A strange scene was unfolding in a vast underground church with rows of thick pillars.

"Kuh, kill me! Wasn't that your goal!" Iris Bearheart spat at the old man before her.

She had been forced to wear only a thin piece of cloth that would have reminded Vandalieu of a surgical gown.

"Hmm... for someone who was called the Liberating Princess Knight, leader of the Sauron Liberation Front, this is quite the cheap show of courage," said Gubamon, one of the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life.

He was an old man who was as thin as a dried tree, with his bulging crimson eyes as his only large feature.

Hearing Gubamon's words, Iris shouted at him in rage. "I do not fear death! Even if I die, my companions will definitely achieve the Sauron Duchy's freedom!"

She was someone who would have received a knighthood long ago if the Sauron Duchy hadn't become occupied by the Amid Empire.

Given the social status of the Bearheart family, she was supposed to become the kind of knight who commanded soldiers and defended towns and villages from bandits and monsters, rather than the kind of knight who took part in tournaments to entertain lords and escorted high-class ladies.

Iris had been trained and educated by her now-deceased father since she was child, so that she could one day fulfil this role.

And though she had acted as a leader of resistance activities, she had constantly been fighting on the frontlines. She had crossed blades with bandits and the soldiers of the Empire's army countless times, and her body bore scars from numerous wounds inflicted by blades and arrows. She had faced dangers that could have claimed her life and had passed through many battlefields. She had even walked close to the line between life and death in many of them.

Her courage towered above that of others, so much so that it was impossible to imagine that she was just a girl, less than twenty years of age.

However, Gubamon, who was now caressing her neck and arms, had seen through her.

"Considering that, the muscles of her arms and legs seem quite tense, don't they?" he remarked. "This is the same response that I would expect from a child trembling in fear, you know?"

His words struck true, and Iris let out a groan. She was aware that she was afraid of Gubamon and the things that he would do to desecrate her.

Of course, she wasn't scared of being wounded or killed. She was frustrated at the fact that she had been defeated before achieving her goals, but she had become the Liberating Princess Knight with the determination to face this. She wouldn't start feeling fear now. If the Empire had captured her, they would have tortured her; depending on her captors, her chastity might have been taken from her.

She had been prepared for all of this, but what Gubamon was going to do to Iris was on a completely different level.

She knew this from the heartburn-inducing stench of blood, from seeing the fates of the ones who had produced this stench. She knew it even though she didn't want to know.

There were several dozen Zombie Giants that were even larger than the largest Titans, watching over the area while letting out deep groans.

And there were Vampire Zombies who looked just like bats, hanging from the pillars and ceiling of the underground church with their fangs bared.

Some of them were the Vampires who had brought Iris here. After Iris's abduction, Gubamon had brought them here with space-attribute magic, thanked them for their efforts and then promptly slaughtered them all.

"Well done. As a reward, I shall add you to the bottom of my collection," Gubamon had said to them.

Iris had been unable to believe her eyes at the scene that unfolded afterwards. Not only the Subordinate Vampires, but even the Noble-born Vampires that she and her companions had been unable to land a single blow against, had been unable to do anything to defend themselves as they were slaughtered one-sidedly.

And with hands that were used to handling corpses... very used to handling corpses, Gubamon had turned them into Undead.

He had combined the corpses of the weak Subordinate Vampires, which had fallen to pieces, to form a Zombie Giant with ten Vampires incorporated in it, and turned the Noble-born Vampire corpses into Vampire Zombies.

Iris could see a countless number of Vampire Zombies just by glancing around; she felt a chill as she imagined just how many times this madman had carried out this process.

But the most repulsive were the Undead that the madman had lined up proudly, the ones he referred to as his 'collection.'

Three groans rose from one of the Undead in that collection.

Iris had been reunited with the person she had wished to meet one more time in the worst possible form.

Her father, Lord Bearheart, who had died in battle during the war against the Amid Empire. His corpse had never been recovered. Iris had seen him as a part of an enormous Zombie with three heads, three pairs of arms and three pairs of legs.

