So guys, I wanted a really sarcastic protagonist and serious bi-protagonists for a story, in which neither can stand the other. Both are cocky because they're who they are and neither is getting shit from the other one. I like this story. Hope you will too.

I added external link here with some art where I mostly draw scenes/characters from this book if you want to check it out. The book cover was also drawn by me (I do that business too, if you need it, PM me)

*Update Tue, 5th November 2019:

"I failed. The plot got too complicated, their history is a mess."

ARC I: CITY OF EDEN

cHAptEr 01:
EdEn
[hOw tO piss Off A pUrEbLOOd]

I

   SAVING SOMEONE will only invite disaster onto oneself.

Mikhael felt too tired to even sigh once he thought about his current situation.

He had never in his entire 827 years of existence — vampires and the like lived long, after all — believed that he was going to get in trouble just because he chose to do a good deed! Being surrounded by highly armed agents of W.E.R.P. — a skillful organization, he had to add — as they hauled him into their van like a criminal just for hitting another vampire in order to save a human girl was even less acceptable!

He only punched him once!

Once!!

Okay, he could admit that he wasn't surprised that he's gotten in trouble for helping someone, he really could! IT... resulting in him being taken to ONE place he hated the most — he could not!! Mikhael knew that doing good stuff will curse him in return, for his karma was quite twisted; but this was something on a completely different level of being unreasonable! 'But still, that humans have gotten this far...'

W.E.R.P.

Also known as the «World Eden Regulatory Police» — they were a special organization consisting of humans that dealt with vampires and led them to Edens aka. those vampire cities. They possessed weapons that can suppress vampires made of mana that the night-walkers simply can't stand — the miraculous "Armaments". Worldwide, they were known as guardians of peace, but to Mikhael — these guys were just a crazy bunch armed with AV weapons down to their teeth. 'Seriously, even their underwear might be anti-vampire.'

It wasn't impossible, cloth processed through mana does exist.

It all started with Armaments — more commonly known as AV weapons, tools infused and crafted with mana which can burn vampire skin upon contact. Vampires don't like Armaments, but things reinforced with mana certainly have greater durability — so to vampires who also had greater strength than human race, such robes were convenient for wear. And unlike specially crafted Armaments meant to hunt down the blood kin, other devices and cloth that ran on mana couldn't harm them. Science was a good thing, both vampires and spell-casters agreed on this.

In the first place, seeing how vampires and their Hunter enemies would usually fight and roll through buildings, cities, rivers and mountains alike — their clothes needed to be resistant to tear and shock! It was okay for vampires who can just conjure clothes out of their own blood, but the longer the fight goes on the less they can spare blood for this matter. As for human beings...

Okay, humans of this era might not fight that much, but if two vampires were to start a fight only to keep rolling in the mud naked in the next moment — it would be too shameful for their reputation. When vampires fight, it's too dramatic and long to even keep their limbs intact, forget about preserving clothes.

So vampires like durable clothes made of their own blood or mana. And there was a very thin line of difference between enchanted cloth and AV-robes.

Fortunately, times were peaceful at the moment, so there aren't many opportunities to witness a drama of this caliber. However, in the past — you'd be considered as a lucky man if you could cross the street in one piece without getting hit by residues of their fights! But those were the bad times when vampires first stepped out of the darkness and humans panicked. It was relatively more peaceful before that, when only a small group of humans calling themselves Hunters dealt with vampires in secret.

Highlights on the word 'relatively'.

If you knew which places to avoid so as to not get implicated in their fights, then you would naturally be safe. As both sides preferred to settle it down in abandoned zones and away from prying eyes — you'd be fine unless you were unfortunate enough to pass-by there or sought thrills of horror and cursed myths found on the Internet.

Humans were originally busy fighting their own wars, but then they learned about vampires around three decades ago. So, incapable of coexistence — the two races naturally started to fight and go to war.

There's no such thing as only a handful of vampires existing, hiding because of fear or being restrained to move and act too much — although there's indeed less blood kin than human beings, there's still a good amount of hundred thousands when it comes to their numbers.

Mikhael, as the pacifist who didn't particularly like either of these two races that he belonged to — naturally managed to avoid their conflicts and make it out alive until the two sides finally called for a truce twenty years ago, unable to continue with the war any further. The only two outcomes would be for vampires to snap and lose their food reserves forever — or humans to die out, and have vampires follow in their wake.

