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Dungeon, 4th Floor
Shalltear was following the blood trail left behind by the kid she saved earlier.
Looking at the bloodied floor without loosing control of herself was very difficult. If it wasn't for the fact that the blood belonged to a disgusting bull man and laid on the floor of this sickening cavern, she'd already have collected the blood to drink it later with her [Blood Pool] skill.
The lack of challenge in this dungeon plus the boring never-ending corridors filled with darkness made Shalltear a bit sleepy even if the undead didn't require sleep.
She placed her hand over her mouth and started to yawn.
Ever since saving the boy on the fifth floor and talking to the animal guy with the sword beauty, she hadn't encountered anyone.
She blushed once more thinking about her new crush whom she heard the animal guy calling her Ais. Thinking about Ais did help curing Shalltear's current boredom, but that wasn't enough. She was just a pretty-looking human that she could dispose of whenever she felt like it. Killing a few humans would certainly be more entertaining.
Thinking back on it, she regretted not killing the kid and the animal guy. But if Ais saw her do that, she would certainly try to kill Shalltear and end up mutilated as a result. That would mean wasting that perfect body of hers. It wasn't everyday she encountered good toys like that swordswoman.
While walking through an unusually small corridor, her hearing picked up on something.
"CLOMP. CLOMP. CLOMP."
Shalltear could hear the sound of a large creature crawling somewhere not too faraway in the dungeon. While it was off the kid's blood trail, she was way too curious to just let it go.
She turned some corners and ran through the corridors at full speed. She then eventually reached a big circular room with a high ceiling and many other entrances to it.
In the center of said room stood a strange creature.
It was a snake-like monster with eight legs at each side of its body. This monster's head had a huge crown-like horn and had a tough skin. Its length was about 4 meters and it had the dungeon's monsters' recurring characteristic; glowing red eyes.
Its many tiny legs started to move forward quite fast. It almost looked like the lizard monster was gliding his way towards Shalltear. Its mouth opened to reveal a set of spiky teeth, ready to bite the head off any opponents that got unlucky enough to stand in this monster's way.
The lizard monster seemed very weak, but Shalltear still wanted to test something out on him. She leaked out a bit of bloodlust to see what would happen to the lizard monster in front of her.
And…
As expected, it backed away and ran from her as fast as it could. That meant that whatever curse or brainwashing device was set on these monsters did not make them mindless creatures. They still had a survival instinct, so it was good to know. If monsters couldn't feel fear, then there was no fun in killing them.
*Splash*
In a flash, she pierced right through the reptile using her lance. Great! He must've been desperate towards the end of his life. That was enough to make her feel good. A slight bit of blood sprayed over her, but it was sucked up by her armour so there was no chance of her loosing control.
Still, it would've been more fun to kill a human. Yes, she really needed to relieve her current pain of being stripped away from her home on one of these puny humans. She'd start by dismembering them and then wait for them to beg for their lives before draining all of the blood inside their bodies.
A smile of deep pleasure spread across her cheeks, however, Shalltear forcefully snapped herself out of the beautiful scenes in her mind. Her mind was going off topic far too much to her liking. She almost forgot what her situation she was in right now.
'Momonga-sama and the rest of Nazarick relies too much on me! I can't let them down like that! I have to find my way back home as soon as possible! Nothing else matters!' She told herself firmly. She knew that she was going to get scolded, but it didn't matter at this point.
She turned back to look at the many passageways that lead to this strange circular room and tried to remember which one she came from. She then glanced back at the lifeless monster laying on the ground.
'What a boring creature… I shouldn't have given in to my curiosity… Now I got lost again!'
Shalltear's pleasure from tormenting the lizard monster was gone. Instead, it was replaced by anger. She was mad at herself for getting lost a second time, thinking about things that had nothing to do with her current objective. As a creation of the supreme beings, showing any flaw would be unthinkable. But why did she get the feeling that she was the only person having this kind of problems?
After facepalming for the twentieth time, she heard a man's voice from behind her accompanied by a few snickers.
