Banquet of the Serpents

Surprise Trivia: Scáthach is the series' most silent vampire due to her Ichor, but if she wasn't forced to be quiet, she would be the series' most expressive, if not the most chatty vampire of them all.

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'How... just... how did it end up like this?'

'We... no, life was good to some extent. We were a tribe full of proud goblins. We hunt as a group, destroying everyone who dares to enter our territory.'

'And then he came—a young boy with blue hair and light skin. At first glance, he appeared to be normal. But that was our ultimate shortcoming: we underestimated the adversary that entered our homeland. No! That wasn't it; even if we had overestimated the opponent, the disparity in power was too great to ignore.'

'My name is Gobuta, and I was given this name by the tribe's leader, the Orc king Gundula, who was also my father. Humans and other supernatural entities refer to us as tribesmen, but in reality, we are a small kingdom before our numbers dwindled to a mere thirteen thousand plus goblins who are nothing more than disposable objects to these evil monsters called vampires. Originally, we had 130,566 goblins, 33,453 larpia, 875 female livestock that produced thousands more of our kind every week, 122 orcs who served as the king's royal guards, and seven high orcs, one of whom was the king and six of whom were his wives.'

'We were a rapidly expanding society stationed within Lady Aine's magical forest. It is a place of magic and wonders, a forest that is home to numerous supernatural creatures and things alike, and it is situated on an island buried in the heart of the world. A forest infinite in size was created by the Mother of the Eternal Night. Lady Aine, the fallen goddess who was once known as Nyx, the Queen of the Everburning Stars.'

'A mighty being that was once adored by many in the past and is now degraded and imprisoned in the mystic woodland, now renowned as the Garden of Oblivion. It is here that all supernatural beings from Hellmora mythology reside. A location so vast that it puts the realm of Dreams to disgrace; so vast that the realm of Dreams would be equated to the likes of a single dust particle before an entire galaxy.'

'In some ways, Lady Aine Garden is the home of monsters. If people have cities and nations, then the Garden of Oblivion is equivalent to planet Hellmora, which is the home of humans. Then and again, the planet is occasionally nothing more than a metafictional portal, because Lady Aine Garden is, to some extent, its own cosmology. The reason is the fact that the garden is not constrained by the laws of the outer cosmology, which govern the realms above. No! Lady Aine's garden is fundamentally a [ ], a ghost of creation, a kind of draft box.'

'However, if we are to give it a true definition, it is a place that does not exist yet nevertheless does; a realm beyond all boundaries, a sort of mirror reality. Living here, however, is difficult for a multitude of reasons; the greatest risk in this utopia is Lady Aines herself. You see, Lady Aines is asleep somewhere on the island that holds the garden, or so the legend goes, and this place is her dreams; as such, if she ever awakens from her eternal slumber, everything within the garden will be destroyed, because anything that enters this chaotic region becomes part of her dreams, whether they like it or not until they themselves leave this place.'

'Yet it is not hard to reach; of course, if you can get past the ordeal that is the huge storm that humans from the outside world refer to as the region of no return or the Bermuda Triangle, but if you can get past that, you can find this island rather simply. Humans, on the other hand, are foolish; they want to explore everything they set their feet upon, desiring to learn what they cannot comprehend and enter a world beyond their grasp.'

'As a result, they pay dearly for their curiosity. Because many races feed on humans and capture them for their own purposes, tribesmen goblins are no exception, though we only kidnap women and men alike to r*pe and house our offspring to increase our numbers faster, as sex with a human shortens the time by 50% because producing a goblin offspring with another female goblin takes eight days, but with a human, the time is shortened by four days, making the increase in population far greater.'

'Of course, we have human breeding farms as well, to ensure that we never run short of them once they die. And, to be honest, we were thriving; we were growing so swiftly that we conquered other goblin flourishes and combined them with our own. And yet, when that creature invaded our home, it ruined four decades of work in a matter of twenty minutes.'

