[Saras kingdom]
Marie Von Windsor was rarely concerned about anything except making money but today she was nearly frantic.
Her family had one desire which was profits.
It had been this way since the first Von Windsor family head. For as long as a Von Windsor existed they would make money even during an apocalypse.
The elders in the Von Windsor family had mostly retired but even in their retirement they did not stop making low value investments for high value returns as a hobby.
They mostly stayed out of the family business affairs leaving that up to their numerous descendants.
Now the oldest member of her clan was sitting right in front of her. A young woman with brown hair, in a black suit stood behind her ancestor as he sipped tea with his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he savoured the flavour. She was his bodyguard.
'As if the ancient monster needed anyone to protect him!' Marie could not help but inwardly sigh.
All of Marie's attendees had been told to leave. The matters that would be discussed would be too sensitive, above their pay grade and above their status.
Marie herself would not qualify if Valerian had not approached her making her directly involved.
"I am Patriarch Alexander Walt von Windsor. It is a pleasure to meet you, child of my blood." The man greeted before continuing to sip his tea.
Marie's smile froze then she coughed slightly.
'This is not our first time meeting!' She wanted to cry out.
"It is an honour to have you here, Patriarch, but we've met before."
The man looked up from his cup, raised an eyebrow and gave a quizzical look at Marie.
"I am sorry, dear child, but I do not recall." He stated in a tone that held no regret in the slightest.
'It's because when we met you did not even look at me!'
"It was the coming of age ceremony of my generation six hundred years ago." She stated.
The Patriarch did not reply as if he had moved on from the subject.
Marie coughed again to avoid the awkward silence.
"As to the matter of the mass shareholder I told you about, he seems to have left the city and his subordinates have cleared their belongings from the inn they were in."
Alexander stopped drinking his tea. He set it down and spoke softly. "You let this happen?"
"The details are a little bit more complicated..." Marie wanted to speak further but Alexander did not allow it.
"You cannot imagine how complicated they are, child. The Great Averice is an artefact and title that exceed even your understanding. The original owner of said artefact was far grander than myself.
"You tell me that its in the hands of an adolescent boy and I come here to inspect it and the new owner of the majority of the wealth we control and you tell me that he is gone?" His tone was stil emotionless but his words were chastising nevertheless.
"By the original owner, you mean the True Patriarch, the Original vampire?"
Marie had been extremely anxious but as soon as she said those words, her usually stoic ancestor showed actual shock on his face.
"What do you know, Marie?" He asked while trying to regain his composure.
'So it is Marie now? Not child?' Marie could not suppress her feelings of satisfaction.
She went on to describe everything from meeting Valerian, understanding some of the law of greed, right down to him using [Chain of Command] in the inn, revealing himself to be their Ancestor.
She also explained the property purchases she had been asked to make and what conditions such purchases should be made.
At the end of her explanation Alexander was in deep thought. A lot of questions were being answered and new fantastical ones appeared.
"You have done well, Marie." Alexander finally said. "You have done exceptionally well considering the circumstances and gained the favour of Lord Jata.
If you restrained him in anyway it may have spelled doom for our family. Your contributions will not be forgotten and will highly be rewarded." Alexander spoke with actual emotion this time though he still seemed contemplative.
Alexander stood up then looked to his bodyguard. She looked into her master's crimson eyes, nodded then said, "I understand, my Lord. It is a matter of the utmost secrecy. This was something I was not supposed to know."
"You have been loyal. Your family will be taken care of." Alexander said with a pitying smile then thrust his hand in the woman's chest and crushed her two hearts. The woman's body went limp and the light in her eyes dimmed.
He withdrew his bloodied hand and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe off the blood. Marie was stunned by this scene.
"Why...why?" She asked. Marie was not skittish around murder, she even had her own group of assassins on retainer to deal with issues when they arose but to murder a loyal subordinate in cold blood, this seemed unnecessary.
"You do not realise the value of this matter. I will educate you. You have heard of Avalon?" Without waiting for an answer he continued. "Avalon was an empire that mortals believe to have been the birthplace of civilisation and technology. They debate whether it was real or fake, whether it was overestimated or actually a country of the gods.
"They debate its existence but we high nobles, the rulers with the purest bloodlines do not debate this mystery. We know it to be fact. What we also know is that it was not a country of gods but one of vampires.
