Chapter 383: Advice from a friend
"And if there's one thing I've learned from history, it's that...
"...No King Rules Forever."
"One day, by your own will or by someone else, you will no longer be the ruler."
"A change will always be necessary since nothing can be stagnant forever.
Victor stops looking at Vlad and looks at Ophis:
"As the pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus said: Nothing is permanent except change."
"It is by understanding this that I ask." He turned back to Vlad and looked into the progenitor vampire's deep blue eyes.
"Do you think you will continue to rule forever?"
"...." Vlad narrowed his eyes, Victor's question might seem simple, but it went deeper than he expected.
'Is it because of Adonis?' Vlad begins to notice more changes that Adonis has made in the man at his side.
"...Victor, I have ruled for 3000 years." He looked back at Ophis, "Three thousand years is a long time, and even then, I remained in power..."
"And that will never change." His eyes glowed blood-red for a few seconds.
"... If you say so." Victor closed his eyes a little and flashed a small smile. He wasn't pleased or disappointed; instead, his emotions were neutral.
"..." Vlad narrowed his eyes again and looked at the man's smile, a smile that appeared to be a sneer.
'What's up?' Vlad felt there was more to Victor's question than he'd initially thought.
"Hey, Vlad."
"…Hmm?"
"Who asked you to rule?"
"…Huh?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. I just thought it was weird, you seem so attached to the title of king."
"It's like someone has given you the 'burden' of being king, and you've become obsessed with it."
"..." Vlad couldn't understand where Victor was taking this conversation.
"That's a very human trait, coming from a 5000-year-old monster." Victor chuckled lightly.
'Oh...' Now he understood what he meant.
When he stopped to think about his actions, he saw that, indeed, his actions seemed to be those of someone who was very attached to the title of king.
'I am the king, and I am immortal... Therefore, I can rule forever, but... Is this what I want?' His thoughts returned to the little girl in front of him who was playing with another child.
Ophis Tepes, his youngest daughter.
If someone asks Vlad this sentence:
"Do you think you were a good father?"
He would be silent. He wouldn't be able to answer because he knew that he wasn't.
Ophis wasn't the only one since the answer was the same for all his children, he wasn't a good father.
'... Sometimes... Just sometimes, I think about dropping everything and living a peaceful life...' He could imagine himself in a house in a secluded place with all his children and wives.
This appeared to be a peaceful sight, but as if it were an impossible dream, this image shattered like fragile glass.
'This dream for me is already impossible.'
It was just all too late now.
Yes... It was all too late.
From the beginning, this vision was impossible for Vlad. He never sought peace or lived a peaceful life. He is a conqueror, a king.
He cannot stay in an ordinary place doing nothing.
His eyes lightly glowed blood-red as the image of his wife being torn apart by an Elder God appeared in his mind.
'Vengeance will be mine.' Unconsciously, a murderous pressure began to leave his body.
Hatred, anger, desire for conquest, desire for possession, the taste of victory, the pleasure of killing everyone in your path.
All these feelings were like a giant bonfire in Vlad's body, a bonfire that burned brightly.
'From the beginning... From the moment I was born, peace was never an option for me.'
"Hey, Old Man."
"You are scaring my daughter."
"!!?" Vlad woke up from his stupor, looked around, and realized that the vampires were looking at him with looks of fear.
Even his daughter was afraid, the only one who was relatively unresponsive was Victor.
"Oh... Hmm..." He turned away.
"What he meant is: I'm sorry." Victor spoke for Vlad to the girls.
"Ignore what happened... You know how old people are. They have easy anxiety attacks."
"..." The girls couldn't help but nod their heads more quietly when they heard Victor's voice and his gentle smile.
Vlad narrowed his eyes a little in annoyance when he heard what Victor said, but he brushed it off. He knew he said it to lighten the mood.
"You're really bad at apologizing, huh."
"Shut up."
"I'm a king, I'm not used to this shit."
"I heard from a friend that a wise king knows apologizing is the first step to getting better."
"Your friend is an asshole."
"That's debatable, hahaha~."
"...." A silence fell between the two, and all they were left with was watching the cityscape around them and occasionally glancing at Ophis and Nero, who, at some point, got back together again.
"... you know?"
"Know what?"
"Immortality is too long a thing to be spent alone…"
"...You speak as if you had-." He shut his mouth when he remembered that Victor now has Adonis' memories.
"Yes, I experienced it." Victor knew what Vlad was going to say.
"Even though I spent most of my time lying on a bed, sometimes when Agnes wasn't around, I found myself staring at the bedroom ceiling... And a feeling of loneliness took over my body."
"..." Vlad didn't know if it was Victor or Adonis speaking now, maybe it was both, as Victor absorbed Adonis, maybe it's Victor?
It was a tricky question because Vlad knew that the act of absorbing a soul that the progenitor deems of high value caused his entire existence to change. This is something very dangerous because if the individual the host absorbs fights or intends to react.
... A second personality can be born.
This is a possibility around one in a million, considering that there are few who can resist the blood of a progenitor... The number is so scarce that it can be counted with fingers.
The progenitor is literally adding another existence of the same value as his own soul and merging everything, which can cause very unpredictable changes. Even Vlad himself has only used this technique twice in his life.
The first was with his father, and the second was with the man he inherited his current name from, a man who was his closest friend.
"And… Those lonely moments completely disappeared when Violet or Agnes walked into my room, and my day brightened just by seeing their smiles."
"...." Vlad remained silent. What Victor was talking about now, maybe he was the only one who understood.
