---

Count Harker did not sleep soundly even at night. It wasn’t that he typically took long naps during the day, but considering his physical characteristics, it was to be expected.

Vampires do not sleep deeply at night. In fact, sleeping at night is physically inappropriate. Some powerful vampires like Dracula, or higher vampires influenced by him, may not sleep at all, whether it’s day or night, but ordinary vampires usually rest during the day and commence their activities once the sun sets.

However, Arthur Harker, who was pretending to be a completely human being, could not live according to the usual routine of an ordinary vampire. Naturally, he had to rise early in the morning and fulfill his daily duties normally until sunset.

The crucifix hanging around Count Harker’s neck played a very important role for him. Over a century ago, Sherlock Holmes, using his exceptional intellect, devised various devices that allowed Van Helsing to carry out at least the minimum daily life. Thanks to this, Van Helsing had been able to behave like a regular person without sleeping during the day for almost a hundred years.

Of course, he could only act this naturally after meeting his late wife. Sherlock Holmes had vanished so quickly and abruptly from this world, and the research to assist Van Helsing in his normal daily life was stalled with the disappearance of Simon Harriet.

Unlike Holmes and Moriarty, who came to this world by accident, Van Helsing had purposefully crossed over by opening the doors between the two worlds, and he did not possess extraordinary magical talent or special powers.

According to a theory proposed by James Moriarty during the time he cooperated with Holmes, the reason a human from Earth could exert incredible power in this world was that “the mana energy that maintained the passage between the two worlds was absorbed by the soul as the gate, which was instantaneously formed, collapsed.”

If that theory is correct, it explains why Van Helsing could only come to this world without any superhuman abilities. Unlike the gates that were created by accident, the one that Van Helsing crossed was maintained for a relatively long time, so the amount of mana absorbed during the passage through the gate had to be very minimal.

It might sound like a long story, but the important fact is that it has been over a hundred years since Van Helsing had experienced true sleep, and on that night, he had of course sent the servants home early and was holed up in his room, immersed in reading and contemplation.

Count Harker noticed the blue magic circles rising from various places in the city through the window and realized something extraordinary was happening.

These magic circles, which almost covered the entire territory, including the castle, were none other than the work of Jenis Harker. Although he had no affinity for magic, the Count, due to his long lifespan, had managed to complete at least a rough theoretical study and knew under what conditions this magic circle would activate.

Although it was powerful, Jenis, who was still inexperienced, found it difficult to set detailed activation conditions for the defensive magic. Making it too sensitive could lead to an alarm being triggered just by one or two lost orc goblins wandering in. Considering that this defensive system was essentially a kind of game for Jenis, excessive responses could result in catastrophic failures.

Therefore, this magic circle was designed to be activated only when a powerful dark mana, at the level of the Orc Legion, invaded the territory’s borders. The powerful mana beams set in the outposts were also a type of decisive weapon intended to inflict significant damage on large legions. The numerous binding magic circles scattered across the ground were meant to both guide those beams while simultaneously capturing orcs to make avoidance impossible.

In any case, unless some significant error has occurred, Count Harker could understand that just the activation of these magic circles indicated that some colossal threat was approaching the territory.

Van Helsing, who had deduced that a battalion had already begun to assemble before the castle, did not initially suspect Dracula as the primary culprit behind this incident.

Dracula had a history of sneaking into the territory day and night without heed. He was aware that Jenis Harker had prepared something in this territory and therefore enjoyed using his methods to sneak inside the estate and threaten Count Harker before discreetly departing once again.

During the previous intrusion, Count Harker had suffered significantly due to Dracula’s petty act of stealing all the necessary medicine ingredients to live normally. Considering the presence of Harker’s crucifix necklace, and the fact that Jenis Harker, a talented wizard who could awaken as a half-vampire at any moment, was terrifying to Dracula, the harm he had caused in this territory could only be seen as that much.

Thus, it was natural that Harker did not suspect Dracula as the primary offender of this incident first. Rather, Van Helsing thought that Dracula must have sent dozens of his minions to carry out a massive provocation against Count Harker’s territory. Naturally, that was a reasonable assumption.

Abraham Van Helsing was unaware that Dracula was infuriated by Jeongjae’s actions to the point of making a hasty emotional judgment.

“Oh, what in the world.”

Count Harker, quickly donning a black uniform and stepping out of the castle, shook his head as he spotted Count Dracula marching towards him boldly.

As soon as Dracula, accompanied by a battalion, spotted Arthur Harker in front of the castle, he raised his hands with a welcoming expression.

“Oh, it’s nice to see an old friend again!”

“Have we known each other for that long, vampire lord?”

Count Harker responded while glancing at the soldiers. Externally, the fact that Arthur Harker was Van Helsing was a secret known to only a few.

If someone like Dracula or the Demon King knew this fact, they could spread it widely to try some psychological or public opinion warfare, but it likely wouldn’t have much significance, so it had never been put into action.

It’s only natural when you think about it. Arthur Harker was a man who rose to the most crucial position in the Empire on his own strength. While there are factions that despised him, far more believed that his maintaining of his position was overwhelmingly advantageous for the Empire. Attempting a premature psychological operation wouldn’t likely yield significant results.

Rather, if the hero with exceptional intellect and the Emperor were to trace the source of that rumor back, they could unearth the espionage network that the succubi had established through routes other than the Archduke. Such an outcome would yield only counterproductive results. The Demon King’s army had already attempted an economic attack by overflowing the assets of dragons, disrupting the value balance within the Empire.

