Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni, a city neighboring Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
‘I’ve finally arrived.’
Heinz II, who had now hidden his presence with 「Denial of Existence」 as a matter of habit, slowly stepped out of the airport and looked around.
‘So far, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything in particular I need to watch out for...’
But this was a place where he absolutely could not let his guard down.
In a sense, it would not be an exaggeration to call this the most dangerous place in Europe.
‘It’s the home base of Dracul, the largest underworld organization in Europe, after all.’
He was already well aware of Dracul, which had established its base in this country and extended its influence across all of Eastern Europe, thanks to the information he had gathered through various channels.
The fact that its vampire leader, who used the epithet “Duke” as if he identified himself with Vlad III—the hero of Romania and the inspiration for Dracula—was said to be the strongest in Europe in practical terms...
‘And that his true identity is the European branch head of the Buncheon Society.’
Feeling the signal of 「Bloodline Craving」 gradually beginning to respond, Heinz narrowed his eyes.
However, he ignored the sensation stimulating his instincts and once again carefully surveyed his surroundings, prioritizing reconnaissance.
‘There’s no telling what tricks they might have prepared, so it’s best to be as cautious as possible.’
This was not a region where either Thermidor or Gomorrah could exert any real influence, so there were limits to the information he possessed.
Of course, he was confident he could take care of himself no matter what crisis suddenly befell him, but with the fight against the head of the Buncheon Society ahead of him and the need to finish this as quickly as possible, he couldn’t just retreat without gaining anything.
‘And this is an opponent called the strongest in Europe. He’ll be different from those I’ve faced so far. No amount of preparation is too much, just in case.’
Come to think of it, he had yet to properly clash with a powerhouse on Earth who had made such a name for himself.
He had encountered no small number of opponents while operating as Hahoe Mask, but even so, they had been at a level Hans alone could sufficiently overwhelm.
‘Ah, of course, excluding the head of the Buncheon Society, who’s practically in a category of his own.’
The Lawgiver, who had been the East Asian branch head of the Buncheon Society, had also risen to the upper ranks because his abilities in other areas had been recognized rather than his martial might; his actual combat power itself had not been that impressive.
Unlike the Duke he would now be facing.
‘I’ll be able to see his skills soon enough.’
Thus, feeling his blood boil with anticipation and fighting spirit toward the opponent he would soon confront, he left Otopeni and headed toward Bucharest.
He paused—
...No, that wasn’t it.
Upon checking again, he realized this reaction of his was not because of that after all.
‘The signal is growing stronger.’
For Heinz II, whose nature was fundamentally cold and composed, it made no sense for his body to undergo changes over such trivial emotions.
The closer he drew to Bucharest, the more intense the resonance of 「Bloodline Craving」 became.
‘What on earth is causing this...?’
It was somehow different from what he had felt in the previous two countries.
Something over there was endlessly tempting him, pulling him in.
‘I’ll need to investigate in more detail after all.’
So, as he approached the city to conduct a more certain investigation—
The moment he crossed some invisible boundary.
He soon realized what his body’s reaction had been about.
Ziiiiing—!
A piercing headache stabbed through his skull, and the thick smell of blood wafted in from every direction.
「Blood Sovereign」, which supported his overall abilities as a vampire, 「Mysteries of Blood」, which governed supernatural powers using blood, and 「Insight」, which pierced through what was hidden, all activated simultaneously and analyzed the situation.
‘A wide-area blood magic barrier?’
Since Heinz was fairly knowledgeable in that field as well, the result of the analysis came quickly.
The estimated diameter was at least ten kilometers.
The core structural formula was clearly based on blood magic, but as expected of the Buncheon Society, that was not the only thing being used.
Perhaps because of that, it possessed such excellent concealment that even he could not be certain of its existence until he had entered inside, and befitting its scale, the amount of energy contained within it could not be ignored either.
Enough to strip away even his 「Denial of Existence」 in an instant.
“...Ha!”
Having grasped the situation, Heinz unwittingly let out a hollow laugh aloud.
No matter what, he had never expected them to be capable of going this far.
‘I already knew this was Dracul’s home base.’
