Theodore picked up the wooden bucket lying beside him, held it beneath Dmitri’s arm, and sliced his wrist.
As the blood vessel was cut, blood streamed out. After collecting a certain amount, Theodore turned his head to the side.
“That will do. Stop the bleeding. Next is your turn, Randolph.”
Randolph, too, offered his arm without hesitation. Beside him, Dmitri was stopping his bleeding.
Judging by the deftness of his hands, he seemed to have gone through this sort of thing many times. The vice-commander, who had been watching silently, stepped forward.
“Is this important?”
Without even turning his head, Theodore answered.
“It is. The life or death of the vampire is so important that it may determine the success or failure of the racial war that is about to break out.”
“Then I will draw blood as well.”
The vice-commander rolled up his sleeve without hesitation. Seeing that the knights who had followed him were also preparing to draw blood, a deep smile formed on Theodore’s lips. Though they had been enemies until now, the Duke Knights were indeed true knights of the Crosen Empire.
“I truly thank you.”
Before long, the wooden bucket was filled with the blood of many people. Then Theodore pushed the bucket through the food slot located at the bottom of the prison cell.
“Kyaa.”
A hand with pale skin and long-grown nails shot out and hurriedly pulled the wooden bucket in. Soon, the sound of someone gulping down the blood inside the bucket could be heard.
Gulp, gulp.
The group waited silently for the vampire to finish his meal. After some time passed, an aged voice came from inside the prison. It was the voice of an old man whose strength had been utterly exhausted.
“Who in the world are you people outside?”
At the sound of his master’s voice, Theodore’s eyes gleamed. Turning his head, he looked at the vice-commander, who stood there clutching his wrist.
“After opening the door, would you please wait outside the prison for a moment?”
A look of bewilderment appeared on the vice-commander’s face.
“W-would that not be dangerous? His Highness the Crown Prince is here as well…”
“It is all right. There is something urgent I must discuss, so I ask this of you.”
“Understood.”
With a worried expression, the vice-commander approached and unlocked the padlock.
Clank.
Theodore then looked at his younger brothers as well.
“You two wait outside too. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Brother.”
Dmitri and Randolph also followed the vice-commander out without another word. After they disappeared, only Damon and Theodore remained in the corridor. Theodore looked at Damon in silence.
“I will formally introduce him to you. This person is my master. It was also thanks to my master that I was appointed consul by His Majesty Emperor Valensius.”
Damon was startled.
“Your master?”
“That is correct.”
Theodore silently pulled on the prison door handle.
Creak.
With a dull sound, the prison door swung wide open. A moment later, that same voice flowed out from within. It was the voice of an old man with not a trace of strength left.
“Theodore. Is that you?”
“Yes, Master.”
Theodore bowed his head respectfully. His attitude could not have been more reverent. The voice continued to flow from the darkness. Since he did not show himself, he seemed to be avoiding the torchlight flickering in the corridor.
“I did not think you would come to find me again. When the soldiers stormed in, I had already sensed that everything had gone wrong…”
On Theodore’s face, as he stared into the darkness, rested an expression difficult to put into words.
“Master.”
“Speak, Theodore.”
“You no longer need to worry about anything.”
“…”
“The situation is flowing in a truly ideal direction.”
After keeping silent for a moment, the voice in the darkness spoke again.
“Ideal, you say… I cannot understand what you mean at all.”
Theodore immediately began to explain.
“Duke Perstein has completely abandoned his dream of unifying Arcadia. Furthermore, he has sworn to lead Arcadia’s allied army and stand at the vanguard of the conquest of Truvania. In other words, the day when the people of Truvania, who live harshly as slaves of the orc race, will be liberated is not far off. Do you understand? I am saying that the moment when your long-cherished wish is about to be realized has arrived.”
A startled voice burst out from within the darkness.
“Is… is that true?”
“It is true without the slightest deviation. Can you not tell from the fact that I am standing here perfectly unharmed? I have already joined hands with Duke Perstein. By now, he is likely hard at work devising a plan to conquer Truvania.”
“Oh, God.”
The voice in the darkness was trembling with emotion. Though it was a cursed being, a vampire, calling upon God, it did not feel unnatural in the slightest.
A moment later, a single shadow abruptly revealed itself from the darkness. Pale skin utterly devoid of blood, sharp fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth, and eyes bloodshot red—he had the typical appearance of a vampire. Overall, he looked like an elderly old man, and his arms and legs were bound in iron shackles that looked extraordinarily sturdy. The rags hanging from his body were so worn away that he was practically naked, but the vampire paid no heed and poured questions at Theodore.
“H-how did that come to pass? Can it truly be believed?”
“Yes, Master. All of it was achieved thanks to this person here.”
