Volume 4 Chapter 85 The Paradox of Power
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
## The Paradox of Powe
”I see. These familiars certainly look the part,” Kian remarked, shielding his eyes from the rising sun. “But what can they actually do?”
”Specifically?” Talia tilted her head, pressing a finger to her chin as she gazed off toward the horizon with a pensive “hmmm.”
”I assumed they had some sort of devastating special abilities,” he prodded.
The sun finally broke over the eastern waves. The biting wind that had scoured the beach all night began to soften, and the sand radiated a faint, newfound warmth against their skin.
”To me, they are powerful,” Talia said softly. “Whether everyone would find them so… I cannot say.”
”Don’t play coy with me now.”
”First, this wolf. A beast born of shadow and earth.” Talia pointed a sharp finger at the massive black lupine. With the disciplined grace of a trained hound, the wolf shifted its bulk, positioning itself to block the morning light streaming in from Kian’s right. It began to paw at the damp sand, transmuting the wet grit into a sturdy brown parasol.
”He protects me from the sun. Because of him, I (Watashi), in my previous life, was able to move freely even under the harshest glare without scorching my skin.”
”Right. I forgot. For your kind, sunlight doesn’t just burn! It wrecks your Restoration Curses¹ and Authorities², doesn’t it?”
”Exactly. The sun is a vampire’s natural enemy. Too much exposure leads to agonizing inflammation. It hurts quite a bit.”
”So, for you, that’s not just a convenience! It’s a massive tactical advantage,” Kian admitted. “I suppose that is a powerful ability, in its own way.”
He’d heard stories of the Empire of Night³, where eternal twilight was woven into the sky. Yet, paradoxically, they’d used the spirit cores of the sun-bird Phoenix to cultivate sugarcane. When the human and Beastmen Tribes they had enslaved revolted, the vampires were forced to fight under the searing light of artificial suns. For someone like Talia, who spent her life handling such rebellions, the wolf’s shade was likely a matter of life and death.
”A servant who can keep pace with my speed while holding a parasol is a rare find,” Talia added.
”Fair enough on the wolf. What about that… goat-headed demon? What’s his specialty?”
The next familiar in line was a towering female centaur, but her glare from beneath her visor was so lethal Kian decided to skip her for the moment. Instead, he looked at the Secretary Demon⁴ clutching a quill and a heavy tome. A demon was technically a spirit, but commoners rarely made the distinction. This goat-headed thing looked exactly like the ‘demons’ from old folklore.
”He is my secretary.”
”Secretary? That’s it?”
”Yes.”
Talia gestured toward the demon. He licked the tip of his quill and began scribbling with frantic speed. Moments later, he turned the book to show Kian a startlingly accurate sketch of his own face.
”Wow… okay, he’s got talent.”
”His ability is the meticulous recording of every event on the battlefield,” Talia explained. “He binds the data of friend and foe alike into his pages, allowing me to retrieve any information at will. His ‘sight’ is vast; he could likely map the entirety of Underworld Island in an instant. However, he is a slow writer, so real-time updates are impossible. He’s also temperamental! If he isn’t in the mood, he won’t write a single word.”
”Information wins wars,” Kian mused. “The Twelve Divine Generals have fallen because of bad intel more times than I can count. Sarah’s father, Lord Shajar, once wiped out an entire innocent oasis because of a bad report. It nearly destroyed him politically.”
”Sarah certainly had a colorful lineage,” Talia remarked. “As for this goat, his work was vital for propaganda. He could turn my exploits into legends for the masses. He’s quite the artist! Perfect for manipulating the ‘ignorant herd,’ as it were.”
”The ‘ignorant herd’? Easy there…”
”And if I was ever short on funds, his sketches fetched a high price. All in all, a very powerful ability.”
”Understood. The demon is the logistics and PR department. So… are we brave enough to talk to the centaur-san now?” Kian asked, glancing at the half-human, half-horse archer who still looked ready to put an arrow through his throat.
”This Mare-maiden⁵?”
”Mare-maiden?”
”She was my lady-in-waiting. My makeup artist.”
Talia gave a small nod. As if on cue, the centaur began rummaging through her braided mane. A floral fragrance, sweet and heavy, caught the morning breeze. She flourished a collection of brushes, vials, and combs between her fingers, striking a dramatic pose.
”My beauty was a weapon that charmed even my enemies. Many were enchanted by my noble Princess Power⁶ and knelt before a blade was even drawn. I suspect it would be the same now, though in this sow’s body, my presence has… dimmed.”
”What even is Princess Power?”
”Presence. Absolute intimidation.”
Kian stayed silent. I don’t really see it. If anything, the internal Lyritisse had more of that than you do.
