Chapter 52: Memory Extraction Blunder

Adra was sitting on a cliff overlooking the Capital of Midgar. He had been ordered to hunt and kill his sister, who is on the enemy side. But he couldn't get himself to do it. Sara was just too pitiful for him to kill. He does not even try to sniff out her scent. In fact, he would prefer not to find her scent at all.

He hoped the upcoming Red Moon would distract his master for a while because he still hasn't decided what to do.

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be hunting after someone, you useless mutt?" He heard an unpleasant and arrogant voice from a male elf who appeared behind him.

"I was waiting for the prey to come, Arrinoth." Adra replied.

"Looks to me that you're just avoiding your responsibility. Like always." Arrinoth smugly said while smirking.

"How's that fight with Beatrix?" Adra countered. That got Arrinoth to stop smirking and start frowning.

"You mind your own business, you mutt!" Arrinoth said angrily.

"Then you should mind yours, pointy ears."

The two of them stared at each for a moment other before Arrinoth eventually regains his smirk.

"Hmph. Do what you want. You're a dead dog anyway. Either you get killed by your own sister or by Lord Necromancer. Ha ha ha!" Arrinoth laughed as he left Adra alone.

"Here is your coffee, Lord Claude." Said a maid as she served me coffee to help me do my paperwork until midnight. Haaahhh… Main body… This is too much work for a clone.

"Is there anything else you require, Lord Claude?" The maid, who is a daughter of a noble, asked, eager to curry favors from me.

"No. Leave me." I said with a stern and tired voice.

"V-Very well. If you'll excuse me." The maid said as she left my study.

I continued reading reports and sign some documents before suddenly I noticed my cup of coffee is no longer on the table and instead is in the hand of someone who looks exactly like me and wearing the exact same outfit as me, namely my main body.

"Took you long enough, main body." I said.

"Apologies. I was too engrossed into my research on souls that I almost forgot about extracting your memories." He said while drinking the coffee.

"I should warn you, the amount of memories I acquired from these past few days alone is massive and my memory capacity is almost full. It'll likely put a strain on your brain."

"But it had to be done. Now come." He said as he held his hand above my head and began extracting my memories.

"Urghhh…." He grunted and gritted his teeth as the stream of memories filled his brain forcefully, constantly pounding on his brain like a battering ram, the strain caused him to nosebleed.

"Aghh… what a blunder…" He said while having a massive headache and vomits.

Eventually he finished extracting my memories and fell on his knees. The cup of coffee fell on the floor, its crashing sound seemed to alert the people outside the door. I took that as my cue to disappear.

"Lord Claude!" The maid exclaimed as she entered the room and found Claude on the floor unconscious.

"Well… it seems like this is my lucky day. Isn't it, Lord Claude?" She said. Her plan of poisoning Claude with the coffee worked and he is now at his mercy.

"My father will be pleased when I brought you to him." Said the maid while grinning as she reached out to put her hands on his pale face.

"Such a shame that we had to get rid of such a handsome face. If only you weren't such an obstacle. Perhaps I should give myself a taste before-" She said before her head went flying.

"Don't you dare touch him with your filthy hands, bitch." Said a very furious Sherry who appeared in the room undetected by the now headless maid, who was a pawn of the Thirteen Night Blades.

"Oh Claude… Why did you hurt yourself again?" murmured Sherry as she grabbed Claude's head and tried her best to heal his brain.

"Please… rely on me more." She said as she finished her spell and promptly gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Rely on me… I'll do anything for you. I'll slaughter as many people as you want. Hee hee hee." Sherry whispered with a crazed smile on her face.

The collapsed Claude was found in his study by the castle staff. No sign of the maid who were assigned to serve him. Not even a bloodstain was found. He was promptly brought to his room and the royal doctor was called by Alexia and Iris. The doctor then performed some diagnosis on him with some medical Artifact.

"How is he, doctor?" Asked Alexia as she gazed upon the sight of a pale Claude sleeping in his bed alongside Iris.

"He's likely tired from overworking. My diagnosis showed signs of strains on his brain. How long since he had a proper sleep?" The royal doctor said.

"Haahh… Perhaps a few days. He had to… help sister with her sleep problem on top of his daily work. He likely hasn't had a wink of sleep for days." Alexia said.

"It's my fault… I'm so useless…" Murmured Iris.

"Don't say that, sister!"

"No, Alexia. I'm useless. Too useless and… too dependent on him. I… I mustn't keep burdening you and Claude forever. I'll take over his work from now on." Iris said with determination.

"I also advice letting him rest for at least a few days. Don't let him strain himself by working. I'll also prepare the appropriate medication to fasten his recovery." Said the doctor.

"Thank you, doctor." Said Iris.

"If you'll excuse me." The doctor said as he left the room.

"I'll also leave you two alone for awhile then. Let me know when you're ready to work, sister."

"Yes. Thank you Alexia." Iris said as Alexia too left the room, leaving Iris alone with Claude.

