Vampire War 2

Imperial Capital – Goldonia.

The carriage slowly comes to a stop.
We wake up after being jostled by the recoil.

「We have arrived at the Imperial Capital of Goldonia. Take care not to forget your luggage.」

The three of us slowly disembark from the carriage as if being pushed by the other passengers.
Hoods cover our heads to shield the sunlight, but the carriage had stopped inside a large building.

Conveniently for us, it is evening and the sun will set in about an hour.

「That was a pleasant trip.」
「Yes. It didn’t shake at all.」
「There was still plenty of space for us and our luggage despite 20 passengers riding.」

Vampires can move several times faster than a human――that fact is a thing of the past.
Nowadays, there is a transportation network of passenger carriages connecting major cities, making it faster for us to ride than run, especially long distances.
 
「Sorry, it would have been faster if Aegir-sama traveled alone. I couldn’t hold back and take a leak……」

A young man passing by bends over and runs off.

Lucy won’t actually die from exposure to the sun, she simply dislikes it.
Celia can endure the sun, if only exposed for a short period, although steam still rises from her body.

「Either way, I was thinking of coming by carriage.」

Traffic on the roads and in the city has increased significantly since I was king, so sprinting in the middle of night will instantly cause suspicion.

I tell Celia not to worry as I reach my arm around her back for a hug and a squeeze of her butt while I’m at it.

「Goldonia……huh?」

We always avoided this place while wandering the continent.

Aside from the fact that we parted ways cleanly, a king who should be dead can’t just appear out of the blue.
More so when I’m undead, it would only be a hindrance to them.
Even if they accepted me, I can’t go back.

「But they’re already-」
「Nobody who knows Aegir-sama is around anymore.」
「Well, it’s been close to 80 years after all.」
 
An indescribable smile forms on my face.
I’ve already seen off everybody important.

「Let’s not talk about this anymore. Shall we see how this city has changed?」

I was thinking of checking out the city while heading towards Brynhildr’s mansion when someone spoke.

「Aegir is quite a dangerous name to have.」

It was the driver of the carriage we were riding.

He is middle-aged. Wrinkles decorate his sun-tanned face and his long beard is clean and tidy.
His heavily-worn and chafed travel clothes are bulging out, indicating his relatively well-built physique.

「No offense, but if you’re not careful and use the name of The First in front of nobles and government officials, you’ll get some dirty stares.」

The man’s voice is suitably low-pitched for his appearance.
It is a calm and stern tone without any hint of humor.

The driver naturally pulls out a cigarette and tries to light it, but puts it away and smiles sheepishly when he sees Celia make a disgusted face.

「It’s pretty unreasonable to be stared at because of a name.」

「Well, that’s because, unlike The Second, The First was popular. You’ll not find it uncommon for people who came from out of town like you with the same name.」

I don’t say anything in response.
Celia gave multiple hand-chops to Lucy’s ass, but she simply turned her head in the other direction.

「In any case, you are really beautiful. I’ve been to most cities as a driver……yet never come across a person as gorgeous as you.」

For an instant, my guard goes up thinking he is aiming to steal my woman, but I soon realize that he is merely admiring her beauty.

Once again, the driver attempts to light a cigarette, this time next to the window, and raises an eyebrow to check with Celia, who gives approval.

He’s also a good-natured person who is considerate of women.
And most importantly, he gives off the aura of a dandy.
If I was an old man, this is how I would want to be.

「Eeh? Aegir is already a normal――」

I block off my sense of hearing, pretending not to have heard Lucy mutter.

The driver lets out a puff of smoke and advises in a somber tone as he gazes out the window.

「Many will be jealous that you get to travel with such pretty girls, so be careful.」

Obviously, I won’t mess up.
If a guy comes to steal my women, I’ll twist his head off.

「Is that true? I guess the kid beside us did sneak in when Aegir was sleeping.」
「He what!?」

I grab Lucy’s shoulders, hoping that she didn’t let him do anything.

