Chapter 451: Victims of their own whims.
Current location.
Vlad's Castle, Throne Hall of the King of Vampires.
At the same time that Victor was on a long, fun night walk, something was happening in the vampire king's castle.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The sound of the explosion of two bodies colliding with force was heard.
After a few seconds of shock as he looked at his shaking hand, Vlad commented while looking at a very annoyed Morgana:
"...You regained your power..."
"Wrong... You've gotten even stronger..." Vlad raised his arms to stop his subordinates from taking action against Morgana.
"No thanks to you, I suppose." A new voice was heard near Vlad.
"...." The man looks to the side and sees Jeanne with a serious face and an unfriendly attitude.
Hearing the noise caused by Morgana and Vlad's confrontation, Jeanne quickly used her supernatural speed and came to that location, and since she was already in the castle, it didn't take long for her to arrive.
"What does that mean, Vlad?" Morgana spat out his name like it was something disgusting.
"I don't understand why you're so angry, this subject doesn't even involve our daughter." Vlad answered the question with another question.
The sound of teeth grinding together was heard, Morgana's wings expanded even more, and a kind of black skin covered her voluptuous body.
"It's not 'our' daughter, it's MY daughter."
"….." Vlad narrowed his eyes dangerously:
"She is my daughter as much as she is yours."
"Say that after you're a decent fucking father, all you gave your kids was what? Protection? Status? A huge, cold, empty castle?"
"In your entire life, have you shown any gesture of affection for your children? Have you ever spoken a single time the sentence; 'I love you?'"
"...." Vlad was silent. Morgana's harsh words cut his cold heart much more than he had expected. If it was before, those words wouldn't affect him, but after his progress with Ophis, he understood how important it was for a parent to be in the early stages of their child's development.
The former Ophis, who was apathetic and almost emotionless, upon meeting Victor and seeing him as a father, began to change, and because of this involvement, Victor helped Vlad bond with Ophis again.
Which caused another change in the little girl, and now she is much more like a normal child than she was before.
"See? You're not a father, you're just a fucking sperm donor." Morgana spoke in disdain when she saw Vlad being quiet. She knew the old man had no defense for that because, in all her life, she had never seen the man show affection to her children.
It was all about Nightingale, about being king, his rule was much more important than his family. Normally, she wouldn't be mean to condemn Vlad for this. After all, she knows a king has his responsibilities, but...
All his life, he never showed ANYTHING to his kids, not even when he had free time.
For God's sake, even a bloodthirsty fucking demon like her knows the feelings of love and affection.
Vlad's eyes glowed blood red demonstrating his anger, his children were always a sore point for him, and because of that lapse of weakness, he spoke words he would never speak with a sane mind:
"...I am a king, and not even you, my wife, can disregard my authority."
"...." Jeanne and Morgana narrowed their eyes, and all Vlad got out of them was an irritated grunt.
"It's because of this attitude..." Morgana's voice came out silently like the buzz of a mosquito, her body shaking with rage.
"Don't fuck with me, you piece of shit. We're not yours anymore!"
"I'm not your property, you piece of shit."
"If you're lonely and lusting after possession, why don't you go back to your fucking lover and use her as a sex doll?"
Vlad narrowed his eyes and spoke in a dangerous tone:
"That's low... even for you demon."
"I don't fucking care about your opinion, your words and opinion could burn in hell, and I wouldn't give a damn." She spoke in disdain.
"You are mine-."
"We are divorced, Vlad." Jeanne spoke with a golden glint in her eyes.
"..." Vlad felt a slight chill down his spine as he looked into Jeanne's eyes.
'What is it...? That same feeling I had that time with Victor...'
"Never forget that fact."
"Because that fact will remain undeniable until the end of time, there is no longer 'us', there is no longer a king or queen, a husband or wife, that died a long time ago." The authority contained in Jeanne's words surprised even Vlad himself.
He had never seen this woman display such a face before.
Ignoring the shocked Vlad, she didn't much care for…
"What happened?" Jeanne asked Morgana.
Jeanne knew her friend, there were few things that could make her explode with rage, and one of them being her hatred for Vlad, her daughters… and possibly, her benefactor, the man who returned her to her prime and who reminded her what she was.
"The bitch queen bitch wants Victor to pay for his 'crimes' of killing the witches in the Japan incident."
