My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness

In the basement, there were several iron doors hung, and in front of them, there was a desk and a chair.

Additionally, keys were lined up on the wall nails.

'There's no one guarding. The kids could escape.'

Peering inside through the holes in the iron door, most were empty.

Except for one.

In the corner, a small boy knelt, hugging his knees and hunching his body.

Despite sensing someone's presence, he didn't flinch.

Clank, squeak —!

Using the keys, I opened the iron door and entered, sensing the small body shudder.

"Um, hi there. Your sister sent me. You're Aaron, right?"

I spoke softly from a distance, and the shivering boy slowly raised his head, tear stains marking a face that seemed older than his age, much like Diana's.

"My sister? Really...?"

"Yeah, Diana was so worried about you. Let's get out and go home quickly."

"Huhh—sob, ugh, waaaah..."

Upon hearing Diana's name, Aaron instantly seemed relieved and started shedding tears.

"There, there, it's okay. Calm down. Stop crying, let's go see your sister now."

"S-sob, sniff... Yes. Sir."

Comforting Aaron, I hugged him and stepped out of the room.

"We're going outside now. There are scary things behind the door, so keep your eyes shut, okay?"

"Yes..."

Considering it wasn't good for a child's psyche, I covered his eyes and left the room.

Just in case, I pulled Aaron's head into my embrace, shielding his view of the outside.

"Smells like alcohol..."

Aaron mumbled quietly, but I pretended not to hear. Better than the smell of blood, isn't it?

Stepping out of the entrance of Barkolak's headquarters, Diana soon came running, as if she had been watching from afar.

"Aaron!"

"Sis—!"

Eventually, the two siblings hugged each other tightly and burst into loud sobs.

Unable to intervene, given the urgency of the situation, I had no choice.

"Hey, kids? Sorry, but can't we postpone the crying for later?"

"Sniff... Sorry, mister. Thank you for saving Aaron. Are you okay, though? You're not hurt, are you?"

Diana had calmed down to some extent and expressed her gratitude while hugging Aaron.

"Yeah. See? It's nothing, really."

"But there's blood on your clothes..."

"It's okay, it's not my blood."

A lie, of course.

But since I was really fine, I swiftly moved on to the point.

"Anyway, I still have things to do. Diana, you take Aaron and go back home."

"What? You're not coming with us?"

"I'll finish up and find you. Until I tell you otherwise, act as usual. Got it? Oh! And take these. You can use them if you need to."

Handing over some money and a few belongings I had, Diana looked at me for a moment before bowing her head as if there was no other choice and whispered to me.

"You... you have to come back, okay? Promise me."

"Yeah, I'll definitely come back within three days at the latest, so just wait patiently. And when you go, don't forget to move to places where there aren't people around."

Smiling softly, I comforted the siblings and re-entered the hideout.

The real deal starts now.

'The problem hasn't been resolved yet.'

The reason they kidnapped Aaron.

'Some vampire had specifically ordered Aaron to be snatched.'

Information obtained through interrogation before killing the members.

Of course, they didn't know it was a vampire; they probably thought it was an order from some important figure.

'And they said they're coming tonight.'

If that guy remains alive, nothing will be resolved, so I have to kill him for sure.

There was no way to win a direct confrontation, but luckily, I had materials to try some means.

"Phew... Should I prepare for the guest?"

There wasn't much time left now.

***

In the ambitious night.

I sat in a chair amidst the chaotic hideout.

In reality, I didn't think everything would go exactly as I planned.

I'm no genius strategist, and how well could a hastily devised plan in just a few hours really work out?

"But I did what I could. I leave the inevitable last piece to luck."

Considering various factors, I prepared, believing the chances were high, but there was also a clear possibility that things wouldn't go as planned.

"It might get tougher then, but I'll have to proceed with Plan B."

In that moment of waiting endlessly for someone...

Sensing someone opening the door and entering, I looked over and knew that the stroke of luck I had been waiting for had arrived.

"Indeed, one must live a good life! Now, everything depends on me."

Casually surveying the blood-soaked mess, someone walked toward me.

