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“There’s an ambush 50 meters ahead. Roughly seven of them.”

Jenis gazed into the crystal ball and conveyed the message to Jeongjae. The chase was becoming far stickier and sloppier than the two had initially anticipated.

The goblins seemed like they anticipated that the two wizards would break the barrier at any moment, hiding remnants of their forces here and there to thwart the pursuit. It wasn’t difficult to take down the blocking goblins, but considering they were already rapidly exhausting their mana with fast spells and the influence of the Great Magic they had cast before, it was sufficiently annoying.

“I don’t know who’s pulling this off, but they really know how to annoy wizards. It’s downright suspicious.”

“Anyone would be annoyed by such tactics, not just wizards!”

Luckily, because Jenis could scout from above, the two could avoid further trouble. Without her reconnaissance, it was highly likely that Jeongjae would have gotten lost in the chase.

Jenis fluttered her wings and soared higher to avoid the arrows shot by the hidden bandits aiming at her.

“To deplete regular soldiers like this… The Demon King’s Army may have plenty of troops, but if only they’d give me command authority, I could employ them much better!”

“Anyone could find far better ways to utilize their subordinates than this. Let’s not pity them.”

“Of course. The only pity I feel is for the people of our empire, left defenseless against these brutes.”

As they continued to be slowed down by the emerging guerilla bandits, the distance to the main bandit force seemed to stretch further away.

“There’s nothing for it. Even if it means using up more mana, we need to pick up the pace.”

“But if we do that, we might end up short on mana for when we actually confront the main force. Be careful.”

“Unless the Gargoyle Queen is mixed in with the enemy, I won’t run low on mana. Here we go!”

Jeongjae reinforced the acceleration magic circle that was already cast on his legs, making it even stronger. Jenis matched his speed from above, and their pace escalated to a level unmatched by the cavalry.

Naturally, the gap between them and the running bandits and wizards started to close slowly. The disparity that had once been over 15 kilometers shrank to 10 kilometers, then 5 kilometers, and finally, within mere 500 meters. Jenis descended to lower altitudes and urged Jeongjae to slow down.

“If we keep charging at this speed, we’re going to crash head-on. Let’s slow it down a bit.”

“Oh, right. I think I can already see them.”

The first objective of the pursuit operation was a success. The two had barely managed to catch sight of the goblin army’s movements from a location not far inside the no-man’s-land mountain range, which seemed a bit distant from the Southern Alliance’s area of influence.

Though they had drained significant stamina and mana, if it was simply the bandit group they were dealing with, they weren’t too fatigued yet. Jeongjae canceled the speed-boosting magic from his legs and, assuming a combat posture, approached the goblin horde slowly.

The bandits seemed to have concluded that further fleeing was pointless, halting their rush to the northwest and turning to face the wizards in battle formation. Utilizing their numerical superiority, they spread out in a formation prepared for encirclement maneuvers.

It was a classic “divide and conquer” strategy, preparing for a cavalry encirclement based on mobility. Despite having sacrificed half of their forces and sending a third as ambush fodder, there was no visible loss of fighting strength or morale among the troops.

Jeongjae began to doubt if referring to these goblins as “bandits” was even right.

“If we hadn’t caught them, it would’ve been a real problem…”

The Grand Mage muttered with a magical circle of flames on both hands. No matter how well-trained the enemy’s regular troops were, there existed an overwhelming gap in combat power between Jeongjae, Jenis, and the goblin cavalry.

Being surrounded wasn’t a huge concern, but if they could burst the enemy’s flanks beforehand, then that would be the best course of action. Just as Jeongjae aimed to scorch the widely spread second wing of the enemy with overwhelming firepower, a large goblin riding a wolf sprang out from the center of the enemy lines to intercept Jeongjae’s movements.

“What the…?”

A bizarre goblin shaman wearing a feathered hat and holding a stick adorned with bells emerged. To Jeongjae’s disbelief, he was caught completely off-guard by the staff wielded by the shaman and fell backward.

Watching the ridiculous situation from above, Jenis was startled and quickly dove down.

“Professor? What on earth was that stupid move just now…?”

“I mean, it was foolish, but if you say it so bluntly, what does that make me?”

At that moment, the goblin leaped off the wolf and swung the stick to strike Jeongjae again. Jenis rushed forward, thrusting her staff to block the shaman’s attack mid-air. The Great Sage drew Margaret’s sword from her waist and, weapon in both hands, started swinging it at the goblin shaman.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes, four strikes. Jenis executed a flashy series of attacks, but the goblin shaman seemed to foresee her moves, easily tilting his stick left and right to parry all her blows.

Equally surprising for Jenis, as much as it was for the goblin to read her movements, was the fact that the shaman’s stick didn’t bear even a scratch from Margaret’s cutting edge.

It was a sword so sharp that even a little more strength would slice through dragon scales. If it didn’t break against Jennifer’s attacks infused with the power of a vampire, then it was undoubtedly something that could not be classified as a regular staff.

“Uhm, Professor. I’m going to take back what I said earlier…”

“What are you canceling?”

Jeongjae rubbed his forehead and struggled back to his feet. The goblin shaman’s dazzling staff techniques had forced Jenis back as she desperately defended against the onslaught.

