Chapter 364: Who on earth is 353?_2
"But ’Destruction of Nations’ was annihilated by the Thirteen Heroes, proving that she’s absolutely weaker than the vampire who fought Brilliant Lord to a draw,"
"Or do you think that ’Destruction of Nations’ could fight Brilliant Lord to a draw? If so, I could take back my words, you know?"
Brian’s overly straightforward remarks left Iveyer speechless.
To some extent, Brian’s claims were actually correct.
At least, Iveyer was well aware that among those known as the Thirteen Heroes, in fact, only six had truly entered the Heroic Domain; the rest were essentially people at Brian’s level.
Given such Thirteen Heroes, apart from the leader and that detestable armored man whose identity was hidden, there were hardly any who could defeat ’Destruction of Nations’ the vampire alone, let alone in tandem.
Thus, since ’Destruction of Nations’ had been subdued by the Thirteen Heroes, naturally she could not measure up to those whom the Thirteen Heroes could not defeat no matter what.
Could the Thirteen Heroes defeat Reiger?
Could the vampire ’Destruction of Nations’ fight Reiger to a draw?
Iveyer couldn’t help but look towards Reiger, recalling the momentum he released when drawing his blade yesterday, remembering that fatal sense of crisis, that palpitation.
So, Iveyer had to admit that he... ’Destruction of Nations’ could absolutely not fight Reiger to a draw.
However, the vampire that appeared in the Ye·Lantier Northern Forest could fight someone like Reiger to a draw.
Doesn’t that mean that ’Destruction of Nations’ is inferior to that vampire?
Iveyer was at a loss for words, yet he still felt very displeased, even somewhat enraged with embarrassment.
"At the very least, someone of your level, I... ’Destruction of Nations’ could easily deal with."
Iveyer taunted Brian like a petulant child might.
Had it been before, such a statement would have certainly provoked Brian.
But now, Brian was no longer the person he had been before.
"Of course, I know I’m far from enough; there are plenty of creatures in this world who could instantly kill someone of my level, and a legendary vampire would certainly be able to reign supreme over me, it’s the normal state of things,"
Brian calmly accepted his own weakness and Iveyer’s taunts, making Iveyer feel as though he was hitting cotton, extremely unsatisfying.
"Ahem," Lakyus then coughed, seemingly changing the subject, "In any case, we’ve understood that this vampire is very strong."
"Your suspicions are reasonable; such a powerful vampire would not be subdued so easily, let alone the presence of two appearing consecutively in less than three months; it’s unrealistic,"
"Considering this, the vampire that caused disturbances in the Holy Kingdom and slipped into the capital, secretly controlling the ’Eight Fingers’, might really be the same vampire that was once in Ye·Lantier Northern Forest,"
In other words, Brian’s doubts were logical.
The members of ’Blue Rose’ all acknowledged this view, and aside from Iveyer, who was still in a bad mood, everyone else nodded thoughtfully.
"How did you determine that the monster controlling the ’Eight Fingers’ is a vampire?"
It was then that Reiger appropriately spoke up.
Lakyus also said that no one had faced the monster controlling the ’Eight Fingers’, so how did they confirm that the other party was a vampire?
Reiger was curious about this.
"There are two reasons,"
Lakyus provided a reasonable explanation.
"One is the information passed back by the sacrificed kingdom troops claimed that they encountered members of ’Six Arms’ within ’Eight Fingers’; among them, except for ’King of Death’ Divanock, the rest were all turned into vampires,"
The infamous ’Six Arms’, known to possess strength on par with Mythril-ranked adventurers, indeed consisted of six people.
These six are ’Space Slash’ Peshlian, who could reportedly kill enemies from afar, ’Blood Dancer Scimitar’ Edestrian, who could skillfully use special magical weapons, the Poisoned Swordsman ’Thousand Kills’ Mamvist, who specialized in piercing attacks, ’Illusion Devil’ Sandoronte, who was adept in Illusion Techniques, the non-human and undead ’King of Death’ Divanock, and the fighter proficient in hand-to-hand combat and also their leader, ’Ghost Fighter’ Jie Luo.
Among these six individuals, except for Divanock, the "King of Death," who is not human, the rest are all humans.
As is well known, when humans are bitten by high-ranking vampires, there is a possibility they will be transformed into vampires of the same kind, and fall under the control and enslavement of the latter.
Since all the humans among the "Six Arms" have been turned into vampires, this sufficiently proves that the demon creature secretly manipulating the "Eight Fingers" is indeed a vampire.
This is a significant reason why Lakyus could assert that the adversary should be a vampire.
"Another reason is that the assailant once caused chaos in the human cities of the religious nation, according to the intelligence collected by the third princess, the monster that attacked the human cities of the religious nation is suspected to be a vampire," Lakyus explained, "That’s why we are all convinced that the adversary must undoubtedly be a vampire."
Reiger nodded, indicating understanding.
At the same time, Reiger’s mind began to consider the implications.
"So it seems, the vampire that attacked the religious nation’s human city and infiltrated the capital to take control of the ’Eight Fingers’, could very well be Shalltear Bloodfallen."
In the original work, this incident did not occur because Shalltear and Nazarick initially did not know that the person who had used a world-class artifact to perform spiritual control on Shalltear in the Ye·Lantier Northern Forest was from the religious nation’s black scripture.
Now, Reiger had sold this information to Ainz, and Ainz already knew that the person who had used a world-class artifact for spiritual control on Shalltear was from the religious nation.
Given this situation, considering Ainz’s demonstrated attachment to and care for Nazarick, it is entirely conceivable that he would bear a grudge against the religious nation and strike at it.
Although Reiger had already warned Ainz, preventing him from recklessly invading the religious nation, this does not mean Ainz would let it go so easily.
That guy would definitely scheme against the religious nation in the shadows, striking back at the nation that dared to target an NPC created by his former comrade.
Even if he does not dare to attack the religious nation rashly for the time being, he would gradually plot against it, subtly testing the religious nation’s defenses, advancing his agenda in the cover of darkness, and step by step devour the nation.
Shalltear might have acted against the cities of the religious nation at Ainz’s instigation, given the mix of new and old grudges; the vampire would surely relish doing so.
However...
"Can the special forces dispatched by the head priest of the religious nation really repel that vampire?"
"And why would that guy, after attacking the religious nation, switch to infiltrating the capital to take control of the ’Eight Fingers’?"
"If it had been done secretly without anyone being the wiser, it would fit with Ainz’s cunning nature, but causing such a ruckus that the kingdom’s upper echelons are all aware of it and taking action, it really doesn’t seem like a mistake that overly cautious guy would make."
A surge of doubts rose in Reiger’s mind.
"Could there have been some unexpected event?"
"Or, perhaps, this entire affair has nothing to do with Ainz and Nazarick at all?"
"Of course, there is a greater likelihood that deeper scheming lies behind this matter."
Combining his knowledge of the original work, Reiger made numerous speculations.
On this side, seeing Reiger deep in thought and sensing his interest in the matter, Lakyus suddenly realized this might present an opportunity.
"Lord Brilliant, if you’re interested, would you like to join us on a trip there?"
Lakyus seized the moment to extend an invitation.
Everyone perked up at once, turning their collective attention to Reiger.
Reiger also snapped back to the present and looked at Lakyus and the others.
"...Indeed."
A moment later, Reiger suddenly smiled and said.
"Without taking a look, who would know what really happened?"
Let’s go see for ourselves.
See if this really is something Ainz has concocted.