[Having earned Grand Duke Isabella’s recognition, she has been appointed the new head of the great bloodline.]

[As the head of the bloodline, privileges different from those granted to the great nobles are bestowed.]

Back when she had first risen into the ranks of the great nobles,

I remembered her being granted all kinds of extravagant privileges.

The guillotine, the ivory tower, the round table—

one flashy privilege after another.

And then.

When she went one step further and was acknowledged as the head of the bloodline,

the privilege granted to her was—

[Right of Audience]

only one.

But.

The meaning of that one right was anything but light.

[Upon fulfilling all specified conditions.]

[You may request an audience with Bellatrix,]

[the being who is the creator and Progenitor of all bloodlines!]

‘...!’

The right to request a meeting with the Progenitor.

That, of all things,

was the very reason the grand dukes had all been driven to grief and rage.

‘A meeting with the Progenitor.’

There was certainly plenty I would have liked to ask that one in person.

But unfortunately,

it did not look like that meeting could happen right away.

“Ariella.”

I dismissed the status window,

then looked at Ariella as I spoke.

Paaaak...!

A deep navy-blue aura was pouring from her body.

The color itself was not all that different from a few days ago.

But—

‘It’s stable.’

Unlike before, when it had been so unstable that she could not properly contain her mana,

to the point that from a distance I could barely even make out Ariella behind that mana—

now that immense mana had been refined to near perfection

and was gently circling only around Ariella’s body.

It was unlikely that Ariella’s understanding had advanced so drastically in an instant.

This too was probably—

“You said Bella decided to remain inside you.”

the result of help from a being

that had once handled power even greater than Ariella’s with near-perfect mastery.

Even if the total quantity of power flowing through Ariella’s body right now was the same as before—

or perhaps even less—

in terms of handling that power,

she had likely reached a level incomparable to where she had been before.

And if that was the case—

“There’s someone who wants to devour that Bella.”

“...This lady knows. Bella warned me about that one as well.”

“In that case.”

Grinning,

I turned my head and looked out over the battlefield.

I did not know how much time had passed inside that shadow,

but the city looked to be almost eighty percent overrun.

They were still holding.

What mattered

was that twenty percent remained.

“Looks like it’s time to keep our promise.”

“...?”

“That bastard wants to devour someone precious to you, doesn’t he? So.”

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

“We’re going to devour a grand duke.”

If they intended to devour one of ours,

then it was only fair we repay them in kind.

***

Kwaang.

Puh-beobeong...!

Jiiiiiing... peong!

The fierce sounds of battle rang out all across the city.

Positions scattered throughout the area exploded, beams of thin light shot through the air, and blinding flashes spread in every direction.

Because the world was dark under a sunless sky,

that light shone all the more brilliantly.

But—

Kwaang!

the grand duke endured every one of those attacks and kept advancing.

Then, with a light swing of a fist—

Pasasak...!

the magic formation protecting the tallest building at the center of the city

collapsed.

The grand duke lifted their gaze and looked inside.

Within it—

—The final defense barrier has collapsed...!

—Damn it, we still have prepared facilities in the rear, so fall back there—!

there were presences staring at the grand duke in shock.

Presences moving in desperate haste, as though trying to flee before the grand duke could approach.

But—

Paaang!

with a casual kick off the ground by the grand duke,

those presences were given no chance to escape

and instead found themselves staring the grand duke in the face.

“...Dear God.”

“They’re already here...”

Those gathered there—

they gave off an atmosphere somewhat different from the fighters scattered throughout the city.

‘So this must be the command staff.’

And.

Among them,

the grand duke looked at the two old men standing at the center.

“A pleasure.”

The disgusting power that could be felt from all the survivors here—

the two old men from whom that power was strongest

were Yang and Yun.

“It seems the two of you are the ones leading these survivors.”

The moment the grand duke sensed their presence,

the defensive network protecting this place had been thoroughly destroyed as they came straight for the two of them.

There were still many resisting.

But merely eliminating those two old men

would nullify the countless defensive spells inscribed throughout this city.

“...The feeling is mutual.”

Yang, his face hardened as though fully prepared, gripped his weapon.

“I’d wanted to meet you in person at least once.”

“Me?”

“That’s right.”

Paaaang—

brilliant light engraved itself into that weapon,

and his body, too, swelled as it took in that light.

“I wanted to meet you face-to-face someday... and beat you until you died!”

Paaang!

His body shot toward the grand duke at terrifying speed.

A sorcery that drew power by using one’s own life as fuel.

When General Kaio had used that same technique without hesitation,

he had slaughtered hundreds of vampires alone.

And Yang, too, had previously implied that he possessed the same skill.

Even if his personal ability might fall a little short by comparison,

he had instead conserved this method until now,

which meant the life force he could offer as sacrifice was even greater than Kaio’s.

“To burn away your own life without hesitation. Remarkable courage.”

The instant he burned through that vast life force,

his already wrinkled face visibly aged in an instant.

A strike that truly wagered his life.

But—

Srrrrk...

a dark red ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ mist that appeared from somewhere

blocked that light.

“And yet, in the end, merely recklessness.”

Hidden behind the shadow of that mist,

the grand duke gave a small wave of a hand.

And then—

“Ghk...!”

with that light gesture,

the warrior who had been willing to offer even his own life without hesitation

was violently flung away.

“Vice Chairman!”

“Cough...!”

