# Chapter 123
—
Two men were deep in conversation.
*Cain Dormund. Khan Madrid.*
Enemies who had to be slain in this lifetime.
They stood face-to-face with each other.
The moment Arthur’s eyes widened at the sight, Cain Dormund spoke first.
\[Your Highness. Why are you so fixated on Bayern?]
At Cain’s question, Khan Madrid replied.
\[Why am I fixated on Bayern, you ask?]
\[Their house may not have allied with us, but is it really necessary to go this far to target them?]
Khan Madrid burst out laughing.
\[Hah… You only know half the truth, not the whole.]
\[What…?]
\[It isn’t because of some complicated reason. It’s simply because Bayern is Bayern.]
Cain tilted his head.
\[Because they’re Bayern… you target them?]
\[What is it that we seek above all?]
Khan Madrid pointed toward the ceiling.
\[“The bloodline of God.” Isn’t it to obtain that omnipotent power?]
\[……!]
\[And to obtain that divine bloodline… Bayern is the key.]
The vision shattered.
Arthur, who had been staring blankly at the scene before him, jolted in shock, his shoulders trembling.
‘Ah… an illusion.’
What he had seen was not reality, but a miracle wrought by the blood of Bayern.
Yet the two figures before his eyes had been so vivid that he’d forgotten that fact.
‘But why does it always break off at the most crucial moment?’
Right when they were about to reveal the most important truth, the vision ended.
‘The most annoying thing is when people cut off mid-sentence… isn’t this too much?’
Arthur grumbled for a moment, then quickly realized the reason.
‘Of course. It’s because I drank Ian’s blood after he died, not when he was alive.’
He let out a heavy sigh.
‘Haa… If I had known, I would’ve drunk it while he was still alive.’
But he soon shook his head, brushing aside his regret.
It was foolish to dwell on what was already over. Now was the time to focus on the present.
‘The vision hasn’t completely ended yet.’
A new scene unfolded.
This time, it was inside a massive research facility.
Arthur’s eyes widened as he glanced around.
‘Wait… this looks just like the laboratory Julie was imprisoned in.’
Julie Prosky — the maniacal killer with the Lightning Bloodline.
But now, she was nothing more than a ten-year-old child, precocious for her age but still young.
The facility in front of him was strikingly similar to the one she had been confined to.
Then, someone stepped forward.
\[How is the research?]
It was Ian Dormund, the owner of these memories.
\[…It is ongoing, but no significant results yet, Sir Ian.]
\[I gave you plenty of time, did I not?]
\[F-Forgive me… but the scope of Project L is far too broad—]
Ian roared in anger.
\[Do you think I came here to listen to excuses!?]
\[…!]
\[Submit a definite result by the end of this month! To obtain the divine bloodline, the spell of *Bloodline Duplication* is absolutely essential!]
At Ian’s outburst, Arthur’s jaw dropped.
‘Bloodline Duplication? Project L?’
The words felt oddly familiar.
It didn’t take long for him to recall where he had seen them before.
‘Of course… They were in the documents from Julie’s lab!’
At once, everything became clear.
Why Ian — who wasn’t even a vampire — had been able to steal the power of the Grail.
‘Project L… he used the spell of Bloodline Duplication.’
Just as Arthur grasped the hidden truth, the vision shattered again.
The illusion broke apart, and he was pulled back to reality.
Arthur glanced around the plaza, murmuring to himself.
“Hm… Bloodline Duplication, huh. So that’s why Cain and Khan were so obsessed with bloodlines?”
Whether past or present, the two men had an almost pathological obsession with lineage.
Arthur had always wondered why, and now, through Ian’s memory, he had glimpsed the secret.
‘So Project L was about creating a spell of Bloodline Duplication.’
It was a revelation he hadn’t known even in his previous life. The corner of his lips curled upward.
But another doubt lingered.
“Still… that spell was to seek out the divine bloodline?”
He tilted his head.
No matter how mystical bloodlines were, could something like the blood of God truly exist?
“Come on. That can’t be real.”
Arthur chuckled to himself.
Divine blood? Impossible. Surely it was just a metaphor.
Just as he was about to dismiss it, a voice of an old man echoed in his mind.
*“How naïve of you. Little angel of Bayern.”*
Arthur’s eyes slowly widened.
