Chapter 140
Chapter 140
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Securing the City
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“And the mayor and guild masters below him will retain their positions.”
“Ooh!”
“Th-thank you! My lord!”
Everyone’s faces lit up at the lenient ruling. But Eugene’s next words immediately froze those expressions solid.
“However. Half of your assets will be confiscated.”
“…….”
“What? Got a problem with that?”
“N-no, of course not.”
“Truly merciful, my lord!”
They’d lost half their wealth, but keeping their positions was better than nothing. The mayor and guild masters forced awkward smiles once more.
Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, the mayor glanced nervously at Eugene before asking cautiously.
“Um… Lord Eugene.”
“Yeah?”
“If I may be so bold, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
Eugene nodded for him to continue, and the mayor hemmed and hawed before pressing on.
“W-well… the Night Clan can’t enter castles or buildings unless someone inside invites them, right? So how exactly did you manage it, my lord…?”
At the mayor’s question, the guild masters’ eyes subtly turned to Eugene. They’d wondered the same but hadn’t dared ask.
Eugene’s lips slowly parted.
“The Brighton Clan invited me in.”
“Traitors! I knew it…!”
One guild master shot to his feet, face flushed with rage, shouting furiously.
But under Eugene’s icy gaze, his color drained instantly, and he dropped back into his seat.
“No misunderstanding here.”
“…….”
Eugene scanned the now-stiff-faced mayor and guild masters before continuing.
“The vampires here begged me to deal with Banneret, who’d become a Death Knight. That’s why they invited me.”
“Uh…….”
“Different clans, sure. But a crisis for the same kin. I couldn’t just walk away. If the Brighton Clan had truly betrayed Brighton, they would’ve fought alongside me.”
“…….”
The mayor and guild masters clamped their mouths shut.
It was clear the Brighton vampires had betrayed the city by inviting Eugene onto the walls.
Yet the justification was flawless.
They’d simply asked a high noble of their kin—conveniently outside the city—to handle the Death Knight problem they’d left festering since Brighton’s dimensional shift.
If they’d truly betrayed the city, they should’ve lent a hand when Eugene and Galpredic wreaked havoc atop the walls.
But the Revolveres Clan vampires, led by Clay, had done nothing.
“I only came in to deal with the Death Knight. But the city guards attacked me and my knight first. So it was self-defense, right?”
“……!”
Self-defense after slaughtering dozens? How could he lie so shamelessly without batting an eye!
‘A god. The god of cunning.’
‘His fists, his brain, his tongue—all demon king level! A real demon king!’
“Of course, my lord.”
“Wouldn’t dream of arguing.”
Trapped with no escape, the mayor and guild masters trembled inwardly at Eugene’s cunning but nodded vigorously on the outside.
* * *
Eugene’s army took the city effortlessly before dawn.
With the mayor and guild masters captured, along with their private guards and cannoneers subdued by mercenaries, it was straightforward.
Other nobles and wealthy citizens who quickly grasped the situation cooperated fully with Eugene.
Better to side with him than gamble on outside aid—they knew it well.
Moreover, joining the Crawlmarine Count’s household—a respected Brantia name—stifled resistance from the elite.
Common folk accepted it readily. In fact, they seemed to admire Eugene.
He’d only permitted looting of the mayor and guild masters’ estates, strictly forbidding any harm to ordinary residents.
But in easy victories, troublemakers inevitably arise.
Entering under cover of dark, some mercenaries thought they could get away with it—bursting into homes, assaulting residents, and looting.
Once the takeover was complete, Eugene rounded them up and beheaded them personally in the central square before gathered citizens.
“On my honor, I swear. I, Yan Eugene, have no intent to tyrannize Brighton by force. Lawbreakers—even in my own army—will face judgment.”
The exotic-looking high vampire noble executing his own men without hesitation, declaring in crisp Brighton dialect, won them over.
And as soon as the conquest ended, Eugene flung open the gates, letting residents come and go freely.
The crowds cheered, while the few elites harboring faint hopes abandoned them entirely.
In this mood, calling in outside forces would turn public opinion against them—it was obvious.
Naturally, the elites shuddered anew at the cunning brain that had orchestrated it all.
Of course, Eugene hadn’t aimed for such grand effects.
He’d simply opened the gates early, figuring it best to prepare for when Wengard, Crawlmarine, and Brighton linked up soon. Their overinterpretation was their own fear.
Anyway, with Brighton perfectly in hand, Eugene moved to the next matter.
Dealing with the Death Knights still prowling the dark crypt and sewers at this very hour.
* * *
“They’re strong. Rumor has it you can’t become a Death Knight unless you were mighty in life.”
Eugene nodded at Lancelo’s words.
“Hmm. So a strong one turning into a Death Knight makes it even stronger?”
