Hello Scrolls and Nazarins another chapter of my fanfic The One Who Came Back coming for you.

Discoveries, doubts and decisions are imposed on everyone.

With you

The One Who Came Back

Chapter 43: Decisions

The Blue Roses assumed a defensive position in a circle, each protecting the other's back, as they watched the vampire's body dissipate into mist.

"llusion, CAREFUL!" Evileye shouted.

Then something rustled and flew by, stopping in front of Gagaran and vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Tia and Tina attempted to strike it, but their heads were seized and then released. Lakyus tried to shield her face, but it was too late. The vampire came to a halt right in front of her, their red eyes making contact with hers as they had with the others. All were now paralyzed, except for Evileye.

"Stop!" the voice commanded, and Evileye could no longer move.

"Well, well, well, you enter someone else's house without an invitation? How impolite," the voice said in a mocking tone.

"H-How...?" Evileye struggled to speak.

"It's simple, by being stronger than all of you. Ah! Did you really think I was that weak? I'm offended. There are things much stronger than you, much stronger than me. You play at being adventurers, swinging your weapons around, killing creatures, and you forget that there are bigger things. But you know what offended me the most? You trying to kill me just because of who I am. All the good I've done is forgotten just because I occasionally drink blood."

"Assaaassiin..." Evileye managed to say.

"Me, an assassin? Hmph! For eliminating scum, carrying out death sentences that had already been issued? Everyone who died had 'alive or dead' posters, and I preferred 'dead.' I didn't even bother to collect the bounties. Ah! You must think I feed on other people. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You came to this city and didn't even bother to visit the local restaurants. You should try one where only carnivorous beastmen dine, but I guess you wouldn't like the menu since it contains people. Don't worry, they're all well-paid in advance. Most are gladiators. Drinking well, eating well, and making love well costs money, and they enjoy life. But if they lose in the coliseum, they're used in death. After all, who wouldn't want to feast on a champion?"

"M-Monster..." came the trembling response.

"AM I THE MONSTER? You pursue and kill creatures because of their species. You've probably never asked a troll why it attacks a village that used to be its hunting grounds. You strike before asking, and when you do ask, it's to the wrong people."

"Do you know, do you have any idea who you let escape? That skinny one is the Devourer of Innocents. He kidnaps children, do you know what he does to them? He doesn't sell them as slaves; that's just a rumor to give hope to the parents. He rapes them and then EATS them! A human doing that to children, YOUR CHILDREN! You call me a monster, but you don't know me."

"Now it will take me weeks to find him again, and until then, every dead child, every missing child, every violated child will be your fault."

Tears streamed down Lakyus's face as her eyes glistened.

"You cry, but when you learned of my nature, you didn't hesitate to hunt me down. You just followed your damn prejudices. And you, little hypocrite, you're just a child, stubborn and spoiled, who can't see anything beyond your own anger." "Free!" Evileye stumbled a few steps and turned around, seeing the tall vampire standing amidst her friends.

"Stop!" "I just wanted you to see what I'm going to do to your friends. The big one, I'll rip her arms and legs off, then make her eat her own intestines until she suffocates. The twins, I'll defile their bodies so much that they'll kill themselves when I'm done. But your little friend here, she's special, isn't she? From her, I'll eat the head right in front of you, and you won't be able to do anything."

The smell of ammonia filled the air.

Inta opened her mouth so wide that Lakyus's head could fit inside. They all cried; Evileye shed tears of blood that flowed behind her mask and dripped onto her dark clothing. Inta approached with Lakyus's head fully inside her mouth, and then...

"This is what I would do if I were the monster you think I am," he said, quickly turning around. "There's only one way to prove you wrong, and that's by not doing what you expect of me. I'll do more; I'll give you some advice. Seek out other perspectives, perhaps the State Council of Argland. They're snobs, but you already respect them. Arwintar would be a good place to start. But I'm already tired of all of you, so you should visit E-Rantel. It's new, progressive, and safe. Go and learn that the world isn't as black and white as you think. And remember, this city, my city, already has a protector, and I want you to leave." "Go!"

Thus, they all broke free from the vampire's influence, hugged each other, and cried. Then, a voice came from a distant place but seemed to whisper in each of their ears.

"I said go, get out of here..." They all ran up the stairs as fast as they could, and when they reached outside the mausoleum, the whisper continued, "be out of my city before dawn, and don't stop running until it's night again, or I can forget my manners..."

"F-Fly, FLY!" Evileye shouted as she carried all her friends, who still seemed to be trying to run even in the air.

They landed in front of the hotel and rushed inside so quickly that Gagaran didn't even bother to put on her fake mustache.

"We're leaving," Lakyus yelled to the Night Manager.

Crista only opened and closed her mouth, then they all descended, carrying their belongings.

