Chapter 34: 34

**

I frowned deeply after alternating my gaze between the musket rifle and the Vampire Count currently being dragged away in the distance .

I was definitely aiming for the bastard’s head . Unfortunately, the obstacles and the distance ensured that the trajectory of the bullet would be altered midway .

Thanks to that, the joke of a blessing I said earlier became a reality instead .

“In the end, I failed to kill it, huh . ”

The Vampire Count was now out of the rifle’s range .

However, seeing as it was in that condition, that thing should have some trouble controlling the undead army . Also, I didn’t have any energy left whatsoever to gather more divinity anyway . Even now, my legs were shaking hard and I felt really dizzy .

“I guess I bought us some time, then . ”

At the very least, we had some time to regroup and think about our options .

I also needed time to gather divinity and create more holy water as my energy drinks .

“By the way…”

When I turned my head around, I realised that everyone’s eyes were focused on me .

“…Why is everything so quiet?”

I could only frown while feeling their gazes landed on me .

The soldiers and convicts, the feudal lord Jenald who arrived on the scene a minute ago, Charlotte and Harman in the distance, etc, etc, were all looking at me with lips tightly shut .

**

(TL: Back to 3rd person POV . )

The sun had set and it was now nighttime .

Harman stood alone on top of the outer walls . He was intently staring at the enemy’s camp in the distance, at where the Vampire Count and the hordes of undead were biding their time . He was supposed to think about how they would attack the fortress again and what he should do to counter it . However, his mind was entirely preoccupied by something else .

A day had already passed since the battle, and all the wounded soldiers were fully healed by the Priests and holy water . Harman was stunned to learn that, with the exception of serious injuries, everyone had recovered to ‘full health’ .

‘This isn’t any ordinary holy water . ’

He looked at the bottle of holy water in his hand . This small glass bottle contained the highest-quality holy water that could only be created when a high-ranking Priest gathered divinity for a day and night nonstop .

Just one bottle would be enough to cure dozens upon dozens . And he was told that the Imperial Prince gave it to the priests .

‘Not only that, it’s quite high in concentration too . ’

The holy water was diluted with regular water before being distributed, saving a hundred-plus lives in the process . This was all thanks to the Imperial Prince .

“What is the Prince hiding?”

Harman had a lot of questions for the prince .

Even if the Spirit Speech incident could be chalked up as coincidence, he definitely had to inquire about where this highest-grade holy water came from .

Could it be that… the prince himself made it?

‘It’s simply not possible that his highness possesses such abilities . But…’

The Imperial Prince did snipe the Vampire Count, didn’t he? Not only that, along with Goddess Gaia’s divine protection to boot .

It seemed that the other Priests didn’t know the truth yet . Well, he did try to conceal his identity with a mask, so that couldn’t be helped .

In all honesty, even Harman was still unsure of who it really was . He thought that maybe, the man who sniped the Vampire wasn’t the Imperial Prince but someone else, possibly another high-ranking Priest .

‘No… that isn’t it . ’

That girl named Charlotte definitely called the sniper ‘Imperial Prince-nim’ . A child who served the prince wouldn’t be mistaken about the one she looked after in that situation .

‘Besides, it also seems that Charlotte isn’t an ordinary child either . ’

She knew of the imperial swordsmanship . When he asked her where she learned it from…

– “I learned it from a book . ”

…Was her reply . She obviously didn’t tell him the truth .

3

Harman could only chuckle bitterly .

She learned it by reading a book?

Lies .

Such movements couldn’t be imitated by simply copying from a measly book for crying out loud .

Here was the swordsmanship featuring all sorts of brilliant techniques . One needed to possess a requisite sense of balance, physical strength, as well as quick reactions in order to move like that .

A person would need to at least train for many years to reach where she was .

5

Harman was certain that the girl had been training in this swordsmanship style for quite some time now . And it couldn’t have been a simple coincidence that such a child was serving the Imperial Prince from his side .

‘Have they known each other for a while?’

He wondered if a loyal retainer of the seventh Imperial Prince secretly inserted her here for the boy’s sake .

‘If that’s true… then the girl’s father, Gril, can’t be an ordinary man either . ’

3

Could it be that Gril was a knight currently on an undercover mission?

6

However, when he conducted his investigation earlier, Harman learned that the ‘farmer’ had already been living in the Land of the Dead Spirits for many decades . Charlotte too had lost her parents from the plague, which resulted in Gril adopting her as his daughter afterwards .

It would be tough to match the story so precisely with other villagers like that .

Harman’s head was a complicated mess . Everything seemed to be a mystery .

‘And also… the way the Prince changed is strange as well . ’

Indeed, the prince himself had gone through a 180 degree turn-about after he got exiled and experienced an assassination attempt disguised as a suicide .

