Vampire Overlord System In The Apocalypse

by Stayrr

Earth is submerged in Chaos. Mutated Beasts roam the globe and Gates that lead to Otherworldly Dungeons appear everyday, bringing great dangers to humanity. However, the Awakened emerged, giving a chance for Humanity to survive. Amidst a vulnerable and crumbling society, a powerless and bullied young man begins to hear the voice of a malicious entity inside of his head... "Do you

4. 131

Read Vampire Overlord System in the Apocalypse Chapter 131 - Revelations online for free - AllNovelFull

Fernand heard Noah's words as cold sweat began to slowly drip from his tender neck.

Friend?

What did he even mean by friends?

He and Noah were not friends at all…

In fact, he thought that Noah hated him because he kept abusing him.

What… was going on?

Fernand could not understand anything.

Noah had somehow acquired the power to simply appear out of nowhere.

He had completely changed his appearance too.

His strength was now ridiculous, to the point that his very pressure made him shiver and completely paralyzed him, even more, it was capable of suppressing his will to fight…

And… there was something even more terrifying.

Fernand could clearly feel it.

There were many other beings with Noah.

He… was certainly not alone.

Despite simply standing there.

He was not alone at all.

It was as if a tremendous army was with him…

A false movement and could mean his demise.

How?

How did Noah acquire such power?

From where?

And why did he came here?

Did… he wanted revenge?

After all, Fernand had clearly made his life in school quite hellish…

Now that Noah had somehow acquired such a terrifying power, it was normal for him to want to exert revenge.

But that wasn't the case.

He said that he wanted to be his friend…

Why?

Fernand would never become Noah's friend.

He was poor and talentless, pathetic, and an orphan…

He was nothing he liked.

But… perhaps the talentless and powerless part should be scratched.

He might pretend to agree but probably backstab him, telling his brother to help him and then burning him alive into ashes with his help.

For now… he simply decided to act well.

"Your friend…? But why?" asked Fernand.

"I told you. Because without you, I would have never gotten this power, to begin with… Hm, do you remember a red jewel you were carrying around?" asked Noah.

Fernand's eyes suddenly sank.

"Red… Jewel…? No… It can't… be…" muttered Fernand, barely containing his own sanity.

"Yeah, it can be! It was a nice little gift for me. I made sure to use it well… you are such a good friend to giving it to me. I am beginning to treasure our friendship more and more," said Noah.

"W-What…? (What is this insane bastard talking about?! He is spitting nonsense! And he… he took the blood core?! Noah, from all people?! HE REALLY DID IT?!)"

Fernand could not help but feel like his mind was about to explode.

Knowing that Noah himself stole the Blood Core from all people… one of the first ones that they checked… he could not believe himself, to think that he let him get away with it!

"Wait, then the reason on why you… you acquired that strength is…!" said Fernand.

"Indeed, I absorbed the Blood Core, it is mine. It has given me a lot of powers I never thought I would ever have, it really just opened a door for a world of wonders and dangers for me. I couldn't be more grateful for the amazing opportunity you brought to me!" said Noah.

Fernand felt more and more enraged… as wrath quickly took hold of him!

He could not help but feel immense scorn against the shamelessness of Noah!

"You… You…! It was you this whole time! You… You bastard!" roared Fernand.

"Hm? What is happening to you, my friend? Are you perhaps… angry?" asked Noah.

Suddenly, against his expectations, Fernand unleashed all of his rage!

Flames emerged from his entire body, covering him like an aura of fire!

Although his ability was not as insanely powerful as his brother, he was still able to control flames!

"YOU DAMN FUCKING RAT!" roared Fernand, unleashing his flames over Noah!

BOOM!

An explosion of flames unfolded, as Fernand quickly tried to escape now that he had attacked Noah, moving to the left, towards the door of his room!

But the wicked laughter of Noah stopped him.

The black smoke dissipated as he noticed that his room was not… getting burned by his own attack.

Everything was somehow… covered on a sticky red substance which had a very strong and sweet scent…

This was blood.

"Good thing that with Crimson Aegis, I can create barriers of the blood of all shapes and sizes. Making everything sound-proof was a good idea… Oh well, fireproof too, I guess? It seems that nothing burned… Or maybe you are a bit too weak…?" asked Noah, as the black smoke dissipated and revealed his smiling, triumphant expression on his face.

He did not even move at all, his clothes were not even affected, his skin did not even burn, nothing at all, not even the hair…

Noah had been burned and constantly regenerated many times through his recent journey into the Fire Wyrm Dungeon…

Fernand's fire, which was measly E-Rank was nothing against Noah, absolutely nothing.

It actually just felt like a slight steamy wind.

"Impossible… No…!" muttered Fernand, without being able to fathom what had just unfolded in front of his eyes!

"Now, Fernand, have your family never told you to not be disobedient?" asked Noah, expanding a blood tentacle and grasping him!

"W-Wait, stop! Do not touch me! STOOOP!" cried Fernand, trying to burn Noah once more by firing more and more fire, but it was nothing at all to him…

Noah moved Fernand near him as he smiled wickedly.

"What is the problem, Fernand…? Do you feel a bit scared? Do not worry, I am not here to make you suffer… In fact, I have come here to completely change your life, to completely give you the shift you wanted," said Noah.

"Why…? Why would I want to do that?! Let me go! I have an S-Rank Brother! You cannot possibly think that by killing me you will get away with what you did! My brother will hunt you until the ends of the world!" said Fernand.

"Kill? I told you I wouldn't kill you," said Noah expressionlessly.

"Brain," he said, as a large wound on his chest opened, and the figure of a smiling young man covered in warlock clothes seemingly made out of hardened blood emerged out of the open wound!

"W-What is that?! What is happening anymore?!" asked Fernand, he was losing all of his sanity now and turning insane out of pure disbelief.

"This is Brain, my Blood Servant. When I acquired the Blood Core… things changed. I became different. I finally acquired the power to change my fate, to change how I was. Now, I am way above you to even care about avenging such pathetic life of bullying. However, as you are the brother of an S-Rank Hunter, you are indeed very useful. In fact, too useful. Especially by how weak you are and how stupid you are to come to such a place like this school with barely any security…" sighed Noah.

As Noah spoke, Brain began to move its hand over Fernand, slowly, as if Brain enjoyed the pathetic face of fear that Fernand was doing.

He quickly began to cry, and even snot began to come out of his nose… he was truly a pathetic and disgusting rat.

"W-What are you… going to do with me? Please… Sniff… I have… no… AGH! STOP!"

Fernand suddenly felt Brain's cold hand touch his head, as a sudden flow of pink light began to emerge from within.

"Congratulations, you are about to join my crew…" laughed Noah.

Fernand began to feel as his entire mind was being parasitized by an entity of some sort, eating away his thoughts, emotions, and sense of will!

He was being torn apart without even receiving any wound, he was simply disappearing but at the same time reforming himself!

This was the dread, the terrifying power of brainwashing.

His entire self began to change, and the pain of his head was enormous as if his entire brain were about to burst out of his skull!

Fernand cried in agony as his memories began to be changed, his emotions and nature shifted, and he was slowly becoming… a puppet.

"Nnngh…! AAGGH! It hurts! Please stop! STOP! Nnnggguuh…!"

Suddenly, Fernand fell silent.

"Hm, good. Now you are way nicer than before. You simply needed to shut up." Said Noah, raising the chin Fernand as he analyzed him a bit.

He was dull, motionless, and expressionless.

If it were not because he was actually breathing and his heart was still beating, anyone would think he was dead.

"Now… Bloodline Curse, Blood Contract," said Noah, beginning his next step.

Noah smiled triumphantly as he saw his bully, the one that had beaten him almost to death several times converted into a mindless puppet waiting for his orders.

This feeling of superiority and fulfillment was completely superior to simply have killed him with a swipe of his hand.

This made it all worth it, it was as if Noah had found more fulfillment in breaking his mind and making him agonize than actually just killing him.

And now, he could even use to fulfill even more of his plans and advance by leap and bounds in this world!

He had designed a rather simple plan.

Noah first used Bloodline Curse and Blood Contract to curse Fernand's Bloodline with all the curse effects he could muster, which drained his mana a lot, thankfully, he had stockpiled tons of blood from the corpses of the Fire Wyrms and kept drinking blood to regain mana as he kept creating such a powerful and deadly bloodline curse.

At some point, he felt an enormous, overwhelming force…

"This… is this the blood of the S-Rank Hunter that is his brother? So to curse him I… need even more Mana… Fine by me," said Noah, as his eyes blazed with resolve, drinking all the blood he had and constantly pouring more and more mana into the curse.

It was arduous and even challenging, Noah keeps infusing mana and willing for the curse to be created.

Each second felt like an eternity as if Noah were slowly trying to climb a mountain by himself… sometimes he felt the strong, overwhelming presence surpass him, but he was able to catch up to it through raw Mana…

Until finally.

After what seemed like an eternity, he managed to curse the strong Bloodline!

He cursed an S-Rank Hunter!

Noah sighed in relief, gasping for air as he felt his entire soul and body ache a bit… the immense amounts of mana he used were even greater than when he fought against the Blazing Wyrm Emperor!

However, Jon who was residing within his blood quickly began to use Energy Transfer, sharing his mana with Noah.

"Noah-sama, are you okay?" he asked.

"Much better. Well done," said Noah, feeling refreshed, as if he had drunk a very cold cup of water in the middle of a scorching desert.

"Now that I have cursed your damned Bloodline, it is time to set up a contract with you, we don't want you to somehow free yourself from the brainwashing and suddenly turn against me, wouldn't we?" asked Noah, as he used Blood Contract, adding several conditions which seemed all unfair, and then forcing Fernand to accept them nonchalantly as he was now brainwashed and did whatever he asked him to do.

Flash.

Crimson tattoos resembling something like a drop of blood appeared in the middle of Fernand's chest, hidden beneath his clothes.

"Now that we are done with that part of the plan… We can finally proceed with the most important one, my dear friend," said Noah, as he grasped Fernand's head with his hand, moving him to his side in an instant, as it was revealed his tender neck.

Noah's fangs grew bigger and monstrous, as he seeped them deeply into Fernand's neck in a mere second, drinking the river of blood coming out of it as Fernand began to groan in pain, although it did not seem to resist.

After five seconds, Noah pulled back his hand and let Fernand transform.

Indeed, he was turning him into a Dhampir…

But why?

Why would Noah turn Fernand into an ally such as a Dhampir of all things?

It was all part of his elaborate yet simple plan.

"Fernand, you will tell your brother that you finally found the Blood Core and activated it. The Blood Core fused with you and it turned you into an entity named Dhampir through the power of the item, giving you outstanding abilities that you are developing now. Because this was the fault of your brother and because you are a spoiled brat, he will most likely accept it pretty fast… This way, he will stop pestering you about it and you can easily serve us while telling him more about your abilities and us as if we were your servants instead, so he could easily lower his guard with us and never see us as a threat but as your little slaves… Sounds good, isn't it? You might even be praised for it! Rejoice, Fernand, your entire life will now turn upside down!" laughed Noah.

Noah glanced at Fernand transform, as his skin turned pale white and his eyes crimson red.

Fernand's spiky red-orange hair turned completely white, and the spikiness disappeared, giving him a very average look.

Seeing his transformation end, Noah glanced at Fernand's status, seeing that his Stats had increased but were yet to become D-Rank and that he had gained the basic Skills that the Dhampir could get.

The Skill he was born with had also awakened forcefully, and it had given him the ability to produce cold and purple flames that could provoke curses instead of the usual burning fire.

"I might as well give you the Blood Core as well," said Noah, using the Blood Core Creation Skill and helping Fernand form a Blood Core in the middle of his chest.

Feeling satisfied, Noah nodded, he seemed to be finally done.

"Did you hear what I said previously?" asked Noah.

"Yes, Master," said Fernand with a mechanical voice.

"Do as I said as soon as possible, pretend to be the same you have always been as well. Do not mess things up and be cautious how you word things out. Do not mention me in all of this, NEVER. Did you hear me?" asked Noah.

"Yes, Master. I shall do as you please," said Fernand with an expressionless face.

"Good. However, I shall leave a little parting gift," said Noah, leaving a Blood Servant Fire Wyrm inside of Fernand's Soul that would communicate with him and update Noah about Fernand's doings.

Noah deactivated the Crimson Aegis Barrier he created around inside the room as he suddenly heard the knocking of the door.

Knock, knock.

"Hey, Fernand, we brought you the snacks you wanted!"

"Open the door! Are you sleeping?"

"It seems that your loyal friends are back… hm, I might as well do the same for them, like insurance," said Noah, as he turned into mist and let them in, watching as Fernand pretended to be the same as ever.

"Damn you took a lot of time, I was starving here," sighed Fernand, who had gone back to his human appearance right before his friends entered.

"Sorry," sighed the two "friends" who were more like slaves as they did whatever he asked them to do due to his authority.

Seeing that they had lowered their guard enough, Noah quickly generated another Crimson Aegis barrier, surprising the two!

"Eh?! What is going on?!"

"What is that… red light?"

Suddenly, Fernand grasped one of his friends with enormous strength!

"Agh! Aaaghhh! F-Fernand?! What are you doing?!"

"This is all for Master…" said Fernand.

The other lackey was quickly taken by Noah's tentacle, as he struggled and tried to use his Skills desperately, but similarly to Fernand, after feeling Noah's overwhelming presence, he felt overtaken by a feeling of despair and dread!

After their screams of confusion and pain, Noah quickly brainwashed the two and then did Bloodline Curses and Blood Pacts with them, and then let Fernand turn them into Ghouls, so he could later show the "upgrade" he did to his subordinates.

Similarly to this, through the S-Rank Hunter of his brother, Noah planned to make Vampires officially known without people even suspecting that he could be one himself!

Like this, he would be able to see the reaction of people and if it could even be considered for him to keep hiding his abilities or not.

However, for now, he decided to keep hiding them and growing stronger in the shadows, so even if their reactions were bad, he would be so strong that no one would be able to oppose him or call him a subhuman!

…And talking about subhumans, Noah's next target was many of such people, mostly those that roamed the poor districts in the outskirts of Sector D…

"For now, you two also act as normal and do everything Fernand tells you to do. I will contact you later, Fernand, when you finally explain to your brother what happened according to the words I told you to," said Noah.

"Yes, Master," said Fernand.

Noah smiled complacently as he turned into mist and flew away from the military school… this was the last time he would ever step again in such an accursed place.

Jean Firebrand, the older brother of Fernand Firebrand and the S-Rank Hunter known as the "Blazing Sun" was smoking carefreely while resting over his bed.

His body was large and muscular, covered in a few scars, but incredibly well toned.

He was currently resting after having a rather intense night with a bunch of other Hunters that belonged to the Guild he worked on, around five different girls were sleeping around him, his body size compared to theirs was rather large, as they seemed to have around half his height…

As he relaxed and smoke, the thought about his brother arose once more within his mind.

He gritted his teeth as he recalled how he stupidly gave such a valuable item to his brother.

He really gave it for granted that the stupid spoiled brat would do the thing right and use the item right away.

But instead of that, he foolishly tagged along with it and lost it.

Just by thinking about having wasted such a precious item, Jean wanted to hit himself in anger.

Although Fernand was also at fault in all of this, it was, after all, Jean's decision to give such an item to Fernand, so he held responsible for its disappearance just as much as Fernand, if not more…

He sighed, thinking about what to do.

At the end of the day he still loved his little brother, and maybe he would give him a nice beating but afterward, life would keep ongoing.

He wanted to teach him to be a bit more responsible and conscious about his actions…

And well, teach himself that too.

He had begun to reflect a lot about this whole ordeal and had actually become a bit more mature due to that.

"Fuck, maybe I was being a bit too rude with him now… He's my little bro, after all, I can't treat him like shit all the time…" sighed Jean.

Also, Jean could be considered stupid, he still valued his family bonds, and did not want his little brother to get all edgy with him and hate him when he grew up…

Jean picked his phone and was about to call Fernand… however, he just got a call back from it, which made him feel a bit surprised.

"He's calling me? …Maybe he actually found the damn thing?" thought Jean with high spirits, answering the call.

"Yo. So? Did you find it?" he asked directly.

"Brother! Yeah! I actually found the damn Blood Core! A student had it, but we beat him to almost death, and then we threw him into the trash for doing that. Thankfully, the thing was intact…" said Fernand.

"Good, well done. Wait, "was"? Did you actually used it?" asked Jean.

"Yeah… And here is where the problem starts…" said Fernand, as Jean furrowed his eyebrows.

"Problem…?" he asked.

"Yeah, because I used the Blood Core, as you wanted me to," said Fernand.

"And what's the problem with that? Did you got some new Skill from the Monster?" asked Jean.

"…Yeah, it could be said so… But more as I turned into a Dhampir by using it," said Fernand rather boldly.

"…What?" asked Jean.

"It appears in my Status, it says "Bloodline: Dhampir". This Blood Core… I think it changed my race, brother… Is this okay? I think I need to drink blood or something… And my whole body feels stronger… Am I really such a thing as not a human anymore…? I… I am scared…" said Fernand.

Jean heard his brother speak in a weak tone, while also saying that he felt scared and doubtful, that he had changed now into a new race, a ton of information he was not ready to know yet…

He had never heard of anyone changing Races through items, perhaps bloodlines, but not complete race changes such as Fernand…

Jean began to wonder what kind of shit luck he and his brother had…

However, he knew that he couldn't simply tell his brother "you are a subhuman now, you must die"… No, he needed to accept him.

Perhaps if he saw it as a power and not as a race, it could be easily masked.

He began to ponder these things… meanwhile, Fernand smiled eerily at the other side of the phone.

"Brother?" he asked after a few seconds to build up tension.

"Can you turn back into a human appearance?" asked Jean.

"Yeah, I can… But I think I need blood. I drank the blood of my subordinates and they ended becoming Ghouls… I can also even see their status now, so weird…" said Fernand.

"You what?! DAMN… Alright then… At least you are still you, right?" asked Jean.

"Y-Yeah, why would I not be me?" asked Fernand.

"Okay then… Let's do it like this, develop your abilities in secret for now so I can see their full extent whenever we meet. I can send you whatever you need so feel free," said Jean.

"Really?" asked Fernand.

"Yeah, don't worry. I am sure that you will develop this Dhampir Ability or whatever. You can use it to do good things as well, and you are still a human as well. You are part of the Firebrand family, not a filthy subhuman! Your Dhampir race is just a power of your Ability," said Jean.

"Yeah… Yeah, you are right! Alright then! I will train hard and you'll see me soar! In no time I will get into S-Rank!" said Fernand.

"That's the spirit little shit!" said Jean.

"Then I am counting on you for whatever I need? Please also make sure to tell my parents about it!" said Fernand.

"Alright, I'll tell them. And yeah feel free to ask me. I can support you with stuff so you can do it swiftly… Do your Ghoul friends want some more?" asked Jean.

"Yeah, I am going to use them as subordinates for now, after using my ability on them, they became pretty loyal. I am planning on making more subordinates too. This ability is pretty crazy," said Fernand.

"Alright then but keep it quiet for now!" said Jean.

"Sure! See ya!" said Fernand, as he cut off to his brother.

Jean kept glaring at the phone for a moment, as he felt relieved.

"Well, whatever that ability is it's new, that's for sure. I might as well call some researcher in this stuff… and tell mom and dad I guess? Not like they will do much if Fernand is fine. There are way too many weird abilities around, so one that turns a person into a dhampir shouldn't be a surprise anymore…" sighed Jean.

Meanwhile, Fernand and his subordinates celebrated that everything went amazingly well.

"With this, we'll be able to please Noah-sama even more," said Fernand.

Everything seemed to have gone according to Noah's plans, however, Noah's curse was yet to quick in…

Jean sighed once more as he contacted a few people… it seemed that no one had overreacted as long as he called it an "ability" so it seemed that people could be way more open-minded as long as it was related to ability, as there were already people with abilities that could let them become animals… why couldn't one let them become a Vampire from all things? Or a half-vampire, a Dhampir.

As everything was going fine, suddenly, Jean feels something deep within him.

He could not properly explain it.

But it could be said to be something… or feel like something out of this world.

It was as if a giant, the black claw was grasping his soul and not letting it go…

It was terrifying, even for… an S-Rank Hunter such as himself.

This feeling of fear was almost instinctual, something terrifying, truly out of this damn world…

He felt as if his soul and blood were suddenly connected, and that this black claw was grasping them like balloons, about to burst into pieces!

However, this discomfort never stopped, it was always there, always there…

Jean gritted his teeth as he tried to look for clues of whatever this could be.

He felt strange…

Lethargic, even confused…

It felt as if he was also paralyzed and… bleeding?

However, he quickly released his aura over his entire body, trying to find a clue of what this was while trying to suppress this curse!

But even then, it was very hard to cancel out the power of this curse…

Jean began to ponder if someone else cursed him or something.

But he was S-Rank Hunter!

Whatever cursed him was already outside of his league if it was stronger…

Jean could only try to seek a professional for now…

Jean Firebrand, the older brother of Fernand Firebrand and an S-Rank Hunter was cursed.

A few minutes after talking with his brother and discovering that he found the Blood Core, absorbed it, and gained a strange Ability that turned him into a Dhampir, he felt a strange, dark force gripping his soul and blood.

I was a strange, black-colored claw of ethereal darkness, an abyssal form that even an S-Rank Hunter like him could not easily suppress…

It was outstanding to the point that he felt lethargic…

An S-Rank Hunter like him, feeling lethargic!

It was truly something out of this world.

Who could have even done such a thing to him?

Jean kept using his Aura and powerful senses and abilities related to them in unison, wasting a lot of Mana.

He inserted his very will inside of his body and soul, finding the darkness encompassing his existence, the cause of the curse.

"Hahh… What is this?" he wondered, as he tried to grasp it with his will.

CLASH!

However, the moment he did, he felt even worse!

"Unnghhh…!"

The moment he grasped the darkness with his materialized will, he felt an enormous shock of electrifying pain all over his… body and soul!

"Agghh…! Eh?"

And then he saw it…

The origin of this curse…

But… this was not even a person.

What was this, even?

It did not even look like any monster he has ever seen before!

Amidst the dark claws that grasped him like a curse, the abyssal entity within opened its single, crimson eye, glaring back at Jean.

"Ungh… What is this? Who… is that? A monster? A… parasite creature? But… Ungh…"

Jean fought back against the entity's force, pouring everything he had to look towards it, to the depths of this dark abyss!

However, if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

The crimson eye opened wide as it released a wave of scarlet light, a ray of abyssal crimson red that hit Jean's entire soul!

"Unnghhh…?! W-What the fuck…?!"

Jean felt as the curse intensified several times!

The paralyzing effect, the constant lethargy, the dizziness, and even confusion!

The man crawled out of his bed, as he grabbed a Holy Elixir, an S-Rank Item crafted by the finest alchemists and magic technology, often incredibly costly, but that was able to heal all negative effects and also regenerate wounds, to the point of bringing back lost limbs… this was an item that Arthur's fathers never had the opportunity to acquire due to its ridiculous cost that only S-Rank Hunters can afford.

Jean quickly jugged the entire thing in a single go, feeling the sweet nectar flowing down his throat…

The healing effects began to activate immediately, healing the pain all over his body, alongside the paralysis…

He felt relieved for a moment…

However… the curse was still there… slowly eating away at him.

Most Hunters around the world did not even know about the existence of Souls, nor its concept and the repercussions it had on a human's body.

There was also very little means to affect other people's souls, so it was a very underdeveloped field.

The Elixir could heal any wound and illness, but not… something that was also into the soul.

However, Jean managed to ease his pain, by canceling out the curse in his bloodline.

But this would only be momentary, as the part of the curse within the soul, which formed because Noah used his very soul to conjure the curse, was still there…

And soon enough it would affect his body again.

In fact, it was already beginning to enter through his blood once more…

However, Jean had thought that the curse was now gone, and it seemed as if the curse had "learned" about this, and had tried to be more subtle now…

Unknowingly that his curse was still there, Jean felt relieved and went to take a shower.

He had a lot to do today, such as reporting what the heck was this attack anyways.

"I am going to fucking kill the one that dared to curse me! Who the fuck can even curse me anyways? Is there such an S-Rank Hunter around?" he wondered, taking a shower, and then deciding to call his manager…

Meanwhile, Noah had already gone back to his Manor and was sitting on a throne-like seat, smiling mischievously.

At his side there was his wife, Iris, who was smiling just as devilishly, her eyes were gleaming with crimson red light.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"It did. Everything has gone perfectly, it seems. The curse I caused to him cannot be easily taken away, as he only knows how to target and heal curses inside bodies, but not the ones inflicted to his soul!" said Noah.

"To his soul? But wasn't the curse on the bloodline?" asked Arthur who was sitting near Noah over a couch.

"Indeed. It is the bloodline curse. However, by using part of my soul to conjure it alongside immense amounts of Mana which I got by using all the blood I had stockpiled alongside Jon's help, I managed to evolve this curse into something of its own. You could say the curse is even alive…" said Noah.

"Alive…?" asked Timassa in surprise, Noah never stopped to surprise his subordinates with his insane abilities.

"Indeed! The moment the curse hit him, it became a creature of its own, and it even seems to have inherited part of my soul will. When it arrived inside of this man's bloodline, it immediately latched over his soul as well, seeping into it like a parasite… Perhaps I can do the same too?" wondered Noah.

"Things revolving around the soul are incredibly underdeveloped in this world… It will take a while for him to discover what it truly is…" said Arthur.

"Indeed, he might never realize it…" said Timassa.

"No, he noticed it and neutralized its effects," said Noah.

"Eh? That fast?! But you put so much effort into the curse!" said Iris while hugging Noah and trying to comfort him over his failure.

Noah accepted her hug but continued speaking.

"Let me continue. I said that he neutralized the effects, not that he actually destroyed the curse. He drank a special Elixir of sorts that completely healed his body… but, the curse part that remained on his soul is still there… and now, it is slowly… eating away his very soul!" laughed Noah.

"Oh! To be expected of my husband!" said Iris proudly of Noah's achievements, kissing his cheek.

"Amazing, Noah-sama!" said Arthur.

"Yeah, that's incredible…. Now that the curse is somewhat alive, it can even eat souls?" asked Timassa.

"Somehow it developed this ability. If it manages to eat his entire soul… it could even replace him, and we would have an S-Rank Hunter as our pawn!" laughed Noah.

"How long would it take?" asked Jon.

"Hmph. I have no idea, it is going slow for now, but if the curse manages to eat a lot of his soul, it will increase in power and begin to eat more and more, so it could get faster at some point. The man does not seem to have a countermeasure against curses inside his soul, so he is left hopeless… He might try to find help though, so there is a possibility that he will heal the curse… But I have to simply contact Fernand and inflict a curse again anyways," said Noah.

"Damn, this is an amazing way to indirectly kill someone annoying…" said Arthur.

"Kill? Well, if the curse completely consumes his soul, the curse itself will become him. So I do not think he will die. More like… become something new, in a way," laughed Noah.

"I see… Well, I cannot wait! Oh, and what about Fernand?" asked Iris.

"He has become a good puppet, he had told everything to his brother and the man seemed rather accepting, saying that as long as it was an Ability, it should not be considered subhuman… Hmph, we will try to mask ourselves as Fernand's subordinates in the future. And that way, when his powers become public, ours as well will be… Although he has to reach a level of strength so it doesn't seem weird that B-Rank Hunters are the subordinates of a mere D-Rank," said Noah.

"That's… an interesting plan, but are you okay with that, Noah?" asked Arthur.

"I am. Although it hurts my pride, later on, I can still turn everything over when we gather enough power, this is all just part of the plan," said Noah.

"I see… As thoughtful as ever…" said Iris.

"Anyways, Jon, Arthur, how are things?" asked Noah.

"Clear… Although it seems that they are waiting for the night to strike," said Jon.

"Everything is done and settled up…" said Arthur.

"Very well, tonight, we feast," said Noah.

Today was finally the day.

The Crystal Family, led by their father, Granite Crystal has gathered their strongest guild members.

By their Guild Leader commands, the father of the Crystal Family, the members of the guild were given the task of… avenging Emerald!

Granite had already searched for the culprits and had even spoken with the Military School staff.

He had used money and bribing to get as much info as he could until he finally realized that the culprits behind the death of his young son were Noah and those that were with his group that day.

Everything was right…

How Emerald went inside of that cave where Noah's group had originally visited…

And how only one of the two parties came out, Noah's group.

Even worse was that no traces of Emerald nor his party were left.

It was as if they had disappeared from the face of the world.

Even more, not even blood or a little piece of flesh… nothing, everything was incredibly clean…

Where could have Emerald gone then?

There was no way that he was simply swallowed up by the earth, right?

Even more, seeing how his son was so strong… nothing of this made any sense.

But everything seemed perfectly fine as if his son and his friends had never existed or something!

The Military School registered Emerald, and his group as "disappeared" and nothing else… Leaving the case alone, without seeking any justice for Emerald's death!

This filled Granite with bitterness as if he had swallowed a bug.

He used everything he had to find any clues and made up his mind!

After he realized that it was Noah and his group, he immediately set a large task to his entire guild, to kill these bastards!

As long as he had power and money, he could easily cover up for anything, not even the government could do much, as one of his children was a B-Rank Hunter, who was qualified as "above the law" due to their sheer strength.

Guilds often had battles between each other, and casualties were a common thing in such circumstances… as these guilds held strong hunters, they were also above the law, and were allowed in between loopholes of society.

In the world after the apocalypse, killing was seen as normal.

Guilds would often battle against each other for territories where there were dungeons they wanted… or simply because they had disputes or grudges.

For Granite, attacking this manor was like attacking a guild, or perhaps even easier.

Because the registration of a guild and the announcement of a new guild usually took around 4-5 days due to the many guilds in standby to be approved, Noah's guild, the Noctem Family, has not been officially announced yet, nor their new Hunter Ranks…

So, Granite and his family foolishly thought they were not even a Guild, and that their strength could not be above D-Rank, at most.

And dealing with D-Rank hunters for such a guild was as easy as squashing an ant with one's finger.

After a few days of preparations, it was complete.

Granite gathered over 20 D-Rank Hunters and his four children, three C-Rank Hunters and one B-Rank Hunter, leading the large group.

Everyone equipped Stealth Accessories and was packed with many healing items and other things…

Although they were mere D-Rank at most inside of Granite's mind, he was still cautious to prepare well and not rush things through.

After all, he wanted everything to go perfect, and to see all those that killed his son and his friends despair in agonizing pain.

The group surrounded Arthur's manor since the morning, and they had been waiting for them to lower their guard… deciding to attack at night.

Granite glanced at this through a flying drone, a small, magic-based robot that was able to float in midair and record things through a camera, sending what was happening to him in the commodity of his home.

Alongside this, his four strong children were participating, which he was very confident in their strength.

A petite woman in her early twenties, with short red hair and green eyes, wearing a beautiful crimson dress, Ruby, the third daughter of Granite Crystal, a C-Rank Mage-type Hunter.

A young and slender man in his early twenties, with short blue hair and iridescent green eyes, Sapphire, the first son of Granite Crystal, a C-Rank Archer-type Hunter.

A beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties with long green hair and glowing rainbow eyes, Agate, the second daughter of Granite Crystal, a C-Rank Warrior-type Hunter.

A startling beauty with long golden-brown hair and yellow-gold eyes, her figure was slender and beautiful, with wide hips and large breasts, she was Amber, the first daughter of Granite Crystal, a B-Rank Mage-type Hunter.

All four of his children were glancing at Arthur's territory while in silence, their colorful eyes all glowing with strong bloodthirst.

They stood above the buildings near Arthur's territory, alongside their army of D-Rank Hunters who were all ready to attack at any time…

It was already late in the night, the moon was shining brightly in the night sky, however, a large cloud was slowly moving near it, and for a few minutes, it would completely cover it, leaving the Sector devoid of any light aside from the lights of the city.

"We are finally here… It is finally time to avenge our little brother… It is finally time to show these pests what a true Guild is about!" said Ruby, her petite body and adorable appearance made her aura even more terrifying as they contrasted with each other.

"Let's make sure to make them suffer a lot first… before we kill them… We have to slice them all up real good…" said Sapphire, the only man in the group with a slender and tall figure, glaring

"Ah… Yes, my brother… We will make sure to make them suffer… At last, it is finally time to take care of them…" said Agate while holding a large sword.

