Five minutes earlier, Yumeha had been busy protecting the civilians, carrying out her master's orders. During the mission, she had joined up with several other girls she encountered along the way, and they were all working together to ensure everyone's safety.
Until a boy appeared before them.
Rina was clutching her shoulder, blood trickling from a wound on her forehead.
"Damn it! Who is this guy? He just appeared out of nowhere and tried to kill us!"
Beside her, Elaris maintained a serious expression. Although she had sustained a few injuries, they were considerably lighter than Rina's.
"I don't know who he is, but from what I found out, the appearance he's using belongs to Cris, one of Enrico's former classmates, who died in the dungeon a few months ago."
Yumeha became visibly irritated upon hearing those words. Among the girls, she had been the second most injured during the confrontation.
"Someone from my master's class? Who does he think he is, using the appearance of someone my master knew?"
Seraphina pressed her lips tightly together and clenched her fists. She had been the one most affected by the only attack Jago had launched, and upon hearing Elaris's words, a clear killing intent appeared in her eyes.
Jago had deliberately taken on Cris's appearance. His goal was to bring back Enrico's memories of that dungeon and, above all, make him relive the moment when he had killed one of his former friends while wearing that very face.
'And I'll do it again.'
An enormous skeletal hand appeared behind Jago and descended directly upon the girls. Elaris and Seraphina reacted immediately, combining their magic to create a reinforced ice barrier. However, the defense was destroyed with extreme ease, unable to withstand the force of the attack.
"I wonder what kind of expression he'll make when he sees you. I'm really looking forward to finding out."
When the girls realized that Jago was approaching, they were no longer in any condition to defend themselves. After all, he had needed only one attack to leave them in that state. If it hadn't been for the protection of the Circle Five guard accompanying them, they would have all died immediately. That was why they were certain this would be the end.
'Master, I'm sorry...'
'Enrico...'
'I haven't even managed to reclaim my kingdom...'
'My Ketsumei, I...'
However, before they could be hit, the four girls were enveloped by magic that transported them several meters away, taking them out of the area Jago's attack was about to destroy.
Upon realizing that they had disappeared, Jago raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Well, what do we have here? Why are you vampires getting involved in this?"
Three figures had appeared before him: Nyxaria, Valen, and Ysabella. All three radiated killing intent, making it clear that they had no intention of allowing Jago to continue attacking. Farther behind them stood the one responsible for the magic that had saved the girls.
Elaris turned toward the girl who had transported them, looking surprised when she recognized her.
"Weren't you supposed to be hiding on some boat?"
"What are you talking about? I would never allow my beautiful darling to be saddened by someone's death."
Lamia had one hand resting on the ground as she breathed deeply. That spell had consumed a considerable amount of her mana. After catching her breath a little, she looked at the girls and proudly tossed her hair. Seraphina, meanwhile, rolled her eyes upon realizing that she had yet another rival trying to steal her time with Enrico.
"Besides, you'll all be my equals in the future, when I become one of my beautiful darling's beloved wives..."
Seraphina let out an indignant snort.
"Since when did we agree that you would be a wife too?"
"I said in the future, not now! I still have plenty of time to convince you to accept my darlings as well, my adorable ladies."
Yumeha looked at her suspiciously, not quite understanding what she was talking about.
"What are you talking about? My master only met you today. Besides, why would those girls be involved in this too?"
"As for the fact that he only met me today, that's just a detail. And as for my ladies, of course they'll share the same fate as me. After all, we're all pursuing the same art."
Lamia spoke as though it were inevitable, as if it were only a matter of time before it happened.
Since the girls were relatively safe in that location, Ysabella signaled to Valen, who responded with a nod. He then enveloped the five of them in a blood dome composed of twenty overlapping barriers. After ensuring their protection, Valen established communication with them through the dome.
"Girl from another continent, prepare another spell. This time, we need to take them somewhere safe."
Lamia placed a hand against her chest, showing her gratitude.
"All right. I don't know exactly why you're helping us, but thank you for protecting my beautiful darling's girls."
"Just take them all somewhere safe."
