Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 06: ESTEEMED SEAT [HEMOMANCERS]

CHaPteR 06:

ESteEMeD SeaT 

[hEmOmAncErs]

HUNTERS HQ was a group dedicated to hunting down vampires since the times immemorial. It's been said that they existed from the same day the Vampire King — the oldest of all night-walkers — was born.

Their leader is said to be an Immoral Human as old and powerful as the Vampire King himself, so the two were never able to completely get rid of the other party. Because of that, the Hunters HQ grew until they became the only group that could stand up to vampires — until the Great War when Neo Humans aka. spell-casters, made their presence known.

Among this group, there were twenty strongest Hunters called the Esteemed Seats. And the top seven were all Immortal Humans who could fight against Purebloods called Immortal Seats.

Amelia ranked second.

Not because she was weaker than the first one, but because the First Seat was something special. And in the past, it was Mikhael who sat on the First Throne, but eventually got bored and picked the weakest —Twentieth, instead.

Even so, Amelia never thought that she could win against Mikhael. The terror she experienced when she saw this Half-blood fight made the massacres during the Great War appear like a sick joke, in comparison.

Therefore, when she saw the look in Mikhael's eyes, she knew that he was really angry this time.

   'How bothersome. But... I have to do this!'

While she was thinking about the way to remedy this situation, Krull, Malèna and those Hunters finally reacted and surrounded Mikhael on all sides, their weapons aimed at his weak points.

Only Ethan remained in place, still looking at his hand.

   'It's not the power a fake like him should have. Was I wrong, perhaps?'

Yes, the reason why he was stunned was because Mikhael easily escaped from his grip and attacked that female hunter. Fake vampires created during the Great War shouldn't even be able to fight properly, let alone move like that.

   "Release the Second Immortal Seat, you brat!" Krull sneered, but Mikhael remained unfazed. Rykee, on the other hand looked as if he had lost his soul while his teammates and Malèna simply followed their lead.

   "Drop down your weapons," it was Amelia that acted instead.

   "Madam, with all due respect-"

   "Just drop them down. This is something personal, I don't need outsiders interfering," she insisted and they had no other choice but to turn to Ethan, who after a moment of thinking, nodded his head.

Mikhael finally released her neck and she stood up. She only stiffly stretched out her joints and frowned when she looked at her clothes.

   "How violent. Your temper has gotten worse."

   "It was never good to begin with." He turned his backs to her and began to walk away.

   "Are you really not going to do this job?"

   "..."

Mikhael paused before loudly exhaling.

   "You should be asking the Esteemed Seat that took over my position that favor. The only connection I and Hunters HQ will ever have in the future is going to be the day when I personally storm that place and kill that bastard sitting on the top."

   "..."

Her gaze was complicated as she stared at his back. At the same time, everyone around them connected dots from this conversation and realized an important fact: this vampire in front of them used to be a Hunter. And an Esteemed Seat, to boot!

Ethan's gaze was especially terrifying, countless theories that made no sense before unraveled in his mind. Mikhael could feel killing intent in his gaze, and could only sigh helplessly.

In the end, he provoked this disaster once again.

   "If that day really comes, I'll have to stand in your way."

Amelia had no choice.

   "As your friend, I sure do hope you won't."

Neither did Mikhael. But it was impossible for him to ignore the death of people that were once precious to him.

   "Does it really have to be that way?"

   "My entire family was sacrificed as the consequence of his foolish actions. People nowadays are blind enough to ridicule the history, but both you and I know that the war was started purely because of the two greedy bastards that wanted to see who would come out on the top."

   "Even so..."

   "They were aiming for them from the very start. Because they feared them. So now, they'll have to fear me. Even Immoral Humans can die, Amelia. Don't make me desperate, please."

   "..."

   "Consider if the last favor I'll ask of you. I don't want to kill people dear to me once again."

She had no words to answer Mikhael. She knew the best what he's been though during those last twenty years. She knew it so well that she wanted him to hide away from this world and rest properly. The important people Mikhael lost in that war belonged to both sides. There was no way for him to pick one side, but by the time he realized that — it was already too late.

A small group of vampires that raised Mikhael like he was their own. And a group that died in order for him to survive.

A collateral damage, a home and an irreplaceable friend.

   'Fine. I won't. I won't, so... You alone, please survive the ordeal ahead of us.'  