"My siblings… as the cloud blocks the moon, we shall descend and finally do as we please with these bastards… Rejoice, revenge is finally going to be served…" said Amber, her eyes glowing with golden light and furious bloodlust.

The group glanced at the manor intensively… as the clouds slowly moved near the moon...

Until… finally…

The moon was blocked by the cloud, and all the figures above the building disappeared out of thin air, moving so fast that a normal human eye would not be able to discern, especially in such darkness.

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!

Like flashes of darkness, all the 20 D-Rank Hunters led by the four siblings of Emerald reached the Manor's walls and security, system, which was very archaic, easily jumping over the walls as easy as breathing air and then reaching the large garden inside of the walls.

Then, they were greeted by the two manors resting calmly in the night, the lights of both of them were already turned off, giving the impression that the people inside were already sleeping soundly.

"The manor to the left is where Noah and the rest are… the other seems to be where Arthur's parents sleep. They are not a threat, prioritize taking care of Noah and his group first… However, five soldiers should go take care of them, leave no one alive," said Amber, commanding her troops as five D-Rank Hunters nodded, rushing towards Arthur's parent's manor while she and the rest of the Hunters and her siblings rushed towards the manor where Noah and his family resided…

The five hunters, who seemed to be two Warrior-type hunters, one mage-type hunter, and two rogue-type hunters quickly reached the manner of Arthur's parents, easily breaking apart the door and running inside, using detection-based Skills to glance at everywhere and detect any signs of life.

One of them reached to the kitchen as he felt a faint presence…

But when he entered, he only found… a puddle of blood.

"Blood? Did something happened here?" wondered the Hunter, as he slowly walked towards it to see if it was fresh, touching it with his index finger.

"It's… warm…?"

Flash.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, the blood… moved.

It took the form of a long, slimy tentacle, grabbing him.

The slimy tentacle then shaped itself as a humanoid hand, and another hand emerged, accompanied by another and another…

The hunter was left in shock as he saw something he had never seen before, the blood itself was moving and shaping as hands!

"W-What is this?! Nngh?!"

The hands grasped him tightly, as he could not escape!

More hands emerged as the figures of several humanoids made of blood appeared, ganging on him!

The man tried to use his Abilities to escape, and some of the figures were blasted into blood, however, more emerged, as if they were regenerating!

The figures started to punch him, to slash him with blood weapons, to burn him with magic, to hit him with blood axes, to pierce him with blood nails and blood spears!

His entire body began to be torn apart into pieces, the pain was agonizing, and the blood entities that began to tear him apart only smiled eerily at him, with empty, crimson eyes!

It was terrifying in every sense of the word!

Just what kind of creatures were these? And how did they appear here?!

Were these monsters or something?!

The Hunter did not know, as he had no time to think anyway, he tried to run away, but his legs were cut off, and his entire body was dragged into the puddle of blood!

"Nnnggh! Amber-sama…! NNGRRYAAHHHHH…!"

Not only his screams were heard, but the ones of all the group that entered this manor!

Amber, however, did not have time to assess what was happening there, because she was already busy…

Jon was the only one that remained within Arthur's parent's manor, as his parents were evacuated into the underground area that connected both manors.

Using Noah's Vampiric Eyes of Hypnosis and Stupefaction, Noah sweet-talked the parents into obeying him and spending the night in these areas, without actually revealing that the Vampire family was waiting for their enemies to arrive.

Afterward, Noah left several Blood Servants with Jon, who used Clairvoyance to see through almost the entire territory of the manor while closing his eyes and then using Far Talk and Telepathy to communicate to Noah what was happening.

The five D-Rank Hunters send to this manor were supposed to be killed by Jon fairly easy by having their heads blown into bits through his Evil Eye of Distortion, but it seemed that they meet an even horrible end by foolishly approaching the "traps" left by them, large puddles of blood that were filled with Blood Servants, who would grab and attack anything within their range.

Like this, five D-Rank Hunters were eliminated in a matter of seconds…

"Noah-sama, the five are down, I didn't have to do anything…" sighed Jon.

"Good, stay there monitoring everything through Clairvoyance… Oh? They are here…" said Noah.

Meanwhile, a few minutes ago, Amber commanded her troops to raid the Manor of Noah.

However, they immediately came into problems as many people began to… step over small puddles of blood in the way to the windows and door.

"Blood puddles? What is the meaning of this? Has Noah killed more people?" wondered Ruby.

"I don't know, nor I care! Enter the manor!" roared Amber, her eyes glowing with golden light and resolve!

However, such resolve was quickly interrupted as the agonizing cries of people resonated!

The malefic blood puddles began to move on their own, generating giant tentacles, claws, hands, arms, weapons, and more, even enormous jaws and even crimson fire!

Each of these blood puddles was like a trap!

Each trap triggered random effects based on whatever was inside, impacting and surprising anyone that got near them!

"W-WHAT?!"

Amber felt cold sweat drip through her body as she saw several of the D-Rank Hunters being torn apart into pieces, burned alive, or eaten by enormous, dragon jaws surging from the blood itself!

It was truly a scene of nightmares, of complete madness that she couldn't even understand!

Who could even do such a thing?

What kind of wicked power was this?

Was this a trap?

Were these monsters?

If they were monsters, were they tamed?

How did Noah tame monsters?

And if they are an ability, how?

She had never seen an ability like that!

Although Granite told her children that Noah and his group might be hiding abilities, they never expected them to be so strange and bizarre!

They were literal puddles of blood that shapeshifted as strange figures, grabbing and attacking anything near them!

The D-Rank Hunters were strong though and used their abilities to free themselves, but the puddles that were "destroyed" simply began to regenerate or even merge with already existing ones!

Amber and her siblings were left in shock, however, Amber quickly set off her mind, leaving these soldiers behind!

"Rush! This is most likely a trap! We don't have time, he's probably planning something else, run inside and kill him quickly!" said Amber, assuming that Noah could be a trap-type ability user, which was rare, but not non-existent.

Trap-type Ability Users had special, unique abilities capable of setting traps in a certain area of the ground or an item.

Whenever these traps were triggered by touch or the presence of something, they would unleash a variety of effects, some would cause paralysis, curse, unleash fire, or large thorns filled with poison, amongst many others.

However, these traps were like something Amber and her siblings had never seen before!

They were way too varied and in all shapes and sizes, having similar yet different effects, shapes, and forms!

Some of them were many arms and humanoid torsos grabbing weapons made of hardened blood, others released giant draconic claws and enormous jaws to tear and eat anything near them, and others unleashed crimson fire.

Amber clenched her teeth as she saw her Hunters struggling to get out of such traps, with many dying instantly by agonizingly crying in pain as they had their entire bodies munched by gigantic, wyrm heads surging from these puddles…

"What is going on?! What kind of ability is that?!" asked Ruby.

"I don't know, but I can sense the presence of many people in the manor, let's get in and kill them so the abilities deactivate!" said Sapphire.

"We have no time… Let us go!" said Agate.

Amber looked once more back to her subordinates as she immediately felt like she was falling into some kind of game or a plan set by Noah.

It was as if they knew that they were coming!

But how? They made sure to masks their presence through Stealth Accessories!

It was… as if they had been looking over the sky or something!

Although such an assumption was not so far from the truth, Jon's Clairvoyance let him see through absolutely anything within a radius of several meters around him.

Such power was amazing, and with him alone, Noah and everyone else immediately knew that the Crystal Family had finally arrived to avenge Emerald.

And as they eagerly expected their arrival, they prepared a few surprises and welcoming gifts.

Amber and her siblings entered into the manor by breaking apart the door, rushing inside as they followed the faint presence of people atop the manor, which seemed to be completely dark.

They rushed upstairs, breaking apart the walls and entering a large hall… where Noah alone sat down over his throne.

His eyes were glowing crimson red, as he meets the ones that came to slay him.

"Welcome, I was eagerly waiting for you four… Did you like my gifts?" he asked.

"He's…" muttered Ruby.

"He's Noah! Even though his hair and eyes are different… he clearly matches the pictures we saw of him!" said Sapphire.

"But… why does he look like that?" wondered Agate.

"His presence is faint… but, where are the others? Noah, did you seriously just thought that you could deal with all four of us? It is finally time to make you pay for what you did to our brother…!" said Amber.

"Where is our brother? Where did you leave his corpse?!" asked Ruby.

"Admit that you killed him!" said Sapphire.

"And we may not make you suffer as much!" said Agate.

Noah seemed confused, as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Hm? Who are you talking about?" he asked. Shamelessly pretending to not know about Emerald!

"Eh?!" asked Ruby in anger.

"What? You bastard! Do not deny it now! We have evidence that you killed our younger brother!" said Sapphire.

"Bastard… the presence I feel from him is that of a monster! What is he?!" asked Agate.

"You… this entire manor stinks like blood… how many lives have you taken already, you monster?!" asked Amber.

"…I don't know. Do you remember how many loaves of bread you have eaten in your life?" asked Noah with a pleasant smile.

The moment that Noah dropped those infamous words, the four siblings finally lose it!

Their enormous auras began to emerge from within their bodies, as their shining eyes began to glow brightly in anger!

"YOU MONSTER! BRING BACK OUR BROTHER!" roared Ruby as she began to cry tears of anger, her entire petite body was shrouded in an aura of flames, as she generated countless spears of ruby covered in flames, firing them at Noah!

Dozens after dozens of such attacks rushed towards him, as Noah smiled.

"So weak…" he murmured, as he waved his hand, opening a wound in the palm of his hand as the figure of a young woman, Clementina, emerged from it!

Raising her hands, she unleashed a barrage of freezing ice created out of thin air towards the blazing ruby spears!

CLASH!

BOOM!

The tremors of the explosion of fire and ice made the entire manor shake, as Noah thanked himself that he thought about creating a barrier through Crimson Aegis before this… the moment the siblings entered this room manor, they entered his "domain".

"W-What? An Ice-type ability?!" asked Ruby, glancing at Noah, sitting leisurely over his throne, Clementina was now back to his blood through Blood Storage.

"That intensity… that was the ability of the Ice Queen Clementina… one of Emerald's classmates… You bastard… did you kill her and got her Ability Core?!" roared Sapphire, readying his attacks, as the other siblings quickly charged towards Noah from all sides!

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it if I told you the truth…" said Noah.

Noah smiled calmly as the four members of the Crystal Family rushed towards him.

Ruby generated even sharper spears made of red-colored jewels, completely filled with flames.

Sapphire generated blue-colored blades of jewels, covered in icy winds.

Agate generated large spheres of multi-colored jewels that generated enormous quantities of light, charging dozens of lasers towards Noah.

And Amber summoned enormous boulders made of gold-colored jewels, directing them at Noah to crush him into minced meat!

But Noah only thought about a few things through his fast-speed thought processing and his parallel mind.

"How dull… Is this all that this family has to offer? Just summon crystals of colors with infused elements… What a lack of variety…" he thought, as an enormous mass of blood emerged out of the wound on his hand, startling the four siblings!

However, they smiled again, as their attacks were just a few meters to reach Noah now!

He was done for!

He would be burned, frozen, penetrated by lasers, and crushed by giant boulders!

No matter what kind of weird Skill he used, there was no way to escape from this fate.

It was now… but a matter of seconds before he was to die.

…Or so they thought.

The blood expanded wildly all around, as the enormous head of a Blazing Wyrm Emperor emerged out of it in mere milliseconds!

It began to charge energy within one millisecond.

And after that, a blast of blazing crimson flames was released from its gigantic maw, destroying all the attacks at the same time!

Ruby, Sapphire, Agate, and Amber were engulfed by the flames, as their attacks were disintegrated in seconds, and they began to feel their skin burning, grilling them alive!

The pain began to seep into their very flesh, entering their muscles, eyes, and burning their hair!

"W-What the…?! Unghhh!" cried Ruby, as she created a wall of red jewels to protect herself.

"Aagghh! GGYAAAHH…!" groaned Sapphire, he had created a barrier with his blue-colored jewels, but they broke due to the intensity of the flames and the fire began to burn his body with even more intensity!

"Nnnngghhhaaahhh…!" Agate was caught by the fire, the agonizing pain dulled her senses and her Skills couldn't activate in time!

"Ngh! My siblings!" cried Amber, the only one who seemed not so damaged by the attack, she quickly generates an enormous boulder by pouring large quantities of her mana, protecting everyone from the attack!

CLASH! BOOM!

An explosion resonated through the entire manor, as the magic smoke slowly dissipated, revealing the wall Amber created being still there, barely…

"Hmph… They survived my breath attack… I apologize, my lord. I am not worthy of serving you," sighed Pride, the Blazing Wyrm Emperor Blood Servant.

"Don't worry about that. We also have to let the rest practice with their abilities a bit…" said Noah, simply glancing at the scene. Through this whole ordeal he has not even moved from his throne, he was simply unfazed, like a true final boss.

Amber and her siblings were gasping for air, as Ruby rushed towards Sapphire and Agate, giving them C-Grade Potions to heal their burns, but the healing effect was not as intense, they were still almost defeated.

However, they somehow got themselves up, activating several enhancement Skills to resist the pain…

But instead of anger, there was now simply fear within their minds.

What have they done by coming here?

No matter how much they searched, they never realized how strong was Noah, nor what were his true abilities.

They had made a bunch of assumptions, and although they made many preparations… by two attacks of Noah, they already realized that he was not someone of D-Rank power…

In fact, he was superior to all of them.

A simple breath attack from Pride burned through the flesh of Sapphire and Agate, putting them on the border of death to be barely saved by potions.

Ruby was clenching her teeth with fear, and Amber was perhaps the only one that could actually fight against Noah as she was B-Rank, but she realized that her siblings had become a burden, needing to protect their lives against a threat she thought would be easy even for them…

A single attack from Pride was enough to determine that this was a one-sided battle.

Ridiculous.

Not even a strong B-Rank Hunter would be able to unleash such a strong, almost instantaneous attack such as the breath that Pride unleashed.

They were simply overwhelmed.

"Hahh… You three, escape now! We have to survive! We misunderstood Noah and his group strength!" said Amber, deciding to retreat and gather more strength before deciding to even attack Noah again!

"What? But sister! We can't… we have to avenge…" muttered Ruby.

"SHUT UP! Ruby, run, right NOW! Stop defying my orders little lady!" said Amber, her eyes glowing with golden light and anger! She was becoming desperate!

"Nngh… Sister… We will fight at your side…!" said Sapphire.

"Please, let us help you… We will die together… if that's what we have to do to avenge our brother!" said Agate.

"No… You cannot… If I lose any more of you… I do not… I…" muttered Amber, beginning to doubt what she could do in this situation, even as a B-Rank, perhaps she could run away, but without her help, her siblings could be as good as dead!

"You should feel honored by being given the pleasure of dying by our hands and that of Noah, especially because you shall serve him even after death! In fact, you should be rejoicing right now, fools!"

Suddenly, the voice of a young woman emerged out of nowhere, with a flash of blue fire, reaching towards Ruby!

"Eh?!"

CLASH!

Ruby quickly managed to block the attack by generating a shield of red jewels covered in flames, which were impacted by the blue and cold flames generated by the individual that attacked her!

CRASH!

The Shield of red jewels quickly shattered into pieces, but Ruby managed to evade and move back, managing to glance at the woman!

Her size was petite, probably of her same height, she had a bobby-styled haircut and bright red hair, with crimson eyes and pale white skin, her nails were as long as blades, and as sharp as them as well, while secreting a purple liquid from within… her entire body was shrouded in a blue-colored phantom, resembling the tails of foxes and two fox ears.

Although she had changed a lot… this girl, they recognized her…

"You are… Iris!" said Ruby.

"That is the name of your future mistress," said Iris rather proudly, covering her long and black-colored blade-like nails with blue flames once more, and rushing towards Ruby!

FLASH!

Her speed was way too fast, Ruby barely generated a few blades of red jewels and threw them at Iris, but she easily sliced them into pieces with her nails and blue flames!

Amber, Sapphire, and Agate were in shock due to Iris's immense speed and prowess, but Amber quickly clenched her teeth as she flew towards Iris, trying to stop her by firing a giant boulder at her!

However, Iris smiled at Amber as she evaded the boulder in time, as Amber suddenly felt an enormous and cold presence emerging behind her!

Amber slowly moved her head backward, finding the man behind the slaughter.

"I decided that it would be a good idea to fight you, you are the strongest here after all. Let's make this battle an insightful one, any challenge I can get will increase my capabilities, so make sure to not hold back!"

"Noah?!"

Amber's eyes opened wide as she did not even realize when Noah appeared behind her! But this was thanks to Noah's Mist Form Skill, as he used it to easily sneak behind her while she was distracted!

"The very one!" laughed Noah, as he covered himself in an Elemental Blood Gem Armor in an instant, resembling a crimson giant with enormous bat-like wings!

His claws grew immensely, covering themselves in flames, winds, and lightning through the Elemental Blood Gem Creation Skill, which Noah infused into his very Claws to generate Elemental Blood Gem Claws!

CLASH!

With a single swipe of his claws, Amber was thrown into the wall behind her, the enormous elemental attack inflicted great damage to her defenseless body, although it was the physique of a B-Rank, she had not activated any buffing skill yet, and received the full extent of Noah's attack!

"Nnnggaaaahhh…!"

Amber suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood, as she impacted the wall, shattering it and leaving a large spiderweb-shaped crater… the manor itself resisted this much damage because it had been enhanced by Noah's Crimson Aegis and made into what he called "his domain".

"Already vomiting blood?" asked Noah, emerging right before Amber with Crimson Flash!

Amber glanced at Noah with scorn, anger, frustration, and fear! Such emotions fueled her mind with complete and insane wrath!

"YOU DAMN… MONSTER!" screamed Amber desperately, as she quickly activated dozens of Skills in a millisecond, her entire skin enhanced itself and gained momentary durability, alongside her dress which shaped itself as if it were made of jewels, with a giant jewel spear emerging at her right arm!

She even gained giant jewel wings! And a dozen boulders made of jewels appeared around her, firing themselves towards Noah instantaneously after being generated!

"Hm. Not bad…" thought Noah, as he decided to fight against her in her own game, and generating boulders made of elemental blood gems as well!

The giant boulders clashed against each other constantly, generating explosions of shattered magic jewels!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

However, Amber quickly realized that Noah's gemstones were… very similar to Emerald!

In fact, way too much!

It seemed that such skill had emerged because Noah converted Emerald's Ability Core into Skill Points, which fueled his Skill Tree with new Skill concepts, generating this Skill that was just the exact copy of Emerald, but the gems were also blood, which Noah could easily shape as he desired!

Blades, Axes, Spears, Lances, Naginata, Maces, Hammers, and more made of Elemental Blood Gems clashed against Amber's unrefined boulders of jewels, crushing, and shattering them into pieces!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

For a moment both Noah and Amber locked their eyes against each other, waiting for the opportunity to strike the other!

When the last dozen of gem weapons and boulders impacted and exploded, both figures flashed against each other, like two flashes of golden light and crimson light, the two began to clash and strike each other around the air, generating loud explosions and thundering noises!

SLASH! CLASH! BOOM!

This was the battle between two B-Rank Hunters! Amber's siblings, who were C-Rank Hunters were not even able to keep up with such speed and prowess, however, they were way too busy dealing with Noah's subordinates now!

Iris kept pursuing Ruby around playfully, using her long nails and covering them in nether flames, slashing through her burning jewel projectiles as Ruby felt despair quickly take ahold of her heart!

"Get away from me!" cried Ruby, unleashing all the jewels she could muster alongside fireballs and fire spears, rushing as a shower of flames towards Iris!

But Iris who had fought against behemoths such as Fire Wyrms did not even felt like such an attack was much…

Something within Iris's mind emerged…

"Compared to the savage and overwhelming strength of monsters, Hunters are… so weak,"

She quickly feels… bored.

"DIIEEEEE!"

Ruby cried as she unleashed all the flames and red jewel attacks she could muster, making them all fall over Iris in an instant!

BOOOM!

Ruby glanced at the explosion of flames and red jewels, which somehow still did not make the entire hall fall apart for some strange reason…

She tried to look for Ruby anywhere she could… but there was not even her charred corpse.

"So boring…. Is that all you could do?" asked Iris, startling Ruby as she quickly moved away with her Skills and generated a large barrier of red jewels!

"GET AWAY FROM MEEE!" cried Ruby, feeling more and more desperate as Iris just did not die!

Iris had simply evaded her dull "all-out attack" with utmost ease, and she was now slowly walking towards her as Ruby unleashed everything she could against her!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The projectiles of red jewels exploded one by one into giant explosions of flames, as Iris simply walked towards Ruby while destroying her attacks by the swipe of her claws.

At some point, new claws emerged out of her very phantom, which she materialized through Phantom Materialization and began to catch the projectiles sent at her, launching them back at Ruby!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"AGH! W-What?! You can't…!"

The projectiles she created were now being launched back at her, as Iris simply smiled.

CRASH!

The barrier of red jewels shattered into pieces with a big explosion, as Ruby was sent flying into the air!

"Why are you resisting so much? Embrace my husband's greatness and rejoice! Soon after dying, you shall be reborn to serve him for eternity!" laughed Iris, as Ruby felt completely emptied of Mana!

She tried to desperately grasp a mana potion out of her Interdimensional Storage Ring, but her hands were trembling in fear and Iris easily realized what she was trying to do.

"Hmm, maybe you don't need this hand anymore…" said Iris, using her claws to slice Ruby's hand away!

SLASH!

Ruby felt the sharp pain of her and being sliced, the muscle, tendrils, the blood vessels, and the bone all being cut perfectly in a single second!

Her teeth gritted so much that they began to shatter a bit, as her eyes began to cry in agonizing pain and her mouth released a pathetic pig-like scream.

"GRRRRYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAARRRHHGGGHH…!"

Iris felt surprised by the loud scream, rubbing her chin.

"Oh my, are you not used to pain, my dear? That was just a hand…" she said, as a Dhampir with super regeneration, Iris had already lost entire limbs or pieces of her body in battle against monsters inside dungeons, pain was something she had long become used to.

"P-PLEASE! DON'T… DON'T KILL ME! AGGH…! HHAH… SNIFF…"

Ruby began to cry even more pathetically, as Iris felt disgusted.

"Asking for mercy? Well too bad that in here there is no concept of mercy…" said Iris, stepping over Ruby with her long, black heels, and crushing her chest with it!

CRASH!

"NNANGGAAAGGHH…!"

"Such a feeble, little ant…! Denying my husband's greatness! You don't deserve anything more than the death of a bug!" she sighed, beginning to step on Ruby like a piece of trash, crushing her ribs, stomach, legs, arms, and chest, her lungs were torn apart, and her intestines began to fly into the air, Ruby was somehow still alive and screaming in agony with each step of Iris, filling her heels with blood and guts.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

"Nnnnggooogghhh…"

Ruby felt dizzy, death was soon to take her on as the agonizing pain of having her entire body crushed like a bug made her mind go insane…

"Hm? You are still alive? Such a resilient bug… Maybe I should ask my husband to rename you Cockroach later, fitting, right?" laughed Iris, as she raised her heel and crushed Ruby's entire head, bursting it into bloody pieces like a watermelon falling off a cliff!

CLASH!

Iris noticed that a large C-Rank Ability Core emerged above Ruby's corpse, a nice offering for her beloved husband.

The moment Ruby died was incredibly bitter and anticlimactic, as her siblings were all diving into battles for their own lives.

The sounds of her agonizing cries, the sound of her flesh being torn apart and crushed, of her bone-shattering… Sapphire, Agate, and Amber were not able to do anything to help her…

Sapphire, who was heavily damaged and burned had tried to jump towards Iris and shower her with his attacks but was stopped by a blast of black thunder, falling over his feet and making him instinctively jump away.

He glanced with fear at his adversary, another of Noah's companions which he nor his siblings had ever sensed emerging… her eyes were crimson red, and her hair was purple, alongside this, her skin was of an unhealthy pale white, almost like candle wax.

Her figure was tall and slender, and her hair reached a bit below her shoulders, she had a stoic and beautiful mature face…

Her eyes, which were crimson red, were now flashing with electricity and sparks of black lightning, and her entire body was covered in pieces of armor made of materialized black thunder.

She wielded a large, black bow, which exuded an aura just as eerie and aggressive as her…

Sapphire could immediately sense her enormous bloodthirst, and also realized her identity…

"You're Timassa…. Arthur's maid! How can a Half-Subhuman like you be this strong?! Nngh…!" groaned Sapphire, quickly generating several blades of blue-colored jewels covered on icy winds, firing them towards Timassa without waiting for her response!

"Half-Subhuman? I am more than that now. I have ascended thanks to the grace of my lord…" said Timassa, as she fired three arrows of black lightning with great precision while darting in midair, destroying Sapphire's attacks in an instant, as explosions of ice, jewels, and black thunder unleashed in the middle of the two!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"What kind of power… is that?!" asked Sapphire while being dumbfounded.

Explosions of ice and thunder resonated through the large hall, as Sapphire and Timassa confronted each other in the most anticlimactic one-sided fight.

Sapphire clenched his teeth as he immediately realized that he was fucked.

Timassa's speed was immense, her attacks were precise and sharp, her thunder was also able to deal damage directly into his flesh and could even ignore defense.

It was also highly explosive and deal large amounts of damage against his blue jewel barriers or shields.

Alongside this, Timassa's aura seemed to be overwhelmingly strong and terrifying, her level of power was already beyond C-Rank… beyond what Sapphire was capable of.

However, he did not want to die, not at all!

Sapphire's fear and despair were quickly taken over by his wrath, each time he remembered his little brother, Emerald, and that these filthy beings killed him, his mind and judgment were clouded by blind rage.

He evaded as much as he could, but Timassa's attacks were already burning into his body through the power of electricity, and his barriers could barely withstand one attack before being shattered into tiny pieces.

Timassa continued to advance towards him, using more and more thunder, firing arrows after arrows, while making sure to be cautious.

Even against a C-Rank, she acted cautious, testing her strength, and seeing if Sapphire didn't have any ace below his sleeve.

And as she thought, he had.

"NNNGGGRRAAH! Ice Jewel Giant!"

BOOM!

Unlike his siblings, Sapphire had developed and created a new type of Skill by covering himself with his own jewels and ice!

Timassa's thunder fell over him as he was about to transform, however, exploding into countless explosions of thunder and ice!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

However, it seemed that the activation of the Skill gave him regeneration capabilities, even when… his body exploded into pieces!

"Oh? I knew it…" said Timassa. Due to her supernatural senses and perception, she knew that there was something fishy about this guy.

"GRAAAAAAAAAH! GAAAAAHHH!"

Sapphire, however, had paid the price of going completely berserk.

The Ice Jewel Giant Skill gave him the power to transform into a giant made of ice jewels, with outstanding regeneration abilities, however, his mind would go berserk after this, and whenever his mana was to be drained fully, he would revert back to his human form and fall unconscious.

But he had no choice! He was getting killed, after all, he had to go all out and fight for his life!

Sapphire's giant form rushed towards Timassa with outstanding speed and strength, reaching her in an instant and then unleashing giant boulders of ice shaped as blades towards her!

Timassa glanced at this expressionlessly, as she covered herself in thunder and flew over the air evading the attacks with utmost ease.

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

The large boulders of ice exploded one by one, as the entire ice began to cover the hall, making everything icy and cold… but such temperatures were not of any issue for Vampires, who were usually very cold unless they control their own blood and made it flow faster around their bodies.

Timassa who was a Ghoul was even colder, and such a thing did not even bother her.

FLASH!

Like a flash of thunder, she rushed directly towards Sapphire, as she generated large arrows of black thunder, firing them towards Sapphire by the dozens!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"GRUUUUOOOOOHH…!"

Sapphire began to explode into pieces, his arms fell off, his legs, his head, and even his torso exploded into shattered pieces of blue jewels!

However, Timassa knew it was not over yet…

"Outstanding regeneration speed…" she said, as she saw Sapphire suddenly begin to grow back into an ice jewel giant!

"GRAAAHHH…. GRAAAAAAARRR!"

Sapphire suddenly unleashed an aura of cold, freezing winds, unleashing a storm of ice towards Timassa!

FLASH!

Timassa's body was covered in ice, as her entire body began to freeze!

"Ngh…"

Her skin began to turn completely icy and hard, her muscles froze and became cold, her blood became crimson ice, her bones as well, and even her hair, clothes, and everything…

She became an ice statue…

Timassa died!

Or so thought Sapphire.

"GRAAHAHA!"

Sapphire celebrated his victory as he slowly walked towards Timassa, extending its icy claws towards her, desiring to crush her into pieces!

However!

FLASH!

Timassa's eyes flashed with black electricity, as the entire ice around her began to shatter!

The thunder generated enough heat and the internal ice within her body quickly melted in a matter of milliseconds!

CRASH!

The entire ice within her body melted and shattered, as Timassa glanced at Sapphire with a bored expression.

"I suppose you can… stop me for around three seconds," she sighed, as she suddenly generated a giant spear of thunder and blasted it into Sapphire's face!

"NNGRAH…!"

BOOM!

His chest exploded into pieces as he was thrown into the ground!

Timassa darted into the air as she directed another giant arrow!

BOOM!"

"GRUUUOOOHHH…!"

Sapphire's body began to explode into pieces once more, as he tried to regenerate!

However!

"Three, four, five, six, seven…"

Timassa began to count how many giant thunder arrows it took to kill this bastard, showering him with attacks and quickly overpowering his regeneration speed!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"NNNGRRRYAAAAAA…!"

This body began to blast into pieces over and over again, as his mana quickly ran low the more times he used his regeneration capabilities!

BOOOOOM!

"NNNNGRRUUUOOOHH…!"

CRASH!

Sapphire's entire body shattered into pieces at last, as Timassa smiled triumphantly!

Flash!

Suddenly, to her surprise, the ice scattered all around turned into flesh, shattered bones, crushed guts, and blood…

"Oh? So that is how it works… I hope Noah-sama can still make it… Blood Servants out of this pile… I shouldn't have been taken too long," sighed Timassa, thinking about the future Sapphire Blood Servant that could come out of this…

Meanwhile, after the death of another sibling, Agate and Amber despaired.

Their emotions were constantly fluctuating with agonizing emotional pain (and also physical pain), the loss of more of their beloved siblings was making them go completely insane.

All of this because they did not research enough… or not?

Even if they had researched, this was bound to happen, Noah had hidden his abilities enough, and although this might have changed if they had waited a few more days to strike by knowing that he and his subordinates were all B-Rank through the official announcement, they were desperate to avenge their brother, and hurriedly ran right into the abyssal maws of the Noctem Family.

Agate gritted her teeth, as her eyes felt to slowly lose their iridescent rainbow light, two of her siblings were massacred by the malicious beasts that were the members of the Noctem Family, monstrous crawlers of the night with immense strength and malevolent natures, they did not even kill their siblings cleanly, but crushed them into pieces and made sure to make them suffer to the extent of breaking their minds and spirits...

However, she had no time to fight Iris or Timassa, as another person was confronting her… a young man with blonde hair, crimson eyes, and pale white skin. His body was slender yet not so tall, but he held a serious expression, the malevolent nature within him seemed lesser than those of the rest of the members of the Noctem Family, but that did not mean that he was less loyal to his progenitor and greatest benefactor.

"You are… Arthur…! You damn… monster… you are like them too, aren't you?! All of you are horrible subhumans at the end! I KNEW IT! ALL OF YOU ARE BEASTS! Ruby… Sapphire…! I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" roared Agate, going completely mad, blinded by rage as she summoned several floating spheres of colorful jewels, charging mana into the and firing lasers of iridescent light that could easily burn through flesh!

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Arthur kept his serious expression as he evaded around while blocking some of the powerful attacks with his Black Light Barrier!

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"You were the ones that decided to come and kill us! You are merely paying for what you came for! Similarly, Emerald also tried to kill us. What is wrong with trying to defend ourselves and protect our lives? Are we at fault for trying to survive? Your brother was a hypocrite!" said Arthur.

"SHUT UP! WHAT CAN A MONSTER LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND?!" roared Agate, suddenly concentrating large quantities of mana and jewels into a giant orb, and firing an enormous laser of holy light towards Arthur!

BOOOM!

Agate concentrated large quantities of Mana within a sphere, generating a large, rotating multi-colored jewel ball, which she charged with even more Mana!

The sphere of iridescent jewels flashed with bright yellow light, unleashing an enormous beam of holy light towards Arthur!

Arthur gritted his teeth as his sharp crimson eyes flashed with a scarlet light, a wave of black light and purple ethereal liquid emerged over his body, protecting him!

