Arriving at the Dairy Lodge district, we were greeted by the sights of people having fun. They ate, and they drank, and they sang with their merry friends. A fun life it seems, a mundane one. Though if I did have such a life, I would miss out on all the adventures I could be in. Still, let's not get sidetracked. The reason we were here is to meet Maria to hunt vampires, at least the ones sent by their Council.

"So, how should we find her? You do know we failed to sense her last time, right?" Ciel asked.

"Don't forget we've already advanced." I smiled

The concept of sound itself trembled, it was being changed, controlled. I added my own parameters, such as only a certain person could hear this voice of mine, and for it to be capable of echoing throughout the district. With that, I whispered.

"Meet us at the entrance of the Dairy Lodge, near the Twin Bridge, if you want to vanquish the council's men."

The voice travelled deep into every nook and cranny of the Dairy Lodge, passing by parties, hollering drunkards, before finally arriving at its intended destination. It repeated the words of its master, whispering its contents to the petite lady in a scarlet dress. She mouthed a bunch of reasons to her followers, before floating down from the rooftops towards the ground, where she finally walked towards the voice's source.

We waited for a while, passing the time by basking in the moon's grace, and observing the crowded stalls. Some time passed, and our wait was rewarded. She walked to us, away from the crowd. Her distinct look seems natural, unimpeded in her stride toward us. A gaze of hope, and annoyance, could be felt in her ruby-like eyes. The twin tails shone in the moonlight, gold in colour, revealing her ancestry as one of Alucard's kin.

Looking at us, she sighed, before asking, "You ask me to come here with the bait of vanquishing the council's men?"

"Yeah, and it's not a bait, it's a proposition. As I've said before, wait for the attack to happen, then help Rivellon tide over this crisis." I stated.

Just as she was about to reply to me, Ciel interjected, "Ahem, before continuing this discussion, we should move to a safe place."

"Right, let's move to that place I brought you last time."

After I said that, we quietly moved to our destination, the Sewerhall. We went there unnoticed by other vampires thanks to the contribution of Ciel's sharp senses. A while later, approximately twenty minutes later, we finally arrived. After checking around the premises and finding no vampiric trace, we finally made our way inside. Sitting in the main room, we finally began our discussion.

"So, what do you mean by vanquishing the council's men?" Maria asked.

"As I've stated earlier, it's self-evident that what I mean by vanquishing the council's men; means vanquishing them until none are left."

"And how, pray tell, would you achieve that?" she pressed.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Using the law of mists and mirages, I conjured a three-dimensional map of the city with various colours to indicate groups and factions. On the Dairy Lodge, there were two colours confronting each other, one is blood-red, and the other golden-red. Meanwhile, the colour black and purple, indicating the Orthodoxy and terrorists respectively, could be seen encroaching the city.

"Here's the situation right now. The three invaders are at an impasse. Both the vampires and the terrorists can't really afford to move with the sudden appearance of the Orthodoxy who immediately sent a Skin-Stealer and a Wendigo. Meanwhile, the Orthodoxy themselves were being held up by the Duke."

"What does that mean to us?" she asked coldly.

"It means you're our way out of this impasse," I replied.

To which Ciel added, "By attacking the other two factions, we could incite a fight between themselves."

"Precisely. That's why we need at least one vampire in order to stage such a thing."

"So, the role of being the spark fell to me?"

"Or any other vampires you designate."

She mulled, thinking for a while, before finally nodding.

"Fine, since it was of great importance, I shall lower myself and accept your orders." she cheekily accepted the role.

"Alright, now that you're on board, we'll meet here in the Sewerhall at 10.00 PM every night. At least until the stalls have been cleared, as that's also the deadline of this operation."

"So, what should we do until then?" she asked.

"Look for information, such as to where the Orthodoxy and terrorists are located."

Finally getting the point, she added, "And by attacking them right after, we could incite a fight."

"That's why you need to ask your fellow kin, the ones that followed the tenets of the Lifeblood, to either hide or move into a safer place," Ciel advised while feeding the vampire girl some sweets she brought with her. Not used to being coddled, the vampire shied away from her hands, though she still took the sweets nonetheless.

"Is that it?" she asked.

"For now that's it. Though It would be better if you gave us a list of your followers since we could grant them temporary refuge." I offered.

Accepting the offer, she nodded her head.

As the meeting came to a close, we went outside the Sewerhall one by one. After saying our goodbyes, we separated. Maria went deep into the Dairy Lodge, while we traced our way back to the Twin Bridge.

However, before we could walk a bit farther away, a shout could be heard from behind us. Apparently, Maria forgot to ask something. That's why she ran to where we were headed, hoping to get a glimpse of us.

"Wait a moment! How can I achieve all that if no one actually listened to what I'm saying?!" she panickedly asked.

I caressed my nonexistent beard. Feeling as if I'm a great hidden master.

"For you little Maria, you might want to act all serious while waiting, at least until they argued. Then, you can tell them to stop while glaring at anyone trying to talk back at you."

"S-stop calling me little Maria!"

"When you're telling them to stop, your tone must be confident, and your intonation low; as if you have the world in your hands. Stop talking when they find something strange and replied to you, and continue what you're intending to say after they finished. Just disregard them."

"Why are you so sure they will argue? They're an elite force of the Council, mind you."

I shook my head slowly, lamenting the fall of the vampire race.

"Because I made them. I planted the seed of doubt in their hearts when I infiltrated one of their gatherings.

"...Fine then, what should I do after that?"

"you can then direct them to look for information pertaining to the terrorists and the Orthodoxy. After you get the information needed, direct them to fight with the terrorists while acting as the Orthodoxy, and vice versa. But you have to remember to ask your kin to hide, as Ciel had said."

She thought about it for a little bit.

"Alright. I'll try to do it, but you have to help me if things went wrong."

I nodded, saying, "We'll accept you in Cirque du Ciel, anytime."

After saying our goodbyes a second time and walking for a bit, we finally arrived back at the manor, my room to be exact. Dispelling everything, we said our goodnights to each other, before Ciel went to her room across mine.