Chapter 652: An Opportunity?
Vlad, who was preparing to visit a very Ancient Bloodline of Vampire n.o.bles in South Africa, was taken aback by Morgana"s sudden visit.
"If you"re here, it"s because something happened. Speak." Vlad was short and to the point.
He didn"t want to take too long; whatever happened must have been significant enough for Morgana, a woman who clearly didn"t have a high opinion of him, to come here to say something.
"Victor was ambushed along with Eleonor and her squad. Elder G.o.d"s direct subordinates wanted to kill everyone with a trap, but thanks to Victor"s intervention, that didn"t happen."
"..." A hush fell over the room.
Of all the news Vlad had been waiting for, this was definitely not one of them.
Controlling the killing intent that rose due to hearing the phrase "Subordinates of the Elder G.o.ds", Vlad took the most natural action possible:
"Has anyone been harmed severely?" The reason for the question was simple. Vlad knew how dangerous the skills of the natives of this world were. Just as the Adrastella Clan specialized in killing them,
The natives of this world specialized in killing their invaders.
This turf war that started from the moment Vlad set foot on this planet taught both Races many things.
"Nothing happened. My Darling saved everyone at the expense of his safety," Morgana spoke in disdain.
Vlad narrowed his eyes when he heard what Morgana said. Hearing his ex-wife say that in front of him wasn"t a very good feeling.
"… I a.s.sume you were sent here to keep me on my toes about my visit to South Africa."
"As much as I"d love to see your a.s.s get harmed, I can"t jeopardize the safety of my daughters and Family because of my selfish desire."
Knowing full well that the "Family" she spoke of did not include him, Vlad said:
"Tell me more about what happened." Vlad"s priority was to understand what was going on.
Morgana nodded and began to explain from the beginning.
...
Minutes pa.s.sed, and when Morgana finished explaining the events to Vlad,
The Vampire King had a thoughtful look on his face.
"That description, they are definitely messengers of the Elder G.o.ds, direct subordinates of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They even brought a servant to channel their "immortality"... Is Victor being targeted? Why? ...Oh, they"re scared of his potential, huh. Having someone with the same level of Power as me in the future is something they don"t want. Victor"s previous display of Power must have made them rush things..." Vlad deduced.
Vlad knew Victor"s casual demonstration of lighting up all of Nightingale with that white fire would not go down well with the natives.
n.o.ble Vampires might be afraid and even respect Victor now as if he were Vlad himself; after all, the t.i.tle of Progenitor carried a lot of weight, but that was just in Vampire Society.
The Vampire"s enemies would not like to see the Race grow stronger.
Despite feeling conflicted about Victor and having a frenemy-type relations.h.i.+p with him, he understood how important Victor was to society as a whole.
Like it or not, both Progenitors became the point of propaganda for outsiders.
This was one of the reasons that the city built by the Snow Clan was receiving so many refugees. Even with the bad reputation of Vampires with Humans, some Human families linked to Nightingale still chose to fall under the protection of Vampires.
The reason for this was that the Second Progenitor, Victor Alucard, despite his genocidal infamy, was ironically seen as a just man.
After all, news of the genocide he committed only involving people who had a direct or indirect connection to the girl named Ophis Tepes was well spread.
The takeaway from that incident?
Innocents were spared; only the guilty would suffer.
Another reason for this mentality was that everyone knew that if Vlad had gone to j.a.pan, everything would have been wiped out, and a war between Vlad and the s.h.i.+nto Faction could have ensued.
Victor was the lesser evil in that story.
"But one thing doesn"t cease to amaze me. Victor managed to escape a trap of Beings he"d never encountered before... His sense of combat is very sharp." Vlad decided to give this merit to Victor and Scathach, who taught him so well.
Few could escape from a trap made by these Beings alive.
Morgana looked at Vlad with a neutral gaze. Even after explaining all the events that had transpired, she didn"t address Ruby"s speculations about who Victor"s enemies were.
The reason for this was quite simple. She didn"t trust Vlad. She didn"t trust that the man before her wouldn"t contact these enemies and conspire with them to form a sneaky trap for Victor and his Family.
What better way to eliminate an enemy than to have another common enemy eliminate them for you?
Morgana was once a Demon. She went through twisted schemes like this in the past several times when she was Lilith"s general.
Vlad thought and thought, but still, he couldn"t understand something.
"...Why h.e.l.l?" He couldn"t understand that specific point. As someone who had fought directly with the Elder G.o.ds, he knew what kind of powerful Beings existed on the other side of the world, beings that only G.o.d-Kings could fight.
