Unfortunately..I was fast asleep and couldn't do anything about this until I actually woke up. It sucked, but I had to live with it. And besides, it made sense to narrate the whole thing chronologically instead of me launching into flashbacks and narrating the tale from after I woke up. Ugh, sorry, but I didn't really like flashbacks.

"Tomoyuki."

"..? Dad?"

I blinked. Evidently I was in dreamland, because I was staring at my Dad in front of me right now. He waved at me.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"..how long has it been?"

Thanks to Kobayashi's stunt, I had been thrown out of the transportation spell and toward what he believed was my death. The temporal distortion tossed me six months into the future, and while less than one second had passed for me, the outside world had gone through half a year of upheaval. I had no idea how time flowed between worlds or dimension, but for all I knew, either only ten minutes had passed on Earth or ten years.

"Who knows?"

Dad shrugged flippantly, wearing that genial smile I was so used to seeing. God, but I really missed him.

I missed my family.

"This is just a dream, after all."

"I'm not supposed to know this is a dream while I'm dreaming," I muttered. Dad laughed at that.

"I don't know about that. But man, you've grown up."

".."

I watched him, and then frowned.

"You..you're not my read Dad, are you?"

"..oh? As I expected, you're pretty perceptive."

"Dad" began to shimmer and changed. Within a few seconds, he transformed into a complete stranger, a muscular man with dark hair and a somewhat unshaven face, in contrast to my Dad's clean, shaven appearance.

"Who are you?"

I frowned and pushed my glasses up my nose as I studied the unfamiliar man in front of me. His posture was relaxed, friendly even, which allowed me to relax and drop my guard a little. However, I remained wary.

"I am Chronos."

"..who?"

Staring at him blankly, I searched my memory, but that name didn't register. Oh, wait. Perhaps it did. I suddenly remembered reading that name somewhere inside a book written about the Restia pantheon of gods and deities.

"The god of time and space."

"Correct." Chronos smiled. "And you're the follower of my wife, Lyia, aren't you?"

"Oh..Lyia..yeah..huh? You're her husband?"

Now that I thought about it, the book certainly did state that. I nodded and snapped my fingers.

"That's right! You're Lyia's husband!"

"Yeah. And any follower of my wife counts as my follower as well."

"Uh..thanks, I guess?"

I tilted my head, not sure what I should say to this.

"And..um..I suppose you have a reason for meeting me like this?"

"Yeah. I'm not allowed to intervene directly in the mortal world. So I can only show up like this. Or like Lyia. But we're not banned from having conversations, and since it's been a long time comng, I always wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, all right."

I waited. Chronos chuckled when he saw me sink into an awkward silence.

"You might be knowledgable and well-read, but you don't seem very bright or sharp. That's fine. I do like your honest and kind personality."

"I'm not kind at all."

"Well, compared to the other Chosen summoned from another world, you're actually a nice guy, all things considered."

"..thanks?"

"It's the truth. You have to believe in yourself more. Granted, you did do a lot of unkind things, but only to your former classmates and your enemies. But you're the one who prevented your allied Evelyn's Chosen from nuking the capital of the kingdom where your archenemy resides in, aren't you?"

Chronos must be referring to my battle against the Iron Knights, where I thwarted Takeda's plan and refused to summon a nuke.

"Well..that's down to my own selfishness.."

"If you want to put it that way, then yours is a kind selfishness..or a selfish kindness. Well, let's not waste time with rhetoric. I'm here to warn you."

"Of what?"

"Chaos." Chronos had turned deadly serious. "You had a dream earlier, didn't you? About Chaos. It's starting to break free..having embedded agents in Restia. Kobayashi Kenji, thanks to the Fates' meddling, is one of those agents. He is growing in power with each passing day, and will inadvertently open the door for his masters to invade Restia. If he succeeds..a terrible calamity will fall over the mortal world and..change things forever."

I could tell that this change was not a good change.

"Fates? Masters?"

