Chapter 894: A Dragon Never Forgets.
Chapter 894: A Dragon Never Forgets.
Samar.
"I swear to God, I'll never do this again," Anna grumbled as she stroked the head of a very fluffy, and more muscular than it looked, black cat. "Organizing so many asset distribution documents is annoying."
"Is the God you're talking about your son?" Maya asked curiously as she looked at the papers in her hand.
"No, I'm talking about the other God," Anna replied.
"The Heavenly Father?" Maya asked.
"Yes."
"...Hmm, isn't it pointless to talk about him? Why don't you think about your son? He's a God too, you know?" Maya commented.
"Ugh, it's just a figure of speech that I can't get rid of, even though I'm a Vampire now," Anna grumbled.
"Hmmm... I understand," Maya nodded, but it was obvious that she didn't fully understand and just simply accepted things as they were because the woman in front of her was her lover's mother.
"Meow..." Zack suddenly got up from Anna's lap, jumped to the floor, and looked towards the entrance. His body was covered in Dark Energy, and he grew to resemble something more like a robust Demonic Tiger.
"Who is it?" Anna asked when she saw Zack's reaction; he only did this when someone suspicious approached them.
Zack was quite devoted to his job and didn't allow any risks. Although this was the first time he had reacted so intensely.
"Lady Maya, Lady Anna, a guest from the Norse Pantheon has arrived—"
"Grrr." Zack didn't wait any longer as he leaped at the door, destroying it, and attacked the individual.
"Zack! What are you—" Anna was about to say something but stopped when she saw that the man Zack had bitten dissolved into nothing.
Suddenly, Zack jumped back and stood by Anna in his larger form, looking around alertly.
Several members of Clan Blank emerged from the ground, along with various Shadow Demons, and spread out.
"... I'm always amazed by those absurd senses," Maya commented, impressed.
"...Yes... me too," Anna sighed; it seemed that some fool had decided to attack them.
Suddenly, Zack moved again and attacked the air.
"Gaaah." A man fell to the ground in pain and dissolved into thin air again.
"This method of attack... It's Agares," said one of the top-ranked Shadow Demons.
"Use the defense protocol as the King ordered," Oda ordered.
"Yes!"
"What should we do?" Anna asked. Now that she had identified that the one who attacked her was an enemy of her son, she wouldn't stand still.
Unfortunately, her action was not necessary.
"Nothing, everything is under the King's control," Oda placed an orb on the ground, and a Violet Energy spread throughout the room, completely isolating the area.
The sound of something shattering was heard, but nothing was visibly broken. "Oda-sama, the barrier has been breached."
"It's okay... It's all according to the King's plan... Everything is." Oda said as he looked at the device on his wrist, which showed something moving at high speed.
The moment the barrier was breached, the energy used was collected, allowing the enemy to be tracked.
'Agares won't escape this time, none of the King's enemies will escape again,' Oda thought.
"Squads 2 and 3 remain here to protect Lady Anna and Lady Maya. Squads 1, 4, and 5, come with me."
"Yes!"
Oda fell into the ground as if he had fallen into a puddle of water, and soon, hundreds of thousands of 'shadows' began to move on the ground.
"Holy... Just how many people were protecting Anna?" Maya asked incredulously.
"Five Demon Legions, each composed of 1,000 Shadow Demons, were stationed to protect Lady Maya and Lady Anna," a woman from Clan Blank said.
"...Me too?" Maya thought she was only being protected because she was near Anna and that she wasn't a priority.
"Of course, you're the King's lover, after all," she said as if it were obvious.
"...How long have you been protecting me?"
"Since the moment the King declared you were his."
"...HUH? So long ago!? But I didn't feel a thing!"
"If you detected us, we'd be extremely embarrassed as Shadow Demons," a female Demon spoke.
"Unbelievable..." Maya murmured.
"Just give up; when it comes to matters like this, Victor is quite paranoid," Anna shook her head in exasperation.
Soon, she sat back in her chair and returned her gaze to the documents. "Let's get back to our business; I want to finish this quickly and get back home."
"...Yes..." Maya sat back in her chair in disbelief. Victor was simply too efficient when it came to things he cared about.
