140 – The Day I Became a Vampire – 5

At the miracle that occurred before her eyes, Carmilla instinctively drew her body back slightly.

Her vampire instincts feared it.

“What is that?”

It was different from simply loading holy power onto a blade reinforced with blood power.

The holy power of light wrapped around the blood power and swirled… Yes, they were flowing together.

As if they were a single power from the very beginning.

“Lora, as expected, it would be better to shake off the trace of that unpleasant god quickly.”

“I can use your ability too—”

Lora was already not listening to Carmilla’s words.

Just as Carmilla had denied Lora’s feelings and pushed only her own will, Lora had also stopped caring about each and every one of Carmilla’s thoughts or actions.

What she wished for was simply Carmilla’s death.

A death as swift and painful as possible.

It was impossible to know what change that will had brought to her power, but—it was clear that it was a very lethal power to vampires.

‘I thought the holy power would naturally disappear if I made her realize her instincts as a vampire, but that was a ridiculous mistake. Rather, that is—is the holy power adding strength to the authority she received from me? What kind of god is my thrall serving, anyway?’

Perhaps she had been too excited about meeting a thrall.

Awakening her abilities would not have been too late even after reconstructing her as Carmilla desired.

Out of a desire not to hurt the lovely child as much as possible, she had aimed for Lora to self-destruct on her own by making her aware of her vampiric impulses,

and Lora had splendidly achieved a miracle completely opposite to Carmilla’s intentions.

She had never even heard of holy power melting along the flow of blood power.

Like a contrarian tree frog that would never play along with what others wanted—it was a truly vampire-like deed.

Carmilla’s thrall was fatally beautiful, and in addition, she had become a very splendid vampire who was self-centered and a complete mess.

Now, that vampire was aiming for Carmilla’s neck.

That fact was spine-chillingly thrilling and delightful.

―Slice

The swords of the two no longer clashed against each other.

Lora knew that there would be no end if she blocked each of Carmilla’s strikes one by one, and Carmilla had also discarded the soft thought of not leaving wounds on Lora’s body.

The wounds Carmilla left on Lora boiled up, rotting the source of a vampire’s power—the blood.

The wounds Lora left on Carmilla, containing the authority Carmilla herself had handed down to Lora as well as the holy power of light, quickly dug into her blood vessels and ruthlessly mutilated her unrecovered soul and body.

Since Lora could heal her own wounds with holy power, there was no need to mention who benefited from this clash.

“Lora, the tip of your sword has become quite sharp, hasn’t it?”

“Next time, I will definitely cut off your neck…”

The fact that Lora’s tier was far inferior to Carmilla’s was no longer a problem.

In Lora’s sword, which had realized her calling, other useless distractions could no longer enter.

The transparent killing intent toward the enemy was loaded onto the blade, rushing in succession like waves.

Although Lora did not notice because she was in a state of self-absorption, her combat skills, which had barely been at a level to be deployed in real battle, were achieving rapid growth at this very moment.

“Ahahaha! Good, it’s good, Lora! You’re becoming more and more like me, more and more—!”

Rotten blood poured down from the bodies of the two vampires who were mutilating each other’s bodies without caring about defense.

Carmilla laughed madly at the sense of crisis climbing up her spine, and Lora entrusted herself to the killing intent that was becoming clearer and more distinct, casting aside all other emotions.

The expressions of the two were in contrast, but just as Carmilla said, the two were gradually resembling each other.

“If you really want to kill me, you’d better hurry…! Because your holy power will never last forever!”

“Die!”

As long as Lora was completely superior in terms of ability, all Carmilla could rely on was her vast blood power accumulated over a long period of time.

Lora was an extremely excellent priest, but her holy power would surely reach its limit before Carmilla’s blood power was exhausted.

Until then, tasting her own authority that had turned hostile would be a pretty decent amusement.

She had thought so.

Until more than half of her own blood burned and rotted away in the dazzling light.

“Ishtar—!”

“Just how long are you going to use holy power!”

Facing Lora, who constantly drew out golden holy power while calling the name of a god said to have disappeared from Leta long ago, Carmilla shouted in bewilderment.

“Even if you were the Pope, it would be impossible!”

“Ishtar is with me… to kill you!”

