Chapter 576: The Youkai form a new alliance.
With members of the Scarlett Clan and the Youkai of Japan.
Hours were spent discussing the terms of the alliance, proposals were given, and proposals were refused; everyone, even Scathach herself, was surprised by Haruna's posture.
The woman was like an unyielding mountain; even with The Strongest Female Vampire in front of her, she didn't falter.
That stance, that determination, that look, Scathach absolutely loved it. She could see Haruna's talent shining, just waiting for her to lapidate; Scathach's mouth watered just thinking about throwing the Nine-Tailed Fox into a vacant lot and torturing her... Cough, training her to reach her full potential.
Scathach definitely understood why Victor liked Haruna so much; the woman was a rare gem. While she didn't know the full potential of her talent, with just one look, Scathach put her at the same level of talent as Ruby, the very thought of which was terrifying. The topic of Ruby's talent was something she hadn't spoken much about, lest it go to her daughter's head.
Ruby only lost in talent to Victor. What chained the girl was her own personality. If only she were more like her mother when she was younger, a woman with the mindset of seeking to be stronger and eager to fight with strong opponents, she would be much stronger now.
Unfortunately, her daughter's personality was more quiet. She would rather lock herself in her lab with her experiments and make plans than pick up a Spear and fight.
It was not like that was a big deal; after all, Ruby herself was much stronger now. As the girl's mother, she made sure to convey the view that the Supernatural World has always been and would always be ruled by the strong.
That Might was always Right.
It was because of this understanding that Ruby never slacked in her training, even though she preferred to relax in her room watching anime or spend time in her lab.
No matter how much talent you had, if you didn't have the right mindset, that talent could not flourish.
Victor was a perfect example. Even now, the man never slacked on training, always thinking of ways to get stronger, always thinking of the next opponent.
And that mindset was what helped him grow at such an insane pace.
After two hours of an argument that went nowhere, Ruby butted in on the conversation.
"If I may speak."
"..." Haruna and Scathach stopped talking and looked at Ruby.
"Lady Haruna, why don't you become my Husband's bride?"
"Pfft!"
Everyone looked toward Haruna's grandfather, who'd spat Chã in Genji's face.
"I-I'm sorry; pretend nothing happened."
"Disgusting," Genji growled.
"Here, Genji-sama." Genji looked to the side and saw a Three-Tailed Humanoid Fox with a towel in his hand.
"Thanks." He spoke gently as he took the towel and dried his face.
The group looked back at Ruby.
"Explain, Ruby Scarlett," Haruna spoke with a serious look.
"Before I start, this is not public information. Only a few people know about it. Can you trust these people to keep this information private?"
Haruna stared at Ruby for a few seconds and spoke with a voice that resonated throughout the mansion:
"Servants, leave the main mansion." Sounds of running footsteps were heard, and soon all the servants in the main mansion ran out into the courtyard.
"Genji, isolate the location."
Genji nodded his head, and a white power seeped from his body, spreading in the shape of a dome and encompassing the entire mansion.
"Done."
"Satisfied?" Seeing the Younger Vampire nod her head, she continued, "Now, Speak."
"The Leader of Clan Alucard, Victor Alucard, the Second Progenitor, is currently married to seven women."
"The Snow Clan Heiress Violet Snow and Snow Clan Leader Agnes Snow,"
Genji and Yoichi opened their mouths in shock; the man was married to both mother and daughter!?
"The Fulger Clan Heiress Sasha Fulger and Fulger Clan Leader Annastasia Fulger,"
"And I, Ruby Scarlett, Heiress of Clan Scarlett."
Scathach only raised an eyebrow when she didn't see her daughter comment on her, but now that she thought about it, she wasn't in any Official Relationship with Victor, which must be why her daughter didn't speak up; after all, there was no need.
"The other two women are sensitive subjects, and I cannot comment lightly, but I can tell you their Race."
"The first is a hybrid of Dryad and Vampire." Ruby could lie as easily as she breathed.
'Spreading the news of a World Tree is sheer nonsense.' Ruby, from the beginning, was not going to talk about Roxanne and Aphrodite in depth, mainly because if the news of the two got out, everything would be more complicated than it already was.
"And the second one is a Goddess."
Shock and disbelief could be seen on Genji's and Yoichi's faces.
'That man is so young, and yet he already has more wives than Vlad!' Yoichi thought.
... If he only knew that Victor's long list of women didn't end there and that two of them were Vlad's ex-Wives...
"I don't understand why you are telling me about Alucard's personal life," Haruna commented in a neutral tone.
"You will understand soon enough." Ruby smiled slightly and continued:
"The Alliance we are proposing to you is not a simple Alliance with Clan Scarlett, Fulger, and Snow."
"Ruby, are you sure about this?" Siena asked.