The strongest martial force here—

Old Man Yang had been taken down in a single blow.

“Damn it!”

“Stop them somehow!”

Those who remained

also launched attacks while burning away their own lives—

but—

Srrrk...

every one of those strikes

was blocked by the dark red mist and lost all meaning.

‘Thank you, brother.’

Without this mist,

even a grand duke would not have found it easy to deal with these natural enemies.

As the grand duke advanced,

they silently offered thanks to the blood-bound sibling who had perished by their own hand.

Paaaaaaaaang...!

And then, at that moment—

“...!”

the grand duke’s body, which had been moving toward the enemy,

gave a slight start,

and their steps came to a halt.

“...?”

“What is it...?”

When the grand duke suddenly stopped,

the awakened ones who had been attacking stared in confusion, wondering if perhaps some trick was at work.

But the grand duke had no interest in them.

‘This.’

What they were looking at

was somewhere else entirely.

From far, far away—

the presence of an overwhelmingly great power.

It seemed whoever it was had tried to hide that presence by some means,

so after the first moment when that power had burst forth, it became faint.

But the grand duke knew it for certain.

‘That man’s...’

It was a power they had definitely sensed not long ago,

yet judged too dangerous to touch carelessly, and so had left alone.

That power, which had been sleeping in the deepest depths of one man’s body,

had now appeared in the world.

“At this point, even if you try something...”

But—

“you’re already too late.”

Most of the city had already fallen.

Now that the two old men—who were all but the core of the city’s defenses—had been subdued,

cleaning up the rest was only a matter of time. They were no longer capable of threatening the grand duke.

And that was not all.

Rumble...

From far away came more presences.

The bloodlines that had spread across the continent in search of vanished survivors—

all of them were converging here in answer to the grand duke’s summons.

The power coming from that direction was certainly extraordinary.

Unlikely as it seemed, it almost felt as though it might have no limit.

But—

‘In the end, the one controlling that power is still that man.’

No matter how much gunpowder there was,

if the device firing it was nothing more than a single pistol, it meant very little.

If that man used that power, he might become somewhat threatening.

But he would not be able to stop the grand duke and the grand duke’s servants from bringing this city down.

And.

‘Once this city falls.’

the grand duke would achieve their goal

and ascend into a being one step higher.

If only that happened,

then even power that seemed endless

could be dealt with as much as needed.

“...You should have done it sooner.”

With those words,

the grand duke slowly began to walk again.

First, to bring this city down completely.

They raised a hand, intending to cut off the last breaths of those two old men—

but then—

Kuuung!

something drove itself between the grand duke and the two old men.

“...This.”

And.

At the sight of that something, the grand duke frowned and said,

“Shadows...”

Behind those massive shadows,

the blonde woman revealed herself once more.

***

“Hmm.”

When Ariella appeared,

the grand duke looked at her with a puzzled expression and said,

“Have you regained your rank?”

“Yes. More or less.”

Unlike just moments ago, when she had been suffering because she could not withstand the power inside her own body,

the woman now looked almost at ease.

“...No matter how remarkable the power I just felt may have been, our rank is not something that can be raised simply by pouring in a great quantity of power.”

If it were that simple, there would have been no need for a great noble’s help in the first place.

Rank was not determined merely by the size of one’s power.

It was not something that could be filled in so suddenly.

“How...?”

Puzzled by that fact,

the grand duke looked at Ariella closely.

Then—

“...!”

their eyes flew wide open

and began to fill with shock.

“That presence... surely not!”

And then.

At that very instant—

Shururuk... Kwaang!

massive shadows sprouting from Ariella’s body

shot toward the grand duke at tremendous speed.

Tak!

The grand duke lightly kicked off the ground and evaded the attack.

Not long ago,

even in the battle in the capital, that alone would have been enough.

But.

This time was different.

Shururuk...!

As though they had predicted the grand duke’s movement,

the giant shadow-tendrils naturally flew after their body.

Kuuung!

The attack

slammed hard into the grand duke’s shoulder.

“...!”

The grand duke’s eyes widened at being struck.

...Of course,

it was not because the attack had been fatal or anything like that.

“I, too, recognized Lady Ariella’s talent. But her own combat ability was never especially remarkable.”

Like most nobles,

Ariella had specialized in commanding subordinates rather than fighting herself.

She had not had much experience in direct combat,

and even those fights had amounted to little more than overwhelming others with a monster’s superior physical ability.

To begin with, most nobles possessed no real combat techniques at all.

But—

“These movements.”

Shururuk... Kwaang!

These were not the movements of tendrils being aimed at the grand duke.

They looked astonishingly simple,

and yet with even the tiniest minute motions, it became difficult to predict their path.

At the same time,

they moved as if they had perfectly anticipated the grand duke’s own movements,

even seizing in advance the very places the grand duke would try to dodge toward.

“No matter how much understanding you may have gained in the meantime, this is not a level that someone who only just entered the ranks of the great nobles could possibly display.”

Unlike other nobles,

the grand duke possessed exceptional combat ability as well.

And yet this was skill that surpassed even that.

As far as the grand duke knew,

there were only a handful of beings capable of handling a vampire’s techniques with this degree of mastery.

“So you really are there?”

Realizing that,

the grand duke spoke with certainty.

The being they had once searched for,

yet failed to find in the end—

the one whose absence had driven them into despair.

“Sister!”

The elder sibling who shared their blood was there.