Chapter 648: The Wives want Vengeance.
"What did you say!?" Agnes, Morgana, Natashia, and Violet's angry outbursts were heard at the same time.
"How the fuck could that happen!? Victor isn't with you!? What do you mean by missing!?" Natashia exploded, and Lightning could be seen crackling all over her body.
"A trap!? A Trap for My Darling!? Those motherfuckers are trying to shorten their lifespan! I will kill them all!" Violet screamed in fury.
"Tsk, I was supposed to go with him! I would have pulverized those motherfuckers out of existence! How dare they!" Morgana screamed as her eyes glowed a bright red, literally.
"Natalia, explain what happened! Don't be silent!" Agnes roared with fury, just like her daughter.
"..." Unfortunately, no words came out of Natalia. The woman was shaking a lot; after summarizing what happened to Victor and what Eleonor and Rose said, she was inconsolable.
"You four! Make room for Natalia to breathe! Can't you see the state of her!?" Sasha screamed angrily.
"..." Just when Sasha spoke, the four women stopped what they were doing and looked at Natalia, who was on the verge of tears.
They felt awful seeing her like that and quickly apologized to Natalia.
Even if they were furious, they were still mindful. So they moved a little away from Natalia and let the woman breathe and calm down...
"…Are you okay, Ophis?" Sasha asked as she held the little girl's hand through her gloves.
Unlike the other girls, she was more worried about Ophis. Did that mean she wasn't concerned about Victor?
Of course not. That couldn't be further from the truth. She was worried about her husband but trusted the man with all her heart. She knew he could handle anything thrown at him.
So Sasha focused all her attention on Ophis, the little girl who went through another stressful situation, something a child shouldn't go through.
"... My Daddy, h-he... he is not here..."
Sasha felt an ache in her heart, the ache of worry, so much concern for her Husband, who was in an unknown location now caught in an enemy's trap. So much concern for Ophis, who was in a horrible mood and depressive state, something very rare coming from the usually very stoic girl.
Sasha crouched down to eye level with Ophis, "Don't worry, Ophis. Your Father is strong, very strong. He won't die from something like this, don't think the worst, okay?"
"... Mm..."
Sasha wanted to hug Ophis right now but couldn't because of the little girl's unique condition. She had no choice but to take her gloved hand and squeeze it tightly to demonstrate that she was there for her.
On the other side, a similar scene occurred with Jeanne and Nero.
"Nero? Talk to me, don't be silent. Are you alright?" Jeanne spoke gently as she crouched down to Nero's eye level. Just like Sasha, she was more focused on the children who went through this traumatizing situation than on Victor now.
She knew this was what Victor would want.
Nero's body shook visibly, and tears began to fall from her eyes, "My Father... H-He...-"
'Be strong. You are my daughters, the daughters of Victor Alucard. You are my pride.'
When Victor's words resonated in her heart, she clenched her fists in frustration: 'I need to get stronger.'
She wiped the tears from her eyes with her hands, and a determined expression appeared on her face:
"I don't want to go through that again… Even though I'm not as strong as my Father, I don't want to be so useless."
"...." Jeanne bit her lip in frustration to the point that they hurt when she heard those words.
In her opinion, children shouldn't be fighting enemies or in battles. That was something that should be left to adults.
Children were supposed to be children and just live carefree, staying entirely away from the dark side of the world until they were old enough to do so.
Unfortunately, Nero was not normal. From a very young age, she was exposed to the dark side of the world, which was the source of Jeanne's frustration.
Because of this, the next decision she made, despite being painful for Jeanne herself, was necessary as much for Nero's feelings as for the situation in general.
With the current state of affairs, the girls needed to learn to stand up for themselves.
"Okay, I'll get you everything you need and proper teachers until Victor or Scathach returns home to train you personally." Jeanne had no confidence in her ability to teach someone as unique as Nero properly. She could teach normal Noble Vampires, but Nero had a unique transformation ability that only capable teachers could help her with.