"Yes, with what little I've observed, she's not going to spread that information around," Ruby spoke while continuing to look at Haruna.
Siena just nodded her head and was silent, trusting her younger sister.
"Otsuki Haruna, we are here looking for an Alliance with you and our new Faction, a Faction completely unrelated to the Noble Vampires under Vlad's command."
Now it was time for Haruna to open her eyes wide. Her brain started working fast, and within just a few seconds, she understood the consequences of Ruby's invitation.
She understood why Ruby didn't want anyone to know.
And she wasn't the only one; Genji and Yoichi also understood.
'...Vlad, how far have you fallen for your own Vampire Counts to abandon you?' Yoichi thought.
"This is insanity." Haruna can't help but say:
"You're betraying the Oldest Living Vampire, The First Progenitor?" The very thought sent shivers down Haruna's spine, and that very thought filled her with heartbreak.
She didn't like these methods. Even though she understood that in this world, there were options that you were forced to choose, she repudiated this method.
She couldn't trust people who betrayed their 'Lords'.
"Don't think of such nonsense, Foxy."
Haruna turned to Scathach:
"This is not treason; we're not stabbing Vlad in the back."
"We're abandoning him."
"And what difference does that make? How is that not considered betrayal?" Haruna narrowed her eyes.
"We will not harm his Kingdom or take the people loyal to Vlad. We are simply jumping ship in search of a place where we can make our own decisions." Ruby answered.
Haruna narrowed her eyes even more.
"What is the reason for this decision, Scathach-dono? Why do you want to abandon Vlad?"
Scathach turned to gaze at Yoichi with a neutral look.
"Simple, the Vampire King has already abandoned us."
"It's been going on for the past few centuries. Vlad began to isolate himself from us Countesses. He started to plan things for himself, hid information from the Vampire Counts, and didn't work with us."
"But... With Otsuki Hana's death, everything became worse."
Haruna and Yoichi narrowed their eyes; complex emotions flooded their hearts; they didn't expect to hear that name at this meeting.
"Vlad became obsessed, with revenge being the only thing in his sight. He kept hiding more things from the Vampire Counts, and the situation has now arrived to the point where Vlad practically rules alone, and the Vampire Counts are relegated to nothing more than mere decorations to maintain a semblance of 'order' and 'status quo' within Nightingale."
"We cannot abandon someone who has already abandoned us. As my daughter said, we are simply looking for a better boat, a boat whose Captain is someone we can trust in these uncertain times."
A silence fell in the room; the Scarlett Clan members could see what the Youkai were thinking.
Scathach had spoken her reasons, but honestly? Though those reasons bothered her, she normally wouldn't have cared, and if things did get worse, Scathach would've just taken her daughters and left Nightingale.
But... Victor appeared, and with Victor, her thinking changed.
By relating to Victor, she found a disciple, a rival, a lover, a family... a very large family that continued to grow.
Previously, the Snow, Fulger, and Scarlett Clans had a neutral relationship with each other, but with the arrival of Victor, those clans became much closer... Much closer than she ever thought possible.
God! She literally slept in the same bed with the Leaders of Clan Fulger and Snow! And not just with the Leaders; even the Heiresses of those clans slept alongside her!
All this because they shared the same lover.
If anyone had said in the past that she would ever become as close to those women as if they were a big family, she would've just laughed like it was a big joke.
Each person Victor comes into contact with, every individual who has known Victor on a personal level, has completely changed. In less than a few years, the individuals that made up Nightingale's high society had changed to the point of becoming unrecognizable.
Even Vlad himself had changed a little, even if the Old Man didn't want to admit it.
And the fun part was that only a few beings knew this. The common Noble Vampires who didn't have Clans just lived their lives in carefree ignorance.
After all, Nightingale's society had not changed; the people who made it up had.
"I see... You're doing the same as me..." Haruna closed her eyes and opened them again with visible sharpness:
"You are taking the reins of your destiny."
"Correct." Scathach smiled.
"Diablo is making waves, waves that could drag the entire Supernatural World with him... And we don't want to stand by and be dragged along with them." Ruby spoke with a serious expression.
"Standing by while someone dictates our fate is not to our liking; we refuse to play someone else's game."
"Because of that, we decided to team up and create a Faction."
"A Faction that will not discriminate against anyone, inviting any into our fold, regardless of Race."
"Angels, Demons, Gods, Youkai, Witches, Werewolves, Vampires, Spirits, Elves, Dwarves, no matter the race, everyone is welcome in this Faction, as long as they follow our rules, of course."
"There is strength in variety. By bringing together various Races under one Faction, a new force that can rival the high-ranking Pantheons can be created."
Ruby knew. She was no fool. Vampires could be strong in the 'Mortal' World, but when it came to the Realm of Deities, Vampires, as a Faction, were not strong. High-level Pantheons like the Egyptians and the Hindus could easily subdue the Vampires.
