“…before we even begin to contemplate this ‘duel’, I’d like to correct the notion of me being ‘beside’ Hargrave Einar,” Lucille said, backing away from Rouge Ellsinore and taking out the two daggers. “He has followed my requests, for the most part. If you wouldn’t consider me his superior, at least consider me his equal.”
“Ha.” The ancient vampire smirked coldly. “Thee claimeth to beest the equal of the Blood Patriarch of this cycle… with the bloodline he holds anon?”
“…so that is the reason why you’re interested in Hargrave. I see.” Lucy straightened up and pointed Apophis at her. “If you think that I’m supporting him because of that, you’d be very wrong. I’d still support him regardless.”
Ellsinore tilted her head. “I seeth thee speaketh the truth. But we has't tarried too longeth. Proveth yourself, or Rivenwyard Cruor shall force his hand.” She unsheathed her rapier.
“…Cruor? The first True Vampire?” Lucy’s eyes momentarily widened when she realised that the first vampire after the Blood Patriarch was paying Hargrave attention. The only issue was… that she didn’t know if this was something that happened in the former timeline or not.
At the end of the day… it doesn’t change anything. Ellsinore is speaking as if Cruor wants to protect Hargrave, not kill him. But Hargrave has become too essential to my plans. I can’t let him leave.
“Will the Stronghold below see our battle?” Lucy asked, looking down. They were hovering in the air by the powerful ancient vampire’s abilities.
Rouge Ellsinore pointed to one of the wraiths. They all crouched down and from the middle of their location outward, a sphere of black formed, pushing past them and encasing them. No sooner than it had spread out, it disappeared from view. Lucy blinked because she couldn’t sense the wall even with her perception field.
Ellsinore stamped her foot down and a disk of bloody many was spat out below them. Esoteric runes of death mana slowly rotated in rings within the crimson ground.
“None of the living may seeth past the Underworld Boundary,” the vampiress proclaimed. “Attacketh me or I shalt maketh the first move.”
Lucille smiled and gave her an extravagant bow. “Then I hope to meet the Tainted Peony Blademistress’s expectations.”
A golden light pulsed out of Lucy.
Soul Cypher Orchestrator Of Affray: Set the first stage as the Dominion, with the fall of the demon clan being the goal.
A golden light pulsed out of Lucy.
Set the second stage as within the confines of the Underworld Boundary, with surprising the vampire as the goal.
The light doubled in strength before fading. Lucille stretched out Ouroboros and swung her arm as if to warm up… but then she disappeared in a cloud of wind mana and struck at Ellsinore.
Ellsinore barely raised a hand, and yet Ouroboros was deflected off of the rapier’s pommel. Lucy attempted a backslash with Apophis but the vampiress leaned back and Lucy lost momentum as she shot past.
“Thee has’t passable counterattack arts for one who hast wielded blades for little more than the year,” Rouge Ellsinore stated indifferently.
Compared to a bulkier opponent, or even a younger one, Rouge Ellsinore could be considered one of the worst matchups for Lucille. That was because her combat style of focusing on agility and trickery were similar, yet the vampire had more experience.
She also had more mana, stronger control, and… more soul power. Even if numerically, Lucy may have more, the pure density and concentration of the undead’s soul due to her incomprehensible age meant that the most Lucy could do was possibly break her mental defences for one millisecond, soon to be recovered. When the undead persisted by forcefully maintaining the lifespan of their constantly burning ‘soul flames’ which attempted to erase them at every moment, their mental strength was impossibly strong.
“Shall thee continueth with this farce? I knoweth these art not thy weapons' true visage.”
“As you wish.” Lucy leapt back and extended her snake-swords on either side. She swiftly swung Ouroboros at the vampiress and it whistled through the air like a whip, but Ellsinore caught the end of the sword in her hand.
Ouroboros rippled as a sheen of fiery mana flowed down her length, but by that stage Ellsinore had already flung the white snake-sword back at Lucy. Ouroboros snapped back into her longsword form before it hit her wielder.
Lucy stilled as Ellsinore spooled into flowing blood mana and reformed over her shoulder, the smell of iron thick. Lucille flipped over and pointed Apophis at her.
“I seeth. Thee did sacrifice the mana of thy major art to replaceth it with the artificial strength of those gauntlets.” Rouge tilted her head. “Thee trusteth thy magical armaments.”
“Are you against my use of items?” Lucille pushed mana and spiritual energy into Apophis, thickening his demonic aura of chaos. “If you do, I understand. I didn’t want to rely on them either.”
