Chapter 32. Wolfskrig (6)
Count Calvenia.
The second Vampire Duke, Tribus.
Although they are of different races by birth, they surprisingly have a few things in common.
The fact that they are necromancers.
The fact that they belong to the Vampire Archduchy.
The fact that they don't particularly like Duke Yulister von Zarhill.
And….
“I rember that we both clearly agreed on the great will that magitech is the future of the vampire school.”
…the fact that they are pioneers of magitech, extrely rare in the vampire school.
“You and I know the need for innovation, don't we? Unlike those conservative careerists who just wait for the day the Duke wakes up.”
“…….”
“Although we didn't share our consciousness in the Bloodline, I felt that our wills were connected. In human terms… a trustworthy relationship, yes, I would call it a friend.”
It’s certainly sothing to see after living for a long ti.
To see that even a piece of trash psychopath murderer like Tribus has a friend.
I don’t know what’s so trustworthy about a guy who hides behind a mask and lets out a perverted laugh like ‘keehee’ all the ti.
Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with what the Count said.
The two of them share the sa will.
In the ga, too, Tribus and Count Calvenia were practically allies.
After Tribus beca the second Duke, he would give full support to the Count, who had lost most of his power in the latter half of the ga.
That’s why, when playing as the Count Calvenia faction, holding out until the latter half was always the core of the strategy.
However, there’s a fact he doesn’t know.
“Keehee.”
I am not Tribus.
“A bat-bastard is getting cocky just because I played along a little. Does it think it’s human just because it knows how to speak human words?”
“……Oh, my.”
Was he truly flustered this ti?
The Count, who had been silent for a mont, slowly took a step down the hill.
But had I underestimated the character of soone who had befriended a moral degenerate like Tribus?
His patience surpassed my expectations.
“Ah, I should have congratulated you first. Congratulations. To think you’re an 8th-circle high mage.”
“……?”
“I sincerely congratulate you on the results of your research and training. How arduous it must have been to study the vampire school in a human body?”
What’s with this vampire?
Could he be on drugs?
Pop.
The cork of the wine bottle popped with a cheerful sound.
It was a wine the Count had received from a Grave Knight.
The act of uncorking the wine, pouring it into a glass, swirling it slowly, and then taking a sip to savor it—every gesture was filled with leisure.
A level of leisure difficult to show in front of an 8th-circle high mage, as the Count himself put it.
“Hmm, the aroma is nice.”
The bastard, who received a clean new glass from the Grave Knight, poured a little wine.
The glass was handed to .
He stood before .
“I understand your confidence. However, no matter how high a mage you are, you can’t beat here.”
A confident gaze.
A tone filled with self-assurance.
A question suddenly arose.
For so reason, he doesn't seem to be hostile towards .
No matter how old a friend he is.
He’s an enemy who is interfering with an operation he has staked his life on?
“This is a spell you've probably never seen before. The last ti I used it was half a century ago. I went through a lot of trouble to create this spell. I think I was holed up in the mountains for ten years.”
“…….”
“And this is the result. A domain-type spell that changes the terrain. Even if the Princess of Blood were to co, she could not defeat in here.”
Look at him now.
Isn't this attitude overly favorable for soone dealing with a ddler who has crashed his operation?
The tone in which he explains the spell is sowhat high-handed, but it doesn't feel like he intends to threaten.
Rather, it has the nuance of showing off his hand.
As if we are sitting at a negotiation table….
‘A negotiation table… ah, so that’s it.’
Was it because I had only been thinking about fighting all the way here?
I realized a fact that had been so blatantly obvious only belatedly.
Count Calvenia had no intention of fighting from the beginning.
He had created this situation to win over from the start.
The reason would be in the sa context as when the Princess of Blood tried to recruit before.
The Vampire Archduchy is currently in the midst of internal strife, and they need a rcenary who is not bound by the constraints of the [Bloodline].
If so….
“Keehee. That… is the first I’m hearing of it.”
I accepted the glass he offered.
Let’s try a little acting here.
* * *
I like poker.
