Chapter 33: Among Us
"…idiots."
As much as I was a pacifist, I wasn't some idiot who was going to sit back and let people kill me without fighting back. Reaching for Night Fang, I pulled it free from the shawl and lashed out.
Before the three vampire knights at the front even know what was happening, they had lost their heads, their disembodied helms sinking into the dirt. Blood sprayed from their necks and they fell off their ferocious nightmares.
Their riders slain, the ferocious war stallions stampeded toward me, but I drew Blood Angel with my other hand and swung it. There was a crimson arc of mana and they fell past me, their black bodies in pieces.
"This guy!"
"He's no ordinary vampire!"
The other vampire knights reacted swiftly, pulling their steeds to a stop, but they were too late. Taking a step forward, I cast an ice spell and entombed the rest of the entourage in ice. Returning Night Fang to its shawl and my belt, I snapped my fingers and they shattered into countless fragments.
"You…who are you?!"
The vampire noble was the last to survive, his greater magical resistance allowing him to stay free of the ice. I could see a blood-red aura shimmering around him, protecting him from the ice. He clenched his fists and launched blood stakes at me, but I destroyed them with a swing of Blood Angel. I delivered a riposte, and blood whips unfurled from the ground and curled around his limbs and those of his fiercely neighing nightmare, restraining them.
The noble in black tried to pull free by exerting his blood-red aura, to no avail. He then turned to stare at the sword in my hand, obviously shocked.
"That's…the Blood Angel! The legendary sword that is said to amplify the powers of a vampire! Where did you get that from?"
"Oh?" I pushed my glasses up my nose with my other hand. Sheathing Blood Angel, I then slowly pulled the glove on my right hand free to reveal the brightly glowing crest.
"That's…that's…!" the vampire noble in black swallowed. "Your…your majesty?"
"Huh, you still have the audacity to address me as such even though you were planning to assassinate me?"
"No, that's…that's…!" Fear filled the vampire noble's voice and he thrashed even more desperately. "I'm sorry! I just…I just wanted to hear what the others have to say, that's all! I never had any intention of joining their schemes!"
Was this guy really that much of a fool to think I would believe that pathetic excuse?
Drawing an enchanted dagger, I casually tossed it and watched as it slit through the noble's throat. He gurgled, blood leaking from his neck, but was unable to clutch at it. His wound struggled to regenerate, but with the weapon lodged there, even his incredible healing prowess found itself restricted.
"Whoops," I said with a shrug. "I just wanted to use you as a target practice. I never had any intention of killing you."
He tried to say something, but with his vocal chords cut, only gibberish emerged.
"Besides, you tried to kill me for no reason other than camping out here." I approached him slowly, drawing Blood Angel. "That's enough justification for me to take your life in self-defense."
In a single stroke, I beheaded the vampire noble and cut his flailing nightmare into pieces. The blood wires then melted away into the ground and I picked up the noble's head, removing the mask and hood. I didn't recognize the dude, his expression frozen in horror, but I obliterated his head with a single stomp.
Using my blood magic, I drank the blood of the vampires in the clearing to enhance my power more, and then got rid of the bodies. While I did so, I made sure to keep the mask and the black cloak. They would come in useful.
*
The next night, the conclave gathered within the main hall of the abandoned Bournemouth Castle. They were dressed in cloaks of different color, but wearing the same silver mask. I glanced about, amused. Besides the uniform silver masks, the nobles had chosen specific colors for their cloaks.
There was one who wore a brown cloak. One dressed in red, one in cyan, one in yellow, one in green, and of course I was in black. Due to the secrecy of this meeting and the need to keep our identities concealed, none of the nobles were allowed to bring their personal guard or knights. It was to keep everyone's power in check, so as to avoid any treachery.
Once they reached the outskirts of the castle, the personal guard and escorts were ordered to turn back. The cloaked nobles then entered the castle alone, for the sole purpose of convening on the assassination of the Demonic Emperor. Of course, to prevent any of the others from being implicated if the scheme failed and one of them got caught, they had decided to conceal their identities from even each other. Vampires were capable of hypnotism, which they could put to great use in interrogation sessions. So it was possible to get the names of the other co-conspirators if just a single person was caught.
That explained the colored cloaks and the silver masks. The vampire nobles then decided to take on code names according to color. Needless to say, I was Black.
"As you all already know," Red began. "We are all here to discuss the strategy of eliminating the Demonic Emperor."
"We will have to put aside our differences and work toward this goal," Yellow agreed. "He is currently the greatest threat to our ambitions…but also the weakest at the moment. We must take him down before he gains legitimacy and more power."
"Correct," Brown growled and slammed a huge fist on the table. "I can't stand the thought of that pathetic loser taking charge! Not only did he kill Archduke Lucard through a surprise attack and dishonorable tactics, he still has the audacity to succeed the previous Demonic Emperor! How outrageous! I won't stand for it!"
"On the other hand," Cyan began. "Don't you think the five major warlords are bigger threats at the moment? Shouldn't we focus on them instead? This new Demonic Emperor doesn't seem to pose much of a problem."
