Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 419 419: Alright, your turn

It happened so fast that Caiusʼs eyes couldnʼt and didnʼt follow the action. He saw Alexia launch herself upward, her sword flashed, Brogan cried and something hit the ground with a soft thud.

Upon closer observation, Caius saw it was an arm. Broganʼs right arm was adorned with fingers that were a show of status and wealth as well as being magical items. There was also a very impressively designed moonstone ring.

”Tch,” Alexia frowned. She had made for Broganʼs neck but he had gotten that part of his body out of the range of her sword just in time.

Still, since he was alive, he could be captured.

Unlike the other vampires she had fought, killed, and questioned today, Brogan surely knew the most and the knowledge he had could be so vital to shedding some light on what was going down in Capital City.

Brogan grabbed the stump his arm used to be attached to and stared at Alexia with his red eyes deep with hate. He had underestimated the Hunter and paid for it. Even worse, the Hellsong was still playing and it destabilized him far too much to actually contemplate getting back at her.

He unleashed his most violent wave of magical energy yet, slamming into the Hellsong Boxes and knocking them out of the air before a spell circle appeared at his feet to conjure water that wrapped around his body like a cocoon.

”Oh, no you donʼt,” Alexia said and with another boost of conjured lotus flower, she got close and swung her sword, cutting right through the cocoon, causing it to burst but Brogan wasnʼt in it.

He had successfully made his getaway.

”Damn it!” Alexia yelled while letting out her senses. She caught Broganʼs shifted signature but, injured as he was, he was still more than fast enough to have a massive head-start on her.

Alexiaʼs feet returned to solid ground as she wrapped an arm around her midsection. It would appear that as held-together as she had appeared when she went after Brogan, she was very much suffering the effects of the two hammer strikes into the ground.

It was all the more painful when she stopped using her Von Helsing Arts. The improved physical and magical might the Arts granted her were certainly a boon and helped boost her constitution to endure more pain but they also drained her far too much to be used for too long.

She clicked her fingers and the Hellsong Boxes stopped their song and floated to her hands where they vanished into her storage ring. In hindsight, Alexia realized her trap could have been a lot more elaborate. She could have used other Hunter Tools at her disposal to attempt to capture Brogan from the start.

Alas, at the time, she had just been so pissed that destabilizing him and taking his head had seemed perfect.

With a wave of her hand, Alexia cast a wind spell to grab and pull Broganʼs arm into her hand. It was her trophy and a valuable one. One of the rings on the fingers was a storage ring. It was locked to not allow access to anyone who wasnʼt Brogan but Alexia believed no lock was impossible to crack.

As Alexia walked back toward him, Caius was already back to his human form, feeling a bit silly now that he had actually thought Alexia would need his help at all.

”Hey, Cousin,” Alexia said to him with a smile as she retrieved a Healing Potion from her Storage Ring and drank it to heal.

Back inside Alexiaʼs carriage, they spent an hour or two silently cruising Capital City but there was a lot less urgency. Alexia believed they had interfered/missed every vampiric action in the City that night. Their cruise was more cautionary than anything.

And then, they turned, left the City and began the drive back to the Von Helsing Estate, and only then did Caius say something to break the silence.

”So what next?” He asked.

”I report what Iʼve found out to the City Guard Commander tomorrow,” Alexia said.

”And what have you found out?” Caius asked.

”That this is worse than a Vampiric infestation,” Alexia said with a heavy sigh, ”A lot worse.”

There was a brief moment of silence and then Alexia looked at him and smiled.

”And you did really well tonight, by the way,” she said, ”You did even better than I expected and I expected a lot.”

”Thank you,” Caius said lightly, ”It was great to see the Von Helsing Arts in action, too. You were very impressive against Brogan.”

”Who?” Alexia said, confused.

”Brogan?” Caius repeated, ”The Vampire whose arm you have in your Carriage.”

”Oh, right,” Alexia said and chuckled, ”You know his name?”

”Well, he introduced himself,” Caius said.

