Chapter 669: King Demon X King Vampire.
In a burning city, hordes of demons of different shapes and sizes stared at a single golden-haired man in front of them.
The man, although handsome, was only wearing a rather ordinary suit, a very unbelievable sight considering this man was in front of several demons.
"Vlad Dracul Tepes, the first Progenitor of vampires, the king of vampires, I didn't expect to see you here;" The man sitting on a golden throne spoke with a bored, amused face.
" Yama, King of Hell;;; You've changed quite a bit since I last heard from you."
"Of course, I've changed; After all, I'm not the same Yama."
'It seems that the old Yama died. but why is he so similar to the old Yama?' Vlad narrowed his eyes and looked at the demon's soul; The moment he looked at the demon's soul. he noticed the old Yama's familiar signature, indicating that the soul in front of him was related to the old Yama.
From there, the conclusion was logical:
"Are you Old Yama's son?"
" Wrong, I 'm his grandson."
"… I see … It looks like the nature of demons is alive and well;" Vlad's tone was neutral, but the slight hint of irony in his words was quite obvious.
" Heh. but isn't that normal in our world? Parents kill children. and children kill parents. all in the name of power and authority: Your children were planning to do the same thing to you, right?"
"And they failed; If they can't even plan my downfall without my knowing, they're not worthy of my throne."
" Hahaha ~, that is the arrogance expected from the strongest Vampire;" Yama got up from his throne and started walking toward the ground.
The three demons behind Yama opened their eyes wide and reached toward Yama as they called out:
"King Yama -."
"Generals, did I tell you to leave your posts?" Yama's voice was casual, but the three generals who were standing behind Yama felt shivers run down their spines.
Understanding their king's message, they reluctantly remained in place, but their vigilance over Vlad grew much stronger than before.
"Oh? That's impressive;;; I would never have thought that I would see such loyalty in any army other than Lilith's;"
"Unlike my grandfather, I understand the importance of good subordinates;" Slowly a dark miasma with violet hues began to form on Yama's head, and soon a crown appeared.
Ruler's bond;;; And a strong one at that; Looks like he's stolen the complete rulership of hell from him...' Vlad thought.
The Progenitor wasn't worried. Even if in front of him was someone who could negate his soul-damaging attacks, it didn't matter to Vlad.
He would still win.
It wasn't arrogance. It was a fact.
As a Ruler. soul attacks have significantly reduced effects. Just like a Progenitor, a Ruler's existence is special, and it can be said that they are even more special than the Progenitor of vampires.
As beings that stir souls, they need to have a strong soul. The Ruler will never be seriously harmed by soul damage because his 'status' as a Ruler will protect his soul from destruction.
Of course, like everything in the world, there is a balance, and the Status of the Ruler is no different. Despite being special beings that even gods of death cannot damage their souls, the same does not apply to entities that mess with souls like the Judges of the Abyss and the universal tree.
'Coming straight into the confrontation, and alone... Is that arrogance or too much confidence?' Vlad questioned himself as he looked at Yama, who was standing less than 10 meters away from him.
"Let's have fun, Vlad. After all, I wasted a lot of time trying to pull you out of your hole." Miasma began to cover Yama's body, and soon he was in the full ceremonial robes of a king, robes of red colors with shades of gold.
His formerly human skin began to change to shades of red and dark blue, fangs protruded from his teeth, and the crown of miasma on his head began to catch fire.
His expression changed to a serious one, with a big smile on his face. He looked very angry and, at the same time, like he was about to have a lot of fun.
Yama's face.
"The least I expect is a little fun."
The whole atmosphere started to get heavier, and the growing sensation of Miasma began to be felt by everyone.
Vlad narrowed his eyes, going straight to his demon form and using all his power... Good, he may be young, but he didn't underestimate me.' He thought as he had his attention completely focused on his surroundings. He was in enemy territory, after all, so a trap was quite likely to happen.
Since the incident of his son drugging him with poison before he died, he was very alert so that failure would not happen again.
Vlad suddenly turned his head towards the generals and narrowed his eyes. They might hide it from him, but the scent was quite visible, the scent of his kind.
"Did you know I was going to come after the vampires?"
