Chapter 1: Awakening.

P2 The Malicious King

Leyla was quivering uncontrollably with tears of fear leaving her eyes upon hearing my name.

"What is the matter?" I needed to know the reason for her fright.

My name indeed brought fear to my enemies to the point they would be in a state of panic.

Why did a Vampire fear me? Vampires shouldn't fear me, so why did my name bring out such fear in her?

"Y-You are the root of all evil…" *Sob *sob

The root of all evil? In the war, I committed things that I am not proud of to ensure the safety of Vampires. It still does not explain her fear.

Leyla was taking steps backwards away from me."P-Please don't kill me…" *sob, Leyla, was consumed by the idea that I would harm her.

I never harmed the innocent. Every one of my subordinates knew that. What was going on?

"Leyla, please calm yourself. If I wanted to kill you I would have done so by now. Please trust me I won't harm you."

Leyla was beginning to calm herself little by little. She couldn't dismiss the fact that I just saved her life.

"Can you please tell me why you are afraid of me?"

Leyla, with a shaky breath, began to explain.

"During the Tragic War, you have committed genocide to all of your enemies: Humans, Werewolves, Celestials and Vampires. You showed no mercy no matter if they were soldiers or civilians. No matter if they were young or old. No matter if they were loyal to you till the end. You killed them all."

What was this? I have never done such evil deeds never committed genocide. Especially against Vampires. Why would I harm my people? I have killed Humans, Werewolves and Celestials when there were no other options during the war. What she just described was pure evil.

"With your deeds continuing you were dubbed the title "The Malicious King", our current King Dracula brought an end to your evil and thus we lived in a land of peace."

Dracula is the name of my most trusted commander during the war for millennia he fought with me side by side defending Vampire Kind.

Flashes of memory appeared in my head:

"I will lead the Vampires in your stead Lord Xeonos," He said.

I remembered some events…Dracula used a special unknown dagger to weaken and then seal me here…how could he betray me?

After that, he must have brainwashed the minds of Vampires spreading false rumours about me through the ages, improving his image and erasing the fact that I was the Vampire King.

"Leyla, how long has it been since the war ended?" That information would tell me how long that lie has been going on.

"It's been 5000 years," Leyla replied with a less shaken voice.

For 5000 years my name…my deeds, my legacy, my very being of who I am have been tarnished by Dracula.

The average lifespan of a Devil is 500 years. For over 10 generations Dracula had poisoned the minds of my people, ascended the throne and destroyed everything I have stood for.

Dracula is a powerful Vampire with immense magic power; I wasn't surprised that he was still alive after 5000 years.

"Leyla, would you believe me if I were to tell you that I am the Vampire King?"

Leyla was in deep thought.

"I-I don't know…I recognise the fact that you have great power using magic I have not seen or heard of. I will also state that lies about you have been spread, you are certainly not what the old legends of the "Malicious King" make you out to be. I hope that answer can satisfy you."

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What Leyla just said was reassuring I partly earned her trust.

She was no longer afraid in my presence.

This caused me to smile slightly. During the Tragic War, no one was comfortable in my presence, even my people were on edge around me. This was the first time in millennia that someone was not afraid.

"Shall we get going?"

I reached out my hand to her.

"Please hold on to my hand."

Leyla held my hand with a bit of hesitation. She was still shy it seemed.

I cast lunium (teleportation magic).

"We left the underground ruins…and are back on the surface!?" Leyla must have never seen teleportation magic before.

Lunium is a spell that allows me to travel from one place to another instantaneously regardless of the distance and location.

"Teleportation magic is extremely hard to learn, that's because it requires the caster to connect two spaces," Leyla uttered in fascination. Glad to see her recover from the shock she experienced.

What she said was correct, to use this magic one needs to connect the current location and the space you want to travel to. One little error could lead the caster to get lost in space.

I looked at the scenery. We were standing on top of a large mountain range: the sun was shining bright in the combination of a bright blue sky, green grass filled the land beneath us, and a gentle breeze was waving through our hair.

