"I accept." Victor says after he thinks on it for a moment and decides to trust Krishna's words
The king looks at Krishna,"What are your intentions for coming to this world?"
"None actually I was brought here by my master"
"Hmmmm"
'Till he remains with Scathach he should not be detrimental to my Kingdom and if he helps Victor with the natives problem then that would be great..... from what I have deduced he was going to go there anyways.....so the best course of action is to let him be for now.'
"Well, back to business. Look…" Vlad looked at Alexios.
"Yes, master." Understanding his master's intentions, Alexios snapped his finger.
And like magic, a vast map appeared.
Victor looked at the map with a curious look. He saw that the map appeared to illustrate the areas of this world. He could even see that forest where he met the strange gorilla and tree. 'Thinking about it, I promised I would visit them, huh?'
"The Nightingale map."
"Yes. The area that is in red is my territory."
Victor looked at the red area on the map, "This is so small..." He muttered. He thought the king's territory would be bigger.
He saw that on the map, the territories were marked according to the name of each respective Clan of the Vampire Counts. He also noticed that Clan Adrasteia was very far from the capital.
Seeing how small his friend's territory was, he understood something.
'They're acting as the first line of defense for this country, huh… Now I understand why she invited me to go to her territory. She probably wanted to show me these monsters. She can't talk about them, but she can show it? I guess.' Victor tried to deduce Eleonor's motives.
"Yes..."
The king made a slightly annoyed expression, "A few millennia ago, when I found this world and decided to create a country here, I thought that conquering this world would be smooth, but I ran into unexpected problems."
"Oh?" Problems that even the vampire king couldn't handle? This is interesting…
Victor's curiosity was piqued.
The image changed, and soon several monster-looking creatures appeared.
"This world was being inhabited by these kinds of creatures. Creatures of the night who were the original inhabitants of this world."
"..." Scathach was silent throughout the whole conversation. She didn't have much to add. She already knew all this, and she just couldn't tell her disciple this before because of a special magical contract she signed.
"Heh~, even you can't handle these monsters?" Victor looked at the monsters with curiosity. He saw that the monsters had many different shapes.
"Hmm?" The king looked at Victor, "It's easy for me."
"...Huh?" Victor didn't understand."
The weak are easy to deal with, I can kill thousands easily. The problem lies with the leaders of these monsters."
The image changed, and soon Victor could see the appearance of a gigantic creature. It had a rather disturbing shape, with several heads and tails that look like the monster's arms?
Victor couldn't describe what kind of creature he was seeing.
"Elder Gods, that's what they call themselves…"
"The number of leaders? Unknown."
"The number of subordinates of these leaders? Unknown."
"Do these monsters have intelligence? Unknown."
The king began listing several things he didn't know about the enemy.
"…" Victor's smile only grew and grew every time he heard what the king said. He also understood something: 'This old man is useless. In all these years, he doesn't know anything about the enemy? Impossible. He doesn't seem that incompetent, so he's definitely hiding something.'
Seeing Victor's smile, the king thought: '... As I thought, he's like her. It looks like I made the right decision.' He displayed a small, imperceptible smile.
"I fought one of their leaders once. It was an uphill battle, but I was able to win relatively easily."
The image changed to the king on top of a gigantic monster. He seemed to have won the fight.
"The problem starts to get more complicated now."
"Look."
The king snapped his finger, and then the image changed,
The monster the king defeated began to regenerate and come back to life.
"...An enemy who is truly immortal." Victor's eyes gleamed with interest. He felt it would be nice to have these monsters as a punching bag.
'I knew he was hiding something. Well, at least he was honest and spoke.'
"Yes, but… I do not believe these monsters have true immortality.
"Oh? Explain."
"My theory is that there is some device or someone who is resurrecting these leaders when they die."
"After all, I'm sure that during my fight, I completely destroyed the monster's soul, and as you know, the soul is the anchor of life in the physical body. If your soul is destroyed, immortal or not, you will die.... Well, that was what was supposed to happen."
"Hmm..." Victor was thoughtful.
Vlad looks at Alexios, his subordinate.
Understanding the master's intentions, he said, "Yes, Master." Soon he started walking towards somewhere.
"That explains why the vampire counts have powers split as if you were preparing for war."
"You noticed, huh?"
"Actually, it was pretty obvious... If anyone with even the slightest knowledge of war strategy knew about the Counts, and the way you divided the powers, they would deduce it."
Victor elaborated, "Snow is responsible for internal policy and is responsible for securing possible allies. Fulger takes care of food and household matters, while Adrasteia and Scarlett take care of defense and offense."
"But..." Victor looked at his master since he was sure she didn't have any subordinates.
"Yes...I originally intended this little girl to raise an army… But." The king looked at Scathach.
"Humpf, an army? I, alone, am enough. I don't want anyone to delay me!" Scathach snorted and turned away.
It's not like she didn't try to have subordinates in the past. It's just that Scathach had had bad experiences with subordinates in the past.
"Sigh..." The two sighed at the same time.
Victor and Vlad could understand Scathach's feelings. But in a war, and especially in a large-scale war, that luxury was not possible. Having subordinates is useful in situations like this.