If the natives wanted to eliminate Victor and ensure he was ultimately killed, they would not only send their subordinates but an Elder G.o.d as well.
If you want a threat eliminated, do it yourself. All the Elder G.o.ds Vlad had encountered in the past lived by that thought.
The trap made no sense to Vlad. He had the feeling that only a specific group wanted to eliminate Victor as quickly as possible, and because of that, they made this sloppy plan.
"Something else is going on... Something involving Victor... And I need to know." Vlad"s eyes glowed blood red a little, and he looked at Morgana, who looked more beautiful than he remembered, not to mention that her Demonic features were more prominent than before.
Vlad narrows his eyes in suspicion: "What happened to you, Morgana?"
"..." The woman displayed a gentle smile and spoke with a voice that could cut through steel:
"That is none of your business."
"....."
"I delivered my message and warned you. If you lose or get your a.s.s kicked in some trap, that"s your problem."
Her tone of voice changed to a worried one: "I will go back because my Husband is somewhere in h.e.l.l, alone and desperate… He needs my help!"
Vlad just rolled his eyes. Why was she talking like Victor was a helpless child? He was one of the deadliest creatures in the Supernatural World!
"Morgana, have you been out of h.e.l.l for so long that you forgot something so simple?"
"... Huh?"
"Time in the h.e.l.lish Dimensions and Heaven pa.s.s differently."
"...."
"Biblical h.e.l.l, in particular, experiences a Time Dilation that changes the deeper you are, all because of the concentration of Miasma."
"…f.u.c.k, I had forgotten about that! I need to warn them quickly!" Morgana ran towards the exit of the office and shouted:
"Natalia!!"
"..." Vlad rolled his eyes. She really hadn"t changed that much; she kept missing important details.
"Didn"t she realize this is an opportunity for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d? He can get even stronger because of this Time Dilation... And even more insane too... After all, h.e.l.l is not good for any Being"s mentality. The concentrated Miasma will drive any Mortal mad eventually."
Even if he thought about it, Vlad was sure Victor would be fine; after all, he had that d.a.m.n World Tree with him. h.e.l.l was more his home than the Demons themselves.
A portal appeared where Morgana exited, and soon Alexios emerged from it. The man"s expression was severe; even his eyes were open, indicating an urgency.
"My King, they managed to make a countermeasure to my Powers."
"I know; I just got the report of events."
"... This is bad. This way, all your plans will go down the drain."
"That"s not true…." Vlad"s eyes flashed with a calculating look.
"If they had the means to block your Power completely, they would have already invaded us; they fear your Clan too much."
"Remember that the difference in Power between you and your daughter is like comparing an ant to an elephant."
"The difference is stark."
"..." Alexios" apprehensions started to fade, and slowly he started to close his eyes and returned to his neutral expression.
"He"s right; I shouldn"t get so nervous."
"Alexios, can you rescue Victor?" Vlad asked curiously.
"That"s impossible at this moment. h.e.l.l is completely closed; Diablo has ensured that no one other than himself and his Demons can enter h.e.l.l."
"Tsk, the Ruler"s Authority, huh."
"I wonder how he managed to bypa.s.s the system. What kind of deal did he make with the Judges of The Abyss? It is quite clear that what he is doing now goes against the Balance. He must have done something to ensure my friend does not visit him to throw the Primordial Demon into the Limbo Prison."
No matter how much Vlad looked for answers, he couldn"t find them. Questions involving the Primordial Seven that regulated existence were hard things to find answers for, and the odds of tracking these individuals, who ensured that no traces were left behind, were infinitesimally small.
"Well, if Scathach tries to ask me to use Alexios, I already have the answer prepared." Vlad thought.
"My King, does this change anything about the trip to South Africa?"
"... Of course not, I"ll still go... With more precautions, of course." Vlad added at the end when he saw Alexios" expression change to one of concern.
"I will prepare everything."
"Keep me posted; I"m going to visit a friend. I need answers, answers only he can give me."
"… Shall I open a portal to The Limbo Prison?"
"Yes."
Alexios nodded, and soon a portal appeared in front of Vlad.
"You don"t need to look for me; I"ll return alone. Meanwhile, prepare everything for our trip..." Vlad looked at the portal with an expressionless look.
"Keep an eye out for Ophis."
Alexios shuddered as he sensed Vlad"s murderous intent; he was furious but hid it well.
"I don"t want an incident of what happened in j.a.pan to happen again with my daughters. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, I will request the Shadows to protect them from shadows should they leave the Second Progenitor"s allied protection area."