“Nay. A tool is a tool.” Lucy lashed out but Ellsinore appeared in front of her face, bloody eyes boring into her. “But thee'd beest foolish to bethink yond the movement of the mana of the elements can escapeth mine own senses.”
Ouroboros sliced through the midsection of the rapier-wielding sword master but the clone only splattered into blood that sunk into the sanguine platform.
That confirms what type of ability she’s using right now. Should I agitate her a little?
Lucy cast her snake swords aside and let them hover around her in a clockwise and counter-clockwise direction, shielding her while she raised her arms above her. Searingly-bright golden light formed between her palms and then spread out to become an all-encompassing mana-circle.
“Sunlit Undeath Erasure,” she announced, eyes narrowed as she smirked. She lowered her wrists and the five helical beams bored into the blood mana platform they were standing on.
The wraiths frowned a little when the light mana touched them, but the beams punched a hole into the centre of the platform where Ellsinore stood. She didn’t move.
The light mana scattered and Lucille took back Apophis and Ouroboros, both turning back into swords. She waited silently for the ancient vampire’s response.
“Doth thee taketh me for a fool?” Rouge Ellsinore murmured in an icy voice, barely above a whisper. Her bloody orbs widened in frigid wrath and she appeared before Lucy to grab her neck and raise her.
“Thee attempted to useth a purification ritual on me, an ancientest of blood-drinkers, of life-devourers?” Face still frozen in icy anger, Rouge Ellsinore’s glove disappeared and she bit down on her index finger. Blood welled from the puncture wounds of her fangs and then with one long, black-painted nail, she scored a line along Lucille’s cheekbone.
The vampire’s blood seeped into Lucy’s bloodstream and her body locked up as the blood fought for control.
“Beest thankful, mortal, yond upon mine own death I nay longer can maketh thee mine own thrall. But as a Blood Lord, I holdeth more power than mine own living brethren.” Rouge Ellsinore slowly tilted her head, expressionless. “And when mine blood reaches thine heart…”
Something caused the vampire’s words to trail off and she frowned slightly. Lucille was expecting that and she let her soul power out with full force.
Rouge Ellsinore stared at her. “You-” She paused as the bloody platform below them rumbled. It slowly split into two floating platforms, a smaller one for Lucy, and a larger one for Ellsinore and the other wraiths. As the seconds passed, mana from the other platform was slowly pulled away and merged into Lucille’s.
The time she spent converting her own mana and gradually replacing the blood mana of the vampire’s domain wasn’t wasted, as her Essential Transmutation Conduit had acted to maintain partial control of the ability. This wouldn’t have worked if the vampire’s skill was anything other than a mana-based spell.
“We appear to be at an impasse,” Lucy announced, smirking as she raised her hands. “With the inability of an undead to regenerate the elements of living mana, you’ve spent a large amount of time gaining your precious blood mana, haven’t you?” She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward with a knowing grin. “But if this continues, your precious blood mana will become fully converted to other elements, and do you really want that?”
Rouge Ellsinore frowned and looked down. “Doth thee bethink this is more than a mere speck of mine own mana?”
“No. The amount of mana you’re using may not even be a thousandth of your mana pool.” Lucille shook her head and shrugged. “But are you really willing to permanently waste your blood mana on what amounts to barely a petty spar, at the end of the day? A the very least, it won’t leave a good taste in your mouth. This is a few centuries of effort wasted.”
The vampire crossed her arms, but after a moment of consideration, she huffed and sheathed her rapier. “I doth concede.” She narrowed her eyes at Lucy. “Do not bethink this thy victory.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“I would never.” Lucy smiled. “I’m far better at making the consequences of fighting me greater than the benefits of defeating me. As such, I’d appreciate it if you judged my merit based on my mental talents and wit rather than physical capabilities.”
Rouge Ellsinore became solemn. “Thee can’t avoideth all battles in such a fashion. If thee kneweth what lay above…”
“I do know,” Lucille interrupted. She placed two hands on the pommels of the weapons she had now sheathed. “And that is why I’m using these two.”
Rouge clicked her tongue and waved a gloved hand at her. “Restore me mine own domain, and we shalt leaveth it here.” She glanced at Lucy. “But thy blood is…”
“Are you curious?” Lucille tilted her head and put a hand on her cheek. Her white gloves came away fresh with blood. “If you want to, I could give you some of my spilt blood. But I seem to recall that undead vampires can’t strengthen themselves with the blood of different people.”
Rouge Ellsinore went silent. “Art thee alone?”
Lucy blinked and then nodded. “You won’t find anyone else remotely similar to me.”
“Then I shall refuse.” The ancient vampire glanced at a wraith and they wordlessly nodded. The four raised their hands and the spherical wall of the Underworld Boundary appeared, before shrinking back down and disappearing.
