Chapter 336: Ophis meets a strange girl.
A few weeks ago.
Ophis, who had just asked her father's permission to visit Victor, quickly wasted no time and used her powers.
Focusing on the mark she made on Victor, Ophis teleported to her beloved father's current location.
"Father!"
"Who are you?"
"You're not my father..." Ophis commented in a neutral tone, but one that contained a little annoyance.
"I said... Who are you!"
"..." Ophis watched the owner of the voice.
Like Ophis, she was a little girl, but a little girl who seemed to be bigger than her.
She had the appearance of a 10-13 year old child.
She was wearing completely black clothes with a hood. It was as if the owner of the voice was trying to hide. The little girl was carrying two revolvers in her hands, and these two revolvers were pointed towards Ophis.
Ophis' eyes glowed slightly blood red when she saw the revolvers, she felt a little threatened by that weapon, but she had no idea why she was feeling this way.
"...Those eyes, you're a Vampire."
"Wrong. I'm Ophis."
"Ophis?"
"Yes."
A silence fell between them, it was as if they were not able to communicate properly.
"..." Seeing that the conversation had ended, Ophis ignored the little girl and looked around. She was sure that she used her powers in the direction of her father, therefore, there was only one answer.
He's hiding! She was absolutely sure she used her powers correctly, that she did it right...
It's okay that sometimes she teleports to random places, but that's okay as long as she's in Nightingale...
"...S-Sun..." Ophis stuttered when she saw the light outside.
She knew this light. She'd studied the basics of the world and knew that light was her terrible enemy. If she touched that light, she would burn to death!
"Danger..." She took several steps back and walked away from the sun.
Ophis found herself in a bad spot, somehow, she'd ended up on Earth...
She tried to calm her little beating heart and tried to remember her lessons...
.
.
.
.
.
She couldn't remember!!
She'd never paid attention in her classes.
"Ugh." She held her head in both hands, falling into panic.
Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in her head.
'I should just use my power again.' Her eyes lit up when she realized the answer was easy.
Ophis focused on her power, and soon she disappeared.
Appearing in a dark place, she realized the world was upside down?
"... What are you doing?"
Hearing the same voice as a few seconds ago, Ophis looked towards the voice.
"Stop following me." She commented in a neutral tone, "And why are you upside down?"
The little girl's golden eyes trembled as she heard what Ophis said:
"I haven't left my spot... And you're the one who's upside down."
"...?" Ophis looked confused at the girl, and then she looked toward the floor.
Realizing that her power had somehow thrown her towards the ceiling, she detached herself from the ceiling and fell gently to the floor.
Soon, Ophis touched her chin again and put her mind to work, she needed to get back to her father!
First of all, she didn't know why her power was failing!
It's not like her power was stable... A few times, she'd tried to teleport to one location and ended up somewhere else.
But whenever that happened, she was always in or around Nightingale.
She'd never used her powers to go to another world.
She tried to use her power several times, but she always ended up in this room. It was like something was drawing her to this place.
"..." Looking at the little girl in the gothic dress who was teleporting all over the room, the golden-eyed girl felt unmotivated.
She was clearly no equal to her pursuers, and from what she could see, she was a child Vampire, which means she shouldn't have left their world just yet.
Debating what to do, the golden-eyed girl decided to abandon Ophis.
"... Anyway-"
"Snif..." Ophis took a deep breath as she held back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.
Even though she was a baby Vampire and had seen a lot of strange things, this was the first time she'd been away from her 'guardians' and her 'world'.
"..." The girl with golden eyes felt a pain in her heart when she saw the little gothic girl almost starting to cry, she was so beautiful and at the same time so... lonely.
"!!!" The golden-eyed girl quickly slapped her face.
SLAP!
"...?" Ophis looked at the golden-eyed girl with confused eyes.
"… You… What did you do to me?"
"... I did nothing?" Ophis looked at her, confused.
"..." The girl didn't feel that she had lied.
"Impossible... I wouldn't..." The golden-eyed girl was feeling strange, it was as if she was attracted to this little girl and instinctively wanted to protect her.
