Chapter 31: Holy Light and Corruption (Please Follow & Read)

Herbert's paired swords were incomparably sharp; the blades could easily cleave through pig iron.

Not to mention his fragile flesh.

The moment his palm clenched hard, the flesh of his hand was sliced open directly, and the fresh blood that poured out swiftly flowed along the blade into the coffin.

Hiss!

Herbert's expression shifted slightly as he bit down hard on his molars.

These stubborn commoners — every last one of them is a handful.

Some want to bite me, some want to drown me, and now they want to suck my blood.

Not a single decent one among them!

This is really too much — it's all your fault for forcing my hand!

Since you show no benevolence, don't blame me for being unjust.

"Blood — I'm giving it to you!"

Herbert's face contorted slightly from the searing pain in his palm, but instead of crying out, he gritted his teeth and forced a smile:

"Please, by all means, don't stand on ceremony with me…"

Stand on ceremony?

Elisha couldn't quite fathom what the young man was thinking.

What on earth are you saying?

You give me blood — why would I stand on ceremony with you?

"……"

Honestly, she couldn't quite read the situation right now, unsure whether Herbert had broken through the hypnosis.

Or had he only been half-hypnotized — aware of the problem yet still compelled to act on the hypnosis?

The thought lasted only a few seconds before Elisha lost her reason.

Fresh blood.

Long-awaited fresh blood!

She had been starving and thirsting for over a thousand years, and now at last she smelled the scent of fresh blood again.

Lick~ Ha!

She could no longer bring herself to think at all; in her mind there was only one thought left — lick it!

"Forget it, eat first!"

Lick—

"Mm!!!"

The instant her tongue-tip touched that fresh blood, Elisha cried out in shock, wishing she could bite her own tongue off.

Sweet, fragrant, mellow, rich… a thousand flavors seemed to bloom at once within the blood, bursting across her mouth.

Elisha had never tasted fresh blood like this — never!

She had never imagined that, after thirsting for so long, the very first mouthful of fresh blood she drank would be of such extraordinary quality!

She couldn't help a slight shiver, letting out a moan-like long sigh: "Ah~"

It was simply too wonderful.

This taste was simply too… mm!!?

"Mm!?"

Suddenly, Elisha felt a strange stinging pain on her tongue, as if it had been scalded…

No!

This was being scalded!!?

Sizzle—

Elisha flung her mouth open and let out a scream.

"Ah!"

"Damn it! What is wrong with your blood!!? My tongue!"

And it wasn't only her tongue — her entire mouth, her swallowing throat, her stomach… all of them at that instant felt an intense searing burn.

She even thought what she had just drunk wasn't blood, but high-concentration holy water!

Wait…

"This is holy water!?"

"Aha, you guessed right!"

Hearing that scream, Herbert finally couldn't hold back his laughter; laughing as he went, he used a torn-off sleeve to do a simple bandaging on his left hand.

Elisha writhed in agony, shrieking: "But I didn't smell holy water… you — you're a Holy Knight!?"

"Congratulations, you've learned to answer before being called."

The holy sigil on the back of Herbert's hand now blazed, attesting to what he had just done — the transmutation of holy water.

For holy professionals, holy water is a vital necessity in battles against creatures of darkness.

And the sources of holy water generally fall into two categories — mass-produced by the Church of the Gods, or self-made by certain holy professionals.

Holy water produced by the Temple has the merits of high output, stable effect, and low price, and is also sold to ordinary adventurers.

Holy water self-made by holy professionals, on the other hand, varies considerably depending on the quality of the materials.

Herbert didn't carry holy water on him, nor did he have materials for making it on hand — but he possessed one advantage no one else could match.

He was a Holy Knight who had sworn the Oath of Purity; his fresh blood was equivalent to the highest-grade "Blood of Purity," an exceedingly rare magical material.

Holy water made using "Blood of Purity" as the base material is always of the highest concentration and top-tier quality.

So that's why Herbert had that line — please, don't you dare stand on ceremony with me!

Don't you want my blood?

I'll give it to you!

Poisoning!

The corner of Herbert's mouth lifted. He leaned in beside the coffin and whispered with full malice: "Miss Elisa, please receive the blessing of Holy Light."

Savor the corruption of Holy Light to your heart's content!

"You damned— ahhh!!!"

If this were Elisa at her peak, this bit of holy water wouldn't mean a thing — she could dispel it with ease.

But unfortunately, Elisa is no longer the Blood Apostate of those days who could slay another Prince.

She is very weak right now.

Very, very weak!

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

The Herbert blood she had drunk was like a lethal poison, rapidly corrupting the blood still lingering within her body!

Elisa realized she couldn't let this continue — she had to take measures.

"Damn it…"

In her desperation, she could only cut her losses to survive. She slammed her chest hard and spat a blood arrow from her mouth, spraying it onto the inner wall of the coffin.

Hiss—

That fresh blood clearly radiated Holy Light, yet it swiftly dissolved, giving off a scent she found loathsome.

"…"

Though she had forcibly expelled that blood, Elisa's entire aura dropped once more — several times weaker than before.

This time, Elisa had failed utterly.

Not only had she gained nothing, she'd also lost most of what little she had left.

A complete case of the loss outweighing the gain.

Rustle—

Hearing the sound, Elisa warily shrank back, trying to dodge the other's next attack.

But this time she was overthinking it.

After successfully ambushing Elisa once, Herbert didn't try the same trick twice.

He used his right hand to pull out his paired sword, and along the way even tried to pry at the gap, successfully widening it to two fingers' breadth.

Hmm?

Elisa stared at the widened gap, hesitated for a moment, but in the end still pressed her eye to it, looking outside the coffin.

In the darkness, a white-haired youth whose entire body radiated a faint, glimmering glow stood smiling and winking at her, a bloodstained longsword in hand, and laughed brightly: "Miss Elisa, we finally meet."

"Hmm?"

Elisa narrowed her eyes, studying Herbert carefully, on guard against his next move.

But Herbert did not attack.

He gazed at the crimson eyes revealed in the gap, smiled elegantly, slung the sword behind his back, and gave a slight bow toward the coffin.

"We've been chatting so happily for so long just now, and we still haven't gotten around to introducing ourselves."

His face was full of warmth, his eyes full of gentleness, as if nothing had happened at all. He chuckled softly at Elisa:

"Pleased to meet you. I am Herbert, a humble Holy Knight."

"I hope we can get along we~ll from now on!"

Dusk.

In a remote, seldom-visited corner, a thin, black-robed figure hunched over, body trembling ceaselessly, arms jerking rapidly, letting out heavy, ragged breaths.

"Ha, ha… ha!"

Accompanied by a certain slick, viscous sound, his movements grew faster and faster, rougher and rougher.

But just as his soul and body were about to reach their peak, an untimely voice rang out.

"…Hmm? Is someone there?"

Reading along over the next two days is extremely, extremely important! Please, save this child! You have to read it!

During the new-book period I really can't update more, but once it's on the shelves, if the results are good, I will explode with updates even without you begging me — trust me—

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(End of this chapter)