Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire Chapter 636: Blood isn’t everything

Philip looked between the two and then frowned. He could tell he was missing something, and it irritated him. Still, he couldn’t demand to know because the relationship between a creator and their spawn is not one that anyone can ordinarily meddle in.

’A relationship...’ Philip thought and his frown got even deeper.

For as long as he had known Athenodora, she had insisted she didn’t want a spawn. She saw no use for creating vampires and didn’t find it interesting to have someone to control like that. Philip had found that strange. He, being a subordinate to his lord and creator, didn’t have permission to create spawns. But Athenodora didn’t have that restriction.

Athenodora was highly respected, if hated, among the top vampire echelons. There was not really anyone who could realistically restrict her. So there was nothing stopping Athenodora from starting a Coven. She simply didn’t want to.

And after centuries of seeing and hearing her being so adamant, one can understand Philip’s confusion that Athenodora had gone ahead to create a spawn.

Caius was the exception to the rule Athenodora had set for herself and lived by for centuries. And that, more than what Caius and his minions did to him at Revron County, annoyed Philip greatly.

Seeing the two share looks of meaning with an understanding that probably stemmed from their connection—a kind of connection Philip wished to have with Athenodora but didn’t and couldn’t—really stoked his frustrations.

"So what now?" He said angrily, cutting into the stare exchange between Caius and Athenodora.

"Now, we prepare for the second Trial," Caius said.

"And that will start when?" Philip asked.

"Right after the first ends," Caius said.

And just then, a figure rose out of the Blood River a few feet away. It was the man in black armor, on his knees, a gash across his chest.

Caius and Athenodora knew what was about to happen but Philip did not so he looked at the scene playing with a bit of confusion.

"That’s the one that was killed before, isn’t it?" He asked, "He should be dead. But... he’s not."

The heart of the man in black armor had just restarted. This time, unlike within the Trial’s core, Conscience wasn’t here to provide commentary and so Philip didn’t quite understand why the man wasn’t dead as he should have been.

The vampire who turned the man arrived then, her perfect feet striding through the blood river.

"Hey Athenodora, don’t you think she looks familiar?" Philip asked.

"What?" Athenodora asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah. She kind of looks like you," Philip said.

"She does?" Athenodora asked with a little laugh.

"Yeah, it’s all in the smile," Philip said pointing, "See?"

"I don’t see it," Athenodora said with a shrug.

Caius said nothing. He said nothing because now that Philip pointed it out, he realized why he had thought the smile was familiar when he had been shown this scene back in the Trial’s core.

Athenodora probably didn’t see it because she hadn’t spent so long dwelling on her smile as Philip had done for centuries. While not to the level of Philip’s centuries-long infatuation, Caius did find Athenodora’s smile striking, especially after he had gotten a snippet of how she used to appear in her youth.

Anyway, while Athenodora might be in denial, she definitely did share a resemblance with the vampire that turned the man in black. And seeing as the man in Black, after being turned with the vampire lady’s blood, developed Blood Magic like Athenodora now had, Caius didn’t think the resemblance was a coincidence.

"She might be your ancestor," Philip said.

"Yeah, if you buy any of this to be true," Athenodora said with a scoff.

"You don’t?" Philip asked.

Athenodora just shrugged.

The scene ended with the man in black being fed the vampire lady’s blood and then together, they both melted back into the blood river.

"And now, off to the second Trial," Caius said.

Sure enough, the river of blood began to swirl. Soon, Caius, Athenodora, and Philip were in the middle of a Blood whirlpool and were getting sucked in.

Philip and Athenodora struggled instinctively.

"Relax," Caius said to them, "We’re just being transported. The second Trial hasn’t begun yet."

Hw was right. And after resisting their urge to resist, both Athenodora and Philip realized that even as the blood rose above their heads and submerged them, they could still breathe.

There was a period when the Blood limited their vision and then it was all over. Their feet were back on solid ground. The part of the dimension they were in now didn’t stretch as far as the eye could see. It was a room with every wall smoky with a dark aura.

