Chapter 957: An Old Friend. 3
While Fred was contemplating various things, Victor was simply enjoying his coffee.
'Hmm, one of the best things that could happen to me was regaining my sense of taste. Not that the taste of blood wasn't good, but it's nice to experience different flavors,' Victor mused. He had never liked coffee before, but now that he had regained his sense of taste, he tried it again, and despite its bitterness, even with sugar, he found it strangely appealing.
'I still prefer juice,' he thought, 'Nothing beats the juice of different fruits... except for the blood of my wives, of course.'
"If I transform into this variation, will I lose my Onmyo powers?" Fred asked.
Victor made a disdainful face. "Who do you think I am, Fred? I'm not a flawed creator god who does things halfway. If I'm going to create a new variation, it will have all the benefits."
"Although it should have weaknesses, after all, a balance needs to exist," Fred remarked. Even Victor's race had weaknesses against the Dragon Slayer aspect, which was nothing more than weapons created from the bodies of other true dragons.
A weakness that Victor was already planning to completely eliminate because he was not just a true dragon; he was a blend of a noble vampire with something more that awakened when he gained his divinities.
Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult to erase this weakness entirely. The quickest way was to create armor like Velnorah's, but it wasn't a perfect solution.
"What will be my weakness?"
"Well, even if you're a variant of the noble vampire resistant to the sun, you're still a noble vampire, a creature of the night. Therefore, beings on the opposite end of the balance who wield sacred and light aspects will be your weakness."
"Predictable, I expected that," Fred replied.
"Mm," Victor nodded in agreement.
"So, I should stay away from beings like angels and gods who embody a sacred aspect?"
"Yes, but don't worry. Usually, I or my wife Jeanne deal with those beings."
Thinking about it now, the only being with absolutely no bodily weakness was Jeanne. Yes, she could be called a true dragon, but essentially, she was different from other true dragons. This was because of her direct connection to The Universal Tree.
As the guardian of a universal tree, she would only be truly destroyed if the Universal Tree were destroyed. And such a possibility couldn't happen in the future, considering that Jeanne herself was evolving into something different from a guardian.
The more her powerful soul settled into the true dragon body, the more ridiculously powerful she became.
"Jeanne, the Maid of Orleans?" Fred tried to recall from his memory. Honestly, his friend had so many wives that he couldn't remember them all, and he hadn't even met all of them yet. Not that he was jealous or anything.
Ugh, who was he kidding? Of course, he was jealous, but just thinking of his current girlfriend, he couldn't imagine being involved with another female vampire who would be as thirsty as she was.
'I would starve to death whether I'm a vampire variant or not,' Fred thought.
"Yes, that's her," Victor confirmed.
Fred fell silent for a few seconds again, then he spoke, "Very well, I accept."
"Good," Victor smiled, and in the next moment, he snapped his fingers.
"It's done."
"Huh?" Fred looked at his friend incredulously. "What do you mean, it's done? What about the ritual? The Chunni words? The loyalty pledges?"
Victor rolled his eyes. "In the past, a ritual was necessary, or I had to bite your neck. I even had to make you bite my wrist, etc. But nowadays, it's not necessary. With my current level of power, changing someone's race is as easy as breathing."
"I can turn any random Joe into a noble vampire, nine-tailed fox, werewolf, or even an ant."
Victor's words sounded arrogant, but it was pure and simple truth. Thanks to being a god of negativity and, at the same time, the BEGIN, he had complete control over the soul, and as we know, the soul defines the being.
By using the divinity of negativity as the primary point, he captured the victim's soul and molded it as he pleased. Then, by using the authority of the BEGIN, he gave a 'beginning' to this new body, incorporating it into creation without any problems.
The only exception to this rule, of course, was the souls of the gods. The only ones who could create these souls were the Primordials, The Universal Tree, and the Judges of the Abyss.
Changing Fred's race from a human to a noble vampire was even easier, as this change was instinctive. However, there was a difference between the current change and what he did in the past.
Fred now had the entire soul of a noble vampire and didn't have that 1% of human aspect in his body. With his current level of control, it was easy to do.
"But I don't feel any different," Fred remarked.
Victor simply produced a mirror the size of an adult human out of nowhere and showed it to Fred. With his reality-altering powers through his words, he literally became a Doraemon, pulling things out of thin air.
