The Knight’s Sword.
As the symbol of terror, deemed the most unsuitable item to be in the hands of a Vampire, made its appearance, the Vampires of the Duchy hesitated and began to retreat from the eagerness to charge.
It was a deep-rooted fear that surpassed the spirit of struggle.
While there were Vampires who used weapons, there was not a single Vampire within the Helraig Duchy who had witnessed another Vampire wielding the Knight’s sword.
It was not merely because the weapon was difficult to obtain. It was true that the Knight was the worst natural enemy to the Vampire race.
However, being troublesome and powerful did not mean invincible, and some Vampires had sufficient opportunities to acquire it if they had the intent to kill the Knight and claim the sword as spoils.
Despite this, there was a significant reason why the Vampires who had defeated the Knight never wielded that sword themselves.
That reason was an instinctual aversion to revealing their weaknesses.
Simply being close to a silver object made them feel uneasy, and the silver sword sanctified through sacred magic over a long period was like a ticking time bomb to a Vampire after pressing its activation button.
Only those inclined towards self-destruction would want to live with a bomb.
If we were to discuss the possibility of an exception, it would undoubtedly be a human who had become so accustomed to wielding it for years before becoming a Vampire, thus surpassing the embedded rejection in their veins.
To put it simply, that original owner of the sword, a former Knight, would be a possibility.
“Is she from the Knight Order?”
Unlike the majority of the Vampires who showed disgust and hesitated, Slein Perbat, the Duke of the Helraig Duchy, was the first to express interest.
Just a moment ago, he hadn’t even glanced at Plona, contrasting sharply with his current demeanor.
“Quite rare.”
Indeed it was.
As someone who had lived even before the establishment of the Luminous Kingdom and the formation of the Knight Order, Slein was meeting a Vampire from the Knight Order for the first time.
A considerable proportion of Vampire deaths are attributed to suicide.
Specifically, it is the Vampires who fail to forsake their humanity immediately after being reborn and among them, those with deep-seated faith display that tendency significantly.
There have indeed been Vampires who took a Knight as a retainer. However, for those Knights with a blind devotion, the probability of them taking their own life hovers near zero.
Plona also would have chosen to commit suicide without hesitation if the blood that entered her body hadn’t been that of her beloved sister, confirming her rarity among rare breeds.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll handle that woman.”
Slein declared as he stepped forward in front of his subordinates.
If she were from the Knight Order, she couldn’t be weak. However, just before drawing the sword, she carried an aura indistinguishable from an ordinary person.
Someone capable of adjusting their aura to confuse a Duke-level Vampire couldn’t be weak.
Rather than facing an unfathomable enemy, it was better for the strongest here to engage directly.
“Eleonora?”
“Don’t worry, sir.”
Plona also came to a similar conclusion.
It was reasonable for her to contend with the strongest Vampire she could see.
If the objective was to endure rather than annihilate, leaving the rest to Eleonora wouldn’t be a problem.
Plona knew better than anyone else that even if she gathered a few stragglers, the current Eleonora was not someone who would simply fall.
After all, she had been the one who taught Eleonora dagger techniques and martial arts for three years.
Then there remained one person. However, that one did not concern Plona at all.
“Lavina Vercheria. Whatever your scheme is, do it properly.”
Plona warned coldly. Lavina’s green eyes slightly fluttered at the chilly gaze and voice that she never showed when with Aria.
However, Plona was unfazed.
She did not fully trust the Elf named Lavina Vercheria.
While she acknowledged that Lavina had provided some help while living in the Underground City, it was hard to believe that an Elf whose mind was solely occupied with magic research had come all the way from decades spent hiding underground to the dangerous territory of Vampires for no reason.
Moreover, the tense expressions Lavina had occasionally shown along the way.
Plona wasn’t sure of how her sister perceived her.
However, for an Elf, who after being exiled from Albresia, wandered alone in the outside world, surviving, and even forming bonds with Dwarves, to show signs of tension before even fighting? She didn’t come blindly but had come on her own accord?
In Plona’s eyes, it was undoubtedly an act. Whatever her thoughts were, she had clear intentions.
“It’s useless to pretend. Your sister isn’t hostile to you, so I’m leaving you be, but if there’s even a hint of you planning to stab her in the back, know that I’ll stab you first.”
