Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 229

Dungeon Journal-Episode 230

# 230

Dungeon Journal

Angela greeted him as if she had been waiting, but her complexion was haggard, almost as if she were suffering from a serious illness.

“I look a little rough, don’t I? It couldn’t be helped while preparing for the ritual.”

Kim Jin-woo looked at her as she placed her hand on her cheek, her face etched with fatigue, and asked why.

“Before filling it with True Blood, I had to empty the murky blood from my body.”

She wished she could drain all the blood from her body if she could, but she couldn’t touch the source of life, she said, looking rather regretful.

“Do you really have to go that far?”

*Is True Blood so valuable that it has to be risked with one’s life?* Kim Jin-woo shook his head, looking at Angela, whose face was pale but whose eyes were more radiant than ever.

“If you were blind, Master, how much would you be willing to give up to open your eyes?”

He couldn’t answer that question. He could only vaguely feel her desperation.

“True Blood is like that to me. It’s about the fake becoming real. It means I don’t have to parasitize on other people’s lives anymore. It means I can see the world with my own will and eyes. That’s the difference between True Blood and a vampire who hasn’t inherited True Blood.”

She said this in an unusually firm voice.

“How can I help you?”

He urged her to hurry with the ritual, watching Angela’s complexion turn to that of a corpse as time went by.

“It’s the same as always. You just need to provide me with blood.”

The voice flowing from her blue lips gradually weakened.

“But I just need more blood than usual.”

She could no longer support herself and clung to him. Kim Jin-woo frowned at the hollow weight he felt through his arm.

“I understand, so let’s stop talking now.”

He laid her down on a small bed prepared nearby.

“Just one thing, just one more thing.”

She, who had almost closed her eyes, groped in her arms and pulled out a sharp dagger.

“Maybe I’ll lose control. If that happens, don’t hesitate…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but it wasn’t difficult to understand her meaning.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s time to worry about that now.”

If she failed, she would become a monster who had to crave blood every day to survive. Her reason would be consumed by the instinct to suck blood, and her body would collapse and become ugly.

Even so, she didn’t hesitate until the end.

“Okay.”

A stinging sensation on his wrist. Kim Jin-woo strained his eyes and looked at Angela.

The ritual was longer and more tedious than expected.

Angela consumed blood incredibly slowly. It was a completely different sight from her usual self, who would have been crazy about her master’s blood.

Thanks to this, even though a considerable amount of time had passed since the ritual began, she hadn’t drunk much blood.

Of course, he couldn’t feel any dizziness or pain. Only his forearm, which had been in the same position for a long time, felt a little sore.

Kim Jin-woo looked down at Angela.

She was still pale, and her complexion was not good. If it weren’t for the strange noises and the sound of her Adam’s apple bobbing from time to time, he might have thought she had fallen asleep.

But he could tell.

He was already feeling that a huge change was beginning from within her.

Rustle.

The honey-glazed, fine golden hair was cut off strand by strand, split, and soon began to scatter. The pale but soft-looking skin also dried up and cracked like a dry rice paddy in a drought, and she slowly began to corrode over time.

“Ugh.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been quietly examining her, frowned at the sudden pain.

Angela sucked blood with such force that it seemed like she would swallow his wrist whole. The amount of blood escaping through the wound increased exponentially.

And at the same time, her transformation accelerated.

Hair falls out. It grows back.

Skin cracks. Wrinkles form. New, firm flesh grows back.

Time, which had been flowing slowly, began to flow in an instant, as if fast-forwarding a video.

“Ah.”

His head spun for a moment. As a large amount of blood drained at once, his body rapidly became heavy. Nevertheless, Angela’s lips, which were sucking blood, did not fall off.

“Maybe I’ll lose control. If that happens, don’t hesitate…”

He remembered what she had asked just before the ritual began. The sharp light of the dagger placed right next to him filled his eyes.