「When I told he could do it if he won against my man, he walked away dejectedly.」
「Pathetic.」

I reflexively take off my shirt and flex my muscles.

「……a woman’s capriciousness is scary too, but that’s not what I meant. This.」

The driver tears off a poster hanging by the window and hands it to us.

『Threat of vampires approaches. They loom nearby. Keep a vigilant eye out.』

「This……」

The frolicking Lucy and Celia become silent.

「It could just be scribbles someone stuck there for fun. Similar posters have been seen in other places recently though. And the truth is……there have been an abnormally high amount of murders in the Imperial Capital. Apparently, the method of killing is outside of what a human can do. Also, a bunch of strange people calling themselves Vampire Hunters started to appear recently.」

It’s already happening.

The driver exhales and turns to look at us more carefully.

「That reminds me, you boarded at night, sat in seats away from the window, and not once got up to go outside during the day.」

Lucy’s eyes silently ask me if she should kill him, but I stop her with a firm gaze.

I don’t dislike this guy, thus I don’t want to hurt him.
I’ve lived for a hundred years already, so I’ve gotten smart enough to get by using words.

「We aren’t vampires. You’re absolutely wrong. It’s impossible. Ridiculous. I’ll be leaving now.」

Celia gives me a chop to the head and Lucy jabs me in the side.
That was no good, huh?

「Then take a look at this. Being exposed to sunlight doesn’t――」

As I extend my hand out of the window to prove my point, due in part to me being hungry and also having held the urge to go pee for so long, a trail of white smoke rises from my skin.

「「――!!!?」」

Lucy and Celia stomp the source of the smoke and then hastily hide my arm behind their backs.

「Fuu, I’m joking. Besides, you were roasting garlic, which vampires are supposed to hate……I got complaints from passengers about it. Hm, what’s wrong?」

「「It’s nothing.」」

I’ll stay quiet and rub Lucy’s ass instead.

「It’s getting late. This is also the time I get off work. If you’re going to an inn, I can help guide you.」

As risky as it is, I haven’t been to Goldonia in several decades and it would suck to get lost. Let’s accept his offer.

「By the way, this is my first time finding out too, but why does holding in your pee reduce your resistance?」

I can’t answer Lucy because I don’t know either.
Until I learn why, I have to pay attention not to fall asleep outside after getting drunk or else I’ll burn.

「A vampire that gets drunk and sleeps until morning……」
「Sometimes I wonder if you are really an undead.」

Alright, let’s get back on track.

 
「Where we are is the Imperial Travel Agency. This building can hold six large 30-man carriages at the same time. Beside it, you can see the C & L headquarters and department store, a company that has existed before the birth of the Empire, and this five-storey store is the tallest building in the Empire, excluding the royal palace and other military facilities.」

In terms of size, this travel agency is on par with that of a fortress, but the department store just towers over everything, I’m surprised it hasn’t collapsed.
At the entrance are two bronze statues of the founders.

The statues are generally faithful, but Claire’s abdomen area and Laurie’s age and leg length have been tweaked to a certain extent, which makes me laugh.

「This is the Imperial Opera House. While it has the best facilities and the largest scale, the maintenance costs were so extraordinary that there were talks of shutting it down several times during periods of financial crisis. Each time, however, Queen Nonna prevented the closure, by crying to her husband, The First, complaining to The Second, and pressing The Third with her authority as mother to retract it, respectively.」

「「「……」」」

Hearing that makes me smile nervously, and Celia gets irritated from imagining it.

「Now, it’s one of the top two centers of arts in the Empire. Plus, the Continental Empire is prosperous enough not to be shaken by its maintenance costs.」

Culture and art are essentially masses of extravagant spending.
But if we eliminate all unnecessary spending, then we are left with a lonely society of only the necessities.

「I’m sure that’s how Nonna-san convinced you, right?」

「No, she squeezed my arm between her breasts and broke it.」

「That’s even worse……」

Suddenly, multiple people come running up to us.