'Heheheh... am I losing my mind? No! No... No, I'm not going insane; to be honest, I wish I was, but I'm certain of one thing: that boy was far more powerful than anything the garden had to offer. Yes! According to an old folklore in Naxdex's archives, "When a howling dragon sings loudly, it means that a being of immense power has been born in the garden, or a being of immense power from the outside has entered Lady Aine's domain." And yet, not a single howling dragon began to sing that day, but it was as if they all began to sing in unison louder than they could ordinarily, and over the boundless regions of Lady Aine's dream as well. In short, the howling dragons sang a hymn of chaos, as if singing as a huge symphony to welcome a force of nature beyond natural order into the hallowed regions of the Garden of Oblivion.'

'Yet, even though I knew this boy was the source of the unsettling hymn of the omen callers, I tried to battle him alongside my tribesmen. And to this day, I have no idea how he killed 4,000 powerful goblins without saying a word or moving an inch from where we found him. Every single one of them was kneeling with their heads in their laps in front of that blue-clad boy. Their demise happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to blink. And yet, out of all of them, I was the only one who survived that one-sided massacre. And even now, I'll never forget what that thing said to me on that fateful day.'

[Hahaha, very cute, simple leaves eagerly heading right into a fire—now that's dedication. In any case, I didn't come here to argue with useless fodder like you. My business is with your leader, and only your leader. As a result, I need you to pay close attention to my words. Good heheh... now then, hurry and inform your king that I, the Snake of Ouroboros, have arrived to claim the promised sacrifices, according to the covenant of Galdimek.]

'When he said those words to me, I wasted no time and ran and ran till I arrived at King Gundula Castle. And, for the first time in my life, I saw our glorious king's face filled with genuine fear as he was informed of the news. It was then that I realized the entity I had encountered was a guy with a strong tie to the Beldma line, from which our king sprung. But, like the monster's first and last words to me, what the king said next terrified me to this day.'

[Why? No... no... no... Why? WHYYYYY MEEEEE?.... Why was I chosen out of 43 other candidates? No, I refused, I reffusssssed.... to give up my sons and daughters... I reject... why is the beast of the end after my line? Isn't my elder sister's line greater than mine? I must flee; I cannot give him my beloved children... hahaha... Gobuta, my son of a lesser line, you are the king from now on.]

'That day, I finally heard one of the four words I always wanted to hear my father say to me! It was the first time my father recognized me as his son, hehehe. But it was plain to me what this meant: my father, whom I admire, had delegated all of his responsibilities to me. And responsibilities far too great for the likes of me, I became king not because father thought me suitable, but because father was afraid of this so-called Snake of Ouroboros, and he didn't have time to waste; but ironically, my reign as king lasted only five seconds, because right after father said those words to me, he reappeared, emerging from my shadow.'

[Is that correct? If true, you have just condemned the entire Beldma line by betraying the eternal pact so casually. To think you were related to Galdimek, heheh... what a horrific joke. If she were still alive today, she would give me all of her offspring in a heartbeat, but you can't spare me two of yours. You disgust me, orc-thing, who has my precious blood coursing through your veins. To think that this generation of the goblin Omirgroph children would be so disappointing... well, don't blame me Galdimek, I tried to reason with them like we agreed on, but unlike you, who served me until your dying breath, this generation's allegiance is severely lacking. No! It is not even worthy of my benevolence; if you cannot give me your children, I will take them forcibly and force you and your sibling to produce more for me. From now on, your life will consist of breeding in order to produce material babies for me. Your title as king shall be stripped; well, you already gave it away, but as punishment for breaking the generational contract, I shall kill 90% of your people; I shall take all your dearly beloved wives as my own and make them my pets; and I shall force you to watch how I make them squeal in ways you could never have till I tire of them; and I shall kill all your children before your eyes, slowly, until the concept of pain no longer applies to them when all is said and done. I wish I could just kill you right here and now, but the Beldma line, like the other six monster lines I have graced with my blood, is very important to me. Now, watch as everything you once loved crumbles before your very eyes for breaking the covenant of Galdimek]

'What happened after that was just pure and utter chaos that would forever change the garden as we know it, or so I believe the chaos that thing caused that day affected the entire Garden of Oblivion, so much so that every living being in that place who was not involved would forever be scared for what they had witnessed.'

