My Three Wives Are Beautiful Vampires

Chapter 838: Nightmare Tower. 2

”Victor... Is this just the first level? Youʼre not being too harsh, are you?” Hestia asked.

All she received was Victorʼs serious gaze in response.

”They wanted Power. They wanted to get stronger quickly. And Power like that doesnʼt come without consequences.”

”But...” Hestia was about to say more, but Victor interrupted her.

”Keep your senses sharp, keep your guard up, assess the environment, assess the people, always be ready to grab your weapon and kill the enemy.”

”Always be ready for possible betrayal.”

”Always be ready for anything.”

”Thatʼs the mindset of a warrior, and thatʼs how Iʼve lived to this day. Thatʼs how I became so strong.”

Non-stop training? Victor did it. Always seeking stronger opponents? Victor did it. Almost dying multiple times? Victor did it.

Yes, his talents greatly aided him on this path, as did his luck, but that wasnʼt all – the discipline instilled in him by Scathach was always with him.

And it was that same discipline that helped him.

Rubyʼs situation might seem precarious, but thatʼs far from the truth. If she had kept her guard up, if she had assessed the situation better, if she had the mindset of someone going to war, this wouldnʼt have happened.

The Tower exists not only to make the girls stronger but also to sharpen their mindset as warriors.

If they couldnʼt have the advantage Victor had of absorbing Souls and gaining his combat experience, they must acquire it another way.

Victor could give them the ʼmemoriesʼ of the warriors he absorbed, but that would be ineffective; they would just feel like they were watching a movie and not really ʼexperiencingʼ it as Victor did.

”They desire to become strong. So, donʼt step on their determination; that would be an insult to their determination.”

”....” Hestia had no other words but nodded in agreement. She couldnʼt understand much about the mindset Victor was talking about; after all, she wasnʼt a warrior. But she could understand the feeling of not crushing someone elseʼs determination.

...

Ruby stood up from the ground, looking at the door with an extremely serious and irritated expression.

Was she angry at the enemies? Yes, but she was more angry with herself.

”Have I truly spent too much time in my laboratory? Have my instincts dulled so much?” She stomped the ground, causing a thunderous noise, frustration evident all around.

”I am the daughter of Scathach Scarlett. I am the woman The Strongest Female Vampire herself said would surpass her one day. How can I perform so shamefully!?”

Ruby tied her long red hair into a ponytail and walked to the door.

Without picking up any weapons.

Weapon? She didnʼt need that; she was the weapon herself.

Ruby kicked the door open and entered.

...

”Whoa, itʼs been a while since Iʼve seen her so angry,” Siena commented.

”Combining a Kuudere with a Yandere in such an angry state is a recipe for disaster. I pity her daughters who will inherit their motherʼs dark side,” Pepper remarked, and as always, only the more ʼculturedʼ individuals could understand her words.

Once again, the scenery changed, this time she was in the middle of a cave with various holes.

”Ugh, please donʼt let them be spiders, please donʼt let them be spiders,” Eve began to mutter rapidly.

A notion Pepper also shared with her.

An Ice explosion occurred, and suddenly the entire cave was frozen, and in the next moment, spiders, hundreds of giant spiders, began to appear.

”FUUU-”

”Language.” Lacus covered Pepperʼs mouth.

”Ugh...” Eve just averted her eyes, something many women around her also did.

It wasnʼt that they had arachnophobia or anything; it was just that... those hairy legs, those eyes, it was all just creepy!

Ruby assumed a Martial Arts stance with her spear in front.

Victor smiled faintly when he saw the Martial Arts pose she was using. It was something they had trained together when they were stranded on Earth.

”Is this a Youkai?” Mizuki asked.

”Yes, but it looks different,” Haruna said.

The proof of their words came when the spiders began to spew fire from their mouths and create tree branches.

”.....” Haruna, Mizuki, Kuroka, and Kaguya just looked at Victor neutrally.

”... As I said, never underestimate your enemies,” Victor said again. ”Just because these creatures look like spiders doesnʼt mean they will only use webs, poisons, or their legs to fight. Expect the unexpected; thinking this way, you wonʼt be surprised in 90% of situations.”

Although there were many things they wanted to say, they couldnʼt argue with this logic.

...

Unlike the first few times, Ruby didnʼt let her guard down; she fought as she had been trained to be – fast, efficient, and deadly.

