Chapter 517: The place where the rules of the world are created.
Victor was in chaos right now; he didn’t even pay attention to the meeting happening in front of him.
In a vast room, a round table that seated the Leaders of each Faction was present; behind the Leaders were the ‘Companions’ of each guest.
‘What was that…?’ Remembering the moment when the black Magic Circle appeared in his hand.
‘Was that magic…?’ From the reaction of the countesses, and from what was described in the core books he studied, it was definitely magic.
But… Vampires don’t have Magic; Victor’s own current power was born due to the Bloodlines within him, and more importantly,
Men cannot do Magic.
He couldn’t even feel the Magical ‘Core’ that the book he’d studied mentioned; he felt nothing.
‘Why now?’ He struggled to understand what was happening, and the answer was simple.
‘Blessed by The Chaos Witch, and loved by the woman herself, Albedo Moriarty.’ He recalled the words of the man who sat in front of all these beings.
Man was too simple a word to describe him; this creature was an irregularity. Victor didn’t know how to define him because he couldn’t ‘see’ through the man.
He could only understand that he was there.
It was as if he was such a high existence that people couldn’t understand what kind of being he was.
Victor didn’t even try to measure his strength with that man because all he would feel was… An immensity even greater than Shiva. It was like that man was a universe and just an ordinary man.
It was ridiculous.
‘…Blessings, huh…’ Victor thought about what Aphrodite had said.
…
In a Presidential Suite of a 5-star hotel, Aphrodite was holding a book in her hand while explaining something to Victor, who was sitting beside her.
“Blessings, Vic. They are simply ways for a God to give ‘power’ to an individual.”
“For example, I am the Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Sex; these are my Major Divinities.”
“My other Minor Divinities are The Perpetuation of Life, Pleasure, and Joy.”
“Higher Divinities are Divinities that I’ve attained a certain Mastery of in that Concept, and I can easily exert my influence over those Concepts.”
“The Lesser Divinities are Divinities that can be related to the Greater Divinities, but they are also completely separate Concepts. They are Concepts that I haven’t delved as deeply into.”
“When a God blesses someone, essentially speaking, they are ‘giving’ something to that person.”
“And when that person receives this something that the God has given… That person changes.”
Aphrodite’s eyes glowed neon pink as she looked at Victor.
And slowly, Victor’s violet eyes change to the same color as Aphrodite’s.
“Look.” She pointed to the mirror on the wall.
When Victor looked in the mirror, he saw the changes in his body. It was so simple to understand that it wasn’t just a change in his eyes. Did he become more attractive? More Divine?
“Blessings are just a simple way of understanding that a God has given something to another being, and when that being receives that power, that individual can exercise that God’s authority.”
“When Adonis was Blessed by me, he not only gained a better appearance, he also gained the possibility to wield my power.”
“He could ‘borrow’ and use my power related to ‘Beauty’.”
“But… He couldn’t develop it.” A small, sad smile appeared on her face, but it soon changed to a gentle smile:
“Not like you, at least.”
“Blessings are like a Greater Entity giving me access to their powers, huh.” Victor summed it all up, and he couldn’t help but feel complicated; he didn’t know how to feel about it.
In a way, he hated ‘borrowing’ someone’s power and using it. He wanted his own power, but… Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of choice; he needed to get stronger.
“Indeed.” Aphrodite nodded, aware of Victor’s confused thoughts.
“Remember, Vic.” She changed to a serious tone.
“Never trust a Blessing completely, don’t make that power the main source of your powers.”
“After all, the God or Gods who gave you these Blessings can remove them at any time.”
“Treat it as a God’s appreciation and a secondary tool.”
Aphrodite had seen other beings fall apart thousands of times because they focused on the powers they’d received, but once the God withdrew their Blessing, they died easily.
“….” Aphrodite’s serious tone was a warning to Victor.
A warning that Victor fully understood.
…
‘In the end, I must rely only on my powers, huh… These Blessings that the man spoke of, I’ll try to understand what they are. I don’t know what kind of existence Albedo is, but if she can bestow Magic on other beings, she is not an ordinary person.’
‘Qliphoth, the Tree opposite of Sephiroth. If Sephiroth represents Goodness, the Tree Qliphoth represents Evil. Therefore, it is the opposite of Sephiroth… A World Tree that represents Negative Feelings.’
‘Nyx… The Primordial Goddess of The Night, The Mother of Several Gods of The Night, and The Entity of Death of The Greek Pantheon.’
‘Gaia… Sister of Nyx, the Primordial Goddess representing ‘Earth’ in the Greek pantheon.’
‘Ancestral Spirits of Animals.’
‘And Albedo, the Chaos Witch.’
‘There’s also that unknown being, but I can get an idea of who it is…’ Victor thought of Jeanne.
‘I need to know what they gave me, and I need to know why these powerful beings are interested in me.’ Victor was crazy with curiosity.
But he didn’t expect much because, according to Aphrodite, powerful beings gave Blessings every time they liked an individual. It could also be an act that Victor did and got their attention, so they gave their Blessing.
And Victor instinctively knew that other than Aphrodite, who gave him all her ‘beauty’ Blessings.
These beings only gave Minor Blessings because they ‘liked’ something he did.
It was worth mentioning that Victor’s thought process was very fast; all his inner confusion was resolved in less than 5 minutes.
And it was still long, considering his ridiculous processing speed.
“As new guests, Otsuki Haruna has the first say in this meeting.”
‘Magic, huh.’ Victor had always been curious about this ridiculous phenomenon that seemed to go against the Laws of The World. If Albedo gave him access to Magic, he would at least like to know how far he could go with it.