The mana forming Lucille’s platform scattered when she relinquished control of it, and it converted to arcane mana that refilled her internal mana pool. She didn’t fall, still held in the air by the Blood Lord’s power, above the Demon Stronghold.
“T’is timeth for us to beginneth our mission,” Rouge announced. “We shall striketh from within the centre of their mighty fortress.”
“Before we start…” Lucy pointed to her unusually slow-healing cheek when the wraiths and vampiress glanced at her. “Can you do something about the traces of your blood mana still in my body? I have enough trust in your loyalty to Lu- I mean, the Death Monarch that I don’t believe you’d take over my body in the middle of the night, but I’d prefer for the possibility to be removed.”
Ellsinore glanced at her, and the beginnings of a smirk tugged at her lips as she looked away. “Treateth it as quid pro quo for thy daringness in stealing the mana of an ancient Blood Lord. If it be true thee beest as close to this Blood Patriarch as thee claimeth, he shalt aid you.”
“I see. Helpful,” Lucy replied dryly.
Rouge Ellsinore shook her head wryly. “T’is not without reasoneth I doth this. The traces of mine own mana shall beest mine own gift to the young Blood Patriarch. As is this, on behalf of another.”
She threw Lucille a fist-sized object, and when Lucy caught it, she realised in her hand was a heavy ruby locket with a thick silver chain. It smelt of dry blood and didn’t have the vitality of an item with living blood mana inside it, which she thought they’d give Hargrave, if they gave anything.
“I’ll hand it to him, but I’m not sure it’s really his style,” Lucy remarked, holding it up to study it. “Perhaps some cufflinks or something less ostentatious would be better, for future reference.”
The undead vampire was not amused. “T’is a conduit to mine predecessor. T’is not a mere ornament.” She turned back to the castle below. “Silence, now. We shalt descend.”
They began to move down as Lucy considered the words of the female vampire, putting the locket away and taking out another black object.
A conduit… some sort of communication device for Hargrave. This test was likely all on Rivenwyard Cruor’s orders, her ‘predecessor’ and father. He may be trying to see if Hargrave is willing to learn from him instead of following me.
She sighed and put on Jinx’s mask, dark mana leeching out of it and coiling around her to cloak her in the outfit of the disguise.
He’s loyal to Lucius though, so I doubt he wants to ruin my plans. He probably… feels a slight sense of responsibility towards Hargrave. Maybe to protect him against his conceited and ambitious descendants.
Rouge Ellsinore snapped her fingers and they all found themselves in the centre of the Stronghold. Demons let out cries of alarm when she pointed up and a dome of scarlet mana burst from her fingertips, sealing the city’s entire population within its borders.
“Intruders! Identify yourselves!” a demon guard snarled, his aura growing intense, uncontrollable and filled with bloodlust.
“Why, us?” Lucille asked with a blithe voice. “Oh deary me, you seem to be a little naïve! Let me help you open your eyes.”
She spun around and gestured to the wraiths within their thick death mana, pulling out chain-scythes and other rare weapons in preparation for the battle. “If the ambassadors of Death have appeared before us, what else shall they do but herald Death!”
She laughed and stepped back with her arms spread out. “Come one, come all, and enjoy this night of crimson beneath bloody skies!”
…
The wraiths acted quickly, only killing the demons on their hit list. As members of the oldest intelligence organisation in the Tower, they had no need to waste time killing every demon in the Stronghold. By not being ruthless, it would draw attention to the fact that it wasn’t another demon clan who destroyed the clan, but wraiths didn’t need to worry about attention. They had the backing of one of, if not the most ancient existence in the Tower and have never fought a losing battle once.
The stronger demons recognised Rouge Ellsinore as the more important individual they needed to defeat first, to unseal the Stronghold and call for reinforcements from allies, but all of their attacks shattered uselessly against her body and the blood mana dome. As time went by, the exclusiveness of the wraiths’ attacks could be seen, and bystander demons avoided helping the demons of the targeted clan. Nobody wanted to get on the bad side of actual wraiths, after all. Especially not ones wearing the 1st Sector Vigil badges.
Meanwhile, Lucy was playing up the maniacal wild card, making eye-catching moves in front of the largest concentrations of people but not actually doing anything substantial. It was harder for a group like the Malediction Society to attach motive and pattern to her actions if she acted insane. Showing that she had connections to wraiths from Tartarus also prevented her from seeming like an easy target, because the Malediction Society was bound to want to eradicate an unpredictable enemy.
