"You, a Night King, must use your authority as king, and devour me."
Victor narrowed his eyes, "...How do you know about this?"
"Son, please. I got in direct contact with Vlad, and he told me about it the moment he turned me into a vampire."
"At the time, I was just a human who was taken advantage of by the two goddesses, I was no longer a virgin, and according to vampire common sense, a non-virgin human cannot be turned into a vampire, and Vlad broke that common sense, so I knew."
"He talked about vampires who are 'special' even among vampires." He looked at Victor with a serious look.
"The vampires that would eventually be called the Progenitors."
"You... Cough." He coughed up blood on the bed a few times until he raised his hand and pointed to Victor:
"Vampires like you."
"...."
"It's no use trying to say it's a lie, you have all the hallmarks of a Progenitor. An irregular strength despite your age, a presence that intimidates older vampires even if you're too young for it."
"High learning, irregular power, and the most important proof, everyone who gets involved with you ends up getting a little stronger in a short time, something that would be impossible without the blood of a Progenitor."
"If you know me that well, you should know that if I devour you, you will die."
"Wrong."
"For us vampires, blood is the bargaining chip for our soul-… Cough, Cough. fuck"
"..." Victor's eyes became sharp when he heard those words coming from Adonis.
Adonis looked at the blood on his hand; 'Tsk, this bitch is too rushed now that I have one foot in the grave.'
"...As a Progenitor, you have the authority to dictate the 'value' of our soul."
"From the moment you awakened as a Progenitor, and you started killing and absorbing the blood of other beings."
"Something changed in you." Adonis' eyes turned blood red.
"..." Victor continued watching Adonis.
"All... Literally, every being you've killed and absorbed the blood of is living inside you."
"...What..."
"All the souls of those beings are within you, but as you have no experience with that kind of power yet; thus, you cannot properly manage these souls."
"...That's the biggest reason the progenitors of vampires are so feared."
"Death is no escape for those who defy the King of the Night."
"You are literally walking between life and death. You enjoy the benefits of Life; you are able to have children and have an heir."
"And at the same time, you slap death itself in the face, you are not able to die, and the souls you absorb serve as seeds for your entire existence to blossom as one of the strongest beings."
"..." A moment of silence fell on the place, Victor seemed lost in thought, and several doubts he had were being answered by what he had just heard.
"You must be experiencing these changes right now, right?"
"... What do you mean?"
"When you kill someone, can you see that person's memories?"
"..." Victor opened his eyes a little and thought about the skill he'd acquired.
"From your reaction, it seems so." Adonis leaned back against the bed and continued:
"You are a King; you have the right to decide the value of my 'blood'."
"Using this ability, I want you to set my blood as a higher value and devour me."
"By doing so, you will take on everything Adonis stands for."
"…Huh?" Victor didn't understand.
"All of Adonis' existence will disappear. If I merge with you, you will receive my memories, traumas, and bloodline powers." Adonis' eyes glowed a little violet.
"And…my curse."
.
.
.
.
.
As Victor continued looking at Adonis with a dry gaze, a silence fell on the place.
His gaze changed to an irritated look, and he said:
"Motherfucker, I want to heal you, not kill you. What do you think will happen when Violet finds out I killed her father?"
"You want me to make the same mistake again!?" In the situation with Sasha's father, Victor admitted that he'd acted recklessly. He was upset, and somehow managed to kill the man.
Luckily, Sasha's father had no ties to his own daughter, and because of that, Sasha didn't blame him too much.
Adonis was completely different from that piece of shit who called himself Sasha's father.
If he died and Violet found out it was at Victor's hands, Victor couldn't imagine what kind of reaction she would have.
And the same applied to Agnes.
"Fool, I won't be dead, my soul will be in your body!"
"And what's the difference with not being dead?
"Don't you understand? You will merge with me-."
A vein bulged in Victor's head, "That is so much worse, how can I face Violet when I merge with you?"
