'Was the ceiling always that color? Is that a weird question to ask?'

Kazuma layed in bed, staring at exactly nothing. For the past day this was his hobby alongside pacing around the room in frustration. He'd spent the entire prior night arguing with the voice in his head, coming to a conclusion that it would be best if he simply stopped adventuring.

However, such a thing wasn't so easy to come to terms with either. There was no doubt in his mind that in a normal scenario, he could control himself. The problem was the fact that people were too easily swayed against him. Even those he worked so hard to impress, while not all of them, a fair amount turned on him like a switch.

Could he trust himself not to act out in anger again? This wasn't the first time he made a stupid decision out of frustration, his blue haired roommate is a testament to that. And now with his vampire blood possibly enhancing his darker emotional traits, it was bound to get worse, right?

He couldn't even find solace in sleep. Every time he took a nap, he'd dream of their faces. The tiniest misuse of his power, and he had an entire town bleeding from every orifice they had. Dominate mind was not a utility based ability. While it enjoyed the boons of mind control, it was foremost a mental attack. Sanguine tried to explain it was a hiccup in his usage, something that wouldn't happen again.

'Well you're god damn right it won't happen again, cause I'm done using these stupid powers'

You're acting like a child. Think of all the good you've done with them

'You say that like you actually give a rats ass about good. Y-you know, I might not be some knight in shining armor, but I try my best to do right by people that haven't done anything wrong'

Bah! For what reason? You saw just as well as I did, in spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will find a reason to hate you

'And maybe that's why I need to stay here. Because if me going out and getting into trouble is just going to cause problems, then why bother'

Simple, because I won't give you a choice

Kazuma shuddered. From the very beginning he's had a proverbial leash around his neck. Sanguine's ability to render blood intake inert, means that he could turn Kazuma into a merciless beast at any time.

'You bastard, what's your deal?'

I didn't bestow upon you ultimate power for you to sulk in your room for days on end. One way or another you will do as I command

Kazuma closed his eyes and entered his psyche. Appearing within the halls of a dark, Victorian throne room. Across from him he looked at the sitting figure with nothing but disdain, a gesture it returned.

"You know, I always wondered what would happen if I killed you in here."

"Don't make me laugh boy. As if you had the stomach to kill."

"We're not even human anymore, I think that's a good enough excuse."

"You're 1000 years too early to be challenging me."

"You said it yourself jackass, my power is already growing ahead of yours."

"Cocky brat."

Sanguine stood up from his chair, and all the lights in the castle room snuffed themselves out.

Kazuma blinked and the vampire lord was only inches away from his face, forcing him to leap on instinct.

"Go on, kill me vampire lord." Sanguine mocked.

Whether out of fear or anger, Kazuma obliged, speeding towards him with a full sprint, red aura already gathering in his right arm.

As he arrived, it formed into hardened physical matter, the ability he has counted on for brute force, giving his arms a monstrously muscular appearance.

A swing. Hitting nothing but air. Another and another, each time it was as if Sanguine could teleport right out of danger.

"Flailing angrily won't get you anywhere." Spoke that annoying voice from behind.

Losing the bulky arms, Kazuma quickly unsheathed the massive ice blade from his hip, not even bothering to wait before getting in close and attempting to dissect his predecessor.

Clang

Sanguine manifested a black rapier and blocked with no effort.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes and began to swing faster and faster, once again unable to land a single hit, suddenly feeling his senses warp as his slash was parried and Sanguine kicked at his shins so hard the young vampire spun around in air.

Kicking off the floor, he wasted no time launching a bloody tendril, hoping to catch his target of guard.

'Got him…'

Kazuma smiled for a few seconds as it appeared to pierce deep, but the look on his face turned to confusion as the body melted away into nothing but a wet crimson puddle.

'Blood double'

"You need to watch your surroundings." Was all he heard before a well placed palm strike to his spine rocked his insides and sent him flying into the wall.

Kazuma struggled to move for a few seconds until he finally dry heaved a few times, drool slowly coming out. Leaving him breathing heavy for a moment, wondering what was done to him.

'I felt like I was gonna die!? What the hell was that!?'

The smug lord of the castle pointed above the boy's head.

Hesitantly, Kazuma glanced upwards, noticing a large circular clock of red energy, ticking away every second. It took only one of those precious seconds for him to realize what this was, forcing him into a panicked state of mind.