Lyritisse had naturally looked down on Kian as a “filthy old man” or a “disappointing adult.” She’d tried to be polite, but the awkwardness had been palpable. He remembered her leaning away from him at campfires, her face contorting in a hidden grimace whenever their shoulders touched.
Maybe it wasn’t intimidation I felt with her, but just her sheer loathing? With Talia, I don’t feel that at all.
”Grooming is essential in war,” Talia continued. “If I am to die, these will be my burial clothes. If I am captured, I refuse to be seen in a state that invites contempt. Besides, seeing their Commander-in-Chief looking radiant bolsters the men’s morale. It’s a force multiplier.”
”And the giant bow on her back? Does that help with your skincare routine too?”
”That? It’s just a bow. Why would it be anything else? It has nothing to do with beauty or health.”
”Right. Of course.” Kian sighed. “Look, Talia… it’s hard to say this, but none of these seem particularly… combat-oriented. In general. I mean, the demon’s ability is quite strong! Battlefield awareness is everything! But the rest?”
Talia seemed completely oblivious to his disappointment. She stood proudly before her four monstrous servants.
”To recap: The wolf hides me from the sun. The goat is my secretary. The mare-maiden is my makeup artist. And this last one?” She gestured to a generic-looking swordsman. “I scouted him nearby. He’s decent with a blade, I suppose. Mostly use him for carrying luggage and menial chores.”
”So when the fighting starts, what do they do? Do they charge in?”
”No. I do the fighting. They are my support staff. They ensure I am in peak condition.”
”………”
”Oh, wait.” Talia held out her hand. In a flash of silver, she materialized a short sword. “It’s a knock-off of the Oathbound Misericorde⁷. It lacks the true piercing power of the original, but its computational support is high. It will extend Aliona’s range and lethality. Take it. I’ll make five more as spares for the others. Any more than that and the drain on the Spiritual Vein⁸ becomes too much.”
”This! This is what I was talking about!” Kian grabbed her by the shoulders, eyes wide. “This is incredible! Can you make something for me too?”
”Then I shall grant you a piece from my Blood Art Armaments⁹.”
From the air itself, she pulled a curved blade! The Water Moon (Mizuki)¹⁰. It was the demon blade that could reflect long-range attacks. The original was gone, but this replica was a masterpiece. It didn’t draw power from the Spiritual Vein like the real thing, which meant it couldn’t double the power of reflected attacks, but it was still leagues better than the fragile stone swords Kian usually summoned.
”You should have started with this!” Kian laughed, sliding the blade into his belt. “I was wondering how I’d explain the ‘makeup artist’ to Ms. Aliona. If you can churn out magic sword replicas, you’re a one-woman army.”
”It’s just sand from the beach. It’s a far cry from the real thing.”
”It’s more than enough! Trust me.” Kian ran a thumb over the hilt. It felt right. He had a history with the Mizuki. It had seen him through the fights with Oswald, Juji, and Erynys. The Windsong Blade¹¹ had been his true partner, but Erynys had snapped it. He’d never forgive her for that.
”Wait, can you make the First Magic Sword¹²? The Funeral Dance (Soukoku Kagura)¹³?”
”I can.” Talia nodded. A massive black greatsword slammed into the sand. Then, one by one, the other six appeared. All seven fake magic swords stood in a line, vibrating with power.
”Talia, you’re terrifyingly strong! We could take on anyone with these.”
”Because I’m a vampire? If it’s forgeries you want, I’m your girl. I’ve always been good at the ‘presentation’.” She gave him a cool thumbs up. With her sharp features and piercing eyes, she was a “cool beauty,” yet there was something undeniably cute about her.
”We could make a fortune selling these,” Kian joked.
”Pots would be better. Forged ‘lucky pots’ for the Al-Ilah cult. They’ll buy anything if it looks ancient.”
”Don’t let Gensou hear you say that. He’d probably buy ten.”
”Was that man actually a member of the knight order!? My translation of the local dialect must be getting rusty…”
”Anyway,” Kian said, “how much of the original power do these have?”
”It depends on the soil and the mana in the area. Since the exteriors are perfect, it’s hard to tell until you swing them.”
”Testing the First Magic Sword seems like a good way to cause a natural disaster,” Kian noted. That blade was a soul-slayer. If he swung it and Lady Selda or a random delivery man walked by, it would be over for them.
”The rituals are there, but sand is a poor medium. You might get one good Skyrend¹⁴ out of them before they shatter,” Talia cautioned. “And maintaining them is exhausting. I can’t just keep them manifested forever.”
”Still, even a one-shot Skyrend is a game-changer. But… it’s almost too much. I feel like my sword practice is becoming irrelevant if you can just do… all of this.”
