The endless golden plain stretched to the end of the horizon. At its end, the figure of two horses faintly shimmered in front of a large mountain, which resembled an immovable gray barrier. The two horses kept up their pace while maintaining an appropriate distance from each other.

‘This is stupidly big.’

Eugene was astonished. It was already six days ago that he and Georg departed from the main army, yet they still hadn’t come across a single village. Even if it was true that many people avoided these areas because of poor security, it was rather ridiculous that they hadn’t seen a single person while traveling for several days on the vast land.

“I’ve heard of how big the empire was, but…” Eugene muttered.

Georg grinned before sneaking up closer to Eugene. “The area that you conquered in our world was bigger than this. Of course, you were never interested in ruling, so you left it all to your subordinates.”

“Is that so?” Eugene said. After telling Eugene the truth for the first time, Georg was being almost too chatty with Eugene. Since most of it was stories regarding the Demon World, Eugene let him talk, and he had gathered quite a bit of information regarding the Demon World during the last few days. Naturally, such stories included those regarding his past. It felt rather strange hearing things about himself that he could not remember. If Georg’s stories were true, Eugene wasn’t simply an indifferent monarch in the past; he was a completely incompetent ruler.

“It was a huge mess. Your subordinates were angry because they knew you would never give a troll’s ass after you’ve conquered a place and that they would have to take care of it. That’s what happened to all the places you passed by out of curiosity. That’s exactly why the others of the ten cheered when you declared your intention to come to this world,” Georg said.

If there was one problem with Georg’s stories, it was that he always concluded his stories by secretly emphasizing that Eugene should not return to the Demon World.

“But you seem to have been rather competent in this world. You conquer and leave the management to competent subordinates. That was a great idea. The place makes the man, am I right? Haha!” Georg exclaimed.

“Then, I can return and do what I had been doing here in the Demon World,” Eugene responded.

“Haha! Are you kidding? If you had done even half of what you did here, the others would have welcomed you with open arms—” Georg trailed off, then awkwardly coughed after realizing his mistake. “Ehem… Anyway…”

He was obviously trying to change the subject, but Eugene let Georg continue.

“If you used your authority, we could have gotten to the imperial castle sooner, so why are you bothering with this?” Georg asked.

It was true. Eugene was already a transcendental being. In addition, Georg could still use a few strands of his power, though he could not fully express his powers. Since it was just the two of them traveling, there was no need for horses. However, Eugene chose to travel like wandering knights, which was the reason why the two were having such difficulties traveling across the empire.

“To give them a chance,” Eugene replied.

“Huh? Chance? What do you mean by that?” Georg asked.

After a moment, he snapped his finger as if he understood.

“Aha! You’re giving the Marecasio a chance to live? Is it because they are still your children? Well, I guess even hedgehogs love their babies.”

“It’s none of my business whether those bastards live or die,” Eugene said.

“Huh? Then…”

“You just said it, didn’t you? I’m a pretty good ruler in this world,” Eugene said.

“Uh…”

Georg hesitated for a moment, then flinched with realization.

“D-don’t tell me…”

His lips quivered as he wordlessly stared at Eugene. If what he was thinking was correct…

“Your brain seems to work pretty well. You truly live up to your name as a meditator,” Eugene said with a smirk. Georg was convinced. The Demon King of Blood—the feared monarch of the vampires had changed, but at the same time, he was still the same. No, perhaps this was the true face of Demon King Eugene. Georg simply had no idea what Eugene was like as an individual.

Eugene was a real devil who didn’t care about the means and the sacrifices required to achieve his goal. He would spare nothing to get what he desired.

“Those who rule and those who will be ruled are the ones making the choice. Why would I bother to become involved in that? It would be pesky. Whether they kill each other or negotiate, it’s up to them to decide,” Eugene said.

“It’s kind of weird for me to say this as a devil, but… How cruel…” Georg muttered with dismay.