「Move, move! Clear the way!」
「Stay on the side! This is public security!」
 
Offended by the yelling, I wanted to purposely stand in the way, but Lucy pulled me by the arm to the edge of the road.

Running through the masses are individuals carrying short batons.
During my time, the security force carried short spears and swords, which makes me doubt their capability, but upon closer look, I also see they are equipped with short-barrel――or rather mini versions of muskets.

「In the Continental Empire, it is already standard for officers to be issued muskets. And the military has more advanced firearms and magical weapons available for use.」

Celia takes out her notepad.

「According to top-secret information, they also recovered an ancient weapon called Fire Railgun, but because the discharge causes an entire region of land to be uninhabitable for humans, it was scrapped.」

Celia’s memo, which has been kept up for decades even after her death, is looking more like a dictionary now.
By the way, the hand-drawn picture of a vampire baring its fangs with its arms sticking out on the cover is very cute.

「The barbarians of the east, who used to be a serious threat, are no longer a concern. A large majority of their forces was crushed by that stupid Antonio.」

The diver continues from where Celia hesitates.

「The conquest of the barbarians by The Second was overwhelming, but also temporary. The Third was a pacifist and did not actively suppress the barbarians, allowing them to rally more men, however…..the current emperor, Anastasia, took over before they could regain power.」

Bartolome had a gentle personality to the point that it worried Nonna, and disliked conflict so much that he would try to get along with everyone, even those he didn’t agree with, using dialogue.

Ana is the total opposite.
She isn’t picky about her methods and would do anything from bribery to violence all in order to win and wouldn’t stop until her enemies were annihilated.
It sounds horrible thinking about it this way.

「Public security is headed towards the arena. There’s a fighting tournament going on right now, maybe there are some rowdy guests that are causing a fuss.」

The arena is more like a grand coliseum……the one who had it built was definitely Ana.
It’s used for fights during the day, but I wonder if it has a different purpose at night.
A heinous criminal might mysteriously disappear.

I stare at the royal palace from a distance and smile wryly.

「……you won’t go warn her directly?」

Celia murmurs.

It would be a vampire going to warn her about vampires coming.
I came to quietly see Ana off, not mess with her surroundings.

「I’ll solve everything in the cover of darkness. Like a vampire should.」

「So……where is your inn?」
「We are staying at the Brynhildr residence.」

The driver stops walking.

「Countess Brynhildr――the benefactor of the royal family for generations, who has the privilege to freely enter and exit the palace and get an audience at any time……someone who gets such special treatment yet doesn’t have an official position or any land. And she doesn’t attend banquets or make public appearances.」

I don’t like where he is going with this.

「Few have seen the head of the household, but it is said to be a young girl. ……or so a former guard said about 60 years ago.」

Celia gestures at me, wanting to silence him, but after having him guide us it wouldn’t be humane, even as a vampire, to kill him.

Just as I am thinking of how to interject, the driver chuckles.

「Oh well. It doesn’t matter. I don’t know who you people are, but you don’t seem like bad people to me.」

We’re actually bad, we just aren’t doing bad things here, not that I’ll tell him.

「I also have a past I can’t speak to humans about. I’ll stop prying.」

Oh, we can see Brynhildr’s mansion now.

「Thank you for guiding us. Since you’ve been kind to us――I advise you not to go out at night for the time being. Just to be on the safe side.」

My monotonous tone frightens him, but he simply smiles nervously and leaves, concluding that the reasoning can’t be explained to a mere long-distance carriage driver.

Our expressions change instantly after seeing the man off.

「She’s angry.」

Lucy mutters.

Indeed, bloodlust and anger is oozing from Brynhildr’s mansion and the places we were guided.
An aura of rage, practically visible to the naked eye, is enveloping the mansion like a dark red whirlpool.

She’s genuinely mad.
It’s something unthinkable.