”You’re wrong,” Talia said, her voice uncharacteristically firm.
”Eh?”
”There is no such thing as ‘the strongest.’ Every existence has a flaw. Strike it, and they fall. Even a god, a spirit, or the leader of an empire has a soft underbelly.” She looked him in the eye. “Remember what I told you? The more powerful an entity is, the more they are bound by the very source of that power.”
”I remember.”
”Take Erynys. By your metrics, she was ‘the strongest.’ She had the intelligence and the arsenal. In a fair fight, she was unbeatable. Do you disagree?”
”I don’t.”
”And yet, we broke her.”
Talia dismissed her familiars with a wave. “How did we do it? Why did the ‘strongest’ lose?”
”Because you stole her swords,” Kian said. “And you severed her connection to the Spiritual Vein.”
Without that steady flow of mana, Erynys couldn’t even maintain her manifestations. She’d been forced into a desperate merger with a Thorn Demon just to stay in the fight. That lack of mobility made her a sitting duck for the Mizuki-Misericorde combo.
”Exactly. She relied too heavily on her ‘strongest’ weapons. When they were gone, she had no fallback. She used high-cost rituals because she had an ‘infinite’ storehouse of mana. Once the door was shut, she was bankrupt in seconds.”
Talia began pacing, the scent of her perfume mixing with the salt air. “Cutting a spirit off from the earth is the ultimate counter. You don’t need a bigger explosion; you just need to move them to a place where the earth is silent.”
”Like the deserts of Azrael,” Kian realized.
”Precisely. And that, Kian, is exactly how someone would kill me.”
He looked at her, realizing that every one of her feats! The golems, the swords! Was a massive drain on the Star’s Song¹⁵ she drew from the ground.
”Your entire style… it’s all high-cost, high-impact, isn’t it?”
”It is. I overwhelm with cards and replicas. But if you cut my connection to the earth… I am nothing. I can’t even produce my own mana because I discharged my Tachyonian cell discharge¹⁶ during my mutation. Without a Blood Servant¹⁷ or a Spiritual Vein, I wither in an instant. I wouldn’t even have enough mana for a Restoration Curse. One good cut, and I’m dust.”
She stopped and looked at him. “So, if I were your enemy, Kian, how would you kill me?”
Kian thought for a moment. “I’d lure you into a dead zone. A place where the Spiritual Vein is dry. Then I’d let Ms. Aliona or Natra! People who bring their own firepower! Tear you apart.”
”Correct. I’d be defenseless. Or Aliona would just bag me for her lab.”
”Or, if I had the gold, I’d put you on a ship lined with Mithril,” Kian added. “Mithril negates magic. Your Star’s Song wouldn’t reach the ground.”
Talia nodded. “A Mithril trap is a very realistic way to end me. I’d be reduced to using the basic warrior monk moves I stole from you and cheap basic magic. On the open sea, there is no escape. A few poisoned arrows, and the ‘Strongest Vampire’ is a memory.”
”On paper, you’re not so invincible after all.”
”No one is. Information is the real weapon. If the enemy knows how you work, they can build a cage for you. In the end, when you’re pushed to the limit and the magic fails, it comes down to the grit of your daily practice. That’s where the real difference is made.”
She looked toward the harbor as a gong sounded. The ferry from Water Island was arriving.
”We’ve talked too long. Do you want a ride, or are you walking?”
”I’ll use the ‘Chin-Chin’ (Beg), so it’s okay.”
Talia said so and summoned a Wyvern Golem from the sand.
”By the way,” she asked, hopping onto the beast’s back, “what’s my official threat rank these days? Or does the Guild think we’re extinct?”
”Rank 2 for a party, usually,” Kian said. “Same as a Night Crier¹⁸! Like Sarah when she lost her mind. Rank 3 is for things like veteran Griffins. But if you’re in a pack, you jump to Rank 1! Army-mobilization territory.”
”Fair enough. It means you know the value of the ‘slaves’ we’re giving Mistress Camilla.”
”I keep my word. It’s a matter of trust.”
”I’m not complaining. Your assets are growing, and we can afford the overhead. Just keep the ‘pig’ fed with quantity over quality, and she won’t betray us.”
”I know. Speaking of contracts… what about ours? We should formalize your employment.”
”What are you saying?” Talia leaned down and pressed a quick, soft kiss to his cheek. “I’m not going to extort money from my own husband. Your other wives serve you for free, don’t they?”
She took off before he could answer. Kian stood on the beach, the ghost of the kiss still on his skin. He thought of Linca’s latest letter! A “special grade cursed object” of passive-aggression! And sighed.
