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[Villian] Chapter 54. Immortality is Such a Fickle Thing (Content Warnings)
🕑 Added 2025-04-17 02:30:13 +0000 UTCDeep within the vast Kazimir Mountains, a vampire princess awakened from a lengthy slumber.
Snow-white fingers with deathly sharp black nails appeared on the rim of a crudely constructed wooden box. The owner of the hand put some force into their grip, causing the wood to creak in protest as they pulled themselves from the depths of the box.
A woman with hair as white as her skin surveyed the bland stone room with her bored red eyes. She let out a disinterested sigh as an insatiable thirst left her mouth parched. Running her tongue along her rows of teeth, she played with her two enlarged fangs.
Releasing another sigh, she pushed her naked body out of the box and stood there in the room with her hands on her hips. There was no sign of furniture or any other items for that matter. Well, apart from the single wooden box found in the center of the room.
The door to the room slowly screeched open, yet the girl just gave the intruder a sideways glance. A middle-aged woman with below-average features entered. She was wrapped up in warm clothes but still seemed to shiver from the freezing cold winds within the tunnels of the cave.
“Princess Nightshade, you have awoken…” the middle-aged woman said in a flat tone.
Vanity Nightshade didn’t even acknowledge the woman. The thirst was driving her crazy.
“It has been a long three months. You must be thirsty?” the woman said with a neutral voice as if stating the obvious.
Vanity finally looked at the woman with her predatory gaze. The woman’s neck smelled of cheese and vitality, making her nose twitch. Vanity hated the smell of cheese; hence, she chose this human livestock to be her servant. She had used a blood contract to enslave her.
Vanity wordlessly made her toward the doorway and strode past the shivering servant. Wind runes were implanted in the passageway to move the stale air. Vanity was completely unfazed by the chilling wind on her skin as she walked down the tunnel.
She turned left at the end and entered a corridor resembling a dungeon. The smell of feces and body odor tickled her nose, but she didn’t mind it. Instead, she thought back to her weak brother Damien, who always winced at the smell and found it rather adorable.
On the left-hand side were human women in rags. Vanity gave them a casual glance. Although many of them had exotic flavors, she personally preferred the men situated on the right side.
Many were thin from malnourishment, but the occasional one, usually fresh, still had some fat on them. Vanity observed one man with blond hair hiding in the corner.
She licked her lips. This man hadn’t been here three months ago. Opening the rusty iron cell door, she walked past the other prisoners and paused before the man. Nobody dared to escape; some had tried in the past, but this seemingly innocent girl was ridiculously strong and equally fast. All escapees were hunted down and ripped apart within seconds. Realizing he was the target, the blond man began begging.
“Please…not me, NO NO! AHHH!” He desperately pressed his back against the jagged cave wall while screaming curses. Vanity’s soulless eyes flashed with a sinister glint. The ones who fought back were her favorite.
She didn’t pick the man for his looks or charm. Only the scent of his blood that smelled of roasted bison enticed her to taste him.
Vanity’s claws elongated, and she rammed her hand through the man’s stomach, pinning him to the cave wall. He screamed and howled, but that only made Vanity more excited. She loved this feeling of superiority and control over a livestock’s life and death.
Only her dear brother Damien had a similar taste in controlling prey. Her eldest brother Karpov didn’t understand the joy that came with playing with one’s food.
Vanity’s jaw opened, revealing her fangs. The man’s neck called to her as she sunk them in. Pleasure overwhelmed her body as she greedily drank the nectar of life.
After a minute, the blond man’s body went limp as he died. Feeling satisfied with her meal, Vanity dropped the lifeless husk on the floor. She left the corpse behind as she knew the other men locked in the cell would appreciate the meal. After all, she wasn’t that heartless to deprive her lovely livestock of her leftovers.
The moment she left the cell, the men scrambled to devour the dead. With her hunger satisfied and feeling bored again, Vanity debated going back to sleep. After living for hundreds of years, just existing became a chore she would rather avoid.
Deciding she should visit her brothers before sleeping again, she headed toward their rooms. Damien’s room was the closest, so she went there first.
