Claire pushed through a forced march again when she heard that Elderan was under attack. Luckily, she managed to reach the capital before the demons arrived. Once again, she left her cannons behind, bringing only her dragoons, me, and the troops inside carriages. She believed the cannons at the capital would be enough, but we ran out of ammunition. The demons had modified their siege tactics, somehow realizing we had limited ammo.

"What's happening? They weren't this smart in the future…" Claire bit her thumb. Mud fortresses had been erected at a distance, with rows of earth magic walls forming a labyrinth. All of this was designed to prevent us from shooting them with our muskets.

I participated too, but true to what the demon had said earlier, the kinslayer law had been abolished. The moment I infected one of them, the others immediately attacked the vampiric demons with their magic. Claire was stunned that my magic wasn't working as effectively.

"Weren't your vampires supposed to be immortal?" Claire asked. "They were fine when I shot them in the head."

"They can withstand bullets, but there's nothing I can do when they're incinerated, crushed under two tons of boulders, frozen solid, or chopped to pieces."

"Ugh. These demons are getting smarter," Claire groaned. Nevertheless, we weren't losing. It was merely a stalemate. Alicia was with us, and she could blow apart any stone wall the demons conjured if it was within range.

When night fell, I attacked the garrison again. I ran up and bit them during melee combat, but the demons' soldiers in the distance didn't hesitate. They launched firebombs in my direction immediately.

Several days later, something changed on the battlefield. The demons brought out something resembling a cannon. From a distance, a beam of fire slammed into our walls. Claire stood agape, fear plastered across her face.

"They didn't have that before!" Claire was losing her mind as our walls took a beating. "No! This can't be happening! Why?!"

"Princess Claire, what should we do? We lack the ammunition for our cannons to retaliate."

"I'll assault the cannon," I volunteered.

"No! It's too dangerous, Lady Eli!" Alicia hugged me.

"Ugh… If it's too dangerous, you're free to go back," Claire said, biting her lip. "But if they keep firing those cannons, we'll suffer losses when the wall breaks."

As ordered, I sneaked out under the cover of night. The capital's walls were ruptured in several places, but the defenses held firm for now. However, if I didn't bring the cannon down, that would soon change. I felt empty. I wondered why. Even with thousands dying before my eyes, I didn't feel sad. I didn't even know why I volunteered. Was it because I wanted to help Claire? Or was it because I wanted to kill people?

A few soldiers offered to accompany me. These weren't Althemer's soldiers but Elderan's. They knew we couldn't use guns during the ambush, so they brought short bows and daggers. It struck me as odd how skilled they were with the daggers. My suspicion was correct—they were reapers. And their numbers were fewer than I'd expected at about three hundred. Meaning they were my seniors.

"I'll be in your care, senior."

"There is no seniority among reapers. Only results." They smiled.

Under the cover of night, we slithered into the demons' camp. They always relied on magic, so Claire had assumed they were barbarians. I have no idea why she believed they couldn't make magic tools. But the cannons they brought today proved otherwise. The demons were no longer underestimating us. Their hastily constructed fortress had no gaps to exploit. Their scouts and guards were perfectly placed, covering all blind spots.

I slit the throat of one of the demon guards and, using my stealth, led the way. However, just as we stormed the emplacement, the other guards arrived all at once.

"Damn it. I knew we shouldn't have forced it," the reaper cursed, but somehow, I felt no fear. My body just moved on its own.

"Destroy the cannon and carry one back to Claire. I'll hold them off," I commanded. The reapers did as they were told.

"They're attacking the cannons!"

"That rabid biter is here!"

"Focus on the biter!"

I charged in. The demons were numerous, and they were no longer afraid to kill even their own allies if it meant taking me down. I kept biting, slashing, and parrying their spells.

Then, one of the demons stabbed me from behind with a sword. I felt a thud in my chest. But that was it. Even though I could see the blade coming out from my chest, There was no searing pain like before. So I just kept stabbing and biting until no one chased me, and I rendezvous with the reapers outside. The reaper group was waiting outside the fort with their horses, the stolen cannon tied with a rope. When they saw me, they whipped their horses, and we all made our way back to the capital.

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"Lady Eli! Medic! Get here! You! Call a medic!!" Alicia screamed, her voice frantic, as she saw the meter-long sword sticking through my chest from the back.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt," I tried to calm her down as I pulled the sword from my chest from behind. It clattered to the ground with a metallic clank. Alicia looked at the wound, ripping her sleeves to bandage me, but the wound healed right before her eyes.

I sighed. I really am no longer human. Then I glanced at a bewildered Alicia. The soldiers who gathered around had mixed feelings, but I could definitely see fear in their eyes.

"I'm a medic. Eli, are you hurt?" Claire rushed over.

"Lady Eli was stabbed through the chest just a moment ago!" Alicia explained, her voice rushed, but Claire tilted her head, confused, as she didn't find any wound on my chest.

"Well, it must be her new skill," Claire muttered. "I'll cast some healing light just to be safe."

Then, I felt a searing pain from her touch. My body burned as black spots emerged on my skin. I immediately dashed away from her, thinking she was trying to kill me.