"You're attacking me like a wild beast. I've seen you strategize time after time, don't disappoint me now."

"Oh shut it already!"

'I have 60 seconds to take him down! But how? Come on think!'

Looking left and right for an answer, it came to him through the illustrious windows, in the form of the dark clouds outside, giving him the epiphany he needed.

'Wait, Think? That's it!'

Kazuma extended an arm, and above his palm began to form a ball of white heat.

Sanguine recognized the aptly named "Red Sun" and slightly bent his knees. He was completely confident Kazuma could never actually land the attack, but if by miracle it did, it wouldn't be easy to brush off by any means.

'Now I wish I practiced kick boxing'

To the older vampire's confusion, Kazuma's legs were now the ones being wrapped in the muscular hardened blood. Giving the boy a very bottom heavy, lopsided appearance.

Kazuma, not given the luxury of time, forced himself into close quarters again, this time swinging kick upon kick. The first miss was enough to let the older vampire know that this was a different ball game, even blocking one of these blows would hurt.

It was here that he finally raised his right hand, and the red sun spiked in energy.

"Nice try boy! Bu- GUAGH!"

Sanguine shifted his momentum to Kazuma's left side, avoiding the energy attack, exactly what the boy wanted, implanting his enlarged foot right into the lord's gut.

'He fainted?'

"That's not all!"

Before Sanguine could slow down to a stop, a red jagged spike pierced through the floor, and even with his reflexes, the shock led to him reacting a half second too slow, getting his calf sliced through in the process.

He thought that was the end of it, calling back to 'Vlad's impalement' being a one use ability for the boy, but to his surprise, Kazuma didn't fall, instead, the attacks became two fold. With each kick, another spike or two would come out of the floor, each one threatening to impale him like he had done to so many others.

Kazuma suddenly jumped into the air, spawning a barrage of tendrils into the floor around Sanguine as he pulled as hard as he could, accelerating his fall into an impact that left a small crater, his vampiric opponent gone with a familiar puff of smoke and a horde of bats.

'Now!'

Kazuma smiled as the ceiling of the castle they battled in, ripped itself off and turned into smoke. The dark overcast that they could see from the hall windows cleared up in an instant, letting intense beams of sunlight into the throne room.

The moment Sanguine reformed from his earlier maneuver, his skin began to burn and smoke. Making him cringe and hiss from the pain.

'What!? How could he force such command over this space!? Oh well, it's no matter, I'll just-'

"Oh no you don't! Capture party!"

'Come on! Seconds left!'

Forced to divert his attention to the quickly approaching chains, he side stepped two aimed at his legs, and caught the two aimed for his arms.

"GUH!"

Leaving him all too exposed for a final bloody spear that held him in place through his lower abdomen.

"RED! SUUUUUUN!"

The deafening sound of a tolling bell filled the pairs ears, and each of Kazuma's abilities crumbled away as the young boy fell limp before his attack could reach its destination.

Borrowed time. One of the most powerful abilities at his disposal. Through a small charge up time, followed by physical touch, the target is imposed with a 60 second time limit. A large portion of the user's magic is diverted until then, but when the clock reaches zero, a near instant death takes place as every red blood cell in the body tears apart.

"He knew that my transformation into bats would sever my mental link to his psyche. Allowing him to rewrite reality and bring out the sun. All to serve as a distraction."

Sanguine looked down at the boy, pleased in the end. He did not lie, Kazuma's magic power has grown since receiving it. The only difference between the two now lied in their body's physical strength and agility. In his mind, once the boy's body had reached a higher level through training and combat, he would be a force to be reckoned with indeed.


"Hey, hey Kazuma. Come on, get up already. You better not be actually hurt or else!"

'Uuuuughhh talk about a rude awakening. What a crazy dream'

The sleepy, and mildly annoyed vampire roused himself from slumber with a number of blinks and a stretch.

"H-hey don't knock over the breakfast I made you."

"Mmmm, Megumin, what are you doing here? Didn't I say I want to be left alone?"

"You didn't leave your room all day yesterday, you didn't even eat once."

"Huh? What are you talking about, how long was I asleep for?"

"RED SUUUN!" resounded in his memory.

"All day probably."

Kazuma remembered what had happened. The toll on his mind was too much, and probably forced him into a small coma.

'Serves me right'

"Well, thanks for the food. You can go now."

