...
{3rd Pov}
Astreo quietly entered the room on the upper floor before looking at the scene in front of him with undisguised disgust.
In truth, he could have observed everything in the entire building long ago using his Psychic Magic without ever stepping into the room.
He simply chose not to as he did not want to see the random degeneracy, one reason he asked that Vampire Lady where there still any alive female humans.
After all, he already knew just how degenerate vampires could be, and he had no desire to witness that through his senses unless it was absolutely necessary.
He had hoped that, at the very least, the room where they kept their human captives would be somewhat less disturbing.
Unfortunately that hope turned out to be nothing more than wishful thinking.
The room was filled with human bodies or more accurately pieces of human bodies.
The corpses had been butchered apart, with severed limbs, internal organs, and blood scattered throughout the room as though it were some kind of grotesque slaughterhouse.
The sight was revolting.
Astreo's expression immediately darkened.
What disgusted him even more was the complete pointlessness of it all.
He knew perfectly well that vampires only needed to drink human blood in order to survive.
In fact, they didn't even require large quantities.
A relatively small amount of blood every now and then was more than enough to sustain them.
They could have easily obtained that blood from blood banks, voluntary donations, or countless other methods without slaughtering innocent people like animals.
Yet, these vampires had still chosen the most cruel and depraved option available to them.
Of course, apparently, these vampires still preferred hunting humans for sport and pleasure.
Eventually, they couldn't keep their captives locked up forever.
And when that time came this was the outcome.
They butchered their victims like livestock before dividing the bodies according to status and rank. Different organs and cuts of meat were distributed among the vampires as though they were delicacies being served at some luxurious banquet.
The entire practice made Astreo feel nothing but disgust.
The only survivor in the room was a young woman chained to a metal table.
She had already lost a considerable amount of blood, leaving her face deathly pale as she remained unconscious.
Standing nearby was the Viscount, a Lesser Commander-ranked vampire.
He was calmly carving pieces of human flesh on a bloodstained table as though he were simply preparing dinner.
Astreo didn't waste even a single second trying to speak with him.
Instead, he silently unleashed his Psychic Magic.
The invisible mental force invaded the vampire's mind almost instantly.
The Viscount's movements abruptly stopped, and his eyes lost all focus.
Then, under Astreo's calm gaze, he slowly turned around and faced him with a completely blank, expressionless look on his face.
"How do you turn humans into vampires?" Astreo asked.
The vampire answered immediately in a dull, robotic voice.
"One must first perform the transformation ritual. During the ritual, the blood the subject drinks determines both their aptitude and the rank they will possess after becoming a vampire."
The answer was concise and straight to the point.
Astreo nodded before shifting his gaze toward the unconscious young woman lying on the table.
Her face remained deathly pale from excessive blood loss.
In the next instant, his Chaos Armour materialized around his body.
For the briefest of moments, the overwhelming aura of an Emperor threatened to spread across the entirety of Asia.
Fortunately, Astreo reacted instantly and forcefully suppressed it before even a fraction of it could leak outside.
A gentle green radiance enveloped the unconscious woman.
His Super Tier Healing Magic immediately took effect spreading across her body like a healing tide.
The torn flesh rapidly recovered, her exhausted body regained its vitality, and the blood she had lost was restored as though it had never left her body in the first place.
Within only a few seconds she had been restored to her absolute peak condition, as if the horrific ordeal she had just endured had never happened at all.
Soon, her eyelids fluttered open.
The moment she regained consciousness, she instinctively panicked and was about to scream when a calm, soothing voice reached her ears.
"Human, I shall give you two choices."
The Star Emperor spoke in an even tone, causing her body to freeze.
At the same moment, the bindings restraining her snapped apart one after another.
She slowly sat up, still trembling with fear.
"W-Who are you?" she stammered. "And where am I? Wait... I remember being captured by..."
Her words abruptly stopped.
Her eyes widened in horror as she finally noticed the room she was in with human body parts hung from hooks all around the room, severed organs had been neatly arranged on metal trays, eyeballs floated inside glass containers lining the shelves.
The horrifying scene instantly drained every trace of color from her face.
Her body completely refused to move.
No sound escaped her throat.
It felt just like those terrifying nightmares where you desperately tried to scream or run away, only to discover that your body no longer obeyed you.
