"Now! Give me back my Holy Grail!! To continue the bloodline, the vampire race must persist!! Until the Root is reached!!"
Dracula reached out his hand and spoke, his body emitting a terrifying evil energy and a heavy scent of blood.
After speaking, Dracula turned into mist and instantly arrived amidst the Homunculus legion. He grabbed a male Homunculus wearing a beret and bit into his neck. Instantly, the male Homunculus's skin turned deathly pale, his eyes turned blood-red, and two fangs like a tiger's protruded.
Afterward, Dracula repeated the same process, turning several Homunculi into vampires one after another.
Seeing his brothers and sisters turning into monsters one by one, Sieg's face showed fury. He swung the blade on his left wrist and charged toward Dracula.
Just as Dracula was about to turn a female Homunculus into a vampire, Sieg rushed over and severed one of his arms. After saving the female Homunculus, he shouted to her:
"Run!!"
The Homunculi, who originally obeyed the orders issued by Yggdmillennia, would not normally retreat because of one person's words. However, upon hearing Sieg's words, for some reason, they acted as if they had received an order from a superior and quickly retreated behind Hades and the others.
"Don't interfere!! You brat!!" Dracula roared. His severed arm regenerated instantly, and his fangs snapped toward Sieg.
Seeing this, Sieg raised his right arm to defend. His arm had already dragonized, covered in hard, khaki-colored dragon scales.
The vampire's fangs bit into the dragon scales, sending sparks flying as they were repelled. Sieg kicked Dracula hard in the chest, his Dragon Kind strength exploding, sending Dracula flying into the wall at the far end.
Dracula pushed aside the rubble around him, wiped the corner of his mouth, and said, "As expected, even a vampire's fangs cannot pierce the scales of the Dragon Kind."
Sieg wanted to press the attack, but he was blocked by the vampire-turned Homunculi, who seemed intent on protecting their master.
Looking at his brothers and sisters standing in front of him, Sieg was somewhat reluctant to strike. Hypnos stepped forward, waved his hands, and scattered golden particles of light. As soon as the Homunculus vampires touched them, they immediately closed their eyes and fell to the ground, fast asleep.
"Lord Hypnos?!" Sieg looked in surprise at Hypnos, who had come to his side.
Hypnos said to Sieg, "Don't worry, I only put them to Sleep. They will change back as long as Dracula is defeated."
"Alright..." Sieg nodded upon hearing this, then turned his gaze toward Dracula.
Dracula stood up and said, "Hypnos, who governs Sleep, my target is not you, but!!"
Before Dracula could finish his sentence, he dashed toward the aura of magical energy emitted by the greater grail; his ultimate goal was still the greater grail.
Hades's figure flashed, and he instantly appeared in front of Dracula. "Hades..." Seeing the King of the Underworld blocking his path, Dracula's whole body couldn't stop trembling; it was the biological instinct of the fear of Death.
"Darnic, why are you so obsessed with obtaining the greater grail?" Hades asked, looking at Darnic, who now occupied Vlad III's body.
"Why..." Hearing Hades's words, Dracula couldn't help but clutch his head, his eyes trembling.
He began to reflect on his life. Eighty years ago, when he was still an up-and-coming Magus, a marriage proposal found him after a brilliant entry into the field. For Darnic, this marriage would have connected him to a family with noble blood. But at that time, a Magus claimed that the Yggdmillennia bloodline was contaminated and could not be maintained beyond five generations. Afterward, the sworn brother who had laughed and patted his shoulder in friendship, and the woman who was supposed to be his partner and had shyly confessed her love, all left him.
Yggdmillennia's dream of becoming nobility was severed. Not just for him, but the future of his successors was also stolen. Even if the claim of ruin after five generations was proven groundless, the label once attached could never be removed. At that moment, Darnic abandoned the plan of reaching the Root—that is, continuously studying as a Magus to eventually succeed, climb to the top of the Association, and become nobility—as an eternally unachievable dream. Therefore, his first consideration was how to prevent his family from falling into ruin. Then, he sought a path to the Root.
Out of pride, he rejected the path of going into seclusion for research and stayed in the Mages Association, gritting his teeth while waiting for an opportunity for revenge. During this process, he absorbed various families far from the center of the Mages Association to build his family's power.
By chance, he learned of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City. He then turned to Nazi Germany, which had a strong interest in occultism, gained the power of the army, and participated in the war as a Master.
He accidentally discovered the location of the greater grail in a collapsed area. After the Holy Grail War ended, with the help of the military power of Nazi Germany, he eliminated the weakened Three Founding Families and the Imperial Japanese Army to seize the greater grail. Afterward, he lured the escorting Magi and soldiers to Romania and killed them all, broke away from the Nazis, and hid the greater grail in his family's castle.
After that, he spent every day focused on research and politics. To the Association, Darnic always maintained the facade that "the Yggdmillennia family is responsible for taking in destitute Magi."
Although he had no achievements in education, he displayed unparalleled talent in factional and power struggles. Betrayal was like a daily routine; not to mention those who believed in him, he could even use those who didn't. Thus, he was known as "Darnic of the Eight Tongues," a top-tier master of deception.
Using political means, he drove the family of Magi who had once abandoned him to a dead end. Even when they finally flattered Darnic and even fell so low as to sell themselves to join him, Darnic alone did not incorporate that family into Yggdmillennia but instead exiled them. Later, Darnic confirmed they went to Japan, but there was no news after that.
Through clever deception, he obtained a large number of expensive and precious eight-hundred-year-old gems and parchments from the Mages Association, and the Association didn't even notice anything wrong until they received the declaration of war.
Then he declared war on the Mages Association, launching this Holy Grail War to seize the greater grail.
Hades learned of Darnic's past and everything through his Omniscient and Omnipotent Power, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "Truly a pathetic Magus."
After speaking, Hades took something out of his Alternate Dimension. It was twelve silver-winged daggers. These daggers were made from feathers left behind by Gabriel when she was in the Underworld, combined with holy pure silver metal. They contained the light power of the Seraphim and were most suitable for eliminating dark creatures like vampires and ghosts.
"Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike. Truly, no man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them. Even if they named lands after themselves, their eternal home, their habitation for all generations, shall be the grave. No man can abide in honor forever—he is like the beasts that perish."
Hades recited the incantation of this world's Baptism Sacrament. With every half-sentence, he threw a silver-winged dagger. Carrying the aura of the Seraphim and the purifying power of the Baptism Sacrament, they caused Dracula, a vampire, immense pain. When the final line of the incantation was recited, the last silver-winged dagger flew out and pierced straight into Dracula's heart.
Finally, Dracula turned into ashes and disappeared with a look of resentment in his eyes.
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