Chapter 32: CH 31

True Ancestor Part 5

Translators: Frostfire10, fba90130, Henet

Shalltear leaped upwards in the dark like a bird taking off and landed on the barricade of logs at the  entrance on one leg. The other three vampires followed her slowly up to the entrance.

Shalltear smiled as she looked contemptuously at the target before her.

A small party was standing at the cave entrance in proper formation.

Three male warriors standing shoulder-to-shoulder formed the vanguard. The quality of their equipment varied with the worst equipped member of the trio wearing a hauberk of heavy overlapping scales <Scale Mail>. A drawn weapon in each hand and a large shield on each back.  

And behind the men, stood a red-haired female warrior clad in banded mail.

Bringing up the rear and protected by his comrades in front was a man in light gear holding a staff in his hand. Probably a mage. Beside him was a man clad in a cleric’s robe that was draped over amor. A holy symbol in the shape of a flame hung from his neck.

Despite being taken by surprise by Shalltear’s sudden appearance, they did not panic and their guard never wavered. This spoke volumes about the party’s experience.

“Oh this will be gooood”

Although Shalltear had no objections to slaughtering the weak and helpless, a little bit of resistance certainly helped spice things up.

A smirk appeared on Shalltear’s face as her red eyes lit up in anticipation of the entertainment to follow. Suddenly, the mage started in shock, as if he had noticed something about Shalltear. However, he wavered only for an instant as his face tightened with tension.

“Presumed Vampire! Only silver and magical weapons effective. Victory impossible! Fighting retreat! Don’t look in their eyes.”

The mage’s voice rang out loud enough for the entire cave to hear clearly.

The man’s instructions were terse and to the point. Instantly, the others reacted. As one, the warriors reached over their backs for their Large Shields. Taking a defensive posture, the warriors took cover behind the shields they had pushed forward. Avoiding eye-contact, they kept their eyes on Shalltear’s torso.  

At the same the time, the female warrior took the vanguards’ weapons and applied something on them.

Shalltear’s nose caught the scent of an unpleasant odour.

That was alchemical silver.

This was a special application produced by alchemists. A magic preparation that was applied onto the striking surfaces of weapons like grease. This gave the weapons properties similar to ones made of silver.

Generally speaking, silver weapons were expensive and softer than steel weapons. They were also unsuited for long-term use. Because of this, most adventurers purchased this preparation which costs one-tenth the price of a silver weapon. It is used as necessary, giving any weapon the same effects as a silver weapon temporarily. It is, however, effective only for at most 5 minutes and thus encounters requiring the use of the application are usually resolved one way or another very quickly.

Glints of silver flashed as the group waved their temporarily imbued weapons , trying to ward off Shalltear as they retreated in a single line. Even their retreat was impressive. The group moved in unison like a single entity as they retreated.

“My god, god of fire—-”

“Don’t do useless things! Use protection magic.”

Stopping the cleric who was about to chant, the magic caster began to cast magic on the vanguard. Following him, the cleric began to do the same.

Most clerics could summon the power of gods to repel, control or destroy undead, demons or angels. However, that was only if they were weaker existences. Basically the cleric tried to cast magic on Shalltear, but the magic caster decided that the cleric was not strong enough to do any damage, and so should use his efforts to do something different.

<Anti-Evil Protection>

<Mind Protection>

They cast the magic sequentially on the warriors in front.

A feeling of admiration was born in Shalltear’s pleasure-muddled head. The magic used was the lowest level—-Rank 1 magic, but it suited the enemy. It was completely different from the rash attacks of the bandits, or the idiot warrior who came alone.

However—-Useless was useless.

However, they held no meaning with such a gap in strength.

Shalltear stepped.

It was extremely light.

A lightness like she was about to take a step. However, the movement caused a strong gale.

She swung an overarm.

Piercing the shield, tearing through armour, ignoring the magic defense, cutting flesh, gripping the beating heart, and in one stroke—-Crushing it. In front of the drooping warrior, a reddish-black lump formed within Shalltear’s hand. The woman raised a small scream, and the cleric made a detested face.

Smiling at the scene, Shalltear activated a magic.

<Animate Dead>

Slowly, the warrior who lost his heart stood up.

Under the circumstances, it was nothing more than the lowest rank undead monster, a zombie. Shalltear casually threw away the heart, and slipped her hand into the mass of blood floating over her head. From there she took out a crimson mass—-A pulsating mass of blood. It was a caricature of a heart.

