Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Fang Zheng wasn’t particularly interested in when these underground Old Mice appeared. It’s like if a pack of hungry wolves showed up in a human dwelling; do you really care why they came? Do hungry wolves eat people?

Eat?

Then that’s the end of it.

Just kill them.

Actually, Fang Zheng had a pretty good impression of vampires initially. The Old Archbishop, Sophie, and Alucard were all quite decent people.

But the vampires he encountered in this world really ruined his mood. As a God of Magical Girls, a God of Games, a God of Magic, a God of Lust... well, let’s not mention the last one.

In short, as a Deity, Fang Zheng thought these things that he found displeasing...

Should just be exterminated entirely.

Keeping them would only cause trouble.

”Close your eyes.”

Fang Zheng casually released a Protective Barrier for a few children, reminding them as he did so. And in the next instant, a brilliant light suddenly appeared from the top of the underground city.

It was a Radiance more dazzling than the Sun’s, a pure white brilliance that tore through the thick earth crust and descended from above like a Longsword slicing through the darkness, striking directly at the Core Zone of the underground city. For a moment, everything was engulfed by the white Destructive Light Beam, and nothing could be seen except pure white.

No one knew how long it took for the white Radiance to gradually fade away.

And when the kids opened their eyes again, the city before them had completely vanished. Those magnificent, dark buildings had entirely disappeared, leaving only a ruinous wasteland. Cold air whistled down from above, carrying snowflakes into the underground.

However, this wasn’t the end.

Before the children could snap out of their astonishment, they heard a series of beast-like screams, followed by countless Jumping Bugs rushing down like a torrent through the hole blasted in the ceiling, surging toward the remnants and ruins of the underground city. At the same time, one Flying Dragon after another flapped their wings and swooped in.

”Boom!”

One of the Flying Dragons landed heavily in front of Fang Zheng, lowered its head to watch him. Staring at the Flying Dragon, Fang Zheng issued his command.

”Kill all the vampires, leave no survivors. Save the humans if there are any.”

”Roar—————!”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s command, the Flying Dragon roared and spread its wings to leave. Fang Zheng then turned around and started to walk back through the passage.

”Alright, let’s go. Staying here is useless, leave the rest to them.”

Upon hearing this, the children paused for a moment, then hurriedly turned to leave with Fang Zheng. Especially the blond-haired little boy, whose eyes were sparkling as he followed closely behind Fang Zheng, firing questions like a machine gun.

”Who are you? Are you a god?”

”You guessed it right.”

”What are those... creatures?”

”Alien species.”

”So you’re an Alien?”

”Correct.”

”What are you doing on Earth?”

”Vacationing.”

”Really?”

”Think whatever you want.”

”Are you going to take us to an Alien Planet?”

”No.”

Fang Zheng conversed idly with the blond boy this way as they left the passage and returned to the gathering area in the city. By now, a large group of people had already gathered there, most of them appearing worried and terrified, shivering.

Asuna and the others were unperturbed by this. People rescued by the Zerg usually displayed such expressions, since the Zerg wouldn’t communicate with humans. If a Jumping Bug encountered a human, according to Fang Zheng’s orders, it would simply pounce and bite the person to carry them back.

Whether it caused any psychological trauma to the person, the Zerg didn’t care.

”All sorted? How’s it looking?”

Fang Zheng handed the kids over to Saya, telling her not to eat them, and then turned to ask Asuna.

”Everything went smoothly, Mr. Fang Zheng. Everyone remaining here has decided to head to Diamond City.”

Asuna knew what Fang Zheng was referring to. Before Fang Zheng returned, Asuna had already talked to these people, explaining that they were from a distant place called Diamond City, and were in Tokyo to search for survivors. If you wanted to be rescued, stay and wait; if not, you could leave anytime.

Most people chose to stay, but some, worried they might be used as Zerg fodder, decided to leave. Asuna and the others accepted this calmly — after all, the result was the same every time the Zerg conducted a rescue. Initially, they would try to reassure those rescued, explaining that the Zerg looked terrifying but were actually quite obedient... but after doing it many times, they stopped bothering to explain.

Just like Fang Zheng said, if Heaven wishes to rain, if a woman wants to marry, let them do as they wish.

