I would like to say that I am calm and collected with the fire altar about to be breached any minute. Right now, I am anything but calm and collected. I still have to pretend, though. One reason is that the bunch of people following me would end up in an even greater panic if I were to panic.

  Another reason is that the Mayfires may have just pulled off this attack of theirs. In the wee hours of this morning, a large amount of mana present in the fire altar has disappeared. I would say that the mana in the place is presently at a third of its previous value. It is decreasing with each passing hour in bursts.

  That means that the patriarch has burnt through the miasma. He also must be fighting the necromancers even as we speak, borrowing a lot of mana from here to do so. I don't know if they will win their fight or not. I have more immediate worries.

  The vampires are going to be attacking us any minute now. After all, destroying the fire altar would mean that the outer barrier would be destroyed. The necromancers would be able to escape into the city if that were to happen. Thus, I have to make sure that the barrier is not destroyed for as long as possible.

  Well, with how mana is being consumed inside that barrier, we won't need to wait long for the barrier to fall on its own. Well, the mayfires must have considered this when they went to attack the enemy. They will make sure that the necromancers are destroyed before the barrier falls. (At least that is the hope.)

  That is why we are all in the crypt right now. The moment the barrier is breached, we can start to retreat. We have two paths that we can take from the crypt, which ensure that we will be able to retreat safely.

  When things have become this serious, even Amelia is not behaving like a fool. She has finally agreed to make use of the burial path to escape. The lady was more than willing to die here at the fire altar. The only reason that I have managed to convince her about this is that she wanted her soldiers to be saved.

  We are guessing that the enemy is going to be attacking us with their full force at any minute. After all, they won't be getting another opportunity to attack here. I have to assume this means that we will be facing whatever they have been preparing. It means we will be facing the void.

  I assume that the enemy is going to be attacking us from the main tunnel. If they were coming at their full force, the tunnel would be the best option that they would have.

  After all, the other two tunnels will just restrict them a bit too much. The main tunnel might have traps, but it still will allow the enemy to show its full strength. After all, they still outnumber us pretty significantly. I am sure that they wouldn't want to waste that advantage. (Even if it means a few more underlings are going to die.)

  Even if they were to attack the burial tunnel or the servant's tunnel, it's fine. We are just going to run into the main tunnel while activating that barrier behind us. This way, we would be trapping them in the fire altar. (Not really, but it will buy us time.)

  This little head start should be enough for us to keep running away. After all, this is the home of the mayfires. They have the best idea of the layout of the place. They will be hard to find if they don't want to be found.

  There is a possibility that the enemy might split their forces to attack us. After all, they have a significant number advantage over us.

  Well, that is a risk that we will have to take. Trevor believes that there cannot be that many people left for them to split their forces like that. After all, if they had people to spare, their blood bags would be in a better position.

  To give a reference, right now there are about twenty-five of us left. The enemy must have fifty left at most, according to Trevor. Most of these would barely be mages, but still, they are not going to be easy to fight.

  Frankly, these fifty were never the concern. It would have been a hard fight, but we would have won eventually. No, the problem is with the snake and the void.

  I don't know when or how the snake or the void will attack us. If both of them are going to be attacking us, we are screwed. I hope that the barrier in the main tunnel will last long enough that we will be able to run away.

  As I am recording this, a burst of blood mana is registered in my vision. Looking at that much blood mana, I can feel a chill crawl up my spine. The void is coming, it looks like.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  I confirm the location from which the enemy is appearing. It is the main tunnel only. They should be here in a couple of minutes.

  "Leave.", I command the soldiers. "The burial tunnel. Keep an eye out. There is a chance of being ambushed. There are only about a dozen mana signatures here."

  I am going to be staying back for a bit. The reason for this is purely logical. After all, I am the only person who is capable of controlling all the traps in this place. I am controlling the barrier as well.

  If I am not there, the traps and the barrier might as well not exist. The enemy will be able to breach the tunnel that quickly. We might have given up on the fire altar, but I want to see it stand for as long as possible.

  With me here, I will be able to turn a minute of delay into at least five minutes of delay. Those five minutes will allow us to escape.

