Chapter 71: Queen Carmilla & King Tepes

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Bucharest, Romania. 

"Don't tell me we're using that?" Serafall and Takauji were standing at a road near the base of the mountain covered in thick fog, with the pungent smell of rainwater having recently descended upon the landscape evident. 

The Dragon was currently pointing at a dark-colored luxury car with tinted windows, an older man stood outside waiting supposedly to act as their chauffeur. 

"How else do you expect us to travel? Don't tell me you'd rather walk all the way up?" 

Takauji groaned and facepalmed. 

"Hasn't anyone told you about making an entrance? Give me some space." 

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If one were to go off common media and fairytales, they would imagine the Vampire's territory to consist mainly of old, medieval, antique looking castles with a gothic theme to it. 

But that wasn't the case, in fact over the years their territory had modernized a fair bit, setting aside that hardly any sunlight reached their region, the architecture was rather modern if anything. With the main houses for the Tepes and Carmilla Faction being in the center of their respective territories, and houses for the rest of their population surrounding them. 

The area was bustling with cars, trains, and even boats, they had everything. A product of a majority of the Vampiric population consisting of reincarnated humans which resulted in a great deal of their technology being brought over to their culture. 

Unfortunately, these contributions were not enough to get rid of the prejudice plaguing the population. It didn't matter how much the reincarnated populace helped advance their species, it wouldn't get rid of the fierce superiority complex Pure-Blooded Vampires desperately clung onto. 

The fog surrounding the region was an ability of the Vampires, high level Vampires being capable of creating enough fog to envelop an entire town on their lonesome, which acted as a barrier capable of searching for enemies within the affected area. Though it wasn't nearly as strong as [Dimension Lost], it was still a feat worth admiration. 

The Carmilla Faction's territory was located in a mountainous region, kept separate from the human world with a barrier similar to the West Youkai Faction's Urakyoto barrier. 

The Tepes Faction wasn't very far from it, divided by a boundary line that had been created to act as a national border between the two factions. 

"I'm getting impatient, shouldn't the Leviathan have arrived by now?" A girl who seemed like she should be in kindergarten, with pink twin tails and bright red eyes sitting on a throne said to one of her attendants. 

"She should be here any minute now, your majesty." She was, in fact, Queen Carmilla, head of the Carmilla Faction. 

Carmilla groaned, taking a sip from a chalice filled with blood as she awaited the envoy. 

And then her face paled, feeling an overbearing presence descending upon her territory, the attendants and guards around her all freezing in place as they were overcome with abrupt dread. 

The Queen rushed to her balcony that had a view of the entirety of her territory, shocked to see a massive figure flying over her town. 

A Dragon—there was no other description for the creature she had laid eyes upon. 

It took a mastodonic form, the entirety of its body armed with jet-black scales with blue spiral decorative markings. It had a smooth gray underbelly and its four eyes were purple and beady. 

Its head was round and blunt with four, large, elongated plates extending backward. Its wings were large and feathery resembling a birds, and its tail assumed what could only be described as a stringer-esque shape. 

"Pandora… The Vainglory Dragon." Carmilla muttered, even someone as powerful as her unable to swallow the fear, no, the despair it induced onto everything that dared to look at it. 

And there was one more thing of note, something only people with exceptional eyesight would be able to spot. 

There was a woman riding the Dragon, with a huge smile plastered on her face as she was given an honor no one else had received to date. 

"Shall we send someone to meet them, your majesty?" One of the attendants spoke, belonging to an older looking bespectacled man with black hair tied into a bun. He was Walter C. Dornez, the head butler of the Carmilla House, and Carmilla's most trusted aide in spite of her faction being female-dominated, which truly put to show how exemplary his service was.

"No, I feel like meeting them myself, and you're coming with me." 

Normally Pure-Blooded Vampires would pay no heed to other races, but seeing Pandora with her own eyes had sparked her childlike curiosity. She just had to at least have a look. 

"As you command." He bowed, following behind her. 

Both Carmilla and Walter couldn't help but swallow a nervous gulp of saliva upon leaving the front gate of their town, seeing the Dragon close up as they watched it lower its body so the woman atop it slowly got off. 

Naturally, she was none other than Serafall herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen Carmilla." She bowed as Takauji remained in his Draconic form, the Vampires shocked to see him stretch his front legs forwards like a cat as a deep growl escaped his maw. "I hope our arrival wasn't too jarring, we experienced some troubles with our vehicle so we were left with no other choice I'm afraid." 

"I will admit you chose a rather attention-grabbing means of travel, but I assure you no harm was done, Lady Leviathan." She glanced up at Takauji's figure, the Dragon locking eyes with her causing Carmilla to flinch inwardly. "You are Pandora if I'm not mistaken?" 

Takauji started to approach the Queen, Walter attempting to get in front of her in a defensive stance, but Carmilla stopped him before he could do so. 

