Previously
The amplified Light Magic incinerates the vampire assassins, proving Bivar's betrayal to Ludvic. Richmond explains that while demon realm vampires can withstand their artificial sun, Ariella's magic mimicked the lethal sun of the human world.
The roar of the soldiers echoed across the mansion grounds, where the rumble of the explosion had barely subsided.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Fierce, sharp strikes accompanied their battle cries, while vampires lurked in the dark corners of the estate.
The moment things spiraled out of control, Bivar's brood seemed to have made up their minds to stand by him rather than the Demon King.
“Kieeehk!”
“Aaargh! This bastard… get this bastard off me!”
“Cut down the traitors!”
“There's another vampire over there!”
Formidable though the vampires were individually, numerical superiority clearly favored the Demon King's army.
Even so, the vampires resisted with the desperation of cornered beasts.
Though surrounded by multiple soldiers, each kept slinging offensive spells and striking back without pause. Even to Ariella’s novice eyes, the deadlock was obvious.
‘Wait. At this rate, it’ll take longer than I thought.’
Her worry, however, vanished in an instant.
“Filthy vermin!”
The nearest vampire sneered, skillfully parrying the spears thrust at him by five or six soldiers all at once.
He still possessed enough strength to gather a heavy surge of magical energy at his fingertips.
Just before the spell could fire—
Crack!
· · ·
The demon soldiers confronting him froze in their tracks. It wasn't the vampire's magic that stunned them.
They simply couldn't fathom what had just unfolded before their eyes.
Slash!
The teetering body lost its balance and thudded to the ground. Above the shoulders of the vampire who had ceased all movement, there was no head.
Only moments later did the soldiers realize what had transpired.
“Your Majesty!”
Ludvic, the Demon King, was cleaving a path through the battlefield at a speed scarcely visible to the naked eye.
He moved with the fluid grace of running water, yet every blow he struck was potent enough to shear through steel.
Wherever the line faltered or his troops found themselves swarmed, Ludvic intervened without fail. Just as he had done moments before, he severed heads with a single stroke or wielded his specialized magic.
A tempest of wild, magical fire that incinerated everything in its path.
Boom!
“Kyaaaagh!”
A bloodcurdling shriek unlike anything Ariella had ever heard tore through the air. At the center of the screech, a vampire writhed amidst raging flames.
He managed only a few clumsy steps before collapsing, clawing at the dirt and twisting in agony.
His failure to die immediately was sheer misfortune. Lest that misery drag on, the demon soldiers closed in.
Stab! Stab, stab, stab!
Spears and blades plunged into the burning vampire over and over. His thrashing steadily slowed until it ceased altogether.
Even after the vampire drew his final breath, the flames did not subside. His corpse continued to burn until nothing remained but ash.
Roar!
Whoosh!
Tongues of fire erupted from every quarter, tearing through the night. Every burst was Ludvic's doing.
The vampires, who had held their ground against the soldiers early on, gradually began to give way. Ludvic was single-handedly shifting the entire tide of battle.
Driven to the brink, the vampires unleashed every scrap of power they had. Thick veins bulged across their faces and their eyes rolled back into stark white. They no longer resembled sentient creatures, but rabid beasts.
Crunch!
“Kyaaaah!”
One of them shrieked in anguish, impaled on none other than Ludvic's sword.
The gleaming blade pierced him with swift, cold precision, pulling free without catching a single drop of blood.
Ludvic flicked the sword smoothly and slashed diagonally.
Slash!
‘Another one down.’
A swarm of vampires lunged toward Ludvic at once. They knew that if this continued, every last one of them would perish by his hand.
Though the demon soldiers pressed in behind them, the vampires ignored their flanks entirely, fixing all their attacks on Ludvic.
The sight only stoked Ludvic's fury higher.
‘Barring the gates and attacking my soldiers was already overt treason, but…!’
Seeing them openly charge him, deliberately seeking their king's life, made his blood boil until his temples throbbed.
How could they attack the Demon King without a second thought, no matter how abruptly the tables had turned?