"Hmm, what a delightful fragrance. Did you prepare it on purpose to welcome me? It's certainly to my liking."

Approaching with a smile, the vampire stopped and stared at me with a hardened expression.

"But these thugs seem to be the ones I used to control. You, you must know what you've done, right?"

Intrigued by my nonchalant waiting, he didn't seem to have an immediate intention to attack.

I stood up and faced the vampire.

"I came to this city not long ago. These guys, they tried to mess with me, you know? Thinking about it, it got on my nerves."

"Oh, so you came here on purpose and killed them all? But why did you not run away and instead stay here?"

"You know, a dog's misbehavior is the owner's fault, right? I just wanted to see that face once."

Whether he believed it or not, I blurted out some nonsense.

In truth, he seemed uninterested in the context or details.

"Yeah, but there was one thing I asked these guys to do. And it seems to have caused some trouble."

"Well, it seems like I caused trouble unintentionally."

"It was about time for dinner, you see. I wasn't in a good mood to be interrupted."

Staring at me as if I were already dead, he calmly continued talking.

He was dismissive, but he had a lot to say.

"So, where did you hide that kid?"

Damn, was I caught?

"I managed to get rid of these guys here, and there was one trapped kid, so I let him go roughly. But why are you looking for that kid?"

I thought about protesting, but since I was already certain, it seemed pointless.

Instead, I subtly probed how he singled out Aaron.

He seemed like a guy who liked to brag, and understanding the motive was crucial.

"Hmm, there's no particular reason. I just happen to like the blood of young children, and I happened to come across a kid emanating a delicious scent from the apothecary, so I instructed them to bring him to me."

So, that was the reason.

Even if Diana had been adept at avoiding danger, there must have been limits.

Moreover, given Aaron's condition in the apothecary, there might not have been any other choice.

"Sigh... Anyway, I'll have to have other guys catch him tomorrow. For now, I'll make do with you, albeit reluctantly."

As his words ended, crimson streaks began to fly from his fingertips, aiming for my limbs.

"Whoa?!"

Maintaining my tension throughout the conversation, I barely managed to react and dodge.

Then, I immediately drew my weapon and charged towards the vampire.

Clang!

The swinging sword was blocked by the growing crimson nails.

Soon, his other swinging nail slashed my abdomen, ripping through the tattered armor from the previous battle.

"Oops, almost tore you to pieces by mistake. Still, your body is tougher than I thought."

"Gah, handle with care, it's a sensitive product!"

Avoiding the sharp claws coming at me, I bent my waist.

In that moment, a crimson energy surrounded hand inches from my face.

Thud!

I managed to evade the attack rolling on the floor, but I felt a chill running down my spine.

"Tsk, quite agile, aren't you."

Fortunately, it seemed he didn't intend to kill me right away, perhaps planning to drink my blood while I was still alive.

Of course, that didn't mean I had the upper hand.

Swipe!

I swung my sword, but it was easily blocked.

Simultaneously, the streak of blood sprayed from his nails cut across my body.

It seemed like an attempt to immobilize me, but I wouldn't go down that easily.

Even if my sword was blocked again, I continued to wield it.

"Your recovery is impressive. This is turning out to be quite an interesting delicacy. I'm looking forward to it."

The disparity in physical abilities, the razor-sharp crimson nails, and the spraying blood were all something my reinforced body couldn't contend with.

If he didn't plan to capture me alive, I would've been a corpse long ago.

"Still, your rebelliousness is too much despite your quick recovery. Even if there's some loss, I'll need to prepare you in a more appetizing way."

His attacks intensified. The red nails swung faster and sharper.

"Gah!"

I resisted as much as I could with my sword, but...

With my abilities, it was impossible to block all of his attacks. And eventually...

Slash!

Even with my "sturdiness," my right arm holding the sword was severed.

'My right arm's gone again. Well, it doesn't matter now, it's over.'

Uttering my musings nonchalantly, I launched the final desperate attack against him.

Crunch!

And the vampire's arm pierced through my chest.

