Yet… what exactly had he protected?
As King of Romania, as leader of the Black Faction, as Darnic's Servant—
What had Vlad III truly accomplished in this Holy Grail War?
His fortress had crumbled in mere moments. The soldiers under his command were all but annihilated. He himself was powerless to defeat the enemy's strongest Servant.
He could only stand and watch—watch helplessly as his lands fell into enemy hands, as his loyal subjects perished under the enemy's devastating strike, unable to muster even a shred of resistance.
Being powerless to halt this invasion filled Vlad III with indescribable fury.
This was not merely a humiliating defeat—it was his beloved homeland trampled beneath the invader's heel.
Their arrogance, their casual invasion—all of it fueled Vlad's wrath and self-loathing.
If becoming a vampire, if sacrificing his own reputation, could allow him to defend his nation, to repel these invaders—would he not accept it without hesitation?
To protect his kingdom, to ensure its strength, Vlad had already been willing to treat even his own kin as pests to be exterminated.
This was the ruthless, uncompromising love he held for his homeland. Romania was everything to him; he would gladly surrender every fiber of his being to it.
No matter how bloody the method, no matter how many lives must be sacrificed—he would never hesitate.
If he couldn't fulfill even the most desperate wishes of his people, how could he dare call himself Romania's king?
Filled with this renewed resolve, Vlad III closed his eyes, finally having made his decision.
"My King—"
Far away, Darnic sensed it clearly—the unwavering resolve emanating through his [Command Spells].
He fully understood what Vlad intended to unleash—and exactly what grim resolution it required.
It was the Noble Phantasm Vlad would rather die than use—a detested curse he loathed so deeply that even on the brink of death, he viciously cursed those who had spread its tale.
How could Darnic fail to grasp Vlad's turmoil?
He had entered Vlad's dreams, seen his memories firsthand. He knew precisely what this action meant to Vlad.
Yet now, Darnic had no time left for hesitation. No time to ask Vlad if he was certain. Like Caules before him, he could only place his absolute trust in his Servant.
"By my [Command Spell]—Lancer, maintain your reason."
"By my [Command Spell]—Lancer, maintain your reason."
"By my final [Command Spell]—Lancer, unleash your Noble Phantasm!"
As Darnic's final command echoed, thick, black mist erupted violently from Vlad III's body, emitting an oppressive, nauseating aura.
Countless bats manifested from thin air, swarming around Vlad as his presence transformed into something monstrous. Even Siegfried, standing nearby, felt his heartbeat falter briefly.
His instincts screamed warnings—the current Vlad could easily slaughter him without a second thought.
This was a creature whose very existence distorted natural order:
The progenitor of vampires from legend—Count Dracula himself.
Under the influence of [Kazikli Bey], Vlad III had already reached a strength comparable to Arthur Pendragon. But with the invocation of [Legend of Dracula], Vlad became the legendary vampire known by all as Dracula, far surpassing his previous limits.
Even without the territorial bonus from [Kazikli Bey], Vlad's strength as Dracula vastly exceeded his previous peak. With both states combined and Vlad retaining his sanity through the [Command Spells], his current might far exceeded a mere sum of its parts.
This was no mere "1+1=3" increase; it had easily surpassed even that.
Only now did Vlad wield sufficient strength to truly dominate Karna, potentially even kill him outright—not like before, when every grievous injury Karna sustained would heal instantly, effectively rendering Vlad's attacks meaningless.
In this Holy Grail War, mana was the cheapest commodity of all.
Without a trace of hesitation, Vlad shot forth from the ground, instantly shattering three layers of sound barriers. His speed was so overwhelming that Siegfried nearly failed to track him.
Meanwhile, immense flames erupted violently from the tip of Karna's divine spear, carrying with them the terrifying force of annihilation, aimed directly at the three Servants on the ground. The flames surged upward, almost completely filling the sky.
Whoosh—!
A black shadow flew directly toward the descending divine spear, utterly unconcerned by its destructive power, hurtling upward from the earth.
At the same moment, a brilliant azure beam intertwined with crackling lightning shot forth from the ground.
Its terrifying force carved a huge crater around Saber and Berserker.
The devastation wasn't directly caused by their Noble Phantasms themselves, merely the collateral pressure of unleashing them simultaneously.
Their combined force instantly reduced the surrounding earth to rubble.
Not even the earth could withstand their joint release of power.
Just as the shadowy figure approached the descending spear, the blazing blue beam clashed violently with Karna's fire-enshrouded divine spear.
A tremendous explosion tore across the sky. Vlad III plunged straight into the explosion of roaring flames.
Karna observed calmly, completely unfazed by the enormous beam below him.
Yet from afar, thanks to the amplification of six [Command Spells], the two Servants' combined Noble Phantasms managed, if only momentarily, to halt the spear's descent. Yet it lasted mere seconds.
The electric blue beam shattered abruptly like fragile glass.
The divine spear continued hurtling downward toward Siegfried, effortlessly shredding through any resistance.
Vlad's body, upon contact with the divine spear's flames, vanished entirely, leaving not even ashes. All that remained was his severed head, carried forward by sheer inertia through the edge of the flames, hurtling toward Karna.
Even the briefest contact with these flames—akin to the blazing surface of the sun—was enough to erase Vlad entirely.
Yet, before Karna's eyes, Vlad's severed head twisted unnaturally in midair, his body instantly regenerating from the flames.
"Never trust that a Lancer is truly dead."
As Vlad's cold voice echoed, Karna's perpetually calm expression finally shifted slightly. Even reduced to nothing more than a head, Vlad had survived—such was the horrifying tenacity of the original vampire of legend:
Dracula.
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