'My father, the monarch, was badly battered by that monster's menacing glare alone; he didn't even move, but it was as if my father was being broken over and over again by that monster's mind if not his will. After that, that thing went on to have its fun. How so? You may be wondering? Well, right after beating the king to a bloody mess he proceeded to humiliate my father by r*ping all of his wives in front of him, as he had promised, just to make a point, if not an example, I also watched everything unfolded before me.'

'The king's wives were always dignified beauties, but when that child assumed his original adult form, which was an extremely attractive man, with a beauty so profound that heaven itself looked dull in comparison. He was not only attractive, but he was also extremely tall, 6'8 in height, with pale skin, a muscular but slender body, keen blue claws, and bright blue nocturnal eyes with full black sclera. 'And those eyes have a fierce glare that feels like it can burn a hole through your very soul. But his eyes also matched his long, straight silky blue hair, which reached past his back and to his knees. Overall, his beauty transcends the concept of beauty as a whole, making it impossible to turn away even if you tried... or that's what it felt like to me at the time given the fact that he was handsome, that I couldn't look away from no matter how hard I didnt wanted to look... and the same thing could be said for my father who just sitting in a corner, tears and blood coming from his eyes, given the fact that his face was so disfigured a troll look more attractive than him.'

'Just watching him made me feel things I shouldn't as a straight man, and yet I envied those women. The king's wives were all faithful to the monarch, but after five minutes, that creature had them squealing so hard that their moans of ecstasy sounded horrible even for a goblin in heat, nay, they were like pigs, animals even. The sound of their moans could be heard throughout the castle, and I could honestly feel my father's grief, his honor destroyed, his kingdom about to be destroyed, his title revoked, his wives stolen, and his favorite children soon fated to perish at the hands of this cold-hearted monster.'

'He fuck them like the king had never fucked them in his entire life before, he sucked their blood, he humiliated them by having them choose between him and my father, and all of them chose him without hesitation, and at the end of the violent sex session, three of my father's wives had perished. Two died of exhaustion, and one died of a heart attack halfway through due to great pleasure. The other three were in no better shape; to be honest, I believe they all fell into a coma; I don't know if they are still alive to this day, but after witnessing this monster's skills, I could say without a doubt that his sexual experience was so profound that it was a work of art, that I myself felt enlightened if not morbidly inspired, no that's when I realized, this being presence can influence ones mind in some sick ways.'

'All of this was in some ways the king's fault; to this day, I blame my father, the man I once admired, for the destruction of the kingdom. And the tragedy that befell me, as my children, my wife, and my prized livestock all died as a result of him. Because, after all was said and done, that monster maintained his promise of genocide, absolutely naked at that; as he began walking on the porch of the king's room, jumping off it, as he defied the rules of gravity, and started to walk on genuine water particles in the air. His gorgeous figure was on display for all to see as if he didn't care about anything.'

'I recall it vividly because what that man performed was beyond my imagination, if not the power of the garden itself. This was Lady Aine's territory, her dream, and yet, for a single night, this monster wielded complete dominion over the entire Garden of Oblivion. As he nonchalantly pulled out his entire left eye and aimed it toward the moon, and murmured.'

[Open..... the First Gate of Apocalypse, the all-seeing eye that watches over the Banquent of the Serpents, I call forth the nine headed great serpent Xiangliu]

'To put it simply, what followed next was anarchy, pure unfettered chaos on an unthinkable scale, for the minute the blue-headed monster raised his eye to the moon as if attempting to align it. Immediately after, an unfathomable event occurred: as he let go of his eye, the moon in the sky was replaced by that identical eye.'

'And the moon above was noting more than a giant eye the size of the moon realm itself, which was another realm if not a plane of existence in the Garden of Oblivion, stated to be immeasurably greater in size and power than the woodland below. Because every celestial body, planet, and star has its own garden with alien life, and in this world, infinity is the smallest number, and anything larger than infinity just signals that item to be an even larger slice of infinity. As a result, the moon realm above Aine's woodland, where the mystical wonders reside, trancends the forest below by an infinite heiarchy of power.'

