Volume 7 – Chapter 8 – Part 3 – Vampires, Vampires, and Vampires!

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

There once was a man who loved life. He lived in a certain universe before it became 'dark', before the only thing that they were forced to worship was 'darkness' itself. Before it, their world was bright and full of life, and the people on their planets were happy. While not all of them were at peace with each other, they weren't on the verge of war either.

His planet was full of his people, and others would sporadically visit his planet for different reasons. Most were tourists seeking adventure; some were here for business, but many of them went there for personal reasons, as that planet was known for one miraculous thing.

Healing. The type of healing that would be sought after by many people from the multiverse. Yet there was a strange and silent agreement among everyone—and that was to not abuse it. There was no official rule; there were no signs telling people not to, but every single visitor that visited the planet and the locals of that planet came to that silent agreement—a silent rule.

This man and his planet profited from this healing. Of course, this healing came from a certain location on their planet, in a giant spring. Anyone that went in was healing almost instantly, from physical deformities to incurable diseases; this well could heal everything.

One day, a certain individual visited this planet. It was a woman, and from the impression many got, she was a proud woman, and she held herself in high regard. That entire day, she asked many questions regarding the origins of the well, its healing powers, and what kind of restrictions were in place.

Everyone around her tried to give her the best answers they could, and in the end, it looked like the woman was satisfied with their answers. Before she left, she told them one thing.

"I am Phumera; I will be back someday; please look forward to it."

Those words to the denizens of this planet sounded like a promise to bring more people here so that they could prosper, but unknown to all of them, it would bring disaster to them and the rest of the universe.

However, their fate would not come until ten years later. It was like any other day; everyone went about their daily lives as if there was nothing wrong.

One particular man had become notorious over the ten years that Phumera was gone. He was a simple farmer on that planet, but after his fanatical ramblings, he convinced many that the woman who appeared ten years ago would bring them salvation. That when she returned, she would bring them riches beyond their imagination.

Many on this planet were not rich; most of them led mediocre and simple lives, but many of them were content with this—that was until this particular man started spreading this kind of belief to all of them. The impressionable youth clung onto it; some wanted to leave their planet to pursue brighter futures, and so they clung onto the man's words like they were a verse from the Bible itself.

One day she returned; however, everyone who saw her ten years ago knew something had changed. The smile she held was neither warm nor welcoming; to them, it felt cold and malicious.

"I have returned," she told them. "Please allow yourselves to be incorporated into our organization, and you will all lead prosperous lives."

This left the denizens of this planet stunned, even the man who had been telling everyone that she would return. They declined at first, but the more she pressured them, the more they became hostile, until they slowly drove her off the planet.

However, she left them with parting words that were quite ominous.

"You will come to regret this decision. You cannot deny him that well," she told them.

Initially, none of them took her seriously; in fact, they were quite confused by who she meant by 'him', but many of the denizens of the planet playfully mocked the man who said that she would bring them prosperity.

Some weren't so playful, but overall, they took it in stride and put the incident behind them. That was the kind of people that lived on this planet—they were kind and didn't hold grudges.

The man also began to make up for his foolishness by becoming a farmer again and making more produce than he did before, and many were quite happy with him.

But one day, judgment finally arrived.

It was abrupt and terrifying to them. An enormous jet-black cloud appeared above their planet; it was even larger than the planet itself, which scared many of them. From said cloud came down the same woman—Phumera.

"I will ask again; join our organization," she told them. But even in their fear-induced state, they refused. "So be it…"

The large black mass above them slowly morphed into a humanoid shape, and then it raised its hand before it brought it down. A few seconds later, the entire planet was covered in a jet-black haze, and with it came the horrified screams of its people.

The planet was dyed red. Blood, guts, and bones were splattered all around the planet, and even when the people there ran to the healing well, it couldn't heal their injuries much to their surprise; instead, it melted their skin off and harmed them in other ways.

When there were only a few left on the planet during the massacre, the jet-black humanoid approached the well, but two people stood in front of Phumera and the jet-black humanoid. One of them was the man who loved life; he loved his planet, people, and the well. So he didn't want them touching it, even after it stopped healing them.

The other was the farmer, who tried to convince the rest of the people that Phumera would bring them prosperity. He had failed them, and in his mind, he had doomed them. To him, this was his responsibility; he had to try and stop them from getting to the well, even if it was futile.

"Master Magnum Tenebrosum, these are the two that I mentioned to you," said Phumera. "Shall we continue with 'it'?" she asked.

The humanoid figure nodded its head and pointed one of its fingers at them. In a flash, their heads were pierced, and something was injected into them.

<<…Pets,>> it said before the two men morphed into things indescribable to nature.

Their bodies were no longer human; they were a large, jet-black blob that could shape itself into anything. Any time they tried to speak, they could only scream the horrendous screams of the damned.

The rest of the survivors were horrified; they didn't know where those creatures came from, and they ran away. But before their new instincts, the two men hunted them down and ate them, and after they ate them, they birthed new 'life'. Small blobs of darkness came out of them, and other creatures of darkness were born from them.

"Planets like this—with that well, they are few and far between. This is your order, across the multiverse, hunt them down and create more like those things you created," ordered Phumera.

An evil smile spread across her face. "This will be your role for the rest of time, or until you perish."

<<Go…>> said Magnum Tenebrosum.

The two large 'pets' screeched, and so did their 'offspring', before they spat one black liquid onto the planet and flew away and into space. The black liquid they left behind began to affect the planet and make it uninhabitable; nothing could grow there anymore, and life couldn't be supported.

Then, those two, with their 'children', began going to certain planets with the same 'well' or 'spring' of healing and began attacking them, corrupting the land and creating more offspring by consuming the denizens of that planet.

These two were left to do this for years and years until they split apart and went their separate ways. However, during all that time, they were aware of their actions, and still had their consciousness. The guilt of doing what they did never left them.

One day, they were brought in by Yve, Phumera's right-hand, and then they were forced to sleep. They finally thought that it was their end—that they had no more use—but... They 'woke up' again, but they were in a different place.

They were inside of someone. That was the conclusion they came to, they watched this person do many things, go through their world, and they pitied them.

'Poor thing. They lived a life of misery and are trying to change the world because of it,' thought the man.

However, the man also noticed something. One of its offspring was missing. Even though they felt guilty for killing so many, in some strange way they were relieved when one of them was gone. To him, he thought they may have been killed during the process of being put into this woman.

But one day, they felt them—they felt the familiar feeling, and they knew that one of their offspring was inside the man that their female host was speaking to.

'Ah, I see. So that's where you went. You were simply extracted from me. How unfortunate; I hope we can finally die something,' he thought.

And that day would come very soon. The host they were put into attacked a certain faction, and the man was worried but knew that they would lose and he would be forced out soon.

'I can't wait!' he thought. For when he came out, he would simply let them kill him if it was possible, but he also knew he had no control over his body.

When his host was finally defeated, he came out, but he was quickly restrained, and a certain person went inside of his very being.

<<-o-'t y-u -el- -e?>> it tried asking.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

<<-o-'t y-u -el- -e?>> the thing in front of me asked.

Presently, I am inside the creature that came out of Kecate Tepes. I also saw this thing—this man's history. It was sad and pitiful, and it annoyed me.

Why? For what reason did they force this on them? And why were those two looking for these healing wells? Was it crippling the rest of their universe's ways to heal and fight back at them?

[What did it say?]

''Won't you help me?' is what it asked,' I told Ddraig.

[Being forced to do something like that for hundreds or even thousands of years is pretty messed up. And its own summons are the people it killed; the first few were from their own planet too…]

Earlier, I had restrained this thing, it also included any movement in its soul since I had no idea if it was hostile while in here, but it seems like this person was very kind and gentle before being turned into this thing.

I touched the jet-black blob in front of me and reversed the transformation; at the same time, I removed the restraints on his soul.

What appeared in front of me was a man in his thirties, but his face made it look like he was sixty. He had jet-black hair and dull brown eyes. We only saw a portion of his memories and the things he was forced to do, so I can only imagine the rest of the inhumane things he was forced to do.

"…I will free you," I told the man.

He looked at me while tears gushed down his face. He repeatedly said, "I'm sorry" while covering his face with his hands.

I'm quite surprised that he stayed sane during all those years. Perhaps he shut down in order to save himself. Whatever he did, he was still somewhat sane, but the guilt never left him.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I said, "I will do the same for those lives that were lost and for one of your victims who was placed in Mikumo Himejima." He looked up at me, still crying. "Do you wish for me to send you off into the afterlife first? Or do you wish to wait for everyone else?"

"…Please…let me stay…I want to apologize to all of them…" he told me.

I agreed and stood up. "I'll keep your soul, but I'll destroy the body you have inhabited for many years; are you fine with that?"

