The Grand Duke of the Melchiorn Bloodline.

Valarak had often been described as more foolish and impulsive than the other Grand Dukes.

And in truth, because of that nature, the bloodline he led was the smallest of them all.

‘...Ah.’

But.

Being impulsive was not a bad thing in every situation.

‘He realized it.’

One day.

The very moment he realized what the Progenitor wanted from them.

That foolish creature, without even thinking ahead,

acted on impulse.

Crunch!

“We could have become better beings by now...”

In the distant past.

In those days when there had not even yet been any culture of nobility or the like, as there was now.

The one he had once called elder brother and followed, back when they had had no one to rely on but each other.

“This too... is my karma, is it...”

He devoured Kirchhoff first.

And then,

before the Grand Duke’s blood had even fully settled into him,

he went to find Harosh,

the Grand Duke of Harcon, whom he had once called elder sister.

“...I see.”

And then—

KWAAAAAANG!!!

“I wondered why Kirch’s scent had vanished so suddenly.”

Unlike Kirchhoff, who had been attacked off guard,

she had anticipated Valarak’s attack.

“No matter how stupid a child you are, you would not simply lose your mind overnight... so, what, you only now realized it?”

“Khk, kh...!”

“That is almost impressive in its own way. To think something you failed to notice for so long only dawned on you now... though, well, that was always how you were.”

After casually subduing Valarak, who had come for her life,

she spoke while grinding him beneath her foot.

“I can set aside the fact that your revelation came absurdly late... but do you truly intend to walk this path?”

“I... do...!”

“I do not understand.”

She spoke with eyes full of contempt, as though looking at something pitiful.

“The Progenitor abandoned us. Whatever ending the Progenitor desires, the fact remains that the Progenitor abandoned us. And if we were abandoned, there is no reason for us to labor to fulfill that wish.”

“Grrhk...!”

“No matter how foolish you are. Are you saying that for the sake of the one who cast you aside, you would devour us, the ones who were as good as your own siblings?”

At those words,

“No...!”

Valarak ground his teeth and shouted.

“It is not... for the Progenitor...!”

“What?”

“It is... for me...!”

Even while being brutally trampled,

his eyes were overflowing with fury.

“If I fulfill what the Progenitor wants... then surely the Progenitor will appear before the one who fulfilled that will!”

“...Yes. That much is likely true.”

“I will ask!”

No, perhaps not fury...

“I will ask why the Progenitor abandoned us.”

“......”

“I will ask whether there was something about us that was not pleasing. And if there was, then we will fix it, so please—please just tell us...!”

Anguish.

Valarak, who had come after devouring a sibling, was sobbing.

***

“You were foolish... but you were also like a loyal hound who followed the Progenitor more faithfully than anyone...”

Valarak shouted through tears.

And then.

“I know how pure and blind the love you offered that one was.”

“Ghk...!”

“Which is why... now that you have been abandoned, you grieve more deeply than anyone.”

The look in Harosh’s eyes as she gazed down at him with contempt

changed, if only a little.

Not disgust.

But genuine concern.

“But my pathetic little brother. Even if you throw your question before the Progenitor that way, there is no guarantee the answer you receive will be one your heart can bear.”

“......”

“You may only wound yourself more deeply by asking. Perhaps living without knowing is the path that leaves you with less grief. Even so, do you still insist on picking at the wound?”

At those worried words,

Valarak clenched his fist and shouted.

“If the answer is not one I can accept!”

Grrrhk.

His mouth twisted savagely.

“Then I will make the Progenitor realize... just how dangerous the child has become.”

At the edge of that mouth,

sharp molars gleamed.

“...I see.”

At those words,

“I too... once entertained delusions much like yours.”

Slowly,

the force in the foot pinning Valarak down loosened.

“But I... could never carry that fantasy through to the end. To bare my fangs at the Progenitor... such a thing was too irreverent, and too impossible to ever succeed. I could not even let myself imagine it.”

Before long,

she removed her foot entirely.

“That is why... I did nothing but let a long stretch of time pass, swallowed by emptiness, for no reason at all.”

And then,

as Valarak rose free of the pressure,

“You are not like me.”

She looked at her younger brother as she spoke.

“Perhaps you can do this only because you are so foolish you do not even understand fear.”

“What? I am not that foolish...!”

“Well, whatever the reason may be, it is not important.”

She spread both her arms.

And then—

“Do as you wish.”

In a benevolent voice,

she said exactly that.

“...What?”

At those words,

Valarak was briefly taken aback.

Even so—

Crunch!

A prey animal that took no defensive posture.

He did not let the chance to devour that prey slip away.

“My pathetic... elder sister... forgive me for entrusting... this to you...”

Even as Valarak tore apart her entire body and devoured it,

she stroked him gently and said,

“It will surely be a very difficult and arduous road. To fulfill that will is something close to impossible.”

Her flesh was torn away.

Blood carrying her soul spilled out in torrents.

“Even so... you must never give up.”

And throughout it all,

her eyes remained fixed clearly on her younger brother.

“I will not die... I will melt into you, become one with you, and live on.”

“Grrhk...!”

“And... I will surely see it again...”

