Chapter 332: A Saint and a Succubus.
A few minutes pass, and Anna and Jeanne are in a forest near the royal capital.
They were walking quietly while talking to each other, they hadn't seen the outside world for thousands of years, and they were simply enjoying the refreshing air of nature.
"I can't believe he let go so easily." Jeanne commented with a relieved sigh.
By the time she woke up, she didn't have time to enjoy the scenery or know how long they'd slept. Instead, they had to quickly use their powers and get in touch with their respective acquaintances.
Anna had an easier time since, as a demon and a former general, she had direct contact with Lilith.
On the other hand, Jeanne had to pray to God, something that annoyed her a lot, and as she was now a vampire, just contact with God's energy made her body ache.
If the contract had been completed, God would have taken her place, and she would have been burned out of existence, and when she died, her soul would belong to that being.
But that was a sacrifice she was willing to make, she would rather be a subordinate of God ten thousand times than remain Vlad's wife.
"It wasn't easy, if we hadn't threatened him by summoning Lilith, and God, he wouldn't have let us go, that fucking piece of shit." She spoke in a venomous tone.
Unlike Jeanne, Lilith's relationship with Anna was quite neutral.
She didn't hate the woman, but she wasn't very close to her either.
But as a demon, she respected Lilith for what she represented.
Though that didn't mean she wasn't wary of the woman. After all, the title of goddess of evil and mother of demons wasn't just for show.
If she wanted to, Lilith could also be a heartless bitch, and that was something Anna understood all too well, given the events that happened when she asked to stop being a general to be with Vlad.
"Yes... But at least now we're free."
"We're still with this fucking curse, I can already feel my body craving blood."
"Hmm… Can you please stop saying bad words?" Jeanne asked. She felt the same bloodlust that Anna was feeling, but that doesn't mean she would go around saying bad words.
"..." Anna looked at Jeanne for a few seconds and then sighed.
"Sorry, I'm just annoyed by this situation, I wish I'd at least solved the problem with my bloodlust."
"We should be glad he let us go, the look he had at that moment was the look of someone who has given up his possessions..." Jeanne tried to be happy in the first half of the sentence, but, at the end, she growled with hate.
"Fucking piece of shit."
"...." Anna rolled her eyes when she heard what Jeanne said.
The two women spend a moment of silence as they think about a lot of things in their own heads.
They were in a turmoil of emotions, and the lust for blood didn't do much for their sane mind either.
Yes, despite being awakened by Vlad, the women aren't completely satisfied with the man's blood. Just the thought of wanting to drink his blood disgusts them.
Not to mention that this was the best opportunity to escape.
"... And to think that in just one night, those women would die."
"..." Anna was silent when she heard what Jeanne said. Even though they weren't very close to each other, the women had a good relationship.
The only woman she was close enough to trust was Jeanne, and that was only because the two of them hadn't betrayed Vlad out of fear.
Yes, she hates to admit it, but it's quite frustrating since even though she's gotten stronger by drinking the man's blood for a while, it hasn't been enough to get her to his feet.
After all, unlike her, the man didn't need to drink blood constantly.
'His disgusting blood is worse than an extremely addictive drug.'
What happens when a drug addict suddenly runs out of supplies of that drug?
They suffer from withdrawal.
And that was even worse for vampires.
A progenitor's blood was just so good that, if a normal vampire drank their blood, all the blood around them looked like garbage.
'In just a few hours, that piece of shit lost all his wives.' Anna laughed with a distorted smile, 'I hope he dies with a lonely life.'
"What are we going to do now?"
"Gather information." Anna spoke.
"I mean, this is obvious, but I'm talking about Adam, Lilith, and Elizabeth... And about our conditions." Jeanne spoke as she thought about her son.
"Our children... They've been fine till now and, currently, we don't have the luxury of worrying about them... We need to ensure our survival first and then find a group to lean on and have some leeway... And mostly, we need to deal with this curse."
"..." Jeanne was silent, she wanted to protest what Anna said, but she knew she was right and that their current situation was very bad.
They slept for who knows how long, the whole society they knew might not be the same, and they couldn't trust anyone, considering that the king had eyes and ears all over the place.
Even though Vlad let them go, that might not mean he wouldn't keep an eye on them. After all, he knew their capabilities all too well.
"...I really don't want my son around that man."
"Me either." Anna spoke in agreement with the woman.
"Believe me, if I could, I would now go to my daughters and get them out of that place... The last memory I have of my daughters is Elizabeth crying to me when she was little-..." Anna suddenly stopped talking and opened her eyes in horror.
Jeanne stops walking and looks at Anna, confused.
"What happened?"
"…You know about Elizabeth, right?"
"Yes, your daughter you made with Vlad's essence and yours." Jeanne has heard this story from Anna herself.
Unlike Lilith, who was born naturally, Elizabeth was a daughter raised with Vlad's essence and Anna's essence.
