Another day, another chapter. Dunno when this is going to come out, but when it does just assume I'm tired (I have no sleep schedule. Those in the Discord know that. Oh, and by the way, I keep forgetting to plug it, so Pva9PNxAzh is the invite code. Join if you want to see when the next chapter will come out and hang out with… interesting people, to say the least).
Anyway, enough said about that. Ya'll know the drill. Response to reviews/comments at the end of the chapter. Let's go!
[-Opening Song: Gambling – By: Syudou-]
"For many years, we fought side by side. For many years, we were brothers in arms. Yet, now, at this pivotal moment, he sought to betray me for his own gain?! Over what?! His broken heart! His daughters! He was afraid to put her to the sword, and now, all of [Redacted] will pay the price! I told him what needed to be done… But the lovesick bastard didn't have the guts to do it, and before I could do it myself, it was already too late. Now, what I came here to do is, for all intents and purposes, impossible without using all of my power. And that… That would destroy the planet, if not more. So now, I find myself needing to wait. To wait for another 500 years…." – Journal Entry from a King of a Desert Kingdom, the self-proclaimed King of Lies.
[-Chapter 18: Embrace The Darkness-]
It started with a shout. "INTRUDER! PROTECT AIYAKA AT ALL COST!"
From there, the sounds of multiple katanas being unsheathed and firearms being loaded with magazines filled the Utsugi estate foyer. Within seconds, the foyer erupted with battle cries and discharging firearms as muzzle flares lit up the room with explosive energy and fervour.
And in charging toward that was Jolyne, 3F in its halberd form resting over her shoulder as she charged at the first Kuzuryu Clan thug she made eye contact with. In one swift motion, she swung 3F off her shoulder and in a vertical arc down atop the man's head, splitting him clean in half from the top of his head to the bottom of his pelvis, crimson blood falling like a waterfall from his divided body as it pooled, staining the white tile floor.
As the man's body fell into two halves, Jolyne lifted the halberd as she pivoted, shifting her body to the left, gripping the handle tightly as she transformed 3F into its battle axe form. Three Kuzuryu Clan thugs had used their comrade's death as a distraction, contempt blazing in their eyes as they rushed her, having not expected her to recover from her attack so quickly.
The result was three headless thugs that fell to the floor with a single swipe of her axe as she swung with her whole body into the movement, blood spraying into the air like geysers as it rained down all over her like a fountain. In the same motion, Jolyne took one hand off the handle of 3F, came to a dead stop as she faced the northwest part of the foyer, and unleashed Void Snatch at one of the unsuspecting gunmen, all of whom had been thus far missing all of their shots.
The tendril of void snapped forward at one of the men on the elevated section of the foyer, tearing through his head like a rocket-powered tentacle before wrapping around what was left of his body and dragging it down onto the ground level and slamming into another group of six gunmen stationed underneath the overhanging balcony, crushing them into a paste along with the soul evicted rag doll that had been the cause of their demise.
At the same time that took place, Jolyne drove 3F's head into the skull of another katana-wielding female thug before kicking the body off of her weapon and back flipping over another that tried to thrust his blade into her back, resulting in Jolyne stomping on his head like that of a goomba, crushing his head like a grape along with the rest of his body.
Retracting Void Snatch, with reaction time faster than any of them expected, Jolyne caught twelve bullets that were meant for her head, neck, and shoulders before throwing them at Mach speeds back at the person who had fired them up on the elevated level of the foyer, turning his body into swiss cheese.
Another pair of katana wielders, both women, under the belief that Jolyne was distracted as a chance to end their attacker in a charging attack aimed at hitting her in the back. Unfortunately for them, she knew full well that someone would try that and, in response, stomped on the ground as hard as she could.
The resulting impact created an inch-deep crater in the ground, disrupting the two attackers, another incoming group of six to her left and another incoming group of seven to her right. Using the force and momentum created by the stomp, Jolyne launched to her right, transformed 3F back into its halberd form, and spun with her whole body, turning into a human spinning top.
Anyone who got caught in the crossfire was cleaved in half from the waist down, dying on the spot as blood flew all over the place. Some of the blood got into her mouth as she roared a battle cry unlike any that the yakuza thugs had ever heard in their lives. Ten more thugs met their end as Jolyne spun like a miniature tornado, stopping dead in her tracks as she skidded to a halt.
Getting low to the ground, Jolyne heaved 3F over her shoulder and got into a crouching lunging position before bolting forward and once again transforming 3F into its battle axe form. She brought it down to the ground as sparks flew from the metal, scraping against tile at blinding speeds before abruptly stopping and cleaving it upward through the pelvis of another katana-wielding thug, splitting him in two just like she had with the first one.
Just as that happened, a hail of bullets rained down in her direction, and much to the shock of the group of seven who had fired them, Jolyne vanished, disappearing into thin air as if she was never there, to begin with. In the blink of an eye, she appeared above them, transforming 3F yet again and crashing the spiked end into the head of the man in the center, dividing the man into two.
As soon as the pointed end of the halberd met the now bloodstained tile floor, she forced the blade even deeper into the ground as her Mana depleted by 25%, causing a wave of void magic to blast throughout the ground level of the foyer. In one fell swoop, anyone who wasn't on the elevated section of the foyer was blown to bits by the pressure released off of Void Blast, the second half of 3F's Weapon Art.
Shouts and screams of shock erupted throughout the foyer as Jolyne smiled, her eyes glowing in power. Chunks of people, blood, guts, and viscera decorated the floor, splattered against the walls and ceiling. Some of the entrails even hung from chandeliers above. Thrusting her arm out to her left, she transformed 3F once again into its battle axe form before bringing the bloodied edge of it to her mouth.
