The Fallen Vampire

The ship had docked on an inlet to the west of a large castle around twenty kilometers away.

Waiting for the vessel at the dock was the head of the demonic cult, along with fifty of his soldiers.

Kyoen Jiraigumo seemed to have a permanent scowl affixed to his face as he watched the passengers on board the vessel disembark one by one.

With calculating eyes, he analyzed every hand-picked soldier chosen by his fellow heads and nearly let out an audible scoff of disapproval.

\'Barely passable at best... At the first sign of trouble I am going to cut them lose by any means.\'

In the middle of his brooding, Kyoen suddenly felt a gust of wind and a weight wrapped around his shoulder before a familiar annoying voice disrupted his thoughts.

"Kyo-Kyo!"

"Do not call me that, elf!"

"You\'re so tense and negative this morning. What\'s the problem? Indigestion?"

"Ja\'Zaki..."

The dark elf held up his hands in surrender and smiled harmlessly. "Don\'t growl at me like that, can\'t I just be happy to see you and express concern over your dietary habits?"

An unhealthily thick vein bulged in the spider demon\'s forehead as he ground his teeth together with enough force to crack them.

However, in the next moment he saw something that made his entire mood shift slightly.

Aja was finally emerging from the ramp and was discussing something rather intently with one of her attendants.

As always, she was a curvaceous vision of a woman, and even though she may have been just a little bit too old for his tastes, her assets more than made up for it.

"Careful." Ja\'Zaki warned.

"What?"

"She doesn\'t like lustful looks."

"You would chastise me for admiring her figure?"

"You can admire all you want, but when you\'re picking up your nuts with broken fingers I don\'t want to hear any complaints."

"Tch!" Kyoen gave the dark elf a hard shove before returning his focus back to the approaching elder lich.

"It is good to see you, Aja. You\'re looking very well."

Aja looked up from her conversation with her usual robotic, and disconnected look.

"Kyoen." she replied with a nod.

"..."A smaller vein than earlier bulged in Kyoen\'s head as he tried to maintain an air conducive to conversation.

He knew that Aja was unexpressive but he was hoping that she would have given him just a little more to work with!

"Smooth as a gravel road..." Ja\'Zaki muttered.

Aja heard him, but because she wasn\'t exactly sure about what was going on she merely tilted her head to the side and made a confused expression.

"Why\'re you all standing around like such an awkward bunch?"

Finally, Ayame slowly stepped down from the ship, but she was overshadowed by the large silver-haired fox with nine demonic tails and five women on his back.

Once Taira and Kyoen made eye contact, a brief but sharp bolt of hostility shot through the air.

Ja\'Zaki / Ayame : "Don\'t start!"

Aja : \'I have all of my bets on besto friendo.\'

Taira did not bother to say anything as a rebuttal, and Kyoen scoffed proudly and took that as his victory.

"Remember what we\'ve come here for." Ayame reminded with a small nudge.

Keran: "Don\'t worry, mother. We will ensure that he behaves."

Vermeil: "That\'s right, Ma! You don\'t need to stress about a thing!"

Lucia: "Indeed!"

"I only recall birthing one of you..."

"So you do not want the rest of us?" Aveena asked with unusually despondent eyes.

"...Fine."

""""Thank you!""""

Ayame somehow felt that she had just gotten further and further away from her ultimate goal of seducing Taira.

"So? Where is this secret realm supposed to be? Or have you come all this way for nothing?" Kyoen asked.

Everyone let their eyes drift towards the large four legged fox who looked relieved to feel the soil underneath his paws once again.

"What? Are you telling me that only he knows the location? How wonderful. Has this information not been verified by anyone else??" Kyoenn remarked.

"If you are disinclined to trust it, you are also more than free to leave."

Kyoen followed the voice to one of the women sitting on Taira\'s back.

And in doing so, he nearly shit his boots.

Vibrant green hair, infuriatingly beautiful, and dark red eyes with reptilian sclera.

The two red horns sticking out of her head were indicative of her identity and heritage, but he didn\'t want to believe it.

\'I had heard rumors but... he really tamed a dragon..!\'

Everyone figured that Kyoen was shut down by Lucia\'s icy gaze and oppressive presence and could not manage to say anything else.

Even the men standing behind him on the dock were stunned silly, as they could not ever recall seeing the head of the demonic cult behave this way.

Meanwhile, Aja climbed on top of Taira\'s back and the Enyo happily made room for her.

"What do you think you are doing?" Taira asked for the first time.

"It looked comfortable up here. Your fur is very fluffy."

"Thank you. Now get down."

"So where is the secret realm opening?"

"Aja..."

"Be a good fluffy boi and lead the way."

Taira\'s wives snickered as they glanced at Vermeil like she was the culprit behind the lich queen\'s choice of vocabulary.

The fox-kin himself let out a low growl before abandoning his need for revenge until a later date at least.

Lifting his head, Taira turned to address the assembled 150 fallen for the first time.

"Follow me. If you fall behind I am not coming back for you."

Ja\'Zaki : "You are such a terse and unfriendly bastard."

"And yet you still try to talk to me at every chance you get. I must not be too bad."

With a large gust of wind, Taira vanished from his place along the docks and left the fallen standing around mesmerized.

With the exception of Ayame, Ja\'Zaki, and Kyoen, no one was able to follow his movement in the slightest.

The dark elf was the only one present who could follow Taira\'s movement clearly as if he were running around in the dark with a glow stick, but the other two rulers only had a general sense of the direction he traveled in.

"Fast.."

"A-As expected of that bastard... His only talent is running away and seducing women."

The dark elf rubbed his chin somewhat thoughtfully as he stared up into the sky.

"He\'s such a little Tsun-tsun. Saying all that mean stuff, but he still bothered to slow down for us. Ain\'t he just the sweetest?"

In the next second, Ja\'Zaki disappeared from his position as well, but he made sure to fly at a more reasonable speed so that his traveling companions would not lose sight of him.

-

Four hours of flying later, Taira finally landed in a dense, dark forest that seemed like it was right out of a child\'s fever dream.

The trees, grass, the sky, it all was dyed permanently black, and the only thing providing any color were the fungi, insects, and certain plants that glowed with neon colors.

In the center of this fantastical grove, there was a large lake with a reflective surface and a dull glow simmering off the water.

Taira suddenly landed directly on top of the surface without disturbing it in the slightest and allowed the girls on his back to disembark.

Keran: "Beloved..."

Aveeena: "This is..."

A moment later, Ja\'Zaki, Ayame, and Kyoen appeaared with the rest of the fallen closing in behind them- every one of them showing clear concern.

"You beast!"

Taira\'s wives immediately took a defensive formation around him as Kyoen approached him with palpable irritation on his face.

"Have you any idea where you\'ve brought us? This is the fairy king\'s forest!!"