I became a vampire princess and then a dragon girl?

§87 Both Ends of the Front

"Wake up, hey, wake up."

While injecting her magic power into Fili's dry body, Istina shook her body, trying to wake Fili from her state of concentration.

"Cough, cough, huh—huh—."

Finally, thanks to Istina's efforts, Fili regained consciousness with a cough and rapid breathing, covered in sweat.

"Ah, thank you. That's a great help."

Looking at Istina who had woken her up, Filier thanked her and then pretended to close her eyes again to try to wake Ilvie up, completely ignoring her already overdrawn body.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Seeing this, Istina had to shake Fili'er's body again to forcibly stop her movements.

"No, I must wake up Ilvi as soon as possible, otherwise the war will begin."

"The war has already begun. You can't catch up."

There are only a few hours left until dawn. By then, the imperial army will set out again, and in a few hours they will enter the vampire defense circle. At that time, the war will be officially declared to have begun. Therefore, in her current weak state, Filial will not be able to catch up no matter what.

"Even in this situation, we can't give up. I've faced similar situations in the past, even more desperate than now, but we didn't give up then."

In the past...? Before the defeat of the demon, right?

Going forward with the strength of just a few people to challenge the demon god that practically rules the entire world could be described as brave in a nice way, but to be frank, the only way to describe them is probably reckless.

Compared to that time, this war now is probably not really that difficult.

But even so, Istina continued to stop her attempts.

"But you weren't fighting alone back then. Even though we weren't directly involved, everyone was trying their best to support you."

"..."

She was right.

Filier had no way of refutating Istina's words.

Although the real expedition team consisted of only a few of them, they received help from many people before they went to complete their mission. It would be better to say that without that help, they would probably not be able to complete their mission.

"So, try to trust us. The hero once... Anyway, she will do her best to minimize casualties."

Seeing that Fili had calmed down, Istina's words softened a little. However, when she wanted to reveal Eve's identity, she suddenly realized that it was not appropriate here. There were soldiers patrolling outside, so she quickly changed her words. However, those who should understand will understand, and there is nothing she can do about those who don't understand.

“…Well, I’ll leave it to you then.”

She nodded slightly, and after choosing to follow Istina's advice, it was as if all the strength in her body was drained away. Fili's body swayed twice and she almost fell down, but she managed to steady herself again before Istina reached out to support her.

It is true that she is now severely overdrawn, but this is not the first time she has been overdrawn to such an extent, and she is not to the point of fainting like most people.

If she had lost her ability to move so easily, she would have died in the previous battle.

However, Filier was not sleepy at this time, and she could feel that Istina was the same.

So she took the initiative to bring up the topic.

"Could you tell me what you and your hero saw before the dawn of sleep arrived?"

"Of course you can, but don't you want to take a break?"

"…Okay, then, before sleep sets in."

After thinking for a few seconds, Filier changed her mind.

"Well, then I'll start..."

Then Istina began to tell the story of what happened between her and Eve bit by bit. As she spoke, Fili's expression changed several times. Finally, a trace of fatigue slowly appeared on her cheek, and her body fell on the table and fell into a deep sleep.

"And then...ah, I fell asleep."

As the one telling the story, Istina was much more energetic than Filier, so only Filier fell asleep.

After discovering that Fili had fallen asleep, in order to avoid waking her up, Istina found a blanket and carefully draped it over her, then returned to the floor of the inner room and tried to fall asleep again.

Far away on the other side of the Fallen Plain, at the mobile fortress of the Imperial Army, this last night was also not peaceful.

To be more precise, the two imperial generals, the frontline commanders of this war, were worried about one problem - how would the vampires resist their cavalry after losing most of their defenders and the fact that the vampire queen was most likely not present.

Although they had a large army approaching, the vampires did not make any obvious moves, or in other words, they did not make any more moves except for the normal deployment of defenses, and they did not even take advantage of the night to harass them.

What gave them the confidence? Was it the foreign players? Or was there some hidden weapon they were unaware of?

If the vampire defenders made some special moves, they might not be so worried, but sometimes calmness can bring more pressure.

"What do you think, Fereham?"

Standing in front of the battlefield sand table, looking at the huge disparity between the enemy and us, another imperial general who came to the battlefield, Atwood Deliwu, asked in a deep voice.

"Unless they haven't considered the purpose of the mobile fortress beneath our feet, the most likely possibility is that the Blood Queen hasn't left, or can rush back to repel us."

After a moment's silence, he gave his answer.

After all, he had no idea what other means the vampires had to fight against his own army.

Although the defenders often have a great advantage in war and often have to rely on numbers to break through the city, this time it is very different because they are not alone, their city is right at their feet.

They were not going to attack the fortress's defenses, but to use the fortress to fight the fortress.

Under this premise, the advantage of the vampires as defenders was undoubtedly greatly weakened.

But the possibility that the commander on the blood clan side did not think of this is very low. After all, the mobile fortress is too conspicuous. Even if you only look at the appearance, you can guess its function.

At least Felum couldn't imagine that the extremely experienced Idina had missed this point.

"But they said they can definitely contain the Blood Queen."

Frowning, Atwood Deliu looked obscurely at the crystal ball placed aside.

They can use that thing to see where the Blood Queen is.

Although I don't know where that place is, I can still see from the picture that the Blood Queen is deeply involved in the battle and has no time to clone herself.

In this situation, what is the basis of the vampire race?

§88 Countdown

"So, do you want to change the plan?"

After changing the position of the small flag representing the Imperial Army on the battlefield sand table, Atwood Deliu asked his colleagues around him.

"Heh, do you think His Majesty would agree?"

