Chapter 93: Athenodora stomps on Heads

Anton Orlock turned his eyes to Caius then. "How do you know that name?" He asked. Caius’s mouth fell open and something was starting to dawn on him which was why a smile was now playing on his lips. "She’s my creator," he said, "Surely, you knew that," Alas, it was clear that Anton had in fact, not known that. His eyes bugged out even more now. He had done so many experiments with Vampire Blood, which enhanced his strength to near-unfathomable levels. He didn’t fear the ’vengeance’ of any Royal that would come after him for stealing their Spawn. He knew them all. Knew what made them tick. Knew their strengths and weaknesses. It was part of the benefits he had enjoyed from all the dealings he prided himself on doing with any Vampire worth knowing. He was confident he’d be able to at least fight any Royal to a standstill or find an ’amicable’ exchange to keep the peace. But not with that woman. Not with the Vampire Royal that had forced him to seclude himself within his Black Castle for centuries. Not with that bitch, Athenodora! Anton’s skeletal-looking fingers were gripping the armrests of his black throne now, and then he froze. Delicate footsteps were walking across the corridor that led to his throne room. And then, she appeared. *Gasps!* Monika let out a sound of shock and the other consorts joined in while Anton’s brows furrowed so hard that his wrinkly skin looked close to ripping. The reason for their reactions was what was in Athenodora’s hands; Five heads that looked like they had been ripped off their necks and she was gripping them by their hair. She had two heads in one hand and three in the other. One of the heads was that of Geron. His face was slack-jawed in a perpetual look of horror at an overwhelming strength he had been powerless against. All five were the rest of the Vampires who had been battling the Hellsingers. The ones still alive when Caius had been taken. Did that mean the Hellsingers survived? Did that mean Gareth’s skull hadn’t been completely caved in? Caius wasn’t sure. Blood still dripped from the stumps beneath the heads which showed their deaths were fairly recent. The blood hit the ground in splatters very close to Athenodora’s bare feet but not a single drop touched her. Like they feared to dirty her perfect skin. Speaking of which, she looked exactly as she did when she talked to Caius last week. The same Vampire red eyes. The same fangs. The same backless black gown that clung to her sexy body with slits to let her legs move freely. The same tattooed back and arms. The same breathtaking beauty that would make any man catch their breath. The same overbearing Authority that oozed from every little move she made. Only this time it was not a vision made possible with the blood they shared. This time, she was here in person. Caius could tell. His blood was surging and rejoicing at her presence regardless of how he felt about her. To be fair though, he didn’t really hate her. It’s hard to hate someone so impossibly beautiful. So confident, so powerful... Of course, he had a feeling that might change a little once she confirmed she was the reason he was here at all as was already his guess. "Hello, Anton," Athenodora said in the most beautiful voice Caius had ever heard. It sounded even better than it had when she spoke to him through their Blood connection. He was surprised when Anton didn’t blush and stutter at the sound of Athenodora’s voice or even the very view of her face and body. Then again, looking at his brides whom Anton believed were the epitome of female beauty and power, Caius didn’t think the Vampire Lord would know beauty even if it smacked him in the face. Also, there was clearly some history here that stopped Anton from being very appreciative of what was in front of him. The actual details of that history were unknown to Caius. It hadn’t been explored at all in [To Kill A Demon Lord...] and besides offering a little bit of context, Caius wasn’t sure he was going to learn much about it right now, from either of these two. Not that he cared much anyway. Athenodora held out the heads in her hands. "Caught up to them on my way over. They never even saw me coming," she said, laughing, "Not that it would have made a difference." She released the hairs she was holding and the heads hit the ground with thuds right before she raised her leg and stomped on them one at a time. *Bam!* *Squelch!* The heads split open like melons. She didn’t even need to use that much force. She was clearly just making a show of it as was especially evident from how she kept her eyes on Anton Orlock throughout with a smirk on the corner of her lips. Anton winced at every strike. The loss of those lives didn’t mean all that much to him in all honesty. He had more spawns and had nurtured even stronger forces that were all within this very castle. Forces Athenodora had ignored on her way here. Forces that had not detected her as she made her way into the Throne room. That was why Anton was wincing; The very presence of Athenodora here was problematic and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was forced into a battle he had avoided for centuries. "You shouldn’t be here," Anton said. "And yet, here I am," Athenodora said calmly. Despite her stomps and the blood that had splattered about violently from it, not a drop was on her leg or anywhere else on her body. "We vowed by Nyx..." Anton started. "And I’ve kept that Vow," Athenodora said and then laughed, "Not my fault you neglected to include a restriction for ’Permission by Proxy’. Rookie mistake, Anton, dear." "You didn’t have a spawn then," Anton said through gritted teeth, "You’ve insisted for centuries that it’s not your way." "And wouldn’t you know it, I changed my mind," Athenodora said lightly, "I created a Spawn, you invited him here, thus granting me permission into your abode through him. Wherever my Spawn is, I must also be." Athenodora glanced back at Caius now and winked at him. He frowned back and she chuckled. "Come on, Son," she said amorously, "Stand strong. With Mother here, you have nothing to worry about from this mean, old Vampire." Caius stood up. He hadn’t even realized he was still on his knees. He was so busy putting things together and that was taking priority over his thoughts and pissing him off so that detail had slipped his mind. Anton frowned. "Old? You’ve lived longer than I have!" He bellowed. "And do I look it?" Athenodora asked smoothly, rolling her eyes, "I told you your Blood experiments were barbaric. You’ve lost all the grace and beauty of a Vampire. And look what you’ve done to those poor women with you. Shame." The consorts snarled but Athenodora ignored them and continued, "Also, as evident by all this, you’ve even lost your ability to make smart decisions." "That information, the one that led me to the boy, that was from you wasn’t it?" Anton said in a voice that seemed to be seething in rage as he was starting to realize he had been played. His consorts looked confused. Caius did not. He had already put things together to realize the ’history’ that Anton had so nonchalantly spoken about in [To Kill A Demon Lord...] was a deathly one. Mostly for him. Athenodora laughed. "How foolish do you feel to have only figured it out now? I swear by Nyx, I almost didn’t think it would work. I didn’t even really plan it ahead of time. Just a random idea that I thought, ’No way that moron bites such an obvious bait, right?’ But you bit and you’ve allowed yourself to be reeled in. Your greed for blood blinded you so much that you couldn’t even see through a simple trap that was being set for you. Believe me when I say I’ll be killing you while feeling great pity for you in my heart. Sad to see a once great mind rendered to mush because of so much idiotic Blood tinkering." "Kill me?" Anton asked and laughed in a horrid croaky voice, "You think I never planned for this rare eventuality...?" "Escape, right?" Athenodora interrupted with a grin, "That’s your plan, isn’t it? Well, give it a try then. I erected a sealing formation around your Castle already. It’s not exactly my specialty but I think I did a pretty good job with it. I studied it for a Millennium so I can’t be too bad at it, right? Hahaha, you’re stuck here with me, dear. You and all your cronies. Either you all die or I do. Tonight, we put Centuries-long Grievances to rest."