"My grandfather was Avalonian and our family was one of its founding families but grandfather was only a young boy when Avalon fell." Alexander looked at Marie's shocked expression but did not give her a moment to digest the news and chose to continue.
"Whenever other races uncover technology from Avalon, the vampire ruling families send members of their own families to extract it and work hard to keep Avalon a debated myth. I told you that Avalon was a country of our kind but it was intended as a refuge for survivors as well.
"They were the survivors of a real empire that spanned continents. Its name was the Crimson Empire and our records show that it made Avalon look like a rural district in comparison.
"Imagine a country where our kind stood seven feet tall. Different castes working together. True dragons holding citizenship and working alongside vampires unified under a supreme despot. A nation where breakthroughs in magic and science were a daily occurrence.
"What we consider advanced was actually child's play to them. Avalon spent dozens of millennia trying to recreate the wonders of the Crimson, of the children of blood and that led to their downfall when they thought themselves gods and experimented with things that were beyond them.
"It all sounds like a bad mix fantasy and whimsy but it is all quite true. The one factor that the Crimson empire had and Avalon lacked was the unity, stability and guidance provided by the First Ancestor. Under that autocracy, all were equal, whether one's race dominated the skies, sea or land, all bent their knee and lowered their head to His supremacy.
"The vampire nations, the vampire lords and noble families across the world have worked in tandem in the shadows trying to become one power again but that is only on the surface the truth is that we are far from united and most are self serving with secret alliance within a secret alliance.
"Now the First Lord has returned and that means a new golden age could be ushered in. Everyone will want to secure benefits for themselves, drink from His fountain of knowledge, enhance their bloodlines and secure their place next to the highest regalis.
"Our family is no different. We cannot let news of this leak until I have gotten the right gifts and have spoken to Him. We must immediately win the Lord's favour as a clan and you have already been in contact with Him. I do not exaggerate child when I say you have become the most important vampire in our family having made a connection of sorts to Him."
Marie gulped shaken by what she heard and paled when she thought about what she had said to Him when they first met, threatening to kill Him if He was a charlatan. A realisation hit her in that moment while Alexander sipped his, now, warm tea.
"Lord Alexander, there is one problem with this plan." She stated, visibly shaking.
"What is it? Speak now, child."
"Lord Jata has no intentions of hiding His identity. He states it plainly when asked who He is. If He meets any other vampire news will..."
The cup in Alexander's hand fell and shattered on the floor as the same realisation hit him.
****
[The Black Forest]
Four days had passed and Valerian was sitting in a cave deep in meditation when a prompts from his system made him unable to focus.
[Primary objective: Nullify hazardous toxins has been completed]
[Result: Inconclusive data. No known cure available. One possible treatment.]
"Tell me what you know." Valerian's voice barely went above a whisper.
[Enoch: Val, this seems grim. Whatever the Traveller did to you, there is no definitive cure. However, I collected some data from those voic creatures you fought and there is a chance of saving you.]
"Show me the data. Turn on skill notifications."
[Turning on skill notifications]
[Demon bloodline has been detected]
[Demon related skills are liberated]
[Lord of Flames has been reacquired]
[Gehenna has been reacquired]
[Plague harbinger has been reacquired.]
....
....
[World skill Devourer reacquired.]
[World skill Mind Pressure has been learned.]
[World skill Emotional Pressure has been learned.]
[World skills Mind Pressure and Emotional Pressure have combined to form World skill Intimidation.]
[Unique skill Blood Frenzy has been reacquired.]
[World skill King's Pride has been reacquired.]
[Unique skill Submit has been reacquired.]
[Unique skill Dominator has been learned.]
[Unique skills Dominator and Submit have combined with World skills Intimidation and King's Pride to form variant skill True Monarch.]
These were the skills Valerian had received over his past few battles and actions. Some were new and other were relearned.
One thing bothered him greatly though. He had a connection to many realms and many royal bloodlines from those realms were the result of experiments done with his own blood.
But currently he could not feel his connection to those realms. For example, as the Demon Lord, his influence over Hell should have been beyond reproach and in his fight with Byleth, the fallen demon king should have recognised his authority.
The hierarchy in Hell was damn near absolute. One who gained power could challenge those above their position and if they won their status and rank would rise.
"Something is very wrong in Hell."
Valerian put aside his worries about Hell for a moment and checked his mana pool.
"I must leave this forest." With those words He cast [slipstream] and rose into the air as a purple smoke.