Chapter 620: Universal Tree
When the two left the room they were in.
Victor's Wives entered a few minutes later, and all of his allies were with them; only Haruna and Viviane were not present.
"… I must say you handled that very well, Victor," Scathach commented with a proud smile.
"I will not allow my parents to become degenerates who only exist to satisfy their own desires. I refuse to see them like that. I would rather see them dead than such a deplorable sight."
"… Darling." Violet murmured gently while speaking carefully and as slowly as possible so that Victor could see what he was saying: "Don't say words you might regret."
"..." Victor opened his mouth to speak but soon closed it and fell silent. A few seconds later, he just nodded his head and let out a frustrated sigh. Despite being irritated with this whole situation, he would never want to see his parents dead.
"Anyway, now that that's settled, let's get back to the main subject." Victor snapped his fingers, and several tables and chairs were set up.
"...." Natashia, Agnes, Scathach, Ruby, Violet, Sasha, Kaguya, and Aphrodite looked at each other and just nodded. They decided to put the matter aside for now. It was obvious that Victor didn't want to talk about it now.
"Just what's going on on Mount Olympus? What about Russia?"
Aphrodite sat in one of the Ice chairs and said:
"The Beings imprisoned in Tartarus were all released, and a civil war ensued on Mount Olympus. Although the situation is bad, it is still manageable. Zeus may be a piece of shit, but there is no doubt that he is strong."
'Well, at least almost all beings of Tartarus got out. Luckily that Beast Son of Gaia and Tartarus is still imprisoned...' Aphrodite thought as she thought of Typhon, a beast that almost destroyed Olympus once.
She raised her hand, and a pink panel appeared in front of everyone, and it showed Aphrodite's memories of the civil war that was going on.
"…Fuck, this is ridiculous," Sasha muttered in disbelief. The scale level of this war was way beyond normal.
"This is on a completely different level…." Leona spoke.
Powers on a scale that were only seen when two Vampire Counts fought were being used all over the battlefield as if it were completely normal.
The level of destruction was ridiculous.
"When Gods and Monsters go to war, Mortals can only hide and pray they don't get caught in the crossfire, huh…." Victor spoke.
"What was that?" Pepper asked in curiosity.
"One of the sayings of Ancient Greece." Agnes and Aphrodite spoke at the same time. The two women looked at each other and nodded before looking back to the front.
"A saying that is true enough. Hardly any Younger Vampires, especially those without training, could handle a battle of this scale. Even Elder Vampires would have a hard time meddling with it." Mizuki commented.
"You are just looking at the bigger picture of things. Even amongst Gods, few have the destructive power to cause this much damage." Aphrodite explained.
"Look at me. I only learned to fight effectively when I left Mount Olympus; most Gods see no need to train."
"So those Gods with more combat-oriented Divinities come out on top; of course, that's also true for the Titans."
"Well, in a way, that makes sense. I don't see the need for a God of Trade to have a Divinity related to fighting." Ruby said, before continuing, "Also, I don't see how this God can get strong; after all, everything is limiting him."
Aphrodite nodded in agreement as she explained, "Indeed, Gods are limited to the Divinities they possess, and even progressing in the 'Concept' of that Divinity is something that takes a long time."
"And that's an advantage Mortals have over us, at least those Mortals who have longevity like Vampires."
"In this room, most of you can face Lesser Gods and a few other Gods who wield a Divinity for combat but never bothered to train it."
"Victor can take on most Gods due to the quirks of being a Progenitor of Vampires."
"By using Blood, he can damage a Being's Soul and eventually kill them if the accumulated damage is too great. Not to mention the other 'special' attributes that damage the Soul without him needing to come into contact with the Being." Aphrodite smiled when she thought of the day Victor damaged Freya with a casual gesture.
"Yeah, Yeah, the bastard is full of hacks. Honestly, it's unfair how much power he has." Edward rolled his eyes.
"Life is not fair, Brother. Deal with it," Leona said, then added, "But you're right, Brother."
Edward just snorted when he heard his sister's words.
Aphrodite continued, "Not to mention that after recent events, Victor's body is as strong as those belonging to the Strongest Alpha Werewolves in their Base Form."
"Even Scathach is no match for him now."
