Nightmare System - Volume 1 Chapter 35 Losing Friends

“Leila, you are a vampire, too. Have you eaten yet? Do you not want to bite into the neck of that kid behind you? As gruesome as it sounds, isn’t that also your truth as well as our friends here?” Hell opened his arms to point at the vampires behind him.

One of the men in the crowd took the child away from her side after he heard the words spill out of Hell’s mouth. It seemed this tribe knew the common tongue, how nice.

“Of course not!” Leila yelled. “I would never–”

“You would never hurt that child? Like you would never bite into your brother even if I didn’t stop you back then?” Hell didn’t step back, either, finally revealing what happened back then.

Leon turned to Leila to ask what Hell was talking about, but her apologetic eyes caused him to recoil in terror. His heart started beating faster and he realised that he would no longer feel as safe around his little sister. He managed to not show it on his face, but Leon’s heart was momentarily in disarray.

The village was bathed in the foul smell of blood and corpses. The trees surrounding the village stood straight with a gloomy colour. The simple cottages made of mud and foliage were already burnt and destroyed. There wasn’t a good life out there for Greenskins unless they were a very large tribe. Since the bond between tribes would usually be non-existent, even their kin would care not for their massacre. Livestock was all they are to vampires. Greenskins would have a high birth rate and mature around 10 years old. They were still a populous race around the world.

“It’s not true, is it?” Leon asked.

“It’s not what you think!” Leila yelled in objection. “I had just turned and was barely conscious and–”

“Stop,” Leon interjected. “I don’t need to know. It doesn’t matter. Hell, this is still wrong.” Leon was stern. Surely this was not a piece of information he’d ever like to have, but they had a different problem here now that needed to be solved. Leon finally realised that even as his allies, it was dangerous to be around the demon called Helleborus Reeveman.

“You know, your sister was unimaginably happy as she bit into my wrist, almost draining me to the extent that I thought I’d run out of mana trying to replenish the blood,” Hell said with a wry smile on his face.

Hell was disgruntled. He didn’t like his friends not taking his side. Didn’t they know vampires were a feral people already? It was in their blood, they had to drink blood. It was even better if they could eat something fresh, and that would be something to boost their morale in the battle that would follow. Even if they attacked with overwhelming advantage, the army would still incur losses. And they even had to attack multiple bases without rest.

“Hell! Shut your mouth!” yelled Leon, exploding with emotion as he charged Hell. He wasn’t using any skills, just his brute strength. In the two seconds Hell had to prepare, he only said the following words to his subordinates:

“None of you interfere.”

Leon used his strength without any augmentation and Hell stood there and endured the punch with a wry smile and his non-augmented defence stat. It would be very much like two regular humans fighting, had you not know what they could actually do.

Hell had no reaction neither the desire to fight back still. So he just let himself be thrown onto the ground with the punch’s momentum. Of course, any injuries sustained would be healed by the passive healing he got from the vampires already, so he simply got up after taking the punch.

Hell raised his hands in surrender with the same smile etched on his mug. He felt conflicted, should he just kill them? But they were his friends. Hell’s love was intense but could be fleeting. As he considered the possibility, a message popped before Leon’s face.

*Would you like to kick the player: “Helleborus” from the team?*

Hell could clearly read the message from the opposite side since the message box was transparent. He wasn’t angry, even though he usually would be. He wasn’t sad, although it seemed he was being abandoned again. He wasn’t feeling guilty; he found no fault in his own actions. Hell simply awaited Leon’s reply.

Leon gazed into Hell’s turquoise eyes glowing in the dark and saw no intentions of explaining himself any further there. Everything was developing so rapidly and even Leon as an older brother who was supposed to have all the answers, was unsure of what to do. Would Hell even let themselves go? What kind of monster was he if he could wantonly kill innocent people?

Considering his inhumane actions thus far, it was simply what he does, not something new. They were simply too distracted to notice earlier. So what would be their end? Perhaps they should play along and run away when they get the chance, Leon was considering the possibility.

There was a silence of around half a minute when Hell finally spoke up, seeing there was no reply from Leon: “I am not going to apologise for my actions for being the only person who understands how the world works. You thought we were the heroes in this story? We are the invaders, the conquerors, you idiots! Vampires may be bloodthirsty in nature, but we humans have always been much, much worse than they could ever be. You think I was risking my life to save these vampires? They are my soldiers and they know that fact. We aren’t a family here, they’d shred you to pieces if I ordered them to!”

