WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 133: Helsing Family (4)

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The Helsing Family, vampire hunters of the Netherlands, had long been close allies of Korea's Gangnam Holy Temple Church.

That was why the two sides often sent people to assist each other. But ever since the previous Head of House, there had been a peculiar pattern.

"We are God's agents. The earthly executors of divine punishment. Our mission is to annihilate the foolish who defy our God, down to every last shred of flesh..."

"Mr. Kim. That's plagiarism."

"I just tried it. It looks cool. And it's partly your fault, you know."

"Mine?"

"You're Helsing. Descended from Abram Van Helsing."

"Kim. Our family has nothing to do with cartoons from across the sea. And can a clergyman really say things like annihilation and shreds of flesh?"

"You can when you're dealing with heretics and monsters. It's good for intimidating them too."

"Well, if I were a vampire standing before Kim, I might have proven my innocence through tears."

Testimony of Alexander Van Helsing, former Head of House.

"We are God's agents. The earthly executors of divine punishment. Our mission is to annihilate the foolish who defy our God, down to every last shred of flesh...!"

"What a coincidence, Pastor Go. Father said Pastor Kim did the exact same thing."

"Ah... well... It's an East Asian Christian tradition."

"Pastor Park doesn't do that."

Testimony of Nor Van Helsing, the Helsing Family's current eldest son.

"You will not die trembling. You will die like straw! AEEEEEEEEMEN!!"

"Deaconess Choi, even as a Christian, isn't that wording a little brutal..."

Testimony of Julia Van Helsing, the Helsing Family's current eldest daughter.

And then...

"AEEEEE... MEN!"

"...Why is everyone from Holy Temple Church like this?"

Adrian recalled the customs of Holy Temple Church people that he had heard about from his father and siblings.

By coincidence, Adrian did not know about cartoons from the island nation across the sea from Korea.

In fact, most vampires did not know either.

That was why this kind of display worked better than expected.

"You church fanatics! You chased us all the way here?!"

They were overwhelmed by sheer presence.

Nothing in the world looked more dangerous than someone who seemed completely insane.

Finn and Elise, vampires of the Dake Clan, staggered back in shock.

Even the Vatican's Templar Order did not act with that level of fanaticism.

Such destructive, fanatical force.

They were the sort one did not even want to face.

"Baka yarō! I'm still a Japanese vampire, you think I wouldn't know that?!"

There were occasionally vampires who got the reference, but this kind of presence worked well on vampires ignorant of modern subculture.

Oh, it works. It really works.

It was a line Yohan had always wanted to try when fighting vampires.

Facing the two vampires, Yohan assessed his fighting power.

Most of the Gutenberg Bibles had been used for the sealing barrier. What Yohan had left were several Gutenberg holy swords and a rifle loaded with silver bullets.

Yohan had also brought holy oil, the Vajra Lasso, and a few treasures in his coat, but they did not seem as though they would help much.

Yohan had learned that while the Vajra Lasso had an excellent sealing effect on a single target, it became meaningless if that target split apart.

This was the moment Yohan learned just how important equipment selection was when hunting vampires.

"Fire!"

Adrian began the battle, and his muzzle spat fire.

The vampires reacted to the silver bullets firing in bursts from the forty-round extended magazine.

But Elise reacted too slowly.

"Argh!"

"Elise!"

Elise had lost half the blood forming her body to Adrian's silver net.

When silver bullets struck her because she had reacted too late, Finn hurriedly tried to return to her.

But Yohan stopped him.

Finn's claws were blocked by a Gutenberg holy sword.

"Grr! You fanatic!"

Finn changed targets and charged in fiercely.

A vampire's ominous claws flashed and struck the holy sword.

Boom!

Yohan barely blocked it by crossing his holy swords, but he nearly fell backward.

Before his speed, his strength was...

Yohan's wrists trembled.

This was Yohan's first time facing an inhuman enemy in a pure close-quarters fight.

Even Yohan's live training with werewolves had been closer to guerrilla warfare, mixing escapes and spatial movement, than close combat.

"Hmph!"

Having realized that Yohan was weaker than expected, Finn snorted and pressed in.

