"What? They’ve launched attacks on all four of the other nations?" I responded in surprise.

"Yeah, we just received urgent requests for help from all four nations," Nodded Phyurio, before adding, "What should we do?"

"Hm...well, we definitely should back them up, but the question is how much manpower we should spare. Or rather, how much we can afford to spare. I’d prefer not to leave Arcadia completely defenseless...do you know if any of the Elder Vampires are among the attacking forces in the other four nations?" I asked him.

"Yes, Onyx informed us that an extremely powerful individual Vampire is running amok in their Capital, it seems likely that that was an Elder Vampire," He replied with a grimace.

"I see...then, maybe they’ve sent one Elder Vampire to each nation to lead their forces? Alright...send a group of fifty to each nation from our human and Demi-Human forces. And besides that, we’ll also send pairs and trios of our heavy hitters to each nation as well. Let’s see...okay, send Liquaqua and Aereeze to Obsidian, Aratron and Pavorphobus to Agate, Tania, Oberr and Arofri to Onyx, and Lucifer, Ilex and Mysst to Zircon," I instructed, after taking a moment to weigh and consider my options.

That still leaves myself, Satan, Frielektra, Izzy and the other Demi-Human Elders among our heavy hitters, plus the likes of Lumena, Prysm, Rosary, Phyurio and Gior who could also make a difference...but like I said, I don’t want to leave Arcadia too low in our defenses, so I can’t send too many people.

I’m already sending a huge chunk of our strongest individuals to back the other nations up, any more than this and we’ll leave ourselves too vulnerable for my liking.

"Got it, I’ll relay your message to them right away," Responded Phyurio affirmatively, before hurrying off to inform the others.

Damn it...even though we’d been preparing for any possibility, I was really expecting the Vampires to attack us first. With the entirety of our forces in one place, I would’ve fancied those odds.

But now that they’ve opted to target the other nations first, I have no choice but to split up our forces...I do have the option of abandoning them, of course, but that’s not even worth considering.

Honorable reasons aside, the Vampires would be able to massively expand their army by turning scores of the populations of the other nations into Vampires and Lesser Vampires.

Still, maybe this isn’t all bad...if the Elder Vampires really are leading the forces attacking the other nations, that gives us a golden opportunity to turn things around.

If we manage to kill them, we’ll take a good chunk out of their Vampire forces, since all the Vampires created by any specific Elder Vampire will perish if that Elder Vampire is killed.

"It won’t be that easy, Larrk. The Elder Vampires cannot be taken lightly, especially if that girl’s countermeasure doesn’t work against their moonlight barrier. With the effects of the full moon, artificial or not, the Elder Vampires are the strongest beings in the world," Azazel reminded me grimly.

Yeah, I know...but if Lumena’s counter Magic Item does work, defeating them shouldn’t be too difficult. It still won’t be easy, but without their moonlight barrier granting them the effects of the full moon to power them up, they’re weaker than the Demons and Dragon Kings, right?

"Yes, but it’s a big if whether that Magic Item will be able to dispel their barrier. You said it yourself, we should assume that it won’t work, and consider it a bonus if it does."

Well, true, I did say that...even so, a part of me can’t help but feel optimistic and hope that it does work. And I’m someone who usually tries to think as realistically as possible, without letting optimism cloud my judgment. I suppose that speaks to just how dire our current situation is.

"Indeed, this is no small predicament, I can’t blame you for hoping and wanting any possible advantage we can get."

Right, and that’s exactly why I need to keep a cool head and think this through calmly. If Lumena’s Magic Item doesn’t work, then that’s that, no point in dwelling on it.

I need to be objective and logical about this, putting my faith in uncertain elements isn’t the way to go about this. What about you, Plasmuk, got any words of wisdom for me?

"Huh? No, I’ve got nothing. I haven’t ever actually encountered a Vampire myself, since I was residing down in my Labyrinth until you showed up. So I don’t know any more about them than you do, sorry," He replied sheepishly.

That’s too bad, but I guess it can’t be helped.

Hm...if the Elder Vampires are leading the assaults on the other nations, then that means there are at least four of them currently in action.

Considering how cautious they are, according to the other Demons and the Dragon Kings, that’s definitely unexpected...they must be confident that they’ll win this.

Is it because they don’t think there are any genuine threats to them in the other nations? But surely they’re aware of the possibility that our forces would go to back up the other nations...wait, unless that’s what they’re after.

No, don’t tell me...are they attacking the other nations to split up Arcadia’s forces and then attack us with the rest of their army?

"I didn’t even consider that, it’s certainly a possibility. The Elder Vampires aren’t the type to act on half-baked plans, they’re unlikely to make a move unless they’re absolutely certain that their plans and strategies are as fleshed out and foolproof as possible," Responded Azazel grimly.

"What will you do? Cancel your order to back up the other nations?" Inquired Plasmuk curiously.

No, I can’t do that...if there are Elder Vampires attacking the other nations, we can’t ignore them, we have to take the opportunity and try to eliminate them.

Plus, like I said before, if we abandon the other nations, that’ll only help the Vampires grow their army even more, and by a significant amount at that. We’re already at a heavy numbers disadvantage here, we can’t let it grow any further.

If this really was all a part of their plan, they got us...we have no choice but to split up our forces, which leaves Arcadia more vulnerable than it’d otherwise be. And that’s an opportunity I doubt they’ll pass up on.

"Then, is this battle already lost? If so, we should run away and go into hiding. After all, if you die, I’ll die too, and I definitely don’t want that," Replied Plasmuk warily.

No, this is far from over yet...our forces may be split up, but so are theirs. We haven’t lost this battle yet, not by a long shot. No...this is only just getting started...

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