The undead legions of the Crystal Orchid Empire were infamous across neighboring realms. Their influence even warped local forging techniques. Lilithia believed other methods must exist—this region’s obsession with cruelly crafting sentient weapons stemmed solely from the Empire’s deep-rooted shadow.

Everyone knew the weaknesses of undead and zombies: light magic purified the former, earth magic restrained the latter.

But the Crystal Orchid Empire understood its own flaws best.

Their undead were shielded by massive magic arrays, granting near-immunity to light magic. Not perfect immunity—light spells still worked—but anyone thinking light magic alone could wipe them out was deluding themselves.

Their zombies moved with terrifying agility, surpassing even their living forms. Only the Empire knew this secret.

They were strong.

Most terrifyingly, both undead and zombies could self-destruct. As the Empire’s spearhead sweeping through nations, they rarely tasted defeat.

Yet the Crystal Orchid Empire didn’t border the Tulip Empire directly. Several small kingdoms lay between them—weak, but sovereign realms nonetheless.

Before Sword Saint Fiore’s rise, the Tulip Empire had merely been the Tulip Kingdom. His birth lifted its gaze beyond petty kingdoms, daring to challenge the ancient Crystal Orchid Empire. Those small realms became buffer zones between giants.

Commanding this border war was a figure called the "Duke of Floral Whispers"—someone Lilithia barely knew. Truthfully, she knew none of the dukes well. But this one was the Tulip Empress’s true confidant, one of her die-hard loyalists.

Lilithia couldn’t judge his tactics, but she knew his cruelty.

Proof?

"Lilithia! Run already!"

"Hold on. I think we can still fight."

"Fight what? Even if they lack an Archmage, it’s a hundred against eight hundred! Those zombies self-destruct! I won’t stop you from dying, but don’t drag me down with you!" Verutan was near breaking point. Lilithia bled as she ran—clearly scheming something.

Lilithia knew the odds. Fleeing the first battle *was* pathetic—even if she’d been the first to hide earlier.

But today? Today was when Vampire Shadow-Kay would truly descend upon this world. Let it tremble under vampire dominion.

Zombies held blood.

Though their bodies decayed, the magic animating them preserved their forms. Otherwise, even the Crystal Orchid Empire’s vast zombie army would rot into uselessness.

"Just use whatever trick you have!"

Wind and fire surged backward, hindering pursuers while propelling them forward. Lilithia conjured small earthen mounds to trip their foes.

"Keep running. My earlier efforts weren’t wasted."

They fled in utter disarray.

Thankfully, few chased them. What manpower did two girls warrant? Most forces hunted the Advanced Mages.

Magical bullets and arrows slammed into shields of blood and ice, jolting them off-balance.

Then Lilithia smiled.

She spun around.

"Blood Transmutation!"

Blood flooded her waist-sheathed sword. She charged straight at an Intermediate Mage.

The mage sneered, sending zombies to block her. One spell would pierce both zombie and girl.

The zombie whirled—and decapitated him with a single slash.

"!"

Silence shattered. Living soldiers and zombies alike recoiled, putting distance between themselves and the traitor—even if he’d been their master.

Lilithia turned and sprinted again.

Verutan hadn’t waited. She was already far ahead. Lilithia cursed her disloyalty and chased after her.

The scene turned eerie. Mages blasted the rogue zombie to scraps. They exchanged glances, then abandoned pursuit of the two strange girls.

"What was that?"

"Heh heh! My duplicate slipped in long ago." Lilithia puffed her chest proudly. "Their magic dissolves in my blood. The arrays carved inside zombies? My blood severs the mage’s control once it enters their bodies. And since I don’t activate it immediately—they’d never notice their zombies’ blood turned slightly redder, would they?" Her grin turned sinister. "I can feel it. They still don’t know which zombie my duplicate replaced. That man died the moment battle began."

"They’ll count and inspect the zombies after retreating—"

"No chance." Lilithia’s duplicate would keep biting, transforming the zombies’ half-rotted blood. One zombie might yield only a drop or two of fresh blood—but it was enough. Her duplicate would grow smarter with each conversion. Perhaps…

The Duke of Floral Whispers was undeniably ruthless. His strategy was clear: use adventurers as bait to draw the enemy’s main force, then strike their weakened front. Two problems arose: ensuring adventurers never suspected they’d face the full army, and pinpointing the enemy’s exact weak spot.

How long would the adventurers hold?

As long as possible. The Duke surely had other plans—he wouldn’t gamble on mercenaries’ willpower. Most wouldn’t even betray him on the spot.

But Lilithia only needed to handle this eight-hundred-strong unit. The twenty-odd chasing them likely knew each other—

Perfect for spreading panic.

The thought of their panic thrilled her.

"I can locate my duplicate, Verutan. Tonight, we counterattack. They’ll camp soon to count zombies—that’s our moment."

Verutan gasped. "Thrilling!"

Lilithia played bigger than Verutan expected. Her duplicate had infiltrated the enemy the moment they clashed—and ran alongside them for hours.

"Why not use it earlier? Panic might’ve saved more people."

"And risk the entire army crushing us to eliminate ‘the anomaly’?" Lilithia wouldn’t gamble that high. "Don’t lecture me. You’re hiding your own trump card spell, aren’t you?"

Verutan shrugged innocently. "It’s a last-resort move. Maximum impact when they’re unprepared. Using it early wastes it."

They shared a fox-like smile.

"Hey, Lilithia… did you shrink?"

"Obviously! Do you think blood fuels this for free? I bled a trail just to mask my duplicate’s movements. Hope this pays off."

They crept back, spotting a smear of blood on the ground.

"Of course. The Crystal Orchid Empire leaves no corpses."

Lilithia had lost a person’s worth of blood. She sighed. "I hate fighting them. Their tactics drain me. Will I regress to eight or nine years old after this war?"

Verutan soothed her outwardly. "No. See all the living soldiers? Kill them before they recover bodies."

Inwardly, she fantasized about looking down on a child-sized Lilithia.

"Best comrades. Best sisters. Right?" Verutan eyed her warily. "What do you want?"

"A sip of your blood. This height shift is disorienting. I need a permanent solution."

"Find a rabbit! Don’t look at me!"

"Verutan, you’ve grown cruel. How can you suggest harming cute bunnies?"

"I never said bunnies—"

Lilithia didn’t bother regaining height. They tracked the twenty-odd soldiers setting camp, gathering zombies.

"Which is your duplicate?"

"That female zombie—the slightly smaller one."

Verutan squinted. "And which zombies did you alter?"

Lilithia beamed.

"All of them."

As her smile bloomed, a zombie’s bony fingers gutted a man who’d turned his back. No weapon needed. Just sharpened bone piercing flesh.

Chaos erupted.

A soldier instinctively commanded his zombie to block another’s attack. The moment he trusted his own undead—it stabbed him in return.

Confusion. Despair. Release.

As Lilithia’s smile bloomed, crimson blossoms bloomed in the enemy camp.