After knocking on the room’s wooden door and receiving no response, she forced her way inside. Similar to her own room, it was empty except for a wooden box in the middle. However, to Vanity’s surprise, it was vacant.
Turning to the human servant that smelled of cheese who had been silently following her this entire time, Vanity said, “Where is my dearest brother, mortal? Answer me now.”
The middle-aged woman thought for a moment before replying, “After Prince Damien’s birthday, you went to sleep. During this time, Prince Damien went to visit the human realm.”
Vanity scoffed at the human’s reply. “Foolish human. Why would Brother ever go to such a place? Even though we are strong, he was a weakling compared to the rest of us. I must speak to my eldest brother about this matter.”
Pushing past the disgusting human, Vanity made her way thr0.ough the tunnels toward Karpov’s room. All the tunnels looked the same, carved from the bare rock.
***
Mage Tower Monster Records
Page 4267 - Theory proposed by Sir Edgar Larsen, Year 1338
The vampire’s origin had remained a mystery even after five hundred years of study. However, a recent discovery of an ancient record suggests that a cult of necromancers wishing for immortality conducted experiments on a mining town that resided at the base of the Kazimir Mountain Range.
After the local baron failed to receive his taxes that season, he dispatched tax collectors to the mining town. Yet only a single tax collector returned. After being questioned, the baron deemed the tax collector’s statements regarding bloodthirsty monsters infesting the town as crazy and executed the tax collector for fraud. After investigating the site himself, the baron also vanished.
The Capital sent out investigators, but there was no evidence of anyone apart from deserted towns and signs of fighting. Therefore, the Capital decided this was an act of aggression from either Oshal or one of the countries residing over the mountains.
Upon further inspection of captured specimens of the vampire race, I have a theory that this cult was successful in its ritual and managed to create a hybrid race between the undead and the living.
Well, success depends on if they planned to turn themselves into soulless creatures that suffer from an endless thirst for blood.
***
Vanity eventually found Kaprov’s room and entered without even knocking. Just the sounds emanating from within told her all she needed to know.
An absolute hulk of a man with long white hair lay on the stone floor was having sex with a brown-haired livestock. She screamed in agony with every thrust. Several other humans huddled together in the corner of the expansive room.
Seeing how violent her dear elder brother was being to the pathetic livestock, Vanity asked, “Something the matter, brother?”
“Oh, Vanity, you’re awake? Perfect, I was about to hold court. House Destrym and Vernius have issues with the hunting ground allocations,” Karpov replied in his thundering voice over the screams.
Vanity’s face instantly scrunched up in disgust. “I hate court. Last time, it lasted five years before House Thornvlad finally conceded on the matter.”
Karpov nodded and said in a calm tone in between the woman’s screams, “Exactly, that’s why I am getting all my pent-up lust out first.”
“AHHHHHH!” With a final scream, the woman’s head fell back, and her eyes showed whites.
“Oops,” Karpov said. With one hand, he pushed the corpse off to the side. “They are so darn fragile.”
Standing up, Karpov towered over three meters. Vanity only reached his belly button and had to look straight up to meet his eyes. He casually kicked the corpse into a hole in the center of his room.
The sound of claws scraping along walls could be heard as something moved in the hole. Vanity looked down and saw a sickly-looking human approaching the corpse.
A Thrall.
Humans corrupted by vampires’ blood. They were mindless drones that only obeyed simple commands from their master. Vanity thought it laughable that the humans called these creatures vampires as well.
The Thrall looked up with its lifeless eyes. Drool escaped between its shark-like teeth. Without further delay, it grabbed the corpse and feasted on the blood remaining in the body.
“Why do you keep a Thrall in your room, anyway? Aren’t they usually kept on the lower levels?” Vanity questioned, slightly amused at the Thrall’s antics.
Karpov answered as if it was obvious. “Well, they don’t break as quickly. A simple drop of blood and they regenerate within minutes.”
Vanity just looked at the Thrall, which was basically a moving corpse since it was classified as undead and would burn under the wrath of the sun. She had complicated thoughts on her brother fucking moving corpses, but on the other hand, she had done worse. So who was she to judge?