“…What?”
A chill ran down his spine as he whispered,
“…So it really exists? A divine bloodline?”
Angel.
If there truly was a divine lineage in this world, it could only be the blood of angels inherited by House Bayern.
—
—
Arthur could only marvel at what he had just learned.
‘Wait… does that mean I’m of divine blood?’
More precisely, angelic blood. But in the broader sense, wasn’t that the same thing?
After all, weren’t angels the children of God?
‘So that’s why Cain and Khan target Bayern? For this angelic bloodline?’
He frowned in thought.
‘Hmm… no. That can’t be it. For something called divine blood, the actual benefits don’t seem that grand.’
Yes, awakening made one half-mad, granted abnormal memory, and even allowed copying of other bloodlines…
But for those two men, such perks felt underwhelming. They already possessed far greater things.
‘More likely, the Bayern bloodline is only one piece of their larger goal.’
As Arthur mulled this over, Gnome’s voice rang out.
\[Arthur, all done!]
Arthur turned his head, pulled out of his thoughts.
The plaza had been cleaned. From the Dormund knights to Ian’s corpse, everything was neatly cleared away, as if the earlier battle had been a lie.
Arthur shrugged.
‘Well, I’ll think about it later. Time is the one thing I have in abundance.’
He slung Yenika over his back and spoke.
“Gnome. Blow this place up.”
The Gnome wordlessly nodded.
Rumble—!
The altar collapsed.
The lake of blood beside it churned violently.
The four pillars supporting the temple crumbled one by one.
Arthur’s gaze shifted to the pit Gnome had dug — where Ian’s body lay.
Arthur looked at him for a moment, then smiled faintly.
‘Thank you, Ian. Because of you, I gained so much.’
The grand bloodline of the Vampire Lord, the rediscovered power of Bayern’s angelic blood, and even insight into Cain and Khan’s goal.
Never in either of his lives had he reaped so much at once.
‘For the first time, instead of being my obstacle… you’ve helped me.’
Arthur bowed his head slightly, then turned away.
‘So this is farewell, Ian. It’s been… something.’
With his final farewell, the altar collapsed fully into darkness.
The genius knight of the Empire, Ian Dormund — fell into the abyss.
His body plummeted into eternal sleep, never to rise again.
For one so often called a peerless genius, it was a pathetically hollow end.
—
—
The Dormund army that had invaded the vampire city was swiftly crushed.
“Uwaaaaah!”
“Spare me!”
“Monster! It’s a monster!”
No matter their training, they were still ordinary soldiers.
Once their commanding knights fell, they had no chance against the vampires’ counterattack.
And when Tacen, the warrior of the Snowfields, raised the severed head of Dormund’s black mage — the Monkey — the remaining soldiers completely lost their will to fight.
“We surrender! Total surrender!”
They dropped their weapons and raised their hands.
But the berserker Tacen showed no mercy.
“If you started the fight, you should see it through to the end.”
With those words, he raised his massive sword high.
Carpe watched, satisfied — until a chilling realization struck him.
“…Wait. Ian! Where is that bastard?”
Jeannie’s eyes widened too.
“Y-you’re right… I don’t see him either.”
Just as the two recalled the missing figures, the grandest temple in the underground city suddenly collapsed.
BOOOOM—!
The ceiling split open, and dawn’s first light poured into the city.
As the vampires gasped in shock, Jeannie and Carpe whispered at the same time.
“No way…”
“Could it be…?”
Their throats tightened.
“…Young Master!”
“Princess!”
They rushed toward the fallen temple.
But someone was already walking out.
“Ah, there you are!”
It was Arthur Bayern, smiling brightly, with Yenika Hazel on his back.
Jeannie, dumbstruck, finally shouted,
“Y-young Master! Are you all right!?”
Arthur waved.
“I’m fine. What about you, Jeannie?”
“I-I’m fine too!”
He grinned.
At that moment, Carpe rushed forward, crying out.
“P-Princess!”
Arthur carefully set Yenika down.
Carpe nearly panicked at the sight of her unconscious form.
“Wh-what happened to her!?”
“She fainted. From the shock.”
“…Shock?”
“Yes. When Ian tried to steal the Grail’s power, he also pulled at Yenika’s soul.”
Carpe’s eyes bulged.
