Chapter 562: An Unpredictable Man.
In an abandoned house somewhere in Europe, a man in armor and a woman wearing a black business suit accentuating her voluptuous body were standing, looking down at a table.
"As expected, huh... He's not here." Victor narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Even though he knew the man wasn't here due to observing this place with his eyes before, he still had some hope that Mizuki would find some clue about him.
Concern for Mizuki's safety? He had some, but he also trusted the woman, and she was much stronger than before now that she was trained by Scathach and himself.
This was all due to her efforts. He would not treat her gently, but he would also keep his eyes on her, the proof of which was that even if Mizuki left, Kaguya's shadows were still merged within her shadow, so if Mizuki got in whatever dangerous situation, and she couldn't handle it, Kaguya would pull the woman into the shadows.
And proof of her success was Mizuki herself, who walked out of the middle of the den of angels and hunters alone and without Victor's assistance. Even though Kaguya was watching her the whole time, the woman didn't ask for or need help.
"James is a sneaky snake, and he wouldn't stay here in the middle of a war... Although I have records that he was recalled." Mizuki spoke while picking up some documents and handing them to Victor.
Victor took the documents from Mizuki's hand and flipped through everything quickly; with his extraordinary senses, he could read everything in a flash.
Privileges of someone who had the power of lightning running through his body at all times.
"The last time he came was…two months ago?" He narrowed his eyes.
"It was around the time the gathering of supernatural beings was announced." Mizuki spoke.
"Sneaky snake." Victor could easily imagine why he had left when the meeting was announced, James had long been in contact with other factions, and possibly, he was acting with those factions in their best interests.
'Niklaus and James, these two fuckers are too quiet for my liking.' Victor never breaks a promise. If he said he was going to hunt them down, hunt them down, he would.
But the problem was, these two men were sneaky as hell, and before, Victor didn't have the power he has now.
He may not be able to defeat a Scathach that used all of her power.
But with all of his unique 'perks', he was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, his own progenitor blood and natural ability to harm souls putting him at an advantage over many stronger beings.
Yes, Victor was weak compared to the great beings, especially Vlad himself, who was also a progenitor, but... He was not far behind in dangerousness.
The unique traits he acquired from Aphrodite and this new power he used in conjunction with his precious Maids definitely put him on a level of his own.
Not to mention the power of ice, fire, lightning, and water that he was developing even further.
With his hard work and his monstrous talent…
He reached a level that if he fought Scathach using all his power without concern for her well-being, he could, in theory, damage the woman's soul and kill her. Of course, it all depended on the fight they would have. After all, he could foresee a fight, but anything could happen during the fight.
But that's not what he wanted. He didn't want to kill her; he wanted to defeat her.
Despite being a vampire who hadn't even come of age yet, he was very strong and versatile, and his versatility was deadly to those who underestimated him.
Not to mention he wasn't alone now. He had several allies and several strong subordinates.
The situation was different from before.
"Victor? Why are you silent?"
"... I was thinking about Niklaus Horseman."
"The former count, huh." Mizuki heard stories of what happened at the time and knew more deeply when Sasha explained to her about the incident in the past.
"Yes. Since the day he disappeared, he's been very quiet, and I don't like that."
"Do you have a grudge against him?"
"... Grudge is too strong a word. I find him irritating." Victor didn't lie. He didn't hold a deep grudge against Niklaus like James, who directly harmed Kaguya, and almost harmed his wife with his subordinates.
Niklaus harmed only the Fulger Clan and Natashia directly, the Clan of his two wives, a situation that, at the time, he had no control over.
That's why the word 'grudge' was very strong since he didn't completely hate the man.
He just thought that this type of man should be put down ASAP for his peace of mind. He was the treacherous type of man, someone like Adonis and the current Victor.
The kind of man that, if you give him enough time, could do something horrible.
Yes, Victor was only hunting him because he had harmed the Clan of his two wives and because he wanted to keep the man away from them.
Possessiveness, a feeling of overprotection, was what drove Victor.
