The First Recruits (Part 2)

The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder. Ryan held his breath and so did Cyneburg. Cold sweat poured from Ryan's sweat glands and he started to have trouble breathing. He looked at Cyneburg, who was now unconscious. 

(This is... a powerful aura. That person... is dangerous.) 

Ryan is still hoping that the mysterious being will head in another direction, but it is unlikely to happen. 

"So the spell did work," a voice said. It was calm and cold, but also emotionless. Ryan figured that the voice belonged to a female, as it was higher pitched, but it could also be a child's. "I'm sure Averill is going to be extremely pleased. Let me just go and notify him..." 

(Averill? Who is that? Is that the boss of this place? And that person... are they a servant or subordinate of this 'Averill' person?)

The identity of the person whom Ryan is trying to figure out is none other than Averill's older sister, Caca. 

She played a major role in Averill's current plan, from transporting the fifty burnt bodies from the ruins of Deplan City into the Main Hall on Averill's personal floor. 

She also cast [Healing Tears] onto the bodies of the fifty, which brought Ryan, Cyneburg, Inei, Noir and Phila back to life. 

Then, as a miracle suddenly occurred, Ryan heard the footsteps grow fainter and fainter until they could not be heard anymore. His cold sweat and trouble breathing also stopped. Soon after, Cyneburg regained consciousness. 

"Thank god that you're alive," Ryan said, with his voice trembling.

"W-what? What happened to me?!" she quietly demanded to know. 

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head. "You were just knocked out. I thought you were dead until you woke up." 

"Hmmm?! I feel like this is something I would need to be informed on!"

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll fill you in. There was only a minute or so gap when you were knocked out and regained consciousness." 

"Hou? Really?" Cyneburg tilted her head and a mocking grin appeared on her face. 

"While I consider myself a gentleman, I do not mind teaching young girls like you a lesson once in a while," Ryan responded to Cyneburg's mocking grin. "Are you prepared?" he prepared his hand to slap Cyneburg. 

"It was a joke!" she quickly replied. "A joke! It's a joke! Please do not get mad at me." she gave Ryan her best puppy eyes. 

"I'm still going to hit you, you know?" he coldly replied to the flabbergasted Cyneburg. 

She only let out a small cry of fear before Ryan lightly karate-chopped her head. 

...

It was on the other side of the metal door that blocked Ryan and the other's way just hours prior. There was another room filled with books, luxurious furniture and a desk just in the middle of the room. Averill was writing something on the desk when Caca suddenly burst through the door and entered. 

She then slammed her hands onto the desk, surprising Averill. 

"What?" he bluntly said to his sister. 

"Are you aware that the corpses that you gathered from Deplan City have reverted their original form now?" she replied. 

"Please do not call them 'corpses', Caca." 

"And? They are literally corpses. Why not just call them that?" 

"There are my property. So calling them corpses would be insulting me as a whole." he explained. 

"Oh well," she shrugged. "I thought you would be pleased." 

"I am. I was just aware of it hours before you told me." 

"Huh? Why didn't you tell me?" she shouted in anger. Averill just looked away. "D-don't tell me..." she grabbed her little brother by the collar and shouted, "You forgot didn't you?!" 

"Calm down, Caca-" 

She cut him off. 

"You promised! Haaa..." she sighed. "I'm not petty enough to be angry at something as small as this... but next time," she warned, "Tell me. Got it?" 

"I one hundred per cent got it," he replied, nodding his head. Caca let go of his collar, and Averill started to fix it up. "How are you this strong..?" he mumbled. He was, of course, talking about Caca's surprising physical strength. While her body was thin, and most definitely fragile-looking, her strength was much greater than what you would expect of someone looking like this. 

(Naven told me about this before... I had never seen it in action before, but... it's true...) 

She disappeared into several bats and just went through the ground of the Main Hall. 

"If Caca came here to report that the five are awake again, then it's about time. Hopefully more wake up within the next year or so. Otherwise... I might have to destroy them. Very well then. Let's go!" he said. 

Averill cheerfully pumped his fist into the air and exited the room. In the corner of his eye, something small and unnatural caught his attention. Walking over to it, Averill noticed it was shoes. They were on the smaller side, but a bit larger than Averill's own shoe size. And it wasn't just one, it was a pair. 

(Does this pair belong to Cyneburg? I believe she was wearing them...) he thought. (No matter. She probably took off these kitten heels because they made a large amount of noise when walking with them. If she took them off... then they must be close by. I don't see Ryan or the other three members so they must have travelled in a group again.) 

He picked them up to inspect them, but quickly tossed them away after realising how foul they were. 

"Oh right. Why can't I just teleport them all to the Main Hall's throne room? It would be much more efficient that way." but then, he suddenly groaned. "Caca just left... and I don't have good mastery over [Basic Teleportation] either." 

He sighed and continued walking. Averill was aware that his footsteps echoed throughout the hall and he wouldn't do anything about it. After all, he knew that if given the suspense, humans would likely overreact, and he wanted that. 