"Yes…"

Turning around, I left the place, and once I arrived back outside, I saw that his other victim was already rampaging in the town, but it seemed like everyone had begun fighting it together. They'll be fine for a bit.

Facing the unmoving monster, I touched one of its legs and destroyed it. As I did, I kept the man's soul beside me, and when I looked to my left side, I saw his ethereal figure beside me. He was already staring at one of his victims, the one that was merged with Mikumo Himejima.

[He…that young man was only a child when I killed him…] said the man. [He is…still confused about everything, he doesn't know what he's doing…we were all controlled by that body.]

"I'll liberate him; leave it to me," I told him, and I prepared to jump towards the giant beast. It seemed like everyone else around it had stopped attacking it, so I'll take this as my opportunity.

Shin had finished his job in Kyoto, so I summoned him, and he jumped on my shoulder. I also turned the man into a small wisp and finally jumped forward. As I did, I created a silvery-white scythe in my hand, and once I was above the beast, I created a platform behind me and used it to jump towards the beast.

In a single downward swing, I sliced the beast in two while also separating the soul trapped in it from the body.

A few of those in our group began talking, and Bikou began to boo me. I released the older man with me, the other soul that appeared was that of a twelve-year-old boy who looked confused. The man went over to him and crouched down.

[I'm sorry…] he then explained the best he could and in a way that the young boy understood. As the boy listened, his face distorted, and he eventually started to cry too.

As the boy wept, he came over to me and hugged my leg. [Thank you…I can see Mommy and Daddy now.]

"…I'll make sure you do," I told him.

The next step was freeing the rest of the people he killed and consumed. Raising my arm, I released everyone else who had been turned into those things. A few seconds later, millions of soft, glowing green orbs appeared all around the town. Many of them changed into humanoid figures—they must have been their previous appearances before being turned into those creatures.

The boy suddenly let go of my leg, and he flew over to an old man and woman. They shared a group hug and began crying too. After a few seconds, the little boy pointed to me, and they waved to me, then disappeared. This scene replayed throughout the realm as many souls were finally laid to rest.

[Thank you,] the older man said beside me. He put a hand on my shoulder before disappearing, and then seconds later, the glowing around the realm stopped.

'Aaron…'

'I know, Rudra. I'll beat the answer out of Magnum Tenebrosum and Phumera when I meet them,' I replied.

I want to hear it out of their own mouths—their reason for doing these things. They surely didn't just do this because they felt like it, right? If what Sekudia told me about a few of the Eradicators was anything to go by, then something must have happened in their universe for her to do this.

But at the same time, I remembered my conversation with Azathoth about the other outer gods. He is the origin of darkness itself, he must have a lot of negative emotions and thoughts by default, so in a way, he can't help it, right?

That's the kind of answer I don't want to hear, but I won't be surprised if it is. However, Rizevim did what he did because he believed devils should be evil, and he was also just insane.

Looking around me, many people were confused by this sudden event, and it left me kind of tired. I better explain it to them.

— ○ ● ○ —

After my explanation, I began the quick restoration of the faction. Because of the defensive measures we took, the damage done to the place was minimal at best, and everything should be back in a few more seconds. As I repaired the place, Aoife wouldn't stop hugging me. Lavinia and her tried earlier, but like usual, they had a game of rock-paper-scissors, and the winner was her, hence why she's clinging onto me.

Lavinia wasn't that happy, so she asked for Shin instead and was coddling the puppy while giving me occasional glances that basically said, 'This could be you; do you want to reconsider? Or make room for another?'

This kind of thing would be a bit overwhelming to people, and I'm not surprised that my sons in the future don't want to have harems. While I didn't look into every detail about my life in the future, I basically understood that whatever they saw about me and my wives, they didn't want any part of it.

After finishing another part of the town, I quickly arrived at a different part of the realm with Lavinia and Aoife. However, as I began to repair it, a vampire I hadn't met before approached me. Well, that's not true; I saw her when the attacks started but didn't really speak to her.

"Jin Skyward-sama!" she exclaimed. She wore a dress that resembled a wedding dress and had bat wings on her head.

"Yes?" I replied, confused.

"Please make me your bride!!" she yelled into the sky.

Lavinia and Aoife were stunned into silence. To those around us, they stopped and stared at her. Before we could respond, Shin wriggled himself out of Lavinia's hands and jumped onto my head, he then lightly smacked me with his pawn on my forehead with a little 'arf!' to boot.

[Arf indeed!]

<<The avatar that is me is correct, Aaron,>> said Lycaon.

"Er…may I ask why? Also, who are you?" I asked. However, Aoife made space for Lavinia, and she joined us. We both stared at this woman in suspicion.

She twirled around, and a small explosion of glitter and bats occurred. "I am Ursulette! A pure-blooded vampire! I am friends with Elmenhilde and Eirisse! I have been looking for a husband for a long time, and you are the lucky one hundred and sixteen!"

O-one hundred and sixteen? That's a lot; it's not like I can say much in that regard. I wonder how many chi—

"The last one wasn't too long ago since they left me! The longest has been a month, and the shortest was a few minutes! I am also a virgin, if that's one of your preferences!" she proudly proclaimed.

Speechless would be the best way to describe how I felt. Who was the most blatant person I knew? Kanami? No, she's modest when she needs to, and stupidly lewd when she wants to be. Who…who introduces themselves like that?

"Nice to meet you?" I instinctively replied.

"If you don't have an answer yet, then—!" she stood in front of me, grabbed my hand, and forced me to grope her boobs. I was already in the stance where I had both my hands forward and open, so this wasn't that hard to do.

I pulled my hand away and awkwardly laughed. "Let's start as friends, Ursulette," I told her and saw that someone was trying to contact me. "Excuse me." Glancing at Lavinia and Aoife, they understood and started chatting with her, although they were already eager to talk to her.

Shin also jumped down from my head and back into Lavinia's arms. Stepping away, I opened the communication line, and it was from Azazel.

"Yo. So, we just got them and we've started putting them in certain cells. Anyway, Yashina made an interesting proposal, and I've contacted the leaders about it," he said.

"Go on," I replied. I am interested in hearing this proposal.

"So, she offered to be our interrogator, and she went into excruciating detail about how she tortured some people when she was still part of the Khaos Order. She said she's doing this all for you, so…"

Scratching the back of my head, I sighed. It's not that surprising at this point, while I don't trust her fully, I can see she's doing this because of her weird obsession with me. But…this should be fine since most of the fallen angels there are busy with other work, my [Electa] have their own jobs, and then…

"I'll assign a shadow soldier to watch over her as she does her job. Let's give her a trial run first," I suggested.

"Yeah, we thought about doing the same thing; alright, I'll discuss it with the rest. Oh, by the way, Kecate Tepes is awake and, for some reason, has reverted back in age, not physically but mentally and emotionally. Did you do something?" he asked.

"No…Gasper was the one to fight her. I'll go and check her out soon," I replied.

"I see…well, gotta go!" he said, and the magic circle disappeared.

When I was about to go back to the girls, I felt someone staring at me. When I faced them, it was Azathoth, and she didn't stop. Looking back at the three women, they were still interrogating Ursulette, so I flew over to Azathoth.

"Did you need something?" I asked.

"You learned of those things' truth. There is one more original that remains and thirty more out there roaming the multiverse. What will you do?" she asked.

"Not all of them were victims, right? That's my assumption anyway. So, when the time comes and when I confront them, I'll just do what I did. I'll release the innocent and kill the psychos who became those things willingly," I replied.

Although there will be exceptions, like with many things in life, they can't just be black and white, which makes it a bit more complicated. I guess it's just up to my discretion.

Azathoth squinted her eyes and looked at the sky. "I don't understand that enthusiasm of yours, but if what she said is true, then I will put my trust in it."

She had been acting a bit strangely since her talk with Cúntóir. By 'her', she's probably referring to Cúntóir. I haven't pried into what they said to one another, and I hope they'll approach me about it in the future, so I'll wait.

"It's better than being pessimistic about everything. But people are justified in the way they feel because of their experiences, so I try to listen to what they have to say before I start telling them how I feel about things."

As Azathoth was about to speak, we both heard Aoife calling my name and waving at us.

"They are calling you. You should go," she said, turning to leave. But I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Why not come with me? Didn't you come down here because you wanted to (and me forcing you a bit)? While I haven't done much 'ruling' yet, I want you to experience the things Cúntóir did; you two are one and the same, aren't you?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before her resistance faded, and she held my hand. With the consent of the outer god, I brought her with me.

"Hoho? I saw her earlier; yes, yes, she's quite the mature MILF, yes? Jin-sama doesn't mind all types of women I see," muttered Ursulette. In confusion, I stared at Lavinia and Aoife, both of whom shrugged.

"This is…" I sighed again. "Azathoth…uh excuse me, I won't be too long," I told them.

