“Kh—k, k—ggrrk...!?”

The moment his jaw suddenly burst apart, Rashir let out a tortured shriek, cried tears of blood, and rolled across the ground.

And then—

“Ha... honestly. I knew you’d be doing this, Viscount.”

At some point, a man had appeared in front of Rashir, sitting there and scratching his head.

“Right. You should’ve taken help when I offered it.”

“...Ggrb, kk...”

“I even set something up in secret, just in case. And yet you still end up like this.”

The man let out an awkward, breathy laugh as he spoke.

“Truly, you are a viscount! So incompetent you can even surpass the expectations of a mongrel like me.”

“You... you...!”

“Please don’t get so angry, Viscount. I’m truly praising you. It’s rare for things to fall outside my predictions. I almost feel like I should reward you for it.”

Rashir’s smashed jaw had already regenerated to some extent, and he opened his mouth—

but the man didn’t seem to care about his voice at all.

Rashir tried to writhe in fury, but with his body wrecked beyond repair, all he could do was flop against the ground.

“If you keep that up, you’ll only worsen your condition, so I’d like to tell you to stop, but...”

After saying that, he sighed like it couldn’t be helped.

“...Looks like there’s no need to say it.”

“H-how... dare...”

“Even though you’re this incompetent, Viscount... you were still someone we needed to accomplish a greater cause. Hard to believe, but I was planning to help you keep your life no matter what—as long as you stayed alive, even if you failed your mission.”

“A mongrel... like you...!”

“And yet, what is this....”

When he turned his head—

what he saw there was—

“To become the ‘familiar’ of people whose identity you don’t even know.”

“......”

Me and Ariella.

And the unit members.

“At this point, it’s difficult to save you.”

“I... I... held... a f-fair... d-duel...”

“Ah, yes, yes. That noble culture of yours, all that. I’ve heard it so much I’m about to bleed from the ears.”

After saying that, he got to his feet, looked down at Rashir, and said,

“But Viscount. As you know...”

“...Wh-what...?”

“I don’t really know that culture very well.”

“...What...?”

“I’m an ignorant man who knows nothing, so I’ll judge by my own common sense. And in my judgment...”

His foot slowly lifted.

“A man who betrays his own side and passes information to an unknown enemy...”

“N-no....”

CRUNCH!

“...deserves execution.”

The noble’s voice that had been so loud up until moments ago could no longer be heard.

***

Slide...

The blood that had been flowing through the noble whose head burst apart moved as if it had a will of its own—

and gathered into the man’s arms.

“I apologize for showing you something unpleasant.”

After collecting every drop of that blood, he looked at us, smiling brightly as he spoke.

A gentle-looking smile in his eyes.

But...

Tap, tap.

Even while he kept that smile, he casually shook his foot, knocking off bits of flesh and brain matter that had stuck to it.

“But I hope you’ll understand. This is my job, after all. By the way...”

Still smiling, he walked over, then bent deeply in an exaggerated bow in front of Ariella.

“I take pride in knowing most nobles of the bloodlines, due to the nature of my work... but I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”

And.

Watching him—

‘...Dangerous.’

I was thinking exactly that.

My mana was already completely drained.

I didn’t even have enough left to activate [Combat Power Scanner]—

but there was something I could still tell.

‘This bastard is dangerous.’

That was my whole body screaming at me.

“If you don’t mind... may I have your name?”

At his words, Ariella frowned.

“And if I say it would be a breach, what then?”

“Hah. Then there’s nothing to be done. I expected that answer anyway...”

He laughed like he’d gotten one over on us, then clapped lightly.

“Then I’ll subdue you by force.”

With that clap—

KWAAAAAAANG!!!

The ground shattered, and something enormous burst out.

“......!”

A monster that looked like a gigantic worm.

All along its long, cylindrical body, countless sharp plates jutted out and spun.

And at its head, I could see hundreds of huge teeth spiraling inward.

A body so massive it reminded me of the one Luca had made.

Even without [Combat Power Scanner], it wasn’t like my senses were gone.