"How dare you trample the dignity of the dead, the pride of my father who risked his life to defend his nation! You scum! You intend to kill me and toy with my corpse, just as you did with my father's, don't you! How about you just get on with it?!" Iris began shouting at Gubamon once more, unable to endure having to gaze at her father's lifeless, cloudy eyes and ashen face as he let out a noise that was something between a groan and a scream.

But against her expectations, Gubamon's expression changed for the first time, in response to these words that she had shouted at him.

He showed regret and remorse, as if he had made a mistake. "I have already reflected upon what I did to your father. That was a mistake," he said. He stopped caressing Iris's body and clutched his head as if in anguish.

Gubamon hadn't shown the slightest sign of guilt after killing his subordinates that he had shared his own blood with, nor after turning them into Undead. But there was a deep sense of regret in his eyes now.

Iris was rendered speechless in surprise, and before she could say anything, Gubamon continued.

"During that war between the Amid Empire and Orbaume Kingdom, there were two other corpses of well-known knights alongside your father's. A playful mood took over me and I created a Zombie by combining the three corpses. The resulting Zombie was powerful, but its movements were sluggish. Lord Bearheart had made his name known for his splendid, agile swordsmanship, and I went and put him to waste."

"Wha–?!" Iris's surprised expression turned gradually into one of rage, but Gubamon took no notice of her.

"It cannot be helped that his personality and intelligence was largely damaged. The true pleasure lies in resurrecting famous heroes in wooden-doll-like states," said Gubamon, going on and on about his obsessions. "But there is no meaning to it if the heroes' special characteristics are not preserved. When creating composite Zombies such as that one, the correct practice is to gather materials of the same type, or decide on a principle material and then add other materials that supplement it."

What Gubamon was lamenting was not the act of turning Bearheart into an Undead itself, but the dissatisfactory result.

It seemed that Gubamon had created his Undead with a different sense of art to Ternecia's; he was fixated on the practical use of the Undead, not just the materials used to create them.

Iris's anger showed itself once more. "You bastard! How much do you have to toy with my father before you're satisfied!"

"Hmph... that is why I am apologizing for not making good use of his materials. I have no idea what young people are thinking these days," Gubamon sighed.

Most old people in the world had this thought occur to them at least once, but Gubamon was looking at things from a completely impossible angle.

"Well, it does not matter," he continued. "It will be amusing to see you become a corpse doll with hollow eyes, yelping as you obey my commands. But I must wait to see the results of the others before I decide what kind of Undead I shall turn you into."

Iris gasped. "You are planning to abduct someone other than me? Could it be –"

"Hoh, quite perceptive, aren't you? I am talking about the commander and vice-captain of the other resistance organization, the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army."

"Raymond-dono and Rick-dono...!"

Iris's head, which had been hot with anger, suddenly became cold. There should be someone who could take her place as the Liberating Princess Knight. Her companions should do fine without her.

However, there was no replacement for Raymond, the illegitimate child of Duke Sauron. His face was quite well-known throughout the duchy, and although he had abandoned his right to succeed the family, his bloodline had a large influence now that the continuation of the Sauron family's lineage was in jeopardy.

And unlike Iris, who had kept her true identity hidden from others apart from her companions as much as she could, Raymond had used his appearance, charisma, ability to speak and his own birth as weapons to gather the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army under his command.

He probably had a plan for his own rise to power after the Sauron Duchy was retaken, but that was precisely why Raymond's organization had become the largest resistance organization.

But if Raymond and his younger brother Rick who had been supporting him all this time were to disappear simultaneously, the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army would break up at best, turn into a disorderly gathering of people and collapse at worst.

If that happened, all rebellion activities would be set back tremendously.

"You bastard, how far will you go to ruin our Sauron Duchy...!"

"I do not know whether you can call it yours, but I do not care what happens to the Sauron Duchy," said Gubamon. "After all, the world of you creatures who do not even live more than a few hundred years is like a fleeting dream. Your nations are created and destroyed numerous times during the time it takes me to admire my collection; they are but sandcastles at the shore, are they not?"

