In the midst of the battlefield, casually saying something like this feels a bit off, but Plona has lost her mind.
If I had seen myself when Plona almost died from someone else’s perspective, would it have felt like this?
Watching Plona stab Selin without hesitation just because I was attacked sent a chill down my spine.
I had originally intended to kill Selin, but I never expected Plona to act so extreme.
Wasn’t there quite a bond when I was human?
I sensed Plona’s presence approaching, and hesitated for a moment. If I killed Selin in front of her, it might create a needless trauma.
‘But how did this happen?’
As always, Plona’s eyes were clear without a hint of confusion.
She genuinely believed that opposing me was a sin that needed to be repaid with death.
‘This might be a bit dangerous.’
After all, a person’s nature doesn’t change so easily.
People can be cruel to strangers, but tend to be softer to acquaintances.
It would be a lie to say there wasn’t some sense of satisfaction, but if it was the Plona I knew, she wouldn’t become so cold.
“Hey, sister?”
Eleonora’s trust in me might seem fanatical, making it easy to confuse her with Plona, but they are fundamentally different.
Eleonora is relatively healthy. Her trust is built on a child’s absolute adoration for a parent.
She was exiled from the Dragonkin tribe at a very young age, and by the time she somewhat understood her situation, she was already living in hiding with her father.
However, the one person who protected her, her father, died, and Eleonora lost her will to live as she lived as a human slave.
I was the one who appeared before her, offering her a last chance when she had half-given up on life.
At that point, with nothing left to lose and no attachment to life, it was natural for her to follow the one who pulled her up.
But Plona is different.
While Eleonora’s only choice to survive was to rely on my mercy, Plona had from the start social standing, honor, and everything she needed to live.
She lacked nothing materially. Plona’s blind faith is an emotional dependency.
To fill a void that even her status as a knight couldn’t satisfy, she chose me over her rights to live in human society, turning her back on the church’s orders, and her bias deepened even more upon becoming a vampire.
‘But I thought she had improved a bit lately.’
There were signs that the instability she sometimes showed after becoming a vampire was gradually calming down.
While there were moments when I felt she was blindly devoted, I thought she was in the process of overcoming the shock, but was that only in front of me?
I felt an uneasy chill.
If it were just that Plona’s sensitivities had come closer to that of a vampire than a human, it wouldn’t really be a problem.
But if something important had gone awry, that would be catastrophic. The important part is that if Selin dies like this, I’ll lose a way to diagnose Plona’s condition.
Looking down, I saw Selin’s face lost in shock, mouth agape, pouring out blood.
‘If I leave her like this, she’ll die.’
The bleeding is severe. She has even cut off both wrists, and there’s no chance of recovery with a human’s healing ability.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Killing Selin is on hold. Initially, I planned to drain her blood cleanly and be done with it… but hey, I can always kill her later.
On the other hand, if I wait until there are serious mental issues to fix what’s lost, it will be too late.
It would be better to end this with the thought that my worries were unfounded than to ignore this unsettling feeling.
“Plona, how about making Selin one of your followers?”
I noticed Selin’s body twitch noticeably.
Seeing the trembling gaze and her firm resolve, I immediately shoved my left hand into Selin’s mouth. Ouch, her teeth barely missed biting my hand.
“Ughhh—!!”
‘That won’t do.’
It’s annoying if she just dies on her own. By the way, this makes me curious.
What would happen if I turned a knight who’d rather die than become a vampire into a vampire and forced her to live?
It’s a little regrettable that I can’t drink all her blood, but from a perspective of getting back at her, this might even be beneficial.
“I… to be a follower?”
Plona’s eyes widened in surprise.
Her reaction showed she hadn’t considered this at all. She seemed curious as to why I didn’t want to make her my direct follower.
“If I make her my follower, Selin would be on the same tier as you. Plona is special to me, so that won’t do.”
Unless Eleonora decides she wants it herself later, it would be a waste for me to give my blood to Selin, who I’d only be sparing her life.
Strictly speaking, what flows through Plona’s body is also my blood, but that’s just on the surface.
Of course, I can’t just call over one of the vampires fighting beside me and give orders.
For now, at least my blood has to go in. I need to put some binding on her directly so she can’t do anything reckless.
“Sister…”
Plona’s eyes glimmered softly. It was a radiant and pure smile.