Although people of this world considered devils as incarnations of destruction and evil, that really wasn’t the case. Devils were intelligent. In particular, higher-ranking devils were good at calculating profits and losses. They would be merciless and ruthless when there was something to gain, but they wouldn’t involve themselves if there were nothing to be gained. However, the demon king in front of Georg didn’t bother with calculations. No, perhaps it was a completely calculated move to remain uninvolved, so he could ultimately benefit in the end. Regardless, it was truly a devilish decision.

What Eugene wanted was…

“Kill each other from now on… Is that what you want?” Georg asked. Unbefitting his identity, his voice slightly quivered.

Eugene grinned coldly. “I told you, didn’t I? I’m giving them a chance. It’s up to them to decide whether they will kill each other or choose to coexist.”

***

“I understand. I look forward to working with you.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth. I trust you sirs.”

“Then, I will prepare to depart right away.”

“As you see fit.”

Five imperial generals bowed in response to the handsome man’s words before leaving the barracks. The man turned around and approached a woman sitting dazed in a corner of the tent.

“Why are you acting like a fool? Are you still thinking about that?” he asked.

“…” The woman slowly turned her eyes to Helmond. She was a female who appeared to be between a woman and a girl. It was none other than the one who was called the “Red Elegant Queen” until not long ago.

Helmond had been entrusted with military power by the imperial nobles. He said coldly, “I’ve said it since you first became a member of the tribe. I told you not to trust your memories.”

“…”

Helmond continued, “Well, I understand. We did sometimes treat you as such. But you should know it now. It would have been rather cumbersome if the emperors noticed that my mother was absent. So I—”

“Made me? I was made?” she retorted. Her eyes flared. She had believed herself to be the Marecasio—Red Elegant Queen until not long ago. Powerful Fear clawed Helmond without mercy. However, Helmond, a child of the true Red Elegant Queen, Lefersha Toidora Ventroa, was completely unaffected.

Helmond opened his lips. “I am also a created being. The one I call my child, Helmond of the Helmond Clan, was also created. The high lords, bannerets, the lords, and the others below him were also all created.”

“That’s…!”

“There is only one member of our tribe who wasn’t made,” Helmond said.

The fake Lefersha bit her lips. She knew well who Helmond was referring to because she recognized him as her ‘father’ in her memories.

“Then he… Is he not my father? I was just made by—”

Helmond interrupted. “You could say that he is your father.”

“…”

“How do you think you became a member of the tribe? How do you think you came to possess the power and authority to match us?” Helmond said.

“Don’t tell me…” she muttered.

Helmond nodded while staring into her quivering eyes. “Yes. It’s his blood. You were made from a drop of his blood and the blood of my mother.”

“...!”

“It was just one drop. Even though you weren’t given the grace of mother… You were able to become similar to us with a single drop of his blood,” Helmond said. His gaze was rather strange. There was pity in his eyes but also a strand of jealousy. Considering that vampires were connected by blood, the fake Lefersha could be said to be the only one of the tribe who was truly connected to the ‘Origin.’

‘No. Now it’s three.’

He heard that an unknown knight of a foreign nation had made a covenant with the Origin. Although the Origin wouldn’t have fully awakened his powers at the time, being the vassal of the Origin was something truly significant.

“Why… Why are you taking me to meet him? Are you trying to use me as a sacrifice now that I’ve lost my value?” The fake Lefersha took on a pitiful expression. She finally knew that all of her memories weren’t actually hers. Rather, they had been transferred from the owner of the blood she received when she first became a vampire. She had been ‘bred’ for hundreds of years as a substitute for the real Red Elegant Queen. Now that the real queen was back, it was only natural for the fake to disappear.

“Sacrifice?” Helmond grinned.

“Do you really think he would recognize you as a sacrifice?” Helmond asked.

“Then, what is it?! Why are you taking me to him?” she asked.

“I heard his memory is not intact yet,” Helmond responded.

“…?!”

“He doesn’t know yet. He doesn’t know whether you are really my mother or not,” he continued.

“T-then…”

“That’s right. You will be used to shake him up. That’s why we made you in the first place.”

“…!”