Leyla's long violet hair was sparkling in the sunlight as it was waving behind her.

The birds were singing beautiful melodies.

I turned around to see the entrance to the underground ruins where I was buried.

I had no idea who created this, Dracula was my main suspect in creating these ruins that led deep inside the mountain range.

The maze structure, the golems and the door were most likely his doing to ensure that no one could find me.

I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when I told him otherwise.

First things first, I needed to ensure that no one would ever be trapped inside these underground ruins. I had an idea in mind…

By changing the sub-atomic properties of the: floors, walls, doors and Golems who were in charge of keeping guard, to sub-atomic properties of rocks, it erased all traces of the underground ruins. Filling it with rocks.

That way no one will die trying to explore the underground ruins.

I stretched out my hand to cast zest (matter magic). I changed the existing matter that made up the inside of the underground ruins to rocks.

"What are you doing?" Leyla asked me in confusion.

"I am making sure that no one will lose their lives here."

It took me 3 seconds, the ruins were no more.

"The entrance turned into stone?!" Leyla uttered with a baffling tone.

She never saw matter magic either?

That was beside the point I needed to ask Leyla a more urgent question.

"Leyla, why did you venture into the underground ruins?" I was grateful to her but there was no reason for her to be here.

"It's a long story." Leyla lowered her head in sadness.

"You don't need to answer if you feel uncomfortable talking about it."

"No, I don't feel uncomfortable answering you, " Leyla took a deep breath.

"The academy's entrance exams are beginning in two days."

"Academy?" There was no academy in my time.

"Yes, Transylvania Academy is the best institution in the whole of Transylvania"

Transylvania is the Vampire's nation. During the tragic war, I ruled this nation. Doing my best to defend the land but most importantly the people.

"Underground ruins can have artefacts to boost magic power. I heard that this particular underground ruin, far away from the capital, could possess such an artefact. I was wrong." Leyla closed her eyes of sorrow.

"I find it strange that items to boost magic would be allowed during an examination."

"It's pretty common, many Vampire families possess items from the Tragic War era which are passed down to their descendants. With that, these families have been able to climb up high in the social ranks." Leyla calmly explained.

"Let me guess. Your family did not possess such an item otherwise you wouldn't be here"

"That's correct," Leyla responds.

I put my hand into one of the inside pockets of my robe.

I pulled out a silver necklace with a clear emerald.

"Please take this," I am handing her the necklace.

"It's so beautiful…" Leyla's eyes were wide open when she saw the necklace because of its beauty.

"It's the necklace of Ginara, it helps with magic control and boosts magic output," I told her.

I got this necklace from a dear friend during the war. It had no practical use to me which is why I hoped it would serve her well.

"Please take it," I reached out my hand to her, placing the necklace in the palm of her hand.

"I can't possibly take this from you," She held the necklace toward me.

"Consider it gratitude for releasing me," Which was the truth, I do owe her for that.

"You saved my life, Cassius, that is more than enough," I admired her selflessness… during the tragic war; it was a rare trade to see.

"Please accept this, as a friend I want you to have it."

"Friend? You recognise me as a friend?"

"Of course," How could I not after all? She was the reason I was free.

"Alright, I'm glad we are friends Cassius," She happily accepted the necklace with a bright smile.

Now that the ruins were no more I wanted to take a look at the state of Transylvania.

"Leyla, how is the state of Transylvania?" I asked her.

"It's best that you see for yourself," She replied. When she said that I could tell that it wasn't good from her point of view.

"We are about five days away on foot," Leyla said.

We were on the border edge between Transylvania and the nation of Werewolves Liconea.

Dracula wanted no one to find me; it would make sense for him to seal me here. Not many Vampires lived close to Liconea nor would it be popular for others to venture here.

Too bad for him that Leyla was as determined as she was to explore these particular ruins.

"Not a problem, I will use Lunuin (teleportation magic)," I told her.

In an instant, we teleported to the capital of Transylvania and the image I saw was horrific.

"Just what happened over the last 5000 years?" I asked in confusion mixed with shock.