“It’s not that you’re foolish, it’s just that this creature is incredibly strong!”

“Am I dreaming? Did I maybe faint after that hit?”

Jeongjae blinked in disbelief at the sight of Jenis being pushed back by the goblin’s staff techniques. Jenis shouted as she swung her sword in a frantic voice.

“This isn’t a dream or an illusion! If you’ve woken up, can you hurry and pitch in?!”

“Eh? Oh, right!”

Jeongjae clutched the wind blades in both hands and hurled them towards the goblin shaman. The shaman tilted his body slightly to dodge the wind boomerang and then swung the stick, hitting it right back at Jeongjae.

Jeongjae, unable to catch the wind boomerang that returned unexpectedly, suffered a shallow wound to his finger. The Grand Mage sulked, sucking his pinky like a baby.

“What in the world is that ridiculous stick!? It’s not like I’m facing Sun Wukong!”

“Tell me about it! But who is Sun Wukong?”

“It’s not something you need to know! That thing is definitely not a goblin. No doubt about it!”

At Jeongjae’s words, Jenis paused her actions momentarily. Stepping back, she pointed her staff towards the goblin shaman and started channeling a red beam of light.

“You’re definitely the Professor. You were right about that!”

“What? I just blurted that out in my anger…”

“Thinking logically, there’s no way a goblin could be this strong. The barrier spell placed in that territory was absolutely beyond any goblin shaman’s level. This thing is messing with us, something else entirely!”

At Jenis’s words, Jeongjae nodded, realizing something. Yes, considering the unseen tactical genius, powerful spells, and current combat strength, there was nothing that could be achieved through the goblin shaman’s power. Why had it taken so long for him to notice?

Jeongjae gathered an “Dispel” magical circle in both hands to strip away the goblin’s shapeshifting magic, pointing it at the goblin. In that instant, the magical circle erupted in light, and as they lifted the enchantments surrounding the goblin shaman, his true form began to reveal itself.

Pale skin, a pronounced nose. A broad forehead and crimson eyes. The progenitor of vampire lords who incited this entire affair, Count Dracula stood before the two wizards.

“You breached my trap sooner than I anticipated.”

Dracula chuckled upon revealing his true form.

“But realizing my identity during a direct confrontation has come later than expected.”

“That’s absurd.”

Jeongjae looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly setting, but it was not quite dark yet. Having sacrificed 3,000 goblins’ lives to cast the Great Magic and having rushed for a full 12 hours, Dracula’s stamina shouldn’t be that great, yet he displayed this level of combat power even under the sun, something that defied Jeongjae’s understanding.

Turning to Jenis, she seemed to share the same thought.

He’s strong. From the moment he deceived both of their eyes simultaneously, the vampire lord in front of them had transformed into a being far more powerful than before.

“Harker… Should I refer to you as ‘Young Master’?”

Dracula gazed directly at Jenis and asked. Jenis silently nodded.

“Call me whatever you like. I have no desire for a name from someone like you.”

“Harker Young Master. Quite the surprised expression there. Rather, it’s ironic that your expression implies the goblin was stronger than I am. Oh, is that so? Did Dracula really seem that unreliable in Van Helsing’s eyes?”

Jenis neither affirmed nor denied Dracula’s words. Rather, she seemed to be starting to keep an eye on the goblin cavalry that was subtly beginning to encircle the three of them.

Dracula’s power was real. And so was the goblin cavalry’s strength.

Neither Jeongjae nor Jenis was in perfect condition. At least Jenis could probably recover her stamina through the blood of a vampire once night fell, but thinking about what kind of being Dracula was in front of them made that fact hardly a source of comfort.

Both Jenis and Jeongjae felt instinctively.

They were completely cornered. From start to finish, everything had been trapped by the enemy. They should have taken the goblin’s forces more seriously and fortified their defenses better. Instead of attempting to intercept the enemy cavalry with just the two of them, they should have divided their allied forces to set up a proper defense in the east and, if the situation turned dire, secretly requested Eramenia’s intervention.

Was Margaret resting and healing from her injuries in that forest beyond the mountains? If they had successfully set up defenses in the east and discreetly called for her support, Margaret would have undoubtedly rushed over, even if she had to clutch her wounds. But now, regretting and hypothesizing like this was pointless.

Before them, Dracula displayed unprecedented strength, surrounded by elite soldiers ready to charge at the wizards without fear the moment orders were given. The sun was setting, and time was on their enemy’s side. If they died here, it would truly be an absurd end. Yet, there was a sufficient possibility that they might not return from this battle.

“Jenis. If it gets dangerous, unfurl your wings and escape. Having both of us die at once wouldn’t be good for morale.”

Jeongjae spoke in a voice full of firm resolve. Should the situation warrant, he had a trump card that could definitively deal with the enemy before him. Whether or not she knew of Jeongjae’s thoughts, Jenis exhaled a sigh, appearing not to be too anxious.

“Everyone has their own way to find their grave. We’re not there yet. This place is rather flimsy, and the timing is strange. Let’s smash it! We can still fight!”

As the crimson sunset bled into darkness, when the sun no longer became visible, the vampire lord raised one arm and bellowed.

“Kill them! With this battle, I will surpass all lords beneath the vampire lord’s legacy!”

 

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