“…..”

Eugene showed no response to Georg’s greeting for a moment. It wasn’t that he was surprised, but rather, he felt a little disappointed. Recalling the last words of the demon he had encountered at the heart of the evil land, Eugene thought that perhaps the newcomer had crossed over from the Demon World.

‘But it was true…’

“First of all…” Georg started, but Eugene raised his hand and stopped him.

“Never mind. I’m a little busy, so let’s talk later.”

“…???”

Georg was taken aback. In a sense, their meeting was a monumental event, so why did Eugene seem disinterested?

“Galfredik, keep an eye on this guy,” Eugene said.

“Got it,” Galfredik responded before trodding over. He had been staring at Georg with suspicious eyes for a while.

The two vampire high lords followed him.

“No, I don’t think you quite understand. There is a—”

“Shut up and wait,” Eugene interrupted him once more.

“Did you not hear what the master said? How dare you talk back and shit?” Galfredik said without hiding his hostility. Georg was stupefied. Those like him could only be counted with ten fingers in the Demon World, so how dare they treat him as such? The area around Georg’s eyes turned red, and the unique energy he emitted started to grow stronger. Even a high-ranking monster, a powerful knight, or a wizard could not possibly withstand—

“Take a look at this bastard. He has such a weird energy,” Galfredik commented with a smirk.

“…?!” Georg was filled with even greater disbelief. Unlike the two vampire high lords, who had retreated a few steps with pale expressions, Galfredik wasn’t affected in the slightest by his energy.

Eugene disregarded Georg and slowly headed toward the cavalry.

“Clean up the battlefield,” he commanded.

“Yes, sir!” the warriors answered before beginning to move. It would take some time to clear the battlefield littered with thousands of corpses, but they were promised the by-products as compensation, with the exception of mana stones. As such, the cavalry began to work diligently without muttering any complaints.

Edmund slowly approached Eugene while looking around at the cavalry.

“Your Majesty, even if most of the corpses were damaged, reaping the by-products should still result in a considerable amount of money. Are you sure this will be all right?” he asked cautiously. Although the expedition possessed more than sufficient funds to support their endeavors, Edmund knew exactly how greedy Eugene could be.

“The cavalry fought much better than I had expected. This is a fitting reward for them,” Eugene responded.

“Kieh? I have to say otherwise. Sir Eugene isn’t someone who would act generously for no reason,” Mirian commented.

It never helped to have a quick-witted spirit.

“It’s so exhausting because you know me so well. Is that why you told that guy every single thing you know about me?” Eugene asked with a twisted smile while gesturing toward Georg with his chin.

“Kieeeek?! No! Never! The only thing I told him was how strong you were! This is unfair!” Mirian squealed desperately.

“Well, we can talk about this a little later. You, chatterbox traitor,” Eugene said.

“Kieeee… I’m not a traitor…” Mirian muttered.

“Stop with the useless talk and go take a look at the water source,” Eugene said.

“Kieh? Isn’t the water source at the top of the mountain? Couldn’t I just go with you later and purify it?” Mirian said.

“That’s why I’m telling you to go ahead to take a look at it. You might find one of your own kind. Maybe you can find a waterway or something,” Eugene responded.

“Is there really a need for me to go right now and…”

“Do you want me to throw you there?” Eugene asked.

“I’ll get on it right away!” Mirian shouted. The dejected spirit fluttered her wings and climbed the mountain. Even if she were capable of flying, it would take her a considerable amount of time and effort to climb to the summit of a giant mountain measuring two thousand meters tall.

After lightly punishing the traitor, Eugene turned to Edmund and spoke, “Although their evaluation of me might have changed after this battle, those cavalries had still witnessed the death of their captain, Carmier, right?”

“That’s right. However, we have already put an end to that issue, right?” Edmund asked.

“That’s not necessarily how the human heart works. And now that I’ve taken care of the monster uprising, I will have to go see Count Hisain. That’s when the cavalry will have to testify,” Eugene continued.

“Ah…”

“As long as I show the slaves that I strictly differentiate between public and private matters, they won’t testify against me, although I don’t expect them to say anything good about me either. Well, it won’t matter whatever they do. I have already proven my honor,” Eugene said.

“Oh!” Edmund exclaimed. In the end, the cavalry was still technically Eugene’s slaves, and Eugene had proven himself to be an honorable, generous commander by recognizing and treating his slaves with dignity and respect.

“Distributing the by-products is a cheap price to pay for the support of three hundred cavalries, wouldn’t you agree?” Eugene asked.

“I was short-sighted, Your Majesty. As expected, you always have a plan,” Edmund said in admiration. He then continued in a soft voice while surreptitiously glancing at Eugene, “By the way, what are you planning to do with that man?”

Edmund was rather cautious as he observed Georg. The newcomer was surrounded by Galfredik and the two vampire high lords. He dared not ask any questions, but from what he had seen in their interaction earlier, the man seemed to know Eugene. Moreover, he was obviously an extraordinary figure, given that he could maintain a nonchalant attitude even though Galfredik and the two vampire high lords were openly expressing their hostility to him.

“It’s time to find out how to proceed with it. Anyway, I will leave it to you to command the troops to tidy things up,” Eugene said.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Eugene then headed toward Georg. The two vampire high lords retreated while showing respect, and Galfredik took his place by Eugene’s side.

“Master, this bastard’s suspicious no matter how I look at him. He gives off a strange energy, and he didn’t really react to my Fear either. Who is this guy?” Galfredik asked.

“For now, don’t worry about it. Go attend to your own matters,” Eugene responded.

“Hmm. Understood.”

