The Villain's Story

Increase in bone density, an increase in muscular strength, and an increase in height. A massive increase in control of blood and resistance to diseases, along with the addition of an [Ice] affinity, most likely due to the Snow Mammoths’ blood. His eyes had become red, and a tinge of silver was present in his hair.

He could control the latter two to a certain degree, but the greatest boon was his advancement to rank A.

“…”

Christopher marveled at his newfound strength. The new affinity would need time to get used to, but other than that… it was amazing, it was something he couldn’t accurately put in words. Regardless, it was enough for the elders to fully support Sabrina. They had seen enough, and their eyes blazed with desire.

Beta approached Christopher and offered him a solemn hug. Christopher felt an odd sense of kinship, which overpowered his awkwardness. He accepted the hug and watched as Beta retreated behind Sabrina, a wide smile apparent on his face.

Alpha turned to Sabrina and bowed. There was a jovial expression on her face as well. How could there not be? Alpha was more intelligent than her brother and was aware that this was the first step to House Almada’s revival. She couldn’t hide her joy no matter what; in her mind, she was already creating a schedule to teach the new vampire as much as possible.

Sabrina didn’t say anything as she watched a horde of researchers enter the room, carrying all kinds of equipment. They soon plugged it all into Christopher, analyzing his changes for themselves. She sighed and silently left the laboratory, passing through the Elders who rushed in.

She saw her grandfather waiting for her, with a worried gaze. He asked.

“How are you? Did any issue arise?”

“No.”

She replied absently and went to her room. Her grandfather had much to say, but sighed and left her alone. He knew she needed time to calm her thoughts. Sabrina silently entered her room and looked at the mirror.

“…”

As expected, she didn’t see herself, but saw a woman taller than her, with blood red eyes, and hair as white as snow. She shared her features, but Sabrina didn’t feel like they were alike at all. The woman in the mirror smiled and promptly disappeared.

Sabrina simply turned away from the mirror.

The next day, she waited patiently until Harrison called her to his office. Her Grandfather escorted her to the association, but was unable to enter the inner quarters with Sabrina. Sabrina watched multiple machines scurry here and there, busy in their tasks.

After a while, a particular machine, one that seemed like a normal human with a television for a head, approached her, it’s footsteps were light and ‘human’, betraying any thought that it came from a machine.

It silently stood before her and gestured for it to enter the office at the end of the hall. Sabrina stood up and walked towards it. The doors automatically opened, and Sabrina saw the most powerful man on Earth at the other end.

Ragnar Drakmor may be epic, but in the end, it was Harrison who had a tight leash on everybody. He was the leader of humanity, and nobody could dispute that fact. Despite being SS-rank, even Arken, the Sword Saint, and Oliver, the Sage, listened to him. Every powerful being on Planet Earth was afraid of him to a certain degree. Ragnar was simply a front; the real power was with Harrison.

And it stayed with him precisely because he didn’t abuse it. He could read people like they were an open book, and his decisions always, always helped humanity. Nobody hated demons more than Harrison, and perhaps that was why all the old monsters, the ones who lived through the invasions, all followed him.

Every powerhouse of humanity bore a deep hatred for the demons. This included The Sage, Oliver Olsfer, and The Sword Saint, Arken Miller, and many more. The first generation of awakened had fought demons their entire lives, and they didn’t have any plans of cooperation.

Harrison glanced at Sabrina as she approached and took a seat in front of him. He pushed the stack of papers to the side and interlocked his hands, asking.

“I was told you wanted to meet me. Michael was especially adamant about this.”

Sabrina nodded and explained.

“It is to inform you about a few things. You are aware that I recently went on an expedition with Alan Peccator and his team, right? It’s related to that.”

Harrison raised his brows; his interest was piqued. He was extremely interested in this topic. While he had some information about the training expedition, it was still far from sufficient. Tidbits from the members who didn’t want to disclose much were unsatisfactory.

“Indeed, although I am unaware of the specifics.”

Sabrina sighed and recounted the expedition; however, she didn’t mention much. She hid basically everything, only telling Harrison convoluted information about Lanekia and the World of Darkness. She left the Shadow Realm out of anything; she hadn’t visited it, but was well aware that it was something to keep secret. She left Azmakul out of the picture as well, but did mention a teacher.

She didn’t want her shadow to slit her throat, and didn’t want to piss off the Supreme Dragons. She only told Harrison about their adventure on Lanekia, on the colossal skeleton of a giant, and their battle with the giant’s shadow. In addition to this, she also told him about the fact that Lanekia was a supposed metropolis, but she stated she had failed to get inside any city. She left Lanesha’s castle, the Supreme Dragon herself, and the resurrection spell out of it.

She didn’t say anything about the realm of shadows, and Harrison tacitly understood it was something that couldn’t be said. As for the world of Darkness, she offered a simple explanation about the city, the customs and traditions, as well as the Church of Darkness. She left the library out of it, and the Black Sea.

All of the important stuff was left out of it, and whilst Harrison was aware of it, he decided to let it, presuming Sabrina was under a contract not to reveal anything. He nodded in satisfaction.

“During this expedition… something happened.”

He waited for her to continue, and Sabrina told him about her experience and her turning into a vampire. She had changed the entire story, revealing that she came into contact with a strange artifact during the expedition, in the territory of the church of darkness. She basically made it as if she bought an artifact from the city, one that turned her into a vampire. Alpha and Beta’s existence was tied to her domain. In essence, she left everything out about the house of Almada and Victor.

She had never really met the vampire, and Alan didn’t say much about it. However, the remains of the battlefield were vivid in her mind. Alan and Victor had basically destroyed the part of the planet they were on, showering it with meteors and rains of blood.

She continued to explain about certain vampiric powers, such as turning another person, the boons they would receive from the turning, and the current state of the Wellington Family. Hiding anything about this matter was simply spelling disaster later on. She could fabricate the story of how she got it, but not what she did with it.

Harrison listened to it all silently, waiting for her to finish. When she did, he posed a simple question.

“You had the funds to purchase that artifact?”

“Alan bought it for me, he was given… pocket money from his house.”

Technically, the house of Death had given every member of the expedition some ‘pocket money’. They were given special medallions, artifacts that served both as identity and a wallet.

The only difference being Alan’s medallion was leagues above theirs; furthermore, only Alan and Maxwell were given a large amount of funds, the rest received the equivalent of cheap change.

“Were there any additional artifacts?”

Harrison posed another question. He didn’t focus on Sabrina’s answer; it was normal for a boy to buy something for his girlfriend and friends, especially when they received a lot of money.

Sabrina shook her head.

“No, nobody requested anything after they saw what happened to me.”

“Unfortunate. I would have offered any price to buy them…”

He remarked as Sabrina grew confused.

‘You wanted more of these artifacts?’

After a moment, she realized it was probably for the better… who wouldn’t want priceless artifacts sourced from the core of the House of Death? She inwardly mocked herself for not realizing it sooner.

Everyone, everyone wanted priceless artifacts; they were the difference between life and death in crucial moments. The power of items must never be underestimated!

Awakened were willing to pay any price for a powerful artifact.

Any, any price.

Harrison grew silent, studying Sabrina. She was nervous and a little afraid as she realized that the man known to hate demons from the bottom of his heart had barely shown any reaction to the revelation.

She would’ve been happy if it were some disrespect, bout of anger, or even anything negative… Nothing, on the other hand, was rather concerning.