"It was a hunch… Fortunately, I was correct." Yama looked back specifically at his generals.
"Bring them."
The generals nodded their heads and raised their hands, and a very familiar magic circle appeared in the hand of the demons; soon, several beings started to appear.
Vlad was internally amazed at the 'magic circles' the demons were using; he had never seen anything like this before.
'What is that?' He didn't have much time to think about it because when he saw which beings appeared, Vlad's eyes glowed blood-red for a moment.
They were vampires, albeit different.
They had sharp fangs made of unrecognizable metal, slightly pointed ears, pink skin, and golden eyes. The faces of this group were more 'soft', and most of them were androgynous beings.
The variety didn't end there. Some had slightly blue skin, blood-red eyes, and sharp faces.
One group in particular had a more gray skin color, and they had 'cracks' that could be easily noticed on their legs, and they didn't have humanoid legs. Rather, like a demonic beast, their legs were robust, and the claws were made of the same material as the teeth of vampires who had pink skin.
Others had chocolate skin, blood-red eyes, and normal fangs, but the claws on their hands were similar to the same metal as the other groups.
The claws on the hand of this group looked more like a naturally created sharp gauntlet, the proof of which is that some men and women in this group had half of their entire arm covered with this natural protection, which was quite robust.
Some specific ones even had their entire arm completely altered into some kind of monster claws.
This particular group had the most human 'features'.
When the eyes of a woman with chocolate skin, curly hair, and blood-red eyes met his, he narrowed his eyes in thought.
From the dress that looked like a shaman, it was obvious that the priestess was one of the group's leaders.
As well as the tall, muscular man, who wore clothes similar to, but more masculine than, the woman.
The two were the leaders of these vampires.
Although each member of the group looked different, it was obvious that they belonged to the same bloodline, the only difference being that they had developed differently over the years.
The bloodline of the ancient Progenitors still lives.
" Lord Vlad." The man spoke in a tired tone of voice.
"You have been captured, Bomani."
"I don't know how they managed to find our village's protection... It seems there was a spy in our ranks." It was something the taller man didn't want to think about, but it was obvious that there was a traitor. After all, the entrance to the village was only known by its inhabitants, only Vlad knew some entrances, but the inhabitants made sure to double the vigilance in those entrances that Vlad knew.
The demon's attack, however, came from an entrance used only by the inhabitants, which only the inhabitants knew about.
"What's the point of this, Yama?"
"Is it all to fight me?" Vlad's voice grew heavier as his golden hair began to darken, then his entire body. Soon his entire existence was pure darkness with shades of red.
He was no longer disguising himself, and this was the true face of the 'Progenitor', Vlad Dracul Tepes.
Vlad recognized his opponent. He was someone Vlad couldn't restrain his power against. You don't become a demon king by being weak, that never happens, and Vlad's instincts said.
This man, the new Yama, he was strong.
" Correct."
Yama's body pressure started to increase even more.
"I want to know who is the man that even my grandfather respected." Yama's hands were covered in thick miasma and became sharp claws.
Yama positioned himself in an open guard stance and spoke:
"The situation is simple."
The three generals pointed their hands at Vlad and Yama, and magic circles with strange patterns began to appear. Soon a red dome of demonic power began to be created, thus losing Vlad and Yama.
Vlad looked around and realized that this space was bigger than it should have been possible.
'They imitated the same technology witches use to make arenas... Impossible.' It had been a while since Vlad was shocked by anything that wasn't Victor related.
The demon war started by Diablos was a surprise but not 'shocking'.
"Defeat me, and you get the vampires."
"Simple, right? King of Vampires."
' Indeed. Very simple. Too simple for my taste.' Vlad was full of distrust. He didn't believe at all that Yama just wanted to fight him since he didn't give off the same feeling that Scathach and Victor do.
The feeling of a battle maniac.
Instead, he felt more like someone shrewd and who likes to plan, someone like his dead son, but just more competent than he was.
[ My King, I didn't find the vampires... I only see traces of destruction.]
' Alexios can contact me, meaning I can leave here if necessary. They didn't use that strange magic that negated the powers of the Alioth...'
