Record of a Thousand Lives-Chapter 117

Clank! Clank!

A sharp pickaxe slammed against the hard rocks of a mine.

Henrick grumbled, “There was that time at the Desert of Death, and now this time again!Awar?! Aren’t you sick and tired of it?”

“We have to,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as he slammed the pickaxe into the rock once again. Ashiny vein of ore appeared from within the walls of the mine. He picked outsomesilver ore andsomeyellowish ore and loaded themintoa wheelbarrow.

“Well, we do have to kill all of the vampires to completely liberate the slaves,” Henrick said with a sigh.

The two men put down their pickaxes and took a break;Kang Yoon-Soo looked at his wrist device and checked the countdown timer.

[Time RemainingUntil Death: 94 hours, 24 minutes, 17 seconds.]

‘Four dayshavealready passed…’

Kang Yoon-Soo hadspent those four daysdestroyingthe slave quarters andliberatingthe slaves. Ithadnot been an easy job,as the vampires had reinforced their defenses and used illusion magic to hide the locations of the slave quarters.

‘It would have taken us more than a month to destroy all of the slave quarters if I didn’t have my knowledge from my previous lives.’

Kang Yoon-Soohad knownexactly where all of the slave quarters were located, and he had even devised a plan for each of them according to their location and terrain.One time, heinfiltrated the slave quarters while disguised as a vampire, andanother time, heinfiltratedthemwhile disguised as a slave beforeopeningall the locks from the inside. He retreatedimmediatelyafter destroying the slave quarters and liberating all of the slaves just before the vampires’reinforcements arrived.

‘The slaves will be an excellent addition to our combat power.’

The slaveswho hadlost their freedom andhad beenabused by the vampires came from a wide variety of races, and all of them hadvery diverse abilitiesunique to their races. One of the races that displayedaunique racial ability was working with Kang Yoon-Soo at that verymoment.

“Master…No, I mean, Kang Yoon-Soo-nim! We’e finished mining all the oreintunnel number three!” a small dwarfreportedas he pushed a wheelbarrow filled with all sorts of ores. The dwarf was one of thepeoplewho had been enslaved by the vampires until he was liberated by Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded at the dwarf’s report.

‘Nobodycan come close to the dwarves when it comes to mining.’

The dwarves’mining ability was incomparable to that ofother races, as they had an innate skill to identify and locatehigh-qualityores. Additionally,they were quite small, so they could easily fit into small tunnels as well.The vampires had locked up the dwarves in this mine and forced them to mine ores and jewels.

“Should we mine out tunnel number five as well?” the dwarf askedenthusiastically,because he knew that what he was doing was a form of revenge against the vampires.

Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “Yes.”

“Roger that!”Thedwarf ranexcitedlyas if he weregoing to the pub to drink beer.

Henrick snickered and said, “Those guys are following your commands quite well.”

“It’s because their freedom is at stake,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Freedom was the only thing on the minds of the slaveswho had beenenslaved and abused by the vampires for so many years. Even the vampires,once an embodiment of fear to the slaves, would nolongerbe able toquellthe slaves’ desire for freedom.

“But there’s something I’mcurious about. We already wasted enough time destroying the slave quarters and liberating the slaves, but why the useless mining all of a sudden?” Henrick asked.

The mines definitely housed plenty of undiscovered minerals and ores, but they had no time to smelt all of those ores and turn them into weapons or armor. Furthermore, they had had to sacrifice a lot of zombies to take over the mines, as therehad beenmore vampires guardingthemcompared to the slave quarters.

“There’s a reason behind it,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he rubbedthe bluishteeth marks on his neck.They glowed with the magical energy infused into themby the Vampire Lord, Argoric.

‘There’s no time.’

The full moon wouldcome in four days, and the vampires would be able to leave Sanguineum. Kang Yoon-Soo would also dieon thatday.

‘The only way out of this is to kill the Vampire Lord.’

Kang Yoon-Soo had actually takena huge risk by talking to Argoric face to face. He had placed all his bets on Argoric’s overconfidence,curiosity, and desire forsome form of entertainment tofreehim from his mundane, repetitive life. Thankfully, Argoric had fully accepted Kang Yoon-Soo’s proposal to wage an all-out war.

‘Argoric Hermon…’

Kang Yoon-Soo knew him very well, since he had facedArgoriccountless times in his previous lives. That was one of the main reasons why he had confessed hisregressionsand made such a risky proposal face to face.

