Kain had once again returned home to his capital city. More than a week had passed since he and Alexis had traveled with the new-blood vampires and bade them reclaim Darksol’s rightful clay, and like any self-respecting person he was glad that he was back home. He did not really mind being away from home all that much when he was actually doing things but having to sit on the sidelines for more than a week while the young vampires bumbled around was agonizing.

What made it worse was that he had been forced to leave his twin children, Raziel and Elizabeth, behind. He had taken Lord Wolfenstein’s warning to heart and kept them inside Necrograd and away from the potentially deadly barrier that was about to be activated in Ititlis; he was not about to have his darling children be wiped away due to carelessness and hubris. He loved being here in the very heart of his empire; so many things to see, so much to do, so many people who looked up to him. It was all so very invigorating.

He knew for a fact that no one on the Europan Continent could strike at his home. The Ititlis Imperial Dominion, the Luminas Church and the People’s Union of Rusk were all on their last legs. Any real threat that they once posed was now nonexistent and they would, inevitably, fall in due time. He had more concerns over how to manage those lands than how much of a threat they would be.

Besides, he had to eventually engage in dialogue with the now former Heroes. He was sure that they would either attempt to convince him to stop being such an ‘evil despotic tyrant’, beg for mercy and leniency or that they would try and attack him again. Maybe they would do all three, one after the other, in whichever order suited their fancy. Kain didn’t care. He had time, and lots of it, not to mention power and reach. If they did try something funny, they would not last more than a few moments. Then again, they did take him up on his offer to defect to his side, but whether they would do so merely as civilians or whether they would join in a more militaristic or governmental manner was something Kain was uncertain about.

“Either way, things will be interesting. Even though I will soon lose one foe, the world is wide, far wider than it was originally. I look forward to where my next enemy will appear. From across the ocean? Maybe across the sea? Perhaps to the far east or in this world’s version of the Middle East? So many places, so many people, so many potential threats that may or may not view my existence as the embodiment of evil and darkness. And, in some ways, they would be right to think that. This world is a byproduct of my rather… cringy… youth. We are all the result of choices both great and small, and I myself am not above that fact…”

Kain was glad that there were none within earshot of his monologue. He would rather not let too many people in on the fact that he himself made the original part of this world and that everything in the past was all a product of a cringy and shameful period in his previous life. Yes, he would try very, very hard to take that secret with him to the grave and beyond.

…

A week after Kain and Alexis had returned to Necrograd, the former Heroes stood before the colossal black gatehouse that barred most from entering the very center of the city. Past this final, some may even say ‘fourth’, wall lay the citadel in which the Abominable King and his Crimson Empress ruled over a large portion of the continent.

Actually, the former Heroes had found out that the term ‘Abominable King’ was mainly used by those who had a rather negative view of Kain. The term most commonly used by his subjects nowadays was the ‘Eternal Emperor’ and, while it didn’t roll off the tongue as easily, it showed that the populace had faith in him, which was something that other rulers would kill for.

They watched as the portcullis lifted and the gates opened, all without a sound. This was unnerving, but not entirely unexpected. This place was, after all, quite spooky. A normally noisy door/gate being silent as the grave was par for the course in scary stories, especially when the door/gate is part of some huge and haunted fortress.

Taking their first tentative steps into the very heart of the darkness, the former Heroes moved into the citadel and towards their potentially fatal encounter with the two rulers of the Darksol Empire. If push came to shove, they would fight to the death, but knowing full well that Kain could mop the floor with them was enough to give them no ideas of emerging on top. If they even managed to give him a small scratch it would be a miracle of epic proportions, and they did not believe that such fortunes were in their future. All save one.

Only Nagato, the hopeless idealist and justice otaku that he was, thought that he could convince Kain and Alexis to release their vassal states and be peaceful. The rest of the former Heroes had tried in vain for the entire time they were in Necrograd to convince him to avoid the topic. Unfortunately, Nagato would not give in and this very fact made the rest of the group very, very concerned about their own survivability. If Nagato made the two rulers angry enough, it could also make them angry at the others in his party, and if that happened then everyone would be doomed…

The path to the throne room was long and heavily guarded by the living and the undead. Only Nagato seemed to be mostly unconcerned. Maybe he thought that a few choice words of judgement could make the two monarchs release their undead slaves and set their souls free? Maybe he was just too caught up in his own delusions to realize that not everyone thought the same way as him? Maybe he honestly thought that if Darksol released its puppets and became peaceful that it would no longer be viewed as a threat by the Luminas Church?

Even the other former Heroes could not guess Nagato’s reasoning as he had utterly refused to explain his thought process. Some of them were worried that he was becoming another, less insane and more justice-driven, Kevin. If Kain had learned of this, he would have remarked that Nagato was going the ‘Traditional Goody-two-shoes Isekai Protagonist’ route, despite not being ridiculously overpowered and/or surrounded by a harem whose affections he is ignorant of.

As the former Heroes reached the final door separating them from the throne room, they felt the gaze of someone staring at them. They turned around and saw two children with pale skin and red eyes dressed in quite pricy clothing. The two looked at the former Heroes, then at each other, then back to the former Heroes and giggled.

“Hello there. Where are your mommy and daddy? Are you lost? Wait, don’t tell me… those two, the ones in the throne room, they stole you away?!” Nagato asked, crouching down to get to their eye level.

The two children looked shocked, but then their faces changed to looks of pity.

“Hey, sis, he is strange, isn’t he?” the boy asked his sister.

“Yeah, really strange. Doesn’t he know who we are?” the girl replied.

“I doubt it. Visitors to Necrograd need to do their homework, especially if they intend to beg for survival in front of mom and dad.” The boy added.

“Wait… ‘beg for survival in front of mom and dad’? You aren’t…”

As the words from Nagato’s mouth stopped coming and his mouth merely moved like a fish out of water, the two children bowed and curtsied while introducing themselves before speaking in unison.

“Raziel Sanguine Nekronus von Darksol.”

“Elizabeth Baothry Nekronus von Darksol.”

““We are the children of the rulers of the Darksol Empire, and the only ones in danger are you. Do not keep our mother and father waiting.””

With that, the two of them moved past the stunned former Heroes and entered the throne room, zipping over to their parents before taking their places at their sides. As Nagato continued to try and overcome his shock and confusion, Alice asked the rather adult question on everyone’s minds in a half mumble.

“If someone has sex with a vampire… is it necrophilia? And can an undead even have kids?”