While Zich was battling the shadows—to his worry, other people besides him and his companions were also attacked.
“Block them!”
“Bide a bit more time! Support troops from the city will join us soon!”
They could hear screams, curses, and shouting from the outside. They heard things breaking and the sound of knives colliding against something dull and heavy. Between these sounds, groans soaked with pain seeped out.
“Urgh!”
“Ahhhh!”
Just hearing their screams showed how much pain they were suffering. They soon disappeared among the shouting and loud noises but left a clear mark in the minds of those who heard them.
Clack!
Joachim closed the window shutters. In case anyone shot arrows in the dark, he closed the shutters of all the windows in the room.
“What’s the situation?” Evelyn asked as she quietly had one hand on the center table. Her voice was calm as if she was trying to show her resolve, but her twitching fingers showed the nervousness that she truly felt. Joachim thought for a bit. He wondered if he should tell her the truth or lie to assure her, but when he saw Evelyn’s firm gaze, his worries instantly disappeared.
“It’s not good.” Joachim said the truth. Evelyn’s fingers tapped a bit faster.
“I see.” However, her voice was still calm.
Joachim distanced himself from the windows. He walked towards Evelyn and sat in front of her.
“I am worried about Zich and his companions,” Evelyn said. “If we were ambushed, I’m sure they targeted them too.”
“That’s probably so, but I know them. They would be able to easily fight off an attack of this magnitude.”
“…Now that I think about it, that’s probably true.” Evelyn smiled faintly.
Joachim was impressed. ‘She’s bold.’
It was hard to expect aristocratic ladies to stay calm in battle situations like this. Most would have been grateful if they didn’t panic and clutch onto other people’s ankles for comfort. Yet, Evelyn was different. She felt a bit anxious and fearful for sure; still, she repressed such feelings and tried to search for ways to evade the danger.
‘If a person like that was my wife…’ Joachim thought. The current chaotic and unstable Dracul estate needed a missus with that kind of level-headedness and boldness. Moreover, Joachim needed someone who would be able to manage the estate in his place while he went outside for long periods of time to restore his family’s honor.
However, Joachim cut his thoughts short. ‘How could a person like me…’ The lady he was addressing was the daughter of a marquess from a neighboring family. Of course, Count Dracul wasn’t of such a low rank, but one had to take his situation into account too.
When all his family members died and Joachim became the Count as the lasting member of the family, the first thing he should’ve done was find a wife and leave an heir. Yet, Joachim was still single. His single statue explained how dire his situation was. No family of the same rank was willing to give their daughter up to the Dracul family; and it was the same even if he considered families from one or two ranks lower. At this point, he might have to find some baron’s daughter in the countryside or marry a daughter of a rich merchant who wasn’t even an aristocrat.
Considering all this, the lady from a neighboring marquess family wasn’t someone he could dare to consider as a potential partner or even look at. At the same time, it was true that he liked Evelyn for many reasons. It was at that moment—
Crash! The building vibrated, and the noise outside also grew louder. Shouts and groans to block their enemies pierced through the windows and reached them.
“It seems like our enemies have gone through.”
“Yes, that seems to be the case.”
Joachim sighed, “Our enemies are stronger than we expected. Even after Sir Zenard led many of the enemies away, we are still struggling so much.”
At the start of the battle, Glen took a significant number of enemies away with him from the lodging to lessen their load.
“Well, it’s no use to just lament about it right now,” Joachim murmured to himself and opened the window slightly to assess the situation. The shouting that flowed in bits at a time was loud and easy to hear now.
“It seems like the two enemies have succeeded in trespassing.”
“Is that so?” Evelyn shuffled through her belongings. Then, she pulled out a small dagger.
“You are well prepared.”
“I have gone through a lot in the past.”
Although it was impressive that Evelyn took out a weapon as soon as she heard enemies were coming instead of shuddering in fear, no one thought she would be a good fighter.
“You should escap… actually, is there not even a place to escape to?”
“Yes. Whatever the result may be, we have no choice but to fight against them.”
Joachim took out the dagger he usually carried around. “Please stay behind me now.”
“Oh my, are you going to protect me?”
“Well, I think I would at least be a better fighter than you, miss.” Then, Joachim sliced his wrist with his dagger.
Splurt!
Blood poured out from his wrist.
“W-Wait! What are you doing…!” Evelyn shouted in surprise and trailed off. The blood that poured out of Joachim’s wrists slowly drifted across the air now.
“Don’t be surprised. This is my ability.”
“…You have a surprising ability, sir.”
“It’s not such a great ability.”
Crash! The room’s door burst open. Although they had piled up furniture in front of the door to buy some time against trespassers, it didn’t seem to have much of an effect.
Splat! The blood that Joachim spurt out made a thin barrier and blocked the debris that shot out. Two figures stepped over the crumpled door and came inside the room.
“Those people are—!”
“Hm…” Evelyn and Joachim were baffled. Like Zich, they recognized their enemies’ faces.
“Sir Count! Aren’t they the missing persons we identified?”
“I think so too.” Yet, Joachim didn’t let his guard down. Even if they were victims of the kidnapping incident, they looked like their enemies now. The two shadow humans looked back and forth between Joachim and Evelyn. Then, they moved.
Crash!
“Urgh!”