Vlad nodded and ordered as he walked through the door: "Visit Clan Adrastella. I want more accurate information on what"s going on."
"Yes, My King."
The moment Vlad stepped through the portal and the portal closed, Alexios sighed in relief.
"I was wondering why he didn"t explode sooner when he discovered this attack from Morgana"s mouth… It seems my King has gotten better at controlling his temper…the visits with that Snow Clan lady are helping him a bit... Shall I arrange for her to abandon the Snow Clan name and come here?"
Alexios shook his head and decided that he would not meddle in this. That was not the att.i.tude of a competent servant like himself.
...
"Huh? Why did you forget something this important, Morgana!" Jeanne exploded with rage.
"I forgot! I haven"t been back to h.e.l.l in years!"
"How could you forget something so basic!?"
"I had more important things to think about than something as insignificant as that!"
"Ugh, you"re impossible sometimes! This is no small thing, Morgana!"
"Ahhh! What can I do?! I forgot, alright?! We should focus on what we should do now!"
"..." Jeanne narrowed her eyes in irritation. She was livid. How could someone forget something as crucial as that!? She knew her friend was airheaded about essential details, she always was, but she never thought she would forget matters involving her old home!
Jeanne took a deep breath and calmed her irritation. It was not worth getting angry now.
"Mother Jeanne?"
"...." Jeanne looked at Ophis and Nero, who she was training.
Nero had incredible physical strength and an abnormal proficiency in the Vampire"s basic power of shapes.h.i.+fting. She didn"t know if it was because of what happened in her past, but no matter the teachings she was proffering to Nero, the little girl absorbed it all as if she were a sponge.
Not to mention that Nero had a strange Energy inside her. This Energy was very similar to the Natural Energy that the World Trees use, and this energy also significantly strengthened her physical strength and Powers in general.
Jeanne didn"t find this strange. At the end of the day, Nero was born a Hybrid, and when Victor turned her into a n.o.ble Vampire, the same thing that happened to Morgana must have occurred in her. Although, this case was a little different; after all, Werewolves were the opposite Race of Vampires.
Nero was using her Vampire Powers to mimic Werewolf Powers. She was basically an imitation of what a Werewolf should be. Jeanne understood that this aspect came naturally to Nero.
The reason for this was that when Victor turned her into a n.o.ble Vampire, her Werewolf side disappeared almost completely, but that 1% that remained in her Soul gave Nero the Energy that only Werewolves had and her basic instincts.
The proof of this was the girl"s sense of smell, which was much sharper than a Vampire"s, and her almost animalistic sense of danger, characteristics only seen in beings like Werewolves, Kitsunes, and Supernatural Beings that had a connection with an animal.
Ophis was another unique case. The girl, in a nutsh.e.l.l, was a tiny monster. Everything Jeanne taught, she learned in a very short amount of time. Not to mention that she had an extraordinarily unique form of Teleportation with a lot of potential for combat.
Another thing she discovered was that Ophis was much stronger than a normal n.o.ble Vampire Child. Even for a daughter of a Progenitor, she was still irregular in this regard.
Even her regeneration was much stronger than a typical Baby Vampire, something she, unfortunately, came to discover in the worst way.
When Ophis was injured in training, the scent of her blood was intoxicating, and Jeanne felt her Racial urges activated, a reaction that could only happen with someone with a unique blood type.
The blood of the Progenitor.
In a simple way to understand, Ophis had more of Vlad"s blood inside her than Vlad"s other children, who inherited more things from their mother.
Take Adam, for example. Her son took some of the potential from Vlad"s blood and fully inherited her Traits.
Thanks to this merger, he had more advantages than his peers of the same age.
But in the case of Ophis, it was different. She took more things from her father than from her mother, and the combination of the two Bloodlines gave her a strange Power similar to how Haruna used her power.
"Ophis is not a true Progenitor like Victor and Vlad; we"d know instinctively if she were; the signs are pretty obvious when that"s the case. But she definitely inherited a great deal of Vlad"s Progenitor Bloodline, and that alone puts her on another potential plateau."
Jeanne was having difficulty training Ophis; the reason for this was due to the peculiarities of her Power. Her Charm was very great, which could Charm even adult men, and she had no control over it.
Another reason was that she couldn"t touch people other than those related to the Progenitor"s Main Line, like Vlad"s children and, currently, all of Victor"s Wives who were most closely related to Victor"s blood.
After all, if she touched a Being without gloves, all the memories of that Being would be absorbed into Ophis, thus causing a second personality in the girl, something she already knew and wanted to avoid as much as possible.
"This is a problem derived from control too. She has no idea how to control her Power."