Before Leon could get a chance to reply, Hell opened his mouth once more for a few more words:

“If you go, you will die. I was never one to beg, but I hope you’ll make a wise choice.”

“Are you threatening us?!” Leila jerked rapidly, her eyes spitting fire at Hell, who could only sigh and say “No.” in return before adding:

“Leave if you really want to, but this is a cruel world, and an attitude like that will be your end.”

“Do you promise to spare the ones behind us if we leave now?” Leon added, and pressed the button to kick him out of the party anyway after Hell replied positively. The party had disbanded just like that. Hell had a small hole in his heart momentarily, but he felt he was fine the next second. He wouldn’t shed tears for people who betrayed himself.

It was the last couple of years he had to take care of his little brother, but he had learnt to let go of his emotions during that time. It would be all right, as long as it was for his little brother. Even now, his greatest worry was to return to that rascal as soon as possible, he must have been worried.

“Keep the skills I gave you as a farewell gift,” Hell said. He wanted them to feel bad and guilty for leaving. Why was he the evil one here? He was just being a good leader for once, wasn’t he? Perhaps they would remember him each time they used the skills or perhaps if it helped save their lives.

“Come, Leila,” Leon said. “Let’s go.” The siblings had a grim look on their faces. The emotion their faces carried was neither of compassion nor friendship anymore. It was almost devoid of any reaction for Hell himself.

“You killed people, actual humans before and that wasn’t a problem, but killing some goblin-human hybrid creatures from another universe is bad?” Hell murmured. “Hypocrites.” Hell watched the two vanish into the woods and sighed, then created a copy of himself.

After having some alone time, Hell began thinking that he should have those skills back. Furthermore, that telekinesis skill could be great, too. Perhaps killing them both could gain him enough power to face actual boss-level foes. He grasped his right eye and temple with his hand for a moment. It was his headaches again. He then decided against it doing something like that after some further contemplation. He would just forget them for now, the forest would likely take care of them.

According to the way Aurus put it, the road they travelled would be comparable to having travelled the entire continent of Africa from one end to another. No wonder they required these gates to travel.

Hell later in the night gathered his knights for some planning after they dined with the tribe, strategizing to attack Pandora’s base. Pandora was renowned for his familiar summoning techniques and could make for a tough foe, according to Virgil. Now, Hell knew how you defeated these types of enemies, summoners were almost always weak in individual strength. If he could take him out with his speed, the familiars would probably disappear along with the dying vampire.

He wasn’t surprised that not all these creatures at the top had various abilities. Hell knew that if he failed to get the vampires’ ability through killing one or two, he’d consider being one as well. Always young, always strong. That would be the dream for any powerful person. Who would want their strength acc.u.mulation of a lifetime to just disappear after one meagre century they could perhaps live?

Virgil gave him a weird look as Hell explained the way to defeat Pandora. Virgil then told Hell that the elementals would all just focus on protecting him if they did that. At least if you could disperse the energy of some of them, they could then take on Pandora easier before he could summon them again.

“Well, as my General, do use my resources as you wish,” Hell said. “I’ll also give you 12 of my copies to control.”

“I’ll do as my Lord commands,” Virgil replied and slightly bowed towards Hell as he made a fist and pressed it on his chest, showing his respect. Virgil was quite excited about this battle, too. Being able to use 12 of Hell’s copies as he wished was an elating matter to him, the possibilities were endless. Even as a copy of the original, he was strong enough that if they sparred enough, there would come a point Virgil could no longer win against even one of them. No matter how strong Virgil was, he couldn’t match Hell’s speed at all. He was only able to win because of his experience in battle. If Hell managed to close that gap at one point, he would truly be fearsome. He grinned as he imagined the day where his Lord would truly be invincible.

The army dined and laughed, and rested as their heart wished for another hour. Aurus thought they deserved some time off as well. After all, some of them would die soon.

Jack seemed to be almost drunk on blood and was being mocked for his name “Moonyell”. People were telling him that would be a great name if he was a werewolf instead. It seems Annette no longer had any problems with him after he shared a Greenskin with especially tasty blood with her back in the village. It was an odd sight to Hell, seeing such a petite and cute girl such as Annette ripping apart villagers and drinking them with glee.

That’s just how vampires were. It wasn’t that they were evil, but how many of us stopped eating livestock just because they screamed as we cut them apart or killed them? Vampires didn’t have an insatiable hunger and could last for quite some time with the bottles of blood, but those bottles were only there for convenience as one may not find prey each time. Just because you could stand not eating, didn’t mean you would.

