Chapter 570: Sneaky Demons.
Walking on red Earth while holding a little girl in his right arm, while holding Junketsu with his left hand.
"Ugh, why did you use Lumos so drastically? Even now, I still feel the light burned into my retina!" Emily complained as she wiped her eyes.
"Fighting the Rank 2 Demon is a waste of time; that was not our goal," Victor spoke in a neutral tone:
"Rather, our goal was to rescue the Princess."
"Even though!" Emily placed her small hands on her face; it was quite noticeable that her eyes were watering a little, "You didn't need to-." She was going to say something, but she couldn't.
A sudden queasy feeling bombarded Emily, completely interrupting what she was about to say.
"Ugh," Emily quickly put her hand over her mouth as she felt like throwing up.
'I feel nauseous.'
"Hmm, I think it was this way?" Victor was completely ignoring what the girl said.
He wouldn't let his guard down in enemy territory, even if he had no apparent enemies in sight.
[Victor, let me out!] Lilith screamed in Victor's head.
Victor ignored her, too. He just ordered:
[Kaguya shut her mouth.]
[Yes, Master]
[...Wait, what's that dangerous look-...Stop, stay away! I'm the Princess! In fact, I am the person who you were trying to rescue! Treat me with respect – GHAAAAAWWW!]
[Did she not pay attention to our explanation?] Bruna asked as she looked at Kaguya, tying Lilith with darkness in a rather indecent way.
'She's been watching many of Victor and Ruby's sessions.' Bruna couldn't help thinking, noticing Kaguya's apparent proficiency with said 'ropes' of darkness.
[It's like they say, Royalty have the brains of birds. They take three steps in one direction and forget what they did or heard a few seconds ago.] Maria shrugged as she had similar thoughts to Bruna.
It was noteworthy that the Maids had no respect for the 'Royalty' of Vampires; after all, from their perspective, their Master was the only 'Royalty' that mattered to them.
But the main reason they had no respect for Royalty was that they only respected their Master and their Master's wives.
"I think it's here." Victor stopped walking; he looked at the boulder in front of him. The boulder was the size of a basketball.
He kicked the rock, and oddly shaped numbers and letters following a pattern were seen.
A common knowledge he'd inherited from Adonis' memories, a way for Vampires to communicate secretly. Due to the events of Vlad's children, this type of code could no longer be reliable for essential missions.
However, for running errands on a short mission, it still had its uses.
Of course, there was the possibility that someone could read it, so they made the code as simple as possible so that even if someone read it, they wouldn't understand the meaning.
Still a little nauseous, Emily asked, "W-What is that?"
She was a curious girl by nature. Seeing those strangely shaped numbers and letters, her imagination ran wild.
'A code? Like those spy movies?'
Victor didn't answer; he just thought:
'Horizon, huh? So they chose the hotel?'
Before invading the compound in which Lilith was being held, whose exact location was found due to the efforts of Jeanne and Morgana,
They'd made several contingency plans. The mission was simple and straightforward:
Rescue Lilith and the Prince of Wolves, by any means necessary, was the primary objective, and, IF POSSIBLE, gather information about Diablos' plan.
Victor would go in with the Werewolves and ensure Lilith's safety; the reason for him going straight to the enemy's heart is simple; Kaguya's Power of Darkness was quite useful for this type of mission.
While this occurred, the others were required to cause as much chaos as possible and draw the attention of the Demons and the Demon hordes.
Initially, Victor was supposed to leave with the Werewolves, but due to Agares' intervention, he'd had to stay behind to buy time for the others to leave.
The group had imagined that this kind of situation could occur, and they decided that if things didn't go as planned, Victor would buy time while the others fled with the Prince.
When the others had retreated with the Prince of Wolves in tow, Victor would receive the alert to retreat, and, with his Lightning Power and Kaguya's Darkness, there were few situations in which Victor could not flee.
