16 The Power of Lord 7th Bloodline Magic

"Keep dreaming, comrade; work hard, and you might get a taste of fine wine one day.... now, let us put our twisted humor aside for the time being and follow me, comrade." I'll show you our most hazardous and precious treasures, which we keep in the toy box's deepest recess."

Olga remarked this while leaning down to meet Merciless' height and raising his head to meet hers. Only to release him as she folded her hands again and took the lead as she moved ahead of Merciless, waving him to follow her.

Merciless, on the other hand, looked ahead at Olga, who was purposefully walking with her hands folded, as she proceeded to tease Merciless by swaying her hips from side to side, jiggling her fat ass that showed through her skin-tight silky red dress that stuck to her skin, showing all her curves and underwear outlines. Olga's ass jiggled at the slightest movement in a pretty graceful but equally alluring manner, giving a preview of what could one day be his for the taking. To say the least, it was an appealing vista.

Although she was blind, Olga could feel Merciless staring at her ass so intently that she felt as if she were being stripped naked by his eyes alone. However, what he did next made her suspicious because it was the same thing he did earlier. Merciless began to close his eyes and follow her, but unlike before, his head raised slightly, his eyes no longer peering into her backside. However, unlike before, when she felt like she was being stripped naked by his intense steer, this feeling of being watched in every direction imaginable began to overtake her. Olga didn't show it, but she began to quiver slightly, perhaps from the excitement of the unexpected feeling of discomfort.

But she could feel it; Merciless was monitoring her not only from the outside but also from within. Olga quietly told herself at the time that she didn't have any evidence, but Merciless was indeed monitoring her. With his eyes open, they can see far and wide, but with his eyes closed, they feel as if they can see beyond the veils of reality itself. Is she dreaming things, or do his eyes go further than she expected?

'What a strange sensation! I have what vampires call supernatural senses, which extend far beyond the capabilities of even progenitor vampires. My other senses naturally developed once I lost my sight, to the point where I could smell what others couldn't, feel what others couldn't, and hear things that were nearly impossible to hear under normal conditions. However, the boy's sense of awareness is absolutely... hmmm.... yep, it is the only way to explain this feeling; his awareness appears... otherworldly.'

Olga thought to herself as she took Merciless to the rear of the room to show her the weapons he could choose from. However, she was simply being slightly facetious when she said Merciless was submissive and breedable in his own fuckup manner, after all, his unhinged honesty made them compatible in some ways. It reminds her of a long-lost friend who died in battle and had the same amount of heart as he did.

So his staring at her enticed her to put on a little show to advertise what could happen if he genuinely succeeded in his courtship quest. But, in any case, the clan head gave Olga a task, which was to give Merciless a weapon of his choice from one of the four toy rooms she thought he was worthy of. It was a test of sorts, and Merciless passed it in an unconventional manner, and that manner can only be called him rizzing Olga up with his honesty and unique smell.

As Olga previously stated, a Michellian is recognized as a warrior clan full of numerous fighters of old, from the legendary Alexander the Great to the combat lunatic that is Lady Tomyris. These magnificent elites of the Elderblood clan have blazed a red road from the time of the dinosaurs to the present. The mere name of the Michellian clan is considered an icon of fear, second only to the evilest clan among the seven great families, the Neoprometian clan, who are known as Loviatar vampires, a clan filled with history's most horrible criminals, such as Jack the Ripper and Tedios Bunndy.

Each clan was unique in their own way. Given that each clan has its own set of beliefs, powers, and requirements in order to become a member of that clan in the first place. But when it came to the birth of Heir, it was a different story; in a way, Merciless was not only the Heir but also the future 7th progenitor if Michelle died by some miracle.

As a result, Merciless had to be reared in the image of Michelle; in simpler terms, Merciless was a blank canvas that had to be recreated in the likeness of Michelle; the process was bound to be arduous. However, it is not his strength or title that distinguishes Michelle; it is the fact that, of the seven royal vampire clans that exist, he is the only vampire who does not fear the creator; instead, Michelle regards him as his father, whom he wishes to surpass. Not like a cat pursuing a tiger's tail. Because of this, he is known as the most fearless vampire in existence, and Merciless needs to be just as fearless.

When one is embraced, they acquire the blessing of immortality at the expense of their humanity. That person incorporates a component of their sire's personality attribute into their own; as a result, the new personality behavior that is shown by the kilde is to some extent identical to the sire. However, there are rare occasions where a dominant mind or highly strong emotions begin to intertwine and can give birth to very harmful, if not unconventional, personality alterations that do not correspond with a clan's core personality pattern. She herself was, after all, a prime illustration of this.

