Chapter 33: Right for Inheritance
"I don't know about any Louis or Vermilion. I'm just a nobody that goes by the name of Vlad Dracula. Tell me creature who are you?"
As Vlad said this, the pressure on him lessened a bit, and while the creature was still shedding the stones around him, he said in Vlad's head in a sad tone.
"To think that I would wake up at this time. Little Vermilion, you really don't know your own family or your great ancestor? What about the "Great Kingdom Atlas" does this name sound familiar to you?"
"No, as I told you creature, I'm called Vlad Dracula, I'm not any Vermilion nor do I know about any kingdom that is called Atlas. The kingdom we're right now is called Kaysang."
"So the Great Priest actually became so mad with power that he erased all its opponents. Kid, you're saying that you're called Vlad Dracula, then why does your blood tell me that you're a Vermilion? Why do I feel that I'm staring at Louis when he was young?"
"Who should I ask? Anyway, you didn't answer my question, who are you?"
"Right, I just woke and my mind is still in total confusion. I was known by the simple people as their Guardian God while Atlas was led by Louis, but I'm called in reality, Aerius. A proud king of the gryphons."
As the stones on Aerius started to finish shattering, Vlad heard the creature's voice saying in a rushed manner. "Little Vermilion, I need your help immediately. A witch that scammed me when using her powers to seal me messed up, and her powers started to give me a side effect that will regress my body to it's early stages. I will grow in my younger former, but at the same time, I will forget what happened at that time with me, and the memories of that conflict might be erased or sealed deep in my mind.
But enough with that, what you have to do is to wait and look for the one carrying Joy Boy will and prepare for the war that will end all conflicts in about twelve years. If you find the one carrying the will of the Great King, you, the descendant of Sun King, have to help the one carrying the will of the king to crush the Great Priest that betrayed us.
Don't forget anything I say because it will be vital. I'll even give you some words from Louis that he told me to transmit to you his descendant.
Argh, I feel like I got scammed by him too, together with that witch to seal me and even regress me to my younger form.
Right, time is ticking. I'll say word by word, little Vermilion. "My dear descendant, the one I've been waiting all this time to come. We might fail to defeat him in the future, and most likely, you'll feel that you will face the power of the entire world, but never get discouraged by the storms blowing in your face because those exact storms will get you to higher levels. What's important for you it's to have a strong will when everything seems to collapse. I hope you take care of Aerius like you'll do with your family because he's the one that knows the most about the Great Priest who betrayed us, and before that, he is my closest friend. I can't just let him die in the hands of that traitor.
Ahem, before I end, so I don't seem like a cheap old man, I asked one of my closest confidants that once I die in the great war to seal my devil fruit and place it in a small chamber for you to take it. You'll know from the start what powers you will get but do it outside where there's no water because the worst-case plan was to destroy and flood everything so the Great Priest couldn't get his hands on this old man's powers.
As for the devil fruit, you might curse it's weird and hard to control powers, but this devil fruit is a bit more special. What you need to know the most about this power is that you need knowledge, mastery, and patience to have control over it. Be aware of the awakening of the power. In the future, you'll reach a state that might make you feel like a God but never abuse those powers, or you'll grow hunger on power and turn like the Great Priest.
Before I leave, you might face the wills and figures of my closest confidants that left a challenge for you to test your worth. I hope you pass it and continue my line, my Vermilion Louis descendant."
As the gryphon said that, he only had some stones remaining on him, and as he saw this, he cursed so hard that he shocks the entire chamber.
"FUCK YOU LOUIS AND YOU SCHEMING WENCH. Brat you better take care of me, don't you dare abuse me or I'll rip your head once I get to my original form and memories."
In no seconds, Aerius, the giant king of gryphons, was covered in bright light. As it enveloped, his size decreased tremendously, turning him into the size of a small-sized black cat with four little wings and a charming head of an eagle hatchling.
The cat, instead of meowing, extended his four wings, swinging his lion's tail. He looked at Vlad with a confused face, while Vlad had a dumbfounded face. It released a strong bird cry that still gave Vlad a scare even if the pressure on him released after Aerius regressed.
The creature quickly sniffed around, and his eyes started to shine, and not long to tear up. It lunged itself at him and cried out inside the great chamber.