BOOM!

The black light began to absorb the holy light, and the corrosive purple ethereal substance corroded the light!

CLASH!

FLASH!

Suddenly, the holy light exploded and dissipated!

Agate was left in shock!

Just what kind of powerful barrier ability was that to completely negate her powerful beam of holy light?!

"What kind… power is that? I have never seen… black light before…" said Agate while clenching her fists.

"Why should I tell you anything? You are going to die anyway," sighed Arthur, surprising Agate!

From what she remembered about his profile that her father investigated, Arthur was cataloged as a shy boy, a pushover, a bit of a coward too, and even small and pathetic-looking…

Yet, Arthur… was completely different than any of such registry.

He was blazing with resolve.

Although he did not have the coldness and maliciousness of his companions, it did not mean that he was not ready to take the life of someone when it was needed.

He had already decided to walk the path of his master, Noah.

And to do that, he needed to change.

Through such harsh trials, he changed.

Fighting enormous armies of monsters, or even his own classmates that had come to kill him without even caring what he was…

He got to know that in this world, the strong made the laws.

In here, no one was going to pity him for trying his best.

He had to forge his own path, and walk at the side of those that had allowed him to advance through such a harsh world filled with danger and insanity.

For his friends and family, Arthur was now filled with the resolve to kill!

"Nnngh…! You monster…! SHUT UP AND DIE!" roared Agate, feeling furious over Arthur's words, and generating dozens of multi-colored jewel spheres, charging them with mana and firing beams of holy light towards him!

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

"Corrosion Domain…" said Arthur, as his eyes flashed with a purple light, his entire body unleashed an aura of corrosive poison, as he was shrouded in a domain of his own awakened Attribute.

Enhancing his body with his own Domain, Arthur generated a barrier of Black Light and Corrosion, and flew towards Agate, evading the incredibly fast beams of holy light while letting his barriers take into some.

The barriers would sometimes even tremble and shatter, but he kept conjuring them with his great Mana Pool and stockpiled blood which he drank to regain more Mana.

Arthur pointed his staff towards Agate, as he charged mana into it, generating spheres of corrosive and purple liquid through the Dark Spheres of Erosive Contamination Skill!

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!

Several spheres of corrosion reached Agate as she gritted her teeth, evading by generating barriers of jewels and holy light!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The corrosive explosions of poison exploded over the barriers of holy light, their attack power did not seem as strong…

"Hah, your offensive attacks are not so impressive!" laughed Agate.

"Corrosion Beast," said Arthur, completely ignoring Agate's baseless remarks.

Suddenly, the puddles of poison surrounding Agate that were generated when the spheres of erosive contamination exploded over her barriers began to move!

"W-What?"

Splash!

The poison quickly turned into a purple-colored slimy substance, getting together, and molding itself as an octopus-like beast with enormous crimson eyes and dozens of tentacles!

"GRRRUUUUOOORRR!"

Agate activated her movement Skills and managed to evade the powerful poisonous tentacles of the beast in time, smiling triumphantly, as she realized that the beast was not really that fast!

However, she realized that she had lost focus in the battle, and had completely lost track of Arthur!

The presence of a citric and acidic smell produced by poison emerged behind Agate, as she realized that Arthur was right behind her!

She saw as he raised his staff and began to generate more corrosive poison, gathering it as a sphere!

Agate who was already moving through the momentum of her steps and speed-related Skills could not evade in time, and her barriers were too slow to generate in time at this very moment!

By using the Corrosive Poison Synthesis Skill, Arthur generated this poison literally out of nowhere, manipulating the sphere and throwing it right into the face of Agate!

SPLASH!

"UNNGGGAAAAAGGHH…!"

Agate felt the corrosive poison hit her face and enter her open mouth!

The burning poison began to quickly make her entire skin burn horribly!

She felt as her very flesh started to slowly… melt!

Her eyes which were open through this suffered an even more horrible fate, as the pain of having her eyes burn through the acidic substance was so terrible that it felt like having one hundred nails piercing her eyes.

Agate screamed in agony as she fell over the ground, her mind was fuzzy due to the constant pain, and her mouth and throat began to melt away as well, slowly, but incredibly painfully.

"AAGGAAAGGHH…!"

Agate began to run away from Arthur as she quickly grabbed a Potion from her Dimensional Storage Ring, her arms slowly moved them inside of her mouth as she trembled in agony, her skin had already burned and melted and the red flesh and blood from within were shrouding her clothes with a horrible smell of decomposition.

However, before Agate could feel the refreshing potion enter her throat, the bottle disappeared from her hand.

"This Potion… it costs a lot, I can already see that your family is richer than mine… Well, I don't think you'll need it," said Arthur, generating another sphere of poison over Agate's face.

"A-Aaaahhh… Please… haavee… mmeerrshcyy…" cried Agate.

"Mercy…? Yes, I shall mercifully kill you now and make you stop suffering, it is the best I could do," said Arthur, with a cold expression, as Agate's eyes which could barely be seen after being covered in poison despaired!

SPLASH!

"NNNNGAAAAAAGGGHH…!"

Agate began to scream in agony as Arthur made her swallow a whole sphere of poison, her entire body began to convulse like a little rat that was bitten by a poisonous snake, struggling for her last seconds of life as her heart slowly stopped beating, her brain suddenly stopped thinking, and her entire self was engulfed by everlasting darkness…

Arthur sighed in relief.

"I guess that wasn't so merciful…" he thought, glancing at the fast-paced battle between Noah and Amber unfold.

BOOM! CLASH! FLASH! CRASH! SLASH!

Two flashes of crimson red and golden amber colors clashed against each other!

Unleashing their powerful long-ranged attacks, explosions of crimson red and yellow gold lights emerged all over the palace, shaking the entire manor constantly!

Noah smiled with excitement as he waved his hands, conjuring Blood Weapon Creation and Elemental Blood Gem together, generating enormous weapons of elemental blood gems, covered in crimson flames, purple ice, and dark winds!

The flying weapons flashed towards Amber, as the B-Rank Hunter gritted her teeth in desperation and blind wrath, generating giant boulders of yellow gold jewels covered in light, firing them against Noah's elemental blood gem weapons!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

More explosions ensued, generating dozens of shockwaves that made the entire manor tremble once more!

If it were not because Noah was using Crimson Aegis over the entire manor by molding blood barriers and sticking them to the pillars, walls, floor, and ceilings of the place, the entire manor would fall apart at this point.

It was also thanks to the many Magic Crystals and other Magic Materials harvested in low-ranked dungeons by his Blood Servants and Robots, which feed with more mana to the barriers of phantasmal blood, letting them regenerate constantly.

BOOM!

Noah's crimson claws which were covered in elemental blood gems clashed against Amber's jewel spear, generating another loud shockwave!

Amber began to pour her mana into the attack, unleashing a powerful blast of light!

"DIEE!" she roared in wrath, as Noah was engulfed in burning light!

"It will take more than that to kill me, you know?" laughed Noah, as he generated an enormous barrier of elemental gems and materialized blood, resisting the powerful attack of a fellow B-Rank!

BOOOM!

---

Read Vampire Overlord System in the Apocalypse Chapter 141 - Intense Battle online for free - AllNovelFull

BOOM!

Amber's beam of light hit Noah's barriers and exploded, shattering Noah's elemental blood gem shields, however, most of the attack was already mitigated, and Noah used this opportunity to enhance his vampiric wings with more mana while using Crimson Flash to reach Amber in an instant!

Amber was not so good at close combat and was a hunter that enjoyed long-ranged fights, however, Noah's speed was pushing her to always fight in close combat, as the Vampire man enjoyed using his Soul Weapon in the shape of a giant bony claw to fight.

Amber also had a Soul Weapon, the Princess of Jewels Spear, a C-Rank Soul Weapon she acquired one year ago inside a dangerous Dungeon.

She used such a powerful weapon to concentrate her mana into it and fire beams of light towards Noah!

Noah was certainly being damaged by them even with his armor, but any damage inflicted to him would soon regenerate afterward!

"This… are you some kind of undying beast?!" asked Amber in anger and frustration, as she rushed towards Noah while creating large wings made of jewels!

CLASH!

Her spear clashed against Noah's claws, as an explosion of crimson flames and dark winds was unleashed afterward!

Noah generated more elemental blood gem weapons, pointing them at Amber as she gritted her teeth!

"Barrier!"

CLASH!

The shower of elemental blood gem weapons began to explode into colorful explosions each time they clashed against her barriers, as the barriers themselves began to crack and shatter as well!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Noah smiled eerily as he once more saw Amber lower her guard due to his overwhelming onslaught, using Crimson Flash and Mist Form to fly towards her while being undetected for a few seconds, and then, he began to gather his Soul over his claws!

"Let's see if you are as tough as Pride…" thought Noah, as he unleashed a powerful slashing attack over Amber's back while she was still defending against the weapons Noah generated and sent towards her!

SLASH!

The slashing attack that was charged with his very soul broke through any barriers set by Amber, as it shattered her jewels and reached her tender, flesh, slicing through it and even damaging her very soul!

And in that very moment, Noah activated several other Skills!

Such as… Toxic and Poisonous Fluid Secretion, Bloodline Curse, Vampiric Drain, and Blood Detonation!

Flash!

The several Skills activate within that millisecond, as Amber grits her teeth and glares back at Noah, while unleashing a shower of giant boulders of jewels towards him!

"GAAAAGGH…! GET AWAY!" roared Amber, as Noah was thrown away, however, a wicked and shit-eating grin emerged on his face.

"Boom," he said, closing his fists as Amber felt something within her back and inside of her soul… begin to inflate!

"W-What…?"

She felt as if enormous burning energy began to accumulate within her flesh, her entire back exploded!

"Unnnngrrrryyyaaaaaaaaaahhh…!"

BOOM!

Noah flew back as he glanced at the scene unfold…

The pieces of flesh of Amber flying over the air…

However, he felt like her life force had yet to dissipate.

"Alive even after that? Impressive…" said Noah, squinting his eyes as he began to generate new weapons around him, waiting for the smoke to dissipate.

Then he saw Amber's appearance, her head was barely standing as most of her back was blown away, a river of blood was coming out of her gigantic wound, as her spine was visible within it…

Noah noticed that her left lung was blown away as well, but she was somehow still alive…

Even without being a Vampire like him…

"Impressive. So this is the resilience of a B-Rank Hunter. This is quite insightful," said Noah.

"Hhahhh….! Unngggahhh…! I am… going to kill you…!" roared Amber, as she covered her large wound with jewels, resembling an armor of them, as she flew towards Noah with all her might!

BOOM!

Noah was thrown into the air, as he smiled with excitement!

"Is that so?! Well, try!" laughed Noah, as his entire body was infused with all of his buffing Skills, enhancing his physical capabilities, hastening the flow of his blood, and making his eyes turn completely red as a berserk-like frenzy took over his entire self!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

Noah used his enormous claws to slash through Amber's powerful blows while using his legs which he covered in a coating of elemental blood gems of fire and wind to kick Amber's stomach and send her flying into the air!

BOOM!

FLASH!

Noah did not waste any second as he flew toward her, charging all of his power once more!

Amber glanced at Noah with a twisted and insane expression of pure wrath, as she infused all the mana left within her soul, creating a giant boulder, and throwing it at Noah!

"GET CRUSHED TO DEATH!" she roared, as Noah was hit by the enormous boulder, hitting the ground of the manor, and shaking the entire place!

BOOM!

The manor itself could not resist anymore, as it finally gave in and began to fall apart!

Noah felt the enormously heavy boulder fall over him, as it started to crush him entirely!

CLASH!

Noah started to smile like a complete madman, however, as he started to use all of his abilities to break through the entire thing!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

His enormous attacks started to blow away the boulder into pieces, cracking and shattering it!

Infusing all of his might and soul, Noah unleashed an explosion of crimson aura, blasting the gigantic boulder into pieces once and for all!

BOOOM!

Amber, who had thought that she had already won when the entire manor fell apart was surprised and taken aback!

"Y-You broke through my hill-sized boulder-like nothing?!" she asked while panting for air and falling into the ground, she was out of mana, and by overexerting herself, she was having a terrible headache, making everything around her even more confusing and dizzy.

Noah flew towards her, hovering right above her and glancing at him from above.

"Now my entire manor is ruined… Well, I should have predicted that it could happen. This is a nice opportunity to rebuild it with new specs though… Hm? Oh, you are still alive?" asked Nah.

"Eh?!"

Amber was left in shock over Noah's shamelessness, he was not even paying attention to her, who was at his mercy right before him!

Iris, Arthur, and Timassa quickly flew at his side, as the group glanced at Amber from above.

"Hahh… What are your monsters?!" asked Amber.

"We are the Noctem Family," said Iris.

"Noctem… Family?!" asked Amber.

"My lord, it would be beneficial to leave here alive so we can extort the Crystal Guild Leader with her life, find his location, and take over the entire thing," said Arthur.

"I was thinking the same thing!" said Noah.

"W-What?! I would rather die than let you use me as such a thing!" roared Amber, as she grabbed a jewel and tried to penetrate her chest with it!

Flash!

However, shadows suddenly took hold of her entire body, like tentacles and claws, they grasped tightly into her body!

"Adamantine, Noire, good job," said Noah.

Adamantine and Noire emerged from within Amber's shadows, and entangled her entire body with them, tightly grasping her limbs and sealing her movements.

"I wanted… to fight!" said Adamantine.

"We are quite late, it took a bit more to take care of the army of D-Rank Hunters, there were some who had some explosive and interesting Skills, but they had been exterminated," said Noire.

After all the Robots received updates into their Mana Core Batteries, becoming Blood Core Batteries, many of the protocols and rules that bound their minds were easily erased from their minds and became completely independent. However, they held great devotion to Noah, of course.

Such a rule about not harming humans that Sakura, Sugar, and some other Robots had was already erased from their hard drives, and they were able to slaughter any invaders or enemies mercilessly and coldly, be it human or monster.

"Nnngh… Such masterful… use of shadows… agh… let me go! You monsters! Ah? A robot?!"

Amber glanced at Noire, who was clearly a Robot, using such advanced ability overshadows!

"I am indeed a robot, although I have evolved into something far greater thanks to the grace of my lord," said Noire.

Flash.

Clementine and Jon emerged at the side of Noah once more, as they alerted him of their scouting.

"Master, we found the cameras watching over us, here they are…" said Clementina, showing Noah an ice cube filled with flying camera droids.

"And we had also marked one and let it run away as you ordered us," said Jon.

"Excellent, let's go, this isn't over yet…" said Noah.

It was still the middle of the night…

Not even an hour had gone by since the invasion over Arthur's residence started, and everything had gone downhill terribly.

Granite Crystal saw his children die one by one… and Amber… he did not know what happened to her, but she was having an intense fight against Noah, the leader of these monstrous subhumans.

Complete frustration and fear took hold of his entire self…

He needed to do something.

Anything.

He wanted to help Amber, to do anything for her…

But… he felt weak and pathetic…

After all, he was only D-Rank, weaker than his very children…

He had really thought that things would go fine.

He had investigated a lot, he had made sure to wait before striking, to prepare properly.

But even then, he was rash.

His children were eager to avenge Emerald, and so was he.

He let them go despite him thinking that there should be a few more days of waiting… he was simply desperate to avenge his son.

But everything went downhill.

Noah and his group were overwhelmingly strong, too strong, in fact.

But how could they have known?

They simply delved into the nest of a beast without even knowing what they were going to fight against…

Perhaps if they had waited a few more days, they would have seen the public announcement of the Noctem Family Guild and Noah and his subordinates being all B-Rank Hunters…

If they had seen that they would decide to simply wait for them to grow as strong as them to exert revenge.

This entire plan was revolving around them thinking that Noah and his subordinates were not as strong, at least, perhaps at the same power level as Emerald and his friends (to be able to kill them).

If they had waited around two or three more days… Granite could have saved the life of Ruby, Sapphire, and Agate…

The death of three children in exchange for the chance of avenging one was… not worth it at all.

Despite how much it pained him, Granite knew that such a thing should not have been worth it…

He knew that Emerald himself would not have wanted his siblings to die too miserably as they did…

Before he could keep looking over the fight, all of the cameras he had sent were captured by ice or destroyed into pieces by being twisted by some kind of distortion attack…

Only one survived, which managed to slowly fly back to him…

He was completely unaware that such a camera was purposely left to run away, and was marked with a Blood Patch by Jon, which he could easily track due to the magic-infused on it.

As the Blood Patch was a mere part of his own body that Jon could control, he was able to faintly sense its presence and where it exactly was, even if it flew a kilometer away.

Granite did not know this, as such camera finally reached his building and entered through the open window…

The moment it did, he felt a cold air enter his entire room, as his heart skipped a beat.

The abyssal and monstrous presence of beings he could barely understand their powers from emerged, as the scent of blood filled his nostrils…

Granite slowly glanced at the shadows in front of his desk, as they slowly shaped as several figures.

The shadows disappeared as if they were engulfed by two of such figures, who stood at each side of the group.

Noah appeared in front of Granite, glaring directly at his eyes.

"A-Ahhh…!"

However, he threw in front of him the tired body of his daughter, Amber.

"Y-You… Amber… What did you do to my Amber?!" asked Granite.

"I gave her a good beating. Her siblings died in… accidents. We apologize," said Noah.

"W-What…?! What are you talking about? You murderers! My family… my children!" roared Granite, trying to brace himself and fight the overwhelming beings in front of him.

But his legs did not respond to him, they were trembling, and he couldn't even get up from his chair.

An invisible and fearful pressure was overwhelming his very being, Granite felt like he couldn't do absolutely anything but speak.

"You are not allowed to stand up in front of my husband. Try to stand up once more or to bark like a mad dog and your head will fly into the air," said Iris, her eyes gleaming with crimson light as she licked the blood coating her long black nails…

"Hahhh… Hahh… Please… D-Do not kill us…" cried Granite, as tears began to flow out of his eyes.

Noah and his subordinates, however, only glanced at him expressionlessly and coldly.

"Hmmmffgggh…!"

Amber tried to resist as she wanted to free herself from the shadows entangling her, but no matter how much she tried, her Mana was empty, and her strength was low… Jon was glaring at her constantly while draining every bit of mana she could regenerate.

"Kill? There is way more usefulness is someone alive…" said Noah.

"T-Then you won't kill us?" asked Granite, as hope began to emerge in his eyes.

"As long as you give away all of your guild to us. Your personnel, riches, dungeon territories, and more," said Noah.

"Eh?"

"It is a fair price to pay for your life," said Iris.

"Indeed, don't you want to live?" asked Timassa.

"I believe it is a good price," said Arthur.

"It is…" said Jon.

Granite felt overwhelmed, no matter what answer he gave, he would be at a disadvantage.

Before an enemy could take his life away so easily, there is not any other option than to comply with their request… unless he wanted to die.

"Along… as long as you leave me and Amber alive…" said Granite.

"Oh, for sure, a promise," said Noah.

"As long as you also comply with what is requested…" said Iris.

"I-I… I will…" said Granite while swallowing saliva.

The next thirty minutes were spent with Granite signing and making up several documents, giving all of his belongings, and even personnel and guild to the Noctem Guild.

"T-Then…" said Granite.

"Of course… But first of all, let's do a Blood Pact…" said Noah, quickly using Blood Pact with Granite while also cursing his Bloodline.

He also forced Amber to agree to the Blood Pact as well, which essentially made these two the loyal slaves of Noah and his subordinates.

"Very well then, we are done with business here. But for insurance, it will be better for you two to become my kin, so I can get a newer layer of insurance too," said Noah.

"Your… kin?" asked Granite while trembling in fear.

"Have you heard about Vampires?" asked Iris while laughing.

"W-What?!" asked Granite.

"I've always wondered what kind of being a Ghoul could create through its bite… Isn't it a nice way to experiment with you two?" asked Noah.

"Mmmffffggghhh!" cried Amber.

"Adamantine, Timassa, feel free to bite their necks and drink some of their blood," said Noah, as the two Ghouls of the Noctem Family nodded complacently, moving towards their prey.

The cries of pain and agony of Granite and Amber resonated within the sound-proof barrier that Noah created beforehand, as their lifeless bodies were left resting over the ground.

"They died?" asked Arthur.

"Wait for it…" said Noah.

Suddenly, a faint strength emerged within Granite and Amber, as their bodies began to change.

Their skins turned pale white and their hair of other colors, their eyes became crimson red, and claws began to grow from their hands and feet.

"W-What are they now?" asked Arthur.

Noah checked their status now that they were part of his lineage, to find that they had turned into a "Wight".

"Wight… Interesting. I have already seen that it is not much difference in total strength between Races, they simply have different abilities than others… Even if a Ghoul emerges from a Dhampir, it does not mean that the Ghoul is necessarily weaker… And a Wight who emerges from Ghouls is simply a new race…" said Noah, as he saw Granite and Amber slowly wake up, feeling lethargic and… filled with a new and strange feeling of themselves.

They glanced at Noah and saw not someone who inflicted fear but someone they had to serve…

"A-Aaahh… What… has happened to me?" asked Granite, for being an old man he was rather muscular and young-looking, gasping for air as he glanced at his hands, which had claws, alongside his pale white skin that was now dry.

"Unngh…! Hahhh…! Agh…! My head…! I am… so hungry…" muttered Amber.

"Good thing we found you a sizable meal…" said Noah, who had already raised Ruby, Sapphire, and Agate as Blood Servants, and threw their fleshy and bone remains in front of the two new Wights.

"Bon Appetit."

The two glanced at the flesh without knowing what it was, beginning to eat it monstrously… filling their stomachs.

The sun raised over the horizon of the next day, as Noah woke up over his bed, with Iris sleeping at his side.

After having taken over the Crystal Knights Guild and converted Granite and Amber into Wights, he quickly moved back to Arthur's territory.

Although it was a big victory, the entire manor was destroyed due to the intense fight, so Noah and the rest moved inside of Arthur's parent's manor for the moment.

Arthur's parents were already within their rooms and passed most of the night within the underground areas of the territory that connected both manors together.

Due to this, they did not saw the whole fight, and this morning they had most likely moved back to their rooms now.

Noah recalled the things that he went through and the decisions he took, wondering if what he did was the right thing.

Perhaps he should have killed Amber…

Well, now she was brainwashed and a Wight, so she had become a useful asset which he would most likely add to his party or sent to independently conquer other Dungeons and bring the Cores.

However, it was said that B-Rank Dungeons were incredibly hard, so Noah thought that it would be quite hard for her to complete a B-Rank Dungeon by herself, so he would most likely go with the entire party.

Alongside this, killing Ruby, Sapphire, and Agate did not bring any Experience Points or something, as Noah did not have some cheat leveling System, but he did get Ability Cores from these three, and also a bunch from the 20 D-Rank Hunters slaughtered by the Robots and Blood Servants.

Alongside this, their equipment, and Dimensional Storage Rings filled with potions and other interesting items all became the "loot", so it was not half-bad.

And lastly, Noah was raised into Blood Servants all these 20 D-Rank Hunters, alongside Ruby, Sapphire, and Agate, increasing his army by a dozen or more!

He had never raised C-Rank Hunters before, so these ones were particularly strong.

All of them were Elite Knight Rank, similar to Pride, and Noah ended up giving them the same names they had previously, which worked nice.

Alongside that, they seemed to retain their former memories but couldn't really speak or anything like Pride, so Pride seemed like a special case.

They still could use their former Abilities, however, although they were weakened and they would need to practice them for a while to get them to the level they used to be, for now, Noah assigned them as commanders of his Blood Servant Troops.

Alongside this, the other Blood Servants also became stronger, Blade, Lance, and Brain all became Elite Knights too, and the rest of the weak Hunter Blood Servants became Knight Rank.

Due to this, they all have become stronger, and their appearances changed slightly.

Blade and Lance resembled fearful crimson knights wearing giant blood weapons. Theia rumors were made of materialized blood, but they resembled hard and shiny steel.

Meanwhile, Brain simply became creepier.

Now, Noah still had many plans to do now.

He wanted to first… reconstruct his Manor.

Even stronger though.

And perhaps alive.

Yes, he was planning big things now.

With the use of his blood and his very soul, he had thought about the possibility of merging some Blood Servants together and then make them "possess" the remains of the manor, reconstructing it slowly and then making something similar to a Ghost Manor!

But instead of ghosts, they were blood servants.

So Blood Manor?

Noah then realized that such an idea seemed amazing.

Even more, if he infused some of his very soul into it, and perhaps a lot of magic materials harvested from dungeons into the mix…

Aside from the Blood Servants getting stronger, the robots also did.

Although they do not have a Rank to determine their strength such as Blood Servants, Noah knew that all three of them, Noire, Sakura, and Sugar had at least reached high C-Rank or even B-Rank in strength.

The way they grew stronger was by absorbing some of the many magic materials harvested in the dungeons they went to, but it seems that they need higher Ranked ones if they want to get any stronger.

However, Noire had now become quite the good user of Shadows, to the point that she is teaching Adamantine about it, as Adamantine is more beastly and lacks the finesse that Noire possesses.

Noah seemed quite proud of his subordinates, as all of them had their own amazing strengths.

Seeing how the sun was already illuminating the room through the window, Noah decided to wake up and quickly move towards the garden, seeing the entire manor destroyed made him feel quite frustrated, but yesterday's victory needed some sacrifices, sadly…

"I should use around… twenty should be enough," thought Noah, as he took off a variety of the weaker Blood Servants he had, some Elite Grade and Knight Grade Fire Wyrms, alongside a few of his former classmates which he had not named and did not cared about.

All of them obeyed his commands without any problem, fusing each other into a mass of blood and moving like a river of blood by his commands.

If Blood Servants were somewhat like souls and blood, couldn't he control them to create other types of the undead?

Noah had thought about making a Ghost Manor with the remains of the former manor through this method, and he was about to see if it could be possible or not!

"Expand… and take over the remains…" said Noah, as he began to throw magic crystals towards his Blood Servants, which they could use as sources of mana and magic mass.

The mass of blood showed many arms, legs, torsos, heads, and jaws, mutating constantly, as it hovered over the remains and began to expand itself, releasing dozens after dozens of tentacles, grabbing the remains of the manor, all of the ruins, and then beginning to expand more.

As if it were a horror movie, the mass of blood quickly started to expand monstrously, taking over the remains and shaping them.

Using Noah's commands, the whole thing began to take form after a few minutes, slowly yet steadily, an aura of crimson red phantom began to emerge out of it.

To support their construction, Noah conjured Crimson Aegis to work as supporting barriers, alongside this, he produced elemental blood gems to add to the mix, refurbishing the entire thing into something completely new.

As the minutes went by, some of the robots and servants began to peek at what was happening, and soon enough, Arthur and Timassa, usually the first ones to wake up each morning ran towards Noah, glancing at the creation he was making.

"N-Noah… W-What are you doing now?" asked Arthur.

"This… Master, are you using blood to construct something?" asked Timassa.

"Isn't it obvious? I am remaking our manor! But bigger, stronger, bloodier, and alive!" laughed Noah like a complete madman, as he saw his creation quickly take life!

BOOM! BOOM!

Suddenly, enormous claws made of blood and materials emerged out of the entire manor, and its largest windows glowed with crimson red… the entire new building exuded an aura of death and blood…

"GRUUUUUUUOOOONNN…!"

A single roar shake the entire place, as the enormous being was finally made!

It was truly a fearful creature!

Noah smiled as he saw a few System notifications that surprised him.

Ding!

[You have fused several Blood Servants, many magic materials, and the remains of a manor into the Blood Servant Phantasmal Manor: General Rank!]

"General Rank! So I can create such monsters by fusing Blood Servants? Heh…" laughed Noah feeling filled with determination to build an unstoppable army and take over the world ruthlessly.

"I call it the Blood Manor, our new home! It is alive, so we should give it a name," said Noah.

"A name…? To a manor?!" asked Arthur.

"This… I have seen Noah-sama do many outstanding things, but I have never imagined in my entire life that he would be able to do such a thing as this… this… just completely blows my mind…" said Timassa.

"Let's give "her" something simple… The name of a beautiful woman, just as beautiful as this creation is… Scarlet should do," said Noah, as the Blood Progenitor was just as impacted as him.

"This… type of power… I was never capable of doing such a thing! And this type of power is very similar to the Necromancy that the Nosfernus Vampire Family had!" said the Blood Progenitor in awe.

"Oh? Nosfernus? Care to say a bit more about such families?" asked Noah.

"Ugh… Fine," sighed the Blood Progenitor, who had begun to become more obedient.

After the creation of Scarlet, the Blood Manor, the Blood Progenitor reacted to its creation with awe, remembering the "necromancy" that those of a family of vampires wielded within his original world, the world of Vampires, Abyss.

And Noah as the shrewd man he was, immediately decided to extract such info from him, even if it would take a while for him to travel to Abyss, to begin with.

"The world of Abyss has three different continents separated by the abyssal miasma sea… I inhabited the Arteria Continent… There, three Families of Vampires are the strongest of them all and govern the rest of the races living within such places. I once belonged to the Dracul Family, but I separated myself from those old men because I wanted to walk my own path," sighed the Blood Progenitor.

"Oh, so your surname is Dracul! Then calling you Dracula is really not so bad," laughed Noah.

"I would prefer it if you didn't call me like that! …But anyways, the Dracul Family is the strongest in terms of knights and military force, however, there is the Nosfernus Family that lives deep within the desolate graveyards of the west, such Vampires are said to be so ancient that they resemble zombies, and after learning the power to control the death, they awakened Necromancy, passing it to their descendants, or converted descendants," said the Blood Progenitor.

"Interesting. Is there a way to steal their bloodline powers?" wondered Noah.

"You are not even there and you're already wondering if you can get something from them? You are truly quite the scheming brat… But I cannot deny that I like that! …There are ways to absorb other bloodlines, the use of your Blood Core is one. However, you would need to first kill one of those bastards and extract his blood, and also learn how to assimilate bloodlines, something that not even with your Skill Tree you have unlocked!" said the Blood Progenitor.

"Extract Bloodlines… Did you once do this?" asked Noah.

"Of course I did, I used to extract the bloodlines of Demon Beasts, Demons, and my fellow Vampires, however, to successfully extract bloodlines, specific materials, techniques, and more were needed, and not only one bastard, but many! It was an arduous task, but a lot of my powers were enhanced by the extraction of such powers," said the Blood Progenitor.

"I see… I can't wait to go to Abyss. Of course, after I am done conquering Earth and grabbing every treasure and power within it… The horizon seems to not be limited by this world anymore…" said Noah, as he glanced at Scarlet slowly go back to her manor form and fall silent, although he could clearly feel her phantom aura.

"Amazing… So we have a living manor now? And it looks pretty strong too…" said Arthur.

"Sadly, I don't we'll be using her strength unless we are attacked again, as I don't think we can carry her even inside our Dimensional Storage Rings. And even if we could, I would prefer to keep her here protecting the rest of the guild and your parents," said Noah.

"I see… So Scarlet is like the protector of our territory…" said Arthur, feeling moved by Noah's intentions of protecting his parents.

"Now let's go have breakfast, there is a lot we need to talk and do today," said Noah, leading Arthur and Timassa back to Arthur's parent's manor to go look for Iris, Jon, Adamantine, and Clementina.

In the way, Arthur wondered something.

"I wonder if it would be better to convert my parents into dhampirs…" said Arthur.

"I would say that it wouldn't be a good thing. I few consider their health, they are living fine by themselves, making them Dhampirs might give them strength, but also an insatiable thirst for blood. Now that you are my subordinate and I consider you my friend as well, I would recommend you to not convert them, but if you insist, I might do it," said Noah.

Arthur smiled warmly as he heard Noah saying that he considered him a friend.

He understood that Noah was actually worried about his parents and that he considered that turning them into Dhampirs might negatively affect them.

He did not mind converting Granite and Amber into Wights because he did not have any attachment to them.

And well, he did not have much of an attachment to Arthur's parents, but he spoke with them every day and found them good people.

Unlike many corrupt aristocrats, Arthur's parents were gentle and absolutely loved their son, they also did not act prideful nor annoying to Noah and the rest, and even without any brainwashing or anything, they welcomed them as a family very quickly.

Noah, who had slowly awakened his human emotions once littler by little, decided to treasure bonds, at least of those close to him.

However, for the rest of the world, they could all go die for all he cared.

Or better, be turned into his slaves.

Noah did not become a good person, not at all.

But he simply had begun to treasure those close to him or that strived to help him.