Frozen in place all you could do was watch as the monster slowly approached to claim your life.
At that moment, purple flames suddenly ignited across Astreo's Chaos Armour.
Without a single unnecessary movement, the flames spread throughout the entire room and within moments, every severed limb, every organ, every pool of blood, and every remaining piece of the butchered corpses was instantly reduced to ashes, leaving behind not even the slightest trace of the gruesome massacre.
The control over the flames was so unbelievably precise that, other than the gruesome remains scattered throughout the room, nothing else inside the building suffered even the slightest damage.
Not a single wall was scorched, or a single piece of furniture was burned.
Within moments, the room had transformed from a grotesque slaughterhouse into what looked like a perfectly clean, empty room that had just been put up for rent.
Astreo calmly crouched down in front of the terrified woman, a seat manifesting below him out of nowhere, purple flames hovering above on his armour.
Behind the visor of his Chaos Armour, his gaze remained fixed on her face, which had completely frozen in terror.
"Look behind you," his deep voice echoed calmly through the room. "The vampire who captured you has already been placed under my control."
His words caused her body to shiver once again.
Whether it was out of fear or a desperate instinct to survive, she didn't know but without wasting another second, she immediately obeyed his command and slowly turned her head.
Only then did she finally notice another figure standing inside the room.
The vampire who had captured her was still there.
However, he was standing perfectly still with a completely blank expression, looking less like a living being and more like an empty puppet awaiting its master's next command.
The man had two sharp canine teeth protruding from his mouth, and his eyes were completely blood red.
Her own eyes widened as realization struck her.
Even though she wasn't a mage and came from an ordinary commoner background, she had read more than enough fantasy novels to recognize what stood before her.
A vampire.
As the memories of her kidnapping gradually became clearer, everything finally clicked into place.
This vampire had abducted her to use as a living blood bag.
Or perhaps, he had planned to butcher her first and then enjoy her as an afternoon meal.
'Damnit!'
'All those fantasy stories about sexy, bossy vampires were complete lies!'
'Those damn authors tricked me!'
'And seriously, who the hell would want a monster as a lover?!'
'These guys literally eat humans!'
At that very moment, she silently swore an oath to herself.
If she ever made it out of this place alive, she was going to become the most toxic hater imaginable.
She would personally hunt down every single author who romanticized vampires and criticize every one of their garbage stories.
Reality had officially shattered all of her fantasies and honestly, Reality sucked.
"I do not like repeating myself," Astreo said calmly interrupting her thoughts.
He raised two fingers.
"First... become a vampire and work under me. In return, I will grant you the power to kill any being you deem worthy of judgment, including the vampire standing behind you, so long as your actions are not completely unjust."
He lowered one finger.
"Second... I will free you right now."
"I will erase every memory of today's events, allowing you to return to your ordinary life without any psychological trauma."
"There will be no strings attached."
After speaking, Astreo simply waited.
The woman remained silent for several long moments, her mind racing as she struggled to process everything that had happened within the past few minutes.
Finally, she spoke.
"What... will you do about these... filthy creatures if I refuse your offer?"
The last few words were filled with unconcealed venom.
The disgust in her voice was impossible to miss.
Naturally she wanted revenge as every part of her wanted to make these monsters pay for everything they had done.
She also felt an overwhelming sense of righteous anger toward the atrocities committed against her fellow human beings.
No one deserved to suffer such a fate.
At the same time, however, she had absolutely no desire to become the subordinate of this mysterious armored man and nor did she particularly like the idea of becoming a vampire herself.
"I will kill every vampire in this building," Astreo replied honestly. "They ruined my appetite."
There wasn't the slightest hint of anger in his voice was he enraged because they had butchered humans?
Not really.
They were vampires.
Hunting humans and feeding on their blood was part of their very nature, and consuming humans also helped them grow stronger.
From Astreo's perspective, humanity wasn't much different.
Humans butchered countless animals every single day and often raised them under horrifying conditions simply to satisfy their own palates, despite the fact that they could survive on a vegetarian diet or, at the very least, consume only what they genuinely needed.
The world had always worked like that.
Getting angry out of some self-righteous sense of justice was meaningless.
Astreo had never considered himself humanity's savior.