“I’m happy, but it’s fine! The truth is, I’m not confident I won’t kill her while drinking her blood!”
Ah, I hadn’t thought of that.
“And I heard it’s rare for someone like me to receive so much blood. Right now, the only ones who can become your sisters are me and Eleonora. Just knowing that you consider me special is enough for me.”
“…Really? Then let’s finish this quickly.”
While I was drastically reducing the number of the allied forces and pushing hard since the main forces of the duchy had arrived, I couldn’t let my guard down until the war was over.
I need to finish this quickly and join up.
I lightly bit Selin’s nape and drank her blood.
The sweet and warm liquid flowed down my throat, invigorating me to a degree I could feel throughout my body.
Considering the blood loss, I carefully drank her blood just enough for her not to die.
Only after that did I scrape my tongue with my fangs and push the minimum necessary True Blood into Selin’s wounds.
Using the power of Blood Magic, I forced the True Blood that infiltrated Selin’s veins towards her heart.
Thud, her heart beat heavily, and Selin rolled her eyes back as if she had received an electric shock and fainted.
“You there.”
I called over one brave vampire who was charging forward.
The vampire, looking to be in his thirties, saw my face and looked shocked before dropping to one knee.
“Throw this one into a place like the underground prison. Make sure she’s properly restrained.”
The vampire kept bowing as he carried the fainted Selin away to the rear.
Alright, let’s set aside the complicated stuff for now.
It’s time to start wrapping up this war.
“Let’s go, Plona.”
“Okay.”
Once again, a wave of blood surged, and black lightning struck.
Leading the way, we cleared a path toward the direction of the duchy’s main forces.
*
The silver blade captured the chaotic moonlight.
Swinging horizontally, the overflowing divinity illuminated even the night sky, and the five vampires that couldn’t escape its reach were cleaved in half.
Perhaps not liking the dazzling divinity, a pitch-black darkness rose, threatening to swallow even the moonlight.
Boom, a violent tremor shook the ground.
Jeref Parvian forcefully brushed aside a vampire’s fist that had burrowed in close within the blink of an eye.
‘This isn’t good.’
It had been less than a day since his rematch with Martini Sahelrn.
Even with numerous supporting priests maintaining a barrier of divinity from behind, weakening the vampires and healing the allies, the situation was worse than the night before.
‘Martini Sahelrn, and Grand Duke Jeil Helraig.’
No matter how many knights of the church and the empire, and the kingdom’s elite joined in, they struggled to cope with the vampires of the Grand Duchy.
It was beyond expressing with just the number of common soldiers.
Such a different level of existence had increased overnight.
In truth, while the vampires did not introduce themselves like gentlemen, given the circumstances, the only black-haired male vampire with power equal to that of the Grand Duchy might only be the Grand Duke of Helraig.
Moreover, due to the strong reinforcements brought by the Grand Duke of Helraig, the allied forces, who had initially held the positional advantage thanks to the time differential, finally began to falter in strength.
‘The Fourth Progenitor. Was that the variable?’
Jeref clenched his teeth while taking Martini’s fierce attacks.
It was well known that there was bad blood between the Grand Duke of Sahelrn and the Grand Duke of Helraig. This morning was no exception, and the existence of the progenitor likely facilitated the alliance of the two duchies.
‘If I had been there three years ago.’
During the turmoil caused by the progenitor’s escape, Jeref had been busy with assignments, and by the time he returned to the Luminous Kingdom after finishing his battle with the Suwong Kingdom, the incident had already concluded.
However, given the current situation, the death of the progenitor had been disguised as a vampire attack, and the progenitor, who sharpened his sword, had finally revealed himself.
If Jeref had pursued the progenitor directly three years ago, it wouldn’t have ended in a mishap where he was counterattacked by vampires.
No matter how strong a knight he was, he didn’t know how to turn back time.
“Block it!! Even if it costs your lives, stop them!!!”
“Run! We can’t win like this!!”
It was already a hellscape. Whenever Jeil Helraig charged in heavily, cadavers piled up, and the battlefield fell into chaos.
Even though Martini Sahelrn was directly engaged, just the aftershocks had sufficient impact on those around him. Jeref had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that maintaining the front line was impossible.
“Retreat!!”
At last, a formal retreat order was given to the allied forces.
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