Free Web NovelChapter 24: The Untainted Core
The two groups walked together deeper into the cavern, continuing their exploration of the dungeon until they finally found a secure, enclosed room to set up camp.
"Yep, this will do," Yuki said proudly, dusting off his hands. "Vee."
"Yes?" she answered, her long rabbit ears perking up instantly.
"I’m going to start setting up the camp and cooking dinner. Can you go look around this section of the cavern and see if you can find a source of drinkable water?"
"Will do," she said with a nod, turning to leave the room.
"...I’ll go join her," Carmilla muttered, frowning. She glanced away awkwardly. "Since I can’t cook anyway. And don’t worry, I’ll behave myself... probably. Okay, bye." She quickly scurried out of the room before anyone could argue.
Yuki watched them go and let out a dejected sigh. "I really hope they don’t kill each other out there."
"They will be fine," Malakai said smoothly, his voice trailing off as he watched Yuki return to his work.
While Yuki was busy, Malakai quietly stepped back, observing the boy’s movements from the shadows. Because of the massive rank difference between them, Yuki was completely unable to sense Malakai’s presence; he didn’t stop what he was doing or show even a shred of suspicion.
Yuki began setting up the tents, unfolding a dinner table, and organizing a professional cooking station to prepare the meal. He remained completely oblivious to the ancient demon tracking his every move. Being his usual comfort-loving self, Yuki even spent some of his system points in the lifestyle and furniture store, pulling out little decorations to make the damp dungeon room as cozy as possible.
But as Malakai continued to study Yuki, his analytical mind reached a chilling conclusion.
’This boy isn’t who he says he is... at least, not entirely.’
Malakai peered deeper, focusing his senses on Yuki’s internal mana. ’His internal essence is pure... entirely too pure, even for a Pureblood Vampire. It’s as if he has never fought a single demon in his entire life. That... that shouldn’t be possible.’ The Great War had reshaped the entire world. The toxic remnants of the deceased Demon Lord’s Miasma had been permanently scattered across the atmosphere. If this boy had been living in this world for years, some trace of that corruptive miasma should have naturally settled within his core. ’Is he truly a Pureblood by birth? No... no way, it’s impossible. Everything about his existence makes absolutely no sense.’
"Hmm-hm-hm, la la la... chop, chop, chop..."
Yuki continued his meal prep, happily singing and humming to himself. His cheerful tune was abruptly cut short when a massive, heavy weight suddenly pressed firmly against his back.
"Oh, um... do you need something?" Yuki asked innocently, glancing over his shoulder.
Malakai said nothing. He simply leaned down, his slitted golden eyes staring intensely into Yuki’s.
"...Mister Malakai, you’re very close to me," Yuki stammered, his cheerful demeanor faltering. "Do you mind stepping back a bit?"
Malakai’s golden eyes narrowed dangerously, a suffocating, ancient pressure suddenly filling the space between them.
Seeing the demon’s expression turn deadly serious, a wave of panic finally washed over Yuki. He spun around to face him and slowly backed away, but he only managed two steps before his lower back hit the edge of his makeshift countertop, trapping him.
Defensively, Yuki’s tail reacted on instinct, whipping forward into a tight, defensive arc, ready to strike.
The moment Yuki’s tail came into view, Malakai’s eyes flicked downward to analyze it for a split second before his gaze snapped right back to Yuki’s chest.
In a flash, Malakai’s own dark tail lashed out, violently wrapping around Yuki’s tail and driving the arrow-tipped point straight into the ground. Before Yuki could process the loss of his weapon, Malakai moved forward, pressing his broad chest directly against Yuki’s, pinning him flat against the countertop.
Startled and thoroughly confused, Yuki tried to shift his legs to break free, but Malakai efficiently trapped Yuki’s lower body using his own heavy legs.
"What... what are you doing?" Yuki asked, his heart instantly hammering like a trapped bird against his ribs.
Before he could twist away, Malakai grabbed both of Yuki’s wrists, pinning his arms flat against the counter. Yuki was left completely trapped, his face turning a flustered crimson from the sudden, overpowering proximity.
Malakai leaned in closer, placing his large, heavy palm squarely over Yuki’s heart. With a terrifyingly cold, serious expression, the demon delivered his ultimatum.
"Who, and what exactly are you? And don’t bother trying to lie to me... or I’ll crush your chest and kill you right where you stand."
"Ha... well, I’m not really standing right now, am I?" Yuki said, cracking a frantic, nervous smile.
However, Malakai was not amused by the joke. He squeezed his hand down harder on Yuki’s chest—just enough to let him feel his ribs sinking and his breath hitching in his throat.
"Okay! Okay! I’m sorry for the joke!" Yuki blurted out, his eyes wide. "My name is Yuki Belyakov. I’m a Pureblood Vampire, and I’m very good at survival!"
"Not what I want to know," Malakai muttered, leaning in closer until their noses almost touched.
"But that’s exactly what you asked me!" Yuki squeaked, his voice straining as Malakai shifted his weight.
"Squeez—ow, ow, ow! Stop crushing my wrists!"
"Stop stalling and talk."
"I’m from Rossiya!" Yuki whimpered softly.