He knew that these humble people liked to live as they were, and he did not want to disrupt their lives.

Noah also knew that Arthur, deep down, did not want this either, but asked because he thought that his parents might need to grow stronger in this world… hiding forever might not be a good thing in the long run.

"However, I do believe that it should be time to explain to them what we truly are… I believe that even after I used my eyes, they might still be having some suspiciousness. And we cannot easily explain to them how the manor just fell apart," said Noah.

"You're right… We have to tell them… I guess it is finally time to reveal to them our abilities… And the path we are walking through," said Arthur.

"As they will become members of the Noctem Family, it is necessary to tell them. I might make some Blood Contracts with them as insurance. Even if they are your parents, they might speak it out and that would not be a good thing at all," said Noah.

"I see, that's completely fine, I understand," said Arthur.

"Very well then, but first, I want to have breakfast with my wife in our new home," said Noah whit a mild smile.

After a few minutes of introducing Scarlet to the rest, Iris, and everyone else entered their former manor, finding out that even their rooms were remade perfectly, and even the things they had were back to their original places!

Scarlet was truly a wondrous being, and Noah noticed that it was slowly developing many abilities regarding the maintenance of the house.

Although Blood Servants did not have a Status as they were bound to Noah's Ability of Blood Servant, they still had Abilities, and Scarlet developed certain Abilities that Noah had never seen, such as "Clothing", "Cooking", "Housework", and "Clothing Decoration".

She was even being taught by the Maids and Butlers how to cook better, and she also sued her tentacles to cook things, which emerged as bloody slimy tentacles out of the walls and ceilings.

She was eve cleaning the dust in every room periodically, and was also washing clothes…

It was all incredibly fast, but it seemed that naming her made her rather talented.

Noah wondered that, perhaps, the souls and minds of some of his classmates who once made the Blood Servants he fused to form Scarlet were good at these things, and such things intensified when they became a literal house.

Although what Noah did could be considered some sort of "Necromancy" it was very hard for him to discern what souls were or what their memories were, and he could simply control and order them to do his bidding as long as they were converted into Blood Servants beforehand.

However, such potential was something he had never considered before, but couldn't he be able to raise Undead with their whole bodies thought?

What if he converts their souls and blood into Blood Servants and then makes such Blood Servants possess the body left behind? Wouldn't that bring the Undead's powers to a greater extent?

Or he could combine Blood Servants together with materials similarly to Scarlet, forming giant golems… or even more insanely, he could fuse them with robots and form new types of Blood Servants too!

Or he could even grant souls to robots through Blood Servants!

However, they were mere theories, but Noah was sure to spend some time today finding out more about such capabilities.

Iris entered Scarlet as she saw dozens of thin, red-colored tentacles moving everywhere, preparing things, cleaning, and getting the house better, and more.

In just a few hours, Scarlet almost completely brought back the interior of the manor to how it used to be.

But it now had several new rooms as it had increased in size, almost doubling itself.

Noah wondered that, as Scarlet Ranked Up, she could even evolve and become bigger, perhaps one day even becoming a Blood Castle! Or it could even learn how to fly through Flight, and become a Flying Blood Castle!

"Amazing… so many… tentacles! Well, Scarlet is being rather diligent with her work as a house," said Iris.

"Indeed, I believe she has improved a lot, and by the fusion of all the blood servants, the souls of such blood servants merged into a colony mind, she might perhaps be several times more intelligent than before when she used to be various individuals," said Noah.

"I wonder if she can talk…" said Arthur.

"Well she's a house, and you saw it groan a bit earlier, right, Arthur-sama?" asked Timassa.

"You're right, perhaps it can't talk," said Arthur.

"Big house is back! Sleepytime!" said Adamantine, as she waved her tail made of shadows, she seemed to expect to sleep here now… or whatever she meant by "sleepy time".

"Amazing. I do wonder if our lord can construct enormous Blood Servants such as Scarlet in the future…" said Jon.

"We need to gather more for such a purpose, though," said Noah.

As the party walked towards the large table where they always sat around and ate breakfast, something unexpected happened.

The blood tentacles that Scarlet used to clean around began to merge, falling as a mass of slimy red blood into the floor!

Splash!

"Eh?" asked everyone in surprise, glaring at it.

"What's going on?" asked Arthur.

"Hm… Oh, it seems to want to interact with us," said Noah.

"Interact… with us?" asked Iris.

The mass of blood began to move around, taking into the shape of a humanoid for of sorts…

It looked like a cute girl in maid clothes, made completely out of the slimy red liquid and crimson-colored phantasmagoric essence.

"Welcome to my interiors, Master," she said.

"Ah, she can really talk!" said Iris.

"Scarlet, right?" asked Noah.

"Indeed. After my creation, the egos, and minds of those that made up my multiple souls have merged together and developed a colony mind, me. I strive forward to serve you as much as I possibly can, Master," said Scarlet with a gentle smile.

"I see. It was good to have given you a name and a piece of my soul. I believe that you might develop even further. I will make sure to periodically fuse more blood servants into you to make you stronger, although I want to gather a few more until then," said Noah.

"I would gladly accept any of my master's help. Now, would you want some breakfast? Everyone is preparing it, including me, so I will bring it," said Scarlet politely, walking away.

"Well that was really something else!" said Arthur.

"Indeed, it surprised me," said Jon.

"It reminds me of the dragon…" said Clementina.

"You mean Pride?" asked Noah, as the giant head of Pride emerged out of Noah's shoulder.

"You called me, my lord?" he asked.

"Ah! Right! His name is Pride… sorry for forgetting it…" said Clementina.

"Oh? No worries, Clementina-san. But I would appreciate it if you did not forget it anymore," said Pride.

"I-I will make sure to not forget it anymore, my apologies…" said Clementina.

Pride had been helping Clementina delve into dungeons to catch up with everyone else, and so both of them had fought together.

So Clementina forgetting his name hurt the old wyrm's pride a bit…

"I am really sorry!" said Clementina, vowing her head a bit more as she realized that Pride had been someone that has helped her quite a bit.

"It's fine, it's fine. …Anyways, my lord, have you thought about upgrading me the same way as Scarlet? Perhaps by merging with my brethren who serve you, my power could increase even more," said Pride.

"Hm… Perhaps. Although not for now, as I still want to gather a larger army," said Noah.

"Oh, very well then, I shall go rest until you call me once more," said Pride, going back to Noah's blood through Blood Storage.

After a few minutes of chatting around, Scarlet, Noire, Sakura, and Sugar wearing their maid outfits quickly began to serve breakfast to everyone.

And after breakfast, Noah decided to finally assess the large number of Ability Cores he possessed…

"There are many…" said Iris.

"How many… Ability Cores?" asked Arthur in surprise.

"We had been farming since our creation, so we are constantly bringing more and more Ability Cores, although the majority is D-Rank and below," said Pride.

Thanks to the blood Servants and the Robots having the power to enter dungeons without problems nor limits, Noah had constantly sent them to farm for Ability Cores and Attribute Value Cores.

Although Attribute Value Cores could not be consumed by B-Ranks, Ability Cores could be consumed by literally any Rank, meaning that all of these were extra Skill Points and ways to grow stronger without even having to enter a dungeon himself!

However, he still believed that proper Attribute Values of his Rank were needed to actually keep evolving… Noah presumed that even by maxing his Skill Tree, he would not be able to advance to Level IV Blood Core without having the proper stats…

However, for now, he would consume Ability Cores.

"Amazing… But do we even deserve them? We didn't work for them…" said Arthur.

"Yeah…. Noah-sama, please take them for yourself," said Timassa.

"I think the same, we don't deserve all of them," said Jon.

"Indeed…" said Iris.

"As my first Subordinates, you have privileges. And I do not mind sharing as long as you work very hard at my side in the next Dungeon exploration we do. You are an extension of my own strength after all," said Noah.

"R-Really?" asked Arthur.

"But wouldn't you be going against your words before?" asked Timassa.

"We are fine without them, really…" said Jon.

"You dare not accept my gifts, insolent subordinates? Do you desire to enrage me?" asked Noah with anger, surprising his own subordinates.

When Noah wanted to give something to someone, he wanted that person to accept it.

For someone like him, it was the biggest offense to reject his gifts!

Rejecting the kindness of a Vampire meant death!

…Of course, he would not kill them, but he would indeed reprimand them.

"Also, Iris, you are my wife, take the things I give you. Do not let your powers get to your heads. All of us are still weak, and the strength we can grab is beneficial! Accept my gift, or I will force you to accept them," said Noah.

"Eeep! Okay, okay!" said Arthur.

"W-We were just trying to be humble…" said Timassa.

"Sorry, my lord. But I now understand what you want… I shall accept them too," said Jon.

"Shiny spheres," said Adamantine.

"Sigh… You are right, sorry for that. I will take them then!" said Iris.

"As long as you understand…" sighed Noah, as he glanced at the total amount of Ability Cores.

"D-Do I get some?" asked Clementina.

"You are one of the ones that worked for it, so of course you will get too," said Noah nonchalantly.

After assessing a large number of Ability Cores, Noah decided to keep the C-Rank ones and D-Rank ones dropped by the Hunters they fought yesterday, alongside a few dozens of others, which he believed would give him enough Skill Points to max out his Skill Tree.

Everyone else that had a Blood Core also had their own smaller Skill Trees, such Skill Trees didn't give as many Skills as Noah's Skill Tree, but they still gave a substantial powerup to them, and their cost was usually similar to Noah's Skill Trees even if the Skills they gave were fewer and less varied.

Everyone began to absorb the Ability Cores they were given, as Noah did the same.

Noah touched the large pile of Ability Cores as he absorbed them, turning each Ability Core into particles of light that engulfed his body.

Each particle of light entered his entire body and then his soul, reaching his Blood Core and merging with it.

His Blood Core began to process all the energy and the "information" within each Ability Core, as Noah finally saw the new Skill Points he got.

Ding!

[You exchanged several Ability Cores for 4.315 Skill Points!]

After everyone absorbed their Ability Cores, most of the large pile was quickly drained away, but more Ability Cores were being farmed at this moment by Noah's Blood Servants and Robots, as he had sent them to do so before he went to sleep last night.

After Noah absorbed the Skill Points, he felt a new surge of power flowing through his entire body, it was almost exhilarating.

He slowly calmed himself down, as it was finally time to spend these Skill Points, which were not even earned by him but by the servants he had created.

If he were to make his Blood Servants and Robots strong enough, he even began to imagine that he could one day send them to A-Rank or higher Dungeons, to bring him even more things!

It has only been around two weeks since Noah became a Vampire, but he was already reaching new heights in power and more!

Assimilating the power of an ancient and evil Vampire was indeed a big gamble, but it worked and he was now completely changing and defying his own fate, while also bringing people that he cared for to his side.

However, although there are many allies, there are also many enemies and dangers lurking within this society.

Noah had already suspected that the Golden Guardians Guild might try something, as he had learned a bunch of information that the Crystal Knight Guild held, one of such things, which Granite has told to him through telepathy was that the Golden Guardians Guild would usually get rid of those that raised in enough strength that has not joined a guild yet!

Especially those of C-Rank and above, forcing them to either join his guild or die.

However, all of the A-Rank Hunters within the Guild were currently dealing with A-Rank Dungeon Gates within another Sector, and would not come back here for at least a bit less than a month.

Noah had already reached B-Rank, thinking that he could at least take things slowly, but he was terribly wrong, as more dangers began to lurk, with a sharp knife reaching his neck…

B-Rank was respected and famous, but could still be killed, he was by no means invincible.

He needed to reach A-Rank as soon as possible within this month, alongside all of his subordinates if possible, even more, if he could grasp S-Rank it would be even better…

But there was an issue with B-Rank Dungeons and above.

There were no such Dungeons around.

Indeed, from B-Rank and above, dungeons became impossible to have their boss chambers sealed, and the monsters lurking inside would grow on intelligence exponentially. Most of the time, such monsters would immediately lurk outside of their gates and attack anything on sight, unlike lower-ranked monsters that kept themselves inside the dungeon for way longer.

Due to this, it was impossible to keep B-Rank and above Dungeons open around cities, and the only ones that were somehow being contained and used for resources were owned by enormous, multi-sector Guilds or organizations such as the Heavenly Templars or Axis Corporations.

And such dungeons were kept privately and incredibly guarded, often lying in the middle of wastelands, where Noah and his group could not access as easily, and even if they were to go there, they would have to infiltrate over an immense facility where B-Rank and above Hunters alongside advanced magic machines would probably kill them.

Due to this, from B-Rank and above, Hunters had to wait for Dungeon Gates to emerge spontaneously, and such things often happened every two weeks or more… depending on the location and how much miasma is concentrated in such areas.

Noah knew that Sector C harbored an A-Rank Dungeon that is still being cleaned, and there is also a B-Rank Dungeon that had emerged a week ago, but he and his party would have to travel all the way to another Sector, several kilometers away, to reach it.

It was like traveling to another country…

However, Noah had already considered it… But, Fernand's brother and a few other S-Rank Hunters were in Sector C, alongside the Golden Guardians S-Rank Hunters… if they were to know that he went there, probably the Golden Guardians might chase and kill him, obeying their guild master's orders…

Due to this, Noah felt like he could not be so rash.

The closest Sector that was not Sector C was Sector B, which was literally in South America, an even larger distance…

All around Earth, Sectors became the new "countries" although they could also be considered a single super-advanced city that has its own independent government from the other Sectors.

Noah lives in Sector D, which is within the area that was once the United States, in North America, which has now become a barren wasteland. To the north, there is Sector C, where there was once Canada and Alaska, and to the south, in South America, there is Sector B, in the middle of South American, where several Hispanic countries once existed.

There was also Sector A, located in Europe, where England once was, Sector F is located near the territory that was once Germany, while Sector E is where Russia once was…

There are also two Asian Sectors, Sector G where formerly china was, and then Sector H where Japan once was…

Lastly, there is Sector I that covers all of Africa, other large countries, or continents such as Australia are devoid of people and filled with subhumans and mutated beasts, such place have been explored by very powerful Hunters or robots, and are said to harbor hundreds of Dungeon Gates, making them an immense land of monsters and insanity…

And that is without considering other places such as the oceans themselves, filled with enormous creatures no less than A-Rank in strength… it is also said that many Dungeons unexplored to anyone lay under the sea.

The world was vast, mysterious, and dangerous, so Noah needed to get any kind of power he could get for now…

For now, he concentrated on the present at hand and decided to max out the branch of his Skill Tree, while waiting for an opportunity such as a B-Rank Dungeon Gate emerging, and if not, he would have to prepare to travel to Sector A.

Although Noah did not felt like crossing such a big distance, there were ways to do it, such as using flying ships and other types of magic technology vehicles.

As he thought more about it, Noah considered that simply running away from Sector D would also put him no longer within the Golden Guardian's sight, which could also be beneficial… But by going to another Sector as a completely different guild might also make new problems arise.

It was rather well-known that Sectors would often not welcome other Sectors Guilds unless they had large quantities of achievements, a lot of strong members, and perhaps people above A-Rank.

However, it would still be better, perhaps, as Noah and his subordinates would finally be given the chance to enter a B-Rank Dungeon if nothing emerges in the next couple of days.

Alongside this, Noah was using Fernand as of now, telling him to tell his big brother to send him various resources such as Healing Items, Accessories, Weapons, and a lot of credits.

The backing of an S-Rank was no joke, and Noah was willing to use it to his utmost advantage.

Although his brother could not send Attribute Value Cores, there could be other interesting items…

Noah considered all of this as he decided to glance at his Skill Tree Branch once and for all.

By adding his previously saved Skill Points, Noah had a grand total of 4405 Skill Points.

With this, he calculated that it was enough for him to max out his Skill Tree Branch of his current evolution of Level III, however, he had already assumed that to advance to Level IV, he would need to get his Stats as high as an A-Rank, just as it has been in the previous evolutions.

Which meant that he needed to have 1200 in all of his Attribute Values… something impossible without him consuming B-Rank Attribute Value Cores, which were nowhere to be seen in the market.

Not even Fernand's brother possessed the ability to buy them… as they were guarded by each Sector's Government, and if the government were to catch Guilds or Hunters saving Attribute Value Cores, they would force them to sell them.

Noah was currently harboring a ton of them, which could… even be considered illegal by these corrupt governments, but he did not care, and he gathered them so stealthily through his subordinates Blood Servants and Robots, that no one had noticed such a thing yet.

Noah also assumed that there could be the possibility that various other guilds were also harboring B-Rank Cores, which was actually true, as the Crystal Knights had a few thousands of them, although no B-Rank Cores, which Amber always consumed for herself.

B-Rank and above Hunters might be above the law, but not above others who were of higher ranks.

Even as a B-Rank who can ignore the law of governments, the government itself has many A-Rank and above soldiers ready to take anyone down… so such term was often used for other things.

However, for some reason, governments did not want the free circulation of Attribute Value Cores, mostly to control the masses and not let the general public become too strong for them to control.

Putting such things into consideration, Noah needed to move cautiously if possible, and plan several steps ahead.

Without further ado, he saw his current Skill Tree branch.

[Level: III]

[Noble-Born Vampire Viscount (400/400): Spend Skill Points into this branch to unlock more of the innate strength of the Blood Progenitor, such as bonus Attribute Values, Skills, and more.

Additional Abilities can be unlocked after the Branch is Maxed.

Additional Abilities (I): [Elemental Blood Gem Creation (500/500), [Blood Beast Transformation (550/550), [Blood for Blood (600/600)]

Additional Abilities (II): [Moon Protection (700/700), [Blood Mist (0/750), [Vitality Veil (0/800)]

Additional Abilities (III): [Abyssal Connection (0/900), [Kin Summon (0/950), [Blood Scion (0/1000)]

"Blood Mist, Virality Veil, Abyssal Connection, Kin Summon, and Blood Scion… Five Skills, I wonder what they can do…" thought Noah, deciding to exchange Skill Points for them.

[You exchanged 750 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Blood Mist: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[You exchanged 800 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Vitality Veil: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[You exchanged 900 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Abyssal Connection: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[You exchanged 950 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Kin Summon: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[You exchanged 1000 Skill Points!]

[You learned the [Blood Scion: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[You have maxed the [Level III] Skill Tree Branch!]

[Requirements for Evolution into Level IV:

[Max Level III Skill Tree Branch (Complete!)]

[Reach 1200 in every Attribute Value (Incomplete)]

Just as Noah thought, he needed 1200 in every stat.

As he learned all these Skills, Noah's mind was filled with information about these Skills.

The Blood Mist Skill allowed Noah to convert his own blood into controllable mist, differently than Mist Form, which converted Noah's entire body into mist which he could not control, and in which state he could not properly fight either.

He wondered if such ability could be combined with Mist Form for some kind of new mist-form fighting style.

The Blood Mist he created could be molded in many ways, and even be merged with toxin secretion to form large fogs of poisonous blood mist!

Or even infuse elixir blood into it to form fogs of healing elixir!

Or fuse it with a bloodline curse to create a mist of curses…

And many other things alongside that, although Noah would need to use his imagination a bit more.

Vitality Veil was a Skill that let Noah cover himself in a veil made of his own blood, which would cause drain damage to any enemy that hit his body or any equipment (over his body) that could be hit by it. Noah could literally stall his enemies and drain their life off by letting himself be hit.

This Skill added a new layer of draining effects on Noah's fighting style. He already was able to drain blood and vitality out of his enemies with every hit through other Skills, but now he could expand it even further by draining the vitality of those that hit him! Although this veil did not reduce damage, so he would still receive damage.

Abyssal Connection was a strange Skill, it seemed to help Noah connect with the "Abyss", a strange, interdimensional plane from which some types of Vampires acquired their powers, which were known as vampires Warlocks.

It seemed to be a mysterious Skill, and Noah needed to create this connection first, and then, seemingly be capable of summoning part of the power of entities within this Abyss, probably even to the point of gaining magic that was apart from the System itself.

However, for now, Noah kept checking his Skills before doing such a ritual.

The Kin Summon Skill was rather simple, and it let Noah summon any of his "kin" any subordinate he had "converted" into a vampiric creature, from Dhampir, Ghouls, Wights, and the Robots were also included, alongside any of his Blood Servants.

The Skill did not specify, but Noah thought that it might have no limit at all… Arthur could be at the other side of the world but by using Kin Summon, he could instantly teleport him to his side.

And last but not least, Blood Scion was another straightforward Skill, for ten minutes, Noah had the power of transforming into a Blood Scion, a four-meter-tall vampiric demon being with tremendous power, which enhanced all of his capabilities and the power of all his Vampire Skills in exchange for a constant drain of his Mana and Soul.

Noah kept discovering more about the Blood Scion Skill, as he checked its information.

[Blood Scion: 1 (A)]

Use this Skill to instantly transform into a monstrous creature of the night, showing your true nature, appearance, and colors to your foe.

By activating this Skill, several effects are activated for the Ten Minutes that this transformation lasts, as your Mana and Soul are slowly drained away.

Instant Healing of all wounds (one time, at the beginning of the transformation)

All your Attribute Values are raised by 50%.

Health Regeneration is based on how much damage you deal.

The ability to see through objects such as walls.

Temporarily enhances your Proficiency in all of your Skills by 50.

All of your senses are sharpened tremendously.

Your thirst for blood becomes monstrous.

Duration: 10 Minutes. Cooldown: 4 Hours.

The duration of the transformation might increase as your Skill proficiency increases, alongside decreasing the Skill Cooldown.

It was an outstanding power!

With this alone, Noah considered that by using this Skill and coupling it with the effects of various other Skills and Buffs, he would become capable of reaching the power of an A-Rank temporarily!

…but only temporarily, and after that, he would become weakened, as his Mana and Soul would be drained by this Skill, and if he coupled with the other Skills that drained his calories and blood, it would also weaken his physical body.

It was a double-edged blade, and he considered using this Skill only when he felt cornered, or when he felt confident that he could finish off an enemy in less than ten minutes with its power.

Much like Blood Beast Transformation, another similar Skill that had similar after-effects which he planned to use together with Blood Scion, Noah considered this Skill as a "last resort".

However, this did not mean he wouldn't keep increasing his proficiency, the same as his other Skills.

By constantly activating Skills through the day and drinking monster blood to regain Mana, Noah had been steadily increasing the proficiency of his Skills.

However, he had discovered that their proficiency would not increase as much as if he used it to fight against strong enemies.

It seemed that when he fought against strong enemies, skill proficiency would increase even further.

Through these days he had not entered dungeons, the skill proficiency he had to acquire by using mostly all of his skills repeatedly has not even over 10 points.

He indeed needed to fight strong enemies to keep breaking his limits faster, but it was not as if he could not max the proficiency eventually if he kept overusing his Skills relentlessly, it would simply not be as fast as risking his life into battles against strong monsters or other hunters.

Nonetheless, Noah had now gotten five new Skills he planned to continuously train, perhaps training skills in those 10 minutes of becoming a Blood Scion might increase their proficiency faster.

…However, the Blood Scion transformation drained his soul. It meant that if he used it every day several times a day… it would mean his souls would be greatly drained.

Noah had already experienced what was having his soul drained and greatly damaged, and he did not want to do this every day, as it could affect his power permanently, and he would not be capable of fighting at any time with his soul tired.

Sadly, he had to leave Blood Scion aside from the Skills he could practice every day, as it was a dangerous skill to overuse.

Aside from this as Noah saw his subordinates gain new powers, he decided to check the Abyssal Connection Skill.

[Abyssal Connection: 1 (B)]

By using this Skill, a Vampire can create an Abyssal Connection with the Outer Plane that connects to different dimensions, where new powers can be dragged from the abyssal entities dwelling within.

Based on your affinity, an Abyssal Entity might or might not choose you as their apostle, and grant you the power of a Warlock, capable of using the powers of this abyssal entity through a variety of Magic Spells and Conjurations.

As the Skill Proficiency increases, your connection with the abyssal entity you have created a bond strengthens.

Noah squinted his eyes as he read the holographic window containing the information about the Skill.

Without thinking it too much, he decided to activate it.

"Abyssal Connection…" he said, as a sudden black flame emerged over his hands.

Noah felt the burning pain take over his entire flesh and soul, as the flames consumed his entire body!

Noah's sight changed the second after, as he found himself in a strange space.

A place that Noah could only describe as "incomprehensible".

If he looked above, it looked like there were millions of enormous, mountain-sized rocks floating there, when he glanced at his right, he found that there was an empty void of darkness, when he looked to his right he found a mass of purple-colored plants, trees, and more, floating aimlessly, when he looked down, he found burning blazing flames of all colors, dancing around endlessly.

"This is… the Outer Plane?" Noah wondered, as he suddenly felt an enormous, never-ending presence notice him.

A sudden voice which seemed to resemble a language that he could not comprehend yet he did, spoke to him with a voice that sometimes sounded dry and old, or young and healthy, sometimes it was high pitched, and other times exceptionally low.

"You don't belong here…"

Noah tried to glance at the entity, but he could not find it.

"It is rather obvious that I don't…" said Noah.

"Oh? You can speak to me? Is your soul not shivering in fear and despair? Are your instincts not telling you to escape from me?" asked the entity with interest.

"My soul is not a mortal's soul anymore. I do not think such effects apply to me. But I do feel the pressure of your incomprehensible existence. Let me become your Warlock," said Noah.

"Such a bold mortal… Oh? What…?! Your soul… So you have the spawn of Azathoth within your Origin? How could it…? Oh, I see…" murmured the entity, talking to itself.

Noah kept silent until the creature finished speaking to itself, but it seemed that it had noticed the Ancient One within his soul, which the entity called "Spawn of Azathoth".

"What do you mean?" asked Noah.

"….It is not something you can yet know about… but for now, let me make you my apostle. I want to see how far you can go…" said the entity, as Noah felt a tremendous pain take over his soul.

After calling Noah the "spawn of Azathoth", the entity decided to pick him as his apostle.

However, Noah first needed to know the dangers of such a bond or contract.

"What are the conditions? I don't want any weird loopholes you can abuse to induce me into complete insanity," said Noah.

"Hoh? Complete insanity? But you are already completely insane. It is rather hard to make someone who had already delved deep into the abyss even more insane than they already are," said the entity.

"…And the conditions?" asked Noah.

"I want you to offer me a certain quantity of the blood, soul, and negative emotions of those you slay. I can also draw it from those connected to you too, such as subordinates," said the entity.

"Only a small amount? Hm… But what do I get?" asked Noah.

"You get to use a small part of my powers, as you delve into the abyss, consuming flesh, blood, souls, and emotions, you can wield the magic of mine… Surprisingly, we already have a good affinity with each other, learning such magic won't be difficult for you…" said the entity.

"…Anything else?" asked Noah.

"Bear in mind that the more you develop the powers I give you, the far you strive from your humanity, and the more monstrous you will become… Surprisingly enough, your soul has interesting properties. Perhaps you will not be as affected as long as you can keep your energy in high amounts. The spells you will be able to conjure use large quantities of Mana, and the strongest ones even use pieces of your soul as sacrifices… As a spawn of Azathoth, you will most likely have natural talent wielding such powers, however," said the entity, only making Noah wonder even more what kind of powers he was going to acquire…

"One last thing. Your world… the System within it… It was made by a rather strong otherworldly entity. Be aware of it. And don't think that some of the powers you get from it are for granted. The power within Systems that do not belong to you can always be taken away… However, your Blood Core… the shiny jewel within your soul and body, it is slowly assimilating the System, perhaps it needs a little push to reach something else, but for now, don't take everything for granted," said the entity, giving Noah one last warning about the world.

But what did it truly meant?

The System… could be taken away from him?

Noah had never considered it, but it was certainly true.

The System was designed by an entity that everyone knows as the System Master, an alien to Earth that granted people this System to "help" them.

But aside from that, Noah does not know anything else about this entity, nor most people, they simply knew about its existence because it decided to descend once, but since then, it has never been seen again.

What was truly the System Master?

The entity said that it was an "otherworldly entity", but to Noah that was rather obvious.

However, the thought about having his hard-earned powers gone in a second made Noah feel strange.

Indeed, the power of the System was not truly his…

Then, did this meant that he could not get these powers for himself?

And what about his body and more? Would they disappear if such Skills disappeared?

Where was the line between the powers innate to his very existence and then the powers were given by the System?

It was as if the System itself was becoming… part of reality itself.

Did this mean that the System could become a law of the world? Something that contained it, a pillar to its existence.

If the System disappears… would the world be destroyed?

"You seem to be considering many things. That is good. I only let those who think and consider many things as my apostles…" said the entity.

"…How can I call you?" asked Noah.

"My name must not be pronounced by mortals. You can call me the Bloodshot Eye," said the entity.

"Bloodshot… Eye? What kind of name is that?" asked Noah.

"It represents me well… You will see when you can develop my abilities and conjurations," laughed the entity, as Noah was suddenly engulfed by black flames and disappeared from the outer plane.

The entity fell silent, although it began to consider many things.

"I have never spoken with someone so calm even before an existence such as myself. Indeed, the Spawn of Azathoth might one day reach my level, or even surpass it… But what are Azathoth's intentions? Does he wants to exert his will to this world or… Hm? Perhaps it wants to help Chaos? Azathoth, being humble and a good person? Foolish. Azathoth is probably plotting something else, or well, Nyarlathotep, his avatar. Azathoth is simply sleeping. If he wakes up, that universe might end… And I don't think Chaos nor The One wants him to wake up either…" thought the entity.

As Noah opened his eyes, the burning pain reached his soul and began to encompass it.

He felt as if his soul was beginning to be being eaten as if sharp fangs were munching into it, it felt like a piercing and cold pain, something that made him almost groan in agony.

However, it suddenly ended.

Noah felt a rush of information enter his mind, the truths about the comprehension of magic and how flawed the use of magic in this world truly was.

He learned true magic, and not the automatic skills of this world, which were a form of magic that did not actually belong to those of this world, which simply employed their powers.

It was similar to wielding a sword, it was not really a part of these people.

But magic, true magic, was part of oneself.

Noah began to learn the power to even find a way to surpass the system and become his own power. To develop his own abilities, and to also help those around him do the same.

He even gained great enlightenment, this was as if he was being guided by the path of Bloodshot Eye, a path of insanity and enlightenment which was surrounded by flesh and blood.

A way to surpass his own self and reach new heights was always through learning the truth about magic, its origins, how the flow of endless mana intertwined through the universes, and how everything connected.

Through magic was the understanding of all existence.

And it was beautiful yet immensely overwhelming.

Noah had to quickly suppress this knowledge before it was to be too late, as his brain could explode due to the overload of information.

He was thirsty for more of such knowledge, to grasp the truest concepts, but it was still way too early.

Noah sighed in relief, as he decided to save such desires for another day, sealing the knowledge he acquired before he was to go completely berserk and become a beast without any intelligence.

However, he managed to at least grasp the most basic of knowledge, which was enough to enlighten his mind.

He even figured out a bit of what the System truly was, and how he could actually make it his power.

He needed a catalyst.

And what better catalyst than the Blood Core itself?

In fact, the Blood Core was already working as one, absorbing and assimilating the System's divine runes.

Noah's eyes glowed crimson red, but a new purple-colored flame had emerged within them.

He was now a Warlock.

Noah smiled mildly as he was enlightened.

However, not enough to warp how he was, but simply to open a new path for him and those at his side to walk through.

Through the understanding of Magic, its components, and how it encompasses all of existence through an endless flow of energy, Noah learned that everything used by everyone was more or less a form of refined magic.

Magic could come in all shapes and forms, and magic that was refined to immense heights by fusing it with other types of similar energies such as life energy, divine energy can be formed.

Divine energy, the power that gods or incredibly powerful entities wield.

In the end, such energy was also just incredibly refined magic.

The System itself was made through billions of Divine Energy Constructions, which are made of trillions of Divine Energy Runes, which are made by quadrillions of Magic Runes.

The level of complexity that the System had was baffling.

Noah had never understood it other than a "game-like thing", but now, he saw it through different eyes.

Despite not even knowing the System Master, a slight admiration grew on his Warlock's heart as he understood the depth within such an immensely complex construction of magic such as the System, which encompassed an entire world and all humans within it, even the Gates to Dungeons too, which were intrinsically connected to them to form Attribute Value Cores, Ability Cores, and items of all types, forms, shapes, and sizes.

Even things such as those items were produced through this immensely powerful magic, the one that the transcendental being, the System Master, had created without much effort.

Noah was overwhelmed by this immense power, he had never realized that he was being given such a thing.