"..." Jeanne narrowed her eyes, she knew that this incident would have many consequences for her benefactor. In the entire supernatural world, there was one unspoken rule... Never get involved in a witch's affairs, and never kill a witch without a 'clear' enough reason.
Witches are very authoritative over their species, and they don't like other individuals to kill their kind or judge their kind.
Because of this, even if witches committed an unforgivable crime, they would be judged by witch laws, and most of the time, those witches who committed crimes will get away with it. This caused a lot of trouble in the past and still does today.
No one has the luxury of losing the witches' support, Jeanne hates to admit, but these women have just become too useful to be discarded, their influence too great in the supernatural world.
So if the witch queen demands something from Vlad, the vampire king will be forced to accept it.
"What do you intend to do?" she asked in a voice so cold and apathetic it shocked Vlad all over again.
"...I will deliver, Victor."
"..." Jeanne's eyes gleamed gold once more.
'That smell... The smell of nature? Tree?' Vlad narrowed his eyes, it seemed the change in his wife-... Ex-wife was much bigger than he thought.
'Just what did Victor do?'
"Piece of-."
"Morgana."
"...What?"
"Keep calm."
Morgana looked at her friend, and it would be an understatement to say how surprised she was. She had never seen her friend like this, those eyes that contained immense wisdom as if she was looking at an elder who was thousands of years older than her. She remembered seeing the same eyes once.
...Yes, she saw those same eyes in her former master, the mother of demons, Lilith.
Jeanne looks at Vlad:
"Explain."
Vlad narrowed his eyes:
"...Why should I explain to you?"
"Vlad..." Jeanne's tone was strong and dry:
"Just because you're one of the strongest beings out there, don't think there's nothing above that. Pride is good, but don't be swallowed by it."
"Or your death will be much kinder than just damage to your soul."
"..." Vlad narrowed his eyes now, and his whole attitude turned serious.
'She knows? How? I don't remember her having an ability to see the soul or interact with it...' Looking into his ex-wife's golden eyes, an unsettling feeling began to course through his body.
"Is that a threat?"
"Wrong, it's a warning. You who have experienced the 'abyss' know that my words are not lies."
Vlad knew that he was strong. Yes, indeed. No one could deny that he was one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, and even kings of entire pantheons would think twice about fighting Vlad.
But... There are beings, ancient beings that not even he can afford to face without preparation.
And most of these beings have a neutral relationship with the world.
Beings like the owner of The Limbo prison.
Despite this man being his friend and allowing him to have a door to limbo in his realm, he knew that this man was definitely not an 'ally'. He was a neutral force, something to maintain the status quo of the world.
"And it turns out that... One of these beings is something like a family to me... Something like a brother." The gentle smile on Jeanne's face sent shivers down Vlad and Morgana's spines.
Vlad's eyes widened at the implication of Jeanne's words.
'Fuck, and to think that she had someone that powerful... If I had known, I would have gotten closer. What a waste...'
"You're thinking it was a waste not to invest in me now, right?" Jeanne spoke in a neutral tone.
"..." Vlad narrowed his eyes and didn't answer that question.
Sigh.
Jeanne visibly sighed at the man in front of her. She was disappointed at how predictable he was, and she cursed herself for having forgotten her memories. She wanted a 'family', that was her oldest wish and dream.
And because of her lost memories, she began to bond with this man, a man who had qualities she swore she would never relate to.
A monarch... A true monarch.
"You are a king before anything else, Vlad... No matter how hard you try to change, this 'instinct' to think of benefits to you and your little 'playground' will never change. After all, it has become part of your being."
"Because of that, I can predict your thoughts."
A moment of silence fell around them as the three faced each other, each with their own thoughts in their heads.
This silence lasted until Jeanne broke it, saying:
"Do you know the difference between you and the second Progenitor?"
"Tsk...Are you going to compare me to that brat too?"
"...." Jeanne and Morgana opened their eyes slightly in shock. They never thought they would hear such emotion in Vlad's voice.
Annoyance.
Annoyance caused by a comparison, possibly a rivalry.
"Yes, I will." Jeanne was merciless.
"...." Vlad's eyes glowed red.
"You are more alike than you think, and because of that, it is inevitable to compare."
