Chapter 49 The Second Ability (4)

“The dogs from the Holy Church have exterminated the Delta Squad.”

Six people gathered at a council table in a dark, ominous room with red light as the backdrop and an elaborate emblem hanging down from the ceiling. Each one of them was draped in a red robe that seemed to be dyed with dense human blood. It was hard to see their faces that had been covered with hoods, but even without seeing their faces, one could deduce the rage that laid within.

“Tch, twenty years of preparations just wiped out like that! Those fucking Church dogs! If I get my hands on them!”

“We were too careless. We’d thought that if we chose places out of their reach, we could go undetected.”

“And they’d even sent their flashiest exorcist to deal with us! Fuck, what they’re doing is pure disdain over our great house! The Bloodborne House!”

True Vampires were prideful creatures. They saw anything besides their race as inferior, and in particular, the hatred they held for the Holy Church, their mortal enemies, was beyond that of two organisations squabbling. The Bloodborne House, in particular, saw the Holy Church as pests that had to be exterminated.

Well, the same could be said about the Holy Church. Before the Outer Demons invaded the world, the Holy Church was in open war against the Vampire race. They would train millions of priests, thousands of exorcists and even send Archbishops to rid the world of what they called the demonic plague.

For them, Vampires were fiends that needed to be wiped out and once upon a time, the Bloodborne House was at the top of their list.

“If the Ancestor was still around, would those bottom feeders even dare challenge us?”

“Tch, it can’t be helped; we really have weakened.”

“How dare they!!!”

The six executives ground their teeth in a fury. If it were up to them, they would have waged war against the bastards that dared to lay a hand on their master plan and wreak havoc on the greater world. Alas, they were still too weak to decide the tides of war. Even though the Holy Church had destroyed the plan they’d spent years preparing, they could only swallow the bitter pill and move on.

“Hold it in. We aren’t in the position to challenge the Holy Church yet.”

“Tch, I know that!”

The other executives of the Bloodborne House clicked their tongues and turned her faces away. It was the destiny of the weak. If they were at their Prime, it didn’t matter if there were one or two Holy Churches. The Bloodborne House would wipe the floor clean with any enemy. Unfortunately, the current Bloodborne House was unlike the one in the past. Even though the Holy Church had inflicted a humiliating blow on them, the only thing that they could do was grit their teeth and endure.

“Hah… Let’s stop thinking about the Holy Church for now. Once we’ve regained our position, we will have our due.”

“So the main problem is…”

“The Moonreaver House…”

The six executives turned their attention away from the dastardly exorcists that impeded their plans and focused on the most pressing issue at hand. They snorted and watched the image of the Moonreaver Dimension that their computer had put on the screen.

“Those bastards have become way too arrogant! Just because they supply Nightmare realms, they think they can boss us around!”

“Tch, we should have wiped them out the moment they left our allegiance.”

“Now, now. We can’t wage war on the Moonreaver House just yet.” The oldest executive of the bunch calmed his subordinates down to comfortably continue the conversation. “They have good relations with the other Guardian Houses, particularly the Everwinter, Blackburn and Shadowgarden Houses. If we actively wage war against them, we would be digging our own grave.”

“Hmph! If the Ancestor was still around, we would have forced all those Houses to their knees!”

“But he isn’t here, is he?”

The one sentence turned the room into a silent chapel. None of them wanted to admit it, but they weren’t the powerful Vampire Clan that once brought the world to heel. Now, they were nothing more than an honorary Guardian House, with not much power and influence to back them up.

Even though the Moonreaver House and the Bloodborne House were both Guardian Houses, the difference between them was night and day. One of them was the main supplier of the most valuable commodity the Vampiric World requires, with legions of supporters within and outside their ranks. While the other was a fallen Noble House that didn’t have a single supporter outside its four walls. The difference was practically night and day.

“Nevertheless, the Moonreaver House has something that we need.”

“The Ancestor’s arm, was it?”

“That’s right.”

The leader of the executives displayed an image on the screen that showed a withered arm that seemed to be excavated from a sarcophagus of an Egyptian tomb. It was pale grey with nothing but wrinkled skin and toned-down meat on the arm, but it seemed as lifelike as any other arm.

“From what I understand, they are using the arm to power the Moonreaver Dimension.”

“Blasphemous!!! They dare deny our hegemony, and yet, they would use our Ancestor’s sacred artefact in that manner!”

The biggest executive in the room slammed his fist on the table, creating numerous cracks on the marble surface in the process. He bit down on his teeth and allowed his magic power to run rampant. For the Bloodborne House, having their Ancestor’s memorabilia used as a battery for another Guardian House was nothing more than a slap in the face.

“As much as I agree with your grievances, we can’t wage war on the Moonreaver House yet.”

