#123
The Yufersh Clan (2)
On a hill overlooking the capital, Bisk Yufersh had returned to his original form along with his subordinates.
His face twisted, he silently glared down at the city.
“Ha—! So that was it?”
All the way here, the unpleasant feeling had refused to leave him, keeping him in a constant state of unease. But now that he had arrived, he finally understood the cause.
“Brokoslak... So that old specter is still alive. And of all times, he happens to be here now?”
Faced with this unexpected situation, he concluded that this must have been the source of the discomfort he had been feeling all along.
It was far more convincing than agonizing over a cause he could not identify.
‘Yes, if the opponent was another Sacred Blood, it could happen. I must have been so uneasy because I instinctively sensed a worthy rival close by.’
Forcing himself to accept that explanation, he smiled coldly.
The unpleasant feeling still lingered, but once he eliminated Brokoslak, it would surely disappear.
“...Lord Bisk? Are you saying that the ‘Sacred Blood Brokoslak’ is in there?”
At that moment, Theodor Yufersh, who had been standing quietly beside him, furrowed his brow and cautiously asked him a question.
When they had formed the plan, they had never assumed the other side would have a Sacred Blood. If that was the case, their operation would inevitably suffer a considerable setback.
“Yes, that relic of the past is indeed in there...”
Bisk, who had answered as though it were nothing, glanced to the side.
One of his eyebrows had risen slightly, as if revealing his displeasure.
“So, what is the problem? I am here. Do you think anything will change just because that specter is added to the equation? Surely the so-called elites of Yufersh are not frightened?”
At his reaction, which seemed quite irritable, Theodor broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly lowered his head.
“N-no, sir. I merely spoke out of concern that unnecessary casualties might increase. According to the original plan, we were supposed to conclude the situation with minimal losses and then proceed with bringing the Kingdom of Talia under control.”
At his desperate excuse, Bisk silently glared at the bowed back of his head, then clicked his tongue and turned his gaze back to the city.
Because of the discomfort he had felt the whole way here, he had unconsciously reacted sharply. But indeed, if things had turned out this way, they would have no choice but to accept a certain degree of damage.
Though two True Bloods were absent, there was no telling what kind of defenses had been prepared in that place, the enemy’s stronghold.
Moreover, the former Lord, Mullo Brokoslak, was a mage type specialized in blood magic.
There were few beings as troublesome as a mage who had holed up in his own domain and made thorough preparations.
“In any case, it seems they have noticed us as well, so we will enter immediately. We cannot give them any more time to prepare.”
“Yes, sir!”
For vampires, beings born of darkness, slipping into a city on a night like this was as easy as breathing.
Nearly fifty shadows moved swiftly and stealthily over the city walls.
***
“Mullo? How are the preparations coming along?”
Briki, who had been lounging comfortably on the sofa in Mullo Brokoslak’s office while sipping black tea, spoke in a carefree tone.
Unlike her previous highly sensitive state, her wilted-vegetable-like appearance made it hard to believe she was someone who had come to warn them of a crisis.
Naturally, the wise Mullo did not point that out.
“For now, I have ordered the outside personnel to be gathered as much as possible and the guard to be strengthened. However, since it is difficult to respond without knowing exactly what is happening, for now, we can only take the usual—”
“Yufersh has invaded.”
“...Pardon? The Yufersh Clan, you mean? Why so suddenly...?”
“What do you expect by asking me, when I have not been awake for long? You should know.”
“That is true, but... this truly happened without any warning.”
He continued to respond with a flustered expression while immediately spreading word of the situation to every clan member in the mansion.
If it was an all-out war, they would have to gather together to respond in order to avoid being defeated one by one. It was necessary to assemble all the forces under him in one place.
And Mullo, rising from his seat, hurried out of the office and moved on while rubbing around his eyes.
Briki was still following behind him, yawning leisurely, but he no longer had the leeway to pay attention to her attitude.