"Aaron?"

"It's fine, Nia. I won't be long. Make Azathoth less socially awkward around everyone for me, okay? Aoife, you're good at that too; I'll rely on your help," I said and left before they could respond.

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

In Romania, in a certain mountain range near the new vampire faction, there were three vampires. They were part of the vampire faction of the Khaos Order, but they ran late, and so they didn't join the battle that occurred in the faction. By the time they had arrived, they had already sensed that the rest of their comrades had been defeated.

So, they had been deliberating on what to do after they saw it.

"Just go in there! They let their guard down and think it's over!" hissed a female vampire. "We're Goddamn Super Vampires, we're on par with Balberith, Verrine, Gressil, and Sonneillon! We can overpower them!"

A male vampire smacked her head and shouted, "Are you insane!? You were alive during the war; did you not see him just wipe out everything!? Do you seriously think we stand a chance?! If anything, we're lucky that we didn't get there in time!"

"You're being a pussy," said another male vampire. "So what if he did that? It's not like he'll do it to just kill us; all we need to do is have a hostage, and we'll be good. At the same time, we can kill the rest."

Nirea, the female vampire, stood up and declared, "Let's do this then! If you're that confident! I'm going; I ain't stopping, shit!"

Her short blue hair softly fluttered as she did, and her red eyes glowed. As she crossed her arms, her plain black shirt with sheep heads on it made her breasts stand out while she waited for the other two to respond. She wore short black shorts and black fishnets with black heels.

"Fuck it; as one of the few Super Vampires left, I'll do it," said Hiaisi.

He was small, very small. Hiaisi was around 5'1" in height, and he had some complex about it and would usually kill or beat up anyone who made fun of his height. He had long black hair, yellow eyes, and wore a clown costume just to entice those comments, so he had an excuse to kill people as much as possible.

The last super vampire, Siuxam, shook his head. "We're dying; we're definitely dying." He was the most level-headed and intelligent one out of the three of them. He liked looking at things logically, and he could in no way see them winning, even if they found a way to weaken him.

He had short, spiky platinum blonde hair, lime green eyes, and wore a plain black shirt with a lab coat over it, blue jeans, and white sneakers. He stood at 6'0" and had an athletic build, even though his personality didn't match it.

[Yeah, you're right, man, you're screwed,] said a voice behind them.

"Right? I'm glad someone agrees with me…huh? Who said that?" asked Siuxam. He looked at the two in front of him, and both their faces were pale. He turned around as they were clearly looking past him, and he saw…

"…Shit, it's the [Welsh Dragon]…" mumbled Siuxam.

Above them stood Ddraig in his human form, beside him was Albion, who was also in his human form; and behind them, floating in the sky, was Aaron Toole.

"Who cares! We came here to fight and kill him! If we defeat him, we can—" Hiaisi's head was grabbed by Ddraig, and he flew away with him.

"Take your pick," said Aaron.

{…I'd rather beat up men,} mumbled Albion before disappearing, headbutting Siuxam in the stomach, and launching him away.

'Why do they leave women to me?' he asked himself, while looking at the remaining vampire.

Cúntóir: Answer: Because—

'Can you fight her instead?' Aaron asked, surprising Cúntóir. Moments later, another female materialized beside Aaron, and Cúntóir looked eager to please him.

"I'll do it!" she said excitedly, her eyes glowing while she stared down Nirea, the female super vampire.

Nirea frowned and flew towards Cúntóir, who smiled confidently at her. The vampire created ice balls on her hands and then threw them towards Cúntóir, who stood still.

She glanced at Aaron, who became confused by this action. She smiled and said, "First…comes a punch!" she then threw her fist towards the ice attacks, shattering them.

'…Didn't I say that when I fought Rizevim?' thought Aaron.

"Ah~ I wanted to say that," she said, satisfied.

Cúntóir's face became serious as she pointed her right arm towards Nirea, who covered her body in powerful energy and created several layers of defensive magic circles. From Cúntóir's arm shot out an enormous spiral of wind magic, one different from the DxD world.

Aaron calmly created a barrier around them, preventing the human world from feeling this. He hadn't anticipated Cúntóir in using this level of power to take out an opponent who was much weaker than herself. The attack destroyed everything in its path; the vampire…was shredded into pieces, she had no chance against Cúntóir; and the 'fight' only lasted a few seconds at best.

Cúntóir turned around and, with a bright smile on her face, asked, "How was that?"

Aaron flew over beside her and patted her head. "A bit overboard, but it's fine. We didn't need any of them anyway; they held nothing of importance."

Cúntóir stared at him, expecting a reward. He leaned over and kissed her; she squealed in delight before going back inside of his soul, Aaron quickly left to watch over the two Heavenly Dragons fights.

— ○ ● ○ —

[You can do better than that! C'mon, shrimp!!] bellowed Ddraig as he avoided all the attacks that Hiaisi sent to him.

"Don't call me shrimp!!" screamed Hiaisi. He was furiously throwing punches imbued with magic, but he couldn't land anything on the Heavenly Dragon.

Ddraig suddenly stopped, and he gestured with his finger to his temple. [Go ahead, I'll let you have a free hit.]

This only proved to anger Hiaisi even more as he increased his output to his maximum limit. Veins were visible all over his body, and his face had also turned red out of anger. Although Ddraig couldn't take him seriously because of the clown costume and clown makeup on his face.

The Heavenly Dragon had to hold back his laughter the entire time he had been toying with the little vampire. Hiaisi had finished powering up and had gathered a large amount of energy around his right fist. Ddraig floated there confidently and did not plan on moving at all.

[Go ahead, I promise I won't move,] he said confidently.

"You better not regret this, you shitty lizard!!" roared Hiaisi. The more he charged his attack, the more power Ddraig felt from it, which made Hiaisi grin. "Before you die, let me explain my unique ability. I call it [Dynamic Big Bang]. Every time I'm called any abbreviation of 'short', this power multiplies by two! So if you don't want—"

[Shrimp, midget, small, little, runt, peewee, half-pint, toy, mini, miniature, petite, miniscule, teeny, microscopic, infinitesimal, minute, small, small, small, small, midget, midget, one-inch-wonder,] Ddraig kept listing off words, or he kept repeating them.

This only kept making Hiaisi's technique stronger, but also made him madder; steam was coming out of his ear, and it made Ddraig giddier. Finally having had enough of the dragon's insults, he finished charging up his technique and unleashed it. A powerful, dark yellow aura covered his arm.

Hiaisi ran towards Ddraig and threw a powerful punch at him. "Die, you shitty dragon!!"

Ddraig was hit by a point-blank explosion that shook the entire vicinity, an enormous crater was created beneath him, and all the trees around them were blown away. Hiaisi grinned as he counted the number of times he had been insulted.

In total, he was called 'short' 72 times in the last two days, this included what Ddraig called him. This is why he was so confident, but once the smoke cleared, the color in his face drained.

[What's wrong? I let you get a free hit in and even helped your technique get stronger,] asked Ddraig. [So…I get a free hit in, right?]

Hiaisi began to back away and then turned around to fly away. The most he had been insulted using those abbreviations was 108 in total, and he used them on a much weaker opponent. However, even at 72, he was confident he would at least injure the dragon in front of him, but it did no damage, and that terrified the vampire.

'Ddraig, Albion, you can kill them; we don't have any use for them…' Aaron told them.

Ddraig grinned and appeared directly above the terrified vampire. Ddraig reeled his clenched fist back before shrouding it in an indescribable amount of draconic energy. [Hehehehe…!] he laughed and charged towards Hiaisi, who had created some defensive barriers in front of him.

[Welsh Dragon: Dragon Fist!!] Ddraig screamed in euphoria.

As his fist shatters the magic barriers, it makes contact with Hiaisi's chest, and the second it does, an explosion occurs in the shape of himself—the Welsh Dragon. The last thing that Hiaisi saw before his life ended was the Heavenly Dragon psychotically grinning at him.

[Two points to the [Welsh Dragon]!!] he screamed as he landed on another giant crater he made after killing Hiaisi.

Aaron landed beside him and lightly slapped him on the head. "Was that really necessary?"

Ddraig shrugged. [I wanted to try the [Dragon Fist] out made by Goku, can you fault me?] he looked around and asked, [What about Albion?]

{Me? I'm done,} replied the [Vanishing Dragon] as he landed behind Ddraig.

[Hmm…so you spared him?] asked Ddraig. The vampire called Siuxam was on Albion's shoulders, seemingly unconscious. However, the other Heavenly Dragon shook his head.

{He's dead. I'm just carrying his body; I thought if we brought his corpse to Grigori, they may be able to replicate the creation of Artificial Super beings, like Super Devils and Super Vampires, with the help of the other factions, of course,} he explained.

Ddraig looked at Albion, then back at Aaron. [Are you sure about that, Partner? It may turn south quickly, you know?]

