Chapter 54: The Stronger Foes

{Present, Estate of the Carmilla Royal Faction's Eastern Gate}

The defense lines were reinforced with at least six legions, while the rest focused entirely on offense. This was a different strategy than before, and all the other gates followed a similar setup.

"Enemies are in sight, sir!"

Being in sight meant they were still ridiculously far away, but supernatural beings had heightened senses, so that wasn't surprising.

"Who is leading the front?"

That was my main concern. Each leader had to be dealt with differently, and I still had the quest flickering in the back of my mind.

"It's… Marius Tepes, the younger son of King Tepes."

Marius… Marius… The name rang a bell, but I couldn't recall much about him. Maybe nothing at all. Still, being the King's son meant he held authority over most others.

"Do you see anything else? Any other beings besides him?" I pressed, "Anyone that could be troublesome?"

I didn't outright say 'dragon,' but that was exactly what I was getting at.

"There seems to be someone I don't recognize, Lord!"

Well, there it was.

Dragons could take human-like forms, so it wouldn't be surprising if the unknown figure was one. With that thought, I immediately shifted my bracelet into a sabre and lit it ablaze with Dragon Flames.

"Vision!" I shouted, and the legion before me split apart to create a clear passage.

As a devil, my sight was already unnaturally sharp, and that was exactly what I relied on now. My pupils narrowed into slits, and my vision stretched over hundreds of meters, clearer than ever. Even from here, I could see everything.

At the front was a boy riding a horned, horse-like creature. If I knew anything about the supernatural, it was a bicorn. Behind him marched legions that almost dwarfed ours in size, but with just one glance, I could tell they weren't anywhere near my rank. Even the boy himself was only a High-Class being.

The real problem was the figure beside him—the one my scout had warned me about. And it wasn't a dragon.

It was a devil.

Yes, a devil.

[Race: Pure-Blood Devil]

[Grade: Ultimate-Class]

Ultimate-Class devils weren't nearly as common as they felt. There were only a countable number of them, which meant this individual wasn't just some nobody.

"Hold the front!" I shouted, immediately reinforcing the defense line.

The devil had long brown hair that covered one eye—yes, like an emo—and his visible eye glowed purple. He rode a bicorn as well, clad in black armor and a flowing cape.

I was pretty sure I knew him.

The emo look, the expressionless face, the aura of an Ultimate-Class devil from the Old Satan Faction… it all clicked.

"Our opponent isn't just Marius Tepes!" I announced. "It is also Shalba Beelzebub, an Ultimate-Class devil from the Old Satan Faction! Do not act recklessly!"

The future was already spiraling down the drain. With Shalba here, certain future events were definitely not going to happen.

I didn't hide behind my army. Instead, I walked forward, taking a stand even ahead of the first legion.

"Don't be nervous!" I called out. "I will handle the devil and the Tepes prince!"

The army answered with loud shouts behind me, and by then the enemy was already close.

The whole area was laced with anti-teleportation and anti-flying runes and magic. As for traps, both sides had specialists who could nullify them on the spot, so nobody bothered setting any. Now the question was: would a dragon show up?

Ingvild could probably handle her front — her Longinus was anti-dragon. Bova was now an Ultimate-Class dragon, so unless Crom Cruach attacked his side, he could manage. I wasn't as sure about the Queen of the Vampires, but given her strength she should at least hold her gate.

That left me. I knew I had to face a dragon. The rewards weren't something I could skip, and the chance of Crom appearing meant I needed Samael's Curse at all costs. Fuck that — if Crom showed up, I was bringing Ingvild here.

"Soldiers, hold position!"

They were barely a distance away from making a move. I still had to figure out the exact purpose of the vampire prince in their army. Was he the brains? I didn't remember Shalba being particularly smart.

At last, with my thoughts circling, they reached a spot close enough to acknowledge us.

"Forces of Carmilla," the vampire boy announced. "No one here has to die today. We do not want unnecessary bloodshed. We only ask for a peaceful surrender. I swear on the name of Tepes: if you surrender now, you will be taken into the Tepes faction and cared for!" He sounded confident. "Surrender and we shall forgive!"

I could feel the seething wrath of the Carmilla soldiers behind me, and yet I was the one making decisions for them. We were outnumbered — ridiculous, given the annihilation they'd suffered last time — and yet they had twice the army now.

"I was told you would make such a proposal," I finally replied. "But Queen Carmilla's stance is clear. I, Faiser Valefar-Barbatos, standing on behalf of Queen Carmilla as general of the Eastern Front, reject your offer!"

The crowd behind me roared, voices rising into a demonic clamor.

"Soldiers! Prepare for war!"

The vampire prince frowned and scoffed. The devil beside him only smiled. Then, with an amplified voice, the devil decided to speak.

"I have heard a lot about you from Lord Rizevim," he said. "Faiser, son of the two most troublesome devils from the civil war."

"I apologize," I said, expression neutral, "but I have not heard about you. You probably weren't as troublesome for our side during the war."

His smile snapped into a scowl. "You're like your father — no control over that tongue." He turned to the vampire prince. "And you will die just as miserably!"

"Red legions, attack!"

Red legion?

I learnt immediately why the boy called them the red legion, as the moment his shout echoed, the legion to the side immediately released a blood red miasma.

"It's plague miasma!" one of my soldiers shouted. "Don't inhale it! You'll be paralyzed!"

Ah — so that was it.

"Legions, attack the Carmillas!" Shalba shouted as the rest of the legions prepared for long-range attacks.

They were confident—using the blood miasma to lock us in place while trimming down our numbers from afar. A solid strategy, but well—

<Bind>

The miasma spread slowly, and with only about thirty vampires responsible for it, Disperse was more than enough.