At Theodore’s words, the vampire’s bloodshot eyes turned toward Damon. In that instant, a strange light flashed through the vampire’s eyes.
“Could you be Crown Prince Alcaris, the First Prince? The one said to have disappeared after crossing over to Truvania seven years ago…”
Before Theodore could say anything, Damon stepped forward. In his eyes, too, there was an indescribable light.
“To think such a thing could happen in this world…”
“…”
“I never dreamed I would meet you here. Truly, the bond between you and me is exceptionally deep.”
“Y-you know me?”
The vampire stammered in a bewildered voice. Though he had seen him several times while wandering in the form of a bat, there was no way Crown Prince Alcaris could know him. A faint smile formed on Damon’s lips.
“Do you not know me?”
“…”
“Were you not the one who gave me my name? The name Damon Solo, I mean. Is that not so, High Priest Shreheimer?”
A look of astonishment flashed across the vampire’s face. As if he could not believe it, his body was trembling. Before he became a vampire, his name had indeed been Shreheimer.
“Da… Damon?”
Damon nodded as if to say that was right.
“That is right, Shreheimer. I am Damon. Five hundred years ago, you crossed dimensions with Benitez and came to the Central Plains. And you brought me here, did you not? The foreigner with a hunchback and a hideous appearance—that was me. Though now I am wearing Alcaris’s shell.”
“…”
Shreheimer, who had become a vampire, was at a loss for words. Someone he had thought had died long ago had appeared before him alive and well, so it was only natural that he could not readily accept it. And had not five hundred long years passed? After keeping silent for a moment, Shreheimer stammered as if he could not believe it.
“How could such a thing… To think you would transcend five hundred years of time and space and appear before me…”
“I feel the same. I, too, could never have guessed that I would meet you now, after five hundred years.”
A look of doubt settled on Theodore’s face as he listened to their conversation. He had known that they were people from the same era, but from the sound of their exchange, were they not exceptionally close? Even so, he did not rashly try to interrupt. He did not wish to disturb the reunion between the two. Damon looked over Shreheimer’s pale body and continued speaking.
“To think you would try to save Truvania even after becoming a vampire. Your obsession is truly worthy of recognition.”
A smile appeared on Shreheimer’s lips as well.
“Are you not the same? Judging by the aura you give off, you seem to have become a black magician of tremendous skill. One whom even I would not dare approach…”
Damon gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Let us speak of that later. But how were you able to escape the Northwood tragedy? I thought you had buried your bones there like the other heroes…”
Shreheimer continued with a bitter smile.
“It was Lord Verhazel’s care. In the midst of the fierce battle, I happened to discover a gap in a spatial distortion field. The moment I found the gap, I immediately attempted spatial movement. I thought I had to inform the allied army’s leadership of this fact. Because Northwood’s mana flow was extremely irregular, the chances of success were almost nonexistent, but the spatial movement succeeded. Fortunately, I was able to warp to a place beyond the Northwood Plains.”
Damon silently nodded.
“I see. That was truly fortunate.”
“But how were you able to escape the Northwood Plains? As I recall, at the time you could not use either of your arms at all, and you were in no condition to cast magic…”
Looking at Shreheimer, who asked back with a puzzled expression, Damon bit his lip hard.
“Unfortunately, I was unable to escape their clutches. I ended up becoming a prisoner of that detestable Verkis. Dragged to his lair, I suffered terrible torture at his hands. After even casting mental magic on me, he ultimately turned me into a lich. He told me to guard his lair forever. But fortunately amid that misfortune, I was able to break free of the mental magic. The five hundred years after that were, in a word, a time of opportunity for me. During that time, I devoted myself to magic and was able to become a Ninth Circle master.”
Shreheimer’s mouth fell open.
“To think you went through such a thing… It is truly astonishing.”
“It is nothing to be astonished about. After escaping from his clutches, I resolved to take revenge on the dragons. As part of that effort, I went to the Northwood Plains and created four Death Knights. You probably know well who they are. Helbertron, Reindelf, Primberg, and Saramis, the Four Great Knights of Icarot, are now Death Knights and obey my commands.”
“…”
“It is not as though I have achieved nothing at all. I killed the green dragon Zicrate, obtained the magical treasure trove Incresia, and even made Russelent, once called the Dark Demon Dragon, depart this world. While I was at it, I turned their corpses into bone dragons. So I could wage effective aerial battles against those dragon bastards.”
Shreheimer listened to Damon’s words, still unable to close his mouth. This foreigner whom he had brought over and named—the one in whom he had held no hope at all because he had lost all his power—had endured such tremendous hardships and achieved feats he himself could not even dare imagine. To think that two dragons had met their end by his hand…
“It is… truly astonishing.”
On Shreheimer’s pale face appeared a sense of shock. Along with it, a feeling of self-reproach toward the path he himself had walked surged up within him.