At least ten Dragonkin with skills equal to or greater than Eleonora. And two hundred who are on par with the elite of the Scarlet United Kingdom army.
That was the bare minimum requirement for calculating the odds of our military versus Luminous, ensuring it was not a zero percent chance of winning.
But the only one who could help was a successor warrior chief—a mere single individual, following in Eleonora’s father’s footsteps.
It appeared that he was stronger than Eleonora at first glance, yet one was still woefully insufficient.
“Is there absolutely no hope for support from the other factions?”
“Absolutely none. I can guarantee it. Rather than any cooperation, we can’t even avoid battle.”
“…This is an embarrassing request, but is there any way your faction can provide additional support?”
I asked, feeling desperate as if I were clinging to a straw.
However, the warrior chief opened his mouth, looking exceedingly troubled to speak.
“Although there are still those who followed Warrior Chief Drake among us, if we siphon off a large group, the other factions will catch on. We can’t afford to lose our last stronghold, which has already become precarious.”
In fact, the warrior chief added that just being absent from the post could cause significant problems.
Living for many years as a Dragonkin, their sense of time differed from humans. There had been times when a month passed without a meeting of the tribe, but if a summon occurred and it were discovered that the warrior chief had secretly slipped away, the other warrior chiefs would never let it slide.
“…Then let me ask one more thing. How many Dragonkin stronger than Eleonora are in this village?”
As long as there was any meaningful power here, I was prepared to drag everyone away by threats or whatever, and a glimmer of hope flashed in my mind.
Chae-aeng!!!
Without warning, the warrior chief grabbed a dagger on the table and swung it like lightning, only for Eleonora to parry it, the sharp metallic clanking echoing inside the barracks.
“Warrior Chief, what does this mean?”
Just one swing. Yet, the speed was so threatening that even I could hardly follow it with my eyes, let alone a mere mortal.
…Could it be that they sensed my malevolent intent?
But instead of counterattacking immediately, I decided to observe a bit longer. Although that sudden strike was quick, I hadn’t felt any killing intent from it.
Most likely, even if Eleonora had not managed to respond, he would have stopped just short beforehand. If it had been a genuine attack, I would have deemed it a surprise assault and retaliated, but it seemed not to be the case.
And indeed, not intending any harm, the warrior chief stood from his seat and bowed his head.
“I apologize. But to answer your question, this was the fastest way.”
Eleonora nodded dryly, uninterested in his apology, silently urging him for an answer.
A bitter expression fleetingly crossed the warrior chief’s face but vanished almost instantly.
“I had a hunch from the beginning that you were not ordinary, but indeed, you are that person’s daughter. And to answer your question, among your clan, the number of those who could perfectly react to the previous strike, including other warrior chiefs, would be about four.”
Thud, my hand fell weakly.
It wasn’t hard to grasp the hidden meaning behind his words.
Four. Including himself, just five Dragonkin in this place possess skills beyond Eleonora’s.
That was only half of the necessary minimal combat strength.
Right, I had already somewhat fathomed this even before asking. That we would never be able to achieve what we desired from here.
After all, the number of living beings felt drastically less than expected, and there was not much powerful energy sensed around.
At that moment, as I locked eyes with Lavina, who seemed uncharacteristically lacking confidence, I could certainly understand.
I had failed my last gamble.
The Dragonkin, who I thought might have somewhat recovered their prime power after years of seclusion, could not resolve their food shortages and ended up not significantly increasing in number.
Since Eleonora was still quite young, I had also thoroughly dismissed the expectation that stronger Dragonkin might exist in her village.
“Is this really the end?”
That was my last shred of hope.
I knew it was almost impossible to persuade the Dragonkin, yet I had come this far seeking any last possibility, not wanting to give up and run away.
What would I tell Plona, Slein, and Bianca, who were probably running around negotiating with the Empire and Suwang Kingdom?
What about the subordinates who only believed in me and prepared for the upcoming battle?
How should I respond to Martini and Stella, who might still be clinging to life under the watch of Luminous, while Jeil is left?
“Lavina, Eleonora. I don’t know anymore. What should I do?”
“Aria.”
“My Lord.”
Even the clever Lavina and the ever-loyal Eleonora provided no answers to this situation.
…Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, as the warrior chief said, Luminous isn’t interested in such remote areas?
No one knows Luminous’s true intentions.
But since I stood as a vampire opposing the spirit of light, and the core of the Scarlet United Kingdom that follows me is largely composed of vampires, I had always thought the only way was to block Luminous.
Luminous would definitely come to kill me again.
Once the fully adapted Luminous emerges from Lusher, he would realize I survived and returned that day, and then he would chase me to the ends of the world.
However, while it is easy to predict that Luminous would incite war to make up for what he had abandoned in the Church and Luminous Kingdom based on his demeanor and actions that day, it’s also true I cannot definitively state how far that war would extend.
What if I die, the Scarlet United Kingdom disappears from the map, all the continent’s vampires perish, and lands around Greysia, including those near Luminous, turn to complete ruin?
Perhaps, the outskirts unrelated to vampires, like the Dragon’s gorge, might be left mostly untouched?
If that’s the case… Wouldn’t I at least be able to save Eleonora and Lavina? While I can’t leave them in this Dragonkin’s gorge, maybe I could find some remote place to hide them.
Though my kin Plona would remain Luminous’s target until the end, these two are different. Aside from my connection to them, they are just an ordinary Elf and Dragonkin.
An unwinnable battle. Certain defeat and annihilation.