'It's not easy trying to survive when your kind is busy trying to exterminate itself!' Even now, humans might not understand how lucky they were in the past — believing that they were powerful enough to resist vampires even if the worst case scenario did come one day. But Mikhael was well aware that during that war, vampires hadn't sent out their strongest specimen to fight.

Pureblood vampires. And many Higher Nobles.

Slavery of humans, although plausible — was rather distasteful for modern vampires, so it was never an option. History had more than one good example to show how humans with broken freedom were a 'BUG' in the social system that could easily create disaster when pushed too far!

And well... Vampires are educated beings! They don't want to end up as cannon fodders in novels do!

Nonetheless, during the short battle that didn't even last for one decade — corpses piled like mountains all over the Earth. The war was so gruesome that even the previous World Wars fought among humans seemed like a joke in comparison, so it earned itself a name that will forever go down in annals of history.

[The Great War]

Well, the spell-casters are also to blame here.

After the third World War and another fourth that followed after the emergence of evolved humans aka. spell-casters which lasted for hundred or so years — it no longer made any sense to continue to name them with numbers. Hence, they changed it to a "Great" one. In any case, it was no longer infighting between humans, but races this time.

Up until twenty seven years ago, this particular battle was waged between vampires and spell-casters — also known as Neo Humans — bringing forth the never-before-seen destruction on Earth. For seven whole years, neither side could come out as the winner.

By the way, it's the same race of spell-casters that created Armaments which could hurt vampires.

But because at the time; Church, the Hunters and ordinary humans who had somewhat estranged relationships with Neo-humans also interfered — the situation only kept getting more and more out of control. Though it went down in history as a battle between "two sides", the actual number of parties involved was hard to say, if you asked Mikhael.

Actually, if you really asked Mikhael, he'd say that this war was like a mixture of Korean drama that was written by a Turkish screenwriter and directed by an Indian director. It was just that messed up!

'And then, it reached a point of no return.' A somewhat complicated emotion passed through the Half-blood's eyes as he recalled the matters of those days. The only underage Pureblood died, one city and an entire peninsula got obliterated, one country nuked, half of the politicians were executed — not to mention the sacrifices made in the supernatural world and the death count of ordinary humans. So, seeing no end to this nonsense in the near future, the two sides eventually called for a truce before they could ruin this planet completely!

Many chaotic things ensued, and in the end — vampires selected six special areas to establish their cities and named them Edens, with the one surrounded by Corvus Nigrum being the worst; seeing as its list of citizens also included the youngest Pureblood that knew no mercy or leniency.

Ah, the Purebloods, right.

These six were all powerful vampires with no details regarding their origins, yet they all wielded unlimited power and reigned over the entire vampire race. One could not use human standards to try and understand these beings — their sole existence broke the balance of reason and knowledge itself. They were the six figures that controlled the blood kin, each one being more than capable enough to level down an entire planet if they truly went all out. Their titles alone told just how terrible their power was, something Mikhael had a chance to witness in the past.

During the Great War, those monsters held back — but whenever they appeared, cities were washed in blood and lives extinguished like candles in a storm. One of them made a sixth of the Tokyo Dome disappear. Another wiped out a peninsula with ease. Even Russia had blood flowing through its capital city for months during the Great War — and this was still them holding back!

The number of Edens corresponds to the number of Purebloods — it's just that the place Mikhael was being taken to at the moment was somewhat special when compared to the other five. 'It's not a paradise, but a prison.' It was easy to avoid being hunted in the past, but a vampire won't be able to stay outside for long before W.E.R.P. found them at this age. What's worse, those guys even work with the high-ranking vampires! Not to mention that there's now regulations and systems that came with the sudden growth of technology and the GPS that makes the present more convenient — so vampires can no longer simply move to another place and take on a new identity.

And so, Mikhael — who successfully managed to avoid getting caught for over eight centuries — finally fell within their clutches.

He sighed.

All that above! That's what he gets for trying to help a human, alright!?

Do you understand his misery now!?

But considering the influence of the previously-mentioned royals, it was about time when even someone like him could no longer hide. So after getting surrounded by those guys after he saved the girl, Mikhael merely hesitated for five seconds before giving up the resistance.

Ever since Edens rose, vampires all over the world got dragged inside and checked for supervision. The Eden closest to him — located at the former New York city — was the first Eden, created under the suggestion of the sixth Pureblood Black Raven Eclipsing the Starless Sky. The other five weren't as strict as this place that's full of criminals whom the outside world can't deal with — so Mikhael was somewhat regretful that it's here where he had gotten caught. It would've been better if it was another Eden, since he could freely move around them.