A sentiment shared by his wives, as they prefer to eliminate a problem before it escalates.
Not to mention the fact that Victor and Natashia thwarted his plans at the time and threatened him directly. That man was not going to keep quiet about that threat and the trouble he created.
Victor was sure of that.
Niklaus has already become his enemy. It was destined the moment he messed with Clan Fulger.
"Hmm, you are very overprotective of your wives, Vic." She murmured with a small smile.
"... That goes for you, too, you know?" Victor commented casually, then began to organize the documents.
"…Eh?"
"If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't stop you from going into this war with the wrong mindset." After finishing organizing everything, the documents disappeared into Kaguya's shadow world.
"..." Mizuki looked at Victor with an expression of shock.
Shadow World.
"If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't stop you from going into this war with the wrong mindset."
"..." A hush fell over the surrounding Maids when they heard what Victor said.
"Haaah, Master, again..." Kaguya let out a long sigh as several documents fell into her hands.
"At this point, he's become an unconscious machine for charming women." Eve muttered with a pout on her face.
"And you know the worst part? He's not even trying to do anything. He's just being honest." Maria laughed a little.
"Those words were already deadly when he was an 'ordinary' vampire… Now that he has this unearthly beauty, those words have become extremely deadly." Robert commented.
"I'm glad my master doesn't go around saying that to all the girls." Bruno commented.
"..." The Maids nodded. They knew that Victor only said that to people close to him.
He was stupidly honest and saw no need to hide his feelings from those close to him.
He was like that to beings on the outside as well, but since he received the memories of Adonis, he was much more careful, he was still the same, but he chose his words better when dealing with other beings.
In a way, Adonis was like Victor, very honest but too weak to deal with the consequences of his honesty, and because of that, he was silent.
Victor was honest and strong enough to handle most things.
"Well, that's my master's charm... I hope he doesn't change." Kaguya commented with a small smile.
"...." The Maids just nodded in agreement with Kaguya.
Some hours later.
On the outskirts of ancient China, an apocalyptic vision welcomed everyone there. Everything was destroyed, the earth was crimson red, and the sky itself was painted the same color.
The smell of blood was felt intensely, and some places around seemed to be on fire.
If a human saw this scene, they would describe it as; Hell on Earth.
Away from this destruction, there was a tall demon standing looking at the sky, specifically at a gigantic dragon more than 50 meters in diameter.
Behind that demon stood a pale woman with long white hair, she was tall, and her entire body was the very definition of curvy beauty.
That woman was Lilith, the mother of demons.
"My King."
A man's voice echoed around.
Lilith turned and looked at War and Death, who had just arrived.
Before anything could happen, a smiling blond man appeared, Rank 1 of the demon dukes, Baal.
"My King, I have brought a report."
Diablo stopped looking at the dragon and looked at his subordinates.
"Speak."
Baal looked at War, and with his gaze, he suggested that he go first.
War understood the hidden messages and spoke:
"The plan was a success. Alexander is dead, but..." An expression of anger momentarily passed in his eyes, an annoyance that everyone noticed.
"Looks like we've been used." War began to explain all the events he witnessed.
When the words 'Virtues', 'Alucard', and 'Heavenly Father using demons' were heard.
Diablo's expression remained the same, but his eyes visibly glowed a little brighter. He was annoyed.
Clearly, things didn't go as he had hoped.
Lilith was the one who reacted the most intensely when she heard about her heavenly father using demons. She hated the man deeply.
Baal just raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
'So many things happened to them?' he thought.
When War finished speaking, silence fell, and no one dared to say anything while everyone was waiting for Diablo's reaction.
Diablo's demonic right hand started to be covered in dark red power, and he tried to do the same thing as before and summon Sitri's soul with his authority as the king of hell, but...
It did not work.
"Sitri is dead, permanently dead."
"His soul was destroyed by Alucard along with all the demons I sent."
'Just like Paimon who had his soul destroyed… Jeanne D'Arc, I have to keep my eyes on you too.'