   WAS THERE anything more awkward than having to ride like a trouble child, in between two people that really got in your nerves and two more in front of you watching over you like you were some kind of a feral animal?

Not to mention that Ethan kept staring a hole through Mikhael's head like it would miraculously give him the answers he demanded on his left, while Amelia only listened to some k-pop music on her iPod on his right, but with his vampire hearing — Mikhael could hear everything like it was screaming in his ear instead.

Apparently there wasn't.

   "Flame... We need to talk," Ethan whispered on his ear, making his skin shiver. This guy... Didn't plan to rip out his heart this time, did he?

Such a close proximity was rather dangerous for Mikhael, he'd have to keep him on a safe distance!

   "I cannot believe that vampire is actually a vampire Hunter. This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing," Krull, who was sitting in front of him with Malèna spoke and Mikhael sighed. He also didn't believe it at first, but here he was — six hundred years later, explaining his situation to little kids.

Thank you, Amelia! Thank you! — note the sarcasm.

After the little episode from earlier, Amelia explained that she wanted Mikhael to remain safe in this city. As for the barrier, they'll use their connections to get a spell-caster from Neo academy since Mikhael refused to cooperate. It would seem that she wanted to protect Mikhael no matter the outcome of this deal. Vampires didn't threat kindly those who killed their kin. Hence, if Mikhael's identity ever came to light, he wouldn't be in a favorable position in the city.

Therefore, in return for Ethan keeping him safe and W.E.R.P.s cooperation in that task, they'll do their part of the job.

Normally, that only put Mikhael in the spotlight and he was sure that whatever Ethan wanted to talk about, it had to do something with his connections to Hunters or his knowledge regarding the Great War. Since minions like Mikhael shouldn't know the truth behind it.

...After yelling at him for at least an entire week because he was murdering their brethren, probably.

   "Say, say, Mr. Blondie, how do you kill them? What kind of methods do you use? A vampire can't use AV weapons, right? What other methods there are?" Malèna, however, regarded him with enthusiasm and interest.

For the present time, only anti-vampire weapons aka. AV weapons or Armaments, Purebloods, half-bloods, (some Higher Noble here and there) and werewolves were capable of murdering a vampire.

Now, two vampires would never fight to death because it was quite a pain in the ass . Not to mention that a fight between two vampires would usually drag for days — weeks even — until they were left with no blood.

Not to mention that the moment they lost too much blood, they'll run rampant in search for mortals to feed rather than continue to fight — but then resume once they had their fill and keep it up for eternity... It's rather clear why those cases were a bother.

And seeing as Mikhael looked like an ordinary blood-sucker, it was rather normal that they were suspicions of him.

So for someone like Mikhael who wasn't any of the special guys as mentioned above (or so they believed), she couldn't help but wonder about what means he used to fight. And because there really wasn't a vampire before hunting his own kind. Sure, some powerful vampires did that for money or to gain favors, but to actually work for Hunters was something on a completely different level.

When it came to AV weapons or armaments — they can only be made by a single group of evolved humans who came out around sixty years ago and proclaimed themselves as the true rulers of the world, even added 'Neo' to the 'human' part, but vampires and the like were too lazy to call them that.

Since they called them by another name for thousands of years before.

Spell-casters.

But spell-casters and vampires were sworn enemies.

And on genetic lever, spell-casters simply couldn't become vampires. A rare few that could were weak spell-casters who could barely sense mana, and they had too many deficiencies to count even if they did succeed the change. But most would die, instead.

And other type were special light based spell-casters  — but only one in ten billion would survive the change and become something known as the Healer.

...So, it's not unusual that they immediately wrote off that option.

Then again, the vampire blood is deadly to spell-casters since it rendered them incapable of using mana, while spell-caster's Armaments could kill a vampire, so they were like ice and fire.

Their situation was even worse than those flee bags (werewolves) and sacrificial bitches (witches).

   "Vice-president..." Krull turned to her as even Ethan perked his ears to hear the answer.

   "Which reminds me!" Amelia suddenly exclaimed almost breaking Mikhael's eardrums

   "Khael, here!"

Taking the silver suitcase from earlier, she opened it revealing an oddly shaped silver gun, a white holster and a little black box.

Unlike the regular guns, this white beauty was more of rectangular shape. The handle also broke under angle of 90° degrees, something no gun should have.

Aside from its odd shape, the gun didn't have safety nor the trigger.

