Chapter 259: Gates Of Limbo.
Two golden trails were traveling across the dark sky of Nightingale. Where these trails passed, sounds of rolling thunder echoed across the busy streets of the city.
Rumble, Rumble!
Some vampires thought it was going to rain at any moment when they heard the sound of lightning, but little did they know that it was just two beings 'walking' over them.
Victor and Natashia were heading to the maximum security prison called Limbo. This place was where the most dangerous Vampires in the world were locked away. Of course, there were also vampires who'd committed petty crimes against Nightingale and had to be arrested as well.
Crimes such as raping vampire women, stalking vampire children, disturbing the Nightingale's peace, etc.
There were several beings who broke extremely specific rules. After all, of all societies, Nightingale's was the most open to crimes that would typically be considered heinous crimes for humans.
An example of this was human trafficking since, for humans, that would be unforgivable, but for vampires?
This is considered nothing. After all, for most noble vampires, humans were just cattle or animals that feed them, and they viewed humans with the same worldview that humans had when looking at a chicken or a pig.
Vampire law only applied when the crime was done for vampires, most of them being weaker vampires and newborns who were the future 'jewels' of any society.
Of course, heinous crimes like rape, exploitation of maids, exploitation of vampire women, etc. All these crimes were considered enough to warrant life imprisonment.
In some cases, depending on where the offense was committed, the crime could lead to the destruction of the soul.
An example of this was the territory of Scathach. The older woman repudiates any type of act, and in her territory, those who commit this type of act must be eliminated from existence.
Another example of differences in law is in the territory of Agnes. Men who committed this type of crime were condemned to work in mines for all eternity, they were offered a minimal amount of blood, and they'd work like machines, literally.
What if the vampires refused to work? Well, they would be burned.
The woman wasn't kind enough to allow that kind of scum to live, but unlike Scathach, who quickly eliminated them, she tried to use them to death.
Similar punishments applied in the territory of Clan Fulger and Clan Adrasteia.
...Fun fact...
That kind of punishment doesn't exist for women...
Which meant if a female vampire kidnapped a vampire and fucked him to death, they wouldn't be held accountable...
They would only be put to death if they preyed on vampire children, but if it were to be done to an adult vampire, that was ok....
Remember that, to be considered an adult vampire, you need to be at least 500 years old.
Yes, as you have just realized, there is no such thing as gender equality...
Now, the question remained, why was it so?
If you thought carefully on the matter, the answer would come quickly.
Adrasteia, Fulger, Scarlett, Snow.
The four great vampire counts were women...
From their inception to the present day, all of the aforementioned clans have been led by women only.
Because of this, the laws governing the four territories were more 'convenient' for women, so they had more privileges than men.
Only Alucard, who made a new Clan, had a male as leader and creator, which, if you think about it, was an achievement in itself, but everyone knew that most of the power of vampire society still lay with the four countesses.
And because of that, they didn't have so many expectations with the new Count. After all, he was merely responsible for 'exploration'; his area of ??work was outside of Nightingale.
Although intelligent, cunning vampires immediately realized the value of the new Count. He was responsible for exploration, which meant, if in the future he wanted to, he could create a new city outside of Nightingale's current territory.
A new city, a new place that could be molded however they wanted, without the interference of the four countesses...
But that little dream came crashing down when they got the information of the new Count's 'DEEP' connection with the countesses.
He was a disciple of Scathach and the husband of Annasthashia Fulger...
Yes, the rumor that the new Count and Countess Annasthashia being in a relationship came to fruition when the new Count intervened in the Countess's duel and literally kissed her in front of the entire Nightingale.
The hopes of these noble male vampires who sought male supremacy were completely dashed, but... They still had a candidate.
Niklaus Horseman, the man who had enough power to be considered a Count. These nobles decided to get in touch with this man and look for a way to support him in becoming a Count again.
...Fun fact, they just realized it now, they were so lazy in their homes that they completely forgot their 'rights'.
Yes, indeed. In the end, these nobles were just pigs complaining with their bellies full because while most laws benefited women, as long as you didn't commit a heinous crime, you could live a long life.
The only thing you should be careful about was when you reached 500 years of age, and if you were considered 'beautiful' by female vampire standards, you would literally be hunted by them and sucked dry over, over, and over again.
Death by Snu, Snu. Banzai!
Cough...
Although not all women practiced these customs, most vampires already had a partner who they dedicated their lives to. The only ones crazy enough to do that were those who were desperate to get married... or the ones who were dissatisfied with the 'quality' of their current partner and decided to look for new 'adventures'.
Interesting fact, this type of law did not apply in the royal capital. In the royal capital, the laws, despite being stricter, were the same for everyone.
Because of this, most of the male clan leaders sought to live in the royal capital, although... That's where most crimes took place.
Relatively speaking, the four territories led by the countesses were the ones with the most 'peace'.
Why was that?
Because the four countesses had no patience, if you committed a heinous crime, either you'd die eternally, or you were condemned to forced labor forever.
Because of this, the criminalization rate in the four territories was extremely low.
In comparison, the royal capital had a more 'democratic' system and several complex laws that intelligent vampires could easily find loopholes in. Because of this, most crimes took place there.
Although on occasions like events or big announcements, the royal capital became the most peaceful city in all of Nightingale, why did this happen?
The royal guards... soldiers who were trained by vampires close to the king, elite soldiers, beings who were created to be the strongest 'force' in Nightingale.
Beings trained by Scathach Scarlett herself, who in times of crisis assumed the role of general of vampires.
