Chapter 701 A clue that leads to old enemies.
Victor's smile grew, and the girls knew that smile very well.
"Victor, mind explaining," Scathach asked for the group.
"When I absorbed Diablo and his elites, I received tons of memories. I instantly knew all of Diablo's bases in the human world and his plans."
"... The way you're saying it... You said you have all the memories of Diablo since he existed."
Victor looked at his mother "Only the important events, but yes. You are not wrong."
"Isn't that dangerous for you?" Anna asked worriedly.
"Since I could fully access my Progenitor form, my Progenitor abilities came easier for me."
"When I absorb someone, I see all the memories as if it were a movie.
Most memories are filtered and remain dormant until I need them; it's a lot like the Google search engine. When I feel like I 'need' to know something, memories appear. Of course, I can also actively seek them if necessary.
"Oh... Good thing, I thought I would be just like Adonis." Anna sighed.
"Unlike Adonis, I didn't 'merge' with Diablo; I just absorbed him.
Merging with a being has a lot of risks involved, and it is something I will never do again. It's too dangerous." Victor wasn't interested in having multiple personalities inside his body.
"Continuing... When I returned to Hell, I quickly summoned my war general Vine, sent the demons into these bases, and reclaimed what is rightfully ours."
"The attack was successful, but..."
"Unfortunately, I couldn't retrieve the Egg of Creation, a tool that would make Diablo completely reborn as a Nephalem. From Diablo's memories, I know that it was Asmodeus who stole this tool, and since he is a spirit, it is very difficult to track down."
"Egg of Creation?" Morgana asked with narrowed eyes.
"It's a demonic tool made of blood, guts, and souls. An evil creation even by demon standards, it was this instrument he used to 'store' the souls he killed, and used those souls to revive demons and even give strength to selected demons."
"This tool also serves as an incubator, through an unholy ritual that requires the heart of the most righteous angel, the heart of the most 'evil' demon, and the heart of a high-ranking angel who fell into sin and became fallen. A ritual that can change the soul and a being's race is created."
"The end result of this ritual is a Nephalem, a being that breaks the balance."
"..."
"... He didn't look that strong, the Nephalem, I mean," Morgana spoke.
"That was because he made a mistake," Scathach explained and then continued when everyone's attention was on her.
"Power isn't just how much energy you have. If it was just that, Victor would be much stronger than everyone from the beginning, and he wouldn't even need training."
"Power is everything from technique, instinct, energy, and state of mind."
"By hastily becoming a Nephalem, he shattered his techniques and instinct, all that was left was mental state and energy."
"And that wasn't enough to knock Victor off, someone who built his foundations right."
"As my beloved master always says, the basics are important. It is through them that strength is built." Victor added.
"Correct." Scathach smiled in satisfaction.
"I couldn't find the Egg of Creation, but I wasn't disappointed. I cleared Diablo's remaining influence from my subordinates. I was taught that if I am going to destroy an enemy, I must destroy until there are no loose ends."
"No mercy, huh." Jeanne spoke in a curious tone, then nodded approvingly, "Good."
Victor smiled, then continued, "In that battle, I also absorbed most of the demon elites that were fighting for Diablo, and one of those people was Baal."
"Baal was contacting a group called the New Dawn."
"New Dawn, Is this an organization or something?" Scathach asked.
"They're more like a group of supernatural beings who came together with a lot of common goals."
"A group whose members were Niklaus Horsemann, James, the former general of the hunters, and the first prince of the werewolves, Fanir."
The girls narrowed their eyes when they heard the individuals' names.
"Old enemies." Scathach declared neutrally.
"Annoying enemies that just hide." Anna snorted. She was on top of the subject involving those names since they were responsible for attacking his residence when she lived in the human world.
"Baal was infiltrated into the group at Diablo's behest to observe them, and through those memories, I learned of their base."
Let me guess, your minions attacked the base, but it was empty," Morgana said.
"Correct."
"They are sneaky bastards. They know how to hide; no one can deny that." Scathach snorted.
"The problem is that they know how to hide very well, and not even Baal knew everything about them. I could try my luck with Agares, that demon was in charge of spying on the group too, but the demon also disappeared as if it had not existed."
