Scarlet

I let out a long and drawn out sigh as I tap my foot in impatience, simply letting the zombies around me each take a single bite out of my arm. On an already wounded spot, of course. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to scratch me.

Then I blow up the zombie in question’s head with nothing more than a tiny needle of blood I made from Blood Manipulation.

A rather long and drawn out process that has me wondering if I can try getting a game console or something out here that the demons won’t just destroy. But I eventually drop that plan since I don’t think it would work out very well.

I’m pretty sure the zombies biting my arms would make playing a game rather difficult.

“And I’m pretty sure anyone passing by would think you need to go see a psychiatrist,” Tar mutters, but I ignore him.

How many more instances of corruption do I need to clear out, anyways?

He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds before answering, “A lot.”

I just turn an unamused stare towards him without saying a word.

The tanuki shrugs his little tanuki shoulders from his place floating several meters above the ground, outside of the zombies range.

I eventually let out a sigh before suddenly stiffening up, the process of which sends all of the zombies on me flying before they turn into little pastes on the trees around us as I focus on the powerful life source I sense approaching with life sense. And within seconds, my wounds all heal and my armor repairs itself.

Then I activate my armor’s crest, making it appear on my chest as I call out, “I know you wouldn’t approach me like this to attack. Lily isn’t stupid enough to send someone to do that. So why are you here?”

It takes a second, but the source of the life energy and powerful mana enters my sight through the trees, revealing themselves to be a vampire.

|Artorius von Nightborne – Vampire – Level 1501|

A high level vampire count.

The man is wearing a set of black and blue armor and his glowing eyes are radiating through the cold mist around us as he quickly bows down to me and says, “I have a message from Duchess Rose.”

I fold my arms before tapping my finger once on my arm, making chains of blood shoot out of the ground to wrap around each and every zombie nearby to stop them from moving. Or more specifically, to stop them as they try to attack the both of us.

Wouldn’t want the Count killing them when they haven’t infected me yet after all.

“Speak,” I tell the Count with a frown on my face.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he states without raising his head. “Tartarus is in dire condition right now and we need your help.” My eyes narrow slightly. “His Majesty is in seclusion within his castle as he moves the planet-” I blink at that casual statement “-and The Reaper has taken control of the kingdom in his stead. However, the Lord of Hellfire has entered a frenzy due to the actions and demotion of his son and is destroying vast amounts of Tartarus in the process.” He finally raises his head with a pleading look in his eyes. “We, the demons of Tartarus, beg of you for your aid in bringing His Majesty out of his seclusion and ending this crisis.”

My frown grows deeper as I try to process everything the man had just said.

Particularly the part about Gramps moving the planet. Which seems like a bit too big of a fact to simply gloss over like the Count did.

It does explain what Gramps is doing. Since I knew he was busy doing something, but he refused to say what it was.

Tar?

“He’s telling the truth,” Tar answers right away, most likely allowed to talk to me about the subject now that I’ve learned about it on my own. Sort of. “Your Grandfather has been busy moving the planet in the opposite direction of the void invasion ever since the void invasion began. And since it’s a rather delicate process, he’s locked himself away in his castle on his own during it.”

So he’s too busy to pay attention to what’s happening on Tartarus.

Would he notice it if I stepped on Tartarus myself? Or if I tried entering his castle?

“It’s not likely,” Tar says, surprising me. “He has completely sealed himself in, and no one can enter his castle at all. Neither can he sense anything around him since his focus is entirely on moving the planet without killing the inhabitants in it or destroying the planet itself.”

The very fact that he’s worrying about destroying the planet on accident is a terrifying notion.

Actually, come to think of it, if he can move the planet then why didn’t he move it towards us?

“Because he doesn’t know where in the universe Earth is,” Tar answers. “He only knows where the void invasion is because of the pure power sent out through the rift from the Class VI voided overlord. Something that can be sensed from halfway across the universe.”

Oh. That’s rather frightening.

“What could I possibly do to help this situation?” I ask the Count in front of me before adding, “From what my fae partner has told me, there shouldn’t be anything I can do.”

The Count grimaces and asks, “Are you sure?”

“If you didn’t already know, Gramps wouldn’t be able to sense me since he’s so busy, so the only thing I might be able to do to help is to clear the curse from the demons,” I answer with a light shrug. An answer that seems to give the Count some hope before he frowns again.

Is he…

“What do you need to do that?” the Count asks, an incredibly serious look on his face.

A light grin emerges on my face.

This could be useful.