Vampires.
　It is one of the most famous species of undead, and the king of the night.

　They have many special abilities and are true monsters that can take on an entire army single-handedly. I'm only a Lesser, but I'm still a formidable fighter. If a human had the same physical abilities as me, he would be called a hero.

　I land on the ground using all four limbs. I feel countless eyes focusing on me.
　The wind caresses your cheeks, and the smell of earth, grass, and prey tickles your nostrils. A strong urge for violence and a sense of omnipotence arises from deep within my body, and I give a small lick of my tongue.

　I can see. The moonlight is really faint, but I can clearly see the black beast looking at me through the tall grass.
　But the other side seems to see it, too. Countless eyes were watching me as I suddenly descended. They are not frightened, they are just looking at me coldly.

　There were nearly ten of them, and each one was twice as big as the night wolf that Lord had once used.

　But I'm not a confident person, but I don't think I can lose.

　I don't have any of the special abilities that vampires have.
　The major difference between the Lesser and its mutant counterpart is that the Lesser has only the body of a vampire and none of the special abilities associated with the word vampire.

　It is truly a lesser. But that was enough for me.
　Unusual physical strength and uncommon regenerative abilities. A body that felt neither pain nor fatigue.

　Lefley and the other Knights of the End were armed with holy silver, the weakness of the Night Family.
　Even in fairy tales, the demise knights are armed with holy silver weapons. In addition, they gather weaknesses, gather numbers, and target the morning.

　This means that even they, with their enormous amount of positive energy, must exploit their weaknesses if they are to deal with the undead who have mutated many times.

　They have formed gangs and are relentless in their pursuit of my life. The necromancer is an enemy of humanity.
　The residue of the lord said there were very few who could defeat me.

　Senri's hand reached forward from his neck and began to loosen. I put my hand over it.

"Don't come down. No problem.

　I have no combat skills. But a monster doesn't need that.

　Senri's blood burned inside me last night.

　All I needed to do was control myself. Like controlling a raging horse, preventing the body from pulling the mind. Otherwise I'd become a vampire like the monsters in the stories.

　I resisted the instinct to extend my claws with a steel will and pulled out the "Light Eater" at my waist.

　I had a plan. Senri is a professional fighter, though she also scores points. I wanted her to see my fighting style for herself.
　Most of my hunts in the forest had been alone and ended with a single blow, so this was the first time she'd seen me up close.

　I calmed my raging heart and narrowed my eyes. The beast takes a step forward, as if to check me. But I'm better than the beast.

　I kill it. Kill it, let it know I'm harmless, and let ...... it know my weaknesses. Let them tell me what to do when the demon knights and vampire hunters come.

　The black beast will pounce on you. Its movements, which should have been agile, seemed slow to me, as I had inhuman kinetic vision.

　I change my gait slightly and swing out my "Light Eater". The thick, jet-black machete easily pierced his paw and sliced off his head.
　The touch of his hand slicing through the flesh made the monster's instincts scream for happiness. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he took a spinning step.
　You kick away the beast that leaps at you from the side. I feel the crunch of something hard on my toes, and the beast lets out a small scream, bounces a few times on the ground, and stops moving.
　The claws of its paws cut my feet shallowly, but by the time I returned to the ground, the wounds had completely healed.

　I don't need to breathe. I lowered myself and pounced on the nearest beast. A moment of fright passes over its inorganic eyes. I swing the machete down with all my might at its skull. That's all it takes for the beast to stop moving.


　--That's the best feeling. The pleasure of moving my body freely combined with the pleasure of satisfying my violent urges.


　I paused there and focused on the senri on my back to calm myself down.

　It's not quite the same as the blood-sucking urge, but it's a dangerous feeling. I wanted to suck Senri's blood. It made me realize how dangerous I was in this situation.

　It would feel good to move with my emotions. But that's not how you survive.

　In the blind spot behind you, the sound of footsteps kicking the ground overlaps. There are five of the beast left. These are not footsteps of escape.
　They're footsteps trying to devour the demon that killed your friends. They're pouncing on us.

　If they were just wild animals they'd have run away after killing three. This wariness must be that of a hexenbiest.
　If it's going to kill me, it's going to have to do it right.

　He spun his body around and protected Senri behind his back.


　There was almost no chance of losing. All I had to think about was not to be consumed by the pleasures of battle, to be careful not to stain my clothes, and to destroy the enemy.

　I could swing the machete three times while the beast swung its claws down once.
　My naturally thick muscles, fur and bones, strengthened by Senri blood and an evil curse, were no threat to me. I don't need to think of tactics.

　I slashed its face open, skull and all, and tore deep into its flesh with my clawed left hand. He tossed the beast, which tried to turn quickly, with more speed and killed it effortlessly.