For Gubamon, who had lived for a hundred thousand years since the age of the gods, the nations of people who lived for less than a thousand years were, just as he said, like dreams or sandcastles.

"C-curse you!" Iris muttered.

"Now then, it is time," said Gubamon. "I am looking forward to seeing whether you become an Undead on your own or part of a resistance trio Undead."

---------------------------------------------

The Vampires who had captured Rick were taking care of his basic needs while keeping him bound, blindfolded and gagged.

"He probably won't die within a day or two, but it would be problematic if he gets weaker by the time we take him to Gubamon-sama," Miles Rouge had told the Subordinate Vampires.

Rick was treated quite roughly, but thanks to the treatment that he was receiving, he wasn't suffering from dehydration. The food he was given was a liquid made by boiling cut-up pieces of dried meat and vegetables, and it tasted worse than anything he had ever eaten, however.

And after a short while, Rick noticed that the Vampires were arguing fiercely over something.

"How did it come to this?! Why?! Why at a time like this?!"

"Miles, what do we do, what are we supposed to do now?! I've only lived for two hundred years; I don't want to die!"

"It's obvious what we're going to do, isn't it!" said Miles. "That plan, we're going to pull off that plan! We don't have any other choice!"

"What?! I don't want to do that; how can we discard our pride as Vampires?!"

"Then do you want to die?! You want to die, don't you?! Whether you want to be killed by Gubamon-sama, killed by the Dhampir or killed by me, decide right now, you selfish boy!" Miles shouted.

The chaos that looked as if it would develop into full-blown discord between the Vampires reached Rick's ears. They were being so conspicuous about it that Rick wondered whether it was some kind of trap, but after this conversation, it seemed that all of the Vampires had gone somewhere except for a few left behind to watch him.

It seems that you've done well. As expected of you, Ani-ue. Now as long as you get away from these Vampires' 'plan'...

Rick held these expectations of his brother, but half a day later, those expectations were betrayed.

"It's almost time," said Miles. "Bring that little-brother-kun over here."

With only his blindfold removed, Rick was taken somewhere else, where he saw the Vampires and his older brother, who was bound like he was.

No, Ani-ue! It's not a fake. It's real...!

Rick had hoped that it was an imposter, but there was no way that he would mistake someone else for the older brother he respected and loved. Though the monster leather armor that he normally wore hadn't been taken off, he had been disarmed and tied up with rope, and he was casting his eyes downward. And this man was Raymond without a doubt.

He didn't have any visible wounds and his face didn't look pale, but he was limp and lifeless; perhaps he was fatigued, or perhaps he had only recently recovered from injuries with healing magic or Potions.

I have to somehow at least let Ani-ue escape.

Rick hardened his resolve to make this happen. But that resolve wavered as he heard a harsh sound, as if something hard was creaking loudly, and he suddenly noticed an old man in front of him.

"Oh, to think that you have captured two of them! And they are still alive!" cackled Gubamon, his eyes so wide open in delight that it looked as if his eyeballs would fall out of their sockets.

Rick was an exceptional individual, but he wasn't a superhuman like an A-class or an S-class adventurer; he could only fall to his knees at the sight of this sinister being.

"Well done, Miles! I am proud to have you as my subordinate," said Gubamon.

"Ha, haha! It is an honor to receive your praise!" said Miles.

"But... Hmm, there is a faint smell of blood coming from Raymond. It seems that his Vitality has been depleted a little, too."

"Th-that is... I am terribly sorry! When we captured him, he put up more of a resistance than we expected, but we have healed all of his wounds!" Miles said hastily, his face remaining stiff as he spoke.

"Well, it does not matter," said Gubamon. "He does not seem to have any visible injuries, and I did not expect you to capture him without harming him."

If he were to punish Miles and those under him for their ineptitude, it was possible that some of them might escape. He would have to bring them to the underground church before using them as materials.

