As the holy sword fell, a splash of blood landed on the ground. A huge sword wound appeared on Vlad III's chest. The wound was so deep that it had directly cut through his bones, and his spiritual core had surely been severely damaged.
The strangely shaped spear in Vlad III's hand fell to the ground. He took two steps back, covering his own chest with his hand. Seeing the blood flowing out from the cracks between his fingers, Vlad III, who had been on edge all this time, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he had finally not died at the hands of the nobles in his own country, but in the process of defending this land.
And as a hero. This time, this dream-like life... from beginning to end, he was a hero, not some vampire. He was satisfied. Although he had not repelled the enemy from this land, although he had not completely washed away the legend of the vampire, at least this short dream was not bad.
Of course, Vlad III had chosen to be satisfied. But there was one person who did not have the slightest bit of a satisfied mentality, and that was Darnic. Darnic had wanted to use the body of the vampire Dracula to achieve eternity and more power.
Annoyed, truly annoyed! If this continued, wouldn't his long-cherished wish be impossible to complete?
Darnic immediately lifted the back of his hand. Now that things had come to this, this was the only way. If you want to blame someone, blame your own lack of strength, Vlad! No! The great vampire Dracula!
"By my Command Spell, I order you! Vlad III... no! The vampire Dracula, release your Noble Phantasm! [Kazikli Bey]!!"
Vlad III, who was on the battlefield preparing to make his exit with composure, suddenly widened his own eyes. There was no mistake. This feeling, this physical mutation, this feeling of his spiritual core developing in another direction! It was definitely the skill that pushed him towards being a vampire being activated. He clearly had not activated such a skill himself. In that case, there was only one answer...
The Master who had summoned him had betrayed him!
"Darnic!!"
Vlad III turned his head to look at the castle. And Darnic, standing in the castle, pursed his lips, his face full of disdain and indifference. The expression and attitude that he had been hiding all this time were finally torn away, revealing all his pretense before everyone. Faced with Vlad III's anger and questioning, Darnic did not feel that he was in the wrong. On the contrary, he had a matter-of-fact look.
For his own long-cherished wish, for the victory of the Holy Grail War, wasn't betrayal a very normal thing? What's more, he, Darnic, was a selfish person to begin with. It was precisely because of his selfishness that he didn't care about Vlad III's feelings. What's more, soon he would use the method he had deduced before to snatch that body for his own use.
Fortunately, he had robbed the mansions of the three founding families back then and had obtained a lot of useful data from them. Otherwise, this method of seizing a Heroic Spirit's body might not necessarily have succeeded!
What Darnic had to do was to record his own consciousness, his own memory, and even his own complex soul into that body, and while the madness of the vampire was eroding Vlad III's will, completely replace it.
"If you want to blame someone, blame your own weakness. No... even if you were strong, I would have made you activate this Noble Phantasm. So it should be said like this! If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck for being written into a story as the vampire Dracula! Blame yourself for doing such terrifying things in the process of resisting foreign enemies back then!"
In Darnic's eyes, all of this was Vlad III's own fault. If Vlad III hadn't had such a life, then he naturally wouldn't have been targeted by him. Hehehehe! That's right, all of this was Vlad III's fault, and had nothing to do with him. How could he possibly be wrong? He would absolutely not be wrong!
If I really did make a mistake, please refer to the previous sentence.
As if hearing Darnic's words through time and space, Vlad III ignored the intense pain coming from the change in his body. Instead, he slowly turned his head. His angry and indifferent gaze met Darnic's. Although the current Darnic really wanted to have Vlad III—or rather, the existence that was about to become Dracula—return, he still needed to keep the remaining two Command Spells to prepare for his own consciousness transfer.
That was, after all, the shadow of a Heroic Spirit. To want to strip them of their body was not a simple matter. If the will of a Heroic Spirit was so easy to remove, he would have made his move long ago. Why wait until now?
However, if Dracula successfully appeared, as a high-level vampire, then his body's recovery ability would surely become extremely high. Under such circumstances, it should be able to improve his survival ability. Perhaps he could return safely. In this state, Vlad III's hatred for him was surely endless and torrential.
Driven by that anger, he would surely prioritize rushing to his front and killing him, in order to get rid of the identity of a vampire as soon as possible, to leave this world as soon as possible!
At that time, he could use a Command Spell to turn him into his own new body. Then, using the power of the Holy Grail, he would completely erase the weaknesses of a vampire's body, and keep the Holy Grail in the basement of his own castle. Every 60 years, he would hold a Holy Grail War to let himself realize a new wish. He would be the most pinnacle existence in this world.
Darnic truly believed that his idea was foolproof. Of course, the most crucial thing now was to have Dracula turn into a vampire as soon as possible, recover his injuries, and then return.
"Darnic! How dare you humiliate me so! To insult a hero so! You have betrayed the promise between us, Darnic—! Aaargh!!"
Vlad III held his own body tightly, so that it would not continuously deform and expand due to the power of the Noble Phantasm. It was just that it was clear that he was still a bit powerless. With the Noble Phantasm now activated, he was simply unable to stop his human body from transforming in the direction of a vampire. Therefore, his cry was filled with anger, and also with sorrow. This anger contained his hatred for Darnic's betrayal, and also the pain of his own powerlessness to change his own state. Why was it that he, as the Grand Duke of Romania, as the strong spear and shield that had guarded the Lord's world, had no way to stop his fall into darkness!
Darnic, through the magic screen, watched as Vlad III's body's transformation speed was so slow. He pursed his lips in annoyance. He had to anger this Grand Duke of Romania, to make him lose his reason and let go of his control over the change in his body!
Wasn't it just using malicious words against each other? He was familiar with that. After all, he himself was a naturally cold-hearted fellow. Just like when he had mocked a certain old insect back then. Speaking of which, he felt a strange sense of nostalgia for that time.