Nature

The energy from the runs started pouring slowly into the hall below.

The night sky was quiet, and in the hall, in the chair of honor, sat Lord Winfield, and his son Conall was on his left side.

Winfield was drinking the blood in his cup, and he noticed that his son had an abnormally calm expression.

Then Conall let out a small smile. "You made me come to this world because of greed, didn't you, Father?"

Winfield stayed silent and didn't reply as he continued drinking.

Conall turned his head to his father. "The vampire ritual to immortality: 'Give birth to a child of your own. Let him grow to a perfect age, then harvest his soul, kill him, and take his body."

The father looked at his son and replied simply, "It is our nature."

Conall didn't stop smiling. "You brought me into this world and gave me food and a place to sleep. I am grateful, Father." He got up and walked slowly behind his father's chair. "However, you taught me the evils of this world. A cruel, cruel world that will never be fixed."

Conall let out a laugh. "And in this world, it's nature to be that cruel, isn't it?"

The room became cold, yet nobody could feel it yet.

Winfield changed his expression. "What are you planning by telling me this, Conall? It's not like I didn't expect you to figure it out years ago. You're a smart child."

Conall's expression darkened. "Do you know how it feels? Being born in a prison, where your sister treats you like dirt because she knows you're nothing but a vessel? Where everyone else looks at you as if you're a piece of furniture? When there's a whole world out there, and my fate tells me to stay here because of you?"

Winfield laughed, a loud laugh that reverberated throughout the whole hall. "Conall, do you really think a puny little insignificant flesh bag like you can do something to me?"

The son's smile faltered before he walked to the side, looking at his father's face. Conall then put his left hand on his father's throat as he tightened his grip, and black blood started coming out of Winfield's throat.

"W—what are you doing—" Winfield was in shock as he tried to move his hands to stop Conall. Vampires shouldn't bleed; that was common sense, but right now at this moment, he was.

Conall made the rune and planned it so that when it's activated, his father's spirit will change nature. And in doing so, it prevents him from using his abilities or calling for help.

The cruellest truth of this world is that to escape one's cage, one must often build another for someone else.

While Conall's father screamed. All that was on Conall's mind was when his father called it nature to devour the young for immortality.

To be food. That was the first and last truth of the universe. Stars were food for black holes, soil was food for seeds, and the living were food for the earth that would one day claim them. Protesting it was like protesting gravity itself. It was the fundamental, unchangeable nature of all things.

As the ground became a vessel for blood, Winfield stopped moving. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the spilled blood vanished. The chilling cold receded, and the room returned to normal.

Winfield's body started turning to ash slowly, and Conall, with a smile, sat on the honor chair. Looking at the table in front of him.

Using the runes was needed; one was for killing Winfield. Second was for gaining his power when he dies. The third was to get rid of the curse pointed at the killer.

If a vampire were a lord of a house, they would be strong enough to gain an ability. This scares everyone who tries to assassinate them.

"Reverse Death": Whoever causes the death of a vampire lord is instantly known to all their subjects, each of whom will possess a singular, unwavering purpose: to hunt the killer down.

A black halo with a red outline started forming on top of Conall, as he couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, my friend Taro."

The rune finally stopped its activation. I started breathing heavily, holding my chest. This whole thing took most of my mana away; I just hope Conall got rid of the entity.

I got up and waited for my blurred vision to come back; runes are surely dangerous. I felt like I was going to lose everything while using them.

I reached for the guest room door to get out, but before I could touch it, the door exploded open.

Looking forward, I saw the reason; there was a knight. One of the spirits that served Lord Winfield. Did Conall fail?

I gritted my teeth, and then as the knight was charging, I sprinted my way to the side and ran through the halls.

My mana was still depleted; I couldn't possibly defend myself in a fight. I have to make sure Conall is safe.

Walking down the stairs, I saw some knights behind me, but thankfully, their armor was big, which made them slow. I ran with all of my strength to the hall's door, and then I opened it.

The warm golden light greeted me; I saw sitting on the edge of the table was Conall. Whose hair had turned completely white, with his eyes becoming even redder. He had a weird black halo on top of his head.

"Conall?" I let out, stepping forward into the light.

He noticed me; the smile on his face didn't change. "Thank you, Taro. I can't truly express my gratitude."

"No, what do you mean? What is the meaning of any of this? If you killed the entity, then why are those knights..." My vision was locked onto him.

"Sadly, to kill my father. Someone else had to be responsible for it, since I can't do it. That stopped me from planning to kill him; however, you came and did it for me! But sadly, we can't stay friends, since every spirit contacted by the Winfield family will be hunting you."

"You? Did you use me?" I asked.

Conall looked at me, then said in a calm tone, "Yes."

No regret or second thought at this moment; I remember what Eden has said. This is their nature.

I sprinted at Conall, I clenched my fist, driven by a single wish: to wipe that damn smile off his face.

However, smoke came between me and him, and in front of me stood Lilith. Lance in hand, her face looked at me; it was darker than before.

The moment she saw me, her eyes widened in shock, but it didn't stop her movement as she dashed towards me, ready to stab me in the heart. And she did; in an instant, the lance pierced through my body, and I felt the pain.

Blood flew out of my mouth as I felt the metallic object inside of me.

"You shouldn't have hidden your scent," Lilith said, not looking at me. Her tone of voice conflicted.

My vision started to blur. Is this where I die for real? Everything I did was for nothing...

I heard metal colliding, and then in a blink, I saw that Lilith was still in front of me, ready to pierce my heart.

"Huh?" I looked around, surprised. I noticed that Lilith was too, but she didn't care as she dashed at me again.

However, this time in front of me stood a middle-aged man.

Mars stood before me, having caught the lance in a hand covered with glowing runes. He didn't say anything before holding the lance and swinging it away.

Mars saw in my eyes the very despair he had warned me about. In that moment, his guilt finally outweighed his fear.

Lilith didn't fight, as the lance just turned into smoke and reformed in her hand.

Mars let out a pitiful laugh, then took something out of his clothes, a black paper.

Recognizing the teleportation paper, Lilith dashed past him to strike me down. For an instant, just a fraction of a second, it felt as if she hesitated.

She tried to strike me down, but then I felt the fresh air of the forest.

I looked at my shaking hands; I couldn't hear my thoughts or anything around. Everything turned blurry; I started opening my mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

Mars, who had also been teleported with me, looked at me without saying anything.