23 Betrayal
*Cleanse.*
Gerard sat on his bed at the inn, remembering fragments of the night before.
"Willam's dead. The last of the goblins should be dead. I pushed myself too hard. Mana depletion and exhaustion combined make for a nasty hangover."
Gerard opened the door to the inn, and a little redheaded woman lunged at him. He barely held back his instincts to bring his elbow down for a quick strike.
"Rena? Are you okay?"
"I-I heard that mister Willam died and that you came back from the forest all hurt and bloody. I was so worried!" Rena sniffed.
"It wasn't my blood, and I was just tired, Rena. Everything is fine."
"Truly?"
"I swear."
She loosened her grip, stood up, and patted down her tunic and pants.
Gerard walked over to one of the tables and sat down. Trent gave him a big smile, but Gerard shook his head.
"I have to check on the walls. There might be damage from the goblin attack last night."
"Last night? You've been asleep for a week!" Rena frowned.
"Oh, no wonder I worried you..."
Sitting in the corner of the inn, Fletch sat down a mug and walked over.
"She's been coming here every hour for the last week. Even I've visited you daily. Your skin was cold, but we couldn't find any injuries, and you were still breathing. Our herbalist didn't know what to do, so we prayed."
*With gods like that woman, I'm doubtful they had a hand in my survival.*
"Thanks for worrying about me, you two. I'm going to check on the wall now, though."
"We already have, but you're welcome to."
---
Gerard walked along the edge of the village's wall and checked for damages. A few logs were replaced, and Fletch was right about its condition. He gave up on his task and walked back towards the inn.
[You're back.]
*Hey, Sprite. Anything new happen while I was out?*
[I figured out a few new tricks. I can assuredly help you more with a body like this.]
*I can't wait to hear about it. Wait...*
[What is it?]
"Something's coming. Come close to the main gate but out of sight.*
[Got it.]
The sound of marching in the distance forced Gerard's body into action as he ran to the front gate. Coming from the direction of Solares, a large group of armoured people marched forward, with seven people riding horses.
The people of the village came out from their houses, and Fletch came to stand beside Gerard.
"More bandits?" Fletch squinted his eyes to try and make out more details.
"I don't think so. Direct confrontation isn't usual for bandits, right? It looks like they're much better equipped than typical bandits."
"I'll get the guards and other hunters to prepare everyone to evacuate, just in case."
"Hurry, Fletch."
Fletch ran off, guiding the villagers away from the main gate. Guards and hunters took over Fletch's role.
Fletch returned in time to see several men and a woman striding into the village on horseback, with dozens of men following on foot. They wore the banner that Gerard saw on the walls at Solares. As they came closer, Gerard recognised the woman—the same one from the ruins, back when he was a ghoul.
She immediately pointed at Gerard.
*Of course, she recognises me as well, I don't think there's much of a difference in my appearance between my vampyre and dhampir evolutions, but it has been years.*
[Shall we kill them?]
*Are you sure, Sprite? You haven't killed anyone before.*
[My role is to assist you in any way that I can. Now that I have a body, I can also help you in combat situations.]
*Then let's finish this.*
"That's it, the shapeshifting demon that killed them!"
"I, Leopold Sunstriker, of the Hero class, have been recognised as the hero of this country by the king himself. Kill the creature posing as a human, and this town will be spared from annihilation." The hero pointed his gleaming white sword at Gerard.
"For what crime?" Fletch stepped forward.
"For harbouring the monster that killed the head researcher of the institute, forty other researchers, two of the Solares city guard, and Emille, Rose, Delilah, and Jerrick of the Red Lotus adventurer party."
*Ah, I knew it...*
A few of the villagers the hunters guided away had returned and whispered amongst themselves.
"That can't be..." Fletch looked at Gerard.
Gerard did not respond. He stood calmly.
*This was the inevitable outcome of making humanity my enemy. One can't massacre a group of people and expect to be free of the consequences.*
"See? He denies nothing."
*So much for life in this village. The least I can do in the end is protect them.*
"Was it really forty people? They all died so easily that I couldn't tell." Gerard bluffed with a forced smile.
Gerard stepped forward, passing his friends to stand between them and the intruders.
*Hellfire.*
Gerard raised his hand, and deep red flames rose from the ground, engulfing many soldiers behind the horses. Screams of agony and the smell of searing flesh filled the air. Gerard continued to reposition the spell to take even more victims.
*If only that amount of intimidation would make them back down.*
"Monster!" The hero stepped down from his horse, and the female archer did the same.
[You have gained 152,790 experience. You have reached level 19. Your base stats have increased. 98,410 experience until your next level.]