Edens weren't really that bad, to be honest; free blood, vampires can do whatever they want for as long as they don't kill, while their crimes were something Eden's own police dealt with — but come on, they were vampires too! Give them a bit of benefits and they'll turn a blind eye to you!

Truly a paradise and humans from the outside cannot meddle. So...

Why was it the number one place Mikhael avoided?

Of course, other than it being a place that imprisoned all dangerous vampires and war criminals from the human side, the Pureblood that managed it was a madman! Unlike other Edens, there is no freedom here unless you behave! You cannot leave either — thanks to the barrier surrounding it. Which means that you'll be stuck together with a Pureblood for eternity and Mikhael was someone who's been avoiding these most powerful bloodlings like they were some kind of a contagious disease!

To begin with, vampires have their own ranks;

Newlings — an extremely unstable bunch of newly turned humans that couldn't even keep their human form for long, nor control their thirst.

Blood kin or bloodlings — an ordinary bunch older than two decades that have learned to keep their forms stable and not change into monsters from time to time. Or were born normally. Those guys numbered the most. The word "vampire" did come much later than the vampire race itself, so they used to call themselves blood kin... Among many other titles that changed faster than Mikhael's socks before this one.

Nobles — vampires who went through their second awakening or received a drop of Pureblood's blood to become stronger. They can easily fight an army of humans on their own. Unfortunately, they were also a notorious bunch that often got greedy for power, so they usually rebelled and wrecked havoc all over the world.

Were their rebellions ever successful? No!

Did they ever learn their lesson and started behaving? Blasted blood of the Ancients, nope!

Higher Nobles — beings that humans can't fight even with AV weapons. No matter how strong humans became, these guys were monsters that can't be brought down by human power alone. There weren't many of those guys, but they were all a decent group loyal to Purebloods and Purebloods alone.

They also don't use their full power often. If a Higher Noble got trapped in a city and was forced to fight against everyone inside — they could easily drain the blood of every living being in that city and manage to kill them all in just a few hours. But once again — they were a pretty decent group that advocated peace, so they don't like to harm their prey. In any case, they were busy fighting each other within the six factions!

The six factions weren't as peaceful as one would imagine, and Purebloods can't go out fighting because they'd cause destruction — so Higher Nobles were the... Eh, the 'minions' plotting against each other in their stead.

Though, their low IQ was often a worrisome issue for Purebloods.

Then there were Elders — an annoying old bunch that left traumas in their wake. They don't like Purebloods, don't like humans, don't like vampires and don't like anyone that's not an Elder! Ironically enough, they were also the only kind of vampires that can't be killed, only sealed — so it didn't matter how much "agro" they managed to pull in.

Nothing can be done about them. They were a true headache!

And finally, there are six Purebloods — the ultimate rulers of the entire blood race. Well... There seems to be one guy above them, but Mikhael never really thought much about this King of vampires. Not to mention that even Purebloods don't see that guy often, forget about other vampires. If he doesn't reappear once every few centuries, they'd completely forget that he even exists! So everyone just kind of forgets about him from time to time.

As for Mikhael? Mikhael didn't belong to any of the groups mentioned on this list!

The vampire hierarchy is an absolute thing. Vampires of the lesser rank can't disobey the blood command of higher-ranking vampires — no matter how firm their resolution may be! But Mikhael could!! Not only could he ignore it, even his blood could grant that power to other vampires that managed to ingest it! So Half-bloods — the mixed breed such as himself — was something that Purebloods actively sought after and wanted to keep for themselves. They were also a decent snack with blood more delicious than humans. And that was precisely the reason why Mikhael made sure to never get involved with those madmen! And... Because Purebloods are nothing good!!

He doesn't know why exactly, but ever since Mikhael could remember — he hated and feared these Pureblood lunatics. Higher Nobles were their devout fanatics, so they were nothing good either.

But making Higher Nobles go out to hunt vampires that caused trouble would be undermining their worth too much — so it's W.E.R.P. that hunted vampires that managed to stray outside of Edens. Rebellious Nobles could be... unreliable at times — 'cause, rebellion and all — so they were also not a good pick for this job, while ordinary vampires might not even win against the crazed newlings outside.

A good reminder, even someone as old as Mikhael chased one for weeks before ending up at Corvus Nigrum!

Fortunately, W.E.R.P. should be more than capable of dealing with this kind of prey.