He brought his head closer to the Vampire, sniffing her which caused her hair to be blown backwards, Serafall able to do naught but let out an embarrassed groan. 

Lick. 

Carmilla was left speechless, left drenched in Takauji's saliva as he turned around, preparing to head over to the Tepes Territory. 

"Uh, I think that means he likes you?" Serafall said with lacking certainty, the Dragon in question having already taken off to meet King Tepes. 

"He licked me… Me… Queen Carmilla." Walter quickly brought out a handkerchief and started to wipe her down. "Walter, I'm not dreaming am I?" 

"I'm afraid that was quite real, your majesty…" 

Serafall held out her hand, a gust of icy wind blowing over Carmilla as she was dried off in a matter of seconds. 

"Ahahaha… Sorry about that. Dragons have uh, different customs when it comes to things like this." 

"Customs… Yes… That's what it was, it was a custom." Carmilla repeated, her brain refusing to believe that she had just been licked like that out of the blue. 

Obviously, Serafall hadn't the faintest clue as to why Takauji did what he did. But had to come up with a convenient lie to preserve the Queen's sanity so the talks between them would go as planned. 

"Walter, lead Lady Leviathan to the main hall, I'm going to get washed up." As a Queen, she still needed to maintain her composure. 

"At once." He motioned for Serafall to follow him. 

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"My lord," A Vampire dressed in soldier's attire spoke with beads of sweat running down his forehead beneath his helmet.

"I know, you don't need to tell me." A middle-aged looking man with long black hair replied, sporting a goatee and deep crimson eyes with white dots for pupils.

He was King Tepes, the man in charge of the Tepes Faction.

"Father," a young man spoke up, with a face like a doll and eyes similar to the man he was facing. "Are you sure it was a wise decision to have accepted a Dragon as a delegate?" 

The older man chuckled darkly. 

"The Crimson Satan and the insufferable Governor are the ones backing his position as a delegate, Marius, do you honestly believe we're in any position to pick and choose who we meet with?"

Marius grumbled, embarrassed to be put under his father's scrutinizing gaze. 

"No, I suppose not." 

"Valerie," King Tepes called out to a woman with short blonde hair and red eyes. His face filled with a certain level of scorn for some reason. "You and Marius will come greet Pandora with me, but neither of you are to converse with him unless he initiates a conversation, or I give you my explicit permission. Am I understood?"

"Understood," Valerie's voice was rather timid, giving her a kinder demeanor. 

"Yes father." 

With his children right behind him, and a few of his most trusted soldiers at the very back, King Tepes began making his way out to the front gate of his territory. Coming face to face with the Dragon who had just landed outside and signaling for the trembling guards in front of the gate to scurry away.

Steam started to rise from the Dragon's body, Takauji soon returning to his humanoid form as he approached the group with an indifferent expression. 

"You are King Tepes?" He asked, his eyes scurrying his surroundings, stopping on Valerie for a brief moment before continuing on. 

I see, so she's the one. I have no idea what Sacred Gear it is, but even dormant I can see a great deal of power gathering around it, maybe it's a Longinus? 

The Underworld's decision to recruit Pandora's help in hopes of finding the sleeping Sacred Gear seemed to have paid off, however, whether Takauji kept his promise of not taking any action beyond reporting its possessor remained to be seen. 

"That I am, this here is my son Marius, and my daughter Valerie." Takauji was easily able to detect the disdain Tepes felt when he looked at his daughter, and the Dragon already knew the reason. 

She was a Dhampir, not a Pure-Blood. On top of being born a woman in a male-dominated faction.

Both of his children felt an understable amount of fear invade them as the four-eyed Dragon spared each of them a glance, like his sight alone had the ability to place anvils on their shoulders. 

"I'm already well aware of the reason behind your visit, but I doubt my front gate is a suitable place to have our discussion." 

Like Carmilla was doing with Serafall, Tepes led Takauji into a lavish hall reserved for important visitors, though the secluded lifestyle of Vampires meant it was rarely ever used. 

"The Lucifer wishes for the Tepes to enter a ceasefire with the Underworld and Heaven, would I be correct in that assumption?" He said after taking a sip from a cup of blood handed to him by one of his servants. 

"That's about it." 

Tepes hummed, unable to discern what was going through Takauji's head at the moment. 

"Honestly speaking, like them I can see the value in not having to expend any further resources in battling them, however ceasing hostilities isn't as simple as one would expect."

"Because of the deep-rooted resentment already existing within your people, I know." There wasn't so much as an ounce of enthusiasm within Takauji's voice. "But if you were to enter the ceasefire, you could focus all your efforts into the power struggle between you and Queen Carmilla without having to worry about a knife being plunged into your back while you aren't looking." 

