Chapter 443: A Strong Heart.
A few days later.
"What did you say!?" Mizuki's shocked voice was heard.
"The demons of hell will cause a new war of genesis, a war so great that it will engulf all of Earth in an unprecedented crisis."
"..." Even after Victor explained again, Mizuki and the people around her were speechless.
"...That's why my mom called asking to come back, huh..."
"Yes, as a war general, she is responsible for the Nightingale forces. And, knowing your mother, she will not allow incompetent subordinates, so she will go to the royal capital to train the soldiers again."
"But she cannot leave her territory unadministrated. Therefore, she called you back, Siena." Victor explained calmly as he patted Ophis and a reluctant Nero's heads, who were sitting on his lap.
...Yes, Victor kidnapped-... Cough, he called Ophis for a ride, he was missing his daughter, and Vlad had been with her for a long time.
Of course, the older vampire was irritated by this development! But could he do anything?
Of course not! After all, Ophis also accepted this idea.
That is, the King of vampires can only suck his thumb while letting his daughter be 'kidnapped' by Victor.
'His expression at that time was priceless, hahahahaha~' Victor couldn't help but show a small smile.
"Why are you laughing!? Humanity is in danger!" Mizuki practically screamed.
"..." Victor looked at Mizuki with a neutral gaze.
"We must go back, we must make a plan to stop the demons-." Mizuki started muttering at high speed.
"This is bad, my sleeves! My animes! Everything will be burned by those demons! We have to do something!" Pepper spoke to Victor.
"Don't worry, Japan will be protected. After all, Ophis' family is there, not to mention the gods won't stand by and let their home country be destroyed."
"Oh… whatever then." Pepper sat down again, completely unconcerned, all that mattered to her was her entertainment, and as long as the anime and manga industry was active, she wouldn't care about a thing.
'Wait... Isn't this a chance? I can kidnap the authors of manga and anime and give them shelter in this new city that Clan Agnes is making...Oh, I can't forget my favorite Hentai authors either.'
'I'm sure my Ruby will like this plan too… I'll talk to her!'
"Hehe… Hehehehehe~" She started to smile with a smile that can only be described as degenerate.
Pepper was clearly planning an AWESOME plan.
As daughters of Scathach, they were worthy of knowing what was planned at the meeting. Of course, they must promise not to say anything until everything was ready, and a low-level magical contract was even used to keep it all a secret.
Not just Pepper, everyone in this room deserved to know, including Eleanor, who was a countess of the same Status as Victor.
"Hmm, this is shocking news, but not very relevant to us... What I'm worried about is the economy and our 'food'." Eleanor spoke in a calm tone.
Even though she was saying this because she was a countess and her responsibilities demanded that attitude, she really didn't feel that way.
The thing is, Eleanor and her clan can be described as true 'natives' of this world, they are the alien race that has most adapted to this planet.
The other reason is that they are self-sufficient since all materials, food, and infrastructure were collected from the monsters they kill.
Even the 'blood' they drink is from monsters and demonic beasts.
In a sense, they are a completely different bloodline of vampires than the ones that exist in Nightingale.
Drinking human blood is of no benefit to Clan Adrasteia, they would just feel 'disgusted'.
The blood of monsters, demonic beasts, is much better than that of humans and much richer in nutrients.
This is also one of the reasons why the vampire bloodlines of Clan Adrastea are 'superior' to those of Nightingale's noble vampires.
Their bodies are strong like werewolves, their powers are more refined, and their senses are stronger. They are an evolved version noble of Nightingale's
In a sense, they are 'similar' to Victor's Maids.
The vampires that Victor created are an entirely new lineage of vampires, the bloodline of the second progenitor.
They are physically stronger, and their natural powers that are awakened are inherently stronger.
And this is due to the fact that when Victor became a progenitor, he 'absorbed' the blood of three vampire count heiresses, heiresses whose ancestry led back to Vlad.
And using that as food, his blood was refined.
In short, Victor's blood is 'superior' to that of the first progenitor.
And by that simple fact, when their wives or vampires close to Victor drink their blood constantly, their strength increases. This is because they are slowly changing their 'origin' from Vlad to Victor's.