"Understanding that brings us to what my father said just now."
"... You managed to find them."
"A base of them. Clan Blank and the demons are on standby waiting for Victor."
Nobody asked why Leon knew that. After all, for all intents and purposes, Oda was Leon's master, just as Hilda was Anna's master. If Oda included Leon in Victor's goals, it's because the assassin Master thought Leon was good enough for the task.
"Didn't you say you weren't going to work?" Jeanne asked in a slightly amused tone.
"I won't, but I won't let someone threaten my family and get away with it for too long. Now that I have a trail on them, I won't let it go cold." Victor removed Nero and Ophis from his lap and patted both of their heads as he got up.
"Why such a hurry? I mean, you faced the Demon King, and you are the king of hell and a leader of a rising faction that has several very powerful beings. They are just insignificant worms," Morgana asked.
"Do not underestimate your enemies, Morgana," Victor stated neutrally.
"Even when a lion goes after a rabbit, he uses all his strength. That thought can lead to ruin."
"...I'm not underestimating them. I'm just saying that you don't need to personally move to attack them. You're a King, Victor. Let your subordinates handle it."
"Before I am a King, I am the man responsible for my family."
"They attacked my family, and no one is going to do that and get away with it. I will destroy them, even if I have to use all the demons in hell to do it."
"This matter is a high priority for me."
Everyone in the room except for Zaladrac smiled in satisfaction when they heard what Victor said.
'Even though he's King, Victor is still Victor. He hasn't changed... Good.' Aphrodite chuckled inwardly.
"Not to mention that it might seem that this group is not dangerous, but that would be a very incorrect speculation."
"Tames is an excellent scientist, possibly a genius at his craft. He was the man capable of creating defective human-vampire hybrids, and now that he has even more support from influential allies, who knows what morbid creation that man invented."
"Not to mention that Niklaus was responsible for my daughter's direct suffering. As long as I live, he will not have the pleasure of feeling the rest of death. Believe me when I say there is worse suffering than just dying."
Nero shuddered slightly, bad memories started to appear in her vision, but they disappeared like the wind when Victor stroked her head.
Looking at her father and the gentle smile on his face, she smiled gently.
"Niklaus had Nero... Which means he has the blood of a hybrid." Jeanne narrowed her eyes.
"Blood that is extremely toxic to noble vampires and werewolves if handled correctly... You remember Theo's 'final' act."
"Yes, Vlad tried to hide it, but he couldn't completely," Scathach spoke, then she opened her eyes a little as she realized what Victor had said.
"They were able to create something that harmed a Progenitor as ancient as Vlad."
"Remember what happened to Michael and Gabriel"
How could they forget that? It's not every day you see an angel becoming fallen.
"With just one bullet of pure miasma, Gabriel became a fallen angel.
And from Diablo's memories, James and Asmodeus have worked together several times in the past, so it's fair to predict that James also has this research on hand."
"And I don't even want to think about what he's going to try to create with it."
"Not to mention, that's all we 'know' James may have a lot more hidden weapons; that man has no morals. The same applies to Niklaus, who, according to my beloved daughter, may still be in possession of a werewolf/vampire hybrid."
The girls looked at Nero, and the teenager shuddered a little at the women's gazes, so she held Victor's hand tighter.
She hated feeling weak with just the mention of her past, but that was a very hard trauma to forget. She would have reacted much worse in the past, and it was only thanks to the presence of Victor, Ruby, Anna, and Ophis that she was getting better.
"That's correct information..." Jeanne asked carefully with a gentle tone, not wanting to make Nero feel bad.
"Yes, something Nero told me when she got comfortable talking about the past. Don't ask too much unless she wants to talk to you about it."
Even among their family, only Victor and Ruby knew fully about Nero's past, and Victor didn't want to betray that trust. If Nero wished to speak, she would. That is her right as someone who has suffered all of this.
"I understand the danger now." Scathach got up, as did Morgana and Jeanne.
"We will kill them," Morgana spoke.
"Let me absorb them to get their information. I don't like to walk blindly, and I feel this is not as simple as it seems."
"Vic, they have something that can kill an entire population of noble vampires. They basically have a bio-terrorist weapon in their possession. How can this get any more complicated?" Jeanne spoke.