Lora did not even seem to properly realize how vast an amount of holy power she had used, but in reality, she was clearly exceeding her own limits.

Of course, holy power was not an energy tank belonging to an individual like mana, but represented the size of the grace and the width of the channel permitted by the god, so if the god permitted it, it was possible to display power beyond one’s ability to some extent—but even that had its limits.

Unless the god named Ishtar had suddenly descended nearby, there was only one thing this meant.

Lora’s holy power had achieved rapid growth.

“Fufu, is this a joke? I’ve never heard of holy power growing in harmony with a vampire’s blood power—if I don’t educate you properly here, this might not end as just a problem for Kudlak!”

“Kahaaaah!”

At that moment, the holy power that surged along Lora’s accelerating blood flow was shot, aiming precisely at Carmilla’s neck.

Carmilla, who charged straight into it without any intention of evading, sacrificed one arm to block Lora’s swung sword—and stretched out her other arm, piercing Lora’s chest with the sword held in her hand.

“Ugh?!”

As the sword twisted, tearing the already tattered sister’s habit into pieces, the golden holy power that sparkled brilliantly like Lora’s eyes splattered along with her stream of blood, drenching Carmilla’s face.

Even while feeling her face burn, Carmilla wore an expression of worry for Lora.

“I’m sorry, okay? In my heart, I want to play with you all day, but at this rate, your very existence will really become endangered—and it seems some annoying trouble has also arisen outside.”

Still, it would hurt, so let’s end this quickly.

Carmilla, who whispered softly, plunged the sword into Lora’s chest with all her might and concentrated her blood power.

If she gouged it out to the limit, the holy power would eventually be depleted.

Lora’s body would also become tattered, but the empty space could simply be filled with her own blood power.

With Lora’s talent, which had achieved rapid growth just from receiving a little advice and being played with, she would surely grow quickly and be able to stand by her side.

Of course, Lora did not accept that obediently.

“I will never become your doll—!”

There was no way to escape anyway.

Gritting her teeth, Lora, just like Carmilla did, concentrated all her strength into the sword she held and pushed it in.

Without even the luxury of protecting her own body, she only wished for the opponent’s ruin.

Carmilla, feeling the massive amount of holy power rushing into her body, chose to laugh instead.

“Wonderful, but I am also strong against pain—”

“Die—!”

A situation where neither could retreat until one of them fell and died.

The two exerted all their strength, and the decision was made surprisingly quickly.

It was mutual ruin.

By the time Lora’s body became a battered wreck to the point where she could no longer draw out holy power, Carmilla had also reached her limit, unable to overcome the holy power entering through her blood vessels.

“Hu, fufu… My thrall is not only pretty but her ability is also amazing.”

“……”

No, compared to Lora, whose blood vessels all over her body had burst and festered, preventing her from even opening her mouth properly and only staring at Carmilla, it could be said that Carmilla, who could at least move her body slightly, was better off.

“You ruined my plan from beginning to end. Very splendid, Lora. In the end, I have no choice but to choose another method—”

“Ah…, ah…!”

Even so, Carmilla was smiling.

Perhaps she had a premonition that it would turn out like this from the very beginning.

“Let us become one, Lora.”

For a vampire, blood was an all-powerful vessel that could contain all of one’s ability, soul, and body.

With too much of both of their blood lost, Carmilla, thinking that they might perish together at this rate, reached the conclusion that it would be better to merge their blood.

Although it was something she could not have imagined when she first met Lora, now, as if it were destined from the beginning, it felt extremely romantic.

“I will make it so you can no longer reject me. Now, we are together forever.”

“—! ——!”

Carmilla clung to Lora’s neck and bit her collarbone.

Instead of Lora’s tattered body drying up, shockingly, her wounds began to heal gradually.

She was not sucking Lora’s blood.

On the contrary, she was pouring all of her own blood into her.

‘M-My head hurts… Goddess Ishtar, Jun-nim…!’

Lora opened her eyes wide as she felt something else invading her body, but she no longer had the strength to resist.

As time passed, her holy power would recover and she would be able to expel Carmilla, but by then, she might no longer be the master of her own body.

‘To trouble Jun-nim again? I cannot do that, absolutely not—!’

However, even if her body recovered, she could not budge a single finger with her own will.

Because it was overwhelming enough just to reject and maintain her ego to avoid mixing with the other soul that had invaded her body.