And this change of origin causes extreme dependence on his blood because, in addition to being delicious, the vampire will 'instinctively' seek that divine flavor, so they will also feel as if they were close to their 'father'.
The father of their race.
A fairly normal occurrence for progenitors.
The progenitors of werewolves and humans were the same.
The only thing that changes is the 'cause' of it all.
For humans, it would be Adam's very presence, they would instinctively see that man as their father.
For werewolves, it would be the pressure and weight of a True Alpha.
And for vampires, it was blood and a mixture of the effects of wolf and human progenitors, which would only be felt by members of the vampire's 'parent' bloodline.
"After the invasion starts, we will start the plan that was explained... Until then, we must train and get stronger. The meeting of supernatural beings will take place in a few months too, and I feel that this meeting will not be peaceful. ."
Victor finally spoke about his instincts that only increased after knowing what was going on behind the scenes.
"I agree... We should also-." Eleanor was going to propose something but stopped when Mizuki spoke:
"Aren't you going to help...?"
"......" The vampires looked at Mizuki.
A silence fell on the place until Lacus broke that silence.
"Why should we help a race that despises us and wants to kill us?" Lacus spoke in disdain.
"Why should we 'VOLUNTARILY' help a race that clearly doesn't need help?" Siena continued.
Mizuki just looked at them with a narrow look:
"You guys-."
"Stop."
"...." She looked at Victor.
"Just...Stop."
"Do you agree with that!?"
"It's not a matter of agreeing or not."
"It's about reality."
"...?" She looked confused at Victor.
"I thought you learned your lesson when you discovered the truth about The Inquisition."
"..." His eyes darkened.
"Listen, this is a lesson my master has stuck in my head since the day she started training me, and it's a lesson I've also learned over the millennia."
"There is no good or bad, this black and white story doesn't exist... On the fine line between evil and good is where we exist."
"All that exists in this world is a game of interests in search of benefits, and the intention of a 'leader' is clear."
"...But that doesn't mean-." She was going to say something, but Victor wasn't finished.
"Because The Inquisition is led by a man who has been alive a long time, a man who believes in the ideal that every supernatural being deserves to die, The Inquisition is the organization it is today."
"....." The vampires around just narrowed their eyes when they heard what Victor said.
"Despite the goal of the organization's leader, The Inquisition is not 'completely' bad."
"Aren't they experimenting with supernatural beings and helpless humans?"
"Yes, they are, and that's hideous." Victor believed in unforgivable crimes and experimentation on the helpless, and rape of the vulnerable, and women were one of them.
"…But during the preparations for the demons to invade, who was dealing with them?"
"The Inquisition."
"Don't get me wrong, girls. I am not defending them." Victor spoke when he saw Eleanor and the Scarlett sisters' eyes on him.
"My only purpose here is to claim that the world is too complicated to be divided into black and white."
"But it's a demon invasion! All they seek is destruction! They don't care if they're vampires, humans, werewolves, witches, they'll kill them all!"
"I highly doubt that."
"....."
"Just look at Morgana, she's a demon, but she has desires of her own, she has goals."
"Diablo, it's the same. Above the destruction of humans, he has a goal."
"We just don't know what it is."
"But it's not like it mattered."
"For all supernatural beings, and even some strong human organizations, this invasion is an opportunity."
"The opportunity to break the Status Quo of the world, and gain benefits and influence."
"...this...this..." Mizuki bit her lip in frustration.
"For someone who has lived a long time, you sure are naive." Victor laughed.
"Do not intimidate my disciple too much, Oni." An old man's spirit appeared beside Mizuki.
"... Master."
"Abe-No-Seimei, a great Onmyo mage, tell me… What do you think about this situation?" Victor asked his opinion, even though he already knew the answer.
"Hmm? I don't particularly think about it."
"... Master...?"
"As long as Japan, my home country, and the human people of my country are safe, I'm not worried about anything." He was quite carefree because he overheard the conversation and knew that Victor would protect his country if need be.
And the gods of his country will not stand still either.
"See?" Victor just chuckled coldly.
"...." Mizuki looked at Victor.
