"What? Mr. Dracula is actually a vampire?" Jeanne exclaimed in surprise.
"I mean, I get Nero and the others being clueless, but you too, Jeanne?" Dracula replied with a smirk. "And it's not just me—Kagarino Kirie is a vampire too."
"Eh? Miss Kirie as well...? Oh no, I was so hungry back then I didn't even notice…" Jeanne muttered to herself, flustered. "But Mr. Dracula and Miss Kirie did treat me to a delicious meal when I was starving… maybe they aren't bad people after all."
"Hey! What's wrong with being a vampire? You got something against vampires, you peasant?" Elizabeth barked, standing with hands on hips and glaring at Jeanne.
"Exactly! Even if our Master is a vampire, I, Kiyohime, would never betray him!" chimed in Kiyohime, who had just walked through the door.
The two locked eyes—and finally realized each other's presence.
"Ugh, lizard!!"
"What!? How dare you call me—what nerve! You filthy reptile!"
The two immediately started grappling and yelling, clawing at each other in an all-out squabble.
Watching the chaos unfold, Nero's eyes sparkled. She dashed to their side and egged them on gleefully, "Are you going to perform a gladiator match for me? How splendid! Fight on!"
"…Jeanne," Dracula took the opportunity to ask, "what star rank is Elizabeth as a Servant?"
"Hmm, let me check." Jeanne flipped through her book. "Well, first, congratulations, Mr. Dracula—Elizabeth is indeed a rare Servant. However... I'm afraid she's four-star. So sadly, you still haven't surpassed Miss Kirie."
Dracula immediately slumped into gloom, silently shuffling to a corner to draw circles on the ground in despair.
Jeanne stared at his dejected back, mumbling to herself, "Oh Lord, what should I do? Should I purify this kind-hearted vampire… or try to redeem and save him?"
"Go get her, Kiyohime! Grab her horns!" Nero cheered wildly, and in just two minutes, she had dragged Mordred into the madness as well. The two were now sitting together, happily watching the girl-fight like it was premium entertainment.
Kirie let out a long sigh, watching the room descend into chaos like a tangled mess of ink on an ancient scroll painting.
"…What did I do to deserve this?"
"Ahem. Now that everyone's acquainted, let's get down to business…" Dracula said, pulling himself together.
The current setting was the grand hall of Castle Dracula. The previous ceremonial hall had turned into a battlefield thanks to Kiyohime and Elizabeth's scuffle. Things escalated to the point where Kiyohime transformed into a white serpent dragon and started spewing fire, while Elizabeth unleashed her Blood Fortress.
With the nearly unlimited mana supply from their Master, the two just went all out.
Needless to say, the ceremonial hall was wrecked. Under Kirie's furious orders, Dracula had herded everyone into the main hall instead.
Even now, Elizabeth and Kiyohime were still glaring daggers at each other across the room. Meanwhile, Mordred had mysteriously ended up glued to Nero's side, now serving as her pseudo-retainer. Nero's charm, it seemed, far exceeded that of King Arthur—her ability to read people and act accordingly made her a much more magnetic "Emperor."
Kirie remained close to Dracula. Jeanne, however, had deliberately positioned herself as far from the vampire duo as possible, looking on with concern.
But when she heard Dracula mention "business," the holy maiden instantly snapped to attention.
"Indeed. We should discuss strategies for the Holy Grail War."
"That stuff doesn't really matter," Dracula waved dismissively.
"…It doesn't?" Jeanne blinked, confused. "Then what's the business you want to discuss, Mr. Dracula?"
Dracula glanced around and asked, "Jeanne, and everyone else—before you were summoned by me and Kirie, did Gaia or Alaya explain the terms of our deal?"
"Not really. I just received a revelation from the Lord, commanding me to assist you in winning the Holy Grail War," Jeanne replied, blinking in confusion.
"I simply heard there was a grand gathering, so I dressed in my finest to attend," Nero said with pride.
"I just heard that Arthur would be here. I came to settle the score," Mordred growled.
"I came to make my debut as an idol! I, Elizabeth Bathory, will rise to the top during this war. You better work hard too, piggy!" Elizabeth added cheerfully.
"I came searching for my fated one," Kiyohime declared, casting a lovestruck glance at Dracula before glaring at the dragon girl. "And you, lizard—Master belongs to me! I won't let you have him!"
"WHAT?! Who are you calling a lizard, you snake?!" Elizabeth snarled.
The two were once again on the verge of launching into Round Two.
"Alright, alright, settle down." Dracula clapped his hands.
"Now I get it… Those two damn entities didn't say a word. They're trying to pawn you off as disposable avatars. Tch… fine. If they won't honor our agreement, I'll take what they owe me by force."
He turned to the girls and said,
"Listen up. The deal was this: I'd help Gaia and Alaya fix the anomaly in this Holy Grail War. In exchange, you all assist me as Servants. Once it's over, they were supposed to set you free. Meaning, you'd be liberated from the Throne of Heroes—you could go wherever you want, or even stay here if you like."
The five girls lit up in excitement.
"Hold on though. They're trying to stiff us. Gaia and Alaya likely plan to split you into two: one free-willed clone, and one still imprisoned in the Throne. Naturally, I'm not going to let them treat me like a sucker. I'm going to retrieve your true selves directly. But this could get messy—they might try to stop me. So… who's going first?"
The girls looked at each other. No one volunteered.
So, they resorted to rock-paper-scissors.
In the end, the choice was obvious: only Elizabeth was summoned as a Lancer, so she "won" the right to go first.
"Good luck, lizard," Kiyohime smirked.
"Indeed, Miss Elizabeth, it seems you and Mr. Dracula are quite the pair," Jeanne added. "You're both vampires, both have dragon blood, and you're both Lancers."
Elizabeth trudged forward with a grim face and said to Dracula,
"Piggy… be gentle, okay…"
Dracula cracked his knuckles.
"I'll try… but it really depends on how fast Gaia and Alaya respond."
Placing his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders, Dracula released a surge of magical energy.
Above her head, a swirling portal slowly opened—a direct path to the Throne of Heroes.
At that moment, the girls temporarily lost consciousness—their minds reconnecting with their original selves within the Throne.
Dracula leaned halfway into the portal.
On the other side, he could see Elizabeth's true body, resting not far away.
"Elizabeth! Come on, hurry!" he shouted.
"Piggy! You're amazing!" she called back, running toward him.
"Hang tight. Let me bring the others here first." Dracula began casting another spell.
Four beams of light emerged from the sky, forming the shapes of the other four girls.
They landed within Elizabeth's space in the Throne.
"Alright, line up, everyone. One by one." Dracula backed away from the portal.
"Elizabeth, you're up first."
Meanwhile, outside the world, Gaia and Alaya were sleeping peacefully… until Gaia's eyes snapped open.
"Crap! Alaya, he's trying to steal them!"
Gaia's consciousness surged into the Throne.
"WHAT?! I'm coming too!" Alaya's voice echoed as she rushed to follow.
Back in Elizabeth's inner realm, her body was already halfway through the portal.
Suddenly, a green-haired loli materialized behind her and wrapped her arms around Elizabeth's waist—refusing to let go.