Current location, somewhere outside of Nightingale, in an unknown location.
Step, Step.
Hearing footsteps approaching, a man turned and looked at the man who had just arrived:
"You did well to back off, Niklaus. You lost your Count title, and that will be something hard to get back, but that's the least of our current problems right now." The man walked over to Niklaus and looked to where he was looking before.
"The project is a failure, huh?" For a few seconds, the man's expression became annoyed, but it quickly disappeared,
"It seems that ever since we found that man, fate has been a bitch to us."
"...Theo, we have a problem." Despite appearing neutral, Niklaus didn't seem to be in the mood for conversation. In fact, his mood was at its worst.
"..." Theo was silent and didn't answer anything. He just stared at the image in front of him with a serious look that was bored and, at the same time, calculating.
Being threatened with death is common in Niklaus' life, but few beings have the ability to put him on alert...
Vlad, the king of vampires, a monster over 5000 years old, was one of those beings.
Another one was the Werewolf King, who was a monster of the same level as Vlad.
Along with his werewolf army, this man was simply someone he should pay attention to.
And another being he felt threatened by just the name was...
The witch queen.
That bitch was simply indecipherable, and he was extremely wary of this woman. After all, from his point of view, the woman's actions didn't make any sense.
Why did she isolate herself in her kingdom?
Even though she had many contacts in the supernatural world, considering, nowadays no one could live without the witches' products. They made life very 'easy' and 'comfortable' for all supernatural beings.
It was the same feeling as humans who couldn't live without a cell phone.
That bitch achieved this feat. Supernatural beings could no longer live without the products she sells, so, in a way, she conquered the world through the economy. She had infinite riches contacts with various factions, including vampires and werewolves.
And even with all that power in hand.
She hasn't done anything...
.
.
.
Nothing! That was simply indecipherable to Niklaus' mind, and because of that, he took extreme care when dealing with this woman.
But... Recently, someone else had entered that same category of beings that he should be careful of.
And that man was...
"We need to talk about him, Alucard."
Yes, Alucard... Precisely speaking, Victor Alucard, a genius... Wrong, it's an insult to call him just 'genius'. After all, geniuses are his children, even Annasthashia could be called a genius.
The heirs of Clan Snow, Clan Fulger, and Clan Scarlett were also geniuses.
Now...
Alucard?
He's a monster in every way possible, and no vampire can do what he does.
Get as strong as a 500-year-old vampire? Easy.
Casually acquire the powers of the three most powerful vampire houses? Easy.
Become Scathach's disciple and be accepted by Scathach as her daughter's husband?
Better yet, does Scathach herself have a different look? Easy.
Niklaus couldn't understand how everything seemed to be 'easy' for the man.
Just what was he?
How can he be accepted so naturally by a woman like Scathach and have Annasthashia Fulger's obsessive interest to the point that the woman herself annihilated her three previous husbands from existence?
And to make his understanding worse, it wasn't just these women...
King Vlad himself too.
The progenitor of all vampires simply gave this man the title of vampire Count, and the very act of the king doing that means something.
He recognized that man...
Something that only happened 4 times in Vlad's entire existence, he only recognized 4 women who later became the first 4 countesses of Nightingale.
And if Vlad, the king of vampires, recognized anyone, then it's the duty of all supernatural beings to pay attention to the new Count.
... And Niklaus understood that from the beginning.
'Because I understood that, I kept an eye on him, but...' Remembering the being he saw in that strange place, Niklaus shivered a little.
'What was that...?' He tried to use his head, but he didn't have a plausible thought for the existence of whatever that being was within that man.
'Even if he is special for having the golden blood, this is ridiculous.'
"...I know, but before we get to that, I'm curious, what did you say to that man?" Theo asked with a curious glint in his eyes.
"..." Hearing what Theo said, Niklaus was brought out of his thoughts and said:
"He greeted me."
"Don't treat me like a fool, I know. My father knows. We all know he just didn't greet you."
"..." Niklaus was silent.
.
.
.
A moment of silence fell in the place, and soon the man broke the silence:
"Let's just say he showed me a little bit of his true personality." Niklaus avoided the question by just saying that. He didn't want to talk until he understood better what 'that' was.
"..." Theo narrowed his eyes when he saw that Niklaus avoided his question.
"Fine." Theo turned and walked towards a chair, then he sat on the chair and said:
"Tell me the problem."
Niklaus just pointed to a wall to his right. "Look."
Theo looked to where the man pointed and saw a wall coming down that revealed a large television.
And soon, an image began to appear on television.
"Tell me, what is your relationship to my son?"
Theo's entire expression darkened when he saw the 'being' on the screen, precisely speaking when he saw his father.
"...fuck."
"He knows everything." Niklaus spoke.
"..." Theo touched his chin and started to think.
Ever since he was little, Theo had always been sure of something. His father didn't forgive traitors. So, the moment he decided to make plans to take control of Nightingale, he knew the risks he was taking, but he didn't expect that he would have to face those risks sooner than planned.
"If you and I are still alive, it's because my dad hasn't figured out who our 'sponsor' is yet, but the moment he finds out, we're fucked."
"...Vlad's gone soft." Niklaus ignored what Theo said.
"Huh?"
"Although you turned your back on him, he hasn't killed you yet, or is that the benefit of being the king's son?" Niklaus spoke in a dismissive tone.
"...Niklaus, you know very well how terrifying my father can be, he doesn't even have to leave his throne, and anything he wants can come to his fingertips."
"Yes, I know... I know that very well."
"But... don't you remember?" Niklaus' eyes glowed a little blood red.