As far as he was concerned, every race was equally acceptable as a subordinate, provided they understood the hierarchy and remained loyal.
He wasn't some human supremacist either.
After all, if humans were ever given a genuine opportunity to kill him, plenty of them would gladly take it without a second thought.
However, as he had already said seeing dismembered human bodies scattered throughout the room like products inside a meat-processing factory had completely ruined his mood.
He had been happily eating chicken momos just a little while ago.
Now even the thought of food made him feel disgusted.
So he had reached a very simple conclusion.
He would incinerate every vampire inside this building.
This had become personal.
The woman let out a trembling sigh of relief before looking at him with lingering fear.
"P-Please..." she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Just let me go... and kill them."
Astreo simply nodded as he wasn't particularly surprised by her answer.
Expecting every ordinary person to make such a life-changing decision on the spot was unrealistic.
Everyone had a different nature, different values, and different limits. Very few people were capable of accepting such a drastic change to their lives after experiencing something so traumatic.
Although Astreo had secretly hoped that today would be the day he finally acquired his very first vampy, it seemed fate had other plans.
Today simply wasn't that day.
Without saying another word, he gently erased the woman's traumatic memories of the incident.
The next moment, he teleported her to a police station located a considerable distance away.
And yes...
Surprise, surprise.
Police stations did, in fact, exist in this world and, society hadn't completely abandoned ordinary law enforcement.
Most police officers were normal humans, while their superiors were usually Novice or Intermediate Mages assigned to handle situations involving magical incidents whenever necessary.
Their primary responsibility was dealing with crimes and disputes involving the ordinary population.
After all, mages only made up roughly one to five percent of the world's population, depending on the nation or region.
Naturally, that percentage was much higher in places like Shanghai Magic City or the Imperial Capital of China, where the concentration of mages was among the highest in the entire country.
After that, Astreo wondered whether he should let Liu Ru become a vampire just like in the original story, or perhaps save her older sister before everything went wrong.
After all, the two sisters were among the few people he believed might genuinely be willing to become vampires while still meeting his expectations.
He let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.
The problem was that he had no idea whether Liu Ru would still choose to become a vampire if her older sister never died.
In the original timeline, it was precisely that tragedy which pushed her into making such a desperate decision.
Astreo, however, had absolutely no intention of deliberately allowing her sister to die just to recreate the original plot.
'Hmm... I guess I'll just put in a little more effort and see whether they're willing to accept my proposal,' Astreo thought. 'If they refuse... then I'll simply abandon the whole plan of getting myself a vampy.'
Having made up his mind, Astreo casually teleported into the sky.
From above, he first used his Space Magic to teleport every remaining human captive safely out of the building.
Only after confirming that no innocent people remained inside did he casually unleash his flames.
The entire building was instantly engulfed in fire.
Every vampire inside, including Nie Dong if he happened to be present, was incinerated without the slightest hesitation.
Astreo didn't even bother checking.
Once the flames had consumed everything, he simply turned around and left the area as though nothing had happened.
...
[R18! Warning ahead! Light Lemons!]
After returning home, with his mood for food had been completely ruined by everything he had witnessed earlier and nothing better to do, he casually sat down on the sofa, turned on the television, and switched to one of the magic news channels, which had just begun its daily broadcast covering magical incidents from around the world.
While he was absentmindedly watching the news, the door to the living room quietly opened.
Qin Yu'er walked inside.
Her expression remained as neutral and frosty as ever.
Without saying a single unnecessary word, she calmly approached Astreo before kneeling on one knee in front of him.
"Lord," she reported, "I have located the Flame Belle as you commanded."
Hearing that, Astreo immediately turned off the television and shifted his attention toward Qin Yu'er.
Although her face remained almost completely expressionless, the look in her eyes was telling an entirely different story.
They were practically screaming for praise.
"Excellent work, Qin Yu'er," Astreo said with a satisfied nod. "I'll add additional merit points to your record."
He then crossed one leg over the other before continuing.
"However... if there is anything else you desire from me, you may ask for it."
His tone remained calm, as though granting rewards to his subordinates was the most natural thing in the world, especially the reward he could give her now.
Qin Yu'er's eyes brightened slightly as she understood the hidden meaning behind Astreo's words.