And none were better than Victor or Scathach; unfortunately, both were unavailable.
But there were people who were trained by them here. 'Ruby, Lacus, Siena, and Pepper can help her better than I can.' Jeanne thought.
'For now, I will personally teach her the basics. As for the advanced subjects, the Scarlett sisters can take care of it.'
"Master... I should have been with him..." Kaguya muttered in frustration as she clenched her fist in anger, a sentiment shared by all the Maids if their expressions were any indication.
As a Wife, Maid, and someone who swore to always stay in Victor's shadows to help him, she felt she ultimately failed Victor.
Now, he was in an unknown place, possibly surrounded by several enemies, entirely alone...
'Roxanne and her Guardian are still with him... He's not completely alone.' That thought brought comfort for her but also frustration. It was her responsibility to be with him! She was, after all, his shadow!
"Tsk, why did this happen right when my mom isn't here," Siena grunted in annoyance, concern visible on her face.
"Vic..." Pepper mumbled with a tearful tone.
"I don't think the natives of this world are working alone. Do you have any idea who else could have done this?" Lacus asked while looking at Ruby, who was silent from the beginning.
As Ruby's older sister, Lacus could see the cogs in Ruby's brain turning at full speed.
Unlike the hot-headed people like Violet, Agnes, Natashia, and Morgana, when a unique situation presented itself to Ruby, the first thing that happened to the red-haired woman was her brain completely cooled down into a cruel coldness that easily rivaled the coldest regions of the Hell of Norse Mythology, Helheim.
This quirk was what made the sisters trust Ruby entirely because she was the most rational of all.
A pink glow appeared in the room, and soon Aphrodite appeared in the room, accompanied by Rhea.
As Hestia and Nike weren't here, Rhea acted as Aphrodite's adviser. After all, as a Former Queen, she needed to be well-versed in politics with the other Pantheons for a while. Her advice couldn't be ignored completely, not to mention that Aphrodite wasn't in the best state right now.
The topic of Victor was too sensitive for her, so Rhea was here for Ruby and Jeanne to act as the voice of reason.
"I heard what happened..." The sound of grinding teeth was audible from Aphrodite, "And trust me. Heads will roll when I find out who was behind this." The Goddess of Love's psychotic tone sent shivers down Rhea's spine, but the Mother Goddess continued with a neutral face, even though she was very uncomfortable.
When Aphrodite entered the room, Ruby, for the first time hearing the news about Victor, spoke, and her response went to Lacus, who had asked her something earlier:
"Yes, Sister, I do. Victor has many enemies, but few enemies have the necessary workforce and connections to be able to contact a native of this world to help them with whatever plans they have. I was able to narrow them down thanks to that and make some assumptions."
"But before I talk about my assumptions. Natalia, I know how you're feeling, I really understand, but you have a job to do. Focus on that for now. Explain everything that happened from the beginning and the 'reports' Rose and Eleonor said about the incident related to Vlad's ex-Wives and the mysterious poison capable of harming a Progenitor." She had only overheard this because of the state of Natalia, who was very shaken.
Natalia bit her lip, took a deep breath, and wiped her face, which had occasional tears of frustration and worries falling down. She held back the emotions she was feeling right now deep in her heart and focused on just carrying out Victor's last orders.
'Ruby is correct. Victor said that I must tell them everything, and I must do it perfectly... Only then can I lament my impotence and do something about it.' She thought somewhat disparagingly and with determination.
"...." Jeanne raised her eyebrow when she heard those words from Ruby.
'Why was Vlad mentioned in this matter?' She wondered mentally.
Agnes ground her teeth in frustration when she heard Ruby's voice. The room began to grow hotter just from the Countess's irritated presence.
"This is not the time for this! Victor has fallen into a trap, and we must do something!"
"And to do something, we need to be calm," Ruby responded in the same cold way as before. No emotion could be heard in her voice, just pure coldness.
"While we are discussing here, he could be-."