Even though his Draconic personality had long overpowered his old one, it wasn't as if he had forgotten how to be his old self completely. He just didn't see much value in it. And with him soon becoming a juvenile, his impulses had gradually become easier to control.

His intelligence was better than it was before, only what he used it for had changed.

But this was a rare occasion where he wasn't supposed to use his physical strength to get what he wanted, albeit much to his disgruntlement. 

"However, even if you don't have to worry about the Underworld and Heaven, you'd still have to be careful with the Khaos Brigade still looming as a threat." 

The King couldn't help but nod, surprised to see a Dragon of all creatures able to grasp a political landscape. 

Even though Vampire's rarely left their territory, Tepes had gone on a few escapades throughout his extremely long life, the Dragons he had met were usually all brawns and no brains. 

And apparently, Takuaji wasn't done. 

"So if we were to draw a ceasefire, you'd want assurance from the Underworld and Heaven that also prevented the Khaos Brigade from harming your people, and you've already got your desired form of assurance in mind." 

The corners of the King's mouth curled upwards, despite seeing Takauji as an inferior species, he still had to praise what was worth praising. His pride as a seasoned politician demanded it. 

"It would appear that this conversation is going to turn out to be shorter than I had anticipated. Indeed, I've already got what I want from the alliance in mind, and it actually involves you directly Pandora." 

"I already know that as well," he said much to both the King's, and his children's surprise. "You want my blood right?" 

"What makes you say that?" 

Takauji scoffed. 

"You don't want active protection from the Underworld's Devils and Fallen Angels, or Heaven's Angels or Exorcists, since not only are your races opposed to one another, but your pride as a Vampire hampers you from relying on another for defense. It makes both you and your people feel weakened, and inferior. Therefore you want something that could increase the strength of your people directly, both allowing you to get leverage over the Carmilla Faction, and fight the Khaos Brigade with increased ease should they ever decide to attack you. And Dragon blood is basically steroids that only have a defect for Vampires if they consume too much at once, allowing you to kill three birds with one stone." 

Shocked, didn't even begin to describe what Tepes was feeling at the moment. 

Takauji was completely right, with his blood Tepes could have an edge over Queen Carmilla, repel the Khaos Brigade with ease if they even decided to attack at all, and permanently increase the strength of his subordinates. 

Such a simple-minded species they are, I admire all those who do whatever they can to gain strength, but gaining strength you do not understand is another matter altogether.  

"Your insight is truly worth praising Pandora, and since you've already come to that conclusion I might as well just go ahead and ask. Are you willing?" 

"First tell me how much blood you're asking for." 

Negotiations normally consisted of a great deal of tip-toeing and beating around the bush to gauge one's opponent, but Takauji's comprehension had made the conversation painfully direct, to an extent King Tepes could do nothing about. 

"One liter." 

One drop was more than enough to last someone like King Tepes half a year, an entire liter would probably take at minimum a century to deplete, especially when considering how dense and potent Takauji's blood actually was.

"That's quite the sum, King Tepes." Takauji said. "If you're going to ask for that much, then surely you wouldn't mind adding something to sweeten the deal?" 

How fortunate I am that their superiority complex is deep-rooted to such an extent, he probably won't even think twice about what I'm going to ask of him. Sorry Serafall, but at the end of the day suppressing my curiosity is something I'm just not capable of.

"That depends on what it is you're going to ask of me." 

Takauji pointed at Valerie, causing the Dhampir to flinch upon having his eyes locked onto her. 

"I want your daughter." 

He'll probably just assume I want her as a wife or something since I'm a Dragon, I mean, if she put on a few centuries I'd consider it, but right now I'm not interested. 

Like reading the rings of a felled tree, he could tell someone's age upon a glance. 

"Oh? You want Valerie?" He stroked his goatee, glancing at his daughter as he found the request very in-character for a Dragon to make. "Haha, how fortunate she is to earn the liking of a Dragon, wouldn't you agree Valerie?" Of course, no one believed a word coming out of his mouth. Including Tepes himself. 

"Y-Yes…" She said with understable hesitation. 

To be fair, they probably planned on acquiring her somehow once I did tell them who the possessor was right? Eh, I'll just let Masa figure it all out for me. 

Tepes snapped his fingers, one of his servants bringing out a container in which Takauji's blood would be stored in. 

"In that case Pandora, it is a pleasure to be doing business with you. The Tepes Faction happily agrees to the ceasefire, I look forward to a peaceful future with you all." 

He probably won't drink the blood immediately, so if I really wanted to I could put a bit of my [Contamination] into it… But the fate of the Vampires has no meaning to me. Let them fight, maybe their war will give birth to a stronger Vampire or something. 

Tepes fully intended on using the strength Takauji's blood would grant them to crush the Carmilla Faction, but Serafall more likely than not would also be offering them a boon of their own. 

"Likewise." Even if he had technically gone against Serafall's orders, he had still completed his primary objective.