139 – The Day I Became a Vampire – 4

Ever since the day she lost her split soul, Carmilla had become half a ruin.

Originally, since a split soul contained a portion of the soul that constituted the vampire, its destruction naturally meant not only a drop in the soul’s status, but also a disruption of physical balance, leading to a major weakening—yet her mental state became far more precarious than that.

Why was that? She could soon realize the reason herself.

It was because, along with the destruction of the split soul, she had also lost something more than just the split soul.

For a vampire, the only precious things were blood and their thralls.

Carmilla was certain that her split soul had created a thrall, but there was nothing more she could do.

How could she find her thrall when she had lost all memories of her activities in Gratia?

On top of that, having lost her split soul, she had literally fallen in status, remaining stuck at the upper Unique rank.

To go out in person with her main body, she wouldn’t even be able to move properly due to the aftereffects of losing her split soul; to create another clone, she feared that it too might be destroyed.

Then, ask other vampires? What a joke. She was someone who held her head high even against vampires of higher status than her, so she could not show weakness to others now.

Furthermore, since she was appointed to the Dragon Knights despite not being of the Lord of Thorns’ bloodline, she could never show her weaknesses to others.

Thus, in the end, she had no choice but to stay deep inside the castle where the Lord of Thorns’ grace resided, waiting for her wounded spirit and body to recover.

praying that her thrall would survive without dying until she recovered and went to receive them—

“Ah.”

And finally, a miracle came to Carmilla.

The moment ‘she’ set foot on the floor where she was staying, Carmilla could feel it intuitively.

“My thrall has come.”

To think that since she couldn’t go, she would come find her first!

Having lost all memories of the process of creating a thrall, she had been anxious about whether the thrallization had been done properly, but upon realizing that her thrall had come to find her first, all her worries vanished.

She stirred and rose, moving her body that had remained still for so long.

Even though she knew dust would not accumulate on her clothes, she flicked her fingers to adjust her dress, tidying it up more neatly.

“My lovely child. What does she look like? How cute is she…?”

Since she had come all this way, there was no need to wait any longer.

Although the intense flame lingering by her thrall and the unpleasant aura of silver bothered her—she had no intention of letting such people into her space anyway.

“You guys go play with the other rabble. I only need my thrall!”

Carmilla smiled faintly and snapped her fingers once more.

She had used the Spell of Thrall Recall, which she could only cast now that she felt the presence of her thrall so clearly.

Her lovely thrall soon appeared before her eyes.

“Ugh?!”

The inner barrier of her heart, permitted only to her, had its very first guest set foot inside.

No, it was the moment the person who would become her family set foot inside.

“My my…”

The girl’s eyes widened roundly as she warily scanned her surroundings, and then she glared upon discovering her.

The moment Carmilla saw her, she realized.

That her clone must have had no choice but to make her a thrall, even while risking destruction.

Dazzling blonde hair that looked as though it were fashioned from melted pure gold, two blue eyes that still retained their purity even now after turning into a vampire, and doll-like delicate features.

Was she not her dream ideal itself!

If there was a pity, it was that the dark circles under her eyes and her annoyed expression somewhat tarnished her pure image—but minor issues like that could simply be corrected in the future.

“Nice to meet you, my lovely child—so, your name is Lora!”

“Nice to meet you? Lovely… Lora?”

She read the thrall’s memories, even if only in fragments, and called her name with the utmost affection, but the thrall’s reaction was somehow unusual.

Facing her thrall who glared at her with an expression of pure hatred, Carmilla read her memories again, and only then did she understand Lora’s sharp reaction.

Although it was something that happened more often than expected in the relationship between a vampire and a thrall—it was surprising that such hatred had become the driving force that led her all the way here.

In any case, since her lovely thrall was right before her eyes, that was enough.

“Well, that just means your feelings for me are that intense, right? Good, very good. From now on, let’s have a deep, serious talk. Until we can understand each other deeply…!”