She gave it to the zombie.

The mass of blood writhed like a worm, its shape twisting and deforming as it dug its way slowly into the body of the zombie. The zombie  twitched and spasmed as it slowly started to change.

The gaping hole in its chest started to reverse itself as if time had started to go backwards like a rewinding tape. At the same time, as if water had totally evaporated from the corpse, the zombie became desiccated, its skin resembled tree bark.  

“That’s impossible! I’ve never heard of a vampire that could use such high-level magic so effortlessly.”

“It’s happening in front of you. Calm down! Deal with it calmly!”

“But!”

“—-Retreat is impossible! Attack!”

“Ou!”

As the Cleric attempted to create a distraction, the others read his intention and reacted. One warrior slashed at Shalltear while the other faced their former comrade turned Lesser Vampire.

“Oh my God of flame. Banish the unclean!”

An invisible ray of Divine power shot out from the Holy symbol that the Cleric clutched tightly in his hands. Such a pathetic attack had, of course, no effect on Shalltear.

“AAhaaaaaaAAAAAhahahahhahahaha!”

The warrior facing the Lesser Vampire had managed to sink his blade into the undead being. That was probably because the Vampire had been bound by the Cleric’s divine powers. Granted that the Vampire was newly created and unstable and as such, vulnerable, Shalltear still felt slightly insulted that any creation of hers could have lost to such petty divine powers.  

Deflecting a warrior’s downward chop with her pinky nail, she glared at the offending cleric hiding behind the warrior.

“A bbbboooottttthhhheeerrrr!”

With a casual swing of her right hand, the warrior lost his head, blood spraying in a gory fountain as the corpse collapsed slowly onto the ground.

<Lesser Strength>

Strengthening magic had been cast on the lone remaining warrior. Up until now, the warrior had been at a slight disadvantage. With the binding placed on the vampire and the strengthening magic on the warrior, the tide was slowly turning.  

Well, they seem to be enjoying themselves. Cutting in would be impolite. In any case, there was still prey to be had.

Shalltear’s brain, still thirsting for blood, considered this briefly before turning towards to the cleric.

The female warrior came in from the side and confronted Shalltear with a sword. It was an ordinary steel weapon.

How cute. Quivering in fear, and yet still holding that sword as if meaning to put up a fight. It was like the last ditch resistance of a small animal against a predator. Shalltear melted in a joy so intense,  it felt like her nether region had heated up in excitement.

I wonder what kind of scream she would make if I bite off her fingers?

Maybe I should cut her ear off and make her eat it.

No, before that I should sip on her blood. After all, she’s my first female prey from my first excursion.

“I ffffooooouuunnnddd dddeeeessseeerrrrtttt.”

A leap.

Leaping over the woman, towards the magic caster and cleric.

With a movement faster than the cleric, Shalltear crushed the cleric’s hand along with the holy sigil that he was holding onto.

“GuwaAaa!”

Hearing the cleric’s cries of pain, Shalltear smiled satisfactorily and decided to give him mercy. She ended his suffering with her hand, She nodded with enjoyment after seeing the blood accumulating in the sphere above her head.

Someone used all their might to ram into Shalltear from the back. But she was unaffected and remain still like a large tree. But the tip of the sword sticking out from her chest was annoying.

“Unbelievable……No effect! It’s silver weapons. This!”

The sword protruding from her chest, beautifully pierced the position where her heart should be. Yet, Shalltear disregarded this and started to move, making the female warrior scream.

The girl did not bring any silver weapons. Likely, it was taken from the male warrior.

Some of what the mage said was right. But some was also wrong. The only weapons effective against Shalltear were either silver weapons enchanted with magic of a certain strength, or weapons with special innate properties. Plain silver weapons were incapable of damaging her.  

Shalltear ignored the woman behind her, and gazed at the surprised magic caster.

< Magic Arrow>

In a desperate display of magic,  two beams of light flashed and hit Shalltear, only to disappear without a trace.   

That was due to Shalltear’s special ability – Mid Tier Magic Damage Reduction. Although damage was only reduced not negated, if the damage done is smaller than the reduction value, no damage was done at all. Such was the obvious difference in power between the two.

“Bbbboooorrrrriiiiiinnnnnnggggg!”

The head of the magic caster easily fell to the ground.

Looking away, the lesser vampire was having a good fight with the two warriors.

Shalltear casually picked up the heads of the two by the hair. Bored, she then threw them towards the two. The weights of about six kilogrammes flew at a tremendous speed. There was no need to say the result. The two slowly fell to the ground.

