Then.

The man lowered his head and said,

“I can only be grateful that you think so highly of the crude object made by insects.”

“Oh, there’s no need for gratitude.”

And then.

The middle-aged man, who had been gazing out the window, finally turned his head.

Looking down at the man still bowing his head, he said,

“Why are you bowing so deeply? Why not make yourself more comfortable?”

“Well, that is...”

“No, I think I know without you saying it.”

He reached out.

Personally raised the man’s bowed body, and said,

“You’re troubled by your recent failure.”

“......”

Not long ago.

The man... Jinlei had failed a mission.

Ever since he began handling the bloodline’s affairs, he had not failed a single mission.

And because the Grand Duke trusted him, that mission had been entrusted to him with confidence as °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° well.

He had carried out almost every part of it perfectly, but.

There was one thing.

‘That man.’

He had lost the one man the Grand Duke had ordered him to keep captive.

After that.

Jinlei was removed from the mission, and one of the Grand Duke’s direct servants took over the rest.

The first failure he had ever committed.

Jinlei opened his mouth in a trembling voice.

“...From what I heard, later, when that count made that man a noble, you said you would share your blood with him.”

“I did.”

“Was that... sincere?”

At that.

The Grand Duke smiled and nodded as if he understood.

“You’re afraid I might use your failure as an excuse to break my promise. You’ve been thinking I might break the promise I made to you, and give him what I intended for you.”

“......”

“Do not worry. The promise will certainly be kept.”

With a look overflowing with affection.

He looked down at Jinlei and said,

“That day... when you received my invitation and came to my fortress.”

“......”

“Was that not when we made our promise?”

At those words.

Jinlei recalled the past.

From when he was very young.

No, perhaps from the day he was born.

Jinlei had grown up receiving the training of an institution.

From learning how to run trivial errands.

To the skills needed to live an ordinary life.

And besides that...

Infiltration and tracking.

Murder, assassination, torture.

He learned codebreaking, information manipulation, and how to manufacture poisons.

An educational institution that had existed for a very small ruling class... and was somewhat unusual.

Most similar institutions had lost demand in modern times and were disappearing.

But a few remained and preserved their lineage.

And Jinlei had grown up in one of them.

Fortunately.

The skills meant for dealing with humans proved quite useful even after the collapse.

Just as he had been taught by the institution.

He resisted the collapse and hunted monsters in order to protect his ‘masters.’

And then.

As a result.

[This is the first ‘occupation’ by a human belonging to Greater Area - CHN.]

[You may choose one of the following benefits.]

[1. Grand Duke Valarak’s Invitation]

[2. Mobile Fortress Vimana (Unavailable)]

[2. Mobile Fortress Vimana (Unavailable)]

⋮

⋮

Before his eyes.

Those words had appeared.

-What will you choose?

-Why are you asking us that?

-Handle it yourself like you always do.

At his masters’ words.

Jinlei chose number one without hesitation.

For some reason, the second option, which at least sounded useful, could not be selected.

And even after reading the explanations, he had no idea what the others were for.

So since they were things he could not understand anyway, he decided there was no point in them and picked the first one at the top.

And then.

When he opened the invitation placed in his hand.

Kwoooooom....

Beneath the underground stronghold where they had been stationed.

A massive black hole appeared.

[Gate - Melchiorn Main Castle]

The sight spread out within it.

Was so terrifying that even Jinlei, who had been trained to overcome fear, could not bring himself to stare into it for long.

-Damn it, of all things to choose, you picked this!?

-H-hurry up and go inside already! You chose it, so take responsibility for it!

Even so.

Raised to obey orders, he had no choice but to step inside in the end.

And in there.

...He encountered savage monsters dried out like dead old trees.

“There is an order to all things. Since the promise I made with you came first, it will be fulfilled first as well. Do not worry too much.”

At that.

Jinlei, pulled out of his memories of the past, bowed his head.

“I was not doubting you, Your Grace.”