Despite taking on the most dangerous position in the group, he was, in fact, the most qualified for that position.
After escaping and being safe, he would then look for the code left by Jeanne, informing the location where the group went.
"Little girl, hold me tighter."
"Huh?" Emily, who was lost in thought, snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Victor.
Rumble, Rumble.
"!!!" Seeing that he was going to do it again, she quickly grabbed him and buried her face in his neck.
She didn't even have time to think about how good he smelled before her vision blurred.
…
Location: An old abandoned building that was a typical tourist hotel before all this happened.
"Morgana, calm down." Jeanne spoke while looking at her friend, who was pacing back and forth.
"I'm calm."
"No, you're clearly not calm." Jeanne snapped.
"We left him with that strong presence! That Demon, that feeling, I know it well! It was Rank 2 Agares, that sneaky piece of shit; if he does something to Victor, I will kill him!" Her eyes glowed blood red.
"Morgana, calm down." Jeanne spoke in a firmer tone.
"I-." Morgana was going to say something, but she was interrupted by Leona.
"Trust Victor a little, he's the slipperiest man alive." She spoke in a neutral and confident tone, but it was clear to everyone that she was worried:
"He will be here with Lilith any moment now."
"...." Edward looked at his sister with neutral eyes, then turned his attention back to the group.
"Ugh… We should have stayed—." Morgana was interrupted again.
"That was not our role in this mission." Mizuki approached.
"..." Morgana narrowed her eyes.
"We all discussed this, and we agreed; we made a plan," Mizuki spoke in a serious tone. She added:
"For this plan to work, everything needed to be fast and efficient; we did that perfectly."
"Unfortunately, we couldn't get any information, but our main objective was completed."
"It is our victory."
"...." Morgana's expression became more neutral, and she became visibly calmer.
But Mizuki wasn't finished, she needed to clarify this again in case Morgana forgot:
"Staying to kill the Dukes would have been a foolish action; we were and still are in the middle of enemy territory without any support."
"And even if we'd managed to kill a Duke in an attempt to diminish Diablo's tools,"
"It wouldn't have made any difference. If their Souls weren't destroyed, they'd only come back to life by sacrificing innocent Souls; that is the privilege of Diablo, the King of an entire Hell Dimension."
"Not to mention that we would be exhausted, and being exhausted in the middle of enemy territory would be serving the Demons our heads on a silver platter."
A long silence fell around until Morgana sighed:
"You're right... I'm sorry for my behavior."
"It's okay, I understand you too... Even though I know he's strong and the most slippery man there is, I'm still worried about him." Mizuki made a complicated face.
"..." Everyone present nodded at Mizuki's words.
"Funny that you're more worried about Victor than your daughter," Edward spoke jokingly.
And that action had every woman in the room staring at Edward.
Unconsciously, the Wolf gulped at everyone's stares.
"... I'm not worried about my daughter because I know that the moment she'd entered Victor's protection, not a single hair of hers would be harmed."
"That foolish man would rather get hurt than put those in his protection in harm's way." But, despite calling him a 'fool', that word's tone was much more affectionate and loving than disdained.
She felt that if she were to trust her daughter's safety to anyone, the safest bets would be Jeanne and Victor, of that she had no doubt.
"… Ugh, I'm sorry, okay?" Edward held up his hands in a universal gesture of surrender.
"It was just a joke to try to lighten the mood."
"A joke is not welcome now, Brother." Leona practically snarled at her brother:
"Especially with something so sensitive."
"Haah, I know; I'm sorry. Okay?" He sighed and spoke with a regretful look.
The door suddenly swung open, making every little tension in the air disappear, and everyone looked towards the door.
And everyone saw an Anderson with a neutral smile on his face.
"..." Anderson's smile flickered a little when he saw the disappointed looks on the women's faces.
"I know I'm not the person you've been waiting for, but there's no need to show that disappointed look, right?"
The girls just snorted and looked away.