"Well, well. Looks like a little girl got lost in the dungeon." Shalltear jumped in surprise. While she was busy being furious with herself, she hadn't payed attention to her surroundings and didn't notice a group of men entering the large, circular room.
It wasn't the first time that she had been caught off guard in the dungeon, but those times were from the red eye monsters that came out of the walls. This time, they were humans. They definitely did not come out of the walls.
Shalltear turned around to look at the group that caught her off guard.
The group consisted of five men armed to the teeth with low level weapons. She supposed that they were some of the mercenaries that kill monsters inside the dungeon.
After being done examining the group, Shalltear processed in her head what the man had said to her. It sounded like the introduction to a bully's speech. Good. She might be able to lash out on them under the pretext of being insulted.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Ah~? And what is it that you want~?" Shalltear replied calmly, though she was slightly enjoying this. These men that dared to treat her as some human child will have to eventually pay, but right now, she'll tease them just for fun.
She in fact did look like a kid so she couldn't necessarily get mad at them for this. Also, with the Remove Undead Abilities Ring on, there was no way to know she was a vampire under the cave's darkness so that guess was pretty understandable. It was only because she couldn't age, that was why she looked like a fourteen-year-old girl.
The men snickered even more, and a few smiles could be seen across their faces. They were mocking her for being calm in this exchange of words that was certainly going to end up in a fight.
She responded with small smile of her own that the adventurers could not see under the cave's darkness. It was a predatory smile.
'Both sides think they have the advantage over the other. How amusing. These men are the perfect preys to torment until they beg me for mercy.'
The man who spoke to her earlier, whom she supposed was the leader of the group walked forward while slightly grinning to the side of the room where Shalltear currently stood. He began speaking once more.
"Anyways. What is a noble girl like you doing all by yourself in the dungeon? You have a pretty nice armour by the way, mind giving it to us?"
"Ha-ha! Oh~? And what makes you think~ I'd give it away so easily~?" Shalltear replied in an amused tone while in truth, she felt like a mix of anger and excitement on the inside. All the men burst out laughing. She didn't like the fact that these lowly humans looked down on her and the supreme beings, even if indirectly. Yet, at the same time, she felt exited for the one-side slaughter that will ensue.
'How dare they want to put their hands on equipment bestowed to me by the supreme beings! Such blasphemy cannot be left unpunished!'
It was decided. She was going to make them all suffer in the worst way possible. She was done being friendly with humans in this stupid gross dungeon. She'll find the way out on her own.
The leader seemed to have realised that Shalltear had a wicked smile upon her face. Much to her surprise, he didn't feel scared by it. On the contrary, he found the girl's pointless efforts quite fun to watch.
"Oi. What's that look on your pretty face? Are you mad at us? What are you going to do, miss? Call your royal guards? Fwahahahah-a-"
*Splash*
The men's eyes on the other side of the room widened in shock. With what seemed to be a blur, they found the beautiful girl right in front of the leader, with her fingers piercing right through his hearth. How did she move so fast?
"Kukukuku."
She was giggling.
Her face remained hidden behind the leader's body, who seemed to have already died given the lack of reaction coming from him.
'She's insane!' Was what most of the adventurers thought.
*Drop*
The leader's body slowly descended to reveal the giggling little girl, sprayed in blood with her head lowered and her silver hair shrouding her face.
Her armour and lance were nowhere to be found. She instead wore an exquisitely crafted dress, which seemed to be wreathed in darkness. Only nobles could afford that kind of dress, that was certain, but which noble family is that girl from? No one in their right mind would enjoy killing so mercilessly.
"Ahahaaahahahahahaaaahahhahahahhh!"
Her giggle moved on to laugher. Shalltear laughed and laughed and laughed. It echoed through the whole dungeon floor as the girl slowly raised her head again.
The face they saw made the adventurers feel like their hearts were being crushed in their chests.
The color flowing out of her pupils had dyed her eyes glowed crimson red, and the two neat rows of white teeth in her mouth now resembled a shark's gaping maw. A lewd pink glow leaked from her throat as transparent saliva drooled from her mouth.