Carefully, she licked the blood off the blade. She watched as fear and disgust painted themselves on the faces of those who saw her do what she did. Her thirst meter, which had been below 50%, went up to 58% after she licked the blood off the edge of her axe. Then, without so much as a hint, to the untrained eye, Jolyne seemingly disappeared out of sight.
In reality, she had leapt into the air, as was evident by the tiny crack in the floor, and slammed the bottoms of her feet into the chest of one of the female gunmen, splattering the top half of their body and painting the wall behind them a crimson red.
As she landed on the elevated section of the foyer, that being the overhanging balcony, Jolyne immediately spun around to her left and cut the head off one of the katana-wielding thugs before thrusting her right arm out and impaling six of the other gunmen through the stomachs with Void Snatch.
Snapping the void tendril back, Jolyne turned a full 360 degrees in the blink of an eye, swapping 3F from her left hand into her right before doing the same thing that she had done on the right side to the left. As soon as the last five dropped dead, a pop-up appeared in front of Jolyne.
[Relationship Quests – Kotoko Utsugi]
[To Catch a Predator]
[Difficulty: Challenging]
[Progress: 45%]
[Kill Aiyaka Utsugi – 0/1]
[Kill The Kuzuryu Clan Security Detail – 100/200]
Jolyne dismissed the quest. She had forgotten about it primarily because she didn't need a quest to take care of trash like the people in this mansion. But, on the flip side, it was nice to know what her progress was on cleaning out the filth that protected and lived in this place.
There was also something new that she had spotted in the left-hand corner of her vision, just underneath all of the bars that tracked her HP, Mana, Stamina, and Thirst Level. It was a small black box dubbed "Spoils". Inside it, there were several things. Twelve Gacha Tokens, ten Stat Tokens, a bunch of common katanas, and most important of all, 21,765,981 EXP.
Before she could process what her current "spoils" were, she was immediately put on the defensive as she heard a pair of rushing footsteps coming up behind her. Narrowing her eyes, Jolyne swung her axe behind her head, blocking what felt like the impact of a horizontal blade.
The moment the two blades met each other, Jolyne spun on her left heel to face her attacker, who took the opportunity to slash again, only this time, she was fast enough to actually land a hit. Her unidentified assailant slashed across her face, cutting from the top right side of her forehead to across her left eye.
Not allowing for any follow-up attack, Jolyne leapt back, creating distance between herself and her unidentified attacker. Jolyne traced the cut over her left eye and scowled, staring at the blood that drew from the wound. Not even a second later, it healed itself, her vision repairing just as quickly as it was damaged.
Glancing over at her attacker, she was greeted by a red-haired, silver-eyed teen around about her age, give or take, with a tan complexion. They were dressed in a silver sleeveless gi with a purple belt wrapped around their waist, along with a pair of black hakama pants. Due to the hardly noticeable protrusion in the chest area and delicate features that made up her face, it was clear that the individual in question was a woman.
Ankle-high black combat boots covered her feet, and she had dark purple wraps around her hands. Her fingers were exposed, which, if she were to guess, was for a better grasp on her katana—which, upon further inspection, Mono identified as an uchigatana, which was a curved type of katana.
The blade was black, and the wielder seemed very comfortable with it. Given that she was able to catch Jolyne off guard with it, that meant that she must've been extremely skilled with the weapon in question.
"You healed," the girl said, narrowing her eyes. "How?"
"If you've been paying attention, I have magic. Take a wild guess," Jolyne snarked back, slamming 3F beside her. The girl kept her weapon in front of her, her shoulders tensing, her stance unbreakable, and her posture terrifyingly still. She had been well trained, and that was saying something coming from her, what with most, if not all, System Users being master combatants off the jump.
"I'll give you one chance. Just one. Walk away. I don't like killing kids if it can be helped," Jolyne said, her tone of voice cold and unforgiving.
"You killed my brothers and sisters. By Yakuza code, I cannot allow you to walk away alive," the girl said as Jolyne frowned. She should've seen this coming, but at the same time, she would've preferred that it didn't have to be this way.
"Then, at the very least, tell me the name of the dead woman who stands in front of me?" Jolyne asked, increasing her grip on 3F as a bead of sweat trailed down the side of the girl's face. Jolyne could tell that she was terrified.
"Hana Shiguchi."
"Then, goodbye, Shiguchi-san," as soon as those words came out of Jolyne's mouth, in the blink of an eye, Jolyne dashed toward her, 3F in tow as she transformed it from its axe form to its halberd form. With an upward arc, Jolyne and Hana's blades clashed, sparks flying from the impact as Hana had to brace herself to prevent herself from being launched into the sky.
Jolyne hummed, before disengaging 3F and attempting to strike from the left, only to be blocked. She attempted the right side but was blocked there too. She kept this up, trying to find a chink in her defence but finding none as 3F kept getting blocked by each subsequent strike. It also didn't help that with each attack that was blocked, a little bit of her stamina was depleted—moreso than usual, which made its recovery slightly worse, leaving a small chunk depleted with each block that Hana was able to make connect.
"She's good," Jolyne noted as she went for a spinning slash. As soon as Jolyne went for that attack, Hana moved in and thrust her uchigatana forward. The tip of the blade inserted itself into Jolyne's neck, catching her off guard and forcing her to disengage. But, try as she might, she couldn't move without the blade cleaving through her throat.
