Chapter 318: Neroth Vhalzaryn.

"Huh..."

Lucian let out a confused sound.

"How does nobody know...?"

That made no sense.

Varek was active for decades, he fought Hunters, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Demonic Hosts, even Demons, other than Spirits, he targeted every other supernatural race.

His Contract was properly studied, his power was known, the Archdemon behind it should have been one of the first things everyone tried to identify.

After all, there weren’t many Archdemons walking around in the first place. Identifying one should be fairly simple, especially considering how well known Varek’s powers were.

Then...

How was there no information regarding it?

Lucian wondered in his head.

He read every book he could, even ones that didn’t even have a proper connection to Varek, just a small mention, he read them all but...

He still didn’t get the answer he was looking for.

The Archdemon behind Varek’s Contract was still unknown.

It was almost as if... he didn’t even exist.

In the end, thinking that enough time had already passed, Lucian gave up and closed the book he was reading.

He would try again tomorrow.

Or at least, that’s what he initially thought, however, the moment he closed the book—

"You actually read all of them?"

He heard a voice.

Lucian looked up and saw Aurelia standing a short distance away. That made him blink.

"When did you get here?"

He asked.

"Just now."

She smiled.

"I came to see whether you found what you were looking for."

Lucian stared at her for a second.

’Convenient timing.’

He thought inwardly.

Honestly, it was almost suspicious at this point but...

’Whatever.’

He shrugged.

From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like he was going to get the answer the way he was going at it, so he decided to ask.

"Do you know which Archdemon Varek contracted?"

That question made even Aurelia pause for a second.

The Archdemon whom Varek contracted, for some reason, she never thought about it. Mostly because she didn’t really care.

Varek wasn’t from her House, neither was he hunting her House’s Vampires, to her, the Vampire was merely a topic someone mentioned in front of her and she lost interest because of how... small it was.

"I do not."

But still, she answered honestly, admitting she did not know.

And Lucian—

"Apparently, no one does."

"What do you mean?"

Aurelia frowned.

Lucian pointed at the bunch of books in front of him and—

"All these books contain records related to Varek, they even have the most mundane things like what he liked to eat and what he did not.

And yet...

None of these records mention the Archdemon’s name. Weird, isn’t it?"

Aurelia didn’t answer immediately, Lucian just chuckled.

"Everyone knows he contracted an Archdemon, everyone knows what his Contract does, everyone knows he becomes stronger through suffering but...

Nobody knows the name of the demon behind it all?

How?"

Lucian tilted his head and this time, Aurelia’s expression became more serious.

How was it that none of the records mentioned anything?

"Makes you curious, no?"

Lucian chuckled.

"Who is the demon he contracted?"

That made Aurelia look at Lucian for a moment, then she smiled.

"Are you saying you need my help to find the answer?"

"I only want to make you curious. I want to know what you do.

Would you satiate your curiosity or... would you just let it go?"

Lucian smiled back.

His words made Aurelia chuckle.

"You already know the answer to that, don’t you?"

"I am hoping what I know is true."

The two stared at each other for a few more seconds, then—

"An Archdemon isn’t common. They are some of the strongest demons in existence, few beings could take one on."

Aurelia started speaking.

Lucian nodded at her words, agreeing with them all and the Vampire continued.

"The Demon’s power isn’t exactly subtle either."

"Suffering."

Lucian spoke up.

Aurelia nodded at him.

"It doesn’t neatly fit into any of the Seven Courts."

"So most likely an independent Demon."

Lucian muttered, following her logic.

"An Independent Archdemon."

Aurelia clarified and Lucian raised an eyebrow.

Archdemons were already rare.

But an Independent Archdemon?

Even rarer.

And...

"An Independent Archdemon whose Authority has something to do with suffering, agony, pain and torture..."

Aurelia muttered.

"How many Archdemons like this even exist?"

Lucian asked and Aurelia shook her head.

"Not many."

"Well, that narrows it down quite a bit, doesn’t it?"

Lucian chuckled.

Finding the demon didn’t seem particularly difficult, since the Vampires didn’t seem to have clear records, they only needed to check demon records.

Both Aurelia’s Veyr House and Lucian’s Enclave would have enough records, especially since the one they were trying to find was an Archdemon.

After all, if an Archdemon ever made an appearance on Earth, the people remembered and recorded every bit of it.

"We can also narrow it down to the demons who were active near the Arcelis Territory or had any link to House Arcelis, that would be the only way he could reach Varek, no?"

Lucian suggested.

And the instant he did, Aurelia’s eyes changed.

Lucian noticed that very quickly.

"You have a name."

He muttered.

Aurelia looked at him and he repeated.

"You thought of someone, a demon."

The Vampire didn’t answer immediately, her crimson eyes moved towards the closed books, almost as if she was wondering if she should say it or not, but then—

"Neroth."

She spoke up.

"Neroth?"

Lucian tilted his head and Aurelia nodded her head.

"Neroth Vhalzaryn."

Lucian didn’t fail to notice the seriousness in her tone when she said that name. That was more than enough to realise whoever this being was, he was dangerous.

Not that it changed anything.

It was an Archdemon they were talking about, he was always dangerous.

"Who was he?"

Lucian asked.

Aurelia sat opposite him, her mind still wondering if she was right and the more she thought about it, the surer she felt.

"An Independent Archdemon."

She answered.

"His Authority?"

"Agony."

And the instant Lucian heard that—

His eyes changed.

There it was.

Neroth Vhalzaryn.