"Tch, you have some nerve."

"I'm not in the mood to argue alright."

"Grrr." Megumin, having enough, gripped him by the ears and lightly shook him around.

"I don't care if you're in the mood to argue or not, you're gonna listen to what I have to say alright mister?"

"Gah! You're gonna knock over the food! Quit it! My ears! Alright fine fine let me go already you…" Stopping his sentence before he starts another rumble.

"Yeah that's what I thought. What's going on with you?"

"What's going on? You ask like you don't already know. You were literally there."

"Yeah I was. And yeah, maybe you were acting creepy."

"And hurt tens of dozens of people?"

"After they were trying to hang you."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Maybe not, but it's not like anyone can blame you either. How many times have I threatened to blow these people up for treating me like I'm crazy?"

"That's because you are crazy.

"So you want to fight right here and now do you?"

"Ok wait! I have a plate of food on my lap, don't you dare!"

"Hmph. What I'm trying to say, is that sitting in here and sleeping all day isn't going to get you anywhere. You should instead be focusing on mastering your powers, that way you won't have accidents again."

"I don't think the problem is in my skills with these powers Megumin. It's with me. As long as I'm out there, people will find a reason to resent me."

"And what about the people who support you? I admit, I may not have had people wish for my death, but before you guys, I had nothing here. No one in this entire town saw anything more in me than a nuisance. Do you realize how many days I went hungry? That meant stealing, scams, anything to stay alive."

Kazuma darted his eyes back and forth as he tried to chew quieter in the awkward pause.

"Does that make me a thief at heart? No, I'm just doing what I'm doing to survive. I could have starved to death and die holding onto some moral high ground like you are right now."

"Stealing to survive and actually hurting people are different though."

"Then stop whining and fight. Go out there and stop the 'god killer' we learned about. Save the kingdom and prove yourself. Because every second you do nothing, that's more time the enemy is out there."

Kazuma stayed silent for a moment. Obviously taken by surprise at her logical reasoning.

"Ugh, god dammit. Why do you have to be so good with your words today?"

"Hehe!" She did a slight pose to punctuate her complimented speech skills.

Kazuma took a long breath, before finishing the last few bites of his breakfast and getting up.

'This whole song and dance was kind of redundant anyway. Since SOMEONE wouldn't have given me the choice to do nothing anyway'

"Alright, lets get the hell out of here. I'm getting bored of these four walls."

Megumin, nodding to herself for her fine work, made her way out towards the hallway before being stopped by a hand. She froze up like a board when she felt herself get lightly embraced from behind.

"Hey Megumin, thank you. The way Aqua and Darkness looked at me after everything that happened I just, ya know. I think I just needed some reassurance."

"O-oh y-yeah don't mention it."

Kazuma let go abruptly after almost getting lost in thought, holding onto the girl for a couple seconds too long in his mind.

"I was meaning to ask you, they're not mad at me are they?"

"Kazuma no one is upset at you. The only one who was upset was you."

"Well that's a relief. This whole time I was wondering just how annoying Aqua was gonna be after this whole-"

"Agh! The evil vampire shut in finally slithers out of his room!"

'The first thing she says to me in over a day and-'

Kazuma's trademarked AquaScowl turned into a sly smile.

"Alright then, you want evil? I'll show you evil! Hahaha!"

Kazuma licked the palm of his right hand, which instead of saliva, was now slathered in blood.

"Oi, listen to me Kazuma. You touch me with that and I won't go easy on you."

"Aw well fine, you got me there, I'll just- get your ass over here!" Kazuma yelled out as he chased around the screaming Aqua with glee.

Darkness didn't get up from her seat, continuing to eat and watch the spectacle as her crimson demon comrade took a seat of her own.

"What did you say to him Megumin? I was beginning to get worried."

"I just talked to him for a bit is all. I think he just wanted to feel like like we had his back."

"We always will. With you as his explosive strength, and me as his indomitable shield."

"Saaacreeed!"

"WAIT I'M SORRY I-"

"Turn undead!"

"AAAAAAGGHH!"


"A courier?" Kazuma asked.

"Yes, this is the address for Lalatina Ford Dustiness, yes?"

"I'm sorry Lala-what!?"

"How dare you mock the name of the daughter of the esteemed Dustiness family! It bears the insignia, see?"

The courier held up the letter, which had a golden colored symbol stamped on.