A terrible pain incomparable to when she first became Carmilla’s thrall.

Her body and soul twisted as they mixed with the foreign substance, and were transformed in real-time.

“Guh, kerrk—”

Although it was surprising that she had recovered enough to be able to make vocal sounds, she got goosebumps upon realizing that her voice pushing out of her throat felt unfamiliar.

Having already mixed too much with the other soul, she had become unable to be sure of herself.

“Ah, ah…?”

Due to the high-tier blood power flowing in from Carmilla, not only were Lora’s wounds completely healed, but she had also grown slightly taller, her body had changed, and—above all—her blood power had grown in an instant.

“Kahak, kaaaaah—!”

At that moment, while Lora was suffering from the urge to claw off all of her skin due to the excessively sudden change that came upon her, Carmilla’s body, which had been leaning half against Lora while biting her neck, collapsed to the floor and scattered as gray ash.

Lora realized that Carmilla had completely entered her.

Carmilla threw away everything of hers to finally win Lora.

Now it was Lora’s turn to choose.

Whether to give up on resisting Carmilla and become one with her, or else.

‘Or give up my life and die together with Carmilla.’

—While the complete right of self-determination of the body remained in me, as quickly as possible.

Lora summoned Ishtar’s will and made it sprint through her body.

Right now, due to the union with Carmilla, the miraculous harmony between vampire and priest in Lora’s body was collapsing, turning her into a complete vampire; thus, the holy power began to burn the only enemy present in this place—the vampire’s body, according to Lora’s will.

Carmilla might have thought that Lora would not choose suicide, but ironically, Lora, who accepted herself as a vampire, became able to lightly cast aside other half-baked desires, will, and relationships with others for the sake of achieving her greatest desire.

Right now, Lora’s greatest desire was to kill Carmilla.

There was a desire huge enough to be comparable to it, but—since she could not achieve it anyway.

This was fine.

With this—

―Boom!

“Miss Lora!”

“Lora.”

It was at that very moment that the barrier that had been preventing the intrusion of others shattered like paper, and the Lumen party entered inside.

Lora was shocked to see Gi-jun’s appearance, and tried to end her own life as quickly as possible—but it was impossible.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you die, Lora.”

For some reason, the holy power that was burning her entire body faded away all too easily at a single word from Gi-jun.

It was over.

She no longer had the willpower left to summon holy power.

She was not supposed to be happy about that.

Another desire that blossomed along with the instinctively surging relief tormented her.

Lora, who easily guessed the subsequent development, stepped back with all her might, but Carmilla’s will, which dominated her body, made her move forward instead.

“Jun-nim, you can’t, no—”

“It’s okay, because I know everything.”

“You know everything? That can’t be, Jun-nim. Right now, I am—”

“You want to suck my blood. It’s okay, go ahead.”

“Ugh…?!”

No, he didn’t know right now that she was under Carmilla’s influence.

He would be in danger!

“If Jun-nim… says so…”

If she could have, she would have bitten her tongue and committed suicide at this moment.

However, Lora’s desire to suck Gi-jun’s blood had accumulated for too long, and with the weak will remaining in her, she could not possibly block the desire that began to run wild the moment his permission fell.

Although she knew that the moment she sucked his blood, Carmilla’s will would grow stronger, and not only would her own ego collapse, but it would also threaten Gi-jun’s life.

“Just a little, excuse me…!”

She could no longer stop.

She decided to give up everything and entrust her body to desire.

Indeed, the result of honestly following her impulses was extremely sweet.

To the point where she could submissively accept it even if she were to lose her life—

―Chomp

“Then, I will also excuse myself a little.”

At the moment Lora’s consciousness was about to fade, Gi-jun bit her neck.

Lora did not understand the meaning of that action, but Carmilla, who dwelt in her body, understood it and struggled belatedly to escape from his blood-sucking.

However, she could not move even a little.

The reason was simple.

Because Carmilla’s desire to live—could not surpass Lora’s desire for Gi-jun.

* * *

[Biche♥(Dimensional Rift): Are you really a fool?]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Rift): How could you make such a choice, I can’t believe it.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Rift): But yes, I will tell you.]

[Biche♥(Dimensional Rift): Jun, you are really the best.]