Chapter 331: 330 The Dominated Vampire
Because of the skirmish with the Platinum Knight, Reiger had now deviated from the original position where he had confronted Shalltear and from the location of that mysterious group of humans.
Concerned about the developments there, Reiger left the battlefield that had become a meteor crater and, wrapped in a pale blue light of Magic Power, flew towards the last place where Shalltear had faced off against the mysterious human group using "Flight" magic.
The location wasn’t far, and after only flying for a while, Reiger successfully arrived at his destination.
Then, hovering in mid-air, Reiger saw it.
He saw the figure standing in the depressed clearing of the forest below.
It was Shalltear.
Furthermore, she had reverted to her original appearance, no longer in the form of a monster, but back to that of the peerlessly beautiful young girl in a formal dress.
She stood there alone, surrounded by blood, the sphere of blood above her head having disappeared as if she had undergone a fierce battle.
This version of Shalltear seemed off no matter how one looked at her current state.
Her eyes were hollow and lifeless, as if she had lost consciousness.
Even when she saw Reiger flying above, she remained completely motionless, as if what appeared before her wasn’t the very same person she had just been clamoring to kill but rather a small stone that had rolled to her feet by accident.
Reiger landed in front of such a Shalltear and gazed at her.
"So, you’ve fallen under mental control after all?"
Reiger narrowed his eyes as though deep in thought.
After a moment, Reiger slowly walked towards Shalltear.
Throughout this process, Shalltear showed no reaction at all, not until Reiger stepped into a closer range did she finally lift her eyelids slightly.
"Boom—"
Suddenly, Shalltear shattered the ground beneath her feet and transformed into a bullet that burst through the air, shooting straight at Reiger.
"Boom!"
With the physique of a stunning beauty, Shalltear threw a punch at Reiger, which hit the blade he had raised at some unknown time, causing a muffled sound.
Instantly, Reiger was blown away by the tremendous force, his feet skidding across the ground and kicking up dust, retreating a considerable distance.
At that moment, Shalltear, who had launched the attack, stopped once again and remained standing motionless in the same posture as before on the sunken ground.
"......"
Reiger looked at his trembling blade and after a while, he sheathed it back into the scabbard.
"Is this the so-called wild beast mode?"
"She only reacts when attacked or when someone enters her attack range?"
"And moreover, she attacks without distinguishing between friend and foe?"
Reiger understood Shalltear’s current condition.
This made him thoughtful.
"Should I finish her off here?"
Reiger was considering such a matter.
There was no doubt that Shalltear was strong.
In the Nasalik Underground Tomb, Shalltear served as the Guardian of the first to third floors, the only one responsible for multiple floors among all the Guardians and her strength exceeded most of the Guardians, even surpassing Ainz, a player.
As a result, Shalltear was once regarded as the strongest Guardian, ranking among the top three or even the top two among all the sentient NPCs of Nasalik.
With many powerful items from "YGGDRASIL" on her, if he eliminated her here, not only could he have a chance at obtaining those items, but he could also gain a substantial amount of experience points.
However...
"Forget it."
Reiger thought of Ainz and shook his head.
"Besides, learning Ainz’s magic is the more important matter."
Reiger planned to stick to the original plan, using this situation to fleece Bone Sovereign of his wool.
"[Greater Teleportation]."
Having made up his mind, Reiger used the high-tier teleportation magic he had recently learned and left the area.
......
At the same time, a person fled in haste from the forests to the north of E-Rantel.
This person was Clementine.
"Monsters... they’re all monsters...!"
Clementine ran while continuously cursing under her breath.
"How could so many monsters suddenly appear...!?"
Thinking back to the disturbances in the forest and the ferocious clashes beyond her imagination, Clementine’s already twisted heart trembled.
Originally, Clementine was very confident in her abilities.
Being able to step into the realm beyond humanity and achieve a hero’s rank at around 20 years old, Clementine’s strength and potential were unquestionably superior to those of others.
Bear in mind, Gejiev was already middle-aged, not young anymore, yet he had still not officially entered the Heroic Domain. In comparison to the kingdom’s strongest warrior, Clementine’s talent was clearly evident.
So, it was quite normal for Clementine to feel confident, even arrogant, about her own strength.