Knowing that death awaited us all, rather than perishing together… perhaps it would be right to offer a possible path where at least these two can survive.
Though I should never give up hope, I couldn’t help but entertain such thoughts.
*
A peculiar sight unfolded in a city of the Greysia Empire.
A considerable-sized legion was lined up and passing through the outskirts of the city. Up to this point, there was nothing particularly strange about it, but what made it different was that the legion was comprised of the beastmen of the Suwang Kingdom, not the imperial army.
“Nyahaha. I never thought I’d see the day when we could pass through a human city so peacefully.”
“Well, we’ve merely borrowed the road, but yes, that’s true.”
Leading the procession, Suwang, Shete Raselo, spoke with the gleeful twinkle of a child on a picnic, while Cardan Lionheart responded simply.
Indeed, it was not typical to stride boldly through the heart of an enemy nation that just days prior had been exchanging axes and spears on the battlefield.
“But why did you decide to partake in this war?”
As Cardan enjoyed the scenery of the Empire, he suddenly inquired, as if a thought had just struck him.
A few days ago, he received urgent news from the Scarlet United Kingdom via a sudden communication line. The information was enough to startle the Suwang Kingdom.
They had grasped that something unusual was occurring on the side of the Luminous Kingdom, and the Suwang Kingdom, which had paused its war momentarily to observe the situation, received information that was of a type they never anticipated.
Light Spirit Luminous.
An existence that intervened in the racial wars through his church, elevating human nations to a hegemon and manipulating the continent.
While the Suwang Kingdom couldn’t claim to be free from Luminous’s influence in the race wars, the information portrayed Luminous as such a powerful entity that merely predicting a chance of victory would lead one to be labeled an optimist.
“Perhaps the Scarlet United Kingdom or Greysia Empire can bear the risk, but the Suwang Kingdom cannot be so sure, can it?”
But why must they step into battle against such a formidable enemy? That was the crux of the matter.
“Logically speaking, do you think that a monster that has spent two thousand years sharpening its claws would be satisfied after just consuming the Union Kingdom and the Empire?”
Shete snorted in disbelief as if it were a given.
“He thrives on the spirit of humanity. Isn’t that worse than a vampire that sucks blood? Of course, if it were a fight with no hope at all, we’d withdraw.”
“Do you mean to say that you foresee victory for the United Kingdom? The reality is that the Union Kingdom has almost no chances of winning.”
“Cardan, do you know why I’m following the will of the United Kingdom?”
“…Because you lost to the fourth progenitor that day. You had witnessed a sliver of power strong enough to claim a unification of the continent, which is why you chose to believe they would spare us and protect the rights of the beastmen.”
Shete laughed with a ‘nyahaha’ instead of answering.
It wasn’t entirely incorrect. The persuasive power of the vampire queen had indeed been overwhelming.
But that wasn’t all there was to it. If the persuasion through strength was all there was, then with the emergence of a vastly more powerful Luminous, this alliance should have lost its efficacy.
“What makes that woman terrifying is not the power she possesses right now.”
Shete recalled the battle that unfolded in the Perkina Mountain Range that day.
Certainly, the queen was overwhelmingly strong. Even she, who ascended to the pinnacle of the Suwang Kingdom, couldn’t dare to surpass that level of power.
However.
“There’s something one feels directly from engaging face-to-face, such as what their character might be like.”
Shete Raselo perceived himself as a fool.
He wasn’t particularly dull, but having grown up in an environment deprived of opportunities to accumulate knowledge, he placed more value on intuition gained from physically experiencing things than on reason and logical judgment.
After enduring numerous battles, Shete could roughly understand an opponent’s habits or mindset by clashing spears a few times.
For instance, a cowardly, insecure person would easily backtrack when pressed just a little. A cautious individual would not rush to attack even when the opponent exposes a weakness, while one confident in their skills would prioritize their own rhythm over adapting to the opponent’s movements.
“That woman’s manner of fighting was not that of a strong warrior.”
At first glance, it seemed as if she overwhelmed her opponents with sheer strength, yet after confronting her repeatedly until he was utterly exhausted, Shete came to understand.
Aria’s method of combat was not of the strong.
Even when exerting her full power, she did not swing wildly; instead, she acted after assured calculations and had reasons behind each seemingly nonchalant movement.
While not technically perfect, she precisely knew how to make her opponent struggle to respond and repeated the coercion of choices upon them.
She was not hesitant to sacrifice her flesh to strike a bone and even performed disadvantageous exchanges by willingly sacrificing her own bone to cover her regeneration.
Having crawled his way up from the bottom, Shete could grasp this.
The yearning for life and obsession. A weaker method devised merely to overcome an opponent that appeared unbeatable.
The path walked by the vampire queen Aria Scarlet, whom he had exchanged blows with, was undoubtedly similar to the kind Shete had taken.
“They say the progenitor of vampires has powers only slightly different from ordinary humans at birth.”
When the existence of the fourth progenitor was first announced, the entire continent was set ablaze with fear and animosity, even reaching the distant Suwang Kingdom.
The whole world had become desperate to kill her. However, she managed to survive. She survived to become a queen, acquiring enough strength and influence to declare her intent to unify the continent and create the paradise she dreamed of.
“That woman is the sort that, although shaken, cannot be given up on. She will undoubtedly find a way this time too.”
Shete Raselo laughed with a ‘nyahaha.’
The cat that crawled from the slums to the zenith of the Suwang Kingdom was rather confident in his instincts.
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