"Yaaaahhhhh!"
As the explosion rocked the interior of the ballroom, the entire cruise ship trembled violently, prompting screams from the elite attendees at the party, creating chaos.
Not only did chaos ensue, but the elite began to panic, running amok amidst the screams, as they were completely caught off guard.
There was no choice.
The explosion just occurred from above the ballroom, namely the ceiling of the cruise ship.
The ceiling suddenly burst open, unleashing a blast of wind while countless pieces of rubble rained down, hitting the elite attendees, some suffering head injuries, others wounded on their backs, covered in blood.
In such a situation, the elite naturally began to scream and panic, fleeing in all directions.
"What's happening...!?"
Everyone was shocked.
Yukina Himeragi and Sayaka Kirasaka reflexively raised the items in their hands, a guitar case and a music box, assuming defensive postures.
Tobias Jagan and Kira Lebedev Voltisloa immediately released their magic, sweeping away the falling debris from above, protecting Dimitrie Vatler and the rest of the attendees.
Meanwhile, Rozen, Dimitrie Vatler, and La Folia Rihavein remained calm, raising their heads one after another, looking towards the ceiling.
"An attack?"
La Folia Rihavein muttered softly, assessing the situation.
"Hmm?"
Dimitrie Vatler squinted his eyes, showing not anger but rather an interested expression.
Rozen silently activated the power of Heaven's Eye, diffusing invisible fluctuations, gaining insight into the conditions within several hundred meters.
As a result, Rozen could clearly sense.
He could feel that a large number of enemies were approaching.
However, they were not coming from the entrance of the ballroom but from the ceiling that had been blown open.
There, countless soldiers wielding large machine guns emerged one after another, jumping into the ballroom and appearing before everyone's eyes.
"The automatons...!"
Yukina Himeragi immediately recognized the identity of the black-clad soldiers before her.
"Automatons? Why are there automatons here?"
Sayaka Kirasaka, who had never seen automatons before and was unaware of the attacks Rozen and the others had suffered, looked somewhat surprised.
Only La Folia Rihavein's expression darkened, her gaze becoming sharper.
In contrast, Dimitrie Vatler seemed somewhat disappointed.
"I thought if someone were to attack my cruise ship, they would at least be someone worth fighting."
Dimitrie Vatler didn't bother hiding his disappointment with the army of mechanical dolls before him, nor did he try to feign interest.
Of course, the enemy wouldn't care whether Dimitrie Vatler was interested or not.
In a flurry of machine gun movements, the black-clad army of mechanical dolls collectively pulled the triggers, pouring down special bullets designed to target demons, forming a dense barrage, raining down towards Rozen and his companions.
"Koukarin!"
Seeing the overwhelming barrage coming their way, Shamanic War Dancer Koukarin wielded her silver giant sword, leaping in front of everyone, swinging her blade without hesitation.
With a slash through space, Koukarin created a disturbance in space, turning it into a fracture, becoming an absolute barrier.
"Ding ding ding ding ding————!"
In the next second, countless bullets fell on the barrier formed by the spatial rift, all of them being deflected.
"Hurry, leave this place! My Koukarin won't hold for much longer!"
Sayaka Kirasaka, wielding a silver giant sword, shouted loudly at everyone.
However...
"No, there's no need for that."
Dimitrie Vatler stood still, unmoving, and calmly spoke up.
"Tobias, Kira."
At Dimitrie's call, the two vampire nobles waiting behind him lifted their heads.
"Yes, Lord Vatler."
Tobias and Kira responded simultaneously, then dashed out from Dimitrie's sides, charging into the battlefield.
"Bam bam bam bam bam————!"
Amidst the continuous gunfire, countless bullets poured forth.
However, Tobias and Kira pressed forward instead of retreating, advancing into the fray.
The magical power shaking the ship was unleashed from both of them.
In the next instant, the two old-generation vampire nobles unleashed their power.
"Irrlicht!"
At Tobias's shout, his astonishing magical power turned into blood mist.
The mist twisted and formed into a giant raptor covered in dazzling flames.
The flames on the raptor's body burned at temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees Celsius, making the air in the entire space extremely hot.
"Nephila Ignis!"
Following closely, Kira's voice rang out, as his magical power also swayed, transforming into blood mist.
In the mist, a spider with an enchanting amber glow appeared.
It had a body like molten lava, possessing the same properties as the second beast vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor, Cor Tauri Succinum.
At this moment, the two old-generation vampire nobles summoned their beast vassals, letting out roars as they charged forward in place of their masters.
The beast vassal named Irrlicht spread its wings, and flames expanded on its body, covering and completely enveloping the incoming dense bullet rain.
Under the terrifying flames, despite being specially designed bullets for demons, they all instantly melted, not a single one surviving.
Meanwhile, the beast vassal named Nephila Ignis spat out threads of amber.
These threads were made of scorching hot lava, extremely thin yet carrying formidable heat. Wherever they passed, the floor of the venue was directly burned as if by invisible flames, leaving behind lines of charred black.
These threads, containing fearsome heat, flew back and forth across the venue, forming a spider web that enveloped all the black soldiers.
In the next moment, each and every black mechanical puppet seemed to be cut apart by sharp blades, becoming fragmented and falling to the ground, turning into mechanical scrap and emitting large sparks.
Tobias and Kira, in an instant, dealt with the entire army of mechanical puppets.
Their displayed strength made both Yukina Himeragi and Sayaka Kirasaka hold their breaths, speechless.
"I see, so these are Tobias Jagan and Kira Lebedev Voltisloa's beast vassals." La Folia Rihavein's eyes shimmered, and she smiled, evaluating, "It seems you have excellent subordinates, Duke Ardeal."
"You flatter me." Dimitrie Vatler returned the smile but shifted his gaze to Rozen, saying, "They are strong too, not as weak as you might have imagined."
Dimitrie seemed to want to reclaim some dignity for his subordinate nobles after Rozen's earlier display of dominance.
However...
"That was just the appetizer."
Rozen continued to gaze in the direction of the ceiling until this moment, then suddenly smiled and spoke up.
"The real show is yet to come."