“He… stole the Grail’s power? Dormund did? How is that possible!?”
Arthur shrugged.
“Beats me. Maybe you should ask dead Ian?”
Carpe flinched.
“D-dead…?”
“Yes. Dead Ian.”
“You… killed him?”
“I did. Otherwise, would I be standing here alive?”
Carpe’s mouth fell open.
‘What? Is he serious?’
Arthur stood before him, perfectly alive. And yet… it was unbelievable.
The mission he had given “Donn” the mercenary hadn’t been to kill Ian, but merely to buy time until Tacen awoke.
‘That lunatic… I only expected him to serve as a meat shield. But he actually killed Ian himself?’
As Carpe’s face twisted with conflicting thoughts, Arthur gestured to Yenika.
“Still, better have her checked by a doctor, just in case.”
“…!”
Carpe snapped back, nodding hurriedly.
“Y-yes! Of course. Wait here!”
He lifted Yenika and ran off.
Arthur’s gaze drifted slowly.
“Sunlight!”
“N-no! Children, come here!”
“Don’t get close!”
Through the shattered ceiling, sunlight poured down. Vampires writhed under its touch.
Their faces twisted with fear, terror, and bitterness.
Arthur recalled Carpe’s words.
\[*The Princess longs to lift the curse on vampires. That’s been her lifelong wish.*]
As he pondered, he spotted a familiar face.
The young girl once bullied by a Dormund soldier named Shrek.
Arthur smiled at her.
“Hello, little lady.”
“Huh? Mister—no, big brother?”
“Yes, big brother. Where are your parents?”
She hesitated.
“They went to check the house… they’ll be back soon.”
“I see. Hmm… little lady?”
“Yes?”
“This is your first time seeing sunlight, isn’t it?”
She turned her head.
“……”
Warm rays streamed through the hole above. For one born and raised entirely in this underground city, this warmth was utterly new.
“Yes… my first time.”
Arthur asked gently.
“Do you want to feel the sunlight?”
“……”
She couldn’t answer. Something so ordinary to others was extraordinary — forbidden — to her.
‘So this child’s a vampire too.’
Arthur stroked his chin, then closed his eyes.
Fangs sprouted between his lips.
Jeannie gasped.
“Y-young Master!? Why do you suddenly have fangs—”
Her words cut off.
Fwoooosh!
A radiant white light surged from Arthur, piercing the heavens beyond the sun.
‘Wh-what is that!?’
Jeannie gaped. None of the others noticed; they had followed after Yenika.
Frozen in shock, Jeannie barely noticed the little vampire girl staring wide-eyed.
“…Wow. Sunlight?”
Arthur bent down and smiled.
“From now on, you’ll see it every day.”
“…?”
“You need plenty of sun to grow tall. Don’t forget, all right?”
She gave no reply, but Arthur wasn’t expecting one. He only ruffled her hair softly.
Then he lifted his gaze skyward.
The darkness had receded. Dawn was breaking.
Staring at the majestic sight, Arthur murmured,
“Ah… it’s over.”
The ordeal had ended.
Now, it was time to return home.
—
—
Pitch-black night.
Beneath the full moon and countless stars, an old man muttered with hollow eyes.
“The ban has been broken.”
He laughed.
The curse the Emperor himself had laid upon the vampires… broken after a thousand years.
But that was not what held his interest.
*“At last… you’ve awakened your true power, my little angel.”*
The mute heir of the Ducal house.
The prodigy of Arcane Academy.
The mercenary legend of the backstreets.
A strange being living three lives under one name.
The old man recalled their first meeting, rubbing at his empty sockets.
“The time has come.”
He rose and opened a treasured safe.
Inside lay a pair of eyes.
He set them into his sockets.
A shudder ran through him.
“Ahh… how long has it been since I’ve seen the night sky?”
For the first time in a century, he beheld the heavens — beautiful beyond words.
Yet he shook his head.
“Still… not as beautiful as the fallen, mad angel….”
He smiled.
Known to some as a legendary black mage.
To others, as a monster who had lived a thousand years.
And to yet others, as the transcendent being called *White Beard.*
He trembled as he whispered,
“The time has come, Arthur Bayern.”
The wielder of the \[Worst Black Magic], White Beard, stood tall.
“Our deal… it’s time to collect my price.”
The appointed hour had arrived.
