Not Human

Alucard led the way to the dining room, where a massive crimson red table stood at the very center. Around it were ostentatious-looking chairs, that looked to be made of silver bones, with skulls acting as the arms rests. One of the maids pulled a chair at the head of the table, before Alucard took a seat on it, gesturing for Tesse and Gray to join him.

“Please take a seat,” he smiled before snapping his fingers at one of the maids.

Gray carefully took a seat directly opposite his host, with Tesse taking the seat directly next to him. The cub remained on the floor, putting its head on its paws as it rested underneath Tesse’s chair. A few moments later the maids came back with two women dressed in white garments and two platters covered with silver bowls.

The maid presented one of the platters to Tesse, before removing the silver bowl. It looked to be some sort of vegetable meal, with green and orange cuttings sprinkled elegantly atop a purple lettucey-mass.

The other platter was presented to the cub. The maid removed the silver bowl revealing chunks of flesh neatly placed on the platter. The blood was still warm from whatever creature it had been dismembered from, and the aroma it exuded seemed to excite Gray quite a bit.

Once he smelled the blood, Gray realized that he was indeed actually hungry, however, he saw no other platter of food. Did they perhaps forget about him he wondered, before one of the women dressed in white garments began approaching him. She was a young elf, perhaps in her later adolescent stage. Her skin was fair -not a mark on her- and her garments were see-through, hanging loosely on her curves.

{What’s going on?} wondered Gray and the girl sat on his lap. If not for the fact that the other woman had done the same with Alucard, Gray would’ve pushed her right off.

“I wasn’t sure what kind of demon you were exactly, and I’m not so rude to ask you when we just met. But since it seemed like the smell of blood was quite thick around you, I guessed that you might enjoy some blood,” said Alucard, playing with the hair of the woman who sat on his lap.

“The royal family gave them to me as a present. They are imbued with regeneration artifacts, so drink to your heart's content,” he said, before puncturing his fangs into the woman’s neck. The woman let out a soft moan as her blood spilled, but remained still as Alucard fed on her.

{Blood?} Gray was accustomed to spilling blood, in fact, he found the warmth it gave him as he slaughtered those on his path quite comforting. But to drink blood directly was something he had never thought of doing, had he been asked to do it at the start of all this perhaps he would have immediately rejected the offer. However ever since he made the deal with Amaymon, he could feel his being slowly changing. Normal food didn’t taste as good, and on the rare occasions that blood from his victims found its way into his mouth, he found himself savoring its salty taste.

After a bit of thought, Gray used his own fangs to puncture two holes into the young elf's neck. Perhaps he had done it a little too roughly as he could feel the girl tense up, however, he couldn’t have cared less. The second his fangs bit into her jugular it felt as if the blood was being fed directly into him. It felt akin to his first murder, the rush was exhilarating. His blood pumped faster, and his eyes shone a crimson color. It felt as if all along he had been suffocating, and only now was he truly breathing. He gripped onto her tighter, digging his teeth deeper into her neck.

With every ounce of blood that rushed into him, he could feel himself slowly slipping, his urge to kill spilling out bit by bit. He was using too much strength, he could feel himself slowly crushing the girl, but her soft cries excited him even more.

[『Bloodlust Mode』 activated. Blood lust has reached critical level. Warning, excessive use of this mode exponentially increases the blood price toll. A sacrifice must be offered before the blood lust expires or the full toll will be paid by the user.]

“Perhaps you should slow down, lest you go into a frenzy,” warned Alucard, interrupting Gray’s meal. At this point all the maids had weapons in their hands, pointing them directly at Gray -though they still kept their distance. Tesse was looking at him with confused eyes, though by the way she was holding her fork it was clear she was ready to defend him.

“You see, my maids are easily frightened. And turning into that… form of yours might make them do something I didn’t order them to.” Although Alucard was annoyed by the way his maids were pointing their weapons at Gray, it was clear that he still felt somewhat threatened.

{What?} Gray looked at his reflection off the silver bowl that had been used to cover Tesse’s food, and for the first time, he saw himself in his bloodlust mode. One of his eyes was glowing crimson red, while the other had a pitch-black gleam that made his pupil look like an abyssal pit. His hair was glowing white, and his fangs were longer than before.

As blood dripped from his mouth onto the young elf’s garments, Gray let go of her. She tumbled to the ground in a weakened state, before stumbling toward Alucard. Her skin had begun to dry out, and her once young-looking face now seemed ancient.

{Do not reply to me, or he will be able to tell we are communicating. It seems you are now aware that your humanity is completely gone, even though you required a little nudge,} whispered a voice that sounded exactly like Layla’s, but now that he listened to it properly something about it seemed off.

{Now progenitor, you have to regain that vampire’s trust. It is essential for our plans,} it continued.

Gray had no idea what the voice was talking about, but he held in the urge to reply.

{Now, first thing’s first, return to your normal form. Calm down, forget about the blood, forget about slaughter. We will pay the toll this time,} it instructed.

After a few moments he returned to normal, and the maid’s reluctantly put their weapons away. Alucard gestured for the maid closest to him to take the elven girls away, before staring at Gray.

“I apologize f-“ Gray tried saying, before Alucard interrupted.

“I don’t blame you. I too would’ve lost myself if I hadn’t had a meal in a long time. After a bit of rest, she’ll be back to normal. But now that all the pleasantries are out of the way, I think it’s time we talked.”

“Tell me, who do you serve? Although I don’t hold any power within Elden, I think as an ambassador to this nation I can’t simply overlook a demon running rampant on their territory,” said Alucard.

{Tell him the truth.}

Gray wanted so much to slaughter whoever was talking to him. The demon had been annoying enough, but this voice was beginning to become a little too talkative. However, Gray didn’t intend to lie to the vampire in front of him anyway. As long as his blood ability was sealed, and his weapons taken away, he would be at his host's mercy.

“If you’re asking which demon I’m under, it’s Amaymon,” replied Gray.

Alucard’s face tensed up for a split second before returning to normal.

“Amaymon, huh. And what business does he hav- never mind. Asking what business an Archdemon has here would be overstepping my bounds. Very well then, I won't question you further on that front. However, there’s something else I want to know. How come you can manipulate blood? From what I’ve deduced, you don’t have a trace of vampire royalty in you.” As Alucard asked this his eyes shone crimson, and try as he may, he couldn’t hide the scowl he had on his face.

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[System Information]

[Artifacts]

Artifacts are powerful items found within towers, ruins, and dungeons that grant their users special abilities. They are quite rare and can only be found in higher difficulty areas. Based on current information they are 5 rarities.

『Rare』

『Ultra Rare』

『Unique』

『Mythical』

『Immortal』

There is a countless number of different types of artifacts. To see more information on the different types, see 『Scroll of Artifacts』

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