Volume 8, Chapter 6 – Interception and Breakthrough

The carriage, drawn by six adult centaurs, raced across the land of eternal night. Through the window, golden sunlight piercing the thick gray clouds could already be seen spilling across the slopes ahead. It looked like a land blessed by the gods.

Inside the carriage, Estelle’s maid lowered the curtain and withdrew her gaze.

“They really didn’t dare stop you, did they. Even if you hadn’t mentioned being Her Highness the Elf Princess’s close friend, just being a guest vouched for by the Fire Cat Holy Son alone would’ve given them plenty to chew on. Still, it makes sense, I suppose. A pack of gutter trash without even a single sixth-rank among them—they sure look down on others, don’t they? Ah… saying that won’t make you angry, will it?”

Mindful that the Syris family was Estelle’s blood kin, the maid quickly caught herself and bowed her head, seeking forgiveness.

Estelle’s expression was blank. She continued staring out the window.

“Don’t blame yourself. They really are just scum who know nothing but indulging in the bloodline they were born with. You’re not wrong. I ignored Fia and Nola’s advice, insisted on returning to my roots, and this is what I got. I’d have been better off never knowing what my main family was like. At least then I’d still have something to imagine.”

Before Estelle’s journey, both Fia and Nola had counseled her. Fia warned her not to harbor too many illusions. On the World Tree continent, “vampire” was hardly a complimentary term. Nobles who took responsibility for their people, as Estelle did, were vanishingly rare. Nola had been even harsher—she’d described vampires as brutal, wanton larvae, worse than demons. Actually, Nola had wanted to call them parasites who did nothing but squeeze the people dry, but since “vampire” was already the term, she’d settled for mosquitoes, another blood-feeder.

The maid folded her hands on her lap and smiled ruefully.

“I only hope that when we return to the Fire Cat territory, Her Highness the Elf Princess doesn’t mock you for this.”

“Fia isn’t the type to kick someone when they’re down over serious matters. More than that… I can’t shake the feeling this won’t end easily. The whole journey, I’ve felt too cold. Uneasy.”

“Well, the vampire lands are always night. Wouldn’t that make the weather perpetually cold?”

“I hope that’s all it is.”

Her unease prompted Estelle to lean out the window and peer behind the carriage. The endless, shadowed plain stretched uninterrupted. No suspicious figures.

Her concern was not unfounded. Vampires—purebloods especially—placed tremendous importance on bloodline. Even in her own Oro territory, she had endured contempt and dismissal from other vampires for her half wing. Here, in this impoverished vampire land with its far more extreme attitudes, the treatment was bound to be worse.

Since leaving the castle, Estelle had found Debir’s markedly different attitude incongruous. A single piece of gold might appear in a heap of mud, but that gold could never be the leader of such filth. If Debir were truly good, the entire Syris family would not be what it was. Estelle suspected Debir had ulterior motives.

Debir’s sparse words had revealed one crucial point: neither the Syris family nor any other permitted their purebloods to wed non-purebloods. Bloodline and pureblood numbers were paramount. And given that everyone at that banquet had disdained her while only Debir showed kindness, Estelle reasoned: as head of the family, Debir likely wanted to increase its population. Having Estelle wed that male pureblood she’d called Ryan would serve that purpose. That was why Debir treated her well.

And then there was Debir’s own admission: though Estelle had only one wing, she was still a pureblood. The more she turned this over, the more it chilled her. She had nearly believed Debir was genuinely good.

Following this logic, the family letting a delivered pureblood—a breeding machine, essentially—slip away so easily was far too charitable. Moreover, she had refused, before all the guests, to kill that beastwoman and had left the banquet. That was a public slap to the family head’s face. If Estelle herself were clan leader, her pride would be deeply wounded.

The more I think about it, the less right it feels.

Perhaps I should have glossed things over more tactfully and waited until the heat passed to slip away.

No. Maybe I’m overthinking it.

Estelle consoled herself. She was, after all, blood kin to this family. Moreover, she was a guest from abroad. They could simply pretend she had never existed. Indeed, the absence of pursuit already spoke volumes.

Surely one’s own family wouldn’t threaten one’s life.

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Estelle sighed softly. She glanced again at the sunlit land mere kilometers away. Her tension eased further. Once she left this eternal night shrouded in heavy clouds, she would be safe.

Then—a thunderous crack split the earth.

The galloping carriage lurched to a halt. Shouts of alarm rose from the guards outside.