*Now, more people are calling me a monster. I guess they're not running. I gained two levels with that, though?*
Leopold angled his sword behind him, lowered his stance, spread his feet, and disappeared. An imminent sense of danger crept upon Gerard. He raised his arms and stepped to the right. Gerard's left hand fell to the ground. The hero reappeared, the tip of his sword coated in blood.
"Good reflexes. For a monster. I was aiming for your heart."
With another slash, Gerard's face gained an incision from his temple to his jaw. He felt the cartilage in his nose separate, and he lost vision in one eye. Three arrows hit his chest in quick succession. The archer was making her move as well.
A young woman stepped out from behind the horses and raised her hand.
"Monster, be shackled. Bind!*
Semi-invisible tendrils shot up from the ground and restricted Gerard's movement. Gerard tried to grab them, but his hands slipped through.
*Now, Sprite!*
From the shadows, Sprite sprinted forward and, with her solid body, punched the hero in the side. The hero flew through the air and smashed into a nearby house. A family rushed from it and ran down the street.
*You're strong!*
[I don't have access to my status screen like you, but I think I can level up and become stronger, just like the beings in this world.]
"What is that?" The archer shot an arrow.
The arrow dented Sprite's body but bounced off. Sprite tilted her head. Her expressionless face even sent shivers down Gerard's spine.
*I'll never get used to that. I need to figure out how to make her seem more alive.*
Sprite charged forward towards the spellcaster. Hesitating, the spell caster dropped to her knees and cowered, making Sprite miss her strike. The tendrils disappeared from around Gerard.
A blinding light erupted from the house. Leopold's body glowed, and his sword became pure light.
"Oh, lords of the realms unseen, grant me the power to destroy these incarnations of evil..." The hero began to chant, and the light grew brighter.
*I need blood.*
Gerard leapt forward and dragged a spectacled man from a horse. The man, who had just been watching the chaos so far, grabbed Gerard's side and his right arm, ripping it out of its socket with pure brute strength.
Regardless, Gerard's teeth had already sunk into his neck. As Gerard drained the man of blood, he reached back with his left arm, and his hand reattached itself by linking up with streams of blood; his recently ripped-off arm did the same. His vision returned, and the wound on his face closed back up.
Gerard wiped the blood from his mouth, took his sword, and launched it at the archer, piercing her chest. She dropped to the ground.
Searing pain filled Gerard's stomach. The hero's sword hung from his gut, and holding the sword was the hero.
*I didn't even see him move! Sprite!*
Before Sprite could move, Leopold drew his sword from Gerard, disappeared, and reappeared behind Sprite. Sprite's body splintered into hundreds of pieces and scattered in the wind.
"Sprite!"
[You have learned the vampyric skill, blood control.]
[You have learned the Blitz skill.]
*Sprite? You're alive?*
No response came.
*System Access!*
The information appeared before him, but Sprite's voice did not read it for him.
"You bastard!"
"Oh, angry that I killed your pet monster?"
Gerard felt the blood boil beneath his skin. He touched the gaping wound in his stomach, and blood pooled in his hand before taking shape. As he pulled his hand from the wound, more blood built a weapon from scratch—a giant mace with rows of spikes on the end.
*Of course, my blood knows exactly what weapon I want.*
Gerard looked at Leopold and tightened his grip.
"Pet? Monster? She was my first friend in this world, and you killed her."
Gerard became a semi-transparent afterimage, and his mace struck the hero. The loud cracks of the hero's right arm and several ribs echoed in Gerard's head like a melody.
"Was that the 'Blitz' skill? I also feel like I've got more power. Bloody frenzy? Does blood control allow me to control my frenzy as well?"
Sprite still didn't respond.
The hero reappeared before him and slashed for Gerard's neck. Gerard knocked the sword away by punching the blade, and slammed the mace into the hero's stomach. The hero vomited blood. Gerard brought the mace above his head and smiled.
"This is your end."
A familiar smell reached his nose. Rena. Gerard began to turn and look upon his friend, but pain shot through his chest. He looked down to see his sword poking through his armour. His vision blurred, and he fell to one knee.
He heard sobbing.
"You killed Jerrick. You killed my father."
*Rena's crying. No, that's not it. I made her cry. I robbed her of her future.*
His other knee hit the ground before he fell to his side.
*I've been using the weapon and wearing the clothes of a man I murdered. This is the least that I deserve. Maybe, if I had chosen another path, things would've been different.*
He saw Rena step over him and run into Fletch's arms. Scarlette stood by him, a sorrowful look in her eyes. Fletch shook his head at Gerard, and darkness enveloped him.
*At least with this, they should be safe.*