"Ajuka and Sirzechs are just outliers. So far, there haven't been any others that can equal them, not even the late Rizevim, as he was much weaker than them. The Super Devils in the Khaos Order's control right now are…well, they're far from their full potential, and they're still far below those two," said Aaron.

He then pointed behind them. "Anyway, let's go; we're done here. Good work, by the way, Albion. I'll send that corpse to Azazel now."

Albion nodded, handed over the corpse to Aaron, and both dragons vanished back into their respective Sacred Gears.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

After both dragons left, I contacted Azazel again.

"Azazel, I—" Explaining what my companions and I accomplished, I told him I would send him the body of one of the Super Vampires, and he could do whatever he wanted with it after.

"Are you sure? I'm known as the most sinister fallen angel of all ti—"

"I don't know that Azazel and I don't care. Make up for your sins now, and for the rest of time. You may want your species to die out with you, but I and a lot of people don't want that, so shut up and keep living," I told him.

It seemed like he was left speechless for a few seconds before he began laughing.

"Whatever you say, brat. Alright, send him over!" he said and laughed more.

"Right…"

I did just that, and we said our goodbyes. Whatever history he had, and no matter how shitty he was, he can't fix it now unless I directly intervene, and even if I do, we're just creating a new timeline where he didn't do those things. He has to live with that guilt and move on; if he wants to repent, then do it.

He's doing that with Avezza since he still feels guilty about how he denied her that chance to save the love of her life, although I've already erased it, so it's kind of…

"Why are you just staring at the ground?" Velgrynd's voice asked.

"…Vel? What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you—"

"You told those women, not me or anyone else. I also felt a surge of power here, one relating to dragons, so I became curious, the rest were not that interested," she explained.

Well, yeah, they'd probably go with, 'Oh, it's just Aaron.' And get on with it; I guess she's not that used to it yet.

I raised my left hand and offered it to her. She looked at it curiously, so I said, "Let's go; everyone else is waiting for us, and let's just spend the next two days here relaxing. We did just go through that with everyone else."

Like a typical tsundere, she looked away, sported a small blush, but still held my hand. She squeezed my hand quite tightly, actually, surprising me. In my head, I heard Rudra chuckling to himself.

Way too many things happened today that left me with many things to think about.

The Phantasma, Phumera, and Magnum Tenebrosum, the other pets I need to release, the strange vampires I met, and Azazel being weirdly nostalgic with me…

— ○ ● ○ —

A few hours had passed, and it was now dusk. The sun was going down on the horizon, and the faction became even livelier since the leaders announced that there would be a celebration and party because our group had prevented an attack on the faction again. The people there, who became a lot more accepting of outsiders, wholeheartedly agreed, and in two hours' time, the celebration would start.

Everyone was still busy getting everything ready, and even after we offered to help, they told us not to and just to enjoy ourselves since we helped save them again. So we all accepted this, and now…

However, something interesting did happen just a few minutes ago. The prideful and battle-maniac Vali Lucifer…started a little harem for himself. Genbu Doumon and Calantha Vordenburg were the two women with him, and she's apparently meeting with her parents right now with him present, so that should be interesting.

Lavinia went with him, and I was going to, but he was too embarrassed for me to be there, and only asked for Lavinia, who was more than happy to do it. It made me wonder: with him accepting his harem, did he open up more to Lavinia?

{Are you jealous?} asked Albion.

'No, I'm just happy for him; that's all. I did want to be part of it since I am the older brother,' I replied to Albion. "But seriously…who would have known, huh?" I muttered to myself.

"Make sure to catch a big one!" Kanami said behind me.

Currently, I am fishing. Why? I dunno, I just decided to on a whim, and maybe some fish for the celebration wouldn't be a bad thing. A few followed me even though they were free to do whatever they wanted, and those were Kanami, Natsume, Mom, Aoife, Cindy, Grayfia, and Fusae.

Three, or four if you count Mom, hyperactive people were a few feet away from me. While we were accompanied by two maids and a reliable but quiet magician. Fusae was beside me, eager to learn how to fish, so I taught her earlier, and she learned quickly.

"We'll be exploring this place a lot more tomorrow, right? I want to go with you tomorrow, Aaron," said my mom behind me.

"It'll be boring, you know? I'd suggest you go off on your own," I replied.

In reality, there were around eight buildings I would need to make; they were strangely specific about it, but I didn't mind. The Rating Game building with the same field mechanics would be built last, and the design is something I look forward to making.

She came up behind me and embraced my head, forcing a soft sensation on the back of it. "Anywhere with my son is fun!"

"You know, Róisín-san, that sounds kind of lewd," Kanami said while creepily chuckling to herself while putting a hand over her mouth.

Seconds later, I heard a loud smack from the direction of Kanami. "It's only lewd because of that rotten brain of yours!"

"Say that again, motha-fucka!" Kanami shouted in exaggerated English.

"Why English?! Also, why in that way?! We can say it normally, you dunce!" Natsume shouted.

"Hmm~ those two argue a lot but are very close. What a strange pair of sisters," mom said behind me, sounding curious.

"Well—" As I went to speak, I felt a bite on my line, so I began to reel and pull it in. After a few seconds, I pulled out a gigantic, supernatural fish. It resembled a cod but was forty times larger.

"Uwaaaaaa!! What the hell is that!? Why were the rest of the fish you caught smaller!?" Natsume screamed.

"Oh. My. God! Is that the legendary weirdly named fish in manga!? Let's call it [Ultra Spicy COD Meat]!" Kanami yelled excitedly.

This is supposed to be a quiet and therapeutic experience, but I have two screaming women with me constantly. Two. Using a bird's-eye view, I looked around the area and found Aoife sitting away by herself, watching the water with unchanging eyes.

She's been like that for a while now, and I'm a bit worried, but not too much since I know that it might have something to do with what happened with the souls earlier. She did her best in trying to hide it from me, but I know her, and she's definitely saddened by it and may say something about it to me soon.

After I pulled the enormous cod-like fish in, I killed it and cut it into appropriate sizes. Grayfia, who would normally do it, brought out a gadget she received from Grigori. Since they know I cook a lot, she gifted me (I then gave the item to Grayfia) a portal fridge. She stored the cut-up pieces of cod (after washing them with magic) in it.

"We will be able to make plenty of dishes with this, Grayfia," Cindy said beside her. "When we return home, would you like to experiment with Raiko and Inaie?"

A strange twinkle appeared in Grayfia's eyes. "I have a few recipes in mind…" she mumbled and glanced at me. Just then, Fusae's rod began to twitch, and then the line was pulled away at a fast speed.

"…I have one!" she said and began to reel it in, but she had a bit of trouble. So she started using more strength, and eventually she pulled it up.

"T-that's even bigger!" Natsume yelled.

"That's what she said!" replied Kanami, before another smacking sound echoed in the area.

What Fusae pulled out was an even larger fish than mine, roughly four times larger. To our surprise, as she pulled it up, it looked angry, and from its mouth shot four water bullets that were aimed at us.

As I was about to move, mom's chest lifted from behind my back, and she stood in front of me. Summoning a frying pan, she increased its size and threw it at the monstrous fish. The water bullets were destroyed in the process, and they made a loud 'ding' sound when they smacked the fish in the face.

She used a lot of power too, since a large circular patch was made below us on the water, showing the ground under it. After the fish was hit, the frying pan disappeared, and the fish fell to the ground, dead or unconscious. I wasn't sure yet since I was stunned by the sequence of events.

Fusae casually used magic to teleport the 'confirmed' dead fish beside Cindy and Grayfia, who began to cut it up. Even Aoife reacted to this by laughing at its absurdity.

"Two points for me~" mom said, and she went back to hugging me.

I'm confident that my life in the next thousands of years will never be dull because of the people around me.

— ○ ● ○ —

Later on that evening, the entire realm was in high spirits; music, food, and drinks were shared all around. Most of it took place in the 'center' of this realm.

"Give me more! Hyahahaha!" Bikou shouted, drunk.

Earlier, I had offered to use my alcohol that only made you tipsy when drunk, but they declined, saying they wanted to be drunk, so I let them be. Right now, with the exception of a few people I know who were drunk (like Rossweisse, they asked me to make it so that they couldn't get drunk; this took time, though).

"Ah! Someone went streaking!!" someone shouted, and when we all turned to look, we saw that it was one of the vampire youths. They ran around butt-naked in the wind while laughing manically.

"Small," Velgrynd said with a smirk on her face.

Apparently, she said it loud enough (or used her powers) that the young man heard it and looked broken. His shoulders slumped, and he ran away while screaming louder. Danu, who was beside her, scolded her.

"Be nice, Velgrynd. Not everyone is the same size down there," she told her like a mother. Velgrynd turned away while muttering a half-assed apology.

