If Senri Sylvis had one mistake, it would be that he had never fought with the weak.

　In the Knights of the End, each knight of the first rank acts in a group of several.
　The people Senri had fought with before had been his fellow Knights of the Order, not to mention his mentor Epe's power, and his seniors Lefley and Nevira, who were both physically and mentally powerful warriors who could control their blessings at will (though not as well as Senri).

　The next person I worked with was End.
　End was a sick man, and had no experience or knowledge of combat. At the same time, however, End had high qualities as an undead and a strong spirit.
　Senri was dismayed by his sometimes carefree nature, but End's situation was not something that could be overcome by an ordinary mind.
　He was resurrected by an evil necromancer, kept his memory even after being dominated, didn't whine a single word while being solarized by the Knight of the End, and even endured to the limit the blood-sucking urge that everyone can't help but go crazy for.

　His victory over Arbatos is also a marvel.
　The power of Arbatos was powerful even in Senri's eyes, and he was used to fighting the undead. Even though he was born as an Ancestor, he was not a match for a low-level vampire.
　He was still inexperienced in battle, but perhaps when that was filled in, End would be transformed. The Ends are so strong that they may become unmanageable for Senri in the near future.


　Compared to them, the mercenaries Senri led this time were far too weak.
　They must have been trained in combat. They must have experience. They have the strength to fight demons to some extent. But even so, his strength is not at the level to fight the Dark Family.

　Senri realized this when he left the herd of beasts to the mercenaries and launched a series of attacks on the demons flying in the dark night sky.

　He had the upper hand until halfway through. The female demon was a powerful demoness, but Senri would not be defeated in a head-on collision.

　The demon was not the same as the undead, so he couldn't just pour his blessing into it and purify it to zero, but the power of light was still one of its weaknesses.

　Demons can fly, but even Senri can fly. The demon must have realized its disadvantage after the first attack, because it stayed on the run the whole time, and Senri caught up with it.
　Senri had the upper hand from start to finish. Senri was unharmed, and the demon's body was in shambles, barely able to block the barrage of light.

　The situation changed when the demon used a certain spell in desperation.

　Demons are good at magic. What the demoness used was not an offensive spell.

　A spell only for the weak-minded. It was a charm spell to hypnotize and manipulate the target.

　It was a spell that the Knights of the End would certainly not be subjected to. That's why Senri underestimated its danger.

　It was a miscalculation. Mental pollution spells can be cast out of fear or agitation.
　A spell cast from the sky fell on one of the mercenaries who had been reluctantly fighting the beast. In an instant, the man, who had lost all color in his eyes, became a pawn of the demon and attacked the comrade who had fought with him just a few moments before.

　Fear is contagious. In particular, being attacked by someone who had been your companion just a few moments ago is a strong fear for even relatively mentally strong mercenaries who have fought before. The demise knight who fights demons is trained for such a situation, but a mere mercenary cannot withstand it.

　I'm not going to stand by and watch you get beaten up. Senri was forced to stop his pursuit and rescue his comrades.
　The spell of widespread enchantment is quite weak for a mind-contaminating spell. A strong jolt would bring it back to life, but in an unrestrained fight, it would die before it could.

　Wake your comrades, ward off the beast, prevent the she-devil's attack spell from falling from the sky.
　What matters is lives. We need to minimize casualties.

　If the demon's spell was too powerful for Senri to prevent, he would have sacrificed himself and focused on the attack. But those attacks were enough for Senri to handle, even if it took some effort.

　If she had had another companion who was not mesmerized, the end would have been easy.

　The battle dragged on. The demon did not choose to retreat.
　But the advantage still went to Senri's side. The more times a spell is cast, the less effective it becomes. If the demon's pack of beasts could be annihilated, Senri would be able to devote his efforts to destroying the demon again.

　It was just then that he heard a wolf howl from behind him.

　Not just any wolf's. It was a demonic one, one that Senri had heard many times during his time as a Knight of the End.
　Werewolves have a habit of howling. The woman's expression, which had been pained but hadn't let up on the attack, twisted in surprise as Senri's blood changed color.

　Something must have happened. The female demon, who had not shown any sign of retreating until then, flew up in a great leap. But I can't chase it.
　The herd of beasts, now greatly reduced in number, attacked all at once.

　When she had managed to kill them all, the female demon had disappeared into the night sky. 　


§§


　Returning to the camp site, Senri saw the devastation.
　The bodies of several mercenaries lying around, the strong smell of blood, the frightened and pale merchants.

　But the werewolf's power is powerful.
　Created by the curse of the King of Beasts, the werewolf is demonic. In terms of pure combat ability, they surpassed even the female demon Senri had just faced.
　If it was one of them, it would not be able to do this much damage.

　I can't see the enemy. No sign of Baron ...... End either.
　And without changing his expression, Senri accepted that the worst had happened.

　That werewolf's howl was a signal to retreat. The reason Senri had left End at the camp was partly because he had no fighting ability in dog form, but also to protect him in case of emergency.

　The Dark Ones have their own affinities. If the opponent was a werewolf, the vampire would be overwhelmingly superior.
　As a demon, a werewolf is lower than a vampire. The werewolf's fur, which has strong resistance to all but silver weapons, cannot be used against the vampire's attacks.



　It's a curse. A werewolf is a being created to be a servant of vampires.
　Wolves have their place. But if they chose to retreat, that means they did.

　But it also meant that End had made a hard choice.

　The friends Senri had brought back were rushing to their side. No one was killed or seriously injured in the battle that Senri had led.

