As the afternoon star lowers itself on the horizon, nearing the top of the walls. The city was still bustling, with many people outside of varying degrees of cloth thickness. Though many opt for a basic tunic and a few in there thicker hide jackets.
Uphead, the man notices a carriage was parked on the side of the road and was being flanked by women in droves. Elizabeth and Alana both quickly got ahead of him and joined the crowd while he and Seiness with Bahamut stopped a bit far.
After a few minutes, the two Vampires came back with the Queen’s hands rudely scrounging around Alana’s skirt pocket. “Don’t tell me you don’t have any currency, Countess.” She shrugs at her. “Your Majesty, I was planning on checking the exchange rate tomorrow as more cargo is delivered into the city.” the blonde just sighs. “Use Teleportation Magic. It's an Outworlder’s carriage. She should be able to accept foreign currency.” Alana then looks to Jackson, his hands crossed as a confused expression marks his face.
“Exactly what’s happening here?”
“Her Majesty wishes to buy some Makeup.”
“Eh? Why? You two are already the epitome of beauty.” Both Alana and Elizabeth blushed a bit before snapping out of it. “N-Not like that, My Lord! Beauty should never be limited. Makeup is a good way to see if it can help us become even more beautiful!” the man just facepalms. “Alright. Use Teleportation Magic. BUT keep it hidden please.”
Alana quickly went into the shade and teleported in her more rugged brown long skirt. Something that a commoner would wear. Going into its pockets, she finds a handful of Bronze and Silver coins in the currency of Aeralous. “Haaaaa… would she accept this?” Elizabeth quickly laid her hands on the Countess’ shoulders and peeked over her to see the coins. “Very well! Let us get in line!” Without notice, the two joined the crowd of women. Leaving the man to take care of the Dragon and Priestess.
Barging their way to the carriage. Alana presents the coin which the female owner of the carriage nods to while Jackson yawns on the sidelines. Him having to walk to the curb. Seeing that it's clean and doesn’t smell at all. He sat down on it. Noticing that on the other side of the street, Young and Middle Aged men were idling by themselves. Some exchanging stories and needless chatter as they’d occasionally look to the carriage and then back to whatever they were talking about. “Don’t tell me this is going to take long? Uggghhh…” Bahamut who in her Human form just rests her head on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Master. At least you can rest your feet a bit.”
“Haaaaa… I guess.”
Suddenly, Elizabeth rests her hands on the shoulders of Seiness and Bahamut. “Oy, what’s the two of you doing here? Come on now, there is a discount if you have your friends with you.” The Priestess, curious herself of the buzz around the carriage, immediately stands up. The Dragon on the other hand is not budging a bit.
“Bahamut!”
“What? I’m not in need of any cosmetics. My Human face is already beautiful enough.”
“Even then! You must test out other combinations! You’ll never know, you might find a style that fits you. Seiness, what do you think fits her?”
“Hmmmm… I guess something red, Miss Carmilla.”
“Good suggestion! I just saw some stuff that might fit her. Come on, Bahamut.”
Without letting her say anything, the Queen drags the Dragon to the crowd of women. Leaving Jackson all alone as he fiddles with his thumbs and then looks up to the skies with an empty head and no discernible expression on his face except a neutral one. “Haaaaaah… we would be in the Manor now… but I guess it's better to do it tomorrow. Please take your time.” Knowing he won’t be facing anything scary today, he relaxes a bit and slouches down. Deflating as he thinks about what just transpired that busy day.
“My Lord, what’re you standing here for?” turning around, he sees Elizabeth has her hand out, ready to take his. “What? I’m not gonna wear makeup again.”
“My Lord, you dabble with the affairs of a Noble. You must also learn to wear makeup regularly. Didn’t you see the Nobles of Rose all wearing makeup?”
“Look, I live in the modern world. We won’t wear makeup anymore.”
“Well My Lord, you aren’t in your modern world right now aren’t you?”
He immediately facepalms. “Tsk, I guess that one’s on me for walking into that without thinking properly.”
“Bahahahaha! You are so easy, My Lord! But come on! I think I know a good foundation for your dry skin.”
He starts looking around and just as he is about to give up, a girlish scream emits from his left. “UWAAAAH! It's her again!” Elizabeth quickly turns to her left to see the same woman she encountered on the rocky mountainside parking lot. Now wearing very short leather pants, the ponytailed woman jumps her and hugs the blondie. “Just what is your secret? Can you tell me? Do you pair it with exercise and yoga?”
Elizabeth once again is left without a method to fight back as a barrage of questions was sent her way and the ponytailed woman with a small slender frame attached herself to the Vampire.
Just as she was about to shake her off, a punch comes flying from the ponytailed woman’s back. The greaves of a bulky Knight, the same one that stopped her from before was present with her. “I apologize again, for her. She’s a fashion designer and makeup artist you see. She kinda does this even back on Earth.” Bowing repeatedly, he takes the woman by her collar and forces her to stand next to him and bow alongside.
“Dude, just what is up with her? Assaulting women randomly is not good.”
“I know… but my wife is just that type of weird.”
“What? I am not weird!”
“Yes you are. Now go. I’ll wait here.”
Elizabeth on the other hand disappeared like a passing thought. She didn’t even notice the air around her getting disturbed as she could see the top of the blonde woman deep within the crowd, at the very front checking out various cosmetics. “UWAWAWA~ Its Bahamut!” with extreme athleticism, the girl handstands and then using her hands alone, jumps into the front of the crowd.
Meanwhile, the armored husband sat next to Jackson. The two bumping fists as they both crumpled their feet back and hugged them. The two looked like the disabled beggars from before but with proper armor and clothing.
“This is going to take long, isn’t it?”
“You betcha’. I’m surprised you have the patience to take care of four women.”
“I actually don’t. But it is what it is.”
They both then unanimously turned to the carriage and could see that Alana had gotten to the back and had on her hand, which she held with two fingers elegantly was a small wand. She’d apply make up on herself and then would use it to clean her face. Wiping it of all its cosmetics. Even then, Jackson was impressed by her looks. Even without her usual minor powdering, her skin still seems to be glowing and without the mascara she usually wore only made her look more innocent, at a glance, she’d seem to be a harmless woman of glass and slender fragility.
He had to acclimate himself to the fact that is not the truth and she is a death machine if left unchecked as a cape brushes past behind him and a Witch wearing a tall conical hat walks up to the crowd. With puffy gold and green at the tips of her hair, she got into the mix as the player next to Jackson noticed the Magic Circle drawn into her cloth.
“Hmmmm… that Circle on her back…”
“What about it?” Observing it, Jackson sees that it is inscribed with runes of strengthening and endurance. “Oh, will you look at that? She seems to be pretty skilled, huh.”
“Mhm. That’s a pretty nice combo she got. What kind of Staff is that anyway?”
Turning to her staff that’s all wrapped in cloth, they can only make up the shape of its end. Which is oval and tall. “She really knows her thing… But Oval is usually for AoE right? And if it's tall, that has to be connected to the skies.” nodding, the armored husband rubs his chin alongside Jackson, the two of them observing the cute and petite Witch as she takes a gander at the collection. Her height is not even average amongst the many Commoner women around her.
“You know… can I hire her? My wife and I are in need of a mage anyways.” Jackson nods after he finishes his sentence, his lips close together. “Indeed I can recommend her. She not only looks good, but she knows the basics of being a Mage. She even covered her Staff and the only thing we can go by is the Magic Circle on her cape.”