"Yes, very simple…" a blood sword is created in his hand. "A method of dueling that would greatly please the Second Progenitor and annoy him at the same time."
"After all, you are using a hostage to make me fight."
[... I understand, I'll go back and observe.]
Smiling inwardly with satisfaction from his most loyal subordinate, Vlad continued:
"Fortunately, I am not the second Progenitor."
Vlad and Yama disappeared as Vlad's blood blade, and Yama's miasma claws clashed, causing a rumble all around them.
"That tactic won't work on me."
"The incident of your beloved non-daughter refutes these words." Yama dodged Vlad's attack and retaliated with his claws.
Vlad dodged the attack and struck back in an attempt to cut off his head.
"You got a heart, Vlad. Something you didn't have before."
"Don't act like you know me, brat."
The fight started to get faster, and sounds of metal clashing were heard, and the two opponents were vanishing and reappearing at an insane speed.
The surrounding terrain was destroyed just by the casual clash of their weapons.
But even with such destruction, it was obvious that the two still weren't fighting seriously; they were just sizing each other up.
" Hahaha ~, but I know you very well, Vlad. More than you think." Yama backed away and raised his hand in the air, then an ominous miasma began to rapidly form in his hands, and soon a spear-shaped energy construct was created, and that spear started to catch fire.
Yama threw the spear towards Vlad, who casually turned his head to the side, making the Spear miss. The spear flew toward the ground, and when it touched the ground.
A gigantic explosion was heard, followed by a mushroom-shaped smoke cloud.
"..." Vlad just looked neutrally at that amount of power.
Yama created another spear of power and held it in his hand.
Using the Spear now as a weapon, he positioned himself and said:
"Finished warming up?"
Vlad casually glanced back at Yama, seeing the neutral look on the Demon King's face, the doubts he was feeling only heightened, and he didn't ignore that bad feeling.
Therefore, he made the most logical decision here, he was going to subdue the enemy as quickly as possible.
Vlad raised his hand towards Yama and tried to control the blood in Yama's body, but he was surprised when he realized that he couldn't
"Did you think I wouldn't countermeasure your power..." Yama disappeared and reappeared behind the Progenitor, "Vlad?"
Yama tried to pierce Vlad's body, but just like before, they just passed through his body, or he dodged the attack...
At least he thought so.
Vlad pulls away from Yama and looks at his dark belly, which is cut open and leaking dark energy.
"... I see... I understand now; you've done your research Yama." Vlad spoke in a very neutral tone as he watched the cut on his body instantly heal.
Yama's body stiffened as he felt the atmosphere change and become more oppressive.
Vlad raised his head and looked at Yama :
" Very well, you have my full attention."
Yama's smiling face changed to a stern one, and two more arms were created below the normal arms.
Vlad's entire body began to distort, his humanity form disappeared completely, and all that was left was something unknown, a kind of liquid biomass of crimson-hued darkness.
Blood-red eyes began to open within this liquid, as well as sharp teeth, and soon an abysmal amount of this liquid flew towards Yama.
Halfway through, that wave started to turn into a demonic one.
ROOOOOOOAR!
Yama threw his Spear at the demonic beast, effectively evaporating the beast, the ensuing destruction leaving room for Vlad to interfere.
Yama felt someone tapping his shoulder, and when he turned around, he saw Vlad's distorted face.
"Form and appearance are meaningless to me. I can be whatever I want, whenever I want."
Yama's entire body.
" What -..." Life began to drain out of Yama's body, and soon his entire body was bursting with blood.
"As someone who said he knows about me, you died quite quickly, Demon King."
Vlad's humanoid form started to reform again, and when he was about to turn around, he narrowed his eyes when he saw something forming on the ground.
'Of course... It wouldn't be that easy.'
And in the blink of an eye, Yama's entire body was rebuilt again.
"I expected that... But still, I couldn't react. You truly deserve the strongest vampire reputation, Vlad. My grandfather was right to respect him."
When the crown of miasma and fire formed again on Yama's head, the Demon King declared:
"As the strongest of the Progenitors, something of equal caliber is needed."
FUSHHHHHH.
Energy exploded from Yama's body and rose to the heavens in a crimson pillar.
"Warm-up time is over."
.....