He wanted Ryan—or anyone really, to panic and give out their locations to him. 

A minute later, his ears heard a rhythmic beat. 

"There you are." he steadily approached the area where the beat was coming from. As he got closer, he heard muffled breathing so he confirmed that the group of five was hiding there. 

The place was at one of the four corner points of the Main Hall, so a decent amount of protection was provided to the five, however, as Averill designed this building himself, he knew the building like the back of his palm. Nothing could escape from Averill when they were in the Main Hall. 

...

(My heart... why is it beating so fast?) Ryan questioned. (Why? Is it because of that ominous presence that is coming over here?) he further questioned. 

"Sir Ryan... this..." Cyneburg was terrified. No, terrified is an understatement. She was basically petrified to stone. Even her face, it was a mystery how her cute face could make such a terrified and horrific expression.

"I get it," he replied, steadying her arm. "I know I used this term a lot in the past couple of hours... but I'm sure. That is the presence of an absolute monster." 

"I can agree." 

"Huh. Is that what you think of me?" a voice suddenly joined the conversation. 

"Wha-?" Ryan turned around to see someone. Someone not too tall but not too short either. "Who are you?" 

"Before that..." the figure said, clapping his hands, before the sleeping bodies of Noir, Inei and Phila suddenly arose and they all regained consciousness immediately after. 

"Huh? Where are we...?" Noir mumbled with tiredness in her voice. 

"Aha-ha-ha!" the figure laughed. "I knew it! Humans are so interesting! They are far different than what the books have told me!" there seemed to be delight in the figure's voice. 

"Stay back," Ryan announced. "He's dangerous." 

"Ah. Fine," the figure's voice turned serious. "Let's get down to business." 

"What do you mean by 'business'?" Ryan questioned the figure. 

"You'll see. But first, let me introduce myself." suddenly, small fires appeared all around the group of five and the figure, making sure everything was well lit up. 

And then, Ryan saw him for the first time. 

Soft, moonlight-coloured hair of medium length, red, almost bloody eyes that reflected light like rubies and wearing a purple jacket of such high quality that it downright shames the clothing of even the highest officials of the Xvan Royal Government. 

A yellow gemstone, held together by a small golden frame connected to the white shirt worn underneath a darker purple coloured suit vest. The figure also wore black leather trousers of the highest quality, covering some of his black socks and wore leather shoes. 

The image presented to Ryan and the others was none other than Royalty. No, even higher than that. The figure was almost like...

"—A deity..?" Ryan uttered. 

"Hm?" he stared at Ryan with a puzzling look on his face, before bursting out with laughter once again. "Aha-ha-ha! Me? A deity? Are you joking? Deities... Gods... they don't exist," the voice suddenly went serious. "But... if you want to call me that, then go ahead. I shall be your deity." 

They were all baffled by what the figure just had said to them. 

"What..?" they all mumbled in confusion. 

"You heard me. I shall be your deity. I am a noble person, so I will accept anyone who worships me. However, in any case, those who betray me, or even think of betraying me..." his icy cold eyes were like a predator looking at its prey, "Then I shall give you a fate worse than death. How about it?" 

Ryan hesitated for a moment. 

"May I ask you one thing before I tell you my answer?" he asks. 

"Go ahead." 

"C-can..." his voice was shaky, and his entire body trembling. "What happened to us?" 

The figure just smiled like he had expected his question. 

"That's it? Very well. I shall inform you. But first, my name. My name is Averill. Averill Ezhil Nieun. It's a pleasure to meet you all." 

The five of them collapsed onto their knees with a look of dread on their faces. 

"A member from one of the four major vampire Clans..." Inei said. "We're screwed." 

"No need to worry," Averill replied to all of the dread. "I'm not what the rumours or stories that you humans have. Just hear me out." 

"C-can I have your word for that?" Ryan responded to Averill. 

Averill smiled. 

"Of course. Now, I shall answer your question, Ryan," all five of them were now keenly listening to Averill. "You all died in the volcanic eruption that happened a day ago. The ash, lava and heat quite literally destroyed all of Deplan City." he bluntly stated. 

"Please... could you tell me if anyone is alive?!" Ryan cried out. He was starting to panic. 

"Everyone died. All three million citizens died. While most of the citizens were able to evacuate from the city, something strange happened. The walls of the volcano that was facing the evacuating citizens collapsed in an explosion and the lava, rock and ash that spewed out of the volcano caused over two point five million people to lose their lives." 

"Aah." Ryan and Cyneburg both collapsed onto their knees again. But this time, in realisation. 

"Mother... father..." her eyes, blank and in disarray as tears spewed out. 

"This ain't true..." Inei mumbled in disbelief. 

"It's all true," he assured them. "However..." 

"However..?" repeated Inei. 

