Chapter 387: Count Alucard"s Daughter.
"I disagree."
"..."
"No Yōkai will set their dirty feet in this place, no one." A small roar came out at the end, and the pressure Haruna felt from her grandfather sent a little s.h.i.+ver down her back.
"That"s not your decision."
"That"s my decision, don"t get c.o.c.ky Haruna." Yoichi"s gentle tone disappeared, and all that was left was just a cold and ruthless warrior.
"..." Haruna"s face narrowed a little.
"I don"t mind you running the mansion and the village; after all, that"s your right as commander."
"But this place?" He raised his hand, pointed around, and continued in the same cold tone.
"That place is not in your right as commander."
"No one, absolutely no one is going to tarnish this place."
Haruna was one thing. She was his granddaughter and Hana"s sister, but a random Yōkai? That"s a big "NO" for Yoichi.
"I-."
"That conversation is over." Yoichi appeared in front of his granddaughter and grabbed her face.
And threw her towards a location.
Haruna noticed that her environment had changed, and before she knew it, she was back at her house.
She adjusted her center of gravity to land on her feet.
"I don"t care if you don"t feel attached to your sister, which is normal, you"ve never met her, but her resting place won"t be tarnished... not as long as I"m alive." He snapped his finger, and a s.h.i.+ft occurred in the wall they entered.
The wall disappeared and was replaced by an identical one.
"It"s not about attachment." Haruna growled.
"I want revenge. No one touches my family and gets away with it, even if it"s a family I"ve never met before."
"And for the sake of your vengeance, you will tarnish your sister"s resting place?"
"Didn"t you hear what I said? I would cordon off the entire area—." She stopped talking when she heard her grandfather screaming.
"That whole island is her resting place!!"
"...."
"Even if you went to that place and made a base, can you guarantee that no meddling Yōkai will disturb the area where your sister rests?"
It was very well known to both of them that Yōkai were curious beings. Even in this mansion, and in the forbidden area that only family members could enter, some Yōkai broke this rule often.
Of course, these Yōkai were punished and set as an example, yet younger Yōkai often broke this rule.
Only one location they never broke into was the commander"s personal room and the area where they were now.
The commander"s room was because of the Yōkai"s respect.
pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ And this area was because of fear.
The commander killed anyone who broke this rule. It was common knowledge to all that for those who entered this area, only death awaited him, a death at the hands of the commander himself.
... And yet there were little Yōkai who wanted to venture out here.
No matter how many warnings they put up or how many deaths occurred, Yōkai couldn"t stop their curious nature, especially the younger ones.
They are curious beings from birth.
Haruna knew that. How could she not? She was their commander.
And the most likely one who would break the rule she made first was her most trusted subordinate, Nekomata Kuroka.
If normal Yōkai were already curious, cat-type yokai were even more curious.
The more forbidden the place, the more they would feel the need to explore that place... even if it costs them their life.
"...That spot will not be stained, period. This discussion is over, and I don"t want this topic to come up again." Yoichi was clearly saying that this wish of Haruna"s will never be fulfilled. He was so against it that if Haruna forced the issue and wanted to use the place, she would become her own grandfather"s enemy.
"...You"re right, Grandfather." Haruna gave up her thoughts when she noticed the points her grandfather had raised.
Even she didn"t want her sister"s resting place to be stained.
"..." Yoichi nodded and started walking down the hall.
"Grandfather."
"What?"
"…Can I bring Ophis?" she asked in a careful tone.
"..." Yoichi"s eyes returned to their gentle expression, and he could tell from the way Haruna spoke that his granddaughter had already met Ophis.
"...Sure...I want to see her too." Yoichi would not deny a daughter"s right to see her mother.
And he also wanted to see his great-granddaughter.
"Mm."
...
"What"s up!?" A muscular Yōkai shouted. He had a long beard, red skin, and two horns, showing he was an Oni ogre.
"Our village was surrounded by some kind of ice."
"That I can see! I want to know what"s going on!"
"..." The broom Yōkai that answered the ogre felt a slight headache when he heard what the Oni said.
He clearly didn"t know either.
"Yuji, Yuji! There"s a girl at the main gate!"
"Hmm?" The Oni looked at the gate and saw a girl with white hair and red eyes.
"... Vampires?" The broom Yōkai thought, he looked even more at the girl"s features and thought:
"She"s the girl on that poster!" The Yōkai broom correctly remembered that this girl was somehow related to the daughter of the Vampire King.
