“…!”

Amidst the extreme chaos, Marecasio Caravan was unable to come to his senses. He was a Marecasio, and he could remain unwavering in most situations. The fact that he was hundreds of years old was reflected in his great mental fortitude. He was an existence who dared to even look down on the emperors over the years. However, the one he was facing was the only existence he feared in the world. Moreover, ‘he’ had completely destroyed the restraint placed on all members of the tribe. Even though Caravan was a Marecasio, his confusion didn’t come as a surprise, but it was quickly replaced with fear.

“T-this is ridiculous…”

Shuffle.

He retreated. He, who held the empire in the palm of his hands for hundreds of years and with boundless power and mysteries, retreated. With every step Marecasio Caravan took backward, the images of the Eugene he knew, had seen, and had experienced flashed in his mind. They were distant memories, but with the man in question in front of his eyes, they felt vivid and fresh. The surfacing memories quickly triggered a chain reaction, bringing back other memories that he had tried so hard to dismiss for hundreds of years.

One step, two steps, three steps—By the time he took his third step backward, all of the dormant memories regarding Eugene resurfaced and completely filled Caravan’s head, making his soul quiver.

“Answer me…” Eugene said in a low and cold voice. Caravan trembled. Simultaneously, unrelated images popped into his mind. He saw the imperial nobles from just a short while ago. They were incompetent insects worth nothing. However, Caravan suddenly realized that at this moment, he was the insect. In the face of the absolute, he was nothing more than a bug.

“Heu…” The thought of rebelling didn’t even occur to him. He didn’t even feel humiliated.

It was all because he realized the truth. It was an immutable truth he tried so hard to dismiss. It was the truth that all members of the Dark Clan under the heavens could never speak to the Demon King with their heads held high.

“I… will speak,” Caravan said.

“…” Eugene silently gazed at him with disdain.

“I will speak the truth, oh great one,” Caravan corrected himself while slowly bending his knees. Just as he was about to prostrate toward Eugene with a broken spirit, he was interrupted.

“The great swords of Rome!” someone shouted valiantly.

Eugene and Caravan turned their gazes.

“…?!”

Caravan’s expression distorted when he confirmed the owner’s voice. It was a knight wearing a plated helmet and armed with decorative, fancy armor. The knight’s attire made one question whether or not it would be useful in an actual battle. The knight was none other than one of the nobles who secretly ridiculed Caravan in the imperial palace from a while ago. It wasn’t just him either. Many of the nobles from the palace were present with their respective soldiers and the imperial army, and overall, they numbered in the hundreds.

“That’s…”

In the midst of the soldiers, there was a cart being pulled by a large warhorse—no, there were about a dozen carts. Each of the carts was loaded with a large metal disk measuring about two meters in diameter.

“Eliminate the servants of evil! This is a holy war!” the nobleman exclaimed while unsheathing his jeweled blade, which was clearly purely decorative. The weapons of the guards standing on the wall were immediately turned toward Eugene and Caravan. At the same time, the many disks were also turned toward the two figures as well.

Ziiiiing!

The sun’s light was reflected on the metal disks and concentrated on the two.

“Keugh!”

Caravan raised his cape and covered his face in the face of the light’s blinding baptism, but it was futile.

“When the three gods rise up, the enemies will scatter, and those in disobedience will flee in their presence! Just as the smoke of darkness dissipates in the face of the sacred wind, and just as the grass chars in the face of the holy fire, evil things shall fade before the authority of the three gods!”

The high-ranking priests of the imperial castle dressed in gold-threaded uniforms chanted in unison, and the color of the sunlight reflected on the disks turned blue. Indeed, the metal disks weren’t simply reflectors of the sunlight. They were a type of holy artifact, and the highest-ranking priests of the Holy Empire had dedicated their energy using a special, secret method to produce the objects. Moreover, the disks were specifically made to use against the ‘undead.’

Kwaaaaaa…!

The intense beam pierced the cape and struck Caravan.

“Kuaaaaghhhhh!” Marecasio Caravan cried in pain.

“Uhahahahaha! How is that?! You evil monster!”

“Burn in the divine light!”

The imperial nobles rejoiced. It was working. A Marecasio, one of the unrivaled vampires, was struggling in pain.

It had been a long time since the empire built the holy artifacts. Naturally, they were fashioned and crafted by the ancestors of the nobles before the existence of the Marecasio was considered a legend. There were nobles who had seen what the Marecasio was capable of in person, and even though it was said that the Marecasio was bound by a covenant with the founding emperor to protect the empire and the imperial family, the nobles were always filled with doubts and suspicions. What would happen if those monsters turned their backs on the empire? Was there any way to stop them?

There was no way. Even the emperor, with his powerful golden blood, would be hard-pressed against the Marecasio. Although they bowed before the Marecasio and revered them on the surface, the nobles at the time were still bound by their anxiety.

It wasn’t just them either. The same was true for the leaders of the Holy Empire, who had signed an agreement with the Marecasio to control the vampires. As such, they decided to create a holy artifact to destroy the undead. The nobles provided massive funding, and the artifacts were created in the Holy Empire to avoid the eyes of the Marecasio. Collecting the materials and creating the artifacts took decades, but even after the painstaking effort, time, and capital it took to create the artifacts, they were left untouched deep in the repositories of the imperial castle for a long time. Contrary to the concerns of the nobles accompanying the founding emperor, the Marecasio never tried anything. In fact, they had receded into the darkness of the imperial castle. In the current era, there were even doubts about whether they actually existed or not.

