After opening the door and stepping inside.

When I looked at the person on that second floor, with a beauty like a statue—

the very first thought that came to mind wasn’t,

Why is it out here?

or,

It’s beautiful.

It was something a little farther removed from all that.

Because—

‘Killing intent...!’

The dense scent of blood I could taste from the tip of my tongue alone

was so overwhelming that I couldn’t spare any attention for what it looked like.

Kaaang!!!

...If I had to call it fortunate,

then I was the same.

Even before stepping into this room, I had already been gripping my weapons.

Thud!

After knocking the attack away, I immediately kicked off the ground and sprang forward.

Kagagagagak!!!

Then.

Red blades bursting out from somewhere stabbed sharply into the spot where I had just been,

and a trail of blades formed in the wake of my running feet.

Pak!

After dodging that attack,

I ran up the wall of the building and thought,

‘From the moment I first heard the rumor... something about it had felt similar.’

When I first heard from Kangil that there was a place where survivors were gathering,

I couldn’t help but be seized by a strange sense of déjà vu.

Because—

‘That rumor... was far too similar to Ariella’s case.’

By spreading rumors that she had safety and food,

Ariella had lured the humans who were her prey to gather around her.

Unable to leave the bunker, she had built up her forces that way.

A place rumored to offer not only safety,

but even the power to fight vampires.

...It had been far too similar to Ariella’s case.

And besides.

Honestly, just hearing it was suspicious as hell.

‘Not long after vampires appeared, someone just happened to show up and start teaching people how to hunt vampires?’

The timing was too convenient.

If there were survivors who had managed to stay alive,

it was the kind of temptation they’d be forced to head toward even if they knew it might be a trap.

And then—

‘Vampire hunters.’

I had heard that name before.

Because Ariella herself had mentioned it.

The ones who had stood against them in the world those vampires came from.

‘These monsters came from another world.’

Except.

From everything I had experienced in this world up to now—

‘Those migrations happened on a species-wide basis... there had never been a case where several species from the same world appeared at once.’

Even so.

Up to that point, I figured it could still just be a coincidence.

If something had happened in the vampires’ world,

and not only those vampires, but also the ones hostile to them had appeared on this land separately,

then it wasn’t completely impossible.

But.

That suspicion became certainty after I came here.

‘The nobles I hunted.’

Those nobles went into that blackout screen,

and the being inside the blackout screen created that sun.

‘These people described that process as [offering the nobles as firewood].’

But.

I had felt it clearly back then.

‘Those nobles... weren’t burned like firewood.’

Right.

Maybe it could fool other people,

but it could never fool me.

“...Let me ask you just one thing!”

Because—

my job is a cook.

“When I served you...”

The being inside the blackout screen.

When it received the noble’s corpse,

the presence I felt from inside was...

“How did the food taste!?”

the presence of it

‘chewing and eating’

the corpse it had been handed.

Shhk—

Running along the wall, I closed in beside it.

I swung my blade and severed that snow-white arm.

And then, from the stump—

Srrrk...!

a new arm sprouted at terrifying speed,

and—

-Kiaaaaaaak!!!

With its eyes stained red,

it bared those long, sharp fangs at me.

***

-Kiaaaaaak!

That appearance, which had looked beautiful until then, twisted grotesquely,

and it let out a shriek as it lunged at me with its teeth bared.

Kaaang!

I swung Dugu Zhongshi and blocked those teeth,

then used the recoil to pull back.

As I did, I thought,

‘Strong.’

That attack just now hadn’t been aimed at its arm.

I had swung for its neck—a blow that should have been fatal no matter how extraordinary its regeneration was.

But with monstrous reaction speed, it had redirected that strike.

-This...!

Of course.

That didn’t mean the attack had been meaningless.

-Th-this power...!

Breaking into a cold sweat, it looked at its newly regrown arm.

It had grown back through its overwhelming regenerative ability,

but—

-Divine power.

a massive wound still remained there.

The severed area hadn’t regenerated properly, and the great gash left the flesh hanging loose.

-Ha! I don’t know how you managed it... but it seems you came very thoroughly prepared.

“Not that it’s something to brag about, but I’m pretty confident when it comes to preparing according to my opponent.”

[Active cooking effects: 3]

I had expected there was a decent chance I’d run into an enemy.

Naturally, I had already put myself into the best condition currently possible just in case.

Kaaang!

Its long claws and my blade collided violently, and the sparks briefly lit up the dark room.

Looking at its pale face and sharp fangs in that flash of light, I muttered to myself,

‘The one who started teaching people how to oppose vampires not long after vampires appeared.’

At first, I had thought, No way.

But that appearance proved my guess had been right.

‘...A vampire.’

It might sound strange that a vampire itself would know methods for hunting vampires,

but any military force, by nature, values one thing almost as much as strengthening its own military power: learning how its enemies intend to fight back.

The vampires would have studied the techniques of those who hunted them as well.

So even if the one who knew and spread those hunting methods was a vampire, it wouldn’t have been strange.

Pabababak!

Kaaang!

