The others gulped when they heard Kang Yoon-Soo’s brazen insult and declaration of war against the Vampire Lord. However, Argoric did not seem to be bothered at all. In fact, he smiled excitedly and asked, “And who might you be?”

The Vampire Lord had heard someone personally tell him to his face that he would die by having his heart pierced. That was something he had not heard in the entire millennium he had lived.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, “The one who caused the disease outbreak.”

“Hmm…” Argoric rubbed his lips.

It was at that moment, as the Vampire Lord was deep in thought, that a man wearing a priestly robe broke through the crowds and wildly swung a silver greatsword toward him.

Clang!

Argoric easily blocked the attack, and the silver greatsword split in half from the impact.

Deff bared his fangs at the Vampire Lord and growled like a wolf, glaring at Argoric with eyes filled with anger as he shouted, “Die, Vampire Lord!”

“Are you a werewolf? Your fangs are pretty,” Argoric said with a laugh.

Deff growled like a mad dog and drew a silver longsword from his belt, then swung it at the Vampire Lord. However, Argoric easily grabbed the silver longsword with one hand.

“Grwaaaaaah!” Deff howled like a beast, and his arms bulged with veins as he put all of his strength behind the longsword.

However, Argoric did not seem to flinch or grimace at all. He easily squeezed the silver longsword with one hand and crumpled it as if it were a piece of paper, then said, “I always felt that things could have been better between our races. Your race was always at odds with us vampires when we could have been friends. We’re races that possess such beautiful fangs, after all.”

“Shut up! You bastard!” Deff screamed as he punched Argoric in the face. However, the only damage he inflicted was to his own fist; he felt as if he had punched a stone mountain.

The smile on Argoric’s face disappeared as he said, “I’d prefer if the only things that touched my cheeks were kisses…” Then, the Vampire Lord lightly swung his fist at Deff.

Pukeeoooook!

“Eueuk!”

Deff spun a few times in mid-air, having been flung quite a distance just from the force of one punch. The others watched the sight of the large man being easily blown away with fear in their eyes.

“Let’s continue where we left off, shall we?” Argoric said as he rubbed his cheek where Deff had punched it. However, the Vampire Lord’s cheeks were still smooth with no trace of any damage, not even a scratch. He continued, “Ah, as you were saying. You said you were the one who spread the disease?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“And why was that?” Argoric asked curiously.

“To kill you,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“What a shallow reason…” Argoric said, seeming to be disappointed.

The Vampire Lord flicked his finger, and all the blood shed by the vampires in the slave quarter gathered above his hand. He asked, “Do you know why vampires don’t drink the blood of their fellow vampires?”

“Because the blood of the same race isn’t delicious,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Hoo? That’s not something someone who wasn’t a vampire would know,” Argoric said, seemingly impressed. He then poured the blood above his hand into a transparent wine glass. He then took a sip of the blood of his own race, his throat moving visibly as he swallowed.

“I don’t find this taste to be that bad, though. It’s sour at the start, but you can feel it sweetening after you swirl it in your mouth for a bit. The other vampires will realize sooner or later that the blood of their own kind tastes good too,” Argoric said as he drank more of the vampires’ blood.

Argoric’s actions would be considered equivalent to cannibalism by the standards of human cultures. The slaves trembled at the sight of the madness the Vampire Lord was displaying before them.

“I’ll forgive you for spreading the disease among the vampires. I didn’t really like this bunch anyway. They’re arrogant and love to brag, but all they do is hide in the darkness,” Argoric said with a shrug. He stared at Kang Yoon-Soo, who was not fazed at all and stared right back at the Vampire Lord.

“But did you say you would kill me?” the Vampire Lord continued. He added, “Everyone who’s openly declared they would kill me is dead. A famous warrior from the continent, an Archmage, and an archer who killed the Medusa. I’m already sick and tired of hearing those arrogant words with nothing to back them up.”

The others all held their breath. The only one speaking in the entire place was Argoric.

“I’m pretty sure that an arrogant fool like you will follow in their footsteps and fail to keep to your own words as you die helplessly. It’s too boring… I’m tired of it,” Argoric said with a sigh. He continued, “I haven’t met anyone who was a worthy opponent for nearly three thousand years.”

“I’ve lived for twenty thousand years,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

All eyes focused on one person, and that person was Kang Yoon-Soo.

Argoric snickered and asked, “Is a human’s lifespan even that long?”

However, Kang Yoon-Soo’s face remained expressionless.

Argoric waved his hands and said, “I thought I was going to have some fun, but this is more boring than sitting and doing nothing at the castle. I’ll have to kill you all since I’m already bored of this charade.”