"Hey, I got better, okay? His attacks no longer damage me as much." Scathach spoke with a smile on her face. She definitely wasn't upset about it.
"But can you harm him in your Base Form with just Martial Arts and not resorting to using your Vampire Count transformation or using that Spear of yours?" Aphrodite spoke.
"....." Scathach was silent. No, she could not do that. Even in the previous training session, the one who suffered the most damage was Scathach and not Victor, proving how much stronger his body was.
Which was a good thing for Scathach; after all, she was feeling like she was getting much stronger than before alongside him.
Their relationship could now be described as Master and student, lovers, In-law's, and most importantly, rivals.
"Not to mention that Victor can increase his power output even more now. In terms of power, I think he is on par with the lowest Godly ranks of those that own Combat Divinities."
'And that's just with his physical body…' Aphrodite thought to herself and continued:
"And with his special 'perks', he could most likely fight a Mid-Level and High-Level Deities; after all, a fight between High-Level Gods is not just something physical, but also a battle between Souls."
"In that regard, Victor only loses in quality, but this issue is slowly being improved now."
"...." Roxanne just smiled gently.
"…Fuck, this is insane. I was bracing myself, but seriously! He hasn't reached 500 yet, you know!" Finally, Morgana, who had been quiet the entire time, spoke.
Roxanne nodded satisfactorily, "Umu, it's all thanks to me! I will protect my Husband! Hehehehe~"
The girls just rolled their eyes at Roxanne.
"Next on the list of those capable of fighting High-Level Gods would be Jeanne, Natashia, Scathach, Morgana, and myself."
"With just Jeanne, Scathach, and I being able to handle God-King Level Beings."
"..." Morgana looked at Jeanne with a blank expression.
"What?" Jeanne asked.
"Did you really get that strong?"
"I told you, what Victor did helped me a lot…." Jeanne looked at Aphrodite, "Although I'm surprised you know that, Aphrodite."
"I would also like to know how you know that; I don't remember using all my strength before you," Scathach commented.
"I have lived a long time and have met Earth's World Tree and its Guardian," Aphrodite commented in a neutral tone. She looked at Scathach and continued:
"Your teacher was the Witch of Doncaster. This woman wouldn't have let you use her name if you hadn't surpassed her in the craft she was so dedicated to… Runes.
"A power so complex and powerful that, if used correctly, could threaten even a God-King, and after getting to know you a little better now, I believe you would not be satisfied until you reached that level of using Runes freely with your Vampire Powers."
"...." Scathach only pursed his lips when she heard Aphrodite casually divulging about her past.
Victor looked at Scathach for a few seconds, then looked away and said nothing. He already knew that the name 'Scathach' wasn't her real name; after all, she even told him that when he became a Vampire Count.
"You are very insightful for a Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite."
"Ara, you don't live this long without paying attention to details, especially for someone like me who has enemies everywhere that actively wish harm upon me."
"...." Victor narrowed his eyes at that comment. He didn't like what he'd heard one bit.
Sensing Victor's emotions, Aphrodite looked at him and smiled gently.
'Concern… And trust, huh? It looks like he's worried about me being in a warring place, but he still trusts me enough to handle it… So lovely.' Aphrodite felt quite sweet now. Her eyes seemed to glow a little brighter. She looked at Victor like she wanted to jump him then and there.
"…I see…The Energy we have is quite similar." Jeanne nodded to herself as she thought of the World Tree that Aphrodite had known.
Aphrodite awoke from her stupor and looked at Jeanne: "Although your Energy is much purer than everyone here. Even the Energy of Earth's World Tree means nothing in front of you."
Aphrodite smiled widely, "Seriously, it's not an exaggeration to say that you're our ace in the hole. Vlad really fucked up really bad, hahahaha~,"
Jeanne narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the tone in which Aphrodite spoke as if she were an object.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just saying that if Vlad knew what you were, he would've never let you go."
"That only makes me feel worse." Jeanne rolled her eyes.
"But it's still true. Few Beings would look at your power and not want to use it for their own benefit; Victor is one of them."
"That's why I like him. He looks at me for what I am, not what I can offer." She narrowed her eyes at Aphrodite; she wasn't enjoying this conversation.