"..." A solemn feeling hovered around. For demons, the destruction of the soul equaled true death.
As cursed creatures, they are destined to exist forever and 'suffer' eternally. Even if they die the death of the flesh, they would just go back to hell as souls, and after a few thousand years, depending on the demon's strength, they would be resurrected again. That was the normal way things went.
And if the king of hell decided he could resurrect the demon sooner, he could use innocent souls to make an equivalent exchange, and that demon would be reborn sooner.
... But none of that could happen when their souls were destroyed, absorbed, or somehow cut off from the hell they belonged to.
For demons, this equated to permanent death.
'Vlad broke the contract?' Diablo thought, but as soon as he thought of it, he internally denied it:
'The demonic contract is absolute. He didn't break it.'
The demonic contract was a tool that could not be tricked easily. If the contract didn't break, that meant Vlad didn't order Alucard to make a move. If he had done that or had intentions to do that, Diablo would know about it.
The contract itself was a trap for Diablo to know the 'intentions' of his contractors.
A secret that only the highest level demons like him knew, and knowing demons, they wouldn't spread it around. They would take advantage of everything, after all.
That was the nature of demons.
' Unlike Volk, Vlad values his parents more than his subordinates or children. By being put on a wall and asked to make a choice, Vlad would choose the country... As long as I don't break my promise and harm his daughter, he would not act.' That was Diablo's assessment of Vlad.
And he was 100% correct.
'Volk, on the other hand, will come and rescue his son. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.' Volk Fenrir was easy to understand, and despite being a king for a long time, his reactions were predictable.
Putting together all the information he knew, he deduced:
'Alucard is acting alone, Vlad didn't order it.'
"..." Diablo gritted his teeth a little, fools are the most unpredictable, and he hated dealing with one.
But Diablo knew, Alucard was no fool, but why was he acting like one? Why single-handedly attack thousands of demons who are fighting angels and humans who are also their enemies?
Why waste the chance to take him by surprise? Why do something so flashy?
Was this not the attitude of a fool?
Shouldn't he act sneakily, and handle everything in the shadows?
Several theories ran through Diablo's head, but he couldn't understand anything or form a basic plan, and this problem stemmed from not even knowing how to correctly assess Alucard's personality.
Unlike Vlad, he was a newcomer, and little was known about him. All Diablo knew were the common things that everyone could find out.
"Heavenly Father intervened, sent one of the seven virtues, and caught us by surprise. He used my plan to clean his house."
"We must assume that starting today, the organization of The Inquisition will change and become more… efficient."
"The loss of our spy at this time was a huge blow. We won't have insider information on this new Inquisition, but... An opportunity has been created."
"The alliance of humans and angels was strained. The humans attacked one of the most respected seraphim, one of the seven virtues, and this is something that won't be forgotten anytime soon."
"War."
"..." War touched his hand to his chest and lowered his head slightly, awaiting his order.
"Contact your brother Pestilence."
"I want doppelgangers subtly harming human and angel relationships."
"I leave the methods of executing this plan to Pestilence. After all, he is an expert in this matter."
"Yes, My King. It will be done."
"Death."
"Yes."
"Contact Asmodeus,"
"I want him to use the spirits of the dead of Helheim and make another weapon of corruption."
"... My King, the materials to make this item are scarce..."
"I know, do as I command."
"Yes, My King."
After receiving their orders, the two knights left.
"Lilith."
"Yes."
"Increase Alucard's attention level. From now on, he is a 'Joker' until I finish assessing his intentions."
"Yes, My King." When Lilith went to lower her head, the sounds of grinding teeth were heard, and she didn't completely lower it as if her whole being repudiated this action. Soon she turned around and started to walk out of this place.
Diablo watched this out of the corner of his eye.
'I must enforce the ritual once more.' He thought inwardly and continued aloud:
"Baal, Speak."
"My King, in some countries, our spies have detected a large number of humans mysteriously disappearing."
"...." If Diablo had an eyebrow, he would definitely be raising it by now.
"Continue."
Baal nodded and began to deliver his report.
......