‘I would have instantly died at the hands of Argoricon thespot if somethinghad gonewrong.’

The Vampire Lordhad placed a time limit on Kang Yoon-Soo,but atleast Argorichad not killedanyone before he left. Kang Yoon-Soo was more than satisfied by the fact that his party members had survived the encounterwiththe Vampire Lord.

‘Argoric is strong, though.’

The Vampire Lordhadtenacious life force and monstrously strong combat power. That was not all; hehada near-infinite supply of magic power as well. The remaining four days were bound to be filled with ferocious fighting between Kang Yoon-Soo and the slaves against Argoric and the vampires.

Some time passed, and the dwarves came back witha wheelbarrow fullof minerals and ores.

“Let’s go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

They could only occupythe minesfor averyshort time, and they had used that time to mine as much as theycouldbefore they left it. The vampires’ reinforcements were bound to arrive and catch them if they spent too much timeinthe mines.

They left the tunnel with their wheelbarrows in tow, and passed throughadark and winding mountain trail beforearrivingat a cave.

“Oh, you’re here?”Whilecooking dinnerin alarge pot,Shanethturned around and greeted them. The cave hidden deep in the mountains was a place that even the vampires did notknow existed, and that was whyitwas a safe haven for thegroup.

The slaves welcomed him.

“Kang Yoon-Soo-nim hasreturned!”

“He brought a lot of shiny ores with him!”

“Hmm?Did the mastercome back?” a young elf boy asked.

The man beside him smacked him in the head andcommented, “What do you mean ‘master’? You little rascal. We’re no longer slaves!”

“I’m sorry! It became a habit,” the young elf said, laughing awkwardlywhile rubbing his head.

Henrick grimaced as if he could not take it anymoreand said, “What a fucked up reality this is…”

The slaves hadbeen liberated from thevampires’ rule, but they were still unable to discardthehabits they had picked up while they were enslaved. There were even some slaveswhofidgetednervouslywhile lookingaround for any menial labor they could do out of habit. It was as if the chains thatbound their bodieshad disappeared, but the chains that bound their hearts still remained in place.

“Hey, Kang Yoon-Soo,” Renil called out asthe manwalked toward him. He pointed at Deff, who was sitting alone at the edge of a cliff while staring at Sanguineum, and said, “Can you do something aboutDeff?”

“…” Gasenapproachedas well andnodded.

Henrick asked, “What’s wrong withthat guy?”

“He still hasn’t found his younger brother,” Renil said.

“I thought we destroyed all of the slave quarters in Sanguineum? Then isn’t he just dead at this point?” Henrickasked.

“That’s the most plausible theory, but how can someonewho’slonging fora lostfamily member accept such a cruel reality so easily?” Renil said as he shrugged.

Henrick rubbed his chin and asked, “But why are you asking this guy to behistherapist?”

“Umm…It’s because Kang Yoon-Soo knows a lot of things. Isn’t that right?” Renil said.

Gasen quietly nodded beside him.“…”

Henrick was surprisedbythe short-sightedness of the Vampire Hunters. He said, “Hoo…In my opinion…This guy is the least suitable person to become a therapist…”

Kang Yoon-Soo ignored their conversation and walked toward Deff.

Deff did not even bother to look back as he started tospeak.“There was a timewhenour ancestors tried to make peace with the vampires, but this was the result of that attempt.” He began soundingdejected as he continued, “Hundreds of werewolves ended up becoming enslaved by the vampires. I thoughttheywould all get their freedom back if I liberated them, but that was all in my head.”Hisvestments werestained with the vampires’ blood.

“Thosewhowere liberated were actually scared to step outside, and there were even some of themwhofelt more at ease staying inside their cages,”hesaid.He turned around and looked at Kang Yoon-Soo beforecontinuing, “Do you know why these people are following you? It’s because they want to be commanded by someone.”

Kang Yoon-Soo naturally hated consoling someone. He had to listen for a long time, speak a lot, and try to sympathize with the other person;the last partwas the one thing he was and had alwaysbeen very bad at.

Thatwaswhyhedecided to use the most effective method when it came toconsolingsomeone.

“Drink up,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he passed a bottle of red wine to Deff.Deff took the bottle and gulped it down. The sight of a priestin his vestments, gulping down a bottle of red wine while drenched in blood, wasvery strange.

The priest drank the whole bottle at once, letting outa long sigh beforesaying, “It’s delicious.”

“…”

“Is it from Vulpehin?” Deff asked.

