Blood of the Lion (28)

1.

Duke Bathory covered his mouth and yawned.

“This is a waste of time.”

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and looked ahead.

Where Bathory’s gaze landed, Prince Ron was collapsed. Prince Ron’s chest was rising and falling rapidly.

His body was covered in wounds, as if he had been surrounded by thieves and hacked to pieces. His blood was splattered on the floor.

Bathory licked his lower lip and smacked his lips.

A sweet smell wafted through the air.

He could suck up the blood pooling on the floor, but Bathory was enduring to enjoy the finest delicacy.

The most delicious blood is the warm blood flowing through the aorta.

And drinking blood that has fallen on the floor is an act that degrades the authority of a noble. Only lowly, inferior Vampires do such things.

“It’s getting boring.”

When he rushed in like a moth to a flame, his desperate struggles were fun to watch.

But from the middle on, he had trouble getting up again and couldn’t even swing his sword properly, making it feel like watching a boring play without fun or excitement.

Why do I have to watch this?

That’s the feeling.

-Tap tap

Bathory approached Ron with an elegant gait.

The long sword in his hand melted and disappeared.

Ron staggered to his feet.

His legs trembled.

Every time he moved, his muscles screamed.

His injuries were too severe.

His fingertips tingled.

He was on the verge of dying from excessive bleeding just by breathing.

“Still, you lasted a long time against me. I’ll give you credit for that.”

Clang.

Ron raised his sword. Just by the fact that he couldn’t hold the Sword Dance straight, it was clear that his stamina was at its limit.

Is there any point in continuing this?

It’s as that Vampire said.

It’s a waste of time.

No matter how many times you strike a thick rock wall with pebbles, how can you break it down?

He felt the overwhelming difference in power.

When he rose to the position of commander solely on his skills, not as an absolute status of royalty, he began to have faith in his sword.

If it’s this level…

I thought I could also play an active role on the battlefield for peace, like the Hero.

It was all arrogance.

I was miserably defeated by the progenitor of Vampires, so what role can I play?

No.

It’s not over yet.

“Hah!”

Instantly, he mustered all the remaining strength into his muscles and swung his sword upwards from below.

-Slash!

He cut Duke Bathory’s chin, who was close by. The pointed chin split in half.

“The face…”

Wrinkles formed on Duke Bathory’s brow, who had been maintaining an expressionless face as hard as ice.

-Thwack!

Ron kicked Bathory and used the momentum to launch himself.

-Clang

He broke through the window and fell outside.

If I survive…

If I just survive, it’s not over.

Ron chose to run away. Running away is humiliating, and some Knights might criticize it as a disgrace to the Knight.

But.

What’s important in battle is victory.

Even if it’s dirty, winning is everything.

Look at history.

Who records the history of the defeated?

History only records the victor’s.

He judged that it was right to turn his back and run away now for the sake of future victory.

Looking at this battle alone, preventing the progenitor of Vampires from drinking the blood of the Lion is a marginal victory.

“Ugh!”

Fortunately, there was a roof under the window.

Ron’s body bounced off the roof once and fell onto the second-floor balcony.

“Are you going to jump down?”

The moment he tried to jump from the balcony to the first floor.

As if the gates of hell had opened, a pool of blood formed below.

There was another world inside the pool.

Blood that had grown like tentacles writhed.

In between, something that looked like people were screaming and flailing their arms.

Ron raised his head and looked up.

A thin stream of blood was sewing up the split chin.

Regeneration was happening, but the regeneration speed was slow, which didn’t suit the reputation of the progenitor. It must be because he was using magic with an incomplete body.

Ron turned his body.

He went inside the building.

“What a waste of time…”

Bathory shook his head and lightly descended onto the balcony.

-Tap tap

He slowly followed Ron.

He wasn’t being leisurely.

This speed was enough to pursue him.

Prince Ron was limping and dragging his legs.

He was desperate, but in Bathory’s eyes, it only looked like he was making meaningless struggles to survive.

The distance narrowed.

He gathered Magical power in his hand.

His fingernails became long and sharp like knives.

Let’s cut off his legs.

Dragging this out any longer was boring, and the situation outside had changed.

“…Stupid thing.”

The blood bestowed upon his Vassal returned to Bathory’s embrace.

That meant one thing.

The death of the Vassal.

Marquis Lizbera, who had confidently taken on the Hero, had finally been defeated.

He didn’t know how much damage he had inflicted on the Hero, but the Hero would come to support the Prince to save him. Other troops would come as well.

He could kill the others by bursting them with a single clap, but…

He should avoid the Hero as much as possible.

He didn’t have the Holy sword, but the Hero was dangerous just by his existence. If he had Divinity, he had the ability to use any sword like a Holy sword.

The fact that the Marquis, who had directly inherited Bathory’s blood, had died meant that he had likely been attacked with something equivalent to the Holy sword.

However.

If he sucked the blood of the Lion, who had a strong aura of Magical power here, there was nothing to fear.

This incomplete body would be completely healed, and his Magical power would double.

