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• In front of the school training area – 17:23

“It feels like they just saw the light at the end of the tunnel again, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does. Should we leave them? Should we crush them?”
“I say crush them. I want to see the faces they’ll make. Don’t you? Aren’t you just dying to see them?”
“Whoa, you’re gross. You’re gross, Doug.”
“Hehe. Thanks.”

Suddenly, countless black spears shot up from beneath the vampires’ feet. William and Lombard, who had been holding shields, reacted as quickly as they could, barely managing to withstand the attack. Dana and Helen, who sadly didn’t have shields, avoided fatal injuries but were struck repeatedly along the edges of their bodies and thrown back by the force of the attack.

Several of the spears that had flown through the front line continued forward, reaching the children hiding in the ruins of the training area. One spear pierced Virgil’s left shoulder as he was tending to Tomas. Another stabbed into Leila Carter’s abdomen, one struck Dennis Hortley in the back, and another lodged into Corin’s right thigh.

“Argh! Kyaa!!!”

Though the bleeding in Corin’s left calf had stopped, she was still far from being able to walk. With her right leg now injured even more severely, she could no longer stand. She collapsed, gasping.

Even then, there were five more black spears closing in on them. Irvine cut down two and deflected a third with the shaft of his weapon. The remaining two were headed straight for Beatrice. Without hesitation, Irvine threw himself into their path. One spear grazed his left arm, throwing it off course. The other struck him on the left side before vanishing.

“Irvine!!!”

Beatrice screamed in anguish.

“Bibi, focus! Don’t worry about me!”
“But, Irvine… Your wounds… I have to heal you! You’re bleeding!”
“You’ll do that later! Right now, you have other priorities! Don’t worry. I’ll protect you! I promised, didn’t I?”
“Irvine…”
“You’re the woman I’ve chosen to protect! I’ll make sure to keep you safe until the end!”
“Irvine… Irvine… Irvine!”

With tears brimming in her eyes, Beatrice finished up her magical formation and began channeling her Mana into it.

“They seem to still be going strong.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t sit right with me. Should we go directly?”
“Damn it!”

The situation had taken a dire turn. The two vampires were clearly enjoying themselves, fully capable of interfering with the summoning at any moment. They only needed to hold them off for a few more minutes, just enough time for Beatrice to finish.

William glanced back. Corin was struggling to lift herself off the ground. Both her legs were injured, and she couldn’t stand, but she was still fine.

A sharp chill ran down William’s spine, quickly replaced by a searing mix of frustration and anger that made his temple throb.

(No way is this fine! Corin was reduced to a state where she couldn’t even walk. How in the world is that fine? I’m not standing here just so that she can get hurt!!!)

William ran his finger over the control bead on his breastplate and steeled himself.

“Lombard, I’m leaving this place to you!”
“Huh? Will, what are you saying?”
“I’m going to launch a suicide attack on those vampires to draw their attention away from us. Keep the defensive line once I’m out!!”
“What the hell are you saying? You won’t even reach them!”
“Well, it’s worth a shot. I’ll be back in a bit!”
“Will, stop!”

Without hesitation, William crushed the control bead on his chest armor, forcing the Mana circuitry into full activation. The magical markings on William’s gear flared brighter than usual, a clear sign that the circuits were overloaded with Mana.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

With a wild roar, William charged straight into a pack of Shadow Dogs, his equipment glowing fiercely.

He raced across the battlefield at a speed far beyond anything he had ever reached before. Suddenly, a shadow dog lunged at him, and he slashed through its face in a single, fluid motion with his short sword. Another beast attacked from the right, but William severed its paw with precision, then followed up with a devastating blow from his left fist, crushing its skull.

His physical power now exceeded anything he had ever experienced. He struck down the shadow dogs one after another, rapidly closing the distance to the two black-fitted vampires.

From a distance, Corin watched William’s advance, illuminated in that brilliant light, and stared in shock.

“No, Will… You shouldn’t use that!”

Corin screamed, her face twisted in grief.

The boosting magical markings on William’s and the other children’s equipment were standard for the Village Guard’s armor. Except for a few original and customized sets, there wasn’t much difference in performance between the gear worn by lower-ranked soldiers and that used by elite soldiers like Howard.

These effects primarily boosted defense and physical strength, but how much they improved the wearer depended heavily on the individual.

The final effect was determined by multiplying the wearer’s base physical ability with the amount of Mana they poured into the markings.

A skilled individual could produce a highly desirable output by using minimal Mana with intense Mana Pressure. By channeling Mana through the magic engravings in their gear, they could achieve high-level enhancements. However, the more one enhances their abilities, the greater the strain on both mind and body. To manage this, experienced users developed techniques to momentarily switch on and switch off this boost, reducing the load during combat. Veterans would regulate their breathing and pace themselves, allowing them to endure long battles without collapsing under the strain.

The strength of fighters like Howard and other upper-ranked members lies not only in their raw physical power, but also in their mastery of these techniques, precise control of Mana input and flow.

In contrast, lower-ranked members, or those with underdeveloped physical and magical abilities, couldn’t reach the same level of performance. Their base physical strength was lower, and they lacked the Mana quantity and control needed to safely amplify their power.

Technically, anyone could gain a substantial boost in ability as long as they forced in enough Mana. But those without sufficient Mana Pressure would quickly deplete their Mana reserves, losing their Mana in an instant. Such a rapid loss of Mana often led to immediate unconsciousness. Moreover, pushing one’s body beyond its limits with enhancements often causes damage.

Naturally, there was a measure developed to prevent this from happening, and that was the Control Bead installed in all armor sets.

The control bead acted like a Magic Cell, allowing even those with limited Mana to use enhancements. But more importantly, it functioned as a breaker, preventing the flow of excessive Mana that could harm the user.

William, however, had shattered his control bead. By doing so, he forcefully overcharged his armor with Mana, initiating an overboost. With the Control Bead shattered, the armor was rapidly drawing huge amounts of Mana directly from his body. A superhuman state that came with a time limit. A reckless surge of power that allowed the user to fight far beyond their limits for a brief period. But the cost was enormous. In the worst-case scenario, the backlash could burn out the user’s central nervous system entirely. The price for wielding such power was sadly unfathomable.

The compressed ether from William’s magical armor, brimming with overwhelming Mana, glowed, spilled out, and scattered into the air. It was as if William’s very life was being chipped away.

Cloaked in light, William broke through the pack of shadow dogs and advanced toward the vampires. In an instant, countless black spears shot out to smother the glow, but he cut through, ducked, and slashed them aside. In one breath, he reached Doug.

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