The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“Hurry! Outside!”

Lars has the Narbe Ritter soldiers carry Kruger and orders everyone to evacuate the castle.

The reason was the suspicious roar they heard from the castle basement. Relying on his intuition, Lars decided to immediately leave the castle without investigating it.

And his decision was not wrong.

“Oi! What was that roar!?”

“Th, that is……..!”

Lars questions the old researcher.

As he ran with his hands tied, the researcher pushed his chest out proudly for some reason.

“It was the roar of our masterpiece!”

“HIII!!? Please don’t hit me……w, we tried to make an artificial vampire using their blood but all our attempts failed since the blood was just too strong. Even though their muscle mass grew and their strength multiplied, they lost all their reason…….we uhh, we call them the Failures.”

“So that was one of them huh…….”

On their way up the tower, they encountered a huge monster.

Reminded of that, Lars’s expression distorted from the discomfort he felt. After all, that man was also a victim.

“So? Was that scream their mating call or something?”

“No no! That was not something remotely close to those Failures! To overcome the strength of the vampire blood, we used a little something. With that, we managed to dramatically improve them!”

“What did you do!?”

“We used the blood of the human that was possessed by the Demon! We combined the blood of the demon and the blood of the vampire together!”

“!!??”

Hearing that, Everyone was at a loss for words.

That concept was just too unorthodox.

In that silence, Leo asks the researcher in a small voice.

“That Demon blood……..where did you get it?”

“I don’t know. However, the effect it produced was immense! They may have lost their ability to speak but the alteration on their appearance was minimal and they were blessed with special power! They can turn everyone they bite into a similar state with them.”

Leo looks away from the old researcher who is proudly presenting his creation.

As you can get from their name, vampires prefer to drink blood but it is only a superstition that those who got their blood sucked by them would become a vampire themselves.

Vampires originally don’t possess such ability.

It was something like a myth made to scare children but now they have turned that into reality.

Leo couldn’t understand why someone would do something like that and shut his eyes. The more he thinks about it, the more his head aches.

“We named them the [Maneater]! Once we send one of these Maneaters to enemy territory, the infection will explosively spread and we can easily attack and crush them!”

(TLN: Yup, its name borrow kanji from Demon and Vampire, 悪鬼 (Click if you are interested), the literal meaning is Fiend as it is a combination of the word Evil and Demon.)

“……Duke Kruger. Who did you use it on?”

Leo looked at Kruger who was being carried.

When they caught him, Kruger looked carefree for some reason.

Even though his winning chance should already have been completely erased by then.

“Surely, you must have already had some guesses……? Of course, we used it on the Southern Nobles! Naturally, we did not use it on anyone who cooperated with us but those we took hostages!”

“……….You have gone insane.”

“Hahaha!! Such a poor loser you are! If you don’t kill those Maneaters, disaster will befall the Empire. But if you kill them, all Southern Nobles will bear a grudge against you! Eventually, the second me will be created! And someday the Empire will be crushed under all the resentment!!”

Having said that, Kruger continues to laugh.

Leo frowned as he silently went down the stairs of the castle.

When he reaches the entrance, Sieg and many knights are holding back the Failures.

“You are alright huh! Hurry up and get out of here!”

“Sieg! I’m glad you are safe!”

“Finne-sama already rescued the hostages! Thanks to that, a good number of knights joined our side and it got a lot easier to move around now!”

“I’m grateful! Are those the only things that came out!?”

“What!? There’s something more!?”

“There should be another type of them too!”

“No, haven’t seen anything like that yet!”

“Good! All men withdraw to the main gate! Colonel! Close off all the routes connecting this castle to the city!”

“Your Highness, You must escape first!”

“No…..i don’t think I can afford to do that……”

A large number of footsteps can be heard from deep underground.

Hearing the ground shaking by the footsteps, Leo urged Lars to hurry.

“Quick!”

“Kuh! Understood! SEAL OFF THE CASTLE!”

Lars ordered his men to block all four gates that connected the castle to the city.

During that time, Leo held back the enemy at the main gate.

“It’s useless! We already unlocked everything in the basement! Monsters will overflow from it soon!”

“Shut up! There are still people here! Colonel! I don’t care who they are, get everyone to the main gate!”

“Understood!”

Combining the number of Narbe Ritters and the knights.

Approximately 600 people have gathered in front of the main gate.

“Finne-san and the others safely got out right…….”

“Oi oi, is this the time to be relieved? You don’t have an escape route anymore you know?”

“We can leap out from the top of the gate but………I don’t think that they will wait for us to do so.”

“I don’t mind if any of you want to escape but we still need people to hold them back. As long as we are here, the enemy won’t head outside. Using that time, Finne-san should be able to evacuate the citizens.”

Hearing Leo, no one chose to escape. In the first place, every knight who stayed behind already made the resolve to give up their lives.

Some of them are Duke Kruger’s knights and some of them are of the other Southern Noble houses. They chose this place to make their redemption. Of course, some of them did not make that choice. However, even they did not just simply escape and chose to join Finne to assist her.

On the other hand, the Maneaters haven’t left the castle yet.

They are attacking Duke Kruger’s knights who were late to escape.

“If what we heard is true then every knight left in the castle should already be turned into Maneater by now………”

“Duke Kruger. How many knights did you have in the castle?”

“Hmph…..around two thousand I guess.”