“Exactly. And if it was originally a vampire Banneret, treat it as High Lord level now.”
Even Lancelo, a Brantia native with plenty of experience, knew little about Death Knights.
Pitomoras could’ve provided more intel, but wasting days to ask wasn’t feasible.
Eugene decided immediately.
“Just Galpredic and me going in.”
“Heh! Sounds good!”
Galpredic grinned, while Wolfgan and the Beowulf warriors protested at once.
“No way, Lord of Darkness! Let us join the fun!”
“You two hogged all the glory in the siege. Include us this time.”
Eugene turned to the battle-hungry Beowulfs.
“Might take some time. And the Fransil family—who knows if they’ll send a lion or an army. If it’s the latter, better for Lancelo to have you Beowulfs helping command the mercenaries than go solo.”
“Hmm. Fair point.”
“While we handle the Death Knights, Lancelo speaks for me. No screw-ups.”
“Got it.”
With Wolfgan and the Beowulfs acquiescing, Eugene addressed Clay, standing rigidly at attention.
“You’re with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clay was even more deferential than when she’d first sought him out.
She and the Revolveres Clan vampires had witnessed Eugene and Galpredic’s wall-top battle firsthand.
They’d braced for traitor labels by inviting him, even planning to join the fray.
But Eugene’s strict order to stay out left them puzzled yet curious, watching from afar.
And they were stunned in every sense.
Setting aside the overwhelming power, his shrewdness turned their betrayal into something else entirely, factoring in their position!
Plus, declaring immediate Death Knight cleanup post-conquest left the mayor and guild masters speechless.
‘With the city under Crawlmarine Count—not Eugene directly—the clan’s nobles can’t protest him. Truly the king of cunning.’
Cloy, utterly smitten by Eugene in mere days, placed a fist over her heart and declared in an excited voice.
“I’ll serve you to the best of my ability, my lord!”
* * *
Brighton had once been a grand, thriving city.
And like most Brantian cities, its past glory wasn’t Brantian-made.
Long before the Knight King unified it, advanced Roman Empire and Holy Empire culture and tech had driven its growth.
Brighton especially, built planned on riverfront plains, featured a web of canals and sewers.
The issue: ample manpower managed it in prosperous times, but after decline over ages, neglect bred problems from labor shortages.
Worse, sewer maps had long been lost.
Now, only parts of the vast underground network and the crypt were mapped—and that ignorance doomed the first search teams to vanish.
“Knights’ visibility?”
“If I may, my lord—in pitch darkness without moonlight, I see thirty meters like daylight. Laughable compared to you, but still somewhat useful…….”
“And Presence?”
“Pardon? Presence, my lord?”
Clay tilted her head.
The Presence she knew intimidated foes. Great in combat, useless for searches.
“Hmm, makes sense for a lesser vampire. Galpredic. You can’t use yours that way either?”
“Eh, I can sense within thirty meters, probably.”
Galpredic shrugged, and Clay’s eyes went wide.
“You sense space with Presence?”
“What’s hard about that?”
“…….”
Clay gaped at his casual reply.
Lords or Bannerets could project Presence in battle to rattle minds or predict moves.
But expanding it dozens of meters to see and hear like normal?
‘Is that even possible?’
Clay reeled but couldn’t doubt it.
Their conversation implied they’d long used Presence that way.
“Stay behind me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Galpredic. Rear guard.”
“Leave it to me.”
Eugene strode past Clay toward the crypt stairs.
The vast crypt oozed gloom.
Dark, damp air. Eerie wind howls, distant dripping water—any living soul would shudder.
But they were vampires.
Only Clay, whose comrades never returned, felt unease. Eugene and Galpredic strolled through like picnickers.
Creaaaaak.
Opening the rusted-grate sewer door unleashed a grating screech across the space.
‘Gulp.’
Clay swallowed dryly despite herself.
And then.
“……!?”
She clearly saw crimson-black wisps rising from Eugene’s shoulders ahead.
‘No way!’
High vampires projecting Presence in battle was common.
But she’d never seen it so vividly tangible, writhing like a living beast.
Shhhhhh……
Hundreds of crimson-black Presence threads slithered, filling and probing the darkness.
After a minute more, Eugene murmured low.
“Fork ahead, one hundred meters. Four paths—three reconverge, one doesn’t. No living beings inside. But undead signatures, several.”
Chills raised Clay’s hackles; she couldn’t close her mouth.
But Eugene’s next words shocked her deeper.
“And lifeless things are moving.”
“……!”
Movements in lifeless sewers, devoid of life.
Only one implication.
Ghouls or skeletons—victims slain by the cursed Death Knights—lurked in the distant dark.
(To be continued)
-----------------------------------------------------------------