In the middle, continuing from its handle, bloomed carefully engraved patterns with hydrangeas in the center. It truly was treasure among treasures.

   "Is it fine, giving this to me?"

Well, he would've stolen it back at some later date anyway...

Mikhael frowned as he took the gun out of the suitcase before checking it's weight. He tried to get a feel to it, but... Something was odd, has it been modified again?

His guns were the biggest mystery among other AV weapons and Hunters weren't as united organization as outsiders believed. Inside, many factions wanted to fight over strong AV weapons in order to get to the top — it really isn't surprising that someone stole it and tried to make blueprints for another one.

It did happen quite often in the past, which is why Mikhael rarely left them out of his sight.

His last mission wasn't supposed to be so complicated so he forgot one in the HQ, while the second one is still being hidden in the void he manipulated. He did make a mistake by leaving one unprotected, but it should be fine.

Unless they had a Half-blood over six hundred years old, they wouldn't be able to learn anything.

Since Mikhael's weapon was something made especially for vampires to use.

Instead of wanting to know how a vampire could wield one, the more special property of this gun was that — once joined with the other twin of its — it could even kill a Half-blood. Back in the days, Mikhael got enraged with a certain Half-blood and used that weapon to deal with the guy.

Although he did survive because Mikhael couldn't be bothered with him any longer, the guy was tortured for days without means to regenerate or escape. It was also the incident that traumatized Amelia and caused her to make an oath never to provoke Mikhael.

And up to date, other than dying on their own due to the pain of change, or failing their Deep Slumbers — there were no known records of Half-blood's weakness. Basically, they can't die. Even more so than Purebloods and that whatnot Vampire King Mikhael strongly disliked.

Even getting blown apart to smithereens wouldn't kill them.

   "It's fine, the weapon is yours to begin with, and no one else can use it anyway."

   "Perhaps, but we both know what this weapon is like. Is it really safe to give it to someone who no longer has connections with Hunters?"

It made Mikhael suspicious. They wanted to get rid of him, but gave him a weapon that could harm them. It was fishy...

   "That's what everyone told HIM as well, but he only plucked his nose with a shrug," Amelia sighed and Mikhael picked up something odd from her words.

Still, he continued to play along.

   "He's senile, but whatever. However, someone had meddled with this gun," he sighed. He's been carrying those weapons for centuries now, of course he'd notice them being modified!

   "Figures. East?"

   "..."

   'Sure enough.'

Amelia was talking in codes. She clearly knew who it was, but acted like she didn't.

   "Nah, West seems more like it. I've been trying to shake them off to no avail for the past twenty years."

   'Ever since the Great War. She's been avoiding me and tried to push me away.'

He looked at those guns, then traced across the hydrangea pattern.

It was different than he remembered it.

The flowers were carved into an odd shape, but Mikhael recognized it as one of his secret signals he shared with Amelia on their missions.

   'Run.'

Run from what? Where?

Only the two of them knew about it, so she must've done it. This gun didn't come from Hunters HQ, it was Amelia that gave it to him on her own.

But Black Cards?

   'She can't afford them, nor obtain 10 of them.'

So those really came from his boss. But why? There must be some hidden intention.

   'But what?'

Why would you give power to your prey?

   'To make me stand out. For whom do I need to do that?'

Who's the person his boss wanted to find Mikhael.

   'Ethan?'

The Sixth Pureblood seemed to be pretty enraged with Mikhael. If he continued to walk on this road, he would die sooner or later.

But...

   'It doesn't match up. No one among those Hunters, not even that old fart, knows about my other identity.'

His identity as a spell-caster.

   'But they know something else. Or, they've assumed something else.'

This was bad, he needed to lay low.

But first of all...

He glanced at Ethan.

   'I really need to get rid of this guy!'

   "I've troubled you." He sighed, hiding his true thoughts, "Thank you for delivery."

She smirked.

   "It's fifteen billion, anyway."

   'He finally got it.'

   "Wait, you said twenty years? How long have you been a vampire?" Malèna interrupted their conversation as Amelia quickly thought about the reply. A vampire being a Hunter was odd on its own already and if she were to add Mikhael's age to the mix...

   "Thirty-something years, I guess. This guy was one of our best Hunters as a human when one of his targets turned him one day. His strong wish for revenge might've been the reason why he can still use those anti-vampire weapons without being burned alive by them." The lie left her lips seamlessly, without openings.