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“It’s been a while since I smelled this fragrant red wine. How good would it be if this place had the same fragrance too?” Deffremarked, still sounding dejected.

Kang Yoon-Soo was not good at counseling or consoling people, but he knew a lot of things other people were not aware of.

“Your younger brother is alive,”hesaid.

Kwachik!

Deffbroke the wine bottle in his grip the moment he heard Kang Yoon-Soo’s statement.

***

“My lord!”

“Be quiet,” Argoric said, annoyed.

There were thirteen vampires kneeling downbeforehis throne, andthey all had redcapeson theirbacks.

“Nobles of the Night,” Argoricbegan.

The Nobles of the Night were stronger than average vampires; theywere ranked even higher than the high-ranked vampires. They were considered to be at the top of the vampire hierarchy, just under the Vampire Lord.

“We’ve already found that the disease was spread through the fog,” Argoric said.

They had found the disease sampleinthe Fog Dispensing Center and removed it, but it was already too late, as the disease had already spread through the fog.

Argoricspoke ofthe reality that the vampires had tried todeny.“We can’t stop the disease from spreading.”

The fog was a vital part of Sanguineum, and it was something that could notbe removed. It not only blocked out the sunlight, which was a fatal weaknessforvampires, but also blocked out the moonlightandpreventedanyenslaved werewolves from transforming. In fact, the vampires were bound to be at a disadvantage if they withdrew the fog.

“However, we aren’t affected by this disease,” Argoric said.

Aspecial trait of top-ranked vampires allowed the Vampire Lord and the Nobles of the Night to be immunetoall diseases; that wasbecausetheirbloodwasmuch purer than that ofaverage vampires.

“That’s why I’m commanding you to sacrifice yourselves to ease the suffering of our people, but why are you refusing my commands?” Argoricasked.

“But, my lord! Our magic power is too precious!” an old vampire said while prostratingbeforethe Vampire Lord.Vampires usually did not age, but the old vampire had been alive for so long that wrinkles had already started to form on his face. The only vampirewhodid not age no matter how many millennia hadpassed was the Vampire Lord.

“The insignificant vampires are already infected and they will not be able to recover from this disease, and sharing ourmagic power with them will be a blow to our authority asthe Nobles of the Night,” the old vampire said.

Vampires were an innatelyproud race.Even alower-ranked vampire would scoff at and look down on other races; that was onegood reason why the citizens of the continent were scared of vampires. Even then,the pride and arroganceofthe Nobles of the Nightwereon a different level compared to any lower-ranked vampires.

“Hmm…Who were you again?” Argoric asked.

“I am your humble servant, Rofrekin Nairan, sire,” the old vampire responded.

“Raise your head,” Argoric commanded, and the old vampire raised his head. Argoric’s red eyes shonebefore he said, “Kill yourself this instant.”

“I will carry out your will,” the old vampire said.He stabbed his nails into his own neck and twisted them,slicing his own headoff his body. His head rolled acrossthe floor.

“Any objections?” Argoric asked.

“No, sire,” the twelve remaining Nobles of the Night replied, immediately withdrawingfrom his presence.

Argoric rubbed his chin and thought, ‘We can’t stop the disease, but we can prevent the vampires from weakening.’

The Nobles of the Night wouldinfusethe vampires with their mana, and the vampireswhowere suddenly infused withsuchstrong mana wouldhave their life force decrease—the same wayKang Yoon-Soo’s dayshad becomenumbered after he was infused with Argoric’s mana.

However, it was different for the vampires,as they would regain their strength and vitality at the expense of their life force being reduced. Thatwould allow them to regain the strength they had lost because of the disease.

‘I have to do this much to win this war.’

Kang Yoon-Soo’s trump card was the disease, but what if he nullified the disease? The tides of the war would instantly shiftinhis favor.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

The news of the slave quarters being decimated, as well as the news that Kang Yoon-Soowas gathering the slaves to create a force to fight against the vampires reached Argoric, and he was gladto hear it.

‘I’ll gladly become the villain, oh regressor!’Argoricexclaimedexcitedly inhis mind.

A chance had finally appeared to release all of the frustration he had built up from his boring, repetitive, and mundane life.The Vampire Lord felt that he was born ready to become the biggest villain theworld hadever seen.

***

Time continued to pass, but nothing special happenedinvolvingKang Yoon-Soo and the slave forces he had gathered. They did not conquer any other territories, nor did they launch a raidonthe vampires.

It was on the day just before thefull moon arrivedthat the vampires assembled their forces.