This feeling is quite complex, confusing, and sometimes frightening.
Even if Victor explained this feeling to other people, they would never understand, as this is something one must experience to understand.
"Because of that, I think spending immortality alone is... Scary."
"Kingdom, titles, conflicts, political disputes, all that shit must be secondary."
"Kingdoms can be created, you can create new titles, and consequently, conflicts and political disputes will arise. If you like this shit and are bored enough, just create it all for fun. After all, if there's something we have more of, it's time."
"For me, my loved ones are more important since I know that only they will be with me at the end of everything..."
"...." Victor looked at Vlad.
And for a moment, Vlad saw Victor's appearance subsuming Adonis's.
"And you, my friend, you abandoned it." The two men's voices were in sync, and for a moment, Vlad thought he was talking to Adonis and not Victor.
Even though he knew it was Victor in front of him.
Vlad couldn't help but open his eyes slightly when he heard what the man in front of him said.
Victor showed a small smile, stretched on the bench, and felt a slight pain in his ass because of that hard bench.
"Well..." He gets up from the bench he was on and cracks his neck a little:
"Ignore what I said, Hahahaha~. After all, I'm just a younger vampire who doesn't know anything~." Victor flashed a playful smile, and soon he turned away.
"Ophis."
"Umu?" As if she were a cat that was called, Ophis immediately turned her head to Victor, and without waiting for anyone to say anything, she teleported to his side.
"Father?"
Victor laughed a little and patted the little girl's head.
"Hehehe~."
"Old man, you still have time." Victor looked at Vlad, who was sitting on the bench.
"..."
"Your children are still alive, and they don't completely hate you." Victor lifted Ophis by her arms and walked towards Vlad.
"???" Question marks began to appear around Ophis.
"Try to treat them like a real father, not like a king..." As if holding a cat, Victor placed Ophis on Vlad's lap.
"!!!" Ophis' entire body visibly shuddered.
"...." Vlad narrowed his eyes when he felt that his own daughter was afraid of him.
"F-Father..."
"Hahaha~, don't worry if something happens, you can always use that power, right?" Victor stroked Ophis' head.
"...Ohhh..." She seemed to calm down when she realized that she could run at any moment.
"Oh? Looks like you got it, Old man." Victor saw Vlad's frowning face.
Victor didn't wait for Vlad's answer since he knew he wasn't going to get any answers from the man on that matter.
"Hey, Ophis. I'm going, your father came to get you, and you have to go with him."
"…Ehhh?" Small tears started to appear on her face.
"Hahaha~" He stroked her head harder and ruffled all her hair.
"Don't cry, you're a big girl, and he's your father too...Although he's a little clumsy."
"..." Vlad had a reaction for the first time, his body shivering a little when he heard the word 'clumsy' from Victor.
"Give him a chance, whether you like it or not, he's your family too."
"…Mmm." Ophis nodded, she wasn't mature enough to fully understand what Victor said, but as a child who unintentionally seeks affection from her relatives, she may instinctively understand what Victor was saying.
"...Victor... You-..." Vlad closed his mouth, not really knowing what to say now, as he was having a lot of complicated emotions.
It didn't take a genius to understand what Victor was trying to say, and Vlad agreed with him a little.
But... He couldn't... He couldn't be a 'father'.
"Hey, Old Man."
"...?"
"You're 5000 years old, for God's sake. Get the dick out of your ass and act like a fucking man to your family."
"...." He opened his mouth in shock, and unconsciously the memory of a man who had a stupidly dirty, honest mouth seemed to overtake Victor a little.
'Vlad?'
Victor turned around, and as he walked towards Nero, Kaguya, and Eve, he spoke:
"Ophis, whenever you need me..." He turned his face to the little girl and displayed a small, gentle smile:
"You know where to find me."
Rumble, Rumble.
Lightning struck where Victor was, and he disappeared, and along with him, Eve, Nero, and Kaguya were also gone.
'...Is this piece of shit a mixture of all people that's hard to deal with?' Vlad felt a headache.
Only two beings had the ability to say what Victor had just told Vlad, and those were the first leader of Clan Alioth, and Vlad, the impaler.
Men who were once considered his best friends.
"... Pfft..."
'That son of a bitch was really someone very charismatic.' Vlad once again understood why this man had so many allies.
"...?" Ophis looked at her father.
"Hahahahahahaha~." Vlad, the king of all vampires, started to laugh in amusement.
That amused laugh seemed to release all the feelings trapped in his heart. Slowly, he began to feel lighter...
More free?
It was as if the weight he always carried had gotten a lot lighter now.
King of the Vampires or not, the most feared existence or not, he is still a living being.
And like every living being, he has problems, he has burdens, and goals.
And as a vampire, he didn't need to rest, but... That's not to say this being doesn't accumulate mental fatigue.
'...Alexios was right... I really need a break.' He stopped laughing and looked at the sky for a very long time.
"Ophis?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to know more about the human world?"
"..." Ophis' eyes glowed slightly blood-red as she heard her Evil Father's proposal.
"How about a little trip just the two of us?"
"…Mmm." She didn't seem against the idea.
"Very Well, let's explore the human world. If you find anything you want, just let me know." He flashed a small smile.
"..." Ophis' eyes were practically glowing like a red beacon.
And internally, she was thinking:
'Not Evil Father? But a good one?'
Vlad gets up from the bench and holds Ophis in his arms.
And for the first time in Ophis' 5-year existence, she went on a walk with her real father.
A trip that will make her have several good memories, and that in the future, she would always thank her other father for making such a memory possible.