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"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."
- Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
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<(Atem POV)>
"At last, you have finally remembered about us, master. And here I thought that you had completely forgotten about our existence. Oh, the joy I am feeling right now to be able to serve you again!" Shiklah spoke up with absolute devotion in her voice as she kept kneeling on the floor while looking at me with stars in her eyes as if she was looking at a living god... although now that I think about it, since I am actually a god, this might even be considered normal behavior in a way.
After I freed Shiklah from the coffin where she had been sealed for the last millennium, she became intensely devoted to me. I surmise that her mind, already fragile after thousands of years of confinement, may have become even further distorted upon realizing that her savior was not only a god but also the individual who had slain Dracula, the person she hated the most in the world, since he was the prime reason for her imprisonment. Also, the fact that the first thing she had witnessed after being freed was me utilizing my Golden Rule ability at its full power might also have pushed her affections beyond what should have been.
"*Sigh* You don't have to kneel every time you see me, Shiklah," I said, trying to hide the embarrassment I was feeling upon noticing the barely suppressed smiles on Blade's and Lilith's faces, although, for some reason, Hela looked rather pleased, much like a proud mother. "Also, how the hell did you arrive here so quickly? I assumed it would be the last to arrive since, according to Zoya, you were initially really skeptical of Natalia's words, weren't you?" I asked the kneeling succubus.
"... Yes, unfortunately, I was indeed quite taken aback when I learned about your grace summoning me from the mouth of that human woman. I always believed that all of your followers were special and had abilities beyond that of mundane mortals. However, when I learned that you are summoning me after such a long period, from the lips of such an... ordinary and unremarkable woman, I could not help but doubt it," She answered before looking in Natasha's direction and adding, "No offense."
"None taken." Natasha/Natalia replied with a small smile, inwardly glad that the succubus queen found her unremarkable. After all, being an undercover spy on a top-secret mission, there couldn't be greater praise for her.
"Honestly, I am not surprised at Shiklah. She and her kin had proven time and time again that monsters aren't the smartest of the bunch. I mean, the fact that they have to live in an underground, secluded city away from any kind of human civilization is enough proof of it." Lilith Drake, Dracula's one and only daughter, didn't miss a chance to throw a jibe at the monster queen.
Although she didn't possess the same hatred that her father held for the other monster races, which had once led to the great war between the vampires and other monsters a thousand years ago, she was still more than prejudiced against them, probably because of the tiny amount of influence her father's ideals had on her. After I slew her father and made her the new vampire queen, she did her absolute best to control her subjects and hide away her prejudices and biases against other species. However, it was certain moments like this, when she just could not help but sneak a few snide remarks into her words in an attempt to prove her species' apparent superiority over others.
"Come on, Lilith. We all know that you don't mean it. So, don't try and make yourself appear like some sort of Tsundere." I sighed before focusing my attention on the vampire hunter beside her, "Blade, nice to meet you again after such a long time. I still owe you that drink I promised." I smirked, "But I think you, too, owe us all a treat for your new baby girl."
"And here I thought I would be able to keep everything a secret a few more days." He gave a low chuckle before sending a small apologetic look at Lilith. It seems even she was unaware of the newest member of his family. "Do not worry, though, I am not a cheapskate. I will be holding a barbecue at my place soon, and I will be inviting everyone who should have been at her baby shower. Safron and I initially decided to keep Brielle's existence under wraps to protect her from my enemies who are still alive, but now that I am almost done hunting down most of the dangerous ones, we are thinking of finally going... public, especially since we have continuous protection and security from Meta. By the way, thanks for that." He spoke in his deep voice, probably the most he had spoken in one go in the last couple of years.
"Don't mention it, bro," I said, casually waving my hand at his gratitude. "And yes, I will be happy to attend that barbecue any day. I think it will be good for all of us if we just take a day off and have some fun." I nodded, agreeing to the vampire hunter's words. "Anyway, since there haven't been any major crimes relating to vampires and monsters recently, I assume everything is in order in the supernatural world, right? Have you two succeeded in solidifying your rule like you were supposed to?" I asked, looking straight at their faces.
"Yes, the monster races are mostly content with hiding and living out their lives in peace in the hidden underground monster city. Unlike how most humans imagine it to be, monsters don't exactly like to associate with humans. Yes, some do tend to like scaring humans as a prank, but I have strictly put a stop to that. As for the feral ones who were too arrogant and foolish to follow the rules that I had laid out for everyone, like some of the Egyptian mummies, for example, well, they were swiftly taken care of by the executioner." The succubus queen answered, gesturing to Blade who stood there with a proud grin on his lips.
"Well, what can I say, some motherfuckers always like to skate uphill." He added with a shrug.
"And what about the vampires? Have they been giving you any trouble, Lilith?" I asked, noticing that she, for some reason, had a displeased expression on her face.
"... Unfortunately, yes. The vampires were far less docile than the other monsters. You see, after my father died, I was able to unite most of the vampire clans around the world under my rule, save for some of the ones who preferred to live out their lives in seclusion. Of course, there were also some "nobles" who resisted, thinking that they were more fit to rule than I, but being the direct daughter of Dracula himself comes with some advantages, especially when it involves strength. I am stronger than all those nobles, so I was able to quickly take care of them. Instead, it's the clans who openly show support for my rule but try to resist from the shadows that have slowly become a headache for me.
The thing is, some of these clans tried to genetically engineer a weapon against me, a new brand of vampires to undermine my rule. As a result, a new group called the Reapers came into existence, a breed of artificially created, mutated vampires who can feed on both humans and vampires that have been trying to disrupt the delicate peace I have created. They don't drink the artificial blood that other vampires have now started to depend on. No, they prefer to drain living beings before turning them into reapers like them. They are beyond any type of control or reason and even turned on their own creators. They purely operate on a pack mentality and are very good at hiding... as well as hunting. Honestly, those creatures are like bugs. No matter how many you kill, there are always some remaining." She clicked her tongue in utter annoyance.
"But hopefully, they won't be a problem for long. I have been working on a solution to annihilate their entire species. We have found something called the Montesi formula, a mystical solution that can apparently cure vampirism around the world. Of course, we are not looking to target ALL the vampires since it is now known that not all vampires are evil. Instead, Lady Celene and some of our best researchers have been collaborating to tweak the formula to only affect the reapers rather than all vampires. If everything goes right, we will be able to do away with their foul race very soon." Blade added, making it clear that he was working diligently to solve Lilith's problem.
The vampire hunter sounded quite motivated in his work, especially when it came to solving the problems that came with the respective reigns of Lilith and Shiklah. It seemed like he had taken his role as the monster executioner quite seriously. This made me wonder if it had anything to do with his growing family or the stable salary and benefits I was providing him for doing the job that he originally used to do for free.
"I see. Well, I hope that works. Just be a little careful, it would genuinely suck if something were to go wrong and all the vampires were to start dropping dead because of it. After all, one's race or species isn't what makes them evil; it's their actions that determine what path they would walk." I did my best to throw some Oogway-level wisdom at them to play my part as the wise god before deciding to stop wasting any more time and address the actual reason I gathered them here.
"Anyway, the three of you have widely succeeded in doing what I had tasked you. You three were able to take over the monster and vampire races and bring them under your rule in my name, which hasn't just reduced crimes all over the world but has also brought a sense of potential peace among the races on this planet. For this, I have decided to reward you with something extremely precious, a gift which if you accept will not just change your lives for the better but perhaps even the lives of others around you as well" I paused letting the weight of my words sink into their minds, "... How would the three of you like to become my newest gods?"
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