{A Few Hours later, Asmodeus Grand Hall}
—Falbium Asmodeus—
The four Satans were known for staying calm, keeping a confident front even in the worst of times.
"Ugh! How am I supposed to just sit still and do nothing!"
That was the problem. They could maintain a calm, confident exterior because, most of the time, they could either get directly involved in a situation or have others handle it for them.
"Throwing a fit won't help, Serafall," Ajuka reminded her. "If we want to act, we have to think this through."
The four Satans were frustrated by their inability to intervene directly. They had the power to do so, but acting recklessly could backfire and endanger the general devil population.
"I cannot blame him either," Sirzechs said, sitting at the edge of the room, head bowed. "We failed to protect his parents, and Rizevim is responsible for their deaths. He cannot trust us as much as we hoped. And even though Rizevim is not someone he could defeat… he wouldn't hesitate to face him for revenge."
The only concern was Faiser's safety—and there wasn't much they could do about it for now.
"Do we have to maintain peace with the Tepes faction?" Serafall asked, sounding more than just mildly annoyed.
"It's not about the Tepes faction," Ajuka clarified. "Even at their strongest, they cannot match the four of us combined. The issue is trust. If we break this treaty, what happens to all the others we've signed?"
No one would trust those who break a treaty.
"And don't forget—we're aiming for an even bigger treaty, a peace treaty," Sirzechs added. "As big a classified secret as it is, it wouldn't matter if we blew up the Tepes situation."
Serafall slammed her fist on the table, making it shake. "And we're just supposed to sit? Do nothing and hope things work out? That Faiser can win against an army of countless vampires with two peerage members and eight legions?"
Falbium finally spoke up. Until now, he had been silently staring at a holographic map of the underworld, occupied by the vampires.
"He doesn't have to win," he said. "He just has to hold on. The Carmilla faction is weaker than the Tepes faction, but they can still fight fairly evenly—at least if we ignore the Longinus user controlled by Valerie Tepes. With Ingvild, Faiser, and Bova on our side, it balances out." He zoomed in on the map, marking key areas. "The real problem is Rizevim, and Faiser figuring out how to minimize his involvement until enough proof is gathered for us to step in."
And that was harder than they had hoped.
"Rizevim isn't someone you can outsmart easily. Even with centuries of experience, it would be tough. And Faiser doesn't have that kind of experience," Sirzechs reminded them. "We have to find a way to support him until he figures something out."
As much as they hated it, much of this came down to hope. They were praying, in a way, that Faiser might pull off something miraculous—something that would finally allow them to face the Old Satan Faction directly.
"Faiser should be able to hold his own," Falbium said, continuing to mark the map. "I haven't spent much time with him, but the time we did spend… we discussed quite a few things, and he's surprisingly good with strategies. As long as he doesn't directly clash with Rizevim, he should be able to manage."
In many ways, Falbium acted as Faiser's mentor in war strategies and army management. So far, he had been satisfied with Faiser's performance.
The room stayed quiet for a while, everyone racking their brains for solutions.
"What do we know about Valerie Tepes and her Longinus?" Sirzechs asked. "We know the Tepes faction and their advanced war strategies, but nothing concrete about this Longinus."
"It's not completely unknown," Serafall reminded them. "It's a support type, remember?"
Ajuka nodded from the side. "We know about quite a few supporting Longinus," he added.
Silence fell again, until Serafall spoke. "And most of them are from another terrorist group, if I'm not wrong."
This made the room tense.
This wasn't just any terrorist group. It was a coalition of multiple factions, including the Old Satan Faction. This organization was a much bigger threat, and they hoped its reach wouldn't extend beyond the Old Satan Faction in this vampire matter.
"The terrifying thing is, they possess at least three Longinus in total—maybe four if we count Valerie Tepes," Falbium said with a sigh. "Three or four of the total existing Longinus have massive support abilities, while around three are primarily support types. And so far, only two have been identified." He pulled back from the map. "So, if we go by the process of elimination… it can only be one thing, right?"
"The only one we haven't seen in an unusually long time is…" Ajuka glanced at the head of the military.
"Yes," Falbium nodded. "It's most definitely Sephiroth Graal, the Holy Grail of the Longinus."
A heavy silence filled the room as everyone grasped what it meant for Sephiroth Graal to be in Rizevim's hands.
"This…" Serafall's face had lost a few shades of color. "This is too much for Faiser to handle. We have to do something."