"Now then, we will be teleporting. Stay still." Gubamon recited an incantation, and with another harsh, creaking sound, they were in the underground church that contained countless Undead and the restrained Iris.

Still bound, Iris turned around and hanged her head in resignation. "Rick-dono, and Raymond-dono as well..."

"Her as well," Rick muttered as he shook his head, seeing that Iris had been captured first.

And Raymond didn't show any reaction to speak of; his head continued to hang low.

"Now then, I suppose I will connect the materials with chains. I must figure out what kind of Undead you will become before I kill you," said Gubamon as he approached Raymond first. "Kihihi, I cannot leave this to anyone else. This moment, the moment of the first taste of the sense of accomplishment from having a hero offered to my... hands?"

Feeling an impact, Gubamon looked at his own stomach. To his disbelief, there was a black, horn-like object piercing into it, penetrating all the way to his back.

But the most unbelievable thing was that this horn was protruding from Raymond's own stomach.

"I-impossible!" Gubamon screamed, coughing blood from his mouth. Obeying the warnings of his survival instincts that he had not heard in a long time, he tried to step backwards.

But he could not remove the horn that was skewering his stomach; he could not move from where he was.

And then several more black horns appeared from the inside of Raymond's body and closed in on Gubamon.

"Gih, Iron Slash!"

Gubamon severed the horn with an Unarmed Fighting Technique martial skill and somehow managed to retreat and run away, suffering cuts all over his body in the process.

"R-Raymond-dono?"

Iris and Rick, who was still gagged, opened their eyes wide in astonishment and stared at Raymond's grotesque body, which was covered in blood from the horns that had been produced from his body.

He raised his face upwards ominously; it looked like the face of a hollow puppet.

"You bastard, why, why do you have the Demon King's horns?!" Gubamon shouted at the grotesque Raymond, blood and saliva flying from his mouth.

As if in response, Raymond convulsed gruesomely, and then his stomach split open.

"Ah, it was cramped in there."

Several screams resounded in the underground church as the white Dhampir, Vandalieu, crawled out of Raymond's stomach.

------------------------------------------------

After taking Raymond hostage, Vandalieu had been trying to draw out Rick, the criminal responsible for tricking Orbia and murdering her. After finding out that Rick had been taken captive by Vampires, Vandalieu discussed the upcoming change of plans with everyone.

If possible, Vandalieu wanted to have Orbia settle things personally, and he wanted to gain information from the Vampires.

As Vandalieu and his companions wracked their brains to figure out what should be done to achieve these goals, the Vampires gathered at the location that Vandalieu had designated, the open space that he had created in front of the camp.

... While waving a white flag.

"We surrender, we surrender! Please listen to what we have to say!"

Vandalieu's mind stopped working for a few seconds at the sight of the Vampire with a wild-looking beauty to his appearance at the front, calling out with an onee-style tone of speech while waving the white flag in front of the other Vampires.

"That person is... a man, isn't he?" said Darcia.

"He definitely looks like a man to me," said Privel. "Is he not a man?"

"... The minds of many Vampires who have lived for a long time undergo changes. How very embarrassing."

Bellmond, who was aware that she herself was a 'strange person,' explained this phenomenon to the bewildered Darcia and Privel.

"Bocchan, what will we do?" asked Rita.

"For now, I suppose we'll hear what they have to say," said Vandalieu. "There's no sign of enemies waiting to ambush us, and even if they're planning something, we can slaughter them all whenever we want."

The Rank 10 Bellmond and Rank 9 Knochen were present. And Vandalieu himself was here, too.

A dozen or so Vampires was no match for them.

Of course, I don't mind killing them without listening to them and then extracting information from their spirits afterwards, but since Rick isn't here, it's probably best to deal with them peacefully for now, Vandalieu thought as he stepped outside Knochen's walls with Bellmond to hear what the Vampires had to say.

And then the Vampires – Miles and his followers – all began begging for their lives and explaining the situation.

"Please spare us; at this