'This feeling of being 'protected' isn't bad,' Maya thought. 'So, this is what it feels like when a powerful Alpha protects you.'
For Maya, it was as if she had discovered her 'beta' side for the first time since she had always been the Alpha in all her past relationships.
...
The Dragon Nest.
Nyx, who was relaxing while enjoying the starlight in her personal room, was suddenly interrupted when her communicator buzzed.
Nyx grunted in annoyance but still picked up the communicator. She placed the orb in front of her and spoke lazily, "Agent 000."
"Demon Agares is being pursued, requesting assistance from Agent 000."
Nyx's laziness disappeared completely, and she rose from her chair.
"... I'm on my way."
The Power of The Starry Night enveloped Nyx's body, and she vanished.
...
Samar.
"Again, you don't need to be here to protect me," Tasha complained as she looked at an Asian woman.
"His Majesty's orders were clear, and we, as his shadow, eyes, and ears, only listen to His Majesty. If Lady Tasha has any dissatisfaction, please contact His Majesty," the woman spoke in a cold and respectful tone.
It might be Tasha's imagination, but she felt some acidity in the woman's words.
"...Ugh, I won't do that," Tasha huffed. She wouldn't complain about Victor protecting her because she knew it would only result in him spanking her in bed.
'Although, that's not a bad thing either,' Tasha thought distractedly.
Glancing at the Asian woman out of the corner of her eye, she asked, "Just tell me how many of you are in my Castle."
"There are 15 members of Clan Blank, but I don't know about the Demons," the woman replied.
"Can you be more truthful?" Tasha narrowed her eyes. How could she not know? They worked together, right?
The remarkable thing about this troop was that not even she, with her senses, could feel them. It was as if they'd been shielded by some Divinity of Concealment or something.
'Is it Nyx? It must be Nyx. Actually, it has to be Nyx. Only she has that kind of Power,' Tasha thought.
"I'm not lying; I really don't know," the woman replied.
"...How can you not know?"
"Shadow Demons are the Demons that His Majesty sponsors personally, and only His Majesty knows the specific numbers of them. I can tell you how many members of my Clan are here, but I can't tell you how many Demons are here as their true numbers are unknown to me."
"...Can you make an estimate so I can work with it?"
"Hmm, Squad 6, 7, and 8 are in charge of protecting you. Squad 6 alone consists of two Legions of more than 1200 Shadow Demons each."
"...So roughly 6000 Demons?"
"Yes...? It's probably more, though."
"That's an exaggeration!" Tasha couldn't believe it.
"Is that what Lady Tasha thinks? To us, that number of personnel is rather small," the woman replied humbly.
' 6000 is a SMALL number!?' Tasha said incredulously, suddenly feeling a chill down her spine. 'Thank goodness I allied with Victor; I don't even want to imagine having to fight the entire Demon population.'
...
The Dragon Nest.
Victor landed in front of The Tower of Nightmares. As soon as he touched the ground, he received a report about what had happened in Samar.
His eyes narrowed dangerously. As someone with the memories of Diablo, he knew Agares's weaknesses very well. Because of this, he had developed something that could track him, even though Agares's Ability to jump between Dimensions for defense was quite problematic to deal with.
[Oda.]
[Y-Yes, Your Majesty?] Oda clearly didn't expect Victor's communication.
[I want him captured; his Ability will be useful to me.]
[Yes, Your Majesty.]
[I will send reinforcements just in case he tries to escape between Dimensions.]
Victor focused on his bond with Zaladrac.
[Zaladrac, are you awake?]
[... Now... Now I am.] She replied lazily.
[I have a job for you.]
Zaladrac's eyes widened, and she sat up abruptly, consequently waking up Mizuki and Haruna who were nearby.
"... Ugh, my body hurts... I shouldn't be so familiar with this." Mizuki muttered.
Ignoring Mizuki's complaints, Zaladrac asked, [What's the job?]
[Capture; I want you to capture Agares ALIVE. As long as he doesn't die, I don't care about his condition.] Victor said.
A smile appeared on Zaladrac's face. [Leave it to me. I'll take pleasure in completing this task for you.]
A Violet Power covered her body, and her nudity was soon replaced. In the next moment, she teleported to another location.
[Coordinate the attack with Nyx.]
[Yes, partner.]
