the lunatic down with him whenever he got unlucky. Moreover, since this was the lunatic's move, he didn't hold back. Grabbing the other's collar, he forcefully dragged him down to the snow beside him.
Falling together!
The saint was covered in snow along with him but wasn't angry. Instead, the saint, propped himself above Alexio with a smile. Alexio found the smile inexplicably strange. After the smile, the saint reached out to help him up. His confusion wasn't over yet when the saint then asked—
“What's wrong with your wings?”
There was nothing to hide. Alexio stood up with his help and casually replied, “Usually, what I spread are shadow wings. They're convenient, fast, and painless… what did you think they were?”
“I thought they were your real wings.”
“Oh, those? Mm, I have them.”
The saint suddenly turned to look at him. Alexio felt a little unsettled under his gaze but awkwardly continued, “Almost all high-generation vampire members have wings. Doesn't the Holy Temple know that? But every time I show my wings, they grow directly from my back, which is inconvenient, ruins my clothes, and consumes a good amount of fresh blood…” Alexio tilted his head. “I have shadow magic, so why not just create wings instead?”
The saint stared at him expressionlessly.
True to form, Alexio had no sense of vampiric aesthetic. Even the saint had imagined the bat wings growing from the vampire's flesh with a certain brutal beauty and forbidden allure… yet Alexio seemed to find the process of growing wings merely troublesome.
Alexio went on complaining to him.
“Those wings aren't just a pain to grow, they're hard to retract too. You have to slowly let your body absorb the flesh and blood that formed the wings. If you absorb too quickly, it feels pretty uncomfortable.
“And when it's halfway through absorbing, the wings are neither big nor small, what's the point of that? Trying to be cute? What nonsense.”
Being vampire really is too difficult, too difficult!
The saint's expression grew even more blank.
Watching you be a vampire is just too difficult, too difficult!
After finishing the tale of the vampire's hardships, Alexio felt relieved. He and the lunatic went to check on Helgodon's situation, then returned outside, where he sat eating by the fire with a bowl in hand. The few dark creatures accompanying the army weren't delicate at all and didn't require any special treatment, which earned them the goodwill of many soldiers.
Marshal Olsen joined them, sitting by the heater and serving himself a bowl of hot soup.
“We've pushed nearly three hundred kilometers deeper. The good news has been sent back. Want to know the reactions?” He mysteriously pulled out his lightbrain. Normally, frontline soldiers weren't allowed access to outside media, but since this was the first deployment of special dark creatures, exceptions were made.
Zhen's ears perked up immediately. He was especially keen on social media interactions and had been without his device for over half a month. He would even dream about refreshing his feed.
“I want to see!” He leaned close to the device, and upon seeing the screen, let out a small exclamation of surprise.
“This picture makes Alexi look really cool!”
The lich also leaned over to take a serious look and nodded.
“Very cool.”
This made Alexio curious. He squeezed closer to see the photo that made him look so cool.
Lucius didn't move. He had had that photo for a long time. Before coming to the northern front, he had already applied to Marshal Olsen for permission to use a lightbrain. His reason was very simple.
He was addicted to internet.
Olsen: ……
Olsen didn't understand why Lucius used such a silly excuse when a straightforward request would have been approved anyway.
Without a word, Lucius finished his meal. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alexio still browsing the device. Just then, Andrei stood beside him. Lucius had something to ask.
“Mr. Andrei, do you have a moment?” After receiving a positive reply, he lowered his eyelids and gathered his thoughts.
“I've always been curious about unicorns in this current era because, ten thousand years ago, unicorns were known for their purity, a purity so extreme it was almost severe.”
Andrei glanced enviously at Alexio before reluctantly turning his gaze back. As a unicorn, he was indeed able to answer Lucius' questions.
“Maybe it's because the environment changed. We're no longer as strict about the outside world,” Andrei said after thinking for a moment. “Actually, it's mainly our horn that has environmental requirements. So when we go to places that aren't as bright and pure, we can wrap our horns up, which helps a lot.”
“So the horn is the key to a unicorn's purity?”
“You could say that.”
The last lingering doubts in Lucius' mind finally cleared. He thanked Andrei, then glanced over at Alexio, who was still talking with others a bit farther away. He knew exactly how to grab Alexio's attention.
Using his finger, he slowly traced a pattern in the snow.
Although Alexio was chatting and relaxing, half his attention was on Lucius. When he noticed Lucius looking down, a bad feeling immediately rose in his chest. He cut off the conversation and teleported over to the lunatic. Lucius' finger drawing on the ground paused briefly but stubbornly finished the pattern.
In the silence, Alexio stared at the pattern on the ground, then suddenly grabbed Lucius.
“You think I don't have enough sticker packs already?!”
The saint let him grab him, his expression innocent. Beside them, Andrei was studying the drawing technique, deciding to apply it to his own profile picture. Olsen was taking photos. Zhen and Lucy were adding little flowers around the drawing. Noah was holding a bowl watching this way, and accidentally choked, coughing twice.
“Cough, cough… what is this…” Noah wasn't sure if his guess was right.
“Cat holding a bowl?”
Alexio tightened his grip on the lunatic's collar. It was all because of this lunatic! Another sticker had been added to the collection!
Just as he was about to drag the lunatic somewhere isolated for a beating, the camp's alarm suddenly blared, signaling another light burst. He'd lost count of how many times it had happened now.
“Can't even get a moment's peace…” He released the lunatic, feeling the recent outbreaks had become abnormally frequent. He wasn't sure what the lunatic thought, but maybe tonight they should head deeper to check things out.
He instinctively glanced at the saint, only to see his eyelashes barely flicker upon hearing the alarm.
As if he wasn't surprised by the frequent outbreaks of light burst…
Thinking this, Alexio's heart sank.
He grew suspicious again.