“I’ve led Knight Plona Moonlight to Pahera. I expect her to arrive in about a week at the earliest.”
“Good work. Be careful not to get discovered, but if you come into contact with the Progenitor, intervene immediately.”
“I will obey the order.”
In the dark room of the Luminous Kingdom’s Palace, Cardinal Benelian Lior, the second-in-command of the Luminous Church, fell into deep thought as soon as the communication was cut off.
‘There’s definitely interference happening.’
Though he hadn’t publicly announced it yet for fear the Progenitor would catch wind and flee, the Luminous Kingdom had nearly pinpointed her whereabouts.
The location was likely the Mist Labyrinth in Albresia.
After utilizing all the intelligence resources of the Luminous Kingdom, they had determined with reasonable certainty that she would be near the border of Pahera, which had relatively less influence from the Church of Light.
It was one of the plausible choices that made sense.
The Elves’ forest had long been an area of inviolability, which is why the Armes Kingdom struggled every year, like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
However, the location wasn’t as big of an issue as they had feared. Back in the day, no one dared to breach the Elves’ barrier, but human magic had advanced significantly over the centuries.
In advanced countries, treatments for widespread diseases are developed quickly. The only reason the Luminous Kingdom and the Empire were sidelined from the border of Albresia was that they didn’t share borders with it. The era of Elves’ barriers being inviolable was over.
If the Elves’ barrier had advanced alongside human magic, the situation might have been different, but perhaps it was an issue of will or capability, as the barrier had been maintained for centuries without reinforcement.
It’s already rumored among academia that the principles of the barrier are nearly unraveled. If the Luminous Kingdom and the Empire decided to invest resources, the location of the Progenitor would no longer be an issue.
‘Even if we can’t breach the barrier, it doesn’t matter.’
Even if they failed to comprehend the principles of the barrier, if they decided to completely seal off the forest, Vampires would have no choice but to crawl out unless they wanted to starve. The Elves wouldn’t be tender-hearted enough to give their blood to save the Vampires.
In other words, this problem could be solved with money. The real issue at this point lay elsewhere.
‘More parasites from the Duchy, I suppose.’
Unidentified interlopers.
The fact that the Progenitor was likely near Pahera was almost certain, so urgent action was necessary. However, despite sending people through various channels, communication dropped off at some point.
Someone was definitely intentionally obstructing the Luminous Kingdom’s actions. And in Benelian’s view, the only ones who would do something like that were the Duchy of Sahelrn.
‘Dirt-poor scumbags. But who knew the preparations I made would help in this way?’
Right after the war with the Duchy ended, a Knight’s long leave was approved at the Randell Branch.
Normally, the news that a Knight took leave wouldn’t reach the Cardinal, but this time was different as the individual had a deep connection with the Progenitor.
Benelian immediately dispatched someone to her. At that time, it wasn’t an exceptionally important reason.
Knight Plona Moonlight was an individual with ties to the Progenitor. He simply thought implementing surveillance might prove helpful in predicting the Progenitor’s movements.
However, after the Luminous Kingdom acquired information through other channels, the appearance of an unidentified interloper dramatically changed the situation.
All the informants from the direct intervention of the Luminous Kingdom had lost contact. Only Knight Plona Moonlight managed to easily reach the western lands, where no informant had been able to arrive.
Perhaps it was because she had left on leave and was thus outside the Duchy’s intelligence network. No, the reason didn’t matter. What was important was that she was the only one currently out of sight of the interloper.
Benelian altered his plan.
He subtly dropped hints to lead Plona Moonlight toward Pahera.
Although she wasn’t officially part of the Knight Order, he had positioned some capable subordinates at her side.
Even if the Progenitor resided in the Mist Labyrinth, if they found her, at least they’d show themselves once. Then, it would be easiest to eliminate her then.
“Those disgusting Vampires have lived too long. Because of that traitor Raul Carlos, I’m suffering.”
Benelian shuddered.
He had met the Progenitor once.
Immediately after it was discovered that the person from town captured by Knight Selin Soleis was the Progenitor of Vampires, he was the one who ordered her execution, and even now he remembered her face clearly.
Claiming to live solely on beast blood and wanting to coexist with humans—it was all so hypocritical.
At the time, it was merely ridiculous, but now the fact that they were still suffering because they couldn’t catch a single fool who rambled nonsense was exceedingly irritating.
“But it won’t be long now.”
Soon, Plona Moonlight, or more accurately the elite following her, would arrive in Pahera. If the Progenitor was there, there would inevitably be a resolution.
Please, let this be the end of this tedious chase.
Benelian prayed earnestly in the dark room.
*
It had been nine days since I showed that arrogant Beastman the hot taste of a Vampire.
I have no way of knowing whether Kanak hid or confessed his defeat to his subordinates. But regardless, the fact that I was significantly strong was conveyed to them somehow, as they began to avert their eyes and avoid me.
Interestingly, the ones who had previously been more openly hostile toward me were the ones showing the most avoidance.
How do I know this? I remember the faces of those who crossed me.
It wasn’t the intention, but seeing their courtesy in action made me feel like I was contributing to making the world a better place. Now, that’s a positive influence.
And now, I was among the polite Beastmen.
Today was the day of action. While there weren’t any special plans, the scale of the troops was significantly larger than usual.
Looking toward the broken castle walls in the distance, I asked Kanak something I had been curious about for a long time.
“Why do you guys always stick to the main gate? Why not just use the walls you’ve destroyed nearby?”
The walls of Pahera were practically ragged.
The front was relatively intact, but it only took a slight turn to find countless spots that were crumbling or cracked. Given how low they were, I could just leap over the walls barehanded.
Naturally, it was the work of the Beastmen. And the pathways carved out by the Beastmen were also the paths the Vampires used.