Although Zaladrac said this, Victor knew she wouldn't listen to him.
'She'll likely attack first.' He thought.
Ending the communication with Zaladrac, he turned his attention back to Oda.
[Oda, I've sent Zaladrac.]
[Yes, Your Majesty... Should I be concerned about potential environmental damage?]
[Don't worry; as a Dragon, Zaladrac can easily fix that as long as she doesn't use her breath. Don't talk during the mission, Oda.]
[... Don't worry, Your Majesty... The mission will not fail.]
Samar.
Finishing his communication with Victor, Oda, who was running across the rooftops, suddenly said, "New orders."
Oda's words quickly made the Demons and Clan Blank members look at him.
"The King is personally overseeing this mission, and he even sent one of the Dragons to assist."
The eyes of the Clan Blank members and Demons widened in shock.
Oda let his words resonate in the minds of his subordinates until he spoke:
"We cannot fail... So from now on, it's 100% effort."
As soon as he finished speaking, several Pillars of Dark Power erupted around them, followed by the appearance of the Shadow Demons becoming even more Demonic as they exuded pure Miasma.
The same happened with Clan Blank members as they were all covered in a Shadowy Power as they transitioned into their Vampire Count Forms.
The same occurred with Oda, who entered the Level 2 Vampire Count Form.
"Let's capture him."
"Yes!"
...
Agares, who was fleeing, looked back with a very worried expression.
"Damn, what are these monsters!? How can simple Shadow Demons become so strong!? And what happened to Clan Blank? Why does EVERYONE have access to their Count Vampire Forms!?"
"Even more, how did that Cat Demon know I was there!? I completely concealed my scent, aura, and everything!" Agares complained.
The answer was simple: Victor does not tolerate mediocrity. His personal forces were a perfect example of this philosophy; each of them were Elite. He had even personally given his blood to the Clan Blank Vampires to make them stronger.
The same happened with the Demons; he personally provided them with Negative Energy and put them through intense training.
But this was an answer that Agares did not know.
'Tsk, I knew I should have stayed hidden and not taken this job... But it's not like I can hide forever either.' He thought as he used his Power to hide within Dimensions.
But even when using his Powers, his pursuers didn't stop coming after him.
'Something's wrong. They know exactly where I am. How is that possible?' Agares couldn't understand what was happening.
Once again, he regretted taking this job, but as mentioned earlier, he didn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to leave this Sector and go to a different one where Victor's influence didn't reach, he would have to complete this job.
Suddenly, a presence appeared in front of him and punched him in the face, a punch that pierced his Dimension.
BOOOM!
He flew towards the ground, creating a crater.
"Ugh..." He groaned in pain as blood flowed from his face. 'How did someone hit me in that Dimension!?'
He looked up a bit unsteadily and saw the face of a woman with Horns and Dragon Wings.
"Agares, do you remember me?"
At first, Agares didn't remember, but when he saw the Dark Power covering the woman's body and her cold eyes, the image of Diablo's personal Dragon appeared in his mind.
"...Zaladrac."
"Mm… It's good that you remember." Zaladrac opened her mouth and uttered something else, but this time, Agares didn't understand what she had said, but he easily understood the result of Zaladrac's actions.
The entirety of Space surrounding him was sealed, he could no longer escape with his Power.
Suddenly, the sun began to fade, and The Starry Night descended all around.
"Zaladrac... You got here too quickly." Nyx commented impressed.
"I have a score to settle with this sneaky Demon." Zaladrac still remembered how Agares appeared to tease her, taking advantage of his Power to jump between Dimensions.
A Dragon never forgets an offense, and Zaladrac definitely remembered everything.
Agares stood up, and at that moment, hundreds of Demons and members of the Blank Clan began to appear from the shadows.
With Nyx's support, each of them was an extremely difficult opponent to deal with.
Agares' chance of successfully escaping this trap?
You don't even need to count much; it's less than 0%. The digits are in the negative. It was impossible for him to escape.
"Fuck…" Despite being in a desperate state, he wasn't going down without a fight.
"That's right... Don't go down without a fight. It won't be interesting that way." Zaladrac's eyes glowed with a sadistic tinge.
At that moment, Agares regretted having provoked this Dragon in the past.
....