In this type of event, the royal guards would come out of the vampire king's castle and patrol throughout the city, and any crime committed in front of them, the royal guards had free rein to judge that crime as they wished.
They literally were the judges, jury, and executioners. Because of this, vampires preferred to stay quiet and do nothing until the event was over.
Which begs the question, what was Limbo?
Limbo was a prison that lay in another dimension, it had 7 levels, with level 7 being the lowest, and that's where the most dangerous vampires were.
From the 1st to 4th level, punishments varied according to your crime.
Level 1 being the lightest because that was where the rehabilitation center was...
Yes... In a way, Limbo was a prison and a rehabilitation center for vampire nobles.
What did that mean? Basically, delinquent noble vampires who had questionable attitudes were sent to this place to achieve 'enlightenment', and become a decent vampire.
Although everyone knew this didn't really apply, most noble families had one or three ways to keep their troubled children from being sent to this place.
But that kind of power was only meant for families that were a little more influential and that had deep roots in Nightingale. New families didn't have that kind of power, and those kinds of troubled vampires were quickly sent to this place.
Rumble, Rumble.
Two lightning strikes crashed into the ground in front of a silver gate with decorations that looked like they came out of a horror movie.
'Is this for scare tactics?' Victor thought when he arrived at that place.
"And then... How do we get in?" As someone who had never come to this place, Victor had his doubts, considering this place only had one gate, no guard, or anything.
"Don't we just knock on the door?" Natashia spoke as if it was obvious.
"...." Victor was a little speechless.
Natashia decided to show an example. She had come here a few times when she had to take care of troubled people. She arrived in front of the gate and knocked on the door.
BOOM, BOOM!
...Correction, she punched the door.
"Hmmm." The door seemed to make a strange noise, and a big red eye opened and looked at Natashia.
'Did the door speak...?' Victor showed an interested smile. At first, he thought it was a Nuri, something like that Youkai he'd found when exploring a hunter base, but it seems that it wasn't.
'... That isn't a Youkai, seems to be another type of being?'
"Identifying..." A red glow fell across Natashia's body,
"..." Natashia narrowed her eyes when she saw this lengthy process.
'It was faster before, is it because I stopped being a countess?' She deduced.
Then the door said:
"Annasthashia Fulger."
"Looking for records..."
"Record found." Soon a huge list appeared in front of the two beings, displaying all of Natashia Fulger's information; this paper seemed to be a resume of sorts.
...
Name: Annasthashia Fulger.
Title: Countess of Clan Fulger, fastest woman alive, queen of lightning.
Age:... The registry cannot measure numbers of that size.
Sexuality: Straight.
Personality: Crazy, sociopath, stalker, devoted, kind, loving... Crazy, psychopath, game addict, careless.
Backstory: Formerly spoiled by Clan Fulger, creator Carmila Fulger. She grew up more spoiled and became a countess.
...
[If this information matches the person reported, please sign at this location:.......]
...
"...." An awkward silence fell over the place.
Rumble, Rumble.
Lightning began to cover Natashia's body, and despite a smile on her face, the veins popping in her head were quite visible.
She was furious.
"…Hmm, is that your youngest photo?" Victor spoke as he looked at Natashia's record.
"Yes..." Natashia replied unconsciously in a dry tone.
Her younger photo was very similar to the current Natashia, proof that vampires didn't change that much, as the only visible difference would be the woman's expression. She had a more playful and smiling face than the current Natashia.
And her hair was a little shorter than it was now. 'She looks a lot like Sasha when she was younger.'
Victor didn't know if this was because of vampire genes or something, but all generations of vampires really are very similar, it was like the offspring were a perfect copy of the 'mother'.
Ruby was similar to Scathach.
Violet was similar to Agnes.
Sasha was similar to Natashia.
'But why is it always the mother?' Victor didn't understand this point. After all, the child should look a little like their father and mother, and not just like their mother.
'Or does some force interfere in this matter?'
Because countesses were stronger than men, are children born like their mother?
'But if that's true, what about that old man? All his children are completely different. Only Ophis, Lilith, and Elizabeth look alike... Oh.' Victor just remembered that Vlad could completely change his form, and his children were not from the same woman.
But that didn't matter, as Vlad had the most dominant gene, so, consequently, his children would look more like Vlad...
At least, in the current form he had at the moment.
And that doubt drove Victor in the direction of dangerous thinking.
'Wait… Doesn't that mean that if he transformed himself into a woman, and a vampire did it to him, he'd have a child…?' Victor's whole face darkened, and he felt his belly twist.
"Ugh." Victor made a nauseous face, and he looked like he was going to throw up at any moment.
'I shouldn't have thought of that... FUCK, I can't forget it anymore.' He started messing with his head in frustration.
Natashia began to mutter: "... I had forgotten how irritating this door was, what is this 'the record can't measure such a number!?' I'm still 19 years old! I'm young! And what is this spoiled personality!? I'm not fucking spoiled!"
"..." Victor came out of his stupor, looked at Natashia, and seeing the woman's irritated state, a small ironic smile appeared on his face.
[If this information matches the person reported, please sign at this location:.......]
The door spoke again.
"Ugh." Natashia's entire face distorted, and through the force of hate, she bit her finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the paper…
"Fuck it, I just need to sign… Ugh."
She couldn't deny that the information was correct, she even had her other personality's information, somehow that shit got updated!
It wasn't like this before! She didn't remember it being so detailed!
The blood that fell on the paper acted strangely, and as if it had a life of its own, the blood began to change, and Natashia's full name was written.
[Process completed... Welcome back, Countess Annasthashia Fulger.]
....
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