”I know that,” Alexia said with a roll of her eyes, ”I didnʼt think youʼd care to remember it. I certainly donʼt.”

”You donʼt?” Caius asked.

”Of course, I donʼt,” Alexia said and her perfect teeth flashed in a predatory grin, ”Why should an exterminator bother with the name of vermin?”

Another brief period of silence was eventually broken by Alexia.

”I apologize for putting you in danger today,” she started to say.

”Oh, itʼs fine—” Caius began to say but Alexia cut in to insist.

”No, itʼs not. I mean, a degree of danger is expected. Itʼs part of teaching you the Von Helsing ways. But under my watch, you were carted away twice. Thatʼs unacceptable. Iʼll do better.”

Caius had held on to some hope that sheʼd say she was no longer going to be teaching him. If he was going to be dealing with this matter his way, he needed a degree of freedom he wouldnʼt have if he was to remain by her side.

Alas, it seemed that was to continue for the moment.

•••

At the Estate, Caius and Alexia went their separate ways quickly enough, and in his room, Caius found Arlette sitting with a book that she didnʼt seem to actually be paying attention to.

She tossed the book aside almost as soon as he was in the room and gazed at his bruised face.

”Gods, I thought it was supposed to be reconnaissance,” she said with concern.

When it was clear he and Alexia were going to remain at Capital City until late in the night, Caius had contacted Arlette with a Loqui Link, so she was expecting the late return. She just wasnʼt expecting him to look so battered.

”Heh, you should see the other guy,” Caius said with a little laugh and then he wondered if the joke even applied here since the ones who did this to him did it at his request and then ran to safety because he asked them to.

Still, he began to strip out of his clothes, heading for the bath to wash off every grime and dirt of the night. Arlette followed, still dressed and just watching him while she waited for him to eventually divulge things.

And sure enough…

”So, how long have you known there was an opposing Vampire Coven in the Capital?” Caius asked as the water of the bath soothed his injuries and worked out all sore kinks while he turned around to observe Arletteʼs face at his question.

There was no surprise or confusion on Arletteʼs face. Just a resignation as she let out a breath.

”I received word of something of the sort this morning. A couple of hours after you had left with Alexia.”

”And you didnʼt tell me,” Caius said with furrowed brows. It wasnʼt a question. He was simply stating a fact. After all, it was well after she had received word that he contacted her about staying late in Capital City and if she wanted to tell, she could have said something then.

”There wasnʼt really anything to tell,” Arlette said, sounding remorseful,

”The Leopolds are no strangers to dealing with the odd few vampires trying to impose on their turf or hunt close enough to their home to expose them. Itʼs not even really ʼOphiuchusʼ business and they only told me the little they did out of courtesy.”

While ʼOphiuchusʼ was headed by vampires of the Leopold Coven, it was essentially a separate operation from the Coven itself.

In simple terms, itʼs as though ʼOphiuchusʼ is in charge of handling shady dealings that bolster the Leopold Covenʼs wealth and also sources for the blood they need to feed on but is not part of the ʼinner circleʼ. Itʼs why the Vampires of the Coven releases to handle the running of ʼOphiuchusʼ have the lowest ties to the Leopold family.

Arlette dropped to the rim of the bath with her eyes imploringly on Caius as she said,

”Believe me, if I thought it had anything to do with what Alexia took you to Capital City for, or that it wouldnʼt be a simple reconnaissance, I would have shared.”

”Tell me all they told you,” Caius said.

Arlette did and while it really wasnʼt a lot, it confirmed what Caius had guessed upon seeing the trio of Leopold Vampires tonight; The Coven was only just starting to handle the situation.

That said, Caius could tell that despite them telling Arlette it wasnʼt a big deal and she didnʼt need to worry about it, the Leopolds could sense something amiss. Once the trio got back to them tonight, theyʼd probably know to treat the situation more seriously.

”Alright, your turn,” Arlette said while Caius was taking in her words and his mind was working fast,

”Tell me everything that happened tonight.”