Episode 158: Battle in the Dark Night

Having heard Ignas’s dying scream, Siegfried quietly advances towards the royal palace.

A voice calls out to him from behind.

“I’m terribly sorry, Count Kreving. I meant to be of help… but instead, you ended up saving us.”

Siegfried slowly turns around. Standing there is Serodonia’s sergeant, Balgu, along with his subordinates.

“No, thanks to you all, I was able to make that villain Ignas’s death scene shine even brighter. —It was splendid work.”

Siegfried smiles with satisfaction.

“Villain…? Make his death scene shine…?”

Balgu and the others exchange puzzled looks, and Siegfried explains.

“And it’s about time for the backlash from your vampirization to kick in. Fall back to the rear and link up with Ricardo and the others.”

“Are you heading to the royal palace alone, Count Kreving?”

“Yes. There are only a few signs of people coming from the palace. Likely, the enemies left inside are minimal.”

“…That’s unexpected.”

The enemy’s supreme commander—Luverios—should be in the royal palace. Yet, the defenses being so thin is a situation Balgu finds hard to comprehend.

“Of course, the enemy has their own aims in doing so. In any case, since they’ve gone to the trouble of setting the stage, I intend to charge in there alone.”

With that, Siegfried suddenly breaks into a faint smile.

“…So it’s begun over there as well.”

“Huh…?”

Balgu tilts his head at those words. He can’t grasp the meaning.

But at that moment.

“Ugh…”

A tingling shock races across their skin like it’s being struck.

“What is this…!?”

“What in the world…?”

The other Serodonia soldiers start raising their voices one after another.

An unknown sensation courses through their entire bodies, as if their skin is bubbling and their blood is surging.

“It’s Celestina.”

Siegfried calmly declares.

“Celestina, whom I stationed at the mansion, has started combat. Your blood, as vampires, is reacting to it.”

 

◇

 

Rewinding time a bit. This happens right after the sun has set and the world has sunk into darkness.

In the forest spreading out behind the Kreving Count’s mansion, pitch-black shadows are quietly moving.

They are the secret unit directly under the king—‘Dunkelritter, Knights of Obscurity.’ Though they bear the name of knights, they don’t ride horses. All of them are clad in pitch-black attire that blends into the darkness, racing through the forest on their own feet.

Their number is about twenty.

Though few, they are the elite among the chosen elites.

If it’s the king’s command, they’ll carry out any dirty job without hesitation—that’s the reason for their existence.

This time, their mission is to assault the Kreving Count’s mansion. Eliminate those inside the residence and bring back their heads.

To fulfill the order secretly given by King Luverios, they advance soundlessly through the forest’s darkness.

“—!”

One of them silently draws the short sword at his waist.

It’s because he’s spotted a human figure ahead.

Just when had they been there?

Silver hair and purple eyes. Dressed in a maid outfit, and above all—a beauty so captivating that it steals the eye even in the night’s darkness.

Why hadn’t they noticed such a conspicuous person until just now?

—This is no ordinary individual.

“…I’ll handle this one.”

The one who whispers in a low voice audible only to his comrades is the leader of the Dunkelritter, Knights of Obscurity.

He’s the man known as ‘Umbra, the Kingdom’s Shadow.’

He holds several false names, but his real name doesn’t exist in any official records. A person whose existence is concealed—that’s why he’s Umbra, the Kingdom’s Shadow.

“The rest of you, head to the count’s mansion.”

Following that order, the pitch-black knights split to the left and right to avoid the silver-haired beauty.

But at that moment—a crimson slash flashes in the dark night.

“Gah…!”

“Urk…!”

The knights’ bodies are sliced apart by the vivid slashes. These elites, the kingdom’s finest—without even a chance to defend, in an instant.

However, as if anticipating that very development, Umbra moves.

He closes in on the silver-haired beauty in one burst and swings down his pitch-black short sword.

The beauty blocks it with a blood sword that appears in her hand.

A clash of blades begins. One flash, then another—their weapons scatter sparks of magical power in the darkness.

(Now…!)

Suddenly, countless bones emerge from the ground. They assault the silver-haired beauty from all directions.

“…How annoying.”

Muttering softly, the beauty swings her sword once. She sweeps away the cluster of bones all at once.

But exploiting that brief opening, Umbra steps in—and unleashes a barrage with his pitch-black short sword.

The beauty dodges those slashes, but—.

“Oh…?”

At some point, her maid outfit has been torn, and several cuts are etched into her skin.

“Heh heh…”

Umbra wears a creepy grin. At that expression, the silver-haired beauty slightly furrows her brow.

“What? Are you getting excited from cutting my clothes? Could you be a pervert? —Perverts exist in every era, don’t they?”

“That exchange just now means I’ve seen through your movements… Celestina van Volfenstein.”

“Oh, so you know about me. On top of being a pervert… are you a stalker, perhaps?”

The silver-haired beauty—Celestina of the ‘Seven Great Calamities’—smiles provocatively.