Shalltear had been run through by a sword several times, but gave no sign of even noticing the damage. Even the holes in her clothes (being magical), had closed up.  

Shalltear turned towards the female warrior. Finally realizing that she was the only person still alive, she retreated in fear. Fumbling desperately in her belt pouch, she was fishing for something.    

Shalltear gazed at the crimson scene around her. Curious as to what the warrior was doing, she waited.

Finally, the woman brought out a bottle and threw it at Shalltear. Maybe it was holy water, or maybe it was a molotov cocktail. Either way, it was useless against her.

Shalltear caught quick glimpse at the thrown bottle and snickered.

What a pitiful resistance.

Yes, first Shalltear would slowly suck some blood from her. Not enough to kill her of course. Then she would do all kinds of things to the warrior, taking care not to draw blood.  

Having decided, Shalltear swatted aside the incoming bottle casually. On impact, a red liquid splashed out of the opened bottle and leaked onto Shalltear’s bare skin.

Then—-A small pain ran through her body.

Shalltear’s mind went blank in an instant, her blood lust suddenly driven away by surprise.

Shalltear stared at the spot which was pulsing with shock and pain. It was the hand that had brushed away the bottle. Where the liquid had touched skin, it gave off a foul stench and a slight wisp of smoke.

Shifting her view, she looked down at the ground beneath her. A bottle lay open before her, giving off a light pleasant scent. And suddenly she realized the shape of the bottle looked familiar.  

That was—-A potion bottle that was the most commonly used in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Inside of it was probably a Minor Healing Potion. Undead received damage depending on the healing item. It was the reason why Shalltear’s chest melted slightly.

The wound itself had healed immediately. The wound on her beautiful white hand had, of course, disappeared. However, Shalltear’s surprise remained.

“Impossible!!”

A shout that shook the atmosphere.

“Capture that woman without harm!”

In response to Shalltear’s words, the vampires that were previously standing behind and watching moved. They captured the woman, who took Shalltear’s shock as an opportunity to flee, and gripped her right and left arms.

The woman panicly resisted, but there was a basic difference in the strength of humans and vampires. She was easily brought back to Shalltear and thrust before her.

“Look at my eyes!”

Shalltear grabbed the woman’s chin and forced their gazes to lock, of course, taking care not to exert too much strength. After all, She wouldn’t get anything useful if she tore the woman’s chin off. And while Shalltear could cast divine spells, as an undead, healing spells were beyond her.

Having being forced to lock gaze with the vampire, the woman’s eyes filmed over, her expression, once full of hostility and fear only showed friendliness. The charming effect of her magic eyes was starting to take hold. Once confident that the woman was fully charmed, Shalltear let go of her.   

She had many things that she wanted to ask. However, there was one question that needed to be answered first.

Shalltear picked up the dropped potion bottle, and thrust it in front of the woman’s eyes.

“This potion! From who and where did you get it!”

“There was a man called Momon.”

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“M, Momon? ….Could it be….No, but then….but….”

The woman’s tone showed her surprise at how big a reaction Shalltear was giving to that name.

Shalltear was so shocked, she felt the world around her shake. Momon—-That was certainly a name that could shock her into confusion.  

Momon, and that familiar bottle. Only one face came to mind. No, one person could possibly come to mind. The head of the supreme 41, the sole remaining—-The person formerly known as Momonga.

People could use similar names by coincidence. One couldn’t dismiss that possibility. In the same fashion, Nazarick’s potion bottle design by some freak happenstance could also be commonly used in this world.

Shalltear thought up to there and shook her head. It was too unbelievable.

It made more sense that Momon was an alias that Momonga was using.   

Rather than that, the problem was why this woman had a potion. Why did she receive it?  Did she get it for no reason?

“Could it be…..”

Was this girl given a directive? Or it was a reward for her?

Shalltear was unsure of the places that Ainz visited. If he went out alone from the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Shalltear would know. Unless he changed his name and gave it to Baniara during their encounter. She could reason it out like this, but the scenario was highly improbable.  

“Why are you here? What are your intentions?”

“Yes, our main job is street patrol, but a few days ago, we received a report about bandits appearing in the forest and we came to investigate. On our return after disabling all the traps in the forest, we stumbled upon the bandit’s den. After detecting some abnormalities,  we decided to split the team into two. My team came here to scout out the area.”

“The team split into two?”

