18 "Treason"
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Oriana pov
"Explain. Everything. Now," I ordered, trying not to lose my temper.
"Lady Albedo was the one who noticed first and immediately ordered to execute every safety protocol starting with informing the supreme beings of the immediate danger. Unfortunately, we were unable to contact Lord Ainz which led to every alarm level in the tomb being set to the maximum level. Since she was not able to contact you or Lady Mariana either. I was called to explain the situation. With the help of Lady Nigredo, the search team was able locate the whereabouts of her, she is currently near her last reported position seemingly unmoving.", the Hanzo explained.
I slapped the face with my palm and tried to calm myself down by regulating my breathing. Having calmed down I asked the Hanzo a question.
"Why is Albedo so sure Shalltear has betrayed us? Do we have any evidence?"
"Lady Albedo has checked the guild administration. As you know every name is highlighted in white when someone dies the name disappears. However, for hostile individuals, the name is highlighted in red."
"So, it's clear then"... a crack appeared on the glass I was holding "She betrayed us". My anger boiled up.
Why did she betray us?... No, why did she betray me? That was inexcusable, She wasn't just disobeying Nazarik or Ainz. NO, she betrayed me, her superior, her Master in any way.
I was the first Vampire and as such it was my birthright to rule every Vampire in existence. My nails started to dig into my hands and I felt the anger inside me. It twisted as I thought about the disrespect I had been given. It became harder to control every minute I thought about it. The cracked glass in my hand shattered as my pale arm started to change color. Black, slimy mud crawled up my arm and seemed to fight for every inch of pale skin.
Treason.
A small eye opened on my arm that the black mud had taken over.
Disobedience.
Another eye opened and began to look around as if trying to examine the surroundings.
Disrespect.
"RaOrR!", I punched the wall and used the destructive force to try and calm myself down. After minutes of intense breathing the eyes closed on after another and my arm regained its pale color.
That was close.
After coming to this world, I quickly learned that being a vampire was very different than in YGGDRASIL. Even though I never really cared about people other than my friends in the old world, which was probably due to the state our earth was in, I still felt compassion, but as a vampire it was different. Already against the knights in the village of Carne I noticed that I not only felt apathy but also disgust. I was disgusted by these people, their blood, their goals, their beliefs, everything about them seemed unimportant and inferior. They were like worms or maggots and only some, like the girl Zesshi or my newly transformed servant, made me feel like I was talking to something other than vermin.
Of course that was just the beginning. Over time I noticed a few other changes. Bloodlust was, strangely enough, the least of my problems. On the contrary, most people's blood smelled more disgusting than appetizing and only certain individuals aroused my appetite.
But my biggest problem was my anger. I was actually the most relaxed person ever but there were a few things that upset me - disrespect was one of them. But what upset me the most was when another vampire didn't obey my orders, something that came from me went against me.
Unforgivable.
And with the anger I quickly learned to know something else. Like Shalltear, who transformed into her true form when her bloodlust reached a certain point, the key to my transformation was rage, which allowed me to shift into my true form.
Still... I didn't like my true form that much. Not because it was 'ugly' but because it seemed to rob me of all consciousness. It was not nice to lose control, because unlike back in the game, I really lost control. Here instead of just having a somewhat limited red and blurry field of vision it also had an impact on my mind.
"My-y Lady is e-everything fine?", stuttered Mariana trying her best to stop her shaking. My rage seemingly affecting her deeply.
"Haaaaaa.", I sighed.
"Yes, I feel much better now."
"The situation has changed, I should go back to Nazarik immediately. This matter requires our full attention, you will accompany me but you...", I pointed at the Hanzo "...Will stay here and watch everything carefully. Tell the other Hanzo and the boy to lay low if the situation is resolved I will come back, but until then I expect you to hold your position here, you are now in command. I expect you to inform the others about the news as well."
"Mariana!", I called out and retrieved a gate scroll out of my inventory.
"Yes, My Lady?"
"Follow me [Gate]" a small obsidian portal quickly formed and as we went through, I thought about Shalltears betrayal.
Wait once I get my hands on you...
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Third person pov
The six cardinals of the Slane theocracy sat in their usual meeting room, around a table they used to discuss important matters. Even despite each of them leading their own sect they still worked together. That was because humanity was weak if they fought alone and in order to guarantee their survival, unity was the best course of action and it wasn't as if their beliefs contradicted each others.
They were not the only ones who ran the state, but their opinions still had great weight. Although the position of a cardinal was important, they received no wages other than the basic necessities of life. This was, of course, to prevent greedy individuals from ascending to the cardinal's position and to prevent corruption.
They were just about to talk about the mission on which they had sent the black scripture, humanity's trump card, when the return of this same scripture was announced.
"The captain of the black scripture askes for an audience with the cardinals."
"Let him in.", spoke the Pontifex Maximus.
"At once your excellence."
"Captain, I hope you bring us good news.", asked the cardinal of Darkness hopefully.
"I'm afraid not cardinals.", the captain answered.
"What happened? Were you not able to find the Dragonlord?", asked the cardinal of earth, Raymond Zrag Laurensan.
"We had just arrived in the forest of Tob when we were attacked by vampire wolves. After we defeated them, a vampire appeared. It was so powerful that we had no choice but to use the god's artifact. Unfortunately, the monster was able to mortally wound Lady Kaire before it could fully develop its effect. For this reason, I preferred to move back."
"This are bad news indeed captain, what about the vampire?" asked the cardinal of fire.
"The Vampire was not fully con...." The captain tried to answer but he was interrupted by a messenger rushing in.
"Who are you? We are in the middle of an important meeting.", asked the cardinal of water enraged.
"I am sorry excellence, I would not dare if it was not an emergency." replied the messenger, out of breath.
"Then speak now.", said the cardinal of wind.
"The extra seat of the black scripture...," answered the messenger.
"What about her?", asked the captain.
"She..."
"She is gone"
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