"Louis, you bastard, why did you abandon me in this place? Do you think it is funny to be alone in this dark place? Screw you. *Sniff* *Sniff* Wait a minute, you're not Louis.
"Who are you?"
'So the creature really didn't joke, he forgot about everything we talked and even turned in this small form of a gryphon. Well, it doesn't harm me if I take care of him until the side effects of the powers used on him are lifted.'
"Indeed, Aerius, I'm not Louis, I'm his so-called descendant, you can call me Vlad. There's been a problem with you that turned you from your adult form to your younger form. You even lost most of your memories, but from what your older self explained, this is temporary.
Ahem, he even asked to take care of you in the meanwhile, so you better don't cause trouble for me. Alright?" Just as Vlad explained this, Aerius' younger voice resounded in his ears like they were linked together by something.
"Have I got scammed again? Which one scammed me? I'll take my revenge on their entire descendants for sure."
"From how mad you sounded you really got scammed by some person with great abilities. Now, can you jump on me or something? I have to take something from the other chamber and need to take a test of short."
"Heh, do you want some help Vlad?" asked Aerius while jumping on his shoulder like an agile cat without any difficulty. The weight on his shoulder was nothing, but he felt the claws of Aerius stuck on his shirt like daggers.
'Can this creature really hang on my shoulder? Well, this will be interesting to see how he becomes in the future.'
"No need, thanks for the offer Aerius, just stay quiet and keep it quiet while talking directly to my head. We'll talk for a bit more after I'm done here."
"I understand. Don't worry, it seems I can only talk to you directly in your head, and not from the outside." repeated Aerius in a childish tone towards Vlad's
As they talked, Vlad mostly explaining in what Aerius got stuck. The stone soldiers in the chamber all moved suddenly. The pressure on Vlad increased again with the slight movement of the soldiers.
Vlad's body tensed up, while Aerius' eyes were looking with an amazed face. "Wow, the stones just moved. Hey, Vlad, are you sure you can handle this? You're sweating a lot."
The stones were moving closer and closer, and they started forming a circle around Vlad. The soldier statue at the front of the rest suddenly attacked Vlad with his spear weapon.
Still, under that pressure, Vlad saw the spear approaching him and jumped to one side. He looked around himself as the other stone statue started moving in his way. One with empty hands did a jab in Vlad's body.
Yet again, Vlad dodged, then saw as the attack of the spear wilder statue came in his way, pushing him on one of the columns.
'Argh, that hurt. This is really unfair a fight 1vs8 fight with this weird statues that are even stronger than real people. This doesn't make sense.'
"Hey Aerius, have you ever seen those people before?" asked Vlad, the cat-like creature hanging for deal life on his jet-black hair.
"No, I don't remember any one of those guys. But the one wielding the spear, his face seems familiar to me. Aaaa, yes, yes. I remember this is the son of a general of the old king, Charles. He played a lot with Louis when they were kids. To think he would grow in such an imposing man. I miss my memories Vlad."
"Don't worry you'll get them at one point. Do you have any ideas on what to do against those 8 weird statues?"
"Can't you just break them?" replied Aerius with a confused face.
"If I can get inside their range and get to hit them, maybe. But their pesky pressure starts to exhaust me."
"What pressure? I don't feel anything?"
"Forget it." As Vlad said that, he got on his feet and looked quickly at the eight statues of adults that seemed to smile with evil grins at him, as if in ridiculing him.
Still, under the pressure coming from the soldiers, he pushed his body. He chose to attack the ones without weapons since he also was empty-handed. There were five unarmed guys and three that held weapons. Going to the first soldier in his direction empty-handed, he dodged Charles's spear thrusts, and when arriving in the range of his first target, he saw the statue going for a straight left.
Gritting his teeth, he tanked the hit that shock his head a bit, shaking the cat hanging on his shoulders. As the soldier attacked him, the eyes on Vlad's face turned cold and sinister, and with a bit of madness, after the soldier finished his strike.
He tightened his fist so hard that his bones left some cracking sound and fiercely attacked the chest of the stone statue. The statue's expression changed after he received Vlad's strike. Instead of responding back, it slowly started walking on his original positions.
