The road to Beijing was pretty long.

In a ruined world, even traveling a short distance isn’t easy.

In fact, we’d expected the trip to be downright brutal.

But.

Unfortunately, our expectations were completely wrong.

- Grrrk...!

At one point on the road, we ran into a monster horde on a pretty large scale.

I thought it might turn into a hard fight, but—

- Ah, it’s a noble’s procession!

- Everyone, clear the way!

“......”

As if our worry was a joke.

The moment those things realized Ariella was a noble, they quickly got out of our way.

- You’re going to the old capital of this land...?

“That’s right.”

And it wasn’t just that.

While we were traveling, monsters would approach us first and talk to us, and—

- Then it’ll be faster if you use the river....

“I’d thought about that, but it seems every usable bridge has collapsed. And I can’t exactly go swimming and keep the dignity of a noble.”

- Then you don’t need to worry about that.

Fwaaaaash...!

- I think I can carry you.

“......”

A massive body rose up from inside the river.

And then it actually carried us on its back.

‘This is....’

Watching that, I thought,

‘This is basically the level my unit was aiming for.’

Our unit was working on stabilizing our territory too.

But for us, taking and holding ground came first for now.

With monsters overflowing everywhere, we couldn’t possibly clear them all out, so stabilization was slow.

At best, we’d managed to bring some order to security around major cities.

But these weren’t like that.

As we moved through their domain, safety was guaranteed and every convenience was provided, all for the single reason of “noble.”

‘Stabilization that’s close to perfect....’

To have this kind of control over such a vast land when it hadn’t even been that many years since the collapse.

How powerful this species was as a force—

...how completely it had dominated this land on the back of that power.

I could feel it all over again.

“......Haa!”

And like I said—

for us, this was pretty... unfortunate.

“I wanted to take it as slow as possible... but now that won’t be an option.”

Ariella sighed.

Because of [Oath], she was in a position where she had to go meet that grand duke as fast as possible.

But since there was a high chance the outcome of that meeting wouldn’t be good—

from her perspective, even if she had to face every hardship imaginable, she wanted to arrive late.

Instead, things were turning into a situation where we could get there far faster than expected.

“It can’t be helped for me, but you aren’t the same, Master. Even now, you can still turn back if you want. So....”

“I told you. I’m rejecting that suggestion.”

Every time we got closer to our destination, Ariella urged me to pull back, and I shook my head and answered.

“Well... don’t worry so much.”

“Even if you say not to worry.”

Of course.

It wasn’t like I was doing this thoughtlessly.

‘It was a card I wanted to save as much as possible, but....’

I still had a method left—

one I’d been planning to hold until I had absolutely no other choice.

***

Not long after that, we reached the old capital of this country.

Near Beijing.

‘...It must’ve been just a normal city.’

No—maybe even now, the shape itself wasn’t all that different.

But even from a distance, the feeling was completely different.

The reason was simple.

A gigantic city sunk in darkness, with not a single light leaking out.

And inside it, writhing...

countless malformed beings.

Fwaaaaash...!

Near the city’s tall buildings, countless bats were flying busily back and forth.

The buildings themselves still clearly held traces of civilization, but it was hard to feel anything like the old city from that scene.

If anything, it looked like some demon king’s fortress.

Flap-flap-flap!

As my group and I approached the city, I saw a bat flying toward us from far away.

And then—

Flap!

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

The bat shifted into human form, took a respectful posture in front of us, and spoke.

“My name is Ruor, and I’m responsible for guiding visitors through this city. May I ask your name?”

“......I am Ariella.”

“Ah....”

At Ariella’s answer, it nodded, as if it already knew.

“I’ve already heard. You’ve come to receive the grand duke’s... judgment, haven’t you?”

“......I have.”

“But....”

It was maintaining a respectful posture, but its eyes narrowed sharply.

“For someone coming to receive judgment, your attitude seems a bit stiff.”

