Chapter 72: The Crimson Tide

The tide of crimson armored vampires hit the blood barrier like a tsunami. They broke over the shimmering red screen, with several of the unfortunate vampires and their mounts disintegrating immediately upon impact.

"Get ready!" Claude shouted from his position at the ramparts. The loose coalition of vampires who had gathered to his cause (well, it was my cause, but let's not split hairs here) responded almost immediately, throwing their hands up to reinforce the barrier. "Keep an eye out for the Blood Queen, especially!"

I was already doing that before he could tell us to. The main threat from the Crimson Tide was Archduchess Virginia herself, who was one of the strongest vampires in Tyranvania. She alone possessed the ability to smash through the blood barrier and defensive arrays that Claude and the other vampires had painstakingly erected.

Even so, the blood barrier was inflicting heavy casualties on the enemies. All over the place, I saw red-armored vampires disintegrate into nothing as they tried to force their way through. Their fanatical devotion to their lady's cause made me envy Virginia a bit. On one hand, I would never order them to carry out a suicidal charge like this, but on the other hand I was thoroughly impressed with how much loyalty Virginia commanded from her troops.

They would willingly sell their lives for her without any hesitation. In contrast, I had not received such loyalty or respect. Not that I demanded it. I knew more than most that I had yet to earn it.

What had I been doing all this time? Solo covert operations, subterfuge and assassinations. Sort of. I hadn't really proven to anyone that I deserved to command them. So much for being the next Demonic Emperor.

"We're ready, sir." Silvia came up beside me, her expression tense. "You can give the order anytime."

"Thanks." I nodded tersely. "I'll be relying on you guys then."

"Don't worry boss." Kelvin grinned, not far from our position. I could see his Grey Hunters in position. "We'll kick their asses and rout them the moment they break through."

I returned a smile. The kobold's enthusiasm was infectious. I could see that they were literally chomping at the bit.

Hmm…well, I did have at least one legion loyal to me. I couldn't say that the vampires would willingly follow my command, but I appeared to have earned a tremendous amount of respect from Silvia's legion at least. Not only had I found them a way to infiltrate Bravia and conquer it, they had witness me defeat Bradley in combat. As such, they were actually impressed with me. Even without Silvia giving them a direct order to do so, they obeyed my commands without question. At least there was one faction who showed loyalty to me.

"The traps are in place," Lindley told me, his message coming through a spell that was enchanting a skeletal vulture that swooped down on the ramparts. I nodded at the undead bird and gave it a thumb's up, knowing that it would convey the gesture visually to its owner. "As you requested, we'll spring them the moment the Crimson Tide breaks through."

"Yeah. Thanks."

Lindley was another loyal subordinate, though that was subjective upon me giving him benefits in return. There was mutual respect, yeah. Lindley had seen what I was capable of in terms of magic and research and he was suitably impressed. I also found him a sharp and intelligent scientist and competent necromancer.

But I was aware that our arrangement would only last for as long as I was useful to him. Lindley was a practical person. He would not hesitate to jump ship if I couldn't offer him the benefits he so desired.

As for his legion of undead, they didn't have a mind of their own. Most of the zombies, skeletons and ghouls were bereft of any free will. They perhaps retained some form of consciousness, but they could never resist their masters' machinations, their rotting bodies dancing like puppets on strings to the necromancers' will. The lich themselves varied, but they followed Lindley for the most part, and I had the feeling they didn't care who was in the throne as long as I granted them autonomy. Which I did, in exchange for them coming to my aid militarily whenever I needed them to.

Speaking of which, I could see the two-headed abomination of Miranda and Mikhail standing near the ghouls, completely enslaved to Lindley's will. I had ensured that they retained their consciousness, so that they could experience the full horror of becoming undead…as well as the deprivation of freedom, their fused body moving against their wills, obeying only the bidding of Lindley – and to a larger extent, mine. After all, I was Lindley's superior.

"I will ensure that none of them comes near you."

Beside me, Stella drew her sword. Her blue eyes were fixed on the scrabbling vampire knights before the barrier, and I could sense that she was singling out the greatest threats and thinking of ways to fight them.

Right. If there was anyone more loyal than even the soldiers of Silvia's legion, it would be Stella. I didn't know why she insisted on being by my side. She wasn't some rabid web novel heroine madly in love with the harem protagonist (and I wasn't a harem protagonist) and I hadn't done anything significant enough for her to deserve such loyalty. All I did was kill her enemy, the same one who had raped and murdered her sister (basically Bradley and his cronies). Honestly, that wasn't enough to earn her devotion.

Most likely it was because she wished to fulfil her vision of an ideal knight. Also, she wanted to help me realize my vision of peaceful coexistence and the elimination of the evil Hero party, having been a victim of both war and corruption.

I couldn't afford to disappoint her. However…

"That will be problematic. I appreciate your sentiment, Stella, but I have to fight." I nodded toward the milling Vampire Valkyries, the famed personal guard of Virginia. "Also, I have to take command and lead the troops. Nobody is going to follow a commander who cowers at the back."