But the Marecasios finally made their appearance in the imperial castle for the first time in hundreds of years. That much was fine. Some of the nobles were initially grateful and relieved due to the seriousness of the situation. However, the noble and elegant Marecasio Helmond left the city, leaving behind a terrible and barbaric-looking Caravan. Moreover, he openly disregarded the highest, most honorable nobles of the Roman Empire and addressed them as insects in their faces. He had shown complete disdain and insulted them in a way they could never tolerate.

It was impossible for the imperial nobles to stand still after having their privileges and honors robbed. They were filled with fear, contempt, aspiration for power, and the desire to eliminate the inimitable ‘legends’ with their own hands. Such emotions gave birth to the unification of the nobles, and they drew the conclusion to bring out the holy artifacts. In the absence of the emperor, the crown prince, and the Marecasio, they believed that they were the ones in charge.

Kwaaaaahhh!

“Kuaaaaghh!”

Marecasio Caravan went rampant. As soon as he was struck by the first light, his powers were disabled. He hurriedly attempted to take on his immaterial form, but it was impossible. As such, he was left with no choice but to run madly along the wall. However, there were more than one or two metal disks. In fact, there were more than ten holy artifacts shooting beams of light at him. Moreover, the light of the metal disks could be moved several meters in an instant with only a slight turn of the disk. Even brushing against the light presented Caravan with extreme, burning pain.

“Kuaaaaghhhh!”

Fwooosh!

A portion of Caravan’s face was exposed, and it started to melt in the blue flame.

“It’s done! Kill him! Kill the monster with the light of the holy—” A noble started shouting maniacally, then suddenly stopped. He suddenly remembered the person who had been standing with Marecasio Caravan.

‘Come to think of it… Who was that?’

The noble had been filled only with the determination to destroy Marecasio Caravan, so he had been oblivious to everything else. However, he remembered that the figure was dressed completely different from the soldiers of the imperial army.

The noble hurriedly turned his gaze to where Caravan stood earlier.

Paaaaaaa…

The hair of the ‘black knight’ fluttered in the wind, and crimson particles started blooming from his figure. The imperial nobles stiffened when they saw the sight. However, the priests knew exactly what the particles were, and they immediately reacted.

“Another vampire!”

“Focus the holy light on that man!”

The soldiers hastily changed the aim of the metal disks. Some of them were still chasing after Caravan, but seven or eight rays quickly headed toward Eugene.

Crack! Craaack!

When the lights of the holy artifacts came into contact with Eugene’s Fear, the crimson energy exploded, sending smoke all over.

“It’s done!”

“Uwaaah!”

The imperial nobles cheered with clenched fists. There was no vampire that could overcome the flames of the sacred light, which contained the blessing of the holy spirit…

“What?!”

However, the nobles suddenly exclaimed with shocked expressions, and they simultaneously held their breaths.

Kwaaaaaoooo!

The crimson particles spread before transforming into gigantic wings. The obsidian wings spread out as if they would completely cover one side of the wall. The holy light of the artifacts lost its power in the darkness.

Passsss…

“…!!!”

Dozens of crimson stems protruded like roots and gradually eroded the blue rays. The scene was reminiscent of beasts of darkness devouring the light. One, two, three—the pillars of light started losing their luster and were being gradually pushed back. Naturally, the stems of crimson energy continued on their paths toward their goal, the holy artifacts.

“Hieeek!”

“Huaack!”

The priests were the first ones to halt their prayers and abandon their posts. When they saw the crimson energy devouring the light, they immediately realized that they were up against a monster that couldn’t be defeated even with holy artifacts.

“R-run!”

“Uaaah!”

The soldiers tasked with moving the disks hurriedly jumped off of their carts when they saw the priests flee. The crimson roots soared dozens of meters above the wall and greedily devoured the pillars of light. Eventually, they reached the carts.

Kwaaaaaaaa…

The carts containing the holy artifacts were devoured one by one.

Uwaaaah! Arggh! Neiiiiigh!

People were overcome with fear and madly sought shelter, while horses ran rampant in response to Eugene’s Fear. The overwhelming authority of the Demon King was accentuated even further against the backdrop of the chaos. The devil had devoured even the power of the gods.

“Hieeek… Hieek!”

The expressions of the imperial nobles became dim. No one could maintain their reasoning in this unexpected, terrifying situation. The nobles were afflicted with tremendous fear, and even fleeing didn’t occur to them. They simply watched while trembling like fools.

Kwaaaahhh!

Once the crimson energy was done dismantling and devouring the carts, the Fear of the ‘Origin’ slowly returned to its master.

“Huaah… Huaah…”

Marecasio Caravan—a legend of the imperial city—knelt while trying to catch his breath. He was in a miserable state, and half of his face had melted. The curtain of crimson slowly faded, and the remnants of the Fear fluttered down like blooming snowflakes.

Amidst the flurry of red, the smile Demon King’s smile could be seen.