Chapter 43 The Truth of the Desecrator!

"Impossible! That's far too little! Even with your blood, I need at least ten drops to recover!"

"Then ten drops. Give them to me now, and I'll give you the rest later."

"…Tch, deal! Don't you dare go back on your word!"

Though filled with extreme reluctance deep down, Eliza ultimately had to lower her head and compromise.

Yet as she bowed her head, the corners of her mouth could not help but curl upward.

"Wonderful..."

There was no helping it; Eliza was simply far too starved.

Especially after she had tasted Herbert's blood, that alluring flavor continued to torture her soul.

That scorched, holy blood had ravaged her body, yet it seemed to carry some kind of uniquely addictive magic that unlocked another door within her heart.

She vaguely sensed that some strange fetish was awakening inside her, yet she dared not be certain—or rather, she was unwilling to admit it.

To actually find herself wanting to experience that painful sensation all over again... how could she ever bring herself to say such a thing out loud!

She didn't even dare to proactively ask Herbert for his holy blood, terrified that he might notice.

"No, it's fine. Humans are despicable; this fellow will definitely not keep his promise and will surely try to fob me off with some cheap excuse later."

"And when that happens, I'll be able to drink again smoothly!"

Yes, exactly.

Just, let me drink once more, just a single drop!

Otherwise, I...

"Hehe, hehe!"

Eliza chuckled inwardly with a bizarre expression, stretching her slender finger out of the coffin and squeezing a single drop of blood, brilliant as a red diamond, from her fingertip.

Herbert caught that drop of blood in a crystal vial that had been emptied of holy water, the corners of his lips curving slightly upward.

Good.

The monster material of a legendary vampire, secured!

Having witnessed the entire bargaining process between the two, Nenasia could not help but sigh inwardly: [*So that's how you've been scamming materials all this time.*]

"Mind your own business! Besides, this is a perfectly legitimate and equal trade."

Herbert and Eliza's exchange might have felt drawn out, but in reality, it was not.

From the moment he rushed over to the spot until he got his hands on the vital blood, only five minutes had passed.

Two minutes remained!

However, before Herbert could swallow the vital blood, he heard Nenasia's warning.

[*He has arrived~*]

So fast!

Herbert's gaze sharpened, and just as he prepared to swallow the blood regardless of the consequences, his expression abruptly shifted.

A figure squeezed into his aura, and Herbert clearly laid eyes on the desecrator that had kept him so busy for a good while.

!!!

Herbert instantly moved to raise his sword for a strike, but his motion halted midway.

Because the intruder's current appearance differed vastly from what he had imagined.

Vastly different!

"This is?"

There was nothing remarkable about the desecrator's face; he looked like a completely ordinary cleric.

His emaciated, pale complexion appeared somewhat stiff, and his body emitted a foul, putrid stench mixed with a fishy odor.

The true monstrosity lay beneath his neck—he looked nothing at all like a living human!

His upper body appeared as though it had been torn apart by some colossal beast, leaving behind massive, ragged wounds. His entire chest was pierced right through, the flesh and organs within violently shredded and destroyed.

Not just his upper body; his lower body was equally gruesome.

His left leg was somewhat better off, merely snapped into three sections and barely held together by a strip of skin.

The flesh on his right leg had completely vanished, leaving behind only a blackened leg bone that supported his staggering frame as he labored forward.

Clack, clack, clack...

Simultaneously, with every step he took, chunks of flesh fell from his body, turning into scattered dust halfway to the ground before they could even land.

Looking like this... just what on earth had he been through?

Most crucially, though Herbert was standing right before his eyes—a mere meter apart—his image was nowhere to be reflected in those pale, lifeless eyes.

The desecrator completely ignored Herbert.

He simply kept moving forward.

Walking onward into the unseen darkness.

Only after the desecrator walked right past him did Herbert slowly exhale a breath, asking softly in his mind: "Is this what you meant by charging right at me?"

[*I'm not to blame here. Who told you to stand right in his path? Naturally, he walked right toward you.*]

Fine!

Herbert rolled his eyes hard.

You absolute—!

No wonder you were just sitting back enjoying the show without a shred of panic, utterly unconcerned that your ally might meet an untimely end.

It turns out it was because there was no need to worry at all!!!

"So, you knew all along that he posed no threat to me."

[*Of course!*]

The evil deity replied with a triumphant tone: [*Even I wouldn't leave an ally to die!*]

"But you didn't tell me the truth."

[*True, but your reaction was genuinely amusing~*]

"…Sigh."

Events had taken such a rollercoaster of turns that Herbert simply lacked the energy to be angry at the damn evil deity right now.

He would deal with verbal sparring later; the priority was to figure out the situation at hand.

"So, what is the deal with this guy anyway?"

[*He is already dead... What remains in this vessel now is merely a single obsession, driving him endlessly forward.*]

Knowing she had thoroughly offended Herbert this time, Nenasia refrained from further provocation and obediently provided an explanation:

[*Or rather, he died several days ago, the moment another soul hijacked his body.*]

Possessed?

Herbert raised an eyebrow, hesitated for a moment, and then decisively followed behind the desecrator.

He desperately wanted to know where this fellow was heading.

What on earth was his obsession?

The two walked in silence through the darkness for quite a while, until all the flesh on the desecrator was nearly on the verge of disappearing, and he finally halted before a wall.

Where is this?

Just as Herbert began to harbor a vague suspicion, the desecrator spoke:

"Where are you..."

His voice echoed through the darkness, doubled with a hoarse resonance that sounded both male and female.

"Grand Archmage, why do you refuse to see me..."

He really was here for Svanie!?

Herbert narrowed his eyes, gripping his blade tighter and pointing the tip at the back of the desecrator's head, ready to strike decisively at the slightest sign of hostility.

Yet just as Herbert hesitated, a helpless sigh drifted from the darkness ahead.

"Sigh..."

"It has been so long, why must you all come seeking me again?"

It was a hoarse whisper carrying a hint of complaint.

"Please spare him. A dead man needn't trouble the Lord Warden with a personal execution."

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Accompanied by a series of faint sounds, a subtle shift occurred within the darkness.

The next instant, Herbert clearly perceived a path—a path leading to another prison cell hidden within the dark expanse.

Svanie, who had stubbornly kept herself sealed away, had proactively revealed her location!