Fred looked at the man with soft black hair, blood-red eyes, and a predatory look and said, "Who's this jerk? He looks like a bishounen from some girls' anime."
Seeing the man saying the same thing he was and even his disgusted expression that somehow made him even more attractive.
"Impossible... Is this me?"
He looked at the mirror incredulously. "Damn, I look good."
"Of course, I'm a god of beauty, you know? Any creature I create will be beautiful," Victor huffed. Fortunately, he managed to restrain himself, or Fred would become another Adonis. For now, he was just slightly above the standards of noble vampires.
In terms of noble vampires, he was an 8/10, almost a 9/10. But by human standards, he was definitely a 10/10.
Speaking of Victor's creations, even his Heralds weren't ugly. Although they didn't have faces to be seen, it was obvious that behind the armor were men and women with perfect bodies.
"Damn, I look so beautiful."
"Oh, I forgot something. Wait a moment." Victor said, but when he realized that Fred wasn't listening to him, he thought: 'I hope he doesn't become a narcissist, or I'll have to give him a reality check.'
Ignoring Fred, Victor called Amaterasu.
"Darling?... What is that appearance?"
"It's my old appearance."
"Damn, you were handsome..." Amaterasu muttered. He wasn't ridiculously handsome like his current form, but he had a warrior vibe, which made him attractive to Amaterasu.
Victor smiled; it wasn't bad to be appreciated in this form. "I need you to do something for me. It's a quick matter."
"Mm, even though I'm busy, I'm always willing to make time for my husband~."
"I'll pull you."
"Pull... me?" Amaterasu didn't understand what he meant, but when she suddenly appeared next to him, she understood.
"...I felt like I was entering a tunnel or something."
"Oh, that's because I folded the space between us so that the distance between us didn't exist."
"... That's somehow romantic and scary at the same time," Amaterasu said, feeling strange.
Her gaze turned to the man sitting in front of Victor, and she raised an eyebrow. "A vampire... Onmyoji?"
The confusion in Amaterasu's eyes was evident because, essentially speaking, Onmyoji was an art for harnessing the powers of the gods, an art incompatible with beings on the dark side of the balance like vampires. In fact, this art shouldn't even work for those who weren't human.
Yes, she knew about Mizuki, one of Victor's wives who was an Onmyoji, but she was a dragon! And because she was a dragon compatible with everything in creation, she could also use this art, although she was training to incorporate this art into her dragon powers.
Amaterasu knew that when Mizuki completed this training, what she would practice couldn't even be called Onmyoujutsu anymore.
But this man wasn't Mizuki. He wasn't a dragon. He was a noble vampire, so it could only mean one thing... Her husband had done something again.
"Darling, you were on vacation. Why are you doing these things?" Amaterasu asked.
"Well, he's a friend of mine, and I need to ensure his survival. By the way, his name is Frederick Winter. You can call him Fred."
"I see..." Amaterasu replied as she analyzed Fred's body. With her dragon eyes, she sighed internally while thinking, "If common beings knew how much their king doted on his friends, they would do anything to become his friends."
Yes, the citizens knew that the king's wives always received the best things, but that was understandable; they were his wives, and besides, they were competent and helped with various things in the society they had built. But a random human? Who received the king's attention just because he was his friend?
They would definitely die of envy.
Fred had no idea how lucky he was. Very few beings could receive the favor of someone whom all the gods in this sector feared and respected.
"As you can see, his main art is Onmyo, and he's also a disciple of my wife. I want to ensure that his Onmyo arts become stronger."
"...I understand. Hmm, I can arrange for my subordinates to give their blessings to him, but he'll have to prove himself worthy of using these blessings, just like Mizuki did in the past, especially mine, which will ensure he uses the gods' blessings to their fullest extent."
Although Fred was an Onmyo mage, he was not the same as Mizuki. While Mizuki could summon various giants to help in a war, Fred could only perform simple tricks that elite Onmyoji would consider party tricks.
Which was understandable considering that he had recently graduated as Mizuki's apprentice, and he didn't have the spirit of Abe-No-Seimei to advise him.
Just as Mizuki had done in the past, he needed to prove himself to the gods so that his chants related to the gods would become even stronger.
"Fair enough." Victor was not against that.
"Fred, stop devouring your face in the mirror and pay attention to me."
"... I'm not devouring my face in the mirror. I was just surprised by how handsome I am now..."