Looking at Haruna, the woman sitting with her arms crossed, eyes closed.
Eyes that slowly opened, and she spoke:
“500 Years.”
“I want a rule that no Faction will interfere with mine for 500 years.” Initially, it was 100 years, but like every trader, she increased the value, expecting it to go down during negotiations.
“…” The man in charge of the meeting nodded and looked at Shiva.
“Representative of the Gods?”
Shiva was silent for a few seconds:
‘… This is complicated… Even if Amaterasu gave me complete freedom, I know that the Youkai are not on good terms with the Shinto Gods, but… It’s not fair that they are destroyed now by some intervention of the Gods. Not to mention that most Youkai were used as tools by Shinto Gods.’
‘Destruction has already happened. Now it needs space for Rebirth and Creation…’
Shiva looked at Haruna:
“The Gods approve.”
“….” Haruna was shocked internally, she expected some negotiation from the Gods, but he just approved.
“Representative of The Wolves?”
“Approved.” Volk had no interest in Youkai, to begin with.
“Representative of The Witches?”
“… Approved.” Evie’s greed hit her face for a few seconds when she saw the Youkai. She knew the Youkai had a lot of rare things, things she could sell and gain resources and influence from.
But thanks to a certain someone who had a hateful smile on his face, she had no leeway now.
‘Tsk.’
Haruna’s tails danced hypnotically behind her; she understood that Evie didn’t do anything due to her conversation with Victor.
Indirectly, Victor ended up making things easier for her.
“Representative of the Angels?”
“Denied,” Michael spoke in a neutral tone.
Vlad, Victor, and Haruna looked at Michael.
As a regular participant in these meetings, Vlad knew why Michael refused.
‘As expected of that man’s puppets, he is still obsessed with eliminating all ‘evil’.’ From the Angels’ point of view, beings like Vampires and Youkai didn’t deserve a chance. They were ‘evil’.
Demon-like beings.
Interestingly Werewolves were not on his priority list; despite being night beings, Werewolves had more affinity with Nature.
‘Luckily, most votes are with Haruna, and his opinion doesn’t mean anything.’
Shiva was the most important person here; he literally represented all Mythologies.
If he approved, it meant that all Mythologies wouldn’t interfere with Haruna, which was much more significant than the Angels, who were always busy with God knows what.
“Vampire representatives?”
“Appr-.” When Vlad would approve, Victor, who was behind Vlad, lightly touched the man’s shoulder.
“….” Vlad looked at Victor with a raised eyebrow.
Victor approached Vlad’s ear and said something in an extremely low tone.
Worried about someone listening to him? Nobody present was concerned. The man responsible for hosting this meeting insisted that everyone had their privacy when talking about important matters.
Finished with speaking, Victor stepped back to standing behind Vlad with the Countesses who were looking at Victor with raised eyebrows, and curiously, the three of them looked at Haruna.
Haruna’s fox ears twitched a little, and her curiosity flickered.
‘What is he talking about?’ It was painfully evident that Victor was talking about her.
Vlad took a while to speak; he was thinking about something:
“Otsuki Haruna.”
“….” Haruna looked naturally at the man who was once her sister’s husband.
And that look was all it took Vlad to know that the woman didn’t have a very high opinion of him.
Which was expected. After all, what kind of sister would be happy to see the man who couldn’t even protect her sister?
Even if she didn’t remember Otsuki Hana, her sister, the Clan of Black Foxes’ blood ties were thicker than those of Werewolves.
And because they were few in number, it further amplified that feeling.
“Representing Nightingale, I would like to sponsor these 500 years of peace, provided that, in the end, you become Nightingale’s eternal allies.”
“….” Haruna looked at Victor for a few seconds and saw him with a neutral gaze.
She knew that look; that wasn’t what he said to Vlad.
It was the same look she gave when she told Kuroka to say something, but the woman forgot and said something completely different.
“I refuse.”
Victor’s smile grew a little, enough for her to understand everything.
“May I ask why?” Vlad asked in a neutral tone.
“Few beings can be trusted in this world, and Vampires, specifically you, Vlad Dracul Tepes, are not on this list.” She was brutally honest, a trait that would never change.
It’s worth mentioning that Haruna’s words made a small smile appear on Michael, Volk, and Evie’s faces.
“I see-…” Then, as Vlad was about to say something, he felt another tap on his shoulder.
And he wasn’t surprised when he turned and saw Victor.
“Permission to speak?”
“…”
“Are you going to deprive Ophis of seeing her aunt?” He narrowed his eyes.
“… Is that your only intention?”
“Obviously,” Victor spoke in disdain. But, all this while, he’d just thought about Ophis and how it would be easier to visit Haruna in the future.
It was worth noting that Vlad did not trust Victor’s words.
He knew that beneath the man’s seemingly pure intentions, he hid four or five hidden motives.
‘Sigh… I hope I don’t regret this.’ Vlad looked at the meeting organizer and spoke.
“I ask permission for my escort, Count Victor Alucard, to speak.”
“Approved.”
And as if by Magic, Victor’s voice was heard by everyone now.
Feeling the shackles that were blocking him from speaking out, Victor said:
“Haruna, Clan Alucard wishes to fully sponsor your faction.”
“…” A small smile appeared on Haruna’s face. There was a big difference between the two proposals, and everyone understood that.
“Aren’t you going to ask for anything in return?” Shiva questioned.
“If I want something from someone, I won’t earn it because of a Soul Contract. That is not something that should be used on a potential ally.” Victor spoke in obvious disdain:
“Using this at the beginning of a possible alliance relationship just proves that you’re expecting a possible betrayal from that ally from the start.”
…..
Edited By: DaV0 2138, IsUnavailable
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