“So what? Will we let them desecrate our Ancestor’s relic for the rest of time?”

“Of course not,” the main executive smiled. “I’d wanted to wait until we’re stronger to do this, but the actions of the Holy Church have left us no choice.” With the most sinister smile one had ever seen, the lead executive of the Bloodborne House whispered:

“Let’s steal it from the Moonreaver Dimension.”

???

Lilith’s blood, just like Irina’s, had an intoxicating factor to it. No matter how much I drank, I felt thirsty for more. The rich floral and fruity taste enveloped my senses as the taste of blood lingered within my mouth. It took everything that I had to not push this gorgeous young girl down, even after drinking mouthfuls of her delicious blood.

And it was fortunate that I didn’t…

“How are you feeling?”

“A little flushed.”

“Alright, take a rest over there.”

Lilith seemed to be overwhelmed by our first feeding session. It was the same with Irina; even though she was a True Vampire and had tasted over a hundred different types of blood before, they seemed to have an orgasmic experience whenever they drank my blood. According to Irina, it had something to do with the links of our soul and my blood being utterly different from anything they’d tasted before.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t complaining. I carried Lilith in a princess carry and gently placed her down near a tree for her to rest. When I attempted to leave, the blonde beauty smiled and grabbed onto my arm.

“How was it?”

“It was delicious… Truly the nectar of Gods. Your blood is something that-…”

“N-Not that! Have you awakened your second ability?!”

Lilith’s face instantly turned red, and her body trembled slightly. It felt like I was watching a startled puppy who had just been caught chewing her owner’s socks.

“Oh, that.” I quickly corrected my misunderstanding and raised my right hand. “Let me see…”

Magic power gathered from within my soul, and the five rings representing my Vampire Aspect quickly formed. Each one of the five rings was ornately decorated as if they were relics of the Ancient Gods that had been sealed in the mortal world. The chains that came from each ring clanked with every movement as they tightened together until they met at my silver, heavy bracelet.

As per usual, the middle ring was glowing with an azure hue. And though it was hard to notice, the light was bending the properties of Spacetime with it. The rings on my index, fourth and pinky, were still darkened out, which was nothing new to me. However, the gems that were engraved on the ring of my thumb…

“Oh ho? It looks like it was a success!”

Lilith smiled joyfully as she switched into her scholarly mode. Even though she was the heir of the mighty Moonreaver House, the girl’s true calling was that of a researcher. Perhaps that was the reason why we got along fifteen years ago and the reason why I’d felt a kinship with the blonde bombshell.

But I digress.

“Quick, show me what it does!”

“Okay…”

What does it do, huh? I looked deep into my soul and attempted to replicate my feeling when I’d first awakened my Vampire Aspect. And sure enough…

Bzzzztttt!!!

The gem on my thumb glowed in a dazzling rainbow colour as crackles of lightning coiled around my hand. The small currents of electricity soon turned into torrents of lightning bolts as they struck viciously onto the ground. I raised my right hand and directed the lightning serpents away, striking an innocent tree in the process.

“Hoh… Lightning magic? The Moonreaver House specialises in that, so maybe you got it from me? But that doesn’t make sense. If that’s the case, why didn’t you inherit Irina’s Winter powers?”

“Lilith, the show’s not done.”

“Huh?”

I swung my hand to the side, and the earth popped out like an exploding pimple. The ground shook violently, forcing Lilith to drop back on her bum, but I was completely undeterred. Instead, I felt a sense of kinship with the earth. So much so that I started to manipulate it freely by breaking the boulder into pieces and willing them to orbit around me.

“Earth magic as well?! So you can use two elements without casting now?!”

“Hehe, you really need to learn to be patient.”

“H-Huh?!”

I summoned a blaze of searing flames and forced them to spread over a dozen metres wide. Once that was done, the winds of the area spiralled into a wild tornado, absorbing the intense flames with it. However, since I didn’t want the forest to burn from a mere demonstration, I summoned a tidal wave of water, dousing the flame tornado and turning it into a spiralling mess.

“C-Control over five elements?! That’s your second ability?”

“Haha, no, my darling. Since my first ability is control over Spacetime, did you honestly think my second one would be something that simple?”

The ring on my thumb was illuminated by the colours of the rainbow, gathering magic power from places I’d never thought I had. Opening my hand into a palm, a shard of mercury appeared. It soon turned into a ceramic bowl, and then a rock-hard diamond, and then a can of beer and various forms of matter. I’d even created a bottle with a lighting bolt striking all around it. Something like this wasn’t possible with control over the five elements. Heck, it wasn’t even possible if you could control every element in the world.

What my ability was…

“My second ability is… Creation itself.”