'...Is this sensation the same as that man's… but slightly different?' Thinking of the smiling man who saved her in Greece, the girl shook her head several times to get that thought out of her head.
"..." Ophis remembered that it was common sense to ask for a person's name, and since that person had information on their current location, she decided to give it a try.
"What's your name...?"
"...?" The golden-eyed girl woke up from her thoughts and looked suspiciously at Ophis.
"Why do you want to know my name?"
"Because it's common sense?" She turned her head confused. She wasn't sure about that, but if adults said that, then it's true, right?
Probably...
After all, adults lie...
Except her good Father...
'Father...' Ophis' heart seemed to have been hit again, and when she would go into a storm of melancholy.
She heard a sigh followed by a voice:
"My name is Nero."
"Nero..." Ophis repeated as if trying to remember the name.
"Nero, where am I?"
"..." Nero nodded inwardly when she heard Ophis' question. Now her suspicions were confirmed, this Vampire baby ended up here through some strange method. Do you want to read more chapters ?
Nero also remembered that a dark mist suddenly appeared in her temporary hiding place, and from that black mist, a child in a Gothic dress appeared.
"You are in Tokyo." Nero replied.
"Where?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"... You are in Japan, in a city called Tokyo... On planet Earth."
"...Oh..." Despite never having heard of Tokyo, she knew about Japan. Despite never paying attention to the teachers' lessons, she'd always heard the names 'Japan, China, Russia, Norway, and the United States.' According to the teachers, they were apparently important.
Because of this, these names were engraved in some area of Ophis' brain, a forgotten area that she only remembered when Nero spoke.
Although she didn't remember why those names were important...
"Why am I in Japan?" She asked.
"How the fuck should I know?" Nero calmly replied:
"I just know that I was hiding here, and you suddenly appeared." Japan was one of the few places where the influence of Vampires and Werewolves was small.
This was due to various Youkai and lesser Gods living on the supernatural side of this country.
Consequently, this country was a literal mess full of small factions and difficult to understand, but for someone who wanted to hide, this was the perfect place.
"Fuck…? Fuck… Fuck..!" Ophis repeated the word Nero spoke as if learning something new. Although, now that she thought about it, she'd heard some people around her say it in the past.
"!!!" Nero felt a shiver down her spine when she heard what Ophis said.
'Why are my instincts warning me of danger? Nero thought confusedly. Internally, she decided to hold her foul mouth while she was in front of this little girl.
"So, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for my father?"
"Why did you answer as if it was a question?"
"... I don't know?"
"Ugh..." Nero put her hand on her brow. It was really hard to have a conversation with this little girl.
Deciding it was best to ignore her oddities, Nero spoke up:
"What is your father's name?"
By knowing her father's name, Nero would be able to somehow try to help this little girl. She had a lot of knowledge of the noble Vampire Clans.
Yes... She decided to help her.
The reason? She really can't let go of the little girl…not after she's almost cried.
'She doesn't seem to have any knowledge about the world out here, and... She's very beautiful... When going out on the street like that, she's going to face a lot of problems...' It was common knowledge that big city streets in Japan weren't very safe...
Mainly for foreigners.
From people trying to scam foreigners to Youkai who have a 'quirky' taste in foreigners.
And worse... If this little girl meets a sexual predator, Nero wouldn't be able to sleep well for the rest of her life.
"..." Ophis fell silent, and a look of panic appeared in her eye.
The reason was simple: Elizabeth, her older sister, always warned her that when she gets lost, she shouldn't tell anyone that her father is Vlad.
After all, just having a connection with the King of all Vampires can put the little girl in danger in many ways.
Ophis thought, and soon the image of Victor popped into her head.
'Oh, I have another Father too...'
"My father's name is Victor."
"…Eh?" Nero's entire head short-circuited as if an engine had suddenly stopped working.
"Victor...Victor...Are you talking about the new Count of Vampires, Victor Alucard?"
"Yes."
"...." Cold sweat began to trickle down Nero's face.
'If she is that man's daughter... Doesn't that mean that if she gets hurt, this country is doomed?' Nero imagined a gigantic meteor of fire falling in the middle of Tokyo.
