Prologue

The wind was cool and fast as it was hitting the falling Vandalieu's face. The normally expressionless face blinked showing a rare sign of emotion. "This will be troublesome" Vandalieu thought, sighing to himself. His eyelids opened showing tired eyes of crimson and purple which indicated his unique nature.

10 Minutes ago

"My Lord Van-sama, perhaps we can use my dimension travel ability to return to Talosheim" Sam (A.N. I'm going to be using my artistic license here since this is important to the plot.). "Alright Sam, maybe this ability of yours can make travel faster" Vandalieu said emotionlessly in agreement facing his carriage driver. "Thank you, my lord! It would me my honor" Sam said as he bowed enthusiastically from the carriage seat. Eventually, the carriage left with Vandalieu and his entourage riding in the expanded carriage.

When they entered the alternate dimension, the top of the carriage was removed allowing everyone to see the surrounding area. Vandalieu was looking over the carriage down into the dimensional "sea" below. It pulsated an emerald green glow to the rhythm of a calm heartbeat. "Be careful Van, Sam mentioned that our powers are weakened here so it will be hard to catch you if you fall" says Darcia with a smiling face but concerned voice.

Meanwhile, Isla and Eleanora were having another verbal argument. Insults involving phrases such as "Insolent Child" and "Old Hag" were thrown in combination with other colorful words. Eventually, their heated conversation escalated into a normal impromptu brawl of magicless unarmed combat with insults still being thrown regularly. Though mostly ignored by Van and the others, the living armors Saria and Rita still frantically tried to cool the situation to no avail with pleadings such as "Please calm down Lady Isla and Lady Eleonora, one of you might fall of" falling on deaf ears.

After landing an equal number of blows, the pair began to grapple with the goal of forcing each other to the ground. This deadlock retained for a solid minute with no progress made in either direction. Unfortunately, due to fatigue and thoughtless emotion; both combatants slipped and fell towards Vandalieu who was still looking over the carriage with interest in the passing waves below.

Vandalieu who was engrossed by the glowing water blinked with surprise as he was pushed off the boat by his two subordinates. "Vandalieu-sama!" was screamed by everyone as they looked over at their King who was falling to the sea.

SPLASH

Vandalieu Zakkart was laying in the middle of a dirt road staring up at the night sky. "What happened" Vandalieu thought as he stood up and started examining his surroundings. Since he felt thirsty, we began walking to a river beside the road while trying to recall what had happened. As he got to the river's edge, he kneeled down to drink but then saw his reflection in the water through the pale moonlight.

He saw that he was around the height of a small child with pale porcelain-like skin which matched the color of his hair. Eventually, he noticed his eyes, crimson red and violet; immediately he felt a splitting headache as if there were wounds in his head that had suddenly started hurting. He held his throbbing head with both of his hands as details of his past started to return. He was a dhampir named Vandalieu Zakkart he remembered, he had the blood of a vampire and another race, his existence was hated by humans. He remembered being hunted by them as he was growing up; additionally, for some reason he also had memories of being trapped in a chair and tortured by humans in white clothing.

"I have to be wary of humans, they will have no second thoughts in hunting me; especially those dressed white"

"But... why can't I remember anything else"?

Vandalieu, started to get frustrated internally since he didn't know where he was or what he was doing. "Think Van, Think!" Vandalieu started to yell, he felt frustrated by the holes in his memory. Eventually, one vague memory returned, "I remember, that for the longest time I wanted to protect someone desperately and make sure no one would hurt them" Van recalled.

"But who was it?" Van then asked to himself. Van stared back at his reflection in the river.

"I have to find them"

"My only clues are: my race and what I look like, this isn't enough"

His head still throbbing, he kept trying to look for answers in the water. His search ended with him staring back into his own eyes.

"My eyes, they caused the pain in my head. This is vague, but it must be important" Vandalieu concluded.

With this revelation, the pain started to subside when...

"You there by the river, show yourself!" someone yelled.

Hinata's POV:

Hinata and the other captains were leading their groups of soldiers from the front as they were traveling back towards the Capital after being teleported back to the nearby countryside. Though her duel with Rimuru ended in a loss, she was relieved that none of her soldiers were killed during the surrounding skirmish.