‘I have ordered the humans residing in the mansion not to come outside until further notice, and there is also a barrier installed for that purpose, so that should not become a major problem...’
More than that, the issue now was the very fact that Yufersh, the foremost of the three strongest vampire clans and the one with the greatest combat power, had invaded.
Compared to them, who must have come fully prepared, this side’s preparations were woefully inadequate.
“So, do you know where they are right now?”
Mullo opened the doors to the large banquet hall where his subordinates had been gathered and stepped inside as he asked Briki the question.
Perhaps Bisk, the Sacred Blood on their side, had done something, because Mullo, a True Blood, could not particularly sense them.
To begin with, as someone of the spellcraft type, his detection ability was somewhat inferior compared to his other capabilities.
“Nnnngh— Ah, that?”
At his question, Briki, who had been stretching with all her might behind him, answered calmly.
But her voice now held far more vitality, as if her appearance up until now had been a lie.
“Just now—”
As though preparing for something, drawing out her stored energy and warming it up.
“Pardon?”
“—they came in.”
Bzzzzzt—!
The moment her words ended.
A hole was torn through the barrier surrounding the mansion, and he felt dozens of vampires invading.
Along with murderous and hostile presences.
***
“Well, well... You’ve survived quite tenaciously, Brokoslak. I thought it was about time for you to die.”
“How are you so consistently rude, then and now? The previous one was the same. Is that a Yufersh tradition?”
“You seem to have many lingering attachments to life, so I shall take this opportunity to help you close your eyes in peace. Your precious clan will fall with you, so you will not be lonely.”
“You’re exactly the same in not listening to others. How can someone be so unpleasant?”
The two Sacred Bloods faced each other and each said only what they wanted to say.
It did not take long for those who had taken their places in the large banquet hall and waited to encounter those who had invaded the mansion.
After all, Yufersh’s objective from the start had been to sweep away Brokoslak and seize their place.
‘This is... rather bad.’
While the Sacred Bloods exchanged barbs, Mullo compared the two opposing groups and quietly clenched his teeth.
In terms of numbers, their side had slightly more.
No matter how urgently they had called in those nearby, this place was their headquarters, so mobilizing this much was not difficult.
The problem, however, was quality.
‘There are only a little over ten Purebloods, and the rest are all Remnant Bloods. Of course, it is better than having none, but...’
For reference, servants and slaves had not been deployed here at all.
In Talaria, the capital that even had a temple, how could he possibly operate those half-baked ones who could not even properly conceal their own energy?
‘Even if Lady Briki takes on Bisk Yufersh, they have four True Bloods over there... This is bleak.’
Mullo inwardly sighed, but quietly drew up his power.
In truth, he did have something he was relying on.
After entering Heinz’s command, he had also been able to benefit from the “Refined Blood Crystal,” and thanks to that, he had achieved far more growth than before.
With the beating of his heart, the viscous blood magic power emitted by his evolved vampiric factors flowed through his veins and circulated through his body.
“So, who is the current Lord on your side? I would like to see how the clan could have been taken over... Hm?”
Bisk, who had been continuing an invisible battle of nerves with Briki even while trading words, noticed something.
But it was already too late.
Fwoosh—
The blood patterns hidden within the mansion glowed red and warped space.
The banquet hall, already large to begin with, expanded repeatedly until a fine battlefield had been prepared.
At the same time, the barrier strengthened the allies within it, imposed debuffs on those hostile to them, and reduced the gap in power.
‘It is good that I can now expand an ability once limited to my office to the entire mansion, but... this is not enough.’
Thanks to the barrier, the lower-ranking vampires could at least buy time, but they were still no match for the True Bloods on the other side.
Their side needed additional reinforcements as well.
And he had one method he could use when receiving the support of the barrier.
“Come to me. Frisia—!”
As soon as Mullo’s incantation ended, a pool of blood formed right in front of him.
From within it, Frisia appeared, fully prepared for battle.
“Mm, I certainly did not expect to end up fighting them this soon.”
