The chief grinned at me when he saw me confused, unsure of what they were planning to do, and traced my skin.

“Kuku… Ye don’t have to look so scared. Yer value will go down if I break ye. So, I’m just gonna hurt ye a wee bit.”

“Ua…! G-Ghh…!”

Then, the chief’s sharp claws dug into my bare upper body, causing severe pain that broke through my flesh.

I bit my lips at once, trying to suppress down my scream. There was no way in hell I would let out such a succumbing voice.

He lifted me up by holding my back and placed his fingers around my neck. Vivid red flowed out from my right shoulder, as if he were sewing them through his nails.

The thick scent of blood filled the room, causing my brain to spin each time I took a breath.

The blood trickling down my skin drenched my feet.

And as if that weren’t enough, he pulled out his claws and slashed his nails again on my shoulder diagonally, ripping my skin even further, and the blood stained the floor.

“A-Agh…!”

“Aah? The heck? I can’t stand the smell of yer blood… Do all humans smell this delicious? Hm?”

“Nhh…! A…”

I writhed in agony as he suddenly lifted my chin up with his thick thumb while gouging out my wounds.

He brought his face closer to me, smelled the scent of my blood, and an indescribable discomfort ran through me.

Telling him the reason why I look so appetizing was due to the fact that I came from another world was out of the question, so I twisted my arm desperately.

This was all due to my carelessness. It wasn’t something to worry about.

I continued to glare at the chief to show him that I had no intention of giving in, even though I was bleeding horribly and breathing erratically.

However. It didn’t take long enough for those eyes to widen.

“Tch. Ye’ve got the nerve to look at me that way, ye human… How about we have a little taste?”

“—Ghhaa…! Ngh…!”

As soon as his huge mouth gaped open, he bit deep into my wound that was spilling blood.

A crushing scream escaped me. The buried fangs made a vivid, grinding sound as they hit my collarbone.

I couldn’t help but convulse wildly and squeeze my throat, as my body was ravaged by several sharp fangs that went deeper than my nails could cut through them.

“Ngh…! Ghhu…!”

—It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!

My vision flickered at the pain. I couldn’t take my mind off the pain. My shoulders felt as if they were torn off. A joint might have been dislocated. That was how much it hurt.

It was just supposed to be the same act of drinking my blood, and yet… it was completely different from him.

If this was how drinking blood works, then those clumsy, gentle fangs which he hesitated to put even on my fingertips, were soft bites of a kitten.

It finally struck me how Azel’s poison, which incited such bashfulness, was a painkiller that numbed the sense of danger.

My chest ached at the thought of the man I yearned for, while shuddering at the sensation of having my blood get drunk.

Unlike Azel, who was a wolf-type vampire, the chief wasn’t probably part of a race that inherently drinks blood.

His fangs grew like a saw, all of them extensively biting and severely cutting through my nerves.

The excess blood from the mouth that kept on drinking drenched his collar, red life spilling out.

“Haa… Haa…”

I was dazed by the loss of blood, but I struggled to breathe to escape the pain and retain my consciousness.

I twisted my arms tied behind my back so that my palms faced each other and struggled to break free. I pressed them against each other repeatedly and little by little, they began to slip out.

The chief was too enthralled with my blood to notice it.

The mermen seemed oblivious to my faint movements, just grinning at this scene with their heads in the clouds, probably thinking that it was going to be their turn next.

I managed to overstrain my vision, despite it being unfocused and clouded due to the massive blood loss and pain.

Then, I saw a sword on the chief’s waist.

“Huh, ye taste good. I’m not the type to enjoy drinking blood alone, but… if I didn’t feel like selling ye, I’d eat yer meat.”

“Nngh… Ha… Ha…”

After being drank from so much, he finally pulled out his fangs, exposing the blood-soaked wound.

He twisted his mouth that had turned red and ridiculed at me as I swayed limp and powerless.

Then—the rope of my arms fell off.

“Ha–“

Clang! Whoosh!

“…!”

It was a moment’s chance.

I swiftly twisted my free left hand, taking the sword from him with a forced posture, and slashed the arm grabbing me as I pulled the sword roughly out of its sheath.

I hadn’t grasped a sword for a long time, so the attack that I had just released wasn’t able to gain any momentum since I didn’t have my feet on the ground. All it took to release myself from hanging in the air was a minor scratch on his log-like arm.

Still, it was more than enough.

I twisted my axis to kill the momentum before my injured body slams against the floor under the force of gravity and rolled into the corner of the room.

“Ngh, hah… Hah…”

It seemed that was all it was going to take for my anemic body to lose consciousness.

But no matter how hard it may be, I must not fall down.

After I cut the rope on my feet, I held the sword against the floor, propping myself up and instantly looked around to find a way out.

Ahh, damn it. This isn’t good… My consciousness is fading… I feel so heavy… My wounds hurt…

Don’t lose your head yet, think… Come on, hurry up and remember your battles… Do it…!

—You’re used to dealing with things on your own, right? Ookawa Shouryuu…!!

“Chief! Curse ye, human!”

“Ye’ve got a lot of nerve…!”

“Damn… it!”

Bam!

Having brought back from my nearly certain death, I looked up vigorously at the presence of my enemies and glared at them with bloodshot eyes.

The three mermen charged at me while howling at their boss’s injuries and I jumped around with all my willpower and forcibly cleaved them off. I somehow tumbled forward, then turned around, looking back at the chase from behind.

I couldn’t release enough power for offensive magic with my current magic seal.

For that reason, I faintly spread magic around my leg to strengthen it. Then, instead of using my helpless arm, I leaped around and managed to make my jumps more powerful.

It was just natural, of course, but if I moved that intensely, my dying brain would be shaken up and my body would tremble like a rusty tin doll.

Even if I exhorted and forced myself to stand up, my blood-stained right arm was a burden. My left hand was only holding the sword at the moment, and I was just moving my whole body to forcefully fight back.

Wobble…—

“Haa, haa…”

“Oraaah!”

Swoosh!

“Agggghhhhh!”

I took advantage of their lack of balance and swung down my sword as I roared like a beast, and squeezed out my energy, forcing myself to burst out with uncanny force.

Bit by bit, I fought my way to the exit. It was only a few feet away, but it felt so far that I was losing my mind.

Ahh… This really feels nostalgic.

This kind of situation was something I was used to when I was a hero back in the human realm. At that time, I was wielding my sword just like this to protect lives.

No, I was taking lives.