Asuna and the others had once suggested to Fang Zheng whether they could create something that looked less terrifying, preferably more cute or handsome... only to be asked back by Fang Zheng if they wanted to see the bloody, gory remains of animals everywhere?

Facing this question, Asuna and the others thought it over... indeed, a field full of bloody Pikachu remains would be quite terrifying.

Better to forget it, this is too extreme.

People here weren’t staying because they particularly trusted them, but rather because their situation was quite dire. Cold, radiation, and shortages of supplies were all life-threatening. The snow had been falling for days, with no end in sight. While the creatures were terrifying, at least the beings here who resembled humans were approachable and easy to communicate with. Although they didn’t know their origins or whether they might be fed to the terrifying creatures, for the time being... it seemed safe.

When they arrived here, nearly everyone was treated by Asuna and the others with Medical Gel, so at least their injuries had healed, which gave them some trust in these mysterious beings.

Fang Zheng stayed at the gathering point for a while, and when he felt the time was right, he received a message from the Swarm, however...

”One got away?”

Fang Zheng was slightly taken aback when he heard the Swarm’s report.

”A vampire got away?”

”Yes, Master...”

”You can’t find it?”

”We’re still searching at the moment...”

”Forget it, I’ll handle it myself.”

Fang Zheng frowned, interrupting the report from the Swarm. According to the report he just received, the Swarm encountered a target during their sweep of the underground vampire city. The target clearly appeared to be an important figure in the area. Of course, whether they were important or not didn’t concern the Swarm. Fang Zheng ordered that all vampires were to be killed, so the Swarm naturally went straight into a frenzy of bites.

Unexpectedly, this vampire was cunning. It used its subordinates as bait and shields, taking the opportunity to slip into a hidden passage. By the time the Swarm followed, it had disappeared within the maze of underground tunnels. — Vampires, after all, have far superior physical capabilities compared to humans. No human could ever match the speed of the Swarm, but a vampire’s speed was comparable to Aliens and Jumping Bugs.

Due to the narrow passageways, and the vampire’s desperate escape along with familiarity with the terrain, it actually managed to get away.

As for the other vampires, they were all killed. The Swarm, being specialized in combat, had surrounded the battlefield at the start, leaving the vampires no chance to escape. If that vampire hadn’t known of a secret passage, it wouldn’t have survived until now.

However, for Fang Zheng, since he knew, the ending was inevitable.

Dusk was falling.

Under the thick clouds, through which sunlight could hardly penetrate, night began to descend. Meanwhile, suddenly, in the mountains, a massive rock slowly slid open. Then, a figure shot out from inside, rapidly speeding down the mountain like an arrow off a bowstring.

However, at the next moment, suddenly, a loud explosion rose from the ground, and at the same time, the burst of dust mixed with snowflakes scattered and danced in the air.

”Let’s see where you’re running now.”

Fang Zheng slowly descended from the sky, gazing at the ground before him. At this moment, the snow on the ground had been swept away by the shockwave, revealing the pitch-black earth. And at the center of this shockwave, the pitch-black greatsword was firmly impaled into a delicate body.

It was a girl with long pink hair, appearing to be only eleven or twelve years old. At this moment, the girl lay on her back on the ground, breathing heavily, occasionally spitting out a mouthful of blood, looking rather pitiful. However, her bright red eyes and triangular ears already proved that this delicate figure before him was not an ordinary child.

”I must admit, you’ve got some skills, actually able to escape from under my Swarm, but it ends here, prepare for death’s embrace.”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng walked to the girl and reached out to grip the pitch-black greatsword. And at this moment, the girl raised her hand.

”Wait, wait a minute, I have something to say!”

”Speak, I’ll give you three minutes to say your last words.”

”I-I actually did it to protect those humans, which is why I brought them here!”

”Oh.”

Hearing the vampire girl’s response, Fang Zheng’s expression did not change in the slightest.

”You have two minutes and fifty seconds left.”

”I know this disaster didn’t happen by chance; it was planned long ago! I don’t know if you’re aware; behind all this, there’s a very terrifying existence... Do you know the Apocalypse Virus? That’s also their handiwork! That existence uses the Apocalypse Virus to create more chaos in this world, but this is just the beginning... I don’t know what that existence ultimately wants, but I’m very clear that we’re all just pawns!”

”......”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng was silent for a moment.

”Continue.”

