Oblivious to Verda’s plotting, Nikolai faced a rather complicated situation himself. When they crept through the bazaar, all seemed good. No enemies, no combat. However, the second they arrived in the Royal District, the reason became ever so clear.

“What should we do?” Sarah covered her lips as she whispered into Nikolai’s ear.

He glanced up at her face while half squatting behind a half-destroyed wall. His hand pressed against the cold stone, a complete contrast to the sweet, fragrant breath blowing across his cheeks. “What else can we do?”

Ahead, Nikolai observed the mass of undead closely, his eyes sharpening as various hues of colour enveloped their figures. He closed his eyes, letting the faint sting from overusing his obsidian eyes to fade, while basking in Sarah’s warmth.

Sarah cocked her head closer, lips practically brushing his cheeks. “Nikolai?”

He turned halfway, able to taste the sweetness of her breath as their lips faintly touched with a brief squish.

Her cheeks reddened as she pulled back.

Taking advantage of her reaction, he finally replied.

“A lot of them aren’t worth a second glance, but hidden within them are powerful corpses.”

From the other side, Brunhilde leaned closer, “Are we going to fight?”

Though he smiled and shook his head, Nikolai’s heart fluttered at the offer. He pressed down the excitement of fighting in a giant brawl, returning his gaze to the mass of undead, from bone saints to even stronger enemies that would entertain him.

“If we fight here, what happens if we’re too late to help Verna and Vladik?”

Nikolai could barely believe his own words, instead closing his eyes, weighing the two choices: to indulge in wanton slaughter, devouring the power to grow even stronger to face Doctor Franz, or to sneak past and rush to the palace.

‘Somehow, I really hate the second option…’

Even though his logical mind told him the second option was best, he found his hand reaching for the Heaven Slaying Spear… “I don’t know if we will survive, but I really want to fight them… my body is already burning with expectation!” He decided to be honest as the aura inside his abdomen violently raged within him like a firestorm.

“…”

“Oh?!”

While Brunhilde’s eyes sparkled, he noticed Sarah’s lips turn white as she pressed them together, with a look of concern.

“Are you worried?” He asked.

“Of course I am, do you think that fighting hundreds at once will be glorious and exciting?! Are you stupid, isn’t it just wanting to be beaten from all directions…”

Yes, her words carried truth.

Enemies in the real world didn’t wait for you to defeat one before they attacked. He would likely be overwhelmed and stomped into mush if he made a single mistake.

However, the fuse was lit.

Nikolai rarely got the chance to improve his strength on such a large level, his eyes alternating between blue, red and obsidian as his bloodlines overflowed. There was no way he could let this meal go.

He peeked at Sarah, her watery eyes like a deer watching him while pleading for him to make the right choice. Then at Brunhilde… her face one of complete bliss as she embraced her rifle tightly, like a lover.

A constant jolt shot through his muscles from the moment he considered fighting.

This spurred his mind into a different direction.

“If you girls find a high point, and support—Mmm?!”

Sarah covered his mouth with her hands, shaking her head from side to side as if to deny anything he said. She pushed up against him, the softness of her chest reviving memories of the nights before.

There wasn’t any resistance as they sank to the floor, her hips falling onto his lap, while her hands rested on his face, almost suffocating him.

He silently stared into her eyes.

“N-Nikolai, don’t look at me like that… if you fight alone, something bad will happen!”

His shoulders raised and fell, shrugging at her words as if understanding but not caring if that happened. Rather, he thought otherwise. The current strength would never be enough to defeat Alucard without help or tricks.

Her eyes darted across his face, scanning for changes, but when he remained resolute, her strength faded, and she plonked on her butt.

Sat between his legs, she pouted. “I know I can’t stop you, if you want to do something you’ll just do it… I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Her words brought a comfortable warmth, like a heartburn medication flowing down his throat. This soothed a large amount of the raging storm in his gut. His mind became clearer, able to see the dangerous thoughts he had almost become obsessed with.

Nikolai reached out, stroking her soft hair.

He couldn’t be more thankful for having such a caring woman, but his choice didn’t change completely. Nikolai would fight them. But he would first have the women set themselves up somewhere they could support him with all the firepower they needed.

“Brunhilde, you and Tanya are to find a place where we can openly fire down at these undead. You must avoid detection and contact me once you’ve found the ideal place.”

The blonde maid seemed a little resistant to leaving, but eventually nodded, a flicker of burning desire lingering in the depths of her eyes.

“Yes, Master!”

She reluctantly left, dragging Tanya and the twenty or so women with her, while Nikolai remained behind the pillar with Yun’fa and Sarah.

Yun’fa snorted when she heard the details from Sarah. “You’re really going to rush in and fight them head-on like an idiot?”