"... A question," Victor spoke.
"Which is?"
"Why are you offering this to me? I don't understand. I just got here, and I'm a vampire who, from your perspective, is still a baby." Victor was quite skeptical about the king's motive.
"...Huh?" The king thought he was suddenly deaf, so he looked at Scathach, who was clearly to blame for all of this.
"You didn't explain anything to him?"
"Well... I didn't want him to grow arrogant. So because of that, I hid it."
"Make sense..." The king thought that was a good reason.
"..." Victor's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"
"Victor, you know about your blood, right?"
"Yes. Rh Null Blood, a rare blood type in the human world, and in the vampire world, they are considered a delicacy, called The Golden Blood."
"Yes, you are correct." Vlad nodded in satisfaction, "But, you don't know everything."
Using his fingernail, Vlad made a small cut on his hand, and a scene that shocked Victor took place.
Vlad's blood began to move as if it were alive.
"In the past, thousands of years ago, the oldest vampires called this blood another name..."
Vlad created a small blood dagger and held it in his hand:
"Sanguis Noctis Regis… Or rather: The Blood of the Night King"
"And just like you, I also have this blood running through my veins."
"…" Victor was shocked that the king shared the same blood type as him; 'That explains why Ophis calls me father…'
Realizing that the king seemed to know a lot about his blood, he asked:
"... And what are the benefits of this blood?"
"Enhanced learning speed, superior adaptation capabilities, the ability to grow stronger more efficiently. You are also immune to any mind-related damage, while also being able to control special individuals with your vampiric charm."
'That explains why I could control those hunters and even the vampires… Immune to any mind-related damage, huh? Does the power of Ophis fit into this category?' Victor began to understand several strange things that happened in the past.
"These are just the initial benefits. The true power of this blood lies elsewhere."
"What do you mean?"
Vlad continued, "Our blood is special. Depending on which creature of the night you are born as, the potential contained within the blood will put you at the top of the hierarchy."
"Huh...?" He did not understand.
"One example, if you were turned into a wolf instead of a vampire, you wouldn't become a Beta who was subordinate to someone. You would go straight to Alpha status, and not just any Alpha. You would be a true Alpha with the potential to become the king of the wolves."
Vlad looked at Victor, "Are you going to tell me you never thought it was weird? That irregular transformation that no other vampire had? How quickly you evolved and became stronger? The weird sense of pride you have that won't let you bow your head to anyone?"
"That is..."
"These are all tied to the qualities of your blood. How could someone who is destined to be at the top of the hierarchy, lower their heads to anyone? It doesn't make sense, right?"
"That's why this blood is called The Blood of the Night King. Whoever possesses this blood has the potential to become the king of an entire race."
"And as a main feature… Our blood is very tasty to the creatures of the night. If the creatures of the night were to drink our blood, they would slowly get stronger. Isn't that right, Little girl." Vlad displayed a small smile on his face.
"I didn't drink his blood old man...."Scathach then pointed toward Krishna.
"His blood also has various benefits and does not have the addictive effect as well as does not change my race"
The King looks at Krishna and tries to look at his soul which shows nothing weird at first but then comes a flash of blue followed by total darkness. this was different from the usual darkness... it almost seemed to gnaw at the King's soul even though it was not much but the pain was gradually increasing.
"Hmmmm are you sure you are a human?"
Krishna just smiles,"Every being has a nature that defines them and one's soul is the representation of that."
Krishna then looks at Victor with a look of 'I told you so'
"yeah yeah" Victor just waves his hand looks the other way.
"…" Understanding how special his blood was, he looked at his master, with a face that said, 'why didn't you tell me?'
"Knowing you have The Blood of the Night King running through your veins, you would definitely be more proud than you already are, and I don't want an arrogant disciple... Pride is good, but don't let it get to your head." Scathach spoke stiffly as if she were a teacher.
"... You are right." He didn't deny his master's words, but he also didn't fully agree with her words. He knew he was only proud when it came to his enemies...
"Ah..." Now he understood why she hadn't told him everything.
"Although your case is even stranger than mine." Vlad put a hand on his chin and looked at Victor as if he was sizing him up.
"…" Scathach looked at Vlad.
"What do you mean?" Victor didn't understand.
"I was born with this blood, I was born a vampire. But you? You were an ordinary human who was turned into a vampire through a ritual."
"And...?"
"Somehow, the ritual influenced your blood in a strange way, and you acquired the powers of those three heiresses who were at the scene the moment you turned into a vampire. Your case is quite interesting..."
"This I already know... It was a mistake or a coincidence, right?"
"Hahaha, kid. When witches are involved, nothing is ever a mistake or a coincidence."
"How do you know that?" Scathach narrowed her eyes.
"Little girl, you are very naive to think you can hide something from me. You can kill as many shadows as you like, but they aren't all my underlings."
"Tsk." She turned her face away in annoyance.
"..." Vlad gazed with his red eyes at Victor's body. His gaze seemed to be analyzing Victor's entire existence.
"Oh… I see…" He seems to have understood something.
