"We are dead," Pokol said right after the sinister figure whooshed above the town of Val-d'Oise, heading straight to Brannuka. No doubt Strego was at the castle, ready to delight in the moment of Dracula's return so he could give him the news of what happened to his wife.
Pokol fell on her knees and began to cry, calling down curses upon herself. With her sharp talons, she began to scratch herself, causing severe bleeding injuries everywhere. But contrary to what she wanted, all the injuries kept closing up.She wanted to die, but her body wasn't letting her. She even began trying to slit her throat. But before she could land an effective blow upon herself, Vasile held both of her hands very tightly until her talons were withdrawn and then held her close.He tried to comfort her, rubbing one hand on her back and using the other to stroke her hair as she cried out loud in terror."Don't worry!" he said. "I swear by my life as a Ketsuki that I willNobuharu was seated alone in his room, feeling bored out of life. The province he had been lording over wasn't all that interesting, as it had little to no criminal activity. This meant that there was almost nobody to feed on, and having to patrol the streets while trying to stop himself from killing unnecessarily wasn't his style.That was why he barely spent time in that province, as there was very little to supervise and very little fun to have when there was nobody to kill. He now spent most of his time, like Pokol, at the Royal province, spending his free time at the castle. Though he had been feeding to his fill on the blood of the castle's prisoners, it was no longer satisfactory. He wanted something more. Blood tasted differently for Ketsuki based on the type of human they consumed. And for Nobuharu, the blood of criminals had begun to leave a bad taste in his mouth. He had become so used to it that consuming it now almost irritated him.
Dracula obliterated the house of the witch but couldn't find signs of anyone there.Of course, they had gotten away. That was what Vasile and Zaraki had gotten involved in. They had taken the witch and Pokol someplace else, someplace far away.If they were anywhere close by, he would have known about it, thanks to his enhanced senses. But he couldn't sense any Ketsuki anywhere near the vicinity, so they had definitely fled someplace far away.But they wouldn't be able to get away from him. Not for long. He would find them. And he would kill them all in the slowest and most painful way for what they had done to him.It was only a matter of time. As he and the others go on their rampage to slaughter all humans and convert all who remain, they will inevitably meet again. And they would surely pay dearly.These were the thoughts Dracula had, but his imagination came to a quick halt when he heard a familiar voice calling his name
Dracula now lay on the ground, with multiple stakes driven through his body. One was driven through his throat, another through his heart, and another through his brain.By all metrics, Lord Dracula was dead—or at least, that was what it seemed like.The young Vasile looked at Zaraki and the witch with a smile on his face. But the witch instead responded with a strange frown. It was as if it were weird for him to be happy that Dracula had been defeated, and it made no sense to him."Why are you smiling?" she asked. "You aren't naive enough to think that he is dead, are you?"Vasile's smile faded to obscurity the moment he heard this question. And he looked at Zaraki. He could see that the old butler also shared the same sentiment. He didn't look happy about it, although he seemed to be a tad relieved that everything went according to plan."Then what is going on with him?" asked Vasile. "He clearly has no pulse, and his body is turning co
Strego opened his eyes and found himself in the throne room. The dim yet natural illumination of the hall through the closed windows showed that it was daytime.The last thing he remembered was somewhat of a dream. A world where he was free to do as he wanted. But when he woke up, it just felt right. Not because he felt better being as he was right now, but because it was too good to be true. So, of course, it had to be a dream—a world where he was free to molest and abuse as many women as he wanted. No way would that be the real world—not by a long shot.But his memories became clearer once he saw Nobuharu lying unconscious beside him. The clothes he wore correlated with some of his memories from the so-called dream.Wasn't it just a dream?Then he heard a voice, and that voice brought the highest clarity to his mind. It turned out he wasn't a dean after all. "Strego! You have finally woken up," the voice said. Strego remembered that
Vasile was with Zaraki, brainstorming through all the conclusions he had come up with throughout the day.They had to take their time to find out what was and was not going to work as new policies for the Ketsuki.They discussed and debated about it for a while, and before they could tell what the time was, midnight was already far past. It was less than three hours before sunrise, and yet there were a lot of things to cover.Zaraki's wisdom amazed Vasile, and what he thought would have taken only a few minutes and, at most, an hour to get through took a lot more time than expected. There were a lot of loopholes in his judgments, and Zaraki could easily spot and correct them. And each time Vasile conceded a point that was proven foolish by Zaraki, he felt all the more stupid that it took a whole day to come up with such bad conclusions.It was as if, with every time Vasile spelled out his proposal, Zaraki would come up with an instant rebuttal and
The next morning, Vasile took his time to introduce Sinbad to the other Ketsuki.At first, they weren't all that impressed, but his charisma won them all with only a few verbal exchanges. Nobuharu hated the way he looked and tried provoking him into a fight. But the new Ketsuki's kind words threw him off guard in such a way that the others almost laughed at him.Because of that, Nobuharu never liked him but also didn't hate him.Pokol was impressed by his charm and charisma. But unfortunately, her heart had already been stolen by Vasile. But it was too bad that the new Emperor seemed to see her as a little sister, even though her heart ached for her to mean more to him.Strego, however, was the most impressed by the new Ketsuki and wanted to truly get to know him. Though he wasn't much of a pretty boy like Strego, his face somehow still demanded the same level of attention, and his outlook naturally drew respect from all who gazed upon him.
Just as planned, by the next evening, Vasile had assembled all of the Ketsuki, ready to send them off on their mission. They would be going in pairs to the two different empires to take down the Emperor and scatter their regions.He told me about the shield and how it came into being. And all the other Ketsuki were surprised that Dracula's body was tight in the castle. But it explained the suddenly grim aura that has filled the castle ever since that shield came up. And it was almost frightening for them to know that the castle would be like this forever.He had announced to them earlier that they would have new names. These would be the names the masses would know them as. They would each have a name that originally belonged to Lord Dracula to honor his memory. It was a big deal to the Ketsuki, and they each wanted to have a name that once belonged to the most powerful Ketsuki to ever live.Right there and then, he declared the new names for himself and t
It had now been over three centuries since Dracula's defeat, and Brannuka was thriving at its peak. The barrier was still thriving, and thanks to the unlimited life force within the sleeping Dark Emperor, the Ketsuki no longer lived in fear of the sun.The elves had reproduced in the hundreds, ensuring an adequate supply of blood for the Ketsuki.Thanks to the slavery of the powerful goblins, the walls of the city had been completed in such a way that allowed for only one entrance into and out of the city through the front gates.All the slaved outcasts were doing their jobs perfectly, bringing all the much-needed resources from outside the city during the day when it was most dangerous for the purebreeds.The economy was at its all-time highest, and no Ketsuki within the walls lacked anything, as they could move about in broad daylight thanks to the magical barrier that surrounded the city. They had all the rights and freedoms that the elves, goblins, and outcasts could only dream of