'However, many stories claim that the celestial bodies in the Garden of Oblvion are home to Lady Aine's nightmares, where the Outer Gods reside. As a result, in order to maintain equilibrium, all of her nightmares are separated from one another by an infinite hierarchy above one another. To get there, you must cross each layer of infinity an endless number of times. Constantly rising over each lower layer, which is enormously greater in size and more powerful than the layers underneath it. Each layer above treats each layer below them as nothing more than a dream to the last.'

'And, because the Garden of Oblivion is a metaphysical plane of existence apart from everything else beyond Aine's dream, its size is easily unrestricted. To the point where it scales to unfathomable proportions, outclassing all mathematical laws, notions, and principles, as well as the vast universes and objects included inside it. It's as if a drop of water representing the cosmology of this odd universe is stationed within an infinitely larger cup that never stops growing. Our lady's dream will never come to an end as long as Lady Aine keeps dreaming of new planes of existence and the things that inhabit them.'

'And with each passing second, a limitless number of layers are being produced, each having an infinite amount of hierachy. To the point where the Garden of Oblivion itself has manfiested an infinite number of known strata, each of which looks down on the others as unimportant in nature. The woodlands are both the most insignificant and the smallest portion of infinity, but, in an ironic twist, it is the most important plane above all. Because if the woodland is destroyed, all realms above it will collapse upon one another, inflicting chaos on an unthinkable scale beyond words and meaning, much like a falling tower that has lost its supporting beacon.'

'And if that ever happens...

'Everything that exists will be destroyed. Of course, everything Aine dreams about, that is. However, with nothing else to dream about, this can only imply one thing. Our Lady—the lady of the eternal night, mother of the stars—who wore the darkness of the cosmos as a gown. She will finally awaken from her eternal sleep... and I'm not sure what happened after that. However, legend has it that if Aine ever awakens from her sleep, it will be the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning.'

'And the prophesied Red Eclipse will occur, and among the supernatural community, the phrase Red Eclipse refers to an all-out war between all mythology that will destroy all things, and the winner of the war will be the new rulers of creation. The old gods will perish, and new gods will be born. However, for that war to take place, the eight Prime Overseers must band together to destroy the God known as "The One Before the Beginning and After the End." who said to reside in the 12th realm of the 21 that exist. And I myself am not sure what a Prime overseer is, but many people believe Lady Aine is one of the eight Overseers.'

'However, all beings in the garden, including myself, revere Lady Aine, the fallen goddess, as our eternal mother. She is the monster queen, the mother of all supernatural entities. But we also fear her, for if the tales are true and she does emerge from her perpetual slumber, we will be in grave danger. We'd all perish, and that's why, right now, as I watch that monster, that's all I can think about. Was he just making a point, was he really going to wake up Lady Aine and destroy the garden, that was the amount of horror I felt from that blue eye monster the day I met and witnessed his power?'

As the tranquil night throughout the entire woodland was engulfed in a heavy blue, an enormous eye from the realm above looked down on everything as if they were nothing more than ants. Making all that behold its glare quiver in primal fear. And everyone suddenly heard the voice in their heads. No! The cause of this was the voice of the blue-haired monster.

'As it said.'

[I finally saw everything... and I was correct? You Beldma's are extremely filthy creatures that cannot be saved. Every last one of you has thy blood coursing through your veins as a virtual result of the covenant of Galdimek, and your ideas, objectives, and general ambitions about me are so blatantly disloyal. I see it all; I know it all now, and I just wanted to discover where all of your intentions lie. But now that I know my kindness was squandered on you inferior lifeforms, my retribution will pour down on you and flood the empire you built with the power that I gifted your family line many moons ago. I informed Galdimek a long time ago that if your family ever defies my expectations, I will feed you to my familiars, and as I promised, I will now destroy all that you built with it, right here and right now. You all are indeed scattered around the Garden of Oblivion, but I can see you all now; there is no escape. As the mere glint of my eye is the range of my power, and as far as I am concerned, I can destroy this entire garden from the realm above if I so please, and with minimal effort at that.]

[Perish now for your crime.... Xiangliu, kill 90% of them in each territory of the 43 Beldma lines, but leave the traitors and their families alive and capture them for me. I will lend you my sight so you may see where they all live, flood their lands with poison and plague, make the air unbreathable, murder the children, the elderly, and the newborns, and capture the remaining 10% for me. But make certain that every goblin within the Beldma Empire suffers greatly; let them know what disobedience to comply will get them.]

