EnCoffin Me Chapter 122
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 122 Reversal (6)
The bat flapped its wings and flew over, cautiously glancing at Alexio before reporting the results of its recent reconnaissance.
“So… there's another me in the Holy Temple?” Alexio was baffled. “Who on earth would come up with something like that?”
Between daily classes, homework, and the Holy Temple occasionally trying to brand him with a tattoo or poke his eye, what kind-hearted fairy would want to impersonate him?
“It's probably Theo,” Lucius said, then smiled faintly. “Perhaps he wants to use your appearance to make me drop my guard, and then kill me.”
After hearing this, Alexio compared himself to the situation and said sincerely, “You have it worse.”
Lucius paused, selectively forgetting those times he had been a gleeful lunatic who gave the entire vampire race chronic indigestion. He lowered his eyes weakly.
“I'm used to it by now. They don't like me anyway.”
Btch, truly a btch. The bat next to him struggled to hold it in. It didn't want to be thrown out into the sun to be roasted.
“Compared to you, I think my life's still manageable.” Alexio sighed, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, I haven't thanked you yet. You gave me this information that helped me escape. Do you want me to repay you somehow?”
For a moment, Lucius thought they might team up to take down Theo. But soon his expression softened. He still didn't want his destined one to get involved in such a dangerous affair.
“I'm a little hungry. If it's convenient, could you give me some of your blood?”
Ideally, biting the wrist would be best. A vampire's fangs could bring ecstacy. Maybe once his destined one tasted it, he'd get hooked.
Alexio was strangely silent. It seemed he went through a difficult internal struggle before nodding, his ear tips reddening.
“Okay.”
Then he began to undo his outer clothing.
Holy Temple uniforms were complicated and heavily decorated. Alexio had undone half of his clothes when he noticed Lucius' slightly shocked expression. He froze. Then, he realized he might have misunderstood, and for a moment, he felt so awkward he wished he could dig a hole and disappear.
“Aren't you… supposed to bite the neck…”
Lucius: stunned from too much surprise.jpg
Before he could stop him, Alexio quickly straightened his clothes, put on a serious face, acting as if nothing had happened.
Lucius: “……”
If a regret pill existed, he'd sell Theo a hundred times over, buy a mountain of them, and swallow every last one!
Wait, would he even have to pay extra to sell Theo?
“I…” He opened his mouth to salvage the situation, but he saw Alexio pluck a bell-shaped clean flower from a nearby vine, pulling off its stamen and holding it in his mouth. The stamens and pollen of this flower were edible. Alexio dug up some vampire knowledge from his mind. It seemed they drank blood using cups. His earlier understanding was completely wrong!
How embarrassing, meoeoeow!
Lucius, who missed out on the wrist-biting perk: …What a collosal loss!
“Use this, then. Is that okay?” Alexio was much more cautious this time, even asking explicitly. Taking the other's silence as consent, Alexio cut his wrist and let fresh blood drip into the flower. The rich scent of blood spread everywhere. Lucius' vampire fangs involuntarily showed. Alexio realized this was probably a backup plan carefully prepared by the Holy Temple, some kind of addictive potion slipped into their daily meals, which Alexio, who always prioritized eating over studying, had ingested more than most.
“This is just a small token of my gratitude. If anything happens later, you can still come to me,” Alexio said, watching as Lucius slowly finished the blood from the flower. For some reason, besides the slight intoxication from the blood, Lucius seemed a little dejected.
Was it because there wasn't enough blood?
Alexio stared at the remaining flowers and plucked a few more.
“How about I pack some more for you? The wound's already open anyway.”
Alexio was very creative. He even used ice magic he wasn't very familiar with to seal the wound, then handed the flowers over.
Lucius, dining and taking out at the same time: ……
Dawn was approaching when Alexio, worried about the situation in the Holy Temple, hurried back. After he left, Lucius stared at the vine covered in blooming flowers, snorted through his nose, and ordered the bat to uproot the plant and toss it into the lake.
He felt like throwing himself into the lake too.
Alexio sneaked into the Holy Temple, relying on years of experience sneaking around without being caught. Fearing the second-generation vampire Lucius mentioned might still be in his room, Alexio went straight to the cafeteria for breakfast. Then he went to class empty-handed, without even a textbook but the teacher seemed numb to it by now.
The Holy Temple's standards for Alexio were ridiculously low. As long as he showed up to class, that was enough.
Alexio wasn't surprised at all. Since his original room had been discovered, it was no longer safe. He didn't want to return to his room only to run into the second-generation vampire. So, he just acted normally and, that very day, earned himself a month of confinement. When he was locked in the dim, empty room, he even smiled gratefully at the priest who locked him in.
The priest cried openly. Was the Holy Temple's last intimidation tactic against Alexio finally failing?!
