Chapter 124: Picking Up a Vampire Girl...

The danger rune on Venigo’s skull silently warned him with a prickling sensation. When the two of them came within range of Naka’s blade, Venigo suddenly let out a roar.

The blade flashed once, twice, three times. Three dazzling arcs skimmed dangerously past Venigo’s face, waist, and chest. Yet no matter how hard Naka tried, his long blade always fell an inch short of striking Venigo.

“The flaw in draw-sword techniques,” Venigo snorted, “is that they’re too easy to see through. If you can’t kill your opponent within one or two strikes, then the whole technique is a laughable gimmick.”

After that, Venigo dodged Naka’s repeated attacks as calmly as a cat playing with its prey.

Not only that, the wicked fellow continued taunting Naka from time to time, goading him into moving faster and faster.

This Naka still had considerable potential. Although every attack appeared to be delivered with all his strength, he was somehow still able to accelerate after each successive strike.

“How many times has your body been modified?” Venigo suddenly asked.

“One hundred and twenty-three,” Naka replied expressionlessly. Then, without warning, his blade swept upward from below.

Demon Draw: Arc Light!

The strike did not surprise Venigo. Naka had been repeating Swift Moon and Three Flash all along, presumably to numb Venigo’s vigilance and prepare him for this attack.

But Venigo had never let his guard down. The danger rune on his skull was faithfully doing its work.

Two seconds—the difference between life and death.

The brilliant Arc Light grazed Venigo’s body and missed. At the same time, Venigo leapt lightly and pressed one palm downward. A wave punch, wreathed in Xida’s flames, descended diagonally in front of Naka. Venigo had not aimed at Naka himself; he had struck the ground ahead of him, forcing Naka to run headlong into it.

Naka had no choice but to halt abruptly and turn. In the instant his center of gravity shifted, Venigo landed, swept out his leg, and spun forward at high speed, bringing a furious blaze with him.

Flaming Tornado Whirlwind Kick!

Bang!

Naka was kicked flying by Venigo. When he landed, the sight that greeted him was the smiling face of the little phlogiston sprite.

And then came the flames, surging toward him like a tide that covered the heavens and earth.

Venigo walked over, picked up Naka’s long blade, weighed it in his hand, and smiled. “Not a bad weapon.”

The Little Wolf Princess and the Little Vampire poked their heads out of their rooms. Seeing that Venigo had won, they both pulled faces at him in unspoken agreement.

“The Sheepcall Church really values you,” Venigo said with a smile to the Little Vampire. “When I abducted Akana, the Sheepcall Church didn’t pursue me nearly this far.”

The Little Vampire immediately swelled with pride and turned to giggle at the Little Wolf Princess.

The Little Wolf Princess pouted and glared viciously at Venigo.

“But in my view, Akana’s value shouldn’t be any lower than yours. What exactly is making them pursue us so relentlessly?” Venigo turned toward Suna, staring unblinkingly into the little vampire’s eyes.

Suna opened her mouth, revealing her fangs, and threatened him with the distinctive hiss of a vampire.

Poke, poke.

Venigo’s response was to extend a finger and lightly prod Suna’s soft cheek.

The little vampire’s face instantly flushed crimson. She shrank behind the Little Wolf Princess, revealing only half her face.

“Never mind. It seems you don’t know much about it either—or perhaps you don’t know anything at all.” Venigo spread his hands.

“Come to think of it, Hani, Sophie, Akana, Shirley, and Suna have all been modified by the Sheepcall Church.” Venigo stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Although Big Cat was created by a warlord through alchemy and magic, it seems some of the technology supplied by the Sheepcall Church was used as well. Our group really is an interesting one.”

“What about you?” Suna asked quietly.

“I’ve undergone it too.” Venigo nodded. “Gene-modification injections. Their effects on me, as well as their side effects, were much weaker than they are in ordinary people—almost impossible to detect.”

“Oh...” Suna’s gaze softened considerably.

Perhaps it was sympathy between fellow sufferers. Or perhaps birds of a feather simply flocked together. Probably both.

An attack of this level had likely been Naka acting on his own out of overconfidence. But the Sheepcall Church’s pursuit would probably come one wave after another from now on.

After all, the Little Wolf Princess Akana and the Little Vampire Suna were both highly valued “experimental subjects” of the Sheepcall Church. They certainly would not stand by and let the two little creatures perform free labor under Venigo.

Of course, the Sheepcall Church could never have imagined that Venigo had lured away two of its most important experimental subjects with nothing more than a few packets of candy and some homemade drinks.

== The Young Man Runs at Full Speed ==

Yet all the way back to Free Haven, the anticipated attack never came. Could it be that Nua had created them on a whim and had now lost interest in them?

