The young girl did not attack. Instead, she took out a Tower Shield from behind her and set it firmly in place.
The battle had turned into two against five.
“Are we going to use that move… At this point, the result is already obvious.” Andre’s gaze met the gaze of Dige, the only one remaining, and they reached a silent understanding.
“I have lost,” Andre said with a self-deprecating smile. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andre Modell, and my two partners are — “
“Enough, enough. There is no need to announce the names of these two guys.” The man in yellow holding the Greatsword adjusted the respirator on his face. “My name is Sol Badguy, and my purpose for this trip is to send you to meet God.”
“Dante Vergil! Unfortunately, my weapon is neither Yamato nor Rebellion.”
Andre clearly felt that the two yellow-clad men were extremely relaxed. In contrast, the Vampire standing between them was shorter than both, yet her expression was extremely serious.
‘Though we are defeated, do they really think they can kill me?’
Andre found it somewhat amusing and narrowed his eyes. “We are all Explorers. I am giving up on this Lord’s Quest. I will not take any further action against this young Vampire lady.”
“Members of the Evil Demon Society are hardly Explorers. They are just a bunch of psychopaths.”
“…Are you Tuners?” If that were the case, it would explain why they wanted them dead.
“Take a guess.”
Tuners would not talk like that.
“Then, it must be revenge. As servants of the Lord, we are not understood by the world, and it is also…”
“Hey, hey, Andre, don’t get ahead of yourself. I don’t have any emotional conflict with you. I just want you to disappear from this world; I have no other thoughts. So it doesn’t matter if you commit suicide here. Either way, you are definitely going to die today.” Badguy spread his hands, appearing quite helpless.
Andre’s hand never let go of his Staff. He intuitively felt that these two guys were not only not Tuners, but were also blatantly using fake names.
“? What are you talking about?” Ineffa’s thin eyebrows slanted downward in confusion.
Andre said, “I really cannot figure it out. You are not Tuners, nor do you have a grudge against us, yet you are risking your lives to help this Vampire lady. Just to kill us, what exactly is your goal?”
“Seriously, what are you all talking about?” Ineffa asked, puzzled.
The yellow-clad man calling himself Dante leaned close to Ineffa’s side. “Oh, don’t be in such a hurry.”
The yellow-clad man calling himself Sol Badguy locked eyes with Andre through his goggles. “For love — and peace.”
“…Huh?” Dige was dumbfounded. He had already dropped one Big Sword and was now gripping a single one with both hands.
Yet, Andre remained calm and unhurried. “Is that not perfect? Lord Izabilis’s original intention is precisely to achieve permanent peace for the entire world, and the Lord loves everyone equally. The world cannot understand this love, but it only needs a period of adjustment to discover…”
“Don’t ignore me!” The blonde, gold-eyed Vampire protested. Her Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit flew out and hurled its wheel toward Andre. Dige immediately held his Big Sword in front of him, struggling to defend, and was forced back 20 meters, leaving two black streaks on the ground.
Andre advised, “When adults are talking, children should not interrupt.”
“I am not small! I am already 279 years old! Besides, we are in the middle of a battle! Why are you chatting so leisurely!”
‘They probably won’t make it in time. It doesn’t matter; it is already finished.’
Gray-black magic flowed around Andre’s body. He did not take the approaching Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit seriously, keeping his eyes fixed on Sol’s every move. Andre moved his right hand to the bottom of the Staff, slightly relaxing the second joint of his finger. While they spoke, he had already secretly performed the preparatory movements to activate his teleportation Skill.
‘A brat is a brat after all; you’re still one step behind.’ Andre thought as he visualized the destination and moved —
” — !?” The Skill could not be cast.
“Ugh!” He hurriedly raised his Staff. The Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit’s fist exploded just 2 centimeters from his face. The sound of breaking glass rang out as shards of blue crystal flew everywhere. Those were the remains of the two layers of protection that had just been shattered.
Bang!
Andre flew into the ceiling like a meteor, sinking deep into it and shaking the entire Castle. As a Priest, Andre was naturally not skilled in close combat. The sudden impact caused his internal organs to churn and cracked his lumbar vertebrae. He clenched his jaws tightly to prevent blood from spraying out.
Looking down, he saw the mocking gaze behind Sol’s round goggles through the dust and debris from the ceiling.
‘Does he also know I have a teleportation Skill?!’
Andre glanced at Nasagi’s corpse and then at Dige. Dige bowed elegantly and placed his right hand on his left shoulder, clearly having been prepared for a long time. Then, with a splat, Dige turned into a puddle of blood, followed by a heavy sound. The Skeletal Armored Blood Spirit lifted its fist, which was covered in various soft and hard bits of human tissue.