When the stone statue got back in its place, Vlad was still fighting with the other soldiers. Well, it was more like running for dear life and dodging around them. Vlad noticed that the first stone statue that he attacked stopped in place in its original position, and all of a sudden, some white mist got released from it.
The form of a mature man with scars on his face looked deeply at Vlad's face and transmitted to his mind. "You did well descendant of Vermilion for facing so many people, you passed my test. I hope you pass my other comrades tests. Take care of yourself and Atlas. We might have failed, but this doesn't mean that you will fail."
With this said, the white mist form of the middle-aged person scattered for good right in Vlad's face.
"Hey Aerius, did you hear that or saw that?" asked Vlad, still dodging and running from the other soldiers.
"Yes man, that was creepy. Don't tell me a ghost? Aaaaa, quickly run for your life." started the cat-like creature to get scarred, digging even deeper on Vlad's shoulder.
"Calm down, and stop digging on my shoulder, it's annoying."
Hearing that, Aerius calmed a bit, but the grip he had on Vlad's shirt was tight. Charles' spear came yet again in his direction as if he tried to push him towards the other soldiers.
"Curses Charles, can't you give us a break." screamed Aerius, annoyed by all the movements Vlad took that weakened his grip on his shoulder.
Seeing himself placed between another three soldiers who were empty-handed and prepared with three of their strikes going on his chest, stomach, and head. His body pushed himself to dodge the strikes coming from the soldiers. The first two he avoided well, but as he approached closer to them, he was surprised by a first moving straight to his stomach that sent him directly down.
He got back on his feet after a while, with much colder eyes. Like he was possessed by a ghost, he moved in just some steps to the two of the soldiers that he dodged their strikes and gave them each a fight straight on their neck. The stone heads of the soldiers were sent flying, hitting on a column.
The white mist started to exit the stone statues, but Vlad didn't care and turned to look with his sinister eyes at the one that hit him in the stomach. The stone statue send a combination of strikes from quick jabs to straights and hooks.
But to the stone surprise, Vlad could see every strike that got sent in his direction, he blocked the first jabs, and when the statue turned to hit him with a straight and hook, he dodged them and sent a straight at the statue heart, pushing it a lot, before it dropped on the ground.
The mist of a middle-aged person looked at Vlad with smiles on his face. But that didn't matter to Vlad because the leader of those soldiers, Charles, was in the process of sending a combination of strikes and thrusts from a middle-stance.
'This statue always finds me in bad stops. Argh, all I can do is to use my body to block some of those strikes and push towards the last unarmed guy.'
Preparing himself to tank some of the strikes, but as he did, he got sent flying towards the stairway without any resistance coming from him. Vlad started breathing hard from the impact, use of energy, and mental strength he had used to fight back the pressure coming from Charles.
Suddenly, he had a heart pain that gave him such a pain he had never seen before. Aerius looked worried at Vlad, who was screaming for dear life. The gryphon hatchling could see that from Vlad's chest, a black mist-like energy started to cover him.
Sudden changes turned with Vlad's body when the mist started covering him. His hair turned slightly white, while his eyes gave out dark energies from his dropped position.
Slowly he got on his feet, and looked at Charles and the rest of the stone statues, and said in a sinister tone. "To think that I would get pushed around this much by some stone statues? And this annoying pressure on my body. SCRAM." as he roared the pressure coming from Charles was destroyed by a dark shockwave which pushed the stones statues some steps away.
"Good, now I feel much better. My body feels much better. Little creature, stay there. I don't want you to get hurt."
As the sinister voice from Vlad said that, he quickly rushed with free hands toward Charles. The steps he took were fast, so fast that it even surprised Aerius. When Vlad, who had his hair slightly whitened, got close to Charles, the spear wielder, he shaped his right hand as if it was a blade and clashed with his stone statue.
The clash sent the small stones and dust in all directions. The clash didn't get a winner, but Vlad, with dark mist on his eyes, smiled evilly and clashed again with Charles' spear. Yet again, there was no winner. Seeing that he couldn't break the spear-wielding statue guard, he rushed like a phantom to attack the one empty-handed.
The statue had a surprised face when he saw Vlad that had his hand in a blade shape target his heart. He tried to block, but the stone body moved slower than the will inside the statue reacted, and only watched as Vlad plunged his hand on his chest and drawing his hand back after creating a hand-sized hole.
