Episode 149: Knight Order Leader vs. Kingdom Knight Order General

　The battle between Beatrice and Zefard had reached its climax.

　The tide of battle clearly favored Zefard.

　Beatrice’s armor was shattered, her body etched with countless wounds, her breathing ragged. She’d avoided fatal blows, but her limit was near.

　In contrast, Zefard remained almost unscathed.

“What’s the matter, Beatrice Nightray?”

　Zefard declared, glaring sharply at her.

“Why aren’t you using the vampire’s power? —Show me your full strength!”

　Zefard’s sword howled. It pulverized the walls of nearby houses, gouged the ground, and mercilessly bore down on Beatrice.

　She dodged it by a hair’s breadth, barely managing to defend as she was knocked back.

　Seeing her like that, Zefard suddenly harbored a certain suspicion.

“Don’t tell me… you haven’t turned into a vampire?”

　If she had already become a vampire, there’d be no reason not to use her abilities in this situation.

“I see… How disappointing, Beatrice Nightray!”

　Whether she lacked the aptitude to become a vampire or had refused it by her own will, either way, she hadn’t undergone the transformation.

　As Felix’s daughter, a being who harbored the power of the Seven Great Calamities—that was why Zefard had deemed her worthy to become his sustenance.

　But if she wasn’t a vampire—then she held no value.

“I’ve got no use for trash! Get lost already!”

　Zefard’s sword closed in once more.

(…That’s quite the selfish logic.)

　Beatrice murmured that inwardly.

　The man who had severed her father’s arm. Now, that very person was disappointed in her for not being a vampire. It was utterly selfish and arrogant.

　Yet—no anger welled up within her.

　Her heart was as still as a windless lake surface.

　In that tranquility, Beatrice gazed upon the essence of the man called Zefard.

　Arrogant and cunning. He pursued power without regard for means. Thus, he was strong.

　However, she felt no fear in battling such an opponent.

　Because—Beatrice already knew a far deeper terror.

　—Hoo.

　She exhaled quietly.

　In this fight, there was no need to strike repeatedly. Just one blow. A single attack to sever life—that would suffice.

　Until that moment arrived, she simply had to wait in silence.

　—And then.

　The instant Zefard’s sword, wreathed in crimson magic, swung down—

　Beatrice twisted her body in the narrow alley, evading that strike by the slimmest margin.

　‘That moment’ had come.

　What she unleashed here was a single slash honed precisely for this instant.

　Ironically, Beatrice’s magic color was the same ‘red’ as Zefard’s.

　But her crimson magic burned more fiercely, more vividly than his.

　And then, her blade flashed—sharply slicing diagonally across Zefard’s body.

“Gah…!”

　Blood sprayed from Zefard’s mouth, his eyes widening in shock.

“What… the…”

　Beatrice’s sword flash had completely exceeded his predictions.

　It was only because it was Zefard that he even realized he’d been cut. An ordinary swordsman wouldn’t have understood what had happened at all.

“To think it would outpace even my reactions. I never imagined you’d hidden such a technique…”

　Zefard said that, but his expression still showed composure.

“That was a splendid strike—I’ll praise it as such. But in the end, that’s the limit of a human.”

　Beatrice’s sword had indeed cleaved Zefard’s body. From shoulder to abdomen. Even his heart.

　But—for Zefard, who possessed the power of the necromancer Lugdura, such a wound wasn’t fatal.

　If he channeled magic into it, his flesh would regenerate immediately.

　—Or so it should have.

“…What?”

　Even when he infused magic, the wound didn’t heal.

　Far from stopping the blood, his diagonally severed upper body—slid off with a wet sound, collapsing.

“What the hell is this!? What… did you do!?”

“—Non-Return Slash.”

　Beatrice declared quietly.

“Your immortality, the principles of flesh regeneration—I’ve severed them all here.”

　In her mind, the scene from that day resurfaced. The moment Siegfried had declared he would conduct ‘human experimentation.’

 

◇

 

　Rewinding time, to before the war with the Kirchhen Kingdom began.

　Dagrom Fortress City Headquarters. In the operations room.

　It was the moment Siegfried declared he would now conduct ‘human experimentation.’

“Then, I’ll explain the content of the human experimentation we’re about to perform. It is…”

　The silver-haired youth calmly surveyed everyone and proclaimed.

“—To hack my body to pieces, gouge out my heart, smash my head, infuse magic and make it explode. And use every other conceivable method to kill me… That’s what it entails.”

“Wh… What!?”

　Fen involuntarily raised her voice.

“H-Hold on, what are you suddenly saying!? Weren’t you going to do human experiments on our bodies? Why’s it turned into killing you!?”

“—I told you earlier. You’re misunderstanding.”

“Huh…?”

“I never said a word about performing human experiments ‘on your bodies.’ I said I’d perform human experiments ‘using you all.’ In other words—‘using you all to perform human experiments on my body.’”

“Why would you do such a thing…”

　Beatrice leaned forward.

“This was supposed to be about human experimentation to help us defeat the enemy. I assumed it would be experiments to turn us into vampires…”

“Even if I turned you all into vampires, it wouldn’t overturn the enemy’s advantage. The enemy has possessed Lugdura’s power for several years now and must be well-versed in its use. Countering the power of the Seven Great Calamities with the power of the Seven Great Calamities would still leave the enemy with the upper hand. Moreover, mastering vampire power requires a suitable training period. Even Evan needed three months to control his power. But… the war with the Kirchhen Kingdom is right upon us.”

　—In that case, rather than turning Beatrice and the others into vampires, it was more logical to have them acquire a different method to defeat the enemy.

“That’s why the human experimentation. Devise techniques capable of killing me with your own hands. I also harbor the power of the Seven Great Calamities in my body. In that regard, I’m the same as the enemies you’ll face. A convenient test subject, right?”

　Celestina and Lugdura were similar in nature—that was something Siegfried had mentioned before.

　If so, then techniques powerful enough to kill Siegfried… should work on enemies who possessed Lugdura’s power as well.

“This way, you’ll all be complicit in human experimentation. It’s becoming quite fitting for evil executives. Plus, it’s preferable that you gain ‘power capable of killing me.’ Not knowing when your subordinates might kill you—that kind of tension is what makes a true evil king.”

　Siegfried smiled amusedly.

“Of course, I have no intention of perishing here. I’ve already prepared my body with magic in advance, setting it up to revive upon death. Though, there’s no guarantee it’ll succeed perfectly.”

“That ‘thirty percent chance of dying’ you mentioned earlier—was about yourself, huh.”

　Leon muttered in astonishment.

“Are you serious…? You’re insane!? If something like that fails…”

“But there’s no better way to test vampire powers. And I told you— this is a gamble with sufficient odds of success.”

“Even so… In the worst case, that means we…”

　—We’d end up taking your life.

　Cutting off Leon’s words as he started to say that, Siegfried coldly declared.

“I couldn’t care less about your pain or dignity. That’s what human experimentation is.”

　Even if he died—and even if that tormented Leon and the others with guilt, it was of no concern to Siegfried.

“…You really are one hell of an evil bastard.”

“To me, that’s the highest compliment.”

　And so, the gruesome experiment began.

　Human experimentation—targeting Siegfried von Kreving.