Anderson flinched at this, his gaze shifting to Edward, who was looking at him with a look that said, 'I understand you, brother.'
"Haah, that man is certainly a sinner." Getting so many beautiful women to act like this when he's in 'danger', he's undoubtedly lucky.
'Probably the only woman who would be worried about me if I put myself in danger is my wife and maybe my subordinate.' Somehow he felt a little bad now.
"How is the boy?" Edward's question had the women looking at Anderson with a curious looks.
"...Arrogant as usual, but he'd been fine..." Anderson spoke, his gaze shifting to serious:
"For a while."
"... What happened?" Jeanne asked with a serious look.
"He was poisoned, and it was not just any poison; it was a poison specially made for Werewolves. Wolfsbane."
"...." Edward and Leona narrowed their eyes.
"By your tone, it's not your average Wolfsbane, right?"
"Yes, it's a variant; I've never seen anything like this in my entire life or even in the archives of the Royal Palace." Anderson bit his lip and continued:
"I need to get him back to Samar and leave him in the care of our druids, but I don't know if I'll have the time."
"He is dying."
Everyone's faces darkened a bit.
An uneasy silence fell in the room.
Although those present in Victor's group did not care about the boy, it still left a bad taste in their mouths to hear that a 12-year-old boy had been poisoned and was dying.
"That's a Diablo guarantee." Morgana began to speak.
"...." Those present looked at Morgana.
"Typical Diablo power tactic."
"He might lose something, but he always has something that will put him back on top again." She remembered that this happened several times in the wars between Lilith and Diablo. The scenario was the same, just with different tools.
"The moment he kidnapped the boy, he'd administered the poison in him and gave 'small' doses of the antidote so the poison would remain in the body in a tolerable state."
"But in the case of someone rescuing him, they would be left with no choice but to return and give the boy to him because only he has the antidote." She finished with a sneer.
Anderson clenched his teeth; his eyes glittered dangerously, and his expression was turning animalistic like a Wolf:
"... How dare he, that piece of shit..."
Despite not liking his brother very much, blood spoke louder than anything, especially with Werewolves.
Was the young Prince an arrogant piece of shit? Yes.
But he is still his brother!
When Anderson was about to open his mouth to say something, he heard:
"This is a pretty depressing atmosphere."
Everyone turned their heads towards the voice and saw a body of darkness coming out of the wall, and less than a few seconds later, the man appeared in all his glory, wearing black armor, and in his arms was a... Little girl.
"Vic/Alucard!"
"Yo, did I take too long? I had to take the long way around because of the 'eyes' watching me." Victor grimaced at the end; he really hated those Demons, they were small and sneaky, and if Victor didn't focus his full attention on them, he'd lose sight of them.
Jeanne, Morgana, Mizuki, and Leona's expressions became more relaxed; they gave small smiles and sighed in relief. It was good to see him whole and healthy.
Seeing Anderson's state, Victor narrowed his eyes and asked with a serious expression:
"What happened?"
'...Are they really going to ignore me?' Emily asked herself, but seeing the atmosphere, she elected not to say anything... For now.
"They poisoned Thomas." Anderson cut through the bullshit and got straight to the point; he didn't need to explain, not with Victor. The man was wise enough; he could put things together quickly.
"...." Victor narrowed his eyes even more, along with Emily herself.
Although it was a mission for her, she enjoyed spending time teasing the brooding boy; he was like a cat; you just wanted to tease him.
"... I see, a countermeasure, huh? That's why Agares was so calm and didn't chase the Werewolves."
"Did you fight Agares?" Anderson asked.
"More like I merely defended myself. He has troublesome power. If Morgana hadn't warned me about the specifics beforehand, I would have died."
"!!!" The girls opened their eyes in shock and concern.
"Is he really that dangerous?" Mizuki asked. She personally knew of Victor's abilities.
"A being able to enter another plane of existence and attack without you sensing a thing?"
