Another One Who Got Screwed Over

Born in the abyssal Demon World, a place filled with Magma and Flame where even the air was scorching hot to breathe, Roy naturally carried the scent of sulfur.

This scent was not unique to Roy. Every Demon from the Abyss World bore it, so the instant Roy appeared, Dracula nearly thought that the Demon who had made a contract with him long ago had returned.

However, after seeing Roy clearly, Dracula realized that this Demon was not the same one from back then. Their appearances were completely different.

The Demon who had signed a contract with him had been much shorter and exceptionally ugly, looking more like a Monster than a Demon. The one now standing before him was not only taller and more imposing, but even those Demon Vertical Pupils looked far more lively.

This should be a stronger, more intelligent Demon! Dracula thought.

Yet even so, Dracula could not help but feel a surge of Wrath. He raised his head, spread his arms toward Roy, and roared, "Who are you? Who summoned you this time!? Why have you come to my castle? Did the person who summoned you intend for you to kill me!?"

Roy looked down at Dracula. Standing at two meters tall, Dracula could only reach his chin. After sizing him up from above, Roy was certain that this was his first time meeting Dracula. But why was this guy so agitated??

From Dracula's loud roar, Roy heard an intense sense of... grievance!

Yes, grievance. This guy sounded more like he was venting his own dissatisfaction at Roy. His tone was actually like that of an abandoned child...

Heh heh, interesting! Roy found it amusing. He lowered his head and sniffed Dracula, only to detect a rotten stench. And when Roy looked at Dracula, he found that the man seemed to have lost all color, as though he had turned into Black and White Tones.

The Reason Why for this was Roy's Innate Ability, Peering Soul. Through the Demon Eye that peered into souls, Dracula had lost the radiance of his soul!

In other words, Dracula was a soulless... dead man! His soul had long since been taken by someone!

A smile appeared on Roy's face. Combined with his appearance, it looked especially ferocious. He smiled at Dracula and said, "Are you taking your anger out on me by shouting at me?"

"That's right!" Dracula pointed at Roy and roared, "I am taking it out on you! It was one of your kind who took my soul, yet left me alive. Do you know how painful that is!?"

He lowered his head and looked at his hands, then placed one hand against his chest. "No heartbeat! No warmth! I clearly need blood to survive, but I cannot taste what blood tastes like. I cannot even see my reflection in a mirror! Right now, I am nothing more than a living dead man!"

"And you Demons are the ones who caused all this!" Dracula pointed at Roy again and roared.

But what answered him was a thick tail that swept over with a Whistling Sound, violently striking Dracula in the abdomen and Knocking Away him dozens of meters. After smashing through all manner of obstacles, Dracula was embedded in the wall of the hall by the tremendous force. The other vampires in the hall Let Out a Burst of terrified screams.

"What a joke!" After sending Dracula flying with one swipe of his tail, Roy snorted. "What gives someone who made a deal with a Demon the courage to vent his dissatisfaction at a Demon?"

Roy understood now. Dracula had probably been screwed over by the Demon who had made a contract with him last time. So, upon seeing another Demon, he had vented centuries of pent-up resentment on Roy.

But Roy was not his father. Why would he indulge him? So he sent him flying to clear his head.

Dracula fell from the wall. Though he looked as if he had taken a heavy blow, he was actually fine. He suddenly Opened Its Mouth, revealing a mouthful of sharp fangs, and began to transform.

He had the same deathly pale, bluish vampire skin, but Dracula's Body Size was far larger and more formidable than that of his three Brides. His Vampire Wings even resembled Demon Wings somewhat. He roared, flapped his wings, and flew toward Roy, extending his Claws as he tried to fight Roy to the death.

However, Roy also lunged forward. Though he moved later, he arrived first, pressing one hand directly onto Dracula's head and slamming him down from the air. With a Loud Noise, Dracula's impact drove countless cracks into the ballroom floor.

Dracula was merely a creature whose species had been altered by a Demon through Some Method. His power came from a Demon—how could he possibly contend with one?

Even a low-ranking Demon was an exceedingly vicious existence in the human world. If Roy's current Strength Attribute was close to seventy points, Dracula's was at most forty. He was completely overwhelmed!

Pinned to the ground beneath one of Roy's hands, Dracula struggled desperately, reaching out with his Claws to pry Roy's hand away. But the next second, Roy used The Other Hand to grab one of the wings on Dracula's back and tear hard, ripping one of Dracula's wings clean off!

No blood gushed out, but Dracula cried out in pain. Roy mocked, "Looks like you aren't completely incapable of feeling anything. At least you can still feel pain!"

The vampire Subordinates and Brides in the ballroom trembled even more when they saw this. They had long since retreated into a corner of the hall. This was a battle they had no ability to join.

"S-sorry, please spare me!" Sensing the enormous gap in their strength, Dracula finally behaved himself. He no longer dared to struggle and pleaded to Roy in a trembling voice.

"Hmph!" Roy snorted and let him go.

Dracula's regenerative ability was quite impressive. The half-wing Roy had torn off actually grew back quickly. But after the wing had regenerated, Dracula returned to human form. He climbed up from the ground in a disheveled state, lowered his head to dust himself off, and did not dare say another word.

"Once a Demon Contract is signed, it must be carried out. The contents of the contract also reflect your own wishes!" Roy said to him with a cold laugh. "You became this kind of undead creature because there were loopholes in the wish you made. Your contract Demon exploited them—who can you blame?"

"No, it wasn't only this time!" Upon hearing Roy's words, Dracula said indignantly, "There was another time!"

"Hm? You made deals with Demons twice in a row?" Roy was somewhat surprised.

"That's not what I mean!" Dracula straightened his appearance before speaking. "In 1462, I was murdered. Before I died, I voluntarily sold my soul to a Demon in exchange for a chance to be resurrected. That Demon took my soul and turned me into a vampire. I did so willingly, so no one could really be blamed. But One Hundred Years later, in order to kill me, someone from the Descendant of Villeris Family actually sought a Demon's help again!"

He raised his head and looked at Roy. "I can at least be considered someone who believes in Demons. Is this how you Demons treat your followers? Do you know that I really nearly died that time!?"

"What happened?" Roy was also puzzled. "You mean that someone later summoned a Demon and borrowed a Demon's power to deal with you?"

"That's right!" Dracula said resentfully. "A descendant of the Villeris Family demanded that a Demon grant him the power to kill me. As a result, that Demon turned him into a werewolf, and the venom inside a werewolf's body happened to counter me, a vampire. I nearly died that time. If I had not decisively torn off my bitten left hand, the venom would probably have spread throughout my entire body..."

"So that's what happened!" Roy came to a Sudden Realization. No wonder Dracula had shouted at him the moment he appeared and asked whether he had been summoned to kill him. It turned out he had already experienced something similar before.

"Tell me. How did your contract Demon turn you into a vampire?" Roy asked calmly. "And that werewolf? Was it done the same way?"

"It should have been the same!" Dracula looked at Roy, his gaze fixed on Roy's neck. "Demon Blood. Before I died, I drank that Demon's Demon Blood. That Purple-red blood—I have never been able to forget it after seeing it!"

There is a plot hole in Van Helsing. The origin of the werewolves is not explained clearly, so I used my imagination to fill it in. My internet is down today, so I copied this chapter onto my phone to post it. If there are formatting issues, please contact me so I can fix them.