"The king of vampires, Vlad Voldigald, every devil knows who you are,... Although I doubt some could recognize you as quickly as I did." Dylan responded, his demeanor calm as he maintained eye contact with the king.
Leon sighed, "I guess it's no use." He shifted his sitting position, glancing around the dimly lit room. "Answer me this, how many of you are currently in this city?".
"In this city? Hundreds, scattered across its expanse. It makes our missions smoother, recovering artifacts while managing our affairs." Dylan's words flowed smoothly, revealing the intricate network of vampires within the city.
Erica, standing at the side, turned her gaze towards her father, a hint of surprise in her eyes. She wondered why he would divulge such information to the king of vampires.
"Hmm, these artifacts, why are you so keen on getting a hold of them?" Leon asked again.
"To revive our master, Kong, the devil." Dylan replied.
"Father?" Erica muttered.
"Well now, isn't that interesting." Leon stood up from where he was seated, "You plan to revive my old nemesis".
"But we can't yet, we only possess half of the requirements -"
"Old man! What the hell?!" Erica grabbed Dylan by the arm, tugging him back and forth, "Why are you blabbing our secrets to him, he's the enemy?!".
"So loud." Leon shifted his gaze to the girl. And in the blink of an eye, her body was suddenly impaled with holes in every part of her body.
She fell to the ground, her eyes widened in shock as she bled out. Being a devil, even if she doesn't die, she'll feel the pain from it, unable to end her own life.
"Good, she's out of the way, one more question… Dylan." Leon's eyes took on a red glow, his energy increasing around his body, "Tell me, do you know who is responsible for my parents death? How did they know I was Vlad, how were they able to tell who my parents were".
"Your parents? I was the-"
Dylan swiftly pulled out a knife from his pocket, stabbing himself in the side of his head. Blood spewed the moment the knife went through this head.
Leon was a bit shocked, watching as Dylan's body collapsed to the ground, drowning in his own pool of blood.
'He killed himself?' Leon thought to himself before sighing, 'My only plan was to rescue James anyway, I shouldn't worry about it.'
He faced James, another sigh escaping his lips as he approached his friend. Kneeling, he used his hand to crush the chains restraining James.
The moment James was liberated, he stepped back, creating distance from Leon.
"Really? I came all the way from my home just to see you,..." Leon stood, confronting James, detecting a hint of panic in his expression. "And the first thing you do is avoid me?"
"Hate to burst your bubble, but the Leon I know doesn't look as handsome as you do right now, and definitely isn't the king of vampires." James spoke, massaging his wrist.
Leon groaned, "This is going to take forever… why must you always be a birch, I saved your ass, shouldn't you be thanking me or something?".
"Not if you're a vampire stealing my friend's face?" James pointed at him, "Leon isn't this handsome".
"You've said that already!" Leon yelled, "I don't have time for this, come, your sister is waiting for you".
"Nuh uhnnn!" James moved back the moment Leon took a step.
"Fuck you mean, Nuh uhhhh!" Leon raised his voice, forcefully grabbing James by the wrist.
Meanwhile….
'Just as I thought…'
Dylan whispered in his mind, his eyes opening slowly while the injury on his head began to close up.
'The king hasn't fully awakened, if not, he would know we devils won't die unless you destroy our heart.' Dylan felt his blood gradually rewinding into his head.
'Which also means, there's a chance he also isn't as strong as I thought he would be, if he doesn't remember all he needs to, he surely isn't as powerful.'
'Although I have to praise the fact he was able to use compulsion on me… a few seconds in and I would have been fully manipulated.' Dylan grinned, 'Such an interesting character, it would be a shame if I didn't have a dance with him'.
Dylan's eyes shifted over to Leon, watching as he tried to carry James on his shoulder and James was fighting back.
His grin grew even wider as he slowly stood up from the ground.
"Let me go! Help! Somebody! Help!!!" James cried out.
"Will you cut it out and stop being a child!" Leon, fed up with James's tantrum, seized him by the collar, forcefully pushing him to the ground.
"Helllllllppppppp!-"
Leon swiftly covered James' mouth with his hand, suppressing any further screams. "How are you even acting like this when you're all injured! Shut up!".
"How many demons do you think one devil can make a contract with?"
Hearing the voice behind him, Leon veered around, still dragging James on the ground by the shirt.
'He's not dead?'
"No answer? How about this..." Dylan's grin widened, a mesmerizing blue magic circle unfolding beneath him, pulsating with arcane energy. "How many rank S demons do you think you can defeat at your current level?!"
"Come to me! Benimaru!!!" Dylan called out.
The building quivered, walls echoing with the impending arrival of formidable power.
The earth crumbled as the colossal demon, Benimaru, emerged from the magic castle with a thunderous roar, its monstrous form dominating the surroundings.
Its lower half undulated like a massive serpent, weaving through the rubble, while the upper part took shape as an intimidating armored skeleton, adorned with an array of menacing spikes.
Staring at the 20ft demon in front of him, Leon couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted. While others looked at the demon and saw a monster, he looked at the demon and saw a fellow vampire reduced to a poppet.
"How revolting." Leon stretched his hand to the side, red veins networked from his chest towards his hands before forming into a blade for him to hold.
"As a vampire myself, it's only fitting that I get to end you myself… former knight of the round table, Banimaru".