Not that it would've mattered, but it would've immediately set off the Blood Loss status effect, and that was a pain in the ass to deal with. Not to mention that the attack had shaved 200 HP off of her health bar.
It was only then that Jolyne realized something. She hadn't been fully paying attention to her peripheral vision, and now that she was allowed to stop and focus on other things, she noticed the health bar and the name above it.
[-Hana Shiguchi, Prodigy Swordswoman (Lv: 40)
[HP – 100%]
"Ah, she's a boss. This must be the Mini-Boss you warned me about, Mono," Jolyne thought as she grabbed the uchigatana with her free hand and yanked it out of the side of her throat. To hell with the Bleed status effect—which, just as she thought, immediately activated the moment the wound was created—she didn't have time to waste on such petty nonsense.
She had a boss to kill.
Using the moment of shock provided by the nonchalance of her pulling Hana's blade out of her throat, with a flick of her wrist, Jolyne had Void Snatch fling out in a whip-like motion that slammed into Hana, sending her falling to the floor below. Both the strike from Void Snatch and the fall damage combined lopped off 15% of Hana's total HP.
That meant two things: One, Hana didn't have a large health pool. Two: her defences were weak. The 200 damage she did to her must've been where the "challenge" came in, along with the instant Bleed accumulation. Hopping down from the balcony, Jolyne landed a few feet away from Hana, who scrambled to her feet, hissing in pain.
As soon as she stood up, Hana charged, preparing a thrusting attack much like before. In response, Jolyne transformed 3F from Halberd to its intermediate form, the Bardiche, and parried the thrust. A "ding" sound echoed around Jolyne, and her time playing Dark Souls told her exactly what that meant.
Stepping into the prone form of Hana, Jolyne slammed the sharp edge of the bardiche into Hana's stomach, the blade digging into her flesh as 10% of her HP came off without a hitch, staggering Hana back as her eyes widened. The follow-up hit came in even faster, wedging the blade into her deeper than the first time, which shaved off another 30% of her HP, dropping her below half within a grand total of three hits.
Blood sprayed from the wound as Hana fell onto her back, her sword clambering to her side as blood began to pool around her—not that it was particularly noticeable due to the already blood-stained floor surrounding the two.
Jolyne stood over Hana's fallen form as the latter stared up at the ceiling. Her boss health bar went away, but she was still very much alive—if only barely. That implied that Jolyne wasn't meant to kill her here, which was even further cemented by her disappearing from her hand.
"Mono, what gives?"
[You are not supposed to kill her. Just beat her. This is important for Kotoko's side quest. Trust me. After all, I know how it will play out if you kill Hana. You want her to think positively of you, do you not?]
She couldn't argue with that, now could she? Hana's eyes lazily glanced over at her, her expression unreadable aside from the gruelling pain she was in. "Why… aren't you… killing me?" Hana said, coughing in between words as Jolyne scowled.
"Like I said, I don't like killing children if it can be helped. You're not like everyone else who died here. When you fought me, you were scared. The others who died were not," Jolyne said as she turned her back on Hana. A part of her felt bad for leaving her in the state that she was in, but, according to Mono, she would presumably survive.
Before she left to head toward the center door on the main section of the foyer—which was where her tracking of Kotoko was taking her—she glanced over her shoulder back at Hana. "One more thing before I go to finish what I started. Do you know what they're doing to her down there?"
In response, Hana could only let out a pained laugh as she spoke. "What do you think…? Nothing I can do… to stop it… Not paid to… ask questions…. None of us were…. None of us…. Aside from a select few… knew what was going on…. Code dictates we can't do anything…. Until the job is done…."
It made Jolyne sick to her stomach to hear that. This whole time, while she was busy butchering these pigs…. "I see," Jolyne spat, glaring down at Hana. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Sticking to your Yakuza code over doing something morally correct. Had it not been for the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I killed a kid, I would bury by bardiche into your face."
"Also the fact that Mono won't let me, and… I'd rather not have another dead kid on my mind." Without waiting for a response, Jolyne continued toward the door, fists clenched as she reared her right arm back and punched the door clean off its hinges. What she was greeted with was a long corridor that branched off into several other halls.
She looked over her shoulder, then turned back around, walked over to Hana's uchigatana, and picked it up. As soon as she did, Mono brought up a stat screen for it.
[Hana's Uchigatana [+7] – Epic]
[Requirements: 90 physical strength, 250 Blasphemy]
[Bleed Build Up: 200]
"Damn. That's not bad," Jolyne thought as she looked down at Hana. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was rising up and down slowly. She was still alive. Jolyne debated about stealing her weapon. It was upgraded seven times, and while it probably didn't do as much damage as 3F, its Bleed build-up would make up for it.
The only reason why she decided not to in the end was because her Blasphemy stat was too low. There was the argument to wait until it was high enough and then use it, but she quite liked 3F. That, and if 3F's damage was comparable to that of a Legendary Weapon despite being an Epic weapon, she'd much rather stick with it over something more than likely weaker.
Placing the blade back where she had gotten it, Jolyne turned to face the door that she had unceremoniously punched down before sprinting down the hall and following the path that Mono etched out for her.
The hallways looked all the same: blindingly white with black and white tiled floors, unlike the foyer, which had purely white tiled floors. It was also claustrophobic compared to the wide open space that was the foyer.
The moment she entered the hallway and made a left turn, she was met with two more katana-wielding thugs, both of whom drew their weapons in startled surprise. Jolyne didn't even give them the chance to register what was going on, closing the distance between her and them before striking at them in a sideways arc, cleaving through their torsos without pause, killing them instantly.