Even Sirzechs had to agree. "The ability to manipulate souls and revive the dead… in Rizevim's hands, it's possibly more dangerous than even the strongest offensive Longinus, the True Longinus."
As they scrambled for solutions, a new presence made itself known: two figures approached.
The demonic signatures of a certain Bael and an Extra Demon filled the room.
"I see you're already stressed enough," one of them said.
"Lord Zekram?" Sirzechs' voice carried surprise at the sudden arrival of the Bael progenitor. Behind him was the most respected Extra Demon—Mephisto Pheles.
"And I believe we've come bearing even more stressful news," Mephisto said, looking slightly uneasy himself.
"What… do you mean, sir?" Serafall asked, her unease growing at a rapid rate.
Zekram looked at Mephisto and let the devil speak.
"I just received a worrying piece of information from Tannin," Mephisto said. "He reported seeing a certain dragon with Rizevim—a certain… evil dragon."
Every Satan's eyes widened immediately.
"Which… dragon?" Sirzechs asked.
Taking a deep breath, Mephisto answered.
"The strongest of the evil dragons, known as the Darkness Dragon or the Crescent Circle Dragon… Crom Cruach."
The room went dead silent. That was a bombshell no one had expected.
* * *
{Moments Later, Estate of the Carmilla Royal Faction}
—Carmilla Viviane Dracul—
Centuries.
That was how long it took her to build her faction—a matriarchal force that answered to no Tepes king.
She had been born from the blood of the True Ancestor, just like the Tepes rulers. She possessed the same power, the same abilities—sometimes even surpassing them.
And yet, she was undervalued. Inferior—not just to the Tepes, but to all the bloodlines under the Tepes control.
The True Ancestor had left no rules of inheritance, and the vampire world had suffered ever since.
Why should she accept the Tepes as the rightful kings when she, too, carried the blood of the True Ancestor? Blood purer than that of the current Tepes king, in fact. Her vessels would not serve an incompetent ruler.
Over the centuries, she had built the Carmilla faction—a faction not at the mercy of the Tepes, where a woman could lead rather than bow to a weak, pathetic king.
"They keep coming back, your majesty." One of her commanders spoke, horrified. "We killed them less than two days ago! And they're back!"
Her fists clenched. The commander wasn't wrong. She had severed the head of one of those vampires with her own hand. And now, he was alive again, leading an army of five thousand.
"Don't falter!" she commanded. "No one has true immortality! They cannot keep coming back forever!"
Truth be told, she wasn't sure anymore. It shouldn't be possible to return after losing one's head.
And yet, here he was—unmarked, uninjured, commanding an army.
Steeling her heart, determined to end this for good, she shouted, "Vampires! March forward!"
Her army numbered twelve thousand, as hundreds of thousands of her faction were engaged elsewhere, holding other fronts against the Old Satan Faction and the Tepes treaty forces.
She had to lead this front herself. It was the direct path to the city. And the enemy numbered twenty-five thousand, more than twice her force.
Swords, spears, and magic surged forward. Blood magic flashed against the incoming attacks, and she knew that if she didn't channel her own blood and darkness magic, the city would fall.
She extended her hand, ready to release a darkness so terrible it might even harm her own troops.
'It's a necessary sacrifice.'
Painful as it was, she would sacrifice a few to protect the many. She began gathering a massive amount of magic in her hand—all while over twenty thousand vampires surged forward.
Arrows and spears made of blood filled the sky, flying toward her and her army. She frowned, bracing for the casualties she knew were coming.
But—
"Huh?"
She froze. One by one, the blood arrows and spears faded, never descending, as if someone had erased the spells entirely.
"I guess I'm just in time."
The voice was unfamiliar. So was the presence.
Her head snapped back, eyes drawn to a magical circle on the ground—purple and gold, a mix of magic and demonic energy.
From it emerged a man—or rather, a young man. Young, yet radiating a terrifyingly strong presence. A devil.
As he fully materialized, one arm back and one forward, as if he had just snapped his fingers, he stood confidently with power emanating from him. He appeared handsome, composed, and definitely strong.
He looked at her and smiled. "I apologize for being late, Your Majesty."
With another snap of his fingers, hundreds—no, thousands—of magical circles appeared around them.
From each circle emerged devils. Countless devils.
"Your reinforcements have arrived."
The reinforcements she had been praying for.
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{A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters for this story}