Volume 2, Chapter 58 – The Struggle

The moon on this winter night was a rare sight, unobscured by thick clouds. Its cold, eerie light illuminated the desolate wilderness. A bard, if one were here, would surely be inspired to compose a song. But for Ander and his fellow fallen, there was only a bone-deep cold.

The sudden, dramatic shift in their surroundings left them frozen in place. After an unknown amount of time, the imperial fallen finally understood what had happened. One of them gritted the words out, each one a tremendous effort.

“Group… group… teleportation… magic…”

“Congratulations, you’ve got it right. But this isn’t a simple skill; it’s a magic circle. A regular teleportation spell couldn’t transfer people without their consent.”

A woman’s voice abruptly appeared above them. Startled, everyone looked up to see a girl with silver twin-tails, blue eyes, and a black evening gown. As the description suggested, she looked down on them from above, like a monarch surveying her subjects. But the smile on her face sent a chill straight to their hearts.

“Im-impossible! Group teleportation is a magic of the gods!”

“Can I take that as you’re saying I’m a god?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! This is witchcraft!”

One of Ander’s subordinates screamed hysterically. Ander didn’t stop him, because he, too, truly believed—or wanted to believe—that this was Yisi’s witchcraft.

“Oh? It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. You’ll only believe what you want to. It’s to be expected that you can’t accept something beyond your imagination, but—” Yisi paused deliberately, her smile returning to a cold, impassive expression. “Before taking someone’s life, you should at least be mentally prepared to have your own life taken, shouldn’t you?”

“Who are you, exactly?”

Sensing the ominous tone in Yisi’s voice, Ander started a conversation to buy time. He subtly motioned for his subordinates to gather closer. Just as he had previously judged, both the teleportation magic and her ability to float in the air could be parts of the same witchcraft. The continent had the fallen who possessed both abilities, and Yisi might be one of them.

Ander recalled that he had thoroughly investigated Yisi’s powers before the attack on the tavern. She was just an ordinary human below level 10. All of her current actions were likely a bluff. While having the ability to fly was tricky, if he and his subordinates huddled together, they could use their magic to shoot her down.

This fool.

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After the initial shock, only mockery remained in Ander’s mind. If the battle had taken place in the city, he would have had to use an Empire’s Blessing to defeat the incoming city guards. But now, Yisi had brought them to the wilderness, and he could even save his precious tools.

All he needed to do was buy time for his subordinates to cast their spells. While gesturing to them, Ander looked up and began to negotiate with Yisi.

“We are the Empire’s Seventh Secret Unit. After learning that you have the power to heal the fallen, we’ve come specifically to invite you to the Empire as a guest. His Majesty greatly appreciates your abilities, and if you’re willing to go, he will surely grant you endless riches and glory.”

“An excellent proposal. But before I answer your second question, let me answer your first, which is my identity.”

Yisi rose from the air, straightened her clothes, and then deactivated her [Second Form Awakening]. In a flash of white light, she transformed into the appearance of the Count’s eldest daughter, complete with vampire wings.

“I am the eldest daughter of the Count Pescia of the Hyurent Blood Clan, Loiswell Edith Pescia. Is that answer satisfactory?”

“A… vampire!”

A collective gasp went through the crowd. And it was then that Ander pointed at Yisi and shouted, “Take her down!”

“[Fireball!]”

“[Ice Spear!]”

“[Flash Lightning!]”

“[Dark Corruption!]”

A variety of spells, emitting brilliant colors in the night sky, flew toward Yisi, mixed with crossbow bolts and javelins. In the face of such an attack, even a wyvern would be shot down. Ander was confident that even if she was a vampire, her level—below 10—would leave her at their mercy.

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What’s more, since vampires had a lifespan of at least two hundred years, the Empire could gain even more benefits from her witchcraft.

After the explosions of fireballs and lightning, and the shattering of ice spears and bolts, Ander smugly watched the smoke-filled sky, expecting to see Yisi’s figure fall straight to the ground.

But to his disappointment, nothing fell from the sky, even as the smoke began to dissipate. He couldn’t help but turn back to his subordinates.

“Where is she?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Is this the extent of your power?”

Emerging from the smoke, Yisi appeared before Ander, completely unharmed. Not even a corner of her dress or a strand of her hair was out of place. He could faintly see something like a light shield in front of her.

Ander instinctively swallowed hard. He was certain that those spells were the strongest his subordinates could cast. He himself wouldn’t have been able to emerge unscathed. He couldn’t help but recall the scene in the tavern when Yisi had gripped the longsword with her bare hand—and the warning from Number 21 a month ago.

