From the start, I knew.
It was a dream beyond my station.
To be the protagonist on stage, monopolizing the dazzling spotlight.
For people like us, living ordinary lives...it was a too ambitious, too big a dream.
So, I dreamed a small dream.
I didn't even want to monopolize the spotlight. I'd be content if I could just catch some of its glow now and then.
Simply, just... to be on that stage.
Even as a nameless supporting role, just to remain on the stage.
I wished for just that.
***
Boom-!
Blood splattered all around.
From Hesen's bitten neck, droplets of blood scattered. The vampires sucked the life out of Hesen, spewing blood in every direction.
Watching this, Dion wondered.
'What was that guy's dream?'
He had heard the story just a day ago, but he couldn't recall it clearly.
Was it about saving money for an operation, or something like that...?
Thud!
Hesen's lifeless body, drained of all blood, collapsed onto the ground.
The comrades who were watching this sudden tragedy screamed in shock.
"Hesen-!"
"You, damned monster bastards!"
As Dion held back his colleagues who were trying to rush forward, he gritted his teeth.
"Calm down! Calm down! You need to keep your cool! Maintain the formation!"
"Ah, ugh...!"
"Hesen, Hesen is..."
Watching the trembling Dion Mercenary Group, the vampires chuckled sinisterly.
"Your comrade's blood is too rich, it's overpowering."
A vampire, wiping the blood-stained corner of his mouth with his hand, flashed a dreadful smile.
"I prefer something lighter... this one really spoiled my taste. Tch!"
The vampire spat blood-mixed saliva onto Hesen's corpse.
Seeing this, the last thread of sanity broke.
"We will kill these bastards-!"
Whoosh!
The party's star, thief Aila, leaped forward.
"Aila! No! Damn it!"
An exasperated Dion eventually gave the attack order.
"We can't be divided anymore! We move together!"
"I've been waiting for that, Dion!"
"Let's make these mosquito bastards pay for killing Hesen!"
Whoosh-!
All four members of the Dion Mercenary Group charged forward in unison.
However, this was a miscalculation.
There were three reasons.
Firstly, the Dion Mercenary Group was primarily trained in defensive tactics.
In a defensive situation, they could handle several vampires, but on the attack, even two vampires could be overwhelming.
Secondly, until now, the Dion Mercenary Group consisted of five members.
With a stable composition of three tanks and two dealers, their synergies could face any enemy.
But now, one tank was missing. There was a world of difference between five and four.
Lastly, the dealer Aila was not in the backline but at the very front.
These small factors combined and created a chain reaction.
Thunk!
Boom!
Thud...!
In a pathetic and horrifying manner.
The Dion Mercenary Group met their annihilation in an instant.
Aila, who had charged ahead first, stabbed her silver dagger into the enemy vampire's stomach.
However, the vampire, with a grin, gripped Aila's wrist and,
Boom!
Slashed his longsword down, severing Aila's forearm.
"Ah...?!"
Two more vampires charged towards Aila, who was about to scream. Their blood-drenched claws targeted Aila's neck and chest.
Thump!
Slam!
Two other mercenaries - Lok and Chay, who had dived in between, blocked the vampires' attack with their shields.
The problem was, there were two more vampires.
Thunk!
Thud...!
As if predicting the movements of the two shield warriors, the attacks from two other vampires who leaped in a beat late pierced Lok and Chay's bodies.
"Cough...!"
"Khhk?!"
At the struggling pair, the other two vampires, whose attacks were blocked by their shields, raised their claws with a laugh.
"Humans must be so weary? Being so sensitive about the life and death of their comrades."
"For us immortals, who live as long as our Lord does, it's hard to understand this... Haha!"
The vampires' claws fell towards the two warriors' necks.
The two shield warriors made a last-ditch attempt to swing their held silver swords in retaliation, but the counterattack was weak.
Thunk! Thump!
The two silver swords were lodged into the vampires' arms, but they, unphased, swung their claws and decapitated the two warriors.
Blood splattered in all directions.
"Lok! Chay! No-!"
Roaring in defiance, Dion charged forward, gritting his teeth. He was desperate to save even a barely alive Aila.
Vampires blocked his path, laughing at his efforts.
Clink-Clink-Clink!
Dion swung the silver daggers in his hands with reckless abandon.
Their claws clashed with his daggers, and a fierce battle ensued in the blink of an eye.
Even as the young leader of a small mercenary band and the leader of the party, Dion managed to stand his ground against the vampires with his agile swordplay. But that was it.
The vampires, laughing, successfully parried Dion's attacks, and Dion was the first one to run out of stamina.
"Ha-heck, ha-heck...!"
Stumbling back, Dion watched the vampires grinning as they grabbed Aila by her hair and paraded her in front of him.
"If your comrade is so dear to you, we'll give her back."
Thump!
In the next moment, a vampire's longsword pierced through Aila's back, protruding from her abdomen.
"We didn't say we'd give her back alive, did we?"
"Ah, uh-"
Kicking the whimpering Aila, the vampire sent her rolling towards Dion, covered in blood.
"Aila!"
Dion rushed to her side.
"Sorry, ha... Dion..."
Aila, vomiting blood from her mouth and belly, looked at Dion with empty eyes.
