Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Vlad's POV:

I was young when it happened, a bite on my arm by my mother and it was over. Coaxed into a cult, she was ready to offer me like a sheep for some perverse blessing by a demon lord's general. But the horror turned on her, as the horned beast cackled before crushing her skull underneath its feet.

Glaring down at my limp body, it raised its hooves to crush me as well, but that was all I saw before losing consciousness and waking up inside a castle's dungeon. Humans, monsters, and all kinds of creatures clawed those mossy walls, fed on the rodents, and counted the days left as they died little by little.

I knew I couldn't live there, and yet I was forced to for a century. Many tried to take me down, to feast on my flesh and drain me of what little blood coursed through my body. At first, I simply ignored them, but as time went on, it was me who drained their blood instead.

'A vampire…They called me before I even knew what it meant.' The blood flooded me with strength–something I learned to crave by continuously massacring new prisoners. But there were only so many the guards threw at me, until eventually, they couldn't hold me back. Even so, the castle guards surrounded me and brought me back to the man who'd murdered my mother.

More amused than anything, he granted me shelter, and a promise for prosperity so long as I served him until my final breath.

"I MURDERED THEM YES! WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE!" After struggling for so long, I was finally given freedom in exchange for servitude, and how dare these kids think they could stop me?! Rattling the cage that confined me, I bared my teeth as a weapon, growling. "MY LORD WILL RISE AND SLAUGHTER YOU ALL! HE'D PROMISED ME POWER, INFLUENCE, AND SO MUCH MORE THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE!"

Grabbing the sword stabbing through my body, I tried to break it off. Yet the unknown metal refused to bend or even twist lightly.

"Enough with your stupidity!" Taking the blade out of me, the silver gaze mage grabbed me by the collar and glared into my eyes. "Tell me what you're doing here and where are the girls you've been kidnapping!"

"I SLAUGHTERED THEM!" Laughing in the kid's face, shooting pain from my wound made me grunt. "MY UNDERLINGS ATE THE NON-VIRGINS LIKE BATS AND ONLY BROUGHT THE MAIDENS TO ME, FOR THEIR BLOOD WILL FEED MY LORD'S SOUL AND BRING HIM BACK TO THE CORPOREAL PLAIN!"

Oh, the very thought filled me with glee, to serve under his grace, under that grand centuarian dullahan! There could be no greater joy in my life, not even the memory of his hooves crushing my mother's skull underneath him.

"Summoning a demon lord general, so that was your plan?" To my surprise, the kid didn't seem bothered by what I'd said, instead, he only smiled. "You killed them to revive a general, but guess what? I'm gonna piss all over your plans."

Raising the blade up high, I watched his smile grow wider as the blade sped closer to my skull.

"YOU'LL REGRET TH–"

***

Third Person POV:

It was finally over, the vampiric parasite pervading the city of Athenia was dead. He'd ruled over the land for far too long, and just when he was at the cusp of fulfilling his purpose, that opportunity was snatched away from him, by a handful of adventurers.

Had he succeeded in reviving the centaurian dullahan, things could've turned out a lot worse, but thankfully, things didn't devolve to that point.

"You're sure you should carry his head like that?" Growing uneasy from the vampire's head dangling in Raven's hand, Mel couldn't help but ask.

"His body turned to dust after I stabbed him, but his head didn't…" Continuing his march out the shambling mansion, Raven turned to face the rest of his team. "We don't know why that happened, but there's someone who I think would know. I'm just taking this to her."

Hoping Linkle could answer some of his questions, Raven parted ways with the rest of the group. Making their own way back to the Inn, everyone else knew that this was one of their last few days in Athenia before moving on to a different territory. Tying loose ends like informing the people they were close with, they knew their last few days would be busy, thus giving them no time to waste.

'Maybe a week, after all, I have to visit Aerin like I promised. Amedith might finally visit his mother as well, doubt she'd be happy if we left without telling her either.' Skimming through such thoughts in his mind with a dangling head in hand, Raven planned for a visit to both their houses before having to leave Athenia for a good while.

Deep in his thoughts as Raven reached the Lifeclover, a flood of screams from the front pulled him out of his chain of thoughts. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the row of women standing in line right outside the shop. Their eyes focused on the head in Raven's hand, they were beyond terrified.

"W-why are you carrying a head?!" Screamed a lady shivering behind a much taller woman.

Before Raven could answer, however, Linkle appeared from the inside of her shop and screamed out loud to her customers.

"We're done! I don't have any more medicine so piss off all of you!" Slamming the door shut, she disappeared as quickly as she'd come out.

Even though they were all bothered by the head just seconds ago, after hearing Linkle, their attention quickly turned back to the shop. Gasping and howling at the storefront, the women showered discontent in gossip and whispers.

'What the hell is going on?' Thought Raven before making his way through the crowd and scaring everyone away with the vampire head in his hand.

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