“...Master?”

Ariella murmured blankly.

At her voice—

“...Ah.”

The man, who had been lost in thought as well, flinched and lifted his head.

“Ahem. My apologies. I’m not sure why, but... the moment I saw him, I suddenly felt unpleasant.”

“.......”

“He must’ve been a knight you prized, so I’m sorry for disposing of him. Still... I suppose this makes a decent example.”

The man looked around.

The battle between the two nobles had, before we knew it, entered its final phase.

Which side had won was already obvious.

“I don’t know what you are... but you do seem to be a noble, at least. So I won’t kill you.”

“...If you won’t kill me, then what are you going to do?”

“I’ll take an oath from you.”

At that—

Ariella, who’d been slumped on the ground, slowly lifted her head, dazed.

“An oath?”

“Yes. More precisely, an oath that you will come before the Grand Duke in person.”

He shrugged.

“If it were up to me, I’d like to present you directly before the Grand Duke, but unfortunately I’m buried under too many urgent duties. And I can’t pass judgment on an anomalous existence like you at my own discretion, either... so you will go. On your own two feet. Seek the Grand Duke, receive a verdict, and obey it.”

“...Why would I swear to that.”

“If you refuse, well... it can’t be helped. I’ll have no choice but to deliver a verdict on the spot.”

With that—

he jerked his chin toward the body sprawled on the ground.

“That must’ve been a knight you cared about.”

“.......”

“He doesn’t seem to be a noble himself, so I dealt with him first... but you should understand that, if necessary, you can receive the same verdict.”

“Whether I die before the Grand Duke or die here... isn’t the result the same?”

“Hah. True enough. But wouldn’t you rather live even a little longer, if you can?”

At that,

Ariella made a strange face—

then nodded.

“Fine. I swear. On my own two feet... I’ll seek out Grand Duke Valarak in person, soon.”

With those words—

Paaaahng....

A ripple of mana stirred through the air.

The progenitors of the nobles had been demonkin.

And words spoken with mana by demonkin blood could never be broken.

“Mm. That will do.”

He turned his head—

glancing once over Ariella’s remaining thralls and...

“...Hmm. You have some unusual assets.”

He swept his gaze across the Legion’s unit members and Luca, then shrugged.

“The Grand Duke will issue the detailed verdict, so I won’t inflict any further losses.”

“...Should I be thanking you?”

“No. There’s no need to be grateful. The items that belonged to Duke Rashir are separate.”

“.......”

“You called it a duel and all that, but those items were supplies for occupying this region.”

As he spoke, his thralls began gathering up Rashir’s remaining thralls, along with the goods that had been part of that procession.

The man watched them, then frowned.

“Tch. This many mana stones. I expected it, but was he even embezzling as well? How predictable... he must’ve been skimming supplies little by little, planning to hand them over when he joined the Grand Duke’s campaign, to earn merit....”

“.......”

“I heard he was a distant descendant of the Grand Duke... how could something like that come from the Grand Duke’s blood....”

Even the countless mana stones I’d been aiming for to activate that transfer gate—

all of them—

Shloooorp....

were tossed straight into the cavernous mouth of the earth dragon, gaping wide.

“Then I’ll be going. If the opportunity arises, I hope we meet again.”

“.......”

“Of course... the odds of that opportunity coming are extremely low.”

With that, the man, too, stepped into the earth dragon’s mouth—

Kwagagagaga-kwang...!

The earth dragon dug into the ground at tremendous speed, and vanished in an instant.

What remained where he’d left...

“.......”

Ariella, sitting there blankly.

A man’s body collapsed in front of her.

And—

“Commander...!”

The unit members, staring at their commander—

now missing head and heart.

***

“You—!”

When that man attacked, the unit members had fought back as well.

It was a battle that erupted too suddenly.

In the middle of that, there was no way they wouldn’t worry about their commander’s safety—

but they kept their eyes on the enemy in front of them.