Shalltear's current appearance was her original look as a True Vampire. In other words, her usual appearance was merely a sham. Shalltear's usual beautiful appearance is merely the result of customization by her creator.
"Ahahaaahahaahaahahaa!"
Shalltear bared her fangs and grinned, so wide that the corners of her mouth almost touched her ears. She laughed several dozen times. Whimpers of despair filled the air of the dungeon.
Though they were in a cavern, it seemed as though even the air could not bear it and joined in with the resounding echoes.
Despite the distance between them, they could scent blood on her breath. Due to the intensity of the stench, it seemed as though even the air was turning red.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Overcome by panic, one of the adventurers screamed all the while running towards the girl that had transformed in this horrific creature. With his sword in hand, he was ready to strike once within range.
She turned to look at the adventurer that was running her way. She stepped forward and punched.
*Splash*
She did not even put her back into it. It was a simple, casual punch. That said, it was possessed of extraordinary speed and its destructive power was immense.
Her hand pierced the body of the adventurer she had punched, sending him flying into a wall of the cavern. Blood spilled everywhere on the monster. She laughed again and then spoke in a sinister voice:
"It's uselessssssss~ But you still tried so haaaaaaarrrrrrd~"
She took a step forward, and then she leapt.
The ceiling was about five meters above the cave floor. The girl jumped high enough to reach out and touch it easily. In a matter of seconds, she landed right in front of the remaining members.
*Splash*
"Hahaha, hahaha, hahahahaha!"
One more man decapitated by the monster, no, terror incarnate. It laughed more and more as blood from the man's head spilled everywhere. It was literally dancing under the rain.
The two remaining men, sprayed in blood, turned around and ran away as fast as they could without looking back at the abomination in fear for their lives.
One of the two fleeing men stumbled, rolling beneath Shalltear's feet.
"Spare me! Please! I won't do anything bad again!"
As she looked on the man, crying and whimpering for mercy as he grabbed her leg, Shalltear's face split into a predatory grin. The adventurer immediately understood what that smile meant, and his face turned pale.
"Hahahahahahahahaha! Whaaaaat's that look on your face, are you scaaaaared~?"
"Noooo! Stop!"
*Splash*
The remaining adventurer ran as fast as he could without looking back until something grabbed ankle and made him fall on the ground. While he did no see what happened behind him, he knew what this meant.
He had not escaped from the clutches of that terrifying monster…
"Hahaha, hahaha, how fuuuuuuuuun~ Did you really think you could escape so easilyyyyyyyyy~ Nooooooooooope~" She said as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Spare, spare me"
"Noooooooooope! I haven't fed in soooooooooo looooooong~"
Her mouth opened until it was past her ears, until it was big enough to gulp an entire skull down.
*Splash*
The five adventurers were unfortunately too slow for the vampire that was currently in a blood frenzy.
Blood frenzy: the more blood a vampire's body is covered in, the stronger it becomes, and its attack power soars. Because of that, it will slowly lose control of its mind and becomes unable to hold back its urge to slaughter.
Without those mental brakes, the vampire will indiscriminately massacre any prey it sees. To prevent activating it, the vampire needs to fight while avoiding getting hit with blood or sucking it up with a weapon or other equipment.
In Shalltear's case, she had taken off the Remove Undead Abilities Ring and her blood absorbing armour along with the lance and replaced it with the casual dress set lord Peroroncino gave her to allow herself to go into a blood frenzy.
Those adventurers who insulted the supreme beings had to die in despair.
But now that she was into a blood frenzy, she seeked more blood.
Five measly adventurers are simply not enough. She was now going to go in a rampage in the dungeon, following the scent of blood, which so happened to be more present in the upper floors.
A small smile came across her face. Still, while she was in her true vampire form, the smile appeared so wide that the corners of her mouth almost touched her ears. With a bit of luck, she might find her way out as well.
A rampage, murder, and blood.
Yes, that was just what she needed to lighten her current mood.
Not only was she stripped away from her home to be sent in this sickening place that lacked any beauty, but the humans here did not mind being disrespectful towards the supreme beings. That, she could not tolerate.