Left, right.

Left.

Yohan blocked the incoming arms with his swords.

There was no chance to counterattack. He was much faster and stronger.

"Ugh...!"

Yohan avoided claws that nearly grazed his face with a one-meter short-range leap.

Finn's eyes widened at the sight.

"Spatial Leap? Are you a wizard?!"

"It's very different!"

Yohan threw a holy sword.

The vampire barely evaded the throw, accelerated with spiritual power, by bending sharply backward.

"...!"

The next moment, Yohan gripped the holy sword with both hands and brought it down with all his strength.

"Urgh!"

Finn caught it in an imperfect stance.

My eyes widened.

This bastard's core strength is insane!

He blocked a sword swung with both hands from that position?

That was an acrobatic feat impossible without a vast difference in physical ability.

Taking advantage of Yohan's shock, Finn pushed Yohan's sword away with brute force, rose, and kicked him in the stomach.

"Urk!"

Yohan's body flew up in an instant.

Yohan was about to get embedded in the ceiling, but he used a short-range Spatial Leap and landed in a stable stance on the ground.

This is insane...! I almost died!

He had only given me a light kick from an imperfect stance, but it felt as though my ribs had been crushed.

Back in school, I had once been hit in the stomach by a baseball a pitcher threw.

The impact was close to that.

The state beneath Yohan's coat had to be awful.

"You're weak!"

Yohan could only defend against the vampire's savage onslaught.

What was this?

The vampire was stronger than I had expected.

It was not as if I had ever thought werewolves were weak.

The many monsters and ghosts Yohan had faced so far probably had not been weaker than him either.

So why did I suddenly feel such a difference now?

I'd had things way too easy.

I had coasted on my angel's cheat powers, then on my gear, then on my familiars.

It was not as if I had never faced danger.

There had been dangerous moments, and in Serbia, I had truly thought I was going to die.

But had I ever faced the threat of death amid the tension of this kind of hand-to-hand fight?

Gari had always been beside me.

Eight-Foot Sister had always been there.

There had always been experienced helpers like Pastor Park or Pastor Kim.

Definitely.

It would not be wrong to say Yohan had almost never faced monsters and ghosts alone.

How did everyone else fight?

Yohan realized that they had truly fought with their lives on the line.

Pastor Park must have been the same at first.

Pastor Go must have always fought with his life on the line.

So had Pastor Kim, who was no longer here, and the other exorcists of Holy Temple Church.

The Templar Order of the Vatican, and everyone else too.

All of them had confronted enemies far superior to themselves in the weak bodies of ordinary humans.

They were admirable, incredible people.

That did not mean Yohan had to deliberately seek dangerous fights himself, but there must have been experience and seasoned judgment that could not be gained just by coasting through everything.

Huff!

Yohan retreated farther with Spatial Leap.

Without it, Yohan would have died long ago.

Even now, Yohan could not truly feel endangered because he still had a cheat code in hand.

"Fine. I've had things too easy until now, right?"

Yohan took a bottle from his coat.

Realizing what it was, Finn rushed at me.

"You think I'll let you drink that... What?!"

Flames divided Finn and Yohan.

Finn started in surprise.

"Fire magic too?!"

Those who made contracts with demons to obtain spells were called wizards.

But even after offering countless sacrifices, the magic demons granted them was barely more than pathetic scraps.

Using spells... and multiple forms of magic at that... was unimaginable.

Spatial Leap and flames too? Wasn't he a clergyman? If he made contracts with demons, how many offerings did he give them?!

Even so, was it possible to form multiple contracts with demons?

Finn had never seen such a case, nor was there any record of one, so he could not know.

"Just wait a second."

Yohan downed every drop of vampire elixir in the bottle.

Yohan's blood grew hot.

His vision improved, and his injuries began to heal.

His strength and reflexes had probably increased quite a bit too.

"I was saving this and hadn't used it for combat, but if we're going toe-to-toe, I need this."

"You! The blood of your fellow vampires...!"

Vampires had highly developed senses of smell.

That was why Finn knew the vampire elixir I had opened and drunk was not the blood of an ordinary vampire.

Blood from a Clan Lord! Where did he get something like that?!