But Merciless was cognitively different beyond this unusual mental mutation; Michelle's personality trait flowed through his existence, along with his personal enormous hatred for the Gods, to the point that her hatred for the Gods paled in comparison to his. It's like comparing a forest fire to the core of the sun. As a result, that great hatred gave rise to something very horrifying.

She could feel it and sense it, and tragically, she herself felt a little influenced by it. Yes! Out of all the vampires here, Merciless was most likely the most vicious, if not the most dangerous. She has no idea how deep this goes, but beneath his golden aura is a black hole that can only be described as a sea of misery for anyone who is unlucky to go beyond the event horizon. It made her feel both excited and extremely uneasy. Was this perhaps fear? Well, she didn't want to think like that, but Olga knew if Merciless was left to grow, this world would witness its darkest age yet. So much so that the Dark Ages would be a preferable time period to live in.

Olga reflects on it now and realizes that Michelle could have predicted this to some extent as well, as she recalls his directions to her when she was called to his office.

"Olga, my old friend, my crimson-clad champion, my son, my kilde, Merciless..." I could feel it; my blood sang in unison for anarchy—odd, a hate that defies logic. It's a terrifying sensation, but for some reason, it makes me feel liberated. Hehehe... What a troublesome child... Take care of him for me. I feel like we'll be more connected in this new web of chaos more than we'd like. However, his desires concern me; therefore, test his will, test his ambitions, and if you find him worthy of this hatred, bring him not to paradise but to a realm where monsters are born... Do with him as you will... nay! Instead, try your best not to get corrupted by his presence too early."

Those were her master's final words to Olga about Merciless, and she couldn't make sense of them at first. However, after speaking with Merciless face-to-face, she finally understood what Michelle's parting words meant. Merciless certainly hadn't noticed it yet. Olga was certain of it, but his presidency was passively corrupting everyone around him to meet his ideals in some way. It even affected Michelle, who was the first to realize it. This indicates that Merciless can corrupt even the most twisted of individuals farther down a rabbit hole of unfathomable madness, which is truly a scary thought. He was a magnet for chaos, which contradicts the primary personality attribute of a Michellian. If Michelle dies, everyone will be reborn in Merciless' image, whether they like it or not, and if they hate it, they will be forced to love it.

Olga Aglo would not acknowledge it, as it was unbefitting of a Michellian known as the most fearless of vampires to live. But she inwardly accepted it, to someone who made her feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Someone she sincerely and genuinely fears... the sleeping dragon is still an egg right now, but when he matures, everything will burn to embers even under the grace of moonlight, where vampires rule.

To vampires, the greatest symbol of fear is the sun, but soon enough, there will be something that sits above the sun, and that will be the day when the fear of the unknown will apply even to the supernatural.

It was difficult to grasp Madam Olga's actual beliefs, but her senses never lied. But in any case, she thought to herself.

'My lord, what you have made is not an heir to inherit your will, but rather a dark messiah who will drive all to depravity and turn the world as we know it, into one of blood and instability.'

Olga said this to herself, but was surprised when Merciless caught her attention and stated to her.

"Say, Madam Olga, where exactly is this so-called back door to the toy room? We've been walking in circles for ten minutes now in this looping hallway you've led me to... agh... there we go again for the eighth time. We're at the same exact spot where the hallway began to loop. Is there a reason we're going around in circles?"

Merciless inquired, his eyes still closed... but Madam Olga was genuinely surprised, as she stated.

"My... my... it's as if your eyes don't miss a single detail in any way, not even I notice this at first. Crazy right? Given how fucking awesome I am. But yeah I will admit that I didn't realize it until I was told that I was under the influence of an array, which was originally instructed by Lord Seventh himself to his alchemist team to construct a mechanism to hide and safeguard the toy box. But you're right: we're stuck in a never-ending loop. This ancient array, you see, is the culmination of the masterpiece of hundreds of master-class alchemists working together to produce what the Elderblood clan calls the "Twelve Hands of Hicrophonde."

"You see, this special array guards not only the manor, but also the underground city and all sectors." Every sector and significant room has a defense mechanism in place to keep intruders at bay in some way. These so-called twelve hads are split into twelve sorts of impacts that range in size from mild to insanely unfair. Elements, curses, illusion, time, space, circumstances, death, mazes, summoning, debuffs, hybrids, and punishment are among the twelve hands."