In conclusion, the Magic Sword Dick¹⁹ is truly a terrifying thing…
He remembered Rou’s comment about witches prostrating themselves before him. Am I a person, or am I just a walking aphrodisiac for monsters? It was a philosophical crisis he wasn’t prepared for before breakfast.
* * *
Mistress Camilla’s delivery turned out to be the Silver Ice armor²⁰.
It had been refurbished since Erynys tore it apart. It was lighter now, the noisy “shara-shara” metallic rustling silenced, and the design was elegant enough for a royal gala.
”Magician gear? For Kian?” Talia asked, sitting on a wooden crate by the pier.
”I have limited mana,” Kian explained. “This boosts my adaptability. I can use Heat Manipulation²¹ just by channeling power into the plates.”
”A suit of heavy plate for melee would be better,” Talia huffed. “That woman is taking you for a ride again.”
Kian wanted to argue that he hadn’t actually paid the lady any money at all yet, but then he realized he’d spent over a hundred gold coins in six months on her dresses, food, and familiar feed. His entire haul from Oswald and Louis was gone.
”Lord Kian!”
A white-furred fox girl in ceremonial white robes stepped off the ferry. It was Rita. She looked like she was heading to her own funeral. She carried a cheap short spear! A far cry from the lightning weapons of her former order.
”Lord Kian, I am so sorry for the delay.”
”No trouble. Did you have a good farewell with your comrades?”
”I did not,” Rita said, her ears drooping. “I didn’t know how to look them in the eye. —Is this the woman from before?”
”I am Talia, Kian’s magician. Some call me Lyritisse.”
”I see. I look forward to working with you, Lady Talia.” Rita gave her a firm, warrior’s handshake.
Talia glanced at Rita’s flat chest, opened her mouth, then thought better of it and stayed silent.
”Where is the Princess?” Rita asked. “Is she at the Island?”
”General Asterios would have my head if I put her on the front lines,” Kian laughed. “She’s safe at Grass Island with the general.”
”I see. That is… a relief. I don’t think I could face her yet.”
”I think a greeting would have been good,” Kian noted, “but if you’re ready, let’s head out. Talia, bring out the ‘Chin-Chin’ (Beg).”
”Yes, Chairman.”
Rita froze. “Dirty talk? Is this standard procedure in Izerland?”
”Wait, is Lady Talia actually a man?” she whispered to Kian.
”No, she’s definitely a woman.”
Rita’s head filled with question marks.
Before Kian could explain the command, the sound of rhythmic footsteps echoed from the beach.
”It seems we have company,” Talia said, pausing her summon.
Emerging from the morning mist was the entire Order of the Lightning Knights²². And leading them, looking as regal as ever, was Selda Guria.”
—
Summary:
Talia demonstrates her utility by summoning four distinct familiars and creating powerful magic sword replicas from sand. She explains the fatal flaw of ‘the strongest’ beings like Erynys and herself, emphasizing their dependence on external mana sources. Rita arrives to join Kian’s group but is immediately confused by Talia’s eccentric behavior and the sudden appearance of the Lightning Knights.
—
Character Insight:
Talia reveals a surprisingly pedagogical side, teaching Kian that raw power is secondary to information and strategic counters. Her playfulness with the ‘Chin-Chin’ command masks a deeply cynical understanding of her own mortality. Kian, meanwhile, struggles with his identity, feeling like a mere utility for the powerful women around him, yet he remains the anchor that connects these disparate forces.
—
Behind the Scene:
The ‘Chin-Chin’ joke is a classic Japanese pun on ‘Beg’ and male genitalia, used here to highlight the culture clash between the ancient vampire and the modern-minded knight. The detailed breakdown of the familiars’ non-combat roles reflects the author’s focus on the logistical side of fantasy warfare.
—
T/L:
Notes:
• Talia – A high-ranking vampire spirit currently possessing the body of Lyritisse. In this form, she has flaxen hair, blue eyes, and thick lips.
• Juji – Male. Leader of the Wolfmen’s ‘Jinsou’. A skilled warrior with sharp senses and combat abilities. Relationship: Part of the Beastmen Alliance’s delegation.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Gensou – Eccentric young Eastern monk-general in Azrael’s army, playful yet ambitious. Wields sun-like magic, swordsmanship, and assassination tactics. Linked to three masked wives—Seishi, Oushoukun, and Yougyokukan (Head Magician). Ally of Mansoor and Oji, serves under Jibril, proposes Operation Assassination. First appears Vol. 4 Ch. 45. Reminder: playful Eastern general with masked harem wives, always late but magically explosive, contrasting serious monks with his bathrobe vibe and schemes.
• Camilla – A woman; the subject of the chapter; her body was used to seal Erynys’ soul.
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
• Louis – Trusted subordinates from the Châtillon family, part of Guy’s elite force.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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