She wielded the spear, and monsters died, holes appearing in their bodies with a wave of her hand. With a step, she disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

Slowly, her battle instincts were coming back in full force. By adopting the right mindset, her body responded to her will, shifting from ʼscientistʼ mode to ʼwarriorʼ mode.

When the number of spiders started to dwindle, wolves appeared in a burst of Lightning.

This time, Ruby didnʼt lower her guard or get surprised.

She tossed her spear into the air, and it began to spin. In the next moment, Water began to pour from the spear and fall like rain, and Rubyʼs eyes glinted faintly. The Water droplets crystallized, piercing through all the creatures around.

The Ice spikes were so thin and deadly that even the Ice Wolves, resistant to that Element, were pierced.

With this attack, more than half of the monsters were killed, and only two wolves remained.

The spear fell back into Rubyʼs hand, and in the next moment, she disappeared and reappeared in front of the wolves.

As she was about to swing the spear to kill the wolf, she suddenly stopped; her instincts screamed danger. Her whole body was covered in Ice, forming a protective structure.

A Shadow Demon tried to pierce Ruby, but it couldnʼt. She grabbed the shadowy creature with her hands and squeezed, killing it.

When she killed the creature, her vision was obscured. She immediately understood that this was the work of the creatures and not because she had been blinded.

Closing her eyes and keeping her defenses up, she sensed several Shadow Demons coming from the darkness. She began to ʼdanceʼ on the battlefield, wielding the spear.

The movements and Techniques were all very familiar to everyone; it was as if they were watching Scathach herself in battle.

...

”Incredible... To think she became so strong,” Siena commented.

”Hahahaha, thatʼs what Iʼm talking about. Finally, sheʼs acting as she normally does,” Scathach laughed with satisfaction, but then her eyes narrowed. ”Although she still thinks too much.”

”This annoying habit of thinking before acting slows everything down; you must act on instinct! Instinct! Not with your mind!” Scathach growled as her wings flapped furiously.

”... This womanʼs mood has become even more unstable. Itʼs like she has bipolar disorder! And they call me crazy,” Natashia commented.

”In the early levels, itʼs okay for her to act this way... But the higher the level, the more she will realize that there wonʼt be time to think in a high-level fight,” Victor thought.

In a battle where every millisecond can determine life and death, the body must act before the mind. Thatʼs why Scathach emphasized this point so much.

The enemies began to diminish, and soon... No one was left, only Ruby standing, and several disappearing corpses.

In the next moment, a portal appeared.

Ruby took a deep breath, and walked towards the portal. ”Finally…” Just as she was about to go through the portal, she suddenly stopped, and attacked the ʼairʼ behind her.

”Humpf, I wonʼt let my guard down twice, maggot.”

When she finished speaking those words, the creatureʼs invisibility began to undo, and a creature appeared, a Hunter, monsters created by the Elder Gods.

Ruby cut the creatureʼs body into pieces, and without waiting, she jumped straight into the portal.

Seeing the familiar atmosphere of her room, Ruby sighed but didnʼt let her guard down. After experiencing everything that had happened so far, she suspected that even this room was not 100% safe.

...

”Heh~. In the end, did you realize, Scathach?” Victor smiled.

”Of course, she acted on instinct... This Tower is magnificent, Victor,” Scathach complimented. After so many years of telling her daughter to stop overthinking and act, it had resulted in nothing. But by pushing her to the limit, she had been able to evolve.

Victor simply nodded neutrally, showing no emotion.

Scathach looked at Victor and sighed. She could understand his feelings, but she also thought he was overreacting. The girls were not fragile flowers that needed to be protected 100% of the time.

Scathach wanted to say this to Victor, but she knew it was futile. She had made this comment in the past, and it hadnʼt changed anything. Victorʼs essence wouldnʼt change just because of a few words.

Even with Scathach herself being a very strong woman, Victor still worried about her.

Honestly, she was impressed that Victor had done something like this and let the girls enter this place. Even though they wouldnʼt truly die, the experience was still very real—pain, cuts, feelings, everything was real.

ʼWhat a complex man, and yet so simple at the same time.ʼ She smiled sweetly.

[Darling, itʼs working.] Roxanne spoke.

[What was the result?]