"Kobayashi Kenji doesn't know it, but he is being manipulated and puppeted by primordial forces that have existed in an alternative..immaterial dimension that is separated from the material universe through a thin fabric of space. That fabric of space is particularly thin at that northernmost domain you're trying to prevent him from reaching. If he gets there and unleashes Chaos..then Restia will be overrun by creatures of the Immaterium. Foul, fell beings whose existence is anathema to reality..whose very presence distorts, warps and mutates the material world, turning its inhabitants into monsters and transforming the landscape into the hellish terrain they live in."

"That sounds like this whole thing is way over my head.."

Chronos smiled. "That is why you sought allies, did you not? You know you cannot do this alone. You're not some overpowered, edgelord protagonist who can curbstomp your opponents and save the world with a flick of your finger. You're just a normal, ordinary guy who got thrown into extraordinary circumstances and you're fighting against all odds."

"..yeah.."

"Oh, and one last thing." Chronos nodded as he folded his arms. "For your immediate battle, while I'm not allowed to interfere and help, I can at least offer an obscure hint that you'll have to figure out on your own."

"What hint?"

"The key to victory lies in Adaptive Mutation."

"Uh..what?"

Before I could ask for an elaboration, Chronos disappeared from view.

And then I woke up.

*

Under the moonlit sky, Lilith stood alone in the shadowy battlefield.

Bradley Kreuger had designated an abandoned temple as the place for the duel, one located in the outskirts of Haefield. The grim, glorious statue of Chronos stood at the entrance, his hands spread out as if to demonstrate the vastness of time and space.

The temple building had been abandoned a few weeks ago, half-destroyed when Sakaguchi led his human forces on a siege on Haemorage. As the war against the human kingdoms was still ongoing, repair and restoration efforts had been slow, and scattered debris continued to lie uncleared throughout the temple grounds.

Fortunately, this site was secluded and far away from the populated city, and there was absolutely no sign of any people taking shelter or living in the desolate temple. Located a kilometer away from the towns and cities of Haefield, the abandoned temple struck a forlorn site.

Bradley and Claire were already standing inside the temple, waiting for Lilith.

"I came at the appointed time, my future wife. I believed that you would safely accomplish the mission of investigating the tomb and return in time for this duel."

Bradley declared pompously, his insidious behavior causing Lilith to scowl slightly. He then glanced around exaggeratedly.

"By the way..where is the man who you claimed was your lover? I heard that he safely returned from the tomb as well. Did he collapse from fatigue after all? Or..did he get scared and run away like the coward he is?"

"I had him stay in base camp."

Lilith remained unmoved by Bradley's condescending provocation. As she issued that cool reply, she fixed her cold piercing eyes on the two people before her.

"I cannot let him get involved in such a worthless farce like this any more than this.."

Then she calmly unslung the blood-red spear on her back and held it in both hands, taking up an offensive stance.

Upon seeing that, Bradley smiled broadly.

"Let us begin the duel then. The duel will only end if the opponent is unconscious and rendered unable to battle..or when both opponents surrender."

To follow up on that, Claire McAlterize also drew her sword.

"Escaping this temple site which is the stage of the duel will be considered a defeat. Other than that, we will be conforming to the regular tournament rules that we hold for vampire knights. You're fine with that, your highness?"

"Yes. I have already made up my mind..since a long time ago."

"..."

There was some sort of hidden meaning in Lilith's words that made Claire feel uneasy, but she repressed that sense of anxiety and took a deep breath.

Blood-red magic circles materialized around her, and she wielded extreme blood magic that conjured countless little things that looked like bats.

Extreme blood magic. The most powerful blood magic for non-noble vampires, which could allow them to fight on par..no, perhaps even surpass most vampire nobles. Lilith understood that this was what made Claire, who had centuries of combat experience, a formidable foe. Furthermore, such blood magic could rival her own blood curses.

Bradley too was impressed as he sent an admiring glance at Claire's magic circles.

"Extreme blood magic..as expected of the Scarlet family. To think that even a mere butler in their household can wield such formidable spells. I look forward more and more to my engagement with you, your highness, Queen Lilith."