*No, not yet. I can hold on a little longer.*

Kim Jin-woo bit his lip, looking at Angela, who had turned into an old woman again.

But the crisis soon came again. Her unstoppable bloodsucking had now reached a dangerous level.

She had already gone back and forth between youth and old age dozens of times in that short period of time, and he felt deep fatigue. Now was really the time to decide.

Before the ritual, she had said she might be overdoing it, and if the ritual failed, she would become an ugly monster craving blood.

Despite that terrible danger, she desperately wanted the ritual.

The desire to obtain True Blood and become a complete being, the desire to stand proudly by her master’s side. He couldn’t tell which was greater.

*Maybe she’s trying to use me.*

Becoming True Blood means becoming a complete being who doesn’t have to rely on anyone. The newly born her will no longer need him.

*Maybe her waywardness will cause troublesome things to happen.*

The heavier his body became, the deeper his 고민 [worries] became, and the 예기 [omen] of the dagger stabbed his eyes unusually.

But he didn’t pick up the dagger until the end.

Kim Jin-woo decided to trust Angela a little more.

“Angela.”

In a voice that had deepened in a short time, he called her name.

“I will definitely get the blood price.”

She was so busy 탐하는 피 [coveting blood] that she couldn’t hear him, but he didn’t care.

“So be sure to get True Blood. And serve me.”

A quiet whisper, as if in response, a message 떠올랐다 [appeared] in the air.

[The vampire Angela is beginning to mutate into a True Blood vampire.]

***

At the same time that Kim Jin-woo was helping Angela’s ritual, the underground world was in chaos. A brutal monster was hunting down the surrounding creatures indiscriminately.

At first, only a few small units were sacrificed. But when a nearby reconnaissance team, who found this strange, searched the area, a disaster occurred.

Kkeueok.

The Ant Hell happily burped with a sense of satisfaction. It felt like the air was escaping from its body, causing its swollen belly to deflate again.

And there was plenty of prey to refill its sunken belly.

“Kiyak!”

A sharp roar soon became a scream, and one prey was swallowed into its belly. In this way, the Ant Hell devoured everything around it indiscriminately.

The satyrs, who had been rushing fiercely towards the monster, began to back away at some point. Their fighting spirit and 급한 성정 [impatient nature] were suppressed by the monster’s strength.

The Ant Hell didn’t rush. It had eaten enough to last for days or even weeks without going hungry, and there was plenty of prey nearby that would crawl into its 아가리 [mouth] on its own if it wanted to.

So the Ant Hell didn’t catch the retreating satyrs.

How much time had passed like that?

A change came to the monster. The Ant Hell had been suffering from hunger all its life. So its only ground mission was to fill its belly and survive.

The Ant Hell had been enjoying a luxury that it hadn’t enjoyed in recent years. Even if it filled its belly, there was enough food, and if it waited, it would walk into its 아가리 [mouth] on its own.

Thanks to this, it became accustomed to feeling full and no longer suffered from hunger.

When its hunger was resolved, the Ant Hell began to think for the first time in its life.

The desire to have a delicious meal if possible dominated its mind. And the Ant Hell knew very well what was delicious. A huge mass of energy that it had already eaten several times. The core of the labyrinth was the Ant Hell’s favorite food.

The lazy Ant Hell finally began to move, smelling the delicious food that was 풍겨오는 진하게 [wafting strongly] from afar.

It was heading in the direction the satyrs had come from, towards their castle.

***

[Angela has successfully obtained True Blood.]

Kim Jin-woo, who had been staring at the message that 떠오른 눈앞에 [appeared before his eyes] with drowsy eyes for a while, was able to grasp the situation belatedly.

Angela’s gamble, which had risked her life, had finally succeeded.

[Angela has become a True Blood vampire from a vampire.]

[A True Blood vampire is a completely different being from an ordinary vampire. Unlike ordinary vampires who can only live fully through a blood contract that parasitizes on the source of life, a True Blood vampire is a 종 [species] itself.]

