Previously
Bivar flees toward the neighboring territory of Dellac, planning to sell military secrets and information about Ariella to ensure his survival. Ludvic pursues him through the forest while carrying Ariella on his back, using her magical tracking abilities to locate the invisible vampire.
Bivar raised his arm and sank his sharp fangs deep into his wrist.
Crunch!
While it might have appeared to be an act of self-harm, Ludvic knew full well it was merely preparation to invoke Blood Art, the signature magic of vampires.
Ssshhhaaa—!
The instant Bivar pulled his mouth away, crimson blood surged from his punctured wrist.
Yet instead of trickling down toward the earth as it normally would, the blood coiled frantically around his body, twisting and writhing into a grotesque whip.
It was a lethal craft wherein vampires wielded the very essence of their vitality: their own blood.
Swish!
Ludvic drove his foot hard against the earth, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. His blade cleaved through the air, aimed straight for Bivar's throat.
Slash!
The blood whip suddenly expanded and flared outward.
The blood that had been undulating like a serpent's tail flattened in a heartbeat, coalescing into a sheet of liquid… No, not merely a liquid, but a wall of solid blood.
Resembling forged steel, the barrier refused to let the blade anywhere near Bivar's neck.
Clang!
The sword rebounded, sparks scattering from its edge as though it had struck solid rock or unyielding metal.
Ludvic was not surprised by the outcome. He had anticipated it from the start and was already preparing his next strike.
Whoosh!
The sparks bursting from the blade began to swell uncontrollably, transforming into luminous specks akin to radiant dust, expanding at a terrifying pace.
The radiant particles detonated as though oil had been poured over an open fire, blazing furiously. What had begun as minuscule sparks no larger than grains of sand turned into massive fireballs hovering in the air like burning boulders.
Their deep crimson hue cast a glow across Bivar's face. Even his eyes, drained of their former composure, filled with a sinister gleam and trembled.
Before he could even let out a scream or utter a word—
Boom! Craaash! Craaack—!
Dozens of fireballs conjured by Ludvic detonated simultaneously in the sky.
It was a cosmic spectacle reminiscent of celestial bodies aligned in constellations collapsing all at once.
“Aaaargh!”
Bivar let out an agonizing shriek. The heat unleashed by the collapsing fireballs was devastating beyond words, and black smoke billowed from his flesh.
Yet the flames had not directly reached his body just yet. The shield of blood he had raised continued to hold, standing firm between him and the raging fire.
Sssssss—!
The relentless heat began to consume the barrier itself, boiling the blood and drying it to vapor.
The boundary separating blood and flame crept inexorably toward Bivar. Thick veins bulged across his forehead.
“Khk!”
Craaash-!
Bivar tumbled to the ground once more in a miserable heap, but this time his evasion fell short.
“Gaaah!”
He looked down at himself to find half his body… almost his entire left side, scorched black as charcoal. His left hand in particular had curled like a half-burned candle wick.
His jaw trembled uncontrollably.
‘If this continues, I'm going to die!’
He had never fancied himself capable of besting the Demon King in a duel from the start.
Even from the tales recounted by Olken the werewolf, he could have guessed the outcome.
Yet coming face-to-face with the reality, he realized what he had envisioned fell far short of the truth.
Ludvic was already preparing his next offensive, and this time… there would be no deflecting it.
‘I must find a way… any way!’
Perhaps it was the desperate survival instinct that flared when the mind met death face-to-face.
Suddenly, Bivar caught the thread of a sensation. His predatory sense, which allowed him to drain the vital essence from the blood of sentient beings, began to whisper to him.
There was prey nearby.
‘…A human!’
Who could have followed him all the way out here?
‘Did he bring his contractor with him?’
He knew neither how nor why, but there was no time to ponder. His decision was made instantly.
The vampire's eyes flashed.
‘My ticket to survival… is that human woman!’
The thought raced through his mind like lightning.
Without a hint of hesitation, Ludvic launched his next assault, torrents of flame erupting from both hands.
Whoosh-!
Bivar brought his arms up as if to block the blaze. But in the next instant—
Snap!
‘What?!’
Ludvic's expression abruptly shifted.
Boom!
The flames missed Bivar entirely, crashing into the dense trees behind him and setting them ablaze.
Dash!
The vampire, having feigned defense, slipped past the attack with nimble grace and bolted in a direction Ludvic never expected.
And at the end of the trajectory he tore through like a tempest, someone was hiding…
“Ariella!”
A triumphant smile spread across Bivar's face.
‘If he loses his contractor, even the Demon King will suffer a crippling blow!’
Once again, he had no idea their lives were bound together.