"Could you please stop acting so intimately with me? It's a waste of time."

Lilith responded coldly to Bradley's praise.

"I might not be experienced, but as part of the royal family, even I have learned to see through appearances and understand how people really think of you..whether they're sincere or not, and whether they have hidden motives."

"Ho..?"

Bradley smiled, amazed. Ignoring him, Lilith activated her own magic. Streams of red mana flowed into her spear, almost enlarging it. In the sky, dozens of lances appeared, all of them pointing toward the two vampire knights.

The heir to House Kreuger smirked at the awe-inspiring sight, but he slowly drew his demonic sword, Azreal Drakkan and conjured a sea of blood of his own. Unlike Lilith, he created lances that pointed upward from the ground.

The two armories appeared to face off, the lances pointing at each other. Satisfied, Bradley turned to Claire and urged her to give the start signal.

"Then..let's start the duel!"

The moment those words left Claire's mouth, Lilith sprang forward. While Claire braced herself for a direct confrontation, Lilith suddenly skidded to a stop. Instead, she jumped high up and arced her back, stretching her right arm as far back as possible.

"Blood Barrage!"

With a yell, she threw her crimson lance like a javelin. As if they had received a signal from that toss, the floating lances moved at once, bombarding the temple and carpeting its grounds with blood projectiles.

At the same time, Bradley launched his own projectiles. The lances met in midair and exploded in sprays of blood, raining down on the ground and staining it crimson. However, Lilith's primary spear smashed through whatever lances Bradley fired as a counter and streaked toward the haughty noble in a red blur.

"Ho..not bad."

Bradley swung his demonic sword to intercept the lance, only for it to explode upon contact. A tremendous inferno swept across the devastated temple grounds, disintegrating rubble and concrete and burning a gigantic crater into the ground.

"Lord Kreuger!"

Claire, who hadn't been the main target of that attack, had jumped away to safety, her bats fluttering all over her. She staggered, the flames and shockwaves battering her, but her wounds immediately regenerated.

Such was the greatest strength of the undead vampire.

"I'm all right."

However, Bradley was laughing. Even though he had been heavily injured, his wounds were already healing.

"These are just minor wounds."

As long as they were life-threatening or he didn't lose a limb, Bradley would be able to heal his injuries instantly.

"But as expected of my future wife..she really is strong. Hah! That's what make her worth conquering!"

With a guffaw, Bradley launched himself at Lilith again. The vampire queen merely swung down her hand and rained down multiple lances.

However, this time, Bradley merely raised his sword and plunged it into the ground. The blood rose and hardened into a shield that stretched over him, blocking the deadly hail of lances. Lilith frowned and reared her arm back. Her lance, which had already returned to her, was glowing dangerously as she drew in mana from the surroundings.

However..

"Don't forget that I'm also your opponent, your highness."

"!"

Lilith was forced to dodge when Claire slashed at her from behind. Twisting her body to avoid the blade, Lilith countered with an immense swing that sent the woman butler skidding backward. Claire drew a second sword and fended off Lilith's fierce retaliation with her twin swords, desperately parrying and blocking.

"Impressive.."

Even as she knocked Claire back, Lilith was amazed that she wasn't able to finish Claire off. Among all her opponents, only Evelyn's Chosen could defend and fight on par with her like this. Claire's sword skills had been honed to the extreme where she could fight toe-on-toe with the greatest spear user in Morten – Lilith herself.

"But it's not enough!"

Despite Claire's superb skill and vast experience, Lilith was able to eventually overpower her. She feinted, luring Claire to attack, and then subtly struck, knocking one of the swords out of Claire's left hand. As Claire struggled to cope with this sudden turn of events, Lilith surged forward to finish her off with a thrust toward her chest.

The fatal hit would not kill Claire, but would force her to spend all her energy on regeneration. When that happened, she would be incapacitated and knocked out of battle.

However, before her spear could reach Claire's chest, she was suddenly forced to pull back.

"!?"

A blood lance sailed through where Lilith was standing a millisecond ago. Flipping back, Lilith dropped to a crouch as she landed nimbly on her feet, and turned to glare at Bradley, who was pointing his sword at her.