Brynhildr thinks of ordinary humans as no more than worthless insects.
Thus she wouldn’t get upset if a robber intruded or someone picked a fight with her.

「Which means……」

I am interrupted by the entire window of Brynhildr’s mansion getting destroyed and an object resembling a human body flying out.

Parts of that human-like object scatter on houses and the road, then the main body crashes into a tree and leaves only a blood stain behind.
 
「Let’s go!」
「Yes.」
「Right!」

We leap into the air, jumping over the mansion’s gate with almost 20 meters to spare.

「Guaaaa!」

At the same time, the entrance gate is destroyed and a man with a half-gouged upper body rolls out.
Despite his guts spilling out, the man stands up and roars like a beast.

「It’s a vampire!」

Just as Celia readies herself, a girl jumps from the mansion and slices off the face of the roaring vampire with her bare hands.
Then she crushes the vampire’s heart with her foot.
After letting out a dreadful groan, the male vampire’s body loses color and crumbles to pieces like dry mud.

The female who killed the vampire looks familiar.
She is one of Brynhildr’s vampire servants.

「She’s already being attacked!」
「It’s them? No wonder she’s mad.」
「I don’t know if we’re late or just in time.」

No later than the words leave my mouth, I twist my body, barely avoiding the claws which graze my shoulder and leave marks in the ground.
Another vampire attacked me.

「Are you also traitors!?」
「Why does it matter to you?」

I catch the arm swung at me by the vampire, tear it off and toss it aside.

I won’t give him time to even wince in pain.
My hand grasps his face, and then I break his thin body in half at the waist.

Weak vampires won’t die unless their heart is crushed or their head is severed.
However, he at least won’t be able to move if I separate his body.

「I’ll finish it!」

Celia completes the job with a clean slice through the neck.

「Hey. I came to help.」

The female vampire gives us a brief emotionless glance, determines we aren’t enemies, and then turns to return inside the mansion.

「Fire!!」

Three bangs come from the side and then blood squirts out from the female vampire’s right hand, chest and neck.

「Muskets!? No, this sound is from the short-barrelled one!」
「But shots from such a small weapon won’t kill a――」

Lucy trails off as vapor begins to rise from the body of the female vampire, who collapses in agony.
She groans and writhes.

「Silver bullets work well on strong ones too!」 
「We’ll be fine as long we can hit them!」
「Finish it with a knife!」

Three men run toward the incapacitated female vampire.
On reflex, I push off the ground and propel myself to intercept, swinging my arm at one of them. 
   
「Eh?」

My arm follows through and the man’s legs topple forward.
Everything above is reduced to spurts of blood and small fragments of flesh.

「It’s a new monster!」
「Don’t fret! If we can shoot it――」

Celia dives toward the men aiming their short-barrelled weapon.

「So fast!!」
「C-can’t see――」

Celia leaps from the ground to the wall, then to a tree, then the mansion’s metal fence before pouncing at the men.
She does it all in the span of less than half a second.

As if cutting fruit, she lops off their heads and the short-barrelled weapons fire harmlessly into the air.

「Sluggish. They’re definitely human.」
「It’s rare to make humans into ghoul servants……」

Ghouls are basically humans who have been turned into servants by a vampire, and unlike zombies, keep their intelligence and consciousness, although their actions are completely controlled by the vampire. They can not defy orders even if the vampire told them to die.

It didn’t feel like that for those guys though.

「This isn’t the time to be talking.」

Brynhildr has dozens of vampires serving her.
If the intruders are able to enter her residence, these aren’t your average vampires.
No matter how strong Brynhildr is, we can’t assume she’ll be okay.

「I want to save Brynhildr and then taste her hairless hole! Everything else can wa――guoh!」
「I-I did it!」

The moment I stood in front of the entrance and declared my desire, flames engulfed me from head to toe.
Looking around, I find a human male pointing some kind of fire attribute magic tool at me.