Thus—

“the Progenitor’s... beautiful countenance...”

Grand Duke Valarak devoured two Grand Dukes.

His elder brother and his elder sister.

***

“Ghk...!”

He was still a Grand Duke.

But once the souls of two other Grand Dukes settled inside that body,

even that enormous vessel could not endure the power contained within.

“Guh...!”

Writhing in agony,

he began to control the power inside his own body.

The power closest to an unmanageable essence.

All supernatural powers originating from the Progenitor, he drove into one corner of his body and sealed away.

The power he could handle.

Only the memories and wisdom of the two Grand Dukes did he allow to circulate through his veins.

“...Ah.”

Only after a long time had passed like that,

after finally digesting the blood he had drunk,

did he open his eyes blankly and mutter.

Valarak’s decisiveness was unmatched.

That was why

the moment he reached enlightenment, he had been able to act immediately.

But.

Because it had all happened in such reckless impulsiveness,

there was something he had failed to think through.

“One... is missing.”

Only then

did he understand the words his dying elder sister had spoken to him.

-It will surely be a very difficult and arduous road. To fulfill that will is something close to impossible.

But.

He had already devoured two siblings.

-You must never give up.

At that point, there was no longer any option left for him to give up.

Yes.

“Have you opened your eyes?”

He would achieve his goal.

“Jinlei.”

By whatever means necessary.

***

“Cough, kh...”

“You must be disoriented, waking so suddenly.”

When Jinlei opened his eyes,

the Grand Duke looked at him and spoke.

“I apologize for this confusion, but there is a favor I must ask of you.”

“By favor... you mean...”

“It means the time has come to fulfill our promise.”

At those words,

Jinlei’s eyes widened as he murmured,

“That method... had been pushed back...”

“That was the plan, yes, but matters have grown a little complicated. So my promise with you comes first. Is that a problem?”

“N-no... it is not...”

At the Grand Duke’s words,

Jinlei looked confused, yet pleased at the same time.

‘He still seems confused.’

Originally, he was not someone who would be this shaken.

But right now, he had been forcibly awakened from a faint brought on by shock, using an item taken from that being whose true nature was impossible to discern.

The Grand Duke decided to be generous and overlook it.

“Thanks to you, we succeeded in driving those traitors off the island.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“With this... all the territory of this nation will be mine...”

What really mattered was this part.

“No.”

When the Grand Duke stretched out a hand,

Jinlei’s body slowly rose into the air.

“It became the occupied territory of you, my proxy.”

At those words,

Ariella, suffering from the power overflowing inside her body, opened her eyes wide in shock.

‘Occupied territory?’

That was not

a phrase vampires used very often.

Rather—

“With this, the [Conquest War] has come to an end.”

it was something the awakened of this land

used to say all the time.

“Do you remember the promise we made? The contents of that bargain?”

“Yes... I think... I remember.”

“Good.”

The Grand Duke smiled gently as he spoke.

“As promised between us, I will exterminate all humanity in this land.”

“...Ah.”

“Once I make this whole world mine, I will personally devour every living thing still alive in this land. And then, once my goal has been accomplished.”

He closed his eyes for a moment,

then spoke with vacant calm.

“I will go find my Progenitor and demand an answer. I will rage and ask why the Progenitor abandoned us.”

“......”

“And when that happens... I, too, will not survive.”

A smile.

“Everything you hate will be erased from this world without leaving so much as a trace.”

That was the contract

he had made with Jinlei when he first arrived in this land some time ago.

“Is this truly what you desire?”

“It is... it is...!”

“Good. Then I swear I will carry out my promise...”

At a gesture from his hand,

Jinlei’s floating body flew toward the Grand Duke.

“Now give me the price.”

And then—

“The power this land bestowed upon you...”

Crunch!

His fangs sank into Jinlei’s neck.

“Give me the [system]...!”

***

Paaaaaaak...

Thud.

The moment the Grand Duke’s fangs sank into Jinlei’s neck,

the vitality circulating through Jinlei’s body vanished ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) in an instant.

“Haa...”

The life he possessed, his memories, his soul, his vitality...

All of it

flowed into the Grand Duke’s body through the medium of blood.

Bzzzt...

And then.

Before the Grand Duke’s eyes.

Bzzzt... bzzzt...

“...It has come.”

There appeared

a small foreign thing,

flickering violently.

“With this, the contract between us has been fulfilled!”

Staring at that thing,

the Grand Duke spread both arms and shouted.

“A gamble in which, if I lost, both I and my bloodline could have become your slaves!”

Bzzt... bzz...

“The conditions were absurdly unfavorable, but I accepted every last one of the harsh terms you set forth!”

Bzz... bzzzt...

“And without using any trickery, I have fulfilled that contract and reached this moment!”

Bzzt... bzzzt...

“Do you acknowledge it!”

At last,

that violently flickering shape gradually took form, and then—

“[System]!”

-Ding.

A playful little sound rang out.

[Verifying...]

Before his eyes,

[Contractor - “Blood Drinker”]

[By request of the contracting party.]

[Verification procedures are now underway to determine whether the transaction between the contractor and the system has been sufficiently fulfilled.]

Inside a square box, small lines of text appeared.