“What about her color though? It's green and white.”
“Eh. I’ve met Wizards in all blue and all they do is cast fire.”
“True, true. Do you think she’ll cost a lot?”
“Nah. I’m sure as a player, she’d want to be with people from Earth anyways.”
“I see. You're quite a Vet aren’t you?”
“Well, I’ve been playing Dark World for a long long while now.”
“Good to have you here then. Me and my wife are actually here to do the Elven Fortress Quests. They pay good money from what we’ve heard.”
“Oh they do… they very well do. The Receptionist lady told me those expedition quests are also partially funded by the Church. So it's naturally gonna pay the big coins.”
“I see… so our trip here wasn’t for waste then. Thank you.”
“No probs.” Jackson then turns his head to his right and sees that Elizabeth had gotten Bahamut a chair and had started to experiment on her face with Seiness. While Alana kept glancing at the prices and the ones that’s free to test out. “Got any drink with you?”
The husband Knight nods. “I got some in our carriage. It's just parked on a street near us. Want some?” Jackson nodded and the armored man stood up. His hand on his back to straighten his spine while the General was left to ponder to himself. It got to the point that he started counting the bricks on the road as his comrade in waiting returned with canned beer.
“Hoh hoh hoh! All that’s missing now is a flatscreen TV and some camping chairs!” The husband nods and lifts the visor of his greathelm to show his wide smile at him. With a scar on the cheek and brown coloured messy chair that reaches the back of his neck, he sat next to the more well dressed Jackson in his black suit and the two exchanged pleasantries as they drank in peace.
After an hour of just drinking and talking about nonsense, Elizabeth, Alana, Bahamut and Seiness return with the short leather pants woman. “My Lord, we’re done.” he turns around and sees that the Queen is carrying with her a paper bag and he just sighs. “Alright. See you later bro.” The two bump there fist as Jackson neatly returns his used canned beer with the rest of the ones he has stacked beside his leg. “Off to that scary mansion. C’mon.”
Walking off, the two men didn’t need to wave goodbye to each other. As if they just understood one another's situation and did what must be done to spend time.
“M’Lord, who was he?”
“No idea.”
“Eh? M’Lord, you two seem to be having a good conversation back there.”
“Yeah. Still, never asked for his name. Nor his wife.”
“Wife?” Alana looks at Elizabeth who then looks at Bahamut and then back to Alana. “What? New information to you three?” Seiness on the other hand just had her head tilted as they once again walked to the Northern part of the city where the Manors were.
Standing on the premises of the mansion’s gate, it stood out with its overgrown veins while its neighboring buildings were beautifully and brightly painted. With well trimmed hedgerows and trees, the place smelt of pure danger and unwelcome. The rust alone from its thick fences gave off a bad smell around the area while the Manor sitting on the road opposite it has a Griffin with wings pulling a carriage that seems to be only meant for two people and is very modest with its design.
“Oh Christ… it's worse than I imagined…” Not even letting a second to waste, the man starts walking to a random direction, away from the building but gets grabbed by the collar. “My Lord, let us finish this so that we may go home early. I am quite curious of what the Countess had prepared for tonight.”
“It's nothing special, Your Majesty. Just a traditional wine beef cassoulet and onion potato soup.”
“Ah! Finally something I am familiar with. Indeed, I look forward to tonight's dine. My Lord, open the gates.”
“What?! Why me? Do you see how thick these are? Why not you? You're literally a Vampire. You can push that with a pinkie finger.” She didn’t respond and the man immediately felt an electrocution flow from the soles of his feet to the back of his neck and quickly got down to business and pushed the front gates open. As he exerted effort into it, the joints began to creak and an annoying screech was emitted as he let the women inside while he took a breath.
It wasn’t even halfway into it and he already had to stop. Looking around, he notices the bolts holding down the gate have been completely rusted and melted onto one another with some bits still frozen even. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Giving up, he just turns around to see they’ve all congregated on the dusty wooden front door.
“You know, can’t we maybe check out the neighbor first? That’s a pretty cool Griffin they have there. Does it take off with the carriage?”
“Yes, Sir Jackson. That’s the Manor of the Brickett Family’s Third Cousin and he is quite known to be a traveler.” Elizabeth quickly rested her elbow on Seiness and scoffed at her. “Do not entertain our Lord. He's just trying to bide time for himself.” seen through, Jackson puts both his hands up his face as he is met with the ultimatum of entering the scary place.
“Bahamut… what can you sense?”
“Nothing really, Master. Seems to be quiet so far. We might need to rile up the place a bit to disturb the soul's resting inside it.” Shivering, Jackson stood behind Alana as the Dragon took center stage and started to observe the place.
“Goddess, can’t you just call an Angel to cleanse the place?”
“And why should I do that? We Dragons do not have your typical Angels too. We summon warrior Dragons who bind their soul to us in eternal servitude.”
“But wouldn’t it make it quicker, Goddess?”
“Tsk tsk tsk. Wolf, this is something you must learn through experience. Master has always told me to hold back lest we want to gain the attention of the masses.”
“I-I see…”
“And there are certain aspects to angels you cannot see and thus what an Angel may look like to you may be different as you cannot comprehend their true form. You live in the Third Dimension, they live in the Fourth and Fifth Dimensions. What is there for maybe something you will never forget.”
“E-Eh?” Alana then pats Seiness's head. “Uhm… just forgive Bahamut. She’s not really normal as you can see.”
“Oy! What are you trying to insinuate here Bloodsucker? I am perfectly normal.” As she said this, the wooden door behind her slowly creaked open and the shivers the sound it made sent to Jackson’s spine was almost enough to completely knock him out. He didn’t even manage to see it full swing as he was just staring at the structure, his hands closed into a fist as he swallowed his saliva.
His eyes kept wandering from one window to another. With veins covering most of its exterior and the dead lifeless trees that hug its very corner whose branches seem to be the fingers of a corpse, he was paler than the Vampires and the trembling of his hands only became worse and worse as each second passed.
“M’Lord, do you want us to maybe just go ahead?”
“N-no. I’m coming with you. First things first, everyone cuddle up.”
Forming a circle, the man then looks at the party members he has at hand. While his eyes would occasionally turn rapidly to some random prickly dead branch slowly moving as the wind hit it. The lifeless fountain now mostly full of nestling sticks and barks gave his already eerie feeling a new sense of dread as the veins that seemingly are trying to encroach upon it have turned into the same ones he remembers in Zavalda.
While the dirty and brown coloured windows of the Manor made it almost impossible to see the contents of its inside from the front yard. Even if one was to put their face up on it, they’d only be able to barely make out a handful of things and for Jackson, it was sending all his alarm bells into alert. Enough for him to be jittery the entire time.
While also putting up a strong face in front of the women. Albeit to varying success as for a moment, he’d be able to grasp his manliness just for a gust of wind to completely tear it down and for him to quickly and suddenly react to it as if a ghost had brushed past him making the Vampires smile and laugh a little while Bahamut just kept observing their surroundings like a programmed drone.
“O-okay, we’ll do this then. Seiness, Bahamut. Backline. Use magic, throw it from afar. Vampires, frontline DPS, swing lots of times and make sure it dies fast. Me, full tank. Got it?”