「It’s because you said something so dumb.」
「Carelessness is the greatest enemy.」

I swing both arms down along my body in a brushing motion, blowing out the fire with the wind created by the force.

「Wha-unscathed――!?」

The second shot fired at me is stopped by my palm, then I grab and crush the magic tool before a third shot can be fired.
Afterward, I lift up the man by the collar.

「How dare you embarrass me in front of a woman!!」

I yell as I throw him with all my might.

「Higyaaa――gyuh.」

He flies along the ground at a force so strong that rubble gets kicked up and passes through the metal fence.

「Uwah.」

Celia averts her eyes.

「It’s like the boiled egg slicer.」

Lucy mutters.

「This one is dangerous!」
「We already killed three. Stay calm!」

True enough, when I turn around, five men are pointing the barrels of their muskets at us.
The distance is five meters, they shouldn’t miss.

They squeeze the triggers, which drops the firing hammers leading to the bullets being propelled――in the split second before, I swing my arm down. I pick up a loose brick and crush it into smaller pieces within my hand.

「As the saying goes, demons out.」

I hurl the brick chunks at almost the same speed as the bullets.
There shouldn’t be much decrease in power at a distance of five meters.

The finger-sized fragments pierce the five men’s bodies, blast through the door of the gate and open holes in the adjacent wall.

Four die instantly from their heads or bodies exploding, the last one escapes with only the right half of its body blown off.
Lucy strokes the surviving man’s cheek.

「Ah, this one’s a ghoul. No wonder it’s more durable.」

What, is this a mixed army of humans, ghouls and vampires?

As if the spell binding it was broken along with its body, the ghoul reaches an arm out toward Lucy with a vacant expression.

「So beautiful……am I in heaven?」

「Fufu, almost. Good night.」

I hear a wet splat and think that it’s over.

But that’s when a human comes falling down from above me.
Two of the public security were sliced vertically in half. And one of them is a woman.
The only one who would do such a thing is a vampire.

Walking out is a man cloaked in black, surrounded by a strange aura.

「I’ll handle it!」

Celia jumps in and blocks the incoming claw strike with her sword, but the blade snaps after taking one hit.

「Using weapons of human scum, it seems I’ve encountered yet another weak one.」
「Hmp! What does a vile vampire like you know!?」

When the vampire attacks again, Celia defends with her own claws, not backing down an inch.
You know you’re also a vampire, right?
 
Celia has the upper hand in speed while her opponent has the upper hand in strength.
But in a head-to-head clash, what’s really important has to be power……shown by how the enemy is starting to push Celia.

Celia drops to a knee as she receives the heavy blow.

「It’s over.」

The vampire raises his hand to deliver the finishing strike――only to raise the other hand.
Blue glowing energy crackles in the palm of his hand.
It’s lightning magic.

「It’s over, isn’t it?」

A vulnerable Celia snorts, preparing to accept the final attack.
And then, quicker than the magic can be unleashed, she draws and fires the small-barrelled weapon from her pocket.
With a resounding bang, a hole opens in the vampire’s forehead, and the yet-to-be-shot magic disperses.

「Ga……gobh……you……silv-……s-sav-……」

「I used a human weapon again. While I’m at it, I’ll use one more.」

Celia says as she plunges a silver knife into the vampire’s chest.
He lets out an excruciating cry and then turns to ash.

「We wo――n!」
「Well done!」

I hug the cute Celia, who proudly sticks out her chest, and kiss her deeply while fondling her breasts and ass, and as much as I’d like to continue, we still have things to do.

I pick up the female vampire suffering from the silver bullet.
For now, I guess I can dig out the bullet with a regular knife.

「Aside from this one, all I’ve seen are enemies. Maybe she’s already cornered.」

I run toward the mansion and Celia follows, staying ever vigilant, meanwhile Lucy’s expression is uncaring.
Vampires don’t recognize the concept of family, but still I’d expect her to be sad about potentially losing a friend.

