Chapter 700: Befriending the Great

The inheritance of the Archmage's magic is incomplete, and this is not an issue that can be resolved in a day or two. Fortunately, Acheronides is still very young.

That elderly siren, Is, has thrived for over four hundred years, while Acheronides is only forty-three—clearly, her lifespan stretches far ahead.

However, the immediate priority is to enhance combat effectiveness for the dragon-slaying battle.

After careful analysis, Liszt said, "Although the incomplete Archmage inheritance means your combat power cannot improve significantly in a short time, nor can you pose much of a threat to a Dragon Knight, focusing on support is a viable option. During the dragon-slaying battle, you can provide cover while I take on the Dragon Knight directly."

"Understood," Acheronides replied.

The two then discussed some cooperative attack strategies. If the main battlefield were at sea, Liszt and Acheronides fighting side by side would be unstoppable—Acheronides, untouchable over the waves, could effortlessly evade the Dragon Knight’s assaults while freely casting water-based magic.

If the main battlefield were on land, Acheronides would need to focus on defense before assisting Liszt with water-based magic.

"It would be best to fight at sea. Only then can we maximize our combined combat power and ensure the outcome of the dragon-slaying battle… We still have some time left, so we must drill together often to achieve perfect sync."

"Understood."

...

Liszt thought there was still time—after all, the threat was still dormant, not yet manifest.

But when he and Acheronides returned to their territory the next day, they immediately received a report from Mary Dawnbreak: "My lord, we have a crisis!"

As she spoke, the pureblood wore a face etched with worry.

"What kind of crisis?"

"Peggy and Wimbledon have returned from Ironhoof Island. They detected vampire signatures they recognized there, and those vampires also sensed them. Based on their judgment, it's almost certain the Black Knight family has deployed their upper ranks—perhaps even all their vampires!"

The Black Knight family consists of fifty-four vampires in total, including purebloods and half-breeds.

Among them, there are twelve purebloods and forty-two half-breeds.

Now, with two purebloods—Tubote and Famur—dead, and seven half-breeds like Mary defecting to Liszt, the Black Knight family is left with ten purebloods and thirty-five half-breeds.

"Send for Peggy and Wimbledon," Liszt said calmly.

Moments later.

Peggy and Wimbledon gave their account of what happened on Ironhoof Island. Shortly after arriving at Oxhorn, they detected traces of pureblood vampires in the city.

"A pureblood's heart can enhance blood magic's reach, using this feedback to track the locations of half-breeds. However, the connection goes both ways—half-breeds can also sense the positions of purebloods," Mary explained.

"So when Peggy and Wimbledon sensed the purebloods, the purebloods also sensed them?"

"Yes, my lord."

"How many purebloods did you detect?"

"We sensed three purebloods. Three working in tandem is rare for the Black Knight family. And if we found three in Oxhorn alone, there may be others spread across the island," Peggy replied.

Wimbledon added, "It's possible those three intended to leave Oxhorn for other islands... But once discovered, Peggy and I dared not stay. We stowed away on an outbound ship and stilled our blood to shake their pursuit."

Liszt nodded slightly and asked, "Do you think the Black Knight family might be coming for Tubote and Famur?"

"My lord, it's almost certain the Black Knight family is targeting us."

Liszt remained silent.

However, it didn’t seem to be the case. The Black Knight family should be aware of his strength—after all, he was a powerful "Ancient Warrior inheritor" who had defeated a Domain Knight. Given the abilities of these purebloods in the Black Knight family, it would be difficult for them to gain any advantage from Liszt, especially since this was in the Sapphire Duchy.

He ordered, "Keep a close watch on Coral Island and Black Horse Island, especially you, Mary. Keep your blood magic active at all times. If you detect any new vampires arriving, report to me immediately... As for that Mad Vampire Haben, don’t bother monitoring him—just capture him directly."

"As you command, my lord!"

...

The capture of the Mad Vampire Haben went smoothly. This half-breed had no chance of escaping under the net laid by Mary and the other blood servants.

His heart wasn’t in his chest.

Yet, he couldn’t withstand Mary’s interrogation and divulged everything he knew.

"I did intend to infiltrate Black Horse Island to investigate Lord Liszt, but I came with no ill intent, Lady Mary. I had no idea you had already sworn allegiance to Lord Liszt. Believe me, this is all a misunderstanding." Haben, sensing Mary’s pureblood aura, was visibly shaken.

"No ill intent? So you came with good intentions?"

"You could say that. My original mission was to contact a few vampires from the family—uh, your former superior, Lord Tubote... It was only midway that I received new orders from my superior, Lord Posido, to survey Black Horse Island." He had no idea Tubote was already dead.

But seeing Mary as a pureblood, he’d probably figured it out.

Of the two pureblood vampires Liszt had killed, only Famur, who guarded the Kunlun Mountain iron mines, was known by the Black Knight family to have been slain by him. As for Tubote, who had gone to Ironhoof Island to investigate the Goat Gathering, the family had no idea whether he was alive or dead—after all, from purebloods to half-breeds, Liszt had wiped them all out without a trace leaking.

Mary pressed on, "Infiltrating Black Horse Island—that counts as good intentions?"

"You might not know this, but the family never had any intention of avenging Lord Famur—not even his sister. I don’t know the reason, but I heard that if possible, the family head wishes to befriend this Lord Liszt."

"Befriend?"

"Yes. You’ve surely been monitoring me, so you can tell I wasn’t in any hurry to complete a mission. I’ve just been enjoying the food. Coming to Black Horse Island wasn’t a task for me—just a trip." Haben sounded sincere.

Mary’s eyes flickered with confusion, but she maintained her composure. "Then what is the purpose of the Black Knight family’s full-scale mobilization?"

"Uh, I don’t know. You’re aware that many tasks are just grunt work for us half-breeds. The secrets lie with the purebloods."

"How many from the family have come?"

"I came with Fat Pig Pik under Lord Posido—we were the first batch. How many others followed, I have no idea."

The interrogation ended, and Haben was thrown in a cell.

Mary hurried to report to Liszt.

After hearing the report, Liszt frowned. "The head of the Black Knight family wants to befriend me? They know I killed the pureblood Famur, yet instead of seeking revenge, they want to befriend me?" It sounded like a joke—downright absurd.

"My lord, Haben likely wasn’t lying, but he only heard whispers about the family head’s intentions. We can’t confirm their truth."

"But why would the head of the Black Knight family want to befriend me? If I recall correctly, this head is named Rommel von Black Knight, a powerful vampire with strength comparable to a top-tier knight." Liszt shook his head, but suddenly, a thought clicked.

This Smoke Mission involved an alignment choice.

At first, he thought it was about making a choice under pressure from the Grand Duke. But now, it seemed related to Alonso Cyclamen.

"Could the Smoke Mission be about choosing sides between Alonso and the Grand Duke?"

He pondered silently.

From the start, Alonso had been cast as an enemy in the dragon-slaying war—after all, Liszt had killed his vampire servants and taken his iron mines. Yet, what had been overlooked was that both the vampires and the iron mines were just collateral of war. Losses on the battlefield were inevitable.

For a Dragon Knight, such losses might be negligible—at least compared to gaining the allegiance of a top-tier Ancient Warrior inheritor, these were acceptable losses.

"Could Alonso actually want to recruit me into his service?"

"Given his habits, that seems entirely possible. Didn’t the Bovine Marquis get completely hoodwinked by him...?"