The droplets of blood it fired at me transformed into sharp daggers as they flew,

and the [Assistant Chef]s leaping out from my chest intercepted them.

-A bizarre ability.

And also—

I redirected the long claws it swung at me according to the teachings of [Martial Arts].

-...Excellent technique!

“Thanks for the compliment.”

It sounded impressed.

But—

it wasn’t the only one feeling that way. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

‘...This is rough.’

When I had first become certain it was a vampire, I’d honestly been pretty confident.

After all, I had just eaten a dish tied to divinity, practically a natural enemy of vampires.

But even then, there was still a problem.

‘There were no cooks among them... no, no [Cook].’

Whether that had been true even before those vampires poured out,

or whether they’d been swept away and destroyed in that flood, I didn’t know.

But there was no awakened cook here.

What that meant was simple.

‘There wasn’t any monster meat in the kitchen either.’

It seemed they did make equipment from monsters,

but it didn’t look like they brought that meat all the way onto this island.

To begin with, their primary enemy was those vampires.

It made sense that they focused their efforts on fighting vampires rather than monsters.

‘The effect of the dishes is less than half of normal...’

Food made with ingredients that held no mana.

Not only were the effects weaker than usual, but their duration was shorter too.

And then—

Pak!

The hand blade it lashed out with was incredibly sharp,

and its trajectories were efficiently restricting my movements.

[‘Martial Arts - Eating’ reacts to the opponent’s movements!]

The [Martial Arts] I had learned was telling me:

this one wasn’t an enemy that fought mindlessly with brute force like other monsters.

‘It learned professional combat techniques.’

A being that had mastered professional combat techniques, something similar even to [Martial Arts].

And on top of that, the power it possessed was as overwhelming as a monster’s.

‘I thought nobles were bastards specialized in controlling armies...!’

Rashir and Luor, the ones I had seen—

this thing was on a completely different level from ordinary nobles.

A being like this

had been sitting in the very middle of the last survivors on this land.

That fact was enough to make my skin crawl.

...But.

Even so, how should I put it.

“Unfortunately.”

Shhk.

-Kgh...!

I haven’t exactly been sitting around doing nothing all this time either.

“Right now, I think I’m a little stronger!”

It was definitely strong.

But it fell just a little short of me.

-Khah, haa...! Incredible. I had secretly prided myself on the fact that there were only a handful of times I had ever lost in a duel like this...

At some point, it let out a hollow laugh while looking at its own severed arms and waist.

Pointing my sword at it, I said,

“My skill’s a little above yours. And even that precious regeneration of yours is starting to get blocked by this divine power.”

-...

“You know as well as I do that there’s no point dragging this fight out. So...”

The truth was,

there was a reason I had specifically come here, where this thing was.

First of all.

I didn’t know how far its influence extended inside this guild.

If no one knew it was a vampire, then fine.

But if there were powerful people cooperating with it even while knowing that fact,

then even I could end up in danger.

That was why I came here only after confirming no one else was around.

And second—

“If you don’t want to die in agony, answer what I ask you honestly.”

Even if this thing really was a vampire,

there were still too many parts that didn’t make sense.

-Ha, ha... Someone like you has something to be curious about from me?

“If I didn’t, I would’ve killed you already, asshole.”

Separate from the fact that I thought there was a high chance this thing was a vampire,

I had no real guess as to its intentions.

If that sun disappeared, the Grand Duke’s retainers could ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) have stormed straight into this place and finished occupying Chinese territory in an instant.

‘And yet they went out of their way to send a vampire here that could create that sun?’

The rumors about teaching secret arts of vampire hunting had been so sweet

that I’d thought there was a much higher chance it was a trap.

But why do something like that?

“Why would a vampire like you help humans?”

What the vampires hoped to gain by helping humans—

I had to find that out.

-Hoo... Huhuhu...

...But then.

At my words—

-Vampire, vampire...

“...?”

-Indeed. You would naturally find it strange. After all...

It looked at my face,

then spoke with a smile that seemed almost pitying.

-Your Grand Duke must not have told you anything.

“...What?”

At the words that came out of its mouth,

my eyes widened in shock.

-But it would be best for you to know.

The thing, with both arms and one leg severed,

somehow twisted its body upright and spoke.

-Not every human likes being human... and not every vampire welcomes being a vampire.

“What are you—”

-You may think of me as one of your own kind... but the other side may not feel the same.

No, wait.

What the hell was it saying?

‘...My own kind?’

And just as I was about to ask something in response to those baffling words—

-But... regardless of how much I dislike it. Yes, as you said, this body of mine is that of a vampire.

I—

had no choice but to close the mouth I had been about to open.

-So then...

From its body,

I felt a tremendous amount of mana boiling up.

And then—

-It would only be right... to fight like a monster.

Paaaak!!!

With that,

its body seemed to scatter apart and vanish from sight.

‘...This is.’

And.

Only after a brief moment had passed did I realize what had just happened.

Pasasasasasa....

And then—

I couldn’t help but stare in shock at that fact.

Because—

‘Blood mist...?’

In the place where it had stood just moments ago, there was nothing left but red mist.