Hell understood that point, that just as he liked eating meat, vampires loved as well as had to, drink blood. If meat tasted a lot better while fresh and still on the cow, Hell couldn’t be sure if he could choose not to bare his teeth into one when he got the chance.

The army finally gathered their camp and left joyfully, leaving behind a bloody village and forever scarred children and women in the said village.

Aurus masterfully cast his spells again. His black slicked-back hair and his fine suit painted him solemn and disciplined. His red eyes gleamed under the moonlight with a resolute look. They passed through portals after portals, each one feeling as if their souls were being sucked into a vacuum.

They finally arrived at a clearing. According to Aurus’ estimations, the base was quite close to the portal here and that after half an hour of rest, they would attack at once. Of course, as brilliant and studious as Aurus was, these were still estimations, as the bases in the outer circles were basically patrol units and would not have constant communication with the other ones.

Virgil suggested they demand surrender from them in return for the Vampire Lord’s head or simply declare war and wait, but Hell dismissed the idea, saying that not only would they never accede to such a request, furthermore, they’d lose their chance for a surprise attack.

Virgil was an upright person, just as Theperes first told him. Hell knew of this point, but he also knew one had to be brutal at points. Who could claim that all history books are written with perfect accuracy? The history belonged to the winners. Even if he used any despicable means possible to win, he would still be a hero as the books were re-written. He could make sure of it.

The army rested once more as going through portals also put a strain on one’s very spirit. People like the Sons, Virgil or Hell would be fine, but the majority of the vampires were definitely feeling the burden on their very being. Hell’s Knights also seemed to be mostly only bothered by it. Jack seemed fine, however, it seemed he was more durable than the rest.

“Nero, I guess it’s your turn,” Hell said, turning into the shadow of a tree under the moonlight where Nero revealed himself from and nodded. The craziest thing was that every direction one could face at was still a dense forest. If they had travelled that far, how is it that it’s still trees all around?

“If I may suggest a different course of action?” Aurus spoke up suddenly. Hell considered just saying no and annoy him, but he sure proved his worth especially in this journey and in the fight against Lirger, so everyone turned to him and started listening.

“Instead of sending Nero alone who could take hours to cover the entire grounds, we could send 20 units of 5 with Nero as the link between them. Not only would this ensure safer travel for us, but it would also be faster with us on constant movement without any worries.” Aurus said, proud of his plan as he realised, he was yelling far too much.

“Brilliant suggestion!” Virgil said as he clapped his hands. “Shall we go with this plan, Hell?”

“I think that’s the best plan we’ve got, is that not so?” Theperes raised her voice from behind, taking slow steps and arriving next to Hell, hugging his arm.

“Hey, this is a war council or something of the sort,” Hell said with a smile, not knowing what to say.

“So what, am I not allowed?” Theperes pouted as Virgil and the Sons all sighed, understanding that they had to endure this skit for a bit before they could proceed with their plans.

“I mean, you know you don’t fight, command or help with any actual-” Hell was saying when he noticed her face changing into a more gloomy look so he created yet another copy and pointed at him:

“I told him to get you, what a dimwit!” Hell yelled with a comical reaction from himself. He was enjoying this, however, the innocent relationship moments he never acted out. Theperes was very understanding and eager to learn more about himself, too. It was truly fun.

Hell then slapped his copy and told him to not forget such an important thing again. The copy replied by shaking his head and accepting the guilt wholeheartedly.

“So you forgot about me?” Theperes then said, unexpectedly to Hell.

“So you were saying his plan is good?” Hell got the words out, inviting her into the group with a hand motion.

“Yes, I believe it is almost the optimal way to do things,” Theperes commented, to which Aurus immediately replied:

“Almost?”

“Yes, I’d add Slinora and Marco to the team to be at each end of the number of parties, making communication and coordination even easier. I am assuming those two are the fastest and least visible amongst the Sons. Also, instead of spreading everyone out in a line or a crescent as you probably are thinking of doing, you’ll yield better results if you make three teams of V formation following one after another with Sons keeping the order intact. You’ll also not have missed anything.”

Aurus was speechless and he didn’t expect such great thinking from her. Virgil, seeing everyone shocked, coughed to wake everyone up from their stupor and turned to Hell.

“Now see why I still had my eyes on her despite her failing the transition?”

“Yes, yes I do,” Hell said and turned to his copy once more: “You will never forget to invite her again, understood?”

“Sir, yessir!” the copy replied with a salute.