'Now, now, how am I to proceed with this?' Because of his personal reasons, Mikhael both wanted to enter Eden and not. It's just... It kind of pricked his ego to be caught instead of sending himself there willingly. He glanced at W.E.R.P. soldiers around him and then at his chained hands. 'Restrainers, Armaments, armed vans infused with mana, energy shields... It's not something that a normal vampire can resist.'

So in spite of his hatred for Purebloods — he'd rather act like an innocent vampire, deal with them peacefully AND deceitfully, and then escape. But it goes without saying that once he enters Eden, Mikhael will have a difficult time getting out. It's not like Mikhael never saw a Pureblood before.

He did, really! But back then — he was more powerful than at present and didn't fear a brawl or two with those annoying mosquitoes. 'But the current me...' He glanced at his arms. The handcuffs they put on him were special restrainers made by spell-casters which vampires can't break with their strength alone. Unless he cut off his wrists, but that would take a while to heal. Vampires have abnormally high tolerance towards self-mutilation — regeneration isn't actually a good thing.

Especially once it becomes a habit with their infinite lifespans.

Anyway!

Perhaps, if it were a Noble or another spell-caster in Mikhael's place, they could get rid of these easily and escape. But Mikhael was trying to pass off as an "ordinary vampire", so he had to act pitiful. And if he used his special means to deal with those handcuffs, he'd reveal his identity.

Acting weak was so hard. Mikhael really felt like crying.

"You know," one of the members of W.E.R.P. spoke breaking the silence, "It's not that we disagree with what you did there, kid — but rules are rules."

"..." Rules, huh?

Shackling their predatory aura in exchange for peace. That's what those Edens truly represented, under the glorious disguise of "paradise for vampires". It was a bit weird, but it was also something vampires have been doing since times immemorial, so they got used to it by now. As Mikhael had a wide network of information, he knew that the most certain one-way ticket to Eden — being chased internationally until they managed to suppress you, excluded — was to start a fight with another vampire. It meant — or so they said — that those who failed to control themselves with another night-walker will only do worse with fragile humans! 'Or some bullshit like that.'

They just searched for an excuse to catch vampires, despite acting like the so-called bridge between the two.

'Well, twenty years is still too early to bury the war hatchets.' Humans still subconsciously hated vampires. Mikhael might not like vampires, but he also didn't have a favorable impression on humans either. Eight centuries is a long time. They allowed him to see the worst in both sides and made him lose something precious to both of them; therefore, he preferred not to deal with either race if he could.

No, he wasn't racist at all — after all, he messed with all six races equally! Seeing as Mikhael wasn't really paying attention to those agents, he didn't know which one said the words from earlier. "What about the other guy? There's only this van on the road, and I'm sitting here alone? Then, according to your rules, why am I the only one being sent here?"

The moment those words left his lips, silence full of tension descended on the vehicle as they all started to watch him with caution. Mikhael merely chuckled before shrugging, "Don't look at me like that, all vampires have a good hearing. Observing our environment is the basic skill when searching for food, so I can naturally notice this much." It's not that there was only one van when they caught Mikhael and the other vampire he had punched only once — but once they crossed a certain distance, the two vans went their separate ways. If he wasn't mistaken, together with the noise that he could hear outside — they should have already entered the city.

Hearing his words, those guys relaxed, and at the same time — their curiosity was also raised. "The other party was an illegal newling who had killed before. He was sent to prison while you're heading for the Jurisdiction Bureau to be judged for either obtaining the permit or staying." Perhaps because Mikhael was cooperative from the start and didn't curse or argue — those agents weren't shameless enough to treat him rudely.

Although there were deceptive vampires that could play with them and then escape when you least expect it — there aren't many ordinary W.E.R.P. agents who have met these guys before, so they lowered their guard around Mikhael.

'Ah, it's good to be young.' If Mikhael were in their place, he wouldn't even think twice before stunning the 'nice' vampire and adding a few more restraints on him the moment he opened his mouth. Hence, he merely nodded and stopped asking for more information.

"Eden isn't a bad place, you know?" Perhaps after seeing that this blonde vampire was obedient after they caught him, together with his act of saving a human — these W.E.R.P. agents had some goodwill towards Mikhael.

"..." Of course it wasn't a bad place, Mikhael knew — it was the literal meaning of paradise for vampires! As long as you don't leave the boundaries of Eden and have money, you won't lack a single thing inside! "But if you really want to stay in the outside world, then you still have a chance. Just prove to be a non-potent danger to whomever is about to bring jurisdiction to you, and you'll obtain the permission to live outside of Eden for as long as you don't make any trouble, that is."