‘There’s a monster in Celtic City. If we encounter it, we’ll be killed without a chance to fight back.’

‘It’s stronger than a dozen giant dragons combined.’

‘A Realm that surpasses the Heroic Realm.’

Ander had once scoffed at these words. Now, there was nothing but a slow-creeping dread.

When did the Blood Clan get a character like this?

Ander racked his brain. The Empire dared to send a secret unit to the Kingdom of Hels precisely because of internal strife within the Blood Clan. The great lords in the southern territories of the Blood Clan had declared themselves kings, leading to constant civil war and unprecedented weakness in the Blood Clan’s national power.

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Now, a person who could defeat a dozen giant dragons had suddenly appeared. It was like a lifeline given to the Blood Clan by the gods themselves.

Anxiety filled Ander’s heart.

“What’s wrong? Keep attacking. Let me see the power of the so-called secret unit. You should be level 21, right? What level is that in the human world? Come at me with everything you’ve got.”

“You…”

“Oh, right. I’ve never tasted the blood of a male the fallen. I wonder if it’s more delicious than an ordinary person’s. It seems worth a try.”

“Don’t go too far! What good will it do you to provoke the Empire!” one of the subordinates shouted. At that moment, Ander had the urge to run the man through with his sword. The Blood Clan and humans were inherently irreconcilable; there was no “good” to be had. This would only anger the vampire. What they should be doing was finding a way to negotiate and secure a chance to escape with their lives.

No… There’s one more way.

Remembering the Empire’s Blessing hidden in his chest, Ander pretended to give up resistance and slowly walked toward Yisi, step by step.

“Respected Vampire Miss, we have no intention of quarreling with you. We only hope to borrow your power to heal the fallen and completely destroy the Kingdom of Hels. I remember that the Pescia territory borders the Kingdom of Hels. If the Empire can eliminate the Kingdom of Hels, your Pescia territory will also be much more peaceful, won’t it?”

“It would just be trading one enemy for another.”

Ander finally reached Yisi’s feet—although she was flying in the air, the distance between them was no more than twenty meters—and continued, “But don’t you want to become the new queen of the Blood Clan? Alvier VII is still young, and rebellions are rampant in the southern territories of the Blood Clan. As one of the top-ranked territories among the twelve, with the power you’ve shown, you could easily become queen, couldn’t you?”

“I’m not interested in becoming queen.”

Besides, she didn’t believe the Blood Clan had no trump cards. A centipede with a hundred feet will not topple when one is cut off. The Blood Clan had occupied half the continent for over a thousand years; it would be unbelievable if they hadn’t accumulated some kind of hidden power.

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“What if I told you the Empire has a secret weapon to decide the war?”

“Oh? I’d like to see it—”

Crunch.

A subtle sound, audible only to Ander, was the sound of a hard object being crushed.

Immediately afterward, a behemoth over fifty meters tall rose from the ground, forcefully inserting itself between Yisi and Ander. If Ander hadn’t dodged in time, he would have been flattened into a meat patty.

Green flames enveloped its entire body, which was made of stone. The moment the monster appeared, it immediately swung its right fist at Yisi. The fist, with a diameter of over thirty meters, left no doubt as to the power it contained. It could shatter a city wall with a single blow. This was Ander’s strongest trump card, the [Empire’s Blessing].

Even from behind the stone monster, Ander clearly saw Yisi, flying in the air, unable to dodge. She was struck by the stone monster’s punch and slammed into the ground with a massive roar.

Ander couldn’t help but tremble with excitement at the stone monster’s enormous body and unparalleled power. The feeling of escaping death made him giddy with triumph. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he spread his arms and laughed loudly, his face flushed.

“See! The Empire’s strongest weapon, granted by His Majesty! This is the power of the Empire’s Blessing! No one can be arrogant in its presence! Anyone who provokes the Empire must die!”

Even someone who could defeat a dozen giant dragons was, after all, a living creature. A sword to the chest would suffocate them, and a crushed head would kill them. This was a law of nature.

“Tremble for the glory of the Empire!” Ander shouted in praise. He then turned around excitedly and yelled at his subordinates, “We are the victors!”

Although they had lost the witchcraft that could heal the mark of the fallen, eliminating a threat to the Empire was a great achievement. As long as he reported Yisi’s power truthfully upon his return, His Majesty wouldn’t hold him accountable for using the Empire’s Blessing.

The joy that filled his body made Ander want to dance.