The reason was simple.

“You acted so high and mighty, and you still couldn’t protect the commander...?!”

They were strong awakened ones, too, but their specialty wasn’t frontal warfare.

It was covert operations.

The one commanding the powerful forces was Ariella.

They’d gone into battle trusting that she would protect the commander.

“Ah... ahh...!”

And.

This was the result.

“Commander...!”

The body sprawled on the ground.

With everything above the neck gone, it was hard to find any trace of the commander they’d known.

The unit members let out voices full of grief.

And Luca, too, clamped its mouth shut, staring down at the body with a devastated expression.

“Everyone, please calm down.”

...There were exceptions.

Exactly two.

“Calm down...?!”

“How can you say that, sister?!”

When Jeong Sua—one of the two—spoke, the unit members, who’d been crying, exploded with rage.

But—

“Acting like this isn’t what the commander would want, either.”

“What are you—!”

“And besides... heehee.”

Watching them, Jeong Sua smiled as if she found it cute.

“...Ahem. Well, for now, calm down. Could you step aside for a moment?”

“.......”

When the unit members surrounding the commander and Ariella moved aside, Jeong Sua stepped between them and looked at Ariella.

“Your Majesty?”

“...What is it.”

At that, Ariella gave a bitter smile.

“If you’re going to curse me like your subordinates, go ahead. Failing to protect him is my fault....”

“Oh, can I really?”

“...What?”

“Well... I do want to scold you for failing to fulfill your duty, but I’ll let it slide for now. What matters more is this.”

She lowered her head toward Ariella, and spoke into her ear in a small voice.

“Don’t worry. They really do seem to have gone far away.”

“...?”

“According to what I can see with [Spirit Eyes], there doesn’t seem to be any force watching this area, either. They must believe in that oath you made... but they seem awfully confident.”

At those out-of-nowhere words, big question marks practically stamped themselves onto the unit members’ faces.

“Sister?”

“What do you mean—”

And then, in that moment—

“...Whew. Thank goodness.”

“...?”

Ariella, who’d been hanging her head limply, her expression changed dramatically.

She let out a breath of relief and pushed herself upright.

“...Protectors? Have you lost your minds?”

The unit members—

even Luca watching them—

couldn’t understand what was happening, staring in confusion.

But Jeong Sua and Ariella spoke calmly.

“Something like this happened before, didn’t it? Come to think of it... was that the time you fought Your Majesty?”

“What ancient story are you talking about. And the situation then and now is different.”

“Well, that isn’t what matters.”

Jeong Sua took a few more steps—

then knelt in front of the man’s body.

“The important thing... is having faith.”

“What are you even talking about....”

“You didn’t see it with your own eyes, so it’s not strange for you to doubt. That’s why it’s good you learn this now, while you have the chance.”

She spread her hands, taking a posture like she was offering worship.

“Who it is we serve.”

“.......”

“See that greatness with your own two eyes!”

And.

After hearing that, the unit members couldn’t focus on her words anymore.

Because—

Sliiiide....

The human body in front of her—

collapsed in misery, everything above the neck gone—

“Ah....”

From that body—

“Man, military life is brutal... seriously....”

a human face was growing back.

***

“Cough—kgh...!”

I couldn’t see in front of me.

My mind was hazy, and it felt like I couldn’t even think properly.

But.

When I could feel that my body was moving again, I forced my mouth to move through the awkward sensation and called out,

“Lu... ca...!”

“Commander!”

Whether my mouth was even working right.

Whether my words were getting through.

Whether anyone was close enough to hear me.

I didn’t know any of it.

Even so, I moved my mouth with faith.

“Heal... them...!”

In that moment—

Warmth wrapped around my body.

Only then did my eyes begin to open, slowly...

“What in the world... is going on, Commander?!”

What I saw in front of me was a boy’s face gone pale with shock.

“I—I saw it. The commander’s head and heart were destroyed!”