Unlike the attitude it had shown at first, it spoke with a smile mixed with mockery.

‘The moment it knew this wasn’t a normal visit, and that she came to receive judgment, that’s the attitude it put on.’

I felt it all over again—

among these nobles, it felt like there wasn’t a single one with a decent personality.

“Of course it is. The one passing judgment on me is the grand duke, not you.”

“Haha. Still, if you understood your position, you’d show at least a little—”

“My position?”

And then—

our noble was no different either.

“By ‘position’... do you mean the position of someone like you, who calls itself a noble, yet has no retinue worth showing off, so it has to reveal itself in person and play guide?”

“.......”

“Well, I do understand. You’ve probably met your share of nobles while doing guide work... so you must at least have the ability to grasp what your counterpart is capable of.”

A sneer settled at the corner of Ariella’s mouth as she looked down at it.

“If you brought along some pathetic thralls, you’d just get looked down on, so you chose to show yourself like some lowly servant... something like that, right?”

“You...!”

“If you want to talk about ‘position,’ start by looking at your own. If you’re assigned as a guide, then doing that job properly is what fits your position.”

Ariella spoke while covering the sneer at her mouth with one hand.

Ruor looked like it was furious at that attitude, but it couldn’t bring itself to say anything back.

‘So earlier she was whining about wanting to go slowly.’

The moment she dealt with another noble, the side of her that was a noble came out.

I couldn’t really tell the difference well, but there was probably a huge gap between Ariella and this Ruor.

A gap big enough that, even taking into account the disadvantage of her coming here to receive judgment, it still couldn’t dare rush her.

“......The grand duke has already given permission. I’ll guide you to the grand duke immediately. However....”

It couldn’t even fully hide how intimidated it was.

Looking past Ariella’s back, it said,

“The one permitted to meet the grand duke is only you, Viscount. Others do not qualify.”

“You’re telling a noble to leave behind her thralls?”

“Allowing one knight assigned as escort is fine. But more than that is not permitted.”

Even while showing fear, it stated that clearly.

At that, Ariella frowned.

The judgment that grand duke would pass was probably unlikely to be anything good.

‘[Oath] forced her to come here, but she doesn’t have to accept the enforcement of that judgment obediently.’

When the judgment was decided, she needed strength that could resist enforcement.

That was why she’d brought not only her thralls, but even my unit members, all the way here.

“...Fine. If that’s the case, then I’ll just—”

Ariella hesitated, then started to speak—

and at that moment, I stepped forward, cut her off, and said,

“I’ll go.”

“......!”

Ariella flinched at my move.

And then Ruor looked at me and said,

“You have a strange air about you. Are you truly a knight...?”

...My blood had been mixed with a vampire’s, but I wasn’t a proper knight.

The ghouls had followed me around calling me “Sir,” but at the level of nobles, it seemed it could tell the difference.

“...Still, it won’t matter.”

I thought this might turn awkward, but it shook its head.

“It only says that one companion is permitted. It doesn’t say the companion must be a proper knight. As for the remaining thralls... if you wish, we can guide them to lodging?”

“......No need.”

Ariella looked at the thralls and said,

“You will find a safe place nearby and wait. Somewhere safe... and discreet.”

“Master, but!”

“That’s enough. Go.”

At that—

the vampires and my unit members pulled away, clenching their teeth as they went.

As the unit members got farther, I could see them looking at me with worried eyes, but—

I smiled.

‘Yeah. Don’t worry too much.’

Still smiling,

I waved to them.

“Then, this way.”

With Ruor guiding us, we went into the city.

As all kinds of monsters brushed past our shoulders—

“Master, what are you doing?!”

Ariella spoke to me with ‘mental language’ turned on.

“Coming with me this far is dangerous enough, and now you’re saying # Nоvеlight # you’ll step in front of the grand duke?”

“Uh... yeah?”

“What in the world are you thinking?!”