But at the same time, it was also the capital of a fully independent nation.
Bucharest had a resident population of around two million.
Even if relations and communication between nations were not what they had been before the Upheaval, he had thought they would not be able to act recklessly, if only because of the eyes around them.
‘No matter how good its stealth is, there’s no way no one noticed a barrier of this level spread over such a range. The Awakened of Romania can’t all be below par...’
There was only one answer.
It meant that not only they, but even the government, had already lost the initiative to the organization called Dracul to the point that they could do nothing about it.
So thoroughly that they could not even inform the outside.
‘Romania shouldn’t be such a poor country. How is that possible?’
But that question faded the moment it arose.
Thinking about it, wasn’t the Buncheon Society a group that had even swallowed up a vast country like China?
Since the Buncheon Society was behind Dracul as well, Romania falling into their hands was not all that surprising.
‘...Ordinary people wouldn’t even have a way to know something like that.’
Also, it was only because he was Heinz that he noticed it the moment he entered; with ordinary abilities, it would be hard to detect, so they would only need to manage high-ranking Awakened above a certain level.
‘This has become even more troublesome. More importantly, that isn’t what matters right now.’
Yes, all of that was a matter for later.
For now.
Sssrk.
—Since he had been exposed to the barrier and his location revealed, the first priority was to get himself out of there.
When he had been outside the barrier, it had barely been detectable, yet the presences currently surging toward his position alone numbered over a hundred.
‘Tsk, they’re really swarming in.’
The instant he grasped the situation, Heinz concealed himself once more and swiftly left the scene, clicking his tongue as he shot toward the outskirts.
Naturally, he had no intention of scuffling with them from the very beginning.
If he collided head-on with an organization of this size for no reason and failed to capture his actual target, the Duke, then everything would be for nothing.
First, he would observe the situation a little more, and once he properly pinpointed the target’s location, he would strike all at once and—
At that moment, 「Rapid Acceleration」 activated.
Crackkkkk—!
Space tore open in a long line along the path ahead of him.
There wasn’t even time to think about anything.
Heinz instinctively twisted causality, ignored inertia, and pulled his body backward, frowning at the sight.
Then he snapped his head along the trajectory.
‘A snipe?’
A line of destruction connected all the way from several kilometers away.
That scar remained in midair for barely a second before being restored in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
‘An attack of this level. It’s not ordinary, is it? Their response is faster than I expected.’
It had been only a few seconds since he had been detected by the barrier.
And yet immediately afterward, a snipe had flown in, accurately targeting his position after he had hidden himself again and moved away.
‘Does that mean they prepared that thoroughly? I’ll retreat for now and reorganize my posture, then...’
As he heightened his senses to the utmost in preparation for a follow-up attack and was about to move, 「Insight」 activated once again within his field of vision.
Soon, something alien that had been outside his perception became vividly detectable.
Blink, blink.
—As if it had always been there, a single coin-sized eyeball naturally blended into the rock, blinking.
It was staring directly at him with an innocent gaze.
Even though 「Denial of Existence」 was clearly activated properly.
Slash.
—Splat!
Judgment and action were simultaneous.
As if it had no special defensive ability, the eyeball burst without even putting up any real resistance.
But leaving that behind and launching himself forward again, what awaited him was—
Blink, blink.
—Blink, blink.
—Dozens of eyeballs already sprouting everywhere, regardless of whether it was from walls, stones, trees, or the ground, staring fixedly at him.
‘...Disgusting.’
Each time those eyes blinked, his body grew faintly heavier.
It seemed to be a demonic eye that not only saw through concealment but also contained a debuffing ability...
But once they entered his perception, it did not matter how many there were.
Slash, slash—! Splatter!
—Burst!
Following his movement as he swept past without the slightest hesitation, the eyeballs burst all at once.
The problem was that no matter how many he destroyed, they kept appearing endlessly.
Now they even began to appear at a considerable distance, and the sight of hundreds of pupils spreading out and encroaching in every direction felt not merely disgusting, but eerie.
Craaaack—!
At the moment his body was slightly slowed by those demonic eyes, another line of sniper fire came targeting him.
