Even when rotten, a Blood Demon is still a Blood Demon. Though they managed to hold their ground against the Royal Knights bolstered by the military, it was inevitable that their disadvantage would slowly become apparent over time.
Among the four Blood Demons already deployed to the Dwarf Republic and Human Kingdom, one from each had lost their life, and another was on the brink of death. For instance, it was Blood Demon who smirked.
He had come accepting death. After all, there wouldn’t be anyone else capable of buying time like this. The only regret he had was not hearing more from the Commander before it all ended…
Well, that didn’t really matter, did it? If there was an afterlife, he could hear it all there. Blood Demon had no doubt that his fellow tribesmen had achieved victory.
Finally, Cluna and Clara closed the distance to Blood Demon to finish things off. Just at that moment, he had prepared to strike back, determined to take at least one of them with him.
“That’s enough of the fighting.”
“…?!”
“Insane.”
Suddenly, the overwhelming presence that interrupted made Cluna and Clara retreat. Looming before them was the Demon, Zaiha, shouldering a great sword.
“How did you get here?”
Even with the dramatic turn of events, Blood Demon felt only confusion. Since the moment the operation had been planned, he and his comrades were nothing more than bait, abandoned without hesitation.
In other words, no matter what happened, they were not to be rescued. They had all promised each other that. Yet here was Zaiha, coming for no good reason. With such a weak mindset, they wouldn’t accomplish anything.
“I’ll explain later. Anyway, the plan succeeded.”
“Succeeded? You killed the Commander?”
“…What did you just say?!”
At Zaiha’s words, the Royal Knights members, who had been observing the situation, expressed shock. The Commander was dead? No way… our Commander?
“That’s ridiculous! Where do you get off saying such nonsense…!!!”
“Believe it or not, that’s up to you. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You bastard…!!!”
“You really can’t help yourself.”
Usually calm Cluna drew her sword, charging at Zaiha, her heated mind obstructing her ability to think rationally.
“Taking the Guardian’s life too wouldn’t be so bad.”
Zaiha quickly made up his mind and swung the great sword. Cluna was able to dodge the diagonal strike because she was a Guardian of the Forest. However, she didn’t evade completely.
Gurgh…!!!
“Just as expected of the Guardian of the Forest. Losing an arm just to escape.”
“You… you filthy little worm…!”
“That’s a clear compliment. I was aiming for your neck.”
At least Zaiha was sincere. He aimed for the kill, and in that moment, Cluna’s reaction, while slow, was remarkable enough to save her life.
“Didn’t I tell you? You all agreed to this too.”
“….”
“If that’s how you want to play, I can’t just sit back.”
“…Understood, let’s fall back.”
The blonde girl walked slowly, her hair billowing behind her. Not just Clara and Ruby, but even Cluna failed to recognize her presence. Zaiha clicked his tongue at her.
The Vampire Lord was not an opponent they could handle just yet. Even with the Blood Demons gathered, it would be impossible to fight back. It was already risky enough, having taken severe damage.
Of course, there would be a way to win somehow. That’s the nature of Blood Demons. With the right amount of power applied to any situation, absolute victory could be assured. But the power was limited.
Even if they managed to win, they couldn’t avoid significant losses. If that happened, the victory would belong to Pyros. Regardless of their win, they could easily self-destruct due to immense damage.
“Let’s head back. We’ve completed our original objective.”
“Wait a second!! What do you mean the Commander is dead!!”
“It means exactly what it says. I have nothing more to say.”
Leaving those words, Zaiha disappeared with his fellow tribesmen. The remaining Royal Knights were left staring blankly at the spot they had just occupied. Then Ruby spoke up.
“Why are you all standing there like idiots?”
“You’re… the Vampire Lord?!”
“Ah, Forest Child. It’s been a while.”
“….”
“Well, first, you need to gather the scattered pieces.”
Lucy smiled and snapped her fingers. A red magic circle appeared on the ground, and soon, Yuren and the other members of the Royal Knights materialized before them.
“Hey! Those trash are spreading rumors. What does that even….”
“No way, the teacher is dead? That can’t be…!!”
“It seems the news has spread. You all look quite furious.”
Lucy chuckled at the furious expressions of the other Royal Knights. They cared so much about their Commander, yet why had they done something so ridiculous? Well… she understood, but still.
After all, a deal is a deal.
No matter what the outcome, they had no choice but to accept it.
Lucy cleared her throat. At her words, the Royal Knights turned their focus on her. They all fell silent and started to concentrate. Satisfied with their attitude, Lucy smiled and said.
“Well, as they said, your Commander is dead.”
It was like dropping a bomb without a care.
*
“How noisy. I guess that means he was loved a lot.”
Lucy said with a smirk. Yet, the one she was speaking to couldn’t even muster a smile. Well, that was to be expected. She had bargained without his consent.
“Hmm, you seem pretty dissatisfied?”
“Of course.”
“But it couldn’t be helped. If we fought, you and I would’ve ended up dead right there.”
“….”
Lucy’s words were indeed true. Even if Hans took down three Blood Demons, the remaining three still stood, and Hans himself was battered. Lucy shrugged.
“No matter how strong I am, facing three Blood Demons simultaneously isn’t possible. Not to mention Zaiha didn’t even use his full power.”
“….”
“Where are you going?”
“Heading back. I won’t accept such a deal.”
“…Is that so? Then the Vampire Clan will have to oppose you from now on.”
At Lucy’s words, Hans stopped in his tracks. He silently stared at Lucy, who merely shrugged her shoulders. Oddly enough, she seemed quite relaxed.
“Why….”
“The cost of the promise. Otherwise, the Demons wouldn’t retreat just based on mere words, would they?”
“….”
“You can glare all you want, but it’s futile. To save both our lives, this was the best method. And….”
Lucy nodded. By now, her smile had vanished. Hans, wanting to retort, found his body collapsing instead. His wounds were too severe.
“You already know, don’t you? What they did to you.”
“….”
“Hypnosis… such a cute thing, wasn’t it? I understand their feelings, but that doesn’t justify it.”
Lucy chuckled as she held a gray-glowing light in her hand. As she said, Hans was already freed from the hypnosis. At that moment, everything came flooding back to him.
In that state of hypnosis, he remembered what they had done to him. Hans quietly lowered his head. Everything finally dawned on him. His original goal was to return.
However, up until now, he had forgotten that original purpose because of the hypnosis. Finally clear-headed, Hans glared at Lucy. She answered him with a serious expression, unlike her usual self.
“Hypnosis is a type of curse. Such a thing means nothing to vampires. Especially not when it comes to Blood Demons or inferior Blood Demons.”
“But… why would they do something like that to me…?”
“I wouldn’t know. Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“….”
“The final decision lies with you.”
Lucy’s words were right. As a third party, her interference was already far too late. What did he really want to think about them? He had no idea. Right now, he was just in pain.
“Your wounds are serious. If you leave them, you’ll die.”
“…More importantly, tell me the details of the deal.”
“Oh, I almost forgot to explain that part.”
He couldn’t turn the vampires into enemies. He had seen their power with his own eyes. Clenching his teeth, Hans was curious about why she had made the deal.
“The deal is simple. You won’t interfere for three years.”
“I won’t interfere?”
“Right, you can’t meet anyone. You can’t let them know you’re alive. You can’t use any underhanded methods either.”
“Why make such a deal…?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Lucy smiled.
“To correct a mistake.”
Her fangs sparkled sharply.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.