Yeah, that is why Mikhael was acting nice and all. The blonde Half-blood raised his head as his ponytail tumbled across his shoulders, his eyes sparkling with undisguised hope. As a vampire, yet a vampire Hunter who has been beaten by reality — Mikhael majored in acting and spewing nonsense until it became as natural as breathing to him!

Life free of Purebloods and dictatorship for as long as he doesn't— Could he actually make it, though? The "not fighting" part? Well, he cannot be in trouble if he's never been caught in the first place, and Mikhael was great at keeping a low profile! The thing that he was interested the most in was that humans had no right to mess with Eden. And Mikhael... Oh, there seemed to be many big-shots among human groups that wanted to beat him up at the moment.

Something was seriously wrong with his definition of "low profile", not that he could tell!

"We need to put you into the register first, so we need just a bit of your blood," the same person spoke, whose face Mikhael couldn't see from the protective helmet, so he casually held out his hands.

Vampires are beings that have better control over their blood than anything else. Nobles can make their blood change shape and become weapons or clothes, some of the more skillful guys could even transform it into air to step on it. Killing someone that ingested their blood with a single thought was the norm for these guys. So as long as Mikhael remained low-key — no one will be able to discover his identity as a Half-blood vampire.

Likewise, his blood would appear no different than an ordinary vampire's. And as long as they didn't release their aura intentionally, it would be difficult to even distinguish vampires from humans — forget about trying to figure out just what type of a night-walker they are! Just like that, unless they infuse their aura into their blood, it would merely be a good medicine that can treat human illnesses. Vampires have no need for the blood of other vampires so they won't drink it either — rather, it's a poison to their kind!

With that, there's an even lesser risk of someone discovering his identity.

"Go on, the smoother this goes, the better for me," Mikhael's face was adorned with an innocent smile. He could act all nice and polite, alright.

He was so going to ace this mission.

What were the odds that someone would see his innocent blonde self as a dangerous individual?

THE RIDE was peaceful after that short conversation. They didn't talk to Mikhael and instead gossiped between themselves, mentioning some matters that aroused his interest. For example, they mentioned how there were more vampires who turned into the shape of blue roses when they died.

Vampires, no matter what method was employed to kill them, would always turn into ash upon their death. But recently, every once in a while — there would be some vampires that took on the twisted shape of a blue rose. Mikhael did hear those rumors, but he never actually saw one, so he listened carefully to their gossip. Unfortunately, other than mentioning that there was another such weird death case, they didn't provide him with any other information. In the end, he stopped paying attention once they started discussing other irrelevant topics.

Mikhael was quite confident that everything would go according to his plan and he had over eight centuries of experience to boost this confidence — when Mikhael wanted to cheat someone, they simply had no choice but to believe him! Together with his gentle appearance and docile aura, it was impossible to guess just what kind of a wretched existence truly lurked under his skin. Whatever happens, he was going to make those guys believe that he was no threat to humans outside, so that they can give him a "Blessing".

Well, Mikhael whose body was in such a mess that he can't even drink human blood right now truly cannot be considered as a threat to mortals.

As for those "Blessings", they were formal and absolute pardons bestowed upon vampires by Purebloods or Higher Nobles. They stated that a vampire is free to roam the world without being forced to remain in Edens, seeing as they weren't a threat to other people. And at the moment, this was also Mikhael's goal.

There was no way in Hell that he was going to ruin this opportunity!

But his thoughts were interrupted as he got out of the van, his arms in shackles, while observing the magnificent buildings around him.

'Older era, huh?' Considering how vampires are mostly the ancient bunch, they preferred the former style of life. Technology was good and all, but as beings that can just jump down and upwards to the top of buildings, it didn't really mean much. It was inconveniencing them sometimes, instead!

"Oh, the sky looks clearer than on the outside," he commented as he glanced at the boundless dark sky with countless stars scattered around like diamonds on a black canvas. Despite the city being full of lights, stars were so clear as if he was standing amidst a dark meadow. But there was really no moon. There were some unnatural faint lines spawning across the sky... Which should belong to the barrier he heard about?

The one that kept vampires locked in this city. And there's really no moon, oh.

"Of course it is. This city isn't called Eden for no reason, after all." Someone responded with admiration, but once again — Mikhael had no idea who exactly spoke up. These guys all looked the same to him, ah. Not to mention that his thoughts were focused on those words rather than the person that uttered them.