The will got out from the statue and stared with sad eyes at Vlad, almost feeling the change that Vlad went.
Then like a predator beast, Vlad turned his sinister looking eyes toward the armed soldier statues and only saw the stone guards look at him with sad faces.
They suddenly stopped in place, and Vlad started seeing the shapes of some middle-aged guys getting out from the statues. His focus was mainly on the one called Charles.
As Charles was looking at Vlad, with a sad smile on his face, he said. "Descendant of Vermilion, the path you took is something that we couldn't actually foresee. To think you aligned with that power, but hear me, young one. Never get drunk on that power, or you'll become someone like the Great Priest. Don't let yourself become controlled by that power, or you'll regret it for an eternity.
Sigh, to think Louis would have such a descendant, even asking us to place our wills on some statues to look over this place against intruders who aren't Vermilion's.
Boy, you passed our tests without any problems, but you used a cheating power to pass it. Still, this is also your power. Before our wills scatter, I can see that Aerius also got released from his long slumber. Little Vermilion, probably your ancestor told you, but your era will be one that will end everything. We failed to stop the Great Priest and never saw between his schemes, losing the war, but this doesn't mean that he is invincible. To defeat him, you need the Great King's successor's assistance. I can't guide you to where you might find him, but he will make his presence noticeable by creating a disturbance to the world. But before all of this, you have to rebuild Atlas' former glory."
Vlad's started to calm his mind as he heard Charles's voice. As this happened, he began to get dizzy all of a sudden. The dark mist on him started getting back in his heart mark. Everything was seen by Charles will, whereas the middle-aged person only smiled a bit at Vlad after he looked like a normal young man.
"Good job, little Vermilion. It seems that you're not the one to be controlled by that energy. Ahh, it seems that my powers start running out. To think that my once glorious will would become such a tiny sparkle of fire.
"When our wills scatter for good, the lock on the door closing the next chamber will be unlocked. Don't get surprised by what you'll see next, there's a coded message inside the room which was sent by the Ancient Kingdom before the war started. Don't ask me to translate it because I don't know that coded language the Kozuki's came up with."
"Time is up, take care little Vermilion. Don't you dare disappoint us dead old men and not bring back Atlas to his glory."
When Charles said that, his will started scattering, together with the rest of the armed soldiers who gave a last bow to Vlad, as a sign of recognition.
"Those guys really had a lot to say while my head was hurting like it was splitting. He said something about the power I aligned and the fact that I should get drunk on this power. Don't tell me? Hades did something to me before sending me here? Or could this be that energy that Hades said I comprehended in my first life after a life of killing and death? The thing that didn't let me ascend to Heaven?"
"This thing is dangerous. I almost felt that I turned into someone else for a brief second. Like I was possessed by dark thoughts."
Turning to look around himself, he saw that there were some statues standing in place with missing heads, one with a large hole on its chest, and the three armed soldier statues that did a circle around Vlad and the closed door.
Later he looked at Aerius as it tried to fly towards him, but as he opened his wings, he failed, hitting head first on the ground not long before that cursing. "Screw this, I can't even fly. What gryphon am I, if I can't even fly?" Still, he continued and ran towards Vlad, jumping on his shoulder, being head to head with him.
"Hey man, what was all that smokey and dark mist around you? It looked quite scary. Even your hair started turning white."
"A curse that I have to live with until I figure out how to control it." said Vlad calmly as he looked at the gryphon hatchling.
"A curse? Did a witch scam you too? Wait, wait, I hear something. Look, the door is opening up. Quickly let's go check what's inside." said Aerius exited while jumping on Vlad's shoulder and head.
"Sigh, what else did you think I would do? Step back after all the pain I had to pass to get here?"
With that said, he pushed a little bit hard on the door. It opened after exerting all his force. Even a small door opening was enough for Vlad to get inside the room that was supposed to leave him a certain inheritance reward.
Entering inside left him with a sour taste in his mouth. A giant sculpture of a middle-aged person that had a small chest right on the center of his feet overlooked the entire room with a dignified look that was focused on the one coming inside the room. Similarly, besides the giant statue of the dignified man, there was a giant cube made of what seemed to be a type of stone standing by itself in the room's center.
