"Khhhaaa"

"Grrrr"

Swish Swish!

Chained claws swiped through the air, ghastly cheers following as blood spilled like fountains from the combatants in the dim arena

"Quite the merciless followers you have here, even those of my kind wouldn't go to such extent when in-fighting occurs"

"That is because your kind needs to be united, ours does not"

High from the viewing balcony two very different beings were sitting on large stone chairs, one a woman with blood red eyes, a vampire, Nee, to be exact

The other, a humanoid beast, black and brown hair covering every limb, a long maw filled with sharp teeth protruding under the set of yellow eyes, a creature any human would call a werewolf when met

"Mind enlightening me on what you mean?"

"My pleasure, like humans, werewolves need to keep bonded, without any grudges between themselves to fend for the group, vampires on the other hand need no such harmony, we are at the hands and feet of our Lord, whatever command he has would be followed unconditionally no matter our personal feelings"

"That sounds like slavery to me"

"I call it ruling authority, makes it sound less offensive"

The werewolf's ears twitched in annoyance, weren't they one and the same?

"If your so obedient why are you doing all this behind your Lord's back? Couldn't be that you plan treason do you? Wanna become the next Lord and all"

The taunting words were met with a sweet laugh that bore no guilt whatsoever

"As if, you do not realize how vampire monarchy works, furthermore even if it was possible to do so it wouldn't be a realistic goal given who my Lord is"

"And who might he be exactly"

Ears stood upright, leaning in to listen closely

"Wouldn't you want to know"

Nee gave a coy look however, not divulging any information, well no real information in her next statement

"If I were to compare the Lord to anyone, it would perhaps be that masked human who wields sickles, though when going all out that human would fall short"

"Hoo, your Lord really is hard to cut off then, but what if I told you our patriarch can give you a chance to rule"

Every word was spat with as much enticement as the werewolf could muster, sadly it fell short in Nee's eyes

"Hahaha, you jest, let alone my Lord, your pitiful lot wouldn't even be capable of ousting mother, let alone my sisters who rank higher than mother in pure power"

"You speak of the winged two who attacked the settlement? Those things are-"

"Tools, nothing more than single use tools awaiting death, mother and sisters are far scarier than you can imagine, I would truly advise you to reconsider any thoughts of going against the vampire race, otherwise..."

Her eyes turned to the battle below, promoting the werewolf to follow just in time to witness the long nailed thrall rip out the heart of its bulkier nemesis, who against all odds and injuries continued fighting until meeting a shredded death

"You would find out how merciless we can be to our enemies"

This was a threat, an unveiled threat, but being on enemy territory it knew not to rage out yet, especially since the information on the supposed sisters was not yet checked, nothing good came from offending a ruthless faction like this one

"If you are so confident about your strength then I can leave the attack after the mist's retreat to the vampires"

"Rest assured, as long as I can convince my Lord then all is but guaranteed"

With a nod it stood up, giving the bloody arena one last look before making its way out under the cover of Nee's thralls

"What a bunch of fools"

Once it was out Nee muttered feeling those dogs were too easy to control

"Kill the humans and then what? Who would become cattle for either of us to add into our fold"

It was true that both sides were stronger than humans, but they originated from humanity as well, without the origin race they would find it hard to bolster their numbers, in the end, dying out slowly due to lack of manpower and way of reproduction

"Maybe those dogs can go into heat and make some newborns of their own, we on the other hand.."

Both her human knowledge on vampires, and her instincts told her that they couldn't reproduce

"Maybe I can try with the Lord someday~ hehe"

The idea of vampires reproducing was farfetched, but not as far fetched as getting it with that man, it was beyond dreaming at that point

"Maybe even that can be accomplished though, everything seems possible now that the Lord's heart birthed inner demons"

Recalling that moment, where a calling for whispers echoed from his blood, one she could not resist heading, from then on she realized swaying his opinion to her side was finally possible, all thanks to the new skill he himself helped her acquire, what a strange twist of fate that was

"Mistress, they've returned"

"Already? Must have been an easier battle than last time, I guess I'll go greet them"

Standing up and dusting her dress she checked to see if it was fancy enough before heading out to meet the puppet to be

'Well he can't be a puppet, I know that much, but maybe I will be more than just a servant to him'

Her hopes were set on a lover, first, he needed to have a heart for that though….

"Master, I believe with this the wraiths might decide to withdraw from our lands?"

"Possible, more likely to try their luck one more time, with how they brought three generals already it might mean they plan to pull a full fledged raid before catering away once beaten, otherwise their losses outweigh the gains as is"

Making way into their new place the group merely chat, everyone finding YuJu much easier to talk to these days

"Greetings my Lord"

"Good job keeping this place Nee"

"Thank you my Lord"

Another new fresh aspect was his no longer stingy praise, patting them on the back with words of encouragement every now and then

"Uncle uncle! Wanna play?"

"Why not"

"....."

Viewing this harmony between YuJu and all his followers put a frown on the hidden Ika

'What the hell is going on'

It's not that she didn't want to have her cruel lord change for the better, but the change was too abrupt, people like him didnt suddenly have a change of heart and realize their wrongdoings, especially not without reason

'How is no one noticing this?!'

What drove her more crazy was that her mother and Ellis seemed oblivious to all his, Zero was quiet overall, and Nee even seemed to go along with the flow like it was natural, not to mention little Imy who made most of the situation by getting him to play every once in a while

'If this goes on, how are we supposed to grow strong enough to face any threats coming our way? How are we supposed to protect humanity without having to sacrifice our people?'

Sure, YuJu was now a better person in some ways, always making them feel like they did a good job, but compared to his usual methods of putting them on edge, forcing them to give their all as if it wasn't enough and keeping them on their toes for might be next, it fell short

'I hate to admit it but….the Lord's methods were the right ones to keep us motivated enough'

Before the raid most of humanity was trying to get by, doing whatever they could to barely survive, after it everyone was striving forward, taking one step after the other in the endless path of strength

'The Lord might be a cruel inhuman vampire, and I still don't agree with those methods, but they are the only thing that can help us move fast enough to keep up with the already powerful things lurking around'

That was the truth, bitter as it may be to swallow

"Udo! I win!"

"Looks like your learning some new tricks"

"Because uncle taught me!"

As for the scene before her…..it was too sweet to even look at anymore

'I guess I've come to acquire a gloomy heart after living with these people'

Ika sadly thought, turning away from the cringe worth scene

She wasn't the only person with complicated feelings though, another person shared her mood in the room, well, a hound to be exact

Anput had come to take back the burial gem YuJu borrowed to fill up with energy again, only to witness this unfamiliar person in the shape of her Master after not seeing him for a while, laying on the ground dejectedly while the others had their fun

'Master, smell, evil'

She thought, and although it was what she really felt he still was her master, these thoughts would be buried deep inside her no matter what he became