He changed after ‘losing’ his memories .

‘Maybe it’s possible that he forgot about his trauma that occurred five years ago . ’

The mother of the First and the Seventh Imperial Princes, Yulisia . She was a commoner from a rural village, and not only that, a mixed-blood from the Aslan Kingdom down south too .

Aslan was at odds with the Theocratic Empire and the two nations had fought each other during many wars in the past several hundred years .

Since she carried the bloodline from such a kingdom, unsurprisingly the gazes from the rest of the Imperial Family directed in her way couldn’t be described as warm in any shape or form .

Such a woman fell in love with the son of the Holy Emperor and before long, she gave birth to the First Imperial Prince .

Naturally, the opposition from the nobles and the clergy were fierce – the main sticking point being, the Crown Prince had chosen a commoner rather than someone from the other noble families . There was also the fact that the blood of the Aslan kingdom flowed in her body, albeit it being only half .

Most importantly, the current Holy Emperor agreed with their sentiments .

In the end, the Crown Prince, the son of the Holy Emperor, had no choice but to accept two other ladies from noble families that boasted distinguished bloodlines as his concubines . He did this all in order to appease the voracious opposition from his father, the nobles, and the clergymen .

Later, these two ‘wives’ gave birth to many more Imperial Princes and Princesses . The first wife, Yulisia, eventually gave life to the Seventh Imperial Prince .

In the year that the boy turned ten years old .

On a certain snowy night, the mother of both the First and Seventh Imperial Princes, Yulisia, was the victim of a ‘Vampire’s surprise attack’ inside the Imperial Palace’s garden .

The First Prince managed to narrowly escape death, but still suffered a curse of demonic energy invading his heart . Meanwhile, Yulisia tried to protect the Seventh Prince, only to be torn limb from limb before the boy’s very eyes .

His beloved mother died in his arms, and even his older brother grew deathly ill . The young Seventh Prince suffered a huge mental trauma on that day and basically lost his mind .

The ten-year-old child known for his gentle personality grew up into an easily-scared and distrusting boy, one who also enjoyed belittling others around him .

‘Could it be that the Witch Morgana incident reverted him back to his original personality?’

No… even then, there were several strange points to consider .

From the get-go, the boy losing his memories and possessing powerful divinity were completely unrelated to each other .

‘I definitely heard that the noble named Heis insulted Charlotte, and the Imperial Prince attacked him after failing to rein in his anger . ’

The prince wouldn’t have made his move merely because the girl serving him was insulted .

However, the keywords of ‘lowly commoner’ and ‘dying on the cold floor’ – both of them applied to the Seventh Imperial Prince’s mother, Yulisia .

Could it be that the prince became enraged by those words and ended up beating Heis to a pulp?

2

When Harman asked him, the boy simply smiled and replied, ‘Just because’, but…

‘Could it be that he didn’t lose his memories? Or did he move according to his instincts?’

2

Alternatively, it was also possible that the boy was using the pretext of amnesia to divert the Imperial Family’s attention away from him .

If this was true, then why would he do something like that?

1

Harman slowly stroked his chin .

‘Well, that’s a simple answer, isn’t it?’

1

He could more or less guess the reason .

‘…For revenge . ’

To kill the vampire who drove his mother to death, and to avenge all the humiliation she suffered at the hands of the nobles, the Seventh Prince deliberately got himself exiled .

‘It’s a plausible theory . ’

5

There were plenty of eyes and ears within the Imperial Palace . Rather than staying there, it might be better to get exiled to a distant and remote monastery to grow one’s powers in secret .

The Imperial Prince kept saying that Morgana the witch was hunted down by the villagers, but in turn, they said something completely contradictory .

‘If I think about matters this way, then everything fits . The reason why he behaves so crudely before me was also because of that!’

5

Harman wasn’t sure how the prince managed to earn the love of Goddess Gaia and come to possess such an incredible level of divinity . However, he was certain of the boy wishing for more ‘power’ and dreaming of the day he’d have his revenge .

1

An unknown noble family must’ve been supporting the boy prince from the shadows . Charlotte was the proof of this .

All the mysteries seemed to be unravelling now .

6

‘Lady Yulisia . ’

Five years ago, Harman was also present at the garden . He was tasked with guarding them alongside other Holy Cross Knight Order members . Back then, he failed to protect Lady Yulisia and the Princes when they went out for a simple stroll .

Even if the First Prince ordered him to go and summon help, it was inconceivable that he abandoned his duty as their guard .

3

Harman gritted his teeth .

He recalled his pathetic self back then and quickly sunk into the pit of shame .

‘I’ve forgotten all about it already . Yet…’

The Imperial Prince was trying to become stronger ever since the age of ten for the sake of vengeance?