"Sorry dude, not ringing any bells. There's no 'Lalatina' here. Try the crimson demon village haha!"

"She could be using another name, she is of fair complexion, with long blonde hair and blue eyes?"

"Wait, you have got to be kidding."


Slam

"Who was that at the gate Kazuma?" Aqua asked.

The only sound they heard was a struggle to contain laughter as their party leader waltzed into the room with a huge smile on his face, and a letter at his side.

"So let me get this straight, your real name is Lalatina?"

"Ga- Who- wha- I-" Darkness felt her face fill with blood as her cheeks went red in a sea of confusion and emberassment.

"This fancy looking courier dropped this off, said it was for the 'daughter of the esteemed Dustiness family'. To think you were a rich girl Lalatina"

Darkness tackled him to the ground and snatched the letter by force, keeping him down in a straddle.

"Do not call me that again or I will crush you!"

"Jeez alright already, get off me before I lose circulation to the legs."

"Darkness? You're part of a powerful family?" Aqua asked.

Reading through the letter, she sighed, appearing annoyed, and almost worried.

"I suppose there is no hiding it any longer. It is true, I come from the Dustiness family. They govern this land you see. I hope that this can stay a secret between us, as I do not wish to be treated as anything more than a fellow adventurer."

"Yeah, probably because if you were given good treatment you'd probably hate it AND CAN YOU GET OFF OF ME ALREADY I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS- Huh? Something is nuzzling my hair."

"Oh, that's Chomusuke." Megumin beamed, helping Kazuma squeeze out from under Darkness.

"Can this party have people with normal names…what is it? Some sort of cat?"

"I meant to ask you if I could keep her but you were inside your room all day yesterday. She won't be a bother I promise."

"If you ask me Kazuma, there's something wrong with it, it attacked me the other day! Can you believe that?"

"We're keeping it."

"Hey!"

While she didn't have the intention of letting the beast go in the event Kazuma refused, Megumin still elatedly picked up the feline creature and cuddled it in victory, hearing that they'd be keeping her.

'Although, Aqua isn't entirely wrong. It's giving off a faint dark aura for sure'

"Oh yeah, what did the letter say, Darkness."

"It's directly from my father. He is requesting that I return home immediately. It does not say much more than that. I'm surprised he knew exactly where I lived."

"You're not in trouble or anything are you?"

"I'm sure it is nothing, perhaps another futile attempt at arranging a marriage as always."

"Your dad's trying to marry you off? I don't' envy that part of nobility lifestyle that's for sure."

"I don't know Kazuma, something tells me you'd have liked government mandated wives back in Japan! Haha!" Aqua mocked.

"Oh shut it bimbo, you say that like any guy could stand you for more than seven minutes. Seven minutes is all I can spare to hear you cry whenever you break down, and I'm used to it!"

"Sacreeeed"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT!?"


After packing some things and having a send off, Kazuma and party went to see what they could do for the day, something he was beginning to regret, as he now played the role of exterminator for a creature that made the entire parties skin crawl.

"Spiders. Why did it have to be spiders. And WHY ARE THEY SO BIG!?"

"Lower your voice banshee! You're attracting the whole lot of them!"

'When we got to the guild hall, it was like I was already being missed. Luna came right up to us and asked if we could deal with a giant snow spider problem that showed up over night. They're known for being aggressive, shooting webs, and having reflexes that make them a nightmare for your average adventurer'

"Crimson Venus!"

Forming a red orb in his hands, it levitated high into the sky, before creating a hail of large needles.

'Good thing I can just spam a couple of moves over and over and sweep up the remains'

"Kazuma, Kazuma!"

"Yo."

"Remember what you did for me when the destroyer attacked?"

"Lift it up?"

"Well, sorta. Since you can form structures with your power, I was wonderriiiing if you could, ya know."

"You want me to rip their legs off?"

"What? No! I simply was asking if you could corral them into one spot and contain them. You know, that way I can blast them all away in one shot!"

"Yeah but that's way- oh alright whatever, just get your spell ready." Going out of his way to individually capture and contain every spider in the area, instead of just killing them the moment he has them was not the best tactical idea, but it was hard to say no to such a cute face.

"Yeah!"

"You do the loop de loop and pull, dada da dadadada" Kazuma sung to himself as he reached out and began to forcefully pull every arachnid to one spot in the snow. He had to admit, even he was curious to see what would be left, if anything.

