The next day.

I stood with the Legionnaires before a gray, wavering hole.

An empty stretch of land where one old sign had fallen.

...The very land we had first seen after arriving in this country.

“Are you truly leaving?”

At the voice, I turned my head.

I saw people looking at us.

“To think you are leaving like this.”

“If the Guide leaves us, what are we supposed to do from now on....”

They said that as they looked at me.

“What are you supposed to do?”

At those words.

I shrugged and answered.

“You have a leader of your own, don’t you? Just do what that guy tells you.”

At my words, the people’s gazes turned in one direction.

A small palanquin covered by a black curtain.

From within it, a person’s voice sounded.

-So you are leaving for your homeland now.

“I have to.”

The person who had originally led those survivors.

It was Karhin.

“We came here by accident in the first place. I only took charge of those people for a while because you were in no condition to do it. Now it’s time for everything to go back where it belongs.”

-But... there are still many problems scattered across this land that must be resolved. I worry whether we can deal with them without you.

At those words from him.

I let out a laugh, as if I found it absurd.

“...You’re worried?”

Just as he said.

There were still many problems left to solve in this land.

But.

From my perspective, I was not especially worried.

'Who’s worrying about whom here?'

Karhin had originally been a marquis-grade vampire.

In terms of his prime strength,

he was an {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} existence who would not fall short even compared to Ariella, who had held out while grappling with that grand duke.

No, if actual combat experience and such were considered, he might even be better than her.

Though his strength had weakened considerably after enduring beneath the sun for so many long years.

'Not anymore.'

The presence I could feel inside that dark curtain.

That presence was full of vitality.

The reason was nothing special.

'Because the blood taken from the grand duke... was absurdly, ridiculously abundant.'

At the final moment.

When Jinlei joined the battle against that grand duke,

most of the blood he possessed had spilled out.

All that blood fell under Ariella’s control, and for the moment, she had drunk all of it, but.

-...I tried, but I do not think it is possible.

She, who had formed the Oath of Retainers with me again.

There was something she had said with a strained expression.

-At my current level, I can barely properly manage even a third of this blood.

To begin with.

At the final moment, the grand duke had devoured every member of his bloodline.

The grand duke’s own power alone was tremendous.

And on top of that, the blood of every bloodline member except the grand duke had been added.

Though Ariella had risen above the position of family head,

her title was still only marquis.

...I had no idea whether “only” was a word that should be used for a title like that, but anyway.

In any case, compared to a grand duke, there was still another rank called duke between them.

Meaning the difference in status between the two vampires was at least two stages.

Even Ariella would have difficulty digesting all of the grand duke’s power alone.

And yet she had to digest an even greater amount than that.

Naturally, it was impossible.

Because of that.

'We decided to split it, basically.'

Right now.

Most of that blood had left Ariella’s possession.

I looked into the shadow.

After Ariella was bound to me again.

Her territory had once more settled beneath my feet.

Inside it, I could feel an enormous number of presences.

They had originally been countless monsters occupying a city.

And now, they had become Ariella’s knights.

At the point when Ariella’s essence changed back into what she had been before becoming a vampire,

she became unable to suck the blood of the innocent any longer.

A vampire who did not drink blood would weaken over time, but.

'There’s more than enough of the grand duke’s blood. For a while, there won’t be a problem.'

Not only she herself, but her forces as well.

Through the grand duke’s blood, they would preserve their strength.

In fact, most of her troops might even grow stronger.

It would be difficult to increase her forces any further than that.

But there was no longer any need to worry about the cost of maintaining the countless troops already settled inside the shadow.

The retainers she had possessed even before coming here were safe as well.

So aside from Ariella’s own power, even her forces had swelled enormously.

-Of course I am worried.

And.

Even after feeding Ariella’s forces to satisfaction, that blood was still overflowing by a great deal.

There was already a place for that excess blood to be used.

-With the power you have bestowed upon me... I will try to resolve it somehow.

That was precisely him.

Karhin, too, was reluctant to drink blood mixed with that of humans.

But what we handed him was blood from which all the souls bound inside had been purified away, leaving only pure power.

After learning that fact, Karhin did not hesitate much to accept that blood either.

Right now, he had fully recovered the strength of his prime.

On top of that.

'That guy is different from Ariella, too.'

Unlike her, who was reluctant to consume the blood of other lives itself,

Karhin’s stance was that it did not matter as long as the target was not human.

There was no longer any need for him to maintain the sun above his head either.

He would be able to take the monsters appearing all across the world as retainers and expand his power.

Most ordinary problems would be solved in an instant if that guy stepped forward himself.

-By the way... if you are leaving, there is something I should tell you.

But then.

Karhin opened his mouth in a slightly solemn tone.