The man had a crown on his head. It was of a simple design, apart from the crown. He had a groomed beard, a high nose, and sharp eyes that, if alive, could see the deepest parts of a man. Over his body, the statue was covered in armor, and in his right hand was gripping a slender longsword large enough to fit his hand. The hilt seemed to be a bit deformed, losing some stones on the ground, but he could see the shape of a sun on the hilt.
'This man should be the one Aerius called Louis. Vermilion Louis. The ancestor of little Zagreus, he's really looking close to me, but this doesn't matter much to me. The small chest should be my reward? Right, but before that let me check the cube besides this king.'
He slowly walked, getting closer to the cube. He couldn't make out the meaning of any character written on the cube. A bit confused because he couldn't understand a single character on the tablet. Turning his head to look at his shoulder, he looked right at the gryphon hatchling and asked him.
"Any idea of what this cube is all about? Do you understand any of those characters on that cube?"
"Hmmm, no idea, this cube really doesn't say much to me. Wait, wait. I think I know something. Argh, poof, that's what happened in my head. I thought I had something, but no, it's all blank.
"Don't stress yourself. Those are the side effects of what happened to you. Well, let me try it a bit more, if there's no sign that I can solve this puzzle, then I'll let others crack it."
"Hey Aerius, you better stick around with me, because the route back from where I came is quite dangerous."
The cat-like creature on Vlad's shoulder got startled and placed his claws on Vlad's shoulder, and said. "How dangerous? Do we have to fight again with weird stuff?"
"No, but we have to swim a lot to get back from where I came." said Vlad in a calm manner, giving the little gryphon a big scare.
Saying that, without bothering himself with Aerius claws digging in his shoulder. He started to check the weird cube again, and only the symbol of a giant ball could make some sense in his mind. There were some symbols of different planets, while the waves around them gave him some hints of what that could mean.
Feeling his helplessness of understanding the cube's meaning left him with a sour taste in his mouth. When looking at the king's statue, looking at him and the cube, who was in Vlad's head smiling at him, only made Vlad saltier.
'Damn, at least I got something from this. What he said? That he left his powers for me for the taking, and that they might feel weak but in reality are godlike? Hehe, at least he has conscience for his descendants and prepared something good for me.'
'I need to discuss with the old man all my findings and if he knows what's going on with this Vermilion family thing. Wouldn't that make me a royal if this Sun King is the first kingdom ruler?'
'Sigh, and those guys said all that short of confusing things, such the Great King successor that I have to look after and protect until he grows, or the Great Priest who defeated them. All those things get on my head all of a sudden? Sigh, little Zagreus, your family line is making more trouble for me without even asking them to.'
Circling around the cube for a bit more while Aerius was sitting on top of his head with his eagle eyes staring like Vlad on the cube in an adorable yet serious manner.
"I give up. It's been like 20 minutes and I have no idea. Nothing. You Aerius? Did you remember anything after all this time?"
"Blank. I'm probably even worse than you. Screw you witch for scamming great me." said Aerius, a bit angry, yet he looked cute on Vlad's head.
"Then I'll just leave and explain to the old man the situation as it is. First let's this small chest that Louis placed for me. It's small enough to be carried around in my arms."
Walking towards the small chest at Louis's center, taking it quickly on his hand, as it didn't heigh much on a single hand. The chest was in a resistant and sparkling wood material, locked tightly and held in place by many metal chains. As he picked it, he remembered the message coming from Louis and didn't bother himself to open the chest inside the temple. Opting to do it inside the mine.
Looking again at the gryphon hatchling on his shoulder, he started his journey back, walking the same path he took. Closing the door, he opened when entering the cube room. He didn't even give a stare back at the giant statue of Louis the Sun King. The statues that moved to fight with Vlad remained in the same positions, with the exception of the first general to let Vlad pass his test. Without being affected by the initial pressure he felt from Aerius and Charles's will, the journey back felt like he was a feather stepping lightly on the floor.
When he arrived at the stairway, he saw all the soldiers that once had their swords stabbed on the ground, now kneeling on a knee as in welcoming their king.
Vlad calmly stared at them, and together with Aerius on his shoulder and the small chest on his right hand, he started walking past them, reaching the narrow path that he had to crawl once again.
.....
A/N: What do you think the devil fruit will be?
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