With such a simple and quick explanation with a bit of a tinge fright in his tone, everyone nodded but Jackson sighed as he noticed they’ve spent far too much time checking out the makeup carriage as the Afternoon glare was slowly hiding behind the Fortress City Walls. Making him once again swallow his saliva as his eyes dimmed a bit. Like the coming and impending darkness of the night was death looming from afar.
As he turns around to the door, the man gets tugged by Elizabeth. “Ahem. My Lord, aren’t you gonna entertain Seiness?” his eyes open wide as he once again loops around and faces the Priestess. Hands in his hips and courage in his eyes. “Seiness, do you have any questions with the lineup? Better ask now. This is your chance to find out why things are like this and why I decided on everyone’s roles.” nodding to himself, the Queen went down the front door stage and stood with the rest of the party.
“Hm! I wanna know, Lord Jackson. Why am I partnered with the Goddess? Wouldn’t she be strong enough to be in all roles at once?”
“Alright, Bahamut. Explain to Seiness here what you can do.” The Dragon just facepalms as she turns to her left to look at the girl. “I am a Dragon. Our main forte is Magic, Magic that revolves around our Fire. But I am not one to shy away from close quarter battles. We Dragons tend to first home our Magic as to strengthen the Fire we breathe.”
“Hm hm.” The Priestess nodded as she looked at the Dragon up and down, slowly observing her from top to bottom but didn’t dare stare her in the eyes.
“May I ask Goddess, but what type of Dragon are you?”
“The motif doesn’t speak of it? I am a Black Dragon! One of the rarest colors of our kin, with Red, Blue and Green being the most common. Black ones like me are considered one if not the sparse of our species. I am also a Dragon God. But you already know that.”
“But what type of God, though, Goddess?”
“What? There’s no type of God though.”
“Here in Threa, there’s those Physical Gods and Heavenly Gods.”
“Haaaah?! Master!” the man just shrugs. “I guess Bahamut is a Heavenly God. She doesn’t really have a physical form anymore… or more so one that the Human eye can fully comprehend.”
“A-A Heavenly God?! Lord Jackson, are you joking right now?”
“I mean, we aren’t treating her as one because she’s mostly keeping tabs on it. She already said something about the consequences of what we did in Zavalda. I think some of the Gods are looking at us now after that fiasco.”
“Eh?! EH?!” She turns to Bahamut and then the smiling face of Jackson as he scratches the back of his head. “T-th-then! Goddess!” she drops down on all fours and bowed her head down to the cold stoney ground. Now her entire demeanor had completely evolved from treating the Dragon as if to a higher level Priest to that of a Believer meeting its Creator.
“Heh-heh-heh. Master, you should’ve reacted like this when you first summoned me, you know?”
“How are you expecting me to not go and hug a small dragon? And again, don’t expect anything crazy. I don’t know what happened after Zavalda but Bahamut had been keen on sniffing out some other worldly smell on me since then.”
“No Master, that was only when you touched the statue of Humanus.”
“Oh yeah, well there then.”
“M’Lord, I still believe that you just got blessed a bit. You are a Human Warrior after all.”
“Humanus is not one for mere triflings. If he were to do such a thing, then he must be weary of one. My Lord, I do not take a Dragon’s intuition lightly.”
“See! Even they understand, Master!” Seiness just shakes her head. “To think a Goddess would call a Human her Master… just amazing.”
“I don’t have much hatred for it. I did call the Grand Dragon who trained me in the Arts of Winged Attacks as Master." She then leans forward, looking at the two Vampires. “Though these two want me to change it to a more formal Lord. Hmph. As if!” The two just chuckle as the Dragon crosses her arms. Seiness feeling the warmth of the group as they bantered back and forth so carelessly. “So this is what it's like to be in an Adventuring Group, huh? I could get used to this!”
With a big smile and her happiness radiating out of her entire body, Jackson had to pinch the middle of his nose. “Seiness, don’t go over the top with the whole thing. Just treat Bahamut as just another person who is a bit stronger than the rest of us. Alana and Carmilla, don’t see them as Vampires but just as very proficient hand to hand combatants. Alright?”
“Of course, Sir Jackson! I just have never met a Dragon before, nor a true Goddess! I am very honored to be at a party with someone like you!”
“Hm! Praise me more! Master! Praise me alongside her!”
“Who's a good Dragon?”
“M-Master! Not like that!”
“And you seem to be very used to Humans. I’ve only heard rumors from Outworlders about Dragons in Tur being more volatile than the ones in Threa.”
“That is only due to the natural disconnect of the two species. But we’re still distinctly the same, as of course, the design of the Dragon is already perfect. No matter the dimension, our form should only change a bit. Our personalities also don't translate well into human forms. But I’ve been learning and keeping check on my quirks.”
“Thank you Goddess for teaching me this.”
“Ask away! Do you want to know the meaning of life? Your future? Who are you going to marry? Since you are part of Dead Hand, I shall give you a free discount! Three questions about anything and I shall answer it! Having the bones of Mors Letum has given me a small access to Threa’s innards!”
“Th-then what has happened to my tribe! The Wild Wolf Tribe of Elid!”
“Hmmmm… let me see…”
Bahamut closes her eyes as Alana and Elizabeth walk closer to her and watch the Dragon do her work.
“Gone.”
“... … Eh?”
“You seem to be the last one. I do not smell anyone else in Threa.”
“Bahamut, how much energy did you just expend to do that?”
“A lot Master.”
“Okay, you're now restricted to the Permanent Backline. Recover.”
“EH! BUT MASTER! I WANNA FIGHT ON THE FRONT TOO!”
“No. I was gonna consider letting you become an example of a Multirole fighter but after that? No. You stay in the back and keep watch of Seiness, capiche?” Jackson then walked to Seiness and tightly held her shoulders. “There are some things that are better left unknown. Can you still participate? We can call it off if you want. Bahamut is just… truth holds the growth of any sentient creature. They always speak from the heart because of that.” Looking at the Dragon, she doesn’t even seem bothered at all. Just standing still and watching him comfort the Priestess.
Tightly gripping her staff. Seiness was silent for a few moments as the Knight removed her hat and started stroking her black hair. With a slow and gentle press, he glides over her tucked wolf ears, pointing downwards.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Haaaaa… we still need to teach Bahamut how to coat her words a bit more.”
“N-No. It's fine. I must fight, if I don’t then I will make our Chief sad.”
“Are you sure? You might want to mourn or something.”
“No. We are Werewolves, if we let our emotions take us over, then what difference do we have from those in Schon.”
“You mean those Werewolves that are always in their shifted form? What connection do you have with them?”
“They were once like us, humanoids with wolf features. But long ago, the first Demon King took people from the various Werewolf. His plan was to make an army that could slice through the Curate Kingdom’s growing superiority.”
“So his plan was to make a bunch of permanent Werewolves to use against the Elves? But the Elves seem to be fifty or so years ahead of everyone in tactics and organization.”
“Hm. So instead of fighting them fairly, the Demon King concocted a plan with our species. To use us as his frontline troops. You know what they're called, Lord Jackson?”
“Rogues, right?” he tilts his head upon being called Lord Jackson, but seeing the tone of the woman. He lets her off. “Yes. That term came from us. We call them Roge as that is what they are. In our world, that means Loose, Unhinged. Though some say they’ve retained their sanity when the first demon king got felled by Man. They never returned to us. The tribes of Elid were the prime target long ago and we never recovered from it. To think… I-I-”
With a swift reaction, Jackson touches Bahamut and he opens his palm to reveal the Sapphire Flower inside it. “Here, take this.” The Dragon though was enamored by the shiny accessory. Wanting to take it from him but he was fast knowing her and quickly gave it to the Priestess.