"Danu-san, how do you know that?" Shigune asked from my lap. In response to this, Danu's face turned bright red.

"I-I…G-Grayfia told me…" she said, embarrassed. The maid, who was a couple of feet away from her, looked at her, shocked.

"…Well, that makes sense," concluded Shigune, who went back to drinking juice. This shocked Grayfia even more, but she didn't deny it; she just sported a small blush and looked away.

It feels like she was used as a scapegoat…

Sorry, we're late," said Tobio. We turned to our side and saw him and Sae.

It was quite late already, but Hana Ikuse didn't want to go to sleep yet and wanted to join the festivity—well, as much as a child of her age could—which was mostly 'Gah! Gah!' and 'Goo! Goo!' noises and then crying.

"Hana kept on crying until she tired herself out. Thank you for the barrier and shadow soldiers, Jin," said Sae.

"Don't worry about it, now come on and let's part—"

"Husbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand~!" Ursulette screamed before jumping towards me. Tears, snot, and alcohol were present on her person.

I expected Shigune to panic, but instead she was quite calm. From her lap came Poh, Pooh, and Pon. She pointed at Ursulette and said, "Pon, tackle."

Pon made a strange sound before jumping up and tackling Ursulette on the stomach, flinging the woman away. Pon landed on the ground, triumphantly trotted back to us, and made himself at home on Shigune's lap again.

"S-Shigune, I-I think that was a bit much…" Aoife said, looking at the vampire in the distance, knocked out.

In the distance, I could see Gasper's father, who was drunk too. Their relationship has made steady progress, and he calls him 'father', in a respectful manner, and he refers to Gasper as his son. I vaguely know that they keep in contact and even talk to each other once a week through a magic circle.

Although, I do have a surprise for both of them, much like what I did with the Saji family. I'm saving it…until later on the night. I think the Vladi family would be better off without everyone crowding around them when it does happen.

But I have seen three people who wanted to speak to me. Like earlier today, Aoife. It definitely has something to do with the Phantasma, but the other two were Valerie and Fusae. Fusae had been quite close to me the entire day after the incident happened.

The fishing, helping me with stuff that concerned the festival right now, being weirdly attentive, and of course, she spoke with Lavinia a lot with Valerie. It seems like she's getting ready to confess to me or something, or at least tell me some news.

"Why don't you drink, Jin?" Dracula asked me. He had become a bit more talkative after getting tipsy, as he did when everyone visited my restaurant.

"I have, even though it's in small increments since I can't get drunk," I replied, and I showed him my glass of wine.

"You know when I was your age—" He started on a small rant about things that I half-heartedly listened to, and eventually Kiss Shot came over and kicked him away.

"You'll bore him to death with your stupid monologues," she told him, and they got into a fight. The people around us cheered; it seemed like it was a common occurrence, and they just accepted it now…

Gone were the noble facades of the vampires, and they had become a lot more modernized. I preferred this since forcing myself to act so formal is suffocating, but it is necessary for certain occasions.

"Forgive them. Even if they were the original progenitors of our race, they can act like children at times, although it's usually only when they're interacting with each other," Carmilla suddenly said.

She was wearing an elegant dress that complimented her and had her hair tied in a short ponytail. Wine in hand and looking a bit tipsy herself, she had placed her hand on my shoulder as she said this.

"Ah…yeah, I get it," I replied. However, Carmilla kept on rubbing my shoulder in an increasingly sensual way, leaving me baffled.

[You saved her faction twice, you're the famous harem-seeking dragon, need I say more?] said Ddraig.

Before I could move, something slammed against Carmilla's side, launching herself and the thing that hit her away. I and the rest were surprised by this and saw that the one who had attacked her was the drunk Ursulette.

"Uwaaaa!! Youuu caaaan't I'll be his fiiirst vampiiireeeeee!!" Ursulette cried out. She started to rub her face against the annoyed leader, who didn't say anything, but instead patted her on the head while continuing to drink her wine.

Eirisse came over to us with Elmenhilde while looking exhausted and guilty. But before they could reach me, Vali ran past us while being chased by his two lovers.

"Vali-kun, wait!"

"Valii~~!"

"I agreed to this, but I'm not ready for that!" he cried and kept running before summoning his [Divine Dividing] and flying away, the two still in hot pursuit.

[Did they try jumping him or something? Gyahahaha!]

After them were Kouki and Kalawarna, and it seemed like the fallen angel was drunkenly chasing him.

"I'm not ready for THAT kind of play!" yelled Kouki.

"Hiic…y-you'll like it, I-I swear…hiic…!" Kalawarna drunkenly yelled back as the two kept running away.

Meruem and Mittelt appeared to have fallen asleep and were lying against each other in a corner of the plaza. Seeing as how they were already asleep; I clicked my fingers and transported them to an Inn that we were all staying at.

"It's very chaotic tonight," said Eirisse, and Elmenhilde agreed with her.

"Yes, it is, although it's all for good reasons, but the clean-up will be a lot," added Elmenhilde.

"I can do that much since you guys will be doing this for two nights in a row," I said. "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

They tried to protest, but I convinced Carmilla and eventually the two other leaders of the faction, and they agreed. The rest of that night was just as chaotic, but still fun.

— ○ ● ○ —

Midnight, many vampires were still out since they were the most active at night, but they weren't making as much noise. This was because they had gotten used to living during the day and going to sleep at night because of the new barrier and faction.

Presently, I am in a dilemma of sorts. I slept with the usual seven (turned eight per my mother's request), however, I woke up and needed to do something, so I left my room. On my way back, I was stopped by three people.

Valerie, Fusae, and Aoife.

"How…can I help you guys?" I asked. It seemed like they didn't speak about this beforehand as they stared at one another, waiting for someone to do something.

Sighing, I said, "Let's go with this: I'll start with Valerie, then Fusae, and then Aoife. How does that sound?"

They looked at each other one more time and silently agreed, so Aoife and Fusae went away while Valerie took my hand and led me somewhere else, and we ended up at one of the verandas of the Inn. Even here, the moon was quite bright, so most of the town's lamps were turned off; we only had them on during the party just to illuminate the place more, but we were told that they weren't necessary.

"I'll make this brief, Aaron, since those two probably have more important things to talk to you about," she suddenly said and turned around. The light of the moon illuminated Valerie, making this moment seem like something out of a fairy tale.

"I don't have family anymore except for my new half-sister, who's most likely going to spend a lot of her years in prison. Of course, family can be more than blood, and I see everyone in your home as a new family to me." She held her left hand in front of her, letting the gem on her ring glow. "I'd like to get married to you."

"Val—" As I went to speak, she stood in front of me and put a finger on my lips.

"I know what you did for Gasper, and you plan on doing that tomorrow, right? You and the Occult Research Club already helped him come out of his shell, and be more confident. Not to mention him having his own harem, that was a surprise," she exclaimed and giggled.

She reached over and linked our pinkies together. "That's why…I'd like to start a family together with you in the future, so will you accept?" she asked, sounding nervous.

She's…what? The third (or fourth, if I count Irene) woman to propose to me, well, it's not like I mind. "Accept, Valerie. Although I did plan on proposing to you too since we were coming here and I invited you," I told her.

"Oh…d-did you mean to do it today?" she asked.

"Yeah, but as you know, those guys attacked us and we had to do other things during the day, so I didn't find a good opportunity to do it." I gestured to her and added, "But it seems like you had other plans."

Valerie smiled before reaching out with her hand and intertwining our fingers before stepping closer to me. "I guess I'm engaged now."

"Yeah." We leaned in and shared a quick kiss before she pulled away.

"I'll get going then; I can't hog up all your time," she said, winked, and left the area. A minute later, to my surprise, both Fusae and Aoife came in together.

Aoife went behind Fusae and slowly pushed her towards me while maintaining a small grin on her face. "Fusae-Fusae has something to say to you."

"And what—"

"She's a boy!" Aoife confidently yelled, stunning both of us.

"W-w-what? I-I'm a woman!" corrected Fusae, looking mortified at her Irish friend. Aoife just laughed at her before they waddled closer to me.

"Now go, my young padawan, gooo~" Aoife said in a strange voice while making even stranger hand gestures as she backed away from us.

Fusae stood in front of me, nervous and fidgeting, but she took a deep breath and said, "…I…I'd like a book exchange."

...What? B-book exchange? She probably saw the confusion on my face and continued.

"T-this…" she brought out a small 'book' of a couple of pages. The title was— "I-I'd like to exchange yours for mine…"

[A Magician's Love Pact].

This…was strangely like Fusae, so I played along. Summoning my own book, I held it towards her. [A Dragon's Love Pact]—even if I'm not technically one anymore, I still like calling myself it.

"What a coincidence; I have one too. I guess this works out too, right?" I asked, grinning at her.