Eden. Paradise. Utopia. Shangri-la.

The perfect land.

It goes by many names and through the course of history, whether they were humans or vampires — many had tried to create a place like this, yet failed every single time. For in order to create something perfect, something else had to be sacrificed in turn. In this case, it could be their nature. But can something achieved by someone's sacrifice truly be called perfection? Although Mikhael didn't believe so — even he had to admit that this place truly made him think that it was paradise for a moment. He just wondered: what exactly was sacrificed in exchange for its peace?

Compared to the outside world which was heavily influenced with technology, Eden had old street lamps scattered around. The ground of the city wasn't even, so there were lots of stairs every few meters. Mikhael couldn't see it yet, but the entire terrain of Eden was shaped like an enormous bowl. There were also modern buildings and all, but most of the houses looked like those mansions designed in the nineteenth century. The vampires that moved outside were using carriages more than cars.

And Mikhael could feel the abundance of harmless mana around, the true luxury for this place.

Although Armaments that were created with mana could harm vampires once it got in contact with their bloodstream, the blood kin still liked the innovative mana products that made their lives more convenient. There's a vast difference between walking and whizzing to the other side of the world using mana devices, after all.

Also, this city was originally built by spell-casters.

'Well, it took them only a single year to build it from scratch, so it would be weird if spell-casters weren't involved.' Sadly, Mikhael couldn't see much of these beautiful sceneries thanks to his escort team. Even the van was completely isolated so it had no windows. The blond Half-blood truly wanted to laugh at their attempt to surround him with just sixteen officers of W.E.R.P. loaded with AV guns and armor like he was a feral beast.

Didn't they act like they liked him? Mikhael, who considered himself as a shy and harmless little guy, was certain that they wouldn't use this many people even if the person they were escorting was an actual Noble!

Talk about trust issues, how do they even get into relationships?

'There's no longer room for retreat now.' 

II

Even if Mikhael tried to escape now — which he probably could pull off if he wanted to and used his true abilities — that would only be a pain in the posterior, so there's no need for this many people to surround him.

Why? Because he'd need blood!

Vampires, despite the folklore, do not need to drink blood every day and have an insatiable thirst when they see a drop of blood dramatically falling to the ground in slow motion — though, it does seem alluring in their eyes.

They were also simple beings, cough.

Vampires don't use the blood they drink as theirs, rather — it becomes a fuel that creates their own, new blood. Think of it as recycling normal blood in order to gain a better quality one. Though... If the human they drank from was some rich guy and had nano-cells installed in his body that increased the lifespan of blood cells three to four times — it would become a blood of lesser quality for vampires, so it would last shorter.

And so, they preferred normal human blood or blood of spell-casters. Those guys were delicious. Well, taking a sip here and there just to boost their inhuman image was not too bad, though.

There are cases when that blood would be spent faster, however. This "four times per year" rule only applied if they decided to live normally, like humans. Sleeping like human beings, eating human food, walking with normal speed etc.

Using any of their superhuman abilities or losing blood due to external wounds speeds up the burning of their "fuel" and they start to dry up or rot if they don't drink more blood in time. Sun normally doesn't kill them, but it reduces the life of blood cells in the vampire body by half — a lot of energy is wasted to prevent your white skin from burning. Or better to say, on regenerating your skin cells constantly.

Their skin is no better than humans — though it's paler when they use their aura and their eyes turn red. But never during the day!

Who the hell would stare at the sun with an enchanted sight anyway? And who in their sane minds would walk with pale white skin underneath the scorching sun!? Only a trembling masochist...

Stars are a different story, those are fun.

Blood, right.

Vampires bleed, but not for long — regeneration is a real thing and no, silver does nothing. It's a metal, big deal — everyone has more of it inside of their bodies. Garlic is also a lie. It does serve as repellent to some sprites that feed on blood similar to vampires, though.

So, seeing as they regenerate fast, you can almost never make them lose all of their blood unless you restrain them and keep cutting them all the time — and if it, in some miraculous case, really does happen — they'll only look like a molten and rotten corpse. Indeed, they'd only look like mummies and won't truly die when dried of blood — but the method to resurrect them from that state was quite complicated.

Not to mention the stench!

Yes, their bodies would stink even worse than old corpses that have been locked in a closed space for three hundred years — but you'd faint from the smell if you just as much as got close to one, and then you'd stink just the same for at least a week. Even after a bath. Baths! 24/7 under the water!