“A talk? I don’t want to have any kind of conversation with you—!”

Even though she knew her companions could not enter this space, Lora did not even make an attempt to escape from Carmilla’s room.

The hatred she harbored toward Carmilla would not allow her to retreat from this place.

Lora drew her sword from its sheath and ripped the hem of her nun’s habit.

From some point on, this had become a sort of ritual to raise her fighting spirit.

“My my.”

Carmilla, seeing the sword Lora held—and the silk fabric revealed through the torn nun’s habit, shouted in excitement.

“That sword! It’s the sword I used to wield. It really suits you too! Oh my, is what you’re wearing under that detestable nun’s habit by any chance my dress? You really know how to screw over those gnat-like parasites of the system, don’t you!”

“Shut up!”

Lora infused divine power into the curse-tainted sword and charged forward, kicking off the floor.

Carmilla, standing face-to-face with her, cackled at the sight and drew a sword identical to Lora’s from thin air.

“You learned by watching me, Lora! It’s no use pretending to hate me. Your posture, the look in your eyes, your sword energy! All of it is stained with me!”

“I told you to shut up—!”

Clang! The two swords clashed in midair, emitting a chilling metallic screech.

In terms of pure strength, Lora was hopelessly outmatched, but in the process, the divine power contained in her sword suppressed and wounded Carmilla’s energy.

While Lora’s arm was bent halfway, the wound Carmilla suffered was a mere scratch, yet making a vampire bleed gave her attack great significance.

“Ahahaha! It’s quite sharp, but all over the place. You need to train a bit more on how to swing a sword, Lora! From now on, I will kindly—very kindly teach you!”

“Ugh…!”

But to Carmilla, even this was pleasing.

If it was something from the thrall she had missed so much, she had no intention of refusing even if it were a fatal poison.

“It’s truly strange. You are clearly my thrall, so why do my commands not work on you? I wish you would stop the swordplay and come embrace me right now—can you not hear me? Are those persistent parasites who haven’t given up on you until now interfering?”

“I hear you, I hear you—so I’ve been telling you to shut up since a while ago!”

Carmilla’s voice commanding Lora’s soul was sticky like honey yet sharp like a knife, tearing her brain to shreds and seeping into the cracks to torment her.

It was so disgusting that it drove her mad.

―Clang!

Once again, the two swords clashed.

Lora knew well enough that it was better not to clash swords directly.

She knew, but—there was no other way to release the hatred welling up toward Carmilla.

“Good, your swordsmanship is improving bit by bit. Just a little more correction and it will be truly wonderful.”

“Die!”

After their swords clashed and parted a few more times, Lora finally realized that Carmilla was matching her level.

Surprisingly, she seemed to have absolutely no intention of harming Lora.

On the other hand, Lora wanted to tear Carmilla’s throat open right this second—yet her sword was blocked and parried by Carmilla every single time.

No matter how weakened Carmilla was, and no matter how fatal Lora’s divine power was to a vampire.

There was still an insurmountable gap between them.

“Mmh, no, not like that, Lora. Right now, you are just ignorantly imbuing your sword with blood power and swinging it. Even a newborn vampire does not handle blood power in that manner.”

Carmilla’s gentle critique flew in and lodged itself in Lora’s ears.

“Didn’t you learn when you became a vampire? The mystery dwelling within you is not to be handled like that. You must feel and control the flow of blood. A noble of the night does not move their body in that way. They control the body by controlling the blood. Do you get it?”

“Ha, you plan on teaching me?”

“Of course, you are my lovely thrall. It is only natural for me to teach you.”

Although Carmilla’s voice still sounded hateful, frustratingly—truly frustratingly—Lora knew better than anyone else that Carmilla was genuinely trying to teach her.

Because she was a thrall, her master’s emotions were felt clearly.

“Right now… to you…!”

“I know, I know. But Lora, those things are not very important compared to the relationship we will build in the future, right?”