“Brother, before we go to court, can you tell me where Damien is?”
Karpov glared at her, and his black nails elongated to the size of swords. His long white hair began fluttering around, and his muscles bulged from rage.
Vanity just watched her brother’s change in mood with a bored expression. She already knew what came next.
Karpov spun around his leg that could belong to an elephant and broke the sound barrier as he kicked Vanity in the chest.
Her petite body caved in from the impact, and despite her incredibly resilient body, she found herself in two pieces embedded in the cave wall. Yet despite her body’s condition, her eyes looked as bored and soulless as ever.
She waited a moment for her lungs to regenerate before saying, “Brother, do you have to kick me every time I mention Damien? Stop being so paranoid and jealous of him.”
Karpov was definitely the strongest out of the three siblings of House Nightshade. In fact, out of the entire vampire race, he was considered the most powerful.
Vampires acquired power by consuming the vitality of others and raising their Blood magic. What made vampires the second most powerful species on the continent was the lack of an upper limit on their power. As time flowed, the vampire would naturally become more powerful.
Karpov looked insane as he laughed while clutching his head. “Why was that bastard the inheritor of the soul? Why does the watchful wrath of the Sun God not weaken him? I AM THE MONARCH, SO WHY? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY? AHHHHHHHHH! FILTHY WEAKLING IS A DISGRACE TO THE BLOODLINE, YET HE INHERITS THE DAYWALKER? HE DIDN’T INCREASE HIS STRENGTH THROUGH FEEDING LIKE THE REST OF US!”
“Karpov, stop it. Our bloodline is already so weakened. There are only the three of us left. Our influence over the other three major houses is weakening by the day. Stop being paranoid. Damien has no wish to inherit the throne from you.”
During this short exchange, Vanity had fully healed and removed herself from the indent in the wall. Brushing the dust off her naked body, she continued, “So what if Damien inherited the soul and can walk under the Sun God unimpeded? He is considered an elder like you and me, yet he was weaker than a Thrall.”
Karpov calmed down a little and spoke between clenched teeth. “He escaped to the mortal plane. He has access to unlimited prey out there. Who knows? In a few hundred years, he may be strong enough to fight me.”
Karpov was so strong he could rip an adult dragon in half with his bare hands, assuming it descended from the skies. Dragons were the King of Magic, while vampires preferred utilizing their immense speed and physical strength gained through vitality to fight.
Vanity laughed at the thought of her weak brother ever being able to match her strength, let alone Karpov’s. “Why don’t you bring him back, then? Lock him up at home and deny him the ability to grow like you have done the last few centuries.”
Karpov snorted. “If those livestock could kill Father, then I will never risk my life out there. We are cursed existences, Vanity. The world wishes us to perish and shall take any opportunity to do so. But your right. I’ll send some vampires from House Thornvlad to deal with him after court. Naturally, they would jump at the opportunity to slay a Nightshade. As a compromise, I will demand they provide me with the corpse so I can finally devour his soul and no longer fear the gaze of the Sun God’s wrath.”
Kazimir Nightshade, the original noble vampire, was an S-grade existence, yet a small group of A-grades could kill him with a few casualties.
Vampires were stronger than dragons. Yet unlike dragons, they had fatal weaknesses that were easily exploited, such as silver and certain schools of magic. This threat led to the vampire’s paranoia of the outside world.
Vanity was displeased with her brother’s hatred for Damien, yet she was too bored to care all that much. If her little brother was defeated by some mere vampires from House Thornvlad, then he was too weak for eternal life.
Vampires had the intelligence of a well-trained dog and were the preferred choice for carrying out noble vampires’ more complicated tasks. Unlike a Thrall, an undead human corrupted by their master’s blood, vampires were created through a ritual and therefore retained a small portion of their original soul and abilities but were relatively mindless.
Noble vampires stood at the top of the food chain as perfect existences. Yet, like vampires, they had a fractured soul, which led to their twisted personalities and their weakness to the sun. But unlike vampires and Thralls that disintegrated under the Sun Gods’ gaze, noble vampires became sluggish and greatly weakened but would not die under the sun’s watchful eye.