"...Huh? What nonsense is this?"
"In a way, Jeanne is right." It was Morgana who spoke.
Looking at his ex-wife, he saw a gentle smile on her face.
"Victor is just like you, Vlad. With one small difference."
"He is better." The two spoke at the same time with the same smile on their faces.
Vlad gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, anger visible throughout his body language.
And Morgana and Jeanne were delighted to see Vlad's anger.
Few things could hit the vampire king since he literally didn't have many 'emotional' weaknesses to exploit.
He's the man who killed his wives and son without remorse, for God's sake, Jeanne and Morgana bet that all Vlad felt in that moment as he killed his own family was just a sense of waste.
As if his treasure had become tarnished or broken, and he needed to destroy it.
"Let's go, Morgana." Jeanne turned and left.
"But-."
"He's clearly not going to talk about what happened, and I'm not in the mood to stoop to grovel in front of this man in search of information I can obtain with a little difficulty."
"And more importantly...Victor wouldn't want to see us degrading into this pitiful state after what he's done to make us 'brighter.'"
"...." Morgana's eyes widened when she realized that Jeanne was right. She was so mad with rage that she forgot about that fact.
"Let's go."
"Mm." Morgana quickly jumped towards Jeanne and landed softly beside her.
"What do we do?"
"Let's talk to our kids. His preparations should be ready, so we should go to Warfall. He promised to train the children, right?" She flashed a sneaky smile.
"... True." Morgana laughed with a smile similar to Jeanne's.
"In the meantime, I will contact an old friend."
"Who?"
"The second daughter of the witch queen, if anyone should know anything, it should be her."
"...Do you have contact with the second daughter...?"
"Apparently, yes."
"Apparently?"
"I mean, I had forgotten about that."
"Ugh, if I'd known that, I wouldn't have wasted time on that piece of shit."
Sigh.
"Control your mouth, please. We are in his castle, it wouldn't be surprising that he attacks us because of this."
"Meh, if he does that even after everything he's done to us, it just proves he's meaner than he already is, which wouldn't be a new thing."
"And another thing, I'm a demon."
"That doesn't justify anything."
"Actually, it justifies a lot." Morgana laughed.
"...At least don't say that in front of our kids."
"Bitch, please. They are over 500 years old, they have heard bad words before."
"Yes, but I don't want this to become a habit, just imagine your youngest daughter being a foul mouth just like you."
Morgana became an imaginary Chibi Morgana and looked up, soon, a balloon with the image of her daughter speaking several bad words appeared.
"Mother, you bitch, you said you were taking us to the park today!"
"...Ugh, I'll try to control myself." She put her hand to her brow, that wasn't a good imagination.
"Thanks." Jeanne laughed in amusement.
Watching his ex-wives leave as if he didn't exist, the bad feeling in Vlad's body only grew.
A gate appears next to Vlad, and Alexios appears.
"What? Are you going to say I'm guilty too?"
"Yes, I, of all people, know how you treated these women, no wonder they are so angry with you."
"...." Vlad looked at his advisor with an unbelievable look.
"What? My job is to try to help my master as best I can."
"Everything that's happening now, my king... It's all your fault."
"..."
"Neglect, arrogance, duty, greed, disdain, apathy, etc. A set of actions you've planted over your long life triggered that reaction, and now you're reaping those rewards."
Looking into the eyes of Alexios, which looked like a galaxy, Vlad managed to calm down more. Those same eyes of the man reminded him of his first human friend, the founder of Clan Alioth.
"But as Alucard said, there's still time."
Vlad's eyes narrowed again when he heard the word 'Alucard', that name was becoming a little cursed now in his mind.
"Ophis, and your mistress…your youngest children Adam, Lilith, and Elizabeth."
"They can still relate to you... You just need to change like you did with Ophis."
"... Why not Saulo and Lucas?
"You know very well that they will never forgive you for the death of their respective mothers since, traitors or not, they were still their mothers."
"..." Vlad's face darkened.
"Women who betrayed you because you neglected them for thousands of years, victims of the whims of the man known as the King of Vampires."
After a long moment of silence, Vlad sighed.
Sigh.
"Thanks for the lecture, Alexios." He spoke in disdain as he turned and walked towards his throne.
"You welcome, my master." Alexios flashed a small smile.
.....