But it seemed way too late.

His soul, his body, and his powers, alongside that of all his subordinates, were all fused with the System.

Since it appeared several years ago that the System began to fuse with the world, and now, it seemed too late to detach oneself from it.

Why? Because by doing so, Noah would die.

However, Bloodshot Eye had implied that there was this danger, that the System Master might one day detach the System when whatever it was planning to do with this planet came to an end, ending all life in an instant.

Due to this, Noah had to find a way to survive.

He needed to assimilate the runes or at least replicate them, and use an external catalyst with enormous power to insert such runes into it.

He could not detach the System from himself, but what he could do to "Escape" from it was to absorb a large part of it and then cut that part out of the rest of the System.

This way, he would never truly separated himself from the System, but he would be able to separate the part of the system stuck to him from the main system, making his own System using this fragment.

It was a wondrous plan that seemed completely insane, but it seemed possible.

Even more when Noah considered that the Blood Core itself had already begun to do this!

Unknowingly to him until this point, Noah assumed that the System was the one assimilating the Blood Core's powers, but it was in fact the other way around!

The System was in fact battling against the Blood Core!

Noah was left speechless as he learned this truth!

The System was in fact trying to control Noah's entire power and his Blood Core, but the Blood Core was viciously devouring the System bite by bite!

Although when Noah considered how vast and powerful the System was, this was like seeing a tiny dog trying to bite an elephant.

It might be able to do some damage, but ultimately, the elephant will be unfazed and could even stomp the dog to death if further provoked…

But it seemed that the System was too big and vast, and it was not being properly controlled by the System Master at the moment. Due to this, it was not counterattacking as hard as Noah could have expected.

Due to this, it was resisting and trying to bite him back, but not as much.

The Blood Core, as Noah kept growing stronger, unlocked more powers and assimilated the System capabilities, giving him Skill Trees.

Each Skill Tree Noah controlled gave him greater control over this part of the System, which he intended to make his own.

And through making it his own, he then would be able to give it to his subordinates and save them from this imminent death that would be brought when the System finally was revoked.

Sadly, it was too early to do such a thing yet!

Noah needed more, way more power to even fathom such a thing now!

But as long as he knew, and had figured out some way, he could not help but smile triumphantly.

He simply needed to do it now!

He simply needed to keep growing stronger and sharpen his powers.

And just as Noah was beginning to consider using his new powers from Bloodshot Eye, his Blood Core and the assimilated System fragments that had fused with it assimilated this knowledge and the power granted by the entity, surprising Noah with a new System Notification.

Ding!

[You have unlocked the [Warlock] Skill Tree!]

"A Skill Tree… Well, this might help me use the powers properly…"

Skill Tree

[Warlock] [Innate: The Skill Tree of a Warlock who had created a pact with an otherworldly entity. Unleash the powers of the entity that has bonded with your soul, bringing to your plane the horrors of the existence of such entity, while feeding its never-ending hunger for destruction.

Complete the Level 1 Skill Tree to unlock further Skill Tree Levels.

[Level: I]

[Bloodshot Eye Apostle (0/2000): Spend Skill Points into this branch to unlock more of the innate strength of the Bloodshot Eye Apostle, such as bonus Attribute Values, Skills, and more.

Additional Abilities can be unlocked after the Branch is Maxed.

Additional Abilities (I): [Fiendish Gate of Horrors (0/2500), [Bloodshot Eye Evocation: Ray of the Unknown (0/3000), [Eldritch Soul Embodiment: (0/3500)]

Additional Abilities (II): [Macabre Crimson Tentacles (0/4000), [Negative Emotion Assimilation (0/4500), [Outer Plane Walker (0/5000)]

Additional Abilities (III): [Accursed Rotting Blood Downpour: (0/5500), [Agonizing Spectral Piercing Pain (0/6000), [Soul Devourer (0/6500)]

Noah was startled by the quantity of Skills and the number of Skill Points required to get them. These powers seemed to be incredibly powerful Spells compacted into Skills which he could use with ease.

However, aside from this impressive Skill Tree, Noah now knew how to actually conjure spells that were not really Skills.

Simply said, Spells were actual constructions of magic independent of the system.

Noah had seen such a thing before in mage-type Hunters or on monsters.

Certain skills are like spells, and whenever they are activated, magic circles are constructed automatically, and the attack is fired.

However, the truth is that such things were not true spells, a true spell was something like a monster used, construction of magic independent of any help which was made through magic.

Noah's affinity seemed to be Blood and Darkness, so he now had to build up spells through such attributes by shaping mana without the System's help.

But why would he do that if the System can do it all?

Because Spells had liberties that Skills did not.

---

Read Vampire Overlord System in the Apocalypse Chapter 151 - Magic Always Existed online for free - AllNovelFull

Noah noticed that everyone had finished using their Skill Points, so he decided to finally speak up about his experience, while briefly and slowly explain his subordinates a few things regarding magic, but without going into much detail, simply revealing a bit of the surface, as he knew that they would not be able to understand everything immediately.

"I-I see. Well, this is a bit overwhelming to understand… And you say you only explained us the surface?" asked Iris.

"Indeed. It is but the surface. But this should help you all widen your range of perception about all of this. I believe I can share the magic and knowledge with you by making you all my devotees. Like this, the power of Bloodshot Eye can be shared. Although it might be lessened and manifest differently with each one of you. However, I cannot do this for now unless I amass larger quantities of power," said Noah.

"I-I see… We understand," said Arthur.

"Thanks for considering us, Master," said Timassa.

"It means a lot," said Jon.

"Indeed… I am so new here, so I am getting pretty flustered…" said Clementina.

"Very well… though, I would like to hear some of your thoughts about all of this. I know it is overwhelming and hard to process, but try," said Noah, while sipping some tea.

"I believe that it is indeed quite overwhelming, but it really widens the perception we saw the System this whole time. I guess we had given it for granted so long that we did not really question its existence… That it is made by an incredibly complex construction of magic could have come into my mind at some point, but I guess I did not question it further due to my powerlessness and lack of ways to find more knowledge nor investigate it further… Well, now that we are at your side, it is nice to know such things a little bit. Honestly, I am eager to learn actual magic," said Iris.

"I see. I am glad to know that you are so interested in the occult, Iris. As my wife, I shall train you very well in the way of magic. Let us unravel their mysteries together," said Noah, while grabbing Iris's hand. His wife suddenly felt her heart beating faster as the excitement of learning magic with the one she loved surged through her mind.

"Sure thing! Everything always keeps expanding. It is good to know that I have… someone to always rely on. I will also make sure to become someone you can rely on as well," said Iris with a gentle smile.

"I am rather overwhelmed, but I remember my grandfather always saying that Magic always existed, but that we never developed it before the System emerged… He said that the true enemy was always the System… Maybe he meant what you said? He was a mysterious man… I think he might have been a mage even before the Apocalypse… Perhaps that is how he managed to protect my parents," said Arthur.

As Arthur dropped those words, Noah recalled the few times when Arthur spoke about his grandfather, being a mysterious and strong old man who had the power to control spirits, which he had assumed were from the System, but it seemed that Arthur meant… even before that.

Could there have been magic in Earth even before the System?

Noah began to consider that it could not be possible for a world to be completely devoid of any mana, as he had learned some of the cosmic truth from Bloodshot Eye.

Meaning, even worlds that were considered "mana-less" should have mana, it was simply underdeveloped, or the levels of mana were way too faint for most of the population to develop its vast powers.

Noah recalled the event that opened the apocalypse and killed most of the population of humans on Earth before gates even emerged, the Miasma Waves, which were corrupted, highly mutagenic waves of incredibly concentrated mana.

Such mana caused destruction all around the world, left the land into wastelands of toxic waste, made the sea dark, and filled with monsters, and converted most of the human population into mutated beasts for the ones that survived, while the others were simply wiped out.

Although many other humans survived, this event could have been said to be the end of the world as it was known and the birth of something new.

However, Noah and everyone else present was born after such events and were unaware of the horrors of such an initial era.

"Your grandfather… did he left something behind, Arthur? Do you remember anything?" asked Noah with intrigue.

"He left a ton of clothes and little accessories he always treasured and kept hidden… There was also a type of crystal ball he used for something, but he was very secretive, it wasn't until his last days that he revealed a bit of what he truly was… but he parted ways from us without completely telling us everything…" said Arthur.

"I see… how interesting. Where could these things be? Perhaps we might have to go there," said Noah.

"Oh… They are in the underground of this manor… Well, it did not get destroyed because it is all below ground, sealed in a magic door. Which we have not been able to enter yet… Before dying my grandfather said that the door would open itself when I "learned the truth". But I do not get it. Maybe the truth about the System that you talked about?" asked Arthur curiously, even after developing a bit, he was still quite naïve.

Noah immediately realized that it was indeed all about magic, and sighed internally as he considered how Arthur could not realize this earlier… Well, it was better this way, so he could find out by himself.

"Hm. We may go there later. For now, let me introduce you to some of the very basic magic concepts, which I want all of you to practice. As long as you know the basics, even those without a pact with a Patron can use magic... All of you already awakened your innate Attributes thanks to the Blood Cores within your bodies, so it shouldn't be incredibly hard to do," said Noah.

The Blood Progenitor who was with Noah through the explanation seemed to agree.

"You had indeed learned quite a lot. In Abyss, it could be said that we also used magic, but we combined it with our Blood Cores for greater effects and easier and swifter uses. Just like the System in here, we were being helped by our supernatural race, bloodlines, and the Blood Core. It could be said to be similar…" said the Blood Progenitor.

Abyss, the world of Vampires was also filled with magic uses of all kinds, alongside specific and complex uses of it named "Abilities" which were powerful spells innate to specific Vampires or Bloodlines, which were tied to the Vampires Blood Cores.

Through this use of magic, Noah and the rest could manifest spells or "abilities" similarly to how the Robots had done almost automatically due to not possessing the System to restrict them as much. Well, the System did not really restrict, but always gave easier paths to instant power instead of the complex way to understand magic.

Noah suddenly infused his vast mana into his hands, as he waved them and suddenly chanted a few strange words.

Flash.

Suddenly, a magic circle emerged, glowing faintly as many runes floated around the magic circle.

Within the confines of the universe, an enormous technological structure of alien origins traversed through the layers of space-time, slowly but steadily reaching their destination.

The figures within this structure had different shapes and sizes.

Some were humanoid in shape, others resembled masses of tentacles, and others large insects.

But they were all wearing special full-body armors made from materials containing immense strength and resilience.

Their transcendental souls emanated an air of colorful and immense power, each one of them was a being whose strength could not be easily comprehended.

They glanced at a holographic projection, Earth.

"Although we cannot carry ourselves directly there, as our souls would warp the spatial layers and could even cause a black hole to emerge and engulf the planet, we can at the very least begin to send the things we have prepared beforehand." Said one of such entities.

"It should be possible to send a few dozen of Mana Meteors there. The Mechanicals are still preparing, but in a few days we should be able to send them as well." Said another entity.

"Very well, open the wormhole."

A third entity commanded the rest, as a sudden hole in space itself emerged at another area of their technological spaceship, where another entity threw large pieces of crystallized mana.

"The wormhole would break if we touched it, be careful." Said an entity at its side.

"You don't need to be overly cautious either…" answered the entity, sending the last meteor towards the wormhole by using some kind of telekinesis-like force.

"They had been sent."

"Very well, now we shall wait. With this, more Gates should emerge in the world, and possibly those above the level of power these measly mortals have achieved. I believe this could be enough to wipe out the majority of them."

"After that, the Mechanicals will wipe out the rest, and then if that is not enough, we can send the Raid Beasts."

"Indeed. Everything shall go according to our master's desires."

"I am sorry, System Master, but this world shall be ours…"

"Wait, what about the divine entity within Earth's Exosphere?" asked an entity, interrupting.

"Oh? The entity was born from the accumulation of Mana from the beliefs of those mortals over thousands of years. It is an incredibly young Divine Entity, we could even capture it and use it to refine materials."

"Even then, wouldn't it be strong enough to deal with the Mechanicals and Raid Beasts?"

"Possibly, but even as a Divine Entity, it cannot be everywhere… As long as we keep pressuring it, it will give in. Furthermore, when the waves of miasma hit it, the entity weakened greatly."

"And by the intervention of the System Master and the shift of attention into the System, it had weakened even more…"

"Nonetheless, let us proceed with cautiousness… Lucifer and the System Master are dangerous inter-galactic entities who are always together, if they notice us, we will have to retreat…"

"Luckily, the System Master seems to have become weakened after having suffered an attack from the Child of Chaos, that he named Kireina."

"How ironic… Well, let us use such opportunity then."

"Although the System Master might not be strong enough to stop all of us, it is strong enough to do a lot of things, we might risk resources by pointlessly fighting him."

"Lucifer, in the other part, is only but a vessel of the original one, as the original Lucifer cannot leave the Gates of Hell, the interdimensional plane where it was sealed by The One…"

"Only but a Vessel but it had already almost mastered the Law of Space-Time… How troublesome."

"But this world's Origin Core shall be ours, just as many have been!"

"Our Master will rejoice…"

Meanwhile, within the exosphere of Earth, a special space named Divine Realm rested peacefully.

This place unknown by all living beings in this world harbored the strongest entity that Earth has ever produced, a Divine Entity.

The Divine Entity, formed by the beliefs of humanity since their birth and intelligence has been shaping itself into countless minds and forms, always taking the form of the figures humans believed and held faith towards.

After many years, it ended becoming an immense colony of different minds, all connected by a single divine soul, formed by the refinement of the enormous quantities of mana that humans unknowingly infused into their prayers, beliefs, and faith.

This entity, however, felt ashamed of its own existence.

Born to protect its creators, humanity, it failed miserably.

The waves of Miasma produced by the crossing of the Child of Chaos through the Spatial Layers created tremendous destruction, and not even this Divine Entity could do much against such overwhelming and corrupted energy.

It shielded most of it is power, but the residual miasma still impacted Earth, provoking the apocalypse and the surge of gates towards dungeons.

However, if it had not shielded it, the entire world would have been tainted in the black and oozy miasma, and no humans would be left at all.

At least, it had managed to protect a small speck of humanity…

By using the help of the System Master, an entity that contacted it before this happened, it managed to set up a special System to enhance the strength of humanity so they could be able to survive against the apocalypse and dungeons.

However, it never knew that the true intentions behind all of this were others and that the System Master did not do such things out of pure goodwill.

The entity, that was resting within its Divine Realm to recover strength suddenly felt a disturbance in the spatial layers, as a small wormhole emerged before it could do anything to stop it.

The entity's various minds saw with horror as giant crystalized mana jewels fell over the surface of Earth, filling it with more Mana… and provoking the beginning of a new era, an era where even larger and stronger Gates would soon emerge.

"Damn it! Now, what can we do?"

"It is hopeless… Ooh…"

"Humanity has caused its own destruction, let them die and suffer for their own sins!"

"Silence, humanity created us, we must protect it!"

"But we have failed miserably…"

"The System Master has not come to help us either…"

"He has broken the promise…!"

"Damned alien!"

"I told you! We should have not trusted him!"

"All of you are too naïve, fools."

"The System is constantly draining the mana from Humanity, we are weakening!"

"It was a trap all along! IT WAS A TRAP!"

"No, we must trust him, he had good intentions, I was able to feel them!"

"You are too pure and stupid, shut up!"

"By buddha, all of you should behave a bit…"

"Is there any other hope?"

"We don't know. We must use our connection with the System to find a way out of this situation…"

"But how did this wormhole emerged?"

"Through witchcraft, of course! Burn all the witches!"

"Don't listen to him…"

"Could an enemy be targeting us from afar? Why does it want the world to be filled with even more mana and monsters?"

"Another entity is desiring this world?"

"Our home!"

"Why must we suffer such a fate? We should give up and escape into space…"

"No, we can't leave our creators alone!"

"We have to find a way… to save them!"

"Such hopeless and meaningless dreams… let them all die…"

As the multiple minds spoke chaotically, they suddenly felt an anomaly amongst the many Humans connected to the System.

"This… a Blood Core?"

As Noah explained and taught his subordinates about magic and its usage, he also explained what he had figured out about the levels of magic that could be attained, and about the power of a mage, which increased through Levels or Ranks.

Such "levels" consisted in the level of magic user's understanding of magic, their mana capacity, and their ability to construct magic and spells through runes ad magic circles.

The more a mage amassed mana improved their understanding of mana, and became better and faster at creating runes and magical inscriptions, the more chances it had to undergo a breakthrough and increase its Level.

[Noah Luna Noctem]

[Class(es): Warlock (I)]

[Patron(s): Bloodshot Eye]

[Bloodline: Vampire (Evolved)]

[Blood Core Rank: Level III: Noble-Born Vampire Viscount]

[Vitality: 610]

[Mind: 610]

[Force: 610]

As Noah checked his Status after making a pact with Bloodshot Eye, he realized that he had now a "Class" which appeared as Warlock (I), signaling that he was still a Level I Warlock.

Perhaps as he poured more Skill Points into the Skill Tree of the Warlock, he could be able to cheat the long and slow progression that a magic-user needed to undergo and instantly ascend to Level II.

He explained such things to his subordinates and wife, and they slowly began to understand.

"So it is like the Blood Core Levels anyways?" asked Iris.

"…Indeed. I had not thought about such a comparison because I was delving too much into its complexity. But… you are right, Iris. It could be said to be similar to the Level of a Blood Core Rank, but this time it would be related to your usage of magic," said Noah.

Around Noah all of his subordinates sat down as if they were meditating, within a large hall inside of Scarlet, everyone was obeying his instructions and trying to harbor their inner Mana not to activate Skills but to use Spells.

It could be said that Skills were just Spells which were conjured by the System itself through its amazing powers and that it always responded to their users as long as mana was poured directly into the System.

But to conjure actual Spells, the user needed to use their own mana and not pour it into the System, but pour it outside of their bodies, while shaping them through their intent and imagination, so the magic could take the form they desired.

Affinities were very important through this step, as those with an affinity would have an incredibly easier time conjuring that attribute magic than others.

In fact, at the level that everyone was currently, it was completely impossible to conjure any type of magic outside of their very affinities.

Using his own knowledge and teachings, Noah spent the entire day teaching his subordinates about this, it was already night, and everyone was still profoundly meditating to sense and feel their own Mana.

Thanks to Bloodshot Eye, Noah was able to immediately learn these things, but for the rest, he had to teach them slowly and steadily.

Nevertheless, everyone showed outstanding talent from the get-go, and with the help of their smaller Blood Cores, they were somewhat managing to control the flows of Mana to a greater extent.

The meditation techniques that each one often used when they absorbed Attribute Value Cores were coming into good use now, as the principles of energy control were the same for Mana.

After many hours, and thanks to their vampiric physiology, Noah and the rest were able to push for some more time until Iris spoke to Noah just recently when she figured out the similarities of Blood Core Levels with Magic-User Levels.

As everyone concentrated and Iris went back to shape her mana, Noah was slowly practicing his two magic spells.

Noah had the Blood and Dark Attribute as strong affinities.

If he pushed himself enough, he should be able to conjure at least one spell for each of the two magics.

If they could be stronger than actual Skills was unknown to him.

But if the spells themselves bypassed the system, Noah began to figure out that they could disrupt Skills themselves.

If he were to fire a spear of darkness towards an enemy hunter who created a shield using some Skill, the spear of darkness that existed outside of the system could be able to ignore part of the defensive power of the skill, which was fueled by the system.

As stats and other powers always applied and matched when they were within the system when a system power was hit by a non-system power, rules about stats and other things could be slightly ignored to an extent.

However, this was but a theory for now, as Noah needed to delve deeper into magic understanding and knowledge, alongside practicing a lot.

If he could not advance through Attribute Value Cores in the meantime, Noah was planning to push himself through other means to grow stronger through this time. And it was not as if he were not being productive, as the Robots and Blood Servants had already marched inside another dungeon tonight, and would soon bring more Ability Cores.

"Concentrate… Mana… Shape…"

Noah recited these words as he glanced with his crimson eyes the bluish essence coming out of his hands, Mana.

The mana gathered into a magical cloud of pure essence, formlessly moving around.

He used his intent and will over it, shaping the mana to his will.

It was rather hard, but a magic circle emerged and runes once more appeared.

The first time he tried to show his subordinates how to conjure a spell, he only managed to create a floating blob of blood, which quickly dissipated into nothingness a bit afterward.

Noah began to think that although such a basic spell was too weak compared to his Skills, that it held the potential to be more than that.

And as he practiced this, the Blood Progenitor guided him.

Interestingly enough, he had begun to be less aggressive and more willing to help Noah.

It seems that Noah had finally destroyed a bit of his spirit, and he had become more serviceable.

It took some time, but even an old and cunning Vampire was slowly succumbing to his fate.

At the very least, he wanted to cooperate with Noah so Noah could have a good impression of him and the threat of being erased or eaten by his new and stronger soul reduced…

If he made himself useful, Noah would stop considering eating him, and he could at least keep existing.

There was even the chance that one day Noah could let him become some kind of summoned being or even to temporarily take over a Blood Servant's body, being able to go to the outside world once more.

But it all depended on his willingness to help Noah and how useful he made himself to be so he could become someone that Noah could not consider part ways from (or eat).

"Although this magic is of low level, you seem to be quite talented. Keep the incantation going, like a river, let the mana flow through your hands, and then… conjure the runes," said the Blood Progenitor, who was rather good at magic.

Noah silently did as the Blood Progenitor guided him to suddenly generate a small speck of darkness out of thin air, which began to grow and grow, reaching the size of his palm.

"This is… the Level I Dark Attribute Spell, Dark Bullet," said Noah, his eyes glowing with surprise.

Conjuring Magic felt completely different than using mere Skills, it even held some mystical feeling, as if Noah were shaping the very nature of the world through it…

A floating sphere of perpetual darkness emerged out of thin air, made entirely out of mana which was shaped into the attribute of darkness.

The spell that Noah created was simply named Dark Bullet, it used mana to emulate darkness, materialize it, and generate a spherical shape.

All of such steps were employed by Noah's intent and imagination, with the help of his Blood Core and also the guidance of the knowledge he acquired from Bloodshot Eye alongside the Blood Progenitor.

Unlike using Skills, Noah felt like he had truly created the floating sphere of darkness.

It was something he had done himself, something shaped by him and his own mana.

It had a strange feeling, a mystical feeling that he never truly experienced with Skills.

Noah slowly moved the Dark Bullet and fired it with a push of his intent and mana towards a wall of Elemental Blood Gems he had created in front of him.

CLASH!

The Dark Bullet hit the wall, exploding, and dissipating with a loud impact.

Noah noticed that a large hole was made by the bullet, but it did not completely manage to break through it.

However, it almost did.

Considering how this Wall was created through the use of a B-Rank Skill and a lot of his Mana, it seemed that the Dark Bullet, a mere Level I Spell was rather strong.

If he were to be able to conjure many at the same time, the entire wall could be shattered into pieces.

So Noah quickly began to conjure more Dark Bullets.

He needed to get used to the feeling of materializing his intent and imagination into his own Mana.

He began to imagine several Dark Bullets over and over again.

Sometimes the magic circles exploded and failed, and other times the Dark Bullets came badly…

But he kept trying throughout the night, as he managed to generate more Dark Bullets.

When the morning came, he finally managed to destroy the wall, but he felt a bit exhausted.

Through the whole night, he was not the only one that worked hard, as everyone around him had managed to conjure their own Spells as well.

Although most of these spells simply looked like inferior versions of their Skills, they were still special, as they were a power outside of the System itself, surpassing what everyone used to fuel themselves with power.

"It seems that everyone worked hard…" said Noah.

"Hahh… I never thought that trying to conjure a little phantom flame without the System help would be so horribly hard!" sighed Iris.

"We somehow managed… though I was only able to make a palm-sized sphere of poison, and it dissipated…" said Arthur.

"I can manipulate a bit of electricity, but without the System, it became quite hard, especially by seeing how wild electricity was… It was like an untamed beast, it was very hard to control it…" said Timassa.

"My Attribute is Curse… but when I tried to curse the Mutated Beast, the spell backfired towards me and I was paralyzed for a few minutes…" sighed Jon.

Everyone was given a small, mutated beast resembling a monstrous rat to practice their magic a bit, especially Jon who could not materialize his magic attribute through a pseudo-physical form, so he needed a target to use it.

"I was able to make a tiny ice spike… and that's it…" said Clementina.

"I did a Shadow thing…" said Adamantine.

"You are probably better than I am. What I managed to do was with a lot of help, all of you did this just by me merely explaining it to you. All the work you did was yours. Let us keep practicing today as well for the time being," said Noah.

"However, before that, wouldn't it be nice to take a break, Master?"

A mass of red slime emerged out of the ceiling, splashing into the ground, and then taking the form of a cute girl with a maid dress, Scarlet.

"Oh… I have forgotten time for a bit. What hour is it?" asked Noah.

"Around 9 AM…" said Scarlet.

"9 AM already… Let us go have breakfast then, Noah," said Iris, standing up and stretching a bit.

"You are right. Let us go eat something and settle down our minds for a bit. If we are well refreshed, we will be able to push ourselves way better," said Noah, walking at the side of Iris as everyone else followed them.

The Vampire Family decided to have a good breakfast while drinking a lot of blood from both monsters and humans to revitalize themselves. The blood of humans was what they had been saved from those they had hunted. Although sometimes Noah's Blood Servants would bring him "offerings" with the freshly killed corpses of F-Rank Hunters.

He had told them to only hunt people at night, preferably Hunters, whose blood was tastier.

Alongside this, the main group of Robots and Blood Servants had come back from their Dungeon diving and brought a lot of magic materials, dropped items, and Cores.

"Good job, have you absorbed more materials? I can see that your designs have become slightly different, you also exude more magic," said Noah.

"Indeed, Master. We have absorbed a few of the high-quality magic materials that we have been harvesting inside the Fire Wyrm's Dungeon, we had been fully upgraded to a greater level of power, and even our Blood Core Batteries seem to have strengthened…" said Noire.

"It was pretty easy now! A few Fire Wyrms are so easy to kill~" said Sakura.

"Good, make sure to also share the materials with the other robots, I want them all in perfect condition and as strong as possible for any emergency. Also, I will raise more blood servants today," said Noah.

Thanks to Noah's Blood Servant Skill, all the Blood Servants that he commanded were part of his own Skill.

Each time he sent them inside Dungeons, it was as if he were using the Skill itself, meaning that their attacks and presences also carried the effects of the Skill.

Through such a thing, even though they could not raise the corpses into Blood Servants like him, the corpses that the Blood Servants damaged and helped to kill would not disappear into black smoke.

This meant that his Blood Servants and the Robots had been bringing him giant corpses of Fire Wyrms, which they had been butchering into Dropped Items before they disappeared after 24 hours.

Now, Noah planned to make many Blood Servants with these corpses brought to him, as he planned to strengthen his Blood Servants through Blood Servant Fusion, the technique he used to create Scarlet.

The Ability Cores accumulated could give him a few Skill Points, but he wanted to accumulate some more to use them and get a few more Spells/Skills from the Warlock Skill Tree.

"Oh, my lord, are you making more of my brethren? Amazing!" said Pride, appearing at the side of Noah.

"Indeed. I might fuse them with you as you requested me. Let us see if you can become General Grade, it would be beneficial to have a strong guardian taking care of my back, or protecting the territory while I am not here," said Noah.

"Oh! Fusing with my brethren would be such a delightful experience!" said Pride, waving his tail.

"However, before that, will we go there?" asked Iris.

"Oh yes, we can't miss the opportunity… We shall go to the underground and finally open the sealed door left by Arthur's grandfather…" said Noah.

"Damn… I wonder if we should tell my parents about that though…" said Arthur.

"After we discover everything, of course," said Noah.

Within a faraway Sector, over a tall skyscraper building that represented one of the biggest corporations that had raised after the Apocalypse, a young man with long blonde hair and shining aquamarine eyes glanced at a holographic window.

As usual, he would be designing new types of mechanical items or body parts, improving structures through the use of advanced magic technology and his knowledge and mastery over it gifted to him by his awakened Ability.

He was no other than the director of Axis Corporations, the one who started it all, the owner of the wealthiest and most known corporation in the entire world after the Apocalypse.

It was all… thanks to the power he was gifted after awakening that he was able to accomplish so many things.

However, his fervent resolve always made him strive forward to higher and newer horizons, although he was often caged inside of his office designing new things, he was in fact a famous S-Rank Hunter.

His daily routine, however, was to design new types of mechanical constructions, improve parts, and more.

Although his creations were always thought to be masterpieces by the public, he always strived forward to improve them even further. He was never satiated with the greatness of his creations, and always found ways to improve them.

As the creator of every machine, even if they were produced in mass through the special machines he created and distributed around the world to create and design even more machines, he still had an innate connection to all of his creations.

He knew that many became scrapped metal, others that became failures and escaped to suburbs, and a few others that had tried to rebel against his commands.

He saw these as flawed, and quickly cut his connection with them, leaving them to do whatever they wanted, to die or not, he did not care.

For him, they were simply failed creations that he could take notes from to improve into his new designs.

However, he had forgotten to cut the connections with two models amongst the hundreds of thousands there were, which he had not thought would strive from their original functions so much.

Due to his superhuman capabilities and special Skills, his mind was like that of thousands of computers, he was able to administrate every single of his creations, although he held no direct power over them, he was able to see what they were doing to an extent, even how they felt or how their models were.

Amongst these many models, a certain group of them had… recently became strange.

Only about a week and a few days had gone by since that time, but he still could remember what they had become right before cutting their connection with him.

Their glowing, blue-colored signals suddenly became crimson red, and their mechanical properties changed and evolved through a strange type of magic and powers infused within them… something that, through his entire life, he had never seen.

Since everything started that he never found anyone capable of "hacking" into his own creations like this.

He was left speechless.

He, an S-Rank Hunter, had his own creations hacked and changed.

Even… he felt like they were improved by this strange power.

He felt both intrigued and scared afterward.

He felt scared due to someone being able to take over his creations, improve them, and make them powerful enough for them to completely cut their connections with him.

And intrigued about who this mysterious person was, what did he do, what kind of ability he used, and if he could be willing to work for him.

Throughout his long life, he has never found anyone with similar powers to him.

Someone who could be capable of influencing his creations and… improve them.

From the little time he had before his creations lost their connection with him, he learned a few things from their improvements, things that he had never thought possible within his powers, many of such abilities which he had tried to create many times, but never working.

One of such abilities was that… the Mana Core Batteries became self-sustainable.

Usually, any mech he created needed to change their Mana Core Battery every so often, they were batteries after all, and could not be easily recharged, if overused, they would even break.

This was something he could not do anything about, as long as his creations were fueled by his mana, it would be fine, but to make them independent and go around the world, these batteries were needed, which he could not design and were rather away from his power.

These batteries were created by the combined effort of many alchemists and high-tech mechanical weapons he also created.

But he had already reached the limits of what he could do about it, however, these robots who changed their mana core batteries were different, such mana cores had become crimson red, and gained immense magical capabilities.

Amongst them, they gained the ability to absorb mana from materials and improve themselves!

Not only that, as there was another similar ability, the power to self-replicate pieces of their own bodies, design new ones, and completely adjust their own bodies through the accumulation of mana!

This was something that he could partially do on his own creations that were always at his side when he fought, such as the enormous mechs he piloted, however, any other independent creation lacked such properties, and even those he used for himself were very limited, not to this point of nanomachine-like shapeshifting ability!

And this was not all.

The creations were able to assimilate magic materials and fuse their own components with them! This was honestly ridiculous.

Not even him could do this as smoothly as these robots!

And… as if things were not ridiculous enough, they gained some kind of magic mass that resembled… a primitive soul!

Through this soul, these robots even acquired some kind of affinity, and were able to even develop and use abilities they developed!

Skills and Magic!

This was something his machinery could not develop.

He had to arduous create armament, weapons, and cannons fueled with magic, but to use innate Skill-like Abilities right off the bat… was nothing but insane for him!

He, the owner of Axis Corporations, had finally found someone that complemented his abilities, someone that was worthy of becoming his companion as both walked through the path of machinery creation and the bright future of magic technology!

If he wanted to bring back the old world and heal the contamination of Earth, he needed this mysterious person at his side!

He was willing to do anything… even if he had to force him to cooperate!

Even if he had to slave him or something, his powers would be his!

He smiled wickedly, feeling fascinated by the possibilities.