Carmilla smiled with pure innocence.

Despite completely forgetting all the terrible things she had done to Lora, she treated Lora’s feelings for her as trivial, believing that they could start anew and build a relationship between a vampire and a thrall from now on.

Even though they could read each other’s feelings, they could not understand each other.

The emotions of the two only ran on endless parallel lines, never crossing.

‘Then—then.’

If that woman could not fully accept her emotions, how on earth was she supposed to resolve this boiling hatred?

How was she to handle her emotions, which had piled up and rotted away?

“Lora, a vampire does not fret over what they cannot control. They either give up immediately—”

Carmilla raised her sword to point at Lora and said with a chuckle,

“Or they seize it.”

The sight of her saying whatever she wanted without any context made her look like a complete psycho.

And yet, she was infinitely beautiful.

“No need to worry… Yes, I will worry no longer.”

Even though she knew Lora’s conflict, she thoroughly ignored Lora’s feelings.

It seemed Lora, too, was now beginning to understand that this was the very identity of a vampire.

The reason her race had remained stuck as a Dazed Dreamer was because she had not clearly defined herself.

Regardless of whether divine power flowed through her body or whether she could walk under the sun.

None of that mattered; she was a vampire.

Now, she decided to accept it—and to do what she wished as a vampire.

If Carmilla had forgotten, she had no intention of demanding what could no longer be returned.

“I will make you die in deep regret for failing to remember me and prepare in advance.”

―Thump, thump.

Ironically, the moment she accepted the mindset of a vampire, her blood began to flow in a different manner than before.

The blood power she had wielded until now was truly nothing more than child’s play.

Blood power was not simply a force different from mana—it was literally the power to dominate blood.

Lora vanished from the spot.

―Clang!

In the next instant, Lora appeared before Carmilla’s eyes, her thrusting sword clashing with Carmilla’s once again.

Carmilla vanished with a strange smile—and this time, Lora blocked Carmilla as she swung her sword down from behind her.

Feeling Lora’s strength rise as she parried her blow, Carmilla grinned.

“You have a good knack for this. I can’t believe you are the child who couldn’t even properly perceive the flow of blood until just now.”

“You kindly taught me. How grateful I am!”

―Clang, clang!

The two vampires turned into blood mist, clashing in midair again and again as they raced through the room.

However, no matter how much Lora had awakened her vampiric power, she could not defeat Carmilla, who had lived as a vampire for ages.

That Lora did not collapse from exhaustion first was thanks to the divine power she possessed.

But an end came even to Carmilla’s kind lesson.

“I think this is enough for the basic education.”

Lora somehow blocked the sword swung down at a speed far faster than before, but this time, it did not end there.

The moment the blood power surging from Carmilla’s sword made contact with Lora, Lora’s eyes widened at the shock running through her entire body.

A feeling of her entire soul shaking, of damage being dealt to her very origin.

She already knew what this was.

Carmilla’s authority to rot blood was beginning to affect her as well.

“You, you…!”

“Then, let’s move on to the advanced lesson. This is the reason why I, who am not even of the Lord of Thorns’ bloodline, could be appointed to the Dragon Knights.”

An extraordinary authority that degraded the opponent’s blood.

Naturally, Carmilla possessed an outstanding talent for keeping internal enemies within the vampire society in check, rather than external ones.

This was also the reason why she could recuperate inside the safe castle of the Lord of Thorns, even now when she was weakened after losing her split soul;

And at the same time, it was an effective ability for disciplining a thrall who went against her wishes, like now.

“If you can counter my authority before you collapse, let’s call it your victory. But if you collapse before that—no complaining even if I change everything about you to my taste this time. Got it?”

“…”

Lora remained silent, drawing up her divine power to heal her wounds.

There was no more time to waste.

She had to kill her and return to Jun-nim.

She raised her sword again, pointing it at Carmilla.

Her divine power intertwined with her blood power, beginning to emit a strange light.