“This is the Flower of Saint Martha, it increases your durability and healing. Take it.”
Taking her attention, the Priestess was taken aback by the shiny expensive piece of art that was before her.
“Could I really, Lord Jackson?” Seeing the pretty glass like a Sapphire flower, her ears and tail perk up. “Please do. I have little use for it. I am a Dark Knight, my main motif is dealing as much damage as possible while doing a bit of tanking on the side.”
“Thank you. I shall cherish this then. A Knight’s gift is a woman’s greatest treasure. Hm. Thank you again Lord Jackson.”
“No worries, but I think it's time to move onto the frontline units. Unless you want to ask Bahamut again. But I hope this has been a lesson in asking beings far more greater than us about certain things we ought to know by natural means.”
“Hm. I’ll keep it in mind, Lord Jackson. But have you asked her about things?”
“No.”
“Really? But Lord Jackson, as a human you must have many thoughts about the future and the past, right?”
“I do. But so what?” She tilts her head, her face sown with confusion while the two Vampires just giggled. “That’s our Lord for you, Priestess.” as Alana said this, she looked at Elizabeth and she nodded in agreement. “Hm… I can see why Bishop Rival entrusted me to you.”
“Really? That Bishop guy… he’s a bit of an oddball but I can sense he has his heart in the right place… he also scares me a bit. To think he was thinking that far ahead… sheesh.”
“He does! Bishop Rival might be from a Noble family, but he is very kind to me. Unlike the others, who don't even acknowledge my presence even though I am wearing this garb.”
“Who…?” Jackson then remembers the other Bishop. “Is it that Seus guy?” Her eyes teared up a bit and the man looked at the other members of the party. “Is she against your kind?”
“N-No. Lord Regelus is very kind. Though I cannot seem to put a finger on him at times.” She then turns to look him straight in the eye. Fierce with truth and determination. “We Werewolves have this thing with our ears. Some say it can sniff the lies of a person. I sometimes feel it on him.”
“Hmmmm… interesting, well. One day, all lies will be uncovered.”
“One day?”
“You know… no lie stays uncovered. If not today, some day in the future, it will be found out. Though maybe most won’t care, it will still be unearthed. Tell me, had your tribe ever not hid something and it got found out? You have a light tan, so you're from Meridia, correct?”
“Yes I am, Lord Jackson. If it's a secret that’s long been known… hmmmm… I guess it would be the Tomb of the Vampire Queen.” He then turns to look at the skies and then the Manor. “I… I see… ahahahaha… you don’t know anything about it, right?”
“No. When the Sultanate’s Army came to our Tribe. I never knew what happened afterwards. It’s been years too Lord Jackson. But I hope our Elder has done his duty and kept it from being opened. The Ancient Queen of Blood is a story long passed from our ancestors.” Swallowing his saliva, Jackson just nods. “I-I see… Well, let’s get into the Manor then.”
“Wait, Lord Jackson.” just as he was to turn around, he had to swivel his body back to facing her. “We’ve long had wars with the Vampires. They are the ones that drove us out of Schon as they grew stronger and stronger upon making a pact with the Demon Kingdom. It was under their King, King Charles the Great did they fully drive us out. Only the Rogues managed to stay and that’s only due to their extreme survivability.” Elizabeth didn’t make a single expression and just crossed her arms. “As you see, even their trail of blood and gore reaches this city. Be weary, Lord Jackson. Your people are new here and you might not know what you may uncover.”
The man just nodded and put up an obviously bad smile. “Don’t worry, if something were to happen, I know everyone would pull through. All crises have a solution, and the solution is good men in good places and there’s always those around just in case.” Alana facepalms but regardless, she gestures for him to the door of the Manor.
“Wow, Lord Jackson, do all Outworlders have the same outlook as you?”
“Pretty sure, at least ninety nine percent, why?”
“The things you say, preach, it's such a strange concept to us. I find it truly mesmerizing out of all the people in Threa, you managed to befriend two Vampires.”
“What can I say? Being strange is normal on Earth. Then, shall we get to Alana and Carmilla then?”
Walking to her, the tall blonde woman towers over the Priestess. Though she had a kind aura, one open to your very soul to hug and cuddle, her senses couldn’t help but notice something lingering under all the beauty and allure that was oozing from the Vampire.
“You already know me, so I shall get to the point. My role will be that of a Fighter, I shall slash and dash my way through our enemies, and if needed, my sword shall pierce through even ghosts.”
“Of course Lady Carmilla. Pleased to be of acquaintance with you. You must be very close to the Vampire King to be a Duchess.”
“Already with such etiquette. Be sure to keep it up. Yes… I do know of Monkey and his aires. Do you have any more queries about me?”
“Hm. When you use your sword, Lady Carmilla. Will it be always or sometimes?”
“Sometimes, as you can see.” Elizabeth raises her gloved hands, her fingers apart one another. “I love the thrill of fighting up close. I do not shy away from an invitation to a dance of close proximity. If needed to fight with a bladed weapon, it's a mere minutiae. I can simply summon it into existence.”
“I see, and Lady Carmilla, what magic can you do? Does my Divine magic work on you?”
“It should. I am a Primordial Vampire, Divinity wouldn’t hurt me unlike my lesser kin.”
“Woah! A Primordial Vampire? I remember in Class, your kind was called Achaios. Born from Angkramellia’s jealousy from Mon’krol’s creation of Man.”
“Angkramellia? Mon’krol?” Jackson looked confused as he shifted his gaze from Seiness to the Queen. “Ah, My Lord. Those are the Elven names for the Gods. There, not as widely used anymore as the Curate Empire fell, their words were replaced by that of Mans.”
“I see… And Vampires are required to believe in Angkramelllia right? I think me, and Bahamut visited his Church once.”
“Not really, My Lord. I am more… open when it comes to religions of all kinds.” Alana then sneaks her way next to Jackson. Her hand blocking her mouth as she puts it right next to his right ear. “Her Majesty is a known Religious Pragmatist. M’Lord. She’s known to believe even in Gods the Vampires are against just to appease foreign Diplomats and Kings and in return, she’d have them do her bidding in the form of favors.”
Hearing this, Jackson nods while looking at Elizabeth. “So she’s just using religion to forward her own power?” Alana nods. “I see.” He then returns to the trio. Looking as if Alana didn’t just whisper things into him. “Carry on then.”
“Lady Carmilla, could you perform ancient Vampire magic then?”
“I could. Though I am sure you would not want to see Blood Magic being used.”
“It’s fine! I am a grown up!”
“Ahahahaha, then, when we get the chance. Do watch out for the ripples, it can cut through the air you breathe.”
“Just how old could you be Lady Carmilla? You could be the great great grandmother of the Vampire Kingdom.”
“Great-great-grandmof-...” the woman then just stops thinking. After a while she started to massage her forehead with her left thumb and index finger. “L-let us not talk about my age. Though I am as… ancient as some of the trees… I’d rather not fret about such trivial things. If it weren’t from My Lord, the last man that called me such a thing would’ve been skinned and his flesh brandish-” Jackson immediately got infront of her, stopping the woman from saying such gory things to the Priestess. “Oh! Carmilla also hates fish. So if we’re ever gonna go out for a long run, we have to pack meat!”
“Eh? But Fish tastes great, Lady Carmilla. You must try it.”