'When the monster shouted those words, the entire garden started shaking, generating catropshic earth quakes all over. It appeared as if the world was dying, but then a succession of massive stone gates the size of large mountains rose far above the sky in 43 different locations. And when it opened, a swarm of innumerable 5-meter black snakes with bright blue nocturnal eyes descended on the ground below, destroying everything they came into contact with. As if that wasn't enough, a dense fog engulfed a significant area of the woodlands, swallowing everything within it. And all I could hear were the horrifying screams of my people within this small kingdom that was my father's territory in the distance, and to this day, their screams of despair and suffering haunt my dreams.'

'And to be honest, just a handful of the goblins survived the hardship; many died in the prison cell where we are kept after our capture. And the story of the blue nightmare was told to our children, who know nothing except the limits of the prison. As a result, they do not experience the same sense of fear that the survivors of that day did. And, to be honest, I thought I was going to die on that day... and to think that my death would be at the hands of that thing's progeny... agh... it aches so much, but I'm so relieved that I can finally rest.'

Gobuta muttered to himself as he gazed up at the white roof above covered in thick fog, blood streaming from his mouth. As he began to witness, his entire life flashed before his eyes; he couldn't move at all; after all, if you looked at him now, you'd see how he was perfectly split in half, both arms severed, as his bowels spilled on the floor, drowning himself in a puddle of his own blood and innards.

His vision was becoming fuzzy by the second, and at this point the others were long gone, and just like the previous time he encountered a blue-eyed vampire, he was the last one alive, but this time he was the last to die. Even today, he had no idea how this blond monster rendered his body in this manner, but he remembered being engulfed in a fog similar to the fog that swallowed his entire kingdom on that fatal day. And before he could see anything, he felt an enormous force blow into him, as if he had been shot in cold blood by a powerful long-range weapon.

Pain overwhelmed him like never before, followed by numbness, and finally, that blurriness turned to utter darkness as life faded from Gobuta's eye. He passed away with his eyes open. However, a familiar vampire's voice could be heard in the distance as the fog began to lift, showing an amused Merciless, who had many basket-ball-sized dark blue water balls floating around him, as he spoke.

"Hmmm... this Jet Snipe technique sure packs one hell of a punch; with a single release, it cleaved that goblin to pieces." It didn't stand a chance; the flesh and bones were chopped with such precision the minute they were burst by the condensed pressure within the water orbs."

'Hehehe... of course, that's quite useful, and because it's a fog based technique, the possibility of hitting someone or something with it, is a sure 100%, no questions asked.'

Michelle responded to Merciless' comments about the employment of the Jet Snipe technique. Merciless, of course, was taking the time to master some important skills, and so far he had discovered four useful offensive techniques, three of which were his originals and one that was his sires. And, while they weren't huge and flashy, regardless, they were harmful and presumptuous.

Combined with the Neitherlander's whip and sheild, Merciless had a plethora of skills at his disposal to help him survive the forthcoming assignment. It was a humble beginning, but with enough practice, these skills could one day develop to be extremely devistating.

But as he continues to float randomly in his fog, which has now extended throughout the entire arena, making visibility difficult, he soon senses two presences entering his domain, the first of which he recognizes. It was Olga, but the second was a new face, a man of normal height. He was dressed in yellow slacks and a yellow long-sleeved shirt, with a green tie around his neck, and he appeared to be in his mid-thirties. The man was buff and had a dark complexion, with black hair that matched his eyes. His iris was blue, indicating that he was a fellow Michellian vampire, and his hair was also cut short.

With a serious expression on his face, the man looked forward and squarely at Merciless; it was evident to Merciless that this man could see him despite being hidden deep in the fog. Olga was an exception as well, because her senses were just formed differently, to the point where being blind meant nothing to her.

Merciless began to question Michelle as a result of this.

'Say, father, are all Michellian this powerful? This guy feels almost as threatening, if not more so, than Baron Finn. Or am I exaggerating? And he also has a menacing purple aura around him when I stare at him with my third eye. And to top it all off, his presence makes me feel a little uneasy.'

