Ch.305Special Side Story for New Release Promotion – Vampire War (3)

That day, as always, I rushed to the scene to salvage a frontline that was being hopelessly pushed back.

The battlefield where the famous vampire lord, the “Diminutive Swordsman,” had appeared had collapsed in its command structure due to the continuous deaths of commanders, which is why I had to step in personally.

As it happened, if this battlefield were to be breached, it would open a free pass to the famous granary region in the east, so my direct intervention was by no means an exaggeration.

Now that the war has a very high possibility of stretching into a prolonged conflict, the importance of defending such strategic points that will become crucial in the future cannot be emphasized enough.

Vampires can maintain their supplies by simply drinking blood on the battlefield or from their followers at their base, but if this frontline is breached, we must be prepared to lose at least three more vassal states afterward.

With nothing but flat plains continuing without any geographical features that could serve as borders or defensive lines, flowing water (rivers)—which vampires find difficult to cross—is essentially our final line of defense.

Furthermore, if this area falls, we will lose the ability to protect the finest granary region in the eastern part of the western continent. Considering that this granary region is the very place supplying provisions to our frontlines, the situation is far from favorable.

It’s fortunate that vampires have difficulty crossing flowing water, almost like a jinx; otherwise, there would be a possibility of their notorious cavalry running rampant and employing scorched earth tactics.

….When you consider the fact that those creatures are fighting the orcs of the great plains as well, forming a two-front war, there’s no other way to describe it except to say they “fight well.”

That’s why I personally appeared at this location.

Those approaching from beyond are vampires of the Vampire Empire. They cover the sky with red mist to easily block the weakening effects of sunlight, and they advance with their own discipline and rules.

Their formation is the standard six-person party: two vanguards, two who appear to be magic users, one with a bow, and one flying in the sky.

Facing what seemed to be a basic intermediate formation designed to counter higher-ranked opponents—I boldly stepped forward.

—Slash!!

I cast slashing magic. Firing repeatedly, again and again, their bodies are instantly diced into small pieces like cubed radish kimchi.

A continuous barrage of slashes that cut, slice, and dismember. Beyond merely inflicting damage, the relentless slashes that most would be unable to withstand keep flying in, repeatedly chopping them to pieces, but….

—….Wriggle.

Even during this, the sight of their regenerative powers activating to restore their bodies didn’t look normal even to my eyes.

‘What on earth are these creatures…?’

The bodies that had been minced to the consistency of ground meat seemed unable to regenerate, as expected of intermediate vampires, but the moderately dismembered corpses began to clump together and gradually return to their original forms.

Although vampires are undead with excellent regenerative abilities, normally they would simply die if chopped up to this extent.

—Piyung!!!

I killed the regenerating ones by blasting them with solar rays, but even in such circumstances, their regenerative abilities clearly surpass those of ordinary vampires.

‘What exactly are these creatures…?’

What’s even stranger is that unlike normal vampires, when these are killed, their souls don’t simply vanish on the spot but are drawn somewhere else before disappearing.

‘….Lachtstein, what kind of beings are these?’

I could only conclude that the progenitor of the vampire bloodline was undoubtedly using some method to strengthen and resurrect his minions. With this judgment, I turned my gaze to the lower-ranked creatures led by these vampires.

A disgusting and nauseating horde consisting of about 3,000 vampire ghouls and 4,000 vampire zombies, led by several Lesser Vampires with intelligence who served as a kind of non-commissioned officer.

After observing them briefly, I—

“Merry, do it.”

[….As you command.]

I summoned the flame-wielding nightmare—Nightmare Merry—and entrusted the task to her.

Once summoned, she wrapped herself in flames and fire before leaping toward the army, and without hesitation, this crimson blaze with its sulfurous smell burned them all.

The power of her flames, which had reached an extreme as she attained the superior rank, was truly terrifying—there was nothing in this world that her flames could not burn.

The scene that unfolded was such that anyone without knowledge might think hell had descended upon the earth. After briefly observing this horrific spectacle, I immediately concentrated my power.

“Corinne.”

[Yes!]

What I sensed were presences approaching from beyond the ground. Their notorious strike force—vampiric wyvern riders composed of dragonkin vampires.

‘….So they do have Vampiric Dragons after all.’

Although I don’t know the details because the Rothschild side has been keeping it quiet, the existence of Vampiric Dragons has clearly been confirmed through them.

Through their existence—vampires who can use the power of pure-blooded dragon species even after becoming vampires—

—Ding!

“—?!!”

At that moment, something approaching registered in my mind, and my wild instinct sent a warning.

Its meaning—an alert of mortal danger.

Of course, when I say “mortal danger,” it merely means that there’s some small possibility of death, but regardless, it’s virtually certain that something ominous is mixed in among them.

“Going all out!”

Therefore, drawing Corinne’s mysteries to the extreme, and hastily asking Sophie for celestial magic support, I named the completed lightning bolt after an ancient god’s weapon—

【—ASTRAPE!!!】

—KWAGANG!!!

Lightning, thunderbolts, and flashes of light pour down.

A spell like an ultimate technique, named after the thunderbolt of the heavenly gods. An extreme secret technique with power that could be called the pinnacle of celestial magic, capable of overturning the world.

No matter how resistant to lightning the undead might be compared to ordinary beings, it’s nearly impossible to block the barrage of lightning strikes that possess physical force capable of tearing through even metal.

Therefore, as that notorious aerial cavalry was about to be swept away by the baptism of lightning and reduced to flesh—

—Slash!!!

The lightning, the thunderbolt, was split in half.

The lightning-shaped magical power and magic, which had physical form but was not a physical entity, was split in two.

“Magic Cutting”—a technique said to be executable only by a small number of warriors who have built up extreme skill—and to split and break a spell manifested in the form of ultimate-level magic?

Only then did I realize that the mortal danger I sensed was warning me about that being, and immediately afterward, I drew up magical power and gathered “strength”—

※ ※ ※

The Diminutive Swordsman, surprisingly a Vampire Lord of goblin origin, was a madly powerful opponent reminiscent of Kagan El-Temur among those I’ve faced.

Freely wielding the single-edged sword hanging at his waist to unleash slashes, and swinging a great sword larger than his own height as if it were an extension of his body to deliver drawing techniques.

He skillfully handled advanced techniques such as flash steps and magic cutting, and his physical abilities were also considerably high, likely because he was originally a Vampire Lord.

He even shattered my prized slashing magic with pure swordsmanship. Despite his stature of perhaps 130cm, he displayed combat prowess that truly transcended ordinary capabilities.

Although it was clear he would evaporate if hit with just one effective strike, he showed tremendous fighting spirit.

He freely wielded powers such as “Resonating Slash” and drawing techniques, and was more powerful and unbelievably fierce than any warrior I had ever encountered.

Of course—even so, the limitations of a superior rank before a transcendent being were more apparent than expected.

The Trinity Form (tentative name) with Robo, Corinne, and Merry fused with me at the center. As a result of using this extreme measure of liberally spraying wide-area elemental attacks, he was hit directly by my attack and his body was annihilated.

It might have been impossible to vaporize his soul due to its protection, but the possibility of this creature resurrecting on the spot was extremely low.

‘….He was strong.’

However, since I was absolutely certain that this goblin swordsman’s combat power was solely due to his skill, I moved to jump back into the battlefield—

—Don’t look back. Don’t move. If you do, you’ll die. If you do, you’ll die. That, that will kill me.

As all my senses wildly fluctuated and conveyed such emotions to me, I calmed my breathing, brought serenity to my mind, and turned my head to look behind me….

【….I arrived too late, Gothland.】

There—stood Doom.