Jackson then turned to Elizabeth. “Control yourself.” With a mere two words, she understood what he meant and the man walked back to Alana just watching again from afar. “I know, but I have gotten a habit of not eating it back when I was still in… uhm… in a position of power in the Kingdom… It was seen as the food of the lesser Vampires, and with the people around me, I am also not immune to the whims of the masses. Thus, I stopped eating it.”
“Ehhhhhh…”
“Yeah, but does she have an eye for expensive things? At least with Bahamut, it's confined with anything shiny like a rock. But with her, phew. The expenses.”
“But, so she slashed her enemies with her hands, Lord Jackson?”
“Later Priestess, thou shall see it. Thine hands may look normal, but I can swipe it faster than one could see. Do not move. My Lord, ready?”
“WHAT?!”
She then swipes her hand, perfectly vertical as it flies towards him. The Knight instinctively removed his sword from its scabbard and parried her hand. The loud clang was as if her very fingers were a blade. The sheer force from the attack made the Knight lose a meter as he returned the Rapier into its house.
“PHEW.”
“And I was holding back greatly there. Be not afraid of me. As long as you aid, My Lord, and keep your respect. No qualm shall be between us.”
“O-of course!”
After a big sigh, the Knight then rests his elbow on Alana’s shoulder. The Countess smiling and waving her hand slowly to greet Seiness.
“And I am the other Frontline fighter. Though I can do what Lady Carmilla does, I focus more on the sword.”
Blood Roses appear from thin air in the shape of a sword and she reaches one arm out. With an open palm, the Roses disappeared and what dropped to her fingers was a longsword adorned with a fancy gold crusted pommel and hilt, the blade with a glint of the shade of one's blood.
“Meet Suceur de Sanguine. The heirloom sword of the Minuit House, forged long ago when the Vampire Kingdom was at the peak of its power.”
“It’s like the blade Lord Jackson wields!”
“Hm. This style of sword with a far more goth appeal is us Vampires, M’Lord wields one made for the King of the Vampires.”
“Eh? A Human wielding the Sword for the King of Vampires? I thought…”
Seiness then stares at Jackson, targeting his mouth, ears, and eyes.
“You won’t find anything. I am one hundred ten percent human.”
“Aside from that, I am also one of the main financiers of Dead Hand apart from M’Lord and the UN. Have you been in Sir Rival’s personal office?”
“I have, Miss Alana.”
“Then, have you seen a bottle of Domaine de la Minuit-Conti anywhere? It's in a dark red wine bottle with a special cork that has the seal of the Vampires over it? I recall M’Lord telling me the man knows of my product.”
“Hmmmm…” Looking up, the Priestess’ ears perk up and her tail straightens. “Ah! The Cardinal has some, Bishop Rival once tasked me in delivering it. He only lets those who he trusts the most to transport it around.”
“That is from my House, the Minuit House’s greatest product and contribution to the Kingdom. The finest wine known to Threa. Ten families, and eight more auxiliary families of lesser Blood, all working together in eternity to create the finest Wine one can jovially seep into the sweetness of.”
“Then you must be well versed about Gareth’s Lordship, Miss Alana?”
“I do. But I haven’t been able to actually walk amongst them. In my travels, I’ve only talked to a few. My main concern last year was expanding my business in Dragovh as they’ve started to warm up to Vampires a bit… though some are still hostile. M’Lord and I met in such a bad time. Meilurious was the Nation we first met eye to eye. Bahamut was also there.” Jackson stretches his arms. “Ahhhh, I haven’t heard that name in a while. To think it's been that long already.”
“And those Roses, Miss Alana?” She points at the ornament of her sword handle. The crimson eight petaled rose with thorns on its roots. “There Blood Roses, the main weapon of the Minuits, the national flower of the Vampires. Our great ancestor, Sir Minuit mastered the art of using them for ourselves, we used it to strengthen our armies and weaken our enemies. You could say, we built upon perfection, beauty, and made it even more potent.”
“So that was the look of a Blood Rose. I’ve known from my Botany Class that they only grow on battlefields that had more than three sentient species die in one area. Even then, it would still be rare as Angkramellia would have to personally have sought out the emotions of the warriors that died there.”
“What was taught to you is correct, but what is missing is the most important part, Seiness. It's certified to grow in an area where a Hero or a Legendary Warrior dies.”
“Ah! That too!”
“Ahahahaha, then any questions? We ought to start.”
“None! I am ready!”
“Woah hold it there. I still haven't gotten my piece. I am a Death Knight, what I do is a mix of DPS and Tank. I can do a bit of magic but it's only regulated to lower level ones. Basic fire, water, and even wind. The only Mid to Advance Magic I can do is Teleportation and Materialization. But that’s tied to my armor and weapons as I am not trained enough to utilize it all willy nilly.”
Jackson opens his palm and a fireball appears.
“Lord Jackson, how long did it take you to chant without speaking?”
“Not long. I know it's rare here, but in Tur, it's pretty common. The moment you learn a spell by heart, just pinpoint the memory of speaking it and it will activate.”
He then changes the fireball to a floating icicle.
“See? But morons like me can only remember the most basic of stuff. Some would even just spam Magic Missiles.”
“Magic Missile?”
“It's under Fire and Air magic. You basically hurl an arrow shaped ball of whatever mana you have into your enemies. It's basically an annoying machine gun that can be tailored to your wishes. That’s why even with guns invented, it never really took off that much unless it's made out of enchanted steel and wood which boasts it into the level of something actually viable in the long term.” He then walks over to Bahamut and touches her. Teleporting in his sword. “My main weapon is as Alana said, Chevalier De La Nuit. Glass Sword of the Vampire First King.”
He then walks to Bahamut and touches her once again. “Sorry, can I borrow some more Mana?”
“Master, with so many people praying to me, please use my Mana as much as you want.”
“Ahahahaha, I wouldn’t want to abuse that too much.”
His entire outfit then changes. From his suit, he was suddenly wearing his full set of Death Knight armor, the horns on his pointy helmet was intimidating, the sharp edges and the spikes on his shoulders were scary to the point. The black leather cape waved loosely as the cold mountain air passed them. On its design were the many flowers that once grew in the Vampire Queen’s Garden.
“This is my entire suit, I also have a shield but I am not gonna use it. Wouldn’t wanna take up too much space inside. You must always be aware of the size of your armor and the place you're going to. That is a Manor, so it should have some somewhat sufficient space for it. But anything more bulkier, the Cons will outweigh the Pros. Got it?”
Though his voice was muffled, she could still audibly hear him speak. She nodded at the information being thrown at her. As even though Jackson was speaking in more complex words, he was slow and coherent. Even lifting his voice up a bit on the more important parts.
“And with this, I can do more specific magic like this. Ahem. Goddess of the Void Bahamut, may I borrow your flames from the Abyss. VOID FIRE!” a streak of blackish flames, the same one the Black Dragon uses was thrown into a lighting streak to the clouds.
“Something like that. As long as I have my armor on, my Mana is grown to the size of an Olympic Swimming Pool. In your world… I guess it's as large as this mansion's front yard.”
“B-but, does Divine magic affect you, Lord Jackson? That seems to be Demonic armor.”
“Oh, it might look like that, but Death Knights are technically also agents of the Divine. So Holy Magic, I can also do it. But I’m not as good. Here, let me demonstrate.”
