Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

242 – Dancing Amidst the Sudden Rain of Blood 3

「I have come to you.」

That playful, charming voice belonged to…the Vampire Queen Carmilla.

But…she’s fighting Wraith right now- …no, this really is her.

Carmilla and Milla look similar. Or rather, Haagenti is acutely aware of how Carmilla dresses. Two fellow female Vampires have their similarities, but their physique differs.

Normally, I wouldn’t mistake them.

But it’s currently pouring rain. In addition to that, the surrounding is permeated with Wraith’s Magical Energy due to the rain.

This situation makes it difficult to distinguish an individual’s Magical Energy signature.

I suppose she didn’t send the crimson Hydra to assault Wraith to defeat him, but rather to use that as an opportunity to swap places with it.

「Me…lania…」

Knowing that he has been defeated, Josh adjusts to Heal Melania completely.

In this rain, that will consume more Magical Energy than usual, but he has been saving up Magical Energy since before the battle started.

「Such devotion. A good White Sorcerer.」

She pulls out the blood whip from his chest as a large amount of Magical Energy particles spray out.

I met eyes with Josh. I could see the belief in his eyes that his allies will win.

「This rain is truly quite depressing. In order to display our powers as usual, more than usual Magical Energy is required. In addition, Magical Energy is required to Resist a troublesome Black Sorcerer. There is nothing more annoying. Then, let us at least use it to our advantage and get rid of one of the more troublesome members.」

In all honesty, this plan exceeded my expectations.

Even so, it is also incredible.

If Botis was able to get rid of me, good. If not, even if she were defeated, all of my focus must be on Botis at that moment. It was precisely because I sharpened my senses that I was able to defeat her while Resisting her Evil Eye.

In time with me dedicating all of my attention to warding off Botis, she slipped through the cracks of the two vanguards, Wraith and Fran.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds, yet Carmilla did it.

On top of that, she was able to defeat Josh by striking unexpectedly at the optimal opportunity.

She’s thought about how this party would work in a Dungeon.

If you are too wary of the Water Hero Wraith and the Destroyer Fran, the support units, the White Sorcerer Josh and the Black Sorcerer Lem are free to wield their powers. That said, if you try to attack those two, the Miner Melania will block you.

If you try to go after the Black Sorcerer Lem first, the other members will pull the rug from under you if left alone.

Seeing how we did battle with the Scales of Justice Astrea, she would know not to underestimate anyone in the Wraith party.

So what should she do? Who should be defeated first?

Every party has their own ideas, but Carmilla decided to crush Josh.

Doing so, our wounds cannot be healed. Our strength, speed, and defense will not be made stronger than it is.

So then, next is…

「Josh…!」

The moment Wraith turned his attention towards us, Haagenti didn’t give him an inch.

But Wraith then blocked it with a shield made of ice.

「Where do you think you’re going?」

「Not telling.」

Wraith hasn’t used the power of the Spirit since the first time he used it.

There’s no telling what manner of strong foe we’ll face in the future. He probably doesn’t want to put too much of a burden on the Spirit.

His own Magical Energy ability is strong, but the Magical Energy organ can only be trained slowly and steadily.

Wraith is still only ten years old, and even though he’s been training since he was an infant, he has his limits.

Currently, Carmilla is manipulating a seemingly endless amount of blood. In order to neutralize this, Wraith has been using a considerable amount of Magical Energy.

Still, if he fought her one-on-one, as an ally, I’d trust my leader to win.

Or perhaps Carmilla thinks the same as well.

But what if she were to add Haagenti into the mix along with Carmilla’s ability to manipulate large amounts of blood that she showcased in the Raid Battle?

In other words, does she believe that they can hunt down the Water Hero Wraith together after eliminating all of his allies?

It’s also possible that there is no such plan…

And she merely wishes to defeat me.

The box is still in Carmilla’s hand.

The large amount of blood pouring out of it changed its shape to that of a massive sword.

「I shall pierce your heart.」

The massive sword sent to pierce me through traveled faster than I could blink.

Magical Energy particles scattered in the air.

But…it wasn’t mine.

「I…I won’t let you hurt Lem…!」

Melania immediately thrust out her hand to be my shield.

She probably decided that there wasn’t enough time to use the shield she originally came equipped with, so she blocked it with her bare hand.

With her newly healed right arm, she grabbed onto the massive sword that was piercing her left hand.

「Commendable. Truly. But I will not let you get in my way.」

I could hear the sounds of a sword carving through meat.

Melania stood with her back facing me, and after several attacks, a massive sword erupted from her back.

No matter how sturdy the bloodline of a Giant may be, one cannot escape being defeated by a stab through the heart.

「Urgh…ah…」

On the verge of disappearing, Melania turns her head to look back at me to give a clumsy smile.

I, too, smiled back. I give the most reassuring smile I can.