As all three were vampires, they were very comfortable with darkness. But these smoky dark walls didn’t give them any comfort. It gave them, for lack of better words, the creeps.

And then figures began to form from the darkness. There were two figures.

One was a woman who they all recognized as the vampire lady who turned the man in black. She looked as beautiful now as she did a few seconds ago.

The other was a man with skin so pale, it was transparent. His features may have once been handsome but with his skin looking so desiccated and stretched across his skeletal frame, he looked horrifying now. There were heavy bags beneath his eyes. And his eyes, vampire-red, showed signs of madness.

"It’s the man in black," Philip said slowly.

He was right. Caius knew this already as Aurelius had come to that realization too in the original canon. Athenodora, however, had needed to know who it was to be able to understand how a handsome appearance could become what was now in front of them.

"What happened to him?" Philip asked as the man—now vampire—in black began to pace, twiddling his bony thumbs while his eyes became, if possible, even madder.

"He’s gone mad, I expect," Athenodora said.

Caius knew she was making that assessment based on what Conscience had said about the mental torment his creator—this vampire in black—had endured.

The vampire lady and the sickly vampire didn’t notice Caius; Athenodora and Philip just as the battle above and the Turning Ritual had ignored them as though they hadn’t been there.

"You have all you could ever want," The vampire lady said, "How can you still be so paranoid?"

"It’s not paranoia," The sickly vampire said with a crazed look in his eyes, "I hear them still, Valeria. I hear their screams. Their torment hasn’t ended because the battle hasn’t been won."

"What battle?" Valeria, the vampire lady, asked and gestured at something unseen, "You have the entire world dominated. There is no one to stand against you. You command a global empire the kind not even seen in the time the gods roamed the mortal realm.

Humanoids and vampires all serve you. What more could you want?"

The sickly vampire’s eyes moved over to Valeria for a second before flicking away.

Valeria chuckled and her tone became flirty.

"Me? You want me?" She asked and then held her hand out, beckoning.

The sickly vampire wasn’t turned toward her but he didn’t have a say in whether or not he answered her call. She was his creator and could exercise her commanding right without even making her request vocal.

The sickly vampire floated over to her and Valeria embraced him, snuggling his face into her breasts.

"You have me," she said sultrily.

The sickly vampire said nothing and simply let out a breath.

"She likes that thing?" Athenodora said with a bit of disgust as she watched the exchange, "I mean, I could understand it if he was still as he was. But looking like that...?"

"I guess she’s just not as shallow as you are," Caius said with a smile.

"You bet your ass I’m shallow. Lose your looks and you’ll never see me again," Athenodora said with a scoff.

"What about my blood you like so much?" Caius asked.

"We have rapport; You as the scared handsome, delicious prey and me as the devastating and sexy predator. There’s a dance to it that I enjoy. What would become of that if I’m not attracted to you?

What would be the point of getting you all hot and bothered if I don’t get to enjoy it? Blood isn’t everything, you know," Athenodora said.

"Says the Vampire who also happens to be a Blood Mage,"

Caius laughed.

"Exactly, so you know I know what I’m talking about," Athenodora said, "My point stands. Don’t get ugly."

"Will you two be quiet?" Philip said through gritted teeth.

"Why? It’s not like they know we’re here," Athenodora said, "They’re in their own, twisted world over there."

While Caius and Athenodora had their back-and-forth, neither Valeria nor her sickly spawn said a word. She just stroked his head while he let out steady breaths.

And then, when Valeria spoke, it was slowly.

"You’ve been locked in here for months. Your empire has begun to fall apart. What use is global domination if you don’t even take the time to manage it properly?" Valeria asked.

The Sickly vampire let out a heavy breath.

"Maybe I’ve realized I’ve been waging the wrong war all along," he said,

"Maybe I’ve decided it’s time I turn my attention to what truly matters."