While Lamia prepared the spell inside the dome, the three vampires turned their attention back to Jago. However, their gazes were briefly drawn toward the enormous darkness forming in the distance. The energy in that area continued to increase, as though something were about to awaken and emerge from within it.
Jago noticed that they had also sensed that manifestation and let out a faint smile.
"It's beautiful and powerful, isn't it?"
Ysabella narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"What do you mean by that, Nartheis?"
"The birth of a Ranvil-Rank Nartheis. Honestly, I'm quite curious to find out what level it will reach..."
The three should have considered that manifestation of power a threat. After all, it was a newborn Nartheis releasing an absurd amount of magic. However, for some reason, they felt quite calm. It was as though, somehow, things would end up working out in their favor.
"Anyway, I've already answered one of your questions. So why don't you answer mine and tell me why the vampires are helping the humans?"
"That's a rather simple question to answer."
Taking a step forward, Ysabella narrowed her eyes even further, intense fury emerging in her gaze. The same expression could be seen on the two vampires behind her.
"It's because you hurt my master's friends. And that's unforgivable."
Creating a red sphere in her hand, Ysabella launched several blood projectiles directly at Jago. In response, several skeletal hands appeared, their palms open as they intercepted the attacks.
"Undead..."
Using his Necromancy, Jago began turning all the bodies scattered throughout the area into zombies. Both the civilians, who were the weakest, and the dead mages were raised to fight under his control. Ysabella observed the number of enemies and began counting them mentally, curious to estimate how many they would have to face.
"Necromancy... There must be at least fifty of them. And to make matters worse, many of them are probably Circle Five."
Nyxaria, who was standing beside her, turned toward Valen.
"Lord Valen, you can handle them, right? After all, having drunk the master's blood, you must be eager to show off your new abilities."
"There's no need to worry. As you said yourself, I drank the master's blood. I'm really looking forward to showing him the level I've reached."
Valen wasn't the only one who had grown stronger. Nyxaria and Ysabella had also felt significant changes in their bodies. For some reason, even though not enough time had passed for Enrico's blood to trigger another major evolution, it had already considerably increased their abilities. Although the improvement hadn't been equally significant in every aspect, the three had also noticed an increase in their progress percentages, as well as feeling their own magic evolving.
Valen ran his tongue over his lips for a moment, as though he could still taste that blood.
'The master's blood really is on another level.'
Jago watched as the three took up combat positions. Before long, they began eliminating the weaker zombies at high speed, dodging the stronger ones whenever possible. Their strategy was to quickly reduce the number of enemies before their sheer quantity became an even greater problem.
'I don't know how long it'll take him to return. I need to finish off those girls as quickly as possible.'
Moving at a speed greater than almost everyone present, with the exception of Nyxaria, Jago charged directly toward the blood dome and drove his hand into its surface, managing to destroy it.
Nyxaria immediately rushed toward him, but one of the more powerful zombies appeared in front of her, delaying her advance for a brief moment. That was enough for Jago to raise his hand and summon a sphere of black energy, leaving the five girls in shock.
"Farewell, fearless girls."
Just as he was about to launch the attack, everything around him was swallowed by darkness.
Within seconds, Jago and everyone else in that part of the city were engulfed in absolute blackness, as though the environment itself had vanished. The strangest thing, however, was that he couldn't move his hand, even though he knew the girls were still exactly where they had been. There was something about that darkness that seemed to completely restrict his movements.
'It's as though I'm in a place where absolutely nothing exists...'
Jago looked at his own arm and noticed that a completely white hand was gripping it with tremendous strength, even for someone like him. When he tried to identify the source of that limb, he realized there was no body connected to it.
However, upon looking more closely into the darkness before him, he managed to make out a figure partially concealed within the blackness.
Jago immediately recognized what was happening. Rather than showing concern, he let out a cold smile.
He immediately recognized what was happening and let out a cold smile.
"Looks like the newborn awakened faster than I expected. So, what should I call you? New Nartheis?"
Before him, two golden eyes began to emerge from the darkness. Their slit-shaped pupils had a coloration that blended black and gold. The figure still hadn't revealed its true appearance, but its mere presence was enough to instill fear in everyone in that place.
Everyone except Jago.