Emperor Ruminas was accompanying them in a carriage from behind a few hundreds of meters away. Though a few days had passed since the revelation regarding the nature of their faith, many of their group besides Hinata still sometimes looked back at the carriage warily. "I'll need to have a talk with everyone again later" Hinata thought to herself as she wondered how to continuously manage the fallout from everything that happened. She looks up at the night sky lit up by the white moon which matched the color of many of her company's clothing and accessories.

After a few minutes of marching on the road along the river, Hinata notices a figure in the distance kneeled over staring into the water. She squints her eyes and frowns. The capital and nearest village was still some distance away, it would be odd for anyone to be outside and alone at this time of night.

As they get closer, she orders the convoy to stop and begins walking towards the figure accompanied by her captains. She first notices that the figure seems short, comparable to that of a 10-year-old. She begins to ease slightly hoping it was only a child who had run away. Her suspicions arose however when she noticed that the figure's hair matched the white moon shining above them. "Children don't have white hair" she thought as she readied her hand at the hilt of the new sword Rimuru had given her after her old one was broken in their duel.

Eventually, once they were at the middle of the road beside the river where the figure was kneeling; she nodded at one of her captains. "You there by the river, show yourself!" Fritz commanded as he stepped forward a few paces. The figure who seemed to be holding their head in pain stopped, then they stood, turned around, and faced Fritz with their head bowed.

"I am Vandalieu" the figure said, they seemed to look like a normal child if it wasn't for the hair color. "Why are you out this hour? It's dangerous to be this far from the city at night" Fritz continued. "I'm looking for someone" the child replied. Judging from the bits of skin she could see, the child's complexion was similar to their hair, abnormally white and pure.

Hinata had an ominous feeling and interrupted, "I am Hinata Sakaguchi, in the name of our God Ruminas, look up child, who are you looking for" Hinata commanded and asked firmly. The child faced Hinata and looked up at her. "What?" Hinata thought as she saw the child's expressionless face, which was almost like the dolls she had seen being sold in her previous life. What stood out to her however was the child's eyes; "Crimson and Violet" there was only one being Hinata knew who had a similar trait.

Fritz and the rest of the captains froze, as they had made a similar realization. Then the child suddenly fell to the ground clutching their head in pain. Fritz and the other captains tried to step forward out of concern but Hinata stopped them. The child began releasing a large amount of aura, though it didn't seem to have malicious intent, the sheer amount was already at demon lord level.

The captains who had just noticed stepped back reflexively from the powerful aura. The child looked up at Hinata, looking at her hand readied at her sword. "I must protect them from you" the child said as the aura engulfing them suddenly became malicious. "Everyone get back!" Hinata ordered as she unsheathed her sword.

The Vandalieu Internal Conference POV

Vandalieu was already suspicious when he saw their white clothing. The knight who stepped forward and asked questions had sincere concern in his voice but everyone still looked at Vandalieu suspiciously.

While the conversation is happening, there is a large but orderly discussion within Vandalieu's mind.

"They are human knights in white" Vandalieu comments indicating his suspicion

"Should we be wary of all humans in white then? The one stepped forward seems decent" One Vandalieu Rebuts.

"Likely because they don't realize our nature" Another Vandalieu counters.

"Regardless, I should be careful" Concludes a fourth.

Then the other knight, who seemed to be their leader asked Vandalieu to look up at them and tell them who he was looking for. When Van obeyed and studied the knight leader, everyone froze staring at Vandalieu. The pain returned to his head as Vandalieu fell to the ground clutching his head.

The internal conference continued, however all the Vandalieus started to feel pain as well.

"Ughh.. Hinata Sakaguchi?" Vandalieu asks in pain

"The name is not familiar but it sounds odd"

"I feel angry hearing it, like I've been betrayed and hurt by it "

"It's not the name itself I think, but the format and similarity to others names that I've forgotten"

"Maybe people with names like this hurt us?"

All the Vandalieus thought for a few seconds on this final question.

"I think your right" says Vandalieu who spoke the thoughts for all attending the conference.

