The scattering blood blades instantly cut through the roses.
The sound of them being torn apart by the storm-like blades seemed like a terrible scream.
"Wh-what is this?"
The Red Rose stares at me blankly, as if dumbfounded.
"Did you really think you could kill me with just this? You underestimated me too much."
"Is this the primordial power...?"
"Well, you guys should know better than me how much stronger the original was, don't you think?"
"...Damn that Thorn Tree! You deceived me! You deceived me! This son of a bitch, me! How dare you! It was almost time! I could have received their recognition!"
I don't know what she was deceived about, but it's time to end this now.
I ran at top speed right in front of the Red Rose.
And.
Swoosh- Slash!
My short sword sends the Red Rose's head flying.
Splurt!
Blood gushes from the Red Rose's neck.
The blood falling like rain begins to dye my entire body.
I absorbed the pouring blood, replenishing my depleted strength.
Bang!
The castle door leading to the garden opened roughly.
Vincent appeared, covered in wounds all over his body.
"Looks like you had quite a struggle, Vincent."
I said dryly.
"It was easier than I thought."
Vincent looked back and forth between the fallen body of the Red Rose and me.
"If you don't smash the heart too, it'll revive again."
"Really?"
Stab!
I thrust the short sword deep into the Red Rose's heart.
Then I twisted the blade, shredding the heart and pulling it out.
"Is this enough to kill it?"
"It should be. Anyway, good job."
"What do you mean good job, honestly I was a bit disappointed."
"Disappointed?"
"Yeah, disappointed. It was much weaker than I thought."
"It's just that you're unbelievably strong. Even with my power, I'm no match for the Red Rose."
Certainly, dealing with vampires was easier for me than dealing with humans.
Since I had no mental reservations, I could use my power comfortably.
"How are the casualties on your side?"
"Four died. It wasn't easy as some who weren't low-level joined in the middle."
"...It must have been tough."
I had nothing to say. After all, I was just in a contract relationship and didn't need to care about the deaths of the werewolves.
"Thanks to you, we've crossed one small mountain. I express my gratitude."
I received Vincent's thanks, but some uneasy feeling wouldn't go away.
"Hey, who's the leader of the vampires?"
"There's no king ruling over them specifically. There are just those of a different level."
"Who are they?"
"Let's talk about that after we leave this place. For now, retreating quickly comes first."
Vincent must be very tired.
Since there were some quite deep wounds visible, I followed Vincent out of the castle for now.
Outside the castle, the remaining werewolves were tending to each other's wounds. Judging by the missing legs, missing arms, or wounds torn and split here and there, it seems there really was a fierce battle.
Vincent gave some instructions to the remaining werewolves, and they started to disperse, supporting each other.
I also followed Vincent towards the cargo carriage.
"I'm not in a state to drive the carriage, could I ask you to do it?"
"Where should I go?"
"Just follow the road you see there. Just until I recover a bit."
"Alright."
I climbed onto the driver's seat and waited for Vincent to settle in the cargo area.
Then I quietly moved the carriage and slowly advanced along the road.
For another fight with vampires.
* * *
[Diary
The church's pursuit caught up.
Although we moved quietly, there's no way the church would miss a fight of this scale.
But it was a bit different from before.
It seemed like they were trying to identify my location, but they didn't attack recklessly like before.
What's going on?
I have a bad feeling about this. Isn't it normal for those crazy bastards to go mad when they see me and charge like boars while repeating dozens "amen amen"?
Speaking of boars, I briefly remembered the two hunters I had a fight with on the train before.
I wonder if they survived well?
Anyway, we went round and round quite a lot to shake off the church's pursuit.
We abandoned the carriage midway and used hidden paths that only werewolves use.
When I asked if it was okay to reveal this to me, they confidently said that even I would find it difficult to find this path again.
Sorry but... I'm quite amazing, you know? I've already seen and memorized all the hidden marks you use.
.
.
.
.
.
Camping in the forest has started again.
Originally, we should have moved comfortably by carriage, but those damn fanatic bastards aren't helping.
I organize the information I received from Vincent about other vampires that I asked about at the Red Rose's castle.
Five nobles of ruler class.
Their locations are unknown.
According to werewolf records, they have existed since about 500 years ago.
They showed themselves externally 100 years ago.
No additional information on why they are trying to increase the number of vampires.
Only high-ranking vampires are connected to them, they say.
The ruler class manages the high-rank, and the high-rank manages the middle and low-rank.
They say they haven't shown themselves even in all-out war with humans.
The werewolves have identified about 20 high-ranking vampires, all of whom were participating in the war with werewolves and humans, so they could be identified.
The 3 vampires the werewolves are targeting were playing important roles in the current war with werewolves.
The Red Rose was increasing the number of low-level vampires.
The Thorn Tree was gathering information.
The Red Moon is engaging in direct combat.
This is all the information I received.
Come to think of it, I realized I was just living well without knowing anything.
The force I was most wary of was the church anyway, and I didn't really have any reason to clash with them.
