Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Vampire Count, Jusio

I was flying from the lord's castle to the Ghost Sky Ship.

The sky was dark since it was covered by thick clouds.

A fierce battle commenced at a slightly separate place from the ship.

It was a battle between the worshipers of the church of Maggots against the human warriors from the north.

Human warriors infiltrating this land was something that always happened.

The pawn of the Gods of Elios came in order to purify this land.

Though the worshipers of the church of maggots had an overwhelming number on their side, the human warriors always pushed them back with sheer ability.

In the first place, the brains of the warriors of the church of maggots had already been eaten by maggots, thus reducing their thinking capabilities.

All they could do was fight bravely without the fear of death.

They fought while fat and flabby maggots dangled out from their rotten bodies.

They could still fight like ferocious beasts even after their guts spilled out of their abdomen.

In the first place, they were a nursery for the maggots.

Though they're not zombies, you could say that they're something close to that.

Humans who got controlled by maggots couldn't die, they would fight forever for the sake of the Ruler of Death.

And once they truly died or their bodies completely collapsed, the maggots would find a new host.

As for what becomes of their soul, no one knows the answer.

Alas, there might be no repose for those who were born as humans, creatures who bear the sin just by being born in this world.

「What are you looking at, Jusio?」

Milady spoke to me.

「Nothing, I’m just trying to find a pig-like man in the nearby battlefield.」

When I told her so, Milady sent a casual glance in the direction I was looking at.

After looking for a while, Milady scowled.

「Yeah. It's boring. I can't find a good man either.」

Milady heaved a sigh as she had lost a lot of her vampire knight aides in the previous battle against the Dark Knight.

Her first criterion for vampire knights was that they be strong and handsome.

That was the reason why she had a hard time replenishing the lost vampire knights.

「I tried to go out to look for the Dark Knight and yet, now I'm bored. Not to mention that the angels have also infiltrated into our airspace. Jusio, prepare for battle.」

「Yes Milady.」

We were currently heading to the airspace that got infiltrated by the angels.

Zalbuth-sama had already come to deal with them alas, we got dispatched too after Zalbuth-sama got outnumbered by the angels.

We arrived at the battle a short while later.

Over there, we saw the battle between the vampire knights and specter knights against the valkyries.

Valkyries are female angels who serve Goddess Rena.

The angels used light magic, a fatal weakness for the undead.

That was the reason why the valkyries got the upper hand against the specter knights and the vampire knights.

「Look like they got kicked in the a*s, Jusio.」

Milady looked at the battle from the deck as she spoke with a pouting tone.

「That seems to be the case, Milady. But I guess we can turn the tide of the battle.」

「Yes, I have high expectations for you, Jusio. Not to mention that you have resistance against light magic after all.」

Milady smiled at me.

That's right, I had resistance toward light magic while being an undead.

Though I don't know the details, it seems to have something to do with my blood.

Maybe my ancestor was an angel.

Angels couldn't become undead due to this trait.

But according to Milady, the humans who inherited their blood could become vampires and gain resistance to light magic.

「I'm heading out, Milady.」

I jumped off the deck and spread my wings.

I also drew my sword while flying in the air.

Even without light magic, angels were inherently more powerful than vampires.

Fighting them from the front was suicidal.

But, they had the habit of using light magic first when they fought against the undead.

Properly speaking, that wasn't a mistake alas, it was a huge mistake against me.

They made a mistake the moment they fired their light magic at me.

The valkyrie spotted me coming toward them.

Now, come at me!

I readied my guard.

「It's the Princess of Fresh Blood! Everyone RETREAT!」

Alas, against my expectation, the leader of the valkyries ordered her subordinates to retreat.

They escaped quickly, preventing us from chasing after them.

Thus, I had no choice but to return to the ship.

「Harassment, is it? It seems they're toying with us.」

Said Milady in frustation.

The angels – including the valkyries – frequently infiltrate this land, and then would retreat again.

Maybe she hates such harassment.

Surely, we couldn't play along with such a ploy.

At that moment.

Someone contacted me with communication magic.

「What's the matter, Jusio?」

Asked Milady.

「We have an emergency, Milady. Those pig-faced men we caught have escaped.」

◆Dark Knight; Kuroki

I released the fat men in the underground prison.

I pulled the rope since the men exposed their a*sholes.

「BUHIII!」

Body aside, they somehow raised a strange voice.

Please stop raising strange voices!

The undead were loitering around the castle.

I imagined a gruesome sight but, could it be that this was the same?

Alas, I patiently saved everyone.

「I'm saved. My name is Frutin. I'm a servant of the God King-sama.」

The man whose leg formed the "V" alphabet a while ago introduced himself.

Since he said that he served the God King, he must be the priest of Oudith.

He looked quite dignified when he wore his attire.

「I see Fru— Frutin-dono. I'm just a passing warrior. Please forgive me for being unable to tell you my name.」

I replied without telling him about my name.

There was no special reason for doing that but, just in case.

「I see, you're the rumored warrior guided by a fairy… You must have special circumstances. I can't ask the details but still, thanks a lot.」

Frutin thanked me while looking at Tibel.

Tibel looked back at the man with a suspicious gaze.

Seeing her pinching her nose, the smell must be too unbearable for her.

She didn't say anything.

Was this what she meant by "Unpleasant Presence"?

Well, even I couldn't help but agree with her though…

Man, I couldn't help but marvel again at the awesomeness of fairies.

「Thank you, fairy tamer. I'm Mardas, a warrior from the north.」

Said a man whose body was covered up in thick haim

Maybe, the freedom fighter lost his confidence.

The men who got freed by me also thanked me.

There were 47 prisoners.

And for some reason, all of them were fat.

「By the way, can you tell us for what reason you got caught?」

When I asked, the men looked at each other.

It seems they also had no idea why they got captured.

「We also have no idea why. According to them, the Ruler of Death ordered them to catch fat men.」

Frutin explained the situation.

Frutin came to purify Ruvania. It seems he was the war priest of Oudith.

He along with his comrades got beaten up by the army led by the vampires and were brought back to this castle.

His other comrades who weren't fat were killed.

Mardas also gave the same explanation.

It seems that only fat men were spared.

There was no other explanation other than it being the order of the Ruler of Death.

This Ruler of Death must be referring to Zarxis. Why did he order his subordinates to only catch fat men?

It was so confusing.

And why were the fat men they caught tied buck naked like that?

That moment, a loud alarm resounded in my mind.

「No way… Zarxis has such a hobby…」

His type was a chubby person!

And men on top of that!

That realization sent a chill running down my spine.

In a certain sense, it was an even more frightening fate than death.

「What's the matter? Why are you making a face as if you want to puke?」

Asked Mardas while looking anxiously at me.

And then, I ended up imagining it.

Zarxis leaning on the hairy man.

It was a horror in a certain sense.

「No, it's nothing. Now that I’ve saved everyone, I'll go.」

I looked up to the sky, trying to distract myself from that disgusting spectacle.

Wendy and co weren't here either.

In that case, she might be upstairs.

「It seems you have some sort of goal. Let me help you.」

Frutin offered his assistance.

What should I do now that things have become even more complicated than before?

But I knew that I might need some assistance to let Wendy and the children escape.

「I understand. Let's cooperate.」