— — — — — —
"Duamutef!"
With Iblisveil's shout, a massive golden jackal with enormous fangs materialized and charged headfirst into the towering glacier.
BOOM!
"…So hard…" Iblisveil groaned, coughing up blood from the impact.
His summoned familiar—now cracked and splintered—clearly hadn't coped much better. The crash had done more damage to him than the ice.
"Please step aside..."
Bathed in golden magical light, Dimitrie Vatler's voice rang out calmly.
"…Understood." Iblisveil backed off without hesitation, watching as Vatler summoned three snake-type familiars. They soared into the air, merging mid-flight into a colossal beast that radiated terrifying magical energy and distorted the air around it.
"This guy…" Iblisveil's expression shifted. His heart skipped a beat.
He's already that close to the Primogenitors?
Considering Vatler possessed 9 familiars in total, that realization made Iblisveil's scalp go numb.
If three merged familiars are already that close to Primogenitor-level, what would happen if he merged all nine? Would he go beyond even the original?
"No wonder… He's the descendant of the Lost Warlord—the oldest of all the Primogenitors..."
While Iblisveil was still shaken by that thought, Vatler's three-headed snake let out a bone-rattling roar and blasted the glacier with a sonic shockwave.
And the result?
Absolutely nothing.
"…Oh dear." Vatler covered his mouth, bit into his palm, and began sucking his own blood to suppress the battle craving bubbling inside him.
He didn't even dare glance at the figure looming atop the Watchtower.
"If I jump in now… I'll die. No question." Still smiling, Vatler shrugged.
"Looks like just the two of us aren't enough to melt that ice."
In fact, he was starting to wonder if even the First Primogenitor—the Lost Warlord—could handle that freezing technique.
Probably not.
It had all happened so fast. The move was activated, fired, and completed in a blink. Before he even realized it, the glacier was already there. He didn't see the attack—only the aftermath.
"…Yeah. Pretty much." Iblisveil's voice was tight with unease, a chill running down his spine.
One move. That's all it took to freeze the Third Primogenitor solid. And Vatler, who was nearly Primogenitor-tier himself, couldn't even scratch the ice.
And the guy who cast it?
Still standing silently on top of the Watchtower.
"No wonder he doesn't see us as enemies," Iblisveil thought bitterly.
For someone like that, a Primogenitor probably was just a regular human.
When did this world end up with a monster like him?
While the two vampires stood frozen in shock…
Deep inside the glacier, flames suddenly erupted.
Layer after layer, like volcanoes stacked upon each other, crimson fire wrapped itself around Giada Kukulcan's body like armor.
Sssssshhhhhh—
The ice began to melt.
Droplets slid down the sides of the glacier, forming streams that trickled toward the harbor.
Koyomi approached, looked up, and murmured, "At this rate… Her Majesty the Third Primogenitor should be free in about five minutes."
"Impressive as always. Even a move like that couldn't keep her down forever," Vatler said with a casual smile—though it was hard to tell if he was being sincere or sarcastic.
"Five minutes, huh?"
Iblisveil stared at the ice, his thoughts turning dark. That's more than enough time for that monster on the tower to kill us all—like, ten thousand times over.
But since the man up there hadn't made a move and was letting the Third Primogenitor slowly break free…He wasn't planning to interfere—for now.
Iblisveil silently breathed a sigh of relief. He was still under a hundred years old, and despite how boring life could be, he wasn't ready to die yet.
If he managed to make it out of this alive, he definitely needed to report everything to his "Mother"—every detail. With that in mind, he pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket.
"It's me. Deliver all the dolls to the harbor."
"Hm?" Vatler glanced over and chuckled. "Giving up already?"
Iblisveil answered proudly, "I've only ever had one goal: eliminate that filthy arms dealer who dared to insult us. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh really." Vatler smirked.
Yeah, sure, totally not giving up.
Everyone knew Zaharias still had some of the Fourth Primogenitor dolls. With Iblisveil having lost his, the idea that he could still find him? Ridiculous.
Clearly, the little prince was offering the dolls as a peace gift—just trying to save his own skin.
Then again… being able to say that with a straight face?
Definitely a trait of the Second Primogenitor's bloodline. Not even the blazing sun of the Middle East could burn through that thick skin.
The glacier continued to melt. But contrary to Koyomi's estimate, it didn't take five minutes.
At around the two-minute mark—CRACK!
Giada Kukulcan burst out from inside the ice.
"Cough! Cough!!"
Half her body spilled out first, coughing up blood-tinged ice shards. After a few seconds of struggling, she managed to yank out the rest of her body.
Still—neither Vatler nor Iblisveil made a move.
Vampires could devour each other, absorbing the power of their kin. Even if they weren't directly descended from Giada, there was still a chance they could overpower her now while she was weak.
Which is exactly why they didn't approach.
They were both afraid they wouldn't be able to resist that temptation...and more afraid that she might lash out in retaliation.
But most of all?
Because the real boss—the one watching from the Watchtower—hadn't said a word.
If either of them made a move, and that monster decided to freeze them next…
Yeah. Game over.
Giada had the strength and age to survive being frozen. They didn't.
Eventually, it was the only human present—Koyomi—who stepped forward and offered Giada a hand.
"You good?"
The moment she said that, Giada made a sudden move to bite her arm, causing Koyomi to jerk back in a panic.
"A-Ah! Sorry, sorry. Bit anemic right now," Giada muttered weakly, clearly struggling to suppress her vampiric thirst.
She raised her own arm and bit into it instead, drinking her own blood.
As she did, the wild, violent aura around her gradually settled down.
"Drinking your own blood to calm yourself? That's a thing?" Koyomi stared, dumbfounded. Her expression subtly shifted.
"She can't even drink real blood without losing control…Isn't that kind of sad, actually?"
In that moment, she realized—this might be the most humiliating Giada Kukulcan had ever looked in her long, legendary life.
And then, a familiar voice chimed in—teasing, yet warm.
"Well, well… you broke out a few seconds earlier than I expected. Not bad at all, Third Primogenitor."
Everyone turned toward the sound—and realized Ryo was suddenly standing right next to her.
When did he even get there?
He crouched down with a friendly smile, looking her in the eyes as she tried to steady herself.
"So… want to keep going?"
Still smiling, Ryo added. "Honestly, Giada, you're insanely strong. If we kept going, I'd probably have to max out Diamond Dust just to deal with you."
Giada stared at him, coughed again, and then, with all the grace of a sore loser, raised one trembling hand.
"…I surrender."
She chose to live as the only female among the current three primogenitors.
After all, she couldn't even handle a single Diamond Dust. And now he was talking about a Max version?
Ryo Yagami… that guy was completely busted.
.
.
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