"Are you sympathizing with him, Cyan?" Green asked. Cyan shook his head.
"Not at all," he replied. "But Brown has a point. He's the weakest threat at the moment. So why bother with him?"
"Because if we don't eliminate him right now, when he's still a seedling, he will grow beyond our reach," Red replied.
"Besides, why do we need a reason?" Brown scoffed. "I want to kill that loser. Therefore he must die."
What a bastard…
"What do you think, Black?" Yellow asked, turning to me. "You've been unusually quiet."
"Oh, I'm merely pondering on how we should assassinate him." I glanced at Brown. "Do you even know where he is right now?"
"Yeah, he's currently in the province of Count Lyon," Red said. "I've just received a tipoff from an extremely reliable source."
"If that's the case, we can also destroy Lyon and grab his territory while at it!" Brown said with relish.
"We'll have to be careful, though," Green spoke up. "Lyon's wife is the daughter of the Blood Sword Demon, Valencia. If he comes to Lyon's aid, then we're going to have a hard time."
"Bah!" Brown snapped. "With the six of us pooling our resources together, what do we have to fear? A single count and a baron? They are nothing compared to us!"
"Several other barons and viscounts have also been rallying under their banner," Yellow reminded him. "We cannot be reckless."
Red sighed. "Well, we'll adjourn for the day and discuss this later. Please be at ease. I have erected an Andromeda Blood Barrier around the castle, so no one can get in or out. If anyone tries to intrude, they will be disintegrated immediately." There was a smile in his voice. "And I will remind you, there will be no backing out of this. Anyone who tries to leave now will also face the same demise."
"We've come too far to back out now," Yellow said.
"I actually commend you for constructing the Andromeda Blood Barrier," I spoke up, delight bubbling inside me. "I would have done the same thing myself."
"It does sound excessive, though," Cyan muttered, probably glaring darkly at Red from the looks of thing. "But Yellow is correct. There is no turning back."
"Hmph. Then we'll meet back here later." Brown turned away.
"Yeah, we shall attend to our respective tasks." Red glanced around. "This castle is in pretty bad shape. We should try to restore whatever we can."
"That's a good idea." I nodded. "I'll head to the armory then."
"I'll go to the kitchen and see if I can cook something up," Green said.
"Why?" Yellow was probably frowning. "We are vampires. We don't eat."
"I meant a blood cocktail, obviously. All that talking made me thirsty."
"That sounds like a good idea," Cyan agreed.
"Hmph, call me whenever you're ready," Brown said as he stomped off. I nodded and followed him, along with the other cloaked vampire nobles, all of us dispersing throughout the castle.
*
Brown was busily humming to himself as he fiddled with wires in the electrical room. He was busily trying to restart the generator, so as to fill the abandoned castle with energy again. Even though vampires didn't need light, they loved to put on appearances.
Not to mention, there were plenty of vaults that required electricity to unlock, lock, open and close. If we could get the power going…
Lightning magic sparked to life about Brown's fingers and he played with the wires. He transferred a good amount of energy into the dead conduits, trying to revive them.
"This will be our new base," he mused to himself. "Once we eliminate that damned loser of a Demonic Emperor, we can proceed to conquer Lyon's province! But this…this castle is where everything starts! It'll be our command hub! A place of historical significance! I can see it now!"
"You really seem to hold a grudge against the new Demonic Emperor, huh?" I said. Brown jumped and spun toward me, lightning scattering from his fingers.
"You…! Black!" he gasped. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the armory?"
"Yeah, I'm heading toward the armory, but I heard you muttering to yourself and I got curious. Why do you hate the new Demonic Emperor so much? Isn't he just a kid? None of us should have met him before."
"Are you kidding?" Brown scoffed. "How can you not care? He's a fucking upstart who so conveniently gets handed the emperor's crest and authority without working for it! He has no background, no status, nothing to speak of…he's just a baby compared to us! What right does he have to rule over us?"
"None," I agreed. Then I cocked my head to the side. "You also seem to have something against Count Lyon?"
"Nah," Brown said dismissively. "Lyon is just a weakling. His province is much better off under me. All those resources he has…they should be mine!"
In other words, it wasn't so much a grudge than it was out of greed.
There didn't seem to be any useful information I could get out of him. I probably didn't recognize him. And since he was so hostile, greedy and aggressive, he was a great threat. It was best to eliminate him as quickly as possible.
"That sounds like a good plan. Hopefully we'll find something in the armory that can help us."
"Heh. I'll leave that to you then."
Brown turned to resume his task. I waited patiently until his back was turned completely, then I shook off the shawl from my whip. In a single motion, I sliced through Brown's neck. He never knew what hit him. His head detached from his shoulders in a shower of blood.
The blood on Night Fang slowly disappeared into the black leather, the weapon hungrily drinking it. I then concealed it back under the cloth, turned away and disappeared into the shadows. Underneath my mask, I smirked.
"Let the games begin."