Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 39: CURSE DOLL [ART OF TAUNTING]

cHAptEr 39:

cUrsE dOLL

[Art Of tAUnting]

THE POTENTIAL of spell-casters was unlimited.

Other than bringing back dead to life, as long as they could imagine it and gave their best, they could probably make it possible. The all-encompassing mana was mostly responsible for this matter: it could affect anything and become anything.

For example, the little doll he just made.

Mikhael had seen his share of new spells created by others and tried them out, but this little doll was something even he could make once every twenty years or so, since it's refinement process was too demanding.

It even had to be drawn on a black talisman!

The history behind this particular spell was something that made people between laughter and tears. Four hundred years ago, there was a spell-caster madly in love with an aristocratic human. Back then, most spell-casters were called witches and burned, but this one was so powerful that not even church could do anything about it.

Anyway, Mikhael had happened to run aw— go on vacation in that particular place when she met that woman, and he had to say that she really was an outstanding person. Not just her skill alone, she herself was a beauty that could topple kingdoms.

Mikhael easily befriended her with his personality, and the woman that's always be avoided by others, finally met the second person that actually treated her like a human being. As for the first person, it was naturally that aristocratic lad, who came here often despite his family's protest.

Like any dog blood or a witch and noble falling in love, the two indeed fought tribulation to come together. Alas, this wasn't a fairy tale. How could someone born into nobility and full of ambition possibly give up on power? He used some suggestions here and there to make her help him fight for the position of the head of family, but if that person was a little devil on her shoulder, Mikhael was a cute little angel bringing her back on the right path.

She herself was a kind person that just wasn't good at expressing herself. Mikhael has seen what kind of a scum that asshole was, so he did his best to protect this little girl. But he had to let her see for herself his true face and indeed, Mikhael's expectations didn't disappoint.

Since she won't help, the lad came and listened to her speak of some spells and potions in the house — potions were like talismans, heavily influenced from mana found in work places, buy their effect was much weaker — seemingly casually asking about it.

Then, he just stole one and directly poisoned his brothers and father.

A bit obvious, no?

Indeed it was, but the lad was prepared. If he personally poisoned them, he'd be condemned — but what if a mad woman did it against his knowledge because of her obsession after him?

Yes, he was that despicable.

Thanks to Mikhael, she was safe, but she really was unwilling to accept this. What did she do wrong? She just wanted to trust and be loved?

But it's often betrayal that twisted people. Mikhael didn't let her lose her mind, but some revenge was definitely in need.

So, the girl thought: I can't bear to stab him to death, but I really want to stab him!

And imagination was powerful thing, no matter the era people were in.

So she thought further: If he becomes a little doll that won't bleed, won't die, but will feel pain, that should be okay, no?

And Mikhael carefully watched her create an odd spell that would turn a human into a doll-shaped existence for two days, but since it was a bit troublesome and doll wasn't supposed to die even if you burned it alive and teared it apart, it demanded a lot mana.

So Mikhael thought: it should be okay to lend a black talisman now?

And indeed, the girl succeeded in her creation.

Mikhael had to admit, the feeling of being able to stab someone without them during was quite novel. Later when Dominique began to cause trouble for him, Mikhael also had an urge to stab him, so he began to create those little dolls often.

But it's usually Amelia who got to use them, not Mikhael. Mikhael said that they were a girl from his spell-caster friend and let Amelia handle Dominique, it was always more fun to watch her do it, rather than personally make a move on him.

But this spell is really taxing on vitality, so it can't be used often. The girl from back then immediately aged few years making Mikhael's heart ache, but it's irrefutable that she's a genius. So Mikhael took her as his disciple and passed Einz's teaching to her, asking to not pass them on anything unless they're of decent character.

And twenty years later, just before she was about to die, the girl managed to regain youthful appearance and become an immortal human due to her own research. It's quite likely that even Einz would nod in acceptance of this girl's talent, Mikhael only guided her in right direction, but didn't interfere much. After all, very spell-caster was different. Directly teaching someone everything one knew would only make another same person, true teachers would let their disciple learn from their examples and then let them create their own.

Basically, it's just giving example, and teaching that "20+2 = 22", but there could also be "21+1= 22" situations. They'd tell you that you need to get to "22", but you alone can find another numbers to get to the same goal.

It's just that Mikhael doesn't visit her often, and she herself loved to wander around the world helping poor girls extract their revenges, cough! It's already been hundred and fifty years since he last saw her.

But Mikhael turning Natalie to doll naturally wasn't in order to stab her.

