"Heeeeaaahhh ......
"God ......

　The area shook with a thud, and there was a distant sound of something breaking, a stone crumbling, and an uneasy murmur.
　The assembly hall was crowded with people. The couches that had been prepared for the audience were turned into beds for the sick and the elderly, and the rest of the people were making beds with a single blanket on the stone floor. The people who had been cramped on their own turf were now cowering like frightened herbivores. Only the light of the magic lanterns, as weak as candles, was barely dispelling the darkness.

"What was that sound ......?

　Albaugh muttered, looking up at the stone ceiling with its rude arches. Dust or something was falling.

　Albaugh is a farmer. He was living in a farming village near Teiracaines, but his peaceful days of winter retreat came to an abrupt end. Suddenly, a horrible horde of undead appeared and set the village on fire. "It was the army of the Rose Princess of Hell.

　I fled the village in my clothes, with no belongings, and fled with the other villagers to Teirakainen. I wasn't sure if the lord would help ...... or not, but I had no one else to turn to.
　For now, I could sleep in a place with a roof and walls, and I could silence my stomach with thin soup. But what would happen now?
　"Will the Rose of Hell attack Teirakainen as well? What was that sound?

"Father ......

　Something small and soft touched his hand, and Albaugh came to himself.
　His daughter, Soria, was looking up at him anxiously, holding his hand as if to cling to it.

It's okay. It's okay, Soria. I'm going to protect you.

　Albaugh hugged his daughter, not knowing what was okay. She smelled of earth.
　It's like you've lost everything you can lose. Just when he thought he would be able to live a little easier by selling food to the mysterious merchants, the undead took that money too.

　But Albaugh still has a family under him. He has a wife, a son, a daughter. For Albaugh, who considers himself an ordinary farmer, his family is the only thing that proves he is alive.

"Masonry.
What?

　Soria suddenly said something incomprehensible.

　Darkness was coming.
　The windows were filling up with blackness.
　The moonlight that had been shining through the clouds was fading away.
　The stones on the walls were stretched out as if they were clay, filling the windows.

　I didn't know what had happened.
　Albaugh was dumbfounded, but then he felt Soria's hand suddenly lose its body heat and become cold, so he looked right next to her.

"...... What?

　I'm sure you'll be able to understand why.

　I'm not sure what to say.

　There are several "shelters" in the city of Teiracaines.
　One by one, the buildings filled with people who had fled to the city turned into sarcophagi with all the entrances and exits blocked.
　Very few people noticed the situation from the outside. Even if they did notice the strange incident, they had no idea what it was or what to do about it.
　If they had approached the stone box carefully, they might have noticed dozens or hundreds of screams echoing from within.
　The screams of victims fleeing from the ever-increasing number of bloodsuckers in a closed box with no way out.

　Neither the Holy Beasts stationed throughout the city nor the sorcerers of the Order took notice.
　In any case, the magic item for blocking out the presence of others, the "Wedge of Separation," had been implanted by someone (Bertil) around the shelter and had just been activated. No evil air will leak out of the sarcophagus for several tens of minutes until the effect wears off.

　This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing.

　A silver girl vampire attacks people in a closed box.
　Those whose blood is sucked become bloodsuckers, an inferior breed of vampires with dried-up bodies and empty eyes, and they attack those around them to create bloodsuckers themselves.

　The refuge is a nursery for the mass production of Blood Suckers.
　For a few minutes or even a dozen minutes, until the breeding process was complete, they blocked out any signs of life to prevent escape, and before you knew it, there was a large number of undead in the city. ......

"Confirmed?

　Bertil looked at the tragedy through his crystal ball.
　Katherine's guess, the way they fought in the two Noahcurio raids: ...... and when she was ordered to use the Wedge of Separation, she had a pretty good idea of how this was going to play out. Now it was time to answer the question.
　In the shelter where he had placed the Wedge of Separation, Bertil had also placed a magic item that would allow him to see into the shelter. Through it, he can see inside.

　The silver vampire that had been rampaging inside the crystal ball suddenly collapsed into the corpse of an innocent girl.
　Immediately after, she appears in another crystal ball ...... in another shelter that was supposed to be peaceful. It's a good idea to keep your eyes on the road to recovery.

People ...... possess only girls around the age of 10. They become vampires, spreading the infection and ...... discarding the body when it is no longer useful and moving on with the soul. When the possession is broken, the body returns to the person ......, but it is dead.
　Is it just a matter of preference that all the possessed are girls?　Or do they have to be girls to be possessed? ......
　Movement is instantaneous. Is it transmigration?　Or can you fly at this speed?

　Bertil stared at the carnage in the lined crystal ball.



Oh, dear. Apparently, I'm just a 'lowlife who sacrificed his life for the lives of his people'. ...... had something to gain.

　It's a waste of time to just follow Rene's lead and let him get away with it. It's a waste.
　If you can see just a little bit of Rene's abilities, which are still shrouded in secrecy, it will surely help you defeat him one day. Bertil had a hunch that the only way to defeat Rene would be through the accumulation of countless corpses.

　--But if it's true that Rene can read minds, it's good to know that .......
　　　If I hadn't, I would have tried to hide nearby to check on her myself. If I had, they probably would have found me.

　Well, there is a possibility that they would have found the magic item I planted in the shelter, but that's a story for another time.

　The scene behind the crystal ball is changing from exhausted people to a crowd of wriggling undead.
　This city is already finished.
　Rene will go around opening the sarcophagus when he has enough pieces. Each one may not be much, but with so many of them, Teirakainen will be devoured in the blink of an eye.

　Bertil wondered what Marks would do. Even if he survived on his own, he would be a dead man if he lost his city. If he survives, he will be dead if he loses his city. If there is any movement to protect the citizens, he will certainly take advantage of it.
　So, will he and Gislain escape together, leaving their forces at hand? Even if you can escape that way, that would mean abandoning the defense of the city.

　So, in other words, Bertil thinks again. It's over.

"...... Well, let's live it up. I'll live to tell about it.

　Bertil retrieves his crystal ball and caller's code and quickly puts them together.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.