Her face was already red with embarrassment, but Fusae agreed with me. Without another word, we exchanged books, and she held the one I gave her close to her chest while she looked like she wanted to say something else.

"U-um…" she said and looked up at me while hugging the book.

"Hmm?"

Glancing to our side, I saw Aoife acting like some kind of cheerleader, although she didn't make a single sound. It was obvious because of the noise she made by her movement alone. Her being like that made Fusae a bit more self-conscious.

"I…I like…you, pleashe let me be with yo-you…!" she stammered out.

She was shaking like a kitten, afraid and nervous about something. I didn't think confessing one's feelings would be this scary for some people, but I guess, I only ever did it to Aoife back in my previous life and did it so casually here that it never bothered me. But to some, it is a big deal.

Putting a hand on her head, I lightly ruffle it. "I like you too, Fusae. Let's get along from now on, alright?"

She seemed to relish the touch as I felt her go on her tiptoes to get more of it. I petted her for a few minutes, until we heard a slightly awkward cough to our side, and we turned to see Aoife there, pointing at a non-existent watch on her wrist.

Fusae seemed to come back to reality and panic slightly. "I-I have to go! T-thank you for accepting me. I-I'll be in your care from now on!" she said and bowed before scurrying out of the place.

She skipped over to me and poked the side of my stomach. "You sure took your time. Fusae looked like a dog getting pets and didn't want it to end," she said and giggled. She went over to the veranda and looked out at the town.

"There are still a lot of vampires out, huh? …This new pantheon—I saw the old ones from the memories that I saw from Azathoth. It's great that they united, right? I always had a dream of everyone in the human world uniting…as childish as that sounds," Aoife said, looking at the moon.

She turned back to me, showing a sad smile. "But…you helped unite everyone here. Was it because we knew it was inevitable or because you wanted it?" she asked.

I joined her and ruffled her head. "It's a bit of both, honestly. Sooner or later, they'll be forced to unite even if I didn't do it, the Khaos Brigade, Qlippoth, and the Evie faction from the ExE. But now…they have more problems since I came into existence, so I have to at least help them out on it."

Smirking at her, I added, "You also heard from them why I wanted peace, right?"

She laughed and poked my cheek. "Because you abandoned me and wanted a harem for yourself~?"

"…C'mon…I didn't have my memories back then…" I replied, and she giggled again.

"I know, I was just joking, Aaron." She turned back to the sky and looked at the moon while holding my hand and locking our fingers together. "…I want to save as many as we can when we come across them in the multiverse…I know it's unrealistic, but…can you help me grant this selfish request?"

Her grip tightened on my hand. "I heard about it from Azathoth, she told the 'Fated Ones' and me since I knew you beforehand, we even had a magic circle for Rossweisse to hear it too. It's too tragic. I don't want them to suffer—especially those in the Phantasma, they're fighting a war that they never stood a chance in the first place…Aaron…can we…please…?"

Liberate them, huh? …I was already going to do that since I know how much they're suffering and what kind of universe it used to be before 'Darkness' went there and ruined it. Although it wasn't a perfect universe—let's be honest, no universe is like that—he just rapidly made it worse, and now it's in the state it is.

"That was my plan already, Aoife. But…yeah, let's go and liberate them once we're done with the Khaos Order on this universe. Don't worry though, Laeronia and the others in the ExE and CxP are going to make this easier for us. I want to be there when we take them down—to see their faces fall into despair like how they made the people there feel," I told her.

She laughed and softly hit my shoulder with her free hand. "You sound like the evil one now, Aaron…but thank you. I hate violence, and if it was possible, I would have liked to do it more peacefully, but I know they can't be reasoned with, so let's do our best to minimize the damage."

"Alright! Let's go to sleep then, we still have tomorrow to deal with," I said, and I began to pull her away.

"…It's just sad I can't sleep with you today~" she added as she left the veranda. She then forced me down to her height and whispered, "…And not just sleeping normally together."

I stopped and stared at her. "Are you horny?"

"Don't just say that!" she retorted and headbutted my chest. I let go of her hand and began lightly jogging away while laughing, Aoife was a bit angry at me for blatantly telling her that.

— ○ ● ○ —

"How about making it pink?" Mom asked.

"…I can't, I mean, I have their plans and blueprint here, mom," I replied, and I showed it to her.

Morning, after a loud and energetic breakfast with everyone, I started on my work here. Everyone else was free to do what they wanted, but a few did go back to Grigori to report what happened here to the alliance. Tobio, Kanami (unhappy), and Natsume went back. Rias and Akeno also went back to the Underworld to report to them, while I contacted Michael myself and we spoke as I worked on the first construction site.

I was in the second one now, and the ones who came with me were mom, Cindy, and Grayfia. Like everyone else, I told them that I would be fine on my own, but they insisted on staying. Suzaku, Danu, and Lavinia were going to stay too until I convinced them otherwise, and now they were exploring the new faction in groups.

The other groups stayed too; Lavinia had to force Vali, but Ouryuu did since something happened in their clan, Suzaku also wanted to leave initially, but with Atsutarou's new freedom, he's acting as head today to let Suzaku have a bit of time off. While some were reluctant at first, there were more in favor of it since he was Suou's son.

Right now, I am constructing a few more houses in a new residential area; the next should be another commercial, then an industrial, then a few obscure buildings, and finally the last two, which were the museum and Rating Game building.

"I should be helping with the preparations…" Grayfia mumbled to the side.

Like last night, tonight we would have another party, and then we would go home. However, like yesterday, they refused our help, so the very dedicated devil maid who came with me felt a bit lost during her free time.

Mom handed back the blueprints to me and trotted over to Grayfia. "Now, now, Grayfia, it's important to rest every now and again, correct?"

Slightly flustered, she agreed with my mother. "Y-yes, b-but it's the duty of a maid too—"

"Aren't you Aaron's maid now?" she asked, and Grayfia nodded. "Aaron, order her."

"Grayfia Lucifuge, accompany my mother for the day; that's an official order—oh, and also relax a bit," I told her while doing the last touch-ups for the homes.

Grayfia was left speechless as I checked the houses to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with them. Once I was done, Grayfia looked like she had relented, and Mom was the one massaging her shoulders.

Cindy came over to me and showed me a clipboard. "Next will be the commercial zones; these are the buildings they wish to be created, Master Aaron."

Looking over it, I said, "They seemed like they had enough of them in here, but I guess…looking over it, they are quite far away from each other…eh, let's just go."

As we began our walk over there, we came across a lot of vampires who greeted us, some saying they couldn't wait for tonight and things like that. Of course, some of these guys opened up to us and started to trust us after we saved this place a second time. Even after saving them from total destruction the first time around, some were still skeptical, which was understandable.

I mean, they were tricked by the Khaos Order, then the Tepes faction suddenly imploded on itself, and then some mini war started… Some might think: 'Hey, maybe the Middleman is conspiring with them', and I wouldn't blame them for that.

The closer we got, a strange crowd started to form in a small part of this side of the town. When we finally arrived there, we saw some vampire children who were mostly female, a few males, and Gasper with them. It looked like they were playing some kind of game.

"Go!" a male vampire child shouted. A mini toy robot modeled after the [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail charged forward towards Gasper.

Gasper created a bat from his darkness, and it flew towards the toy robot. The two clashed in the middle, and the toy robot began to push the bat away, but it then flew around behind the robot, forcing it out of a small red ring on the ground.

"Aw, I lost!" the boy said, walking over to pick up his toy robot.

"You did good, great work!" Gasper said, trying to encourage the boy. It worked, and he smiled while they talked and the others got ready.

"I wasn't expecting this," I murmured. It seemed like they liked Gasper and didn't shun him—well, it's mostly children, but the adults around them were mostly smiling, so I don't think they minded.

I'd like to think they've become more accepting of hybrids, but they can't change hundreds of years of thinking in just a year. Perhaps they're just going along with it for the kids; if they are, then fine, but I do hope they're seriously working to change their way of thinking.

A bell suddenly rang.

"Good job, you two. It's time for the next opponent," Valerie said as she clapped her hands. She was the one who rang the bell; it seemed like it came from her phone in her hands.

They seemed to be having fun, and I'd rather not draw attention to myself while this was happening, so I erased our presence and gestured for everyone to keep going. As we left, we heard them shouting again.

We kept walking until we arrived at the next location, but when we did, we saw that Ursulette was there with Elmenhilde, Eirisse, and Fusae. When we approached them, Ursulette immediately jumped up from where they were sitting.

She dashed towards us and stood in front of me. "Husband, how are you this fine day!?"

"…I'm not your husband, but I'm doing good. I'll assume you are too," I said and patted her head before walking towards the site.

"Are you against having her in your harem?" Mom asked.

"Mom, you already know how I feel about this," I replied, smiling wryly.

