"I am Vanessa Dracule. Pleased to finally meet you.", Vanessa introduced herself with a small bow.
"Uh what?.", Seventeen doesn't know what to say. He still hasn't recovered from the fight so his thought process is a little out of whack.
Zephrus immediately bowed, "Pleased to meet you. I am Leonard Zephyrus, the Air Cardinal and the Headmaster of Cardinal Academy. ", he motioned to Seventeen, "This is-"
"Instructor Seventeen.", Vanessa interrupted him. She looked at the android with interest, "I know about you. Android from another world."
Zephyrus and Seventeen were shocked, "How?", the latter asked.
"I've been keeping an eye on you. Also, a friend told me about you. You may know who he is. He is pretty popular here."
Seventeen thought about what she said. The only ones who know about his true identity are Prime and the Headmaster. Oh, and how can he forget the girl standing in front of them?
The only other person will be, "Eravon Lock?", he guessed.
Vanessa smiled, "Right answer. He told me about you and your creator. You are an interesting existence."
"Um. Thank you?", Seventeen replied, confused. He doesn't like the sound of the word 'interesting'.
"But who are you really?", Seventeen asked back to the girl. "I've never heard of Vanessa Dracule in all the books I read. Are you a god? I ask that because your power is way off the charts.", he said. Seventeen hopes he didn't anger the godly being standing in front of them.
Vanessa tilted her head, "Oh yeah. You've never heard of my name before. Well, I also have a different name that will be familiar with Arkenians."
She gave a meaningful look at Zephyrus, "The Vampire of the Purple Rose."
Zephyrus almost let go of Seventeen when he heard the name.
"Impossible. There is no way that being is real. She's a myth, a fairytale", he said in disbelief.
"What do you mean Headmaster?", Seventeen asked.
Zephyrus looked at him, "Well. According to vampire mythology, the Vampire of the Purple Rose was seen as the pinnacle of their race. Naturally, she was hailed as their queen and was the most powerful vampire to ever exist, making her a goddess among vampires."
"Every vampire seeks to reach the level of power held by the Vampire Queen and she was mostly seen as a mythical apex that showed how powerful a vampire can become. There were no pieces of evidence of her actually existing."
"But here she is. Standing right in front of us.", Seventeen remarked. Zephyrus nodded, "Her existence will have certain effects around the world, especially among vampires."
Vanessa smiled, "Are you going to speak up about my existence?"
"I am not an idiot to do that without the consent of a godly being such as yourself.", Zephyrus said with a weak smile.
"I am not a god. I was a mortal like you and I've lived for 3000 years because of the effects of a rather nasty curse.", Vanessa said.
"Wait. You are three thousand years old?", Zephyrus asked in shock, "Does this mean you were part of the Forgotten millennium?", excitement tinged his voice when he asked the question.
Vanessa nodded, "Indeed. I have read your papers about what happened 3000 years ago. Out of all the mortals who tried to answer the mysterious past, you are the closest to the truth."
"So there WAS a great war!", Zephyrus exclaimed. Vanessa put a finger to her lips, "Don't expect me to tell you about 3000-year-old Arken. I have vowed to not speak of it. And even if you hear it, you will not like what you hear.", she warned.
"That doesn't mean you have to give up on your quest to know what actually happened. You must find the answer yourself and decide what to do. Show me your resolve.", she challenged them.
She then looked at Seventeen, "As I said before, I am interested in you, Seventeen. Unlike the Dragon Knights, you have a soul that is still developing. I would like to see how you will move forward in this world."
Vanessa suddenly perked up and looked up. She had felt a familiar presence high above in Ascalon, specifically in her palace.
"What is that damn fox doing at my place?", She muttered with a frown. She gave an apologetic smile to Zephyrus and Seventeen.
"I have to take my leave now. An old friend has come to visit me. I must meet up with them.", she said as she passed the duo and walked to the doorway.
She looked back, "Oh yeah. I just remembered something. Vicaris once told me that in the event of his passing by his defeat come, his opponent should be guided to the basement for a reward."
"Really?", Seventeen asked doubtfully.
Vanessa nodded, "Yup. I guess it is his way of honoring the one who defeated him. I believe it would be his wish to let you have what he left behind."
Seventeen thought about the Dragon Knight and his battle. He admired the guy's resolve to keep fighting till the end. If Vicaris wanted him to have something, he would gladly accept it.
"Very well. I will accept it."
Vanessa smiled, "Alright then. Vicaris had said to look for the dragon symbol. I would've helped you but I have another matter to take care of."
Seventeen nodded, "It's fine. I will look for it."
"We will soon meet again, Instructor Seventeen. I hope you will not be surprised when that time comes.", with these words Vanessa Dracule turned into purple rose petals and they scattered away.
"That was a tense situation.", Seventeen remarked as both of them let out sighs of relief.
"That vampire was intimidating and she wasn't even trying.", Zephyrus said, "She is not an Arken god but is on the same level. One could say she is someone who became an apex being, and perhaps.", he noted.
"Perhaps what?", Seventeen asked.
"That she is a god slayer.", Zephyrus said. "Is that even possible?", Seventeen found the statement hard to believe.
Zephyrus nodded, "The Arken gods were mortals themselves before becoming the guardians. Vanessa Dracule is on the same level as them. She has what it takes to slay a god."