Mikhael praised her in his head.

Vampires couldn't stand to even touch those weapons and would get heavy burns from it.

   "Hatred for vampires?" Krull asked as he stared at the oddly shaped gun in Mikhael's hands. To that, Mikhael raised his head before frowning.

   'Well, she's making up lies to save my ass, but this whole hatred deal will only make Ethan more careful around me...'

   "Not really, it was years ago. It's also not like I'm indiscriminately killing vampires. I realize that some vampires are assholes that can only be killed and some are just trying to live their lives peacefully. I also have some vampire friends I respect and care for, so it's not like I can be bothered by something as stupid as being turned into one then go on a rampage and whatnot revenge journey."

It would be too cliche even with Mikhael's heavy taste for melodrama.

   "It was my own carelessness that turned me into my prey, I can only move on and deal with it," he said before turning to Amelia, "Also, do me a favor and visit kids for me when you have time. It'll soon be Christmas and there's a high chance I won't be allowed outside. I'll give you something for them later," he threw her a knowing glance before attaching the gun to holsters he got along inside that suitcase and then took off his jacket.

Looking at Mikhael's shirt with clear " I HATE VAMPIRES" printed on, Krull and Malèna only wordlessly stared at him in daze.

   'Brother, didn't you just say that you hold no grudge against vampires? Wearing such shirt in city full of them is simply asking for beating, OK?'

At the same time, Ethan looked at Mikhael in a daze. Or rather, at the annoyingly neon yellow shirt he wore, seemingly recalling some matters from few decades ago.

   "Don't worry, leave your children to me, Mikhael!" She gave him a thumbs up.

   "..."

They weren't really his, but...

Those words made Ethan, who was in daze, snap out of it and then look at Mikhael with an odd gaze. He almost wanted to ask something, but no matter how much he tried, those words just never left his lips. By that time, Mikhael finished properly attaching the holster around his shoulders and chest before wearing the jacket again, not bothering to zip it this time.

How... tight!

Dressing on the backseat with two annoyances by his side was really difficult. How can a poor little Half-blood like him live in the future?

There was an eerie moment of silence before everyone stopped in their track and in next second, the car that was peacefully heading towards Ethan's mansion was blown in bits as everyone left it just a second ago. As everyone began to appear on the road unscratched, Mikhael eyed the weird red crystals scattered on the ground while still in midair.

Just as he was about to reach the ground, Ethan pulled him close to himself before they landed making Mikhael stiffen. Following him, Ethan also froze in his track recalling something.

   "..."

This would've been a really romantic move if this guy haven't tried to kill him earlier today.

   'But he was probably just trying to make sure I don't run away!'

Thinking up to that, he decided to ignore Ethan and focus on his enemy instead.

   'Hoho? This should be the first for one of those guys to actively seek death from me...'

A hemomancer.

A really bothersome kind of vampires, the one which could control their blood to take on solid form and attack.

Spell-casters can't become vampires and can only die when exposed to their bite that was meant to change their victim. Those weak spell-casters that did manage to get turned would become those guys instead.

As all four stood in the middle of the street, the second car behind them with other Hunters suddenly halted, making a screeching sound as it drifted, leaving few glaring traces on the white pavement. Without wasting a second, Rykee's squad emerged from those cars and unsheathed their weapons.

   "My, my, the song was just getting to the good part," Amelia snorted as she took the earphones out of her ears and safely removed them into a little bag attached to her belt. To her, they were more important than her life, she wouldn't be able to survive without music!

   "I was just planning to take a little nap myself, it was a good hour till we reached the castle, anyway," Mikhael butted in as Krull only groaned.

   "Two reports. Adding this attack today times two will make them four. Dealing with the attacker should be five. Refunding the damage to Pureblood's car and a written apology makes it seven. Reporting all that is eight. My, my, so much f*****g work to do just because of that one person!" If Krull hated something, that was paperwork.

A lot of it.

   "Don't be so stingy, you forgot the authorization of use for AV weapons, times two. So it's ten, after all," Malèna joined in as she armed herself with her rocket launcher.

   "That's sweet of you, but this one seems to be a hemomancer, and he isn't even marked!" Ethan cursed however was responsible for regulation of vampires in this city, "That's about ten more for both of us, W.E.R.P."

And then sighed sighed, he's the responsible person.