"Going down the list, you're missing a few in certain species; a pure-blooded vampire is one of them," she said, and she put her hands on her hips.

…Is this harem bingo!? I don't need someone from every single species! I will admit I have a lot of different women in it, but holy hell…

She turned to the vampire and said, "Ursulette, and everyone else, I support your attempts at courting my son!"

"Thank you, mother-in-law! I'll do my best to seduce him!" Ursulette replied while pushing forward her breasts.

I began creating the new buildings as the rest of them chatted away. Grayfia and Cindy were by my side while they pointed out the specifics of each building for me to make.

"Wouldn't this count as sexual harassment in this day and age?" asked Eirisse.

"I am the embodiment of that, yes," replied Ursulette.

This got a reaction out of me as I glanced back with a questioning look, and she seemed giddy. I don't think you should be proud of that…

As I slowly made progress, their conversations became strange, although I felt an extra person behind me not doing or saying anything.

"Mother-in-law, what do you recommend to make seduction easier?"

"Hmm…well, he's known as the Oppai Dragon, so I guess something with your breasts? He doesn't try to pull away from mine when I hug him, hehe~" replied mom, making me blush.

It's not for that reason that I don't pull away. You're my mother, and we had 'that' conversation, so I won't pull away to hurt your feelings…but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and think that she's just saying that to encourage Ursulette.

"Breasts…what about other…areas?" she asked.

"Well, he's known as the Thigh and Butt Dragon too, so take your pick! …But I've heard from other women that he likes other things too…!" mom added, and I finally turned around and gave her a half-glare that she giggled at.

Ursulette, who was beside my mother, pulled down her dress' upper half, exposing her bare breasts to me. It didn't seem like she was wearing a bra, although that was quite obvious with what she was wearing. But I was hoping for her to be wearing, I don't know, bandages or something to cover up her nipples—you know, anime logic and all that.

"Ursulette!!" Elmenhilde and Eirisse screamed at their friend. At that point, I had already turned back around, with a bit of help from Fusae and Grayfia.

— ○ ● ○ —

Róisín Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

What a scary glare, but I know he understands I'm just teasing him, and I also understand that some of the women of this world can perceive some things said in a very different and overdramatic way. I just didn't think she would pull her dress down to show my son her breasts. I will admit they are a good size, though I heard from many women that he doesn't have a preference for how big a female's chest is.

…I would have believed that if I didn't know him praising Akeno's and Suzaku's breasts in our previous lives. He likes them big, and I'm confident in that since he used to suck mine quite forcefully when he was still a baby!

"Can you give us examples?"

A person I didn't expect asks me! It was…Elmenhilde. With a bright smile on my face, I said, "Akeno and Kuroka have said they had him use their armpits."

"…Mom! Please!" he semi-shouted, his face turning red out of embarrassment. Grayfia gave him a look of, 'You like that?', which made me giggle a bit.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop, I don't want to get scolded~" I said and put my hands up. It was obvious that he didn't want their bedroom life to be known to the world, but all three pure-blooded vampires looked curiously at Aaron.

Fusae even looked at her own armpit, and it was quite easy to see what she was thinking, so I walked over to her and said, "Yes…go ahead and shave it."

She blushed in return, and I giggled. I shouldn't be doing this; I feel like I'm not acting my age, but being in this world feels so freeing and liberating, that I can't help but tease everyone and put my thoughts into words.

We have always been silenced or weren't allowed to express ourselves because of my previous husband. The only safe space he gave us were our rooms, so that's why Aaron had so many books, and slowly, I joined that trend, and we read things together when we were home.

Hugging my son from behind, I apologized to him. "I'm sorry; I'll try not to do that."

"…It's embarrassing, but it's not like it's unknown to everyone living with me, but please try not to tell people those things if you can," he said tiredly.

He didn't admonish me; he's undeniably indulging me in this regard, or he can't find it himself to truly be angry with me. I felt conflicted about this, but he does give preferential treatment to those he truly cares about.

"You spoil me too much; I love you~" I told him while squeezing him tighter.

"…I love you too," he mumbled, sounding embarrassed.

— ○ ● ○ —

A few minutes later, he was finished, and we were on our way to a different location. I've questioned him many times about why he does certain things, and it usually boils down to a single point: he wants to experience something.

He was quite vague about it, but I more or less understood what he meant. We were essentially trapped in our home and country because of that man. We couldn't go anywhere and be free since he had eyes and ears everywhere, and if we did anything that wasn't approved by him or if he didn't give us permission, we would go home to him yelling at us.

At first Aaron would remain silent, but eventually (as he got older) he would start yelling at him back too. Perhaps that was the sign when he started to slowly kill Aoife? Or at least it gave him the idea of hurting Aaron back, but I wasn't sure; maybe Aaron knows the answer after speaking with him?

Either way, the closer we got to the location, we heard a familiar person's singing voice, so with some prompting from the vampires who came along with us, we hurried over there and found Ingvild doing a small performance for the people here.

She was accompanied by the remaining Gremory peerage and the Slash Dog Team. It makes sense since Ingvild is quite famous in both the supernatural and human worlds now. The music she makes is known worldwide, and with her being compared to this world's greatest artists, it's quite the contrast compared to the books since…well, she wasn't even awake yet.

Seeing her live a full life like this makes me really happy. Whether or not it was pure coincidence that the Satans entrusted her to my son, I doubt either of them cares at this point since they're both happy. Wait…did he—?

I wasn't sure, so I walked to Aaron and pulled him down. I then whispered into his ear, "Did you propose to Ingvild yet?"

"No…she's mostly out due to her job, so we haven't had much time interacting with each other, but she managed to get some time off, so that's why I asked her to come with me during this job. But I do want to propose to her soon," he whispered back.

He wants to, so I'm assuming he has a plan. He has been proposing a bit better lately, although Valerie proposed to him last night, and it wasn't a grand spectacle, but both of them were fine with it.

Looking back at Ingvild, she sank and danced around the stage, with Asia, Shirone, and Xenovia supporting her on the side of the stage by copying her dance moves. The rest acted as security, but everyone was very amicable, so they didn't need to do much.

She saw us and waved as she continued to sing and dance. We waved back at her before continuing on our way.

We arrived at the site around a minute later, and Aaron continued his job. The vampires decided to stay at Ingvild's concert, but soon enough another group came by; it was the Vali Team with Lavinia. Vali Lucifer was being fawned over by his two lovers, Genbu Doumon and Calantha Vordenburg, while Lavinia gave them tips on the side.

Bikou and the two Pendragon siblings were with them, while Gogmagog wasn't, but Fenrir was with Le Fay as usual. Spotting us, they came over, with Lavinia running up and hugging Aaron from behind.

"Are you nearly done, Aniki?" he asked.

"Nearly, but at the pace I'm going, I'll be done by the time I want to be, and all we'll have to do is wait for the party again tonight. If you're interested, you can join me on my last one, which is the Rating Game stadium; it'll be used the next time the tournament takes place," he explained.

"Next one. Do you know when the next tournament will come up?" asked Vali while being hounded by both his lovers.

Aaron glanced back at his little brother and said, "Keep this a secret, alright? We have been talking and we've thought of having this tournament every five years. We believe it's enough time for individual players to train themselves, get stronger, form new teams, or stay in old ones."

"So, everyone has a suitable amount of time to train before the next one occurs. Having the same team win it every year would be pretty boring, right? Although I can understand that teams that have fans would like that very much," explained Aaron.

It seemed to have ignited an even bigger fire inside of Vali, as he had a look of excitement on his face. At the very least, it's not a one-time thing, as it will be considered a sport in the future. Perhaps once we reveal ourselves to the humans, they'll also invite some human-based teams? Not ones that were associated with the supernatural, so it'll be an interesting few years when that happens…

"Will the grand prize be the same thing?" Bikou asked.

"Yeah. The winning team will be informed of the restrictions, but we think they're fair. It's mostly common sense, so you guys probably know what that entails," he replied to the monkey youkai.

"No war, no wanting to become the strongest that ever was…something like that?" asked Bikou.

"…Yeah, something like that." Aaron kept on doing his construction work while talking to us.

"However, if one asks to have their potential change to that of, let's say, 'Great Red', or 'Ophis', will you grant it?" Arthur asked. This question gained a few people's attention.

"Reaching that potential is difficult, but yes, it can be done. However, I won't just change your level of power to that, because—"

"Yeah, I know, there are a lot of villains in shonen manga that were once heroes or neutral people going power hungry, right?" Bikou interrupted, and Aaron nodded.

"Heh, but I can still wish for that potential and keep working towards it," Vali said while crossing his arms.

I went over to him and poked his side. "That's good and all, but don't forget little Genbu and Calantha, okay? They're your family now."

"That's right, Vaa-kun! I want to see your children soon too!" Lavinia added.