As soon as she was finished dispatching them, one of the doors to her left flung open as a man with a pump-action shotgun stepped out, aimed it at Jolyne's head, and before he could fire, Jolyne grabbed the muzzle of the barrel with her right hand and squeezed. The barrel crumpled under her strength before she ripped the shotgun out of the man's hand and sliced his head clean off his neck as she kicked his body down to the ground.
She peered around the room that he had come out of and found nothing. Well, nothing except for priceless paintings and several cabinets filled with what appeared to be various pieces of art from across the world. If it wasn't for the fact that Jolyne was on a timer to save Kotoko, she'd stop and check out what was there.
Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she kept moving. She needed to get to Kotoko before something bad happened, even if, in the back of her mind, something was telling her that she was going to be too late. That thought didn't sit well with her—not even remotely.
As she continued moving, she found herself running into more thugs, and each time she did, they all met the same fate with different variations. Either they had their heads cut clean off, or they were bifurcated from the waist down. Or, if she was feeling particularly brutal, she'd cut their limbs off and crush their skulls with her boot.
She hadn't been able to look at herself in a mirror, but she was covered head to toe in blood that didn't belong to her. She looked like a horror movie slasher with just how much blood had covered her body.
By the time she had finally made it to the end of the path, the quest tracker had been updated to have 145 out of 200 thugs killed. She was still missing 45, not that she particularly cared. The only thing standing between her and Kotoko was a single door, and as far as she was concerned, nothing was going to stop her from crossing it.
With one overhead swing with her bardiche, Jolyne cleaved the door in two with a hearty roar of fury and vitriol before kicking the two halves of the door to the floor. As soon as she took a step into the room, she bore witness to a sight that made her see red.
Time slowed to a crawl.
The room that she had found herself in was a studio set.
There were cameras and lights all pointed toward one object. A bed.
Several people were standing behind those cameras. One of those people was Aiyaka, according to Mono, but she wasn't focused on that, even as their heads slowly turned to face her. The only thing that she was focused on was what was on the bed.
There was a man, clearly in his late 30s, naked, hunched over the small, mortified form that so clearly belonged to Kotoko, who was covering herself with her arms, also naked. Tears streamed down her eyes as she stared up at the man looming over her and—
The sound that came out of Jolyne's mouth was a mix of roar and the word "No". There was not enough anger in the whole world to encompass the rage that she felt at that moment, all directed toward the man who so much as dared even think of doing what he was about to do.
In the blink of an eye, faster than she was pretty sure that she had ever moved before, she found herself grabbing the man by the back of his neck and throwing him so violently and so quickly off the bed that when he hit the wall next to the door that she had haphazardly cut down, blood splattered all over the wall as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He died right then and there.
As soon as that happened, everyone in the room snapped to look at her, covered in blood as she was. She looked like a monster—a demon who had come straight from hell and was there for the sole purpose of dragging them back with her. Terror and fear etched their faces, save for one.
Kotoko threw herself at Jolyne, wrapping her tiny arms around her as she cried, muttering, "You're here" over and over again. She wasn't stupid. She knew what would've happened had she not come here even a split second faster.
And that only served to make her even more furious.
"Y-You!" Aiyaka stammered, reaching for something around her waist. Jolyne didn't give her the time that she needed to draw whatever weapon she was hiding under that expensive suit she was wearing as Void Snatch wrapped around her wrist and threw her violently into a nearby closet. She'd be useful for later.
The other people, on the other hand….
"Kotoko, I need you to hide under the blankets, okay?" Jolyne said as the terrified, borderline manic Kotoko looked up at her with a mix of confusion and the leftover fear from when she was…. "No, don't think about that."
She didn't so much as hesitate as she inched away from Jolyne before diving under the covers like a scared cat. As soon as she did, Jolyne stepped off the bed, transformed 3F into its Halberd form, and proceeded to destroy everything. All the cameras, all the microphones, all the set lights, and most importantly, the people who were setting up everything.
It was a blood bath.
Arms were torn off, heads were severed, faces were disfigured, and bodies were turned into mulch. By the time it was all said and done, the only two people aside from Jolyne that were left alive were Kotoko and her poor excuse for a mother.
Stalking her way toward the torn open closet, she stared down at Aiyaka Utsugi's trembling form. Fear. That was the only thing in her eyes. No remorse. No regret. Just fear. Fear for herself and herself alone. Completely unrepentant in her actions. Someone who could only be described as a deplorable, disgusting waste of skin.
In Aiyaka's hands was a standard police-grade pistol, and it was aimed toward Jolyne's face—right between her eyes. Before Jolyne could move, Aiyaka fired a single round. But unlike the time when Natsumi had fired a bullet through her head, this time, the bullet simply bounced off her forehead and plinked uselessly to the ground.
Jolyne was taken aback by that. Standard firearms didn't damage her, it seemed. "But then, how did Hajime's bullets damage Chinatsu—someone who, at least stat wise, is stronger than me?" She thought as a frown took up her visage. A question for another time, it seemed.
As for Aiyaka, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and her irises shrank further in fear. "H-Have mercy! P-Please!" Aiyaka begged as Jolyne felt a snarl bubble past her throat, her lips peeling back into a sneer so vicious that it would make even the most successful of predators think twice before approaching her.
"Mercy?" Jolyne spat before snatching Aiyaka by the throat, raising her off the ground and lifting her into the air. Pathetic choking sounds gasped from the woman's useless mouth as the bubbling hatred that had been threatening to overflow finally burst past the dam. "Mercy to a pedophile? Mercy to a liar?!" Jolyne snarled before throwing Aiyaka to the ground with a hard thump.