Aside from all that work and hemomancer, there should be more vampires creating mess today.

All hemomancers in the city were marked with special wristbands that would prevent their power going rampant and indiscriminately killing people around - and for Ethan, they weren't much of trouble. But a hemomancer without marker should work for someone and would never act alone, so...

   'Who is it that dared fish in troubled waters?'

   "Can we just pretend that he's a random vampire who appeared and attacked us while we crushed the car ourselves and just get done with it? Honestly, this kind of thing doesn't go quietly and being interrogated as a witness and all will just waste my time. Can we just kill him and move on?" Mikhael asked and Ethan sighed.

If only it could be so simple..

   "Can't happen. This might be your first time seeing one, but this is a hemomancer! Battles with him will leave traces behind and I doubt that he came here just for an idle chat," Ethan replied patiently and Mikhael pondered on those words a little.

He didn't notice the difference in Ethan's voice since he already labeled him as schizophrenic patient.

   "Then, I need someone to guarantee that I can use my weapon as I see fit, in case my life is in danger, and not be punished for murdering another vampire in this city, if they were the first to attack me," Mikhael turned to him with a serious expression and Ethan could only comply to his request.

He had so much to ask him, so... Just in case, if doubts were real, if he really was that person...

   "Fine, but you'll have to fill a form later and get the legal authorization for your Armament. That way, no one will bother you for carrying it around. Do you agree with this, Lieutenant Krull Krowley and Vice President Malèna 'e Tepes of the 43rd division?"

   "This is too important to be decided by just the two of-" just as he began to answer, Malèna put a hand over his mouth.

   "Sure, we agree and bear witness to this deal," she said with a smile and Ethan nodded.

   "Then—" just as he turned to Mikhael, the blonde vampire had already taken the gun out and aimed it at the hemomancer above them. The moment his finger brushed the hydrangea pattern, an oddly shaped trigger that seemed illusory appeared and he pulled it without hesitation. Then returned the gun back to its holster, all withing a single second!

No sound nor special effects were created as Mikhael casually turned to his group, as if nothing ever happened.

Necromancer standing on the top of the building only tilted his head in confusion.

His ability to manipulate blood corroded him to that point that he couldn't even think rationally anymore — it was also known as Crystallization Effect.

Manipulating their blood too often eventually corroded the blood remaining in their system and crystallized it before reaching their brain and damaging it. That's why, one needed blood of a high ranking vampire — Higher Noble or a Pureblood in order to avoid that nasty after-effect.

There were some rare Immortal Humans that had special blood and were therefore really important to hemomancers - since it was only their blood they could obtain and drink so that they no longer have to suffer under the Crystallization curse; but they were so rare that they numbered one in a billion!

And were usually under Hunters' protection.

Though, rather than say that they were protected by Hunters... Immortal Humans worked for them instead.

   "Okay let's move on," Mikhael said as he began to move away, and just as the others were about to ask him what he meant, the vampire standing on that building suddenly exploded into a void without leaving a single trace behind. Even the ground he stood on was unscratched.

   "Actually, better say that there were no vampires at all. We crashed on our own," Mikhael suggested while rubbing his chin as the party only stared at him, at loss. There was no sound when he fired the gun, no bullet, no wound — no nothing!

Yet the destructive power just now was definitely real...

Only Amelia grinned like maniac waiting for the moment someone would ask what was going on and she could brag about being the only one knowing everything.

In the distance, a single vampire with a long white hair and bloody red eyes watch this commotion. Dark skin in contrast to his white robes made him stand out in the crowd as he sat on top of the building, regarding the group with interest. The most noticeable feature of his, however — was a twisted grin that adorned his face, and a single coin he flipped around his fingers with ease.

When he used that hemomancer that had fed on his blood earlier, he had expected that the guy would be enough to kill the Hunters at least - which would then cause some trouble for Ethan. Someone as powerful as Pureblood certainly won't die from someone so weak, so he had no expectations regarding that matter.

And then he'd stale Ethan so that he has no time to help out those Hunters.

   'But now...'

As his lips slowly curled into a grin showing his fangs, he simply turned stood up and prepared to leave.

   "Interesting."

The blonde fellow was indeed interesting. If he failed to kill him today, he must have that guy serving him in the future.

   "He'll make a good pawn..." Especially when he looked at the way Ethan protectively held him, "And since you are so interested in him, he'll surely be fun to break..."