"You are her father, and I will have your memories, are you absolutely sure it won't influence me?" Victor shuddered when he thought that he might look at Violet with a father's gaze, not a lover's.
"…You fool, which part of, You are the King, and you decide the value of 'blood', don't you understand?"
"..."
"All you have to do when it's time to devour me is erase those memories, erase the memories related to Violet."
"By doing this, you will not see my daughter as your daughter."
"...I'm saying you're missing the point here, even if I do this and merge with you, you will die!"
"I'LL DIE ANYWAYS!" Adonis roared in rage.
"..." Victor was silent in the face of Adonis' roar of rage.
Adonis' eyes darkened:
"You think I want that? Hmmm? To be stuck for an eternity with that bitch Persephone?"
"Do you think I want to die?"
"Do you think I want to be stuck in this bed in a deplorable state?"
"…Do you think…I want to leave my baby behind?" He looked down, and the image of Violet as a child appeared in front of him, "My little violet flower?"
"...." For the first time in his life, Victor saw something that left him speechless. He saw the look of a man who had lost all hope.
Wrong... A father who had lost all hope.
Victor lowered his head and said one word:
"Fuck."
This situation was just completely fucked up. He came here to help Adonis and not kill him!
He clenched his fist in frustration as he bristled at the fact that he couldn't do anything.
"…I will die."
Victor lifted his face and looked at Adonis.
"And that's inevitable... That fate was decided the moment Persephone cursed me."
"...."
"But... Like my father, I want to choose the way I die." He flashed a lifeless smile.
"I'd rather be devoured by you than leave my soul in Persephone's possession. If she has control of my soul, she can literally change my entire existence, and send me back to the world of the living as a possible enemy to you and my daughter."
"...." Victor bit his lip.
"Please...Victor...Take this burden, take my burden..."
Victor's eyes were hidden by his hair, and the only thing visible to Adonis was blood running from his lips.
Victor's mind was in chaos, and all his thoughts were focused on Violet's direction.
His first wife, the girl who brought him into this world.
The girl who helped him unconditionally all this time.
'Fuck!' He clenched his fist harder.
"How long do you have? This time, I want to know the truth." Victor asked.
"... I don't know, but... The next time I fall into a coma, I'll never wake up again... That's for sure."
"...I see..."
A few seconds passed.
'Forgive me, Violet… Please.' Victor didn't want to devour Adonis since, even though the man would merge with him, he would also cease to exist altogether.
And that will cause pain to all who care for the man.
But…
If he dies, his soul will go to Persephone, and that will be much worse because the Goddess of The Underworld could do whatever she wanted with Adonis.
Victor had two evils to choose from, and he chose…
He chose the one he thought was right.
Victor stopped biting his lips and lifted his face.
"That's a good face." Adonis laughed when he saw Victor's determined gaze.
"What should I do?" Victor got straight to the point.
With a serious look, Adonis said, "Release your restrictions. You can only use this power if you are in your full Progenitor form. By the time you devour my blood, you must think of my existence as of high 'value'. If you do that, your instinct as a Progenitor will guide the entire process."
"That's vague."
"Don't blame me, I'm not a Progenitor, and that's something I thought of when I saw Vlad creating new vampires."
"It's all up to you."
"...." Victor nodded, as he thought it must look like him creating new vampires.
He touched the gloves Scathach gave him for a few seconds, and then a memory of Scathach popped into his head.
"Foolish disciple, don't release your restraints until all your power is mastered! You're not prepared for the setback of dealing with so much power, you might end up dying!"
"But! I know how foolish you are, and you will eventually disobey me! Because of that, I will give you the key, after all, your life is your own. You must decide how to live it."
'I'm sorry, Master... But I promise it will only be for a few minutes.'
Victor clenched his fists, the magic circle started to glow, and he thought; 'Release restriction...'
'Code... The Crimson Flower That Feeds On The Fallen Blood of its Enemies.' Victor felt like rolling his eyes when he remembered the code Scathach had created.
