Celendion had exhausted all the life stocks he initially brought in, depleted as his subordinates fell.

However, his army had taken quite a few lives from our troops in the battle on the walls. The count was about a hundred and fifty.

The names of the dead flitted across my mind, including the faces of Oldgirl and Skull, who had died moments before.

I clenched my fist tightly.

... Anyway, Celendion currently has about a hundred and fifty life stocks.

He used these to resurrect himself from death.

"It’s been a long time since I visited the underworld."

Suddenly, there wasn’t a scratch left on him. Celendion eased his body with a series of stretches.

"I always want to return to the place I miss, but as you can see, I can’t easily fall due to this body."

"Stop spoiling the afterlife for now..."

While he casually resurrected and recomposed himself.

We also finished our reorganization.

Lucas and Evangeline stood firm in front of me again, and Damien had finished preparing for the shot, laying crossbows and magic guns on the ground.

The bodies of our fallen comrades came into view on both sides. I gritted my teeth.

For those who died for me, I cannot lose.

"I have a question, Vampire King."

"Hm?"

"Don’t you want to resurrect your subordinates?"

I asked Celendion, who stood alone.

"If you look at the number of lives you currently have, it should be possible to resurrect your subordinates."

"The current number of lives remaining for me is one hundred and fifty-three."

As if checking how much stock is left in the warehouse. As if writing an income and expenditure report on an Excel sheet.

He was indifferent while discussing the lives of the people he had taken.

"I could resurrect them, but the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t seem right. Above all, they were too weak. Using all the lives I now have as my combat resources would make me stronger."

" ...Indeed. You’re so strong you could fight alone, without your subordinates from the beginning."

"I love my army. Sincerely. But love and efficiency are separate issues. The weight of my one hundred and fifty-three subordinates and my one hundred and fifty-three lives. Isn’t it different?"

Step by step.

With a fully recovered body, he began to approach again, babbling on.

"So I will fight alone. Survive alone, destroy the world alone. It is enough to resurrect my subordinates after that."

I drew out my wand.

Three blades of magic power whirled and sprang up behind my back.

"That judgment will be your downfall, Vampire King."

"Ho. You’re saying you’re confident enough to kill me a hundred and fifty-three times, human?"

Smirk.

I diverted the conversation with a scoff.

"Before we fight again, let me tell you something, Celendion. You’re a liar."

"Hm? Me?"

"You’ve said many times that you want to kill yourself, but that’s a bald-faced lie, isn’t it?"

I harshly rebuked him.

"You’re just a coward who wants to enjoy the thrill of being close to death in a safe place... In fact, you’re more afraid of death than anyone else, aren’t you?"

If you leap from a high place, but you have a safety rope attached to your leg, it’s not suicide but bungee jumping.

This bastard is the same. He just enjoys the thrill next to death, but in reality, he clings to life more than anyone else.

"You stockpile hundreds of lives, and play the game without fear of death using cheats. Saying ’I want to quit the game because it’s not fun~’, this kind of bullshit is annoying."

Someone who steals the blood of others for his own life extension can’t really want to die.

The species known as vampires is the embodiment of self-love in essence.

"You cling to life more than anyone else. That’s you guys, vampires. Isn’t it?"

"..."

Even if he didn’t fully understand my words, he seemed to grasp the general nuance.

For the first time, a look of discomfort flitted across Celendion’s face.

"Babble all you want, human. How can a mortal who can’t even comprehend the pain of immortality understand anything?"

"Of course, I don’t know about that. I don’t care either. But there’s one thing I do know."

I swiftly swung the wand in my hand and hit the shoulders of Lucas, Evangeline, and Damian.

[Superior Buff Applied!]

[’Reduce all damage by 25% for 3 minutes’ buff is applied to Lucas(SSR)!]

[Top-notch Buff Applied!]

[’Health Recovery 3% per second for 3 minutes’ buff is applied to Evangeline(SSR)!]

[Lowest Buff Applied!]

[Damien(N) is buffed with ‘Physical Penetration Rate Increase by 10% for 3 minutes’!]"You son of a bitch, whether it’s 150 or 1500 times today, you’re going to die here, only to hit that dead end called your dream."

Glancing over the list of random buffs that popped up, I grinned.

"Feel free to say your thanks in advance, Celendion."

I thrust my staff forward.

"I don’t know when your birthday is, but I’ll make sure to give you a sturdy gift today!"

The blade of my magic power shot forward, and once again my party members clashed with Celendion.

***

My main party was undeniably the strongest among the hero characters I possessed.

They were already strong, but they’d grown even stronger after weeks of training. Strong enough to face Celendion as a single party.

But the limits were clear.

No matter how much we leveled up, killing a monster-level boss 150 times was simply impossible.

In the end, our tactic was focused on stalling time, and even that hit its limit when the buff turned off after 3 minutes.

Moreover, Celendion was persistently targeting me.

My party members had to fight defensively, and such a strategy inevitably reveals weaknesses.

Flash-!

Celendion blasted blood magic towards me.

"Damn?!"

Exhausted, I couldn’t dodge in time, and Evangeline stood in front of me, shielding me with her shield.

Crash!

"Ah!"

Evangeline screamed in pain as she was hit by the blood magic and rolled on the floor.

With my defenses down, Celendion sprang up towards me.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows flew in at the right moment.

