A/N: The Chapter Title is actually "Vampire of the Castle (4) - The Hated One".
I want to live- Facing anything that comes my way.
* In Baron Krory's Castle. In a Room with many pictures. *
Baron Krory stood in front of a picture - a picture of his grandfather, sticking his tongue out.
"Grandpa." Baron Krory spoke. "I've already given up. My fate is to live and die in this castle... The villagers hate me; no one is going to be my friend anymore." Baron Krory started to tear up, a tear slipping out and down his face. "... Well, it's not like something that just started recently anyway..." He then rubbed his eyes. "Wh... WHAT AM I CRYING FOR!? I... I have my dear Eliade by my side forever..."
Baron Krory then looked at the ground.
"Grandpa... This... Is your curse? To bind me, who was always attracted to the outside world, and who seemed ready to leave against your will... Did you make me into this monster?" Baron Krory asked.
Suddenly, the carpet under him was pulled, making him fall backwards.
"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Baron Krory asked.
* Outside. In the Debris of the Explosion. *
The three Exorcists barely survived the explosion and they grabbed onto a wall simultaneously.
"GRAB!" The Exorcists said in unison, with terrified of expressions on their faces.
They climbed over the wall and sitting on the ground.
"We... We're incredible...! I thought we were gonna die. For a minute there I really thought we were dead!" Lavi stammered.
"Got by with just a few bruises. This specially made coat is really something..." Allen said.
"Can I throw up bit? My stomach... Got hit..."
Lavi threw up on the other side of the wall and Allen looked away.
Lacie then peered over the ledge of the ground and her eyes widened.
"Allen! Lavi!" Lacie called as the two peered over the ledge as well.
"Uwha?" Lavi said.
"It's a graveyard..." Allen pointed out.
The three then jumped from the place they were resting on and landed on the ground in the graveyard.
* In the Graveyard. *
"Rather crude graves." Lavi commented as he stood in front of one of the wooden crosses, clasping his hands together. "Rest in peace." He mumbled then faced Allen. "Maybe they're for pets?"
"... So you're saying Baron Krory had this many pets?" Allen asked.
"These... Aren't these the graves of the villagers that got taken here...?" Lacie asked as she looked at the wooden cross'.
"Eh?" Allen and Lavi said in unison.
"Back then, that Eliade woman said that she was going to bury Franz... And now... Look." Lacie explained. "Eight of them. It matches the number of victims the mayor had mentioned..."
Lavi crossed his arms. "Hm? Didn't Krory do nine people in?" He asked.
"The mayor said the first victim evaporated, didn't he...?" Allen reminded as he accidentally smacked one of the grave with the back of his hand, making it crack and crumble to the ground. "Ah-"
"AAAAAAA! YOU BROKE IT!" Lavi shouted.
"Uwah! I just touched it lightly!" Allen said as he knelt in front of the broken cross and started bowing. "I'm so sorry!"
Lacie knelt beside Allen and brushed the pieces from the cross away.
"Look at this!" Lacie said, pointing at the dirt.
"Hm?" Lavi peered over Lacie's shoulder.
"This...!" Allen stopped bowing and was looking at what his companions were looking at. "There are pentacles on the surface of the ground!"
"It's the virus in the blood of the Akuma..." Lacie said.
"Could it be...? These graves contain Akuma...?" Allen concluded.
Lavi then turned around and looked at one of the other graves, brushing some of the dirt away, revealing pentacles.
"There are pentacles here too." Lavi said and looked over his shoulder, facing his fellow Exorcists. "Come to think of it, when the man-eating flowers back there ate Franz, you could see the pentacles on them too... Right? Maybe that's cause..."
Before Lavi could finish his thought, Allen finished it for him.
"They ate Akuma...!?"
The three Exorcists stood around the eight graves silently.
"... Let's dig them up to check." Lacie proposed.
"... Right... There's no other way to check..." Lavi complained.
"We... Might have made a big misconception." Allen pointed out.
The three Exorcists began to dig through the graves with the shovels they found nearby.
~ On the Other Hand ~
* Inside the Castle, in the Hallways. *
Eliade was stomping through the hallway, angrily.