As soon as she was summoned, she sighed and immediately prepared for battle.
Since the distance to the Forest of Monsters was far too great, he could not summon both True Bloods, but with this, the balance should have been corrected somewhat.
‘What remains is only to hold out as defensively as possible until Lady Briki defeats Bisk.’
Of course, the fact remained that even this was nowhere near enough to defeat the enemy.
Still, this barrier would not be easily broken even by a Sacred Blood from the inside, so they should be able to endure to some extent...
“Ha, yes. I had taken it into account to some degree, but this is quite irritating.”
A voice sounded from extremely close by.
As Mullo was still in the midst of his thoughts, a pair of pure white eyes suddenly met his gaze.
“If I get rid of you, this barrier should disappear as well.”
Before Mullo could even react, Bisk had moved in front of him in an instant and reached out his hand to pierce his heart—
“You’re underestimating me far too much, aren’t you?”
Boom—!
With a tremendous shockwave, he and Briki collided head-on.
Thanks to her, Mullo was able to escape the crisis. He folded space and retreated, quietly wiping away his cold sweat.
“...Fine. I should clear away this specter first.”
“Good grief, you really do need to be beaten.”
Bisk, who had been unable to do anything even at the moment the barrier activated because of Briki’s restraint, ground his teeth in irritation at her repeated interference. She, too, raised her momentum without yielding to him.
Just as the tension between the two sides was once again rising.
Crack— Craaack!
Suddenly, a fissure appeared in one side of Mullo’s barrier.
“No, what is this!”
Once again flustered, Mullo hurriedly adjusted the space as the corner of his eye twitched.
A hole was being torn through the barrier by an unknown external force applied from the outside.
Though this space was weaker against impacts from the outside than from within, it was still a barrier he had painstakingly installed with his own strength, which had become far greater than before.
Even if a True Blood attacked it from the outside, it should not have been something easily broken.
While everyone’s attention was momentarily drawn by that unexpected situation, a pair of hands with sharp nails and sprouting scales thrust in through the crack.
Then, as though opening a sliding door, they began carefully pulling it apart to either side.
Bzzzzzt—
The crack in the barrier slowly widened, and squeezing through the gap was...
The head of a shaggy beast.
“Ugh, I didn’t expect this barrier. I was trying to tear it as gently as possible, so my timing ended up a little late.”
The beast head... no, the one wearing the head of a beast-like monster over his own head muttered quietly and pulled his body out from the fissure.
No sooner had his large, muscular body entered than the barrier instantly repaired itself as if nothing had ever been wrong with it.
It was such a clean intrusion that even Mullo, who had activated the barrier, was bewildered by how little strain it placed on the spell.
“What? Who is that?”
“...A barbarian? No, those arms...?”
The muscles writhing across his naked upper body, the wild tattoos, the dark-red scales and sharp claws covering both arms.
The intruder with his distinctive appearance swept his gaze around the hall with a pair of eyes that shone in different colors beneath the monster head he wore.
After confirming that the gazes around him were also focused on him...
“Who are the bold bastards who dared lay a hand on our Hubert!”
Harley, the attention-seeking barbarian warrior who had come to avenge his friend, shouted majestically on the spot.
Crack! Pop—!
At the same time, a terrifying sound began to leak from his imposing body, which was brimming with strength.
As though foretelling the violence that was about to unfold.
“Hubert?”
“No, what is he suddenly coming all the way here and talking about...?”
Those who had yet to grasp the situation looked at one another and frowned.
From the sudden intrusion of an unidentified person to the words he had spoken, only a handful of people present could understand any of it.
But Harley paid no heed to those reactions.
His gaze was already fixed intently on the Yufersh Clan.
“Found you—”
Between the corners of his mouth, which had risen savagely, beast-like teeth were revealed.
“It was you, wasn’t it? The one who stirred up that frail kid’s insides like meat soup?”
His vicious pupils, split vertically,
flew straight toward the red-haired, red-eyed vampire, Klein.