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"Lady Lucy, you entrusted me with a task. I have never, even for a moment, neglected your command."
"I know. You have ever been loyal."
Lucy smiled as if she understood Laurus's feelings well. She, too, felt the regret of their brief meeting.
"I want to stay with you too… but I have no choice but to return."
If Lucy’s absence became prolonged, Strigon would notice. And the consequences of that man’s suspicion and relentless persistence would eventually reach Laurus.
The first time, she had barely managed to hide Laurus’s existence. There was no guarantee she could do it a second time.
"Ah…"
At Lucy’s resolute words, despair flickered across Laurus’s regretful face.
Unable to watch him like that, Lucy reached out her hand toward his furrowed brow. The deep lines on his forehead smoothed out under her gentle touch, like cream being spread.
With a tone that showed resignation, Lucy added.
"Not yet… not yet. So take good care of my painting. I’ll come for it someday."
As soon as Lucy spoke of a future promise, a spark of hope lit up in Laurus’s eyes, which had until now been filled only with despair.
The way he swayed with every word of hers was no different from how he had been in his younger days. Lucy let out a soft laugh.
"Really… you haven’t changed a bit."
With a smile still on her face, Lucy stepped back a few paces.
There was no more time to delay.
Fwooosh...
In an instant, Lucy’s body transformed into a swarm of black bats, scattering like dust in the wind. The fluttering swarm circled Laurus once, as if bidding farewell, then soared up into the dark sky.
Laurus stood silently, staring at the sky until Lucy's figure had completely disappeared.
***
A thousand years ago, the appearance of the Vampire Lord threw the human world into chaos.
Although the Vampire Lord is known as the first vampire, in truth, vampires already existed before the Lord ever appeared.
Even so, the Vampire Lord was called the 'Progenitor'. That was because the threat of vampires sharply escalated starting with her appearance.
Before her, vampires had been nothing more than beasts obsessed with human blood, unable to properly use magic.
They couldn’t even control their bloodlust and were no different from wild wolves.
But after the Lord appeared, the vampires under her command gained intelligence, organization, and powerful magical strength, something humans were no match for.
<Thanks to her, we found our reason and learned how to harness the power we had wasted so foolishly until now... She is the one who protects us vampires, and she deserves to be called our mother!>
<Humans are nothing but prey. We are the blessed ones who live in immortality! Come, let us show the humans who have oppressed us just how powerful we truly are!>
Of course, the Holy Dragon did grant Van Drake the strength to oppose the vampires. That’s how the first Van Drake grew powerful enough to stand against the Vampire Lord.
However, one man, one family, protecting humanity from such savage predators was another matter entirely.
The Vampire Lord, avoiding Van Drake, roamed the kingdom at will, slaughtering humans.
Those humans who worshiped the Holy Dragon begged for power equal to that of Van Drake.
<Vampires blend into our villages, draining the blood of our children and parents during the night. And in the day, they pretend to grieve. As mere humans, we have no way of discerning them. The lowly people tremble in fear each day. Please, bestow upon us power like that which Van Drake received.>
But the price of the power Van Drake had obtained was far from light.
One needed the mental strength to endure the madness that came from the magical backlash, and the madness to offer all one’s descendants as sacrifices for vengeance.
When they heard that even their descendants must be offered, the humans ultimately had no choice but to give up the overwhelming power.
Still, all hope was not lost.
<Though not as great as Van Drake’s, I shall bestow upon you a means to protect yourselves. Your faith will be your salvation.>
<The Holy Dragon has given us the Holy Body!>
What the Holy Dragon gave to mankind was its scales.
And from those scales, sacred relics designed to counter high-ranking vampires were created, these were the [The Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil.]
Erected throughout the kingdom, the [The Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil] became humanity’s final bastions of defense. Thanks to them, mankind was just barely able to survive the terror of the Vampire Lord.
Because the area surrounding the [The Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil] was safe, people gathered there, and large cities began to form.
Later, the Lamphas Church studied the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil and created a more accessible, distributed version, the Lamp of Lamphas. Thanks to it, even small villages could gain some measure of protection from vampires.
The basic principle behind both the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil and the Lamp of Lamphas was the same.
Amplifying the holy power infused into them.
However, the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil had a minimum threshold of divine power required to activate it.
<It cannot be activated with ordinary holy power.>
<We must find those capable of powering the tower!>
<But where can we find such devout individuals?>
<What if we appoint them as bishops?>
<Good idea. Since we never know when vampires might appear, each city with a tower should be assigned a bishop.>
And so, humans built fortresses to protect themselves.
But a strong fortress often collapses from within.
The cities with [The Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil] prospered into major urban centers due to the safety they provided. However, with urban growth came wealth, and with wealth came conflicts over interests.
As time passed, corruption began to seep into the Lamphas Church. During the hundred years of vampire absence, corruption and decadence spread rampantly.
Clergy became divided into the Divine Faction and the Faith Faction, constantly clashing. In time, a man from the faith faction, barely able to consecrate even a single silver arrow, took the position of bishop of Noctiluca, the city housing the tower.
Now, faced with a crisis, that bishop seemed ready to scream and leap out of his skin.
'Why… why does something like this have to happen while I’m the bishop?!'
When he had first taken the bishop’s seat, despite his incompetence, it was to indulge in luxury. But now, faced with actual responsibility, he could see nothing but darkness ahead.
He was tormented by the thought that everyone in Noctiluca might soon die at the hands of vampires.
Then Bernardo returned.
'He wasn’t around all day, I thought he had returned to the Holy Capital…'
Before the bishop could even greet him, Bernardo, wearing a grave expression, made a direct request.
"Please grant me permission to activate the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil."
With divine power on the level of an archbishop, Bernardo was more than capable of operating the tower. He was the only real hope in the current situation.
However, the bishop could not immediately give his permission.
'Damn it… If Bernardo uses the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil to defeat the vampires, he’ll be hailed as a hero of Lamphas. Then Cardinal Ginsel won’t leave me alone…!'
The Faith Faction didn’t want Lapis Ignarius, the de facto next leader of the Divine Faction, to earn any public merit.
If Lapis’s name grew too influential, it could eventually split the Lamphas Church into two.
That’s why they’d been assigning him only insignificant tasks, to make him waste away.
But now, if Bernardo successfully resolves this crisis, the people would praise him.
If the bishop wanted to continue breathing within the Faith Faction, he had no choice but to reject Bernardo’s request.
'But if I refuse permission and Noctiluca ends up being overrun by vampires, I’ll be the one blamed for it…'
As bishop of Noctiluca, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
'There’s not much time left until sunrise… If we just hold out a little longer… Besides, every time we activate that tower, dozens of Lamphas Stars are consumed. And if we convert that into actual monetary cost…'
The cost of activating the Lighthouse of Dispelling Evil, due to the Lamphas Stars required, was astronomical. Even though Noctiluca was a wealthy parish, it wasn’t an expense that could be borne lightly.
The bishop mentally calculated the numbers.
And all the while, his internal struggle was plainly visible to Bernardo, who let out a scoff.
"If we don’t use the tower now, all your political positioning and opportunity costs won’t matter anymore! Because everyone will be dead! Menorah is in this city, do you think he’s going to let us live?"
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