Chapter 608: Freedom or Power

***

-One Week Later-

Caius approached the Venuzze Royal Palace in a carriage, and the guards bowed and quickly stepped aside.

Stopping the Carriage, Caius approached the main Palace building and walked in through the double doors that had been left open. He had lived at the Palace long enough that he knew his way but still, he heard the click-clack sounds of heels across the floor before Elena joined him.

"Caius," she called to him with as much of a respectful decorum as she could muster which made Caius’s name sound far more formal than anyone had ever managed, "Any luck?"

Caius sighed.

"No," he said.

"Oh," Elena said, disappointed.

Her disappointed tone and demeanor would have had a greater effect on Caius had he not had to wrestle and come to terms with his failure already.

Elena perked up.

"Well, just keep at it. I mean, something is bound to work out, right?" She said with the air of someone who was determined to be positive even in a situation that seemed so bleak.

"Right," Caius said in a noncommittal tone and without even a smidge of her positivity.

Blood Alchemy was actually a very wide branch of Alchemy and Caius would never have deluded himself into thinking he was an actual expert. Now though, after a week at it, after a week delving into so many aspects of Blood Alchemy he would never have even gotten his hands on in the Acheron Empire and after running through various procedures and techniques and through hundreds of books on the subject, he dared say he had scoured the very depths of Blood Alchemy. At least theoretically. Putting a lot of it in practice, however, was limited to Magic Circles.

Still, Caius could sift through the theories, piece things together, and then offer the Venuzzian Blood Alchemists his insight which they would either use to pursue another course of treatment or more often than not, would tell him they had already considered and it had already failed.

Caius with Elena by his side descended the stairs and arrived at the doors to Athenodora’s Cocoon. Here, Elena stayed at the door while Caius went in, as was usually the case.

Athendora was kneeling in the middle of the room, her eyes closed as she took steady breaths.

"Brought something else for me to try?" She asked Caius as he walked closer.

"That only happened once," Caius retorted, "And I really thought it’d work."

"So nothing, huh," Athenodora said with a little chuckle, "So I take it you’ve arrived at the same conclusion as hundreds of Blood Alchemists before you. I suppose I wasn’t shortsighted, then."

"Ha ha," Caius laughed and rolled his eyes, "With your life on the line, I would have thought you wouldn’t be rooting for me to fail."

"I wasn’t rooting for it. I just know when a resource has been tapped out," Athenodora said and in a fluid movement, she was on her feet and turning around to face Caius with her hands outstretched to him as she cooed in a sensual tone,

"Now, come closer."

Caius approached and Athenodora grabbed his chin between her thumb and index finger, staring into his eyes before she turned his face to the side and pressed her nose to his neck to take a whiff of his blood, shivering with excitement. It’s a satisfying thing when the thing that keeps you alive is also something you positively can’t seem to get enough of.

Having gone through this so much over the past week, Caius found it all pretty routine so he just stood in place while he waited for it to be over. Meanwhile, he let his mind dwell on Athenodora’s condition and the fact that despite his dour tone and expression when coming here, he actually had a solution.

Caius came up with it a day after he and the Leopolds arrived at the Venuzzian Palace but refused to divulge the information as, of all the things he knew of the world and the story from the original canon, this was something he had hoped to keep for himself until he could claim it for himself;

The Blood of Strigoi.

Caius had mentioned it only once and that was to Anton Orlock. He did so because he really needed to buy some time before he was killed and since then had never spoken of it again. But Caius had indeed been honest with Anton Orlock and he did know where The Blood of Strigoi was. He knew how to find it, he knew the challenges that were on the way as they had all been very detailed in [To Kill A Demon Lord...]. And by that canon, if there was one thing that could cure Athenodora, it was that.

But the Blood boasts great power. The kind Caius really wanted to possess. The thought of giving it up so Athenodora could be well again...

It felt to Caius like he was now being made to choose between two options; Freedom or Power.

Freedom where he cured Athenodora and she no longer had use for him so he no longer had to spend a decade of his life here with her. Or,

Power where he waited until that period had passed or until there was a considerable lapse he could take advantage of and eventually acquire the Blood.

After all, with all the challenges that awaited, a Fifth Circle Vampire could never acquire the Blood anyway so he would have to wait either way. A decade was a long time and he might find a way to still evolve during that period and by the time Athenodora eventually passed on, he’d be strong enough to claim the power for himself.

The choice was clear to Caius: power. He needed that Blood and had been counting on it.

And yet, he was... reluctant to let Athenodora die. It was likely due to some order she had bound him with but Caius couldn’t reconcile himself with her possible death.

So he had worked hard for the entire week, pored through more books than he had ever done in his two lives, trying to find something he may have missed. He had downed so many potions brewed to keep alert through the night just so he had more time to read and study. All so he could find something that would help her and allow him to keep the Blood of Strigoi to himself.

"You’re distracted," Athenodora said then.

Considering he hadn’t felt her take her fangs out of his neck and it took him by surprise to hear her speak, there was no denying that she was right.

"This isn’t any fun for me if you’re not into it," Athenodora said.

"Was it supposed to be fun?" Caius asked distractedly.

"Just... be more into it," Athenodora said and then placed her hand on one side of his neck, her thumb stroking his cheek in an almost caressing touch as she leaned in to sink her fangs into his neck again.

*BOOM!!!*

The explosion sounded muffled due to the soundproofing in the Cocoon but the fact that it was that audible at all, and the entire hall shook because of it, certainly made it worrying. ℴ

Athenodora pulled her fangs out of Caius with a frown and Caius turned toward the door which had been wrenched open by Elena.

"My Lady," she called, looking frantic,

"We’re under attack."

•••

Caius practically flew up the stairs as he left the Palace underground for its ground level and from there, he dashed out into the courtyard where the Leopolds were either already standing or had arrived just after he did.

The next attack arrived and Caius saw it wasn’t even performed with an element. It was sheer Mana descending in rippling pulses from high above the clouds backed by something Caius found to be familiar. He also noticed that the attack wasn’t targeting the entire Palace but just a section of it; The section where the Cocoon was located.

"Caius, I think—" Roxanne started to say as she recognized something about the energy in the attacks that Caius had also recognized.

"Yeah," Caius said in a deadpan tone, "It’s him."

Sure enough, the clouds parted and a figure dropped down from the air so fast that anyone weaker than the Seventh Circle might have thought he simply appeared. He wore wine-red robes. His shoulder-length hair billowed in the wind and his eyes were bright red with malice.

The various militants of the palace were quick to action. There were multiple of them at the Seventh Circle and even a couple at the Eighth, especially the lady who led the attacks with a hand pointing at the Noble Emissary in the air as she ordered.

"Fire!"

Spell circles sprang to life and multiple spells of various elements and all packing incredible power that combined made Caius blanch, launched into the sky.

The Emissary waved his hand and a defensive spell appeared a split-second before the joint attacks hit, resulting in a massive explosive cloud that covered the sky above the Palace.