It wasn't hard enough to break bones—no, she wanted to prolong this. She wanted to make Aiyaka squirm. "Where was your mercy when it should have been afforded to her?!" Jolyne shouted, vitriol clawing at her words as she kicked Aiyaka's prone form in the ribs, sending her flying into a wall.
Aiyaka yelped in pain as she slammed into the furthest left wall of whatever this cursed room was supposed to be. She wasn't given time to register the impact when Jolyne grabbed her by the ponytail she had worn that day as she dragged her across the floor. "Where was your mercy when she begged you to stop?!" As Jolyne said that, she stopped dragging her and stomped down on her wrist, shattering it in the process.
Aiyaka screamed in agony, her screams turning into sobs of pain as she clawed at Jolyne's arm, trying to get her to let go, but to no avail. Jolyne followed it up by throwing her by her hair into the ground in an upward arc with force so powerful it shattered the ground underneath where Aiyaka landed.
Blood spat past Aiyaka's lips as she sputtered out a plea for her to stop. It went ignored as Jolyne drove her foot into Aiyaka's chest—not breaking any skin, but simply planting her foot down to keep her in place. From that position, Jolyne loomed over her, her eyes glowing a wrathful veridian, highlighting the cat-like pupils even more than normal.
Little had she known, but Kotoko had been watching the whole ordeal, peeking out over the blankets. Her eyes were wide, but not fear, but of pure intrigue and, admittedly, satisfaction.
She had known that her Big Sister was powerful—that she was strong. But even in such a terrifying appearance, what with her being drenched in others' blood, Kotoko saw her not as the monster she appeared to be but as the guardian that she had always been looking for.
"You ask me for mercy, yet you refuse to give it to your own daughter. For what?" Jolyne growled as Aiyaka sputtered out nothing but pleas for her to stop. Her face red with anger, Jolyne shouted, "For what?!" which finally got her an answer.
"She's my daughter! I get to do whatever I want with her! She owes me her life!" Aiyaka shouted back through pained cries and the mania she was no doubt feeling after being throttled around like a ragdoll.
Jolyne removed her foot from Aiyaka's chest before grabbing her by the face and lifting her just slightly off the ground. "Scum," she spat before sneering. "Scum is all you are and have ever been. The only thing you're good for is to be fodder for my ascension."
She had debated this internally for a while now. But if she was going to get stronger, why hold herself back? Why stay a Half-Vampire? If what Makaria said was true about The Lord of Frenzied Flame being as powerful as she supposedly was, why hold back any further?
Why be limited by basic human potential?
A dark red pentagram emerged beneath Jolyne's feet, pulsating with demonic energy. The circle's glow cast a sinister red hue on Jolyne's face, exaggerating her scowl and adding to its menacing nature. Aiyaka's expression twisted in panic and desperation as she kicked and clawed at Jolyne's arms, desperately trying to escape.
"You will be the fuel for my ritual. You should be happy. You're more useful in death than you ever would have been in life," Jolyne spat as she craned Aiyaka's head to the left, exposing her neck to the open air. Using her other hand, Jolyne pulled down slightly on her right shoulder to get a better angle at which to bite, and then, without warning, she bit down into Aiyaka's jugular.
Aiyaka screamed as Jolyne began to drain her of her blood. Not a single droplet of the crimson nectar was wasted as she sucked the woman dry. Her skin turned paler and paler by the second, with each pint lost. The red glow of the circle deepened and brightened at the same time, taking over the light in the room as supernatural winds began to whip up out of nowhere.
Kotoko clenched the blankets close to her body as the speed of the winds increased, whipping and whirling as if trying to pull in something, as was indicated by how her hair was seemingly being dragged toward the miniature tornado gathering at the center of the circle.
A rumbling sensation began to fill the room as Aiyaka's screams slowly began to die, turning into nothing but quiet choking sounds, her eyes becoming glossy and lifeless as her head became limp. As soon as that happened, Jolyne tore herself away from the corpse's neck, tossing the body away as if it were useless garbage.
Her eyes had completely changed colour, going from green to red—a temporary change, but a noticeable one at that. All of the tension that had previously been in her body had disappeared, melting away into nothingness as she began to levitate within the center of the pentagram. The winds changed, turning into a blood-red fire that glistened like liquid gold—like a bloody flame.
As soon as that happened, the blood on the floor of the room began to bubble, as if boiling, before slowly lifting off the ground. The blood that was already drenching Jolyne's body seeped into her skin as her arms slowly parted as if opening up to an embrace. From the entrance to the room, blood began to pour in toward Jolyne, slamming into her stomach like a speeding train.
Her hands began to unfurl as her fingertips turned into claws. Her fangs grew ever-so-slightly to be twice the size of human canines. Her muscles became more pronounced and defined than they had been before, and the slit pupils somehow slimmed even more. The blood on the floor in the room shot up and began pouring into her like reverse water spouts until there was no more spilt blood.
Any corpses in the room that were not already drained had the blood ripped out of their orifices—eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—and all the way back in the foyer, as what were meant to be reinforcements led by one Peko Pekoyama stepped inside the Utsugi Estate after getting a distress call from one of the people who were here, they were met with a cascade of blood pouring into the centermost door of the foyer.
All Peko could do was stare, the grip on the hilt of her sword weakening as her hands fell uselessly to her sides. "What… the hell is going on?" Peko muttered, only for her eyes to fall upon the prone form of Hana. Without saying a word, Peko ran over to her side and immediately checked for a pulse.