When Merciless inquired, he was met with an immediate response, as Michelle informed him.

'Oh yes, thats Baron Allen; he is of the family of vampiric assassins; he is an extremely formidable elder vampire. And he will be 384 years old next month, on April 17th. He was born in the ancient land of Alkebu in 1644. Adisa Macrella, his wife, is the one who turned him into a vampire. And it is Michellians like them, which inspire the younger generation; like Finn, Lord Allen and Mistress Adisa gradually rose through the ranks until they became elders.'

'At the moment, Baron Allen and Madam Olga are the two head wardens in control of separate sections. However, they are both in charge of the labriyth town underground, which houses countless supernatural inmates. In any case, Baron Allen is a formidable vampire, his Ichor is unquestionably among the top 1,000, and we are fortunate to have someone like him on our side.'

Stated Michelle grabbing Merciless intrest as he asked out of curiosity. 

'Top 1,000 ha, interesting, then he is one of the strongest people in the world? 'What is his Ichor?'

'Well, not many people are aware of what it is, but I can tell you it's extremely interesting. Allen Ichor is known as "Death Space"... basically, Allen can suck you into a personal pocket dimension, 20 meters long, wide, and high. The name of this dimension is called the pit. And it is a domain where everyone's power is lowered to 99%, potentially nerfing everyone inside, including Allen. And neither Allen nor the victim will be able to escape until one of them dies. As a result, everything boils down to talent and experience, which is a double-edged sword.'

Michelle murmured, as Merciless began to nod his head in understanding and responded in kind.

'I see, that is quite the Ichor indeed, and can it be used on anyone?'

'Yes, he hasn't found a single individual this power hasn't worked on, but as I said, it's a double-edged sword. Because you can't get out unless either you, the caster, or the adversary dies. But it has its uses. For one thing, Allen can manipulate the flow of time within the pit however he likes, making it go much faster than it does in the real world, or much slower. We once experimented with this ability, and Allen can use it to travel into the future, and he can even bring team mates inside as well. For example, Allen once brought me and his wife inside the pit with a goblin, and he set the time to 10 to 1, meaning that every minute that passes inside the pit is equal to ten years outside. We tried it in 1891, and by the time we killed the goblin and returned to the outside world, it was 1901. Allen is a tremendous asset to the clan due to this power, as the uses this power has is astounding.'

'Wow, what a unique way to travel into the future, I can't wait to meet this, so call Allen, even if he appears to be a very serious guy.'

'Well, my child, Allen is the type of guy who wears one face to hide all emotions, yet he's a joy to be around.'

'Is that so... hmmm... well, I guess I'll just have to get to know him.'

With those comments, Merciless began to wait for Olga and Allen to approach him, and within a few seconds, Olga and Allen were in front of him. Merciless, of course, began to fold his legs as he sat on pure air like he was on an imaginary throne. Olga quickly captured his attention and proceeded to speak as she said:

'Oi... comrade, we got a slew of them, from the pregnant to the old, as commanded. And, by the way, let me introduce you to an old friend of mine. Meet Allen Von Golde Macrella. He is a head warden like myself, as well as one of the clan blood hounds and a baron to boot.'

'He's a little short, but this man has easily killed over a hundred thousand people, but we call him Blade around here. He's one of the fastest Michellian there is, his expertise is outstanding, and his figthing prowess rivals that of some of the upper senior nobles.'

'I didn't like him at first, but he grew on me with time; he may appear dispassionate, but he's a kind guy all the same. He's cruel on the job yet extremely friendly to his clansmen.'

'Allen, meet our clan's heir, young Master Merciless; he is quite the character, I assure you, but I'm sure you two will get along just fine.'

Olga said, pointing to Merciless, who was staring at Allen with his hand on his chin. Allen, of course, walked up to Merciless and bowed before him, introducing himself.

"Good night, young lord... my name is Allen Von Golde Macrella of the Marcella family, and we are a noble family of assassin Michellian vampires who have served the lord for eight decades." We are very new, but I can promise you that we are among the best. It's an honor to meet you, my young lord."

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