Seeing the big smile on Aphrodite's face, Jeanne squirmed as she realized what she'd said.
"... Great, another one... As if the Demon Girl wasn't enough." Violet rolled her eyes.
"Although it was quite obvious," Sasha spoke while looking at her nails, eyeing Jeanne out of the corner of her eye, who was completely red in the face, which was quite adorable for a woman with a grown child.
Natashia, Agnes, and Leona just looked at Victor with lifeless eyes.
"... I did nothing." Victor quickly defended himself.
"We know, it's just annoying when it happens all the time. Can't you get uglier or something? Maybe wear a mask?" Leona spoke.
"Humpf, that would be a sin against all beings."
"Great, now he's even more narcissistic." Edward rolled his eyes.
"Heh, you would act like me, too, if you had all this." He pointed to himself with a big smile on his face.
Edward snorted and turned his face away, he wouldn't openly admit it, but he knew Victor was correct.
Pepper, Lacus, and Siena just stared at the man with dry yet intense looks.
Scathach flashed a small smile when she saw how her three adopted daughters were acting.
'Hmm, maybe I'll join the plan that Natashia spoke about.' Scathach thought lazily. She felt so happy and satisfied; it even felt like she was floating on clouds. She felt so light.
"Okay, Okay, putting the romantic comedy aside for a bit. I don't understand anything you're talking about. What are these insinuations in the air? And why is Jeanne our Ace in the hole?" Liena pulled up an important point.
"Finally, someone noticed. I thought it was just me being left out." Mizuki muttered at the end.
Liena looked at Scathach.
"I don't know anything about it either," Scathach spoke.
Ruby, Sasha, Violet, and Agnes nodded, indicating they didn't know anything either.
"... Eh? Even you don't know anything?" Liena opened her mouth in surprise.
"Of the entire group, only Victor and I know," Aphrodite spoke.
"I don't know exactly what it is, but... I have an idea that I'm 90% sure of. For me to be 100% sure, she would have to confirm it for me." Victor replied as he thought about the strange events he'd seen in Jeanne's memories.
"Vic… Why didn't you say anything? If I had known that, I would have explained it better." Jeanne said. She thought Victor always knew.
Victor looked at Jeanne, "You're helping me, right?"
"Mm."
"Then why do I need to know anything else? You bear me no ill will, and I told your Brother I would take care of you, and that is what I will do."
"..." Jeanne looked in shock at Victor, and slowly a small, gentle smile appeared on her face.
'Really, it's just at these times that I feel bad that he wasn't born a little earlier…' Jeanne fixed Victor with an intense gaze.
Morgana felt her lips twitch at this pink scene before her. Then, she looked at Victor's Wives and spoke:
"See? Natural playboy. With those looks and that character, it's impossible not to fall for him. Fuck, we have to do something."
"…For once, I agree with you, Demon Girl," Violet spoke.
"Believe me when I say it is an impossible task." Kaguya, who'd remained quiet the entire time, said. Despite being one of Victor's Wives, she was a Maid before a Wife. She was a Maid-Wife who would rather care for Victor's needs than these complicated matters.
'Maid-Wife, huh... Not bad.' Kaguya thought to herself with a bit of internal embarrassment.
"..." The girls were silent. Who was it who said that? It was Kaguya, the woman who spent close to 24 hours a day in Victor's shadow. Her words carried a lot of weight.
"Back to the point, Jeanne, are you going to talk about it or not?" Aphrodite took the reins of the conversation. They would forever deviate from the main subject if things continued like this.
Instead of answering, Jeanne looked at Victor like she was asking for permission.
"It's up to you, Jeanne. Regardless of what you choose, I will support you."
Jeanne smiled gently. She felt an invisible weight she had on her shoulders disappear with those words from Victor. She'd been afraid of revealing her existence and girls treating him differently or special. She had had enough of that when she was Vlad's 'Queen'.
"Everyone knows who Roxanne is now, right?" Jeanne began to explain.
"Yeah, she's a World Tree," Pepper spoke naively.
"... Huh?" Liena just reacted as if she had just discovered that fact now.
The people in the room glared at Liena and ignored her reaction.