"....Rossiya?" Malakai repeated, the foreign word heavy on his tongue.
"Yes!"
"I have never heard of that place in my entire life," Malakai said, his irritation visibly growing.
"Then what exactly do you want to know?! Because I am answering everything you ask me!"
"How did you get here?!" Malakai demanded. "In the Demon Mountains, of all places. How did you find this dungeon?"
"By traveling through the underground caves!" Yuki yelled, desperately trying to salvage the situation.
"Oh, for the love of—before that, you idiot," Malakai growled, tightening his iron grip on the boy’s wrists.
"I walked through the forest with Vee!" Yuki shrieked, his face flushing a deeper crimson. "I fought a lot of wolves and Holy Order soldiers, plus—"
"I don’t care about that! Are you an idiot? Before that, before everything! How did you get into the Demon Mountains?!"
Yuki swallowed hard, cornered. "...I got sent here."
"By whom? Who sent you? Talk."
"The System..."
Malakai went completely still. "..."
The room fell dead silent for a few heavy seconds.
"The System?" Malakai echoed.
"Uh-huh-uh-huh," Yuki said, nodding his head rapidly.
"Like... the World System?"
"Yes! Ah... please let me go now."
"So you’re not of this world? An Other worlder..." Malakai mused, his mind racing.
"Wait. Your world has vampires?"
"No, we don’t! I wasn’t sent to this world in this form. I died, got brought here, and then got reincarnated as a Demon King Candidate. I placed all my stat points into survivability, and the race I randomly rolled was a Pureblood Vampire."
"...Huh. Well, that explains absolutely nothing," Malakai said bluntly.
"Really?!" Yuki gasped, momentarily relieved before processing the response. "Wait, what?"
"You’re still too pure," Malakai explained, staring intensely into Yuki’s eyes. "You have no traces of malice in your core, which makes zero sense. I have seen and met many Demon King Candidates in my life, and every single one of them had a substantial amount of Demon King essence within their cores—even the transmigrators and reincarnators. But you... you are completely clean. Empty. Why?"
"Wha—? I don’t know! I’m not the one who manufactured this body!"
Malakai’s golden eyes narrowed to sharp slits. "Well, I need to know for a fact that you have no intentions of harming Lady Carmilla or actually becoming the Demon King."
"Oh, you don’t have to worry about that at all," Yuki chuckled nervously. "The whole ’Demon King’ system is just one big cosmic meat grinder designed to strengthen the Heroes, and I have absolutely no intention of dying."
"Well, do you have anyone or anything that can explain to me what exactly you are?"
"My System... I think."
"Well, call it," Malakai commanded.
’System, you there?’ Yuki called out internally, thoroughly annoyed. ’Where do you always go?’
[ I am here. What’s up? ]a digital voice echoed in Yuki’s mind. [ And for the record, I am a sentient thinking system. Most systems are interface-only. Because of my advanced AI, I can only operate for short periods before I require data maintenance. Speaking of maintenance, you have exactly forty-five seconds left before I go offline. ]
’What?! That is such terrible timing! Ugh, just manifest and talk to this guy. Tell him what he wants to know!’
Instantly, a glowing holographic system interface materialized directly in front of Malakai’s face.
[ Notice: Individual Yuki Belyakov is a heavily modified Pureblood Vampire, which accounts for his structural differences. You are free to physically inspect his body to discover all the biological alterations. As for why his core is completely pure... I have no data. That is simply how he was when I was assigned to his soul. Furthermore, inquiring with the World System will only yield the same result. If you require the exact reason, please contact a World Administrator or one of the Creators. ]
Malakai stared at the floating screen, unimpressed. "And how exactly is a demon like me supposed to contact these unknown gods?"
[ No idea, ]the System replied casually. [ Okay, bye. ]
With a soft electronic click, the interface vanished into thin air.
"See? You got your answer," Yuki sighed, trying to wriggle his wrists free. "Now let me go."
"What are these ’modifications’ it was talking about?" Malakai muttered, ignoring the plea. "I already know your tail is a lot more armored than a regular vampire’s, but what about the rest of you?"
"...Listen, the other modifications are purely for survival, okay? You’re an Ancient Demon, so I’m sure you have a high-tier spell to force-view my status window. Just do that instead."
"...Well, if you insist, I’ll do exactly that," Malakai purred.
He lifted his heavy palm off Yuki’s chest, but instead of backing away, he slid his hand lower, slipping it directly under the hem of Yuki’s clothes.
"Hey! Wait! Hold on, what are you doing?!" Yuki squealed, his face bursting into a furious blush as Malakai’s warm palm came into direct contact with his bare skin, resting right on his lower abdomen.
"This is going to hurt... a lot," Malakai warned, his hand suddenly glowing with a blinding, crackling dark energy.
"No, no, no! I changed my mind! Let—"
Before Yuki could finish his sentence, a sudden stream of blinding agony pierced through his entire abdomen. It felt as if a scorching hot arrow was repeatedly stabbing through his mana circuits over and over again, mapping out his biology. Yuki thrashed, desperately trying to break free from the counter, but his physical strength was completely no match for the Ancient Demon pinning him down.