"Dead?"
Agnes shivered visibly.
"First, Aphrodite and Medusa are connected to Victor's Soul. If something like that happened, they would know about it immediately. Despite being shaken by what they heard, they have yet to show any kind of reaction that would indicate that such a thing has happened."
The girls looked at Aphrodite and Roberta, who, just as Ruby said, were shaken, but didn't display any emotion that a loved one had died. Medusa herself also didn't manifest yet, choosing to leave Roberta in control of the situation.
"Second, my Husband..." The coldness in Ruby's tone seemed to triple, even the ground around her was frozen solid, proof that she wasn't as in control as everyone thought, but even so, she didn't freak out, saying to everyone:
"My Husband won't die from something as simple as a trap. It will take a lot more than that to kill him, and since he's alone, his leeway is much greater than if everyone in his group disappeared along with him. And, knowing my Husband's personality and analyzing his last words to Natalia, I can tell he foresaw that something like this would happen. Because of that, he made sure to pass messages to everyone."
"Right?" Ruby looked at Natalia.
The blonde Maid just nodded her head and replied with a neutral tone, "When he killed those bastards, Victor had a visible expression of relief, and while that weird liquid was covering his body, he spoke to all of us and passed on orders."
"...." Ruby nodded her head.
"You said that in a moment of the fight, he exploded in rage, and he didn't hold back anymore. He reacted the same way he does when an imminent danger is approaching one of us."
"Yes, there was a burst of crimson power, then Lightning fell from the sky, and he entered the Vampire Count Form of the Fulger Clan." Natalia elaborated further on the explanation from before.
"My guess is that Adonis' Power of foresight was used unconsciously in that battle, showing a horrible future to Victor. Because of that, he completely ignored his guard and went on the attack."
"...." Agnes and Violet shivered visibly, both for different reasons.
Agnes because she hated that Power that caused so much suffering in her life.
And Violet for understanding [due to her mother's constant explanation] that the Power to see the future was dangerous because the moment you 'saw' a future, the chance of it coming true was very high, and Victor knew that. Which was why he acted so recklessly against unknown enemies.
"Natashia, what is the Fulger Clan known for?" Ruby looked at the older woman.
"… For its speed."
"And Victor has this Bloodline in him. After you, he's the fastest Mortal currently alive, not to mention he's not alone. Roxanne is with him, along with her Guardian, so… stay calm; exploding in emotions now won't bring our Husband back. You can do that when you meet the enemies who set this trap for him and almost killed the whole group in the process."
Now, that was something they could all relate to if the sadistic and dangerous glare of all the women in the room was any indication.
Not only did Victor's enemies get a very angry Progenitor hunting them down, but they also got all of said Progenitor's psychotic, possessive Wives after them.
Rhea looked at Ruby with a look of shock: 'She's really good... She managed to make everyone calm down and focus their goals on just one thing. Vengeance.'
Surprisingly, Violet was the first to calm down, something everyone would have found impossible given her relationship with Victor.
Violet's glare changed to a neutral glare that carried a fury capable of engulfing an entire planet in flames of destruction, a glare that only needed a trigger to explode fully.
"Ruby, you are correct. We need to calm down."
"But-." Agnes tried to say something, but Violet cut her off by saying:
"Mother, we need to calm down." She spoke in a harder tone, followed by a warmer, gentler tone:
"Darling won't go down that easily. He has my father's resilience in him."
"..." Agnes gripped the hilt of her sword in frustration; that was the biggest reason why Agnes was so emotional. She felt like she was experiencing the same things that happened to Adonis all over again.
"Mother... Calm down, and trust more in the man you chose to spend eternity together with."
"..." Looking into her daughter's violet eyes, Agnes' grip on the sword's hilt began to soften until the heat in the place started to subside and then disappeared altogether.
Seeing that the atmosphere was calmer, Ruby looked at Natalia:
"Speak."
Natalia nodded and explained everything from the beginning again, this time in more detail.
.....
