[A/N: A big win today! Thanks to the support of all the pa trons, I was able to make the original art of Scathach! Go to my pa treon if you're interested in seeing it, don't worry it's free! And don't forget that voting for the next art is already underway.]
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"…" Still with a smile on his face, Victor ignored the king's pressure. In fact, it only made him more excited.
He stepped forward and started walking again.
He needed to see the king's might. He needed to get a glimpse of the 'top'.
"Stop!" The guards tried to catch Victor again.
As the guards were about to touch Victor, Alexios Alioth raised his hand in a stopping gesture.
"Yes!" Not questioning the decision of the king's right hand, the two guards disappeared.
Why did he do it? It's simple; 'I haven't seen this expression in a while.' Alexios thought as he looked at the small, almost invisible smile on the king's face.
'Looks like the king wants to show us something. Let's see what happens.' As a faithful servant, it was his duty to understand his master's intentions.
Again, Victor started walking.
'Come on, come on, come on! Show me! Show me! I want to see it!' His eyes glowed blood red.
The smile, the expression, and the whole atmosphere around Victor indicated that he was just another suicidal madman.
That was what the princes and princesses present thought, except for three people.
Scathach, The First Prince, Theo, and the King himself.
They understood Victor's feelings now.
'Walking is not enough.'
Rumble, Rumble.
Suddenly Victor disappeared, leaving behind a golden beam.
The king lightly touched the throne with his finger.
And as if the scene repeated itself, an overwhelming pressure fell upon Victor.
Crack, Crack.
Victor stopped running. He was only a few feet away from the king.
Cough.
He coughed up blood on the floor.
'That smell…' Lilith's eyes glowed blood red.
And this scene seemed to be repeated by all the princes and princesses.
Seeing the blood on the ground, the king spoke for the first time, "I see..."
His voice made the atmosphere even more tense, as he ignored Victor and looked toward Scathach:
"Are you crazy?" His question seemed to contain several hidden meanings.
Scathach looked at the king and displayed a big, distorted smile that showed all her sharp teeth:
"... Pfft... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~" Her laugh echoed throughout the castle.
Her laugh sent shivers through everyone who had ever fallen victim to this madwoman's clutches.
"And I still bothered to ask..." He closed his eyes slowly.
"..." A silence fell in the area. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"Very well, let's see if he's worthy..."
'Worthy? Worthy of what!?' That's what all the princes thought.
Making a decision, The King rose from his throne, and for the first time, Victor saw the man's entire body, unhidden by the shadow of his throne.
He was tall, roughly 210 CM tall, with pale skin, black hair slicked back, appearing as a thirty year old man in general... He looked like an ordinary salary man you could see anywhere.
Seeing Victor's shocked face, the king spoke in a voice that made everyone shiver:
"Shape and looks don't make any sense to me. I can be whatever I want, whenever I want." To prove what he said, his body began to be covered in blood, and soon a man wearing medieval black armor appeared in front of Victor.
"I can be a medieval king who fought thousands of wars." His voice was deep like an experienced warrior. Then his appearance changed again.
This time, a blond man with green eyes appeared, "I can be a holy warrior who fought for god, and was betrayed by him." Soon his body was covered in blood again.
And this time, the king has turned into someone he knows very well.
"F-Father?"
"Boy, I'm not your father, didn't you hear what I said?" The king's form changed again, and this time it was for his friend Andrew.
"...I see. You know my family, huh."
"I'm glad you understand fast." He spoke in a voice similar to Victor's friend.
"..." Scathach's expression wasn't pretty now. She looked up into the shadows. 'I made sure I blocked all information… Those annoying bugs…'
"..." The vampires who were hiding in the shadows broke out in a cold sweat when they saw Scathach's gaze.
"Hearing that from my friend makes me pretty uncomfortable, you know?" Despite his neutral face that indicated he didn't care, the air around Victor was anything but gentle.
Scathach decided to ignore it for the time being and instead looked at what was going on in front of her.
The king's form changed again, and this time, he returned to the appearance of the salary man.
"Come." He gestured for Victor to come towards him.
"!!!" Victor's killing intent exploded and engulfed the entire king's castle. Victor's smile grew while the gloves on his hand began to glow madly.
"..." Just for a few seconds, all the princes gulped as they sensed Victor's killing intent.
The one who was suffering the most from feeling Victor's killing intent was the fourth prince, who was only 500 years old.