"What's this? Delivering for an easy meal? Your service is impressive. I should use it more often, if you were alive, that is."

The vampire mumbled quietly, then jammed his sharp fangs into my neck.

Ignoring the sensation of my blood being sucked for the first time, I smiled wryly.

"Customer, you seem impatient. I prepared a fiery service as a first-customer benefit, so enjoy it to your heart's content."

Just as he finished speaking, I activated the ring-shaped magical device I had concealed in my mouth.

Whoosh!

Sparks flew, and my body burst into flames.

The vampire, who was attached to me, also caught fire.

"Argh?! You crazy lunatic!"

He tried to shake me off, but I clung to him like a leech with my remaining arm and both legs.

I felt his arm, which had impaled my body, tearing through my organs, including my heart.

As he failed to dislodge me even after tearing off my left arm, he reached for my legs to cut them off.

'But it's already too late.'

I had set the stage for us to die together before he arrived.

I had placed the oil I found in the kitchen and warehouse throughout the chaotic interior.

Despite the strong scent of blood, openly spreading it would alert the vampire, so I initiated a fight and broke open the oil drums.

Although the smell of oil might have been noticed during the fight, how much attention would be given to it when a madman was charging at you, slashing and spilling blood all over?

Using a small amount of oil to be soaked in the scent of blood, I connected the oil drums placed at a distance from each other like a fuse.

Whoosh!

Crack!

The spreading flames from the center touched the oil drums, causing a chain explosion.

The entire building was engulfed in flames like a massive bonfire.

'Ah, splendid.'

With all my limbs torn off, I now bit the vampire's shoulder with my teeth and hung there calmly, enjoying the spectacle.

Inside my embracing body, there were several bottles of oil, and as my chest was pierced, the oil soaked my body, turning me into a living torch.

'And then ignite it with the ignition magical device.'

I deliberately kept it in my mouth for fear of losing the arm equipped with the magical device.

"Aaargh!"

I rolled on the floor as the burning figure, glowing, continued to be engulfed in flames.

Perhaps my eyes were damaged by the intense fire, as I couldn't see anything in front of him.

Quaang!

The deafening sound of flames erupting echoed all around.

Even in this situation, my resilient life force was holding onto my last breath.

'Still, I'm glad things went as planned.'

In many ways, luck was on my side.

Although the fight had proven that the vampire was overwhelmingly stronger than me, that was all there was to it.

He used his superior physical abilities and blood as a weapon, but he couldn't use any extraordinary magic.

He must have been one of the weaker vampires.

'And with that, he can't survive this inferno.'

After all, fire was one of the vampire's weaknesses.

'It might not be the case in this world, but with this level of firepower, it doesn't matter anyway.'

Plop.

My eardrums, barely holding on due to my regenerative ability, stopped functioning at the sound of the vampire collapsing.

Now, all I could feel were the heat and vibrations of this world.

I had captured the vampire who had ordered Aaron's kidnapping and eliminated the executioners.

'Now, all I have to do is pretend to know nothing and keep silent.'

In fact, the biggest concern was that the vampire wouldn't enter the building.

If the vampire, sensitive to the scent of blood, had noticed the commotion inside the building and turned back or called others from outside, the plan would have been foiled before it even began.

'I had to leave that part entirely to luck, but it was fortunate that the guy was so confident and complacent.'

After all, complacency is one's greatest enemy, isn't it?

It became an opportunity for me to look back and make sure I wasn't complacent in my obsession with the ability called "Avatar."

'This might be a good opportunity to experiment with what happens if Avatar really dies. Since I couldn't properly grasp it back in Hans' time... But it might be reaching its limit now.'

In fact, it was fortunate that I had survived until now with my heart completely destroyed.

Along with "Sturdiness" and "Rapid Recovery," it had consumed my last life force.

Feeling the impact of debris collapsing onto my body, I sensed the end of my life.

'Still, it was quite enjoyable. Mission: 'Help the Unfortunate Girl and Find Her Brother'... Successful...'

Whoosh—

Thud!

With that, Heinz met his end in this world alongside the vampire.