Lucille strutted along the top of a wall, casually dodging the long-range attacks of the demon clan’s guards. She whistled as she hopped down and the tower her attackers were at exploded from the force of a wraith’s attack.
Apophis was angrily buzzing in his sheath, eager to join in on the fun. But she couldn’t be caught wielding such a noticeable weapon as ‘Jinx’.
Is there something more I can do? What if I use my watch for the first time?
She ducked under a doorway and spread her perception to make sure nobody was coming her way. Then, Lucy pushed mana into her pocket watch, watching the topaz arrow slowly spin.
Show me where the treasure vault is.
The topaz embedded in the arrow glowed gold and the arrow swung around to point in the right direction. A translucent replica formed above it to even point at the angle where it could be found. The arrow pointed towards the central tower.
With the guards distracted and the core members of the Demon Count’s family attempting to use a hidden tunnel to escape, Lucy was free to raid the Stronghold’s vault. She swiftly took paths and hidden passageways she spotted in her perception until she found herself in front of a pair of black metal doors, an ominous demonic seal burned into its surface.
Translating this… well, that’s boring. It only requires mana at certain key points. Any decent demonologist of the other races could open this with their mana.
With a quick succession of taps, the vault opened up. She glanced indifferently at the piles of weak natural treasures and items, all useless to her.
These would be valuable to demons who need the mana to strengthen their lineages, but not me. I should only take the items I can’t get anywhere else.
At the back of the room was where the useful objects were. Demonic materials, parts of demon beasts, several demonic weapons-
I recall hearing that a demonic weapon can be strengthened by consuming other demonic weapons. I promised Hargrave to find ways of unsealing his demonic Origin weapon’s strength, and it’s far past the time when he should’ve upgraded it to Ancient.
With a bit of telekinesis, they were all sucked into her dimensional bag. She looked around and took out a few plain sacks to fill with weak items, planning on using them for something else. Lucille stopped when she noticed the red crystal hovering above a pedestal in the centre of the room.
That is… the Stronghold Crystal. Ordinarily, if a non-demon touched it, they’d receive an award for conquering the Stronghold, and complete a Realm Quest. The Demon Lord would receive the penalty of decreased Auctoritas, while the non-demons would get teleported outside of the city so the Demon Lord couldn’t attack them.
She placed a hand on the crystal and rolled her eyes when nothing happened.
Go figure. But I’m taking this with me.
She picked up the head-sized crystal and tucked it under one arm, walking out while dragging the sacks of items behind her. She made it to the castle’s parapet overlooking the Stronghold’s city square, and magnified her voice with a spell while calling out, “Hello, one and all! Demonesses and Demons, I bring wonderful gifts!”
The people below looked out, and she placed the crystal down to pick up a sack and pour the contents over the wall. The demons cried out when they realised the items had mana and hastily scrambled to collect them. Fights and brawls began to break out when the last sack was emptied.
“This is a reward for being such a wonderful audience of our night of death and blood!” Lucy shouted, her voice disguised by her mask. “A grand spectacle it has been, has it not?”
She looked down and placed her hands on her hips when she noticed them all ignoring her and still bickering over the magical objects. Lucille clicked her tongue and raised the red crystal high. “Up here!”
One demon noticed and audibly gasped while pointing at it. “That’s-!”
“How is she holding it?” another murmured.
“Did you all think that was the last of it?” Lucy announced cheerily, tucking the crystal back under her arm. “This is the grand prize for whoever completes one teensy little task for me, with no additional cost!”
“What task?!” one called out.
“Yeah, what do we need to do?” another shouted.
Lucille raised a finger in front of the expectant gazes. “Whoever brings the Count of this Stronghold – alive, mind you – in front of the wraiths, will receive the Stronghold Crystal and consequently the entirety of this Stronghold!”
Excited whispers rustled around but someone else yelled back, “What if the death race finds the Count first?”
Lucy pondered it with a finger on her chin, and then nonchalantly shrugged. “I’ll settle for the next highest ranked. Countess or heir, I don’t care which. But time’s a-ticking! Hurry hurry, or the person next to you might be your new lord!”
The demons glanced at each other, and then the crowd dispersed as they sped off in different directions. Rouge Ellsinore high above gave her an approving nod, and Lucy swung her legs over the parapet to watch the show play out below. She let out a slight sigh, eager for when Scytale would arrive to complete the next three Stages with her afterwards.
…
In the Count’s throne room, Rouge Ellsinore sat on the throne, the four wraiths lined up on either side. Lucille stood next to the vampire, acting the part of the subservient tag-a-long.
A demon with long black hair and crimson eyes marched in with an arrogant smirk. He threw the dishevelled Demon Count at Rouge’s feet. “I have found the Count. I request the Stronghold Crystal.”
