ALL NOVEL Chapter 61: Ash Garm
As the scythe was heading straight for the vampire's neck, time seemed to have stopped for Maria and a message window appeared in front of her.
[Angel's Compassion Lv.1 has been triggered. Are you willing to spare Vampire Ash? YES/NO]
'Nonononono!!! Why?! Why is this stupid game stopping me from killing again?' Maria screamed inwardly.
Her [Angel's Compassion] had triggered and this meant that she'd get another chance to evolve her race again. She was angered by the vampire's sexual harassment, but Maria was currently debating which was more important her dignity, or the chance of evolving her race.
"Dammit...this is only a game and this vampire is just an NPC, so technically, I wasn't sexually harassed by anyone!" Maria reasoned with herself before she ultimately chose [YES] to spare the vampire's life.
[Skill Level up! [Angel's Compassion] Lv.1 → Lv.5]
"Oh, it leveled up by 4!"
Maria quickly brought up her skill's information window and looked through it.
[Angel's Compassion Lv. 5 (0/5000)
Heals or Damages Target for 25% of caster's Max HP. Unlocks special events that'll provide Purity for the Angel which enables them to evolve. If an angel is tainted, providing a higher amount of purity will enable them to revert to their original angelic form.
Purity: 1800/5000
MP Cost: 1500 MP
Cooldown: 5 minutes]
"Ah! I almost forgot this could heal and deal damage! Why haven't I've been using it more often?" Maria grumbled. She had a good memory, but even she would forget about things sometimes.
The vampire was still groveling on the ground, but noticed that his head was still attached to his neck. He couldn't help but look up and saw the Fallen Angel crouching and looking down at him in disinterest.
"So...I spared your life. Mind telling me more about yourself?"
"..."
The vampire could only stare back at this girl with some fear in his eyes. She had a really weird character and her mood was all over the place. Earlier, it seemed like she didn't mind him groping her body but after only looking at her funnily, she wanted to kill him, and then for some reason, she now spares his life and wants to get to know him better.
'Just what does this dangerous girl want?! She has Calamity and is most likely the Death God's Envoy, but what the hell is wrong with her head?!'
Seeing the vampire's already pale face turn even paler at her question, Maria frowned and lifted her scythe and nudged the blade on his face.
"Oi~ you listening or not? I didn't kill you so this isn't heaven or hell~"
"L-Little Miss, p-please keep the Calamity away from me... this demonic weapon might just kill me if you accidentally—"
"Relax~ I decided to spare your life. I won't kill you!"
"O-Okay..."
"Good! Now where were we...? Ah, before you looked at me with a pair of murderous eyes, you were shouting something about someone sealing you here and taking everything away from you. Mind telling me more about yourself and the person who did this to you? I'd like to help you out if you're the one who was wronged!"
"Th-thank you Little Miss, but I don't want to impose on you—"
"Don't worry~ you're not imposing on me in any way! I'm just a little bored from culling monsters so I thought I'd go do a good deed today~" Maria said as she inwardly cursed this stupid vampire.
'Hurry up and give me the quest you idiot! Don't let my sacrifice go to waste! I want my evolution quest now!'
Seeing the forced smile on her face, the vampire fearfully chose to comply with her 'requests' and began explaining more about himself.
The vampire's name was Ash Garm and he was a Vampire Duke. so he was pretty high up in the rankings for vampires. He was only 1 rank below that of Vampire Lord.
The most intriguing thing was that he wasn't part of this world. He was instead from the planet, Vanhal. In his time, the current Vampire Lord had just been extinguished and the battle to become the next Lord was about to ensue. Ash wasn't vying for the spot because he was already content with what he had, but unfortunately he was the strongest Duke back then and many thought he had eyes on the throne. So, the other vampires banded together and began plotting against him.
His long-time rival, who was now his archenemy, was another Vampire Duke called Siegfried and he was the person who had sealed him away in a moment of negligence on his part and had banished him from Vanhal.
Of course before all that, Siegfried had laid waste to Ash's territory and had killed most of his family. The vampire had beheaded Ash's sons, daughters, and grandchildren. And the most dastardly thing was that Siegfried had even defiled his wife right in front of him before casting a magic which wiped out her mind and enslaved her.
Although Ash was explaining all this to Maria, she wasn't listening, but instead she was seeing the events that Ash was describing through a flashback cut-scene. She couldn't help but tear up and nearly retch when she saw the process of Ash's children being murdered in cold blood and when they had their heads impaled on stakes. She also cursed the developers for actually showing her the scene of when Ash's wife was being defiled by Siegfried and the moment she was turned into a slave by the bastard's magic.
Maria saw all this from Ash's perspective so it felt like she was living through all those horrid events that Ash had experienced. Maria was able to fully understand the helplessness, despair, anger, and rage that Ash was feeling as he recounted these events.
*DING* [For listening to his story, Ash's FAV has risen by 100]
Once the cut-scene was over, Maria's eyes were red, and tears were streaming down her face. Ash finished his explanation and when he turned his gaze back onto the girl who was willing to listen to his story, he couldn't help but reel in shock at the mess the beautiful girl's face was in.
"Ah! Little Miss, why are you crying?"
"I-it was such a sad story. Sniff...hic..."
Ash smiled helplessly at this and he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away Maria's tears.
"...You said you were willing to help—"
"Yes! I'll help! Let's go get your revenge and enact justice for your family!!!" Maria's tears and sadness had immediately flown away as anger and eagerness had replaced all of it.
"O-Okay?"
[Ash Garm's FAV has risen by 10]
[Quest notification!
Vengeance and Justice
Rank: S Chain Quest
After listening to Vampire Ash's story and seeing all these injustices delivered upon him, you are willing to help Ash get back to his world and deliver justice to the person who had taken away his life.
