"Thomas, what are you looking at?!" William said, looking at Thomas, as the group of vampires were in the basement drinking blood, with Thomas staring at the ceiling.
Thomas turned to him and said, "I don't know… I suddenly have this unexplainable urge to claim my domain…"
"Your domain? This is your domain," William laughed. A few of the vampires bit into the remaining bodies, drinking the blood.
Thomas looked at the vampires feeding. Each of them had extremely pale skin, with sharp teeth sunk into the flesh of the dead bodies. He said, "I'll go upstairs… I have some work."
William nodded. "Sure. We'll finish these up." Thomas went up the stairs.
One of the vampires looked at William and asked, "Why is Sir Thomas acting strange? Is he scared?"
"Scared?" William laughed. "He is the only elder vampire among us. Soon, he will become a half-blood. So don't worry—just finish the blood. We need to catch up."
…
What do I do?! I am literally just a head!!! I can't fight for shit right now. How do I stop it… can I use Dullahan skills? No, no, I can't—my body isn't here. No, wait, I should be fine. He has to come here in the sun, and vampires die in the sun—don—
The door was kicked open, and Tres went silent.
Thomas entered the house and started sniffing around. He checked each room silently until he reached the couch and saw the head.
His eyes widened as he sighed. "Was it Edward…? Goodness, he has a bad habit of decapitating. But still, he really killed a tenant? I'll have to give him a hearing. But I guess there is nothing here."
Thomas said this as he turned away.
Tres felt relief.
Thomas smiled and turned. "Is what you thought I would say?"
Tres felt chills as Thomas continued, "I can feel the urge to destroy that head of yours. I'm not sure how you are alive, but there is this horrible stench coming from you, along with this feeling of killing you and reclaiming my position as the owner of this place."
Tres turned his head and said, "First of all, I'm not a tenant. This is my house. Second of all, you are being delusional. Third, I won't die that easily."
---
Replication System
Would you like to copy the system of the man in front of you?
System of the Opponent: Vampiric System
---
"Do it," Tres said, as Thomas charged at him—but a message popped up.
---
Replication System
System successfully replicated: You have now gained Vampiric System
---
Vampiric System
[System Notice] Vampiric Core has been activated.
Skills Unlocked:
• Night Vision
• Blood Puppet
• Minor Regeneration
• Enhanced Strength
• Predatory Lunge
---
Tres used the skill Predatory Lunge. It instantly sent him flying toward Thomas's neck, biting down hard. Thomas screamed in pain as Tres bit down harder. He could feel Thomas's blood reaching him, but he refused to drink it and instead drove his teeth into Thomas's windpipe, tearing a hole through it.
Thomas spat out blood as he coughed heavily. "Wh—why didn't you drink my blood?!"
Tres looked at him and said, "Oh yeah, I've seen TV broadcasts given by famous vampires. You vampires have the ability to make a weaker vampire submit if you force-feed them your blood. I'm not falling for that. And I knew you didn't attack me when I lunged at you for that reason. You wanted me to submit to you, right?"
Anger rose as Thomas looked at the talking head and grabbed Tres by the hair. But before Thomas could attack, Tres looked at him calmly and said, "You feel weird, don't you? Like the feeling of death? That's right. Despite the fact that I can't use my abilities from the Demonic System, I can still use one skill."
"Thomas Reed," Tres said, as Thomas felt his knees weaken.
---
[Demonic System]
Skill: Mark of Death (Active)
Description:
Place a death mark on any target weaker than you.
---
One thing I luckily discovered was that the Demonic System works in the background as well. That means that even if I'm not actively using the Demonic System—even if I use the Vampiric System, in which I'm at my weakest form—I can still use it, since the Demonic System thinks I'm stronger than you. Because I'm still a Dullahan, in a sense.
Thomas didn't respond. He felt his blood run cold. It was the miasma of death—sharp and suffocating.
But Thomas wasn't the only one feeling this sensation.
It was felt by them all. Everyone who shared the same blood as Thomas.
In the basement, William trembled as he looked at the other vampires trembling as well. "What is going on?" one of them asked.
William gasped as he saw his hand shake. "This feeling… am I dying?!"
In the far distance, at the Vampiric Guild, footsteps slowed. An alchemist stopped as she saw a vial shaking. She looked at it, then at her hand, as a strange chill passed through her veins. An enforcer leaning against the wall straightened slightly, unaware of why his posture had changed. The feeling brought nothing but unease.
In a dungeon, torchlight flickered as a vampire lifted his head. He stayed still, his senses sharpened despite there being nothing but dead monsters around him. Still, his instincts refused to settle.
Near the Vampiric Portal, a noble paused before stepping forward, glancing back once, unsure of what had drawn his attention.
In another world entirely, far from Thomas, a noble set down his goblet without drinking. Others in the house felt it too—a brief second of subtle tightening in the chest.
And within that world, deep in the mountains, something stirred. Something that had been asleep for centuries felt unease—something had disturbed its sleep.
Its crimson eyes blinked open as the casket shattered in an instant.
The being traced the unease instantly to its descendant, Thomas, and in a second, crushed his heart.
…
Tres stared at the dead body for five minutes, unsure of why he had died. I just used Mark of Death… it's mainly a debuff. How the hell did he die?
Tres was slightly concerned, but either way, he was safe. He looked at the blood and felt the urge to drink it.
Gosh… I can't drink it…
Tres heard footsteps and turned. Luke stood at the door with wide eyes, blocking the view so Rosalia and Andy wouldn't see inside.
"Tres… what the hell?!" Luke said in shock. "Why so much?"
Tres looked at the dead body in front of him in confusion. Oh… yeah. That makes sense. No wonder he felt discomfort… But why don't I feel anything?
Come to think of it, I have killed so many. Shouldn't I feel something bad? Guilt?
A message popped up as he thought that.
---
Replication System
Skill: White Door (Active)
---
White Door… Tres thought as he looked at it. That skill… why is it active? Is the reason I don't feel anything while causing deaths because the system isn't letting me?