  Thinking this, I step into the fray once more. The first thing that I notice is that the corpse of the warrior has still not been removed from the place. After two days, it began to stink up the place.

  Well, I will be honest, I had forgotten about that. Let's hope that it won't end up provoking the enemy too much.

  I can feel the concentration of blood mana surrounding me increase the closer they get. I would say that the other party is making use of some kind of forbidden technique to grow their strength. Even the next stage doesn't feel this powerful. Such power will come at heavy costs.

  My only question is why the man would be wasting so much of his mana. It is not just to intimidate. After all, the sensitivity of my mana sense is very rare. Most people would not be able to even sense this mana.

  I have to assume that there is some other reason for this. I am so lost in my thoughts that I almost don't notice the other party stepping into the main tunnel.

  The bandits stand behind the man. There is an uneasy look to them. As if they would have run away by now if they had the chance. Looks like Trevor was right. The enemy is not in a good position.

  Yet it is the man in the front of this group who takes all of my attention. The mana he is emitting is the only thing that tells me that he is a threat. I can feel the blood mana that he is emitting like waves on a shore.

  Looking at the man himself, you would not think that he was a threat.

  He is bone thin and looks like a skeleton. The weirdest thing is his height, which makes him look like a kid. Not in a strong way like the commander. He is thin, as if the man has stopped eating food for a few years.

  I would have thought him to be an undead if the man was not emitting waves of blood mana. Nothing dead would be able to make that mana.

  The man has stopped now, looking at the corpse of the warrior. He now looks at me.

  "I had warned the damn berserker that he would be a fool to meet you for the negotiations.", he says. "Why would an outsider follow the rules of the court. He always does think with that axe of his. Though count yourself lucky that he was not here in the flesh. He is not that easy to fight in person."

  "I wonder who you are.", I ask. "You must be someone pretty strong to come even after I have hunted three of your fellows."

  "Well, calling us fellows would be wrong. You can say that they were my underlings.", he replies. "As for my strength, I have my little tricks, human."

  After that, we both stare at each other. Looking at the man, I am wondering what he is planning to do. After all, wasting all of this time is going to benefit us. The man must also know this.

  I stare at the man, all of my focus on the man in front of me. The moment that he makes a move, my goal is to raise the barriers.

  "I wonder if you have any last words.", the man suddenly speaks. "I am not a brute like the berserker over there. I will try to fulfill it if it is within my power to do so."

  "Well, what is your name?" I ask the man.

  "Well, that is certainly within my power.", the man speaks, suddenly laughing. "You have certainly left me in a bind. A name I can give easily. Still, I would not like to come within the sights of your legion. Here you go. I am Sir Avaron, count of the Tiberion family."

  As he speaks, I commit the man's name to my memory. The moment he introduces himself, I can see the mana flashing in the man's hands. He is crafting a pretty powerful spell, I think, as I call upon the barrier. Even as the barrier rises to cover me, a snake of blood mana collides with it.

  The spell hits the barrier again as the snake turns to hit the barrier. The spell is not as strong this time, but I can feel the barrier that I have raised already beginning to tremble. It won't be taking too many of those hits.

  Still I can't bring myself to run away. I don't know why, but I don't want to leave the place. I wonder if it is due to my curiosity. After all, I am the first person from the black mountain to look at the void.

  "Who is your master, vampire?" I speak, the frustration clear in my voice.

  That catches the man off guard.

  "The black mountain doesn't know everything it looks like," the man speaks, the sneer in his voice evident. "I have but one master, but why should I make it easy for you. Let that remain a mystery."

  "I am sure that you can say his name at least. He abandoned you to your position, after all. Even now, the Mayfires must be making their way here.", I sneer at the man.

  "Well, I can't expect him to risk his life to protect these bodies now.", the man replies. "We would recoup these losses in a couple of weeks, even if we lost everything we put here to help him."

  As the man speaks, I realize why he was blathering so much. The man has been crafting a sword of blood mana even as we were speaking. Just looking at it, I know that it is not something that I can face.

  I didn't see him swing the sword as I jumped back into the fire altar. Even as I enter the place, though, I can feel the barrier shatter behind me.