"As you may have guessed, Sector-17 is protected by a temporal time loop effect as a result of the fourth hand, which is the hand of time, and the effect chosen for Sector-17 is an endless time loop with only one way to break it." But don't worry, this time loop can be interrupted. After looping this circle exactly nine times, we will come to a halt in front of one of the many picture frames on the wall and touch it. And that will unveil a door that conceals our clan's most powerful weaponry."

Madam Olga explained as she revealed the primary security system surrounding the entire domain of the Elderblood family's main manor. Merciless was of course left dumbfounded as he responded by opening his eyes in disbelief.

"Holy shit... are you serious, to think this place had such a useful security mechanism to keep us safe all day, every day?" It must have taken years to build such a massive array with such various effects right?"

"Hehehe... You're right, Merciless, though I'm not much of a historian given that this place existed long before I was turned." In fact, neither of my grandparents had yet been born. You'd have to ask Lord Quincy about the specifics of the array's development, but I'll say this: even with the greatest Alchemists, an array like this would be difficult to create under normal circumstances. Yes, we may use the power of Alchemy to transform the very constructions of reality around us by using the secrets of the universe to our liking. However, making this location inaccessible to even the Gods requires the usage of Lord 7th Ichormancy."

Merciless immediately became perplexed as he inquired.

"Inaccessible even to the Gods... what do you mean?" And what exactly is Ichor~~mancy? "Does it have anything to do with a vampire individual Ichor or something?"

Olga laughed yet again as she proceeded to answer each of Merciless's questions one by one.

"...Hehehe... it's nice to be relied on; it makes me feel knowledgeable and all-knowing when, in truth, it's quite the contrary. But let your precious blind mommy explain why you are so special among other vampires that exist, even those that have the title of duke or are a part of the royal family. To begin answering the first question, I must first explain the second... which is the specifics on what Ichormancy is and why individuals who possess it are to be feared. First and foremost, are you aware of what Witches are, you should be, you know given, your previous heritage?"

When Merciless heard this, he nodded his head in affirmation, and Olga began to explain the details of the art of Ichormancy.

"Good! Good! This will make things much easier to explain, so to put it simply, Ichormancy, commonly known as bloodline magic, can only be practiced by individuals who are of direct ancestry to the monarch. Every bloodline magic that exists, the vampire king can use, or more accurately, formerly was able to utilize. You see, witches and warlocks receive their strong magical powers from the Gods they serve. Vampires, or the royal family, and saquat originators, in particular, can utilize magic; however, this magic does not come from a pure divine source; rather, it comes from the origin of the dark father himself, who is the king of all vampires."

"Before there were 21 clans, there were only seven clans known as the seven royal clans, but before there were even seven progenitors, there was only one man revered as the son of primordial chaos, whom all know as the vampire king Lord Eos himself." Eos was born with seven magical natures that were unique to him. No one else could use these natures, and each nature he possessed could manipulate the fundamental laws and boundaries of creation itself, in a way the vampire king is literal God, but he doesn't like to be called that, the vampire king despises the Gods, but he also knows they are necessary to maintain balance and order, or so he likes to put it."

"What would one day be known as Ichormancy or bloodline magic is derived from seven natures." His natures are seen giving birth to the same progenitors that exist now. And, to be honest, Merciless, bloodline magic is considerably more potent than divine authority which is the power of the Gods themselves. Michelle, prior to being reduced to the seventh Progenitor, was actually the third Progenitor, while some may argue that he was the second. Nobody knows for sure, although it may be one of the two. However, a Progenitor's status simply determines political influence over all clans. Even after Michelle was demoted as a punishment for his offenses, no clan dared to command him. "Can you tell me why?"

Olga inquired of Merciless, who, predictably, reacted in kind.

"Because it was too strong."

"Hehehe... you're right, but you're also wrong... out of all the magical natures that were broken apart from Eos when he created the progenitors. He was going to keep the nature of Desire for himself, but that nature was like a living magical principle itself; and the moment the nature of desire detached from Eos when given the chance, that very nature chose its own master almost as if to say Eos was not worthy of its power, which was his legal birth right when you think about it."

"However, Eos was a very understanding person who didn't mind either way, but the nature of desire chose the young Michelle as its host, and the moment it did, Michelle became the first vampire who didn't turn via consumption of Eos blood, instead he was turned into a vampire free of Eos will, and yet, in an ironic twist of fate, Michelle was extremely close to Eos as he saw him as his father, similar to the story of Lucifer and the biblical God. But, in any case, as Michelle's power grew, so did his magic. Michelle bloodline magic is capable of delivering its user his or her deepest and darkest wishes as long as an item he had was strong enough to contain that desire. And so with his newfound power, Michelle became the most feared vampire among the six that remained with the exception of Eos, who always seemed uncaring. But his most notable feat was when he devised the seven Weapons of Grace, which all vampires fear. These weapons are so powerful it is the weapons each progenitor needs permission to use them from the king, as each Progenitor possesses one of the seven weapons."