"I have the power to revive them. Just like what I did with you all. I will put it bluntly," he extended his hand as if it was welcoming them, "Work under me and I will revive your loved ones. Of course, reviving someone is extremely difficult, therefore, my way to counter this is to use money instead as a medium." he said. 

"Money..? So you want us to work under you, and as payment, we'll get our loved ones revived?" Ryan replied. For a single moment, his face lit up. 

Averill smiled. 

"Correct. As an added bonus, I will give you the chance to enact revenge on those who had destroyed the walls of the volcano and how to find them." 

"Wait, what?!" Cyneburg shouted out. She was in a rage.

"You heard me correctly. That's right. It was not a natural accident, but a man-made one. So? Do we have ourselves a deal?" 

Cyneburg gritted her teeth. 

"Very well. I accept your deal." 

"Hey! What do you mean by this, Cyneburg?!" demanded Inei. 

"What do you mean? My entire family is dead! My friends are all dead! What do I have left?! That's right! Absolutely nothing!" she shouted at Inei with anger, but also sadness in her voice. Her eyes were on the verge of tears and her entire body was shaking. She walked and then stood in a spot right beside Averill, facing the group of four. 

"I... I'm sorry..." he replied, looking down towards the floor. 

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Cyneburg. But welcome to the team. How about you four?" Averill asks. 

"I... accept..." Ryan responded, looking away. He was ashamed of himself to be joining hands with a vampire—a member of the Ezhil Clan too, but they have the power to bring back his loved ones, such as Kela, his best friend, Vera, his loving wife, and his children, Helis, Lany and Nena, so he decided it was for the best to join hands with the enemy of the world than to live life without them.

It was definitely a difficult decision to make, but Ryan believed it was the best option. 

"Hoho? Ryan! I'm glad you decided to join us." Averill replied to Ryan's answer. Ryan then followed what Cyneburg had done just moments prior, but stood on the left side of Averill, facing the group of three. 

"I guess we have no choice, do we?" Inei shrugged. He joined Cyneburg and Ryan. 

"H-hey!" cried out Phila. It was only Noir and herself now. She turned to look at Noir to see what decision she was going to make but to her horror, she wasn't there. Panicking and sweating now, Phila quickly turned her head around to face Averill again, and as expected, Noir was walking towards him. 

"Noir! Why?!" she yelled out to her. 

Noir stopped and slowly turned around. 

"I'm sorry. It's just... I want to see my family again." 

Phila was taken aback. She grew up in an abusive household, with her dad being an alcoholic and would often take drugs to ease the pain from his time in the military while her mum was a golddigger, only marrying her father because he brought a great amount of dough to the family. 

So she didn't understand why these people would join hands with the world's enemy, a vampire just so they could bring back their family members. She just couldn't understand why. 

"It's just you left, huh," Averill commented on the situation. "Just from your eyes, you won't join me, is that correct?" 

"Heh. You are smarter than I expected." she replied in an arrogant manner. 

But Averill paid her way of speech no mind. He was still in a good mood. 

"I will take that as a compliment. But it seems like my current conditions are not appealing towards you. So, what would you like?" 

"What..?" 

"What would you like in order for you to join me?"

"I'm not interested in joining hands with anyone. Especially a vampire." 

"Is that so? That's quite unfortunate then," Averill looked disappointed in her. "If you aren't going to join me, then I have no use for you anymore. Naturally, I have no intentions of just merely allowing you to escape, thus, I have no choice but to kill you." 

"Are you serious? This can't be happening right now." she mumbled in fear. 

"Of course. I will repeat it again. Join me and I'll let you live. Plus, I shall grant you whatever you wish for. Power? Money? Status?" Averill replied. 

"I have no interest in those things-" 

"What about a loving family?" Averill said, cutting off Phila's response. Phila hesitated for a second before she gave an answer. 

"No. My answer is still no." 

"Is that your final answer?" he looked at her dead in the eyes. It was intimidating and it made Phila step back a bit. 

"Y-yes." she answered Averill. 

He sighed. 

"Very well. Go run. Run as fast as you can. I'll give you a five-second headstart. My familiars are hungry for some human blood," Averill smiled evilly. "I'm sure you don't want to become mere food, right?" 

Phila didn't even respond she immediately ran past Averill, Cyneburg, Ryan, Inei and Noir into pitch-blackness. She couldn't see anything but with the help of [Night Vision], a Tier 2 spell that she had mastered, she was able to mostly see her surroundings. After the five seconds were up, a loud howl echoed throughout the hall. Afterwards, the panting and fast-paced footsteps of an animal, a wolf probably came chasing after Phila. 

(This is bullshit! What kind of mentally insane person, no, vampire is he?!) she complained in her mind. She caught her breath after several minutes of running away, thinking that she had gotten away, and celebrated her victory. What she was unaware of was that one, she was celebrating too early, and second, she was completely surrounded by these wolves who were hungry for human flesh. 

By the time she realised that, it was too late. It was fight, or be eaten. 

...