Galfredik felt slightly dissatisfied given how suspicious the man was, but the vassal obeyed his master’s words without question. Eugene gestured for Georg to accompany him on a walk, then strode forward.

The two walked for a while. Georg finally spoke after they arrived at a place far from the battlefield.

“The power of your vassal is impressive. I had no idea that you would take a vassal in this place.”

“You. Do you know me?” Eugene asked.

“Didn’t I give my greetings earlier? You are—”

“No. I’m not asking for information or stories. I’m asking if you know who I am,” Eugene said.

Georg took on a calm expression when he realized the meaning of Eugene’s words. He stared at Eugene with a serious expression before shaking his head.

“I do not. This is the first time I have seen you in person.”

“I see…”

It was as expected. It had been similar to the one he encountered at the heart of the dungeon. The one with the many names wasn’t an acquaintance, but only someone who knew him.

“You seem to know who you are, more or less,” Georg commented.

“Someone I met called me the King of Darkness,” Eugene answered.

“Hooh. Since they knew you, they must have had some status in our land,” Georg said.

“By that, are you saying that you also came out of the passage?” Eugene asked with bleak eyes.

Georg raised his hands slightly above his shoulders while responding, “That is indeed true, but there is no need to take me for an enemy. Technically, you and I are distant relatives.”

“Relatives? Even though we are not even of the same race?” Eugene said. His eyes shone even colder. He could not feel the unique energy of vampires from Georg at all. In fact, the aura that Georg emitted was different from demons and demonic creatures as well. However, it did feel somewhat familiar at the same time, and it was slightly irritating not knowing exactly what it was.

“So…” Eugene’s steps came to a halt as he stared directly at Georg. His voice was laced with Fear, and it exerted pressure on Georg.

Georg’s expression stiffened at once, and Eugene muttered, “What are you?”

It was a single question. However, Georg clearly felt the unprecedented power contained in Eugene’s voice.

‘This is quite troublesome…’

The power of the vassal had been greater than what he had expected, and it was even more so for the master. Georg felt taken aback when he could feel his mind and body being oppressed. He barely stopped his knees from giving in and responded, “As I said previously, I am the one with the names Georg, Elon, and Basago. To be slightly more precise… I am what the creatures here call a devil.”

“A devil?” Eugene asked.

“The lowly ones are called demons, but it would be unbefitting to group me together with such inferior creatures. It follows the same logic as this world: humans, elves, orcs, dwarves, and vampires would not be called one and the same. Moreover…”

Georg forced a smile to prove that he could hold his own as he continued, “Even among the vampires, you couldn’t possibly be classified the same as the others, right? To be exact, you are unique even among those who aren’t afraid of the sun and walk during the day.”

“You know many things about me,” Eugene said.

“Naturally. As you may have guessed, we come from the same roots,” Georg answered.

“I have the same roots as you? Are you saying that I am also a devil?” Eugene asked.

“That’s just a meaningless term used by the priests and wizards of this world. Why would that be? Well, you should know exactly how they regard beings with great, incomprehensible powers. The expression ‘devil’ was a term coined to ostracize members of our race,” Georg responded.

“...”

“You should have experienced it as well,” Georg said.

He was exactly right. In his previous life, Eugene had been chased down by a holy knight and driven to death.

‘Wait.’

Eugene hesitated at the thought. In his previous life, he had been so weak he was helpless against a single holy knight. However, how did that make any sense? Even if he hadn’t awakened his abilities just yet, he was still a transcendent existence. Even a lord-class or a knight-class vampire could sufficiently take care of Dirch, so how was it possible that he died without even putting up any resistance?

‘Something like that could never happen...’

Eugene thought back to the previous events.

However…

‘I can’t remember it properly.’

A few years had already passed, but it was impossible for him to have forgotten the specifics of a situation that led to his death. Frustrated, Eugene tried his best to recall. However, he could not recall the exact details of his fight with Dircht. To be more precise, he couldn’t recall the exact details of his previous life at all. The memories he had acquired after opening his eyes in the cabin were clear as if they were the events of yesterday. However, the events prior to it were blurry.

It was as if…

‘It’s similar to the memories I gain whenever I consume the red mana stones.’

It felt as if he were wandering through a dense fog. Eugene frowned in frustration and irritation. Georg watched him from the side, then asked, “Are you perhaps having difficulties remembering?”

“What do you mean?” Eugene asked in an icy voice. It was as if Georg had read his mind.

Georg responded with a calm expression, “There is a rumor that when you left our world, you erased all of your memories pertaining to it.”

“…!”

Eugene was shocked. Georg nodded calmly and continued, “Yes. It is said that you were banished from our world and that the price you paid was the erasure of your memories. However, I do not believe it. How could the Blood King be banished? I don’t think that would have been possible even if the other three monarchs united. I believe that… you had other reasons for choosing to leave our world—keugh!”

Georg faltered as Eugene ignited his Fear. The Origin’s killing intent was difficult even for him—a duke of the Demon World—to face in its entirety.

‘It might have been different if we were in our world, but… this is just too strong.’

“Who are those three monarchs you speak of? Tell me everything you know. Everything you know about me, and why you came to this place. Tell me everything,” Eugene scowled.

“Phew…”

Georg took a breath and bit his lips before explaining, “You were one of the four Kings of Darkness who ruled our world. Since the flow of time is different between the two worlds, I cannot say for sure, but you left our world about three hundred years ago by the standard of this world. The passageway that connects our world to this place, the places known as the evil lands—”

Georg paused, then continued with a firm voice, “They were created because of you… the Ruler of Blood, Crimson Dragon King.”