{Present, Estate of the Carmilla Royal Faction's Northern Gate}
—Elmenhilde Karnstein—
"T-This… this is insane."
She knew devils were strong. She knew an Ultimate-Class devil with a Longinus was no joke. But this… this was worse than anything she had ever seen.
"I apologize," Ingvild said with an uneasy look. "I'm not as good with strategies as Lord Faiser is."
Elmenhilde was left speechless. 'If she thinks this isn't good enough, then what does she consider good enough?'
The enemies in front of her screamed as serpents made of water devoured them one after another. Each time a serpent swallowed or wrapped itself around a vampire, they either drowned or suffocated.
As for the so-called tactic? There wasn't much of one. All there was, was chaos.
The devil legions blasted from afar with their demonic power. Ingvild Leviathan drowned the enemies in water, and the Carmilla vampires handled whatever remained.
Elmenhilde stayed quiet and let Ingvild act as she pleased. The main strategy was being handled by one of the Queen's commanders anyway. Ingvild was mostly support—and that alone was working perfectly.
"With you in his peerage, Lord Faiser shouldn't have any trouble against his enemies." She had seen firsthand how a Leviathan with a Longinus fought, and Faiser also had a dragon as his rook. She doubted the devil lord even needed to lift a finger.
Surprisingly, Ingvild gave her an awkward smile. "Lord Faiser doesn't make us fight that often. Truth be told, this is my first real battle."
"Huh?" Elmenhilde was stunned. 'I did hear she only recently became his Queen, but I expected him to have used her abilities by now.'
As the battle raged on and the devils pressed forward, the enemy lines thinned. Elmenhilde poured out as much firepower as she could, while Ingvild shifted her focus to defense.
"Between you and the dragon," the noble vampire asked, curious, "who's the strongest in the peerage?"
A Longinus-wielding descendant of the original Leviathan… or the son of the infamous Blaze Meteor Dragon?
She leaned more toward Ingvild.
"I haven't fought Bova yet," Ingvild replied. "He only joined a few days ago. I actually met him for the first time right before coming here."
Another shocker.
Never had Elmenhilde heard of a peerage being gathered so quickly, then thrown into a war without even building teamwork.
"But…" Ingvild added, "from what Lord Faiser told me, I might be a little stronger than Bova right now. That can change soon, though."
Elmenhilde nodded, satisfied that her first guess had been right, then turned her attention back to the battlefield.
'Around twelve more legions…' she noted. 'This is just the first wave, and they haven't even used the devil partnership yet.'
The thought left a bitter taste. They were already struggling against the Tepes vampires alone—and this wasn't even their full might. Maybe seventy percent, at best. At least, she hoped so. The Old Satan Faction hadn't even revealed themselves yet.
"We can minimize the death toll on our side if the enemy crosses that area," Ingvild suddenly said, pointing toward the deeper end of the battlefield.
Since the northern gate was just outside the mountain, the land dipped sharply into a massive slope. In front of them lay a low area that most people struggled to cross.
"How?" Elmenhilde asked, making the devil queen glance at her with a confident look.
"Can you trust me enough to lead them to that spot?" Ingvild asked. "As many legions as you can."
The noble vampire hesitated. Leading the enemies almost to the gate was risky.
"Are you confident you can win?" she asked. Still, knowing the devil's abilities, she decided to take the risk.
"I wouldn't take any risk that might taint Lord Faiser's reputation," Ingvild replied. "I am confident."
Elmenhilde paused to think. While it might have been better to let the battle continue as it was—they were winning, after all—she also knew they had to protect every troop they could. The next attack from the Tepes faction would demand everything they had.
"Commander!" Elmenhilde shouted. "You heard her, didn't you?"
The commander hesitated. "I—"
"That is a command!" Elmenhilde interrupted. "A direct order from House Karnstein!"
Reluctantly, the commander agreed.
"All soldiers, Defensive Formation Seven, immediately!"
As the formation shifted, Ingvild made another request.
"Please cast restriction magic against teleportation and flight!"
The vampires exchanged uneasy glances. It was a double-edged sword—they wouldn't be able to escape themselves if needed.
"Don't worry," Ingvild assured them. "Maintain the high ground, and you will be safe. Only those in the marked area will be in danger."
Elmenhilde's impassive face gave the commander enough confidence to act.
"You heard her! Cast restriction magic!"
The vampires unleashed their spells, covering the entire area with restriction magic. Flight and teleportation were now impossible within the zone.
"You're sure about this, right?" Elmenhilde asked.
"As long as our side doesn't enter the area, everyone will be safe," Ingvild said calmly.
"And the enemies?"
A smirk crossed Ingvild's face. "The only one who can escape that situation is Lord Faiser. Not even all the other devil lords combined could get out."
She waited as the enemy legions charged toward the gate—directly into the marked zone.
"How strong is Faiser?" Elmenhilde asked, a hint of amusement in her voice at the endless praise Ingvild had been giving him.
The devil raised her hand, radiating intense demonic pressure.
"I've trained with him a lot… fought him almost every day in practice," she said, pressing her lips thin. "And out of all those battles, I've won against him… exactly zero times."
Elmenhilde blinked, trying to process the ridiculous statement. But then she saw something even more shocking.
"Nereid Kurie: Song of the Ocean Tides."
"That—"
Elmenhilde froze as a massive wave surged toward the invading legions, covering the entire marked ground.
Her mouth went dry as she watched the violent water engulf thousands of vampires in an instant. The restriction magic made escape impossible. The wave broke their bodies, drowned them, and annihilated anyone caught in its path.
The entire low ground was flooded, while the vampires holding the high ground remained completely unharmed.
After a few minutes, bodies began to float to the surface, until the entire waterlogged area was covered with corpses.
"Kill the remaining enemies!" the commander shouted as the leftover enemy legions tried to escape.
But with a mountain at their backs, there was no way to retreat quickly. One by one, they fell to their deaths under a hail of spears, arrows, and blood magic.
All Elmenhilde could manage was a single question.
"What… kind of monsters are you devils?"
* * *
{Moments Later, Estate of the Carmilla Royal Faction's Western Gate}
At some point, it felt like both of us had forgotten the plot entirely.
I wasn't sure if it was because she had been buried under responsibilities, never able to stretch her wings, or if she had simply started having fun.
But now, it was just the two of us in the sky, raining waves of destruction down on the Tepes faction.
Her powers were perfect for large-scale attacks, while mine protected her soldiers and pinned down the enemies, preventing any counter-moves.
"Bloody Impact!"
A massive sphere of blood erupted from the ground, creating a huge crater and wiping out an entire legion. The blood that splattered around melted the flesh of any vampire it touched.
This was the power of the Queen of Vampires—a being reaching toward Satan Class.
"Your Highness!"
A commander's voice rang up from below. "The Southern and Northern gates have both been successfully defended! The enemies have fallen!"
Finally, the queen slowed down her attacks, the overwhelming firepower tapering off.
"You weren't all talk," she said at last. "They did exactly what you promised."
Ripping apart a dozen vampires with a single Sever, I flew closer to her.
"I make sure to keep my promises."
The enemies had fallen to the point that even a handful of commanders could finish them off. Seeing this, I decided to stop pushing myself.
"This makes it our first victory," she said with a sigh, her eyes returning to their usual shade. "It was exhausting. Without your help, this could have gone on for days."
It was only the first of many attacks that would come against the Carmilla faction. But… it was better to suffer a bitter fight now than a total disaster later.
"How many more legions do you think the Tepes faction has?" I asked, confident this wasn't their full force.
"More than half," she said bitterly. "And half of that alone would have been enough to wipe out most of my faction."
That wasn't an exaggeration.
I had expected some disparity between the forces, but nothing this massive.
If Rizevim and the Old Satan Faction had joined the fray, it would have been overkill for the Tepes side. Not to mention, only a few noble houses came to this battle—either they were far too confident in victory, or they had something even worse planned.
And from what I knew about Rizevim, the latter seemed more likely.
"Thank you," she said, looking at me. Her hair was darker now, streaked with blood. "Without your help, I would have lost more than I could afford."
There was a subtle sadness in her voice and in her expression. "Far too many sacrifices have already been made."
It stung me too. As much as I wanted to keep our losses low, it didn't mean I had gone without them. I had lost nearly an entire legion handling both the east and west fronts.
And to keep losses lower, I had to ensure Rizevim's involvement was clear—provide proof of his direct connection to the devil society—if I wanted help from the other devils.
"We should be done with this first wave of attack," she said, taking a deep breath. "We need to come up with a counter. They will strike again, and we cannot always stay on the defensive. We have to take the offensive if we want to win."
I had to agree. "We need a lot more information—at least I do—before I can agree to any strategy involving my devils."
I wanted to help the Carmilla faction for my own reasons, but without a clear gain, I wasn't going to risk my men.
"That…" She hesitated, uneasy at the possibility of me refusing, "is fair."
"I hope you understand," I said. "I agreed to fight in this battle not out of responsibility, but because I have a score to settle with Rizevim Lucifer. I am a devil, and as you know, honor is the last thing a devil cares about."
She said nothing, so I added, "But if you gather enough information so my army doesn't suffer unnecessarily, I'm more than willing to continue fighting alongside you."
She nodded in reply, and we both watched the final enemy legion fall to our forces.
"This was a long battle," she said. "And while it's not over yet, the soldiers deserve some rest." She turned to me. "That doesn't mean we can laze around, but until we figure something out or see more movement from the Tepes faction, we should give the soldiers the rest and reward they've earned."
I had to agree.
"What do you suggest?"
Her response was quick.
"Good food, and great alcohol."
I could barely hide my laugh. She wasn't wrong. Nothing motivates soldiers more than food and alcohol. Maybe women, but that was another matter.
For now, one final task remained.
"The corpses," I said. I couldn't risk Valerie falling into a coma—or worse, the enemies respawning. "Considering the Tepes faction has found a way to bring vampires back from the dead, it's best to get rid of the bodies. Recoverable corpses are just another threat waiting to happen."
Her eyes narrowed. "You know something," she said.
"Maybe," I shrugged. "But how about we discuss it over some wine? And considering how much blood we're both soaked in, I think a bath is in order too."
"Cheeky."
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{A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters.
Scrolled through some of the new stories. How are there so many translated works, damn... The translated stories to self written story ratio is worse than 10:1