"Well, thank you for coming back safely. But we're in trouble. Se, Senri's dog wasn't just a dog. We were tricked!　Senri's dog was a vampire!　He's been infiltrating the troop merchants!

　Laurel, the leader of the merchants, came running up to him, seemingly unable to hide her upset. Senri took a deep breath and asked back.

You'll be able to get a lot more than just this kind of damage if you've got ............ vampires.

"No, no. Oliver was a werewolf. They've been enemies. Oh, shit. How did this happen?

　Vampires are notorious for hiding in villages and sucking the blood out of people at night. Even if they don't directly harm you, their existence casts a shadow of fear in your heart.
　That is the general sensibility. Senri's sensitivity is more rare. Senri understood this very well.

　If it hadn't been for the Baron, they would have been wiped out by now, but he had forgotten that.
　He bit his lip. But he couldn't argue.

　He looks at Katerina. Barron was a popular girl, but a girl who loved it. But now he buried his face in his mother's chest and shivered.

　There were many looks directed at Senri. But the strongest of them were the ones that blamed Senri.
　It was inevitable that they would look at her, since the demon knight hadn't noticed the vampire. He was confused with fear now. I'm used to that kind of gaze.

　But there was no hint of suspicion in his gaze. No one seemed to think Senri was one of the vampires.
　End must have said something. The young man was used to danger, and used to being antagonized.

　But just because he's used to it, doesn't mean he's okay with it.


"Did Barron say anything to you at ..................?



§ § § §



　Oh, my God.

　Oliver Albor had shrunk more than he could remember in a while. Next to him, the incarnation of darkness that made him shiver at the mere hint of it was walking casually.

　This was supposed to be a simple mission.
　Oliver had a family register. A werewolf, undead and impervious to running water, has almost perfect mimicry skills. He has a fighting ability that would make an ordinary mercenary look like nothing.
　The quality of the guards they lead is negligible, even for a large company. In the third place, ...... you need quality, not numbers, to stop Oliver, who is the most elite of the werewolves.

　I thought it was bad luck when there was a former demise knight mixed in with the guards, but I have to say that having a vampire in the mix is really, even worse bad luck than that.

　A vampire is a very special kind of vampire. Ancestors with special abilities that rarely exist. Normally, he would have built a castle in the middle of nowhere, where he would have many demons under his control and spend his days as a ruler.

　The moment I discovered his true identity, everything vanished.
　The strong will to fight, the thrill of slaughter, and everything else that he had held until then disappeared, and in that moment, Oliver was made to understand that nothing had changed since he was still under its control.

　The werewolf has the instincts of a beast. They are resistant to all kinds of pain, and their will to fight never dulls, even against a superior demon.

　But that's only if the opponent is not a vampire.
　A werewolf is a servant of a vampire. All werewolves have been created and played with by vampires.

　Oliver's master was not the Founder, but he was the lineage of the famous Founder, the King of Beasts, a powerful vampire who had inherited some of his power.

　The curse of werewolf creation does not include absolute obedience. For the Night King, werewolves are nothing to be afraid of.
　The Night King gleefully carves fear into the werewolf he creates, as if it were a natural right. He will strike down those under his command who gain the power of the beast and humiliate their souls so that they will never disobey him again.
　It's almost like a curse. It is a curse that will not disappear even if the person himself dies for some reason.

　The vampire who turned Oliver into a werewolf is gone.
　Oliver's master, absolute ruler, and supposedly the strongest, was defeated in a battle with the Ancestor, a vampire ...... that should hardly exist, and simply disappeared. And Oliver Arbol is free.

　However, the token of servitude that was engraved on him has not disappeared even now that more than ten years have passed and he has a new master named Linel.
　The reason why the Founder did not rule over Oliver as the new master was because Oliver was no more than a piece of trash that the Founder could not find worth killing or ruling over. He snickered at Oliver, who was sitting on the ground beside him, and left without a care in the world.

　The Night King, walking next to him, was much younger than Oliver's former master. But for vampires, there is nothing more reliable than their apparent age.
　The ability to turn into a dog that he had just glimpsed was definitely not a true vampire ability.


　If that's all, it's possible that he inherited it from another ancestor, but if he was made a family member of another ancestor and inherited his abilities, he couldn't possibly have the power of a ghoul's claws.

　The demon king, Rainer, is a powerful demon, even more powerful than vampires. But for Oliver ...... the werewolf, the king is the vampire.

　In the event that you are a vampire who can change into a wolf at will, you don't know the true reason why you have the ability to change into a dog, but you can't think of defying it.


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ....... How did you get mixed up with those human soldiers?

"Do I have to answer your question?　Oliver.

　The anger in his voice sent shivers down his spine and made his tail twitch.
　Oliver found himself crawling. In the middle of an empty plain, he just lay flat.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask. I'm sorry, sir!

You're the reason I'm in the mess I'm in. I was going to go straight into lomburg. Besides, you ruined my prized white fur. I didn't mean it at all.

"No, ......, that's--

There's no dog more adorable than me, so even though I was disguised, I'd be caught at the gate if I was wanted. Of course, I didn't intend to stay undercover for long, but my plan is ruined. You'll have to make it up to me.

"Of course, of course, sir!

　Oliver doesn't know what grand, terrible plan there was. He doesn't want to know.
　Oddly enough, as he had declared to the merchant, all Oliver was allowed to do was kneel there and beg for mercy.

　A fellow demon. The scent of Monica, also a servant of Linel, approached. Oliver just waited for the storm to pass.