He immediately became flustered and turned away. "Y-yeah, I-I know that, you don't need to tell me twice. Also, I won't have kids yet; that's way too early!"

Fufu, it's like they're brothers from another mother. Aaron basically said the same thing.

After that, they spoke a bit more about different topics; we also made our way to the other locations, and we eventually ended up at the location for the museum. What they asked Aaron to do was just make the building itself and a few rooms for different historical things they'd put in it.

To our surprise, there weren't many officials here, as we thought they would be, but there were some regular vampires that waited here to see what Aaron would do or make, and once he got started, they watched him intently while also asking some questions, to which he answered while also showing the blueprints he had.

They were definitely the more skeptical ones towards him, but after he was honest with them, they seemed to have a different opinion of him. From my own perspective, they have some respect for him now and a bit of admiration.

It also helped that he was associated with their leaders in a positive light, as were the dhampirs who came back here to help them, even though Gasper had more of a role than Valerie. Although it seemed like Gasper did ask Kecate Tepes to a one-on-one match.

"Can we go inside once it's done?" asked Lavinia, who was still hugging him.

"They wanted me to check everything about it, so yeah, we can," replied Aaron. After a few more minutes, he was done.

The museum was unique; it was in the shape of a large dome with gothic themes, and it also had bat wings and permanent fog around it. It also had the current leader's statues at the front entrance, all in gold.

When we went inside, it was illuminated by lights on the ground. Its own layout was also a bit unconventional, as many of its potential exhibits were elevated on platforms, and there were other platforms for where the visitors could go and stand or sit while observing it. In total, there were 42 rooms in it, including a second floor above the elevated platforms.

"It feels kind of futuristic if you look at it from a certain angle," Calantha said while pointing at the elevated platforms.

"Isn't that a good thing? I mean, we're heading to a future just like that," said Bikou.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. But yeah, I want to see it."

As we walked the place, Aaron, with a few people with him, repaired or changed some things while also explaining what he thought might go there. This carried on until we left and went to the last site.

— ○ ● ○ —

The area we arrived at was east of the castle, where the leaders stayed. However, the closer we got to that area, the more homes and commercial buildings were near it, it seemed like they had built this place with this building in mind from the very start. It makes me wonder how long the leaders of each faction and pantheon knew about the upcoming tournament.

"It's quite barren here," muttered Fusae while looking around the area.

It was mostly flat, surrounded by water, almost like a moat that surrounds castles. There were a few trees that were on the other side of the moat, as well as buildings and structures that resembled guard towers.

"It's the space they want it to be; if you get a bird's-eye view, it's shaped like a bat." Aaron created a magic circle beside him, showing us that.

He then began its construction. The building that slowly appeared was a large circular dome, resembling a colosseum. Above it were spiral spires with bat wings on each of their sides, and all around them were small rectangular windows and pillars.

Around the dome were various trees of various sizes and shapes. Some were coconut, some were pine, and others were trees I hadn't seen before, but normally they wouldn't be able to flourish here, but Aaron probably used magic to keep them alive and healthy.

Next were the statues of the leaders, along with Gasper Vladi and Valerie Tepes. Fufu, if they saw this, they may become embarrassed; even Aaron isn't used to seeing statues of him around the world.

He also added a few other things that looked strange at first glance, but he just said that the leaders wanted them and didn't question them. There were various flamingos around the place—he summoned, or willed them into existence—a few flower patches, and finally a building full of puppies…

That last one confused me, but I didn't question it. We went into it and interacted with them. Shin, who had appeared when Lavinia joined us, became a bit jealous, and Lavinia gave him the attention instead.

They say that Shin is another version of Aaron, so doesn't that, in a way, say that my own son became jealous of Lavinia's attention being directed at someone else? Although Aaron himself was enjoying the experience too, quite a lot of the puppies flocked towards him after all.

After our time there, we went into the stadium, which, like many others, had the usual rooms and hallways, stands, and other necessities that it needed. Going directly into the middle, it was very heavily vampire-themed. The arena itself was shaped in a large circle, and the platform itself was in the shape of a bat, so it was circular, but it had mini wings on the sides as well as an eye drawn in the middle.

"It's…very vampire-esque," said Velgrynd. She randomly showed up along with Suzaku and Danu after we entered the stadium.

"So it's like the other stadiums, right? We'll get transported to the field depending on the game type?" Vali asked.

"Yeah, it's the same, but this is what the crowds that will come here will see," replied Aaron.

"Alright, fight me!" Vali shouted; he didn't wait for confirmation as he charged towards Aaron, surprising everyone.

He threw a punch at Aaron's face, and he moved it to the side, avoiding it. Aaron then slapped him on the cheek, slamming the younger Lucifer to the ground.

Lavinia trotted over to her younger brother, crouched down, and poked him. "Vaa-kun~ Vaa-kun~"

Aaron chuckled and said, "This feels like déjà vu."

"Hehe, it's how we first met," Lavinia said while still poking the unconscious Vali.

I heard the story, and I wish I could have seen it. We spent a few more minutes there, with Aaron contacting the leaders, and they teleported to the place to inspect it. They were happy with his work and would pay him handsomely.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

Night was fast approaching, and our time in the faction was coming to an end. The entire day was filled with very strange things, a lot of it was fun and chaotic, some were... I'll leave that story for another time.

Right now, I was with a woman; a certain junior of mine knew of this woman as they were very close. And that junior right now is with his father since I requested for them to be at a certain spot in the faction.

"Well, it's been some time since you came back; how has the world been? I know I had you working in secret and all…"

The older woman laughed and said, "It's fine; I got many letters from you about my son and the things he's done and how he's grown. I'm quite happy with it, but…I do look forward to seeing them, but I have a lot of things to say to my husband."

What a haughty woman, but I can see why she needed to be like that to keep Lord Vladi in check.

"Although I have no excuse since I died of shock after I saw my own son, I'm a failure of a mother," she muttered.

I didn't have anything to say to that; anything that I thought of might sound like I was making excuses for her, so I kept my mouth shut. Although I would say labor had a factor in her dying, magic existed, so…

We eventually arrived at the spot; I had masked this woman's presence so neither of them could detect her. I also made her invisible, so they couldn't see her either. The two Vladi's were by a small lake and I approached them with her by my side.

"Yo! Sorry for the delay; I wanted to show you guys something," I told them, both becoming curious by my words.

"Show us something, Aaron-nii?"

"…Yes, I'm curious about this, Jin-dono."

Both son and father were curious, which made me amused. The setting sun on the horizon was illuminating us as we stood there. I think it was good timing.

"Oh, it's nothing too serious; it's just this…" I clicked my fingers, undoing the invisibility. Both of them froze once they saw the woman beside me.

She had medium length gray hair that reached her shoulders, light pink eyes. She wore a short white frilly t-shirt, a long light blue skirt, and brown moccasin shoes. Furthermore, she had a little blue pendant around her neck as she smiled at the two of them.

"Hello—"

Both of them embraced her at the same time, so I took that as my cue to leave. As I left, both of them began crying, they probably held back since they didn't want me to hear them. Gasper started doing that more since he stopped crying so often around us.

Once I arrived back in the city, Valerie was waiting for me.

"It's done?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's done," I replied. She came over to me and hugged me too.

"Let's go then, they'll join us later." She pulled me away, and we joined everyone else who was waiting for us since this was going to start a bit earlier than yesterday.

— ○ ● ○ —

It was chaotic, like last night, but we were now going home. There were several people passed out all around us, and some were quite tipsy or drunk too. The rest had rejoined us as the party was in full swing, and Kanami, who was enthusiastic about it, had become black-out drunk and was now sleeping.

"Please come again, Jin. You and everyone here are welcome with open arms," said Carmilla.

"Yes, it seems our people have also warmed up even more towards you and outsiders, but it will definitely take time," added Kiss Shot.

Dracula was also passed out, as he had drunk a lot of alcohol earlier. So he couldn't join us.

"We'll try, but for now, this is goodbye," I replied. We waved goodbye one last time, and I teleported everyone else back to their respective places, and then the rest of us to my home.

The Vladi family was back together, and they profusely thanked me earlier. Gasper's mother, Lina, would stay here with Gasper's father, Flaviu Vladi, and they planned on marrying hopefully within the year, and we would be invited to it.

You could say the Vladi family got their happy ending.

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

"Is everything ready?" asked a man with a unique mustache.

"In a week we will be. We're attacking two fronts after all. We'll provide assistance to you, but we'll focus on the place I want to attack," replied a female monster with a teddy bear.

"That's fine. As long as I get to try again, that's all that matters—well, it's the supernatural side that I want to attack this time though, perhaps a bit in the human world," replied the man.

The female monster turned around and giggled. "Whatever you say, Hitler~"

"I'm no longer a regular human, Black Alice. I can do so much more now…"

— ○ ● ○ —