Danger.

Instinct, honed to third-rank, seized Estelle. She shot to her feet, caught her maid before she could be thrown from the carriage, and vaulted onto the driver’s seat, pushing through the curtain.

“What happened?!”

“En–enemy attack!”

One of the centaurs harnessed to the carriage answered. By then, Estelle could see for herself. A chasm over twenty meters wide had opened in the road ahead. Arrayed before it was a line of vampires—faces she recognized.

At their head was the middle-aged man named Ryan. Behind him stood several fan-holding, noblewoman-garbed female purebloods. And behind them, soldiers composed of lesser vampires under these purebloods’ command. In total, perhaps two hundred.

In her own Oro territory, these would be nothing. But this was vampire land. Even with the six centaurs, she commanded fewer than thirty.

The disparity in strength was plain.

Tch.

Estelle clicked her tongue inwardly. Her words had become prophecies. These purebloods were truly a pack of shameless scum.

“They’ve come for revenge.”

“Yes. I know.”

Seeing her maid had already produced a spear from storage magic, Estelle lowered her center of gravity. Blood coalesced in her palm, forming crimson long scissors blades longer than her own height.

Her main family vampires must have been waiting here for some time. Why they delayed until now to move against her—the reason was obvious.

If they killed her in the castle, the Syris family could never evade responsibility. But if everyone witnessed her leaving Syris territory, then when they struck, they could simply plead ignorance. No evidence would be found in these wild lands.

Estelle quietly pressed a dagger engraved with her family crest into her maid’s hand. Her voice dropped to barely a whisper.

“When fighting breaks out, break through with some of our forces first. Deliver this to the Fire Cat.”

“Understood.”

Hearing that resolute answer, Estelle nodded. The bearing of a noble coalesced around her. She leapt from the carriage, straightened her back, and strode to its forefront. Her gaze swept contemptuously over the vampires encircling them.

“What, can’t bear to see me leave?”

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“What tone is that? By seniority, I am your uncle.”

“An uncle who would lay hands on his own niece? I’ve never met such a worthless excuse for one.”

“Enough talk. You’re coming back with us. You are a member of the Syris family. Without the clan head’s permission, you go nowhere. No pureblood leaves this family without bearing offspring. This is the family rule. Your father, killed by the Darkborn, violated the rule and gave birth to a bastard like you!”

“Now, now, Ryan. Don’t be so harsh. I’ve rarely seen such a beautiful girl as her. Any daughter she bore would surely be lovely—perhaps even stronger than us. Ah, but I digress. Bring her back. Give her proper… training. She would definitely be the most amusing plaything.”

Another heavily made-up noblewoman followed, hiding her smirk behind her fan.

“I do wonder what she tastes like. Her blood. Her young flesh, too.”

Estelle’s expression turned arctic. She leveled her crimson long scissors blades at the purebloods ahead.

“Stand aside. I have an appointment with the Fire Cat Holy Son. If I have not returned by tomorrow, she will come to settle accounts with you.”

“Oh my. Invoking the Fire Cat Holy Son to embolden yourself? The Duchy of Bart is countless leagues from here. How could you possibly have ties with her? Even a toddler wouldn’t believe such nonsense!”

The noblewoman continued mocking, her fan still coyly raised.

Ignorance is bliss…

But this only worsens my situation.

Estelle gestured subtly behind her while her voice remained cold.

“You are welcome to test that theory. See whether Nola comes calling tomorrow.”

“Enough of this prattle! She’s bluffing! Seize her—let her learn some manners!”

“Don’t be delusional!”

The instant Ryan’s command fell, Estelle moved first. Not with her long scissors blades. Instead, she hurled dozens of magic crystals at once. Much of the Oro territory’s food and infrastructure had been destroyed, but these spell-sealed crystals had survived intact. Maintenance had been an expense—now was the time to use them.

May the message reach Nola swiftly.

The thought flashed through Estelle’s mind. Her eyes hardened with killing intent. Her wings beat. long scissors blades in hand, she plunged straight toward Ryan, still shrouded in smoke.

◇

“Damn vampires. I should have slaughtered them all long ago.”

Nola, clad in white swordsman’s attire and bearing her greatsword of flame, gnashed her teeth as she stepped through the gates of the city housing the Syris family.

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Behind her followed a slender maiden with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a serpent. Her long, turquoise hair flowed; translucent blue gauze draped her form.