Taking the head of a Hero without the Holy sword would be a piece of cake.

He raised his arm to shoulder height.

He swung his arm, aiming for Ron’s legs.

At that moment.

Flash!

A blue flash cut through the darkness and rushed towards Bathory.

Bathory’s arm was cut into several pieces.

“…?”

He didn’t feel any pain.

But there was bewilderment.

Who?

He slowly turned around.

A man was panting.

The man also staggered and turned around.

Their eyes met.

“Hah…”

He exhaled the breath he had been holding in.

Crack crack.

His joints made noise every time he moved.

The man’s appearance was miserable.

He was covered in blood, indicating a fierce battle.

“Your Highness, I’ll take care of that guy.”

The face illuminated by the moonlight.

He was Eric Van Skolhart, the eldest son of the Skolhart Family.

“You are…”

Bathory glared at Eric.

It was a vaguely familiar face.

He was the man who had been with ‘that guy’.

How is he alive?

It was surprising that he had escaped from the treasure vault.

He had definitely locked him inside the Barrier.

Considering the time, the Swamp of Vampirism should have sucked up all his life force and flesh and spat out the shell.

Even if he escaped from the swamp, the Blood Knights would have been waiting with their spears.

No matter how much he cut down the Blood Knights inside the Barrier, he couldn’t kill them.

If an arm was cut off, it would regenerate immediately.

The Blood Knights were immortal there.

And until now, no one had ever escaped after being trapped inside the Barrier.

They would definitely die.

There was a way to escape, but to do so, one had to interpret and reverse-engineer dozens of Magic circle to deactivate them.

Could anyone do that?

Among the Archmage who surpassed the Magic Tower Lord, it might be possible.

But a swordsman who was ignorant of magic deactivating a Magic circle?

Impossible.

“I’ll buy you time, so hurry.”

The Prince expressed his gratitude with his eyes and continued to run.

The Duke would surely die. The Duke’s skills were the best in the Swordsmanship department of the academy, and rumors were already spreading within the Imperial Knight Order.

But he didn’t think he had the skills to defeat that monster.

The attack just now was successful because he was really lucky.

“Buying time… You’re already tattered, how long do you think you can last?”

Bathory’s severed arm had returned to normal.

“I don’t know.”

Eric straightened his back and faced Bathory directly.

“My role is over if I just buy time until Your Highness escapes the castle.”

The Skolhart Family was far away in the north and showed independent and selfish behavior, but it was a family that was more loyal to the Empire than any other family.

When war broke out, they were the first to head to the battlefield.

They were willing to give their lives to protect the royal family.

“Then you won’t be able to fulfill your role.”

His expression was calm, but Bathory was feeling a great sense of humiliation.

His arm was cut off by a bug-like human.

Although it wasn’t his body and it wasn’t completely assimilated, this humiliation was the first since his head was cut off by that guy.

Even this time, he was attacked by someone worse than that guy.

“It seems I’ve been too lenient.”

A long sword was summoned again in her hand.

The blood that made up the long sword rippled and bubbled up into the air.

“Die.”

The blood droplets became sharp thorns and poured down on Eric.

2.

Time passed.

Bathory began to feel impatient.

“Huff… huff…”

The man was dripping blood and breathing heavily.

Eric was still standing on two feet.

He quickly swung his sword in the swirling storm of thorns and fought back.

He dodged attacks he could dodge, and defended against attacks he couldn’t dodge as much as possible.

His body was already tattered.

He was enduring with the determination of a swordsman and the conviction of a noble.

How much time had passed?

Would reinforcements come?

He wasn’t thinking about that.

Eric’s mind was only focused on holding that monster back here at all costs.

“Huff… I’m going to die…”

Unless a miracle happened.

He wasn’t thinking about returning alive.

He didn’t know he would die like this.

He had regrets, but no sadness.

“You’re persistent.”

“Huff…”

A liquid, whether blood or sweat, flowed down his forehead.

Eric shook his head and regained his stance.

His vision was blurry.

He didn’t know how he could stand.

He was moving his body, but it was close to unconsciousness.

“If you dodge this, I’ll acknowledge you.”

Magical power was condensed in Bathory’s long sword.

He sensed that a huge slash was coming. That premonition was immediately realized.

Bathory swung his sword horizontally.

A red wave that cut the space in half rushed towards Eric at high speed.

Could he block it?

Could he dodge it?

He didn’t know, but he picked up his sword for now.

He steeled his resolve.

To die or to live.

It would be decided in this one exchange.

-Crackle crack!!

The bricks that made up the wall were ground away.

One floor was cut in half.

Light flashed.

-Kwaroooong!!

The castle was cut off.

The ceiling collapsed as if it were flowing down.

“Good job.”

Eric looked ahead.

There was a girl holding a sword.

The girl smiled and looked back.

“You’re pretty good.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“It’s a compliment.”

The girl’s golden hair fluttered in the night breeze.

“I’ll take it from here, so take a rest.”

The girl shook the blood off her sword and looked ahead.

“I’ll take care of that mosquito bastard.”