"She must be responsible for this, capture her!" The Oni wasted no time.
"...Idiot, you shouldn"t-."
"ROAAAAAAAR!" A roar of a beast was heard, and, before the broom could say anything, he saw a Yōkai that had a big head. Around that head, there were several wheels that caught fire when it rolled towards the girl.
The broom Yōkai expected the collision with the girl, but such a thing never happened.
The girl appeared to position herself in a martial arts pose and attacked the air.
FUSHHHHHHHH.
An immense pressure of air came out of her hand and sent the Yōkai flying, causing further destruction to be carried out.
[Hmm, not bad.] Nero heard the voice of Victor, her father.
He was still standing in the same spot as before, but he was speaking directly to her mind, an ability her father"s Maids shared as well.
[But not good enough, you didn"t use your whole body.]
"!!!" Nero awoke from her stupor and looked at her hand. She had never felt so much power before! With just a swing of her fist, she"d sent a Yōkai flying.
[Don"t lose focus, they"re coming.]
Nero stopped looking at her hand and looked straight ahead, her eyes glowing slightly red.
An animal-type Yōkai attacked Nero with its fangs, causing the girl to jump back in panic, but, as she didn"t know how to control her strength properly yet, she ended up jumping back a lot further than antic.i.p.ated.
Unconsciously, she reached her hands behind her, where her weapons always used to be, a natural reaction of her body. She was very used to using the weapon her father gave her.
[Calm down. Don"t panic, take a deep breath, relax your body and let your instincts guide you.]
[Remember, you are a n.o.ble Vampire, power must come naturally... as if it was always a part of you.]
Acting on Victor"s words, she managed to calm down a bit, and just as the beast Yōkai attacked again, she felt that the Yōkai seemed to be too slow.
She dodged it with relative ease, clenched her fist, and soon after punched the Yōkai in the face.
BOOOM.
A small sonic boom occurred, and the Yōkai"s head disappeared.
[Good... But you still haven"t thrown a proper punch.]
[Jump up.]
Nero didn"t question her father, she just did what he said, and soon she saw several Yōkai bursting out of the ground and trying to grab ahold of her legs.
They had several sharp claws and seemed to dig into the ground with relative ease.
[Don"t lose focus, there are still flyers.] Nero looked up and noticed several bird-type Yōkai closing in.
If it was a normal situation, she would attack with her pistols right now, but she didn"t have that option.
[Remember, use the environment around you, where are you right now?]
"...." Nero"s eyes glowed a little blood red as she looked around and noticed a small building. She pressed her feet on the building, bursting off with a speed that shattered her foothold, and with the momentum she"d gained, she flew up to the wall of the ice dome, and once more, using the wall for support, she burst towards the birds.
With her momentum, she arrived before the first bird-type Yōkai before it could even comprehend what had happened and punched him in the stomach. Then, just like with the other Oni, the bird"s chest vanished from existence, dying before he even hit the ground.
But... She was surrounded now.
Another bird-type Yōkai used its claws and attacked Nero"s face.
"!!!" He"s gonna hit me!
At that moment, her body began to distort, and when the Yōkai"s claw was about to hit her head, she turned into smoke and appeared on the ground.
"...Wha-..." She was shocked by what she"d just done.
[I told you, your power comes naturally, what you just used was a basic skill of n.o.ble Vampires, don"t be too surprised, stop limiting yourself, Nero.]
[You no longer have limits on what you can do.]
Nero looked at her hands for a few seconds, and then she clenched her fist as a small smile appeared on her face.
ROAAAAAAAAAR!
"Kill her!"
She looked at the Yōkai army.
"Don"t hold back..." Her voice came out as a small growl, she flexed her legs a little, and the next moment, she was in the middle of the army.
She appeared in front of a fat Yōkai and did what her father taught her, a.s.suming a martial arts pose.
Using her whole body as if it were a rubber band, the energy first originated from her feet, twisting as it pa.s.sed through her torso, rotating even further as her momentum surpa.s.sed what she"d ever reached before, and in the next moment...
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Everything in front of her disappeared completely as she followed through with her perfect punch.
[That"s what I call a real punch, HAHAHAHA~.]
[Hmm, is it just me, or does she seem to be physically stronger than me?] Bruna asked her master while looking towards the dome. She, along with Maria and Roberta, was here to observe everything around the village.