Pressing both of her fingers against her neck, Peko let out a sigh of relief as she motioned for one of the enforcers to take Hana back to somewhere safe. Peko then turned her attention back to the doorway with the blood being sucked into it, her face turning pale as dread began to build in her chest.
She had an idea as to who was responsible for this.
And if that was the case…. Then there was a very good chance that they would all be dead if they didn't leave.
Back in the room with Kotoko, she watched Jolyne, whilst levitating, curled into a ball as a dark red aura began to form around her like a burning fire. Kotoko couldn't help but stare, marvel in her eyes at what was happening before her.
She had read books at school about Vampires, but she had never seen this before. It was something else altogether. Something more… visceral and dangerous. Not just a Vampire but… Almost as if that Jolyne was becoming something more than a mere Vampire.
And that all culminated in one massive burst of force that exploded out from Jolyne as she let out a primal roar. The force of the blast was enough to crack the ground around her and shatter the nearby walls, and it caused Kotoko to slam into the back of the headrest, along with the covers. As Kotoko's vision began to unblur from the daze that she had been put into, she bore witness to something that could only be described as devilishly elegant.
Jolyne no longer wore armour; instead, she donned a flowing dark red dress that extended to her ankles. The dress featured an elongated collar that revealed her cleavage, adorned with a delicate spider web mesh resting softly on her breasts. Its sleeves reached to her wrists, terminating in frilled black cuffs.
There was a diamond-shaped split around her thighs on the sides and slightly toward the front of the dress, exposing parts of them to the air and stopping just above the knees. The dress itself ended in a fluffy black trim, much like the cuffs on her sleeves.
Her claws were a deep shade of black—blacker than the night sky—and her skin was akin to an ashen pale compared to the standard paleness that she had been before. As if by magic, black lipstick now coated her lips, and a small smirk began to play at the edges of them, her left cheek upturning ever so slightly as one of her newly founded fangs bore into view.
Her hair had stayed very much the same, and her eyes returned to their standard Veridian green. Although, her irises now had a yellowish sheen to them, alluding to the fact that she could now see in the dark.
But that was not the most drastic change.
No.
The most significant transformation manifested as two large, leathery bat-like wings extending from an opening in the back of her dress. Each wing measured seven feet tall and spanned twelve feet across, with a reddish tint along the edges of the leather.
And while to Kotoko that was all she could see, to Jolyne, she saw a hell of a lot more in the way of pop-ups.
[Ascension Ritual: Outstanding Success]
[Pseudo-Vampire – Vampire (cleared)]
[Vampire – Vampire Lady (cleared)]
[Vampire Lady – Vampire Matriarch (cleared)]
[Vampire Matriarch – Vampire Queen (cleared)]
[Vampire Queen – Draculina (True Vampire)]
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[Stat Bonus: x5 for each stat + 145 for each Requirement Stat (excluding faith)]
HP: 2,600 – 13,000 [S+]
MP: 2,550 – 12,750 [S+]
STMN: 2,650 – 13,250 [S+]
END: 1,300 – 6,500 [A]
ATK: 164 – 820 [C]
DEF: 164 – 820 [C]
: 270 – 1,350 [C+]
: 270 – 1,350 [C+]
Physical Strength: 160 – 305 [D+]
Arcane Wisdom: 160 – 305 [D+]
Faith: [Unchanged]
Blasphemy: 170 – 315 [D+]
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[Trait Evolution: Blood Drinker – True Vampire]
[True Vampire: Upon ascending into a Draculina/Dracula (True Vampire), all stats gain an x5 multiplier, heedless of level. Thirst is no longer a requirement to be sated, as you are beyond simple hunger. Any damage dealt using Blasphemous Magic/Weapons is now multiplied x5, accounting for Blasphemy Stat Scaling. As a Draculina, you also gain a 25% resistance to Holy Magic and Attacks (Current Holy Resistance -25%) and a 25% resistance to Blasphemous Magic and Attacks (Current Blasphemy Resistance 25%). On top of this, you also gain Vampiric Wings, which you can deploy to fly at great speeds, capping at Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. As a part of being a True Vampire, you also gain Instantaneous Regeneration at the cost of slower health regeneration (5% slower HP regen).]
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[New Spell Unlocked Through Ascension to Vampire!]
[Legendary]
[Blood Manipulation: At the cost of 200 Mana per cast, be it your own or someone else blood, as a Vampire, you can manipulate blood on an atomic level. You can draw blood from any creature, living or dead, and use that blood to do anything you wish.]
[Stat Requirements: 300 Arcane Wisdom, 310 Blasphemy]
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[New Spell Unlocked Through Ascension to Vampire Lady!]
[Legendary]
[Vampiric Hypnosis: At the cost of 60 Mana per cast, using your newfound status as a Lady of The Vampire Courts, by infusing magic into your eyes, you can hypnotize the first person you lay your eyes on. They will be forced to do whatever it is you want them to do. This does not work 100% of the time on other System Users and depends on how high of a level their magical defences are.]
[Stat Requirements: 300 Arcane Wisdom, 300 Blasphemy]
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[New Spell Unlocked Through Ascension to Vampire Matriarch!]
[Mythic (Unusable at Current Stat Requirement]
[Summon - Demonic Blood Hounds: At the cost of 750 Mana, summon two extremely durable and fast Demonic Blood Hounds. They are more powerful than your average dog, enhanced by the magic of hell and all that comes with it.]
[Stat Requirements: 580 Arcane Wisdom, 600 Blasphemy]
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[New Spell Unlocked Through Ascension to Vampire Queen!]