And since then, he had left the supercomputers within his building searching for the location of these robots.

After many days, they finally found it…

"Sector D… I see! So that is where you are… I shall go there immediately, and seek for you, my friend! You and I shall seek the bright future ahead of us! And if you do not cooperate… well, I have more than a thousand ways to force you to…" said the man smiling with resolve and wickedness.

After breakfast, Noah decided to go to the underground area within Arthur's family territory, where Arthur had said that his grandfather had sealed many of the things he owned within a magic door.

This magic door was impossible to access by his parents and even Arthur, and it had been kept in here since his grandfather died.

Arthur had implied that his grandfather had special abilities even before the Apocalypse, according to his father, the son of his grandfather.

His grandfather, although gentle and a good person, was always mysterious in what he did.

However, it was not after the Apocalypse that he revealed part of his powers, which he used to protect his son and his wife, alongside the recently born Arthur a few years after the Apocalypse started.

Using his strength, he forged a path for them to walk through this insanity and survive, making Sector D their new home after humanity stabilized and managed to fight back against the many threats within the world.

As Arthur led Noah and the rest towards the underground, he began to recall such things and his mysterious grandfather.

He always wished to have known him better, to have learned more of what he really was, of who he was…

But his grandfather seemed secretive even before his death.

Whatever truths he held, he wanted to carry them to the grave.

His eyes began to shine brightly as he felt a slight sorrow.

Remembering the grandfather he loved so much and his last days was quite hurtful for him.

Arthur could not help but feel melancholic.

Now, with each step, Arthur was slowly going back to where he once left everything.

The place where many mysteries could finally be unfolded, where many things could perhaps be answered.

Arthur felt a slight fear.

With each step…

He knew that Noah had the power to open the door somehow… but he felt like… this was not right.

Even if it sounded bold, even if it… was an offense against Noah.

Arthur wanted to open the door.

After walking downstairs for a while, they finally reached the area.

A large, red-colored door greeted their sight, covered in runes of many types and magical inscriptions which made Noah's eyes fascinated.

"Amazing! Arthur, your grandfather was really… a wizard!" said Noah, extending his hand towards the door.

"W-Wait, Noah…" said Arthur, clenching his fists.

Noah stopped moving as he glanced back at Arthur in silence.

"Hm?"

"I want… I want to open it…" said Arthur.

"You feel like you can?" asked Noah, without questioning nor getting angry at Arthur, which surprised him a little.

"I-I… I never will know until I try…" said Arthur.

Noah smiled and patted Arthur's shoulders.

"…Very well. You may try once," said Noah, stepping back, and letting Arthur try.

"Thanks…" said Arthur, walking towards the door.

The mystical door seemed to release a strange, otherworld presence.

This door that Arthur had tried many times to open through his life…

When he could not even walk when he had to be carried by Timassa on her arms to go down through such large stairs.

Now he could walk by himself, and had even reached the power of a B-Rank thanks to Noah and his own perseverance.

And now… he even learned magic and the truth about what the System was.

In these last days, he had changed a lot.

In these last weeks… he had indeed become someone different.

He had grown.

Perhaps, this was what his grandfather needed of him.

To grow out of his own comfort zone, and become someone new, someone strong, and someone… that others could rely on like his grandfather once was.

"Grandfather…" said Arthur, as he extended his hand towards the door, touching it.

Arthur smiled, nothing happened.

Everything was in silence, not even the door changed or something.

Everything… was the same as the other times he came here… looking for a way to open the door.

"Arthur-sama…" said Timassa.

"I see… So I am too ready yet, am I, grandpa?" sighed Arthur, as he was about to step back and let Noah find a way to force the door to open.

However.

Suddenly, a voice resonated within Arthur's ears.

"You are more than ready, Arthur…"

Arthur recognized this voice.

The voice of his grandfather.

The door started to faintly glow with red colors, as the runes inscribed into it started to move and rotate around as if a lock was being opened.

Crack, crack, CRACK!

Arthur glanced with his eyes wide open… as the door opened, revealing deep darkness within.

"Grandfather…"

Arthur's eyes began to cry tears, as he kneeled.

"Thank you… For having taken care of us…"

Arthur began to cry even louder, his tears falling over the floor, recalling his grandfather's death and all the things he always did for everyone…

Perhaps if he had lost his legs before his grandfather died, he might have found a way to bring them back…

Arthur felt the gentle hand of the one who had stayed at his side since he could remember.

The gentle smile of Timassa greeted his sight.

"Arthur-sama… You did it…" she said, embracing him in a tight and warm hug.

"Timassa…"

Arthur kept crying over her shoulders, tightly hugging her back, feeling her warmth.

After a few seconds, Arthur quickly wiped his tears off his eyes, as he apologized to Noah.

"S-Sorry… I shouldn't… had cried…"

Noah glanced at Arthur expressionlessly, as he sighed a bit.

He patted his shoulders once more.

"Well done. Lead the way," he said, ignoring his apology.

Arthur's eyebrows raised a bit, as he was once more surprised by Noah's understanding of the situation and his compassion over those close to him.

"Sure!" said Arthur nodding happily, as he led the party within the depths of the room across the door…

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Suddenly, dozens of lights lighted up, as a large hall was revealed to everyone present, surprising them.

Countless bookshelves filled with books of all colors and sizes greeted them first.

Afterward, artifacts lying over altars, stuck to the walls, or even hanging from the ceilings emerged before their sight.

A long and red carpet extended from the entrance of the hall of the end, where a large throne rested, which was embedded with jewels that exuded great magic.

Sitting over the altar… there was a skeleton wearing long robes and holding a golden cane.

"Amazing… What is this place?!" asked Clementina.

"Books…" said Adamantine.

"So many weapons… and strange accessories…" said Jon.

"Oh, that dress…" said Iris, glancing at a beautiful red and black dress.

"This is… the treasury of my lord…" said Timassa.

"Indeed, this is… my grandparent's treasury… we have finally reached it… All these items, even the books, are all magical…" said Arthur.

Noah pointed at the skeleton with intrigue.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"I… I do not know, my grandpa was buried in the graveyard… I am sure of it… this skeleton… I don't think it is from him…" said Arthur.

"Hm…"

Noah walked towards the skeleton directly, glancing at it.

Suddenly, the jaw of the skeleton fell over the floor, startling Noah.

And the…

"Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Noah quickly stepped back, as he fell a sudden surge of power coming from the skeleton itself!

Flash!

Phantasmal blue flames filled the skeleton, as it began to move on its own!

"W-What?!"

Arthur and everyone else were in shock at what they were seeing!

"Welcome, my apprentices!"

"Welcome, my apprentices! That youngling left me here for an eternity! But finally! I get to do something! HAHAHA!"

Before everyone's sight, an insane skeleton wearing mage robes and wielding a long golden cane laughs and stands up from his throne!

His laugh resonates through the entire hall, he is filled with insanity!

"A monster!" said Adamantine.

"Let's kill him," said Jon.

"W-WAIT! I am no monster! I am Merlin!" said the skeleton, stopping the vampires before they were to decimate him.

"This… how odd, it is a monster that is not aggressive towards us?" wondered Iris, glaring at the creature with intrigue.

Noah glanced at the skeleton from toe to head, as he grabbed the jaw from the floor.

"That's my jaw! Please, can I have it back?" asked the skeleton walking near Noah.

"After you explain what exactly you are…" said Noah, holding the jaw high.

"Eh? OH! Of course, introductions are necessary, young lad!" laughed the Skeleton, jumping over the throne and raising his cane into the air!

"I am Merlin, the legendary mage! The guider of King Arthur! Magician extraordinaire! The seeker of truth! Who else could I be than the most amazing and outstanding magician in all of the face of Earth?" asked the skeleton, laughing proudly over his own greatness.

"This is getting weirder and weirder…" said Iris.

"I knew that my grandfather had someone he always went to talk to… it was you?! I knew he had the power to speak with spirits and souls… but… he can even raise the dead?!" asked Arthur in shock.

"Oh?! You must be Arthur, his little boy! And you even have the same name as your ancestor! If we throw away the crimson eyes, you are the living image of my King," said Merlin while rubbing his upper jaw because he had no chin now.

"Answer his question or you're not getting your jaw back," said Noah.

"Oof! Who is this guy anyway? He is so gloomy! And he looks like a Vampire… Wait, are all of you Vampires?! EH?! The Bloodline of King Arthur has been corrupted by VAMPIRES?!" asked the skeleton, falling off the chair.

"What is he talking about?" wondered Timassa.

"Bloodline of King Arthur? What? Who is King Arthur? I don't think it is related to me solely by my name…" said Arthur.

"In fact, it does! Well, the surname Pendragon probably is already long gone after many generations… but you are from that bloodline, little Arthur!" said the skeleton, quickly standing up again and rushing towards Arthur, who stepped back a bit.

"This is a bit… overwhelming… How did you even come here? Did grandfather bring you? And why are you speaking if you are clearly a skeleton? How are you even moving? What kind of power does my grandpa have?" asked Arthur.

"Hmmm… Well, that is a lot of questions there, boy… It could be said that I have always been within the relics of your family, more or less," said Merlin.

"W-What?" asked Arthur.

"You see… I died pretty long ago, but Arthur's descendants promised me that one day, they would bring me back from death… Fast forward to many generations later, the father of your grandfather finally mastered necromancy, and then here I am! Since he died, I have been taking care of your grandpa… who died a few years ago, sadly. He left me here waiting for you. When you were to reach a certain level of mana capacity and possibly learn magic, the door would open… The conditions were pretty harsh, to be honest…" said Merlin nonchalantly.

"EH?! Really? That's it?!" asked Arthur.

"Hm? What did you expect? Something more grandiose? You asked me for a short answer. The long one would be a giant explanation from the very origins of your bloodline… Do you even want to hear about your ancestor, Excalibur, and all of that crap? I don't think so," said Merlin.

"W-Well, whatever you are, Merlin, let's settle things down for now, and let's talk things out… Arthur-sama, please relax," said Timassa.

"O-Okay then…" said Arthur.

Noah spectated all of this while rubbing his chin, this entire thing seemed directly out of a tale.

And to an extent, it was.

From what he knew about King Arthur's tale, it was some kind of ancient tale that originated from the old and destroyed country of the United Kingdom, he did not really read the entire thing, but he had found some books around the library that had old books within, it seemed that in the past, such tale influenced a lot of the modern media that originated before the Apocalypse fell.

But seeing how this skeleton called itself Merlin, how it said that Arthur was the descendant of King Arthur, and even mentioned the Excalibur and spoke about the entire tale as if it were an old and boring event he went to, it all began to feel even more overwhelmingly ridiculous.

"Speak the truth, are you really the magician Merlin? Don't fool around with us," said Noah.

"Hmph… I hate prideful brats! Give me back my lower jaw and I might do something!" said Merlin.

Noah glanced at Merlin while squinting his eyes.

Without saying a word, he threw the lower jaw back to the skeleton, who barely managed to catch it.

"Do you have to be so disrespectful with this old man? I am literally in the bones here!" said Merlin, sticking the lower jack back to his skull.

"Now, do something," said Noah.

"W-Well, can you prove that what you are saying is the truth?" asked Arthur.

"Yeah, honestly, I have not seen a skeleton before, but I have heard that there are dungeons with them… Maybe you are just a tamed monster from all we know," said Iris.

"…I don't know what to say," said Clementina.

"Hmph. Do you really think I am some kind of skeleton monster?! …Well, I am a skeleton, and I might be a monster, but I am not a liar! …Well, I am. But I am not lying about this!" said the skeleton, as he quickly walked towards the back of the throne.

The entire Vampire Family glanced at Merlin with suspiciousness, as he began to look for something specific.

"Argh… Where is this thing? Hmm… Oh? AHA!"

The skeleton quickly found something, but he did not bring it.

"Come here!" he asked, as everyone slowly walked near him.

Suddenly, behind the throne, everyone found a large, golden sword stuck to the floor.

"A sword…?" asked Iris.

"No… this power. It is a Soul Weapon. Oh? The power has its sealed, but… it seems to be an S-Rank Soul Weapon. Interesting…" said Noah.

"That's right, you ignorant. This is Excalibur, the sword that only those descendants of Arthur can wield! Now, Arthur, take it with your hands, and become the new King of Light that shall save this world filled with chaos! Just like your grandfather once wielded it," said Merlin.

"Grandpa once used this? But I never saw him use it…" said Arthur.

"Heh, that's because he was older than you think! And he put it here after getting pretty old, he said that the weight hurt his back…" said Merlin.

Arthur slowly walked towards the golden blade, as he felt like the light within it was calling to him.

He extended his hand towards it and grabbed its handle.

FLASH!

The sword shined brightly in iridescent radiation as if it were the sun itself!

The light was so bright that it even damaged the skin of everyone present.

Even when Arthur was a descendant of King Arthur, he was a Dhampir, and the radiant holy light of this blade began to slightly burn his skin!

Yet, he grasped it tightly, slowly but steadily pulling it out with all the might he could muster!

"Nnngh…! Aaaagh! Come on…!" roared Arthur, gnashing his teeth as he put all of his strength into his muscles, using his superhuman strength to pull the blade while ignoring its burning light!

FLASH!

The blade flashed brightly more and more as if it was slowly waking up from its slumber!

"You can do it, boy!" cheered Merlin.

Arthur slowly pulled it out of the floor, raising it!

FLASH!

As if it were the sun itself, the blade flashed the brightest ever, celebrating that a new wielder had emerged.

"YOU DID IT! HAHAHA!" laughed Merlin.

"Phew… I don't like swords though…" said Arthur, giving the blade to Noah.

"I will put it to good use," said Noah, glancing at the radiant sword greedily.

"WAIT, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" roared Merlin in complete disbelief.

Merlin, the legendary Mage that once guided King Arthur in the ancient Earth was now an annoying skeleton!

Who would have guessed?

This was but the most ridiculous of turns of events that could have ever happened to Noah.

This was probably even more insane than even becoming a Vampire.

But this world was filled with insanity ad chaos, so wasn't this quite fitting?

And as Noah investigated and delved more into the truths of this world, he discovered that there were countless mysteries at every corner of the world.

But even then, he never guessed that such a figure was within the underground of Arthur's territory.

It was utterly ridiculous.

However, Noah kept a cold mind over this situation and quickly tried to assess things out, asking for the living skeleton to bring some proof.

The proof? The Holy Sword Excalibur itself.

Noah immediately realized that the weapon itself was an S-Rank Soul Weapon!

It was indeed Excalibur.

Arthur managed to pull it out rather swiftly thanks to his bloodline, although it seems that the holy light of the blade was able to damage vampiric beings, as it burns through his skin, although Arthur had enough regeneration to not be bothered as much by its holy radiance.

However, as Merlin celebrated that Arthur managed to pull it out, Arthur quickly gave it to Noah, surprising the old skeleton who was waiting for King's Arthur Successor to use the legendary sword and save this apocalyptic world filled with chaos.

"Why?! Arthur, you cannot give it to anyone, Excalibur is only yours! You pulled it out, now it is yours! A vampire without even the bloodline of King Arthur cannot even wield it!" said Merlin, trying to convince Arthur to take it away from Noah's hands.

"What are you talking about? I said that I was not good with swords. In fact, I am a healer and backline mage… I also already have a Soul Weapon that enhances this… And what is wrong with offering to Noah-sama? He's my progenitor and also my friend, it is the least I could do," said Arthur while feeling angered at Merlin's tone and words.

"Friend?! This Vampire?! This Undead?!" asked Merlin.

"Merlin, you are clearly an Undead too. In fact, you are a monster now," said Timassa.

"T-That has nothing to do with this! You! Give it back!" said Merlin, pointing his bony finger at Noah who admired the blade.

Noah glanced at Merlin expressionlessly, as he glanced at the blade.

"No."

"WHAT?! Give it back! It doesn't belong to you!" roared Merlin, trying to jump over Noah.

However, he was quickly stopped by Iris.

CLASH!

Iris unleashed her phantom in the form of claws which she materialized into semi-ethereal floating limbs and hit Merlin before he could even get close to her husband, throwing him a few meters away.

"You dare attack my husband in front of me? Do you want to die again, skeleton?" asked Iris with a ferocious voice.

"Agh…! You… Damn Vampires… To think that such an accursed race that I thought was already gone from the face of Earth had come back! You have taken over Arthur's family and brainwashed the boy, didn't you?! Heh, it doesn't matter anyway, the Holy Sword has a soul of its own and will decide its wielder, it won't let you wield it!" said Merlin while laughing, pointing once more at Noah who inspected the blade.

And just as he had said, Excalibur seemed to feel disgusted by Noah's presence, as its holy radiance started to emanate, even more, showering him with holy light-attribute mana that began to burn through Noah's entire skin and flesh.

However, Noah seemed like it was nothing at all, he was completely relaxed, in fact.

After having bathed in the scorching flames of the Fire Wyrm Dungeon, this measly holy light seemed to not be much of a big deal, especially with his Immortal Body Skill, any burn quickly regenerated back almost a second after it was formed.

However, Noah felt a bit of discomfort as the blade began to shake violently, it was trying to resist his grip and fly back to Arthur.

"Hah! See?! It does not want you! Let it go or Excalibur might even cut your head off, accursed vampire!" laughed Merlin.

Noah however tightly grasped Excalibur's handle and rubbed his chin, which was burning and regenerating over and over again as it was bathed in holy light.

"Hmph. What an insolent weapon, do you dare oppose your new wielder? How about this?" said Noah, smiling maliciously as he suddenly gathered his mana and soul around him, activating several Skills and suddenly turning himself into a Blood Scion, scaring the unliving shit out of Merlin, who jumped far away.

"D-DEMON!" he screamed, if it were not because he was so weakened after dying, he would be already conjuring spells to exterminate Noah's unholy existence.

"Oh? What are you going to do?" asked Arthur curiously, ignoring Merlin.

"Weapons are made to be wielded. When a weapon tries to oppose its wielder, you suppress it with your might and show it who is the one in charge," said Noah with a monstrous voice, he had become a four-meter-tall demonic fiend with bulging muscles, pale-white skin, gigantic bat-like wings, a long and pointy tail, a bald head and crimson red eyes, whose mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Although he looked utterly demonic in every sense of the word, all of his subordinates glanced at him with great admiration, as if they were looking at a god.

Iris was the most fascinated of them all, as she admired Noah's demonic aura.

"Noah-sama, your entire existence is utterly devilish!" said Iris, it seemed that somehow, by being in this form, Noah had a greater "aura" or something.

Noah ignored Iris's remarks for the moment, as he began to do the unthinkable.

Merlin glanced at him as his entire bony body started to tremble in fear.

"Y-You! What are you… thinking?!" asked Merlin in fear, as he saw Noah beginning to accumulate his Aura as a Crimson Red essence, which he combined with the energy of his very soul, and started to pour it over the entire Holy Sword!

"I am readjusting it," said Noah nonchalantly, as he started to pour more of his powers, mana, and soul into the blade, which began to resist as if it were really alive, it shined so brightly it seemed to produce the sound of a person groaning!

FLASH!

The radiant holy light fought against Noah's black, red energy, as Noah slowly started to erode it!

No matter how much it fought, Excalibur lacked Mana of its own and needed a wielder to bring its true power, without Arthur to provide mana, it was able to only fight as much before it began to instinctively absorb Noah's Mana, corrupting itself from the inside out!

FLASH!

Another "groan" of pain resonated, as Merlin screamed like a madman and rushed towards Noah, however, he was kicked by Iris once more until his entire body fell apart into pieces, although he wasn't "dead" yet, as he kept groaning and screaming, telling Noah to stop this unholy act.

Noah ignored the mad skeleton as Excalibur was not able to fight back any longer, the darkness and crimson red energies began to engulf the entire blade, as its radiant golden splendor started to turn completely black and red.

As Noah thought that he was about to completely tame Excalibur, a sudden radiance of light emerged from the depths of the sword soul!

The darkness and crimson red energy that was engulfing the blade were quickly destroyed by this holy radiance, as Noah was completely covered on it!

"Hahaha! You fool! You have awakened Excalibur's Heavenly Divine Soul Guardian! Do you think the Lady of the Lake would let you do as you please with the weapon forged by humanity's wishes?! Perish!" laughed Merlin.

FLASH!

"Oh?"

Noah was completely devoured by the radiant light, as he suddenly felt his consciousness emerge in a different place.

A place of eternal radiance, of bright yellow light, where a beautiful forest and a lake in the middle of it rested.

A beautiful woman with pale white skin, long blonde hair, and shiny aquamarine eyes were standing in the middle of this lake, glaring at Noah.

"Welcome to my Divine Realm, the eternal prison where your treacherous soul shall rest for eternity. To think that such a strong demon existed within this world… Oh, the legacy of my King has really been shattered, and you had even corrupted his holy descendant…" sighed the woman, she was the Lady of the Lake of King's Arthur's Tale, the woman who gave King Arthur his legendary sword.

Noah felt weakened as if he could not do anything at all.

He was completely paralyzed within this divine radiance, incapable of doing anything.

He felt, however, the burning pain of his soul as it was bathed by an endless radiance.

This was Excalibur's last resort against those that tried to use their malefic powers to dominate the sword, it was the power that the Soul of the Lady of the Lake had left within the Soul of Excalibur, which trapped the malevolent souls of those that tried to oppose the light and control Excalibur, leaving them inside a Divine Realm where they would never be able to escape from.

"Oh, so that's how it is…" said Noah, seemingly being oddly calm about this whole thing.

The Lady of the Lake glanced at Noah with her sharp aquamarine eyes, she was but a fragment of the soul of the original woman, who had perished long ago, she was also the "soul" that made Excalibur a Soul Weapon.

She felt that Noah was acting suspiciously, but quickly shrugged off whatever he was thinking, even though it seemed odd that he did not despaired while agonizing.

"Trying to act tough or brave won't be of any use… You will never be able to escape my Divine Realm," said the Lady of the Lake, smiling confidently at Noah's expressionless face.

"Is that so?" said Noah nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, within the outside world, Noah's body went back to its original form as it fell over the floor, Excalibur also stopped radiating as it seemed to have shut down, falling over his chest.

"NOAH!" cried Iris, running towards her husband as she quickly grabbed his torso and moved it upwards, trying to see through her Phantasmal powers if she could bring him back from his sudden slumber.

Everyone else was left in shock about what had occurred, as Arthur hurriedly rushed towards Noah and tried to use his Black Light Healing Skills to heal him, but it was not as if he had any damage, the wounds that the holy light left were already healed by his Immortal Body Skill, Noah had simply fallen into a slumber which he could not wake up from.

"What has happened to our lord?!" asked Timassa to Merlin, as the skeleton who had fallen into pieces laughed wickedly.

"Hehe! Hahahaha! What had happened to him is what he rightfully deserves! Excalibur has absorbed his soul inside of the weapon, and had sealed it within the Lady of the Lake Divine Realm! He has fallen into a slumber that he will never wake up from!" laughed Merlin.

"YOU DAMN PILE OF BONES! I WILL GRIND YOU INTO DUST AND DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!" roared Iris, flying towards Merlin as the old mage felt the instinctual fear of imminent death!

Somehow, Iris was going to find a way to tear apart his soul, something even worst than having his body die, he would simply disappear!

However, Arthur suddenly stopped Iris's charge.

"Please stop Iris-sama!" he cried.

"Arthur! Move aside!" roared Iris, gnashing her teeth as her eyes gleamed with crimson red light.

"If you destroy Merlin, how can we find a way to bring Noah-sama back? Please, think things through!" said Arthur.

"That's… But…!" muttered Iris, realizing that Arthur's words made complete sense.

Arthur sighed in relief as he walked back to Merlin.

"Please, tell me a way to bring back Noah-sama, Merlin!" said Arthur.

"Hmph. Even after he fell unconscious you are still brainwashed, Arthur?! Wake up! He is not your friend! He is your enemy! He is a demonic monster, a bloodsucker that feasts in the suffering of the innocents! You are the descendant of King Arthur, you are bound to save humanity, not to serve this demon!" said Merlin.

"Stop talking nonsense! I was never brainwashed by anyone! Noah-sama gave me many opportunities throughout my entire life! Do you think I was born as a talented young man? Radiant and charismatic like the damn idiot you once followed?! If it weren't for Noah-sama's kindness, I would be more than dead now! And there would not be any more descendants for your stupid little game! You would have rotten forever in here until the entire world was to be submerged in monsters!" said Arthur.

"W-What are you saying, you insolent brat?! Y-You…!" roared Merlin using a part of his soul to touch Arthur's head and destroy the brainwashing on his mind!

But…

"Eh? What? Where is it?! If you are brainwashed… there should be… some… rune…" muttered Merlin, as weakened as he was, if he used his very soul for something, it should at least be able to dispel a brainwashing effect in the mind of a young man.

However, to his utmost surprise, there was no brainwash at all.

"What are you doing? Of course, I am not brainwashed! I am following Noah-sama because I truly admire him! And because… he is my friend," said Arthur.

"W-What? This… this cannot be…! You cannot… NO! I SHALL NEVER HELP YOU FREE THIS DEMON! Even if he is your friend or whatever, Arthur!" said Merlin.

"Argh! You are such a damned pile of bones! I might as well melt your soul away!" roared Arthur, who was about to unleash his powerful poison over Merlin's piles of bones!

However, a sudden blast of crimson red energy exploded out of Excalibur's blade, startling everyone.

"W-What… was that?" asked Jon in surprise, as everyone put their eyes on the legendary weapon and Noah.

A few seconds earlier, within the Lady of the Lake's Divine Realm, Noah silently watched over the woman in front of him, who was lecturing him around about what was good or evil as if she were the divine advocate of god or something. Such a toxic woman made Noah desire to completely tear her apart or squash her like an ant.

"And as I said, you shall be in here for an eternity, so we will have a lot of time to talk about. I want to reform your unholy soul and teach you what is right and wrong. I think you were a former human, right? I would like you to tell me what really made you be the demon you are now? How has life treated you, my child?" asked The Lady of the Lake with a pleasant smile, as if she was enjoying having Noah to her mercy.

Noah glanced at her expressionlessly, as suddenly, something within his soul began to shapeshift.

A small, dark red tentacle emerged from within the depths of his existence, slowly moving around Noah's body, as it began to erode the holy seals that encompassed his soul while the Lady of the Lake was way too busy lecturing him to notice anything, mostly because the existence of such tentacles was of a completely different level from her own, already weakened existence which lacked almost all her mana now.

Deep within Noah's soul, a crimson eye opened, as Noah smiled lightly.

"You are awake, huh?" he said.

"Hm? What are you talking about? Of course, I am awake," said the Lady of the Lake.

"I hate restraints… I hate… seals… Devour… Devour… Devour…" muttered the abyssal voice within Noah's soul, the Spawn of Azathoth had woken up!

"You fool… You are more than dead now," laughed Noah.

"What?!" asked the Lady of the Lake, as she suddenly felt something slowly crawling around her leg.

"HYAAA?!"

It never appeared when his soul was damaged.

Nor it appeared when he took chunks of his soul to attack enemies.

Nor it happened when he was at the border of death.

It only appeared once to devour the Blood Progenitor's soul and force it to fuse with Noah.

And it appeared a second time now, to devour the seals that restrained Noah's soul.

Why? Because it hated to be restrained.

As a spawn of the chaos of ancient and mysterious origins, it was a being of unruly existence that desired to do as it pleased.

It had a strange personality that Noah had not yet understood.

But Noah had the faint thought that it might emerge when his soul was to be restrained or attack by a separate being capable of actually restraining or devouring his soul.

However, they were mere hypotheses, as Noah had prepared something else without even considering that the Spawn of Azathoth would help him.

Why? Because the tentacles of black ooze that emerged out of Noah's soul were not the Spawn of Azathoth's doing, in fact, it had just woken up a few seconds ago and began to groan.

Noah was already acting on his own, and never considered this entity as a friend nor as an ally to rely on.

In this situation, the one he could rely on the most was himself…

And the dozens of powerful souls delving within him.

Yes, Pride and dozens of human and monsters souls emerged one after another, appearing like tentacles of black ooze and red blood!

The tentacles began to devour Noah's restrains, using all of the other might to fight back!

And as the Lady of Lake was weakened, she had not enough mana to reinforce the seals!

She used everything she had to seal Noah's soul, but she did not even think that Noah would have so many souls with him!

These Souls were his Blood Servants, although they were made of blood and phantom that resided inside his physical flesh, Noah had already experienced the ability to see all the souls of his Blood Servants while he slept, which was how he talked for the first time with Pride!

Now, he simply ordered them to attack while draining his own mana to fuel themselves!

The Blood Progenitor was also given the privilege of helping, although he and Noah had the same soul, he had a different mind of his own, and though such will, he put a lot of fight against the seals, which ultimately began to weaken!

Crack, crack!

As the seals began to fragment into pieces slowly, a small dark red tentacle emerged out of Noah's back, slowly moving near the Lady of the Lake's feet, and tightly entangling her leg.

"HYAAAAA! W-What is that?! How?! No… this is… Impossible!" she cried, trying to resist as much as she could!

"Hahahahaha! Foolish woman! Did you really think that I only was a single soul?! I would never be alone by myself!" laughed Noah as his left arm was freed from the seal, an ethereal arm that was the projection of his physical body made of his soul, which tightly gripped and raised to the skies triumphantly!

The Lady of the Lake saw with horror as Noah's soul began to shapeshift, opening it monstrously as more black and red liquids began to pour all over the place, shapeshifting as large arms, legs, claws, tentacles, and more!

"No… NO! This is… not possible! I sealed you completely! How can you… harbor souls inside your very soul!?" asked the Lady of the Lake in complete disbelief, as she quickly unleashed a holy slash with her hands and cut off the tentacle entangling her leg, stepping back a few meters.

"Not even I know exactly how it works. But Blood Servants, after all, are like a type of necromancy, to keep them alive even when they dissipate into nothingness, their souls have to be connected to me somehow, so I can supply them with Mana. Isn't that the most logical thing to think? Oh, well, you are a foolish and ignorant woman, so what do you even know about?" laughed Noah, quickly freeing the rest of his soul!

CRASH!

The seals of holy light broke apart as they fell like tiny fragments of glass over the floor, dissipating into nothingness.

Noah's soul was now freed!

"You own me one now!" said the Blood Progenitor, who had greatly helped Noah fight back against the restraints of the seals!

"Hmph! I don't owe you anything," said Noah, ignoring the Blood Progenitor shamelessly, as he glanced back at the trembling woman before him.

"N-No… Get away from me! Don't give… a single step!" roared the Lady of the Lake, as her hands began to glow with holy light.

Although she had no mana, her very soul could still be used as a weapon, which Noah desired to devour.

"Oh? Or what? What are you going to do?" said Noah, walking several steps, nearing the Lady of the Lake with a malicious smile!

Suddenly, the Spawn of Azathoth finally acted, as a giant crimson eye surged in the middle of Noah's chest!

"Hoh? You are quite late…" sighed Noah, as the tentacles of the abyssal entity began to emerge from his malformed and spectral soul, wiggling towards the Lady of the Lake viciously!

"Snack…" groaned the Abyssal being, only seeing her as a snack!

"NNGH…! W-What is that?! What… are you really?! How… that's… I have seen something like that before… in the ancient times… the Warlocks once… called upon those monstrous otherworldly creatures…! I can't believe it…!" said the Lady of Lake, creating a perfect replication of Excalibur in both of her hands made entirely out of her soul, as she pointed them at Noah, making them glow even brighter!

"I will not go down without a fight!" she roared.

"Fight? Why would I fight against a meal?" laughed Noah.

"D-Don't take me so lightly! I am the one that once gave the sword to my king, the one chosen by the divine voice of the world! The holder of the legendary sword forged by humanity's wishes!"

The Lady of the Lake quickly launched the two Excalibur replications made of her holy soul towards Noah!

CLASH! CLASH!

The two swords were tightly stuck into Noah's soul, as they exploded!

BOOM! BOOM!

The Lady of the Lake smiled triumphantly as she saw Noah's soul being torn apart!

"See? This is the difference in power between a Divine Soul and your soul, no matter the help- EH!?"

The Lady of the Lady glanced in disbelief as Noah's soul began to mix around with the souls of his Blood Servants, like a mass of groaning souls, a legion of phantasmal entities, sticking together and patching him once more!

The crimson eye surged once more on his chest, as Noah opened his eyes.

"It seems that my servants would never let me be defeated," laughed Noah, as suddenly, a ray of several lights emerged from the skies!