Before I got into [Warlord Conquest], I spent most of my day on internet poker gas.
If I had money, I might have squandered my fortune at Kangwon Land or illegal private gambling houses.
However, the reason I fell for poker wasn't because I was tainted by mammonism, aiming for a windfall.
‘A ga that requires a high level of psychological warfare.’
That was the sole reason I fell for poker.
It’s the sa reason I naturally switched to Warlord Conquest.
Even though it was a single-player ga, the realm of psychological warfare was quite important in Warlord Conquest.
For reference, the basic skill in psychological warfare for card gas, including poker, is bluffing.
There is one commonly accepted tip for that.
When you have a strong hand, act weak.
So that the opponent lets their guard down and makes a bigger mistake.
“As you can also feel, this cavity, this space which is the center of the labyrinth, is my possession.”
“Possession…?”
That’s why I’m currently acting like a clueless, nerdy spell-slinger.
I’m certain.
In this hand, my cards are better.
He is trying hard to win over.
And I can kill him whenever I feel like it.
If so, it would be better to induce him to bet more chips.
The chip I’m lacking right now is information.
As expected, Count Calvenia began to release information as expected.
He, in his own way, had started to throw bait at .
“This spell was created to overco the disadvantages of siege warfare. If you cover the wall with a hemispherical curtain, you can temporarily neutralize the wall itself.”
His explanation can be summarized as follows.
Just by covering it with the curtain, it isolates the defending troops within a radius of about 300 ters in the disadvantageous battlefield of a labyrinth.
At the sa ti, he could push the undead army through the curtain protruding outside the wall to hunt the isolated defending troops.
That’s not all.
When the spell is dispelled, the living beings inside the labyrinth are designed to be randomly placed within the range of the curtain.
To put it bluntly, let’s assu he deploys the spell to hang over the wall like now, and throws in a million-strong army from outside the wall.
It ans that when the spell is dispelled, a significant number of that million-strong army will appear inside the walls.
This is why it’s called a balance-fucked-up ga.
“How about it? And although it’s random, if they are in a group, they won’t be separated. That’s an essential point for necromancers like us.”
Count Calvenia spoke with passion.
He must be trying to express that he will win this battle.
So, let's join forces and easily drive out the Imperial army—that would be his argunt.
However, what I want are not these things.
I already know all of this.
The chip I need is information about the changes.
Information about the changes made by the World Scenario 4.0 update.
As I responded appropriately and waited with patience, the chip I wanted soon ca onto the table.
“Are you worried the Princess of Blood will retaliate? Don’t worry. The cult’s movents are not directed here right now.”
“The cult?”
“Yes, the cult. A group that has revealed itself since about 10 years ago. No, actually, it seems they had been putting down roots here and there even before that. The Princess of Blood is also a mber of the cult.”
Hmm.
By the way, did he not know that Tribus was a mber of the cult, even though they were friends who transcended species?
It seems that the other side was serious, but Tribus didn’t say anything.
He reaps what he sows.
Who told him to be friends with a psychopath murderer anyway?
“Anyway, the cult plans to strike the Empire first. Next will be the Theocracy, the City-State Alliance, and then the dwarves. Those human bastards also know that they can’t do anything to us, who are bound by the [Bloodline], before the Duke awakens.”
“Keehee, it’s because they can’t go against the Duke’s will anyway, I see.”
“That’s right. That’s also why they drew the Princess in. They intend to win her over as soon as the Duke awakens from his slumber. So we must create a new [Bloodline] before the Duke awakens. If we don’t want to beco slaves to those fanatics.”
A series of high-level pieces of information were given.
Who the cult follows.
Who the cult forces are within the vampires.
And how the cult bastards are planning to target the Empire.
“So, I’m asking you to join . We get along quite well, don’t we?”
With this, I’ve gotten everything I could get.
I looked down blankly at the wine glass the Count had offered .
It’s not an easy thing to push away soone who shows almost unlimited goodwill.
But there is a fact I must never forget.