A part of her was terrified that she might ruin this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Still, after gathering every bit of courage she had, she finally spoke.
"M-My Lord..." she stammered. "May I... receive my reward... by becoming your woman?"
The frosty, emotionless expression she usually wore had long since disappeared.
Instead, a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
For perhaps the first time in years, Qin Yu'er genuinely felt embarrassed.
She couldn't help wondering whether she had been too straightforward or perhaps far too shameless.
Astreo, however, felt a slight shiver run through his body after hearing her answer.
Without another word, he slowly stood up from the sofa and walked toward the kneeling woman.
Stopping directly in front of her, he gently reached out and lifted her chin.
His thumb lightly brushed against her soft pink lips as his gaze remained fixed on her eyes, which were filled with unwavering devotion.
There wasn't the slightest trace of mockery in his own expression.
Only quiet affection.
"Are you absolutely certain this is what you want?" Astreo asked in a low voice.
His tone carried a noticeably darker undertone than before.
"Because once you become mine..."
"There will never be anyone else for you."
"You will belong only to me."
As those words left his mouth, a deep obsession briefly flashed across Astreo's eyes.
It lasted for only a moment, yet it was enough to send an involuntary shiver through Qin Yu'er's entire body.
Of course, how could the man adored by such obsessively devoted women be completely normal himself?
Although Astreo had far clearer boundaries than most people, he was still the kind of man who desired a harem of his own.
Not just any harem.
He wanted a harem composed of capable women who were wholeheartedly obsessed with him, and in return, he had absolutely no interest in any woman who couldn't accept that kind of relationship.
And once a woman became his she would remain his alone.
Until death separated them, every one of his women would belong only to him, and he, in turn, would be the only man in their lives.
"I... I love you," Qin Yu'er replied softly.
That was her answer.
That was her choice.
"I love you," she repeated once more, her voice becoming firmer, carrying a faintly possessive undertone that matched the unwavering obsession within her eyes.
Astreo smiled, completely satisfied with the answer he had received.
"You truly are a good girl," he said gently.
"And good girls deserve to be rewarded, don't they?"
As he spoke, he firmly held her chin and gently guided her to her feet.
Qin Yu'er's heart skipped a beat.
A deep blush spread across her cheeks as warm blood rushed to her face.
Her blue eyes met Astreo's purple ones without wavering, the distance between them growing ever smaller as neither of them looked away.
He finally let go of her chin, leaving her skin tingling. A small part of her felt a flicker of shame, knowing she was being manipulated and controlled so easily by a man significantly younger than herself.
However, the moment she remembered that this man was the Star Emperor, that shame vanished, replaced by a sense of submission.
It felt only justified.
An Emperor was entitled to a harem of whoever he desired, regardless of gender, and since she was hopelessly in love with him, she was more than willing to devote every ounce of her passion and loyalty to his whims.
Their lips crashed together with a violence that sent electric currents surging down their spines. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a collision.
Their mouths smashed against each other, tongues invading and battling for dominance in a frantic, hungry fury.
Qin Yu'er felt her brain practically melting from the sheer pleasure of it. She kissed him with a desperate intensity, tasting his saliva and gulping it down her throat as if it were the only thing keeping her alive.
While their mouths were occupied, his dishonest hands didn't stay still. He reached down and grabbed her ass with a firm, possessive grip, hauling her body flush against his. He squeezed her cheeks, pushing her pelvis hard against his own, as if he were trying to physically merge their two bodies into one.
She didn't hold back, replying with an equal level of intensity. Her hands flew to his back, gripping him with a force that bordered on aggression.
She dug her fingernails into his skin, scratching deeply in a fit of lust, though it was a futile effort. Because he was the Star Emperor, his skin was far too durable for her to leave a mark; not a single scratch appeared, and his skin didn't even turn red despite her best efforts to mark him.
His hands began a slow, predatory migration upward. He caressed the curves of her body, his grip tightening around her waist before his fingers began to crawl like a spider up her spine.
He moved smoothly, his hand sliding around to the front until he finally clamped his palm over her bountiful chest.
Qin Yu'er let out a muffled moan right into the kiss, her body shuddering as she felt his fingers pinch and trail over her nipple through the fabric of her clothing.