This attack was thwarted early on by Count Harker’s remarkable economic acumen and Walter’s quick actions, who understood the severity of the situation. The result of this bold economic attack was merely the large-scale exposure of the smuggling routes that the Demon King’s army had established within the Imperial military and the execution of the relevant personnel. Clumsy information warfare had never helped the Demon King’s army thus far.

Even if Dracula were to declare alone, “This man is a vampire from another world!” no one would believe it, so Dracula had long abandoned any thoughts of making such pathetic incitements against Van Helsing.

“We’ve known each other for quite some time, Count Harker.”

Dracula bowed his head with a somewhat awkward demeanor. Van Helsing glared at his long-time nemesis, pursing his lips.

“It’s been a while since I came to this land and there was no welcoming party. Surely, those soldiers weren’t all there to welcome me?”

“Those soldiers?”

“They were the ones on duty. They were quite brave, but…”

Dracula lightly licked the blood on his fingertips. A mocking expression surfaced on the pale face of the vampire lord. Count Harker frowned at the fate that had befallen the soldiers who had bravely tried to stop Dracula.

“It’s laughable to see a top official of the Demon King’s army mockingly killing human guards for no meaningful reason.”

“While the fate of the nation hangs in the balance in the north, it seems the vampire lord is busy slaughtering trembling vampires in the rear. Is that the honor of a Grand Mage?”

Count Harker felt pure rage and hatred from Dracula’s words. In some sense, this enemy held a much larger significance than just being an enemy of Van Helsing for Dracula.

The notion that the Honorable and Dracula could not coexist under the same sky flashed through Harker’s mind.

Dracula was, in a sense, the first being to kill the ‘brilliance’ that Jeongjae had possessed. For Jeongjae, who could hardly find a space to genuinely open his heart in this world, the pressure of “I must protect the people I have first gained” occupied a very important part of his ego.

As Jeongjae’s revenge became excessively brutal against Dracula’s subordinates, Dracula too harbored a resentment. Although he had long lost his human feelings, Dracula had once been a being who fought for his people, calling himself a descendant of warriors. Unlike the Demon King, who had never granted humanity to anyone except for the Succubus Queen, Dracula was very attached to the status of the vampire lord he had gained after coming to this world.

The two beings had crossed a line they should never touch. Even in the flow of war where they had to kill each other, Dracula and Jeongjae had become especially peculiar adversaries.

“Ask the Grand Mage about the Grand Mage’s work. This isn’t his land, and I’m not his subordinate.”

“Then you’re saying he isn’t your subordinate, Arthur Harker?”

Dracula’s words made Count Harker show a look of disbelief and snicker.

“Look at this old man, vampire. Just some old, shabby human body. Why would someone like me need to bring such a massive figure to serve me?”

Dracula’s face momentarily distorted as he reached out a hand towards Count Harker. Harker instinctively brought his hand to the necklace, presenting the crucifix in front of him.

Dracula’s power, which aimed to crush Harker’s skull, was completely blocked by the holy power emitted from the crucifix. Harker didn’t stop there, gathering a white light in one hand and aimed it at Dracula.

The battalion leader demanded an attack order from Count Harker.

“Count. The soldiers are ready. The enemy is weak, but with the help of the magic circle created by the Lady, we can trap the enemy right now. Please give the command.”

“Don’t act hastily. I don’t want to escalate something that can end without spilling blood.”

Count Harker said. Of course, with the viewpoint that he could not move based solely on preserving life, the idea of “If I must fight, I want to rely on the power of allies” would have played a considerable role in his thoughts.

There was no need to fight with only the forces of Count Harker’s domain when he could have the alliance he had carefully built. In reality, Count Harker’s mind was already rolling with calculations on how to use this ambush incident as an excuse to obtain military support from major nobles like Koesernis or Jeffrey.

Of course, there are always lunatics who act without such specific calculations. And such people… often become the protagonists of that night.

At the moment when Harker and Dracula were in a precarious confrontation, a whispering thunder’s voice echoed from the sky.

“I found you.”

“Oh, what? Wait, hold on there!”

“Strike down, my thunder.”

Before Dracula and Count Harker could even react, a large magic circle appeared in the sky and shot down lightning. Remarkably accurate, it aimed solely at Dracula.

The identity of the wizard, who was descending using the lightning as a staircase, was something everyone could know without asking.

There was only one wizard in this world who could use the thunder magic like this and walk on it, possessing an entirely different mana talent.

Jeongjae’s thunder struck directly on Dracula’s head. Jeongjae kicked Dracula’s head hard from the air, then spun once while in the air and landed next to Count Harker.

Dracula’s head briefly caught fire, but aside from some singed hair, it didn’t seem to incur any serious damage. Jeongjae had adjusted his attack’s power because using thunder magic with full force would endanger the entire territory.

Count Harker looked at Jeongjae with a startled expression.

“How did you leave your territory and track that guy down? What were you going to do if you got attacked in the meantime?”

“I’ve dealt with most of the small fry. It’s fine, Count.”

Jeongjae, revealing his face after lifting his robe, shook his head. Count Harker opened his mouth as if to admonish something but quickly closed it after seeing Jeongjae’s expression.

There’s no point in admonishing someone who has lost their mind. Even if the target was steadfastly aimed only at the enemy, a Grand Mage who had thrown away all rationality due to prolonged slaughter was too dangerous to lecture recklessly.

 

---