Six days later.

Lake Kingdom’s Underground Dungeon. Zone 10.

The ‘Crimson Mansion’, the headquarters of the vampire legion, housed the ’Master’s Room’ in its innermost area.

Creak... Creak...

The room’s owner, Celendion, was found hanging from the ceiling with a noose around his neck.

"..."

Staring up at Celendion were his loyal servants, Alpha and Beta.

Alpha and Beta, a young man and woman, shared the same deep blue hair as Celendion.

Dressed in neat butler and maid uniforms, they served at Celendion’s side.

The pair seemed accustomed to Celendion’s suicide attempts, their faces revealing an unaffected demeanor.

Celendion, hanging from the ceiling, looked down at them with weary eyes.

"Did you attempt suicide again, my lord?"

"Yes."

"Any success?"

"As always... no."

"Shall we bring you down?"

"Yes, please."

They carefully supported Celendion’s body and brought him down.

With Celendion being child-like in appearance, Alpha and Beta resembled an older brother and sister, despite Celendion having lived far longer.

After seating Celendion on the sofa, Alpha sighed lightly.

"Couldn’t you find a more creative way to commit suicide? Lowering you down every morning is starting to wear me out..."

"Didn’t I slit my wrists last week?"

"That requires washing the sheets, which is bothersome."

"What if I did it in the bathroom?"

"Then the bathroom would need cleaning..."

Beta, the female maid, nodded in agreement with Alpha’s rapid-fire rebuttals.

A long scar etched horizontally across Beta’s slender neck.

As though it had been cut off and then reattached.

Due to this injury, Beta couldn’t speak. She communicated only through gestures.

Looking at his two servants in turn, Celendion pinched his own pallid cheek.

"Which of my suicide attempts was least bothersome for you?"

"Your attempt to starve yourself was the easiest. There was nothing to clean up, and we didn’t need to prepare meals."

Alpha spoke impassively, while Beta made frantic hand gestures, pointing out the window at the flower bed.

Alpha translated Beta’s gestures.

"According to Beta, the most troublesome was when you tried to throw yourself off daily. Cleaning the flower bed every day was quite troublesome."

A faint bitter smile ghosted over Celendion’s otherwise expressionless face.

Celendion attempted suicide daily but never succeeded. The reasons were twofold.

Firstly, his massive regenerative abilities.

Even when a limb was severed, it healed quickly, making it impossible to reach death by any ordinary means.

Secondly, his limitless life, fragmented and stored within the legion.

Even on the rare occasion when he did reach death through extreme measures and incredible luck, the stored life force within the legion would revive him.

"When will this torturous life end?"

Alpha and Beta skillfully changed Celendion’s clothes.

While his servants were adjusting his clothing, Celendion murmured softly.

"What a torment it is, to be unable to even end my own life. The people of Lake Kingdom made such a fuss trying to attain immortality, only to end up like this."

As Alpha tied Celendion’s tie, he chuckled.magic

"And here you are, my lord, tormented even though you’ve attained immortality. The irony is quite amusing."

"Well, I never desired immortality."

Celendion rubbed his tired eyes.

On his young boyish face, his red eyes were deep and gloomy like those of an old man.

"I thought I had finally ended my long, filthy life and found rest... But then the great King revived me here. And it’s already been five hundred years."

After changing into a well-fitted suit, Celendion looked at his palm and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Will I be able to die this time?"

"Are you referring to the upcoming campaign?"

Today was the day of the Vampire Legion’s campaign.

The king had declared the start of the invasion in three days, so they had to leave today to reach the enemy’s walls in time.

Alpha and Beta both smirked.

"Can those humans really be a match for us? Besides, haven’t we been saving our strength for this ’Grand Rampage’ for a long time?"

"..."

"A death-seeking Lord...

Alpha and Beta simultaneously nodded their heads to Celendion."May you forever remain as our immortal lord."

"..."

Silent, Celendion slowly nodded his head.

"But this time, our opponent is far from average."

Celendion remembered the enemy commander he had encountered a few days ago.

- Don’t worry, Vampire King! Even without your request, I would naturally kill you. It’d be better for you to consider the scream you’ll let out when you’re dying at the edge of my sword!

Definitely- the human was named Ash.

Facing him directly and still being able to disperse such hatred without retreating even an inch.

’She’s similar.’

Similar to the great humans who killed him a very long time ago, Ash was similar.

Celendion pressed his left chest which was faintly throbbing.

It had been quite a while since his heart throbbed like this.

Perhaps, truly...

- Clean your neck and crawl towards my castle walls. I’ll take responsibility and put an end to your pathetic life!

Could this man, possibly kill him?

"The entire army is on standby, Lord."

Alpha and Beta swung the bedroom door wide open. The butler and maid smiled gently at their lord.

"Now, let’s go. We need your command."

"..."

Celendion slowly rose.

Despite the massive fatigue weighing on his shoulders, equivalent to the years he lived, he shook it off lightly.

Celendion plodded forward. His two attendants followed behind.

***

Outside the mansion.

Already, about a thousand vampires and ghouls were lined up and waiting on the spacious road.

All of them kneeled on one knee with their heads bowed, holding their breaths while waiting for the arrival of their lord.

"..."

Celendion silently looked around them.

It had been five hundred years since he hid in this Lake Kingdom.

