A Werewolf tried to ask what was going on: "Patriarch Leonidas, what is-" But his voice was cut off by the scream of pain that echoed throughout the mansion.
"AHHHHHHHHH! S-S-STOP!"
Leonidas closed his eyes. His heart felt heavy. As a Werewolf, what he had just done went against all he believed in. Wolves should stick together, but he had no choice... He was weak.
Leonidas clenched his fist tightly, frustration showing on his face. In this world, being weak was a sin in itself; he understood that very well. Between his entire Clan and useless grandson, he, of course, chose all his Clan.
But that didn't mean he wanted his grandson to suffer this kind of torture. If a Wolf had done something wrong, that Wolf must be punished by the Clan, not by an outsider.
...Leonidas Uruky felt very complex now. His responsibilities, guilt, and the sentimentality he had for his family were in conflict.
But... He did his best to keep a cool head. Emotions did not help one survive in this dark world. They were the privilege of the strong, not the weak like him.
"All Clan members must leave the mansion immediately!" He shouted his orders.
The Patriarch's voice seemed to wake up all the Werewolves in the area, and they quickly looked at him.
"Take all that is valuable to the Uruky Clan, and we will abandon this mansion!"
Leonidas would not stay in this mansion tainted by his grandson's blood.
"..."
Icarus, who, like the surrounding members, was stunned, quickly snapped out of his stupor and supported the Patriarch: "...Didn't you listen to the Patriarch!? Back to work!"
"Y-Yes!" The Wolves began to run and do as ordered.
"Where shall we go, Patriarch?" Icarus asked.
"To the Capital's East Mansion. Once we've established it, I want a meeting with all Uruky Clan members and our allies." Leonidas turned and started walking with quick steps. He was doing his best to ignore his grandson's cries of pain.
"...Will we retaliate?"
"Retaliate...? Against that monster? Are you foolish?"
"....." Icarus was silent. It was clear that the Patriarch didn't want to fight Alucard. Internally, he sighed in relief. He felt sorry for Zaion, but his death was entirely his own doing. He didn't want to be involved in all this mess. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw his whole life flas.h.i.+ng before his eyes.
'I need a woman.' Because he'd just experienced being so close to death, he felt a raging desire to hold a woman, a basic instinct for self-preservation.
As Werewolves were closer to animals, their instincts were quite strong.
"We will warn everyone of what happened and order everyone to stay as far away from Alucard as possible."
Icarus nodded and asked cautiously, "...Should we contact the Prince...?"
"...." Leonidas kept walking while thinking about Icarus' proposal. They walked for a few minutes in silence until Leonidas made his decision.
"We will not be contacting the Prince. However, we will let him know something."
"What am I supposed to say?"
"As of today, the Uruky Clan no longer supports the first Prince."
"What...?"
"I will also return to my position as Clan Leader; the current Leader must step down immediately."
"..." Icarus was so shocked by Leonidas' orders that he couldn't respond at all.
Leonidas stopped walking and looked coldly at Icarus.
"I will not let my Clan be destroyed because of a spoiled Prince and incompetent Leaders. I am taking back control. Whoever wants to claim that t.i.tle must come and fight me for it."
Icarus swallowed hard, and his heart began to pound with fear.
"Am I clear?"
"C-crystal!!"
...
"Hmm, interesting. It seems the First Prince is still in contact with the New Dawn..." Victor tapped his chin as he reviewed the information he'd obtained and his memories of Diablo.
'Niklaus Horseman, Former General of The Inquisition, James, First Prince of The Werewolves, Fanir.' These were the only members Victor knew of who partic.i.p.ated in the New Dawn, not counting the G.o.ds he saw last time.
It was pretty clear that New Dawn had expanded recently, and several individuals had entered the organization.
'The Prince seeks the organization's support to ascend to the Throne...' Victor's head started to whir, and he began planning how to take advantage of this situation.
With Diablo's memories, he knew all too well about the condition of the Werewolves' 'close friend'. 'Fenrir's problem isn't difficult to solve, but... I must make it seem more difficult and try to profit as much as possible.'
Victor knew everything Diablo knew. He knew every deal Diablo made during the war, including that the Witch Queen made several trades with the Demons. For example, she'd helped the Demons to control Lilith with Magic in exchange for various Artifacts from the destroyed Pantheons. She'd also made several enclosures to hide the demon-creating factories on Earth.