A chill traveled down the spines of those gathered.

“W-What did he say?!”

“He said he would kill us all!”

“But we just got our freedom!”

The slaves did not even have the time to run away as a flash of light emanated from Argoric’s red eyes. All those who were hit by the light stood still as if they were dazed. The affected slaves stood there with their eyes unfocused and their mouths agape, as if they were under the influence of something.

“Become statues and decorate the slave quarters,” Argoric commanded, and the slaves’ bodies started to turn rigid. They were definitely alive, but they did not move even an inch, as if they were real-life statues.

“This is boring…” Argoric muttered as he displayed the absolute skill of the Vampire Lord—Absolute Mind Control. It was stronger than the mind control skill used by high-ranked vampires, and it had the power to put anyone under the influence of the Vampire Lord and make them unconditionally obey each and every one of his commands. Of course, it would not work against those who had a higher level than Argoric, but the Vampire Lord had yet to meet anyone like that.

‘Did I push myself too hard?’ Argoric thought, suddenly feeling thirsty. Absolute Mind Control was a powerful skill, but it consumed a lot of blood as well, and the fact that he had brainwashed almost two hundred slaves had made him consume a lot of blood.

“Boring…” Argoric muttered, and that one word carried the weight of his ennui. Everyone knelt and prostrated in front of him with a single command from his lips, and life was just too easy for him.

“I feel the same.”

Argoric looked toward where the sudden voice had come from, doubting his ears for a moment. He thought, ‘How could this happen?’

No one should have been able to even move their tongue without his command, but there was one person who was still standing while not being under his influence. It was a human who was not affected by his skill.

“Living life while being at the pinnacle can be really boring,” the man continued. It was Kang Yoon-Soo.

A message popped up in front of Argoric.

[The target’s mind contains 20,004 years’ worth of memories. The Absolute Mind Control skill has failed to influence the target.]

It was an unbelievable message. Had this man really been alive for more than twenty millennia?

Argoric furrowed his brows and asked, “What the hell are you?”

“A man who’s living his thousandth life,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. The people under the Vampire Lord’s influence could not hear their conversation, however.

Kang Yoon-Soo recalled the memories from his previous lives and said, “I’ve killed you more than three hundred times.”

***

Argoric let out a laugh at the man’s unbelievable boast. He asked, “Did you just say you were living your thousandth life?”

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and replied, “I’ve regressed 999 times.”

“What? Then have you lived the same life a thousand times?” Argoric asked in surprise. He, who had lived for three thousand years, was already fed up and bored with life—although the fact that he could not leave this place as the owner of Sanguineum was most of the reason for his boredom. Still, this man hasd lived for more than twenty millennia?

“Hold on, now that I think about it… I don’t think that’s a blatant lie,” Argoric said.

Kang Yoon-Soo had claimed to have lived for over twenty thousand years, and there had also been that message that said that he possessed 20,004 years’ worth of memories.

Argoric squinted and said, “…But you’re too weak to have lived over twenty millennia.”

The Vampire Lord had the innate ability to gauge another’s strength, and Kang Yoon-Soo was a weakling according to Argoric’s senses. He was only as strong as a normal Traveler on the continent, and that was only if Argoric was being generous with his assessment.

“Because I’ve regressed,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Show me your proof,” Argoric told him.

“The first time I met you, you bit me and I turned into a vampire,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Argoric snickered. He had thought about turning Kang Yoon-Soo into a vampire when he first saw him. “I like beautiful things, and I like how you look,” he said with a smile on his face. He would have seriously considered turning Kang Yoon-Soo into his minion if the man had not not openly declared that he was going to kill him.

Kang Yoon-Soo continued, “I identified your weaknesses, habits, your skills in that life, and I used that knowledge to kill you in the next life.”

“Hoo… How did it go?” Argoric asked curiously, seeming to be genuinely interested.

“I gathered three hundred beautiful women to have you drown in debauchery, then stabbed you from behind and killed you,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“What a shame that there were no pretty boys in that,” Argoric said with a shrug, but he was actually greatly surprised inside. He knew himself very well, and he knew he would have dropped his guard if he were buried underneath all those beautiful women.

“I killed you in various ways after that. There was also a time that I threatened you and took you in as one of my summoned creatures,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Me? A summoned creature?” Argoric replied with a laugh, seemingly perplexed.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “That was only once, because you were the worst summon I ever had.”

