Chapter 18
According to the original work, when various different races crossed over to Earth, most of them felt utterly disoriented by the Earth’s environment.
The reason was simple: the mana in the atmosphere was exceedingly sparse compared to their world.
It was like suffering from altitude sickness due to a lack of oxygen upon reaching a high mountain.
For those who had grown accustomed to the presence of mana, adapting to such an environment was likely a significant challenge.
However, not all races faced the same difficulties.
Among them were those that didn’t heavily rely on the mana in the atmosphere.
For example, beastmen, orcs, and goblins, who were clumsy with mana from the start.
Dwarves and halflings, who appreciated mana but didn’t depend on magic.
And dragons, who were basically walking generators of mana spewing it directly from their hearts.
There were beings who had no real need for mana to live or could solve problems independently and could quickly adapt to Earth’s environment.
And among them, the most unique in overcoming their struggles were the vampires.
These beings used blood as a medium for magic.
The shortage of mana meant they could solve their problems with even more blood.
Thus, while most races were struggling to regain their powers on Earth, vampires were able to steadfastly demonstrate their strength.
In fact, two out of the notorious Seven Great Evils of the world turned out to be vampires.
Given their danger and power, they were a highly noteworthy race.
Of course, the Drakel was not a vampire of global renown.
Instead, he was among the older vampires, a remnant from a past era who could no longer maintain his youth solely by drinking blood.
At this point, considering that a proud noble vampire was hiding in the underworld and scheming, one could understand how far he had strayed from his prime.
“Ugh! The difference in firepower is too great! If I take a direct hit, I won’t be intact!”
The crimson dagger flew towards me at a speed I could scarcely track.
Its power was such that blocking it felt like an overwhelming burden, forcing me to roll on the ground.
Even if he was past his prime, perhaps it was simply a matter of differing levels.
Yet, what should be a mere jab to the opponent felt like a fatal blow to me, should I fail to dodge.
The overwhelming level difference left me dazed.
“Well, I already knew it was like this.”
However, I didn’t feel despair over that fact.
I knew there were countless individuals much stronger than me in this city.
If everything in this world were determined solely by physical prowess, then the ruler of Earth wouldn’t be humanity but rather the African elephant!
“Thanks a lot for breaking the walls and floor!”
Drakel’s crimson dagger was indeed a formidable attack.
It was so strong that just a graze would tear away concrete walls and floors.
But this actually worked out in my favor.
With no spare capacity to smash through the thick concrete walls with telekinesis, his indiscriminate attacks inadvertently provided me with weapons!
Holding my breath and sharpening my focus, I caught the debris with my telekinesis.
Shooting it like buckshot, I directed it fiercely at Drakel.
“Ha! What a pathetic trick…”
Of course, the physical durability of a vampire was unlike that of a human.
Drakel casually swatted away my attack as if brushing away a fly.
And perhaps sensing discomfort from my telekinesis, he glared sharply at me, his face contorted in utter disdain.
“Is that shadow spear magic? No, I didn’t sense any movement of mana. I’ve never seen magic that operates this way.”
“….”
“You! You’re using power I can’t comprehend!”
Having a fundamental understanding of magic, he seemed to quickly grasp the essential difference between telekinesis and magic.
As a result, I felt like I had made the right choice in hiding my strength as best as I could thus far. Simultaneously, I was resolute in my determination to finish Drakel here.
If I allowed Drakel to slip away, the aftermath would be… something I could hardly manage.
“…For now, I should change the location.”
I fired off debris like bullets to keep Drakel at bay, then jumped high to avoid the incoming crimson daggers.
Seeing me rise unguarded into the air, Drakel must have viewed it as an opportunity.
A gigantic blood-red blade sprang forth at me, striking with fatal precision.
However, I, able to continually jump with my telekinesis, merely bounced around above him, shooting fragments down like a tease.
“Annoying… you pest!”
Perhaps his anger mounted at my incessant movements at such a close distance.
Drakel’s face twisted grotesquely, and he swiftly closed in on me, using the thick blood that flowed from his body as steps.
His speed was so astonishing I felt like time itself was speeding up.
Ignoring the narrowing distance, I continued to draw him upwards.
Finally, when I reached the rooftop, I touched down first. Spreading my telekinesis as wide as possible to establish control over the area.
And as a fuming Drakel arrived on the rooftop, I immediately bound him tightly with my telekinesis as if triggering a trap I had set.
Creak…!
As if a transparent giant’s hand was gripping him, my telekinesis held Drakel’s entire body tight.
“You! What do you think you can do to me with this worthless trick?!”
But soon, the feared event occurred.
He exerted tremendous strength all over his body, causing my control over his telekinesis to start to falter.
Indeed, telekinesis could be undone by stronger force.
Sensing I wouldn’t last much longer like this, I fired off concrete debris at the exposed Drakel without hesitation.
“This is nothing…!”
Crack! Crackle!
The sharp concrete shards, capable of easily crumpling even the average car, relentlessly hammered Drakel’s body.
Unlike earlier, perhaps because he was bound strongly by my telekinesis this time, he failed to take a defensive stance.