Outside of this world, Iris and the rest of Noah's subordinates were all unleashing their souls and mana into Excalibur, pouring it all into it!

"If he's really there, then we should be able to help him by giving him our souls and mana!" said Arthur.

"Even if it hurts a bit… We have to do it!" said Iris.

The Lady of the Lake glanced with horror as Noah's power kept increasing endlessly!

"T-That's… they are giving you… their soul and mana?!" she asked.

"Of course. I can always rely on my family to back me up. Isn't that what a family is all about?" said Noah viciously, as black tentacles emerged out of his soul, rushing towards the Lady of the Lake!

Flash! Flash! Flash!

"Family?! You are but a bunch of vicious and brainwashed monsters!" roared the Lady of the Lake, unleashing a blast of light and dissipating Noah's tentacles!

FLASH!

However, like a zapping black thunderbolt, Noah emerged right before her!

"T-That speed!"

"Timassa's soul is rather useful," analyzed Noah, as his eyes flashed with deep purple and pink colors, unleashing several Evil Eye effects on the Lady of the Lake!

"Nngh?!"

The Lady of the Lake felt as if her soul was being sucked of its energy!

Alongside this, she felt as if she was showered by abyssal and monstrous despair, the effect of another Evil Eye!

And lastly, her chest suddenly started to distort itself, breaking apart and causing agonizing pain to her!

"Nngaaaaaggh…!"

The Lady of the Lake groaned in agony once more as she ran away from Noah, barely resisting the pain!

However, Noah emerged as black lightning once more beside her, as his hands extended like poisonous phantasmal claws, grasping her arms!

"You are not going anywhere!" he laughed.

---

Read Vampire Overlord System in the Apocalypse Chapter 161 - Intense Battle Of Souls! online for free - AllNovelFull

Noah began to employ the power within the souls of his subordinates and his wife, who were pouring it all over the resting Excalibur above his sleeping body.

"He's… using it! I can feel it…!" said Iris while containing her tears, knowing that her beloved husband was fighting valiantly filled her with emotions.

"Noah, you can do it! I know you can!" said Arthur.

"Please, my lord!" said Timassa.

"We are… going to give you everything we have!" said Jon.

"Master… wake up!" said Adamantine.

"My lord… You can't leave us like this!" said Clementina.

Blue-colored phantasmal energies, black-colored electric energy, purple-colored poisonous energy, dark, purple-colored curse energies, shadow energies, and icy and cold energies all gathered over Excalibur, as the comrades that Noah had forged through these days began to pour their everything into this battle that they could not participate!

They already knew very well how Noah was, he was a vicious vampire that would never give up no matter the odds, he would crawl and monstrously breakthrough anything on his path, generating a road filled with blood and corpses where he could march through, no matter what!

Merlin glanced at the group of Vampires with a scornful glare.

"Tch! Arthur, you have been corrupted… Do you truly think that you can help him?!" roared Merlin.

As the Vampires began to pour their soul and mana into Excalibur, they began to feel naturally weakened, their perception and senses were beginning to become dull, and Merlin used this opportunity to do something underhanded!

Although most of his powers were gone, he still had the strong Mana Soul of a Level VI Magician, slowly crawling through the hall while leaving his bones there to make it seem as if he was completely defeated!

Merlin treacherously began to crawl through the artifacts, suddenly finding a large, and heavy gold-colored full set of magic armor with the strength to be considered an A-Rank Artifact Set!

The phantasmal Mana Soul quickly used this new armor as a vessel, as he grabbed a large magic Staff near it, laughing evilly!

Because he lacked a body now, Merlin was not able to use his magic properly, and could only do things through direct contact.

But by using this magic armor and the Staff has magical vessels, he began to pour his vast Mana into them, filling himself with actual power!

These Artifacts were engraved with hundreds of magic circles, possessing several runes and enhancements, while the Staff had several magic circles and runes with the power to conjure several types of elemental spells, powers that existed outside of the System!

Suddenly, Iris quickly realized that something was going on, as she saw a large, golden-colored armor moving on its own!

The armor carried a large golden staff decorated with a red-colored jewel on top, which began to shine brightly!

Flash!

"Did you really thought I was a pushover?! You lowered your guards, foolish kids! Now, Arthur, let me exterminate these Undead pests so I can reeducate you about being a true King!" said Merlin, becoming completely malicious as several intricate magic runes began to emerge all around him, summoning fire, wind, water, ice, earth, and light!

"What?! Merlin!?" asked Arthur in surprise.

"He's aiming with everything he has…!" said Timassa.

"Don't stop giving Noah our strength! Let's combine our power to make a barrier!" said Iris, as all the other Vampires obeyed their mistress and immediately combined their leftover power, generating a large barrier!

FLASH!

Just in time!

Enormous fireballs, arrows made of emerald winds, spears made of ice, boulders made of hard rock, and bright rays of light clashed against the large multi-elemental magical barrier, generating loud explosions all around!

"Hmph, your power is not the true power of magic, but the borrowed power of that alien invader! Foolish kids, know what true magic is!" laughed Merlin, showering the Noctem Family members with dozens of powerful spells!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Iris and everyone else gnashed their teeth, resisting the powerful magical attacks while also pouring their soul into Noah!

They needed to bet everything on him!

"HAHAHAHA! How long can you last?!" laughed Merlin.

As the intense one-sided battle unfolded outside, yet another battle unfolded within the depths of the Divine Soul of Excalibur!

The Lady of the Lake glanced at Noah with a startled expression on her face.

She could not believe what she was seeing! Noah's power kept growing and growing, as he began to use different elements as if nothing!

These powers… were not they the powers that those outside this place, the ones possessing the "System" created by the alien god can use?

But… there was something wrong with this!

"How?! How can you use the power of the System within my domain! In this Divine Realm, you cannot use such alien magic craft!" said the Lady of the Lake, quickly stepping back as she generated several holy light rays, firing them right towards Noah!

Noah smiled maliciously as he waved his claws, unleashing the power of corrosive poison of Arthur, the phantom blue flames of Iris, and the black shadows of Adamantine!

Using his bare soul claws, he destroyed the rays of light like nothing and quickly pounced back towards the woman!

"Foolish woman, how ignorant can you be to not realize it?" asked Noah.

"W-What? How dare you call me ignorant!" roared the Lady of the Lake, creating a holy light barrier using her very soul and blocking Noah's vicious claws and shadow tentacles!

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"This power is not the System, this is the power of their very souls!" said Noah, suddenly combining the mass of his soul and the power given to him by his subordinates and his wife, shaping his very existence as a giant, demonic spear made of pure soul!

"W-What kind of monstrous existence are you to be able to shape your soul like that?! You have long delved into the abyss of complete insanity, have you not?!" roared the Lady of the Lake, as she saw Noah's demonic spear-form break through her barrier in an instant, generating a loud explosion!

BOOM!

"Unngaagh…!"

The Lady of the Lake received the powerful explosion of darkness, which resembled the deadly miasma which was the weakness of those of pure and heavenly souls!

The miasma began to seep into her holy soul as if it were a vicious, black-colored slimy ooze, as she quickly escaped from Noah before he was to strike her again, failing to reach her and hitting the ground in the form of a giant spear!

BOOM!

The Lady of the Lake gnashed her teeth as she began to purify her holy soul from the impurities caused by the miasma-like essence produced by Noah's monstrous and mutant soul, however, several needles made of cursed blood-soul quickly reached her, showering her with piercing attacks!

Each attack transformed into tiny soul pieces of miasma that seeped deep into her very soul, filling her with pain! She tried to purify them as they entered her soul, but they kept reaching her through the needles!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Unnnnnggyyyaaaaa! Y-You… UNHOLY DEMON!"

The Lady of the Lake could not take over the agonizing pain that was having her soul pierced a thousand times by tiny needles that seeped deadly miasma into her holy soul, as she quickly exploded in anger!

BOOM!

A wave of iridescent bright holy light covered her entire Divine Realm, impacting Noah directly and blasting him away!

The Spawn of Azathoth could only give him a limited amount of power without devouring his soul as an after-effect, so Noah could not defend properly, dissipating through the incident and blinding light of the Lady of the Lake's Holy Divine Soul!

FLASH!

Noah's soul had completely dissipated into nothingness!

Noah felt his entire soul beginning to dissipate through the powerful holy light explosion that impacted him!

He felt every inch of his ethereal existence beginning to dissipate!

His memories, emotions, everything… began to fragment into pieces and disappear into nothingness!

BOOM!

Suddenly, the Lady of the Lake began to gasp for air, although she did not need to actually breathe, she felt incredibly weakened now, the damage that Noah did on her entire soul was immense, and she had spent a large quantity of her soul mass to unleash all those attacks.

She rested over the lake's water, sighing in relief.

"H-He's gone…" she sighed, feeling a bit relieved and now leaving for Merlin the rest in the outside world.

The Lady of the Lake began to glance at her holy body, which was completely tainted with crimson red and black energies, seeping into her soul.

Feeling pained and weakened, she began to slowly purify them.

"Nngh… So stubborn…" she muttered, barely using her power and trying to suppress the miasma.

However.

"You are indeed quite strong, you almost got me there…"

"Eh?"

The Lady of the Lake suddenly became paralyzed.

No matter how much she will put into her own soul, it didn't move as she wanted…

And just before that, she had clearly heard the voice of the man she thought had finally died.

But how could it be possible? She saw his soul being dissipated completely into nothingness.

This was… utterly ridiculous!

How could he still be alive?!

No, this was indeed impossible!

She saw his soul!

She saw his soul being destroyed into nothing!

And then she realized something.

The voice of the man did not come from her surroundings.

It came from within her very mind.

From the inside of her head.

No, of her soul.

"W-What…?"

The Lady of the Lake slowly muttered a single word, as she glanced at all the dots of black ooze and crimson red liquid beginning to merge more and more with her holy soul.

"That was really quite the gamble, but it seems to have worked. Oh, surprised?" asked Noah's voice, startling the woman even more.

"W-What did you do?! You filthy… parasite!" cried the Lady of the Lake, trying to put some resistance to whatever was trying to take over her entire soul!

"Quite simple. All of my attacks were always parts of my very soul. Did you think I was somehow able to conjure poison here? Or blood? It was all tiny pieces of my very existence, foolish woman…" said Noah, as the ooze and red liquids began to merge more and more within the Lady of the Lake's Holy Soul, devouring her from the inside out!

And then, she finally… comprehended that she had been dancing in the palm of Noah way before!

Since he began to deal damage to her soul that he began to seep fragments of his soul into her soul!

She thought that it was miasma… but this was not miasma, this was him!

It was him!

Hundreds, no, thousands of pieces of Noah's soul, each one was him!

She began to despair.

"N-No… This… can't be…" she groaned, feeling the pain of having her soul being slowly devoured!

"What you destroyed was but a piece of my soul, every single piece I released was me. As long as one remains, I am still alive," said Noah viciously, as enormous black claws emerged out the Lady of the Lake's very soul, grasping her neck!

"Nnnggaaggh…! Nnaaaaagghhh…!"

Although she did not need to breathe, the claws of darkness began to squeeze her very soul, making the sharp pain of her death even more terrible.

The Lady of the Lake's eyes began to fill themselves with complete despair, she was not even able to fight back against this vicious Vampire!

"Nnngh…! Arthur… King… Arthur…! Get… away from me! Nooo…! NO! NOOO! NNNNGGGGYAAAAAAHHH…!"

As the Lady of the Lake screamed in utmost agony, Noah smiled devilishly, laughing like a complete maniac!

"Ahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAH! I told you that you would become my snack, didn't I?! Now perish, and disappear from this world, you filthy whore!" roared Noah, as he took over the Lady of the Lake's soul completely, devouring it all and assimilating it as his very soul!

Crack, crack…!

Suddenly, the entire Divine Realm began to be fragmented, as Noah devour it too!

He began to expand like a monstrous mass of darkness and crimson red, absorbing and devouring everything!

"Iris, wait for me!" said Noah, as he consumed the entire Divine Realm, bit by bit, so he could finally take over Excalibur and then return to his body!

Meanwhile, within the outside world, the barrier created by everyone was about to shatter, and they were barely giving any energy to Noah now, as they were too focused on defending!

If they dared to go out and fight, they would be showered in powerful spells that existed outside of the System, and the endurance gained through Stats or Skills would not be as effective.

Everyone knew that if they stepped outside while being as weakened as they were, they would be blown away into pieces!

Merlin laughed devilishly as he kept showering everyone with his powerful spells, it was as if he had infinite mana or something!

This was the mana he had been accumulating through all this time, as a Level VI Magician, his mana pool was immense, to begin with!

Even though these artifacts all consumed ridiculous quantities of mana, he had more than enough to spare!

Although he felt like if he continued for a bit longer, he would also become weakened, he was confident that the barrier would break in a couple of minutes!

"You foolish demons, there is the only demise for those that try to oppose the Legendary Magician, the Guider of King Arthur! Know your place, trash!" laughed Merlin, filled with pride as he was now finally able to unleash his true might!

Iris and everyone else glanced at Noah's sleeping face with concern, all of them were putting their soul into the weapon to help him as much as they could!

"Nngh… We can't last much longer…!" said Arthur.

"Wait… we are forgetting someone!" said Timassa.

All the vampires suddenly realized that someone else was coming here, as they felt their strong presence!

Suddenly, an army of robots ran through the stairs behind Merlin, pointing their high-tech weapons towards him!

"W-What?!" asked Merlin in complete disbelief, as he was caught off guard, being too concentrated on decimating the barrier of the Vampires to realize that this stealthy army of Robots was marching towards him!

They were led by three beautiful Fembots, Sakura, Sugar, and Noire!

Noire glanced at Merlin with scorn, she had made it right in time!

"We knew that something was odd and we rushed back from the Dungeons, so this was it!" said Sakura.

"Everyone… FIRE!" roared Noire, as her entire body was covered in cannons of magic, firing countless missiles against Merlin!

Alongside her, Sakura, Sugar, and the dozen of other robots that Noah had sheltered days ago began to shower Merlin with high-tech magic bullets!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Nnggrraaaaaagghh!"

Merlin's entire artifact body began to break apart into pieces, as the powerful blows of Noire, Sakura, and Sugar which were charged with their elemental affinities impacted the hardest, cracking his entire armor, and shattering his staff!

"This… accursed Machinery!" roared Merlin.

Clash! Clash! Clash! Clash! Clash!

Dozens of powerful magic bullets began to impact Merlin's entire vessel, the magic armor he was using to generate a proper body began to break alongside his golden staff, the one he was drawing all this power from through the scripted magic runes on it!

Boom! Crash!

The large armor fell over the floor, shattering into large chunks, although it was a very powerful armor, it was more than a thousand years old, and it was not connected to the System nor it was Soul Equipment, after the constant barrage of attacks, the old artifacts finally gave in!

And it was not as if the robots were too weak or something either, as they had been forging their strength through the absorption of magic items and magic materials since Noah gave them such power through their new Blood Core Batteries. Like this, they had accumulated new power and evolved as if they were mutated beasts, becoming stronger.

After all the dungeons explorations until now, every Robot possessed the strength of a C-Rank Hunter at minimum, while Sakura, Sugar, and Noire had already stepped into the B-Rank Realm of strength!

Although they lacked flexibility, several types of abilities, and many other things that human hunter possessed, making them always weaker than humans within such realm of strength, the strength of the robot was when they gathered and fought together like an unstoppable and cold army!

The artifacts broke apart, but Merlin roared in anger after seeing these robots attack him and catch him by surprise!

Iris and the rest glanced with bright smiles and hopeful eyes as they saw their mechanical comrades finally arrive!

"Damn… machinery! This accursed era has these strange, automated golems, horrible creations of engineering and magic! Such a lack of finesse!" roared Merlin.

Flash!

Suddenly, Noire covered herself in shadows and teleported right behind Merlin through her ability to teleport through shadows around her!

She quickly changed her weapons into long, black-colored mechanical katanas, engulfing them in shadows as her cybernetic eyes glowed with crimson red light!

"You are not in the position to insult us, accursed Undead!" she said, using her petite and swift body (without the giant spider-like lower half) to unleash incredibly fast slashing attacks which she combined with her shadows!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

The slashing katana techniques broke through Merlin's phantasmagoric soul, damaging it directly!

Although a soul could not receive physical damage, as long as an attack was enhanced with some sort of magic, it was possible to inflict damage against them!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

"S-Such skillfulness! How can a golem have such a talent at swordsmanship?! Unnnnggggggrraaaaahh…!" Merlin was impressed by Noire's slashing attacks, as he let out a groan of anger and pain, quickly flying away from her deadly shadowy attacks!

The other machines quickly began to chase him around with their magic cannons, machineguns, and other mechanical weapons, while a specialized group of healers, Robots who developed healing-oriented Abilities through their Blood Core Batteries rushed towards Iris and the rest, beginning to treat their tired bodies, and slightly healing their souls!

"Hahh…" sighed Iris, feeling a bit relieved as she drank the blood potions prepared by the robots through the blood of Noah for emergencies.

There was a particular Fembot name Holy, who resembled a classical priest girl with white mechanical clothes and an adorable smile, alongside long, synthetic blonde hair, she carried around a special mechanical staff that was able to unleash her unique Ability, Soul Therapy, which had the power to not really heal a soul directly nor right away, but it was able to calm the pain within it and increase the speed of its natural regeneration.

Every time Noah fell unconscious, she had helped him off-camera, although she was too shy to show up in front of her lord.

"Thank you, Holy…" sighed Timassa.

"Please, Holy, heal Noah's soul!" said Arthur.

"A-Ah, what has happened to Noah-sama?!" asked Holy in surprise.

Iris briefly explained what happened to Noah to Holy and her team of medic robots, as she nodded.

"V-Very well then, I shall appease his pain!" said Holy, beginning to pour pink-colored light into Excalibur, filling it with her power and mana.

Meanwhile, Merlin kept running away from the robots. Each time he found a suitable artifact he could take over and finally fight back, he was blocked by the robots merciless and fast attacks!

Merlin's phantasmal soul suddenly reached a large sword, only to be blocked by spears made of ice from Sakura, who flew towards him by manipulating ice winds around her body!

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"AGH!"

Merlin quickly ran in another direction, finding six robots firing magic bullets against him!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Ugh!"

Merlin once more moved elsewhere, reaching for a magical spell book with many engraved magic runes which he could use to attack!

CLASH!

However, an enormous blade of blacklight fell right in front of him, blocking his path as Sugar flew towards him, shapeshifting her mechanical arms into large cannons and unleashing a blast of black light towards him!

BOOM!

"UNNNGRRAAAHH…!"

Merlin felt part of his soul begin dissipated and weakened, as he quickly flew desperately once more!

He was slowly being torn apart by their powerful attacks, and Merlin began to lose hope of surviving this!

"King Arthur…!" he groaned, recalling his past when he meets the young and talented boy, his amazing skills for swordsmanship, his talent at leading people, how he unified many Kingdoms, unifying people and leading them through his charisma…

A sudden burst of resolve began to blaze within Merlin's soul, as he suddenly realized something!

Weren't these robots like artifacts too?

"Then I can possess them!" he thought, flashing towards Sakura who was flying directly at him while charging ice spikes, showering him down with them!

Clash! Clash! Clash

Merlin let the ice spears hit his soul constantly, tearing him down as he reached Sakura at last!

"Eh?! Nngh…! Aaagh…!"

"Sakura?!" asked Sugar, flying towards Sakura with the rest of the robots.

Noire quickly reached Sakura as well, reaching her near.

Suddenly, Sakura began to feel that some strange mass of ethereal essence was trying to take over her mechanical body!

"Ungh…! Get out!" she cried, suddenly falling into the ground motionlessly.

"Sakura!" cried Sugar, running towards her before she was stopped by Noire.

"What? Big sis!" said Sugar in surprise.

"Stop," said Noire, her crimson eyes gleaming eerily.

Suddenly, Sakura began to move once more, standing up, as she began to glance at her body.

"This… This is way better than I expected! Amazing! I take back everything I said! Hahaha! Hahahaha! This technology… With this, I have acquired a way better body!" laughed Sakura with the voice of an old man, as she began to summon icy winds all around, creating a snowstorm in seconds!

FLAAAASH!

The powerful winds blew away several robots as Merlin began to laugh maliciously, quickly getting accustomed to his new vessel!

"What did you do to Sakura!?" roared Sugar.

"Sakura? Oh, you mean the golem? You beings have no souls, it was as easy as breathing to take over her mechanical artifact body! Now, perish and become part of my new body as well! I will absorb all of you and become the God of Magic I always wanted to be, and then, I will force Arthur to take over the legacy of my King, even if he doesn't want to!" roared Merlin, rushing towards Sugar as he created an enormous wave of ice, hitting Sugar and blowing her off through the air!

BOOOM!

"UNNGGAAAGH…!" Sugar was not able to attack her own friend, feeling various of her circuits breaking apart as she was blown almost into pieces by the powerful ice conjured with the mana of a Level VI Magician!

FLASH!

Suddenly, Noire emerged right behind Merlin, raising her blades!

"I am sorry, Sakura, but we can rebuild you later!" said Noire while her crimson red eyes flashed with an eerie light, she prepared to slice Sakura's body with the promise to rebuild her later, unleashing a powerful barrage of slicing attacks!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

However, Merlin laughed!

"Hahahahaha!"

Within seconds, he created enormous walls of ice one after another, blocking Noire's powerful slicing attacks and overwhelming her with immense weight!

"Unnggaaahh…!"

Noire groaned as Merlin suddenly shaped all the ice he created into a giant spear, making it fly right towards Noire!

"Nnngh!"

CLASH!

The giant spear of ice crushed Noire's entire body into the wall, as her limbs began to fall apart, her system began to turn off, falling unconscious and motionlessly!

Merlin began to slowly walk near her, as he began to extend his hand.

"Now, become part of my new vessel as well…"

BOOM!

However, right before Merlin could do so, Excalibur suddenly clashed against him, throwing him into the air!

"E-Excalibur?! W-Wait… No! This… can't be!"

However, this Excalibur was completely black and red!

CLASH!

Merlin suddenly felt something hit the vessel he was taking over, as an enormous black and red blade greeted his sight.

Its intricate design, the beautifulness of the blade, the amazing talent that it could have been needed to create it, a sword that was born from the wishes of all humanity, created by the world itself long in the past.

However, its radiance was long gone, and it now exuded a shadowy and ghastly essence, covered in crimson red energy and unleashing an aura of complete death and bloodthirst.

The former beautiful holy light it exuded was replaced by this eternal and abyssal darkness, alongside this crimson red energy which exuded the scent of blood everywhere…

"E-Excalibur?! W-Wait… No! This… can't be!"

Merlin could not believe what his cybernetic eyes were seeing, the holy blade, Excalibur, which was once wielded by King Arthur, used as a tool to unify the Kingdoms and many people all around Britain was now… different.

Unlike its former yellow gold radiance, this Excalibur was completely black and red!

Merlin began to feel the inner circuits within Sakura's body beginning to break apart, as he lost part of the strength he had over the vessel.

Nonetheless, he quickly manipulated ice and threw the blade away with an enormous blast of crystalized ice, managing to get away ad quickly using the robot's ability to self-repair itself through mana.

Excalibur fell over the floor, however, it quickly began to hover once more, shrouded in shadows and crimson energy.

"N-no… This cannot… be! This is impossible! This can't be true!" said Merlin, beginning to not even believe what his mind was already assuming had happened!

Somehow, Noah's soul… defeated the Lady of the Lake and took over Excalibur!

But how could a mortal soul defeat a pseudo divine holy soul such as the soul fragment from the Lady of the Lake that existed within Excalibur?!

Such thought was completely and utterly ridiculous!

Yet… in front of his very cybernetic eyes and his phantasmal presence, it was the truth!

Iris and everyone else glanced with surprise and awe at the floating Excalibur, as the laughter they were very accustomed to hearing began to resonate through the hall, coming right from Excalibur itself!

"Haha… HAHAHAHA! Merlin! Did you missed me?!"

"Noah-sama!" cried Arthur while beginning to cry.

"Noah…!" said Iris, as she suddenly fell unconscious due to the amount of energy she spent. Although with a smile.

"Iris! Hang in there…!" said Timassa, grabbing Iris and letting her rest over her arms as Holy began to use her ability to calm the pain of her soul.

Noah glanced at Iris with his ethereal senses, feeling relieved that she and everyone else seemed to be alive…

"Y-You…! How did you defeat the Lady of the Lake?! You were a mere mortal soul, no matter if you were a VAMPIRE! This… What kind of underhanded method did you use?!" asked Merlin.

"Why would I even tell you, you cunning pile of bones? Everything that you throw at me is useless!" laughed Noah, as he suddenly moved with his new vessel, Excalibur itself, as he flashed like an arrow right towards Merlin!

"NNNGHAAGGH..!"

CLASH!

Noah's Excalibur body hit Merlin with immense strength, slicing him in half as his upper torso fell over the ground, many of his circuits failing and sparking with electricity.

"Y-You… are you not afraid of destroying the body of your ally?!" asked Merlin, cunningly trying to convince Noah to not hurt him because it was Sugar's body!

"Robots can always be repaired," said Noah's voice within Excalibur, as he began to pierce through Sakura's torso several times in a row while unleashing all the power of his soul and of the Corrupted Excalibur itself!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

"Ngh…! W-Wait, why does it hurts?!"

Merlin suddenly realized something alongside his inability to cast the ice magic that Sakura had, every piercing attack made by Noah hurt him!

But how? He was wielding a vessel…

No, this pain… was on his very soul!

Before this, he felt like his soul was being weakened by the constant attacks of Noire, Sugar, and Sakura, but his soul did not really hurt as much as now!

It was as if each of those attacks were just damaging his skin, but Noah's attacks were… piercing right inside of his chest, destroying his heart, lungs, and stomach. That was the difference in the pain levels he felt compared to both incidents!

Feeling hopeless, Merlin quickly left the almost destroyed body of Sakura, as Noah stopped piercing her body with his Excalibur body.

Sakura quickly took control of her own body as she began to groan.

"Ugh… GYAAH! I am in pieces!" she said.

"Sorry about that, I will make sure to compensate it later," said Noah, startling Sakura, as he was a giant dark blade floating in midair!

"EH?! N-Noah-sama?!" she asked in surprise, as she saw Noah fly away, chasing the phantom soul of the old and cunning mage.

"G-Get away from me!" cried Merlin, trying to evade Noah's piercing attack, but failing miserably, as Noah's blade began to slice through his entire soul!

"Hahaha! You are hopeless now, old mage! And just like the Lady that was in here, I am going to eat you!" laughed Noah, vicious like a starving mad wolf, he pierced Merlin's entire soul hundreds of times in less than ten seconds, showering him with utmost agony!

"Nnnghgaagghh…! Stop! Gaaaagggghhhh…!" cried Merlin, as he tried to resist, but without proper vessel or magic circles, he seemed completely useless!

"Hahaha! You have a lot of Mana, don't you? What a pity that your flawed soul cannot use it without proper equipment. Don't worry, I will make it all my own power!" roared Noah, piercing Merlin's soul which struggled and agonized, trying to run away as much as it could but always being caught by Noah!

He began to feel his entire existence fade away as if he were fragmenting into pieces!

Merlin began to recall the memories of his past, of how he grew and became interested in magic due to many accidents that led to others, discovering magic, practicing it, and delving into the mysteries of the world…

All of it only to end up pathetically having his soul eaten by a Vampire possessing the legendary Excalibur!

What kind of ridiculous end was this?!

"Nooo…! I had… I had to fulfill the promise… King… Arthur…! Nnngggh…!"

CLASH!

The Excalibur pierced Merlin's soul's depths, reaching his Primordial Essence and absorbing it all as if it were a delicious elixir!

Noah laughed maliciously and monstrously, as he devoured Merlin's soul while the old mage that had lived for hundreds of years screamed in agony!

"Nooo! I do not… want to disappear! NOO! NOOOOOO! KING… ARTHUUUUUUUUUUUR…!"

Crack, crack…!

CRASH!

"This era doesn't belong to an annoying old man like you anymore. It is mine, begone, useless ghost! Muda! Muda! Mudaaa!" roared Noah, ruthlessly shattering Merlin's soul into glass-like pieces, which began to be instantly devoured by his soul one by one, filling him with even more power!

Flash!

Noah's soul began to flow with even more power, as he quickly decided to fly near his body and go back to it, he had left his body for a few minutes now, his body was probably dead!

However, was he not already dead, to begin with?

Clash!

Excalibur hit the ground directly near Noah, as an enormous spectral mass flew out of it and inserted itself inside of Noah's soul!

Boom!

An explosion of enormous amounts of energy was unfolded, as Noah's crimson eyes finally opened once more!

"Hmph, easy pickings…"

Specters began to emerge within the darkness she submerged herself into, as memories of the past started to blossom once more within her dizzy mind.

A little girl sits down on the floor, alone, inside what seemed to be a small orphanage.

The place could be said to be the embodiment of poverty, the walls were falling apart, there were spiderwebs everywhere, dust-covered the old and cracked furniture, and the floor was mostly dry dirt.

She sat in a fetal position, glancing at her little white feet, which were all nasty with dust and dirt, her nails were cracking, and several wounds covered her smooth skin.

The girl seemed almost dull as if trying to forget about everything around her but staring at her feet and floor.

She moved her little toes around, without doing anything else.

Although she seemed to be trying to rest or something, the girl was pressing on her little stomach, forcing herself to resist the hunger she had.

In this poor orphanage children were only given a bit of soup with no meat and half of moldy and rock-hard bread.

So hungry…

Every day she would walk to the corner of this room and get into this position, waiting for the night to go to sleep on her cracking bed and then wake up to finally eat again.

Sometimes other kids would approach her and throw stones at her or anything they found, finding her amusing by how she did not even bother to look back at them or even care what they did, it was as if she was a statue.

The stones sometimes hit her little body, making her skin turn purple.

She could not even understand why they were doing this, the kids themselves only found her like a little tool to release their frustration, throwing objects at her, sometimes even kicking her in the face out of nowhere.

All the kids lived their own horrible lives filled with suffering and found someone that didn't resist being abused as a good target to release whatever frustrations they held within this chaotic world that has emerged after the apocalypse.

Sometimes she would cry in silence as she tightly held her stomach with her arms into a fetal position.

"Haha! She really doesn't do anything at all!"

"See? We can hit her, she doesn't mind!"

"Hit her faster!"

"Uwah, she's bleeding. So gross…"

"Why is the orphanage wasting food in this useless girl?"

"If she doesn't even fight back why doesn't she just let herself die?"

"Yeah, why do you even eat anyway Just die and leave some more food to us!"

Like this, she passed many days, even years.

Suddenly, when she was around 12 years of age, a strange flow of energy began to emerge through her little hands, as fox-like ears popped from above her head.

The girl was surprised at first, recalling what she had heard about Hunters, this was without a doubt a Skill, she had finally awakened some type of power.

Suddenly, a holographic window emerged before her sight, showing the girl her stats.

But because she did not know how to read, she was confused at first.

Nonetheless, she ran back to the woman that attended the kids in the orphanage, showing the woman her special ability to create fox ears.

For the first time in her life, she showed a smile, thinking that the stinking abyssal hole she was living in could finally change, that she could finally be given some chance, a better life.

However, the woman glanced at her with disgust, even scorn.

"What? Is this your ability, Iris?! Just… fucking ears?! Are you a disgusting subhuman or something?!"

The woman grabbed the girl's fox-like ears and began to pull them.

"Auuuhh…! Sniff… No… stop! Sniff… Buaaaahh…! It hurts…!"

"You little useless bitch! You are a waste of space here! I give you shelter and food and this is the fucking ability you produce? The government is not going to even give me the food you have been devouring through these years in exchange for whatever power this garbage is!" said the woman, ruthlessly pulling the girl's fox ears until they began to bleed, throwing her into the ground and walking away while leaving her over the floor.

"Sniff… It hurts…"

The little girl started to cry out loud as her little dream, perhaps the first one she had in her entire life was shattered in the most terrible way possible, the light of her eyes beginning to fade away as she delved into despair.

After knowing of her ability, the woman had decided to sell the girl as a slave, deciding that perhaps she could be of some value as a young prostitute.

However, after being revealed her fate by one of the kids in the orphanage that was laughing at her, she decided to escape the place before it could be too late.

Like this, the young girl survived within the streets of Sector D however she could, eating from the trash, catching cockroaches, and sleeping beneath a cardboard box.