Except for a single bloodline that stands above the rest: the Nightshades. They alone had the potential to be daywalkers—noble vampires that could walk under the sun like a human.
***
Vanity followed Karpov’s imposing back as they entered the courtroom through a grand tunnel. The familiar sight of a volcano’s extinct magma chamber greeted her. The sun’s evening glow could be witnessed through the hole in the ceiling.
A throne surrounded by flora stood in the center of the kilometer-wide chamber, a rare sight within the Kazimir Mountains. Surrounding the garden and throne in the middle were hundreds of noble vampires. All naked and standing in their various houses.
“The Daywalker has arrived! The court is now in session!” a Destrym House member proclaimed as Karpov sat on the throne. The sun’s gaze was weak due to the time of day, yet the discomfort of Karpov was obvious to the trained eye. Of course, the true Daywalker would be unaffected by the sun, but Karpov stubbornly hid his pain and nodded to the fellow noble vampires.
The Destrym was very plain looking with brown hair. They were by far the weakest of the Four Great Houses.
Kazimir Nightshade—the original noble vampire—had many blood queens of various races serving him during his life. The different houses were all descendants from Kazimir yet were slightly different due to the blood queen that birthed them.
House Destrym’s lack of strength and typical features were due to their birth mother being an average human.
Karpov beckoned for the Destrym to continue. “Honorable Daywalker, House Vernius has impeached upon our hunting grounds in the west. Since humans have fled the hunting grounds to the south for unknown reasons, our livestock supply has suffered immeasurably. I plead to the honorable representative of House Vernius for a justification for their house’s actions in the west as we can no longer shoulder the burden to our supply chain.” The Destrym representative, an average-looking noble vampire with brown hair and a muscular build, sat down, and the House Vernius representative stood.
House Vernius were unusually tall and lanky with feminine features since their queen was a high elf. Their average height was between two and three meters. However, the elders of the House Vernius were a bit taller than Karpov’s, towering three meters.
The towering Elder with blond hair from House Vernius spoke in a prideful voice. “House Destrym, a war is occurring within the human realm. Villagers have been drafted into the war and have fled from the hunting grounds in the west. Therefore, we are forced to expand westward.”
An average height and built man with fiery red hair from House Thornvlad just rolled his pitch-black eyes from the sidelines. He knew this court session would take at least a few months, if not years. Noble vampires were prideful, arrogant, and stubborn creatures, and since they didn’t have defined laws, it was simply one vampire’s word against another’s.
Vanity sat next to House Thornvlad, just outside the garden to avoid the sun’s wrath. Unlike Karpov, who wished to prove he was the true Daywalker, she had no desire to suffer the discomfort.
House Nightshade’s birth mother was a fallen angel, hence their resistance to the light. Vanity was, therefore, extremely uncomfortable sitting next to a Thornvlad as a demon birthed them, hence their pitch-black eyes and red hair.
Each House had around a hundred members consisting of a couple of noble vampires and many vampires in service to them. As noble vampires only needed to feed every few months, these court sessions could proceed uninterrupted for weeks at a time.
House Nightshade was in a unique position. Despite their pathetic number of nobles being at three and the number of servants countable on a single hand, the ability to resist the sun and be proclaimed as Daywalkers made them natural kings.
The Kazimir Mountains were a prison to the vampires, protecting them from the outside world. In this analogy, the Nightshades could be considered the wardens as they could come and go as they pleased.
Vanity smiled as she thought of Damien. “Good luck, little brother. Don’t perish out there and disgrace us. Instead, have a delectable feast, for Karpov will never let you go. Time is ticking; immortality is such a fickle thing.”
Comments
Owen Taylor
"But your right." You're
Owen Taylor
"Humans corrupted by vampires’ blood. They were mindless drones that only obeyed simple commands from their master. Vanity thought it laughable that the humans called these creatures vampires as well." In earlier chapters Damien refers to them as his lesser kin or something I think. So maybe a plot inconsistency. Edit: NVM I kept reading. I thought the "normal vampires" were all just thralls.