"Ma'am, I need..." Crista stopped when a bag of coins fell onto the counter, more than enough to cover their stay, so she just shrugged. "Unff! Adventurers." she said dismissively.

Leaving the hotel, the presence continued behind them, seeming to be in their shadow, pursuing them and pushing them out of the city.

"We need to fly."

"I can't, I can't concentrate, I'm exhausted," Evileye panted. "There! The cart."

A cart driver passed by on the empty street, heading towards the market as he did every morning.

"Sir, sell me your cart!" Lakyus spoke as Gagaran pulled him off the wagon. Before they left, a platinum coin fell onto the poor man's chest. He could buy several carts with horses for that value, but he wished they had been more polite.

"YAH!" Gagaran shouted, snapping the reins and making the horses run. They were stronger than they appeared.

The presence still seemed to chase them. Lakyus held her sword as if she were about to strike something imminent, the twins hugged each other, and Evileye lay curled up at the back of the cart. Only when they passed through the gate and the sun appeared did the presence vanish.

"That should be enough. Maybe they can get what they really need. OH DAMN! Entoma, how am I going to explain all this? She particularly hates the little one. I hope knowing how much I scared them will be enough. That little vampire is stronger than she should be; Entoma's boss needs to know," the vampire muttered to himself, standing atop the Arwintar entrance gate and rubbing his forehead with concern.

Throughout the day, the Blue Roses continued to flee. When Evileye recovered enough, she cast buffs on the horses to keep them running, and they only stopped to rest at night.

They were all exhausted, physically and psychologically. Sitting around the campfire trying to recover, potions could heal the body, magic could reinforce the soul, but the memories of being at the mercy of something much superior, where only mercy, albeit mercy filled with resentment, prevented their deaths.

"What was that?" Lakyus spoke after casting Lion Heart on all of them once again.

"That was a vampire," said Evileye.

"We know it was a vampire; we've killed many of them, but never SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Gagaran exclaimed.

"No, never, that must be an Ancient Vampire, a very ancient superior type. His illusions were solid; I felt the kick I gave, but I don't think I even hurt him when we went through the walls. It was all a charade; he just lured us into that crypt; he could have killed us whenever he wanted."

"So why didn't he kill us?"

"I don't know, Lakyus. Maybe he has plans for us, maybe we're still being controlled, maybe he wants to form an army, and we'll be part of his harem, maybe..."

"Maybe he just wasn't the monster we accused him of being," Lakyus said.

"We can't trust what he said; he's evil."

"Why, shorty, just because he's different? I went to the restaurants he mentioned; they exist. I didn't tell anyone because no one would believe how well I was treated, and they also served beef, if you must know."

"Vampires lie, manipulate, they're dangerous."

"Are they all like that, Evil?"

"N-No, Lakyus, I mean, I don't know, I..."

"Speak," Gagaran said.

"What?"

"What's stuck in there, the thing you've been hiding for so long, just say it already, I'm tired."

"Not all vampires are bad because..."

"Whyyyy?"

"Because I am a... vampire," Evileye confessed, removing her mask.

"HAH! I KNEW IT! You can pay up!" Gagaran shouted.

"WHAT?!!"

"I said vampire. Tia said lich, Tira bet on necromancer, and Lakyus didn't want to participate."

"YOU WERE BETTING!" the vampire grumbled.

"Yes, it was a way to pass the time while you decided whether to tell us," Tia and Tina said together after handing a bag of coins to Gargaran.

"Since when?"

"A few years," Lakyus said, "You were never a good actress."

"Never ate with us," Gagaran added.

"And talks too much when she thinks she's alone," Tia said.

"The evil boss does that too," Tira chimed in.

"Hey! No eavesdropping," Lakyus said.

"I imagine the mask is an anti-detection item," Gagaran grumbled.

"It's actually the necklace."

At this point, Gagaran tried to discreetly pass two coins to the twins.

"STOP BETTING!"

"Evil, we thought you were someone with a long life. Rigrit knew you for a long time, and you haven't aged. Elf couldn't be it, so it was down to being angelic, demonic, or cursed," Lakyus said, trying to change the subject.

"And you all only thought of the bad ones."

"With your foul mouth, it couldn't be a divine being. But who are you, Evil? Do you want to tell us?"

"Tomorrow, musclehead, I'll tell you tomorrow. I think we need some sleep."

"You take the first shift," Tina said.

"And the second," added Tia.

"And the third," Gagaran continued.

"Since you don't sleep anyway, you can also take the fourth," Lakyus concluded, putting the final nail in the coffin.

"But, but, aaaah!" Evileye stammered, knowing that this was a sign they still trusted her.

The night passed slowly. For the first time in many years, Evileye was without her mask in front of a campfire. The warmth touched her skin, the wind blew in her eyes, and the scent... Something made her stand up. A presence and a voice whispered in the wind.