No, it was not appropriate to say that attack “came flying.”
Because the instant it activated, it was already destroying everything along its path.
Not only space, but even the intangible concepts linked to it.
‘That looks rather dangerous.’
Of course, even in an unexpected situation, there was no way he would be hit by an attack he had already dodged once, now that he was properly aware of it.
The sniper was no ordinary person either, twisting the trajectory of the attack this way and that to target even the possibilities of his evasion, but they could do nothing to him as he rode the flow of causality and saw through even that while moving.
...If it had ended there, he might somehow have withdrawn and sought another opportunity.
In the end, however, Heinz had no choice but to give up on further escape and let out a sigh at the sight of the enormous magic circle rising into the sky, the intense flow of mana he could feel from every direction, and the many presences surrounding him in an instant.
“Hah, just how much did they prepare?”
Since he had already passed through France and Italy, he had expected this place to be prepared to some extent as well.
But though they could not have known exactly when he would come, who could have imagined that they had not only laid a barrier over the entire capital, but also stationed such people there twenty-four hours a day?
He had intended to just test the waters and check the state of their response first, but instead, he had been caught in one fell swoop by the opponent’s excessive measures.
‘At this point, no matter how you look at it, it’s an overreaction.’
The place where he was now was a nature reserve located between Otopeni, where the international airport was, and the capital, Bucharest.
Perhaps they had prepared this place in advance as well, just in case, because a barrier that activated in an instant wrapped around a fairly wide area and sealed off space.
If he had fled in another direction, all the preparations they had made here would have been useless.
‘Don’t tell me they laid traps of this level everywhere else too?’
He had a strong feeling that they had, but what he needed to worry about now was not something that had already happened.
As he furrowed his brow and considered future measures, the Buncheon Society poured out everything they had prepared thus far.
“Puhu—
“You’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting a very long time.”
“...I was bored to death. There aren’t many places here where you can really let loose, you know. If not for Doctor, I wouldn’t have come to a place like this.”
“Ahahahaha! Me too, me too! If it were any ordinary human, I would’ve just ignored it! Well, can’t be helped!”
Perhaps they had some separate means of transportation that could ignore the barrier, because along with the sounds of casual conversation, a group appeared nearby.
Each and every one of them was a powerhouse exuding a formidable presence.
It was a setup so familiar that it gave him déjà vu.
‘This reminds me of when Hans clashed with the Buncheon Society in Japan.’
It seemed the situation back then had been similar to now.
Of course, the location and the people had all changed.
But he could not optimistically assume that the current situation was the same as it had been then.
It was true that the situation was similar, but the level itself was worlds apart from back then.
“...I see. Now that I see you in person, I understand why Doctor reacted so sensitively. To think you were at this level. If you had seriously tried to run, we might truly have lost you.”
Together with the heavy voice that suddenly rang out, the space around them sank heavily.
As a presence that forced everyone’s attention wrapped around the surroundings, the gazes of those gathered naturally turned in one direction.
Thud, thud—
Heavy footsteps that shook space.
In truth, no footsteps could be heard.
However, each step containing an immense presence mercilessly shook the atmosphere and was clearly imprinted in the minds of everyone there.
“Hmm. So you are a mongrel after all. Seeing you in person, you certainly are fascinating.”
The middle-aged man finally revealed himself.
Dressed in noble attire and with a neatly trimmed beard, the gentleman’s arrogant gaze swept across the scene before fixing on one place.
On the only outsider present.
Not to be outdone, Heinz also stared straight back at him.
Whether the vampires who had appeared with him surrounded the area or not, from the moment that being appeared at the scene, Heinz could not turn his gaze elsewhere.
Of course, part of the reason was that he sensed just how formidable an enemy the other was...
Gulp.
—He swallowed unconsciously.
「Bloodline Craving」, which had continued to complain of thirst for completion, cried out fiercely.
‘That’s it.’
That one.
The lord of Dracul, the ruler behind Eastern Europe, and one of the leaders of the Buncheon Society—the “Duke”—
He was the final puzzle piece Heinz needed most for his own completion.