"Uh-huh, tell that to your wife when she sees your current appearance. I bet she'll 'devour' you too," Victor said with a slight smile.
Those words made Fred snap back to reality as he trembled a bit but then clenched his fist with determination. "It's okay; with my stamina now, I can handle her."
"...Or... She can stop holding back when she does that to you."
Fred's face froze.
"W-What do you mean?" He stammered.
"Has it never occurred to your foolish head that she wasn't truly letting loose because she didn't want to hurt you?" Victor explained, still smiling.
"Think, Fred. Think. You're an ordinary human, while your wife is Supergirl. Do you think she wouldn't hold back for fear of breaking you in two?" Victor delivered a line full of references to Fred, which left him even more horrified.
"Now that I'm Superman... she won't hold back anymore," Fred concluded.
"Correct. Congratulations on using your head," Victor laughed even more.
"...Ugh, how do you even deal with this? You have a literal Goddess of Sex."
"Well, I am Adonis." Victor shrugged. "Besides, I view the nightly encounter like any other battle. Because of that, I always strive to be the best and enjoy the process."
"Fuck, you're literally built differently," Fred grumbled.
"Anyway, this is my wife, Amaterasu Alucard, also known as Amaterasu-Omikami."
"...You married a God-Queen."
"Yes."
Somehow, Fred found that "yes" to be very POWERFUL. His respect for Victor grew even more.
Amaterasu rolled her eyes at Fred's shocked expression. "Please don't look at me like that; it's not that impressive. He literally has an ancient Empress who owns multiple planets as his wife, a pseudo-primordial entity, and currently the strongest goddess of love and beauty."
"Not to mention that all the most important goddesses in the world would open their legs like automatic doors if it were just for one night with Victor."
He may seem amazing for having a God Queen as his wife, but in reality, it was the other way around. It was Amaterasu who was impressive for having married a Chaos God.
The values of existence had literally been turned upside down by the simple fact that Victor existed. It wasn't him who had to pursue the goddesses, but the goddesses had to come after him.
The goddesses were not the ultimate prize; Victor was.
"Damn, Victor... You have become a very hot jade beauty that overthrows nations." Fred laughed.
Victor grunted in annoyance, but he didn't disagree; it was the truth, after all.
"Anyway, I called my wife here to make sure your Onmyo powers grow even more. You will do some tests with my wife, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo."
"...I remember that. My Master said I would do it when I was strong enough."
"With your new race, you have already become strong enough just by existing. You just need to train to have control of your body."
"Damn… Being human sucks." Fred complained again.
Victor just nodded. Yes, he knew that humans had good adaptability, but... They just had that, while an ordinary Joe noble vampire could blow this human apart with his basic strength and no training.
Put side by side, an ordinary noble vampire citizen, and an ordinary human. Who would win? The answer is obvious: the noble vampire... Of course, in a fight, anything can happen. If the vampire is someone very arrogant and who likes to play with his prey, the chances of the human winning increase by a few percentages.
But if the vampire took the fight seriously from the beginning, it was impossible for them to win.
"I will give you 6 months." Amaterasu started to speak. "Take control of your new body, and train regularly. When these six months pass, I will test you."
"6 months is a long time. 3 months will be enough." Fred spoke.
Amaterasu just raised an eyebrow, looked at Victor, and then sought his opinion.
Amaterasu opened her eyes wide. She knew very well how difficult the Onmyo mage training standards were for a human. Usually, such training can take a human's entire childhood to complete, and this ex-human finished it all in less than 1 year?
"Believe it or not, this bastard is quite talented. He may be a perverted bastard, but he graduated as my wife's apprentice in less than a year. For added detail, he had never trained in his life before."
Amaterasu opened her eyes wide. She knew very well how difficult the Onmyo mage training standards were for a human. Usually, such training can take a human's entire childhood to complete, and this ex-human finished it all in less than 1 year?
"Hey, don't call me a pervert. I mean, I'm a pervert, we all are, but I don't go around shouting breasts like a certain someone."
"...Is there any human like that?" Amaterasu spoke in disgust.
"Not in this universe, at least," Fred spoke while thinking about the anime he had watched in the past.
"Ignore him. He's just talking about an anime." Victor clarified before Amaterasu's thoughts went somewhere strange.
"Oh..."
...