“I will strip the priests of Petrucca of their positions. I will take responsibility for everything and inform His Holiness in the near future,” Prince Localope declared. After taking perfect control of the justification, Prince Localope did not hesitate. The bishop and the priests were placed under arrest in the central church of Petrucca, and all of the church’s property was relegated to the City of Petrucca with the reasoning that the priests had assisted the traitors during wartime. Naturally, the church possessed far more properties and wealth than what was revealed to the public’s eye, but it was a foregone conclusion that all of it would be confiscated once the situation settled down.

Prince Localope delegated Eugene with the power to search for their hidden properties, and it was an unspoken promise between them that Eugene could take care of them as he wished. The bishop and the priests were furious after noticing Prince Localope’s intentions, but they were relieved at the same time.

Even though the King of Maren was a powerful member of the Dark Clan, he was still a foreigner. He would obviously have difficulty trying to find the church’s hidden wealth.

However, their hopes ended up in vain.

“I know that you are an expert in this type of work as well. Can you take care of it?” Eugene asked.

“I will find every grain of wheat and present it to the great monarch,” Delmondo responded. As Eugene’s administrator and a former imperial official, he was determined to finish the job. Delmondo had been tasked with collecting information in Petrucca, as well as identifying the power and wealth of the city’s leaders. As such, tracking the hidden wealth of the church did not prove difficult for him. In the meantime, Governor Count Rudiger approved the entry of the ships belonging to the expedition and the soldiers of various nations, and nearly one thousand allied troops landed at the empire’s port.

“W-what’s going on here?”

“Is it war? Has the governor gone mad?”

The citizens were greatly taken back. It looked like war was upon them. However, the disturbance was quickly subdued when Prince Localope came to the square with the governor and gave a speech.

Prince Localope was a direct descendant of the emperor. Moreover, Prince Localope explained that treason had taken place in the imperial castle. And during a precarious time when he could trust no one, the King of Maren came without hesitation based on nothing but his friendship and loyalty to the imperial family of the Roman Empire.

Moreover…

“The Tribe of Darkness will cooperate with His Highness Localope’s great proposal! I swear by the pure blood of our tribe—I will help His Highness the Prince remove the traitors from the land of the empire!”

The vampire clan masters possessed noble titles in the Roman Empire, and their words empowered Prince Localope’s declaration.

“His Highness the Third Prince is walking on the path of justice and the will of the gods! Moreover, the King of Maren is a brother of faith who was blessed by the saintess, and he walks by the side of His Highness! Justice and faith will unite to judge and punish the traitors! Ooohhh! Three gods! Please protect your true servants!”

The bishop also appealed desperately on behalf of PrinceLocalope and Eugene on the condition that Eugene would put in a good word for him to the pope in the future. In short, all of Petrucca’s leaders and representatives stood on the side of Prince Localope and Eugene. The citizens were still dumbfounded, but they had no choice but to comply.

Moreover, Eugene implemented another plan to win the support of the public. He used half of the wealth he had received from resolving monster uprisings for the citizens of Petrucca.

“Kieeeeeek! Noooo! It’s mine! It’s all mineeee!”

Mirian had desperately collected a pretty large portion of the wealth by living frugally and keeping tabs on what she ate and wore. As such, she threw a massive tantrum like a child and lay on the floor when she discovered what happened to her wealth.

“You need to use it when it’s time to use it. And when I find all the wealth the priests have hidden, I will make sure to give you a share,” Eugene said.

“R-really? Are you sure you’re not trying to fool me again?” Mirian asked.

“Delmondo said that there should easily be tens of thousands of gold coins. If you don’t like it, leave it,” Eugene responded.

“I’ve always wanted to extort money from priests, sir!” Mirian shouted and saluted. After easily subduing the spirit of desire, Eugene gathered with the members of the expedition after ordering the vampires to keep monitoring the movement of the Firebird Legion.

***

“So, we had to go through such a hard time because of that bastard?” Galfredik asked while turning his gaze after hearing Eugene’s story. He met the gaze of Mater Helmond, who was standing in place with an indifferent expression.

Although it was their first encounter, Master Helmond felt a strange sense of rivalry as soon as he saw Galfredik. It was inevitable. Before Eugene made his appearance, Master Helmond was recognized by everyone as the strongest knight of the tribe. It would have been strange if he did not feel a sense of curiosity and competition after meeting Galfredik, who looked like a strong knight. Therefore, Master Helmond decided to express his emotions even though he knew Galfredik was a vassal of the great monarch, Eugene.

“The great monarch will judge my sins. I am more than happy to wait for my master’s decision…”

Master Helmond wasn’t given a chance to finish.

Shiiing! Clang!

Galfredik’s figure blurred, and then the loud sound of metal resonated.

“Hooh? You’re pretty good,” Galfredik said.

Master Helmond became wide-eyed as he came to face Galfredik up close. The burly knight’s eyes were burning crimson, and the latter’s thick, bulging neck muscles were wriggling like worms. Galfredik looked as if he had transformed into a demon.

Although he had let his guard down in the presence of Eugene, Master Helmond had almost lost his head. Of course, it wasn’t as if being decapitated would kill him right away, but…

Kwaaaaaaarrrrr!

Master Helmond shuddered when he saw the fluttering of crimson in Galfredik’s eyes and above his shoulders. The other clan masters had similar reactions.

‘T-this man...’

‘He’s not below us at all!’

Master Helmond immediately recognized that Galfredik was his equal, or rather, stronger than him in terms of pure power, although it wasn’t taking into account their authorities and mysteries.

“Bastard. Relieved after blocking just one blow? What about this, then?”

