Ch.118Final Battle (1)

# The Laws of Nature

The laws of nature are equal for everyone. Even the strongest vampire descended from the progenitor’s bloodline will fall before mana depletion.

“Ugh.”

“Using the grand ritual has drained your body. You won’t be able to use magic for days.”

Even so, we can’t let our guard down.

The Valkyrie and the major pointed their weapons at the vampire.

“Should we kill it?”

“We must.”

The vampire chuckled.

“Yes, kill me. The strong dominating the weak is the way of this world. Yes, indeed.”

“No, we won’t kill you.”

“What?”

“I said we won’t kill you.”

The vampire frowned. The Valkyrie and the major looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Did you eat something wrong, sir?”

“Are you an idiot?”

How often would the Dragon Rider of the Holy Spirit Kingdom and a Magic Kingdom general agree on something?

“We need to eliminate it.”

“If we don’t kill it now while it can’t use its powers, it’ll become a problem later.”

Riyo and Miyo shared the same opinion.

And Salvira…

Salvira, who once had the vampire as an old comrade, turned her head away to avoid my gaze. It meant she was fine with killing it, but she didn’t want to be involved. The vampire’s expression wasn’t pleasant as it looked at Salvira.

Finally, the Holy Maiden spoke.

“No.”

She voiced the same opinion as mine.

“Colonel?”

“Major, Sergeant. We can’t kill it. To end the war, we need someone to blame.”

“What do you mean?”

The Holy Maiden continued in Ascalian.

“The truth is that the war between Ascalia and Hazkhail was triggered hundreds of years ago by remnants of the Demon King’s army who drove a wedge between the two countries. But would people believe that? We need to show the existence of these supposedly extinct demon tribes to the whole world to justify our claims. Would the citizens of both countries accept it if we just presented documents?”

“True, no one would believe it.”

“But how do we know when we’ll escape? If the vampire regains its strength, it will become a threat again.”

“It’s fine. I have a method.”

Most of the words were difficult, so I couldn’t understand everything. But as the Holy Maiden continued speaking, the expressions of the Valkyrie and the fox sisters, who had initially opposed, began to change subtly.

The Holy Maiden stepped forward and placed her index finger on the vampire’s forehead.

“What are you… don’t tell me…”

“——.”

A pure white light flickered and then faded.

There seemed to be no visible change.

“Ah, aaah! You damn woman—!! What did you do to me?!”

“What else? I sealed you.”

The flow of mana that was gathering around the vampire was cut off.

Divine curse, mana control.

“It’s a secret technique that can only be used on someone whose mana is completely depleted. I thought I’d never use it in my lifetime… thank you for giving me the opportunity.”

“You, you bastard!”

“How is it? You can’t gather mana, can you?”

“Release it! Release it now!”

Vampires are feared because they manipulate blood through mana. Without blood magic, they’re just slightly stronger ordinary monsters.

Evidence of this was the vampire’s obvious suffering.

The Holy Maiden looked at me and grinned.

“This was your intention, wasn’t it, Erich?”

I nodded.

Of course, there were two more reasons.

One, when I heard the vampire say that it was natural for the strong to abuse the weak, I wanted to show that such a value system was wrong.

Two, I noticed that Salvira felt guilty about betraying her comrade.

“So, you’re not going to kill me?”

The vampire choked out. It was hard to tell if it was laughing or crying. She looked me in the face with blazing red eyes.

“Erich Lohnstein, you’re too soft. Showing mercy to a monster that threatened you and your comrades! Suckers like you are the ones who lose in life! Do you understand?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! You fool! Living with compassion will only make you a loser! Just wait! You’ll soon realize your stupidity!”

I smiled.

“You’re right, I am a fool.”

“If you know that, then why?”

“Don’t you think the world needs fools like me to be livable?”

“What?”

“And…”

I waved my hand, and the walls bulged and protruded.

I transformed the inner walls of the corridor to create bodies, and used iron extracted from the vampire’s blood to create the core circuits. In an instant, four massive golems appeared.

The drones, seeing the empty golems, rushed in with a “that’s right!”

Soon, with creaking sounds, the giants began to rise.

“Mercy is something the strong bestow upon the weak.”

The vampire slowly raised her head with a blank expression. A long, large shadow fell across her face.

“This magic…”

“I told you. You were defeated by humanity.”

“Even Redov would take months to build one of these, yet you did it in seconds… Have humans been researching this for hundreds of years?”

“Do you think this is all we have?”

“You’re insane, completely insane.”

The four golems asked if they could beat the vampire just enough not to kill her. Having experienced it firsthand earlier, I gave permission. And so, the descendant of the exalted progenitor was thrashed like wheat at harvest.

“That’s satisfying.”

“It hurts, it hurts! You’re just rocks—!!”

After being pounded like rice cakes in a mill, the vampire slumped and muttered.

“Kill me, just kill me…”

We don’t have time to keep doing this.