"Come."

There was no magic, but she could feel the power behind that single word. Guided by her instincts, she arrived at a clearing where there was nothing. Then she looked up, and floating in front of the moon was a vampire wearing gothic attire.

"Kneel."

Evileye fell to her knees with her head bowed to the ground. The power was immensely greater than the vampire they had just faced.

'So, this is how Demiurge feels' Shalltear thought. She never needed commands; the vampire brides did everything without hesitation, and a little hypnosis always did the trick.

"Hooonyyyyoopeenyyyooookoooo..."

"You can still speak? My... associate was right; you are different."

"Yooouuuuuuuuu dddddiieeeeee..."

"Wow, this is boring. 'Sit' and 'Speak'... 'Tell the truth'."

Evileye found herself sitting in an unfamiliar style.

"You died, Momon killed you with a sealed eighth-level spell," she said, even though she didn't need to breathe.

"Why do you think it's me?"

"He described you."

"Ah!" Shalltear thought internally, 'Ainz-Sama must have anticipated this encounter; he's incredible.'

"You must be confusing me with my sister; I am the servant of the Sorcerer King, Shalltear Bloodfallen."

"The... Sorcerer K-kkking."

"That's right."

"How can I believe that?" Evileye mocked.

"Because otherwise, you'd have to be stronger than an eighth-level spell to survive, or Momon is lying about killing me-arinsu."

"IMPOSSIBLE! Momon wouldn't lie..."

"No, not at all," Shalltear said with a smile.

"What do you want with me?"

"To start with, it's 'Madam' for you, actually 'My Lady'. I'm here to teach."

"What could you teach me... M-m-my L-L-Lady?"

"You're still resisting; you must really be an original, but you're a baby; you don't even smell like blood."

"I've never drunk blood, not human. What is an original?"

"A True Vampire, of course."

"I've never been bitten; magic transformed me."

"How do you think vampires are born? The True ones, I mean. The bite only spreads part of the power. True Vampires are born through magic," Shalltear explained with a smile. "But you're not even using your potential; you only have that large mana reserve and have learned a few tricks, ugh! Humans."

"I am the most powerful mage that exists... M-m-my L-L-Lady."

"Yet you were controlled, twice today, from what I know. Hihihihihi!"

"I don't want your knowledge, you witch..."

'Be polite!'

"I don't want your knowledge... M-my L-Lady."

"You may have all this age, but you haven't learned anything; your mind hasn't grown; you still think like a child. Hmm, that's a lack of a proper diet. Here's your first lesson: 'What you must eat to grow strong.'"

A swirling black hole opened, and a person fell out of it.

"I'm not going to do this."

"Ah! You will, and I won't even force you. Take a look at least; I think you'll recognize the main course."

Evileye stood up and saw who the person on the ground was.

"My associate asked me for a favor, to pick up this trash. He said that maybe you could find a use for him."

Evileye stared at the Innocent Devourer. She only needed one strike, and he would be decapitated.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Shalltear shook her finger in denial. 'No hands... or feet!' "If you don't want him to escape, you'll have to be creative. I won't stop him from leaving; in fact, I'll open a portal directly to a nursery. Unlike my associate, I don't care if some humans die. The choice is yours."

She spoke with a smile as a swirling portal appeared just inches from the scrawny human who was starting to crawl away.

Evileye stood in front of him, preventing his escape. She knelt down, lowering her face to his exposed neck. She saw the artery, could smell the fear and blood coursing inside him. She had always resisted the thirst.

"Darn it!" she said, sinking her teeth into the human. His scream died within seconds.

"That's it, eat well, but slowly. This must be your first meal, so savor it. Blood sustains us, but human blood, from intelligent beings, strengthens us, develops the mind, and increases our power."

"Uhmmm!" Evileye muttered, and splatters of blood spread over her.

"After eating, you can clean up and return to your friends; they'll be safe. Come back tomorrow night and every night after that; I'll teach you how to be a true vampire. Needless to say, this is our little secret, isn't it- arinsu?"

"Yes... my lady."

...

Author's Note

About Evileye never having drunk human blood, in my fanfic I based it on the alternative light novel The Vampire Princess of the Lost Country, in which it tells how Evileye was transformed by magic and everyone in the kingdom turned into zombies and she absorbed part of that power that would go to, well , can not say, that would be a spoiler.

So she became a vampire and not having human victims around, she used animals to feed herself, here comes my interference: I imagine that a kingdom infested with zombies must have scared away all the merchants that visited it, the adventurers can even try to profit, but it would take years for someone to reach the capital without dying, giving Evileye time to get out of the bloody frenzy and control the thirst, at that time she studied magic in the castle's library, thus becoming a powerful mage without using the resources of vampirism.

Again, this is my version of the story to adapt it to my fanfic, if you liked it just give it a thumbs up