'So that powerful Magic I found at the first factory when I was on Earth was from the Queen, huh' Victor thought back and felt several missing puzzle pieces fall into place.
'No wonder witches are known to be worse than Demons.' Victor smiled:
"My Master is very cunning, huh...? Maybe I should visit her later when I finish things in Samar~? I've always been interested in Arcane."
[...] The Maids in Victor's shadow just watched all of this with impa.s.sive looks on their faces. The smile that Victor was giving now was worthy of a villain.
[Girls? Why are you covering my eyes? I want to see! What is he doing!?] Anna growled.
Currently, she was wearing a band made of Pure Darkness that covered her eyes completely. She couldn't see anything.
[Eve, Roberta, and Maria get away from Anna! Or you will be swayed by her Power!] Kaguya ordered as she bound Anna's body with her shadows.
[Y-Yes!]
[Let go of me!] Anna growled.
[Lady Anna, I suggest you don't watch what's happening... The sight is too explicit even for us who are used to what our Husband does.] Kaguya explained.
[But I'm curious!] Anna pouted.
[Curiosity killed the cat, Lady Anna. And you are the perfect picture of a curious cat.]
[....] The Maids didn't deny what Kaguya said. The only reason their lunch wasn't spewing out was because there was nothing in their bellies. After all, Vampire food is blood.
The sight of what Victor did to that Werewolf's body was worthy of a scene straight out of a Lovecraft book. It was horrible!
Eve, Maria, and Bruna were in a horrified state at what they saw. They refused to look anywhere where 'it' was. They really wanted to throw up, but nothing came out of their stomach. They just felt their stomachs turning.
Roxanne didn't care much. She just felt uncomfortable. Despite seeing it so many times in h.e.l.l, she just couldn't get used to the sight.
Kaguya was in a similar state to Eve, Maria, and Bruna, but she could control herself more and not show it on her face. For her, no matter what Victor did, she didn't care. She would support him as a Wife and his Maid... It was these convictions that allowed her to ignore the existence of 'it'.
The only one who seemed visibly in awe and excited about it all was Medusa.
Yes, Medusa, not Roberta. The older woman had long since traded places with Medusa. She couldn't bear the sight of Victor's 'art'.
[Amazing... Husband, Husband! Can you teach me that!?... I really want to use it on Poseidon and Athena!]
[Hmm? Of course, Medusa, I will teach you everything. I will also introduce you to someone from whom you can learn these Techniques when I am not available to teach.] Victor replied with a gentle tone. It was as if he was saying he would teach her how to play video games.
[Yay! Husband is the best! I love you!] Medusa smiled widely with a somewhat s.a.d.i.s.tic and happy smile.
Victor opened his eyes a little in shock at the sudden confession. After all, Medusa had never said something like that with such enthusiasm, but he quickly smiled gently and spoke in a voice that seemed to melt Medusa's heart:
[...I love you too, Honey~]
Medusa's pupils dilated, and her hair became even more 'active'. She was clearly very excited... about lots of different things.
[....] The girls watching this couldn't help but watch this conversation with speechless gazes. They didn't know how to react to this 's.a.d.i.s.tic' conversation, but one thing was correct, Medusa was more sneaky than Roberta! She took full advantage of the situation! That sneaky snake!
As they thought about various things, Victor's point of view suddenly s.h.i.+fted to the door, and through the other points of view from the eyes spread across the room, they saw that he was smiling widely.
A smile they knew all too well, a fighting smile.
'Someone's coming.' They all thought at the same time.
It didn't take long for their prediction to come true.
"VIIIIIICTTORRR!"
BOOOOOOM!
The door was forced open, and Adam, along with Volk, appeared.
Adam was about to say something, but all of his momentum vanished when he saw the scene before him.
The room was covered in a kind of darkness with pulsing crimson tones, and several red eyes were scattered across the floor and walls.
Victor was standing at the side of the room with a casual, neutral smile, and beside him was...
One thing...
In fact, he didn't know how to describe that abomination...
Adam stared at the thing for a few seconds and felt a chill run down his spine as the thing blinked.
"It's still alive!!!
Adam's expression darkened completely, and his stomach started to churn. He immediately stormed out of the room and threw up all of his lunch.
"Oya? Was my 'Art' able to make the experienced General of The Werewolves vomit?"
[Art? What art is he talking about? Let me see!] Anna began to struggle to get free.
Kaguya narrowed her eyes, and with a wave of her hand, the shadows gripped Anna's body even tighter. The shadows also covered Anna's mouth to prevent her from speaking.