“Ah, that’s...”

“Your brain burned until there weren’t even fragments left, and the heart pulp was running into the ground. Blood supply had stopped, so the whole body’s organs would’ve shut down... you were dead—dead for sure, and yet...!”

“...Thanks for the graphic explanation I didn’t want to hear.”

So that was what I’d looked like up until a moment ago.

As I sat there stunned by the fact, he kept talking, eyes full of disbelief.

“I decided to serve you, Commander, but that wasn’t because I thought you were already some great being.”

“Huh? Really? That’s kind of hurt—”

“I did it because I thought you were someone who would become great someday. Not because you were great right now!”

That look in his eyes—

strong doubt, and—

“So answer me.”

Once, a goal he’d wanted to achieve but ultimately couldn’t.

“Commander... have you achieved immortality?”

A blazing desire to pursue that goal.

“...It’s not that, you idiot.”

“Not that.”

Even if it was a goal he’d lost the reason to pursue, maybe he still had regrets—his eyes burned hot.

I gave a bitter smile at the sight, then brushed a hand lightly across my chest.

Immortality.

Tap...

Between my chest muscles, I could feel something ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) hard.

[Blade of Sacrifice - Victimia]

[Applied effects]

[Curse - Eternal Pain]

If I’d actually pulled something like that off, it would’ve felt great.

[Applied - Death Resistance, Stun Resistance]

[Not applied - Increased Pain, Severe Pain]

Unfortunately, the reason I survived wasn’t anything that convenient.

“If you really want to label it... it’s a curse.”

“A curse...?”

A grotesque curse that treated even death as mere rest—

and made it so you couldn’t reach death, no matter what wounds or pain you suffered.

Even.

Even when I’d grabbed that king of Belsnickel with my own two hands, this curse had kept me alive.

Good thing he thinks I’m a vampire.

A vampire’s vitality is so powerful that most injuries will heal eventually.

So instead of bothering to wound other parts, he must’ve chosen the vampire’s weakness—destroying head and heart at the same time.

Thanks to that, I managed to keep Victimia, hidden inside my body, from being torn out.

I did have to feel the pain of my head and heart bursting at once...

But.

Compared to when I’d grabbed that king directly, it was bearable.

I don’t know if getting used to pain is a good thing or a bad thing.

“Curse or not, if it lets you escape death... I don’t see what the difference is.”

“There’s a big difference.”

In the end, this power is a curse.

And curses don’t apply kindly to their targets.

This dagger called the Blade of Sacrifice was bearing the curse for me right now, but—

[Current accumulated negativity = 99.401/100]

[If negativity reaches 100, it will devour its owner!]

[Negativity contribution]

['Cursed Dark Knight, Gangsan', +98.7]

['Intermediate Greatsword Master, Yunseong', +0.001]

['War Chef, Shin Youngjun', +0.6]

It shot up like crazy.

There was a limit, even to this.

Back when I grabbed that “king,” and now.

The two times it stopped my death, the increase had been 0.6.

If surviving one death increases it by about 0.3, then at most I had two left.

Devour me, huh.

I didn’t know exactly what would happen.

But it sure as hell wouldn’t be good.

“...Anyway. We’ll talk about that later.”

Yeah.

That was later.

“One question, Luca.”

“What is it.”

There was something more urgent right now.

“How long has it been since I went down?”

“...Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“No time to explain. Answer.”

At that, Luca looked puzzled, then opened its mouth.

“...Feels like about three minutes. It felt a lot longer than that, though.”

“Three minutes.”

At that—

“It was about two minutes until I went down... so five total.”

I muttered in a low voice and pushed myself up.

“For an ordinary person, that would already be past saving.”

“What are you doing, Commander! You still need treatment!”

“But if the targets aren’t ordinary people.”

My gaze went to—

“Then it’s more than worth taking a shot.”

Vampire knights with powerful vitality—

slumped there, with holes torn through their chests.