Objective 1: Gain Ash's Trust (Completed)
Objective 2: Find a way to Vanhal
Objective 3: Kill Siegfried
Time Limit: None
Recommended Level: Lv. 70 or above
Rewards: ???
Warning: This is a solo quest! You are not permitted to form or join a party with any other players as long as this quest is active!]
Seeing the level recommendation, Maria couldn't help but frown a little. The rank of the quest was S and the level required to clear the quest was level 70, at least for ordinary players. Maria felt that her level was a little too low. She wanted to get to level 50 or 60 before she worked on this quest.
There was also the fact that Lilah would soon fulfill the level requirement for her upgrade so Maria quickly tried to come up with an excuse to level up before embarking on the quest.
*DING* [Vampire Ash Garm Lv. ??, has been added to your party!]
"Oh!"
Ash was suddenly added to her party and Maria quickly took a look at his status window through the party menu.
[Ash Garm Lv.65
HP: 100%/100% (Weakened)
MP: 100%/100% (Weakened)
SP: 100%/100% (Weakened)
EXP: 4%/100%
Status: Weakened – Due to being sealed for a long time, Ash can't display 100% of his power.
Race: Vampire
Rank: Duke
Titles: Lord of Blood, Species Eradicator A, ???, ???, ???, The Knowledgeable One, ???, ???
FAV: Amiable (110/500)]
'Oh! He's strong!'
Maria eyed the handsome looking Ash and she smiled at him. Maria's smile was a little enchanting for the vampire and he was momentarily entranced. Ash quickly snapped out of his stupor and hastily turned his head away. The little lady's beauty rivaled that of his wife, so he couldn't help but be entranced for a moment.
What he didn't know however was that Maria's 'enchanting smile' was the smile that she showed whenever the girl began plotting something. Right now, in her mind, Maria was plotting on how to take advantage of this Level 65 vampire. She wanted to use him to help herself power level in higher leveled maps.
Ash had tried hard to keep his gaze away from Maria, but his eyes would constantly wander back to her face. Ash couldn't help but be drawn in by Maria's beauty and when he looked at the girl's neck and saw the two small holes on it, he couldn't help but lick his lips.
Earlier, when he had sucked Maria's blood, the taste was so sweet and nostalgic that he had mistakenly thought that the woman in front of him was his wife. In his stupor, he had begun groping around which led to the outcome of him being almost killed by the young lady.
Remembering this, Ash silently reminded himself, 'She's beautiful...but she's dangerous. I can't let myself fall for her...and, I already have a wife...'
Ash frowned when he thought about his wife. She was helplessly defiled right in front of him and he didn't know the condition she was in. He didn't know whether she was still alive or had already been killed by his arch-nemesis.
"Little Miss, what year is it?" Ash suddenly asked.
"Year? I dunno," Maria replied with a shrug. Naturally, what Maria meant was the year inside of the game. She never really paid attention to small details like that in the game, so she wouldn't know.
"Eh?"
"Also, you shouldn't be thinking about that for now. You're from a different planet, so wouldn't the time that's elapsed be different from here and there?"
"...That makes sense, Little Miss."
"We should use this time to get to know each other better! How about you join me in hunting some monsters?"
Ash was a little troubled by this, he wanted to rush back and enact his vengeance, but what Maria said right after made him reconsider.
"We don't know how to get back to your world, y' know," Maria immediately said when she saw Ash's conflicted expression. "Just listen to me, what happens if we find a clue somewhere around here while hunting? This is the place that Siegfried, your enemy, had sealed you in. So there's bound to be some kind of clue which could help us get back to your world, right?"
Ash was still a little bit unconvinced, but there was merit to Maria's words. Maria saw that he was almost convinced by her words so she quickly gave him the last push by saying, "Besides, if you go back now in your weakened state, wouldn't Siegfried just defeat you again? Do you want things to just be a repeat of the past?"
Hearing this, Ash immediately denied her words furiously, "I was poisoned by him at that time! If he hadn't schemed against me then I wouldn't have lost to him in a fight!"
Maria smirked at him before she quickly knocked him down with a single sweep of her scythe. Ash was shocked when he was suddenly toppled over by the girl, but the girl had already crouched down next to him and lightly said, "See, you're weak. I'm only level 39, but I can easily knock you down! What do you think will happen if you face Siegfried in your current state? Hmm?"
"..."
"Come on Ash, if you want vengeance, you should at least work hard for it! I'm lending you my help, but I'm only level 39. Your enemy probably has a high level and we'd just lose to him! Also, don't expect your nemesis to remain stagnant while you were sealed away! If his character was just as scheming and cunning as you've described him, then Siegfried would probably have anticipated the day you broke out of your seal so he's probably been training for that eventuality this entire time!"
*DING* [Ash FAV +200]
Ash slowly stood up and faced Maria. He eyed her with determination before he respectfully and subserviently knelt and said, "Then please guide me, Death's Envoy."
Maria smiled widely at this and Ash who was staring intently at her couldn't help but become entranced once again. Maria stood up and immediately walked deeper into the forest while humming happily.
"Let's go, Ash~ we'll kill everything we see and help you get back to full strength! After that we'll grind some more and make sure that you're at a high enough level to be able to take down that bastard, Siegfried!"
"Yes, my Lady!"
Seeing the vampire being firmly wrapped around Maria's finger, Lilah only shook her head helplessly on the side as she eyed the vampire pitifully.
During the past times when Maria was helping others grind their levels, she would wait in place while she sent her party members around to attract monsters to her. She'd then have the easy job of crushing all the monsters into EXP with a few rounds of her skills.
Once she was done with one wave, she'd send her allies off to look for monsters once more while she took her leisure time to sunbathe or read a book.
'Master's gonna work this idiot into the ground.'