Chapter 98: Rite of Noble Ascension (2)

Caius closed his eyes and opened them to find himself standing in a realm composed entirely of Arcane Circles. The same Arcane Circles that were currently being used to perform the ’Rite of Noble Ascension’. He raised his hands in front of his face and found that he no longer had his moonstone ring or his Storage ring on. His Lochxen uniform was no longer on him either. He looked up and he saw there was someone in front of him. On their knees with their heads almost touching the ground. The ’ground’ was the top of a gigantic Altar with Caius on one end and this person on the other. They were so far apart he couldn’t really tell who it was but he could make an educated guess. Who else would be in here with him besides Anton Orlock, the Vampire Lord? ’Well, might as well go to him,’ Caius thought. He had read about this Rite in [To Kill A Demon Lord...] and knew what was required of him. Athenodora was merely the one permitting him to ascend so he still had a role to play. He began to walk. The distance turned out to be shorter than he had expected and he was soon about two feet away from Anton’s kneeling bowed-over state. The Vampire Lord looked as he did in life. Pale skin, and a frame so skinny, it was almost skeletal looking. The ridges of his vertebrae were sticking out of his back. "So you’ve come to claim it," Anton said in a long drawling voice. "I mean, if you aren’t using it," Caius said, half in jest. "You’ve done nothing to deserve having it," Anton said, sounding like he was biting down on his tongue, "You’ve done nothing to be worthy of inheriting my Title." ’I mean, I got wrapped up in this bullshit you have going on with Athenodora. You soured the rest of my day so much that the good stuff that happened earlier barely even comes to mind. At least not for now. I think I deserve some reward for that.’ Caius said all that in his head and not out loud. Out loud, he let out a short chuckle, "Worthy? Don’t make me laugh. Vampiric Nobility has rarely ever been on Merit. Hell, it started off because a group of pretentious asshats wanted to raise themselves above the rest. It came to be by them pleading and sobbing for ’Mother’ Nyx to grant her blessings as she did to Strigoi, the first Vampire, because there needed to be some to ’govern’ the other Vampires." ’Nyx’ was the shortened form of ’Anyxyl’ but was only ever really used by Vampires. And the way they used it, it might as well have been a different name. In all of history, Vampires had been the only ones Anyxyl responded to when addressed by the name ’Nyx’. It had long made Vampires feel especially special among the Dark Lady’s followers. Even if that was not entirely the case. Caius didn’t know why he used the name. He was fine with calling the Goddess by her full name, Anyxyl. He had just slipped into calling her ’Nyx’ and decided to roll with it. It was certainly helping his talking points because that was the only name Anton respected and worshiped. Caius smirked. "When it’s about power and the acquisition of it, Merit is pointless. What matters is the means and will to go for it. I have use for your Title. So I will be taking it now." He stretched his hand out at Anton to seize what last meaning the Vampire Lord’s life still held when Anton gripped his wrist. "I won’t let you take it!" Anton said and looked up to reveal his eyes were completely bloodshot. Somehow it looked more horrifying here than it did in real life. It struck Caius and shook his heart. But then, he smiled. "You already did," he said, "It’s no longer yours." Indeed, the Rite was complete. The essence of Nobility lifted out of what was left of Anton’s Vampiric core. It became renewed and was granted a new meaning. Because Caius wasn’t continuing Anton’s legacy, he was starting his own. Caius felt the Authority become a part of him. Turning him not just into a Vampire Noble, but a Vampire Count. A Vampire Lord. He left the space then and opened his eyes to the world outside just in time to see Athenodora swing a hand through Anton’s neck and drop his head to the floor before tossing his torso away so hard that he slammed and practically splattered against the wall in an unceremonious end. "So," she said with a beautiful grin while flashing her fangs, "Shall I call you ’My Lord’ now?" Caius scoffed. "Don’t mock me," he said with a smile. Even now being a Vampire Count, he could feel Athenodora’s Noble Rank exceeded his by multiple levels and yet, he couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Athenodora wasn’t turned into a Vampire. She was born one. She also wasn’t just one of the rare exceptions to Vampires’ general inability to have children, she was one of the even rarer exceptions to be born into Vampiric Royalty that goes beyond the normal ladder of Vampiric Nobility. Or at least stands at the peak of it. That was all [To Kill A Demon Lord...] had said about her origins; That she was born to Royalty. Who her parents were and what sort of Royalty she was born to was largely a mystery. And when a Vampire Royal like her (and there are actually a few of them according to the Original story) creates another Vampire, they transfer enough of that Royal quality to make the blood running through their creations ’special’. But there was a reason Caius had never given a damn about that even though he had known of it from the start; He just didn’t feel any special for it. He knew from the original story that it had no use for him. Not right now anyway. Also, the quality was so low that it was negligible to all whom he came across. All except one; the Ex Vampire Lord who was just splattered against the wall. Anyway, Having watched Athenodora’s bloody carnage today, Caius’s respect for his father only went up. If Athenodora was this powerful and she was still doing her best to avoid a face-off against Lucian, then maybe the Von Helsing Count was still being underestimated by the narrative and the Empire at large. Because how in hell did he survive fighting her? How did he instill so much fear in her that, instead of going after him, she went after his son instead? While Caius was thinking this, Athenodora stretched out a hand and gripped his shirt. "You know, when I said I hoped next time we talked, it would be in person. I didn’t quite picture this." "And whose fault is any of this?" Caius asked with a raised brow. The river of blood had returned to the normal level it should be at from all the kills, and nonchalantly, Athenodora was moving it away. She caused it to flood through the corridor outside the throne room, carrying along all the body parts that littered the floor and the walls, and carrying along the terrible scent of Anton’s Blood experiments with it. Soon, she and Caius were standing on clean, hard stone ground. Breathing the cleanest air anyone had probably ever breathed for centuries in the Throne Room. Athenodora even used her Magic to shut the Black double doors for good measure. "You’re not complaining, are you?" Athenodora asked, "You got a Vampire Noble Title out of it?" "Ehn, a title you almost didn’t let me have," Caius said. Athenodora waved him off, "I was always going to let you have it. I will say though the result surprises me. By Nyx, you smell even better now than you did a minute ago and I would have sworn that was impossible. Like, how have you improved on salivating perfection?" "My goodness, all this flattery just to sink your fangs in me," Caius said in a mockingly exasperated tone. Athenodora’s Vampire Red eyes twinkled, "The best compliment I can offer. Come here. Let mommy have a taste." Even as she said that, she was pulling Caius’ shirt to get him closer to her as one hand held his face and turned it to the side so she could press her pretty nose to his neck and take a long whiff that had her shivering. "Incredible," she said, and before Caius could voice a protest, she opened her mouth and bit into his neck.