"Yes, he is dangerous; I only managed to react because my reaction time is above normal."
"If anyone encounters him, you must run away quickly; he is extremely dangerous," Victor spoke in a severe tone.
"But let's ignore him for now."
Victor put Emily down, his body becoming pure shadows, and slowly a woman's silhouette began to appear in his arms, and in the next second, Lilith appeared in full.
"Lilith!" Morgana approached Lilith and looked at the state of her daughter.
"What happened to her?"
"Probably a Diablo countermeasure." Victor took Lilith to the couch and gently placed her on the couch.
"She was poisoned."
"A poison capable of harming a Vampire? Does such a thing exist?" Jeanne asked in shock as she approached with a worried face; after all, the girl was like her daughter.
"Yes, on the first encounter I had with Victor, I used something similar on him, but that poison isn't so potent that it could harm an Elder Vampire of Vlad's direct bloodline. The poison is more lethal on weaker Vampires." Mizuki spoke.
"She's completely pale, much paler than a Vampire's healthy pale tone…" Leona murmured as she looked at Lilith.
"Stand back a bit; I will use my blood," Victor spoke to Morgana.
"Vic." Morgana looked worriedly at Victor.
"I know she can get addicted, but it's only a few liters. That should be enough to help her; I won't let her drink it daily like my Wives and Maids."
"..." Morgana nodded in thanks and felt a gentle warmth in her heart when she saw Victor's serious expression toward Lilith.
'...How I wish you were her biological father.' She couldn't help but think about it but quickly shook her head to get those thoughts out; they were useless thoughts.
He can't be her biological father, but he could be her adoptive father!
She nodded, satisfied at that thought.
"Jeanne, you were once called the Saint of Orleans. Can you heal Thomas?" Victor asked.
Jeanne bit her lip. She didn't want to disappoint Victor, but unfortunately, despite being called a 'Saint', her powers were more for 'war'; apart from that, she could channel the Powers of the Heavenly 'Father', but that Sacred Power would hurt Jeanne herself.
And she didn't want to risk dying for Thomas.
For Lilith? Yes, if she had no choices or options, she would do this; even if it hurt the girl for being a Vampire, she would be healed.
But for Thomas, a stranger? Sorry, she wasn't that selfless.
Those thoughts crossed her mind, and she spoke:
"Sorry, I can't do that."
"..." A heavy silence fell on the premises at her words.
Anderson put a hand to his brow and gritted his teeth even tighter, murderous thoughts racing around his head about a particular Demon.
'I need to do something... I can't let my brother die like this; he's too young.'
Noticing Jeanne's hesitations, Victor could predict her thoughts; the stoic and confident woman would never act like this if it weren't for him:
"Don't think nonsense, Jeanne."
"…Vic?"
Victor looked at Jeanne as Lilith sucked his bare wrist.
"I won't think less of you for it; that's your decision, and I'll respect it. No one will judge you for this; I won't allow it." Victor spoke vaguely so those not in the know wouldn't understand, but Jeanne could completely understand what he was talking about.
And she couldn't help but smile gently at him.
Victor would not blame Jeanne for anything; he knew that by using the Heavenly Father's Power, she would risk dying; the powers' nature and her currect nature were simply too opposing.
Asking Jeanne to heal Thomas was the same as asking her to possibly sacrifice herself for the boy; after all, this type of poison was not something simple. Something capable of reducing someone from the bloodline of a Goddess would require a lot of power from Jeanne to remove or heal, something Victor didn't want, nor would he allow.
Unfortunately for the boy, Jeanne was a higher priority for him.
"... I can help." Again, a low, not very confident voice was heard.
"..." The group turned their gaze toward the voice and soon saw the little girl they had ignored until now.
"Help with what?" Anderson asked, looking into the girl's peculiar eyes that reminded him a lot of a certain Queen.
"I can heal, Thomas."
.....