[Both times Ruby died, her Soul was nourished by the Beings, and some Essence of The Souls was absorbed, enhancing the quality of her own Soul.]

Victor nodded. Unlike him, the girls couldnʼt absorb Souls into their own Souls, but... that didnʼt mean they couldnʼt absorb traces of it. This Tower had that effect.

With each death on both sides, the Souls of the monsters would slowly nourish the girlsʼ Souls, thus increasing their potential and Power.

Victor was essentially exploring his manipulation of Souls, not to ʼalterʼ them as he normally did, but to ʼaddʼ something, something that should be impossible for him because he couldnʼt ʼaddʼ anything to a Soul that wasnʼt his own ʼEssence.ʼ

The task of adding ʼsomethingʼ to someoneʼs Soul was exclusive to the Primordial Entities, especially those who dealt with Life and Soul.

... But despite being a task exclusive to the Primordial Entities, Victor was still doing it on a smaller scale; he was venturing into a realm that only the Beings who controlled this Universe could enter.

Ruby had killed hundreds of monsters on that floor, and 0.2% of the Souls of those creatures had entered Rubyʼs Soul.

Yes, the number was very small, almost insignificant, but... if this was done thousands of times? In all those times, the owner of the Soul experiencing the ʼendʼ of life and receiving this boost?

Their Souls would increase in quality, consequently, their Powers, and latent potential would also flourish.

Victor was exploiting The System; he was taking advantage of the nature of Souls.

When an individual was about to die, the Soul showed its true potential and became more ʼopenʼ to interference, and that moment was when Victor would ʼaddʼ some percentages of the Souls he had to nourish the girls.

During those seconds, Victor would experience everything the ʼgirlsʼ were feeling in their final moments.

It was an exhausting job that tore at his heart, but Victor didnʼt mind doing it.

After all, as The Head of The Family, it was his responsibility to take care of his Family... Even if it meant causing his own Family to suffer to become stronger.

Feeling two hands touch his shoulder, Victor saw the faces of Aphrodite and Roberta.

”... Darling, youʼre pushing yourself too hard.” Concern was evident in the Goddessʼs eyes; she clearly sensed his inner turmoil.

”Rest for a bit, Darling. You need it,” Roberta said.

Victor smiled gently at both of them.

”This is nothing.”

Zaladrac bit her lip as she witnessed this exchange, and she had the same feeling she had when Victor was battling those Gods but he didnʼt call her because he wanted to protect this place.

”You... Haah...” Roberta sighed and simply hugged him, enveloping him in her ample bosom that was only a few centimeters smaller than Aphroditeʼs.

The Goddess just shook her head and sighed.

Victor chuckled softly and stroked Robertaʼs long hair; among his women, she had the longest hair.

Watching this exchange, Scathach, Natashia, Agnes, Eleonor, and Leona narrowed their eyes. They felt like they were missing something, but they didnʼt know what.

Leona looked at Kaguya, who had a solemn look in her eyes as she gazed at Victor.

”Do you know something?”

”I donʼt. But I can imagine. He has the same look as he did when he was in the Human World back then...” Kaguya spoke incomprehensible words to Leona, but not to the Maids around her.

”I understand. Thatʼs why Roberta is acting like this,” Maria opened her eyes in understanding.

”We need to do something... Shall we talk to him later?” Bruna suggested to the girls.

”Iʼll arrange it,” Kaguya nodded in agreement with Bruna.

”Weʼre really fortunate, huh...” Alter Eve spoke to Eve.

”Since that day in that dark room, Iʼve never regretted accepting his hand...” She said solemnly.

”...” Eve remained silent and simply nodded in agreement with Alter.

Those who were not connected to him couldnʼt ʼexactlyʼ understand what he was going through, but they knew the man they called Husband. It only took a suggestion here and there, and they soon fully understood that Victor was doing something more painful than letting the girls die.

”We need to talk, Scathach,” Aphrodite spoke sternly.

”Huh?”

”Now.” Aphrodite pulled Scathach and looked at Jeanne and Morgana with a look that told them to follow.

Victor heard everything that was happening around him and understood what was going on, but he didnʼt do anything and simply focused on the three women in The Tower.

”It looks like Violet and Sasha have stopped exploring. Itʼs their turn now,” he thought as he stroked Roberta, whose hair began to come to life and enveloped her completely as if it were alive.