Ariel's Pov
"I'll slaughter them, every last one of those humans!"
Whose words were those?
"I'll never forgive them! I swear in the name of my ancestors that once I'm freed from here, I will wipe out that lowly race."
Oh right, those were my words.
The humans here had no power at the time. To me, they were nothing more than insects. They couldn't even be compared to the humans of my world. If it wasn't for that enigma, my army and I could've easily killed and enslaved the people who reside on this land they call Shioto.
But, maybe it was for the best I lost that day. They could've killed me, but I was spared and sentenced to be sealed in solitude.
My rage peaked when I first lost my freedom. I was trapped in darkness where the only thing I saw was the color black. Not only could I not see, but my movement was restricted too. Each time I tried to move, chains binding my arms and legs prevented me from doing so.
My vampiric strength meant nothing in this chamber of darkness. I used all the strength I could muster to break free from those chains. I yelled at the top of my lungs, screaming in rage and pain from my skin being torn apart trying to free myself. Weirdly enough, even though I didn't have my strength, I was still able to heal. I wasn't sure if I kept my ability to do so, or if it was the doing of the place I was sealed in. Not that it mattered to me.
I spent each waking moment lashing out in fury, cursing the humans while tearing apart the flesh in my hands and legs.
I had been alive for around 70 years before I was sealed. Time means nothing to vampires since we're immortal. I'd never cared about it before, but here I couldn't stop thinking about time. I kept count of the days for the first couple of months, after that it became tedious so I stopped.
I lost interest in keeping track of time, but I was not through making an effort of trying to free myself. Eventually, I was able to get my hands through the chains. Although they were torn apart at the joints with my thumbs dangling, I knew they'd heal.
After waiting for them to return to normal, I began my attempt of freeing my legs. It didn't matter that I couldn't see a thing, I was set on at least enabling my movements. But this hell I was in wasn't going to let me.
Several spiked burning chains flew through my stomach and chest. My entire body was promptly set ablaze. I yelled in agony for who knows how long as my body was being torched by the unpersisting flames. I had to deal with that torture for what seemed like an eternity but was probably somewhere around a year. For some reason, my clothes stitched themselves back together.
How long had I been there now, 2 years maybe? Little did I know I would be here for a couple of centuries with no help on the way anytime soon. But this wasn't anywhere close to the suffering the humans caused me.
Time passes, and I attempt to free myself again. After enduring the same arduous pain, I freed my hands again, or at least what was left of them. I was prepared to burn again, but something else awaited me.
I could hear howling in the distance. Feral growls approached me with speed faster than what I was capable of. In an instant, the left side of my shoulder and right side of my stomach were ripped off my body. My entrails were feasted on by what I assumed to be wolves. A species of wolves stronger than vampires, they could only be Wyrves: humanoid hound monsters. My body was feasted on for even longer than it burned. Every part of my body would be constantly dismembered with organs all over serving as food for these Wyrves' insatiable hunger. I became numb to the pain not even halfway through. Even if I wasn't chained down and powerless, I still wouldn't be able to beat a pack of Wyrves. Vampires are nowhere close to being the strongest species.
I'd just been lying down incognizant. The Wyrves had gone away some time ago. After noticing that, I just continued to lay in the darkness without moving.
Someone was laughing hysterically. Their cackles went on nonstop for a few days. Oh yeah, those laughs devoid of sanity belonged to me. I tried my luck again to see if the third punishment would be harsher than the first two.
I regretted it.
For the first time since I was a child, I pleaded for help.
[Omitted]
At the very least, I had returned to my senses after that. The suffering I'd endured in here already far surpassed the ordeals the humans put me through. Even if I knew there were creatures stronger than me, nobody could ever imagine the damned monsters that shouldn't even be allowed to exist.
Things were slightly put into perspective. My race is fated to fight against humans as long as our blood compels us to feed from them. When I was a child, I didn't want to hurt others. That mindset was short-lived. The story of what happened during my upbringing can wait for another time.
By the time I was around 18 years of age, I swore vengeance against the humans. It wasn't my blood that was driving me to fight them, just my pure rage. I fought for several years nonstop, claiming thousands of human lives each day. But what is revenge in the grand scheme of things? I don't even know how big the world I come from is. In the end, I'm just a big fish in a small pond.
Well, I don't even know how big I am anymore. Maybe when this is all over, I can journey the faraway lands and experience what life truly has to offer.
"Haha."
Huh? Who's laughing now?
"Hahahaha."
It's obviously me again. But this time, it was a genuine laugh.
I'd realized how silly this battle has been.
If vampires don't drink human blood, we'll be driven to insanity followed by death. But the vast majority of us don't even fight to save ourselves from going insane. We take pride and enjoyment out of killing and enslaving humans.
This conflict won't end until either side is wiped out. Is there a possibility we can coexist? No. Most humans won't just allow vampires to suck blood from them so they can stay alive. And the vampires who've found pleasure and become accustomed to fighting humans won't stop after all this time.
Decades pass.
I spent years thinking. How can I bring this several-century-long battle to a close? A definite solution never came to mind. If I was simply able to think of a way where humans and vampires no longer had to fight each other, this battle would've ended long ago. But I did think of a course of action that could someday lead to a solution.
I will join the side of the humans.
To do so, I must be able to forgive them. Without realizing it, I already had.
Being sealed was a blessing.
For the first time in my life, I felt grateful.
I decided to keep hold of my resolve for as long as I lived. There was no way for me to determine when I'd be released, but I would wait as long as it could take.
After patiently waiting, the darkness that accompanied me had finally gone away. I found myself in a vast tomb. Somebody broke the seal, who I assumed to be a vampire. To my expectations it was. "The seal wasn't complex at all, it was just impossible to find", is what he told me. Apparently someone leaked it to them. I didn't care, what mattered was that I was finally freed.
Upon meeting other vampires, I found out I was sealed for over 200 years. I should've been surprised but wasn't. Just like how I wasn't surprised humans and vampires are still fighting.
I notice a captured boy who was undoubtedly brought as an offering. I decided to side with the humans, so I of course planned to save him. That's when it hit me.
I've never saved anybody else, not even my own kind. I was so absorbed with revenge while fighting, I never tried to save those I could've easily protected. I didn't even try to get to know the men I commanded. I only had two friends I'd known since birth and a sibling.
This would be the first person I've ever saved. When he suffered a fatal wound, I selfishly decided I wouldn't allow him to die. Even if he did want to live and ended up accepting that I turned him into a vampire, this was nothing more than an attempt at my start for atonement.
Nonetheless, I will stay by the boy's side now. The moment he established his will to live to me, our fates intertwined.
Instead of using my power to take lives, I finally saved one.
I divulged this to everyone in the courtroom.
I let my resolve be known, so they could in turn trust me.