“Tsk. Haven’t I told you over and over? Call me Godfather more comfortably.”

“...Yes.”

Just as his godfather had said.

Doubting him was foolish.

And for good reason.

The Grand Duke had already fulfilled part of the promise they had shared.

“So then? What brings you here this time?”

“In truth, I think I may be able to make up for the matter I failed last time.”

At that.

“...Hm. So you’ve schemed up something again.”

Behind Jinlei’s back.

A few old men revealed themselves.

-Grrr....

Wearing worn-out military uniforms, drool streamed from their mouths.

Their bodies were covered in wounds, with many places where bone was exposed.

Their skulls were outright shattered, and their brains were spilling out.

“In fact, I had long been preparing something in order to resolve the problem that had been giving you headaches, Godfather.”

They did not look sane in the slightest.

The most terrifying part was.

That they were still alive in that state.

“And as it so happens.”

Jinlei looked at those ghouls...

No.

“That preparation has just been completed.”

He looked at his former ‘masters.’

And showed a pleased smile.

***

-Good heavens....

When I finished speaking.

Karhin’s face, already pale to begin with, turned even paler.

-A survivor of the Karshtein Bloodline....

I did not know exactly what the Grand Duke’s goal was.

But one thing was certain: part of the process involved devouring someone at the level of head of the Karshtein Bloodline.

Originally, since that bloodline had been exterminated, it was a meaningless plan.

But not anymore.

Because that Ariella.

Had ended up entering under the Grand Duke.

-...Why!

At that.

Karhin’s teeth lengthened, and his pupils began to split vertically.

Parts of his body turned into red mist, making it look like a bloody aura.

And a thick, spicy scent spread from him.

-If time had only passed as it was, I could have hunted that Grand Duke!

If he kept making that sun grow.

Then someday, that light would have reached even the capital where the Grand Duke resided.

I didn’t know how long it would have taken, but he had said that his power over the sun had actually become stronger than when he had been human.

So it was not a plan without any chance of success.

But.

-Why did you have to come to this land of all places!!!

That plan had collapsed.

Because Ariella and I had arrived in this land.

“I do feel bad about that too.”

I could understand his anger.

But.

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

“The problem is that the situation has changed, and if you keep dragging things out according to the operation you were planning, it’ll be the Grand Duke who reaches his goal first.”

-Krrrk...!

“You may not know this very well, but that bastard’s drive for self-improvement is insane. He’s probably growing at a ridiculous speed even now.”

It had taken less than two years for her to go from barely being at viscount level to becoming a count.

She had grown that much under me.

So under the Grand Duke, who could support more efficient growth than I could, that growth rate would be even faster.

“You said time was on your side? Unfortunately, it isn’t anymore.”

-Then what do you propose.

He barely managed to suppress his rage.

Then spoke in a voice full of despair.

-Are you telling me to accept defeat like this...!

“Defeat?”

-I may have called that Grand Duke foolish, but that was only because his goal could not be achieved. That plan of devouring all the Grand Dukes could not have been entirely without basis. If, by some chance, by even the slightest chance, he truly devours the other Grand Dukes and reaches transcendence...!

Hmm.

‘Transcendence, huh.’

I’d heard that a few times now.

I still didn’t understand the concept concretely.

But if I had to put it roughly.

‘If he achieves that transcendence, he becomes something similar to those things outside, right.’

I had already tasted some of the power those outside beings possessed.

Every last one of them had been horrifying.

If there was one saving grace, it was that they were outside, making it difficult for them to interfere properly with this land.

‘But the Grand Duke is already in here.’

If he reached a level similar to those outside beings while inside here.

No one would be able to stop him.

But.

“The hell are you talking about.”

I let out a hollow laugh as I spoke.

“Who said we’re going to let him achieve that transcendence or whatever?”

-...?

“We stop him before that.”

At those words.

Karhin stared blankly at me.

-Stop him? How.