Unconsciously, Victor prevented his killing intent from reaching Ophis, and as Elizabeth and Lilith were close to Ophis, they too also felt nothing.
Victor rose up from the ground, and again, he ran towards the king.
He was now 5 meters away from the king.
The King snapped his finger, and soon an even greater pressure descended on Victor.
BOOOOOM!
Crack, Crack!
Sounds of broken bones could be heard as Victor fell to the ground again.
"HAHAHAHAHA~." Despite being broken all over, Victor laughed.
Despite his whole body being broken, he still started to get up.
Crack, Crack!
Every effort he made caused more damage to his body, but he didn't care.
"This man... he's crazy..." The fourth prince muttered.
The third and the second prince could not help but agree with their brother's words.
'Victor...' Although he was a hateful guy, Elizabeth didn't want to see him get killed. She looked at his master and saw her with an indifferent face.
'Why isn't she doing anything?'
"Father!" Ophis suddenly yelled. Her voice rendered the entire hall into a deep and tense silence.
"Father...?" Lilith didn't understand.
"..." The king raised an eyebrow and looked at his daughter. He thought she was talking to him.
Soon something occurred that left everyone stumped. Ophis teleports to Victor's side.
Not wanting to hurt his daughter, the king released the pressure.
Feeling a small hand tugging at his clothes, Victor turned his face, "Oh... Ophis, what is it, my daughter?"
"...Huh...?"
Everyone who didn't know about Ophis' relationship with Victor could only say that...
He just called the king's daughter 'my daughter'!?
"Father...Hurts." Ophis had never seen Victor so hurt, and this was very different from the fight he had with Tatsuya and Einer.
"Oh, this?" Victor's wounds began to regenerate at high speed.
"This is nothing, see? I'm brand new." Victor kneels down and strokes Ophis' hair, "Don't worry, okay? Just go back to your sister's side."
"B-But..."
"Please? I promise I'll play with you later." Seeing Victor's gentle gaze.
Ophis bit her lip and said, "Yes, Father..."
She just took orders!? What the fuck is going on here!? The princes could not believe what they were seeing, and neither could the king himself.
'I received a report about this before... But I never thought they were this close.'
"Good Girl," Victor laughed gently and patted her head.
"Hehehe."
Seeing Ophis smile, Lilith can't help but open her mouth in shock, "Is my little sister who always seemed to be lifeless, smiling...?" Her interest in Victor started to grow again.
The princes were more surprised that Victor touched Ophis, and he didn't suffer anything! Everyone in the king's family knew about Ophis' special status.
When Ophis returned to Elizabeth's side, Victor stood up. He cracked his neck a little and looked at the king.
He flashed a small smile, "I'm sorry, my daughter interrupted our business."
"…" Again, another uncomfortable silence descended around.
This man is crazy! He just provoked the king!? He will die!
"Heh~" Scathach liked Victor's response.
"You daughter...?" The king's voice sent shivers through the princes and his subordinates who were present.
'It's decided. He's dead.' That's what everyone thought.
"Yes."
"Kid-" The king was going to say something, but he stopped when he felt the whole atmosphere of Victor change.
"Hey, Vlad." He smiled at the king as if he were talking to a childhood friend who hadn't spoken to each other for a long time...
"…" What is this feeling? What is this unsettling feeling? That's what all the princes thought.
'Victor... My stupid disciple, I didn't bring you here for you to kill yourself.' Scathach ignored what Victor suffered a few minutes ago, why?
She went through the same thing in the past when she was a naive and arrogant young woman. So when she caught a glimpse of the 'top', she finally had a clear path to follow and get stronger. She hoped that would happen to her disciple too.
'I will not let you die. The only one who can kill you is me.' Scathach's lifeless eyes stare at Victor's back.
"Have you ever been asked this question before in your long life?" Victor's glove's magic circles began to glow brightly.
"A noble and brave warrior once asked me, are you an honorable fighter or a monster cursed by god?"
"..." The king's eyes narrowed a little
"Hearing the noble warrior's question; Do you know what I answered?" Victor's body began to lose shape, and he turned into something dark. He turned into an entity that the only thing that could be seen was his big smile and blood red eyes.
"Yes, I know." The king spoke, and for the first time, he displayed a small smile on his face.
"…" All the king's sons were in shock when they saw their father's smile.
The king's answer took the smile off Victor's face. He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't stop the enchantment now that it had started.
"I am a monster created by god."
"You are a monster created by god."
The two spoke at the same time.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
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