During that time, he had inflated the size of his army using ’nightmares’.

Hundreds of vampires under other lords, who were asleep in the nightmares, and thousands of ghouls joined.

The army grew indefinitely.

However, in the end, they were Celendion’s main force.

The elite thousand.

Those whom Celendion had divided his life to.

"We have been waiting, Lord."

One of the seven vampires who were kneeling in front let out.

"The command to move out."

"...It’s been a while since we last went to the surface."

Celendion, who had been scanning his soldiers one by one, asked.

"What’s the route of departure? Are we departing through the Lake Kingdom’s main gate?"

"Yes. However, please note that..."

Alpha added hesitantly.

"... ’Nameless’ is blocking the main gate."

Celendion’s red eyes narrowed.

Nameless.

The last resister of the Lake Kingdom, who had been blocking most of the monsters of this hell alone.

"She’s truly practicing noblesse oblige."

Celendion let out a low chuckle.

"She’s been fighting unbroken for such a long time... What’s with such responsibility. She could just give up and relax like everyone else."

"But ’Nameless’s’ resistance is nearing its limit."

Alpha stared northward. The direction where Lake Kingdom’s main gate was.

"Although she had been blocking the majority of the floods for the past five hundred years, recently, she began to falter. She won’t be able to block us this time."

Alpha extended her hand to explain the departure route.

"All other armies, excluding the main force of a thousand, are on standby at the northern central square. Soon, they’ll advance to the main gate as bait, engaging in battle with ’Nameless’. While they buy us some time..."

"The main force will pass through the main gate. And we advance towards the surface."

Celendion tilted his head.

"Have other armies also advanced this way?"

"It’s embarrassing, but yes. We throw the bait army at ’Nameless’, and while the bait army buys time, a small main force advances outside the kingdom."

Alpha gritted her teeth.

"If it wasn’t for ’Nameless’, tens of thousands of monsters would have attacked the surface every time. If that were the case, the surface would have been destroyed long ago."

"We don’t need tens of thousands to destroy the surface."Celendion, who laughed faintly, looked around at his elite.

"We have enough with our thousand."

Upon hearing that, Celendion’s vampire subordinates all smirked in unison.

Indeed, why were there so many monsters needed to bring about the world’s destruction?

Ten vampires. A thousand ghouls.

This was more than enough to wreak havoc on the surface of the earth.

"Let’s get moving."

With a light step, Celendion led the way.

"I long to breathe the air of the surface once more."

A thousand-strong legion of kin orderly followed behind Celendion.

***

North of the Lake Kingdom.

In front of the main gate. Central Plaza.

When Celendion and the thousand of the main force arrived here, a battle was already underway.

Flash!

Boom!

Gigantic beams of light were shot off like artillery fire, disintegrating the monsters it grazed into dust.

Clad in a worn-out robe and with her white hair flying about, Nameless was in the midst of battle.

"Damn traitor!"

"Tear them apart! Drain them of their blood!"

Hundreds of vampires rushed in, casting blood magic.

Roar!

Growl!

Countless Frost Ghouls exhaled a cold breath as they closed in from all sides.

However,

Flash! Flash!

Wielding an old, worn-out sword, Nameless slaughtered them all as she emitted beams of light.

Each swing of the sword erupted a massive beam of light.

In the pitch-dark sky of the Lake Kingdom, the flash of the blue light illuminated the city for an instant.

"You are the consequences of the sins committed by this kingdom."

Nameless murmured menacingly.

"Where do you think you’re going? Stay within the Lake Kingdom and dream your nightmare, monsters...!"

Flash!

The beam of light struck at the center of the decoy legion.

The monsters caught in the light were annihilated without a trace.

Watching the spectacle, Celendion admired it.

"A weapon truly worthy of ending my life. Beautiful."

One of Celendion’s frequent suicide attempts involved confronting Nameless directly.

However, each time death came at the hands of Nameless, the king would always revive him.

The king did not care about any other means by which the legion commander died, except for death at the hands of Nameless.

Therefore, a clash here was meaningless.

While Nameless and the decoy legion were engaged in intense battle, Celendion and the main force quietly passed by.

Rumble-

Could it have sensed the deployment?

The rusted northern gate began to open slowly.

"Celendion...!"

Recognizing that the main force was escaping, Nameless yelled towards them.

"Where are you going, you vampire bastard!"

"Why, the surface of course, dear deposed princess."

"…!"

At the title "princess," Nameless’ face twisted. Beneath her white hair, her teeth were clenched.

"Do not continue to bear the tragic burden of this hell alone."

With a faint smile, Celendion stepped out through the fully opened north gate.

"Eventually, you too will be eroded and swallowed by time."

"Wait, Celendion! You...!"

Nameless tried desperately to stop the main force, but the decoy legion was closing in on her from all sides.

Leaving behind the battlefield swirling with light and blood, Celendion and the main force stepped out through the northern gate of the Lake Kingdom.

From the gate to the surface of the lake, a transparent path was connected.

Soon after they began to walk, Celendion and the main force of the Blood Tribe were able to step out onto the surface.

"The air is good here."

After quietly taking in the outside world’s air for the first time in hundreds of years, Celendion stared straight to the north.

"Let’s go. To bring about the world’s destruction."

Hoping that his own demise awaited him at the end of the path, the Vampire King began his journey towards the human world.

--TL Notes--

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