Had that young fanatic actually succeeded in hunting a Lord-class vampire?

The next moment, Yohan rushed in at once.

Yohan's speed was clearly different from before.

So different that even Yohan could barely control it.

"Bang!"

"...!"

But Yohan was proving that fighting was all about momentum.

"Die!"

Juiced up, Yohan unleashed a reckless offensive.

It could not be called the fighting style of an experienced warrior, but as long as Yohan kept attacking, Finn had no choice but to remain on the defensive.

But he was a vampire.

A vampire's fighting style did not require defense.

"Die!"

Finn did not block the descending holy sword. Instead, he thrust his claws forward.

Yohan did not evade either and brought down his sword, so he could not avoid Finn's claws piercing his stomach.

"Urk!"

"Skree!"

Either injury would have been fatal for an ordinary human.

But both of them possessed regenerative power.

The outcome depended on who ran out of blood first or inflicted more severe damage.

And whoever had more guts could land the more decisive strike.

Slash!

"What?!"

Finn stared in shock as Yohan pushed forward despite being impaled on his claws.

As Yohan's raised holy sword was about to strike his neck, he had no choice but to pull out his claws and retreat.

"You senseless..."

"Where do you think you're running?!"

Yohan chased after him.

Their speeds were similar.

But there was one decisive difference between us.

Whoosh!

Yohan caught up to Finn in an instant.

Yohan had used Spatial Leap not to evade or escape, but to pursue.

The Gutenberg holy sword came down and slashed diagonally across Finn's shoulder.

"Argh!"

Finn was being pushed back.

These fanatics.

They ignored their own bodies and charged in without hesitation.

Finn checked on Elise.

Damn it! She's already been subdued?!

Elise had already been captured by the young Helsing.

There was the sound of burning, and it seemed her bat transformation had failed against the shotgun loaded with incendiary rounds.

Even weakened after losing half her blood, how could she have been subdued so easily?

Was that what it meant to be a Helsing hunter, even a young one?

But Finn's problem was Yohan in front of him.

He was being driven back despite ranking fairly high within his clan.

"It can't be helped. I don't have a hobby of making men serve me, but... I'll make you my slave!"

"What?!"

"You can use Charm too?! Yohan! Avoid his gaze!"

Finn's eyes flashed.

A strange force flowed from his gaze.

One of a vampire's abilities, Charm.

It made those who met the vampire's eyes feel favorable and obedient.

Vampires, who could enter another person's home only after being invited, used Charm to bewitch the owner and make them trust them.

Then the vampire entered the residence, fed on their blood, and formed a relationship of obedience.

"..."

Yohan stopped.

The momentum that had driven me recklessly forward without caring about my injuries vanished, and I stared blankly at Finn.

"Damn it, am I too late?!"

Adrian had been thoroughly taught about vampires, so he knew how to resist Charm.

Keep one's gaze angled away and avoid meeting the vampire's eyes head-on.

Of course, during a fierce fight, it was difficult to remain aware of that and keep one's gaze averted at all times.

It was impossible unless one had trained thoroughly.

Unlike Adrian, who had trained exclusively to fight vampires since childhood, I had not.

"Damn it, Yohan! It's because I let my guard down!"

Adrian placed his finger on the trigger.

What if Yohan became the vampire's slave and attacked Adrian with his bizarre occult arts?

Could Adrian subdue Yohan without killing him?

Hoping Yohan had not been bewitched that badly, Adrian watched Finn and Yohan.

"..."

"..."

For quite some time, the two simply stared at each other.

The silence lasted long enough to bewilder not only Adrian, but even Elise, caught in the silver net.

Then Finn suddenly dropped to his knees.

Thud!

"Brother?"

Why was he doing that all of a sudden?

Elise called out to Finn anxiously, but he ignored her and grabbed Yohan's pant leg.

"Ah, Master! I 'love' you!"

"???"

"???"

"???"

All three of us wore equally baffled expressions.

It wasn't that kind of thing, was it?

Footnotes:

The battle cry is a knowingly copied reference to Hellsing, a Japanese manga and anime. “Baka yarō” is Japanese for “you idiot.”

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