Although this code seemed to be heavily inspired by Scathach itself, and because of that, he really didn't mind the ridiculously long name.
Victor's gloves served as a restriction on his powers, he could remove the glove, and the magic contained in it would still be working. The only way to release all the glove's restrictions is with a 'code' that the glove's owner created.
Victor removed the glove and dropped it on the floor.
When removing the gloves, nothing changed externally, but inside Victor?
Everything was in chaos, the sea of blood that was calm before was now turbulent as if it was having a big storm.
"…Will he finally use our power?" The existence inside Victor didn't seem to be sad or worried, he was happy that he was going back to where he belonged.
"Hey? And to think that this tree had a feature like that."
Despite being small and almost insignificant, the existence inside Victor could see the tree inside Victor trying to stabilize his chaotic powers.
But she was failing miserably.
"Oh?" The existence was surprised when it saw the tree creating a golden sphere around it as if it was trying to protect itself:
"That was a good decision, you are too weak to try to help us now."
"It's time..." Existence spoke as it began to fade.
Victor gritted his teeth and tried to control his growing powers as much as possible, but that task proved too difficult, as the amount of power he had now didn't even compare to when he started training.
"...So this is what the second Progenitor looks like..."
"...?" Victor looked at Adonis, who was looking at his body in shock.
He looked at his hands and realized that his entire body was completely dark as if he were the darkness itself, and within that darkness, he could see blood-red 'veins', two gigantic wings with the same appearance as the body of Victor appeared behind him.
It was as if the existence that was inside Victor was transported to reality and merged with Victor himself.
'This power…' Victor clenched his fists, he could feel an immense amount of power, and he had a vague feeling that if he used his power now, he would completely lose himself.
He felt like he was trying to tame a wild beast, and he was just a normal human with no strength who couldn't quite achieve that feat.
"You look like Vlad in that form, but... you have your own quirks." He spoke as he watched small lightning bolts dancing around Victor's body.
The ambient temperature seemed to get warmer.
He looked at the ground around Victor and realized that everything was frozen.
'His body can't keep his powers inside, and it's leaking out.'
"What now?" A demonic voice resounded through the place.
"!!!" Adonis's entire existence shook when he heard Victor's words.
He wasn't doing anything! He was literally standing there, he didn't even use his powers, but it seemed that the very existence of Victor was trying to make Adonis lower his head.
'As expected of a King...' He looked with a melancholy look at Victor; 'If I had this power at the time I was kidnapped...'
He shook his head several times, no use thinking about the past.
"Eat me."
Hearing what Adonis said, Victor nodded.
Victor's chest began to distort, and soon the head of a demonic beast appeared.
"Take care of the Snow Clan, my daughter... and Agnes."
"They will never forgive me."
"Violet will forgive you, she is a foolish woman like her mother, it may take a few years, but she will definitely forgive you… But Agnes? Probably not."
"..." A moment of silence fell around them.
"…the moment you devour me, my curse will fall on you, don't fall for Persephone's temptations, or Aphrodite's. Remember, these words, never trust either of these two goddesses."
"Aphrodite too…?"
"Oh, didn't I mention her? Aphrodite 'blessed' me with more beauty. I am literally the most handsome man alive, although my charm is not the same as when I was 'healthy'."
"If I was completely healthy, I would just need to snap my fingers, and all of Vlad's wives would crawl at my feet." He spoke in a narcissistic tone,
"Although I'd have to survive Agnes first." His body shuddered a little.
"..." Victor was really questioning whether to do this or not.
Adonis stopped acting like a narcissist and flashed a wistful smile:
"Take care, my son-in-law."
"..." Victor nodded with the same neutral gaze.
"Farewell, father-in-law."
The demon beast's mouth enlarged and ate Adonis' entire existence.
"..." Victor continued looking at the spot where Adonis was sleeping.
Sigh...
He took a long breath:
"I wouldn't be surprised if I was condemned to hell right now..."