"You remember that Roxanne has the Big Guy, right? The giant gorilla who is her 'Guardian'."
Most nodded, with a few who didn't understand what she was talking about as they were the few who hadn't seen the Big Guy yet.
Ignoring this group that didn't know either, Jeanne continued:
"I am the same as Big Guy; I am a Guardian of a World Tree."
"....."
"But unlike Big Guy, my position is higher and a little more flexible. I'm still connected to the World Tree, but my autonomy is much greater because he is who he is."
"I am the Guardian of one of the Seven Primordial Entities; I am the Guardian of the Universal Tree, the Tree that sustains all existence in the Universe, the Being responsible for the maintenance, life, and reincarnation of Souls in the Universe, the Being that is the Progenitor of all the World Trees in existence."
"....."
The shock was obvious, everyone didn't know how to react to those words, but just as expected, the first to respond came.
"Well, I expected something like that, but it's still surprising to confirm my suspicions." Victor smiled.
"… So, you are my aunt?" Roxanne turned her head to the side in confusion.
"Well, I treat that Being like my brother, and he treats all of you like his children, so that analogy is correct… I guess." Jeanne replied.
"Ohhh! I have an aunt!" Roxanne ignored everything and just listened to the part she was correct about, and then she jumped on Jeanne and hugged the girl.
Jeanne was static for a few seconds but then hugged the redhead, who was too big to be called small.
'Damn, these breasts are suffocating me.' Jeanne thought she would die if this continued.
"... Fuck, I didn't expect that when you said you recovered a lot of things," Morgana grumbled.
With great effort, Jeanne separated her head from Roxanne's grip and looked at Morgana:
"I wandered for a long time, and due to some events that led me to assume the Fate of a little girl, I lost the memories of who I was. Only when Victor helped me was I able to remember who I was."
"Ugh... This opens up possibilities for so many problems it's not even funny." Ruby felt a headache coming on.
"... What do you mean?" Jeanne asked, confused.
"I'm talking about your children. If you are the Guardian of a Primordial Entity, does that mean your children will inherit the ability to use that Purest Energy?"
"Nah, that's not going to happen."
"Why?"
"My position is special. That Energy is bound to my Soul and only my Soul. Therefore, even if I have a child, he will only inherit my lineage from the 'Race' I am now."
"Hmm… Huh?" Ruby was speechless; she didn't understand anything.
"Simply put, I am like the mother of Carmilla Fulger, I am a Spirit who gained a physical body thanks to the power of the Heavenly Father, and subsequently, I have transformed into a Vampire thanks to Vlad."
"As a Higher Level Spirit, I can assume any Race, and my essence will not mix with my physical body. If I have a child, the child will only inherit the things I have in my 'physical' body. "
"The child will not inherit anything from my spiritual side."
"… That's good. Just thinking of the chaos that would've ensued if your children and descendants started using this Primordial Energy stressed me out." Ruby sighed in relief.
"The Primordial Ones also understood this concern, and thus, even if they were to have descendants, those descendants would not inherit anything from their parents."
"Balance is a fragile thing, and it needs to be protected at all costs."
Only Roxanne and Aphrodite nodded. They seemed to be the only people in the room who understood what Jeanne was talking about.
"Jeanne, you speak as if you knew my ancestor," Sasha asked while narrowing her eyes, something her mother was doing too. The two Fulgers didn't miss that little detail.
Jeanne looked at Sasha and smiled gently: "Yeah, I met her. After all, I was the one who named her."
Natashia and Sasha opened their eyes wide.
"Folks..."
The group looked at Victor.
"We've gone off track again."
"…Oh." Everyone reacted at the same time.
Victor sighed and looked at Ruby, "Tell me about the war in Russia right now."
"Yes."
"About Mount Olympus…" He glanced at Aphrodite, "Just keep an eye out and try to bring some 'reliable' Gods to our side." He didn't explain much; he knew the Goddess understood what he meant when he said 'reliable'.
It was basically a term to say: Easy to manipulate and control.
Aphrodite flashed a sly smile and said, "That's what I was already doing, Darling."
Victor just smiled when he heard that. He had very competent people beside him.
The meeting resumed with Victor, Scathach, and Aphrodite taking the reins of the entire discussion.
.....