Victor smiled slightly and leaned against the next tree nearby.
[You are not wrong, Bruna. She is physically stronger than you.]
[Why?]
[Her Werewolf part hasn"t disappeared.]
[Eh...?]
[Just like you, my maids, who still have 1% of the human gene within you, she still has 1% of werewolf within her, and with only that 1%, significant changes can occur, that 1% is influenced by the n.o.ble Vampire"s physical powers and making her stronger.]
"My daughter was never human, she was born a Hybrid, and being born with deformed genes, she was extremely weak, but when one side of the genes became dominant, her power could finally show."
Nero was essentially a n.o.ble Vampire now, but like with every change made by a Progenitor, Victor didn"t completely erase the Werewolf side, he couldn"t do that. He didn"t know the consequences of that act, considering that he was messing with the very existence of Nero. His Nero.
But while he was interested to see what would happen if he did erase that 1%, Victor didn"t want to see that with Nero, he wanted to see her unique power that was born out of her personality.
Such as Eve and her admiration for Victor"s fire which led to her having a power similar to him but different.
Just like Bruna, who regretted being too late for not saving her friend, thus a telekinetic power was born.
When Victor transformed a being that was not yet developed, interesting powers could be awakened, and he wanted to see that.
"Oya?" Victor"s smile grew as he saw a scene below him; "It seems that the Werewolf"s genes influenced her physical attributes more than expected."
Nero"s body was glowing with blue energy, and that energy was in her every movement. Victor could easily recognize what it was.
Similar to Anderson, Nero was using a type of power to elevate her physical capabilities.
"Although she is doing it unconsciously."
A Yōkai attacked from behind Nero, and the girl reacted instinctively, jumping back and attacking the Yōkai with open hands.
And then the Youkai"s body fell to the ground, its severed head landing elsewhere.
[Vampires" claws... Although it seems to have undergone a small change.] Victor commented curiously. Nero"s claws seemed to be bigger and much sharper, they were almost animalistic like an animal"s claw, or specifically a Werewolf"s.
"...Ugh, my throat feels weird." Nero ma.s.saged her throat a little as she felt an annoying itch.
But she didn"t have time to contemplate anything now since she was in the middle of the battlefield.
Tink!
"Hmm?" Nero looked at something that had hit her body and made a strange noise, and soon she looked up to the sky and saw that the bird-type Yōkai were throwing feathers covered in Youki at her.
[Her endurance is insane.] Bruna couldn"t help but comment.
"..." Victor nodded and thought; "Did that strange power increase her defense too?"
"Begone!" She punched the air, and the birds flew away. Some died on the spot, but most were unharmed.
The birds, realizing they couldn"t penetrate the girl"s defenses, started to gather, and in less than a few seconds, they started taking deep breaths, and then.
"DIEEEEEE!" The voices of birds echoed through the place.
It was a sonic attack.
"UGH." Nero held both her ears as blood started to come out of her ear, and she felt a little dizzy.
"A sonic attack... This is new." Victor thought as his eyes glowed blood red.
"Are you going to intervene now?" s.h.i.+nji asked.
"Not yet." Victor replied.
"Now, take advantage of her weakened state!" The red-skinned Oni ordered.
"OOHHHH!" The Yōkai screamed and charged at her.
Nero"s situation was getting more and more complicated, she was surrounded by enemies, and she was immobilized because of the sonic attack that was affecting her Supernatural hearing.
"Grrr..." She started to growl as her mouth started to distort and get sharper, and to make matters worse, the itching in her throat started to get stronger. Finally, feeling irritated, she looked up to the sky and screamed:
"SHUT UPPP!"
ROOOOOOOOAAAARRRR
The roar of a beast was heard, and along with that roar.
A blue power erupted from Nero"s mouth as a gigantic blue beam flew towards the sky, and a small spider web-shaped crater formed under Nero due to the sudden power.
"!!?"
The sudden blue beam engulfed the unsuspecting birds, effectively killing them all.
But the power did not stop there.
The beam rose towards the ice dome and slammed into it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic explosion rippled from the impact point.
The ice wall remained intact, and no significant visible damage was seen.
"…." but the feeling of shock was mutual. Everyone was shocked by what had just happened, even Victor himself and the Yōkai that Nero was fighting.
[What the f.u.c.k was that?] Maria screamed in shock through the connection.