Even within the Black Scripture, a special unit where all members were of Heroic Domain status, there were only two individuals truly above Clementine who made her feel undeniably surpassed and unbeatable—one was the Captain, and the other was [Absolute Death], who held an extra seat.
As for the others, perhaps there were those stronger than Clementine, but she didn’t think they were much better than her.
But today, all of Clementine’s self-confidence and arrogance were shattered.
Shattered by Reiger.
Shattered by Shalltear.
And shattered by the platinum Knight.
Although Clementine was not present at the back-to-back confrontations of these three, the earth-shattering reverberations of the battle were something that could not be concealed.
At this moment, Clementine instead came to loathe her overly sharp senses, hating herself for perceiving that commotion so clearly.
It was precisely because she felt that noise so vividly, felt the level of the intense battle, that Clementine had no choice but to admit that in front of those monsters, she was insignificant, weak, an ordinary life that no amount of effort could ever catch up to.
"Damn it...! Damn it...!"
Clementine’s twisted psyche continuously bred more darkness, even hatred.
If someone were to appear before her now, she would certainly vent her anger on them, subjecting him (or her) to all kinds of torment to alleviate the darkness in her heart, the hatred within.
"Let’s head back to E-Rantel."
A cruel light flickered in Clementine’s eyes.
"If escape is truly impossible, then let more people accompany me before I die, accompany me in death."
With such a warped mindset, Clementine turned around and stealthily headed in the direction of E-Rantel.
Unfortunately...
"It’s regrettable, but you will die here alone, taking no one with you."
When such a voice echoed from mid-air, Clementine froze in place.
She could not take another step forward.
She could no longer suppress the fear in her heart.
She knew that from this moment on, her fate was no longer in her own hands.
"It seems you understand the situation well, how splendid."
The figure symbolizing the grim reaper landed before Clementine, saying this while looking at her with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
That unremarkable presence, which seemed so ordinary, made Clementine really want to curse out loud and level fierce accusations at him.
Despite being strong like a monster, he exuded none of the aura or grandeur that a powerful being should, which was practically an excessive joke played on the entire world.
If Reiger had just a bit more presence, just a bit more extraordinariness, would she have ended up in this predicament?
Clementine, thinking thus, was unaware that compared to Tsukiguni Yoriichi, Reiger was already a lot better.
Although Reiger had sealed his martial spirit and presence through Transparent World, due to his intrinsically conspicuous nature, some could still sense the mystery and contradiction emanating from him, and indirectly perceive his complexity.
Unlike Yoriichi, who upon his first and last encounter with Kibutsuji Muzan, made Muzan believe he was facing an insignificant minion, an ordinary civilian so plain he couldn’t be plainer.
And then... Muzan was instantly defeated.
Compared to Yoriichi, Reiger was indeed better.
Of course, unlike the kind-hearted Yoriichi, Reiger was much colder and more ruthless.
"Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance."
He said to the beautiful yet coquettish Clementine before him, uttering words akin to a death sentence.
"Go on, say your last words."
In other words, there was no way for Clementine to escape death.
"...Oh, thank you very much indeed, Lord Monster."
Clementine’s beautiful face was twisted to an extreme degree of ferocity, revealing her true nature for all to see.
Seeing Clementine at this moment, anyone would know that her beautiful exterior was just a disguise; at her core, she was an extremely dangerous and grotesquely carnivorous alien.
"I just want to know, what exactly are you?"
"Are you a human? An awakened demigod? Or an alien disguised as a human?"
"Right, someone like you, you just can’t be human, can you?"
Clementine sneered, her menacing and ugly smile contorted.
"Come on, show me your true form before you die."
"That human face of yours is just fake skin plastered onto your body, right? Rip it off and show me!"
"If you satisfy me, before death, you can do whatever you want with this body. Isn’t it tempting?"
At these words, Reiger simply looked quietly at Clementine, unmoved.
His calm gaze, his indifferent demeanor, completely ignited the darkness in Clementine’s heart.
"You despicable monster aaaaaaaaah...!"
Clementine drew out the stiletto from her waist, and while screaming, she charged at Reiger.
Her speed was not slow, in fact quite fast, true to the name of [Wind Piercing Speed].
In response, Reiger simply drew his sword.
"Clang!"
The blade’s icy gleam sliced through, blood splattered.
Clementine’s body continued to rush forward, but her head soared into mid-air.
Soon after, she slowly fell down, lifeless.