"Have you forgotten about me, your highness?"

"I'm afraid not..as much as I would love to."

"How cold. You hurt my feelings you know?"

"I would love to hurt more than just your feelings," Lilith spat. But before she could attack, she suddenly noticed a change in the battlefield.

Kree..

"?!"

The numerous bats were floating in front of her. Instinctively, Lilith fell back, realizing the great danger.

"Damn it..!"

The bats exploded, their combined detonations hurling the vampire queen back with sheer force. As Lilith reeled, Claire capitalized on the opening and slashed at her. While Lilith blocked her twin blades, more bats descended upon her to attack her from all directions, clawing or biting. Retreating, Lilith contended not just with Claire's ferocious slashes, but also the swarm of bats.

"This..!"

Her lances fired down, destroying the bats and almost catching Claire off guard. But the woman butler managed to retreat elegantly, jumping and flipping back. She knocked away several lances that she couldn't avoid with her swords, the force behind the strikes sending her skidding back. However, even as she evaded, Claire deftly summoned another magic circle.

"That's..!"

Lilith's eyes widened when a Blood Leviathan emerged from Claire's magic circle and pounced on her. Cursing, she swung around and sliced the monstrous beast with her spear, only for the Leviathan to reform and reshaped. Roaring, the blood behemoth wrapped around her and tossed her into the air. As she soared, Lilith drew more mana into her spear, the runes glowing blood-red, and she blasted the Leivathan apart with sheer force.

..only for Bradley to seize the opportunity to stab her in the gut with his demonic weapon.

"You..!"

Lilith slashed back at him, but he evaded and then backhanded her. With godlike reflexes, Lilith managed to block the blow, but Bradley struck her with a blood hammer that he formed with a blood spell from his Azreal Drakkan, sending her back to the ground.

Where Claire was waiting.

The butler had a third magic circle materializing in the spot where Lilith crashed, and despite the vampire queen's best efforts to evade it, she was unable to avoid landing on the third circle. With a swing of her twin swords, Claire activated the spell.

The circle disappeared as it turned into a pillar of blood-red mana.

"AAAAAAH!"

Screaming in pain, Lilith crashed out of the pillar of blood-red mana, her body steaming and fuming. As she collapsed, her wounds began to heal, but she had taken major damage and needed to expend a significant amount of mana to regenerate.

Not only that, Bradley wasn't about to give her the chance.

Jumping over, he kicked Lilith in the stomach and sent her flying. She slammed into a broken wall of the desolate temple, demolishing it and vanishing under the shower of rubble.

"Kuh..uh..ah.."

Groaning, Lilith writhed as she crawled out of the debris, blood streaming down her usually composed face, which was now twisted in agony. Despite her regenerative ability, she was barely able to endure the excruciating pain.

"Oops, sorry. It's the important belly that will someday bear my child. I've got to be a bit gentler."

Despite his words, Bradley was laughing unabashedly, displaying not even the slightest sign of guilt.

Damn it..

Lilith gritted her teeth as she forced herself to stand up.

It was true that she was the number one warrior in Haemorage. There was no question that she was the strongest knight in the vampire kingdom.

However, her opponents were the third-ranked vampire knight and an elite veteran who served as the butler in the revered military Scarlet royal family. Perhaps in a one-on-one fight, she would be able to best them individually.

But trying to take on two such formidable opponents on her own..she had underestimated them, and now she was paying the price.

Not yet..I still have not..

Allowing her healing ability to erase her wounds and ease her pain, Lilith stood up determinedly and glared defiantly at Bradley.

"Do you still intend to fight? I admire your tenacity and perseverance, but you no longer have any chance of victory."

Bradley's tone was mocking and condescending.

"We won't know until we try."

Lilith recalled her spear and hefted it up. A maelstrom of mana flowed into it, swirling furiously, but compared to the start of the battle, it was much less than before.

However..it was more than enough.