"You think the Dragon King is like that too?", Seventeen asked as he looked back at the black throne. His eyes rested on the still form of Vicaris.
"Maybe. There is still a lot that we don't know.", Zephyrus said when he noticed Seventeen looking at the Dragon Knight.
"You can let go of me, Headmaster. I am okay now.", he said. Zephyrus looked at his drained face and sighed. He let go and Seventeen stumbled over to Vicaris's greatsword.
He picked it up and slowly walked to the throne. He placed it at Vicaris's feet, "Have a good rest, Guardian of the throne."
As soon as he put down the sword, it and the Dragon Knight's armor started to glow as they dispersed into magia particles. The particles faded away and they became part of the natural magia in the environment.
Seventeen's eyes twinkled with the light of the magia particles as he saw them fade away. "Will I scatter like this when my time comes?", he asked as he looked at Zephyrus.
The Cardinal smiled, "Let's not think of that Seventeen. Prime would haunt my dreams forever if something like that happened to you."
"Yeah. He's that type of a guy.", Seventeen said before he stumbled but Zephyrus caught him. "Damn, my core and paths are still damaged. It would take about a week for me to recover. Who knew achieving Singularity can cause such a backlash?"
"Well. According to research, a warlock would be crippled for at least six months after achieving Singularity. Compared to that, your recovery is almost instantaneous.", Zephyrus said.
Seventeen chuckled, "Well. I consider myself to be a special existence."
"You are Seventeen, You are.", Zephyrus smiled.
They heard someone calling for Zephyrus. "That is Jade Aria.", Seventeen said when he recognized the voice.
"She might've come over to see what was happening. We weren't subtle about things.", Zephyrus said with a sigh.
"Well, how about you meet up with her. I have to get check out the basement.", Seventeen suggested. "You sure about that?", Zephyrus asked, glancing at his body.
Seventeen smiled, "I'm fine, Headmaster.", he let go of Zephyrus and walked out of the throne room. "Now. Where is the basement?", he muttered.
(It's underground.)
'I know that.'
He passed by the carnage left behind by his battle with Vicaris. Half of the palace has been destroyed, so he figured that the entrance to the basement would be in the undamaged section of the palace.
Seventeen touched his bandaged side. Liquid magia has stopped flowing but he could feel that the hole hasn't healed yet. With his magia core and paths damaged, recovery will be even slower.
'Looks like I won't be using codes for a week.', he thought as he entered the undamaged section of the palace. Statues have toppled due to the shockwaves and paintings have become lopsided but there was no major damage.
He spent about 10 minutes looking for the entrance to the basement. He opened the wooden door and looked down the stone stairs leading into the dark underground.
Seventeen tried to summon a flame but failed. It also came with a torrent of warning messages. He sighed and took out a metallic flashlight from his storage ring. He had crafted one in the rare chance of him not being able to use magia.
'Who knew I would be using this so soon?', he thought as he remembered crafting the whole thing from scratch, from making a bulb and ending with the case and batteries.
(Sometimes the non-magia ways are the best.)
'Don't start rambling about how you lived in your world with limited magia.', Seventeen replied with a small groan.
(I thought you would be interested.)
'I have your memories and they are more than enough.'
He finally reached the basement. It was really huge and took about the entire area of the palace. Parts of the ceiling were sagging and some even collapsed due to the battle.
The basement was filled with a treasure trove of items. Vases, statues, suits of armor, and ancient weapons decorated were scattered throughout the space.
He browsed through them, looking for a dragon symbol. Some looked like they were not found in Arken. He picked up a katana that looked similar to Nyx.
"These types of swords were made here?", he examined the blade. It was of excellent craftmanship with no sign of wear despite three millennia of just sitting in the basement. The runes etched in the blade were still distinct.
'This world had a culture that was similar to Japan?', he thought and wondered what happened. He didn't find a place like that in his studies of the current world.
"Well, I did mention that this world is too big for two continents.", he wondered aloud.
He put down the sword and continued to explore the basement, poking and picking up things that caught his interest, but no dragon symbol fell on his eye.
Seventeen finally reached the far side of the basement and a glint caught his eye. He turned and saw, inside a glass case, a set of black armor with a dragon symbol etched on the chest stood, facing him.
'The armor of a Dragon Knight.', Seventeen thought as he got closer to it. It looked different from the one Vicaris used, it looked more futuristic.
(Looks like a state-of-the-art armored suit to me. Whoever built this was way ahead of their time, perhaps even surpassing the technology of this time period.)
"Is this what Vicaris wanted me to have?", Seventeen wondered aloud as he opened the glass case and touched the armor.
Immediately the dragon symbol glowed and the armor attached to Seventeen's arm. Before he could process what happened, he was wearing it.
"What the?", he said as he looked at his armored body. It felt surprisingly light and he could freely move while wearing it. He felt rejuvenated as he got a good amount of magia and felt his wound closing faster. He feels like he could take on multiple armies with the armor on.
"This amazing.", he said as he examined the armor, "Not only does it increase the combat ability of the wearer but it also has a complex time enchantment that speeds up recovery. It is causing my nanoparticles to repair my body at a much faster rate by fast-forwarding their normal recovery time."
Seventeen noticed a rune on his left gauntlet. He touched it and the rune glowed. The armor started retracting from his body and formed a bracelet on his hand.
"It is even convenient to carry around.", he smiled as he looked at the bracelet.
"Thank you, Vicaris."