“Yes, we do not know the number of thieves. Hence, my team was to create a commotion, and lure them into an area filled with traps, set by the other team.”

“Another team, huh.”

Another problem cropped up, Shalltear clicked her tongue.

“How many people were there in the group that came here?

“With me included, there is a total of seven people. Then,…..”

“Wait a moment, seven people? Not six?”

Shalltear’s gaze fell on to the surrounding dead bodies. Three warriors, one cleric, one magic caster—-And this woman. The numbers did not match.

She faced the woman with a suspicion filled gaze as she replied.

“Yes. There is a ranger who went back to E-Rantel for reinforcements in case things went South.”

“What did you say….”

The voice of the magic caster earlier was unnaturally large. It was not a mistake, the voice he made could be heard all over the basin.

“Ku!”

Shalltear’s  pupils dilated, with a speed faster than a gale, she shot up to the highest point around and surveyed her surroundings. Shalltear possessed night vision but her sight was unable to penetrate the thick vegetation of the forest. The pricked her ears, only the rustling of the trees and grass due to the blowing wind was heard.

Shalltear did not know of any magic that rely on the sensory organs. On such a circumstance, it would be impossible to look for someone in the forest.

“Damn it!”

The person managed to escape. It was utterly humiliating.

Her teeth gnashed together.

“My Familiars!”

The shadow at Shalltear’s feet stirred, several wolves squirmed out from the shadows, different from the usual run-of-the-mill wolves. With Jet-black fur that blended into the night, crimson light emitted from their red pupils, displaying their malevolence and intelligence.  

These were the Vampire Wolves, Level 7 low tier monsters.

Summoned using one of Shalltear’s abilities. Shalltear could summon various types of familiars, but only these fellas were suited for chasing down her enemies.

“Chase. Devour and kill the humans in this forest!”

Ten Vampiric Wolves dashed into the forest once Shalltear howled her commands.

As she observed the distancing shadows, Shalltear concluded that the chances of killing the escapee was low. The one acting as a sentry should have methods of evading any pursuers.

In other words, she should plan for contingencies if the enemy managed to escape.

Shalltear clenched her fist as she turned around, intending to further interrogate the female captive.

“Tell me. What are the chances of the ranger meeting up with the other team?”

“None, in a situation that our team was wiped out, he will abandon the other team and return to the city. He is our best chance for survival.  

Return to the city and gather reinforcements. If they made such preparations, then the chance of this was higher than forcing a smaller team to perform a rescue. Well, that was assuming that they would not be killed if they surrendered.

Smart move.

A well thought contingency in case they lose. Clearly, they had planned out everything before acting. Grasping this, Shalltear began to panic.

The knowledge about the vampires would be brought back to the city. Likely, Shalltear’s appearance was revealed. Considering a human’s ability to see in the night, Shalltear did not think that the ranger was able to observe everything that happened in the depression clearly.

“Shit!”

Shalltear cursed and digged into her thoughts.

The order obtained from Ainz was—-

The current prey now are criminals, nobody would miss them.

Criminals, especially bandits that can use magic and martial arts. It matters not that you can suck them dry and turn them into your slaves, as long as you capture them. Among the bandits, anyone who are knowledgeable when it comes to matters about the world and combat tactics, must not be let go off. If they raised a ruckus, us, it will raise the infamy of  Nazarick leading to unwanted hassle.

—-As above.

The current situation still lay within the spectrum of her directive.

Allowing the news of vampires to be brought back, would not lead to the discovery of her name and the existence of Nazarick. In other words, there were no means to link the vampire attacks and Nazarick together. If city officials considered the situation by the evidence at hand, they may conclude that everyone here and the bandits were wiped out by attacks from feral vampires.

Naturally, there were lots of holes, but any more and she could not come back.

Shalltear sighed with relief before immersing once again into the maelstrom which was her thoughts.

The next problem was, what to do with this girl?

People under the effects of hypnosis will not lose their memories completely. For safety purposes, it would be best to execute her.  But the problem lied with the one called Momon and the bottle of potion.

Assuming that there was a reason or purpose that the potion was given to this girl, killing her now would disrupt Ainz’s action, an act that was very terrible.

What would happen if she returned alive? The ones that hired her would be bound to raise questions as to why she was the only survivor. Various information would be leaked, especially Shalltear’s physical appearance. It may not present itself as a problem now, but who could tell in the future?

What would happen if I dispose of her? If Ainz has any plans, he would have to give up on  it.