Another oddity that she knew about Ophis was the Power to "mark" someone. Jeanne didn"t know what that Power was, she just knew that Victor had that mark on him, and thanks to that mark, Ophis could teleport next to Victor at any time she wanted.
Something that Victor himself forbade her from doing. After all, it was something dangerous, depending on where he was.
"I don"t know if this mark can be used as a tracker or if it has other effects, but one thing I"m sure of... Both girls have a lot of potential."
"Mother?" Nero called out to her with a bit of embarra.s.sment, something she was getting over as time went on; although it was strange to have "so many" mothers, she wasn"t going to complain about it.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about your training."
"Oh."
"This is not the time for that-."
Jeanne smacked Morgana on the head.
"Ugh, what the f.u.c.k Jeanne!?"
"First, calm down. You get agitated easily that it doesn"t help at all."
"Second, this could be an opportunity for Victor to get stronger. The longer he stays in h.e.l.l, the more he can reach physical maturity and reach the first strength boost that happens when a Vampire reaches 500 years old."
"This Strength Boost will help Victor immensely to balance his body"s powers further."
Morgana gritted her teeth, "I know that, Jeanne. I also thought this was an opportunity for Victor, but the problem is... You don"t know h.e.l.l as I do. It"s a horrible place."
"A horrible place for the weak..."
"...." Morgana opened her eyes a little.
"Don"t let your bad memories get to you; Victor is not weak. Knowing my Husband, I"m sure he"s feeling like a shark back in very familiar waters right now." Jeanne smiled.
A smile Morgana shared, followed by a sigh: "Huh, you"re right; I should calm down a bit."
Literally four seconds later, she screamed, "I can"t calm down!"
"Sigh…" Jeanne sighed in exasperation.
"Even if he has Roxanne, he"s alone in h.e.l.l! A hostile place! Ahh~, my little Vic~."
"... Are you a doting mother? He"s not even your son!" Jeanne commented inwardly, not expressing her thoughts.
"Ara, the fact that Victor is alone won"t last for long."
The two women and two girls looked at a pink light that suddenly appeared, revealed to be Aphrodite.
"Even if Victor were dropped on a strange planet alone, I am 100% sure that in a short time, he would soon be surrounded by allies."
"...."
"Remember, Victor"s greatest weapon is not just his strength but his charisma. A charisma that made the G.o.ddess of Love fall in love with him. I guarantee you; he won"t be alone for long."
Jeanne flashed a small smile as a thought crossed her mind, an idea she vocalized for all to hear:
"I predict that Diablo will experience a lot of heartache shortly."
"Fufufufu~, indeed, and we should take advantage of it."
"What will we do?"
"Contact the opposite side of the war, the Angels."
"Luckily, our Husband managed to make good relations with the Angels by saving one of the Virtues. Those arrogant pigeons won"t chase us away, and if I go with you, this att.i.tude will decrease even more; after all, no one can resist my beauty~."
The blonde and the pink-haired woman flashed a smile that would make both Ruby and Victor proud and start laughing in unison.
"...." Morgana, Nero, and Ophis just watched with emotionless eyes.
"They really get along, huh," Nero spoke.
"Indeed, they are two black bellies just like Ruby."
"Black bellies?" Ophis asked.
"Women who enjoy planning and are s.a.d.i.s.tic enough to want to see the targets of their planning suffer."
"Mm… Confused," murmured Ophis.
"When you grow up, you will understand."
"Okay..."
"Morgana, will you help us with our training?" Nero asked.
"... Why don"t you call me Mother, too?"
"...I don"t feel like that"s possible..." Nero spoke.
"Why!?"
"I mean, you don"t seem like a "Mother"..."
"What is that supposed to mean!? I have two daughters, you know!?" Morgana burst.
"... Huh, I feel like you"re more of a friend than a Mother. You don"t have that Mother vibe, you know?"
"Mother vibe? What the f.u.c.k is she talking about?" Morgana couldn"t understand anything.
Seeing the veins bulging in Morgana"s head and knowing her short temper, Nero quickly spoke:
"Don"t worry! I also don"t call Violet, Maria, and sometimes Natas.h.i.+a Mother either!"
"Why did you only name irresponsible women?"
"..." Nero turned her face and started to whistle. She used her right to remain silent. As Victor"s daughter, she had enough political power to exercise that right. After all, this wasn"t a democracy, and yes, a dictators.h.i.+p with Victor at the top!
"Wait, I think it"s Monarchy? After all, he"s more like a King than a dictator, hmmm..." Nero thought.
.....