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“That was quite an impressive operation.”

The Demon King assessed fairly. As he said, Dracula had exerted efforts in this trap to the extent that vampires would spit blood on the floor.

First of all, it required a threatening force that wasn’t too few yet wasn’t excessive either. It also needed mobility that a standard army could not counter. All these conditions had to be met to avoid arousing Van Helsing’s suspicion while simultaneously luring only the wizards to defend against this threat.

While keeping Duke Jeffrey’s allied forces thoroughly constrained, it was also Dracula’s intent to strike mercilessly, making sure not a single soldier felt wasted in the south, as long as the western regions of the allied territories did not fall. From the very beginning, the vampires had launched simultaneous assaults on several regions to bind the allied forces.

Arthur Harker adeptly responded to Dracula’s attacks by rallying the southern soldiers under the allied banner, yet even this move had been anticipated in Dracula’s calculations. By exerting heavy pressure on the western lands of the central territories, Dracula made Van Helsing hesitate to split his forces to counter the threat coming from the east.

While Park Jeongjae hesitated with doubts about Dracula’s illusory plans to invade Baron Harriet’s Territory, Dracula trained goblin cavalrymen, specially approved by the Demon King, in a no-man’s land mountain range, unseen by anyone.

If the numbers were too many, there was a risk that not only the allied forces but even Walter’s central army might notice and respond. Conversely, if the numbers were too few, they might fail to execute all their tasks in the battle and risk being wiped out by the two wizards.

After much careful calculation and deliberation, Dracula decided on a scale of about 8,000 for the goblin and kobold cavalry and trained them in hiding within the mountains until they became elite fighters. The reason Dracula himself hadn’t shown his face on the battlefield, nor had Jeongjae spotted him, was simply because he was hidden in a place away from surveillance, between the mountain ranges.

During this time, if the Great Sage had caught a whiff of something suspicious and hastily pulled Jeongjae to annihilate the vampire army in the south, it could have been a big blunder. If Jenis had not become too absorbed in pondering the effects of dragon blood on vampires and had acted quickly and decisively to eliminate the western front’s threats, then the vampire lord would have had to abandon all strategies and return to square one.

His strategy was based on the premise that all of the Southern Alliance’s forces were tied down in the west.

Luckily for Dracula, Jenis spent a valuable month entangled in the unfruitful task of capturing vampires. While it may have been important to her in some regard, it was ultimately merely a process of empirically reconfirming facts she had already surmised, leading her to miss a precious opportunity to block the imminent schemes.

By the time Jenis conveyed her thoughts to Jeongjae, saying “Even if I leave my post, the Baron Harriet’s Territory won’t be invaded”, and entered into the full-fledged vampire extermination operation, Dracula had already finished training the 8,000 goblin legion he had assembled to eliminate the two wizards for good.

Subsequently, everything unfolded precisely as Dracula had anticipated. Abraham Van Helsing, feeling burdened by the forces tied down in the west, resolved to deploy all the most powerful forces at his disposal to block the goblins and secure the safety of the eastern territories.

If the goblin army appeared too powerful, the cautious duo of wizards might request even stronger support from the central army or could not be ruled out to draw the Eramenia forces into this matter, so Dracula disguised himself as a Goblin Shaman, presenting the goblins as “a sufficiently manageable foe.”

The vampire lord’s plan moved along smoothly. As he had anticipated, Jeongjae and Jenis wasted immense energy trying to breach the magical sealed territory they sought to defend. Bringing Gemini in to expedite the matter was unexpected, yet it was a significant achievement that the magic powers of the two who employed the great magic visibly diminished.

It was also his intent to send faster forces to chase them at full speed. Using strong rapid magic naturally placed a considerable burden on the wizards’ magical limits, but through this method, he successfully pressured the energies and stamina that the two powerful wizards had needed to actually fight.

Having drunk enough dragon’s blood to become as powerful or perhaps even more so than the Demon King, the two wizards worn out were now delicious ingredients for culinary delights.

One last thing, if he had been able to predict that the lightning he unleashed in excitement could provoke the king of Eramenia over the mountain range, he would have truly caught a prize catch worthy of legends from the fishing world.

Even the efforts and achievements Dracula contributed to plotting this plan could not go unacknowledged by the Demon King. However, this only highlighted the one grave mistake that had ruined everything.

“I am… ashamed…”

“If your cute plan had succeeded, I would have laughed greatly. No, there would have been no more enjoyable situation for me than that. Had I killed both of them at once, this war would have essentially been won. The south would have fallen entirely into the grasp of the Demon King’s army, and while the hero would have hurried to retreat, they would end up crushed beneath assaults from both the north and south. It was indeed an operation capable of annihilating humanity. But!”

The Demon King seemed to momentarily become enraged but soon shook her head with a resigned expression.

“No, it’s fine. This might even be for the best. If the threat to humanity disappears, the dragons will surely raise their banners in rebellion. Without Father’s machine, I cannot guarantee that I can triumph against the dragons. I must consider that the time is not right yet. Don’t bow your head. I have already forgiven you for all your errors.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“So, what will you do going forward? The open battlefield cannot be reversed. Even if you now retreat all your troops and run north, Arthur Harker will continue to use our threat to strengthen the allied forces further and further. No, rather, once the battlefield is cleared, Jeffrey will ally with him and grow strong enough to underestimate the southern troops.”