"Slurrrp... Chu... I love you... Slurrp... Chu~" she managed to moan between wet, sloppy sounds. She leaned into him even harder, their tongues colliding and mixing with saliva to create a sticky nectar of union and love.
For several minutes, they remained drowned in the kiss, their hands roaming everywhere, clutching at skin and clothing as if they were trying to fuse together.
Finally, they broke apart, though they stayed inches away. A thin, glistening string of saliva stretched between their lips before snapping.
Qin Yu'er slowly licked her lips, tasting him, her eyes glazed with lust. She knew the reward wasn't over yet; this was only the beginning.
To be continued...
(A/N: I am very happy with the powerstones you guys are throwing, it's the final day throw some more powerstones, btw I will also start uploading the Re: Zero chaps from tmrw, and this time it will be for the rest of the month with bonus chaps if we get good position. There will be also Danmachi chapters entire next month, and after that I think of Versatile Mage maybe?
I will keep stocking chaps in Patreon, trying to write two chaps once in two and three days as not to burn out. And keep consistent daily updates, however I will shift between fanfics for the second slot, as for the first slot which will be daily will belong to the major fanfic.
I also want to finish my Fake Sage fanfic by this year, and then upload here.
It is prequel to the great sage and the sum of all foreshadowing I had did.
You all know I like OP protagonists, but I knew if I were to write a completely OP MC in Re: Zero it will defeat the point of main story, and while it will be still good as it's own but it will be like 100-200 chaps at most considering all plot points. So, I decided to make an intricate backstory with OP elements for it. The most deep thinking I have ever done for a fanfic ngl.
It also helped that Re: Zero's world left a lot for personal interpretation and I didn't need to think about what move this character will make every chapter, because I knew it instinctively. They are somewhat one-dimensional complex character, Idk if I am saying it even right.
But they have a strict moral compass and can sway depending on circumstances and I can pull off all bullshit.
Unfortunately for Versatile Mage I had to brainstorm every chap due to how the fanfic was.
I am not a bit sad about how OP I made my MC, the fact if he was not OP after Infinite Resources I would have committed suicide because that's the whole point of having infinite resources and using it smartly. People do not want other subpar protagonists.
He does have some flaws or strengths depending on who you ask, Astreo was very young when he died so he has a realistic and firm view of the world, people in later years either mellow down or just go plain evil, which Astreo avoided.
My main motivation came when I read a lot of MTL VM fanfics, but disliked how racism was like every chap. Yeah I won't lie, you can check the wtr lab fanfics. There were some good ones, but they always nuked Sakura Nation*cough* *cough*. Atleast they did make in the nation of rising sun, so that's that.
But essentially I wanted a MC whose cheats starts a lot before the main story and he gets OP yet not Numbwaone in the Verse.
And of course harem, because I really cannot decide any main heroine and didn't wanna waste three romance arcs only for all of them to be futile.
Hey, I like single lead FL stories. But when the story isn't dumb. Like MC is average, he is averagely smart, gets shonen problem, other characters are a bunch of hypocrites, and his single FL is a dumb tsundere. For people who had been complaining harem, bro you haven't witnessed the older era, and don't know pains of Single FL.
Like all smart and capable women are ignored instead of just a dumb girl is chosen, because yes this is how Japanese marriages go and *cough* *cough* doesn't Emilia fits the bill? Well atleast she has more leverage than other dumb girls for being a nice girl to Subaru, unlike the others in his own story.
I knew what Tappei's tastes were when he said Subaru would choose Aqua over other girls if he were in konosuba, and if she were in Re: Zero from start then probably she will win over emilia or give her a tough competition.
All stories have only the purpose to entertain you, as long as entertainment is achieved I think it's good, and i know many of you wanted a steamy fanfic with Versatile female leads so I have brought it. I will include sex scenes, but I thought it was a bit tasteless to go straight into sex, after all my horniness level as a minor was higher, if you remember the Mushoku Tensei.
Man I was confused back then when I liked girls my age and people started complaining she was too young.
Haha... I will still do it for the rewrite, but for fanfics going onwards I prefer girls around 18 or Milfs, and please again they are at my age okay?
(If you didn't knew, yes... Your author is not a 30 year old otaku, LMAO. Though I know many of you won't believe it.)
Now, enough of this! I think this is the last chap for the weekly update. So see you in a while!)