Chapter 7

'Ugh, damn it.'

Fenrix ran through the forest at a moderate pace, seething with humiliation at the weight on his back.

The plan had been to meet the Vampire Lord alone and flee if things went south.

A complete miscalculation.

He had assumed it was nothing to worry about since Karpen had encountered the Vampire Lord and come back in one piece.

"I see."

"Yes, my Lord. I believe it may be harder for you to suppress your impulses because you've been asleep for so long before awakening. It was an unimaginably long time, even for me!"

Fenrix found the two beings perched on his back, chatting amicably, utterly insufferable.

He had volunteered to carry them himself, true, but now that another species—bats, of all things—had actually climbed on, shame and fury boiled inside him.

He, the king of wolves, reduced to a mere mode of transport.

'Just you wait. Bat bastards.'

WHOOSH—

"An impulse that can be adequately suppressed. In that sense, it's not so different from humans."

"Of course, if you're really starving it's hard to hold back! In that case, some even lose consciousness, apparently... whoa!"

Fenrix picked up speed, causing Cabin on top to lurch and lose the thread of his sentence.

"Fenrix. Don't run too fast."

"...Y-yes, my Lord."

'Nnnnngh.'

Fury surged at the Vampire Lord who spoke to him as though commanding a pet dog, but Fenrix held it in.

Fenrix now knew with certainty.

No matter how many times he charged, the result would be the same.

Crushing defeat.

He had thrown himself at the Vampire Lord until he hadn't the strength to lift a single claw, and that was the conclusion.

Though he had been devastatingly and utterly defeated in one-on-one combat, Fenrix was not completely broken.

Fenrix was a leader—the head of an entire species.

No matter how badly he had been beaten, he could not meekly bow his head to another species.

'A wolf never fights alone.'

Slowing his pace, Fenrix thought to himself.

Thanks to the oddball vampire's peculiar fixation on finding a sword, luring them naturally into his own territory had been a success.

'He should've arrived by now.'

Fenrix surveyed the gradually brightening surroundings and laughed inwardly.

The Vampire Lord, a legendary being.

He would concede the strength.

But in the end, this one was still a bat through and through.

Drunk on his own power, fearlessly walking into another species' territory without the slightest precaution.

No matter how convincing a show of submission Fenrix had put on, it was the height of arrogance.

'No matter how strong he is, he can't fight our brethren and the serpents at the same time.'

This was Fenrix's ace in the hole.

The pact he had struck with the king of serpents, secured by last night's raid on House Mayer as collateral.

They had agreed to meet at the western stronghold of the wolf pack after sunrise.

And right now, warm morning sunlight was illuminating the forest in every direction.

The pathetic conversation between the two beings on his back had also done its part to bolster Fenrix's confidence.

Vastly different from what he had initially expected, the Vampire Lord as a monster was a near-failing grade.

The Lord didn't seem to properly understand his own abilities, and appeared unable to adequately control the impulse to drink blood.

The young vampire smitten with the Lord was doing his best to put a positive spin on things, but even Fenrix could tell the boy was flustered.

'Coming early was definitely the right call.'

WHOOSH—

Fenrix adjusted his speed so the two on his back wouldn't be jostled, while running as fast as possible within that constraint.

Despite having only just woken from slumber, the Lord had demonstrated overwhelming strength through sheer physical ability alone.

If given more time and the chance to awaken his powers—

WHOOSH—

"Fenrix. I told you not to run so fast."

"S-sorry. I was just so eager to present the goods to you."

'He has to be dealt with before that.'

Fenrix's legs kept accelerating of their own accord.

***

'It's definitely not a normal condition, then.'

The more I heard from Cabin, the more certain I became.

Following Fenrix's suggestion, we were taking a detour to the wolf den to pick up a sword before leaving the mountains.

During the ride on Fenrix's back, I had asked Cabin various questions about vampire characteristics and history.

Especially about the blood impulse—in considerable detail.

Cabin's answers were not what I had expected.

I had assumed every vampire felt an overwhelming, hard-to-resist urge to drink at the sight of blood.

"Uh, um... there is training for that! Training to control the impulse when the urge for blood is so strong you can't control your own actions! It's usually done as a child... oh no."

Cabin's eyes darted around as he rambled, then he clapped a hand over his mouth as though he had misspoken.

"...Doesn't that just mean you're that pure, my Lord?"

That reaction alone told me everything I needed to know.

That for me, the Vampire Lord, to not merely struggle with blood cravings during combat but to lose my sense of self entirely was far from ordinary.

'Hmm.'

I watched the surroundings grow brighter and thought.

To put it bluntly, I was dangerous as I stood.

A trainee knight with an uncontrollable demonic sword in hand.

I wasn't sure if that was the right analogy, but perhaps that described my current state.

I possessed a blade sharp enough to cut through anything, but one wrong move and the demonic sword might consume me.

Was I not in exactly the same position?

If I couldn't properly suppress the impulse for blood, I would lose my reason and go berserk.

Just like earlier, when I had unhesitatingly tried to take Cabin's blood—my own clansman.

'For now... for now, I get the sword.'

I had thought Cabin, being a fellow vampire, might know some solution, but he didn't.

On the contrary, it seemed other vampires besides me suppressed the impulse far more easily.