Their force was fairly large.

Even so, an all-out war against those vampires was impossible.

Even he had flatly said there was no chance of winning in a direct fight as a vampire.

That was why they stayed hidden only inside the safe zone beneath that sun.

Only a tiny number of death squads headed into enemy territory in search of nobles to feed that sun.

“We need to take soldiers in, storm the place, and recover Ariella before he devours her.”

From now on.

The death squads alone would no longer be enough.

-Recover her.... After you were attacked during your escape, that Grand Duke would not be foolish enough to let her wander anywhere near this area.

“Of course not.”

We’d probably have to go deep inside.

We might even have to go all the way to the capital where the Grand Duke was staying.

“I do have methods of my own, but... I don’t have enough strength.”

So.

“I need you and your soldiers.”

-...It is far too, far too dangerous a thing.

At that.

Karhin touched his pale face and said,

-The humans on this island are people who trusted me and entrusted themselves to me. Most of them were not even people who originally knew how to fight. I cannot mobilize such people for something so dangerous.

“Then what? You’re just going to sit here quietly and die when the Grand Duke achieves his goal?”

-To begin with... leading soldiers into their territory and then returning after finding a noble the Grand Duke hid away.... That, that is impossible!

At that.

I shrugged and said,

“Whether it’s possible or impossible doesn’t matter.”

-...?

“What matters is whether it has to be done or not.”

And.

This was a truth I’d realized during military life.

“You don’t know something’s impossible until you actually try it.”

Most impossible things.

If you grit your teeth and do them, somehow they work out.

At that.

Karhin looked at my face and thought for a moment.

Then finally bowed his head deeply and said,

-...I will ask the two Vice Chairmen to try persuading the people.

“Good call.”

-A good call?

At my words.

He glared at me from the corner of his eye.

-Do not say that so easily. What I have thought through and decided is none other than sending the humans who follow me into a place where they may die.

“......”

-Ah... if only you had remained in that faraway homeland. If only you had never come to this place. Then there would have been no need to drive these people into danger....

At that.

I thought to myself.

‘His plan... it definitely did look like it had pretty good odds, sure.’

But.

That was only a matter of possibility.

‘The Grand Duke I saw... didn’t feel like the kind of bastard who’d go down so easily to a plan like that.’

Whether that possibility would actually become reality was a different matter entirely.

That thought crossed my mind when I heard him talking as if something guaranteed to happen had been ruined because of me.

But.

‘It’s true that this is still a matter of forcing danger on people.’

There was no need to say that out loud and pick a fight with him over it.

So I swallowed the thought back down.

KWAANG!!!

And then.

At that moment.

“Master!”

Suddenly I sensed movement from outside.

Then people came crashing in as if they were about to break the door down.

“...You!?”

“Why are you here...?”

The two old men who had been urging me to join them just a few hours ago.

They were the two Vice Chairmen of this Military Commission.

“Why are you with the Chairman...!”

“Only the two of us know the Master’s appearance... and you dare!”

Karhin had been hiding his appearance.

Partly to avoid touching sunlight, sure.

But he was probably also afraid that this unreal appearance of his would make people wary.

The two old men looked flustered when they saw that I was facing Karhin as he truly was.

-This one had circumstances, so I revealed myself first and was speaking with him.

“...!”

-More importantly, why are you both so flustered?

The two Vice Chairmen were startled by Karhin’s words.

Then, as if remembering why they had come in the first place.

They shouted urgently.

“We’re under attack!”

At those words, under attack.

I stepped outside the building in mild surprise.

-Under attack...? Did monsters appear nearby?

Those vampires could never attack this island where sunlight had taken root.

So if there had been an attack, it was usually from other monsters rather than vampires.

But... this time, it wasn’t.

“No, no. Not an attack, but...”

When I stepped outside the building.

What I saw before my eyes was.

“...An air raid!”

Coming from far away.

Massive chunks of iron were flying straight toward us.