Even under a conventional understanding of contracts, it was natural to assume Ludvic would seek to protect Ariella at all costs.
‘You made a grave mistake, Ludvic!’
Sure enough, he spotted Ariella amid the thick grass.
He could have killed her on the spot, but in that split second, the thought of taking her hostage crossed his mind. Even if he severed just one of her arms, he would see Ludvic trembling before him. At that moment, he could seize the chance to escape.
Naturally, he had no intention of ever returning Ariella to Ludvic afterward. Handing her over as a gift to one of the neighboring demon kings would serve him far better.
‘This is actually better than I hoped!’
Selling Ariella herself would be a far greater prize than peddling information about her.
“Hold!”
Ariella's voice rang out with a single incantation. The moment Bivar's right hand—the only uninjured limb on his body—reached out toward her neck, swoosh!
Even as he felt magical energy erupt from her palm, he felt no trace of alarm.
‘A Hold spell? That's too rudimentary to even mention in the demon realm!’
Such an elementary incantation could never bind a seasoned sorcerer like Bivar.
He was certain it would fail to stop him, failing to brush even the hem of his clothes. That was how it ought to have been.
Yet…
Snap!
Bivar's eyes widened in astonishment.
“Wh-what is this?!”
It was just like the encounter with the slimes days ago. That magic, witnessed only by the fairy Philly and Ariella herself… had appeared once more right here, right now.
A web of magical threads erupted from Ariella's fingertips. The strands were exquisitely fine, interwoven horizontally and vertically with such precision that not even a single hair could pass through.
Thud—!
“Aaargh!”
The dense, refined net cocooned Ariella, and the moment Bivar lunged forward, he slammed straight into it, unable to push past.
“Y-you…!!”
Bivar snarled as he tried to advance, but the resilient magical web stood unyielding, halting his momentum cold.
He kicked fiercely at the ground, thrashing in vain. For all his strength, he could not advance an inch.
The pressure of the mesh pressed deep into his flesh, leaving grid-like impressions as though he had just awakened from a long slumber in a rope hammock.
All of this transpired in mere seconds.
“W-with a base-tier spell…?!”
As the vampire hung suspended in the net, flailing in confusion, shink!
He felt a sharp pierce driving straight into him from behind.
‘Khk!’
Agonizing pain tore through his back and erupted from his chest.
“It is over.”
Ludvic's chilling voice came from right behind his neck, where Bivar could not see him.
Pressed against the net in front, run through by a sword from behind… his limbs shuddered in agony and despair.
With a decisive motion, Ludvic wrenched the sword free from his body.
Then, just as he had done with the rest of the vampires, he raised his blade again and brought it down in a clean, diagonal slash.
Slash!
The upper portion of Bivar's neck went flying, and something scattered across the dew-soaked grass.
The remainder of his body hung caught in the translucent net that had held it upright, then the web dissipated as well, and the body crumpled lifelessly to the earth.
As Ariella's spell dissolved, Ludvic began chanting an incantation.
Whoosh!
Crimson fire flared in his right hand.
Ludvic looked down at Bivar sprawled on the ground.
Unlike the other vampires who had perished swiftly, Bivar, counted among the oldest and most formidable vampires in the Demon King's realm, clung to life… even with his head severed from his torso.
‘N-no!’
No sound escaped his mouth; only his lips moved.
Bivar's head lay on its side, his cheek pressed against the damp soil. The surrounding world seemed to have tilted completely.
With the ground rising vertically in his vision, he watched Ludvic approach like a horizontal branch extending through the tree trunks.
Ludvic's features were indistinct, but his gaze… was sharp as a blade.
Whoosh!
Ludvic tossed a ball of flame. It drifted languidly, swaying through the air before alighting on Bivar's head like a butterfly settling upon a blossom.
In that instant—whoosh!
The flame erupted with overwhelming light and heat. A soundless shriek tore from Bivar's head as the fire consumed the flesh until only bone remained, and then the skull shattered, reduced to ash…
Sizzle!
A few moments later, Ariella and Ludvic looked down at the pile of ash remaining on the ground.
A headless vampire had no hope of returning to life.
“Haaah…”
Ariella exhaled in relief. Yet sensing an intense stare, she turned to find Ludvic staring fixedly at her.
It was a look laden with emotions she could hardly decipher.
She could not tell what he meant to say, but she was certain of one thing: the traitor had been dealt with.
A man and a woman exchanged looks, with the cremated remains of a vampire between them.
‘What is he staring at without saying a word?’
Could he be relishing a private moment of pride, as if to say, ‘I did it!’?
He hardly seemed the type.
Amid her confusion, Ludvic finally opened his mouth.
END