Getting into position. He breathes in. “Eyes of Endor! Holy King Alinius Divine Protection!” The outline of his armor shines red and gold and just like that, he then stands straight up. “What I used there was a Demonic and then Holy Magic. As you can see as a Death Knight, both don't affect me. So use your magic as you will on me.”
“Alright! I must pull my weight then!”
“Ahahahah! That’s the spirit! Don’t overdo it though, you're here to learn after all.” He then turns around that twists the large door knob to the Mansion. His hands shaking a bit still even under the thick layer of composite metals and cloth. “Also, I forgot to mention Seiness. But I cannot use my sword inside. So I’ll be relying more on my guns. Is that okay with you? Its very noisy, so are you ears fine with it?”
Tilting her head, she rubs her cheeks in confusion. “Guns?” he reaches for his belt and removes one of the Colt Python he has holstered. “Guns.” showing the glistening black color of the revolver with the long barrel and wooden finish, she looked at it oddly. “That makes noise, Lord Jackson?” he nods. “I believe it should be fine. I shall report to you if I do not find it bearable.” He merely lowers and raises his chin and holsters the gun back. “Okay, is everyone ready?”
With the gestures of approval, the Knight walks into the front door and opens it.
He immediately stops as he is met with the striking silence of the unkempt structure, with the creaking of the floorboards and the dust from the ceiling falling down on them. He suddenly trembles. Like the door had been closed for ages and acted as an air lock, a strike of wind gushes out from within and into the outside world. “D-Did I just release something?”
The Vampires with Bahamut and Seiness just nonchalantly walk past the heavily armored man that’s stricken with trembles. “No. It’s just a gust of wind, Master. I detect nothing."He sees that even the Priestess wasn’t afraid, though she was clutching her Staff with both her small hands, the woman’s eyes were filled with determination which made him sigh and walk in with them. But not before going outside and taking a random fallen piece of brick and putting it on the door as a stopper. Preventing it from closing.
Seiness on the other hand just looked at him awkwardly as the man made sure the brick was properly placed and the door wouldn’t budge. He then turns into the hallway. Flanked by two living rooms and a straight path to the main lobby. The Knight rudely takes one of the Elizabethan padded chairs of great weight and puts it on the second door. “Wha… What is Lord Jackson doing?” Bahamut with her arms crossed just watched her Master fiddle around trying to make sure the two main doors won’t close after they’ve walked further in.
“Ah Wolf girl. Master is deathly afraid of ghosts and anything that has more than two legs. So don’t mind his odd behavior.”
“EH?! Then why is Lord Jackson on the front?!”
“That is his job as the frontline tank. Learn and watch, when it comes to your role, you mustn’t be afraid as everyone is entrusting their safety to you." She then turns to the front where the two Vampires had already dispersed into the two living rooms. “But then again, don’t be afraid to explore a bit. We’re a Party after all. It’s best to spread out and see any findings.”
Jackson, who was standing frozen as he made sure the two doors were fully locked in place, took deep breaths. After a few seconds, he unsheathes his Vampire Sword and starts walking forward slowly.
“My Lord, you should really get your shield.”
“No. This is fine, I can do this.”
“M’Lord, are you sure about this? We can handle it.”
“Heh. What type of a man would I be if I couldn’t stand some spooky shi-” a small cobweb falls on his helmet, its size not even enough to hinder his view. “SHIIIIIITTT! I NEED BACK UP!” before they knew it, the man was behind the Dragon, flailing his arms around in absolute terror. “I NEED REINFORMACENTS! SOMEONE! HELP!” The two Vampires peek from the living rooms and they just facepalm at the sight.
Whilst Seiness was trying to cast a magic on her Staff, the small pints of flames wasn’t hitting the quickly moving Knight who was hugging Bahamut tightly as she tried to free herself from his grip.
“MASTER! STOP GRABBING ME!” Since she was now basically weightless with the power armored man, the Dragon had to change into her Dragon form and crawled up to his face and breathed fire into his visor. “WAHHHH! IT HURTS! THE FIIRRREEE!” Even though the flames weren’t even enough to hurt the water on his eyes, the man was so terrified he had to sit down on one of the padded chairs he took and was breathing in and out like there’s no tomorrow. “Wa-WAIT! LET ME REPLENISH MY COURAGE!” collecting his thoughts, something drops in one of the living rooms and the man hugs Bahamut instinctively.
“GAAAAH! MASTER! I LIKE YOUR TOUCH BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT TILL TONIGHT!” The small Dragon then tried to free herself with the help of Seiness who soon lets the beast fly once again and turn into her Human form. This time with some distance from him. “Master, just calm down already. Nothing’s even happened yet and you're already panicking.”
The two Vampires returned to the front door and just smiled as they both turned to look at the Priestess. Fully in herself as she held her holy staff ready for the fight.
“Seiness, honey. Leave, My Lord. Stay in your place in between the Countess and the Dragon, alright?”
She said it with such a motherly aura the girl was immediately captivated by it.
“Yes, Lady Carmilla!”
“Good.” She then goes to her Lord. Sitting down on the chair like a man defeated by the times. “My Lord, I found a cool sword that you might wanna check.” His lowered chin then slowly raises up. “A… sword you say?”
Following her into the left living room, the Queen presents a sword that’s basically translucent from how thin it was. “W-Woah…” The display it's on has been long broken and Jackson takes it and he swings it in the air a bit and nods. “That’s stupidly light!”
“Hm. That sword is made out of Adamantime and Steel, My Lord.”
“Adamantime? What’s that?”
“It’s a mix of Adamantium and Star dew. Basically, that sword is one of a Legend.”
“Woahhh…” Without even thinking about it. He had holstered it already to his back. “So what is this place anyways?” as if his fright was gone upon the knowledge of potential loot, the Countess waves at him. “Here, M’Lord. This book stand seems to indicate much about this House’s former owner.” Walking over to her, he turns to the ragged book opened on page and squints his eyes inside the helm he wore. “What?”
The Countess clears her throat and rests her index finger on the first words.
“As the Officeraca of the Volunteer Army Corps, I’ve been to many nations and terrain. But these Humans are truly a work only a Maddened God could create. We were tasked in attacking and capturing the city of Malahad and rumors spread that the huge swathes of farmland outside the city was where the local Governor hid his treasures as our armies trampled on his land.” Jackson then removes the straps of his helmet and the coif with chainmail underneath and rubs his chin “An excerpt?” Alana nods. “Though it refers to Humans in their old name. I prefer saying the more modern one. M’Lord. So do forgive me there.” he shrugs. “Go on then. This is interesting.”
“The Human Volunteers of my Army Corps went ahead and took upon themselves to start digging with pickaxes. Even though me and my colleagues had told them it's just a baseless rumor. They didn’t listen and openly disobeyed them. So thus, I let them be. I enjoyed some tea and biscuits while I’d occasionally meander into their holes and remind them of their failures as a soldier of the Kingly Dydares.” She turns to Jackson whose head was buried in his palms. “I guess a soldier is a soldier even in another dimension.”
“After they tire, the Humans ran back to me begging for battle. I simply told them our enemies had long past our range and we must make camp after the long thirty cessel march and attack we performed beforehand. Is the soon to be Emperor sure that these Humans will be capable warriors in the long term?” He then shifts the page of the book but after even the lightest of his touch, he felt as if it would tear. Prompting the Countess to change pages instead.
“Ah, this one's interesting, M’Lord. It seems to be the Northern Campaign of the First Emperor.” he nods and she once again clears her throat.