I would leave command to Claude, who was better at these sort of things. I was never a good tactician. Even during my time with the Hero party, I had left most of the strategizing to others, such as Miranda. I preferred to get into the thick of things and fight.

"Understood, sir. But don't do anything reckless."

Stella was as strict as ever, but at least she was willing to compromise. Her gaze shifted across the battlefield and she suddenly tensed up. It wasn't just her.

"She's here," Silvia whispered.

I followed the gazes of both girls and caught sight of a single vampire knight charging forward, bearing a massive lance. Her long, curly red hair streamed from under her helm, cascading behind her as she charged forward.

Archduchess Virginia, the lady of the Crimson Tide.

She was backed up by her entourage of famed Vampire Valkyries, the all-female personal guard surrounding her in a defensive formation. They rode on ferocious nightmares, the monstrous warhorses growling as they stampeded toward the blood barrier.

Virginia mouthed an incantation before thrusting her huge lance forward. In a single stroke, she speared the blood barrier open, rupturing the fabric of red mana and tearing a massive hole. The spell immediately collapsed.

With a triumphant cry, Virginia raised her lance to the sky before swinging it down theatrically. Her troops were motivated by their lady's success and they closed ranks, forming up behind her. Like the tip of a spear, Virginia charged through the dissipating barrier and toward the fortress walls. Blood magic was swirling around them, hardening into ramps that congealed between the ground and the top of the ramparts.

They would literally go over our defenses and break into our castle within a minute. Two minutes, at most. When that happened, they would trample all over the troops stationed there.

However, we were prepared for this eventuality. Valerie, Claude's wife, had informed us of Virginia's abilities earlier. She was extremely confident that the Blood Queen possessed the power to breach the formidable blood barrier that the vampires on our side constructed.

"Now!" I barked, turning to Silvia. She nodded, having already been briefed on what to do beforehand. She raised her hand and cast a spell, shooting an azure icicle into the sky.

That was the signal for her legion.

Immediately, the elves moved from behind the walls of shields that the orcs had erected, mana gathering in their hands. They cast their spells in unison, unleashing violent volleys of elemental projectiles. Fireballs, icicles, lightning bolts, earth spikes, wind blades, thorny vines and an assortment of other deadly spells hurtled over the rampart and exploded amongst the charging vampires. Crimson armor clad vampires were hurled off thrashing and burned mounts, sustaining wounds that would kill mere mortals.

The enemy being vampires with incredible regenerative abilities, they wouldn't die from this.

"Aim for the heads!" I shouted at the elves, who obliged as best as they could during the heat of battle. The heads were the one weak point of vampires. As long as we could obliterate their heads, it didn't matter how amazing their healing powers were. They couldn't come back from the dead.

More spells detonated amidst the vampire horde. The majority of them were climbing to their feet now, their steeds having been decimated in the ranged onslaught. Unlike the vampires, the nightmares didn't have such incredible regenerative abilities. They might be tough and much more ferocious than the warhorses that humans bred, but they were still mortal. Fire burned them as easily as anything else, and the other elements also remained just as deadly to them as they were to most living creatures.

A significant number of crimson vampires had fallen, their heads burned, sheared off or obliterated by the numerous spells that had bombarded them, but the majority of them just picked themselves up, their grievous wounds healing rapidly. A mortal army would have been annihilated by the furious bombardment of spells – in fact, that was how Silvia had defended Bravia from the human armies of Havan seeking to take it back.

Vampires were a different species altogether, unfortunately.

I watched grimly as the vampires slowly but surely closed the distance between themselves and the ramparts. Even on foot, it wouldn't be long before they reached the kobolds and orcs guarding the walls. As numerous as Silvia's forces were, they were physically and magically outmatched by the powerful vampires.

Fortunately…

"Lindley." I turned toward the lich lord. "Spring the trap."

"Understood." The lich lord's voice came from the skeletal vulture that was perched on the ledge in front of me.

Underneath the feet of the vampires, the blood ramp that they had congealed began to crack and break apart. The undead rose from the ground, clawing their way free and attacking the surprised vampires. Almost silently, they clung onto and piled on top of the struggling vampires, burying them under sheer weight of numbers. Among them, I could see the two-headed abomination that was the fused bodies of Miranda and Mikhail, swinging their beefy arms about and swatting poor vampires away.

"Do not falter!" Virginia yelled, swinging her lance and smashing apart a dozen skeletons at once. "These mere fodder won't stop us!"

"Fodder?" Lindley sounded insulted. "You're making light of my forces."

Ignoring him, I stepped forward. Stella turned to me with a frown.

"Klein, you intend to face the Blood Queen in combat?"

"Yeah." I nodded somberly. "Cut off the head and the body will fall. It's the most effective strategy."

"I can't deny that, but you should leave that to us," Silvia said.

"Agreed." Stella seconded the Witch of Winter. I scowled and was about to impose my authority when Kelvin bounded over urgently.

"I have news, boss," he growled, his deep voice grave. "The golden legion of Archduke Stryker has begun to make their move."

"I should have known," I grumbled. Glancing over the ramparts, I saw the vampire army of Stryker charging toward Claude's castle, their golden armor gleaming in the sun. "So they have finally decided to join the fun, huh?"