「Thank you for protecting me, Melania.」

As her large frame disappears, she turns into a huge amount of Magical Energy particles that then melt in the rain.

And then, Carmilla once again enters my field of vision.

「It’s just the two of us.」

That’s a line that would have made my heart skip a beat if Milla said it, but because she’s saying it as Carmilla, I feel a chill run down my spine.

「Not sure how I feel about the Vampire Queen aiming for my heart…」

To the rest of the world, we have only met once during the time I was in the Fenix party in the Demon King Castle’s third stratum.

「Fufu. You are the only one who I haven’t had my revenge against, you know? Isn’t that more than reason enough?」

…I suppose so.

The Fenix party was repelled in the tenth stratum of the Demon King Castle, but Lem was no longer a part of that party.　

It can also be said that by becoming the Demon King Castle’s Chief of Staff, each and every Monster from the first to the fourth stratum had lost their chance to have their revenge against me.

She had all the public-facing reasons she needed to be fixated on me.

「So you remember me. I’m honored.」

I say, smiling, while I ready my sword.

How Carmilla moves is already in my head, but how much good is that reference when the amount of blood has changed this much from usual?

「Although, you seemed to have forgotten one little thing. Right now, I am part of the Wraith party.」

「I am well aware.」

Carmilla smiled just as Fran swung her giant arm at her.

In addition, I also fired off my Black Magic, which Carmilla Resisted at the same time.

The giant sword tilted to block Fran’s right fist that was rapidly approaching her from behind. The sword didn’t shatter because it liquefied at the time of impact. And that’s not all. The liquefied giant sword coils around her right arm.

「Do you know why I didn’t bring along my bats this time?」

The Vampire Bats that she employs are unique animals that have been tamed by having them suck her own blood.

Within these Vampire Bats is Carmilla’s Magical Energy, which is precisely why blood that is sucked by these bats becomes hers to manipulate. Meddling with the blood becomes possible by the mixture of Carmilla’s Magical Energy and the sucked blood.

She didn’t bring those bats along this time.

Why is that?

It’s possible that she abandoned them considering the mental burden of manipulating this vast amount of blood. In fact, this is probably part of the reason. Manipulating the Vampire bats at the same time as manipulating the blood isn’t that difficult.

If there’s something else, it’s…

…If…she’s able to reproduce the advantages of the bats using her current equipment…

「Fran…!」

Perhaps instinctively sensing danger, Fran vigorously swung her arm to try and get the blood off of her.

With Wraith’s rain as well, the blood on her arm fell off to a certain extent, but the effect was already clear.

Large drops of Magical Energy particles could be seen leaking out of her giant arm.

She’s able to suck blood out using the manipulated blood?!

No, only the blood sucked from a Vampire’s own fangs can be treated as theirs. Even the vampire bats and leeches were made to suck blood according to her own will, making it hers.

「Does it have to belong to me?」

What a simple answer…

Even if the sucked blood cannot be made hers, getting one’s blood sucked out works efficiently as an attack.

Humans are unable to rapidly replenish their blood, and there isn’t a White Sorcerer to patch up the wounds.

「If they can destroy anything, then give them a formless enemy. If they are especially sturdy, suck out their blood. Put the enemy at a disadvantage while battling on with an advantage. Are these not the basics of battle?」

Aside from Fenix or my family, she is most definitely the person in the whole world who knows the most about me.

She knows everything about me. How I fight, what I’m good at.

I know how important knowledge is to a battle.

There is no one who is as cautious of me as she is.

She knows that I rely on my allies, she knows that I go into battle with information about the enemy drilled into my head, and she knows about my own power.

『What if you slash her?』

Said Dark, half-heartedly. I’m not sure if it’s trying to rile me up or make fun of me.

I can’t win with that.

She might not give off such an impression, but Carmilla isn’t unskilled at close-range combat.

She may not hold a candle to those like the Reaper Knight Furcus who specializes in it, but her skill with the blade stands.

Considering the addition of her powers as a Blood Manipulator, it won’t be enough, even with a Holy Sword.

Think. No, I had plenty of time to think before the battle.

All I can do in a moment’s time…is confirm it.

「Which?」

Fran looked to me for a brief instruction.

「To our leader.」

「…Mm.」

Dodging the follow-up attack by Carmilla’s giant sword, Fran raced to Wraith’s aid.

「……」

Depending on how you look at it, this course of action seems like I’m giving up.

Tossing aside myself as a pawn, allowing Wraith and Fran to take down Haagenti while I’m defeated.

In the end, it will become a two versus one, which will end in our victory.

However, that alternative is the very first one the woman in front of me eliminates.

Is it due to her expectation of me? Or perhaps her understanding of me.

「Once again, it’s just the two of us.」

As I say that, a blood sword fit in her right hand.

「…That’s just as well. I cannot guess your intentions, but this time, I shall pierce your heart.」