After the priest left, Alexio continued drawing his unfinished hero adventure comic on the wall, a leftover from his previous confinement.
His caution wasn't misplaced. Theo hadn't waited for Lucius that night. He knew his cunning child might have suspected something, but he didn't want to let the little hunter slip away either. He stayed in Alexio's room for three full days. At first, he suspected he'd been discovered, which was why the hunter hadn't returned. Later, he sent the bat to inquire and learned that Alexio had been put in confinement. Of course, he could wait, but he also couldn't wait any longer. His left eye ached badly.
The pain seemed to follow a pattern, but he hadn't figured out what it was yet. Theo tightly controlled power within the vampires and had been closely monitoring things these past few days. Every time he dealt with vampire matters, his left eye would hurt unbearably.
Feeling unsafe, he grew increasingly paranoid. In the end, he decided not to wait any longer and hurried back to his own fortress.
Yet the pain didn't stop. It only worsened. He dared not fall asleep, knowing Lucius was still awake. If he slept, his child might just push his coffin into the sea.
Theo endured the pain, forcing a smile. That day, Lucius unexpectedly insisted on inviting him for afternoon tea to discuss the Holy Temple's movements. Theo patiently navigated the conversation, his left eye barely able to stay open, while agreeing to plans about attacking the Holy Temple.
Why did the pain feel worse than usual?
After tea, Lucius was convinced Theo had truly been affected. The Holy Temple's ‘wedge’ had done its job. The wedge repelled dark thoughts and guided hearts toward the light. But filled with conspiracies and madness, Theo's eyes rejected it…
Miserable. That was the only word.
Unless Theo wholeheartedly embraced goodness and constantly praised the Holy Temple and the Goddess of Light, the pain wouldn't end. But that was impossible. So Lucius reluctantly seized this rare chance to eliminate Theo completely.
With his plan set, rain began to fall outside. Lucius transformed as usual into the guise of a fallen noble and went to the shabby little chapel to meet Alexio.
He enjoyed these private meetings. The empty chapel echoed with the sound of rain. It was just him and Alexio. He bent over, writing a beautiful script, while Alexio occasionally spoke to him. Everything was quiet, peaceful, and warm, just like…
Just like… now?
“Really? Then I definitely have to go see it!”
“I have a half-price card here. You can use it.”
The girl's gentle voice blended with Alexio's familiar voice, and they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. Lucius was momentarily confused. Gradually, he realized the girl's voice also sounded somewhat familiar. Thanks to the recent frequent trades, whenever he heard her voice, he imagined the rattling sound of bones.
Sure enough, as he approached the chapel's main door, the figure standing with her back to him, laughing from time to time, was the lich cloaked in black.
“……”
His home base was tragically raided.
The lich noticed the movement and glanced sideways. Seeing his disguise, she raised an eyebrow slightly. Lucius cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation and asked with feigned curiosity, “And this lady is?”
The lich looked at him, then at Alexio. Considering their recent pleasant dealings, she only smiled without exposing him.
Lich: I'll just quietly watch you try to act.
Alexio paused briefly when Lucius came in, then leaned back against the chair, squinting as he scrutinized Lucius from head to toe before finally letting out a ‘heh.’
“What? You two don't know each other?”
Lucius paused, and so did the lich. The two dark creatures slowly lifted their eyes to look at Alexio.
Alexio's tone was surprisingly normal, but both could hear the undercurrent of tension beneath it.
“It would be too fake to say you don't know each other after working together to take down the silver cross.” He stood up, even smiling a little as he said to the lich, “But don't worry, I'm not biased against dark creatures. I was raised by a water nymph myself.”
The lich let out a long breath of relief. She had met Alexio when she was lost in the city. They got along well, and since it was raining, Alexio had brought her here to wait it out. She liked the human boy and didn't want conflict. Things were fine as they were now.
“Here's the half-price card. Keep it. When you're done, just return it to the original shop. I'll come get it.”
The lich thanked him softly. Heavy footsteps sounded outside the chapel. Her eyes brightened suddenly as she gave Lucius a look that said “good luck.” Then she scurried off towards her dragon.
Hopefully Lucius would survive.
“Rrrrgh…”
The dragon seemed about to say something but was dragged away by the lich, not even caring about the rain outside.
“Trust me, dear, just run for now. There's going to be a fight soon.”
The two left quickly, leaving Alexio and Lucius alone in the chapel. Alexio stood on the slightly elevated pulpit, leaning forward with a faint, knowing smile.
“Fallen noble? Meeting on a rainy day? The Girl and the God of Death?”
“……”
He stood up and took a deep, long breath.
“The girl is gone now.”
His tone was exceptionally chilling.
“Only the God of Death remains.”