Dragon of Endless Evil

Daemon hurried to hide his arm, tore a piece of cloth and wrapped it around it.

But Siegfried wasn’t looking at all and collapsed on the ground, out of breath.

" Shitty shit... I hurt everywhere... Ah... "

Daemon sighed and calmed his nerves. He looked at his arm, clenched it. This habit of taking the lives of others so easily, without remorse, was now his greatest fear.

’I’m losing my temper too easily... How can I control myself?’

’Not only am I putting myself in danger by doing this, but also... that sensation of his heart in my hand.’

Daemon took a deep breath as the nausea rose to his throat.

He was retrieving his katana from the ground when Victoria came to meet him.

" Hey! Are you okay? "

" Yeah... "

She looked at him, then moved away slightly. " After all that, you should take a little time to recenter yourself. You’re really on edge... "

" You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. "

Victoria turned around, furious, and grabbed him by the collar. " I’m not worried about you, idiot! But about those close to you... You ripped out his heart. Do you really think that was necessary or even normal to do that? For a second I wondered who was no longer human, between you and Conrad... "

Daemon frowned and seized her wrist. " If you’re scared, you should stay the fuck home. We’re in the Catacombs. You’re not going to lecture me for killing someone who wanted to tear me apart! "

" There’s a difference between killing in self-defense and ripping out an enemy’s heart. "

" Are you implying that I’m a monster?! "

In reality, Daemon clearly knew he had gone too far, but he was mostly afraid that the people close to him would see how he was becoming. That he was changing, without wanting to, more and more violent, more and more unsympathetic...

Victoria held his gaze. " The Daemon I love was funny, carefree, a bit childish... You, you just scare me. "

Daemon tightened his grip on her wrist. " Don’t cross the line. I can show you what true fear is... "

" Let me go, Daemon... You’re hurting me... "

< Wave >

" Hey! We should rather calm down. " Siegfried intervened. " You’re in the Catacombs, it would be wiser to keep calm. "

Daemon finally released her wrist. Seeing that it was all red, he knew he had lost control again.

" I... I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to- "

" It’s nothing... " She massaged her wrist. " I meddled in things that didn’t concern me. "

" Wow, the tension is really palpable... " Siegfried sighed, gauging Victoria while narrowing his eyes.

The awkward situation gradually calmed in a rather soothing silence.

" What are you looking at so intensely, Your Highness? " asked Victoria, noticing Siegfried’s gazes that were not subtle at all.

" Hmmm~ Long silky bluish hair, eyes of such a deep black that I feel myself drowning in them, fine features of a goddess... No doubt, it’s the flower of the Magic Clan: Lady Drigan... "

Victoria rolled her eyes, nevertheless very flattered. She pretended to brush a bit of dust from her face while clearing her throat.

" You’re already so flattering, Your Highness? How old were you, in your twenties? And you like flirting with the ladies that much? "

" Despite my size, I’m only seventeen this year... Still young and beardless, but not blind, which gives me the ability to appreciate the goddesses of this world... "

During all this time, Daemon remained silent, finding nothing important to say. After this kind of situation... A few minutes ago, they could all have died, and now he was flirting... Which was quite atypical.

’I understand a bit better why the second prince is despised... Given his physique, he probably doesn’t train much and spends all his time flirting. Anyway, I don’t really care, I’m not in the best position to judge him.’

" By the way, I wonder what the prince is doing here exactly, and without a guard on top of that. " inquired Victoria, changing the subject.

" Actually, I had come with Dedric into the Catacombs. At one point, we separated to look for a path to the second level. But unfortunately, I found his body cut up, with sword marks similar to the Ancestral Sword Sense. I immediately thought of someone from the Sword Clan. So I followed several trails of the murderer, and now that I’ve arrived here, it seems the culprit is Conrad. "

" Well... that complicates everything now... " observed Daemon, thoughtful.

" Dedric? You mean Dedric of Norman? " she asked.

" Indeed. The son of Gauvain of Norman, heir of Normandy. " confirmed the prince.

Victoria: " Damn it! That’s really going to cause a monstrous uproar outside when it becomes known. "

Siegfried: " But I don’t understand why Conrad would attack a noble, before going after us. "

Daemon remained silent. With this death, there would no doubt be an investigation, and if the Sword Clan were to be suspected of having killed a noble, that would add a lot of tension.

" I heard Conrad talking about a certain Vamp, who would have given him something... something like that. " commented Daemon as he advanced toward the corpse.

Victoria nodded, recalling something of the sort, then added: " Vamp? Who is that, exactly? "

" No doubt the entity capable of transforming a human into an Eater... " Everyone looked at Siegfried.

Victoria: " You mean he became an Eater? "

" Are you sure? How could a human transform into an Eater? " asked Daemon, still skeptical.

Siegfried: " Didn’t you hear that he wanted to drink your blood to become more powerful? I think only an Eater would talk about eating someone to gain power. "

Daemon nodded. ’I underestimated the prince, but he seems very sharp in these analyses... As expected of a member of the imperial family. After all, to survive in this toxic political environment, you have to be competent in at least one domain.’

The trio crouched beside the corpse to analyze his body more closely; there would no doubt be more concrete information.

As Victoria touched the corpse...

" What is this? Kinetic energy waves?! Don’t stay here!! "

But they didn’t have time to back away.

*BOOOMM*

The corpse exploded, violently projecting discharges of blood and Chi.

***