The gaze with which Plona spoke had an intensity that was dark and oppressive.
Lavina’s eyes widened in surprise at her demeanor, which was so different from what she had seen over the past three years.
However, realizing that this was pure sincerity free from both jest and threat, she quickly wiped off her tense expression and donned a relaxed smile, as usual.
“Oh, today, I’m seeing a surprisingly fresh side of you. I’m quite intrigued.”
“Does it seem like a joke?”
Look at that. She was indeed just pretending to be tense.
Plona’s eyes narrowed with a smirk as Lavina finally started to convey that she was serious.
“No, no. Well… it’s true that I feigned weakness just to gauge your reaction, but in this situation, you wouldn’t believe me if I said that I’m suspicious, right? But still, you don’t have to worry. I have no intention of harming Aria.”
“Words–”
“Don’t you believe me? Then I’ll prove it with action!”
As soon as Lavina finished speaking, not awaiting a response, she spun around like a flash.
In her hand, a bow was drawn with an arrow shaped by wind tightly strung on it.
Whoosh! Before anyone could react, the arrow was released.
Boom!!!
The wind that had been concentrated in the flying arrow erupted, turning the indoors into chaos.
“Grawrrr!!!”
“Everyone, take them down!!!”
The devastation was such that it felt like a cannonball had been shot instead of an arrow.
Having blown away dozens of Vampires in its path like rags, the arrow blasted through the exit and marked the beginning of the melee.
Eleonora nodded lightly at Plona and rapidly drew a dagger to block the incoming Vampires charging at Lavina.
“This side is yours.”
As soon as Slein’s voice was heard, Plona raised her sword diagonally and slashed.
Clang! The unexpected metallic sound made Plona furrow her brows.
“I’ve seen a few thief-type Vampires, but this is my first encounter with a Knight. Are you one of the Fourth Progenitor’s followers?”
While it wasn’t silver, the sword in Slein’s hand was undeniably a sword.
“…”
Instead of responding, Plona swung her sword.
The dazzling silver blade. Yet, despite the flurry of attacks that were hardly discernible to the eye, Slein showed no signs of being flustered as he matched her.
“Slein Perbat.”
Plona confidently stated the name of the Vampire before her.
Having participated in wars against the Sahelrn Duchy as a Knight, Plona assessed that this Vampire, now allied with the Dukedom, while not reaching the caliber of Stella Banteker, still exceeded the average of Marquis-level Vampires by a large margin.
Thanks to that, identifying the enemy’s identity was not difficult.
It was extremely rare to find a Vampire that used weapons, and even then, it was hard to come across one so strong.
For Vampires, weapons tended to be a last resort chosen by the weak who couldn’t cast dark magic or had mediocre recovery abilities, avoiding barehanded combat.
However, as there are always exceptions, there were rumors even in the Kingdom about a certain noble granted the title of Duke in the Helraig Duchy, known for his prowess as a formidable swordsman.
“Oh, you know me?”
Slein smiled leisurely and pressed Plona.
Without giving her a chance to counter, the attacks flowed seamlessly like water.
This was not a crude slash relying solely on the Vampire’s physical abilities.
Although his swordsmanship differed from that of the Knight Order or the Imperial Army, Slein’s sword was honed perfectly without waste.
Plona concentrated fiercely in response.
On the other hand, Slein maintained his outward calm while raising his wariness towards Plona.
He understood that a Knight-turned-Vampire couldn’t be weak, yet the disparity created when a person who had been giving off an aura of an ordinary person suddenly drew a sword was extraordinary.
Plona’s swordsmanship was the culmination of his life perfected over centuries.
For her to engage head-on without being outmatched in pure swordplay meant that the girl possessed the capacity to control and manage her strength with such finesse that even he himself could hardly gauge her abilities.
Ten strikes, twenty strikes. Thirty strikes.
The two Vampires silently communicated through their swords.
The distance between them, their habits.
Tracking each other’s movements, they gauged the opponent’s strength through the tremors felt at their fingertips.
And on the thirty-seventh strike.
Pushing off each other’s swords to create distance, Plona and Slein shifted their stances as if they had made a promise.
‘Here it comes.’
The probing phase was over. Now, the real battle begins.
Plona quickly adjusted her grip on her sword. At that moment, black flames ignited from Slein’s sword.
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