EnCoffin Me Chapter 68 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 68.2
She regained her composure, even brushed back her hair, and smiled.
“Although there are some discrepancies, everything Mr. Theo prepared was entirely targeted at Holy Temple hunters like you. From the moment you entered the mine, your life started its countdown. After all, whether the bait lives or dies, it serves the same purpose.”
She gently clapped her hands, and the surrounding walls lit up. The black, fragmented stones looked like everdark stones at first glance, but once activated, Lucius immediately recognized what they were. He furrowed his brows slightly as he scanned the cavern walls before his gaze finally settled back on Delvie's face.
“How cruel,” he said slowly, each word deliberate. “How many night mares did you kill to collect so many horns?”
Delvie laughed out loud, as if completely unaware of the blood on her hands. Her whole body trembled with laughter.
“I can hardly believe you're a hunter, especially one trained by the Holy Temple ten thousand years ago.
“What's the matter? Did the Holy Temple's education fail ten thousand years ago? You're actually… sympathizing with the dark creatures?” She produced a shard of a horn in her hand and applied a slight force, causing the black fragment to crumble into powder that sifted through her fingers. She watched the swirling dust with fascination, then smiled again as she recited the daily prayer.
“We shall follow the great tide of this world, feeding on darkness to achieve our glorious selves, and in the end…”
She looked at the saint with a seductive smile.
“In the end, we will surely turn this world into a true paradise.
“There's no shortage of night mares. The Holy Temple's pastures breed many. You don't know how interesting it is. They even have human intelligence. When raised like livestock, one by one, they tremble with humiliation…”
The saint watched her quietly. This dampened Delvie's joy considerably. She grew bored and her expression turned cold.
“Don't be so dull. Aren't you going to scold me? Clench your fists in anger? Why so quiet… Oh, I know. Right now, you're bearing a hundredfold weight, aren't you? How does it feel? Painful?”
The saint remained perfectly still, not even a flicker of his eyelashes. At that moment, he was indeed bearing an immense gravity. Night mares possessed the innate ability to control gravity, along with the all-consuming black flames that emanate from their hooves. The countless horns of night mares had turned this place into a terrifying zone, with invisible new weights pressing on his shoulders every second. This was one reason for his silence. Otherwise, he would have already slit Delvie's throat during her monologue.
Although barely able to move, he had plenty of ways to make sure Delvie wouldn't enjoy herself. Provoking her was a good strategy. Anger would make her lose reason. He believed a furious Delvie would definitely do something spectacularly foolish.
So he slowly raised his head, his tone calm.
“As expected of you, Delvie.”
As expected of Bloodthorn Queen Delvie. In the past, there was the tower made of manticore tails, and now there was the gravity field of night mare horns.
Delvie stared at him, suspicion heavy in her eyes.
“But let me remind you. Those like you usually die early.”
“You…” Delvie bit her teeth, but the hunter was clearly skilled in verbal combat, cutting her off swiftly and decisively.
“Speak less, and you won't die.”
Lucius moved! In the brief time he had bought, his domain rapidly expanded, neutralizing the surrounding gravity and granting him a fleeting moment of mobility. He certainly wasn’t going to hold back, nor did he intend to leave any survivors. People like Delvie had no reason to be left alive!
His hunting knife shimmered with a golden hue — the kind of magic only the most elite of Holy Temple hunters were permitted to use. It was modeled after the hero's sword that once slew demon kings. That sword still resided in the Holy Temple, but after mastering this magic, it had become completely obsolete. It was likely now collecting dust as a display piece in some bishop's private collection.
With a precise slash, he cut across Delvie's throat. Blood sprayed outward as she fell backward, eyes wide in disbelief. Lucius paused briefly. Due to the crushing gravity, he couldn't be sure that blow had finished her. He prepared to strike again, but in the split second before death, Delvie unleashed a burst of raw power, clutching her bleeding neck as black flames erupted around her body.
That caught Lucius off guard. He had known Delvie was a unicorn. He had nearly confirmed she'd broken her horn to fulfill Theo's mission. He even suspected she'd undergone elemental therapy. The faint trace of dark energy clinging to her had made that clear. But what he hadn't expected was her ability to wield a night mare's innate power.
The black flames, and more than that…
Through sheer willpower, Delvie pushed the night mare horns to their limit. Lucius was thrown back by the sudden gravitational shift. In midair, he twisted and adjusted his stance, retracting his domain. A quick glance downward told him his luck had just taken a turn. He was directly above the massive pit. If Delvie altered the gravity again...