He just wanted to save her, but where could he hide a full grown woman? It would be impossible for her to leave this city, but if you asked Mikhael, then he held a higher opinion of her vampire clan that had brains and logic compared to those hunters.

This child, she can be converted.

Vampire clan didn't really care if you're a human or a vampire, as long as you're a decent person. And coming from the person that wanted to cut off her ties at the age of five when she learned her clan's history, there was some hope for her.

Mikhael continued to move forward, leaving grateful bunch of vampires behind and killing those that instigated this incident.

Still, this many Higher Nobles and spell-casters...

Though Mikhael could kill them with ease at his current level, the sheer number of enemy forces made his gaze heavy.

This whole play definitely had a Pureblood behind. Even thought Mikhael wasn't sure if it's indeed the sixth one or someone else, it was indeed one of them behind this, Dante excluded.

As for why he didn't believe that it's the Sixth Dumblord— cough, Pureblood... Well, if you met people saying exactly the same thing whenever you saw them, anyone would doubt their words.

"But how curious," Mikhael really wanted to know, "Do this people have a serious grudge with the Sixth Pureblood or something? Did he exterminate their whole clans?"

He could only imagine once they arrived at this city, those people would flaunt words of being Sixth Pureblood's subordinates, making everyone targeting Mikhael tight now turn to that person.

For a moment, Mikhael even pitied the poor guy.

"This is why it's no good to be in spotlight."

Purebloods were really no good. On the outside, they seem like saints, but blood like this flowed through the history like rivers with no end. This wasn't the first time that Mikhael found himself in between two fires fanned by Purebloods, it's just that he always managed to escape easily.

By the time he had only two cargoes left, one with workers and one with driver, Mikhael had already killed a fair share of those people. Although majority of them survived, there were also some who died. After all, Mikhael was aware that there were also Higher Nobles among passengers.

The reason why most of them were unable to move was because of blood suppression from enemy Higher Nobles and spell-casters. But Higher Nobles couldn't suppress each other, so they could only die, not to mention that most of those people were vampires who didn't reach nobility with power, but because of their money and influence.

Not every noble is good at combat, and not every one of them had true power behind. Contributing to the vampire race could also promote someone, and those contributions might just be a powerful intelligence in enemies or valuable treasures around the world. That's why some nobles rank lower and some a bit higher under the Higher Nobles.

Mikhael was just about to tap the ground when he sensed a presence behind him and turned around. His senses were sharp, but Mikhael wouldn't bother with others as long as they held no killing intent towards him, so he just smiled at the newcomer.

"Already finished?"

Ethan only nodded.

As expected, this person had some skill to deal with them so fast.

"There were just few from behind, I cleaned up everyone. But, I worried you would meet some trouble here and came here instead," he casually stood there with hands in his pockets making Mikhael click his tongue.

Intentionally bragging and looking like a lofty figure... But he liked it.

"There wasn't anyone special here either, so that leaves only those two," for Mikhael who could easily fight a Pureblood, those people were nothing. And for Ethan who was a Pureblood himself, he didn't even need to raise his hand to deal with those traitors.

Therefore, Constantine could be said to have eaten a loss today.

If it indeed was another Higher Noble or spell-caster coming to meet Dante, they could only die in silence.

But who told those two to come instead?

As for offending him?

Haha.

Mikhael didn't even fear gods, and Ethan's arrogance was even worse.

"What did you learn from them?" Ethan was concerned about this, considering that those spell-casters all threatened him with his own identity.

"Ah?" Many things, indeed. Like... "Those people, they have some serious grudge with the Sixth Dumb— Pureblood."

"..."

Should he feel offended or thankful now? As if it wasn't enough that ordinary spell-casters bullied him, the one person who was on his side even called him dumb!

He couldn't hold back as he smacked Mikhael's head.

Once this was done, he should never meet with this person again.

"You!" Mikhael was taken aback, "It's okay if you get mad, but why actually hit me? Look how much I suffered today fighting for justice, this is bullying me too much!" He didn't dare yell, so he angrily whispered.

"..."

He really wanted to beat a mortal, what to do?

"It's good that you know that I'm mad."

Who wouldn't be?

Mikhael rolled his eyes, those crazy Pureblood fanatics. They're worse than idol's fans, to them a Pureblood was just perfect. Even if they're covered in mud from head to toe, it would be mud's honorary to be on their Lord's body — that's how their brains worked.

"But why do you think that those people aren't working for the Sixth Pureblood?" Ethan still asked.

How good that he won't have to explain.

"If I were him, I'd certainly not have incompetent idiots bragging about my evil deeds to the world, or else I'd just go and ram myself into a wall, committing suicide."