Drakel quickly became a honeycomb, riddled with holes and spilling blood all over.
For a normal person, it would be instant death.
Even for a beastman with tenacious vitality, these would be serious injuries.
“Urgh, kuh… Haha!”
However, this grotesque sight did not seem to fluster Drakel even a bit.
For a vampire, especially a noble vampire with superior blood, suffering nothing more than being punctured by dozens of holes seemed to have little effect.
“…How long has it been since I felt pain? Since the day I was betrayed by my despicable kin? It really… has been a long time since I felt such a sensation.”
“….”
“Alright, ghost. I’ll acknowledge I underestimated you! To make me bleed… consider it an honor. Rest assured, I won’t treat you like I did before!”
Rather, Drakel appeared to brighten. The disdainful treatment of a filthy bug he had shown earlier vanished as he emitted genuine killing intent and declared firmly.
“I will surely make you a ghoul! Do please remain intact, ghost!”
‘What strength!’
Piiing!
As I felt my telekinesis forcibly breaking apart, a sudden ringing filled my ears.
Then, I felt a wave of nausea rise up as if my insides were turning, but I had no choice but to bite my tongue and regain my composure.
It was because Drakel, freed from telekinesis, was splattering his endlessly oozing blood everywhere.
“Let the symphony begin, Armarium!”
The scattered blood transformed into thorns, blades, axes, and anything else sharp.
It formed an array of deadly weapons filling the sky, drastically larger and on a whole other level compared to the dagger I had seen earlier.
I quickly retreated to the adjacent rooftop, faster than I could think.
Boom!
The rooftop, bombarded by the blood weapons, was utterly devastated as if it had been gnawed on by a giant wolf.
The destructive force was such that the pressure from the resulting winds lifted my body off the ground.
Drakel’s strength, wielded with genuine intent, exceeded my imagination.
Was this the monstrous power of the named villain from the original work?
My confidence in my telekinesis felt utterly diminished.
‘Ugh, I won’t be able to dodge all of this.’
I was barely able to maintain focus as it approached its limit.
With assaults crashing down like a tide from all sides and debris raining down, I had to somehow dodge as best as I could.
There was no other option. My body was far too small and fragile.
Even a stray hit from a small piece of debris could become a fatal injury.
But given the relentless downpour of attacks, evasion was simply impossible.
Resigned, I could only shield myself with telekinesis against the inescapable attacks while desperately trying to move my body to avoid as many as I could.
Immediately, my entire body felt like it had been hammered flat, wracked with aches and pains.
The cloth that had been wrapped around me was now ragged and torn.
‘It hurts…! I’m already dizzy as hell!’
My condition was truly at its worst.
After numerous uses of telekinesis, my concentration ultimately reached its breaking point, as my head began to spin like a top.
My body ached all over, as if I had rolled down the stairs.
I had even managed to cut myself, as blood trickled from various spots on my pale skin.
While I fortunately hadn’t broken anything or suffered severe cuts,
regrettably, with this condition, it wouldn’t be long until that changed.
“How boring, too boring! Do it again, show me what you just did!”
A wildly excited Drakel endlessly conjured blood weapons, laughing maniacally.
And just when all sorts of weapons were about to rain down on me again,
a path opened up amidst the haze of my consciousness that felt like it could collapse at any moment.
‘The first condition for defeating Drakel is that he must give his all against me.’
I used my telekinesis to pierce a hole in the weakened rooftop beneath me and hid my body inside the building.
As I felt the ground drop below me, an intense shaking struck as if an earthquake had occurred above.
He didn’t seem to expect that I would hide below the floor.
Yet, this was merely a temporary patch, barely buying me a few seconds.
‘A few seconds is enough.’
Clenching my teeth, I forced my pained body to move onward.
In the meantime, it seemed Drakel, believing I was fleeing, relentlessly smashed at the building’s outer walls with blood weapons.
Thanks to this, I could reach right below Drakel without any interruptions.
“Ghost Punch!”
Bang!
The tightly packed telekinesis shattered the ground underneath Drakel.
Did he not expect me, who hadn’t tried to close the distance, to suddenly approach him at such close range?
Drakel wore a look of utter surprise.
But by the time he grasped the situation, it was already far too late.
I was already soaring upwards from below!
“Ghost!”
Swish.
I reached my hand out from beneath the fabric and slapped upward.
Was it the strong intent to attack that resonated in my gesture?
Drakel, appearing to decide he had to block, lifted his arms instinctively to cover his face.
But, you see, that’s not where I aimed.
Whack!
The long-unused telekinetic slap struck Drakel’s crown with the force of a lightning bolt.
Perhaps this was a blow he didn’t anticipate. Drakel lurched forward heavily.
The showmanship I had extended from beneath was a perfect fake. How naive of him.
‘That should do it!’
I smashed my tiny palm against Drakel’s open chest.
Simultaneously, a massive hand made of crimson blood swiped in from the side.
I managed to block it with my telekinesis, but not before feeling the overwhelming shock, akin to being hit by a truck, as I was flung away.
It was an unfairly lousy trade, a cross-counter of sorts.