“Your Majesty, do you wish for me to continue to confront Harker in this place?”

“Then are you planning to stay cooped up in this mountain? Just over a failed hunt? Anyone seeing you would think this is your first encounter with failure.”

The Demon King scoffed, pointing out, glancing around. Dracula, having evaded King Richard’s threats, quickly transformed back from his dragon appearance and hid once more in the wilderness, evading the eyes of fairies.

It was not difficult for the Demon King, who had continued to wander the south with an interest in the events happening down there, to locate him. She had long since grasped where the vampire lord was hiding at all times.

“If that is Your Majesty’s command, my vampires and I will continue to fight. I will separate Harker and Jeffrey and block the south from getting too large.”

There was a distinct air of dejection in Dracula’s tone. It was clear that the previous failure had impacted his spirit immensely. The Demon King, observing his demeanor, shook her head with a look of dissatisfaction.

“Are you satisfied with such a small role, Dracula?”

“If you merely issue orders, I will do anything…”

“There’s no other way. Break through head-on. If you can secure the original of the Moriarty Machine, it would be as valuable a gift to me as the lives of those two wizards.”

“Are you saying to secure the Moriarty Machine… and offer it to you, Your Majesty?”

“You heard me correctly. That plan was your best scheme you could offer. Since it has ended in vain, the Great Sage will no longer lower her guard and will not approach as she does now, disregarding your scheme. You cannot expect her to fall for the same trick twice. The wizard who manipulates Reina’s red eyes will not be that easy to handle.”

“She is not an easy fish to catch…”

“If you have no tricks left, all you have is strength. Use it. Break through Baron Harriet’s Territory directly and seize what you desire. No matter what, ensure that machine is secured and brought before my eyes.”

Dracula, who appeared to be pondering the Demon King’s order for a moment, nodded with a grim expression. The Demon King had thus far extended considerable convenience to him. Even the vampire forces not being forcibly conscripted into northern defense during the hero’s campaign was because she promised that success would be guaranteed and had accepted his covert request for help with goblin training.

However, she was neither a patient nor an exceptionally prudent lord. There is a limit to appealing through kinship. If he did not carry out this command, there was no guarantee of what the future would hold. But should he succeed in carrying out this command, the rewards would surely be sweet.

“I will follow your command.”

“Then descend this mountain immediately and begin your actions. I will not tolerate laziness.”

Dracula bowed deeply to the Demon King before rushing out of his hiding place and fleeing down the mountain. The Demon King quietly watched the back of the vampire lord as he slumped down.

When Dracula was finally out of sight, the Demon King muttered blankly to herself.

“Do you understand what it means to become addicted to dragon’s blood?”

The Demon King had not been unfamiliar with putting that blood to her lips. In a truly unavoidable situation, at a moment when it was absolutely necessary, the Demon King had wounded a dragon with her own hands and stained her lips with its blood.

On the body of the Dragon Lord remained the scar from the time the Demon King had personally cut with her hands. To block the Dragon Lord who had aimed for the throne left vacant immediately after the death of James Moriarty, the current Demon King had shown her power by directly confronting and sucking the blood of the dragon, completely subjugating the rival.

Perhaps that battle, a hundred years ago, had left a trauma, for even during normal times, the Dragon Lord, who was not weaker than the Demon King, had ultimately come to fear facing her head-on, to the point of submission. It was because the Demon King had already experienced just how sweet the dragon’s blood was and how electrifying the power gained through that blood was, that she understood Dracula’s heart.

But Dracula had overindulged. The Demon King, if asked to compare, was wiser and far more prudent. No matter how fleeting a victory you may achieve, being consumed by the powerful mana contained in dragon’s blood could never be a lasting advantage for a vampire.

It seemed Dracula still did not comprehend this fact. The Demon King contemplated deeply about how to handle this issue while watching him.

Thinking it was meaningless to ponder here any longer, the Demon King set her steps toward the south. Many claimed to follow her, but few swore in genuine loyalty. Even if there were some, many had already perished by Walter’s sword in the war.

She damned that she would seize this world by whatever means necessary. There was no other goal or reason to add. The world was here, and the continent belonged to her.

When dreaming of world domination, one does not require a purpose for where to use that world. She would grasp the world. Tread over Caprice, shatter the Imperial Palace, and slaughter humanity, filling the continent with demon kind.

And once all human blood had passed through her hands, she would incinerate Eramenia with the eternal flames of dragons and directly execute the Fairy King, erasing every trace of light left in this world. Since that day when she severed her father’s neck and ascended to the throne, she had resolved to do just that.

The Demon King descended the mountain. For her plans, the machine was an absolute necessity. The machine her father had painstakingly created, which no intelligence could ever restore, had to be dismantled without fail to uncover its perfect operating principles.

If she could succeed, it would be a decisive step to secure victory for the demon race in this war forever.

 

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