They told me—

‘At minimum, blue-tier...!’

Ariella’s great monsters.

No matter how you looked at it, this thing was at least on their level.

And I couldn’t help but be stunned.

Because—

‘If what Ariella said is true...’

Not every knight a noble commands is strong.

Even knights at my level are fairly rare.

And—

‘Only those you could call great nobles command powerhouses like that.’

The fact that he commanded a monster like this

proved how strong a noble he was.

The situation Ariella had feared most, ever since she realized other bloodlines existed—

“And... after the subduing is finished...”

...a hostile bloodline’s, a noble stronger than her,

“...I will present you before the head of the house.”

was unfolding right now.

***

“Inaron!!!”

Of course, Ariella wasn’t an ordinary noble either.

[Black Claw Inaron] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

- As you command, Master!!!

With Ariella’s cry, the black-maned wolf—once one of the rulers of that demonic realm—launched itself at the enemy.

“Rosperos, Kelembor, Kurdan! A new enemy!”

And beyond that—

white mane, torn wings, even shining scales.

Ariella’s monsters ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) stepped forward, and other familiars followed behind them.

That worm-like monster that came out of the ground was enormous—comparable to the body Luca made.

But.

There was no way its power matched Luca’s body.

‘If it’s only one.’

Ariella had four great monsters.

This wasn’t an enemy she couldn’t overcome.

But then—

-KWEEEHEEEEEEEEEK!!!

“......!”

When Black Claw hurled itself at the monster, it didn’t choose to counter the attack.

-KWEEEHEEEEK!!!

“That’s...”

It swung its massive body and vomited something in every direction, coated in green slime.

At first I thought that was its fighting style, but...

Plop...

That wasn’t it.

The green slime it spat out was there to cushion the impact when it hit the ground.

And what was inside it was—

“By our lord’s command....”

“......!”

Countless—

other monsters.

The Melchiorn Bloodline can’t handle shadows well.

Meaning they can’t carry troops inside [Shadow Veil] the way Ariella can.

Rashir had stationed his troops elsewhere, then entered battle.

‘So that monster is used to transport other familiars...!’

A gigantic worm that tunnels through the earth.

Inside a body like that, it could carry an army with no problem.

It was a massive transport vehicle in and of itself.

THUD...!

An overwhelming number of monsters emerged, shedding slime.

Seeing them, I could only swallow a low groan.

‘Strong.’

I could tell from the mana alone.

Rashir’s knights had been strong too, but before their rampage, many of them were weaker than the city ghouls.

Not these.

‘Each one is elite....’

Even compared to the forces under Ariella, they wouldn’t be outmatched.

And especially—

Step.

-This... looks like the place we subdued last time.

-Krrk... I don’t care where it is.

-We only follow our lord’s command....

Four monsters stepping forward to lead those troops.

A gigantic warrior like someone had taken a [Green Mane] warrior and doubled its size.

In contrast, a small shaman with a stunted body bent hard as it leaned on a staff.

A beast sniffing the air in silence...

and even something armored, shaped like a human.

‘Each one is blue-tier.’

Five total if you included that massive worm.

One more than the number of great monsters Ariella commanded.

And then—

those overwhelming numbers of powerful enemies, and Ariella’s familiars,

KWAAAAAAANG!!!

collided in the middle of the city.

Since this wasn’t a “blood duel” now, it wasn’t only the familiars’ power that mattered.

Not just me and the unit members—

even ‘Mountain’ could join the fight.

‘If we met them at full strength, we might be able to win somehow.’

Of course, that was only if—

we met them at full strength.

***

-KRWOAAARGH...!

A monster went flying with a pained scream.

...The great monster that had charged first with the most courage toward the enemy—

I saw Black Claw Inaron get blown away by an attack.

-Khk... brothers!

-We have to hold...!

Elsewhere, too.

Across the battlefield, scenes kept appearing of Ariella’s familiars getting pushed back.

It wasn’t because Ariella’s familiars were weaker than those monsters.