“Let’s kill all those filthy and dirty humans, and the two of us will build a kingdom of the dead together. Didn’t you detest humans as much as I do?”
Count Calvenia is an enemy.
He and humans cannot coexist.
Tribus beca his friend because he gave up on being human.
But I am, and will continue to be, human.
“And who knows? Perhaps we can create a Bloodline that you can join?”
I rember the promise I made in front of Deputy Teren’s grave.
I have people to save.
Olif, Brol, Karen, and my squad mbers are probably fighting for their lives against the undead sowhere in the labyrinth at this very mont.
I told them to survive.
I shouted that I would save them.
“Keeheehee….”
I lifted my head and let out a sigh.
Perhaps because I have mastered vampire school spells up to a high circle, I can feel it clearly.
That the initiative of the power imbued in this space belongs to him.
In the ga, too, the [Calvenia’s Waning Moon Labyrinth] spell gives an enormous buff to the caster within the cavity.
Even if I were to drop an [Infernal teor] here, it would be impossible to kill him.
But I don’t need an Infernal teor.
I have another spell.
[[Soul Absorption] is active.]
I look at the corpses piled up like a hill.
Those are primitive soul cores.
Corpses processed with a ritual modified from [Blood Sacrifice], literally pickled in the mana of necromancy.
Tribus' further developed [Soul Absorption] can use them without much difficulty.
“Just you and I… Hmm?”
I stretch out my hand and feel the mana slumbering within it.
The efficiency of my use of it will probably be several tis better than Count Calvenia’s.
Feeling my senses expand to their fullest, I cast the spell.
A brand-new spell I copied from him.
[[Calvenia’s Waning Moon Labyrinth] is active.]
THUMP.
For a mont, the space ripples.
Swoooosh-
The black curtain I saw on the wall begins to spread out from .
“What are you doing now….”
The instantly expanded black curtain soon disappeared outside the cavity.
The Count's expression is a sight to behold.
It makes sense.
He must be feeling it too.
The fact that he is no longer the absolute ruler of this place.
“What have you, done?”
“Who knows.”
The mana consud is close to zero.
Because I used almost all the mana drawn from the corpses he had piled up.
A sense of liberation I had felt only once in Tribus' dungeon.
Feeling the freedom of my stuffy mana pool expanding infinitely, I said to him.
“Your spell was aweso.”
* * *
The command post, rising tall in the middle of Wolfskrig.
Gabir was looking down at the front line with his aide and royal guard.
“…….”
It was a scene of pandemonium.
The noise of steel clashing against steel. Flowing blood and pouring fire. The neighing of horses. The screams of people. The chanting of spells. Explosions. Fire and ice and wind. The wails of the dying.
The raw face of the battlefield was revealed in the fortress, lit up as bright as day.
It was the middle of the night, several hours after the sun had set, but countless torches and the priests’ miracles were still illuminating the inside of the castle.
A few weak points caught Gabir's eye.
Mages using voice transmission magic imdiately relayed his orders to the field commanders.
The soldiers moved.
The holes were quickly filled.
“Your Grace the Archduke. A ssenger from the tal school has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
A royal guard knight opened the door, and a ssenger entered.
The ssenger, his beard singed in places, spoke with a twitch.
“The tal school mages and the scholars from the College of Engineering say that the preparations for the bombardnt are complete.”
“I see. Is there anything else?”
“…The mont the curtain lifts, they boasted that the designated coordinates would be turned into a flatland. They also joked that the ground would beco so soft that restoration work would be easy.”
At a nod of his head, the ssenger bowed deeply and retreated.
The reason he had listed unnecessary details was probably because he was afraid of the Archduke’s own ability.
He was afraid of being blad for intentionally hiding sothing if he had failed to ntion so facts.
It was not a rare occurrence.
Everyone in the Empire feared his blue eyes.
Except for one person.
No, now it was except for two.
‘Ash.’
It had been years.
Since an Imperial citizen had not avoided his gaze.
And he was a re rcenary mage, with no outstanding status, ability, or anything else.