Trust Mikhael, he's been there.

It was also one of the major punishments in the past for vampires; to become living corpses. The longest period a vampire has been dried of blood completely and hanged in the sun was over seven hundred years — the sight was too much even for Mikhael to handle. Unfortunately, when Mikhael saw that guy he was still just a little newling, so he got traumatized for life and even fainted.

Well, they do feed the guy with a drop of blood every night to make sure that he doesn't die.

But even when using supernatural abilities and all, any vampire would still need to feed only once or twice a month — maybe once a week at most. However, once the vampire got completely drained of his blood, one could easily kill them by simply crushing their heart. They'd be absolutely dead.

Gone!

Dust in the wind!! Well, ash in the wind... Unless someone wanted to play Frankenstein again. But that method is something else. Scientists are working together with vampires on that matter, Mikhael also heard.

He knew a lot despite avoiding everything alive, dead and undead his entire life! As for Purebloods that apparently have no weaknesses — he heard that two of them were complete assholes, one is a lustful harem owner, another a psychopath while the oldest one is a sadistic ego-maniac that plans to take over the entire world; and the youngest... The Boss of Eden that Mikhael was currently inside of, was just a plain madman!

Mikhael really feared this Black Raven! He doesn't recall ever meeting nor provoking that guy, but he knows that he must never meet him or something bad will happen! And well... 'That guy did something not even a nut-job would try twenty years ago.' It's no wonder why humans could only agree to his plan for building Eden when he first proposed it. Even Mikhael would have agreed, had he been in their place!

As he walked inside of an enormous building that simply screamed: "I'm owned by someone rich, very rich. Richer than your entire family lineage in the past two thousand years," Mikhael couldn't suppress his sarcastic thoughts that judged every single person that passed by and glanced at him with curiosity.

"..." Well, his face really belonged to one of those that stood out in the crowd. His visage was that good.

Mikhael felt lucky that he properly zipped his jacket for once — because if these guys saw his neon shirt with 'I HATE VAMPIRES' logo, they'd probably just kill him before he could even utter a single word in defense! Mikhael really only wore it because he was dealing with an annoying vampire, he swears! He didn't do it intentionally!!

It's because he chased that slippery newling for weeks without resting, really!!!

The walk seemed to last for a solid two minutes before they came in front of a silver elevator and waited for another three minutes and forty-seven more seconds — why yes, he counted —until it opened and six similarly dressed guys rushed out as if they were caught on fire. Some even wished luck to guys surrounding Mikhael before running out of the building. His group entered in silence.

Then, there were another three minutes and forty-seven seconds of descent. "..."

'Some rich bastard really outdid himself!' Mikhael started to question his choice to stay here. But he can't run all over the world from these guys, while space is out of question — he was warned to never leave this planet or his teacher's man would break his legs, anyway — so he'd have had to visit Eden sooner or later. 'Blessing, in that case.' But just how the hell did they manage to dig thirty floors under the surface, though!? It's almost an entire mile! 'Who financed all this shit?'

Digging that much isn't easy even for vampires, ah!!

Few moments later, the doors opened letting him face the scene which looked like Hell decided to hold re-jurisdiction of its prisoners, and the bad lighting didn't help at all. 'Seriously, it is so dark in there like their electricity got cut off because these guys forgot to pay for it.'

Though, it didn't mean much to vampires. They are predators of night, so they can see clearly even in pitch black darkness. He let out a barely plausible sigh, it was never a good thing to leave Mikhael alone with his own thoughts. The agents gave him back the rucksack with his stuff before ushering him inside. With only six agents following while the rest returned to the surface by elevator, he fought the urge to roll his eyes again.

'Trust issues, we're getting better.' Though, there were only more people around him now. And some of them... 'White robes completely covering them from neck to toe, the white hair they proudly flaunt around and crimson predatory eyes.'

...were Nobles.

Heavy air permeated every inch of this place. The oppressing aura of those beings dwelling in darkness was nothing to scoff at. Mikhael could notice that even those six guys around him clenched their weapons, clearly not confident about their well-being. 'Makes sense, even if it's W.E.R.P., these guys won't be able to deal with Nobles if they decide to do something, forget about this many of them.'

There was probably even a Higher Noble around here.

As he was led forward, Mikhael witnessed a vampire being dragged out by two guys in white robes — his bloody jaw was obviously broken, making him unable to shut his mouth as he wailed and groaned while his own saliva dripped on his shirt.