"Ouch! What are you—" I started to curse her but stopped myself.

"Claire?" Alicia dropped her polite tone and accused her, her eyes suddenly sharp. Claire frantically shook her head. "Wait! That wasn't my intention! It was just normal healing light! I swear!"

"I see. I'll rest in my room. Don't worry, it's not your fault, Princess Claire. I'm no longer human, after all. Magic healing probably hurts me instead of healing," I said, excusing myself. I guess it was my fate. No matter what, I will be killed by Claire.

I covered myself with a blanket, though I neither felt cold nor hot. I sobbed at the misfortune that had befallen me. After regaining my breath and calming down, I eventually fell asleep. Thank god I could still sleep.

In my dreams, I saw the mountain of corpses again. The red moon shone through the dark sky. I thought I'd never return here, but I was wrong. The mountain was taller than ever before, so high I couldn't see the top—thousands of demon corpses piled up.

My heart raced for a moment, thinking I'd see Elidranthia again. But she was gone. There was no one here but me. I wandered around, but all I found were demon corpses. I climbed to the top of the mountain, where Elidranthia had once stood before vanishing.

When I reached the peak, a screen passed before me, listing many skills that were offered. But my attention was focused on the bottom line.

[Make a contract? What do you seek?

Vampiric Wings = 300 souls

Intelligent Vampire = 2000 souls

Fire Resistance = 500 souls

Fire Magic UP = 700 souls

Stronger Vampire = 1000 souls

Origin Vampire = 3000 souls

Blood Magic = 2000 souls

…

Current souls = 3420

When a contract is made, you will bind yourself to the Reaper Comet. Y/N]*

"No," I said. It meant I would become like Elidranthia, trapped here and possibly die like her. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but I chose not to make the contract.

Then I woke up. The sun was high in the sky. I checked my body and was relieved to see that the wound caused by Claire had healed. It had taken longer than usual, but it healed eventually.

"Great!" Claire hugged me as she escorted me to the table. There were more feystones than usual placed there for me.

"So, about the cannons… I'm afraid we won't be able to use them effectively. They're basically magic weapons. By infusing them with mana, we can fire a beam of mana from them," one of Claire's henchmen, who seemed to be a mage, explained.

"Why can't we use them?" one of the military officers asked.

"Oh, we can use them. It's just that they're incredibly mana-intensive. They require about forty times the mana of our standard cannons."

"Forty times?" The officers' eyes widened.

"Yes. Since there are no feystones that can hold that much mana, we'll have to use mages directly. But even Miss Alicia could only fire two shots before being completely depleted."

"What a joke! Hahaha," the officer laughed, but Claire facepalmed. It seemed a headache was on her way.

"This cannon doesn't require ammunition, right?" Claire asked.

"Um… apart from mana, yes."

"Damn it," Claire cursed. She knew all demons were mages, so mana wasn't an issue for them.

"Ma'am, we've received scouts from Althemer. Prince Heracles and Ludwin are coming with reinforcements!" a soldier reported, his face bright with a smile.

"Really? Are they bringing cannons?"

"Yes! Ammunition, muskets, the latest cannons, earth mage engineers—they're fully equipped. Here's the list."

"Yes! With proper supplies, there's nothing we need to fear. Along with help from the Western Nation and the cannons we left behind in Tundraise, we'll have enough strength to crush these demons!" Claire beamed. "When will they arrive?"

"They should be here tomorrow or the day after."

"Excellent! Focus on defense. When Heracles arrives, we'll pulverize their shady fort!" Claire said, jumping with excitement. "The meeting is dismissed. Get back to your posts!"

She skipped her way over to invite Alicia and me to lunch at a fancy restaurant in the capital. Her mood had swung drastically.

The night passed without incident; we simply conducted our routine patrols. The demons fashioned another cannon to bombard us, but our walls held firm. After analyzing their cannon, we used mana-resistant material to coat the walls.

At dawn, soldiers bearing the Althemer flags began to gather. The two princes rode at the front on finely decorated horses. Heracles dismounted when they arrived at our gate, and Claire leaped to hug him.

"Heracles! You arrived at the perfect moment! Thank you! It must have been exhausting arranging this many soldiers to march into former enemy territory!"

"I would cross the tallest mountain and deepest ocean for you, my love! Some old men in the capital are no match for our love."

"Oh my! Such a smooth talker! Come, you and your soldiers must be weary. I'll brief you about the war, and then we can crush the demons tomorrow!" Claire said, leading him into the castle.

That's Elderan's castle, you know. Claire sure walked in like she owned the place. After what she did to her enemies in Elderan, I'm sure everyone here is a yes-man now. But still, she showed no hesitation.

"Eli! I came too!" Ludwin greeted me, arms open wide.

"Thank you for coming, Prince Ludwin! Your arrival certainly alleviates our burden!" I curtsied before his open arms. It had been quite some time—I might've forgotten how to curtsy properly. Ludwin frowned as he looked at me.

Was my curtsy that bad? But he didn't even salute! In etiquette lessons, men are supposed to put their right hand on their chest when greeting women, not open their arms like that.

What's wrong with him?