With the biggest threat eliminated, all that remained were Admiral Dietz and the Eight Shadows mages. Since they’re human, we might be able to resolve things through dialogue, but we should also prepare for the worst.

This was truly the final stretch.

“Let’s go.”

Salvira bound the vampire with spider webs and dragged her along. Before moving, she whispered to me just loud enough for me to hear.

She said she was sorry and thankful.

That’s my line.

***

We passed through the corridor and descended the stairs to the altar.

As expected, Admiral Dietz and the Eight Shadows mages were coiled there.

Ooooh!

The mages in cult-like attire all prostrated themselves toward the tree at the altar. Simultaneously, the core embedded in the center of the tree pulsed with red light.

No doubt about it.

Soon the ritual would be completed, and the Demon King would awaken. We had to stop it.

“So you’ve come?”

Admiral Dietz blocked our path.

“To think you subdued that vampire, your skills have improved greatly since I last saw you.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“You’re being too harsh because I abandoned you.”

“I’m talking like this precisely because you abandoned us.”

“I merely made the best choice as a superior officer, Major Lohnstein. If I hadn’t given the timely retreat order, all my subordinates would have died.”

“Wasn’t I your subordinate too?”

The admiral closed his mouth.

“I see you’re calling me ‘Major,’ so you must be treating me as if I’m already dead.”

“I apologize. But I truly thought you were dead.”

“Let me ask you one thing. Where exactly were you that day in the Tatangkur Waters?”

Again, the admiral didn’t answer.

“Then let me deduce.”

“Go ahead.”

“You were here that day.”

“…”

I moved forward, pointing toward the corridor.

“The vampire told us. All those mysterious incidents throughout the Holy Spirit Kingdom were part of the offerings to resurrect the Demon King. Even this war without justification was in that context. Aren’t you trying to resurrect a monster at the cost of innocent young lives?”

“The Magic Kingdom and the Holy Spirit Kingdom have been full of animosity since ancient times. They were hostile nations. And the Holy Spirit Kingdom started this war.”

“Why deny it when it’s clear that all of this was orchestrated by the Demon King’s army or the Eight Shadows?”

“Orchestrated? I don’t understand. Do you have evidence?”

“What other evidence do we need? You’re here.”

“No. I’m not here right now.”

At the admiral’s words, the Eight Shadows mages who were praying turned around. They soon rose from their places, each drawing a pistol from their robes and aiming at us.

“How dare you refer to our noble sacrifice with a word like ‘orchestration.'”

“You deserve to die a hundred times!”

“What would a mere officer know? Don’t belittle our noble struggle to make the Magic Kingdom the strongest nation!”

The admiral spoke, as if in agreement with their voices.

“Well, yes. Major. To be honest, I don’t want to kill you. I’d rather elevate you as a war hero who developed multiple anti-aircraft magic stones.”

“You mean as the grateful being who provided hundreds of sacrifices?”

“You could call it that too.”

The admiral took something from his pocket and threw it.

It was an envelope.

“Look at what’s inside.”

One, two, at least dozens of checks worth 100 million each.

Light but heavy in quantity.

“50 billion.”

“Hush money?”

“Hush money? Nonsense. This is a congratulatory gift for your survival.”

I snorted. Regardless, the admiral continued.

“By the way, this is just the beginning. If you want, I’ll also give you a castaway compensation. And later… I don’t know how many times I’ve said this. When the war ends, meet my daughter seriously. If you happen to get married, you can come empty-handed.”

50 billion.

That much money is in my hands.

It’s certainly an amount that ordinary people would never, ever touch in their lifetime. With this much money, I wouldn’t need to be a professor or a magic tower master; I could buy any house and car I wanted, live off the interest, and conduct whatever research I desired for the rest of my life.

But why?

I feel nothing.

Perhaps months of living on a deserted island have dulled my economic sensibilities.

Nevertheless, one thing was certain: there are values more precious than money.

Trust.

Knowing that having someone to rely on and move forward with, even in life-threatening situations, is more valuable than any amount of money.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and threw the envelope.

Or rather, I tried to.

“Wait.”

There was a feeling of resistance. Major Adora grabbed my wrist.

The major took the envelope from me and began to verify its amount and authenticity.

“Two, four, six, eight… exactly fifty checks.”

“Major Giford, if necessary, I can provide you with the same amount.”

“Is that true? Where would such money come from?”

“I can speak directly to the President. I’ll ensure you receive a generous amount, including your father’s pension.”

“Oh my.”

The major smirked. She tucked the envelope into her pocket and linked arms with me.

“Thank you, Admiral Dietz. For even taking care of our honeymoon expenses.”

“…What?”

“We’re supposed to pretend nothing happened here, right? So this money never existed either?”

Shing.

The major drew her sword and pointed it at the admiral. Her action, more vicious than the vampire’s ritual, left me speechless.