“You will continue to be the Red Elegant Queen. Stand before him as my mother. Create a gap before his memory is complete. That is why me, Caravan, and the Beholder created you.”

***

Five imperial legions moved south toward the army led by Prince Localope. Numerous nobles joined the imperial army. They weren’t completely privy to the truth of the situation and what had happened in Petrucca. Rather, they only knew a few scattered facts due to the urgency of the current situation. Moreover, they were nobles directly serving the empire.

It was suicide to disobey the high officials and the majesty of the imperial family, so they surrendered themselves and their troops to the imperial legions and the Marecasio who led them. All too naturally, the vampires joined them as well. For vampires who lived in the empire, the Marecasio were their ‘gods.’

Marecasio were great beings above the clan masters. They existed as members of the Dark Clan from the dawn of the great empire, and they were great monarchs of vampires. No matter how many clan masters were with Prince Localope’s army, they could not compare to the great monarchs of the tribe. Regardless of their clans, vampires had no choice but to obey Helmond whenever he passed by their homes with the legions. What started as only Helmond and the fake Lefersha soon grew into hundreds in only six days. Excluding lower-class vampires who could not exert their powers during the day even while fully clad, there was a gathering of a whopping three hundred able-bodied vampires. Among them were masters of minor clans. Among the twenty or so vampire clans in the empire, seven had willingly responded to the Marecasio’s call and subordinated themselves to Helmond.

It was obvious that more than half of them would have arrived with enough time, but Marecasio Helmond was satisfied. They would die anyway if ‘he’ won. As far as Helmond knew, ‘he’ wasn’t lenient to those who defied him, and it would be even truer for vampires. ‘He’ would not hesitate to wipe out all vampires in the empire.

After growing to nearly 30,000-man strong, the imperial army finally came to face Prince Localope’s army. The two giant armies were finally face-to-face with each other. Two armies numbering in the tens of thousands facing each other directly was something that would be considered tactical nonsense. It was a choice a sane knight or general would never make.

“Finally, we meet again…” Marecasio Helmond murmured while staring at the opposing army across the plain. He felt rather thrilled when he remembered that the Origin was somewhere among the enemy army. Perhaps the Beholder had made all the arrangements to lead up to this day.

The Beholder—an existence neither good nor evil. The one who did not discriminate between humans and the other races, a being whose true purpose was unknown. The golden dragon was the only existence in the world that could be considered to be nearing the ‘gods,’ and the Beholder was the master of the imperial family’s ‘glorious golden blood.’ In a way, the Beholder was the creator of the Roman Empire, the one responsible for tasking the Marecasio with watching and protecting the imperial family, and the one who had tailored the current situation.

‘Perhaps we, the Marecasio, were simply playing according to his arrangements. It may have been better to avoid any involvement with the Beholder from the beginning, as Mother said.’

“But what does it matter now? Everything will end by today anyway…”

Marecasio Helmond unleashed his Fear with a smile. Now he simply had to wait for the Origin—for Eugene to detect his Fear and show himself. The rest would be taken care of by his mother’s alter ego and shadow, the fake Red Elegant Queen…

“…?”

Helmond squinted. He had been checking his plans, but he noticed an odd sight. His eyes widened when he saw a small dot in the sky above the opposing army. Although Prince Localope’s army remained motionless, the small dot was growing bigger and bigger.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that it was a griffon, and riding on the monster was a formidable member of the tribe unleashing his Fear. As soon as he saw the knight riding the griffon, Marecasio Helmond recognized his identity. However, it wasn’t because of his superior sight. Rather, Marecasio Helmond recognized him thanks to the Fear he was exuding.

The crimson energy made Marecasio Helmond feel as if he would never forget how the Fear felt. Although it was slightly different from the Fear of the one he had been waiting for, he was certain that the knight’s Fear shared the same roots as that being.

“Who is the one called Marecasio?! Master said I just have to crush you!”

Marecasio Helmond became certain that the griffon knight was the Origin’s vassal—an existence he had always been striving to become.