The ideal solution was to directly contact Ainz. But Shalltear did not know how to utilize the magic, <Message>.

How about bringing this girl to meet Ainz after teleporting back.

The situation was delicate because the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was protected by defensive magic that prevented any intrusion. Only those that possessed the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown could teleport at their will. Sadly, Shalltear did not have one. The only way to travel would be through the designated portals that will waste time. Travelling by this method would use up to three hours, although it might not be a problem. But the only Floor Guardian left within the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was Cocytus. Henceforth, the current level of alertness disallowed any immediate activation of the teleportation gates. Shalltear could use her own magic if she was transported to the arena, but the places that she could fly was severely limited.  

It would not be prudent to waste time like this.

As Shalltear did not know when the rescue team would come for this girl.

By killing her, it would not raise any foreseeable problems. But if she choose to bring her back, the important information that The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was operating covertly would be found out. During those moment, Ainz would have no choice but to modify her memories.

If returning her alive just like this, it would raise questions from those who hired her. Without the ability to mindwipe, those people might choose to pursue this matter. Releasing her like this would cause a bigger problem in the future.

Should she use the excuse that she accidentally turned that girl into a familiar?

Shalltear could create up to 10 familiars. Other than Brain, she could not find any suitable candidates to be her familiar, hence she still had sufficient space to make more. But looking from this angle. she was the one that made a decision that would disrupt Ainz’s goal. Knowing about it but still choose to do it.

Then what should be done—-

“I’ll be scolded by Ainz-sama….”

With a small voice that could not be heard, Shalltear hung her head in her arms.

It was obvious that the encounter with the girl was coincidental. Why didn’t she retreat earlier?It would be best to just end things just by withdrawing. But how to handle this girl? Undoubtedly, it would not be possible for her to escape from being scolded. Then, what should be her next step in order to obtain forgiveness?

Worse rather than worst.

Shalltear thought, and thought, until there was smoke coming out of her head, and got her conclusion.

Rather than killing, releasing that girl would be more beneficial. Shalltear cannot salvage the situation by killing her. She could at least do something by sparing that girl.

Shalltear decided so. No, it was no different from panicking and tricking herself though.

“Your name is?”

“Baniara.”

“Got it….OK, I remember, that name that resembles a weird candy! Wait there!”

—-Disperse! My familiars.—-

Shalltear, as if connected to her Vampiric Wolves by a thin thread, ordered their immediate withdrawal.

Unsure of whether it was a lucky or unlucky situation, the wolves encountered the other rear guard team. The connection ended with the return of the wolves.

Once this was completed, she let that Baniara girl stand at an appropriate spot. She gathered her vampiric familiars that stood further away from her spot.

“Anyway clear this place up. We’re withdrawing.”

She did not know how long it would take to clear up the place, this act could generate the impression that they were looking for something. At the minimum, they needed to leave behind signs of their search efforts.

“What should we do about the women, master?”

In response to Brain’s question, Shalltear’s gazed at the standing Baniara.

“Leave her like this.”

“No, the other women.”

“….Huh? Other women?”

“Yes, master. There are women they have captured to relieve their lust, what should be done?”

Shalltear’s face cramped.

What was that.

“….Why, did you not say anything?”

“My apologies. I tried to inform you.”

Embers of anger began to fan in Shalltear’s head, she wanted to dice Brain into pieces. However, she strongly suppressed that urge. She cannot do anything to Brain before bringing him in front of Ainz and collecting the relevant intelligence from him. She tried to cool herself, and gaze around. The gaze did not have any physical effects. But Brain who received it, backed away for a few steps.

Shalltear once again shook her head.

As long as the girl never saw her face, throwing her here would not cause a problem. That should be the right move. It should be clear why that girl was left alive. However, considering that, it would be suspicious as to why Banaria was left alive.

Shalltear wrapped her head in her arms.

“Wh—-”

“Ah? Why would I know!”

Who can tell me what to do next? That was Shalltear’s current expression. She was clueless as to how to follow up on this matter in order to justify her actions. Knowing what to do next but proceeding forward without her master’s approval was a blatant act of treason to her.

“I don’t care. I don’t know! Leave them. Let Baniara handle them.”

“Is it fine?”

“Good or bad, I don’t know, shit! Shut up for a bit!”

“My apologies, Shalltear-sama.”

“We are withdrawing! Get to work.”

The vampires lowered their heads, and began working. Shalltear slowly held her head in her hands.

“….I’ll be scolded….What should I do….”

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