"It can get worse, believe me."
"What do you mean?" Scathach asked.
"Baal saw James and Niklaus meeting with the messengers of the Elder's Gods several times; they talked a lot when Baal was not there."
"...Fuck." Jeanne exclaimed, "I don't even want to think what they can do but their hands in the form of creating monsters of the Elder Gods."
"I don't think they would be foolish to give their greatest weapon to their 'enemy'. After all, anything other than their own population is their enemy."
"But it's not impossible to think that New Dawn has a pretty good understanding of the negative aspects of monsters, such as the poison of monsters that can harm all those who are not of Clan Adrastea."
"The hybrid's poison, and the monster's poison, two deadly weapons in the hands of our enemies, I forgot something," Jeanne asked a bit sarcastically. She didn't like the scenario that Victor was painting at all.
"Remember that the technology the Nightingale natives use is unknown to us. If the messengers of the Elder Gods are doing business with them, it's safe to assume they are in possession of several other ways to kill us."
"Great... Just Great." Morgana rolled her eyes.
"Not to mention that they may have other supporters behind them that we don't know about, this could be speculation, but it could also be true."
"Do you understand now that we are walking blindly
"Yeah... I don't like that either." Scathach spoke.
"Ugh, how do they have so much support?" Anna grumbled.
"Mutual interests. Many beings hate noble vampires, most notably Victor and Vlad himself, who has many enemies he has made in the past," Scathach replied.
"They're too cowardly to fight Victor head-on, but that doesn't mean they can't do it behind the scenes."
"It would be too presumptuous to say that these individuals are specifically targeting us. The Elder Gods likely want the entire vampire race extinct, and James' goals are unknown. Theoretically, he wouldn't have to be involved with me anymore since he's no longer a member of The Inquisition."
"And Niklaus... The man is a complete mystery too."
"It doesn't matter. They are our enemies, and the only good enemy is a dead enemy." Morgana snorted.
"Yes, I agree with you. But I wouldn't be a good king if I ignored what motivates my enemies. If I have an idea of what they want, I can work on it to set a trap, but so far, no one knows what they want, not even Baal or Diablo."
"Information is also a form of power. With it, the rhythm of war can change completely." Scathach added, clearly approving of Victor's thought process.
"Roxanne." A flash of red light appeared, and soon Roxanne was in the room.
"Ey, Eyyy! You called, Darling?"
"Are you busy?"
"Hmm... I was! But I always have time for you, Darling. Do you need something?"
"Yeah, I need to use Big Guy. Can I borrow him?"
Roxanne's smile grew predatory. "Of course."
Roxanne approached Victor and kissed him passionately, then she separated, leaving a bridge of saliva that connected their lips.
"Now, you can call him anytime you want."
"You just wanted to do that, didn't you?" Victor asked with a small smile on his face.
"What's wrong?" She asked with a smug smile.
"Do you see me complaining?"
"Good." She nodded, satisfied, "If you need anything, just call me. I'll get back to my work!"
Roxanne disappeared into a red light.
"I will go along with Scathach, Morgana, and Jeanne."
"Zaladrac, you stay."
"... Protection, I suppose."
"Correct."
"With Aphrodite here, the possibility of someone sneaking in is low, but I don't want to risk it in case someone like Agares is out there.
"As you yourself said, you and I are the only ones who can 'see' the world as it really is. With you around, the chance of someone like Agares or Asmodeus going unnoticed is very low."
"Grr..." She growled a little, blue fire with violet hues coming out of her mouth, her teeth getting sharper. "I don't like this, I want to go with you, but I will obey."
"Mm, look after them for me, Zaladrac."
".." Zaladrac's face went back to neutral as she sensed Victor's emotions in that statement, then she nodded her head with a neutral but resolute expression.
Aphrodite watched this exchange with an amused smile. As someone with a similar connection to Victor, she could clearly feel the emotions Victor was transmitting to Zaladrac.
"We'll go now... And when I come back, I'll play with you, okay" He told Ophis and Nero.
The girls who were sulking showed big satisfied smiles.
"Father will train us?" Ophis asked.
"Of course."
"Yay!!"