“Don’t say that. Only vampires can dwell long in the Land of Eternal Night. Leaving them here lets us develop land we have no use for. Besides, wasn’t keeping them around partly to help block Shazo?”

“And what came of that? They opened their gates to him just the same.” Nola clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath. “Damn it.”

Only Nola and Ying had set foot upon this Land of Eternal Night. That was more than sufficient. Since formally assuming the chieftain’s position, Nola had never left the Fire Cat territory without Ying at her side. Their joint arrival now spoke volumes of their urgency—or rather, the gravity of the situation.

Fia had transported Estelle and her party from Blossom to the Fire Cat territory via transmission magic. Nola was no stranger to Estelle. Earlier, at Blossom’s trading post, when Nola had desperately sought grain, it was Estelle who had brokered the connection to Yulisha. And during her time as Fia’s maid in Blossom, she had learned Estelle was Fia’s closest, most trusted friend.

Now, still within her probationary period—a term Nola had entirely invented in her own head—Fia had entrusted her dearest friend to Nola’s care. Yet that friend had been attacked in Nola’s own territory. No—in her own nation. Fear of angering Fia, coupled with dread for Estelle’s safety, ignited Nola’s rage in an instant. Her long-simmering resentment toward these vampires erupted. The moment she received word, she had ordered Fia’s subordinates notified, then flown to the vampire lands herself, greatsword in hand.

Her mind was already consumed with how she would answer to Fia.

Wiping out this filth in one stroke—this is both personal and political.

Nola had already resolved herself.

Yet before she could take a second step, two lesser vampire soldiers guarding the gate crossed their spears before her.

“Halt! Clan Head Debir has decreed: Fire Cat clansmen are not permitted entry!”

“Out of my way! I won’t say it twice!”

The instant Nola’s voice fell, every lesser vampire at the gate reacted. Weapons raised, they encircled her. These soldiers had long sensed Nola’s extraordinary hostility—an aura visible to the naked eye. And now Nola’s hand had already settled upon the hilt of her greatsword.

“Numbers are on our side! Take her!!”

“Such a fine beastwoman—present her to Clan Head Debir! Surely we’ll be richly rewarded—eeh?!”

“Eek! M–my leg!!”

“Fire! It’s on fire!!! Water!! Bring me water!!!”

One swing. That was all.

Nola disdained even using mana. Her horizontal slash moved at speeds the soldiers could not perceive. The result: vampires who charged her were bisected. Those who never even touched her blade were engulfed in flames from her greatsword, shrieking fireballs stumbling in search of aid.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Drop the gates!”

“Sound the horns!”

With a clattering groan of pulleys, three heavy gates forged of precious magic metal descended. War horns wailed in response. Yet Nola seemed not to notice the frantic soldiers. She strode directly toward the thick, booming doors ahead.

Five meters tall gates, sufficient to hold back thousands.

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But—

One swing. Again.

The triple gates offered not even delay. Nola’s strike sundered them, shaking the entire city wall violently. The violently shattered gates fragmented into countless shards, spraying outward. Soldiers tumbled from the battlements with shrieks; others, impaled by debris, wailed like pincushions.

“The gate is breached?!”

“Monster! She’s a monster!”

“A Fire Cat with a greatsword, a snake-woman at her side—it’s the Fire Cat Holy Son! The Fire Cat Holy Son has come to kill us all!”

“Run!!! Flee!!!”

Ignoring the screaming that erupted everywhere, Nola turned to Ying. The vampire lands’ strongest barely reached fifth-rank. Ying alone would suffice here.

“I’m going after Estelle.”

“Yes. Leave this to me. Not one will escape.”

Then—

Nola’s gaze fixed upon the distant castle. Her eyes narrowed.

Rescue Estelle before Fia arrives. Then bind these purebloods and execute them all. That might just see me safely through my probationary period.

Wait. No. Come to think of it—isn’t today the end of that one-month period?

Damn it.

No time to waste.

Her agitation mounting, Nola activated flight magic and launched herself toward the castle. But before she had covered much distance, a tremendous explosion thundered from the castle ahead. The fortress’s side erupted—even from a kilometer away, the massive breach was unmistakable. Spraying rubble sent panic rippling through the streets below.

A pillar of dazzling flame shot skyward. And beside it, a blue blade of light, unknown meters long, pierced the clouds.

Nola halted midair, stunned. Then joy and anxiety flooded her heart in equal measure. Such resplendent fire—she had seen it from only one person.

That’s my Fia!