[Mythic (Unusable at Current Stat Requirement]
[Vaporization Freeze Technique: By vaporizing the moisture within your body, you can freeze parts of your body and transfer that ice over to whoever you come into contact with, and either freeze a part of their body or all of it at the cost of 1,500 mana and 25% of your stamina bar.]
[Stat Requirements: 700 Arcane Wisdom, 550 Blasphemy]
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[New Spell Unlocked Through Ascension to Draculina!]
[Mythic (Unusable at Current Stat Requirement)]
[River of Death: As a Draculina/Dracula (True Vampire), anyone who you consume's soul will be stored within your body and can be summoned to serve you at any time by unleashing bloody shadow. These summonses are known as familiars and will obey the summoner regardless of prior affiliation. This does not work on System Users who are consumed, and unlike the original user of this spell, no matter how many souls you have consumed, you are still relegated to having one life. In other words, do not get cocky. Each use of River of Death costs 1,000 Mana and drains your stamina bar by 50%.]
[Stat Requirements: 750 Arcane Wisdom, 750 Blasphemy]
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[New Perk Unlocked (Locked until Perk Slot Opens Up)]
[Vampiric Seduction: Men and Women love vampires to an almost crazed degree. Due to your status as a Vampire, you're guaranteed to garner all kinds of attention, including the affectionate kind. You can turn this on and off at will, so you do not have to worry about accidentally bombing a whole school full of children with a titanic amount of sex pheromones… unless you want that… sick bastard.]
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[New Armour Gifted As A Part Of Ascension to Draculina!]
[Royal Dress of Vampiric Dynasty (Mythic): Reduce all forms of magic damage by 50% and enhance blood-based attacks by 25%. Increases attractiveness to non-vampiric creatures of a humanoid variety by 50%, provided they are your age or older and/or are of sexual maturity both physically and mentally.]
To say that Jolyne was rather impressed with her abilities, as well as her new dress that also acted as armour, was an understatement. Granted, she couldn't use a majority of them, but at least she knew she could use them eventually. That also wasn't to mention the massive boost in stats that she just gained while retaining her level. Which was another thing that she hadn't expected.
However, what was most intriguing about this whole ordeal was the fact that there were tiers to this. She only thought that there was a gap between being a pseudo-vampire and a True Vampire. Not that there was a whole four other tiers before that. However, she supposed that if Mono simply wanted her to be as strong as possible, it made sense for him to gloss over that detail.
"Whoa…" Kotoko's voice snapped her out of her analysis as she dismissed all of the pop-ups in front of her. "Big Sis is pretty…" Kotoko mumbled as Jolyne dismissed her wings—which was something she knew she was going to have to get used to at some point—and approached Kotoko. As she did, she looked around for something to put on the girl because the last thing that she wanted was for her to be out of things to wear.
That was when she noticed the tiny pile of clothing on the floor. The clothing that she had gifted her. It was stained with blood, meaning it was no good for the time being. "Unless…" Jolyne thought as she put Blood Manipulation into her active spell slot, swapping it out with Void Snatch as she activated it. Sure enough, the blood peeled off the clothing like it was nothing, leaving behind no stains whatsoever.
Swirling the blood in the air, fascinated by how it moved, Jolyne felt both curiosity and also a tinge of frustration. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that, if she had known that ascending would've quintupled her stats, she would've waited until she had higher stats to get a better boost out of it.
"Whatever, what's done is done," Jolyne thought as she slung the blood into her mouth and swallowed. It tasted like cherry wine, which was to say, it tasted bitter and sweet at the same time. Scooping up Kotoko's clothes, she passed them over to the girl before turning her back to the girl. "Get dressed. We're leaving."
"O-Okay," Kotoko said, relief in her voice. It wasn't until she looked down at herself that she realized just how… changed she looked. For starters, her claws were a little on the distracting side. It also didn't hurt to notice that she also looked… a little bit more on the mature side of things.
Any of the things that made her look even remotely her age were gone. Her chin felt slightly sharper, any of the baby fat that had been there was now gone, and many of her features that showed that she was still a child were gone and or grew to their natural limits. One major example was her chest now having grown a few inches, alongside her waist and hips having slimmed down, with a lot of the extra weight that had been there having transferred to the rest of her legs, evening out her figure.
It was almost as if turning into a Draculina had matured her to that of an adult. Which was weird because she was still in school. Granted, her height hadn't changed, and she didn't feel older. But, appearance-wise, she could probably pass for an adult.
Either way, it didn't necessarily matter. It just meant more teasing material for Hajime. She was going to make it up to him for what happened on the date. This just so happened to be perfect for that.
"Okay, done!" Kotoko said as Jolyne turned around to see a fully clothed and, more importantly, safe Kotoko. She was smiling, but Jolyne could tell it was a fake smile. A forced smile. But it was there for a reason, and that reason was more than likely an attempt to force some kind of happiness in the bleak, disgusting situation that she had found herself in.
It wasn't right, but it was what she had to make do with.
Just as Jolyne was about to take her hand so they could teleport, out of the corner of her eye, Jolyne spotted several new arrivals. Most of them were thugs of a similar variety to the ones that she had slaughtered moments ago, but there was someone else there. Someone who piqued her interest.
She had silver hair tied back into a ponytail alongside a pair of thin-rimmed glasses. Behind those glasses were ruby-red eyes that shined with equal parts anger and fear. In her hand was a standard katana, and she was dressed in a black sailor top and a pleated black skirt that stopped just above the knees, alongside a pair of black stockings and runners.