I, being a Vampire, could usually just relax and soak up the sweetness of their blood.
But why were they behaving this way? Surely they didn’t have a noble aim of considering the Vampires?
“The Vampires tend to choose places where we’re not, making it easier to raid once we split our forces.”
“You guys raided too?”
I hadn’t even known that! But then again, it made sense since the Vampires had structured their plans to avoid crossing paths with the Beastmen.
I hadn’t thought much about it out of disinterest, but hearing this made it seem only natural.
No matter how united they were to mess with humans, after all, treasure and armies didn’t just grow from the ground. War isn’t a charity.
“That’s right. As you said, focusing on the sides makes it easy to penetrate over the walls. But since the paths are narrow, it’s hard to escape. Meanwhile, the front is solidly built; once it breaks, advancing and retreating becomes easier. The enemy knows that, too, so as long as we show ourselves at the main gate, we have no choice but to split our forces.”
“So it’s an intentional front to lure the enemy while raiding from the side?”
“A bit like what the Vampires do. It’s as if we shed blood for the blood you all will spill.”
There didn’t seem to be a strong will to breach the front on their part, which made me wonder if the splitting of forces was the actual objective.
It’s reasonable if one thinks about it, yet it made me ponder suddenly. What’s the ultimate goal of the Resistance Army?
The fight between the Beastman Resistance Army and Pahera wasn’t something new.
Frankly, the only reason the Resistance Army was holding out was that they had the Mist Labyrinth as their hiding place; it wasn’t because they were strong enough to beat the humans.
Just looking at the power disparity, the Resistance Army’s chances of fully capturing Pahera were slim, and even if they succeeded, wouldn’t they be easily reclaimed if reinforcements were sent from another city?
Financially, it would be more difficult. Raiding is unlikely to yield more results than the resources invested.
They would surely be in the red. The current Resistance Army members were mainly Beastmen who had gathered from outside, and most of their food and clothing were sourced externally as well.
It was a system incapable of self-sufficiency. A struggle without a future. An unpromised reward.
Truly, it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit. However, the Beastmen didn’t seem foolish enough to be unaware of their situation.
Suddenly, my thoughts drifted to Failure, the Beastman who had tried to sell Eleonora to Ludrik for money.
Perhaps that guy wanted to get out of a fight with no future.
Maybe he wanted to give up on unattainable ideals and compromise with reality.
Though the Beastmen placed in the Mist Labyrinth were bound by contracts of subservience, I heard they were freed when they left the Resistance Army and the forest behind.
If on that day Eleonora and I were defeated and killed by Ludrik, the fact that Failure had received backroom dealings would have been buried forever.
I didn’t mean to forgive Failure. I wouldn’t forgive anyone who trampled my territory with filthy feet.
However, I could somewhat understand why such a choice would be made.
Had he left the forest with the money he had collected, he might have lived a better life than now.
If he gave up on the grand dreams of overthrowing humans and reclaiming the glory of the Beastmen, perhaps he could have continued to live decently if he stayed out of the humans’ sight.
On the other hand, there was no future for the Beastmen staying within this Mist Labyrinth.
All they had to hold onto was the paltry pride of not having given up on their ideals. They were only moving step-by-step toward certain doom while only writing out the cruel reality, struggling harder and harder.
Yet, knowing there was no chance of winning, they kept fighting. Knowing it was a losing battle, they paradoxically turned their backs on reality and mechanically executed their obligations to their ideals.
“This is the best. There’s no other way,” they persuaded themselves.
Ah.
That’s right. It was just like that.
At this moment, I finally understood my true value.
I perfectly understood why humans were so desperate to kill me, and why the Duchy of Sahelrn tried to protect someone they had never met, even during a war.
Compared to the powerful forces of humans, who monopolized the resources of the entire continent, the limitations faced by the Ain were glaringly evident.
I didn’t know what the Elves holed up in the interior of that forest were doing or the conditions of the Suwong Kingdom, which was fighting endlessly with the Empire.
But if they were stronger than humans, they would have already won. Since it was the Ain avoiding conflicts, it was needless to say who was superior.
If the stalemate continued, the Ain would have no chance. As time passed, the humans, possessing almost all the fertile land and mineral resources of the continent, would only become more dominant; the Ain, driven into barren lands, would never find a better scenario.
Once you hit a limit, there were no more variables left.
If the Ain put forth all their might, they might achieve a few short-term victories, but in terms of tribe versus tribe, a clear hierarchy had already been established on the Terra continent.
In short, the Ain couldn’t overturn the firmly established human dominance.
They couldn’t overturn it.
Except for me.
Unlike the perfect ancient races who were born perfect, I was a unique existence with limitless growth potential, bought at the cost of inherent imperfections.
The only variable who could break through the limitations of the half-human allied front.
The Progenitor of Vampires. That was me.
I see now. That’s why they were so eager to kill me.
Only I held the key to driving the humans out.
There is a vast difference between simply hearing the theory and personally seeing, feeling, and realizing the possibilities.
Just a short while ago, I wouldn’t have even believed I’d draw this conclusion. But after my victory against Kanak, I truly understood what it meant to have no limits.
I can become stronger than I am now. I don’t feel any limits at all despite having gained strength I couldn’t even have imagined just a few months ago.
I’m different from the past when I couldn’t believe in myself.
There are still plenty of humans stronger than me out there right now. But as long as I survive, I’m confident that one day I’ll surpass them all.
“The time has come. Let’s go.”
“…Yeah.”
Kanak’s call broke my train of thought. Feeling strangely excited, I smiled back at him, but he turned his head away as if he had witnessed something unsightly.
Right, first, we deal with Hexion Requid.
One by one, we’ll take down the enemies in front of us. One day, the time will come.
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