"..."

He pretended to not having heard anything.

Mikhael was serious about his words, though.

"Why the wall, though?"

"Back then, people would ram into walls to prove their innocence." For the first two hundred years of his life, Mikhael frequented China, because out of all places in the world, China had the most drama.

Especially inside the palace.

When arguing, some people would cry and complain, if that failed, they'd go physical and if that failed as well, they'd just ram into a wall and prove their innocence. Every day, there would be wives poisoning each others, brothers plotting against each others, even servants killing and setting up each other!

Mikhael just had to turn his head in random direction and he'd see drama, so although the other people remembered China as hegemonic country, Mikhael only remembered it for drama.

"..."

As expected, Ethan really couldn't control himself before hitting him again. If Mikhael knew what ramming oneself into a wall meant, how could Ethan who lived twice as long be unaware of those things? He just didn't expect Mikhael to mention that matter so seriously. He even had an urge to ram him into wall himself!

That's not even the way you use that phrase!

Mikhael held his head, it didn't really hurt at all. It's obvious that Ethan took into consideration that he's just a weak human to hold back his strength, so his hits had no real meaning nor power behind them.

"There are people inside, but they're all moving about freely," Mikhael said. He didn't forget that they came here to save people, not discuss Sixth Pureblood's private affairs.

"All enemies, then," he sighed, "This should be where that explosion came from."

Mikhael nodded. Ethan came here precisely because of that, the explosion wasn't in the back of train, but here, so he feared that Mikhael would face danger if left alone. He completely classified him as unreliable, despite him proving his abilities already.

But he worried for nothing.

Pulling out another red talisman, Mikhael disdainfully thought: 'So what if there are more enemies. So what if there are spell-casters and Higher Nobles inside? Under the ultimate power of my luck, those who try to kill me would all end up with misfortune.'

'See, this is the advantage of hiding your strength!!!'

Other Immortal Seats didn't even want to look at Mikhael completing "dangerous" missions because it was simply ridiculous how he never met any real danger! They had also seen the misfortune of people who wanted to deal with him, it's like he was this world's darling knocking everyone with malicious intent.

Although he often got in trouble and had dog luck when it comes to other things, Mikhael was simply impossible to kill.

To have tried to get rid of him, those people would be no exception to this rule. So, as he slapped the red talisman on the doors and waited for few moments, people inside all became unable to move. He proudly turned to Ethan with a smile.

"See how good I am, even if a Pureblood was inside, he'd still fall under my power!" Ethan's face was full of black lines.

'This shameless human...'

Red talisman might be able to freeze him for a second, but that's about it. Do you think Purebloods are like cabbage growing on the road that can be compared to ordinary vegetables?

"..."

he paused. Talking with idiots would only make your intelligence fall.

He stepped in front of Mikhael and opened the doors, meeting with an odd sight where people were frozen in their bodies. Some were walking, some holding weapons and some moving things, but without a doubt, not a single muscle of theirs moved. On the left side of cargo, there was a huge hole with a vehicle attached to the train with a spell.

"..."

This people are quite pitiful. Constantine has certainly made the wrong move this time.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, Mikhael could feel a familiar trace of mana around three of them, so he should be a spell-caster.

"Your ancestor," it can't be wrong. In seniority of spell-casters, Mikhael really was like their ancestor. But then he noticed a table with untouched food next to him and remembered that he didn't get to eat special food here yet.

Don't underestimate this train, although the size outside was that of a normal train, the inside has been reinforced with mana so the space inside was much more than what it appeared from the outside.

The cabins they were in earlier were of ordinary size, but the previous cargo was first class, so the cabins inside were the size of a room. Mikhael randomly booked the last seat available, while Ethan pretended to be cautious and booked an ordinary cabin as well, so they didn't get to enjoy the prestige of the first class yet.

But Mikhael didn't mind, be it the first class of not, the food was all the same.

So he grabbed a chicken wing and sauce from the table before staring at those guys with look that simply made one want to beat him.

"..."

Ethan pretended that he didn't know this shameless person.

"You!"

"I, I I! What's next, you're going to say 'do you know who I am'?"

"..."

"Then you'd be, 'do you know who I work for'?"

"..."

"And then you'd say that your master is the Sixth Dumb— Pureblood or something and that I can't offend you or blah blah blah yes, I've heard that already."

"..."

Ethan only took a step away from Mikhael before heading towards the group behind. He recognized the two of them, they worked for Constantine.