"Claude… I must get stronger. For Alexia, you... and for Midgar." Iris whispered as she held Claude's hand on hers.

"So please… don't hurt yourself on my behalf." Iris said as she brought her face closer to his and... gave him a kiss on his forehead.

"I promise to be better so I can help you. I swear it." She said with determination.

I woke up in the afternoon after sorting out all the information on my brain. That was a very unpleasant experience and I shouldn't do it again. At least not in that scale. Even a few days' worth of memory is enough to overwhelm me. I have to share this note to Sherry considering she is interested in brain magics.

On the plus side, from the memory of the clone, my plans have gone so smoothly and Iris is now emotionally dependent on me. I just need to keep this up and… Oh. The door opened.

"O-Oh! Excuse me! Lord Claude! You're awake!" A maid came in. A different maid than the one from last night.

"How long…?" I asked.

"Y-You collapsed since last night, my lord! Please get some more rest! I shall inform Princess Iris and Princess Alexia!" She said while panicking as she left the room.

Well that worked for me I guess. My head is still hurting a little bit. I'm never gonna forget about extracting memories from my clones ever again. In fact, I should limit the use of clones from now on.

After that I got lightly scolded by both Alexia and Iris and they reassured me that they will take care of the royal duties while I rest. Also I noticed a strange development. I thought Iris was too dependent and useless in this whole political affair but the one I see is a completely different Iris than the one from the clone's memories. Perhaps my collapsing has something to do with it?

No matter. As long as she still trusts me and as long as my position as the future king is secure… In fact, this works out for me as she would become a more useful puppet this way rather than being a mere burden. Heh heh heh.

"Graaahhh!"

*Slash*

A sound of a ghoul falling to the floor followed the slashing sound as the ghoul was bisected by a red sword wielded by a woman wearing black cape and a black tricorne hat.

"Even Midgar has been invaded by the vampires. But this is reckless even for Crimson. Has he grown that desperate?" Said Mary, the ancient vampire hunter as she gazed upon the moon.

"The time is almost nigh. I must stop him before he doomed all of vampirekind." She murmured as she walked away from the bloody street filled with corpses of ghouls.

"Well well well. If it isn't Miss Vampire Hunter Mary. Long time no see!" Said a feminine voice above her.

"Huh!?" Exclaimed Mary as she saw a black haired woman wearing a revealing black dress standing on a roof above while looking down on the vampire hunter.

"Carmilla! Are you the one responsible for these ghouls!?" Shouted Mary.

"No. Not I. The one responsible was this weakling." She said as she tossed the head of a vampire to Mary. His body, with its heart pierced, follows afterwards.

"What are you doing here then? If not to do the biddings of Crimson…?" Asked Mary, bewildered by this development.

"I no longer serve that weakling." Carmilla exclaimed. Her words startled Mary.

"What!? Then-"

"I now serve Lord Necromancer. He has made me far more powerful than even Crimson could ever dream of." She said as she nonchalantly jumped from the roof and landed flawlessly on the ground despite her high heels.

"Necromancer? That monster who fought against Shadow in the capital?"

"Correct! I could probably say that he has made me stronger than even Lady Elizabeth." Boasted Carmilla. The words alarmed Mary so much she lunged towards Carmilla and immediately stabbed her in the heart, only to be surprised to find Carmilla not dying from it.

"How…?"

"As I said, I've become more powerful. I've become a different breed of vampire than the rest of you failures… or as my lord likes to call you… fake vampires!" Boasted Carmilla as if she didn't have a sword piercing her heart.

"Fake vampires…?"

"Yes! My lord told me that true vampires are true undead! Ones who overcame death and rose as true immortals! Fearing neither sunlight nor a stab in the heart!" Carmilla boasted as she pulled Mary into a hug and lifted Mary's chin with her fingers.

"Join me, my dear Mary. And I shall grant you true vampirism. True immortality." Whispered Carmilla as she gazed upon Mary's eyes, trying to impose her will upon the vampire hunter's mind.

"No!" Shouted Mary as she broke free from Carmilla's gentle hug and jumped back.

"What a shame. Then I will just drain you dry." Declared Carmilla as she took a step forward before stopping due to sensing a new presence behind her.

"Shadow Garden, huh?" Carmilla muttered as she jumped upwards, dodging an attack from a black cloaked figure who lunges at her with a black sword.

"Who are you…?" Mary asked the newcomer.

"I'm Beta from Shadow Garden. We need to talk after we repel her." Said Beta as she prepared herself for battle.

"Ah. One of the infamous Seven Shades, isn't it? How interesting. I, as one of my lord's Seven Wraiths, have always wanted to fight one of you. How fortunate. Now, come and entertain me!" Carmilla said as she brandished a sword made of blood.

Author's Note:

The recent chapters are slow paced because there's a lot of things happening after the Bushin Festival. But now we're back to action. Beta VS Carmilla.

Carmilla is more like a Dracula-esque vampire than TEiS vampire.