Well, I did take requests to deal with low-levels, but those were just small fry troubling small villages.
They say the information about me leaked thanks to the tunnel incident.
It was quite severe that those crazy fanatics blew up the tunnel with explosives.
There was a fierce information war about what the church was trying to kill, and as a result, I, who have the primordial blood, was exposed.
As expected, the church is the problem.
Damn them.
.
.
.
.
.
The battle with the Thorn Tree was more difficult than with the Red Rose.
He was an extremely cunning bastard, who had turned the basement of an apparently very normal mansion (and in the city of Midnegal, at that) into almost a dungeon.
Traps popping out every block you pass.
So many rooms that I had to open all the doors here and there, and it was so vast that it took 3 days just for the search.
As my irritation built up, I took it out on the vampires that popped up here and there.
I ground them up a bit too harshly...
The expression of Vincent looking at me with a disgusted look at that time was also irritating.
After making me go through all that trouble, the Thorn Tree was weak.
Too! Weak!
He called himself a brain type, a sage of darkness, and even the greatest existing military commander.
He talked so much I almost bled from my ears.
This guy must have had some kind of mental attack.
I got so annoyed for a moment that I showed him the taste of a large hammer made of blood.
I remember Vincent's look of disdain as he watched from the side.
What! What can I do!
Vincent collected various documents that the Thorn Tree had kept.
There must have been some quite useful information.
He was looking at the documents like crazy with an excited expression, so I left him alone and just came out.
The way back was too long again and my irritation built up.
Should I just smash everything?
I held back because there was a possibility the basement would collapse if I did that.
Ah, the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get.
I should have tormented him more before killing him.
Now only the Red Moon is left.
It seems there was information about the Red Moon among the various information the Thorn Tree had.
His detailed location, number of troops, and even his montage were there.
Thanks to that, I returned to the inn expecting the next journey to be a bit more comfortable.
.
.
.
.
.
Vincent returned after 4 whole days.
Meanwhile, I'm writing in my diary and fully enjoying the comfort of a big city after a long time.
Still, I guess I've built up some friendship with Vincent while continuing the journey.
I was glad to see Vincent appear.
The next departure is in two days.
It was an appropriate time to enjoy civilized life.
Two days passed without any pursuit from the church or friction with other vampires.
The cargo carriage appeared from early dawn.
This journey will take a whole day by carriage, they say.
But isn't it too much to leave at dawn?
They lack consideration.
As expected of wolves, they're rough.
This is the last request now.
What will happen after this, it feels like I'm riding some big flow...
Am I going to ruin everything at this rate?]
* * *
"What are you writing so intently?"
"A diary."
"A diary?"
"Yeah, a diary."
Vincent looks at me with an expression of disbelief.
"You know how to write such things?"
"What, can't you read?"
"That's not what I meant..."
This time I looked at Vincent with an expression of disbelief.
"It's just like a trace of how I've lived. I want to leave something behind."
"I see. You're certainly different from them."
"Of course, there can't be a vampire as excellent and virtuous as me, and did you think I'm the same as those stupid monsters?"
Vincent's expression seems to be souring more and more.
"Now that I realize it, you have quite a nasty personality."
"What did you say?"
When I glared at him, Vincent shrunk back a little.
He knows well that he'd obviously lose if we fought.
That's because he saw me vent my anger a bit in the Thorn Tree's dungeon.
"This Red Moon will be nothing short of a head-on battle."
I could feel Vincent hastily getting to the main point.
"You said he's a complete combat type. Then there's no other way, that's right."
"That's right, we'll focus on supporting you, Arian. We'll block all the low and middle-rank ones from the front."
"How many are participating this time?"
"We have information that the Red Moon's forces have grown even larger this time. They say he turned all the residents of nearby villages into vampires."
"Haah... This is really tiring. Then there'll be over 100 at least?"
"Probably so, and there's a possibility the church might intervene too."
Those damn fanatics...
Was their just identifying the location until now for the purpose of intervening in this fight? From their perspective, they're probably trying to get the benefits by intervening when we're fighting each other.
"We'll have to fight keeping that possibility in mind. I'll have to focus on preserving as much strength as possible while fighting the Red Moon."
"We're planning to have about 20 people participate this time too. Please understand, this is really scraping the bottom of the barrel."
"I've heard enough about your circumstances until now to know how many sacrifices you're making."
I felt sorry for the werewolves as I listened to their circumstances from Vincent all this time.
Unlike vampires who indiscriminately attack humans and crave blood, werewolves think of themselves as beings close to a disease.
They didn't become werewolves because they wanted to, they didn't gain reason because they wanted to.
They just became werewolves after being infected by someone.
Of course, they said they also engaged in indiscriminate slaughter in the distant past, but now they're just living to protect their pack.
It was the vampires who provoked that, and that's why they have no choice but to fight.
"We've arrived now. This time it'll be urban warfare."
I can see small-scale villages burning here and there. And I could see werewolves setting up camp and waiting a bit away from the village.
The start of a fierce battle was approaching before our eyes.