"Each weapon is capable of making even the most feeble of men capable of killing the likes of Gods and Devils alike as if their invincibility and immortality meant nothing, and each of these weapons is capable of killing the Vampire King just the same." To be honest, the scar on Eos' chest that never fades is a constant reminder that Michelle is the most powerful Ichormancy user there is... but, for some inexplicable reason, Michelle, despite everything the king has put him through, cannot oppose the king."

"And, unlike the other progenitors, Michelle is the only one who addresses the king as father, apart from his children." As a result, many people believe Michelle was Eos's first actual biological son, but neither of them confirms this, therefore no one knows for sure. I could see the pain in Michelle's eyes whenever he is inquired who his true parents were and he simply replied, "Inside my stomach." It's a terrifying story, but you can see why the "Twelve Hands of Hicrophonde" are so powerful, right?"

"It was a desire to be unreachable by the heavens, an impassable barrier to intruders and traitors alike." The alchemy combined with it is merely the foundation that covers the core; it is Michelle's power that rewrites the rules of creation based on his desires, making the array one of the most frightening arrays to ever exist, but aside from that, I know nothing else about it comrade."

"However, returning to Ichormancy, it is essentially the seven original magics that once emanated from the dark father Eos, the vampire king." And Eos's only remaining magical nature is the nature of Liberation, which means he is free from the norms of the universe, making him invincible in that regard; but, Michelle's desire to reach his father went beyond the restrictions of his liberation, which ended up in Michelle scaring him in the process once upon a time in the past."

"However, because of Eos's unique and overpowered magical nature, he can create even more magical nature." It is how saquats are created because he freed those who reached a high enough rank from the control of their former clan masters if they so desired, and gave them their own kind of Ichormancy as proof of being independent of their former clan's regulations when they split off from a clan to pursue their own power. However, the seven original Bloodline magics are still far more potent than the artificially manufactured ones, so much so that it is not even debatable."

"However, in order to use Ichormancy, you must be a direct descendant of the sire from which it came." So Michelle has the strongest strand of desire magic, and now you have that magical nature as well, which is the power to control desires. And when Michelle dies, if that is even possible, his strand will attach to yours, making the magic at least ten times stronger, as the more it is inherited and passed down by death and replacement, the stronger it becomes... so yeah, despite Michelle's unwillingness to conceive legitimate heirs, you are by right his biological son, and as such, you are next in line if the scenario presents itself as the worst possible case. You can, however, employ Michelle's bloodline magic, and if you have children, they will receive a bit of the strand of desire as well, albeit it will be less effective than your strand, much less Michelle."

Olga stated as she explained what she knew to her admirer who is insane enough to court her. But after she tells what she knows, she stops at a random photo in the hallway, which is a shot of a giant dead tree with nothing more than a swing on it, while the background is simply a dreary wasteland... and a small house in the back - a dark semblance of gothic art indeed.

However, when Olga stops in front of this portrait and touches it, a massive metal door with a scanner attached appears. The computer on the door then proceeded to speak as said.

[Warning! You are about to enter a prohibited area with level four clearance and above required to pass, please, assert a single blood sample to proceed past this door, failing to do so in ten seconds will trigger the necessary security system to ward off any intruders at any costs... In T-minus 10 seconds, the countdown being..... 10....9....8....7.]

Before the countdown reaches the five-second range, Olga uses her claws to make a vertical gash in her left hand and squeezes thrice, causing blood to drop on the scanner. And as soon as it did, the woman's voice on the computer began to speak again.

[Sample obtained, now analyzing... please wait for results.]

[Completed analysis... Administrator Olga Aglo, welcome to the Sector-17 Mystic rank toy box.]

Right after the confirmation, the door began to make a lot of noise as the numerous complicated locks within and behind the door began to unravel itself one by one, and rise upwards as hot steam could be seen coming from the door itself, and a dull red glowing light could be seen from beyond the limits of the door.

And the minute it opened, Olga looked at Merciless with a predator-like smile, licking her lips as she said.

"Now then, let's see if your taste in weapons is as weird, and esoteric as your taste in women... comrade."