[Angela has completely 벗어났습니다 [escaped] from the restrictions of 흡혈 [blood-sucking].]

[The ability of 육신 [body] has increased dramatically, and she has obtained 고유 권능 [unique power].]

[A True Blood vampire who has just awakened is like a child. It will take some time to realize and use her abilities. But the growth of 육신 [body] alone is amazing enough to see the nobles of the 심층 [deep layers] below her eyes.]

[It will take quite a long time for Angela to become a complete True Blood vampire.]

Not much had changed on the outside. She had just become younger and more beautiful than before. But just that alone made Angela seem like a completely different being.

Her presence, which was beautiful but somehow 께름칙 [unsettling], was as 화사 [radiant] as a newly bloomed flower, and her face, which was 어린 홍조 [youthful blush], was full of life.

It was a sight as if a porcelain doll had gained life.

[The True Blood clan, which had been 멸족 [exterminated], has reappeared in the underground world. This is as 축복받을 [blessed] as the birth of a new clan.]

[The news of the return of the True Blood clan is 알려집니다 [being spread] on all floors. The scattered vampire clan will 집결할 [gather] again after hearing her news.]

[Only after putting them all 발아래 [under her feet] can Angela become the true Queen of Darkness.]

[She can now create 피조물 [creations/thralls].]

[She can now 받아들일 권속 [accept retainers].]

He couldn’t 실감할 [fathom] how great a True Blood vampire really was, but it was 기쁜 [joyful] enough that the ritual had succeeded.

[In the past, when the High Lords ruled the underground world, vampires were as great as the old 군주들 [monarchs/lords]. The ability of 진혈 [True Blood] to rule the darkness was something that even the powerful 군주들 [monarchs/lords] could not 함부로 대할 [treat carelessly], and the numerous 권속들 [retainers] and 피조물 [creations/thralls] that followed 진혈 [True Blood] were as 막강 [powerful] as the High Lords’ armies.]

[The High Lords were finally able to prevent the creation of a 끔찍한 적 [terrible enemy] by 인정해 주는 [acknowledging] this powerful ruler of darkness as a 군주 [monarch/lord] and 인정해 주는 [acknowledging] the 지배권 [dominion] of the underground world.]

[But in the nightmare-like 황혼의 시간 [twilight era], the True Blood clan 멸족했으니 [was exterminated] without even leaving 후손 [descendants], and the 계승권 [right of succession] of the 군주 [monarch/lord] was 소실되고 [lost].]

Kim Jin-woo, who had obtained information about another High Lord from an unexpected place, looked at Angela, who had fallen asleep without even realizing it.

[Ordinary vampires are 존재들 [beings] who are born with the 저주 [curse] of having to 기생 [parasitize] on the lives of others. Unlike the 권능 [power] of other High Lords, which were 파편이 되어 흩어진 [scattered into fragments], the 권능 [power] of 진혈 [True Blood] was 묶여 [bound] in the 저주 [curse] of blood and could not 자리 잡을 [take root] anywhere.]

[And the fact that a new True Blood clan has been born now is the same as saying that the 권능 [power] of 진혈 [True Blood], which had been 떠돌던 지저 [wandering underground], has finally found its 그릇 [vessel].

At that moment, Angela, who had thought to have fallen asleep from exhaustion from the ritual, opened her eyes. But the look in her eyes was 생소 [unfamiliar].

Her eyes, full of 권태로움 [ennui/weariness] like those of an absolute ruler who had 군림해 오랜 세월 [reigned for a long time], met his.

[Unlike the 권능 [power] of other High Lords, which had become 희미해진 파편이 [faint fragments], the 권능 [power] of 진혈 [True Blood], which had never 드러내지 모습을 단 한 번도 [revealed its form even once], contained not only its 막강한 권능 [immense power] but also the 사라졌던 사념 [vanished thoughts].]

[Angela has become the 화신 [incarnation] of the old 군주 [monarch/lord].]