Lunging forward, Lilith thrust her spear at the bragging Bradley and pierced his chest. He looked confused, almost disbelieving, as he stared at her weapon. Lilith smiled.

"The battle still isn't over."

"Indeed it isn't."

"?!"

It was Bradley's turn to smile. Before she understood what was going on, Bradley exploded in a shower of blood, buffeting the vulnerable Lilith with tremendous shockwaves. The vampire queen toppled over, her flesh simmering from the violent force and heat.

"That's..!"

"A Blood Doppelganger."

A second Bradley stepped forward from behind the ruined temple. And then a third. And a fourth. And a fifth.

"Now, my future wife, can you tell which of us is the real one?"

"You..!"

Lilith crawled to her feet and pounced on the doppelgangers. The four of them scattered, guffawing mischievously.

"Oh, and don't worry.."

"..even though there's so many of us.."

"..each of us possess the same combat potential as the original!"

The doppelgangers laughed before they raised their swords and unleashed several blast of blood on her. Lilith dodged on reflex, but she was still somehow caught in the crossfire. The fourth doppelganger's attack caught her and sent her spinning.

Not willing to waste this chance, Claire launched her Blood Leviathan spell, which caught Lilith in its enormous jaws and engulfed her in devastating mana that exploded into a steaming geyser of blood. The bloodsoaked Lilith crashed down helplessly and lay motionless on the smoking crater. Lilith coughed and tried to get up.

But the four doppelgangers had surrounded her.

"Still not going to give up yet?"

In response, Lilith stabbed one of the doppelgangers, who was completely taken by surprise and caught off guard by her speed. Even when injured, Lilith was still the number one knight. It was not a good idea to let down one's guard.

"Kuh.."

"Oh..scary."

"What an idiot. Number three let himself get caught by her."

"Well, we can just replace him and create more copies."

"Hey! Don't talk about me as if I'm dead!"

"!"

Lilith blinked in surprised as the dying doppelganger suddenly grabbed her spear. Alarmed, she tried to yank it out, but he gripped her weapon tightly.

"What are you guys waiting for?!"

"Oh."

"That's right."

"Let's do it."

The other three doppelgangers raised their swords and unleashed the massive blood blast that was the signature attack of Azreal Drakkan.

Lilith quickly let go of her spear, but she wasn't able to evade in time. The three blood projectiles slammed into her and exploded.

At the same time, the doppelganger that she had fatally wounded also detonated, showering her with more devastating blood.

"Aaaaah!"

Lilith was blown off by the multiple shockwaves and sent hurtling through the sacred grounds of the broken temple.

"Ku..ah.."

She violently slammed into debris and rolled to a stop. Her breath caught in her chest and she almost blacked out despite her regenerative ability trying to heal her severe wounds as much as possible.

However, she refused to give up. Grabbing her spear, she tried to shakily rise to her feet..

..only for someone to cruelly kick her arms out from under her and send her plummeting back to the ground.

"How unsightly. Don't disappoint me, my future wife. Stop struggling unnecessarily in a fight you have no chance of winning. I honestly don't want to hurt you further."

Bradley's voice was smooth and mockingly gentle, as if he sought to persuade her.

Claire probably felt the same way. She was no longer actively participating in the battle and attacking, and instead was just watching the course of events from a distance, her twin swords lowered.

Admittedly, in the eyes of any objective spectators, the outcome of the battle had clearly been decided.

But..

"I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I am not fond of men who lie so obviously."

Despite being cornered, Lilith maintained her usual, serious expression, and asserted defiantly.

"What..?"

"Disappoint you? No..you're actually very happy. For tormenting me like this..for things to have developed just as you've expected."

Bradley, who had been smiling all this while, suddenly lost all pretense of friendliness and his expression turned cold.

"You've found a way to counter my blood techniques. In fact..it's all for that reason, in order to investigate my abilities, that you joined the defense of the tomb. Even saying that you took a liking to me as a wife is also a lie. It's only because you want to use me as a tool, correct?"

"..."

Bradley showed no sign of interrupting and merely listened silently to Lilith's calm and indifferent accusations.