"If you ask different races of supernatural beings, or even gods, that same question, they will answer the same thing."
"…this…this is just too fucked up." She sat in the chair in disbelief.
"This is the way the world is. There is no hero, there is no ultimate evil, this is not a comic book world, this is not a movie where the hero defeats the big bad, and everyone lives happily ever after."
"That's not how it works in reality."
"Only fools and altruists will fight for unknown people during a time of crisis."
"And guess what…?"
"They will be the first to die."
"...."
"Of course, they won't die if there's a 'Plot' behind him that wants him to live, a plot that makes this man somehow kill an enemy impossible to kill with this man's current strength."
"Shounen characters!" Pepper spoke proudly.
"indeed." Victor laughed in amusement, very fond of Pepper's humor.
"...But as I said before, this is not that kind of world."
"When an ordinary human fights a demon, there are only two outcomes, either he miraculously awakens his survival instinct and manages to kill the demon, or he dies."
"Of course, this situation only applies to lesser demons. If he meets a medium or high level demon, he is fucked."
Seeing Mizuki's reluctant face, Victor clicked his tongue and spoke:
"Mizuki."
"...." She looked at Victor, and seeing his violet gazes, she froze.
"Who do you want to protect?"
"…Huh?"
"Get that dick out of your ass, discard your morals, and tell me about your desires, tell me what you really feel."
"...." Her cheeks turned slightly red when she heard what Victor said.
"I'm asking, who do you want to protect!? What's your motive for fighting millions of demons!?" He asked again in a stern tone.
"..." She swallowed hard Victor, somehow, looked like an elder scolding her.
"Are you doing this for your own sake? Are you doing this because you want to? Or are you just doing it for self-satisfaction?
"I...I..." She was confused and couldn't find an answer to Victor's question.
"Tsk, even you don't know what you're fighting for. You're like a puppet without a will."
"Not even those comic book 'heroes' who fight villains, don't kill them, and just throw them in a chair for the next day when those same villains cause more chaos are worse than you. At least those heroes have a motivation, even if it's a hypocritical motive."
"...." Mizuki just remained silent as she bit her lip. Victor's words affected her more than she thought.
'Why do I care about a vampire's words?' Unbeknownst to her, Victor's opinion mattered a lot to her.
"...Sigh." Victor sighs as he goes back to stroking the heads of his daughters.
"Hehehe." Seeing Ophis's smile and Nero's shy face, Victor's mood began to improve, and soon he spoke:
"Before you think about helping someone, find a reason to do such an action. In a war of this scale, that is very important."
"These demons are not beings that you can fight without motivation. They will take advantage of that weakness of yours, and in the end…"
"You will die."
"A miserable death, a death that in the bigger picture meant nothing."
"Mizuki."
The woman slowly looked up and saw Victor's serious eyes:
"Do what you want, I won't stop you. You're a grown woman, and you probably know what you're doing, but... Just don't die a meaningless death."
"...." A silence fell in the room, and Victor's words unknowingly influenced not only Mizuki but all the people who listened to him.
'A motivation, huh...' Lacus thought, and unconsciously, memories of her past came to her, she clenched her little fists, and slowly, she began to fade into new ones.
"I need to practice."
"Tell me what you guys decided afterwards."
"...Okay..." Siena and Pepper spoke an involuntary response while they were lost in thought.
Not just them, they all were, and the most affected was Mizuki.
[... He is right, you know?]
[Master...?] Mizuki looked at his master.
[Facing demons is different from fighting vampires or Youkai... These demons will exploit any weakness in your heart, so you need to have a strong determination and a 'reason' to do what you're doing. Facing demons, especially the high level ones, with a weak heart, is just asking to die.]
[... What should I do...?]
[Unfortunately, I have no answer to this question.]
[This is something you have to decide.]
[You need to find your conviction, and especially get over your past...]
Mizuki bit her lip in frustration.
[If you can't do that... Well, all you have left is death.]
'And as your master, I will not allow you to throw your life away. You still need to fulfill the promise you made to me, my foolish disciple.' Abe-No-Seimei thought as he looked at his disciple.
.....