Their treachery had not begun today. They had never harbored an ounce of true loyalty to begin with.
How had he failed to see it until now?
‘If not for Ariella…!’
Had his contractor not intervened, he would have remained blind to the truth indefinitely.
Carrying a turbulent mix of remorse and rage, the Demon King unleashed his magic once more.
Boom! Craaash!
Explosions of flame erupted in rapid succession.
“Kieeeek!”
Every enemy rushing toward Ludvic was swallowed by the blazes. Not even vampires with their extraordinary regenerative powers could endure a flame that refused to die.
A repulsive stench, thick smoke, and blistering heat merged, washing over the battlefield.
“Kyaaaah!”
Even with their flesh aflame, the vampires summoned whatever strength remained and threw themselves at Ludvic.
Their claws extended longer, turning into terrifying weapons that had withstood repeated clashes with the soldiers' spears and swords without snapping.
Their corneas had scorched away, leaving them utterly blind, yet they relied on their keen instincts to hone in on the Demon King.
However…
Swish!
Their claws shredded only empty air. Ludvic slipped past their attacks with astonishing agility and brought his blade to bear.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
To an eerie cadence, the vampires tumbled one after another, none given the chance to even cry out.
The soldiers, and Ariella as well, could only watch the spectacle in stunned awe.
‘It's like he's back in his natural element. I knew he was strong, but this is far beyond anything I imagined.’
The spell he had displayed in the human realm during that staged kidnapping had been mere fireworks by comparison.
Even his swordsmanship now vastly surpassed what he had shown when cutting down the Orc in front of Ariella upon their arrival in the demon realm.
Back then, Ariella had wondered why he bothered with a sword when he wielded such magic.
Now she understood… his opponents had simply been far too weak to warrant his spells.
The moment he chose to combine sword and sorcery—
‘It reaches an entirely different level, just like this.’
A gruesome slaughter unlike anything she had ever witnessed unfolded before her eyes.
She would be lying if she claimed she wasn't frightened. Yet rather than succumbing to panic or trembling in awe, Ariella forced herself to assess the situation with a cold, clear mind.
Boom!
Ludvic unleashed explosion after explosion. Each time, heat threatened to scorch her skin and the shockwaves rattled her mind, even standing as far back as she was.
Even so, she didn't retreat a single step, remaining exactly where Ludvic had stationed her—the spot the Demon King deemed safest.
How long had she stood watching the scene unfold?
At last, the fighting ceased.
“Kyaaaah!”
The torn shriek of the final vampire died out across the courtyard.
‘It's over.’
Not a single living vampire remained on the grounds. They had either fallen to the blade or burned into gray ash.
Even the garden, once remarkably lush and manicured for the demon realm, was utterly disfigured.
Scorched earth covered the grounds, littered with the scattered remains of the fallen vampires.
His sword still gripped tight, Ludvic gave the command.
“We move inside.”
He set off with his soldiers to sweep the interior, and Ariella naturally followed.
Thud! Crash!
They battered down every locked door as they searched.
Despite seizing the traitors' stronghold, Ludvic’s expression remained grim.
With every door forced open deeper inside, his irritation visibly darkened. Ariella soon realized why.
‘Ludvic never imagined that bastard's corruption ran this deep.’
The further they advanced, the more lavish the furnishings and decor became. In some quarters, the estate’s opulence far outstripped the Demon King's own castle.
With each new confirmation, Ludvic's features hardened, turning ever colder.
While the realm's commoners starved, Bivar had been amassing immense illicit wealth right under Ludvic's nose.
The guilt of his negligence seeped into Ludvic's bones.
‘In the end, this is all my fault.’
Over a year had passed since he took the throne, yet he had never visited Bivar's estate once.
Bivar had always offered one excuse after another, and Ludvic had seen no cause to drop by. He had been completely consumed with repelling frequent Orc raids.
‘If only I had paid closer attention…’
Just as Ludvic came to terms with the bitter truth, another, far more unsettling realization struck him.
END