He could only chuckle back. “I was before, now we need to set traps and prepare first”

“…”

Unlike the active Brunhilde or Yun’fa, Sarah watched and observed him in silence, no longer passing any judgment, merely offering her support.

“As a shadow guard, you must be able to help us, right?”

Yun’fa’s cheeks flushed as she avoided his gaze. He found that she seemed weak to compliments, especially when it concerned her teammates and squad.

“I… I know of a few places and special areas near them where we can attack or set traps.”

“Oh? As expected from our talented Shadow Guardian.”

Sarah shook her head, sighing at his empty praise, and the poor innocent girl falling for his charming facade. Though being his wife, she remained quiet and just smiled, avoiding Yun’fa’s innocent glances when she could.

“Then how long do you think it’d take you to set up traps in these locations?” Nikolai held a makeshift map given to him before the mission started. He tapped the building he sent Brunhilde and the others to search.

“Mm…” Yun’fa tilted her head before tapping two of the spots. “I can probably set up a good amount at these places, but the attack seems to have damaged the central building’s defence capability.”

‘That should be enough to keep them safe…’

Nikolai avoided Sarah’s harsh glare for as long as he could, until she pinched him. “Ah?! What are you doing, woman?”

Unhappy, she twisted her fingers. “Hmph, you said you wouldn’t do something stupid!”

“Tsk…” He pulled her fingers away and grabbed her hands tightly. “How is preparing traps to keep you girls safe, so you can shoot all you like, stupid?”

“Because I know you’re still planning to fight alone, like a foolish, arrogant beast!”

He shook his head and then flashed her a bright smile.

“Then use your guns to keep me safe.”

“Do you think being handsome solves everything?! How about I rush out there right now, see how you like it when it’s me in trouble!”

Nikolai leaned against his palm, a strange happiness washing over him as he could both feel and see the affectionate aura enveloping Sarah. Truthfully, her emotions hadn’t changed from deep love and worry for the past five minutes.

Everything she said was out of pure concern, which touched him.

“Do this for me, I have a pent-up urge.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped before she pounced on him. She sat atop his thighs, using hers to clamp his legs tightly, while grabbing his shirt with both hands. “Hey!” She pulled him close, the violent puff of air from her flared nostrils blowing against his cheeks. “Do you think this is a game?! A pent-up urge… this isn’t like holding up in your room for all day sex!”

“What’s different?” His expression remained calm, his lips slightly curved upward.

“Nikolai Volkov, you may be my master, but… even I know you can die here, can you die having sex all day? No!”

“Well… with a succubus like you—!”

She gripped his mouth, squishing his cheeks together in her fingers while glaring at him from above angrily. “Don’t play with me. Are you really going to fight alone?”

“It’s not alone if I use my clones… and I have you girls backing me up.”

Sarah swallowed a large amount of air. She didn’t speak as her eyes fluttered around, between the mass of undead and Nikolai. “I’ll fight…”

“What?” He asked through her fingers.

“I said I will fight with you, together… We’ll fight with the support of those girls!”

Ba-Dum!

Instantly, his heart thumped against his chest…

There was a strange weight and then an ache that spread through all three hearts. If someone said he was having a heart attack, he might accept their judgment if not for the woman staring down at him.

‘Damn… is this what she feels, or what they all feel when I say dumb shit?’

If before he gained a shallow understanding of how much Sarah cared for him, when she announced her participation, he truly realised what kind of emotion she said no to and tried to stop him with.

He pictured Sarah fighting in a crowd of undead, her body floating through the air as she used her agile prowess.

However, like all powers, this came to an end.

“…Sarah, I…”

But she didn’t let up and pointed at his face.

“We’re going together, or we sneak into the palace, choose now!”

This side of her was something he’d never seen before… and it made his blood boil with more excitement than the battle.

“Eh?” Her eyes widened as she glanced down, before looking back at his face. “Y-You?!”

“You’re so sexy right now, what do you expect me to do? Okay, you win… let’s hurry up and tear them apart together, you’ve also gained Kumiko and Rika’s techniques, right?”

Kumiko’s clones prioritised efficiency, while Risa’s were a limited style of clones for combat.

Nikolai’s clones were a fusion of those two powers, giving them limited autonomy, with the ability to control them directly if needed.

The benefit was that Risa’s clones carried just over half her combat ability, Nikolai’s were the same, meaning it’d be close to three Nikolais fighting.

Three Nikolais were more than enough to win.

With the added clones of Sarah and the supporting fire of his thralls and maids, Nikolai watched as Sarah’s expression changed from one of denial.

“Y-You better not get hurt… or else, I’ll make you regret it.”

“I promise, but you can protect me from close up if you’re that worried.”

“Hmph! You’re a damn fool…”

Finally, Sarah accepted his plan.

Now it was time to enact it, and as if he timed everything, the voice of Brunhilde buzzed in his ear, “Master, we’re in position and can start at any time!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep