The Truth About the Blasphemer! (Please Keep Reading!)

"Impossible! That's far too little! Even if it's your blood, I'd need at least ten drops to recover!"

"Ten drops, then. Give me yours first, and I'll give you mine afterward."

"...Tch, deal! You'd better not go back on your word!"

Though Elisa was deeply reluctant, she ultimately had no choice but to lower her head and compromise.

Yet as Elisa lowered her head, she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from rising.

"Wonderful..."

She couldn't help it. Elisa was simply too hungry.

Especially after tasting Herbert's blood, that tantalizing flavor had never stopped tormenting her soul.

That searing, sacred blood had ravaged her body, yet it seemed to possess some uniquely addictive magic that opened another door within her heart.

She vaguely sensed that some strange fetish had awakened inside her, but she wasn't quite certain-or rather... she didn't want to admit it.

How could I possibly say that I kind of wanted to feel that pain again?!

She didn't even dare ask Herbert for holy blood, afraid he might notice something.

"No, it's fine. Humans are despicable. This fellow definitely won't honor our agreement. He'll surely palm off holy blood on me instead."

"Then I'll finally get to drink it again!"

Yes, that's it.

L-let me have another sip. Just one!

Otherwise, I'll...

"Hehehe, hehehe!"

Laughing oddly to herself, Elisa reached her slender finger out of the coffin and squeezed a drop of blood from its tip, gleaming like a blood-red diamond.

Herbert collected the drop in the crystal vial he had emptied of holy water, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Good.

Material from a Legendary vampire-secured!

Having watched the entire bargaining process, Nenasya couldn't help remarking, ["So this is how you've been tricking them out of their materials."]

"Mind your own business! Besides, this was a perfectly legitimate, equal exchange."

Herbert and Elisa might have seemed to spend a long time on this, but that wasn't actually the case.

Only five minutes had passed from the moment he arrived to the moment he obtained the essence blood.

Two minutes left!

But before Herbert could swallow the essence blood, he heard Nenasya's warning.

["He's already here~"]

That fast?!

Herbert's gaze sharpened. Just as he prepared to swallow the blood regardless of the consequences, his expression suddenly changed.

A figure pushed into his light, and Herbert got a clear look at the blasphemer who had kept him scrambling for so long.

*!!!*

Herbert immediately moved to slash with his sword, but stopped halfway.

The other party's current appearance was very different from what he had imagined.

Extremely different!

"What is this?"

There was nothing remarkable about the blasphemer's face. He looked like an entirely ordinary monk.

His gaunt, pale face looked somewhat stiff, and his body exuded a rotten stench mingled with the smell of fish.

The truly strange part lay below his neck-he didn't look like a living person at all!

His upper body looked as though some enormous beast had torn into it, leaving massive wounds. His chest had been ripped clean through, the flesh and organs inside torn apart and destroyed.

His lower body was just as gruesome as his upper body.

His left leg was slightly better off, merely broken into three sections that were barely held together by a layer of flesh and skin.

All the flesh on his right leg was gone, leaving only a blackened leg bone to support his staggering body as he struggled forward.

Clack, clack, clack...

With every step he took, another piece of flesh fell from his body, dissolving into drifting dust before it could even reach the ground.

Looking like this... what had he been through?

Most importantly, Herbert was standing right in front of him, barely a meter away, yet those deathly pale eyes held no reflection of him.

The blasphemer ignored Herbert completely.

He simply kept moving forward.

Continuing toward the unseen darkness.

Only after the blasphemer walked straight past him did Herbert slowly exhale and ask inwardly, "...This is what you meant by him charging at me?"

["That's not my fault. You happened to be standing right in his path, so of course he was coming toward you."]

Oh, great!

Herbert rolled his eyes hard.

You little shit!

I was wondering why you were just enjoying the show without a hint of panic, not remotely worried that your ally might meet an untimely end.

Turns out there was never anything to worry about in the first place!!!

"So you knew all along that he posed no threat to me."

["Of course!"]

The Evil God replied smugly, ["Even I wouldn't stand by and let an ally die!"]

"But you didn't tell me the truth, either."

["True. Your reactions were just too entertaining~"]

"...Sigh."

Events had taken so many twists and turns that Herbert honestly lacked the energy to be angry with the damned Evil God now.

He could argue with her later. First, he needed to figure out what was happening in front of him.

"So what's going on with this guy, exactly?"

["He's already dead... All that remains in this body is an obsession, driving him ever onward."]

Knowing she had thoroughly offended Herbert this time, Nenasya stopped provoking him and dutifully explained:

["Or rather, the original him died several days ago, when another soul took over his body."]

Someone possessed him?

Herbert raised an eyebrow, hesitated briefly, then decisively followed the blasphemer.

He really wanted to know where this fellow was trying to go.

What exactly was his obsession?

The two walked quietly through the darkness, one behind the other, for quite some time. Only when nearly all the flesh on the blasphemer's body had vanished did he finally stop before a wall.

Where was this?

Just as Herbert began to suspect something, the blasphemer spoke:

"Where are you..."

His voice sounded layered, a hoarse sound somewhere between a man's and a woman's that echoed endlessly through the darkness.

"Lady Archmage, why won't you see me..."

He really had come looking for Svanney?!

Herbert narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword, aiming its tip at the back of the blasphemer's head, ready to strike without hesitation at any suspicious movement.

While Herbert hesitated, a helpless sigh came from the darkness ahead.

"Sigh..."

"After all this time, why have you come looking for me again?"

It was a hoarse murmur carrying a trace of complaint.

"Please spare him. There's no need to trouble you with personally dispatching someone already dead, Lord Prison Warden."

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Accompanied by soft sounds, a subtle change came over the darkness.

The next moment, Herbert distinctly sensed a path-a path leading to another cell within the dark space.

Svanney, who had remained holed up in seclusion all this time, had revealed her location of her own accord!