An example was Shiva himself. The God of Destruction could erase an entire Faction by himself.
The Gathering of Supernatural Beings existed to maintain control of the Pantheons, not Vampires, Demons, Angels, Werewolves, or Witches.
"... That's a big goal, to become a force that rivals Pantheons, huh?"
A few seconds passed in silence until Haruna asked an important question:
"If I accept this proposal, will the Youkai be ruled by Alucard?"
"No."
"The mode of Government will be something like a Council; the Youkai will have their own Representative and Leader."
"Think of it as something akin to the Gathering of Supernatural Beings, with the only difference being that the Faction Leader can order the Races and their Leaders as long as that order doesn't conflict with the Representative's interests."
"… Hmm." Haruna started to think about the matter, but she couldn't delve much deeper when she heard:
"You don't have to think about it too much right now; everything is still in the early stages, a lot can change, and nothing is concrete, but one thing is certain."
"The Leaders representing each Race in the future Council will be my Husband's Wives."
Scathach, Sienna, Pepper, Luna, and Lacus raised their eyebrows; this was something new for them; they hadn't heard any of this before.
"That way, we can avoid board corruption."
'Even if I think it's impossible for this to happen, after all, my husband is an empath now. Also, the literal Goddess of Beauty herself will be responsible for this matter.' Ruby thought.
With two beings who could feel emotions and someone who could control a being with Charm alone, the probability of corruption was less than 0.000001%.
That minuscule percentage accounted for the unlikely situation where Victor did not satisfy a woman completely, which was even more impossible considering how Victor spoiled his wives. The preeminent Goddess of Sex literally blessed him, so... Yes, while it seemed utterly impossible, that didn't mean that plans couldn't be made... just in case.
Precautions were necessary.
"… That is naive thinking; the temptation of power is something very desirable; even the Faction Leader's Wife is not exempt from it."
"Believe me; power will be their last concern when someone becomes my Husband's Wife." Ruby displayed a small smile.
"..." This time, it was Haruna who raised her eyebrow. She wondered why Ruby was so confident.
Haruna closed her eyes and thought about her answer; a whole minute passed, and everyone was silent.
She opened her eyes and spoke in a serious tone:
"I accept the Alliance, but I refuse to become Alucard's Bride."
"... Oh? Why's that?"
"I will not become the Wife of someone weaker than me; he must defeat me if he wants my hand in marriage."
"...." Unconsciously, the members of Clan Scarlett looked at Scathach; they felt a sense of Déjà Vu just now.
Scathach was trying hard not to laugh like crazy now; her instincts weren't wrong; the woman was a rare gem!
"And even if he defeats me, I might not accept him as a Husband." She continued with the same serious tone.
The girls looked at Haruna, and Scathach's face tightened; all her amusement died at those words.
"I will not spread my legs just because someone defeated me, I need to be interested in this person, and if I like this person, he must fight me, and then I will accept him."
Scathach's eyes softened, and she nodded; she could understand that; after all, she was of equal belief. She may be someone who believed that the strong should take all, but still, she had standards.
Even if someone defeated her, if she didn't like the person, she wouldn't let the person who beat her touch her.
That was her pride as a woman.
"… What do you think of Victor?" Ruby asked curiously; she didn't dislike Haruna; the woman reminded her much of her mother.
"Victor is…interesting. When I first met him, I felt like I found someone like me." She was honest, which surprised everyone a lot; they thought the woman would keep quiet.
"Our meeting was brief, and no semblance of romantic feelings can be created in that short of a time."
Ruby and the girls nodded; her thoughts were understandable.
"But..." Haruna's obsidian eyes seemed to shine a little; she smiled slightly, revealing her sharp teeth.
"I want to fight him, that's for sure."
Scathach tried... God, she tried to contain her laughter, but she couldn't take it anymore:
"... Pffft... HAHAHAHA."
Everyone looked at Scathach and saw the woman laughing with her hand on her face; it wasn't a mocking laugh or anything like that; it was a laugh of pure amusement.
Again, Ruby felt a sense of Déjà Vu, and soon she remembered that her mother laughed the same way when she met Victor for the first time.
Scathach stopped laughing and looked at Haruna with her eyes glowing blood red:
"Well said, Haruna! This is how a woman and a warrior should act!" It was plainly evident that she was satisfied.
"... I am happy to find someone who shares the same ideals as me," Haruna spoke in a humble tone, but satisfaction could be felt in her words.
"Indeed, indeed." Scathach nodded her head several times in satisfaction, soon she lost her casual smile and became serious:
"As General of this Alliance, it falls to me to invite you into our fold. I, Scathach Scarlett, welcome the Youkai Faction to our ranks."
"May we have a long, healthy relationship free of internal conflicts."
.......