「Cornered? Well, if she was alone――」

Exploiting our lapse in attention, more vampires and humans surge into the mansion.

「――as long as ‘that’ is beside her, it’s not possible.」

I hear screams, yells, shouts, and death throes.
Steel slashing leather, bone and skin being cut, and something moist being squished.

Timewise, the noise stops after about two seconds pass, and then a jumbled mess of vampire and human parts scatter out from the door of the broken entrance. 

Slowly walking into the garden is a man clothed in black.

In each hand is a sword, with shadows covering his face, and not uttering a word or grunt of effort, he simply closes the distance on the enemies in front of him.

「……Siegfried.」

Possessing a dauntless body, proving he was a man of renown before death, and absolutely obedient to Brynhildr’s orders, who would without hesitation cut down an ally if needed, is Brynhildr’s knight.
Of course this man would take action if enemies intrude his master’s mansion.

「Finally, a high-class one.」
「We weren’t making any progress by killing low-class vampires. If we present this guy’s head to Brynhildr, she might join us.」

Two vampires advance forward.

「Don’t act conceited for slaying small fry. I am Gwelshkisha. I have come from the north after 500 years to revive Draguria-sama――hmph, you don’t even talk?」

Gwe……Gwesh……Gwe leaps backward, but his right hand slides off and falls to the ground.
Siegfried’s slash――I wouldn’t have realized he moved if I was human, and even now I only barely saw the afterimage of it.
Celia rubs her eyes and does a double take, so I doubt she saw anything.
Still, with an astounding amount of blurs, only the right hand was cut off.

The enemy vampire doesn’t panic and simply presses the severed hand on his arm stub.
In an instant, his hand regenerates.

「If he’s really 500 years, ordinary weapons won’t kill him. I think he’ll just regenerate even if you cut his head off or stab his heart.」 

Lucy holds her neck and gestures at Gwe.

「Claws aren’t a vampire’s only weapon. Secret arts lost to time are also……what?」

Siegfried continues ignoring Gwe and turns to the other vampire.

Gwe, who naturally takes offense, steps forward and begins to chant a magic spell.

The moment his foot lands, his head rolls off his shoulders, and both arms and legs are cut at the base.
His severed limbs are further cut to pieces, and his torso is sliced to shreds like a vegetable.
Lastly, his exposed heart is cleaved into four.
His entire body trembles eerily and then he decays into mud.
 
「He got sliced and died.」
「……well, he was cut up so finely. I’m not good at fighting……or rather, it disgusts me.」

While we are flabbergasted, the other vampire moves.

「Instantly……g-ghouls! Kill him!」

Individuals with soulless eyes surround Siegfried.
Ghouls are normally weaker than their master and should stand no chance.
However, the ghouls ready their crossbows and short-barrelled muskets, a sign of the advancement of ages.
Obviously, they should be loaded with silver bullets.

「He appears pathetic, but it should require considerable strength to bind ten ghouls. He isn’t weak.」

Ghouls with the same master don’t need to vocally synchronize with each other.
They raise the hands holding the gun and shoot at Siegfried in unison.
The speed of the bullets far surpasses that of a human if not a vampire.

「He isn’t dodging!?」

Celia shouts in disbelief.
Siegfried doesn’t move out of the way like Celia would.
Yet the bullets don’t hit their target.

「No……he deflected them with his swords.」

He doesn’t block the bullets with the blade.
He sweeps his sword from above or below to repel them.
What terrifying speed.

Once the bullets are used up, Siegfried sways slightly, and slices all the ghouls in half.

「I-I give up! I am no match for you! I’ll become yours or your master’s servant!!」

The remaining vampire prostrates himself and utters words of resignation.

「……」

Siegfried stops moving.
Since Brynhildr’s name was mentioned, will he seek her judgement?

However, the enemy doesn’t overlook the opening.
    