Fwoooosh…

The crimson in Galfredik’s eyes became deeper, and his appearance started to change little by little. His eyes grew sideways, and his pupils turned into thin lines. His lips started to spread to the sides as well, and sharp fangs filled the inside of his jaws.

“…!!!”

The clan masters were stupefied.

The one who had accompanied Galfredik commented with a bright smile, “Hooo! You finally realized your true nature after killing so many demons! Of course! That much is expected of someone who calls themselves a vassal of the Overlord of Blood!”

Apart from his incomprehensive words, who was this fool who dared to blabber freely in the presence of the vampire overlord and masters? Master Rivoles, Todor, and Samit immediately turned their fierce gazes to the chatterbox. The existence in question was dressed in rather strange clothing.

An ordinary human would have already died of cardiac arrest, and even a skilled knight or wizard would have fallen on their knees, panting with fear. However, the chatterbox chuckled rather obnoxiously while looking over the clan masters with an arrogant gaze.

“Hmm. One is capable to take a seat within the thousand seats of the Demon World… And two are at the same level as intermediate-rank demons. Well, that’s expected from the subordinates of the Overlord of Blood. Even so—” the chatterbox paused.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere surrounding the devil chatterbox Georg changed.

“Lower your eyes. The only existence above me here is the Demon King of Blood.”

His yellow eyes were deep like the abyss, and his voice was filled with evil. As his words emerged out of his mouth, he emitted a powerful, intangible energy.

“…!!!”

The clan masters shuddered at the voice, which seemed to penetrate into their very souls. It was expected since Georg was one of the ten strongest devils in the Demon World. The clan masters were helpless in front of his authority. Although Georg’s power was more than halved due to the lower concentration of evil energy in this place, he was still strong enough to handle these clan masters.

“Keugh.”

“Ugh…”

The clan masters struggled to breathe. The overwhelming energy crushed them as they were subjected to the unfamiliar sensation of pain. Satisfied with their reactions, Georg said with an arrogant smile, “Little brats. Why do they always have to see their own coffins before they come to their senses in this world—”

“Hey.”

However, the devil was forced to stop in the middle of his tracks by a single word from the absolute ruler.

“Do you want to die?” Eugene asked.

“Uh… No, that’s not…”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself just because you haven’t seen me in a while. You, you said you were beneath me in the other world, right?” Eugene asked.

Georg answered, “Uh, well… Between those ranked in the top ten like us, it’s not really a hierarchy. You could say it’s more like a colleague, or maybe brothers…”

“So, are you above me?” Eugene asked.

“No…” Georg answered.

“Then shut up,” Eugene said.

“…” Georg quickly regained his original attitude and nodded before turning his gaze away. The clan masters completely forgot about the humiliation they felt and looked at Eugene with eyes of loyalty and envy, as they were impressed by the overwhelming authority their master had just displayed.

Eugene looked around and said, “Now that everyone has met each other, I’ll go straight to the point.”

Everyone’s eyes landed on Eugene. He then continued, “As I said, the main culprit of everything, starting with the monster uprising, is the yellow bastard. However, he’s just a chess piece in the grand scheme of things as well. The head and the body exist separately. I believe everyone knows them.”

The self-proclaimed Origins—those beings who had been hiding deep in the imperial castle for a long time now. However, everyone present knew the truth. There was only one true vampire Origin, and it was Eugene.

“We will head to the imperial castle with Prince Localope. The reality of the current situation is largely unknown, so we will face obstacles. However, Prince Localope already holds the justification, so we will make use of that. But before that, we should take care of those who have gathered outside the city,” Eugene said.

Galfredik stepped forward while cracking his fingers before saying, “Master, leave it to me. It was so boring dealing with damned monsters and demons the entire time. A knight should make contributions in a battle against a great army. Hehe,”

He had spoken such words like a true knight. Even though Galfredik was Eugene’s vassal, it appeared his essence as a knight remained unchanged.

Eugene contemplated for a moment before allowing it. All members of the Dark Clan in the City of Petrucca had surrendered to him. However, Galfredik was different from the others. He was known as Eugene’s right-hand knight in the empire, but his reputation wasn’t great. And that was why Master Helmond had challenged Galfredik without knowing his place.

However, if Galfredik put on a display of power, neither the vampires, roman nobles, nor knights would be able to belittle him. No, rather, if he fully vented his pent-up feelings in from the previous few months in the battle, he could easily earn the title of ‘devil.’

“Galfredik will be the captain. If there is anyone who doesn’t want to obey the commands of my vassal, come forward now,” Eugene said while looking around. But no vampire was willing to disobey the words of their absolute ruler.

Princess Lilisain also agreed to the decision because she respected Galfredik as a knight who was one level above her. Even Georg nodded reluctantly.

However, there was one person who spoke up.

“Uh, Sir Eugene?” Romari called out while slowly raising her hand from a corner.

“What is it, wizard?” Eugene asked.

“Well… I might be powerful in small-scale battles, but I’m really not very useful in real wars like this. So, I think it would be better if I don’t participate—” she muttered.

Eugene cut her off. “There is a war mage in the Firebird Legion. You deal with the wizard.”

“A-a war mage?” she asked.

“That’s right. I will have the ogre escort you, so you take care of them,” Eugene stated.

“But…”

“I was going to give you all of the war mage’s magic tools if you won, but if you don’t like it, then never mind,” Eugene added.

Upon hearing that, Romari shouted enthusiastically, “I have always wanted to personally witness and experience the greatness of a war mage. Please leave it to me, Sir Eugene!”

For some reason, the way Romari raised her thumb looked perfectly the same as the spirit of desire.