"Alright, take it away!"

"Eeeexplosion!"

Boom!

'Huh, not much bigger than last time I remember it'

Regardless, the heat and shockwaves generated from the attack left not only a crater, but a wide clearing from the snow that covered the landscape.

"Jeez, using blood for physical constructs is always a bit heavy on the stamina, aside from the usual muscular limb growths I use."

"Kazuma behind you!" Aqua cried.

Slow on the turn from his mana shortage, Kazuma's arms was suddenly enveloped in a glob of thick web. It would take only a few seconds to escape, however.

'This thing's already jumping out at me!'

He braced himself over Megumin's limp body, hoping he could tank a bite or two protecting her, before ripping the webs off.

"Light of saber!"

Kazuma thought he was going crazy when everything began to glow in a bright yellow, the sounds of powerful magic and electricity filled the air. That was when the spider that was in front of them was ripped in half, the inner parts of a giant arachnid that no human should get intimate with, now covered them from head to toe.

"Aw now this is some fucked up shit!"

"Hey Kazuma, I think that's an intestine in my hair, can you pull it out?"

He used some of his own blood form a pair of fingers, picking out all the bits of exo skeleton and other innards, before liftin Megumin up and onto his back as per usual.

'God we stink!'

"Thanks for saving us I guess, whoever you are." He tried to say as pleasantly as possible, stained head to toe in monster blood. The girl in front of them looked vaguely similar to Megumin. Hair color, the same crimson eyes, and the powerful magic to boot.

"Um, you have the wrong idea, it's just that if a single spider managed to beat my rival then I'd look like a fool."

"Rival? You know this chick?"

Megumin looked her up and down before shrugging.

"Nope, must be mistaking me for someone else."

"Huh? You're so mean Megumin! Don't tell me you forgot about me?"

"Why are you mumbling? If you're here to meet me, then tell me your name at the very least. Or let me guess, you're an annoying fan here to ask for an autograph from the party that defeated the destroyer?"

"I am not an annoying fan! Ohhh, I hate doing this in front of strangers! Ahem."

'Is she striking a pose?'

"My name is Yunyun! Archwizard and master of advanced magic, heir to the chief of the crimson demon clan!"

"..."

"...Anyways, yeah this is Yunyun. Daughter to my clans leader. She keeps telling everyone she's my rival. Probably cause of how much better I am than her."

"So cold Megumin! You do remember me!"

"Well, she doesn't seem so bad. Yo, I'm Kazuma, vampire lord. A friend of Megumin, nice to meet you Yunyun."

"Huh? You're not laughing at my name? I've gotten so used to people making fun of me for it."

'Megumin, Yuiyui, Hyoi-what?, Lalatina, Chomusuke…'

"Yeah well, there's a lot of that going around. So I wouldn't worry so much. Besides, at least it's not Megumin." He couldn't help but add in a tease at the end.

"What was that? You wanna take that back? I don't care if I can barely move my muscles, everything from my neck up is all I need to defeat you! Nom!"

"Oi stop biting my hair you weirdo! It's literally caked with spider blood!"

"Wow Megumin, you've made such a good friend, I'm impressed! He can't protect you from me though! After I win, I'll be the indisputable number one of the crimson demon clan!"

"Are you dumb, or can't you see that I can barely move?"

"Huh, but wait-"

The two girls fell into a mini conversation of their own as Aqua approached.

"Hey Kazuma, its way too cold out here, I'm gonna pick up some food and head back alright?"

'She's just leaving me to babysit!'

"So are we in agreeance Kazuma?"

"Huh- what- who-?"

"Since I can't move or use magic, you'll carry me and duel her in my place. You always have to face the minion before you fight the boss, everyone knows that."

"...You want me to face your rival."

"Yup!"

"Don't think I'll be going easy on you Kazuma!"

'What the hell is going on here?'

"Look, I'm not really in the mood for…this, so how about we all meetup another day yeah?"

"Hah! I told you Megumin, your minion would run in the face of an archwizard of my caliber! Which is why-"

"Blood jump!"

Megumin interrupted her speech with a nearly failed leap off of Kazuma's back, only making it to Yunyun's feet. This was all she needed as she grabbed onto her skirt and pulled her down onto the ground.

"Blood hold!"

"AAAGH! You're covering me in spider blood!"

"Victory."