"They're as stubborn as cockroaches, so they're probably still alive." Eliade said. "If I don't tell Arystar about this right now... THEY'LL ESCAPE WITH THEIR LIVES? ESPECIALLY THAT BLACK-HAIRED BITCH!" She bit her finger in frustration. "ARYSTAR MUST NOT LET ANYONE GET AWAY FROM THIS CASTLE ALIVE!"
Eliade then entered the room with the many paintings.
"MASTER ARYSTAR!" Eliade called as if she was a damsel in distress.
Baron Krory was re-hanging the painting that fell from the explosion and he looked at the door, where Eliade was.
"Eliade!" Baron Krory called in surprise.
"Uuhhuuu..." Eliade sobbed as she ran into Baron Krory's arms.
"WHA... WHAT HAPPENED!?"
"PEOPLE CALLED EXORICSTS CAME TO EXTERMINATE YOU, MASTER ARYSTAR... THEY ATTACKED... AND BURNED THE FLOWERS IN THE CENTRAL STAIRS... I WAS SO SCARED."
"WHAT!? THOSE BASTARDS, THEY... GRANDPA'S PRECIOUS FLOWERS..."
Eliade looked up at Baron Krory with tears.
"Please fight, Master Arystar." Eliade pleaded.
"Eh?" Baron Krory responded. "Ah... No, but..."
"They'll kill you! As a vampire, you're already an enemy to the humans." Eliade said as she pulled Baron Krory's head, so that his mouth was right above her neck. "Just drink a little bit of my blood. If you just take some blood, you'll change into a strong vampire... Just a little bit. Don't kill me. So the two of us can live forever in this castle..."
"... Right?" Eliade asked as Baron Krory started to cry.
He then recalled a memory of when the kids around him started to fear him while calling him a vampire.
~ Baron Krory's Memory ~
"It's a vampire!" Child A screamed.
"Don't come any closer or we'll put a stake through your heart!" Child B warned.
STAY AWAY! MONSTER!
Grandpa... It has come to a point where I have nothing left but Eliade...
~ Present ~
Baron Krory bit Eliade and started to drink her blood.
~ Meanwhile ~
* In the Graveyard. *
The three Exorcists were digging and digging until they heard a thunk.
"... There..." Lacie said.
They cleared the excess dirt off the wooden coffin.
"It's out." Lavi pointed out.
"Yeah, it is." Allen said.
"The question is... Who's going to open it...?" Lacie asked.
They exchanged looks.
"ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS!" Lavi shouted as they held out their choices.
Lavi picked rock; Lacie picked rock; and Allen held out scissors. Lavi cheered and Allen was on the ground. Lacie sighed in relief.
Allen then took a deep breath, clasped his hands together in prayer.
"Okay then," Allen said. "Please forgive me for doing this!"
"Go for it!" Lavi cheered.
Allen reached for the cover and started to lift it, making it creak.
He- Heavy! Allen struggled as he managed to remove the cover.
Once the cover was off, they peered into the coffin.
"... The skin has rotted away..." Lacie pointed out.
"It's an Akuma!" Lavi finished.
The corpse's skeleton was not a human's skeleton, but a Dark Matter skeleton.
The three dug up the other corpses and the skin rotted off, but it showed Dark Matter skeleton.
They all stood in front of different corpses, examining it.
"All Akuma... The pentacle marks on the ground must be there because the outside flesh has rotted away and insides leaked out." Lavi explained. "It stinks..."
"The Baron has been attacking Akuma... If he was only attacked Akuma..." Allen said, closing his eyes.
"Then this ain't a vampire extermination. That Krory..." Lavi began.
Lacie then whirled around to see Baron Krory standing behind Lavi.
"La- LAVI!" Lacie called, but Lavi's reaction was a second late.
Baron Krory smashed Lavi into the castle wall. Lavi, once again, was unconscious, leaving Allen and Lacie to take care of things.
"... So it's you three." Baron Krory hisses as he faces Allen and Lacie. "You've made me angry."
"Baron..." Allen called.
This isn't a mere vampire extermination...? The vampire Arystar Krory... He's... He may be our... Ally. Lacie concluded as she activated Demise. Activate!
"Die, Exorcists."