"I, did wrong, ha..."
"..."
"Sorry for running ahead. No, for pushing you to become a mercenary..."
"..."
"What's the point of ambition, in the end... My mistake..."
Dion gave a small nod, forcing a smile.
"...No."
Tight.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
Gripping the rapidly cooling hand of Aila, Dion gritted his teeth.
"We didn't do anything wrong."
Was their dream too lofty?
The money to buy new gear, for marriage, to send home, to raise a younger sibling.
Just to earn that. Was this modest dream, this petty wish, too much to ask for?
'No.'
It can't be.
They had long given up on the dream of being the protagonist. They merely wished to remain on stage, even if as nameless supporting actors.
This couldn't be too much to ask.
"We were born as humans..."
Dion, unable to let go of Aila's lifeless hand, hung his head.
"We should be allowed to dream as long as we're alive..."
Childhood. The stars seen from the well were beautiful.
But they were too high, too far, so they gave up.
They turned their eyes towards a lower, closer light. A nearby flame that seemed within reach.
But were they to be burned even by such a modest flame?
"We're not moths. We're humans."
Dion gritted his teeth, glaring at the vampires closing in on him.
"There's nothing wrong with dreaming..."
It was then.
"There's no wrongdoing in dreams."
A voice came from behind him.
"But face reality, lad. It wasn't a dream that killed your comrades, but monsters. And a failed strategy."
"...!"
When Dion turned around, three tanks and a wizard from the Old Hunters were approaching him.
"Get up, lad. The battle isn't over yet."
The old mercenaries began preparing for battle.
Yenich, the ice wizard who helped Dion up, looked at the vampires with cold, focused eyes.
"Your comrades didn't die in vain."
Following the wizard's gaze, Dion looked at the vampires and soon understood what he meant.
Their bodies were pierced with silver swords.
Weapons that Aila, Lark, and Chay had struck them with before they died.
They didn't seem to mind the silver swords sticking out of their bodies as they confidently approached.
"Three of them have silver swords in them. Just stick it to two more, and the rest is up to the wizard."
"..."
"Can you do what's left?"
Dion clenched his silver daggers in reverse grips, gritting his teeth.
"I'll give it a shot."
"Show me. Don't let the name of Dion Mercenary Group be just a tombstone for the young who died in vain."
Ice magic formed in Yenich's hands. Yenich spat out a battle cry.
"Kill them and leave a mark. Mercenaries speak with the heads of their enemies, not their own gravestones!"
"Arrrgh-!"
Dion charged forward, and the three tanks of the Old Hunters closely followed him.
The vampires tried to stab the charging Dion, laughing derisively, but a frost spell from Yenich flew towards them, a half beat quicker.
"Performing magic right before us... how arrogant!"
Of the five vampires, two who were untouched by the silver sword were blood magic skill wielders.
Their eyes glowed bright red, and a formed blood-red barrier effortlessly neutralized the freezing spell.
"Enough with the childish games, sorcerer!"
The two vampires simultaneously shot blood-red magic toward Yenichi.
Kwa-kwang-!
"Cough!"
Yenichi, swept up in the blood magic bombardment, vomited blood and was thrown backwards.
However, this gave the charging party some time.
Approaching close range, Dion threw the two silver daggers he held swiftly.
The dagger throw of a level 27 rogue boasted a force comparable to a bullet.
Chang! Chaeng!
However, the three other vampires stepped forward, effortlessly deflecting the attack.
Then, they lunged their swords and claws toward Dion, whose hands were now empty.
Puk! Tuhuk!
The attack was intercepted by the tanks from the Old Hunters, who had charged out from behind Dion.
However, the vampires' attacks were not ordinary, and the Old Hunters' tanks couldn't escape unscathed.
A sword broke through a shield and pierced a shoulder, a claw cost an arm, and a side was penetrated.
'It doesn't matter.'
Dion's eyes bulged.
All he was focused on was the task he had to accomplish.
In the split second when three vampires and three humans were entwined with swords, claws, and shields, Dion agilely rolled out of the mess.
In his hands were again the two silver daggers he had drawn from his belt.
Then, Dion rushed towards the two vampires yet untouched by the silver sword.
Puk! Puhuk! Pook-!
After a moment's exchange of attack and defense.
Dion's silver daggers were undeniably lodged in the necks of the two vampires.
But, smiling at the sight was Dion, whose head was already severed, held in one of the vampire's hands.
Having lost his head, Dion's body staggered a few more steps, then powerlessly collapsed onto the ground. Thud...
"Weak."
The vampire indifferently gazed at Dion's head in his hand, then flippantly threw it away.
Whish-
Cheol-peok. De-gurur.
Dion's head rolled across the top of the wall, splattering blood.
"Tasteless."
The vampire grumbled discontentedly as he licked the blood smeared on his hand.
"Let's finish off the remaining bastards quickly, and kill the humans inside the castle."
"That sounds good. I feel like eating until my belly bursts."
The five vampires slowly advanced to finish off the Old Hunters' mercenaries who were still breathing.
That's when it happened.
Krrung, Krrung...
Suddenly, the sound of thunder echoed.
Dark clouds suddenly crowded the clear sky, and blue lightning began to flash.