　The spattering of blood gives me a feeling of excitement I can't describe.

　This might not be the time to ask it to tell me its weakness.

　Just as this thought crossed my mind, Senri shouted sharply.

"End!

What?

　I was completely caught off guard. I hadn't noticed at all. I thought I was calm, but maybe I was so excited that I forgot myself.

　A light flooded my vision. An arrow of flame.
　Numerous shining arrows of flame scattered fire and flew toward me from front, back, left and right.

　Attack magic. The speed was so fast that I couldn't avoid it in time.
　It was clearly tracking me. I quickly peeled off Senri's arm and rolled him backwards.

　At about the same time, a burning light pierced my entire body.

　It didn't hurt. The flames exploded, filling my vision with light.
　The heat licked my body, and the shock sent me reeling.

　In a moment, the scene of the past flashed through my mind.
　The bedridden life before. Resurrected by evil sorcery. The days when he played Lord's puppet, the moment when he rebelled against it, and his defeat.
　The deal with Lou, the battle between the Knights of the End and the Lord. The building of Lou's tomb. The conversation with Senri. Being decapitated and drained of blood.

　And then the sound faded and the world went back to darkness.

　I was stunned. Stunned, I examined my body.
　There was no pain. I couldn't even feel the heat. The clothes I was wearing had several large burnt holes in them, exposing my body.

　Caress the surface with your fingers. No pain. Not even a scratch.

"End .......

"Oh, so ...... vampires--

　Now I understand. How could I be so stupid?

　The vampire's body is highly resistant to all forms of magic.
　The countless flaming arrows that prepared me for death only made me retreat a few steps. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm pretty sure it was just my brain playing tricks on me. .......

　Senri comes running up to me.
　Anxious eyes. All of the flaming arrows seem to have hit my body, and Senri is unharmed.

　Thank goodness. .......

Don't worry, it's not a problem. ......

　I turned my gaze in the direction the flaming arrows were coming from.
　There were about ten figures surrounding us in a fan shape. Each of them is lightly armed, and they are probably guards for the carriage we saw earlier.

　Two of them, a man and a woman, were holding staffs. They were probably the ones who shot the flaming arrows. But now their expressions were stunned.

　The magic was powerful enough. Well, I don't know for sure since I was unharmed, but it was probably powerful enough to burn up the beast I killed.

　There were more of them than me, but none of them were clothed in positive energy like the Demise Knight. They're just mercenaries.
　No one trained to fight vampires, just mercenaries. And judging by the way they're frozen in fear, they're not much of an opponent. He is far below Senri and even Lefley and Nevira.

　The only problem is that I, with my five senses, was too absorbed in hunting the beast to notice its approach.

　The monster's instincts, which go beyond hunting hexenbiests, are whispering to me to kill the person in front of me.

"End .......

　Senri called out his name in a trembling voice. But don't worry.
　I smiled and raised my voice to those around me.

"Wait!　I'm sorry if I misled you. I'm human!

"What's ......?

　I'm sorry if I misled you. I'm a human!" "What ?" When you find one person slaughtering beasts in a place with no light, it's understandable that you want to strike first.
　I wish I could have called out to him, but there are plenty of monsters in human form.

　Both of us are unharmed, so I'll forgive you with an open mind. You should forgive them. Don't let your impulses get the better of you.


　Maybe I'm ...... a very good person?　Oh my god.

　It makes me laugh to think about it.

"Hmmm ......, sorry, I'm in a hurry. I'll let you go first.

"Oh. ......

　It's not a bad idea to talk to them and ask them to compensate for the damage, but unfortunately we're undead. A long talk might bring out the worst in you. I've collected some precious metals from the wreckage of the Lord's mansion, so I should be able to pay you for the time being.

　Without waiting for an answer, he quickly picked up Senri behind him with both hands and ran as fast as he could.

　I was attacked, but I felt great.
　The attack magic didn't work. I forgot.

　Vampires are highly resistant to all sorts of magic. Mind manipulation doesn't work, attack doesn't work.
　Moreover, this characteristic is more powerful than I had imagined. This is good news for me, as my goal is survival.

　A mage who can use offensive magic is a kind of weapon. Compared to swordsmen, mages' attacks are extremely powerful in both range and power.
　Mages are the elite of the elite and are favored in every country. Their power is so strong that it is said that the strength of a war is determined by the number and quality of mages who belong to it.

　The fact that magic doesn't work on them is really significant.
　It's possible that the mage who just attacked you was weak, so you can't be too careful, but it's as if you've lost a virtual enemy all at once.
　If magic doesn't work, the options you can take in case of emergency will also change.

　I'm glad I realized that here.