"Raise barriers!" I shouted, casting at the same time.

<Disperse>

"Leave the miasma to me!"

The soldiers didn't hesitate for even a second. They raised their barriers immediately, putting their faith in me. And just as I expected, Disperse worked perfectly.

<Sever>

Since the miasma hadn't reached us yet, I erased it easily and followed up with Sever, slicing down the casters before they could try the same trick again.

"That damn Valefar ability!" Shalba clicked his tongue and kicked his bicorn forward. "Marius Tepes, lead the soldiers! I will handle him!"

"That—"

"With him around, your plans will never succeed!" he shouted, rushing straight toward me with his army covering him.

"Long range, cover him!" Marius ordered.

Ridiculous. If Shalba knew about my abilities, then either he was underestimating me or had something else planned. Still, he was too big a threat to ignore.

"Commander Boris!" I shouted. "Take command for now—I'll handle him!"

The commander looked caught off guard at first, but he recovered quickly, nodding and stepping up. Marius ordered the soldiers to shoot me down, while Boris immediately countered with his own strategies. Carmilla wasn't lying—Boris was a damn good strategist. But so was this devil prince.

<Dragon Flames>

My sabre ignited once again as I blinked toward Shalba. It still confused me why he rushed so blindly, but I didn't hesitate. Teleporting close, I skipped using Bind for now, wanting to test what he was really after.

I swung my sabre low, aiming for his bicorn's legs. The beast's bones were almost steel-like, but my flames—and the unnatural metal of the bracelet—cut deeper than steel.

With some resistance, the sabre sliced through two of its legs and badly injured the others. That was enough to bring the beast crashing down and force Shalba to leap off.

But as he hit the ground, he grinned.

"Idiot."

My eyes widened. A mistake.

<Blink>

The ground cracked beneath me as terrifying demonic energy erupted around us.

<Bind>

I unleashed the invisible chains, not willing to risk anything further. If they connected, it was over—Valefar skills didn't care about class or rank.

But that was the problem.

"Boy," Shalba laughed as my eyes widened further. "Do you know who truly killed your mother?"

His body glowed with a greenish-purple light.

"It was me!"

He swung his fist, and to my absolute shock, the chains shattered before they could even touch him.

[Annihilation magic can counter Bind if Bind isn't able to make contact first.]

I could cancel and suppress any attack or ability as long as my chains connected. But if they never managed to touch—then it was a whole different problem.

And for the first time, Bind didn't work.

"Annihilation Magic: Wave of Erasure!"

A shockwave burst out of his entire body, and the name alone told me exactly what it would do.

<Blink>

I wasn't stupid enough to take that head-on. I blinked above him as the shockwave cut through the battlefield in a horizontal sweep.

He clicked his tongue. "That damned Barbatos ability!"

"Soldiers, keep shooting!" Marius' shout was loud. Glancing to the side, I saw my forces struggling. They had no choice but to defend—completely pinned down, unable to advance.

But the Tepes faction didn't move forward either. They stayed back, focusing on long-range attacks, since Shalba's annihilation magic targeted everything in its path, even allies.

"Die."

He raised his hand and hurled an orb toward me.

I knew instantly it wasn't a normal demonic energy orb—it was annihilation magic.

I blinked away, but his attacks only got faster and faster.

Weirdly enough, someone who almost never spoke decided to speak.

[Creations of Bracelet of Imagination can withstand one to two annihilation magic attacks before reverting back into bracelet form.]

The bracelet itself was indestructible, but the things I created with it weren't. Enough force could shatter them and force the bracelet back.

But apparently, annihilation magic alone wasn't enough to one-shot them.

Good. That was all I needed.

<Blink>

I teleported right behind him and swung my sabre with full strength.

"Fool!" He tried blocking by coating his arm in annihilation magic—and it half-worked.

The instant my sabre touched the annihilation layer, the Dragon Flames around it vanished, snuffed out instantly.

But the blade itself held strong. It cut straight through.

His arm dropped cleanly to the ground.

"Ugh!" He groaned in pain, stumbling. I shifted my sabre into a gauntlet and drove a punch into his chest, launching him several feet away.

This wasn't going to be easy. He wouldn't let me land such a clean strike again. His annihilation magic flared back instantly, a full-body shield. Which meant it would take multiple hits before I could land Bind.

This was fucking tough.

And as if it wasn't already irritating enough, the devil laughed.

"Gahaha!" He staggered back up, cauterizing the stump with raw demonic power. "You fucked up! Should've gone for the head!"

Before I could figure out what he meant, Marius gave the answer.

"Teleportation fluid, now!"

A handful of soldiers hurled vials across the field, multiple feet away from me and deep into our area.

The glass shattered, spilling a glowing green liquid that spread into wide puddles across the ground.

And that's when I understood their plan.

"What do you think those shockwaves were for?"

The repeated waves of annihilation magic—none of them had been meant to kill me. They'd been erasing the anti-teleportation runes.

Fuck.

From the fluid, something massive began to emerge. A claw first—scaly, rotting, monstrous. The puddle spread wider, opening enough space for an entire beast to crawl through.

And then it appeared.

A dragon.

A massive, decaying dragon, scales of brown and black hanging from its corpse-like body.

[Race: Revived Dragon]

[Grade: Ultimate-Class]

Yeah, fuck me.

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{A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters.

If it was confusing, lemme explain the Shalba ability. It's annihilation magic, and it counters Bind. Not entirely, as if Faiser managed to make contact with Shalba's skin in any way, he is dead. But since the Beelzebub devil almost keeps his body permanently covered in that magic, it isn't easy to make contact. Since the chains break if it touches the layer.}