“If we estimate that 500 people were killed and 500 have joined us, the remaining 1,000 should already have been turned into Maneaters. What about their combat ability?”

“It, it should only be a slight improvement. The Demon blood mixed with the vampire blood so there should be a huge change in its original effect…….”

“Even if it’s a slight improvement, it still posts a high enough threat.”

It is not the case where a demon possesses a vampire. Instead, both of their blood were combined and injected into humans.

It was a miracle that the person who got injected with it managed to stay alive.

Leo stared silently at the castle as he thought that the reason it had such an effect was that the strength of two powerful blood is repulsing each other.

As he stared at the castle, a man emerged from it. He is wearing fine clothes. Perhaps he is one of the Southern Nobles. However, the way he walked was shaky like he is a sick person.

Then, when he raised his face.

His eyes are completely white. That abnormality sent chills down Leo’s spine.

However, the Maneater did not immediately rush toward Leo.

He waited for a large number of Failures to come out from the castle and set up the formation first.

“Is he leading them!?”

“Th, there was nothing like that in the report!”

The old researcher panicked.

Thinking that this is going to be a hard battle, Leo ordered the men to form a semicircle with their back against the gate.

Then, the Failures rushed at them.

“STOP THEM!”

“Your Highness! Even alone, you must escape!”

“I didn’t come this far just to retreat!”

“However! We don’t have any way to deal with the Maneater that is commanding them at the castle! If we crash with them directly, our side will have casualties!”

If that happens, they will not be able to thin the number of the Maneaters.

To beat them, they have no choice but to annihilate them all with a force that is three times or at least twice their number.

Lars thought.

However, Leo has a different idea.

“I have a plan…….”

“What!? If you have a plan then now’s the time to spill it!”

Sieg spoke as he dealt with one of the failures.

The knights are also struggling and appear to be locked in a stalemate. If the Maneaters jumped into the fray in this situation, it would surely cause a lot of casualties.

“This is just a guess but……if the Maneater is the production of Demon and Vampire blood then…..they should be something close to a possessed human.”

“That’s true but……”

“If so then I might be able to purify them using holy magic.”

Holy magic that can purify Demons is an advanced magic.

However, its effect is that much potent.

“The body of those who are possessed by demons are altered but…..with just the diluted blood, the effect it has on them should be weaker, I might be able to save them by purifying their blood.”

“That is too reckless, Your Highness! We don’t know whether that is possible or not! What if only the blood of the demon is purified? We will have a lot of casualties on our hands!”

“What do you think?”

Leo asks the old researcher who is standing nearby.

The old researcher was reluctant to give his answer but he immediately speaks once Leo reaches for his sword.

“I, I don’t think that will be the case…….we mixed the demon blood with the vampire’s so if the demon blood can be removed, they should revert back to a normal human……..I, I wouldn’t recommend trying it though……..”

“That’s what he said.”

“Please don’t make it sound so easy……to purify all the Maneaters in the castle, you would need to use a holy magic with a wide range of effects. If my memory serves me right, the only one who can use holy magic here is you, Your Highness.”

“Yeah, I planned to do it myself from the start.”

“You are being too unreasonable! A wide range of holy magic couldn’t be used unless you are a master of holy magic! I have heard of a lot of mages who lost their lives trying to use magic that was beyond their capability! We can’t let you do such a reckless thing! Please order us to wipe them out! We will definitely accomplish it!”

“Rather than risking the Narbe Ritters turning into Maneaters…..I think this is a much better choice. If it works, we will be able to save a lot of lives. Even if it doesn’t, it should be able to do something about this situation.”

“If something goes wrong you might lose your life! Even if you survive, you will be right in the middle of the danger! Please realize your importance, Your Highness!”

Lars desperately tries to convince Leo.

Sieg also agreed with him.

“I also agree with the Colonel. If we have you, we will be able to mobilize the Southern Knight and the army, but if you die here, there will be no one left to solve this situation.”

“I understand what you are trying to say…..but when I have the opportunity to save everyone, I do not want to throw it away. And if I let even a single maneater escape, the infection will surely spread through the Empire. Even if I survive, I will not be able to do anything. Now is that the time to act.”

Leo had already thrown away his survival instinct.

His mind focuses on the way to stop the Maneaters here.

Seeing the determination in his eyes, Lars regrets his naivety.

If push comes to shove he planned to take him and escape. However, such a thing never existed in Leo’s mind. What is currently in his mind is the question of whether to do it now or not.

Recognizing his resolution, Lars clenches his teeth and speaks to Leo.

“If you realize that it is dangerous please immediately stop. I will cut everything down and solve this situation for you.”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

“…..His Highness is preparing a great magic! Focus on defending! Don’t let them lay even a scratch on him!!”

The Narbe Ritters and the Knights’ morale were raised by Lars’s command.

Seeing them, Leo begins the preparation for his magic.

On the other hand, Sieg tiredly speaks to Lars in a small voice.

“Even though he’s an imperial prince, this guy is quite an idiot huh……”

“I’m with you there.”

“…….if it gets dangerous I will drag him out of there. Got it?”

“I will leave it to you. I made a promise with His Highness Arnold…..I will buy you the time to escape even if it costs me my life.”

Decided so, Lars held his sword up.

At that time, the sound of the whistle echoes.

That sound is inaudible to those who are there.

However, there was certainly a person who heard it.

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