“As a Governor General of the Iocatarca Yu-gruth Attack Corps, I simply do not know how to utilize my newly recruited Human soldiers. On our trek down to the largest city of the barbaric and untamed Humans, we forged a path down that followed the long river of Spitze but the Human officer, the first of his kind to the Emperor’s troops, instead said we should sled down. I of course opposed this idea, it's ridiculous and dangerous. These cretins seem to have no sense of self preservation. Yet even after my orders, the hairless ape went ahead with his plan without my permission.”
A slight giggle came out of Jackson and Seiness, but Elizabeth and Bahamut were both engrossed with the story. “G-Go on… pffft.”
“And since they took with them our horses, I had to choose but to follow suit with them. These Humans are truly a work of something chaotic. As we sled down from the mountains using wind magic from our Mage corp and theirs, they were laughing! Yes, laughing and joyful while we Curates were in such a hapless demeanor! How could these creatures even be on our level?! But lest to say, we did reach the base of the mountain five days ahead of everyone else. But now we were left without a method to replenish our army, nor a way out! We were basically trapped!”
Jackson then lifted his finger as if to protest but then realized something and gestured for the Countess to continue reading.
“And so in my absolute shock, the Human Officer told me to follow him into battle and in the stroke of what could be Goddess Forrus blessing upon us the greatest of her natural love, the enemy backed off without making battle and we took the city without bloodshed. I feel as if one of the towers were watching us slide down the mountainside and alerted the Lord of the city who instead then chose to run. Though I reserve my opinions on these… people. I do believe they're worth something. Even maybe to become a natural citizen of the future Empire of the Curates if they continue proving such acts to us.”
Concluding it, Alana takes a deep breath as she turns to her listeners, all with varying degrees of expressions on their face. “Heh. That’s Humans for you! Uh huh!” Bahamut crosses her arms, as if she’s the most sure of herself after saying such things while Elizabeth pinches the middle of her nose and makes a deep sigh. “I still can’t believe I lost to these people sometimes.”
Meanwhile, Jackson was just nodding with an extremely satisfied grin to his face. “Sounds ‘bout right.” while Seiness was enamored by it. “Hm. This is the Humanity that I am familiar with. They never change even as the times move.” Alana on the other hand just smiles and moves on from the living rooms. Walking towards the main lobby with the party in tow.
With marble tiles and a huge ceiling full of decor with two elaborate chandeliers full of webs and dust, even with the foreign Sun slowly dimming, its colors still come out from the layers of darb that have eaten it whole.
Walking to one of the large staircases to the second floor, one of the large chandeliers has long fallen down from its place in the ceiling but it remained intact, suspended as if. Curious, Elizabeth goes to check it out as shards of glass pops out everywhere as the dust starts getting more and more blinding. The Death Knight in the group was unable to stop from looking at every possible direction he could turn to, constantly scanning all he could as the two Vampires spread out to check the aisles that lead to hallways full of doors and tables with vases. The smoke covered the dismemberment of the Queen from Seiness’ eyes as her hands were taken by Bahamut and the two sat far behind the group.
Alana quickly swipes her hand as the plume of smoke completely disappears and Seiness was only able to see a bit of Elizabeth’s magic. As she gathered up all the splattered blood and hid it from sight.
“Hmmmm… there seems to be nothing here…” As the Countess turned to her flank, she immediately got into a combat stance. “Oh, wait, I can sense something to my left.” The sound of something with more than six legs echo through the corridors and Jackson lets out a womanly shriek “EEEKKK!” waving his Vampire Rapier, the Death Knight swung it wildly in the general left direction. “Master, top far left. Like inside one of the rooms. It won’t be able to get out. It's trapped inside.”
Hearing this, the Knight comes back to senses instantly. “O-Ohhhhh…. Heh… sorry. When I heard the patter of those legs… I already knew what it was. But wait though, how did it end up inside a room? Most of all, if it's that large enough to make a sound, how did it-” crackles emit from the roof as tiles fell on them. Bahamut quickly got to protecting Seiness as she whispered spells that created small square shaped shields on top of the two Vampires and Jackson.
To the amazement of the Knight, the falling tiles would delay their drop. As if to really pinpoint, hit them in the head. “Lord Jackson, are you sure you can do this?” Hearing the Priestess say this, the man swallows all the liquid in his mouth and makes the deepest sigh he could do. “I have to! I can’t be a coward, I am a man after all. Now… WHICH DIRECTION!?” He starts looking up to the falling tiles and the exposed wooden support that it was hiding. The Queen immediately sent up a ball of light to it and a bunch of spiders the sizes of wardrobe cabinets scattered about. “WAAAAAH! I SAW THEM! I SAW THEM!”
“MASTER, WE CAN HEAR YOU! NO NEED TO SCREAM!” She then starts looking around herself as she could notice the fallen tiles has once again become suspended like the fallen Chandelier. “SORRY. I AM VERY TENSED.” Without replying, the woman started kicking and punching the shards into plumes of smoke as five small fireballs appeared on top of her head, shooting off small arrows of fire to hit the tiles that’s trying to float upward. “Wolf Girl! Do as I am and destroy the tiles! It's gonna shoot out again and hurt them!”
The Priestess quickly got to her feet and started whispering a spell which creates a combustion of Divine aura. The tiles fell down letting the Dragon clear them up as Elizabeth opened her wings, flying right on top of them where Jackson notices a pale bloodied woman in a white gown floating to the chain holding up the largest Chandelier. “Oh crap…” as she was about to cut it loose, the Queen struck her body with a swing of her fingers. It did nothing to her physical form, the rotten blood and flesh all coming back into its place as she tried to repeatedly do it.
Jackson on the other hand started dribbling with his feet. Watching as the bronze chandelier started to fall on top of them. He breaths in and upon opening his eyes, he swipes his glass sword vertically. The blade cuts it completely in half as the apparition of the woman disappears into the top floor.
Once again, absolute silence befalls on them all. “H-Holy shit!” He looks around checking for everyone's condition. Alana was already on the second floor opening and closing doors while Elizabeth was flying about the large main lobby. Bahamut and Seiness were both just behind his cape to his surprise. “N-nice flowers on your cape, Lord Jackson!” Even though the Priestess was shaking, she held a pint smile to his face which oddly calmed him down.
“Pretty cool right? Carmilla did that.” he then sheaths his sword as he goes around the fallen large chandelier and into the right grand staircase. Alana is already there to meet with him. “What did you find?”
“None, M’Lord. Every door I’d open, the spiders would run away.”
“Ghosts?”
“Also none.”
“Master! Let me go to the front! I need to cleanse that vengeful ghost!”
“Vengeful ghost?” He looks up where Elizabeth had stood dangling on the thin sheets of metal on the last standing chandelier. “My Lord, that sword of yours is Star forged. It can cut through ghosts and demons alike. Do not panic if it ever comes at you.” She then returns to them. Landing on the grand staircase. “It seems that they're in the attic of this Manor.” Jackson immediately looked dejected. “Oh nooo… no wonder they're running away from Alana. They're consolidating their numbers aren’t they?” His hands lay on his cheek armor as the man looked up to the skies.
“Ahhhhhh… here I was thinking this was only going to be some ghost cleansing quest… why did it end like this?!” Bahamut quickly tapped his shoulder. “Master, there’s more of us now. Don’t be scared. It's not like back then when it's just me and you.” Hearing this, he deflates and gathers himself for the nth amount of time that day. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Leading the group, he goes deeper in the back of the Manor where they find the staircase to the third floor. Most of the rooms are empty and without a door. Inside were just some remains of unused furniture and crates.