‘I am sorry, Nasagi Kordler. Dige. As subordinates, you were more than excellent. I forced you to do things beyond your capabilities. I hope you can meet again in the Golden Land.’
After praying for the two in his heart, Andre forcefully stabbed his Staff into his left abdomen.
“Kaka! Does the trash know to delete himself? But like I said, I won’t let you die so easily. David, Samo, pull that old man out of the wall.” The blonde Vampire laughed wildly and ordered the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits.
The two yellow-clad men standing beside her gripped their weapons tighter. “The shitty old man has some new tricks.”
“…Miss Ineffa Einscelion, Master of Leiz Castle, please prepare to release the ‘Cat.’ I must remind you that it is impossible to capture Andre alive.”
“Hah?! How do you know about the ‘Cat’? …Kaka, I don’t need your reminder. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. That old man is trying to use some special Magic, right?”
The young Vampire stared at Andre. “The magic power in his body is gathering. David, Samo, pin him down and don’t let him move!”
The two Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits stepped forward to reach Andre.
Andre did not want to use this move because it violated his aesthetics. Once used, he would be reduced to a beast that only knew slaughter, unable to keep corpses intact. At this moment, Sol still stood there unmoved, which caused a spark of anger to rise in Andre’s heart.
‘My Magic and escape routes were seen through, but this is the one thing you couldn’t possibly know. The Blessing given to me by the Cult Leader is only to be used as a last resort — ‘
The human corpse formerly known as Nasagi, now in two halves, faced upward toward the sky. The limbs crawled on their own, rushing toward Andre even faster than the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits.
“How disgusting!” Dante released a bolt of fire as fast as lightning, striking the moving corpse halves and causing golden sparks to erupt.
“The Box of Confusion Drunk on Night, the greedy one who is without desire, without pursuit, without regret, and without a heart…” The blonde Vampire was also disgusted but persisted in chanting the incantation.
Only Sol pulled out a black walkie-talkie.
‘Calling for help? It’s too late! No one can save you.’
The two scorched and burning corpse halves returned to Andre’s side and were absorbed as black particles. Dige’s body also turned into a black wind and drifted toward Andre.
“Ha!!” Andre crushed the Staff. Muscles bulged across his entire body as he leapt forward from the ceiling —
Two huge crimson shadows flew toward him; they were the fists of the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits. Andre dodged to the side and threw two punches. His thick, muscular arms struck the armor and flesh of the Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits, piercing right through. They felt like jelly.
Boom!
Amidst the pungent smell of blood, the two Skeletal Armored Blood Spirits silently exploded into a red mist mixed with streaks of black. As the mist gradually cleared, a tall figure emerged from within. A majestic white light shone in Andre’s eyes, and the power of lightning clung to his solid, muscular body like veins. Electric sparks coiled around him, his purple robe and gray-white hair fluttered, and the air around him crackled with slight explosions.
“Wow, Bro… Sol, something that looks like a Boss has appeared.”
“Dante, just focus on defending. Treat it as his final burst of life.”
The veins on Andre’s forehead bulged. Perhaps due to this form, he was not as calm as before. Despite sacrificing the bodies of Dige and Nasagi to fuse with himself and enhance his power, he was still looked down upon. The other side continued to speak without any sense of tension.
“This is the last time you will be able to act so arrogant.” Andre spoke, his voice full of resonance. “Young man, you do have some skill to force me into this form. In this state, even I do not know how to stop. The battle will end within 10 seconds. I will try to restrain myself so you don’t turn into charcoal.”
His voice stopped abruptly as Andre noticed a strange phenomenon.
Sunlight poured into the hall. It was a vast area of sunlight, with large amounts of particulates falling through it. The light was divided into parallelograms, making his side look bright while the shadows around the Vampire deepened.
Andre instinctively retreated. Before he could figure out what had happened, an incredibly powerful gravity pressed down on him, and his vision dropped rapidly.
Boom!
A massive silver dragon claw slammed Andre into the ground. Deep cracks shaped like spiderwebs instantly appeared across the Castle hall, kicking off a shockwave of black dust. Even before the dust settled, the Vampire shouted the dragon’s name joyfully:
“Tiana!”
Maintaining the posture of pinning the man under her claw while her left claw supported the Castle’s ceiling, Tiana’s voice rang out clearly without her needing to open her mouth. “Forgive me, Master! My wife is pregnant and I was busy taking care of her, but I really came as fast as I could! If you must blame someone, blame the young man for giving me such a remote new Home. It took me some time to get back here.”