From the way he spoke, as though there was simply no method he could teach me.

Disappointing as it was, it meant there was no viable solution for the time being.

"Tch."

"My Lord! I'll find a way! Pia would probably know something! She's the smartest and strongest among our clan...."

While Cabin was in the middle of a passionate speech, prompted by my click of the tongue—

"We've arrived."

Fenrix cut him off as if on cue.

AWOOOOL—!

Simultaneously, the howls of countless wolves from all around greeted us.

The ones I could sense in our immediate vicinity alone numbered in the hundreds at least.

I could detect several emotions in the wolves' cries.

Joy at welcoming their returned king, mixed with bewilderment and wariness toward us, riding boldly upon that king's back.

"Everyone, clear a path. This is the Vampire Lord."

AWOOOOL—!

At Fenrix's command, hundreds of wolves moved in perfect unison.

GULP—

I heard Cabin swallow behind me.

Hundreds of wolves, eyes glinting, glaring at us.

Far from a comfortable or reassuring environment.

THUD—

"The human goods are gathered inside here."

Fenrix halted before one of the caves and knelt as if to let us dismount.

The surrounding wolves snarled with fury at the sight, but when Fenrix let out a low growl, they all fell silent.

"I'll wait outside. Take your time looking around, and take whatever you wish."

Fenrix spoke to me in the same obedient tone as before.

"I'll do that."

Leaving Fenrix behind, I walked straight into the cave.

Even if it were a rusted blade, simply having a sword at my waist would bring my mind some measure of calm.

From the moment I had opened my eyes, it had been nothing but one unfamiliar, chaotic situation after another.

Upon awakening, I had seen blood and lost control of my body. I had fought Fenrix.

And now I was inside wolf territory.

'He prostrated himself before his own subordinates, so there shouldn't be cause for concern.'

Honestly, when Fenrix had suggested I stop by his territory to take weapons, I had suspected he was angling for something.

That I had agreed anyway was due in equal parts to confidence and an urgent desire to get my hands on a sword as soon as possible.

Perhaps it was because I had thrashed him so thoroughly.

A confidence that I wouldn't lose to Fenrix under any circumstances.

And an intuition bordering on conviction that I would need a sword before venturing into the human world to find Silvia.

I placed firm trust in the instincts I had honed as a knight—instincts that had saved my life countless times.

"My Lord! Wait for me!"

Hearing Cabin scramble after me from behind, I narrowed my eyes.

Deep in the dark cave, just as Fenrix had said, things had been gathered.

Swords among them, along with weapons and armor of every kind.

'They're actually here.'

I was taking one step after another toward the swords when—

SLITHER—

"Hmm?"

"Whoa!"

A sound like something sliding across the cave floor made me stop involuntarily.

Cabin, who had been following close behind with his guard up, bumped into me.

"S-sorry, my Lord!"

SLITHER—

"That sound...?"

"Sound...?"

It seemed Cabin couldn't hear this skin-crawling noise.

In truth, I had barely caught it myself.

An extremely faint sound I would have missed had my attention slipped for even a moment.

SLITHER—

And that sound was now coming from right nearby.

Right below me.

STOMP—

I reflexively stamped on the spot where the sound originated.

Not the sensation of something rolling across the floor, but the feeling of crushing something underfoot, accompanied by an even more unsettling sound.

SKREEEE—!

A sound like something shrieking in agony.

'A snake...?'

What had died beneath my foot, crying out in pain, was a small serpent.

The moment I identified the snake, I realized what the sound from earlier had been.

The scraping of scales against the floor.

As blood seeped from the crushed serpent's body and a damp sensation spread underfoot—

HISSSSSS—

My gaze snapped forward at the unpleasant sound coming from ahead.

"Th-this can't be...!"

This time, it was not the sound of a snake crawling across the floor.

Similar, but different.

What had appeared before me alongside that sickening sound was a white serpent, tongue flicking in and out.

Incomparably larger than the snake I had just crushed.

The unsettling sound tickling my ears was the noise it made each time it moved its tongue.

"B-Banua!"

Cabin's voice from behind was saturated with shock.

The white serpent's scales emitted a faint glow, illuminating the cave interior that had been pitch-black moments before.

"Banua?"

"The king of the southern serpents! Why is it here—!"

HISSSSS—!

Before Cabin could finish, Banua retracted its flickering tongue and sprayed something at us.

Venom.

'Seems I've been had.'

I pulled Cabin behind me and dodged the venom Banua had spat.

I had expected Fenrix was angling for something.

After all, it was suspicious for someone who had been trying to kill me moments ago to so abruptly change his attitude just from losing once.

But the display of 'absolute submission' Fenrix had put on afterward had dulled that suspicion.

Especially after seeing that there really were weapons inside the cave.

GRRRR—

Wolf howls echoed from the entrance.

There was something distinctly pleased about the sound.

"That son of a bitch..."

I had let my guard down, distracted by the prospect of a sword.

But now that I had one in hand, I also happened to need a sparring partner.

"Since it's come to this, come at me all at once."

I let a grim smile settle on my lips and hurled a venomous remark toward Fenrix's face.

AWOOOOOO—!

And with that as the signal, the monster army descended upon me.