　In the blink of an eye, all signs of people disappear. He continued to run as fast as he could for a few minutes, and when he was sure that he had completely defeated his pursuers, he lowered Senri to the ground.

　Senri was a little wobbly, but he soon regained his composure and looked up at me.
　She touched my clothes with her fingertips, which had burned holes in them.

"End ...... are you okay?

"No problem. I'm unharmed. I didn't even fight back. Senri, vampires are immune to attack magic!

...... I know. But there are degrees. ......

　You can get stronger. I still had a lot of work to do, but I was getting there.
　This is what you get when no one teaches you how to fight, you get even stronger when Senri teaches you how to fight.

　That's right. Maybe I'll even be able to use ...... magic. I'm a candidate for Lord's body. I don't think a mage like Lord would use an individual with no magical qualities as a vessel.
　He couldn't have done that in his lifetime. If I could use soul transfer magic like Lord, my survival would be greatly enhanced.

　Senri sighed in exasperation at my enthusiasm.


§ § § §


　We've had enough time. Looking down from the window at the sunlit cityscape, Epe narrowed her eyes.
　Carriages and bustle. There was a peaceful human life there. That's what a demise knight should protect.

　He'd waited long enough for the still-human End to lose his patience with the demon's urges.
　I gave it time to think. Senri never came back.

"Time's up. ............ Senri. I don't know what happened to you, but ...... how dare you, Mr. End.

　The tone of voice was gentle, but the light that shone behind the eyes was swift.

　Senri Sylvis is an exceptionally gifted demise knight.
　It's a great achievement even for Epe, one of the strongest demise knights, to have his hand on a first-class knighthood at just 17 years old.
　If Epe had been the same age, she might have even been jealous of his shining talent. And his power will eventually surpass Epe's.

　Knights of the End are rare. We have to get them back at all costs. It's not too late.

　Even now, Epe hadn't considered the possibility that Senri had been killed. The body of a Knight of the End who has mastered the art of manipulating positive energy has unconsciously put up a protective barrier. I don't think that End can break through that.

　But if Senri was inexplicably seduced, then he should be killed before he felt any pain. That would be the last mercy of a master.

　The eyes of his disciples, the knights of the third rank, were keen.
　There's no more haggardness that existed for a while after Senri's disappearance. His condition is perfect.
　Demise knights are used to tragedy. They don't let personal feelings get in the way of their duties. Even Nevilla, who was the most affected by Senri's kidnapping, has already recovered completely.

　He noticed the change in Epe's attitude, and briefly checked on her.

"Master, you're going after ......, aren't you?

"...... Nevilla, are you confident you can defeat ...... Senri?　It is not unlikely that they will become enemies.



"...... it's ......

　Nevilla's face contorts and he clams up.

　In every way a third level knight is outclassed by a second level knight. In the event that you're not sure what you're looking for, you'll be able to find it on the web.

　Blessing - positive energy is the most important thing for a demise knight. He uses it to purify his dark family and to strengthen his physical abilities. Sometimes it can be converted into destructive energy and released. It's also used to increase the range of perception.
　Its absolute quantity is a great quality for a demise knight. Above all, the purification that the Demise Knight is good at does not work on the human Senri.

　I'm not sure what you mean by that.

But if you are a master--

Yes, that's true. But ...... there are others who are more qualified.

　Lefley was blindsided by the calm words of his master.

　Epe hasn't given up on the idea of getting Senri back yet. It's not the kind of thing you can give up in a fight with a lower level vampire.
　She's a valuable asset who can destroy even higher-ranking vampires who cast a huge shadow over the world, and even the King of the Dead.

　The end is holding her back. Then all we have to do is destroy it.

　Killing the End is easy. But if Epe and the others surround him and destroy him as they always do, there will be hard feelings between him and Senri.
　Then let the rest of us destroy him.

　The End is a different kind of vampire, but there are many who can defeat him at this point.

"I've been waiting for you. Come in.

　The door opens. Nevilla's eyebrows twisted at the shadow that appeared. Lefley's eyes widen, and Thelma's expression turns grim.

　A large man wearing a black coat and a deep hood appeared.
　His hands were wrapped in bandages, and very little skin was exposed. On his thick leather belt hung three swords in rust-colored scabbards.
　A large silver cross was swinging from a chain around his neck, which added to the man's eeriness.

　The man was accompanied by a large, strong black dog that looked like it could straddle a human. Its intelligent golden eyes checked out Lefley and the others, and it let out a low growl.

　A creepy man, like the undead. If this is a human, then there is only one answer.


"Vampire Hunter ...... Really, Master? You're gonna f*cking hit the shit out of it.

　The man in the black coat let out a chuckle at Nevilla's exasperated voice.