1

Such a young child, he endured against all that humiliation and got himself exiled in the process…!

Harman rubbed his face .

Yulisia was truly a beautiful woman, inside and out .

4

She treated everyone equally, and her heart was always caring; she seemed to be ordinary at a glance, yet at the same time, extraordinary .

“Maybe that’s why . ”

…The reason why both him and the First Prince treated the Seventh Prince, Allen Olfolse, so coldly until now .

No matter how deeply suppressed his emotions were, Harman would never tolerate any behaviour that insulted Lady Yulisia’s memories . But reality was different .

If the Seventh Imperial Prince truly wished to take revenge for Lady Yulisia, then…

‘Then, I shall aid him in his quest!’

Harman clenched his fist tightly . He took a deep breath and calmed his heart down .

Revenge .

If that goal were to be realised, their current situation had to be resolved first .

“Indeed, I need to focus on our current situation before all else . ”

He spat out a long sigh before shifting his focus back to the matter of the fortress’s security .

In the far-off distance, the undead horde had set up a camp . There were hundreds, thousands of ghostly eyes glaring at Ronia .

Thanks to that, the combat-readiness tension couldn’t be undone . It resulted in the fatigue level of the soldiers to soar higher and brought down the morale of the troops .

And later tonight, the approaching midnight would herald the advent of the 25th of December . The Vampire Count should start moving again when that time comes .

Harman stopped looking at the enemy camp and headed back towards the fortress’ interior .

He could see soldiers going on a patrol while carrying bright torches . Several holes on the ground had been discovered within the city . Since the undead infiltrated through there, it was possible that the same tactic could be used again . To prevent that, the number of patrols had been increased and every house was searched for the presence of these holes .

Thirty search parties made up of ten soldiers each were created . The total number of people who were tasked with this job was 300, in other words . However, when Harman surveyed the proceedings from the top of the outer wall, there seemed to be a few more patrolling around at the moment .

The fortress should’ve been suffering from the shortage of manpower, so how come…?

‘What…?’

He could see that most of the soldiers were moving around with torches, but a small portion of them didn’t have any sources of light at all .

Why were they patrolling inside such darkness without any sources of light, especially when the moonlight had been swallowed up by the murky clouds above?

Now that was incredibly suspicious .

Harman climbed down from the outer wall . He picked up a torch and told the nearby knight that he was going out on a patrol before heading off to where those unidentified soldiers were .

The soldiers without torches were deliberately picking only the dark areas with no people around . Harman frowned while watching these soldiers enter a darkened alleyway and followed after them .

“Oii, you there! Soldier!”

Harman’s call was ignored .

His frown grew deeper as he quickened his steps to catch up to them . He hastily grabbed the shoulder of one of them, pulling the guy around towards him .

“Oii, soldier! What are you doin…”

It was then, Harman’s expression hardened .

This soldier was wearing a helmet and a face mask . When hunting down the undead that spread around venom and diseases, it was common practice to wear masks . However, this guy wasn’t wearing one to cover his nose, but to hide the entire face instead .

Because it was…

“…An undead??”

It was an undead soldier with no light of life found within its eyes .

Harman unsheathed his sword and quickly stepped back . Even then, he doubted his own eyes and senses .

“B-but, how come… divinity…?”

Although faint, he could sense divinity oozing out from the undead .

‘Just what on earth is going on here? How did these monsters…!’

Harman momentarily wondered if he was under the spell of a demon right now . Some Vampires were known to be able to cast ‘Illusion’ magic, after all .

‘However, it should still be impossible to fool my senses…’

The undead soldier that possessed divinity simply ignored Harman and began walking away again . He gritted his teeth and pounced on the monsters .

This was no time to hesitate .

He wasn’t sure why these creatures showed no interest towards him, but leaving them alone like this carried a great risk .

Harman swung his sword as divinity permeated within his blade .

A regular undead would turn to ashes the moment it got sliced by this blade!

However…

Clang!

…His attack was blocked .

Harman’s brows shot up higher .

A mere walking dead was actually using a sword draped in divinity just like he was . The undead’s eyes moved . Its eyes which resembled a pair of souls burning from deep within the darkness were now locked on Harman .

Then, the Dead Spirit Soldier deflected his sword away .

It stepped back before lowering its torso .

Almost at the same time, spear blades shot out from the darkness behind .

Other undead soldiers were stepping on the walls of this narrow alleyway to surround Harman from both sides, all the while deftly wielding their swords .

1

“…What?”

Unhesitant, vicious attacks poured in from his front, left, and right .

Harman’s expression hardened as he witnessed this .

…Because these undead were coming at him with a coordinated attack, almost as if they were trained knights .

Fin .