That’s why it was a sha.
The fact that he had no choice but to die.
“…….”
Gabir turned his head.
The southwestern wall area was the only place in the fortress where darkness had fallen.
There was a curtain there.
A hemispherical curtain of fog that seed to swallow all light and noise.
“There is still no reaction. We’ve tried hitting it with mortars and mid-circle spells, but it seems to absorb everything.”
“And holy power?”
“The sa. There was no effect from [Judgnt of Light] either.”
The gray-haired aide said.
Gabir sighed inwardly.
An hour ago, Count Calvenia’s spell had swallowed the southwestern wall area.
The entire force deployed on the southwestern wall, approximately 700 rcenaries and 300 Imperial soldiers, were swept away by the curtain of fog.
Since then, the curtain had not let out a single point of light or a single line of sound.
A few paladins, unable to overco their burning faith, had jumped in, but it was the sa.
That spell was a labyrinth with no escape.
Just as the Emperor himself had said.
“It is as His Majesty said. If things after the spell is dispelled also go as predicted, an undead army of no less than ten thousand will reveal itself inside the walls.”
As the aide said, this was the Emperor’s strategy.
Sending rcenaries primarily for reconnaissance.
And deducing the internal strife of the Vampire Archduchy just by looking at the banners.
From pinpointing the Viscount’s location with the power of the secret knight order, to predicting that the southwestern wall would be the main attack point.
To anticipating that the bastard would use a spell and devising a strategy to give the flesh and take the bone.
“For a mont when an army of ten thousand is gathered within a radius of several hundred ters… if we project unlimited firepower into that narrow area, even they won’t be able to withstand it.”
The problem was the sacrifice of our own troops.
The labyrinth created by Calvenia was not a spell that would unconditionally kill those who entered.
According to the plan, the Count’s army would be annihilated, but the surviving friendly troops in the labyrinth would also all be killed in action.
What awaited them was the bombardnt of a formidable weapon created by the Imperial University, which even the nobles hardly knew about yet.
That’s why the Emperor chose rcenaries.
Because if it was a piece to be sacrificed anyway, rcenaries were better than Imperial soldiers.
‘It can’t be helped.’
That day, the Emperor had said.
‘Even Luark shines his light on everyone, so how can I, a re human, weigh the value of life? But still… it must be my destiny to commit such a terrible atrocity.’
He had said it with a look Gabir himself had never seen before, shedding tears.
‘I’m sorry for getting you involved, Gabir.’
‘…Not at all, Your Majesty. May you live a long and prosperous life.’
That day, he had realized it once again.
The enormous weight placed on a monarch’s shoulders.
The traces of humanity he had to carve away himself to raise the slowly collapsing Empire.
Because he knew that, he decided to be loyal.
He was also a being who did not fear his own blue eyes.
A king born with the heart of a monarch, who did not waver one bit in the face of any pressure.
‘Still, it’s a sha. To think I’ll never be able to see those eyes again.’
The death of rcenary captain Ash was practically a confird situation.
It was unavoidable.
Although he had reported him as a candidate for the Imperial family’s secret knight order a while ago, it seed the Emperor’s interest was only fleeting.
The Empire is vast, and there are many talented people.
The potential of a re rcenary captain was not a matter of great importance to the Emperor.
Thump-thump-thump!
Soone knocked on the door.
The door opened without permission.
“Cancel the bombardnt imdiately. No, have them stand by until ordered.”
A man striding in, stepping on the carpet.
A typically handso young man with bright blond hair, blue eyes, and clear features.
“We greet His Majesty the Emperor!”
“We greet His Majesty the Emperor!”
Gabir was flustered.
The Emperor’s whereabouts were a secret.
Of course, all the key figures in this command post knew, but just in case, they had agreed to communicate through magic from another room.
“Gabir.”
“Yes.”
“The spells overlapped. This is a variable. A variable that no one could have predicted.”
The Emperor’s eyes were shining.
It was a light of interest, rarely seen from him.
“It seems soone has stolen… Count Calvenia’s spell.”
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