“Of course. I would have betrayed you more than nine times a day if you had become my master,” Argoric said. He was not someone to take orders from someone else, and he was certain that he would have chosen death rather than listen to a human’s commands no matter how much he was beaten up.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo furrowed his brow and said something unexpected. “You killed yourself after refusing to fight when the Demon Lord showed up.”

“Demon Lord?” Argoric asked.

“No. never mind,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Argoric was starting to get confused. Was this man trying to trick him? Or was he really a regressor?

The Vampire Lord grabbed Kang Yoon-Soo’s head and pulled it in front of his face, then said, “Look me in the eyes.” His eyes glowed, and he commanded the man, “Tell me the truth.”

[The target’s mind contains 20,004 years’ worth of memories. The Absolute Mind Control skill has failed to influence the target.]

He was now certain. His mind control skill did not work on the man, and he was also certain that the man had lived for over twenty millennia.

“If you’re really a regressor, then you must know my father’s name,” Argoric said.

“The Great Vampire Lord, Rwegirkan Hermon. Your father’s heart was ripped apart after he challenged Sirian, the King of All Beings, and died,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The look in Argoric’s eyes changed. The truth behind how his father had died was a secret only he knew of. He asked one more time, “What’s the reason you’re telling me all this? The fact that you’re a regressor, I mean.”

“It’s to show you that I’m a worthy opponent for you,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Opponent?” Argoric repeated as if the word were foreign to him.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “Life at the pinnacle can be quite boring, but I’m here to shake up your boring days and entertain you.”

“What can an insignificant being like you do?” Argoric asked.

“I’ll kill you and take your spot at the pinnacle,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied. Argoric’s eyes opened wide, and he was speechless for a moment. Then, Kang Yoon-Soo continued, completely unfazed, “I’ll kill you in the best way possible.”

Kang Yoon-Soo was saying things that were foreign to Argoric; they were words that the Vampire Lord had never heard before in his life.

“Give me your heart,” Kang Yoon-Soo finally said.

Argoric was silent for a moment. However, the silence did not last long, and the Vampire Lord laughed like a maniac. “Bwahahahaha! Ahahahaha!”

‘I’ll kill you.’ ‘I’ll take your spot at the pinnacle.’ ‘Give me your heart.’ Had he ever heard so many threats from the same human before in his life? Argoric was barely able to stop laughing before he asked, “Did you say you’d killed me three hundred times before? And that you succeeded every single time you tried to kill me?”

“I attempted it three hundred and fifty times. I failed those fifty times because I was pushed back by your vampire minions or I was overpowered by you,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Then I guess the odds aren’t so stacked against me,” Argoric said with a sinister laugh. He asked, “Alright, how do you plan to kill me in this life?”

“I'll gather my forces and face you head-on,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Alright, you have balls, I’ll give you that,” Argoric praised Kang Yoon-Soo, wrapping his arm around the other man’s shoulder as if they were the best of friends. Then, he shouted loudly, “Alright! I accept your challenge! I will not kill you in this place. I will show you an arrogant and foolish mercy befitting an overconfident villain!”

The Vampire Lord sounded very confident about his own victory, and he started to feel that his life that had been filled with nothing but boredom was slowly starting to become interesting. He called out in a loud voice that reverberated across the slave quarters, “Fight me, oh regressor! I could want nothing more than to die at the hands of a foe as entertaining as you!”

Argoric licked Kang Yoon-Soo’s cheek and said, “However, I don’t have any plans to let you off so easily. That would be no fun, wouldn’t it?”

The Vampire Lord bit Kang Yoon-Soo’s neck, and hot and ominous energy entered through his fangs. Kang Yoon-Soo’s body started to turn hot as he fell to his knees.

“Haa…” His breathing started to become rough.

[The Vampire Lord has infused his magic power into you.]

[Your body cannot handle the wild energy.]

[You will die in eight days.]

[The only way to stop this is to kill the Vampire Lord before the time limit ends.]

[Time Remaining Until Death: 191 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]

“I think there were eight days left before the full moon, right?” Argoric remarked as he stared down at Kang Yoon-Soo. His black cape fluttered as he added, “You’d better use your full power if you want to face me. I hope you’ll be an interesting enemy, Kang Yoon-Soo.”

The Vampire Lord disappeared into thin air, and the mind control magic faded once he was no longer in the room.

“W-What happened?”

“Where did the Vampire Lord go?”

The others had no recollection of what happened, and were perplexed and confused.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood up, enduring the pain as he said, “Everyone. Follow me.”

“What do you mean?” an old centaur asked—it was the same centaur who had said that there was a need to control the slaves.

Kang Yoon-Soo said loudly, “We’re going to free all the slaves and wage an all-out war against Sanguineum.”