Ethan didn't recognize any of those Higher Nobles earlier making him frown. Constantine went all out, even mass-producing Higher Nobles for this mission. Although they didn't have power like proper Higher Nobles, they had numbers and blood suppression on their side.

And since no one knew about them, they could easily hide their auras and pass undetected.

They could even be cleaned out without anyone noticing later on.

But he knew those two. He ignored Mikhael who was busy arguing with three spell-casters behind as he stepped towards the two of them, he was already a fair distance from Mikhael who was too busy to focus on him.

"Constantine really gave his all today," he spoke making the two with ugly expressions freeze, "Who would know that a random ride this Lord took would make him see such a disgusting plot. You truly broadened my horizons."

Their faces soon morphed to terror.

For a vampire to refer to themselves as "this Lord", that could mean only one thing.

"M-my Lord—" one of them began, but once he saw Ethan's blood red eyes, he felt like his soul left his body.

"Now, speak. What is this all about," he asked in a domineering manner as two vampires sweated in fear. They couldn't tell him, but how could they resist the influence of a Pureblood demanding answers in front of them?

"We—" blood suppression wasn't a joke. Under the more powerful vampire, how could weaker vampires resist? Forget about asking for answers, if he asked them to die for his sake right now, they'd only be able to do silently. They used the same thing to suppress vampires on this train, how could Ethan possibly show them mercy?

Although the stories about him loving his kind and all are exaggerated, it was true that he couldn't stand them being killed mercilessly. Using their influence to oppress the weak was never Ethan's style, he found that action shameful.

Why don't you go and fight those stronger than you?

So, Ethan was often in situations where he dealt with those kinds of people, making his reputation soar and somehow make him the person that lived vampires the most.

He wasn't that compassionate, though.

He simply loathed such acts, it was like a hatred buried deep inside his heart that wanted to destroy everything. He didn't understand such feelings, but there were many preferences in this world for many people, so he didn't think much of it.

He merely didn't like something, so he acted.

As for others opinion on him, what's that got to do with him?

It wasn't detrimental for him anyways.

Yet, before the guy in front of him could form an actually sentence, his eyes suddenly dimmed as his chest caved in — and then he simply fell on the ground before turning into ash.

Ethan's eyes grew colder when he saw that scene. Turning his head to the other guy, his body also began to fall, his eyes black, before he turned into dust, and soon every other vampire followed behind.

Ethan turned to Mikhael who stared at those three with unsightly expression.

Very soon, their bodies also began to convulse. Unlike the vampires who died because of Constantine using his blood inside of them to finish them off, those guys were humans who couldn't be controlled the same way.

But still, there were spells that could deal with them in order to prevent secrets from being exposed. Mikhael only coldly glanced at them, but even though he had a way to stop them from dying, he chose not to act.

After all, unlike Ethan who immediately went to the strongest people for information, Mikhael was well aware what kind of people those who worked for a Pureblood are. He assumed that Ethan himself was an outstanding Higher Noble under a Pureblood, so he must've recognized the other two.

But he didn't listen in, as he had his own mission.

Those extremely loyal were usually those who did all the dirty work for a Pureblood. In that case, they would naturally do everything to protect him and be unwilling to say anything. They were also selected precisely because of that reason as well, so how could Mikhael hope to get anything out of them?

He let Ethan do as he please, and focused on those with loose lips instead.

Yes, those spell-casters.

He could clearly see that they were novices, they probably just joined a faction and were asked to participate in this mission. Their cautiousness was terrible and their acting even worse: not to mention that the arrogance in their eyes was the real deal.

So what did Mikhael do?

Make them angry.

Proud characters like them would undoubtedly use their backings once they realized they lives were endangered by someone unknown and lowly, and would let some things sleep when talking back in anger.

Mikhael, who often left impression of needing a beating, was just perfect for that.

He didn't need to know their boss nor their goals, as long as he got some hints of their identity, it would be easy to investigate with Dante's power.

It was his nature as a hunter.

Although he had no intention of pulling through the end with this since he didn't want to get involved with a Pureblood, he should at least warn Dante to be careful.

Therefore, having already argued for a bit, Mikhael got some leads and didn't feel like he needed them alive. It's why he didn't immediately attack them earlier.

Not to mention...

Despite knowing that they'll be responsible for deaths of innocent people, they still proceeded with this plan.

Those kinds of people, Mikhael seriously had no intention of saving.

Therefore he calmly watched as their bodies rotted down completely, before they also disappeared without a trace.

How cruel.

But how very much alike a Pureblood.

At that moment they heard a noise of vehicles approaching from the distance. The reinforcement has finally arrived.