”I don’t know if you’re willing to believe me, but I can assure you, I don’t intend to destroy humanity. Indeed, I ordered my kin to capture humans and bring them to my city, but that’s because I have my thoughts..........”

Fang Zheng glanced at the vampire girl before him.

”To me, you merely want to destroy human civilization and replace it, don’t you?”

”Indeed, that’s true.”

This time, the vampire girl admitted frankly.

”Human civilization has completely gone down after this disaster, and it’s only natural for us vampires to replace them to rule the coming world. I don’t deny this, but it doesn’t mean I want to eliminate all humans.”

”Oh? Why? Is it because of a lack of food?”

”I told my subjects that, but actually........”

At this point, the vampire girl hesitated for a moment.

”I have a very bad feeling; if humanity is wiped out entirely, fear the next one’s turn will be us vampires.”

”Oh?”

Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow.

”Why do you say that?”

”We received a prophecy.”

The vampire girl stared at Fang Zheng and continued to speak.

”I can’t say for certain who gave us this prophecy, but we all know of this prophecy, that humanity will ultimately face extinction, while races like ours, concealed in darkness and shadow for countless centuries, will rise again... We’re following this prophecy, which led us to launch an offensive against humanity at this moment, or rather... we’ve always been waiting for this moment.”

”Interesting indeed.”

Fang Zheng stared at the vampire girl, his gaze calm.

”Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you afraid I’m an accomplice with the existence you speak of?”

”That’s precisely why I decided to tell you these things.”

Unexpectedly, the vampire girl spoke words that surprised Fang Zheng greatly.

”Truthfully, I have no idea who gave me the prophecy, nor have I seen that existence in person. Or should I say, I’m not sure if my memory is correct. But I remember very clearly that the aura emitted by that existence is very similar to yours, but completely opposite—I can’t quite explain it, somewhat like the sun and shadow... So I believe you’re definitely not that existence, but you should have some connection to it.”

”......... Oh?”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng became quite interested.

Very similar to his feeling, yet not exactly alike?

Wait a minute......

At this point, Fang Zheng seemed to have thought of something; he raised his left hand, and soon, a bunch of Chaos Flames emerged from his hand.

”Is it this kind of feeling?”

”......!”

The vampire girl didn’t speak; she merely turned pale and stared fixedly at the flames. After a while, she nodded vigorously as if using all her strength.

Ah, it’s the aura of chaos... No wonder, but... very similar to his feeling, could it be that...

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but recall the words Goddess of Order told him a long time ago.

Could it be that the one orchestrating all this behind the scenes is a member of the Order Clan polluted by chaos?

If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder why the vampire girl said the other party felt similar to him.

”What else do you know?”

Fang Zheng pulled out the greatsword and stared at the vampire girl before him, who was clutching her wound, watching him with a pale face.

”This is all I know; allow me to introduce myself, I am one of the higher founders of the vampires, and also the queen of this Vampire City. For this reason, I come to know these secrets, but only this—I suppose you could treat it as an epiphany or prophecy, appearing suddenly as a dream. We know humanity will be destroyed by nuclear war, and we know the world that follows will fall into cold and dark death, and we’re aware this is the moment for our kind to rise... But that’s all, the rest concerns the matters of the Apocalypse Virus, which I merely saw a fragment in the prophecy. Perhaps it’s a woman’s intuition, but I feel that fragment’s information is crucial...However, that’s all I know.”

Having confessed everything, the vampire girl seemed much more at ease.

”Although at first, our kind had some skepticism over the prophecy or the epiphany’s authenticity, now everything is developing according to the prophecy’s direction, so we can only follow the tide of history. Originally, I wanted to preserve a fresh blood source as an excuse, keeping the human children within my city while sending people to investigate what’s going on with the Apocalypse Virus. But now......”

The vampire girl spread her hands helplessly, evidently, all those plans had come to nothing.

”You’re quite frank, aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

”I’m of course frightened; however, merely concealing these details as bargaining chips won’t be effective. If I can confess everything, maybe there’s still a chance for survival.”

”.........”

Fang Zheng stared at the vampire girl before him, and after a moment, he smiled slightly.

”Interesting.”

As he spoke, he sheathed the greatsword.

”What’s your name?”

”Krul, I am one of the higher founders of the vampires, the third founder Krul Cipesi......”