Ellsinore nodded to Lucy and she bowed, before throwing the crystal at the demon. “The vault where it sits is upstairs. You better hurry, or else someone may try to kill you before you can claim ownership of the Stronghold,” she warned.
The arrogant smirk on his face slipped a little and he hurried off. Absorbing the Auctoritas of a Stronghold wasn’t as easy a task as she made it sound near the city square.
With a gesture from Ellsinore, a wraith walked forward to place a hand on the Count’s forehead. An ebony rose tattoo bloomed out and the eyes rolled up into his head. He collapsed and his body shimmered with red, before disappearing, leaving only his luxurious clothes behind.
“Go forth,” Rouge Ellsinore ordered. Two wraiths nodded and disappeared from the throne room, searching out the members of the Demon County who had been marked with the Black Soul brand. They would repeatedly hunt them down until they degenerated into mindless demon beasts, and if any regained sapience and tried to join the Malediction Society again, the cycle would repeat, for their very souls had been marked for death.
Rouge Ellsinore had sealed the room from anyone else entering and turned to Lucy. “Thee may removeth thy disguise.”
The Jinx mask was taken off, along with the black outfit of the identity, and stored away. Lucille bowed to the ancient vampire. “That will be all then, I take it? You also said you’d send me back to another Stronghold so I could meet up with my bond.”
“I didst.” Ellsinore nodded. “Cometh with me to the Stronghold centre and I shalt taketh thee.”
Lucy calmly followed the vampire out of the Stronghold, most of the demons in the Stronghold having left to spread the news of the clan’s destruction. Rouge Ellsinore turned around and placed a hand on Lucille’s shoulder. “Thee hast been invaluable. I shalt seeth to it that Cruor learns of thy worth, even-”
An overwhelming, soul-grating presence washed over them and forced them to the ground. Lucille groaned and stood up, noting with some confusion that the vampiress wasn’t able to get up under the pressure.
Why am I less affect-
The Stronghold thundered and a tall demon with pitch-black hair and scarlet red royal clothes appeared in front of Lucille and Rouge. If the vampire wasn’t already undead, Lucy would’ve thought she’d turn even paler.
Lucille stared at the figure before them. “Wha- Your Majesty-”
The brief touch of a firm grip on her shoulder, and the world was spinning until she found herself in an entirely new place. A warm fire crackled in a fireplace, and luxurious carpets covered the floor. She froze on the spot when she noticed the demon who looked like a man in his late 40s, with salt-and-pepper, combed black hair and beard, and fiery eyes lit up with seven flaming embers in each.
“You explain it,” the Demon Emperor stated shortly. He turned around and Lucy rushed over to him.
“Wait- wait- wait- Your Majesty!”
He glanced back with a frown just before he opened the dark oak door to leave, and Lucille let out a groan.
“Don’t you think you’re forgetting one thing, Your Majesty?” she asked weakly.
He considered it with a slight tilt of his head. “Ah.” Through the vision of her Shard of Totality, she saw the small nebulous formation of Influence coalesce above his fingertip and then shoot into her chest when he pointed at her. “That should satisfy you now.”
[Gained Secondary Skill: Reward]
He didn’t even bother to name it properly. At least it’s Epic- wait, no! I wanted him to explain why I’m here!
It was too late. The infuriating demon had already disappeared. Lucy placed her hands on her head, pulled at her hair and let out a quiet hiss of frustration, staring off into space.
A slight cough sounded out behind her and she whirled around with a bright smile on her face. She got down on one knee and bowed deeply before the demon standing by the stained glass window, saluting him with one hand on her chest.
“It is my greatest honour and a gift beyond gifts to be in the presence of you, Your Grace, the patriarch of the most powerful Demon Duchy in the Demon Realm. Common pleasantries dictate I’m supposed to ask to what do I owe the pleasure of being called here, but due to the circumstances of my arrival, I shall refrain from that.” She looked up at him and smiled, her eyes narrowed and gently curved like crescent moons. “But I would at least like to say well met, Your Grace. I am Count Lucille Adrienne Goldcroft, the Head of the Aurelian Commission.”
“…I see. Well met indeed, Count Goldcroft.”
If he wasn’t already a demon, Lucille would’ve dearly loved to ask the Demon Emperor what possessed him to dump her directly in front of Reighdorlan Decarabria Nefas Infernalis, the Infernal Demon Duke, ruler of the second largest Dominion after the Demon Emperor…
…and the superior of the vassal Demon County she had just destroyed with the aid of only four wraiths from Tartarus and an ancient undead Blood Lord.