Shaking his head, he subconsciously looked at the order letter from the Emperor of the Empire on the table beside him and said with a wry smile.

'Attack head-on and break through the vampires' defenses in the Fallen Plains as quickly as possible.'

This is the Emperor's order in a nutshell.

With their overwhelming numerical advantage and these metal creations, they directly shook the defense line where the Vampire Queen was missing and most of the defenders had been transferred away.

The emperor also provided them with a batch of secret medicines of unknown origin, which would instantly increase their strength in a short period of time as long as they were taken.

It is said that the providers of these secret medicines, the makers of the metal creations, and the people who forced the vampires to transfer most of their military forces, leaving their defense lines empty, all came from the same force.

Although many of the imperial generals had doubts about this and could not figure out why the other side chose to cooperate with the empire despite being so powerful, under the orders of the imperial emperor, they had no choice but to suppress their doubts and carry out orders obediently.

Although he shouldn't have such thoughts as the general of the empire, to be honest, that group of people, although their collaborators, looked very suspicious. Felum even suspected that they had used some means to bewitch the emperor of the empire.

In the final analysis, there are so many doubts in this war that others may not know, but as the general, Felum is naturally clear about them.

The mysterious technology that built the mobile fortress, the mysterious holy sword wielder, and the expected yet unexpected external aid.

In their army, there are actually many teams of elite adventurers hired from the Kingdom of Travelers. On the surface, this seems normal. Seeking strong external assistance is also part of the war. With the addition of these people, the number of people they can fight in the Judgment Battle is much greater than the vampires expected.

But the problem is that these people are not hired by the empire, but by the group of stingy people in the wealthy country.

Felem could vouch with his identity as the great general of the empire that he had never seen those misers from the Land of Wealth be so generous. They hired all the well-known adventurer teams from the Land of Travelers without blinking an eye. Back then, the empire had commissioned families there to send warriors to subjugate the Blood Queen, but they had been blackmailed out of a huge sum of money. But this time, they had changed their ways?

Even according to the investigation, this matter was led and promoted by the Davis family, one of the five major families in the country of wealth.

Could a family that had managed to rise to the top in a land of wealth, where people were forced to grind their flesh into powder, be so kind? Even dreams have their limits.

But this was the decision of the emperor of the empire, and they had no right to interfere.

"Yes... His Majesty will not agree..."

After hearing Felum's answer, Atwood seemed to have thought of the same thing, but he could only sigh helplessly and fell silent as he stared at the sand table in front of him.

"Well... well, let's rest for a while and prepare for the possibility of the vampires initiating a judgment war."

Sighing, Felum said.

"Well, no matter what, by tomorrow, the vampires' reliance will be exposed..."

Nodding slightly, Atwood said in a deep voice.

'Although it may come at the cost of the bodies of Imperial soldiers,' that was the part he didn't say.

"Yeah...anyway..."

Felum obviously also heard the implication of Atwood's words. His deep gaze seemed to see through the layers of obstacles in front of him and looked in the direction of the vampire defense line, as if he wanted to see through everything the vampires were hiding.

In the Imperial Army, the last night before the war passed quietly.

—·—·—·—·—·—·—

Blood clan, the defense line of the Fallen Origin.

At dawn, Eve woke up just as the first rays of sunlight hit the fortress.

In order to guard against possible attacks from the human race, she did not sleep soundly last night. She chose to replenish her energy through sleep only to ensure that she could be fully prepared to face today's judgment battle.

"Huh~Hmm——"

Eve sat up on the floor and stretched, then left the inner room without disturbing anyone else.

"Ah, I fell asleep."

Looking at Fili sleeping in front of the table covered with a blanket, Eve thought for a moment and did not help her change to a more comfortable position.

The main reason is that Feilier's reaction is a little too sensitive. If you move her rashly while she is asleep, she might wake up directly.

Falling asleep like this was better than the previous situation where he kept trying to wake Ilvey without caring about himself.

However, despite saying this, Eve still cast a small spell to keep Filier warm before leaving.

After doing all this, Eve left the tent and made final preparations for the arrival of the imperial army.

"your Highness."

When Eve arrived, Idina had been waiting for a long time. The battlefield sand table in front of her accurately reflected the position of the imperial army.

"Well, the Imperial Army didn't make any moves last night?"

"Yes, the enemy didn't send any scouts. The Empire is likely planning to attack our defenses head-on."

This is not too strange. After all, the night belongs to the domain of the vampires. No matter how careful humans are, they will eventually expose their whereabouts and attract attacks. Therefore, scouts at night are basically just for show. Real scouts have to be carried out during the day.

But it's still a bit strange that not even a scout team was sent out.

Although everyone knows that night scouting is just playing house, how can they not even pretend to do it?

"Has the Imperial Army begun to advance further?"

"Not yet, but it should be starting soon. The enemy will most likely choose to reach the outermost edge of our defense circle at noon."

Noon is the most uncomfortable time for vampires, even after a long period of adaptation. Even if we put aside the issue of work and rest, the sunlight from the sky is so fierce that most vampires cannot avoid it. Naturally, the Imperial Army will not miss this best opportunity to launch an attack.

As a long-standing opponent, the Imperial Army naturally has the means to dispel the dark clouds that have been hanging over the vampire territory for years. At that time, the vampires will have to be careful of the sunlight that leaks through due to damage to the fortress during the battle.

"Will they arrive at noon? Then we should start the Judgment Battle earlier."

After weighing the pros and cons, Eve decisively chose the time to start the judgment battle before the Imperial Army entered the defense line, or in other words, before the Imperial Army set off.