Blood splattered, roaring screams rang out, magic was blasted off. At the same time, heads soared through the air. In the midst of this wide open field, a horrendous battle was at its peak. The Eastern troop was composed of overwhelmingly strong beastmen warriors, belonging to the Laperico Kingdom’s Army, whereas the Western troop was built upon an elite of vampires, fighting for the Mulnight Empire’s Imperial Army.

“Ugh, what is wrong with them—Damned monsters!”

However, the result was just about to be decided. The beastmen’s morale was shaking. Reasonable enough, as a giant mountain of corpses was what had been left of the Laperico Kingdom’s troop.

“Flame O Flame. Burn down this quivering forest.”

“Shit, magic again!? I’ll just kill you before you can cast it!

“Tony!? Hey, Tony! Calm down!”

A bear man had his sword readied, but was burned to cinders in the blink of an eye. The rest of the beastmen around were yet again forcefully reminded of their difference in strength. It must be their pride as soldiers, as not a single one of them dared to lay down their weapons. But, everytime a vampire chanted another spell of magic to make the air around them quiver, some gulped in defeat, and some stared death in the eye.

“Shit! I’m not dying here!”

“Ice O Ice. Freeze the hearts of the enemy.”

A tiger man attempted an escape, but had his head pierced by an ice arrow. The second his allies witnessed his large body falling to the ground like a tree, they started raising shrieks resembling small animals in the face of a predator. They no longer held any coordinated force as a troop. A deer man threw away his weapon, whereas a cat man faced the heavens above in defeat, and another lion man hid his terrified expression behind his shield.

Even so, the vampires showed no restraint. They used their magic to shoot the escaping beastmen to death, crushed them, burned them, exploded them—almost as if they held an all-you-can-kill buffet, these vampires were enjoying themselves.

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

“Stop, I don’t want to die!”

“Waaaah, my tail is burniiiiing!”

“Flame O Flame..”

It truly was a slaughter. No doubt that the commander of the Eastern Troop (A chimpanzee man) wanted to retreat about now. Even if they can revive thanks to their magic nucleus, having your head cut off must hurt beyond what you could imagine. Pain is something grotesque, and nobody wants to get hurt. Not even those inflicting it.

“—I have important news! The enemy troop has been annihilated! Currently, First Lieutenant Belius and Captain Melaconcy are headed over to the enemy troop headquarters. The victory of our Komari Squad is as clear as the morning sunshine!”

The second these words reached the allied troop headquarters, the vampires stationed there could finally relax, raising voices of joy and victory. The location was to the West of the plains, on top of a small hill. This was the Imperial General Headquarters of the Mulnight Empire’s troops.

“We finally did it!”

“Hmpf, these beastmen are just too simple.”

“Did you see that!? This is the Komari Squad’s true strength!”

The operation the vampires had decided upon went as follows.

First, the great and courageous warrior First Lieutenant Belius would charge into the enemy troops head-on. Once the beastmen grow flustered and go for the counterattack, Captain Melaconcy, who was always skilled at surprise attacks, would aim for the enemy’s headquarters, break through the weak defenses, and defeat the enemy’s acting commander—that’s the gist of it.

It was overtly simple, but it was expected that the beastmen would fall for it.

“Once we make it home, it’ll be time for a victory celebration party.”

“He he he, let’s make some blood sake out of the beastmen.”

The vampires had been certain of their victory, boasting in laughter and arrogance. However, there was one man in the midst of them who had yet to relax.

“—It’s too early to celebrate. Our victory has not been decided yet.”

A silence filled the place. He wore a spectacular army uniform, possessing a large and slim figure. He was the self-proclaimed advisor of the Komari Squad, which belonged to the Imperial Army’s 7th Corps, Chaostell Cont.

“A war is something where you have to expect the unexpected. In this moment where we don’t even know of any possible hidden tactics of the enemy, we should not celebrate victory just yet. Be reminded of this.”

Chaostell’s words acted as the cold water that quickly erased any celebratory mood in the rows of the vampires. At the same time, he was absolutely correct, which forced the vampires to sit there in silence.

“Belius and Melaconcy are without a doubt skilled fighters with a great amount of experience on their shoulders, but we should always be prepared for the what-if scenario. You can never be too careful, as they say. As you know, this is our first battle, so we cannot allow ourselves to show failure—Don’t you agree, your Excellency Terakomari.”