"...?" Theo didn't understand what Niklaus was referring to.
"His plan didn't work, he failed."
"..." Theo was silent.
"I must say... The Alioth Clan is terrifying, having the power to be able to isolate an entire world and alter time without anyone noticing. That kind of power is no longer a mortal's power..."
"That is more like a divine work..."
Niklaus clenched his fist, "The work of a god."
"..." Theo was silent, and he didn't have much to say on this matter. After all, Clan Alioth only served the king.
EXCLUSIVELY, only the king.
If the 4 Vampire Counts... If the 5 Vampire Counts were special because they were the pillars of vampire society.
Clan Alioth was more special than they were because they had direct contact with the king himself.
Not even Vlad's children had as much 'Influence' as Clan Alioth did.
"Specifically, Alexios' work."
"..."
"The King's Right Hand..."
"Yes. I don't know about the other members, but Alexios is different... He's special."
"Other members?" Niklaus narrowed his eyes:
"Have you met the other members of this clan yet?"
"Only one... Natalia Alioth, the daughter of Alexios. I saw her once when she was younger. I learned that she was the maid of the Snow Clan now."
"...Huh? Someone from Clan Alioth as a maid? And especially Alexios' daughter...?" Niklaus touched his chin, wondering if he was missing something here.
"...." Once more, silence fell on the two, as both men were in their own world, wondering what to do.
Theo looked at the man, while he seemed to remember something, "Niklaus... Why are you so far away from Nightingale?"
"Safety."
"The Fulger Clan?"
"Yes, and not just that crazy woman. Probably Clan Scarlett and possibly Clan Snow."
"...Well, provoking Scathach was a stupid decision."
"..."
"Snow clan won't do anything since that stupid woman is more worried about her husband."
"...Persephone..."
"Yes, the goddess is getting impatient, and she wants her prize."
"What will you do?" Niklaus asked.
"Nothing." Theo replied.
"...huh?"
"My father won't kill me until he knows who our sponsor is. He can't get information out of me because even I don't know this man or woman. The best thing to do now is to be quiet and wait for the dust to settle."
Niklaus narrowed his eyes, "My friend, tell me the truth. We both know that you are not a man to sit around and do nothing."
"...Tsk... Hearing you call me friend makes me shiver with disgust."
"..." Niklaus continued to watch the man in silence,
"...I will look for experiment number zero."
"..." Niklaus remained silent.
"That's right, due to your negligence, this experiment got away."
"Do you want to use experiment number zero as material to complete the hybrid?" Niklaus asked in a neutral tone while he wasn't even annoyed at being insulted by Theo.
"... That too... But..." Theo's smile grew a little.
"Everyone knows that this race is quite famous for spreading disease... And I've acquired an interesting piece of information..."
"The two leaders of Christian hell are at war."
"..." Niklaus narrowed as he started to think about why this man spoke this information now.
"...Do you want to sell experiment number zero as a weapon?"
"Correct."
"For what purpose?"
"Minions."
"You are crazy."
"Only the king of hell can command demons, and making a contract with a single demon is acceptable, but thousands of them?"
"You'd have to make a contract with the very... Oh..."
Theo's smile grew even wider.
"You seem to have understood, Niklaus."
"...Yes, it's a good plan." Niklaus thought it wasn't a bad plan. If he got an exclusive contract with a king of hell, he could summon that king's subordinate demons. This plan had a lot of loose ends, but with his help, it was easy to solve.
"But... This plan will depend on your competence in finding the experiment or not."
"..." Theo lost his smile.
"Telling all of this to me is great, but you must put this plan into action if you want it to be carried out."
"I know." Theo got up and walked towards the exit.
"...Theo."
"Hmm?"
"If this plan works... Don't forget."
"Never make a contract with a demon called 'Asmodeus.'"
"Never."
"...why?"
'He is an evil spirit of the highest rank, you are currently corruptible, and with your weak mentality, you will be consumed, and hell will fall on this world... Literally.' He wanted to say this but was silent:
"Well..." Niklaus made a strange face, as he didn't know how to explain to Theo what the problem was without telling the truth.
"Just remember my warning." He didn't know how to explain it, and because of that, he just left a friendly warning. After that, it was up to the man himself whether he'd listen to him or not.
"... Okay." Theo turned and kept walking.
...
In a darkened room, a witch was standing while holding her bone staff.
"Tell me, My Daughter."
She heard a voice all over the place, suddenly.
Fushhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The whole place lit up, and several magic circles started to appear in the room.
And the image of a woman appeared in front of her.
"Witch Queen." She lowered her staff and bowed a little in a gesture of respect.
"Tell me... Tell me about the new count."
The woman stopped bending over and looked straight ahead and saw the projection of a woman sitting on a throne. Curiously, her face was being covered by some kind of black blur.
But she knew that woman was her mother.
'Why is she being so cautious? No one can break in and watch this dialogue.'
"...."
Realizing that she had been silent for some time, she said:
"I haven't found him yet."
"...Lie." The voice of a playful child was heard.
"Lies don't work on me, so tell me the truth Selena."
"..." Selena felt like sighing, she didn't lie, but she didn't give all the information either:
"I haven't met him 'in person' yet."
"True..." The same child's voice spoke.
Selena looked around the room and saw several small lights.
'Cursed spirits, shut up.' Selena felt like exterminating these little spirits since they were so annoying.
"Tell me more... I want your opinion on the new Count."
A golden magic circle appeared, and soon a 'window' was created, and from that window, the image of Victor appearing to interfere in the fight was seen.
"...Honestly, he's...strange."
...
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