Delvie, vision blurring, made her final move.
Down!
Lucius plummeted, hitting the bottom of the pit with a loud thud. An immense force pressed down on him, and his domain was being rapidly consumed. Forced to one knee, he calmly assessed his options for escape. He even had the presence of mind to consider how suspicious his delay would look to Alexio. And after that…
He slowly tried to rise, bones groaning in protest.
If Alexio found out, it would definitely be…
Angry cat.jpg.
The image of that sticker popped into his mind as he pushed himself to his feet, bracing one hand against the cavern wall and slowly tilting his head to look upward. Unfortunately, Delvie was still alive. She'd likely recover her breath any second and strike now that he was at a disadvantage. That strange black flame ability of hers was troublesome, and her physical condition was far more complicated than he'd anticipated.
Outside the pit, Delvie dragged herself along the ground. She had lost a tremendous amount of blood and was barely clinging to life, but she had to ensure Mr. Theo's plan succeeded. The alternative would be worse than death. Crawling, she reached the cavern wall and smeared her blood over a night mare horn.
“Ampli…fi…cation…”
“Kill… kill… ha…”
The gravity inside the pit surged again. Outside, Delvie began to laugh, even as blood continued to pour from her wounds. Her hand reached into the hidden pouch at her chest, fumbling for the life-saving vial inside. But just as she touched it, a chill crept up her back.
The vampire's red eyes flared wide. He gripped his black scythe and, almost in a furious rage, severed Delvie's head!
“Ha…” Her severed head still wore a smile. “You… can't save…”
“Gravity… dou…bled…”
“He… will die…”
Alexio panted heavily. He wanted nothing more than to kick Delvie's head like a ball, but that wouldn't change a thing. Shadow roses unfurled their thorned branches. His domain had begun to expand, gradually counteracting the crushing gravity. He glanced toward the pit, then back at Delvie's twisted, grinning face. The night mare horns around them glowed with a flickering menace, and the mass of everdark stones at the bottom of the pit emitted a sinister light.
The lunatic was down there.
That thought swelled and swelled, filling his entire mind. He no longer cared about the everdark stones, nor about any potential ambushes the Holy Temple might have set. Right now, he knew only one thing.
The lunatic was down there.
His domain continued to spread. It would still take some time to completely destroy all those night mare horns, but Alexio didn't hesitate. He stepped to the edge of the pit. His sharp fangs grazed his own lip, drawing blood, tasting it.
He even heard a voice from his memories. Outside a dilapidated church, pigeons soared in flocks under the sunlight. The shadow of their wings fell across the hunter sitting on a bench. The saint looked up, the sky-blue in his eyes lighter than the pigeons' wings.
He spoke slowly, his voice one Alexio could listen to for days on end without tiring.
【Vampire, what is it you seek?】
Alexio had jumped from the high pulpit back then, just as he now leapt from the edge of the pit. The saint's startled expression from the past overlapped with the one he saw now. The difference was—
Back then, the saint had eyed his drink with mild wariness. Now, even with his domain fully extended in rejection of everything, even while bearing the crushing force of gravity, the saint instinctively opened his arms to him.
The saint caught his destined one as he fell from the sky, instantly turning to shield Alexio beneath him. Shards of stone struck his domain and bounced off harmlessly. Around them, the everdark stones began to glow in succession. Amid the boundless, dazzling darkness, the saint gazed down at the vampire lying beneath him. Reflected in those deep rose-colored eyes was his own silhouette. All those so-called ten thousand years and fleeting moments were swept away in an instant between them.
Theo's judgement had been correct. He did care about the issue of lifespan, but he had simply chosen to deal with Theo first. That dilemma still existed. And yet now, surrounded by everdark stones, even though staying above would not have killed him, Alexio had still hurled himself down without hesitation. The saint had always thought he was insatiable when it came to Alexio, but in truth, he was so easily satisfied.
He thought of the old notebook tucked against his chest, the one filled with centuries of foolish longing.
Fire rained from the skies, the world turned on its head, and his delusions came true. Maybe from the very beginning, back when they met at that dilapidated church, if Alexio had just reached out to him…
He probably would have fallen right then.
Just like now.
“Did you… come to deliver a drink?” the saint asked softly.
“No. Not here to deliver a drink.”
Even while lying awkwardly on his back, Alexio bared his fangs with a menacing air.
“I'm delivering angry cat.jpg!”