"Boy, two pieces of advice from an old man." The king leaned back against his throne.
"Hmm?"
"Your wives are your treasures, never leave them. Because in the future, you're going to need this unbreakable bond."
"..." Scathach heard what the king said in silence. 'This old man never says something useless... I better remember that.'
"Huh? I would never do that, they are everything to me."
"Good." The king displayed a smile.
"Second advice, don't use that transformation too much, at least until you've completely mastered all five of your powers."
"Yes, I know, it damages my soul, right?"
"Yes, but that's not all. You may not realize it, but this transformation is slowly changing your entire being."
"..." Victor was silent. He seemed to be thinking of something. 'By five powers, is he speaking of my power of ice, water, lightning, fire, and blood? Do I have to completely master them all? How many years will this take?'
"... What do you mean?" Scathach didn't like Vlad's tone one bit.
"You didn't notice it from his eyes? From the information I got, his eyes were sapphire blue, right? What color are his eyes now?"
"..." Scathach looked into Victor's eyes.
"Red..."
"Indeed... Although he's not bloodthirsty like you, his eyes are blood red. It's like he's a creature that came out of the deepest corners of hell."
"Doesn't that apply to you too?" She looked into Vlad's eyes.
"…Yes, that's why I told him that. I don't want him to become a monster like me."
Vlad flashed a smile that showed all of his sharp teeth:
"Two monsters cannot coexist in the same habitat..." Soon he was silent as if he didn't want to talk about anything else.
"…" An unsettling silence fell into place.
Scathach who was facing the king of the vampires as if trying to understand his actions.
Victor who was in deep thought, as if trying to understand his own existence.
Krishna who seemed to be seeing something even though his eyes were closed.
'Hmmmm it seems the king has no idea that he has the green hat from 3 different wives. I thought they did it when he was not in the castle but he seems to have grown so confident that even his wives lovers are in the castle with him!..... well that is funny and sad.' Krishna thought
And Vlad Tepes, the king of the vampires who just had his eyes closed like he was waiting for something.
Soon the three vampires could hear the footsteps of someone approaching.
"You took your time." Vlad opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Master… The ladies were asking for you, and as this is an important meeting, I couldn't let them interrupt."
"They can be very irrational at times, and since you spoil them so much, they do whatever they want."
"…" Vlad's eyes twitched a little when he heard what Alexios said.
"Pfft..." Victor almost smiled, but in the end, he couldn't help himself, "HAHAHAHAHA~!"
"What are you laughing about, boy?"
"...Pfft, Cough… I mean." Victor was trying to contain his laughter.
"The king of vampires, the strongest being in existence, can't handle his wives."
"HAHAHAHAHA~" He couldn't take it anymore.
Vlad's eyes flared blood red, he flashed a sneer:
"Don't laugh too much, boy. After all, the same will happen to you soon."
Vlad's words made Victor stop laughing, "...Eh?"
"Unlike your wives, mine are kind as a mother who is at home welcoming her child back after a long journey... They are just a little spoiled..."
"But, I ask you, my dear 'friend'..."
"How would you describe your wives?"
Remembering the personalities of Violet, Ruby, Sasha, and possible future problems:
"... Well... Hmm... I don't see any problems." Victor had never had any problems with his wives so far.
"Have you already forgotten the monster in your hands now?" Vlad's smile grew.
"...Hmm." He remembered Natashia's words.
"Fuck…"
"HAHAHAHAHA~" The king laughed as if he had earned his revenge.
Veins started popping on Victor's head, but soon he got an idea:
"Oh, but at least my wives are loyal, they're just a little… explosive. But that's also their charm."
"…" The king's laughter died, and an overwhelming feeling began to leave his body.
"What are you implying?"
"A beautiful milf, all alone in an ancient castle, and she is so lonely~. Her husband is never home~, and she is a loving housewife..."
"The castle is always patrolled by the royal guards…" Victor sniffs the air and puts his hand to his nose as if he smells a horrible stench.
"I smell the stink of an unfaithful woman."
"..." The king's eyes began to shine brighter.
"...Don't look at me like that, it's advice from a 'friend' and a future vampire count."
Victor's eyes were frighteningly serious now:
"Vlad, are you absolutely sure you weren't presented with a green hat?"
Looking into Victor's eyes, Vlad realized the boy was speaking for his own good:
"... I'm sure-..."
'Now that he said that, my first wife is always unavailable when I look for her... And she's always with my son.'
The vampire king's first wife was the mother of the first prince, Theo.
'It can't be… No, it's not possible. She's the woman who has spent the most time with me, and she knows my personality. She wouldn't do that…'
"Looks like you have your doubts, huh?" Victor gave a sympathetic look, but inside he was laughing a lot:
'HAHAHAHAHAHA~, nobody talks bad about my wives! Absolutely nobody!'
Victor couldn't defeat Vlad with force, but words are a weapon too.
And it's not like these stories weren't common. He heard a lot of similar stories from his friend Andrew who was a playboy.
Seeing that Vlad didn't seem to trust his wives, Victor thought, 'Even though we're alike because of our blood, I don't want to ever be like him.'