「Got tricked! With my 400 year old secret arts, I can take down any formidable op――」

Except his head rolls off his shoulders into a ditch and gets carried away by the stream.
He got cut the moment he stood up.

「Running water is also a vampire’s weakness, he’s done for.」

Lucy shrugs her shoulders and hides behind me, clinging close to my back.
Seeing that Celia is also sweating, that dumb guy must have been pretty strong after all. 

「Are you done?」

A level-headed voice as beautiful as a bell asks.
Its owner is a girl with an aura of rage large enough to envelop our surroundings.
She walks with tiny steps in a majestic and commanding manner through the middle of the garden ravaged by the battle.

A sigh escapes my lips.
I expected her to be okay, but seeing her actually unharmed gives me a sense of relief.

「Brynhildr!」
「Heya.」

Brynhildr’s eyes widen upon noticing me.
Just as she opens her mouth, she sees Lucy and coldly turns the other way.

「――no, no yet.」

Siegfried answers and Brynhildr’s weakening anger swells again.
I send a flying kiss toward Brynhildr, as I got no response……and it also gets completely ignored.

 
Needless to say, the humans and vampires who attacked have gotten afraid to attack and are backing away.
The exceptions are two individuals. 

「So you have finally come, Lady Brynhildr. Will we receive a favorable reply this time?」

「Please forgive the earlier unsightly behavior. Those were incompetent fools not representative of high-class vampires.」

Neither hide their contempt for the fallen brethren as they kneel before the small female.
How many vampires are there?

Opposing them, Brynhildr responds in a menacing tone with her arms crossed.

「At this point, I won’t ask you to leave. For destroying my mansion, you won’t be leaving alive. Perish.」

Brynhildr bares her fangs and prepares to attack, but I stand in front of her.

「……what do you think you’re doing?」

「We finally reunited after all this time. Let me look cool.」

「Hmph. You idiot.」

Although Brynhildr snorts, I can see that she is happy, and that makes me more motivated.

I have to defeat the enemy in a cooler way than Siegfried did.
It’s not just the enemy I have to contend with, I am competing with him too. First, I’ll use cooler swordplay to cut the enemy into pieces.

「I’ll be your opponent. Let’s go.」
「……you are young. If a small fry who hasn’t even lost the stench of human is challenging me, I’m being heavily underestimated.」

I draw the sword from my hip and slash at the disappointed vampire.
Of course, I am not holding back at all, but the opponent is also a vampire, and meets my blade with his claws.

The collision makes a sound like metal hitting a rock――and then the sword breaks.
Being just a regular sword I bought at some random shop, it wasn’t able to handle my power.

「Kuh, if only he had the Dual Crater.」
「Holding a mithril weapon would cause us to melt!」

Celia quips, while Brynhildr heaves a big sigh.
I disappointed her. I can’t let her down.

「Gugh……this much strength……with an iron sword……who are you……」

Fortunately, I reduced the opponent’s arm to mush, but that doesn’t mean the battle is over.

「Since you’re a vampire, why not use your claws?」
「Aegir-sama, your claws! Use your claws!」

I see, my claws, huh?
That’s right, vampires all fight with their claws.

「Here I come!」

I take a large swing at the vampire, whose arm is regenerating, with my claws.

「Gugeh!」
 
I smash the bones along with the arm he blocks with.

「Aegir-sama! You didn’t use your claws, that was just a right hook!」

I swing my left arm up as Celia cheers me on.
The enemy tries to dodge, but my speed is faster and my claws destroy his chin.

「……that’s an uppercut.」

Gaining strength from Lucy’s cheers as well, I whip my right hand to deflect the magic shot as a final desperation tactic, and then as Celia yells, “that’s a backhand blow”, I grab the vampire by the hair and tear his body from the shoulder up.
To finish him, I toss the vampire up in the air, and once he falls down, I cut him in two with a silver sword used by the enemy.

「I’d say we’re equal I guess.」
 
I collect myself and move on to the next vampire.