[I'm sorry, Lady Anna, but this is for your own good.]
[HMMMHMMHM!] Anna tried to say something, but n.o.body understood anything.
"... King of h.e.l.l... Just what in the name of The Great Tree am I witnessing?"
Victor looked amusedly at Volk and saw the heavy expression of The King of Werewolves. He was reacting better than Adam, but it was obvious that the sight of it all made him nauseous.
"Punishment."
"Punishment...?" He repeated in disbelief as he looked back at that thing, "Punishment... Just what sin must one commit to deserve such a fate?"
"Targeting my Wives."
"..." Volk could relate to that feeling, but even so, he found this punishment too exaggerated.
"Did you kill every member of the Uruky Clan?" Volk asked with a heavy expression, he couldn't sense anyone in the house, but he didn't see any evidence of a struggle either.
But he didn't rule out that possibility. After all, the man before him was a literal monster.
"Don't worry, King of Werewolves. I just laid my hands on Zaion Uruky, the rest of the Clan members are safe... I'm not so unreasonable as to attack an entire family for one man's sin."
'Most of the time... If it weren't for Leonidas' character, this entire Clan would have disappeared by now.' Although if that scenario were to happen, a s.h.i.+tstorm would ensue, and most likely, a war between the Werewolves and Victor would follow.
After all, eliminating the Uruky Clan would be the equivalent of eliminating the Fulger or Snow Clan of n.o.ble Vampires. The King of either species would not stand by while their nation's strength was being slaughtered like pigs.
"I see..." Volk sensed that Victor wasn't lying, but he would investigate just to be sure.
"H-...E-...L-...P..." A distorted voice was heard coming out of that 'thing'.
"Aya, he can still speak, as expected from a Werewolf's vitality~."
"..." Volk's face darkened even further.
"He is still alive?"
"As long as blood is pumped to the most important organs, he will never die~. It's very convenient to be able to control blood, isn't it, Volk Fenrir?"
"..."
'This monster is hundreds of times worse than Vlad.' The Vlad that Volk knew would never do something like this. He was a practical man.
"Alucard, was this heinous act really necessary? Do you not value Life? Just give him the mercy of death."
"Heh~, are we going to play hypocrites? Okay, then, I'll play your game." Victor laughed s.a.d.i.s.tically.
Volk actually felt very uncomfortable before that insane smile. 'He's completely mad.' He thought.
"A few years ago, Volk, The King of Werewolves, attacked a family of Werewolves and killed every member of that family, after long torture, of course."
"The reason for such a 'heinous' action that goes against 'Life'?"
"The Leader of that family openly declared in a bar that he thought the Queen of The Werewolves was hot and would love to 'deflower' her."
"..." Volk felt a literal slap in the face when he heard what Victor said.
'How does he know that? That happened long before he was even born! I'm pretty sure I completely erased that incident.' Of course, Victor knew this from Adonis' memories. As someone who worked closely with the Leader of The Snow Clan, he needed to be aware of other Nations and other Nations' incidents.
And just as Werewolves had their spies in Nightingale, so do Vampires have their spies in Samar.
"So? Are we going to keep playing who is more hypocritical~? Believe me, I'll easily win, but you'd come a very close second."
"That's enough; I understand your point. Just end that miserable creature's life. It's deplorable to see him like this." "Hmm~, that's too bad. I wanted to let him suffer for a few more months." Victor snapped his finger, and suddenly blood began to leak from the creature's body and gushed all over the floor.
The pulsing crimson-hued darkness spread throughout the room, rushed back inside Victor, and the entire room returned to its normal appearance... except, of course, for the bloodied corpse of the 'thing' in front of them.
Victor casually walked toward the exit. He pa.s.sed by Volk, who just stared at the corpse with a heavy expression. The whole time, Victor never let his guard down.
He could clearly feel Volk's feelings. The King of Wolves wanted to retaliate and attack Victor.
Victor was absolutely sure that if he were weak, Volk would have immediately attacked him without thinking twice. After all, he attacked one of his 'Wolves', in his own territory.
For an Alpha among Alphas like Volk, this was clearly an affront to his authority.
'Hmm, so he chose diplomacy, huh.' Victor smiled inwardly when he saw that Volk didn't attack and was controlling his emotions to remain calm.
"Hey, Adam, you all right, old man?" Victor asked as he clapped the General on the back.