Her sword was pointed at Jolyne just as Hana's had been when they fought one another in the foyer, but unlike Hana, whose stance was rigid, this person's stance lacked that for fluidity. That was already something that Jolyne marked as making her superior to Hana, but all the same, with this newfound power that she had, it wouldn't even be a challenge.
And that was confirmed to her by Mono identifying her.
[Peko Pekoyama, Ultimate Swordswoman (Lv. 50)]
[HP: 3,000]
[Mana: 0]
[STMN: 3,500]
[Thoughts on you: Monster]
"Sounds about right," Jolyne thought as she scowled. "Oh? Did someone call more lambs to the slaughter?" Jolyne taunted, a gleam in her eye that only further made Pekoyama seem even more angered than before.
"Step away from the girl. She is under the protection of—"
"Shut up," Jolyne spat, glaring daggers at Pekoyama as she unfurled her claws, which gleamed in the light of the room. Pekoyama's eyes darted to them, identifying them as weapons. That was another thing that put her above the cut Hana. She was far more observant. Jolyne glanced over to Kotoko, who was now cowering behind her. "You call this protection? Were you aware of what was happening here? Were you aware that had I not come in here, this twelve-year-old girl was going to be raped by a grown-ass man? That the person who you were protecting was creating and potentially selling child pornography?"
Each word that Jolyne spat out was filled with so much venom, so much vitriol, that it was thicker than molasses. Sweat drew upon Peko's forehead, and the reinforcements looked at one another, confused and also disgusted.
"So they didn't know? But by the looks of things, this Pekoyama woman did know. Disgusting." As Jolyne finished that thought, Pekoyama narrowed her eyes and, rather than saying anything in return, lunged at Jolyne, pulling her sword back in an attempt to skewer her in the throat much like Hana had done earlier…!
Only for Jolyne to not only dodge the attack but drive her clawed hand like that of a spear through Pekoyama's stomach, piercing her elbow deep as she came to a halt instantaneously. Blood spewed out of Pekoyama's mouth as it fell haphazardly to the floor, mere inches in front of Kotoko's feet as Jolyne lifted her up in the air ever-so-slightly, taking her off her feet and dangling her in the air.
Pekoyama's arms and legs went limp as Jolyne scowled. "Ultimate Swordswoman, huh? Impressive, but mere human parlour tricks won't matter for someone of my calibre," Jolyne spat, and wow, she felt slightly ashamed for saying something that egotistical. The shock and terror derived from the swift counter-attack was more than enough to solidify her power over the situation.
With careless disregard, Jolyne tore her arm out of Pekoyama's torso before tossing her aside like garbage. The other yakuza thugs swarmed her, and she used that as a distraction to take Kotoko out of the building, grabbing her hand with her clean one and teleporting out of the Utsugi estate.
Upon reappearing inside her apartment, she was met with the same mess that she had left it as. Kotoko shrunk into herself upon finally returning to the apartment. Seeing it like this more than likely wasn't good for her mental health.
Putting the couch back up to where it belonged, she gestured Kotoko to sit next to her. For the next few minutes, they sat in silence as Mono deposited all of the rewards she had earned from going through the Challenging Dungeon. She automatically sold all of the common katanas, which earned her an extra 5,000 yen making up for the healing potion she gave to Komaru.
She'd save the gacha and stat tokens for a more appropriate time, and as for the EXP, Mono notified her having levelled up three times. Not that she particularly cared. From a glance, the level-up hadn't really given her much. She was level 45, though, meaning she was five levels off from the first soft cap and until her first Mastery Dungeon.
The silence was broken by a sniffle, and that was Jolyne's cue to bring Kotoko into a soft embrace. The moment she did, Kotoko, for what felt like the millionth time, burst into tears. But Jolyne wasn't annoyed by it. She didn't even want to imagine herself in Kotoko's shoes. Just the thought alone made her want to curl up into a ball and die.
"You're safe now. Truly, you're safe," Jolyne whispered, her tone soothing as she slowly rubbed the center of Kotoko's back in an attempt to calm her down. "No one's going to hurt you. No one's going to do anything with you. I already failed you once, but I promise, on my life, that it won't ever happen again."
But even as she said those words, a small nagging voice in the back of her head told her to not make promises that she knew for a fact that she couldn't keep.
She just made enemies out of the Kuzuryu Clan.
If she thought that she was safe, that idea was dashed the moment she noticed that her reputation with them was deep into the negatives. But, if it was a war that they wanted, then war is what she would give them. Since the day that she had come here, they had been nothing but a thorn in her side.
And it was about time that she plucked that thorn.
[-To Be Continued-]
[-Outro Song: Paradisus Paradoxum – By: Myth & Roid]
So, how about that for a massive upgrade in power? Granted, Jolyne can't use most of it just yet, but what's more important is that, yes, Blood Control/Manipulation from the original is back. Also, yes, Jolyne is a mishmash of multiple fictional vampires. Bonus points to those who can guess what those kinds of vampires are.
Now, with that being said, onto my response to reviews/comments:
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Chinatsu needed to be humbled, and so I did just that. Also, I've been dying to get to this part, so I really hope you liked it!
(Ao3) WilburDrake: I don't know whether or not I should take being compared to Gege as a compliment or as an insult, but I'll choose to take it as a compliment. Thanks for the kind words! As for your question, they still get marked for being killed, and it's viewed as a high priority. Blood Hunters usually deal with them.
(Ao3) Aiden: Damn. Oh well.
(Ao3) void_boi1: Hope you liked it! It took me a while to get the pacing right, but overall, I think I did a good job.
And that's about it for today. I'll see you all in the next chapter, peace!