***

-As you know, the grand duke was able to glimpse, to some extent, the situations in other regions with his power.

“Ah, it seems most fairly strong monsters can do things like that.”

-And... he informed others of some of the situations he saw in distant places.

At those words.

There was something I suspected as well.

-To our south... and to the north of your homeland, there is a nation.

“......”

-In that land, some extraordinary existence must be lying in wait.

The past Kaio had told me about.

Originally, there had been separate leaders commanding the humans of this land.

But they had fallen for the grand duke’s persuasion and sold humanity over to the vampires.

Obviously, they had not done something like that because they had gone mad.

It was simply.

'Because they thought there was no way to respond to the coming threat except that method.'

The scenes of other regions the grand duke had shown them had been that despairing.

...And among them.

There had also been a warning about a nation close to the Legion.

-The grand duke said that if it were him, he could resolve that problem as well. And though you did defeat even that grand duke....

“That was mostly because the conditions lined up well.”

If he had not placed an oath on me.

If, thanks to that, I had not succeeded in dragging the battle into a blood-drinking contest instead of a simple fight.

Even if we had poured in every bit of power on this land, we would never have been his match.

To begin with, even after we succeeded in forcing things into that blood-drinking contest,

we had only barely managed to win with Jinlei’s help.

'Just because we defeated the grand duke doesn’t mean we’re stronger than the grand duke.'

A threat that the grand duke had declared he could defeat if it were him.

Whether we could overcome that threat or not was still unknown.

'North Korea, huh.'

Meaning there was a high possibility that an existence even that powerful grand duke had declared a threat was lying in wait in a nation very close to us.

It was a pretty bleak story.

-I understand that the boundaries blocking each region within this nation were all lifted in an instant.

But.

There was at least one fortunate point.

-That means there is a high chance the boundary blocking movement between nations will open all at once as well.

“Probably.”

-In that case, when that boundary opens, you will not be the only ones sharing a border with that land.

That threat would certainly be dangerous.

Perhaps.

It might even be an enemy difficult to overcome with the Legion’s power alone.

But.

-Therefore.

Karhin and the countless awakened lined up behind him looked at us.

-When that time comes, we will stand with you.

“......”

-You led us. When the time comes, we will become your strength.

That powerful something the grand duke had warned of.

When the time came to fight that something.

The Legion would by no means be alone.

The number of awakened living on this land was enormous.

On top of that.

Karhin would devour every monster on this land and expand his authority.

The power of a vampire able to expand his authority without any restrictions was tremendous.

There was still some possibility that Karhin would be devoured by the vampire’s power and fall into corruption, but.

The residents of this land were all people who possessed the strength to resist that vampire.

Those awakened would be able to keep Karhin’s corruption in check and stop it.

“When that time comes, I’ll be counting on you.”

-Yes.

I smiled faintly and turned my back.

I could see the unit members standing before that transfer gate.

And.

-Then, may you go safely. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Karhin stretched out his hand and sent mana into that transfer gate.

In response.

Inside my shadow.

From Ariella, who had taken position in the fortress within it, an immense surge of mana poured out.

Pzzzzzzzt...!

The hole that had been gray and inactive.

That gate began to ripple black.

[The transfer gate has been activated!]

The gate we had struggled so hard to activate, yet had never been able to open.

That gate had finally been activated.

***

“We will enter first.”

“Yeah.”

The unit members stepped inside one by one.

I, too,

followed them and approached the gate one step at a time.

But then.

Tap....

Among those who had continued entering the gate,

one stopped before it.

A man whose face was hidden because he had pulled his military poncho deep over himself.

Without entering the transfer gate, he carefully turned back.

I, too,

glanced toward the place his gaze was aimed.

'The ward.'

Far away.

The ward holding the wounded.

At the window of that ward,

I could see a wounded, massive warrior looking down at this place.

“Our military medic’s medical skill is far better than you imagine.”

After seeing that sight,

I smiled faintly and spoke to the man.

“By the time you see him again, he’ll be completely back to normal. He’ll look like he doesn’t even remember the wounds you gave him.”

“...I hope so.”

At those words.

The guy gave a bitter smile, nodded, and turned his back.

Pzzzt....

After confirming that he had entered the gate,

I, too, moved my feet inside.

***

And.

The moment I stepped into that gate.

The scenery that appeared before my eyes was not the ruined Seoul I had expected.

...Not that it was a clean and intact Seoul either.

{Where have you been wandering for so long?}

It was similar to the space I had been dragged into not too long ago.

But unlike that space filled with darkness,

this one shone with a soft white light.

“...Mirinae.”

{Well, still. It seems you returned safely, so that is fortunate.}

An existence in the form of a woman wearing fluttering martial robes.

Mirinae looked at me and spoke.