That wasn’t the reason.

Grit.

‘If we’d fought them at full condition, it might’ve been different...!’

Unfortunately—

we weren’t.

‘We finished the fight with Rashir just minutes ago.’

Rashir and Ariella.

The gap between the forces those two nobles commanded had been obvious.

Normally, Ariella’s familiars would’ve crushed Rashir’s forces without taking meaningful damage.

But.

Not only had Rashir’s familiars suddenly begun to rampage—

those rampaging familiars died in powerful explosions, dealing heavy damage to Ariella’s forces.

Physical damage, sure—

but the mana spent while fighting was also substantial.

Even vampires get tired.

Ariella’s forces had already been pushed to the limit in extreme combat, exhausted down to the bone.

They couldn’t compare to the ones who were only just starting their fight.

‘No.’

There was still one thing.

It wasn’t like we had no options.

“Brothers newly made into knights!”

An elite vampire knight—

Lee Beomjae turned back and shouted.

“Now is the time to prove your ability. Fight with us!”

They’d been the city’s ghouls—

but through my cooking, they’d become knights.

If we could bring their strength to bear,

we might even swing the advantage our way—

but...

“Ah... ahh....”

“...Brothers?”

“Ahh...!”

Their reactions—

were strange.

“I’m sorry, Knight.”

“...You.”

“Thank you. Truly—thank you for granting my wish. But, but...!”

Thud.

All of them bent forward as if collapsing,

then raised both hands like they were worshiping, crying out,

“O true master of our blood, of our souls!”

“......!”

“We have waited only for the day we could offer our lives for you...!”

And only after hearing that did I finally understand.

“Hm? Oh. So that’s what it was.”

The city’s ghouls were stronger than expected.

But—

someone had turned them into ghouls, then vanished and left them behind.

“So you were ghouls I made?”

...the ghouls’ master of blood.

The powerhouse who supposedly conquered this city full of strong enemies without taking meaningful losses—

was him.

“Well, this works out nicely.”

The man clapped as if this was perfect timing,

then spoke to them.

“Then, as your master of blood, I will give an order.”

“Ah... anything... anything....”

Ghouls serve all nobles, but among them,

they obey only the master of blood’s orders absolutely.

And they feel supreme pleasure in following those orders.

Eyes brimming with emotion, they stared at the man’s mouth—

the one who had abandoned them and left.

“That unknown noble and their familiars.”

And.

Maybe it was coincidence, but...

where his finger pointed—

“That unknown noble and their familiars—cut off their hands and feet, and make them kneel before me.”

“.......”

It was me.

***

He was the one who’d made this city’s ghouls.

And.

After making them, he abandoned them here and left.

According to Ariella,

the ghouls in this land were “left unattended.”

They didn’t even know who their master was.

They didn’t even know which bloodline they served.

No instruction at all—simply abandoned.

But.

Even so—

ghouls were made from the start as “slaves.”

“Ah... anything... anything....”

When the man said he would give them an order, they looked like the mere fact of receiving it was something they were grateful for, hands clasped, nodding their heads in thanks.

“......”

Watching that, I bit down hard on my lip.

Because it drove home again just how cruel the fate he’d stamped onto them as slaves really was.

“That unknown noble and their familiars.”

And then—

the master of blood’s monumental first order came down.

“Cut off their hands and feet, and make them kneel before me.”

These were ghouls built to feel pleasure in a slave’s life.

The first order from their master of blood.

The slaves should’ve been overflowing with rapture, throwing everything into obeying it.

...But.

“...You?”

“...Ah.”

The ghouls’ reaction was a little different from what I expected.

“You’re not moving. What are you doing.”

“...Th-that is.”

Even though the master of blood’s first order had fallen—

instead of rejoicing, they broke into cold sweat, faces full of uncertainty.

“That order...”

And then—

with expressions full of hesitation, they spoke.

“Could you... withdraw it, our master...?”

“...What did you say?”

The man had kept that gentle smile the whole time.

But this was the first moment—

the smile drained from his mouth.