Until one day, a group of agents came to the area where she was living and picked her up against her will.

She was then thrown into a facility similar to the Military School, where she was taught how to read and even given two meals a day…

This life… was better than before, but after knowing that she was probably going to be trained as a soldier or something, the fear of dying in a battle against the horrifying monsters that roamed this world began to grow within her heart.

However, as her ability was so completely useless, she was then derived to the Military School where Noah was when she was of age, leaving her to whatever destiny awaited her there, although the higher-ups expected her to die through the "filtering" going on in that place.

Every day she felt like she was no one, she felt like she was not even suitable for anything.

Mocked by her ability and her lower-than-average stats, she delved into even bigger despair, developing crippling depression and as she was bullied, even more, her traumas grew larger, like vicious specters that devoured her from the inside out, making her even weaker than she already was.

Without any parental figure throughout her entire life, she had no emotional pilar, and the only thing left in her life was simply to die…

Every night she cried, recalling her horrible past and the horrifying expectation of the bullies of this school, which would most likely beat her to almost death once more… they was way ruthless than the kids in the orphanage, hitting her with their powerful abilities, the pain she suffered was tremendous, creating powerful stigmas in her mind.

Days after days passed… mocked and ridiculed as a "pig" due to her little belly that she developed after eating more than it was needed due to her traumas and anxiety, the girl delved into more despair…

Despair, despair, despair…

It was all she knew.

And she thought it would be like this for the rest of her life…

Until one day.

Someone came into her life, someone that she sometimes noticed that glanced at her within her classroom but never dared to speak to her…

"Do you want to change your life, Iris?" it asked.

As she had given up everything in her life at this point… she accepted without thinking.

And since then… her life had been turned upside down.

Slowly but steadily, that man built a strong emotional pillar in her life.

And as she developed her strength, her mind developed as well, and as he helps her beat her fears and traumas, and even stronger resolve was forged within her mind.

She wanted to be at the side of this man… the only one that bought a reason to her life, the only one that brought meaning to it.

Her beloved husband… the one that brought her so much happiness…

Without a doubt, she did everything she could to help him, even if it was giving her very soul to him so he could fight against the unpredictable enemies they came across.

For him… anything.

She would die happy if it were for him.

"Noah…" she thought, falling within the endless void.

"Iris, I am here for you," said the voice of her beloved, as he emerged at her side, cleaning the darkness around her, and revealing her a bright world.

"Y-You are here…" she said.

"Of course I am. I will always be there for you, no matter what…" said Noah, embracing her with a warm and tight hug, as she slowly began to wake up.

Noah's consciousness woke up within a completely obscure space.

Through his memories, he remembered this place already, this was the inside of his very soul.

He recalled what he did before going to sleep, how he ate the Lady of the Lake, corrupted Excalibur, ate Merlin's soul, and more.

After that, he healed the souls of all his subordinates and his wife, giving them a piece of his own, and then felt incredibly weakened, as if his soul were constantly mutating and bubbling, due to that, he quickly went to sleep, carrying Iris and leaving her at his side.

He immediately felt like his soul had evolved or something, because it felt vast and strong, even this completely black landscape somehow felt more "solid".

He walked through it as he quickly noticed a new presence within.

Alongside the sleeping Blood Progenitor and Pride, who had become weakened after the battle as well and were sleeping soundly, he felt two new presences.

He glared behind him, finding what seemed like the figure of an old man made of ethereal, blue-colored essence, with a long beard and tired eyes.

"Merlin…" said Noah.

The old man was the soul of Merlin, which much like the Blood Progenitor, fused itself with Noah when he ate his soul.

However, against his expectations of the old man barking against him about how horrible he was as a being, the old man began to smile, quickly kneeling and glancing at him with admiration.

"Oh, my King, your presence is way too perfect! I kneel…"

"Hm? You are not angered at me?" asked Noah in disbelief.

"W-Why would I be? You showed me the greatness of your existence, and now, I have been enlightened… No, guided by you!" said Merlin.

"…Is this the same effect that happened to Pride? Then…" muttered Noah, glancing at the other figure at his side.

This was the yellow-colored ethereal figure of a beautiful and voluptuous woman, with long blonde hair and shiny aquamarine eyes, wearing a simple white dress.

She was the Lady of the Lake, or well, a fragment of her divine soul, the "soul" of Excalibur itself, which Noah also devoured.

Similar to the Blood Progenitor, Pride, and Merlin, she emerged like this within his soul.

"You…" said Noah, peering at her.

Noah easily noticed that her face was… similar to Merlin, filled with devotion as if she were glancing at God himself.

"Aahhh~ Master… Such splendorous sight!" she said, quickly kneeling and dragging her sexy body towards Noah, beginning to lick the feet of his ethereal projection.

Noah felt instinctual disgust as he kicked her in the face and threw her away, however, the formerly righteous woman moaned in pleasure, as if she wanted more.

"How unsightly, I would have preferred if you had remained with the same personality as before…" sighed Noah.

"Ah, Lady of the Lake, stop making Noah-sama feel disgusted!" said Merlin, hitting her with his staff, as if the powerful woman was some kind of dog.

"Anyways, you two… I suppose that you have been left hopeless now that I ate you. I have acquired more or less your memories… So there should not be any use on you two, perhaps I should simply make you two disappear…" thought Noah.

"W-Wait, please, we don't want to disappear, my lord!" cried the Lady of the Lake.

"W-We can serve you! Please!" said Merlin.

Noah glared at their very consciousness and wills, inspecting them thoroughly, but he found nothing they were hiding, they seemed honest… they were completely brainwashed when he ate them…

"I suppose I could use Merlin to teach everyone Magic easily…" said Noah, as Merlin seemed happy.

"And you…" said Noah, glaring at the Lady of the Lake.

"I can do anything you want!" she said, with puppy eyes while moving her round butt around.

However, Noah found this disgusting.

"Useless whore, you are not good for anything… Disappear from my sight, I feel disgusted by just looking at you," sighed Noah as he waved his hands and began to fragment the Lady of the Lake remnant consciousness.

"W-Waaaait! Annnngggh…! My looooooord…!"

Her body fragmented into golden sand made of ethereal energy and went back to Noah, her remnant consciousness disappearing completely.

Merlin glanced at the Lady of the Lake disappear with his eyes wide open, thanking God that he was not in her place…

"M-My lord, I can begin serving you whenever you desire…" said Merlin.

"Not for now, I have something to do here…" said Noah, leaving Merlin alone as he walked through this darkness.

He recalled that after he woke up, he found that all of his subordinates were greatly weakened, alongside his wife, Iris.

When he saw their souls through his supernatural senses, he realized that they had been reduced greatly, becoming a small as the palm of a hand… he remembered that the souls of his family were rather big, at least the very size of their bodies, so this made him greatly concerned.

For him to be able to fight and devour the Lady of the Lake, they infused their souls and mana into Excalibur, giving him the edge to fight back and the energy needed to finally defeat and eat her. Although he was also helped by the Blood Servant's souls and a bit by the Spawn of Azathoth, if it had only been this power alone, he would have not been able to fight back completely.

Seeing their souls so weak, Noah quickly cut large chunks of his soul and gave them to all of his subordinates and Iris too, although this greatly decreased the amount of power he gained from eating the Lady of the Lake and Merlin, it was a fine sacrifice for those that had already sacrificed so much for him to achieve victory.

However, the moment he did so, he felt an even greater connection with his family, and he felt like something else awakened within him.

Something was calling him in here… and he kept walking through this completely pitch-black road.

Suddenly, small figures appeared before his sight.

They seemed humanoid in shape and had varied colors.

As he kept walking, more and more figures were revealed to him.

All the humanoid figures made of different ethereal colors slowly walked towards him, in silence.

He felt an inner connection to them, and as they glanced at him, their devotion to him increased.

"This… These figures are…" muttered Noah, realizing what these figures were.

He began to touch each one, as they suddenly glowed brightly, beginning to become stronger and less timid, as if they were blossoming.

He kept walking and touching these figures, making them blossom like beautiful colorful flowers, illuminating the pitch-black world that was the inside of his soul.

Suddenly, he came into the last figure, shrouded in complete darkness, falling through an abyss made by itself.

Noah squinted his eyes, as he walked near it.

He began to touch it, to caress it.

The darkness fought back against him, but Noah intimidated the darkness and destroyed it, slowly diving into it, grabbing the figure within this abyss, and realizing who it was. Well, he already kind of knew who it was.

He saw what she was seeing, and felt like he needed to hug her as tight as possible.

"Y-You are here…" she said.

"Of course I am. I will always be there for you, no matter what…" said Noah.

Within a completely white space that rested in between the Spatial Walls of many different Worlds, an entity resembling an old, bearded man made entirely out of bright light glanced at several holographic windows showing the influx of souls within the worlds he managed.

He was no one else than an entity that existed in between many worlds, an entity created by the unknown and immensely powerful being named Samsara, part of an intergalactic group of entities known as Transmigration Gods, who managed many worlds across all the Universe.

All Worlds with life needed an entity to manage their transmigration cycles, the reincarnation of souls across that world.

When a mortal died, their souls would wander the world, and would then be absorbed by the Transmigration Cycle, an immense Divine Construct with the same power if not greater power than the System itself.

This powerful Divine Construct managed to the transmigration and cleansing of Souls, each time a soul died, it would be sucked by this transmigration cycle, which would then cleanse the soul of memories and any powers it could develop, absorbing the mana and using it as the fuel to keep this entire Divine Construct going.

This entity was named Hekaton, and he was given the task of administrating Earth's Transmigration Cycle, alongside many other strange worlds, such as one named Kritias which possessed two parallel versions that were interconnected through a phenomenon known as "Mirror Existences", where every living being in both worlds, even the gods themselves were replicated and mirrored with one another, something that often did not happen as precisely in other parallel worlds.

Alongside this Earth, there were also many other parallels "Earths" which he administrated. However, amidst all such Earths, there was no one with such a level of destruction like this one.

"Hmph, indeed. This one was really absorbed by the Miasma released by the Child of Chaos eons ago… My lord Samsara, on all his greatness, had precisely predicted that this would happen… And so it will happen in many other worlds. This is what he calls the "Era of the Apocalypse"… And it was all provoked by the Child of Chaos… that being that was reincarnated by the System Master in that faraway world, Genesis…"

Hekaton glanced at Earth from far away, as if he were looking at it from space, his powers did not give him the freedom to look directly inside of the world, but he was able to tell a lot by simply glaring at it from within his Divine Realm.

"The "God" formed by Humanity in this world is rather unique compared to other Parallel Earths, a hive-minded entity made through beliefs and the condensation and refinement of the mana contained in all these beliefs and prayers of all humans… Through this method, for many years, it condensed and finally formed into a single, hive-minded entity that represented many figures admired by this humanity…"

The Transmigration God gently caressed his long beard, as he seemed to be thinking about something, considering his next course of actions.

"I would have long left this world to its demise. 80% of the population died in that catastrophic incident, and the God there was not even able to save his humanity as efficiently as it could have been, so many minds together made a chaotic being, it cannot easily take decisions because it is constantly contradicting itself…"

However, there was something special that Hekaton, the Transmigration God, had found in this world right after the Apocalypse began.

Aside from the System Master meddling with this world, the entity that had also offered his help to him in hopes of defeating two entities that were trying to ruin the System Master's plans in yet another world, Ervas and Veronica, which were also coincidently ruining Hekaton's Transmigration Cycle within Kritias, Hekaton had seen how this Apocalyptic Earth could be a good way to inspect the changes that other parallel worlds he worked on would undergo.

Just like his great master and creator has ordered him, Hekaton had begun the creation of his own System, the Samsara System, which he would use to take into the "System Market" that the System Master was trying to monopolize in the worlds that were about to enter into an Apocalypse.

Although he was not going to use the Samsara System in this world as it was already taken by the System Master, he was planning on using it in other parallel Earth below his jurisdiction, alongside other non-Earth worlds.

The System Master had a neutral relationship with Hekaton, as both were aware of each other's strength, which was almost equal, although the System Master seemed to enjoy more freedoms than Hekaton, and was able to easily travel through worlds unlike Hekaton, and do many things thanks to his Supreme Divinity of the System, which Hekaton did not possess.

Hekaton was simply a God of Transmigration, he was possibly hundreds of times older than the System Master and had lived for eons, but his powers were limited to his Divinity, Souls.

He was a master of souls, and could literally do anything with them and more, but aside from this, he was often left hopeless and would often commit many mistakes.

Nonetheless, Hekaton was using this Earth as a way for him to inspect the changes that other worlds would undergo when the intergalactic waves of Miasma were to hit them and change them forever.

His lord Samsara had requested him to create a System that he could use over these worlds to help the humans in there.

If no humans nor animals were left there, Hekaton would weaken as he gained power from the constant flow of souls through the transmigration cycles, if everything died, it would become a hollow and dead world, and this is what Samsara had predicted might happen to many of the worlds that his creations, the Transmigration Gods, controlled.

Due to this issue, he decided to create a tool for all mortals to enhance their power and fight against the monstrous miasma creatures that would emerge in the Apocalypse, although the System Master was quicker to act, and ended up stealing his idea and doing it before him.

Nonetheless, Samsara was not willing to let the System Master monopolize this, and was hurrying Hekaton and many other Transmigration Gods creating a Samsara System to show him their results.

However, Hekaton was one of the Gods that was experiencing difficulties due to his beta testers having been sent to Kritias. One of them ended being divided in two and… well, many things led to others and this soul somehow began to ruin his entire Transmigration System as well.

As an annoyance, he desired to defeat it and then resume his work on his System.

But in the meantime, as his plans slowly unfolded and these entities named Veronica and Ervas fought against these challenges that aimed to end them once and or all, Hekaton glanced at this world.

"Interestingly enough, the Mutated Beasts of this world had also connected to my Transmigration Cycle, so I am receiving a bit of power from it due to these creatures dying and being born immensely quickly… Nonetheless, soon enough, I will disconnect my transmigration cycle from this place," thought Hekaton.

If the Transmigration Cycle were revoked from a world, the souls would have nowhere to go and they would roam the world, contaminated by miasma and corrupted mana, they would become Undead, and after a few hundreds of years, these worlds would become "Necrotic Worlds" devoid of any life and filled with Undead monsters roaming the place until the world's sun were to explode and end them once and for all.

Noah, however, was completely unaware of such a future awaiting his planet, and not even the "God" of Earth was, as this entity hive minds were concentrated on manipulating the System and fighting against another threat that might have designated their world as a mere resource to be extracted, the Watchers.

Hekaton was unaware that the Watchers, which had already decided to take over a world he disconnected from, Terra, had planned to do the same with this Earth with another of their branched groups.

However, even if he were to know, it would not affect the aloof and indifferent Transmigration God, as he had long planned to leave Earth to its own demise after he accumulated enough information about the changes brought from the Apocalypse.

It could be said that for someone who has lived his entire life isolated within his Divine Realm, life was nothing but programs he manipulated to gain power...

What were millions of lives to him? Just resources that can be easily discarded.

Noah slowly opened his eyes as the warmth of the sunlight bathed his face. Unlike conventional Vampires, he was unaffected by normal sunlight, although he had heard from the Blood Progenitor that the sunlight produced by the Sun Heralds, entities that live within the world of Vampires, Abyss, had the power to burn Vampires and were their greatest weakness.

Nonetheless, Noah did not care about such things as of now, as he moved around the bed and quickly realized that Iris was silently sleeping at his side.

He began to remember what he saw within his dreams, the people he made "blossom" with his very touch.

Although such dreams were very weird, he began to find that there might have been an inner meaning behind them, something within the depths of his very being had awakened, a new power.

It felt as if he was guiding them towards the same path he walked through, it was strange, yet mystical.

Noah recalled the last one he made blossom, which seemed to be Iris herself, who was drowning her own mind into the traumas of her past.

Feeling pity for his beloved wife, Noah did everything he could to save her from such everlasting darkness, even though he was a monster to anyone else than his subordinates and wife, for Iris, he resembled a bright light that pierced the darkness of her past, and made her look over a new and brighter future.

He recalled hugging her soul tightly and telling her how much he loved her, reassuring her that everything would be okay, that he would be always there for her, just as much as she is always there for him.

Noah slightly smiled as he saw Iris sleep peacefully, inspecting her soul and find that her soul had already healed and was even healthier than before, it had in fact grew in size a lot.

Although he lost part of the power he acquired by eating The Lady of the Lake and Merlin, this was a fitting sacrifice for them, as they had also sacrificed their very souls to bring him victory.

And at the end, Noah appreciated and treasured them, despite never saying it directly. Every one of his subordinates was always within his heart and was also his own strength and a reason for him to keep moving forward.

Iris was perhaps one of the greatest emotional supports, someone that brought him company, that showed him love and passion, that brought the humanity that he had long forgotten about, which made him feel whole.

He had delved into much of the darkness, but he needed to become a balanced being, both yin, and yang needed to be in perfect balance to become a being that could truly exert proper judgment and not fall into too much of the other side.

To become someone that could actually survive in this chaotic world, he needed to be balanced in both good and evil, although such concepts were nothing but the moral of each person, and everyone had their very own concepts of what was good and evil.

Feeling a bit relieved that things had gone fine, he quickly remembered Sakura, Noire, and Sugar, the robot girls who had fought against the vicious Merlin in the last fight, defending the weakened subordinates and Iris from his powerful magic.

He had been quite merciless with Sakura's body, but it was knowing that she could self-repair.

After Merlin's soul was eaten by Noah, he feeds her and the other damaged robots with his own soul fragments as well, possibly forming souls for them as well.

Could they even be considered robots anymore?

Perhaps they had now evolved into something greater.

Alongside that, Noah let them grab any magic materials to heal themselves, even some of the artifacts lying within Arthur's grandfather's hall.

He remembered that he saw Sakura and Noire and the other damaged Robots slowly reconstructing themselves, so he knew that they were fine now.

Even more, as within his dreams, he had seen figures with similar personalities and even "colors" as them, strengthening the belief that Noah had given them true souls.

Feeling relieved that, at the very least, this morning seemed rather calm after the turmoil of events yesterday, Noah decided to assess the annoying dinging sounds that the System was making since he woke up.

He squinted his eyes as he glanced at the several holographic windows emerge one after another.

[You acquired an enormous amount of energy]

[The power has been slowly assimilated by the Blood Core]

[However, due to the intensity of it, most of it has been sealed to not endanger your physical body]

[It is residual amount has been distributed to [Subordinates] connected to you through [Soul Connection]

[Transforming assimilated power into System values…]

[All of your Attribute Values have increased]

[You gained 400 Vitality, Mind, and Force]

[You earned bonus Skill Proficiency]

[You earned bonus Skill Points]

[You gained 20.000 Skill Points]

[You learned the [Excalibur: - (S)] Skill]

[You learned the [Soul Devour: 1 (A)] Skill]

[You learned the [Demon Path Guider: 1 (A)] Skill]

[The [Yin and Yang Crimson Soul: 100 (S)] Skill has awakened into the [Grotesque Soul of Abyssal Yin and Brilliant Yang: 1 (SS)] Skill!]

[The [Eviscerating Crimson Claws: 100 (B)] Skill has awakened into the [Artery Bursting Scarlet Claws: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[The [Vampiric Blood Control: 100 (B)] Skill has awakened into the [Vampiric Blood Dominion: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[The [Blood Weapon Creation: 100 (B)] Skill has awakened into the [Blood Armament Creation: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[The [Flight: 100 (B)] Skill has awakened into the [High-Speed Flight: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[The [Mist Form: 100 (C)] Skill has awakened into the [Elusive Mist: 1 (A)] Skill!]

[The [Blood Core Creation: 100 (C)] Skill has awakened into the [Blood Core Soul Creation: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[The [Crimson Flash: 100 (C)] Skill has awakened into the [Crimson Wind Impulse: 1 (B)] Skill!]

[The [Crimson Aegis: 100 (C)] Skill has awakened into the [Blood Demon Aegis: 1 (A)] Skill!]

Noah had suddenly gained a lot of power when he ate both of the souls of the Lady of the Lake within Excalibur and also Merlin's soul.

He also saw that his attribute values increased by a whopping 400! With this, he had already crossed the 1.000 Attribute Values benchmark, and only needed 200 to reach A-Rank!

Alongside that, he got three new and mysterious Skills, alongside many Skills that awakened, which startled the serious Vampire for a few seconds due to the constant influx of System windows.

Noah inspected his newly acquired Skills with detail first, leaving the awakened ones for afterward.

[Excalibur: - (S)]

You and the Legendary Radiant Sword of Holy Light have become one. You can freely manipulate this powerful blade and summon it whenever you desire.

You can control the blade through telekinesis and unleash several of your attacking Skills with it, alongside this, you can insert part of your ego into it to let it attack and move on its own.

Additionally, this sword is indestructible, and it fuels your soul and mana, but it can also harvest this energy from whatever it defeats to nourish you.

Excalibur is a Soul Weapon and has its own Status, alongside having the power to increase in strength alongside its wielder, however, the Skill itself cannot increase in proficiency, but may awaken if Excalibur itself grows stronger.

Noah's eyebrows raised in surprise as a devilish smile rose from his lips.

"Excalibur…" he said.

A second after, the blade emerged right at his side, hovering in midair.

Excalibur, the legendary holy blade once wielded by the legendary figure, King Arthur, was now of Noah's property after a series of insane turns of events.

It resulted that Arthur's family were the descendants of King Arthur himself, although Arthur could have never guessed that as he did not even have the Pendragon surname…

From the memories of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, Noah got to learn many things about the old world, alongside the truth about some things, such as the existence of "God".

God, the divine entity that existed within the heavens, was an entity that really existed, and it was the one that created the Lady of the Lake, a divine herald that would give Arthur the legendary sword Excalibur, made by the wishes of all humanity and forged within Earth's core into an indestructible artifact.

It also resulted that such a weapon was not just given to Arthur to unify Britain but also slay the monstrous demons and creatures that once roamed there in large quantities, Vampires, Werewolves, Imps, Demons, Ogres, Fae, and all types of accursed and monstrous creatures which had overpopulated such a place in the past, making of humans their playthings.

Arthur Pendragon was given the task to defeat these monsters and also their leaders, the strongest Progenitors of the past, Vampire Progenitors, Werewolf Alphas, Arch-Demons, and Giants.

Indeed… history hid all of this behind a "tale", but Arthur not only helped Britain but also explored the rest of the world alongside Merlin, defeating many of the evils that spread all around Europe and even Asia.

The history behind Excalibur was deep, and the blade itself was nourished by the blood and souls of many evils, growing stronger exponentially.

However, even King Arthur was a human, and as his lifespan ended, he died while being surrounded by his beloved ones.

Excalibur then carried on the legacy of his original wielder, being inherited by his descendants, many secret heroes across the history of the world, which saved humanity from the many evils that spread behind the façade of normal society.

After many years, it ended in the hands of Arthur's grandfather, a long descendant of King Arthur.

Arthur's Grandfather was a masterful Necromancer who had forged his power through the technique of magic inheritance.

A technique created by Merlin long ago for the branch of King Arthur's descendants who wished to revive Merlin and King Arthur, training magic, and delving into the dark arts of Necromancy.

After inheriting such power over many generations, Arthur's Grandfather was the strongest descendant, the result of many years of stockpiling magic power and knowledge and proficiency over the dark arts of Necromancy.

Using his powers, he revived Merlin as a skeleton but was unable to bring back King Arthur, whose soul was already reincarnated multiple times, his memories long lost.

However, Arthur's Grandfather used the sword and his powers to slay evil in name of his Ancestor and survived the cataclysmic event of the Apocalypse, saving his family from this insane world with his powers.

Although as he grew older, he sooner or later became weakened, and his powers began to weaken.

And then, he decided to leave Excalibur with Merlin, sealing them both inside a large hall he built within Arthur's Family residence, for his grandson to one day inherit all of this power and the legendary blade, so he could save the world from the rampant evil that had once more emerged.

Like this, many events led to others and… Noah acquired all the benefits for himself.

Quite ironic that an "evil being" such as a Vampire like Noah ended wielding Excalibur, while eating Merlin and the Lady of the Lake's souls, even.

It was so hilarious that Noah could not help but laugh a little bit…

Now all of such legacy was his!

And it was not as if he stole it from Arthur, as he really did not want to wield a sword anyway, so Noah happily accepted his offering.

Noah could not really imagine what would Arthur's grandfather even think about all of this… but he was sure that he might be kicking his grave out of anger at this point.

But it was not as if Noah cared at all.

Legacies? Legends? Ancient Artifact that should only be wielded by a specific Bloodline?

Noah did not care at all, he took everything for himself.

The sword did not want him to wield it, so he ate it from the inside out and become the sword himself, as simple as that.

…It could be said that he was now the bone of his sword.

Noah admired the blade hovering in midair at his side, which had been "tainted" in black and crimson colors, although its metallic and shining luster was still there, the blade now exuded an aura of demonic and monstrous strength.

Noah quickly realized that part of such "sealed power" was hidden within this blade itself, and as he kept growing stronger, the blade itself would also unlock more of these powers.

It was, more or less, the ultimate Soul Weapon!

Noah grabbed the blade's handle and admired its beauty while smiling triumphantly.

He was sure to put good use to this powerful tool.

After glancing at the sword for a while, Noah inspected the next new Skill he had acquired.

[Soul Devour: 1 (A)]

You have the power to devour souls and assimilate their energy into your own soul, merging both together.

Strong enough souls or high-quality souls can be eaten to acquire new power, attribute values, Skill Points, and more.

This Skill consequently also gives you the power to break souls.

This Skill can be used alongside other Skills, acquiring the ability to directly target an enemy soul through the materialize of your own, however, depending on the foe's soul's strength and other abilities, this damage can be lowered or completely negated until the foe is weakened enough.

This was the Skill Noah used to devour Merlin and the Lady of the Lake Souls and acquire such a wonderful amount of power.

It seemed that he already possessed the innate ability to do this after his soul evolved and broke apart as he used it as a weapon, and perhaps the Spawn of Azathoth gave him this ability as well, however, Noah was not completely sure where this ability originally came from, but only that he developed it as he fought and evolved it when he desperately fought against The Lady of the Lake.

And when he finally devoured them, the System quickly converted such power into a Skill which he could easily use to unleash this innate ability within him.

Noah could not help but imagine what it could be to devour the souls of strong hunters or monsters.

Although he would also have to decide between devouring them or making them Blood Servants.

However, it seemed that only specific souls which were strong enough could give him any type of actual power… but this was good enough to break them and deal direct damage.

Now Noah had many tools to fight and develop even further.

However, there were still many things he needed to assess first, such as his newly awakened Skills.

Many of the old Skills had awakened into new ones, and he felt curious about their new effects, although many of them seemed to only have enhanced their original effects, some of them held new ones after awakening.

After inspecting the Excalibur and the Soul Devour Skills, Noah decided to check the last of the three new Skills, one of which had a mysterious name to it.

Through all those times he read Skill Encyclopedia Books where Skills from hunters were registered, Noah had never seen any Skill with such a name.

[Demon Path Guider: 1 (A)]

A path for those that walk through it without wishing it, a path for those who are inherently "different".

The word "Demon" is often used to call something evil, a being who is purely evil, but those that walk through this path are not necessarily evil but simply different.

Those that walk through the path of the Demon Guider are enlightened and accepted, they feel like they can finally belong to somewhere, a place where they can be themselves.

Those that receive the blessing of this Skill acquire the [Self-Strengthening: Guidance] Skill, creating a stronger connection with the wielder of the Guider Skill, alongside undergoing drastic changes, increasing their strength and development in exchange for growing further away from the path of righteousness.

Anyone else that is "ordinary" and does not fit within the criteria of this Guidance Skill will think of the possessor of this Skill and those who follow its guidance to be fearsome and chaotic beings.

After reading the extensive description, Noah realized that this was the power he awakened while sleeping, with this power he "guided" those souls and humanoid figures that appeared inside of his dream.

By using this power, he guided these people and enlightened them, making them blossom like beautiful flowers in spring.

Through the power of this Skill, Noah was able to save Iris from her nightmares, and guided her alongside his path, bringing her the brilliant light she saw, which pierced the darkness of her past.

Despite being seen as evil or dark by his enemies, Noah seemed like a bright light that guided those who had fallen into the abyss of this world, of this chaotic era.

He wondered if Iris was having such nightmares every night, which made his chest slightly hurt.

He sighed in relief, happy that he could have been able to help her a bit more.

Before seeing the other awakened Skills, Noah moved near his sleeping wife, as he gently kissed her cheek.

He looked at her sleeping face, feeling the desire to be with her for all eternity, to protect and give her all the warmth she deserved.

He moved his arms above her shoulders, hugging her and caressing her silky hair while kissing her neck.

He began to desire to spend the entire day like this, hugging her while they slept peacefully.

Iris seemed to be deeply asleep, however, she began to move a bit, her hands quickly grabbing him tightly as if by reflex.

After a bit, he decided to let her sleep for the time being as he continued glancing at his Skills.

A large amount of them awakened, but many of them simply received enhancements to their existing capabilities.

Such enhancements were not so varied and often simply made the Skills stronger, swifter to use, and more effective.

However, amongst the most noticeable ones, there was his Soul Skill, which was the first one to have awakened to an SS-Rank Skill, having a tremendous amount of power.

His [Yin and Yang Crimson Soul: 100 (S)] Skill awakened into the [Grotesque Soul of Abyssal Yin and Brilliant Yang: 1 (SS)] Skill, which enhanced his Soul even more.

Although Skills were a combination in between the reflection of one's very powers and also the power that the System offered for the development of them, that Noah's soul evolved like this was both due to the souls he ate and also thanks to gaining a lot of proficiency in the use of his very soul through the System.

His soul did indeed felt quite enormous now as if it had become a being of its own. Noah could feel as it moved and expanded, like a mass of formless and quite grotesque ethereal flesh.

His soul, at closer inspection, seemed to be divided into two sections, one was incredibly bright and yellow gold-colored, while the other half was as black as an abyss… within this soul there was a single crimson eye in the middle of both parts, unifying the two.

This eye… seemed to not be part of the Spawn of Azathoth, but Noah felt that it was probably resting within this area of his soul. Whenever the eye opened, the Spawn of Azathoth would try to do something.

For now, the eye maintained itself close, and Noah remembered that the Spawn of Azathoth had helped him a tiny bit against the Lady of the Lake, mostly because it was seemingly annoyed by her.

Certainly, this entity's behaviors were hard to predict, and Noah could not realistically rely on it to help him, as the greatest help that he received in this battle were the soul and mana of his subordinates and wife.

Now that Noah's soul had grown grotesque and enormous, it seemed to be charged with more power than ever, and he was able to easily move it outside of his very body and even materialize it a bit, having a new way of fighting with his very grotesque soul.

The [Eviscerating Crimson Claws: 100 (B)] Skill awakened into the [Artery Bursting Scarlet Claws: 1 (A)] Skill, which seemed to be a straight upgrade to the claw's strength, endurance, and slashing power.

It was now an A-Rank Skill, so the amazing power it had was something to recognize. With his claws Noah could possibly slice through the scales of a dragon… maybe, perhaps.

The [Vampiric Blood Control: 100 (B)] Skill awakened into the [Vampiric Blood Dominion: 1 (A)] Skill, which gave Noah masterful dominance over blood, as if it were part of his very being. Not only his blood, but that of anyone that didn't resist enough, and anyone weaker than him was bound to have their blood toyed with by him now.

His power over blood was so great that anyone below B-Rank could easily die now by having their blow converted into blood needles and having their entire bodies pierced from the inside out… truly terrifying.

The range in which Noah could control blood was around 10 meters, but the blood that came from his own body could be controlled from even farther away, up to 50 meters.

The [Blood Weapon Creation: 100 (B)] Skill awakened into the [Blood Armament Creation: 1 (A)] Skill, giving Noah even greater freedom in the creation of weapons through-hardened blood, which he could also combine directly with Elemental Blood Gem Creation. It was as if Noah could now create something like giant cannons out of this hardened blood and elemental blood gems, but perhaps he could create new things with greater freedom by using such materials produced through these Skills.

The [Flight: 100 (B)] Skill awakened into the [High-Speed Flight: 1 (A)] Skill, giving Noah a greater boost in the speed of his flight, which he did by controlling the blood inside of his body and making it float, although, with the addition of his Vampiric Wings, he was able to enhance his speed even more by flapping them and moving the wind around him.

It wasn't wrong to assume that Noah could now fly as fast as a rocket, if not faster.

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