All gazes present gathered on a certain point, namely at Chaostell’s lower left. On a decorated, sparkling chair sat a single young girl.

“..Fueh? W-What is it?”

Said girl raised her head like she had awoken from her slumber. She apparently only now realized that she was the center of attention around her. The maid standing next to the girl gently lowered her hip, approaching her ears.

“Komari-sama,?murmur murmur..”

“Eh? O-Oh, right.” The girl cleared her throat, and spoke up. “—Listen well, everyone! Just as Chaostell has stated, this is our first battle today! Losing would be a pain, so let’s do our best!”

“““““..........”””””

A painful silence filled the area. That moment, every single vampire present had their hearts stolen.

—Ahh, how beautiful.

Her golden hair seemed like it had the moonlight captured inside of it. Her white skin resembled a corpse at the moment of death, and her facial features looked handmade. And if that wasn’t enough, she possessed crimson red eyes that had been passed down from noble vampire to another inside the Mulnight Empire—making her a vampire amongst vampires. She was the commander-in-chief, Terakomari Gandezblood.

“..Um, why are you all keeping quiet now? You’re going to work hard, right?”

Everyone present was pulled back to reality at the girl’s worried voice. There could have been no greater shame than ignoring the words of their admired commander and disappointing her in the process, only able to be repaid in cutting their bellies while being naked, and dancing at the same time. Hence, it didn’t take a second for everyone to respond.

“““““Yes, we’ll do our best!”””””

Commander Terakomari looked surprised for a second, but apparently accepted this reaction as sufficing, and sat up straight in her chair. At the same time, Chaostell kneeled down in front of his Commander.

“Your Excellency, I have a request.”

“W-What is it?”

“In the event that both Belius and Melaconcy were to lose, I wish for your Excellency Terakomari to defeat the enemy commander yourself.”

Time came to a standstill.

“..Huh? Why?”

“As I have stated previously, war cannot be predicted. Even if your Excellency, and rising star Terakomari Gandezblood, equipped with utmost beauty and strength, being the most promising candidate to become the next Emperor, would normally never lose against a low chimpanzee, luck is always a great factor in battle, so even you have a chance at losing. However! If you were to show your power and skill in battle, your name would be known through the entire world, creating a new legend!”

A row of excited voices ran through the place.

“Um, but, I..”

“Adding to that, I want to see it with my own eyes, your strength that is. With mere fifteen years, you made it up to the summit of the military, becoming one of the Seven Crimson Devas, so your power must be unrivaled!”

“I want to see it as well!”

“Me too!”

The other vampires around showed agreement to Chaostell’s words. However, the commander in question had trouble finding the right words. Chaostell however misinterpreted this, and encouraged the girl even further.

“There is nothing to be ashamed about. Let us trample over this lowly beastmen royalty! As long as you act, the national prestige of the Mulnight Empire shall be known to the entire world! And then, the historiations in the future will say this—That a new age had begun with this very day!”

“““““Woooooooooooooohooooooo!!!”””””

The vampires raised their voices at this motivational speech Chaostell gave. What ensued was a storm of applause, and some vampires even whistled in excitement. They even started chanting?Komarin! Komarin! Komarin!?in between there. Met with this sudden heat and passion from her followers, the choice Terakomari Gandezblood took was—

“—I-I got it.”

The applause and cheers came to a halt. Every single person present awaited the girl’s next words. The commander-in-chief took a few deep breaths, her gaze wandering around to look at her subordinates, and finally stopped, as if she had made up her mind.

“—If you have this much faith in me, I guess I’ll try my best. However, that will only happen if Belius and Melaconcy actually lose. If that one in a million chance occurs, I will go all out against the enemy. That’s why, you needn’t worry. Because I am the strongest vampire there is! No matter the enemy, I will defeat them in a mere three seconds!”

“Three..seconds?” Chaostell asked.

“N-No, I meant one second! One second is more than enough!”

A second of silence followed, but that was broken right away.

—Wohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

—Komarin! Komarin! Komarin! Komarin!

“Aha, ahaha, ahahahahaha..........Ahhh, how did things end up like this?”

This battle raised the curtain on Terakomari Gandezblood’s days plagued with agony and worries.