The blood he had spread out wavered. The middle part was stretched out to right where Joachim was standing, because a shadow human had swung its fist. The blood barrier looked like it would be torn by the next punch in an instant.
Pop!
Joachim struck one of the shadow human’s temples with blood about the length of a nail. The shadow humans bounced off to the side. However, Joachim didn’t get the effect he wanted.
‘They didn’t even blink when I hit their vital points.’
The shadow humans were definitely different from normal humans. Other shadow humans attacked them, and Joachim gripped his fist.
Crash!
Joachim swung his fist to block the shadow human’s attack. A thin layer of blood coated his fist.
“Urgh!” Joachim scowled. The last movement he made wasn’t something he could do as someone who never trained arduously for a long period of time. He had moved his body forcefully, using the blood flowing through his body. Of course, this ruined his veins, bones, and even muscles. Joachim continued to move his body forcefully and blocked the shadow humans’ attacks; the injuries in his body increased more and more as he blocked the attacks. He extracted his blood to the limit and started to also feel dizzy.
Punch!
The shadow human’s claws pierced into his sides. He repressed the scream that was about to explode inside him. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep. Since the injured area was wide, there was a lot of blood loss, but Joachim was able to control that much blood with no problems. Simultaneously, it was also true that he was losing strength. Joachim backed up a couple of steps.
Thud!
Somebody placed their hands on his back and helped Joachim regain his balance.
‘It’s Lady Rouge.’
“Sir Count, is it possible for you to use that ability with other people’s blood?”
“It is possible.”
Although Joachim’s ability to control other people’s blood was weak since he only practiced controlling his blood, he could at least control blood from one or two people.
“Is that so?”
As soon as she heard this, Evelyn placed the dagger she had onto her wrist. She hesitated when she saw a thin trace of blood, but she closed her lips firmly, placed more strength into her grip, and cut around her wrist. She failed to do it in one go and had to slice herself multiple times.
Slice!
Blood shot up from her wrist.
“Use this too, sir!”
Joahcim couldn’t refuse in this situation. He added her blood into his mix and made a blood curtain.
Bam! Bam!
As the blood curtain became harder, he was able to block the shadow humans’ attacks more easily. Evelyn wobbled since she experienced sudden blood loss, but she didn’t faint.
“Your body’s moving so fast. Is it because you used your blood?”
“Yes. I am moving my body forcefully by using the blood inside it.”
“Then, can I do the same thing?”
“Yes, but it’s very painful. Your bones, muscles, and vessels will burst every time you move. Furthermore, I would be the one to move your body, Lady Rouge.”
Those were unpleasant-sounding conditions, yet Evelyn replied brightly, “That’s great. I’m not good at fighting anyways. If you move in my stead, it will be easier for me.”
“Are you serious, miss?”
“Do you think I’m joking in a situation like this?”
“…I understand.”
A thin stream of blood shot up from Joachim’s wrist and headed toward Evelyn. A similar phenomenon occurred around Evelyn’s wrist. Soon, the two people’s thread of blood connected.
Thud!
Joachim gained control of Evelyn’s body.
“I am asking just in case, but you won’t be able to control my body forever right, Sir Count?”
“Don’t worry about that. It’s impossible if our threads of blood are not connected like right now.”
“Thank goodness. Otherwise, I would have told you to take responsibility over me.”
“My vassals and I would rejoice and celebrate if that happened.”
“No, that can’t happen. I have already decided to choose my husband not by other people’s will but only my will now. Even if I marry into the Dracul family, I have to do that on my own will.”
“That sounds sweet,” Joachim replied.
Pop! At that moment, the blood curtain cracked. Joachim gained authority of the blood that was scattered everywhere and moved Evelyn.
“It will be painful.”
“I am prepared.”
Crash!
Evelyn’s body moved at a great speed and attacked the shadow human. Evelyn’s head became blank—she felt pain like her arm was breaking. Yet, she kept her mouth shut and didn’t scream. Instead, she pretended like she was completely fine while looking at Joachim.
“Wow! I feel so relieved after landing a blow on these guys!” she shouted. Unlike the tears dripping down her eyes from the pain, her voice sounded clear and confident. Joachim couldn’t help but completely fall for her at that moment.
* * *
Around the time Zich and his companions arrived at the dormitory, the knights and soldiers protecting their lodging were almost getting overwhelmed by the shadow humans. Corpses of dead soldiers were strewn on the floor. Seeing this sight, Zich and his companions rushed into battle right away.
Craaash!
Zich’s Windur unleashed a tremendous amount of energy. Estellade’s light and the fluctuating earth followed from behind; and finally, bombardments of magic attacks added the finishing touches to their arrival. Six shadow humans from the back collapsed instantly. Zich wasn’t satisfied though and continued to tread forward. He planned to penetrate the rows of shadow humans and enter the lodging to ensure Joachim and Evelyn’s safety. However, there was a shadow human blocking them.
Crash!
Windur clashed with a fist. Zich’s eyes scowled.
‘You bastard!’
When Zich retracted Windur and swung it again, the shadow human stretched out its feet. Zich straightened his sword again and blocked the attack.
Craash!
Zich’s body was pushed far away. His hands, which he grabbed the sword with, jittered. Zich scowled again and glared at the shadow human that blocked him. This one was much stronger than the other shadow humans.