Thump!

Celendion, spinning in the air, caught the two arrows with one hand and extended the other hand to the side.

"Damn you, sniper!"

Blood magic shot from his fingertips. Damian, exhausted from consecutive sniping, was unable to dodge.

"Save...!"

Evangeline, who had fallen earlier, leapt up again and intercepted the blood magic with her shield.

It was like a libero saving the ball in a volleyball game.

Crash!

With a burst of blood mist, Evangeline was flung away like a balloon with its string cut.

Damian, caught in the explosion, screamed and fell.

"Raaaah-!"

That’s when Lucas charged at Celendion like a beast.

His longsword swung fiercely.

Barely, with great effort, Celendion managed to dodge all the sword strikes, then with an annoyed look on his face.

Poof!

He took the sword with his body.

Blood poured out like water from his chest where the longsword was stuck. Lucas’ sword strike had once again torn open his heart core.

But undeterred, Celendion reached out and placed his hand on Lucas’ chest.

During the fight with Beta, Lucas’ chestplate had been destroyed and was now in tatters.

When Celendion’s hand touched his chest, a shadow crossed Lucas’ face.

"Damn, damn-"

Boom!

A terrible explosion occurred.

It was a close-range blood magic bombing. Lucas was blown away, vomiting blood.

"They put up a good fight..."

Celendion’s arm was completely shattered from executing the close-range bombing. He had also just been hit by the holy longsword in his heart core.

But that was it; he’d recover by sacrificing another life.

With all wounds healed in no time, Celendion tilted his head and approached me.

"Is that all you’ve got?"

"..."

"Maybe you should show me if you have more up your sleeve? You don’t have any comrades left to protect you now."

Celendion bared his fangs and squatted right in front of me.

He seemed quite eager to drink my blood; his voice was even drenched with drool.

"My secret weapon?"I smirked.

"Just wait for 3 seconds. It’s falling from the sky right now."

"I’m growing tired of your bravado, Ash..."

Celendion, no longer interested, lunged for my throat.

"I’m going to enjoy eating you. I’ll absorb your life force and make you part of my kin."

***

Vampires use the essence of life they drain from others as fuel.

If they can’t replenish their blood on the battlefield by killing enemies, the strength of the vampire, which is high-consuming, eventually runs out.

So, vampires always try to suck blood from their opponents if possible.

The pattern to watch out for was exactly this.

***

Booom-!

"...?"

With a dull thud, Celendion stared down at his chest in puzzlement.

A silver pillar...was piercing through it.

"Huh?"

Celendion slowly turned around.

It was a massive silver stake.

Literally, the silver stake that had fallen from the sky had pierced through his neck, penetrated his back, and pinned him to the ground.

"Sorry for...huff...the delay, your Highness, huff..."

Godhand, looking as if he was on the verge of death, barely managed to speak to me from the distance.

Beside him, Bodybag was lying on the ground, looking equally close to death.

Combining the silver they had created with the net and the silver weapons they had collected from the battlefield.

Godhand had crafted the giant silver stake, and Bodybag had lifted it into the air with telekinesis and thrown it at the perfect timing.

Vampires usually let their guard down at the last moment before they feast. After all, you don’t bother a dog when it’s eating.

It was pretty close, but in the end, they managed to pin him down.

"It’s a classic vampire countermeasure, driving a stake through the heart. Doesn’t it feel great to have a hole punched through you?"

"Quite a cute move... but so what?"

Even being pinned by the stake, the Vampire King wouldn’t die from it.

"What do you expect to achieve with such childish pranks?"

Creak. Crack.

Even now, the silver stake was fracturing. It wouldn’t be long before Celendion would break free from the stake.magic

Struggling to stand, I growled at him.

"Yeah. All these childish pranks... were all part of a plan to buy some time."

"What?"

Just then.

Whooosh!

The surrounding air changed. A turbulent flow of immense magical power surged towards one side of the city wall, causing goosebumps to rise.

Surprised, Celendion turned to look, and I followed his gaze with a smirk.

Junior was standing there.

She raised both her hands, with dozens of magical elements of various colors floating above her head.

"Junior!"

I yelled out.

"I’ve been waiting so long it’s not even funny! Are we there yet?!"

"...It’s almost ready, your Highness. Thirty more seconds."

The spell was so complex that just looking at the formula intertwined in mid-air made my eyes spin.

As she was nearing the completion of the magic, Junior nodded.

"In thirty seconds, I can finish off that monster."

Seemingly realizing the nature of the magic, Celendion’s eyes widened in shock for the first time.

"That magic is...!"

Infuriated, Celendion roared out.

"...It’s mine, isn’t it?!"

Junior readily nodded in response.

"After I fell victim to your magic backlash that day, I’ve been working on how to make it mine... After countless attempts, I finally perfected it. I haven’t registered it with the Continental Magic Association yet, but I’m planning to soon."

Celendion’s face contorted fiercely.

"You mere human! How dare you steal our clan’s secret technique-!"

"Yes, yes. It’s not an homage. It’s plagiarism. But, I’ve got to say this."

Even as she spewed blood from her mouth and nose, Junior gave a fox-like grin.

"Your magic was pretty kick-ass, you bloodsucker."

Celendion’s mouth fell open in shock.

--TL Notes--

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