#123
On a hill overlooking the capital, Bisk Yufershi returned to his original form along with his subordinates. He glared at the city with a twisted expression.
“Ha—! So this is it?”
The unpleasant feeling that had lingered throughout his journey finally made sense upon arrival.
“Brokoslac… that wraith managed to stay alive, huh? And right here, of all places?”
Faced with the unexpected situation, he concluded that this was the cause of his unease all along. It was far more convincing to think so than to ache without understanding the reason.
‘Right, if the opponent shared the same bloodline, that could be it. I must have sensed a rival nearby instinctively, which is why I felt so uneasy.’
He forced himself to accept this and smiled coldly.
Although the uncomfortable feeling remained, it could be resolved after dealing with Brokoslac.
“…Bisk-nim? Are you saying that ‘Pureblood Brokoslac’ is over there?”
At that moment, Theodore Yufershi, who had been quietly standing by his side, frowned and cautiously asked him.
Since they hadn’t assumed the presence of a Pureblood on the enemy side while planning, this development could disrupt their operations significantly.
“Yeah, that past relic is indeed over there…”
Bisk replied nonchalantly, glancing sideways. One eyebrow raised slightly, showing his displeasure.
“So, what’s the problem? I’m here; does adding that wraith really change anything? You aren’t afraid, are you, elite of the Yufershi?”
Seeing Bisk’s somewhat irritable demeanor, Theodore quickly lowered his head, sweating coldly.
“Ah, no. I was just worried about unnecessary damage increasing. Originally, the plan was to wrap things up without incident and proceed with restoring the Talia Kingdom.”
After Bisk silently glared at Theodore’s bowed head, he turned his gaze back to the city, clicking his tongue.
Having reacted sharply due to the unpleasantness felt along the way, he knew that some damage would be unavoidable now.
Although they were two Truebloods short, there was no telling what defenses could be set up in that enemy stronghold.
Moreover, the former lord, Mulo Brokoslac, was a wizard type specialized in Blood Magic.
There was no more troublesome entity than a wizard fully holed up in their territory, thoroughly preparing.
“Anyway, it seems they’ve noticed our presence, so let’s move in immediately. We can’t give them any more time to prepare.”
“Yes!”
It was second nature for a vampire, born of darkness, to infiltrate the city under the cover of night.
Shadows, close to fifty in number, moved swiftly and silently over the castle walls.
*
“Mulo? How’s the preparation going?”
Briki, comfortably lounging on Mulo Brokoslac’s office sofa while sipping tea, spoke in a nonchalant tone.
Contrary to his previously heightened state, his drooping vegetable-like appearance raised doubts about whether he was indeed the person here to warn of impending crisis.
Of course, the wise Mulo didn’t point that out.
“I’ve ordered to gather as many external personnel as possible and strengthen defenses. However, responding without knowing exactly what’s happening is challenging, so we’ll stick to the usual measures…”
“Yufershi has launched an attack.”
“…Huh? The Yufershi Clan? Why so suddenly…?”
“What do you expect me to say, having only just awakened? You should know better than I do.”
“True, but… this really seems sudden without any forewarning.”
He continued to respond with a flustered expression and promptly relayed the situation to all clan members in the mansion.
Should a full-scale war occur, they must unite to avoid individual assaults, necessitating the gathering of all available troops.
As Mulo rose from his seat, he hurriedly left the office and rubbed his eyes.
Briki was still lazily following him while yawning but Mulo had no time to care about her demeanor.
‘I instructed the humans residing in the mansion not to come out until further notice, and a barrier has also been set up for that. So it shouldn’t be a big problem…’
But the real issue now was that the Yufershi, the strongest of the three vampire clans, had invaded.
Compared to their well-prepared enemy, this side was terribly unready.
“So, do you know where they are now?”
Mulo opened the door to the grand banquet hall where his subordinates had gathered and posed the question to Briki.
He was unsure whether Bisk, being a Pureblood, had taken any measures, as he couldn’t detect anything with his senses.
Originally, being a magical practitioner, his perception was somewhat lacking compared to other abilities.
“Ugh-uh— Ah, that?”
Briki, stretching lazily in the back, answered nonchalantly.
But her voice had a vitality that suggested her previous demeanor was a facade.
“Right now—”
As if preparing for something, gathering energy to warm up.
“Eh?”
“—they’ve just entered.”
Crack—!
As soon as her words ended.
A hole tore through the barrier surrounding the mansion, and dozens of vampires sensed their infiltration.
With an aura of hostility and bloodlust.
*
“Well… stubbornly alive, aren’t you, Brokoslac? I thought it was about time you died.”
“And how come you’ve always been this rude, past relic? Both you and your predecessor, is that the tradition of Yufershi?”
“You seem to have many regrets in life; let me help you find peace this time. Your damned clan will crumble with you, so you won’t be lonely.”
“You sure took after someone who doesn’t listen to others. How could one be so unlucky?”
The two Purebloods faced each other, exchanging their words.
It didn’t take long for those waiting in the grand banquet hall and those invading the mansion to meet.
After all, the Yufershi’s goal was to wipe out Brokoslac and take his place.
‘This isn’t good at all.’
While the Purebloods bickered, Mulo quietly gritted his teeth, analyzing the confrontation between the two factions.