Considering Nua’s previous words and actions, Venigo thought that was entirely possible. Nevertheless, he did not relax his vigilance.

His enemies were not necessarily weaker than he was.

“Little Fox, as you ordered, I obtained something good.” The moment he returned to the manor, Marin gave Venigo some good news.

“What is it?” Venigo looked up. “Is it better news than the fact that I found a vampire?”

Marin glanced at the little vampire girl peeking out from behind the Little Wolf Princess and sighed helplessly. “You really are something... You can just casually abduct several powerful little girls.”

“I’ve seen you before.” The Little Vampire pointed at Marin. “Enemy?”

“Not an enemy.” Venigo reached out and rubbed Suna’s soft hair. “He escaped from the Sheepcall Church too, just like you. But he’s not very useful.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Marin protested. “I handle all the miscellaneous affairs of your manor and mercenary company, don’t I?”

“Fine. Think of him as a butler, thief, and errand boy.” Venigo said, “By the way, his name is Marin. We sometimes call him Rathead.”

“Don’t just give me new nicknames whenever you feel like it!” Marin shouted.

“Fine, then. What’s the good thing?” Venigo asked.

Marin had obtained ten mimics—or mimic monsters, as they were also called. He had built stone dens for the dangerous creatures and fed them meat at regular intervals.

Marin’s problem was how to extract the mimics’ bodily fluid without killing them. But that was not Marin’s problem; it was Venigo’s.

Marin believed that Venigo would surely come up with a solution.

In fact, Venigo had one.

Normally, a mimic’s body existed in a chaotic state that was half liquid and half solid. To extract its bodily fluid, one first had to kill it. Venigo’s solution was to cut off and kill “a portion” of the creature, extract the fluid, and then use medicine to revive the remaining part.

The only question was what medicine to use, and that required some experimentation. But for Venigo, who had mastered several systems governed by entirely different rules, it was merely a matter of spending time testing them.

He soon found the answer. No special medicine was necessary. The White Mage’s Cure spell from the FFTA system was enough to affect them. If he selected Beastmaster as his secondary skill, Venigo could not directly control the mimics, but he could lower their resistance, making the “surgery” much easier to complete.

Thus, the kingdom’s first mimic farm was successfully established by Venigo. Its purpose was to produce a steady supply of cheap mimic fluid, replacing costly mercury.

The used fluid would not go to waste either. When fed back to the mimics, the monsters would digest it within a short time and assimilate it into their bodies. All Venigo needed to do was provide enough blood and meat to keep them healthy.

Chapter Nine: Escaton and the Crystal

Because they underwent excision surgery from time to time, these mimics would not grow ever larger and stronger like their wild kin. They were also far safer than wild mimics.

...Mimic fluid was not as effective as mercury. For the same volume, it required a much larger container. Therefore, although Venigo carried a full jug of mimic fluid with him, he also brought mercury and a Mist King Crystal in case they were needed.

For the sake of secrecy, Venigo called the mimic fluid “Gray Mire.” After divine power was infused into the Mist King Crystal, it had mutated into an inconspicuous object resembling an ordinary stone, which Venigo called the Divine Mist King Crystal. In short, he had no intention of letting others understand his abilities. He would do everything possible to confuse his enemies—including allies he could not yet fully trust.

Level thirty-nine: a new bottleneck.

This was the next problem Venigo urgently needed to solve.

His strength was already considerable within the kingdom, but compared with true powerhouses, it was still insufficient.

And the powerhouses mentioned here were only human.

Beyond humanity... there were countless beings whose strength could drive people to despair. If he wanted to achieve his goal, he had to keep climbing until he stood at the pinnacle of the world.

Without that level of power, he could forget about going home. Breaking through the barriers between planes—especially two planes that had scarcely any connection to each other in the first place—was hardly a simple matter.

“Whew...” Venigo set down the mimic fluid that had completely lost its vitality and casually poured it into a bucket beside him. Once the bucket was full, a mercenary would come to collect it and transport it to the mimic farm.

“As expected, it still won’t work. An invisible obstacle stands before me. The road is clearly open, yet I can’t cross it no matter what I do...” Venigo complained. “Ah, forget it. Hani, Akana, want to go outside for a walk?”

The person who entered through the door was Sophie.

“Hm? You?” Venigo was somewhat puzzled. Sophie usually had little interest in wandering around. Had she really come because she wanted to answer his invitation?

Sophie remained expressionless. She only looked at Venigo and tilted her head slightly.

Shall we go? That was probably what she meant.

Venigo nodded and naturally reached out to take Sophie’s left arm. A faint blush inexplicably touched Sophie’s usually impassive face, but she did not pull her arm from the crook of his.

Venigo held Sophie’s left hand with his right.

Sophie needed her right hand to hold her sword.

And Venigo’s left hand held the Azure Sky.