Another memory returned along with pain, that of being hunted by members of the church under orders of a God.

"God Ruminas? The knights here look like they are led by a God"

"However, not all Gods hunted us, some even supported us. Perhaps they are on our side"

"I do no remember any God named Ruminas helping us, I am sure of this"

The Vandalieu conference quietly nodded in agreement.

"So, they are human warriors dressed in white who serve a God we agree never aided us" is the conclusion of the conference

"That means", Vandalieu thought as he stared with judgment at the lady knight who had her hand at her sword. "I must protect them from you" he said with conviction as he revealed his claws.

Hinata's POV

"This is bad" Hinata thought as she began dodging Vandalieu's claws. They were fast and practiced, Hinata couldn't find an opening even with her [Mathematician] skill. Fritzs and the others tried to assist her however they were pushed back and forced to dodge tens of black orbs which were launched by Vandalieu. "Everyone focus on defending yourselves, get word to Lady Ruminas" Hinata ordered.

The battle continued for a few minutes as she realized that this would be a hard opponent; she had barely deflected to the ground Vandalieu's long sharp tongue which seemed to poison all living things it touched, as evidenced by the dead grass around the area. "I'm being pushed into a corner" Hinata admitted with a scowl. Accepting that, she had severely underestimated her opponent, she swallows her pride and attacks with [Meltslash].

Her new sword glows with holy disintegration magic, and she aims at Vandalieu's head. She feels some relief as her blade breaks through its claws and hit their head fully disintegrating it. After a few tense seconds, she stares at the headless child's body wondering if it will start moving.

Finally, Lady Ruminas arrived accompanied by the Pope of the church, Louis. "What happened Hinata? You look like you had just faced me or Rimuru" Ruminas commented on the Hinata's appearance which was rough to say the least. Her clothes were tattered with even her armor punctured by claw marks, she had numerous wounds and was breathing heavily.

"Ruminas-sama, do you know other vampires who are demon lord level?" Hinata asks with concern as she uncorks one of Rimuru's healing potions. Ruminas shakes her head in surprise as Hinata drinks the potion healing her wounds, but leaving the exhaustion. "None, even less if you consider that they dare oppose me by doing this. However, I shall...." Rumina's reply is cut short as she stares at the body a distance behind Hinata.

Hinata instinctively looks back drawing her blade as the demonic aura that disappeared returns with no weakening. She looks with caution as the body that was previously on the ground and headless begins to stands up with its head regenerated. "I see you're strong" the child says staring at her with an unmoved face.

Ruminas POV

Ruminas, was staring intently at the body of the child Hinata had "defeated". A child with white hair and skin, almost like a doll was staring at Hinata. It wore a dark scarf and cloak, along with two necklaces. The aura they were emitting surpassed Clayman's and could even compete with her own. More importantly, their eyes were of different colors like hers. One was crimson red like all vampires, however the other was dark violet.

Looking at the horns that had then just sprouted from the child's forehead, Ruminas wondered if this was one of the white primordial's lieutenants due to the hair and complexion. However, her intuition doubted this theory heavily. That annoying demon had no real reason to randomly send one of her lineages by itself to oppose her, especially one as strong as this.

Another fight would be problem, though Hinata was fully healed she was still exhausted, unlike the child who seemed unaffected from the previous battle. After debating for a few moments Ruminas makes a decision and steps forward past the Hinata, "Child who is your parent?" Ruminas asks hoping to gather information on who created such a dangerous foe. The child turns to her and looks at her face, "That stare directly into my eyes is unnerving" Ruminas thinks to herself.

However, for some reason as she looked at the child's eyes, she felt oddly concerned for the being staring at her." This child seems to be alone in my territory. Isn't it my responsibility as the emperor to help this lost child? If that eye truly indicates that it's a vampire, then I should ensure their safety as the first of our kind. I may not be their parent but I am opposed to hurting this child" Ruminas who was being strangely kind and sympathetic to one who just fought her subordinate concludes.

Suddenly, she is surprised, the previously blank face changes into one of confusion. " Mother?" the child suddenly looks at her with a dazed smile. "Ehhh?!" Ruminas and Hinata uncharacteristically exclaim.