She noticed me as soon as I stepped foot into the room. She then proceeded to storm through her work of cash and bodily fluids and grabbed me by the hair. Her pale and effortlessly soft hand came down on my chest, smacking me into the ground as she tossed her pipe to the side.
Her breath blew the stench of opium into my lungs as I attempted to inhale as much air as possible. With the wind knocked out of me, what choice did I have?
"You little shit… where the hell were you?" She growled, her condescending tone making me shrink back. I failed to say anything, causing her hand to come down on my face, making a smacking noise so loud that it could be heard from outside the building. Yet, nobody cared to intrude on her personal matters. Even the owner of this brothel didn't care as my mother racked in the most money out of all the prostitutes in a one-hundred-meter vicinity.
She was beautiful. Her long light blue hair and pale white skin were messy with smeared makeup. Her revealing robe was across the room, leaving her in just a skimpy pair of underwear and bandages that wrapped around her voluptuous chest. And finally, those pale gray eyes of hers, which could switch between all emotions within a fraction of a second, continued to look down on me.
It hurt. I hated it here. I wanted to be free from this place.
…
"Ugh… Sis?" I muttered through my blurry vision, reaching up toward the figure above me. She was beautiful, and her eyes were unmatched. Out of everything on this figure's body, her eyes were what stood out the most.
"Sorry, but I'm no sister," The figure smiled, and as my vision came to, I saw the demon lord who had seduced me into lying in her lap. But I didn't immediately get up as I was still comfortably lying with her. Her warmth was something familiar. Some could lean into it and just soak in their radiance. "You're not getting off?"
"Shut up… you just remind me of somebody. Let me stay here a bit longer…."
"Are you talking about Emily?" Her voice radiated through my ears and tickled the back of my brain. She was spot on, but I refused to say anything back. I didn't want to think about those times any longer, especially now that her image flickered in my mind. That was the last dream I wanted to have.
"I'm gonna get some more sleep. If you want, you can stay here," I yawned, pushing the woman out of the way and collapsing into my stack of pillows. "Soft…"
…
(Orion POV)
"I apologize. I truly didn't mean to kill him. I wasn't in control of my own body when that happened and-"
"There's no need to blame yourself," Wu smiled gently, grabbing my knuckles as my nails dug into the palms of my hands. Blood had already drawn, and it was dripping onto the hard wooden floorboards of my own personal room. "I understand what happened."
"Fuck… I was just getting to know him as well. I thought I was going to be able to explore that world more and connect with the people. The skills I acquired are hardly usable. I can barely control them without any real guidance from the one who created those forms."
"You know, I never held any resentment for you. From the day I witnessed you to the day my world collapsed in on itself… I never resented you," Wu smiled, attempting to go in for a hug, but I just pulled away. I quickly shut any idea of intimacy down in a split second. "Get some sleep. We can discuss more in the morning and where we'll proceed from here."
As Wu left the room, her silhouette reminded me of the skill she had taught me. "[Assimilation]." I decided to combine some of the skills I had been intrigued to see how they would turn out if they were assimilated with something strange as well.
[Egg of the Progenitor] + [Vampiric Creation] = [Monstrous Vampiric Eggs]
[Shroud of Fermented Blood] + [Vampiric Drain] = [Shroud of Essence Draining Mist]
[Spear Coating] + [Berserk Coating] + [Empower] + [Scout] + [Blood Buff] = [Five Layered Enhancement]
『Status』
[Name: Orion Vazgath]
[Race: Demon]
[Class: Prince of Blood]
[Sub-Class: Prince of Manipulation]
[Level: 55/55] (200/200) XP Needed
[HP: 102/102 MP: --/-- SP: 60/60] - Above Human
[Strength: 300] - Above Human
[Defense: 40] - Above Human
[Magic: 45] - Above Human
[Speed: 48] - Above Human
[Skills: [Ancient Torterras Tongue] [Assimilation] [Miasma and Mana Manipulation]
[Five Layered Enhancement]
[Tarot Power: [Undying Will] [Heroic Persuasion] [War Resonance] [Twin Carriers]
[Life Manipulation: [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]
[Five Destroying Martial Skills of The Blood Prince: [Demon Splitter] [Innate Calm]
[Angel Destroyer] [Heaven Splitter] [Breath of the Snowy Underworld]
[Prince of Blood Skills: [Royal Blood Magic] [Monstrous Vampiric Eggs]
[Shroud of Essence Draining Mist]
[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity] [Toxic Body] [Night Vision] [Blood of the Underworld] [Blood Tainted Aura] [Blood Tainted Presence] [Speech of a King] [Constitution of a Tarturling]
[Prisoner of Tartarus] [Iron Speech] [Demon's Gluttonous Stomach] [Potion Organs]
[Rune Path: [Influence of Battle] [Throne World: Basin of Roses] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]
[Equipment: [Magic Ring] [Storage Ring] [Sangria King's Spear] [The Unholy Lance: Longinus]
…
My status was looking smaller already after those few adjustments. There were some other skills I was planning on assimilating but was scared something might happen as they're passive skills but regular skills. There is very well a chance that it will succeed, but something just gnawed at the back of my mind, telling me to think it over before proceeding.
"Also… this Prince of Manipulation. It makes me excited to see just what I can do after that. I can already manipulate people fine with just my intelligence and some of my skills to help, but I wonder what else I can do."
As I changed into some lighter clothes to sleep in, I looked in the long-standing mirror right across the room. My body seemed to have gotten even more toned than before despite me barely keeping track of what went into my body. It was like my body was frozen in a state of peak strength and speed, allowing me to pull off whatever stupid move I wanted to try and use against my enemies.
From the peaks of my broad shoulders to the slim and tight calves pressed into my bones, I was muscular, lean, and toned. But, just as I was checking myself out and rubbing some of the prior soreness out of my legs, utterly naked, one of my vampire servants arrived back.
It didn't really matter if he disappeared since I already knew he completed this mission. But now that the assimilation was done, these weakling vampires who serve as nothing more than flesh shields down here will be much stronger. And with my infinite mana… I could create an entire fucking army.
"Sir," A tomboyish voice came from behind. I turned to see a vampire dressed in sleek black clothing. "We have collected the bodies of the dead demons and are currently keeping the ones who had survived locked away."
"Good. Just keep them there for now. I can't bring them to this mansion yet. Otherwise, the vampire duchess here will get suspicious. In fact, she might even be listening to this conversation now," I smirked, gently grazing my eyes across the room. I looked for some kind of resemblance to a familiar or some floating eye that could read my lips, but there was nothing. Although, there was still that thought in my mind that she was listening in.
"Also, sir. I apologize, but it seems I cannot disappear. For some reason, my body has become more… capable per se. I feel stronger and faster than before. I feel good, sir," The woman gripped her hands tightly.
This must be the effect of the new skill I just acquired. It's not really anything bad, but the fact that she has some kind of autonomy always brings in the risk of a betrayal.
SHING
So, I quickly took care of that with a stab of the Lance of Longinus. It tore right through her head, leaving the lower half of her body to fall limp to the ground. But to my dismay and utter surprise, I saw her head suddenly regenerate. Her smile was wide, and those two sharp fangs of hers dripped with juices of anticipation.
"Hmmmm… Hey, say 'Status' and tell me what pops up," I grinned, an idea appearing in my mind. And as the woman muttered it to herself, her eyes widened, and she stumbled backward, nearly falling and tripping onto her ass. "So, what happened?"
As the vampire's lips quivered, I noticed a pair of black pieces of keratin rise from her head. She winced in pain as she grazed the sore spot where two new horns formed, almost resembling mine but just a bit shorter.
