#Episode 14
A hundred years ago, there was a case where someone defeated a vampire hiding in the village and became a bishop. However, as vampires gradually disappeared, such a feat became impossible. And now, a vampire has appeared in his parish!
‘When the holy knights reported seeing a vampire in the nearby forest, I was skeptical. But if I kill this vampire, I could finally become a bishop!’
Joseph’s eyes gleamed with ambition beneath his wrinkled eyelids. For Joseph, there was no choice but to kill Vasha. Of course, some villagers might have to sacrifice, but letting the vampire go was not an option.
The fleeting pangs of conscience that he felt at first had long since been buried under repeated self-justification. Joseph raised his voice for the villagers to hear.
“Vampires are known to lie more easily than flipping a hand. Do you think I don’t know that you trying to buy time with deceitful words?”
The facade of benevolence he had shown to others was gone, replaced only by the desire for glory. Joseph held a lantern towards Vasha. When Joseph summoned his holy power, the lantern emitted a brilliant light.
“Ugh…!”
Vasha crouched and collapsed under the scorching light that seemed to burn her flesh. Writhing in agony, Vasha groaned.
“Aaah!”
Watching Vasha’s has torment, Joseph laughed heartily, momentarily forgetting his own fear, and flaunted his omnipotence.
“Look at it squirm like a worm! How dare a lowly vampire challenge the sacred light of the Lamphas faith!”
Todd, startled by how helpless Vasha was against an ordinary priest’s holy power, instinctively stood in front of Vasha to shield her from the lantern’s light and shouted.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t this is nothing for you!”
Although the Lamphas Church’s lantern affected vampires like sunlight, high-ranking vampires were unaffected by sunlight and the lantern’s light alike.
“Now that I think about it, you pretended not to flinch before the evening sunset… Why are you pretending to be a low-ranking vampire?”
Unable to understand Vasha’s intentions, Todd bit his lip and did his best to block the light. But Todd’s small body couldn’t fully block the lantern’s light from high above.
Annoyed by Todd, Joseph kicked him away.
“How dare you side with a vampire! You must be deeply corrupted!”
“Ugh!”
Todd, still not fully healed, crashed into the wall without resistance and spat blood for a long time from the impact.
“Cough, cough…”
He could barely move a finger. An incredulous laugh escaped Todd’s lips. He never thought he would go this far to save a vampire.
But he couldn’t just stand by and watch Vasha die. The contract of bondage was an equal soul contract, but there was one major difference in the contract between a vampire and a familiar.
It was the subordination of life.
If the familiar died, the vampire would only suffer a spiritual blow but not die. But if the vampire died, the familiar would die too!
Of course, this subordination of life wasn’t entirely bad for the familiar. As long as nothing happened, the familiar could also live forever like a vampire.
Moreover, vampires who could use the [binding contract] were high-ranking and rarely died.
In short, it was almost unheard of for a vampire to be in mortal danger just 30 minutes after making a contract, like in Todd’s case!
‘Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I would have left the village and made the [binding contract!]’
Cursing, Todd staggered to his feet and charged at Joseph with all his might to knock the lantern out of his hands.
Joseph’s body swayed, and the lantern’s light momentarily weakened.
“You wretched thing!”
A vein popped on Joseph’s forehead. Hurriedly infusing more holy power into the lantern, Joseph urged the villagers, who were standing idly by, to act.
“What are you doing? Hold him down!”
Finally, the villagers rushed forward and grabbed Todd.
“Damn it, let me go!”
Todd twisted and struggled, but it was no use. Joseph panted heavily.
As the sun completely set behind the mountains, darkness descended upon Haidus.
However, the alley where Vasha lay remained brightly lit by Joseph’s lantern. Vasha, lying on the ground, didn’t even flinch, as if she lacked the strength to resist.
Joseph, who had been worried that Vasha might make a final stand, finally felt relieved. It was fortunate they found the vampire before darkness fully set in.
If they had tried to capture the vampire at night, it wouldn’t have been so easy. Imagining himself as a bishop, a smile spread across Joseph’s face. Unable to hide his delight, Joseph exclaimed with joy.
“Now, everyone! It’s time! If you drive a stake through the vampire’s heart…!”
At that moment, a sharp pain pierced Joseph’s back.
“…Ugh?”
Joseph turned around in disbelief. Behind him stood Daniel, covered in Thomas’s blood, his eyes glowing blue, and his expression blank.
Joseph’s gaze slowly shifted downward to see a knife held by Daniel piercing his abdomen.
“Aaah! Father!”
“Are you insane, Daniel? What are you doing!”
The villagers, realizing what was happening, screamed.
Daniel, ignoring their cries, repeatedly stabbed Joseph with a maniacal expression.
The villagers tried to pull Daniel away from Joseph, but it wasn’t easy. Instead, Daniel swung his knife at the villagers trying to restrain him, shouting.
“Don’t stop me! Trying to save the wicked is also an evil! I’ll kill you all!”
In the chaos, a slight smile curved Vasha’s lips even amidst her suffering. On her way to meet Todd earlier, Vasha had prepared for such an occasion by creating another servant in the shadows.
That new servant was Daniel, who had killed Thomas. Since her previous servant had died, it was possible.
However, creating a servant didn’t mean immediate control.
The servant moved according to the vampire’s implanted command only after sunset. It had been a close call, but thanks to Todd’s interference with Joseph, it works right on time.
For Daniel, who had become a servant after killing Thomas, it was a deeply ironic situation.
“Daniel, snap out of it! You stabbed the Father!”
“That can’t be, don’t lie to me! You’re trying to protect a vampire means you’re all under its control too!”
Daniel, his eyes wild with fear and madness, ignored the villagers’ pleas and continued his assault.
Due to the haste in making Daniel a servant, Vasha couldn’t indoctrinate him as thoroughly as she did with Thomas. She could only implant a single keyword: to mistake Joseph for a vampire.
Exploiting Daniel’s fear and hostility towards vampires was intended to buy some time, but it worked even better than expected.
“The wicked must be killed. Can’t let any corruption remain. I am the one who protecting our village.”
Muttering continuously, Daniel attacked the villagers.
“Aaah!”
“Bring the spear, quickly!”
In the ensuing chaos, Joseph’s body collapsed as if crumbling. The lantern he had proudly thrust at Vasha lay abandoned on the ground.
The lantern’s light completely vanished, and Vasha slowly rose in the darkness.
The balance of power between light and dark had shifted.
“This… I can’t die like this… The bishopric is so close….”
Joseph desperately poured his holy power into healing his wounds. But as he coughed up blood, the holy power quickly dissipated.