As a high level Succubus, she had a great skill in handling the power of the dream.
At her full strength, she can turn the dream into reality,
And utilizing this ability along with the essence of Vlad, who was a progenitor, and herself as a dream demon, she managed to create a miracle that bordered on the domain of the gods.
She managed to create life… Partially, despite having thoughts of her own.
Elizabeth was something more like a spiritual clone of Anna.
This is also one of the reasons why the two are so similar, Elizabeth being a younger version of Anna.
"When I got out of hell, I made a contract with Lilith. I was going to give her my child with the most potential to fill the place I left."
"In the past, I couldn't abandon my firstborn, I thought like a devil I wouldn't care too much, but when that child was born, and I held her in my arms, I couldn't send her to hell to fight in a senseless war." She bit her lip in frustration.
"...And because of that, you tried to create a being with your powers so you could complete the contract with Lilith." Jeanne felt disgusted when she talked about it. Just the thought of sending an innocent soul to that mess the demons call home made her stomach churn.
"...Yes, I thought that with a daughter who didn't love me, this would be easier... But I was wrong."
She thought that by using magic to make her a substitute for Lilith, she would have no feelings for that creation.
But reality betrayed her splendidly.
"Like the firstborn, I couldn't abandon Elizabeth..."
To Anna, Elizabeth wasn't her clone or anything, she was her daughter, and just like any mother, she feared for her daughter's safety.
'I hope she's fine…'
"...And now, you don't know how much time has passed, maybe your daughter could be in hell right now..." Jeanne opened her eyes in shock as she realized Lilith's problem.
"Fuck, this is crazy." Jeanne didn't know what to say. She just realized how fucked up the situation her friend was in was.
"...I'm still lucky, I guess."
"What do you mean?" Jeanne asked, confused.
"If Lilith were another demon, she would have already come to collect on the contract she made the moment my firstborn was born... But I don't know how long that can last. After all, despite being more 'gentle', she still is a demon."
Anna knew very well that she couldn't trust her own race since, even if she had a long relationship with Lilith, the woman still couldn't be 100% trusted.
Trusting a demon is stupid.
She, as a demon, understands this very well.
"Let's stop thinking about it." Jeanne spoke suddenly when she saw her friend lost in thoughts that would lead nowhere.
"..." Anna looked at Jeanne.
"We just woke up, need information, and need a safe haven. A trustworthy person, a person that not even Vlad himself would dare to mess with due to the repercussions it could cause."
"We can worry about that later."
"First, we must ensure our safety."
"...." Anna was silent for some time, as she seemed to be considering what Jeanne had said.
After a few seconds of thought, she spoke with a small weary sigh:
"You are right..."
Jeanne smiled kindly when she saw that her friend had calmed down, and soon she began to speak her thoughts:
"By these criteria, I think our assistance would be limited to the four vampire counts."
"And of the four counts, only two remain."
"...Adrasteia, and Scarlett." Anna spoke after thinking for a few seconds.
"Adrasteia is an essential Clan for Nightingale. Without them, Vlad himself would have to be worried about constant invasions... But..."
"This clan is completely isolated from the political landscape." Anna continued.
For two women who had just woken up wondering how long they had been gone, that was not a good idea. They need to understand their situation, not isolate themselves.
"And we are a long way from their territory." Jeanne continued as well. Although it wouldn't be a problem for them to run into this Clan's territory, it would take a few days if they didn't want to waste energy.
"Which leaves us with Scarlett."
"Yes, the strongest female vampire resides there, and she is also Vlad's general. The man wouldn't want to lose such a powerful warrior if she decided to shelter us."
"Okay, that sounds like a plan, let's quickly put it into action."
"Are we going to go to that woman's territory?"
"Yes... But before that, let's get rid of those bugs." Anna's eyes glowed a dangerous red as her tail swung and casually cut through the surrounding plants and trees.
"Do you want to handle it?" Jeanne asked when she felt several beings approaching her, she turned her face away, and with one look at her, she could see that there was no vampire strong like an older vampire.
All the vampires present appeared to be young.
Jeanne judged the vampires to be some sort of scout.
'They probably came to know what the king of vampires expelled from the palace... So it's a force that doesn't like Vlad?' Jeanne had no idea of Nightingale's current political landscape, but she knew Vlad had many hidden enemies.
Because of that, she wasn't so surprised.
"Yes, I need blood."
"…Ugh." Jeanne made a disgusted face.
"Beggars can't be picky about food, and we need to feed..."
Sigh...
Jeanne sighed, but she realized her friend was correct again, so, assuming a serious look, she warned her:
"Don't kill them all. Leave two or three for us to gather information."
"Oh... That's true." She'd nearly lost herself in her bloodlust, and she'd forgotten that fact.
Her wings spread, and she licked her lips, "Let's save three then." Soon she bolted towards the group of vampires.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Screams echoed through the forest.