The creaking of the wooden floors made him tinge with every audible sound that came to his ears. But he kept his guard up, one hand with the sword, another with a revolver. Not helping with the case was the lowering of the brightness as the day enters the night.
In one of the rightmost rooms, he sees the door that leads to the attic. With heavy breathes, and his hands shaking more and more. He starts walking to it till he hits the first step. “Wait, where’s everyone?” He turns around to see the two Vampires holding their laughter while Bahamut and Seiness keep watch on their backs. “W-w-what?!” Alana points to his legs and to his surprise, not only where they spread out but were also shaking tremendously.
“I’M SCARED ALRIGHT?!” The two gathered themselves and the man gathered his spirits once again and started climbing the stairs. “Eliza- I mean CARMILLA!” Her ball of light quickly followed him and got in front of the Knight and straight into the dark attic. Glowing as the gleam hit them were a bunch of ghosts in the shadows as an awkwardly large armored spider with spikes on its body and a blue color to his eyes was at the very end. “My Lord, what are you seeing up there?”
Without even replying to them. He quickly went back down and started shaking his hands as if he touched something dirty. “Ew ew ew ew ew…” the two Vampires then looked at one another and climbed up. “Oh, so that’s what I saw that was awfully big. Lots of ghosts too.” Bahamut without even wasting a second got up there and punched the floorboards. A circular wave of divine glow hits around them, cleansing the ghosts as some sink into the walls and the floorings.
The large spiders on the other hand started to mobilize. Creeping their way forward and outside through the large holes left from the battering the Manor took from ages of neglect. Jackson’s adrenaline shot up to the skies and they quickly started hearing shooting from below. The man’s demeanor had completely shifted and he was in combat mode.
Seiness was with him, using her shields to protect his flanks. Seeing the spiders unable to touch him made him more vigorous in his attacks while Elizabeth was left to protect the Priestess from the remaining spiders, leaving the main fight to Bahamut and Alana.
The two looked as the blue glow of the larger spider changed into a darker shade and started to convulse as a straight cut opened from the top of its head. Appearing from it was the same woman they met that cut the large chandelier’s chains. “Bahamut, may I ask what your plan is?”
“We kill it!”
Alana reveals her sword as the surviving ghosts reappear from the walls and floors. Crying and begging. “I guess I shall keep your flanks secured.” Bahamut quickly opened her Dragon wings in her Human form and flew straight to the large spider which threw barrels of wine at her. She quickly destroys them but covers herself in the alcohol which was then set alight.
While behind, the Countess was swinging her sword as she danced along with the dead. The ghosts leave trails of their white essence in the air as they orbit around the Vampire. Swift with her blade, she was cleansing them with Chevalier but some would disintegrate their bodies before making contact. Making it hard for the Vampire to completely clean one.
Down below, Jackson has turned the third floor hallways into a bloodbath as he swung his sword wildly. Ignoring the fact that it was cutting through the thin walls and even parts of the ceiling and floor as tens and tens of varying sizes of spiders lay dead around him while Elizabeth was tearing out whatever tried to get close to the Priestess.
Her disposition was so violent that Seiness couldn’t turn away from the gory show she was putting up. Rather than Jackson, quickly killing them with a stab to the head or between their ten eyes. The Queen would rather pluck out their feet first and use the sharp ends to stab them with while in other times, she’d close her fingers together and pierce through the thick ceramic like skins of the odd looking spiders and go for their brains as she’d mess around inside it first.
She didn’t care if they were able to take away her limbs or even penetrate her head as it’d just grow back without a care to the insane damage she was taking.
Back in the attic, Bahamut has grabbed the neck of the largest spider. The corpse woman’s hands were gripping on her wrists as an intense stare was exchanged between the two. “It seems that it's time for you to go back.” Bahamut closed her hand, crushing the neck of the corpse woman which made the large spider go into an intense seizure. It was so violent that the floorboards gave up and the blue spider dropped into the third floor where Jackson was almost crushed by the pillars and supports.
His eyes widened at the sight and quickly drew his two revolvers at it. Shooting the beheaded corpse on top of its head repeatedly. “DIE! DIE! DIE!” Elizabeth then came with her own attack. Focusing on the base where the membrane was engulfing the lower half of the dead woman’s body while Seiness used her holy magic to create chains that held it down and prevented it from panicking even more.
Before they knew it, it had stopped moving and as the smoke cleared out. All that was left was a dark third floor with a collapsed ceiling and ruined furniture.
Breathing intensely as he collected himself, Jackson didn’t waste time and got down to the main hall before everyone else where he sat on the second step of the grand staircase. Both his hands lifted up as they were still shaking endlessly.
He soon hears the footsteps of heeled shoes behind him and sees that Elizabeth had the blue eye of the Spider on her hand. It was so large it took up her entire palm. “Are you fine, My Lord?” He presents both his hands and she smiles. “Ah. We shall give you something that will relieve the pain later on.” he just nods as he turns to look straight ahead.
Seiness on the other hand just patted his head and it slowed down his shaking but only to a degree. Alana on the other hand presents him with a strange box that’s opened. “M’Lord, I believe this is what set off the ghosts. The spiders up there were mere residents of the place beforehand. It's all done now.” Even with that proof that it was all truly over, he was still shaking.
Barging her way through the two Vampires, Bahamut got in front of them and to her Master. “Get away. I know what Master needs.” She then unstraps his gauntlets and lets him have a feel of her breast.
As if it was the cure to it all, his shaking quickly stopped and the two Vampires looked to his face and in it was an extreme smug smile of a satisfied man. They just giggled at one another as they took Seiness to the front door. “Now don’t follow the Dragons example, alright? Our Lord is a bit of a pervert but he's a good man.”
She just had a bit of a blush to her face as Jackson soon came out of the Manor all dandy and happy with Bahamut.
“Ahhhhhh! That feels like a million bucks!”
“Master is that simple. Don’t overthink it, Priestess.”
She just nodded as the dark sky and the Moon and its little friend was high above them. “Is the Adventurer Guild still open?” Seiness nods. “Hm. It's open till half past night, Lord Jackson.” he then turns to the two Vampires. “Wanna submit this or should we do it tomorrow?” Elizabeth stretches her arms while Alana yawns.
“I believe it's best we do that tomorrow, My Lord. We still have to escort Seiness back to the Holy See’s Office.”
“Oh crap! Do you have a curfew?” Seiness just shrugs her head. “Phew. Well, it's been a long day afterall. Even I am stuffed. I don’t even know how I’ll sleep tonight.” He then felt the intense stare of the two Vampires and his body naturally reacted with a gulp. “Heh-heh-heh. Please let us not do it tonight.” With a confused look on her face, the Priestess just covered up her Staff once again as they went out the gate and back to the Holy See Office where the grunts walked her back inside. Leaving the party without its new member once again.
“Phew, what a day, right? I wonder how much that will sell.”
“My Lord, are you gonna sell that sword you found?”
“Oh shit! I still have it!” He takes out the near translucent sword he got and observes it under the night sky. “Man… I’d rather not.”
“Master, don’t tell me you're gonna add that to the collection.”
“I mean…” he shrugs and then smiles. “Why not?” Bahamut just facepalms as the party once again walks back to the direction of their hotel.