"Besides..about when we were attacked by human knights and assassins in the upper class residential area..wasn't that also your doing? In order for humans to infiltrate the vampire kingdom like that, they must have some inside help – and not just help from any vampire. They would have to be a very powerful and influential insider to allow them to sneak into Haefield like that. If you saw my techniques during that attack, it would have saved you the trouble of tagging along in the tomb mission, correct?"

"..ha!"

The moment Lilith concluded her suspicions, Bradley smiled cruelly. And then he stomped on her right arm and pinned it to the floor.

"Ku..uh!"

He was careful enough not to apply too much strength to break Lilith's arm, but enough to cause her a significant amount of pain. Slowly increasing the pressure so as not to let Claire who was on standby behind notice, he chuckled.

"As expected of a descendant of the Scarlet family..the key to unsealing the tombs of the Scarlet rulers. You were able to analyze the situation this far."

"..?! You..?!"

Lilith was completely taken aback when Bradley revealed that he knew that she was the key to unsealing the tombs of her ancestors, which should have been a secret. She stared at him, aghast and pale.

"How sad, Lilith. What a pitiful girl you are. To think that the likes of a tool from the Scarlet family – the thing that has been sold to me now – was this intelligent."

In a sympathetic tone, Bradley continued.

"Yes. It's exactly as you said, Lilith."

He had lowered his voice to a whisper.

"That was all plotted by me. Everything was a plan laid out by me. Hearing about how you are the key to unlocking the secrets of the royal tombs, and approaching that butler with the proposal of engagement. It's unfortunate that not everything went as planned, though, such as someone getting in the way and defeating those assassins. Oh, and informing the Evelyn's Chosen of your plan to defend the tomb and providing her a shortcut to bring her forces to the site earlier, and luring her to the tomb..ah, I was hoping she would be able to defeat the Major and destroy his battalion, but that idiot proved to be a lot stronger and more competent than I thought. But still..yes, everything.."

"..."

"But you know what? Even if you know the truth, you can't do anything about it. You, who are no more than a 'tool' and a figurehead, has no means of changing this reality."

Bradley's expression was full of contempt, his mouth twisted into a condescending sneer. Finally, the true nature of Bradley Kreuger was in full view for the first time.

"..tool."

Upon hearing that word, Lilith trembled violently.

Despite being the number one vampire knight and the queen of the vampire kingdom, she had been defeated and bested in combat. Even though she understood that she was merely a figurehead put in place while the vampire elders ruled from the shadows..but she had tried her best to reap military achievements and establish Haemorage as a military power.

Was it not enough? Was nothing she did ever enough?

Would no one recognize her efforts? No..the military certainly recognized her efforts. She had the respct of the military, and was well-loved by her people.

Yet..the true power still lay in the hands of the elders..of the nobles like Bradley Kreuger, who manipulated things from behind the scenes and sow the seeds of corruption to satisfy their own ambitions and greed.

"Don't you understand, your highness? The likes of a figurehead and a tool such as yourself has no right to oppose me."

Lilith felt cold. Even though the fever that had plagued her body earlier had left her and she recovered fully, her current condition was the opposite of that. Instead of heat, her veins felt as if ice was running in them.

Bradley was correct. Her title of queen was just for show. She was a mere figurehead, a tool for her family and the elders to buy and sell her off for political alliances. She had no real power, and had no choice but to accept..

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"I will take all the tombs' ancient technology, weapons and treasures for myself, and ultimately stand at the top of this kingdom. You're a tool for that purpose. By marrying you, I will become king. And in time, it will be my bloodline that rules this kingdom. If you behave yourself, I'll cherish you from now on."

He planted his demonic sword in the ground and reached out with his hand to stroke Lilith's belly with his fingertips.

"You understand, right? There is nobody in this world who will ever come to save you. So accept it. Your fate of devoting yourself to me, your master..whoa?!"

Bradley was forced to jump away when a black bolt of destructive mana streaked from the heavens and slammed into where he was standing a few moments ago.

"Who is it?!"

Bradley re-->>

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