And that thought only made her face darken even more! She couldn't let that happen, she couldn't lose her hiding place!
Unlike other countries in Europe and the Americas, she had a relatively 'stable' life here.
After all, the influence of Vampires and Werewolves was very little.
The only people she had to be careful with were Witches, and the Shinto Major Gods, who'd never left their territory for fear of an invasion by foreign Gods.
A few small groups of Japanese Vampires who'd survived Mizuki's hunt for the former general of the Inquisition.
By staying away from these troublesome groups and avoiding the territory of Deities, she could live in hiding for a long time.
Making a decision, Nero looked towards Ophis...
"Where is she!?"
Using her supernatural hearing, she heard footsteps walking down the halls.
Nero quickly stowed her two revolvers in the holsters behind her and ran towards Ophis.
As Ophis was walking around and looking around curiously, Nero managed to catch up with her relatively easily.
"Wait!" When Nero went to hold Ophis' hand, the little girl disappeared and then reappeared far away from Nero.
"Do not touch me." She spoke in a neutral tone and with a little fear.
"…Huh?"
Realizing that Nero might get her wrong, she spoke up:
"I have a condition, so... Please don't touch me."
"A condition?"
"...A curse." Ophis clearly didn't want to talk about it.
"Oh..." Understanding that the other party seemed to have problems of their own, Nero respected her.
"What were you planning to do?" Nero asked.
"Hide, and wait..."
"...why?"
"My father will look for me when he notices I'm gone, and he'll come get me..."
Ophis was talking about Vlad, but Nero misunderstood that she was talking about Victor.
'... Knowing that man, he's really going to do it...' Nero thought when she heard what Ophis said.
"Why don't you stay with me then?" Nero proposes.
"...?" Ophis looked strangely at Nero.
"...How can I say, I know your father... He's helped me in the past, and I wouldn't feel right leaving you alone."
'I don't want this country to become a completely lifeless flat land...'
"...Do you know my father...?"
"Yes..."
"Can you prove it?"
"…Ugh, what do you want to know?"
"What does my father do when he encounters an enemy who has harmed his family?" Ophis felt a headache from having spoken too long a sentence.
"... They're reduced to ash." That answer was easy.
Though Nero knew that Victor would torture his enemy and break them mentally, just like he did with Belial's son.
"What is the name of my father's wife?"
"Ruby Scarlett."
"..." Ophis was silent. From what she understood, her father's wives' relationship was a secret to society, and only a few people knew about their relationship.
And if this girl knows Ruby's name, then is she trustworthy?
Ophis may not know many things, but if it comes to Victor, she knows everything. After all, the last person that held her hand for a long time was Violet, her father's wife.
And she had a lot of inside information on her father…
Everything in her head revolved around her father.
'If I feel danger... I must flee...' Ophis' power was perfect for fleeing. Even if she is a child, she was still raised watching the combat of powerful Vampires.
The last fight she witnessed was the fight of one of her father's wives with a strong man, her heart was pounding so much that day, and she remembered that she was scared.
She just wasn't completely scared because she was around people who liked her.
But seeing that fight and her father's other fight with the blond man and the stupid-looking man.
Ophis had acquired a kind of sense of danger of her own.
And she'd always been advised by her sister Elizabeth that if she was alone and she was in danger, she should use her power as much as possible.
"... I'll go with you."
"Good." Nero nodded, satisfied, looking like she could save this country.
'I was starting to get worried that she wouldn't accept it... If she was caught in the Hyakki Yakō that was going to happen tonight, I would have had to quickly flee this country... Something I don't have the ability to do right now.'
Despite being young, Nero was very mature for her age... And that was a blessing and, at the same time, a curse. After all, she was forced to grow up, or she wouldn't be able to live for long.
"Come with me, let's change your flashy clothes. You need to wear something like me if you don't want to stand out, and..." Nero looked at Ophis's dazzling face:
"You must wear a mask since your face will only cause problems."
"..." Ophis narrowed her eyes a little and pouted. Somehow, she felt offended.
"Okay."
[A/N: Hyakki Yakō, Translation: Parade of thousands of supernatural creatures]
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