「You fight like an orc even though you’re a vampire! I don’t need my claws against a beast, shoot him!」

Multiple ghouls point their muskets at me as ordered by the last one.
Siegfried displayed a technique which repelled all the bullets fired at him.

Sadly, I don’t have that much speed.
Still, I have to generate an impression with the same impact.

「A musket loaded with silver. You think I’ll be defeated by such a toy?」

I stand leisurely in place, throwing my sword away and letting my arms hang loosely by my side.

The ghouls shoot at me. There are six of them.

I widen my eyes.
I see through the smoke from the discharge of the weapons, determine the angle of the barrels, and predict the trajectory of the bullets.
Then――

「Hup!」

I use my hands to grasp at the air. There are six bullets.
And then a grin forms on my face.

「He stopped them with bare hands? Silver bullets!?」
「I-it’s no good. We are no match for him!!」

The humans abandon their muskets and flee, while the remaining vampires allow it and back away themselves.

「This should be my win.」

Celia and Lucy also watch in shock and awe.

I gauge Brynhildr’s reaction.
Seeing her satisfied smile, I feel a sense of accomplishment, but then a silver bullet slips out from my body.
A small amount of steam accompanies it.

「It looks like he missed and let them hit his body……」
「So he stopped them with his abs and chest muscles……」

Don’t be ridiculous.
Even if I could see the bullets, you think I could grab them?

Everyone looks disappointed, while Brynhildr stares at me like she’s looking at a liar.
I can’t let this be.

But the enemy doesn’t seem to realize, and kneels down without bothering to control the ghouls. 
 
「I-it’s my loss. I will become your servant.」

Normally, I would just decapitate the vampire, not wanting a servant, but in order to surpass Siegfried, I deliberately turned my back.

I do so with a wide smile.

「……you got tricked! Vampires don’t have morality!」

I turn back around, expecting the obvious attack, and with one stroke――

To my surprise, the vampire is a female.
And it’s one with a pretty face and long, slender limbs.

「Gue!」

I am unable to slice the vampire and get stabbed in the torso with a wooden stake.
My abs narrowly blocked it, but it was a dangerous situation.

I quickly swivel my head to look at Brynhildr, who sends me a cold glance.
Regardless, I can’t kill a female, even if she happens to be an enemy vampire.

「Argh, why you!」
「Wha- I stabbed him with a stake! Wait, what are……kyaaa!」

I grab the female.

「Wait a second! What are you thinking――!? Nooooo!」

I rip the black clothes stained with what looks like human blood and also tear apart the black garments underneath.

「Y-you! Someone, kill him! He’s full of openings!」

Too bad her human friends all ran away.
The vampires are also too concerned with Siegfried to do anything.
And perhaps her mental state isn’t stable, the ghouls under her control are walking into the wall mindlessly.

「……hey, isn’t this-?」
「Don’t say anything. I’m telling myself that it’s a battle.」

Lucy and Celia sound emotionless.

I pull down her black underwear and hold her arms.
She can’t use her claws, meaning she shouldn’t be able to resist.
That also exposes her cute breasts, thin thighs, and her untrimmed crotch.

「How about this!?」

I spread the female’s legs apart and bite down on her groin.

「Gyaaaa! I-I get it, I lose! I surrender, for real this time! I’ll be the orc-vampire’s servant……so please, don’t end me this way……」

「Alright, I won!」

Checking on Brynhildr again, she gives me the dirtiest look today.

At the same time, the surviving vampires escape.
That’s the end of the attack, I guess.

***

『The ‘Guardian’ won. I’m withdrawing the backup.』

『How could you……have underestimated them?』

『Another force interfered. Two extremely strong vampires and one mid-level vampire.』

『Their genders?』

『You mean the vampires’……genders? One large male vampire and two female vampires.』

『Mark the ones who interfered as well. No need to mess with them though, we’d just incur casualties.』

『Understood. I will continue the mission.』

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