Adam turned to face Victor: "Victor... You freaking b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what the f.u.c.k was that!?"
"Lovecraft-inspired Demon Art, do you like it?"
"You call that abomination art!?"
"Yeah, an art made especially for those who target my Wives."
"..." Adam shuddered when he saw Victor's lifeless eyes that looked like two dark violet black holes. Everything from his eyes to Victor's smiling expression made his heart feel tight, as if someone held it with their bare hands and squeezed it slightly. It was a horrible feeling.
"My impressive artwork aside, what are you guys doing here?" Victor asked.
Hearing what Victor asked, Adam opened his eyes wide and remembered what he had come here for.
"That's right! Victor, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You deflowered my daughter! I will kill you!" Adam's fatherly brain completely forgot the sight of what he saw before and focused on the most important goal.
... As the saying goes, only death can cure fools. How does one see that 'piece of art' and still feel capable of dealing with the Being that created it?
"You...? Kill me? Pfft." Victor tried not to laugh, but he couldn't, and soon he started laughing as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Why are you laughing!?"
"N-Nothing..." He tried to hold back again out of respect for his 'father-in-law'.
"Do not lie! You clearly think I can't kill you!"
"Ehhh? How did you know?" Victor made a shocked expression.
"This f.u.c.ker..."
"Mah, Mah, take a deep breath. You are at an advanced age; try not to exert yourself so much. Here, have a seat." Victor made a chair out of Ice and made Adam sit on it.
Using the Power to control Nature, he created a Wooden cup through the Wooden parts of the mansion, and with the Power of Water and Ice, he filled the cup with ice water.
"Here, have some water, and calm down, father-in-law."
"Oh! Thank you." Adam drank the water and felt the coolness run down his body.
"That is good.'
Suddenly, Adam woke up to reality, and veins bulged on his head. He threw the cup on the floor and stood up.
"Don't call me father-in-law! I'm not your father-in-law! I'm the man who's going to kill you!"
"Ehhh?" Victor made a surprised expression, which fooled even Adam for a few seconds. He knew Victor was faking it, and he was still tricked! Someone get this man an Oscar award for best actor!
Victor's surprised expression disappeared, and a small smile appeared on his face:
"... But you know that killing me is impossible, right?"
"After all, you are weak."
"...." And it was at that moment that Victor completely cut Adam's rational line.
Looking at the man who looked even more Demonic than some Demons, Victor couldn't help but think:
'This is fun...' He couldn't do this in the past because he was the weakest, but now that he was the strongest, he could play with the others, and they'd just have to put up with his pranks.
'Is this how powerful characters feel? This is good~.'
"That's it! Victor Alucard, I challenge you to a duel of honor! The winner will have my daughter's hand in marriage."
"... Old man, do you want to marry your daughter?" Victor asked in shock.
"IT'S NOT THAT!" Adam felt that Victor would freak him out if the b.a.s.t.a.r.d kept talking.
"If you win, you can marry my daughter! But if you lose, you stay away from her!"
"Hmm, this isn't interesting; I'm not gaining anything here."
"HUUH!? Marrying my daughter isn't reward enough, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!? Does that mean she's not good enough for you, HUUUH!? I will kill you!" He looked utterly like a delinquent
now.
'Is this how I'm going to react when my daughters get a boyfriend?' Victor thought in amus.e.m.e.nt, but then he felt a tightening in his heart. He didn't like the feeling he felt now.
"Of course not; she is perfect for me. I love Leona."
"Don't say you love her, b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" He got even angrier.
'What a troublesome man!' Victor grumbled.
"If I win the duel, you owe me a favor!"
"... As long as the request doesn't go against my honor, I'll accept."
"Umu, good." Victor nodded in satisfaction.
"..." Volk wondered what he came here to do. He came with full momentum to deal with Victor, but the grotesque sight he saw did away with all his temper. He realized that this man was much more dangerous than he originally thought.
'Whatever, I'll just deal with one thing at a time. For now, I should treat him like a guest of Royalty from another country and speak with the Patriarch of The Uruky Clan... I also have to speak with my wife regarding Alucard, and I have to talk to that Gatekeeper...'
"Ugh." Volk just realized that he suddenly had a lot of work to do, and it was all thanks to this man!
'All of this is Anderson's fault who brought this abomination to this place!'
Watching Adam and Victor's conversation, he felt a strange premonition that he would have to work even harder in the future.
.....
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