“Well, I don’t know.”

What was I thinking?

At that, I looked around.

I’d felt it in Qingdao too, but this city was also packed full of monsters deeper inside.

Even compared to cities I’d seen in Korea, the density was insane.

I could guess why.

Other monsters saw monsters that weren’t theirs as enemies and hunted them down or drove them out—

but these didn’t kill them. They turned them into their own forces.

Monsters that should be killing each other and reducing their numbers weren’t being reduced, so this kind of overwhelming mass could exist.

And—

looking at that overwhelming number of monsters, I said,

“At this level....”

The reason I’d come here was because I had one gambling move.

‘I tried to save it as much as possible.’

But once I decided I’d use it in an unavoidable situation, it almost felt like my mind got lighter instead.

If I brought that gamble into play...

“...I thought it might barely be possible.”

“......?”

While I was thinking that, we’d somehow arrived at the rooftop level of a tall building.

“The grand duke is inside.”

A large door that came into view the moment we climbed the stairs, beneath a ceiling high enough to feel like two stories.

And then—

when that door opened—

‘...Ah.’

I thought, too late.

‘Maybe... it’s impossible.’

That “just in case” card—

it might not work either.

***

A huge room.

The room was so empty it almost felt like a waste of space.

A massive chair and desk in the center.

A gigantic window that took up an entire wall of this wide space and let you see the whole city at a glance.

And—

“Have you come.”

A huge man stood in front of that window, staring blankly down outside.

And—

looking at him, I thought to myself,

‘...It’s cramped.’

Vampires looked similar to humans.

In that sense, he wasn’t much different from the others.

His build was big enough that he looked almost as large as Gwangil, but—

that wasn’t why I felt it.

‘Presence.’

The intense presence of that man filled this wide room with no gaps at all.

“Right... I’ve heard the rough outline by letter.”

The man spoke while still looking out the window, without even turning to look at us.

And—

cold sweat ran down my face as I listened.

“A noble, but an unidentified noble?”

The horrifying part was this:

he wasn’t trying to press me on purpose.

He was just standing there.

This wide room was filled with the overwhelming density of presence and magical power he naturally gave off.

And because of that pressure—

Thud....

I tried to endure somehow, but

I could only drop to one knee and lower my head.

“...Yes. Just as you heard.”

“Haha. Even if I don’t know who you are, you seem to have manners.”

Maybe it wasn’t just me in this state.

Right beside me, I heard Ariella’s voice.

She must have been on one knee too, like me.

Swoosh....

Only then did the man turn his head toward us.

I forced strength into my neck as I looked up at his face.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Valarak Melchiorn Zakardios]

A firm, powerful-looking face to match his large build.

A strikingly handsome man with an intense impression that reminded me of a general or hero from myth.

Black hair, red eyes.

He looked down at us.

“When I received your letter, I was quite surprised. I didn’t think there could be a noble on this land that I don’t know.”

“.......”

“It was a very fresh experience. When you live a long life, most of life becomes nothing but tedious. And then, something I can’t understand happened... so for me, it was genuinely enjoyable to wonder what your identity might be.”

He smiled like he was amused.

Then, looking down at Ariella, he asked,

“But I suppose the fun ends here. It’s time to hear the answer.”

“.......”

“Who are you. A Neferat recluse hiding in the mist? Or has one of Harcon’s bats secretly built a nest somewhere in my true body? What are you?”

At that—

Ariella broke into cold sweat, then opened her mouth.

“My name is... Ariella.”

“I already heard that in the letter. And?”

Staring at the man’s face, Ariella squeezed her eyes shut, and spoke in a terrified voice.

“Karshtein....”

“Ah, so it is. Karshtein....”

And then.

A man who might possess power stronger than any enemy I’d fought on this land.

A man whose face had held a relaxed smile the entire time, as if it fit his strength—

“...Karshtein?”

The smile vanished in an instant.