In terms of numbers, they had slightly more on their side.
Though it was a hasty gathering, it wasn’t difficult to mobilize this much since this was their stronghold.
But the problem was quality.
‘There are just over a dozen Purebloods, and the rest are all Lowbloods. Better than having none, but still…’
For reference, there were no Servants or Slaves deployed here.
In a capital like Talia, where a shrine exists, it wouldn’t do to keep incompetent ones who couldn’t even conceal their aura.
‘Even if Bisk Yufershi is matched against Briki, there are still only four Truebloods on that side… This is discouraging.’
Mulo let out a silent sigh, quietly gathering his energy.
He had some faith in a certain development.
By entering the service of Hanze, he could also benefit from the “Refined Blood Essence,” and thus made considerable progress from that point.
With his heartbeat, the evolved vampire factor pumped sticky blood magic through his veins.
“So, who is the current lord over there? I’d like to see how the clan got taken over… Hm?”
While bickering, Bisk and Briki engaged in a silent battle of wills, he sensed something.
But it was already too late.
Whoosh—!
The blood sigils hidden within the mansion radiantly glowed red, distorting reality.
The already expansive banquet hall morphed even further, transformed into a splendid battlefield.
Furthermore, the barrier empowered his allies inside, providing debuffs to those opposing them, equalizing the power gap.
‘It’s nice to expand the abilities that were limited to my office to the entire mansion, but… this isn’t enough.’
Thanks to the barrier, lower vampires could at least buy some time, but still, they were insufficient to contend with the Truebloods.
An additional reinforcements was needed on their side.
He had a method that he could use when supported by the barrier.
“Come to me. Frigia—!”
As Mulo’s incantation ended, a pool of blood formed right before him.
From there, Frigia emerged, fully prepared for battle.
“Ugh, I didn’t expect to find myself fighting so soon.”
She sighed immediately upon being summoned and got straight into combat mode.
Though too far from the Forest of Monsters to summon both Truebloods, this would at least help balance things a little.
‘Now all that’s left is for Briki to deal with Bisk while I defend as much as possible.’
Of course, that reality didn’t change the fact that they were still under-equipped to win.
Nevertheless, given the barrier, even a Pureblood wouldn’t easily break through it inside, so they could hold out to a degree…
“Ha, yes. I expected it to be troublesome, but this is quite bothersome.”
A voice drifted close by.
As Mulo continued his thoughts, a pair of pure white eyes suddenly locked onto his.
“If I get rid of you, this barrier will disappear.”
Before Mulo could even respond, Bisk swiftly moved to pierce his heart with a hand—
“Are you underestimating me too much?”
Bang—!
With a large shockwave, he and Briki collided head-on.
Mulo, saved by her, folded space and dodged, quietly wiping away the cold sweat.
“…Right, I need to deal with this wraith first.”
“Ugh, you really need a good beating.”
Having been hindered by Briki’s interference the moment the barrier activated, Bisk gritted his teeth again, while she equally raised her intensity.
Thus, the tension between both sides rose once more.
Crack—!
Suddenly, a fissure appeared in one side of Mulo’s barrier.
“No, what’s happening!”
Once again flustered, Mulo hurriedly adjusted space and tightened his eyes.
An unidentified external force was puncturing the barrier from outside.
No matter how weak this space was against impacts from the outside, it was a barrier that he had spent considerable effort strengthening, having improved since before.
Even if a Trueblood attacked from the outside, it shouldn’t be easy to break.
At that moment, while the unexpected situation caught everyone’s attention, a pair of sharp claws and scaly hands squeezed through the fissure.
Then, as if opening a sliding door, it cautiously began to pull apart.
Creak—!
The rip in the barrier slowly widened, and through it…
A fur-covered beast’s head emerged.
“Guh, I didn’t expect this barrier. But since I’m tearing my way in, the timing is just a bit late.”
The being whose head resembled a beast, or rather an anthropomorphic beast, muttered softly while pulling its formidable physique through the crack.
As his massive muscular body entered, the barrier promptly healed as if nothing were wrong, surprising even Mulo, who activated it.
“What the hell is that?”
“…A savage? No, those arms…?”
The intruder, with his bare upper body covered in sinewy muscles and primal tattoos, arms adorned with dark red scales and sharp claws, scanned the surroundings with a pair of eyes shining in different colors beneath his beastly mask.
Realizing that everyone’s attention was focused on him, he boldly declared.
“Who dares to harm our Hubert!”
The attention-seeking barbarian warrior, Harley, roared as he entered the scene.
Crack! Thud—!
At the same time, a menacing sound escaped his powerful physique, foreshadowing the impending violence.
“Hubert?”
“N-no, why the sudden appearance…”
Those still trying to comprehend glanced at one another, grimacing at the confusion.
From the identity of the unknown intruder to what he had just said, only a handful could grasp the situation fully.
Yet, despite such reactions, Harley’s gaze was already fixated on the Yufershi clan.
“I found you—.”
His lips curled into a savage grin, revealing the predator-like teeth.
“There you are! The one who stirred the weakling’s belly like a meat stew?”
The vertically-slit vicious pupils precisely locked onto Klein, the red-haired, red-eyed vampire.