"..." Well, vampires don't fear dismemberment and serious injuries, so they were more ruthless when dealing with their own kind. Everything can heal with enough time and blood, anyway! Listening to the whispers of those around, it seems like this guy tried to attack and feed on one of these W.E.R.P. guys that brought him here as a last resort.

But he was obviously not so successful.

It wasn't long before Mikhael was ushered into what looked like a courtroom and got left to stand alone in an empty space and wait for his judgment. With his hands freed as the W.E.R.P. officers moved outside, there were now only two Higher Nobles that took their place, guarding by Mikhael's side.

"Number 138.897, lineage unknown, bloodline — nothing extraordinary." A deep, masculine voice echoed amidst the courtroom, and all noise ceased at the same moment.

"..." Mikhael immediately snapped his head at the speaker, about to properly teach that guy about life. 'Fuck! I dare you to repeat that again!! This daddy's finger is more valuable than your entire— Blasted blood of the Ancients!' His thought process froze and Mikhael blinked a few times to confirm that he wasn't seeing an illusion.

"Name — unknown, age — unknown, but hasn't been spotted before, so it's approximately a month to ten years since he's been turned. And—" The man sitting above him in the judge's position didn't even glance at Mikhael. In contrast to the Half-blood's pitiful self that was shackled, escorted by force and had his sleep interrupted by having to save a damsel in distress — the judge was leisurely filling out the papers.

His lazy aura didn't even treat the newcomer of Eden seriously.

Unlike humans who finished everything with electronics, old vampires still preferred to use the good old parchment paper. It doesn't matter if it's costly to produce — money is one thing that vampires lack the least!

The guy didn't throw a single glance his way, but Mikhael carefully observed the one to decide his fate. And his heart immediately skipped a beat. The first thing he noticed about the high-ranking vampire opposite of him was... That this person was inhumanely handsome! Handsome enough to hold back Mikhael's poisonous tongue that made even the Vatican scream in anguish whenever they had to deal with his brainwashing verbal attacks.

'And he's really my type!' Even though all vampires are innately beautiful and Mikhael has seen many of them — they still pale in comparison with this person. The intimidating man skimmed through the paperwork with his crimson eyes while lazily noting down information, so Mikhael assumed that he probably had a lot of blood willingly given to him — since vampires used red eyes only while fighting, fucking or feeding; "triple F" — as Mikhael called it.

Oh, unless they were fanatical Nobles proud of their bloodline, as well. In all honesty, red eyes gave away vampires easily, so unless they wanted to appear intimidating while cornering their prey — they refrained from this action in the past. It was tiring and wasted too much blood.

After the treaty with humanity was signed, hunting prey on their own became forbidden for bloodlings. So vampires could now only obtain blood by having donors willingly offer it to them, and judging by this man's wasteful show-off — he surely had a bunch of humans that wanted to sleep with him! They really won't be losing anything at all by climbing into his bed!

Even Mikhael wanted to climb into it!

He was so lost in admiration that he didn't even hear what the other person said next. As the self-proclaimed president of the face club, how could Mikhael still worry about the future and miss on this perfect specimen in front of him!

All true vampires — according to unspoken rules — should have long hair. Don't ask Mikhael, he's still a young man according to their age ranking — so he doesn't understand this logic either. Likewise, the judge in front of him had long black hair that turned white at the ends, which was elegantly tied with a red ribbon and then casually thrown over his left shoulder. On Mikhael's list of "people-to-be-done-by", this guy directly jumped straight to the first place! If not for his precarious situation of being surrounded by Nobles and Higher Nobles that would break his legs if he dared to move a single inch, he wouldn't have hesitated to climb up there to try and get into his bed.

He's a simple vampire, cough.

'Sure enough, black suits vampires the most. It's only those crazy Nobles that go around all in white and can't be reasoned with!' Together with his black suit and the coat which was leisurely draped over his shoulders, the vampire in front of him was simply a visual feast! It's no wonder why Mikhael had to confirm that he wasn't seeing things — someone this perfect shouldn't be allowed to exist!

Barely holding back his instincts to flirt, Mikhael couldn't help but gulp down his saliva. Since when did his mouth feel so dry — he couldn't tell. But what stood out the most was the scarlet tie matching the man's emotionless eyes. Despite their tranquility, his pupils seemed as if they contained a pool of rampaging blood underneath, threatening to swallow everything in front of them.

Mikhael's gaze subconsciously paused on the elegant silver cross with simple, yet extricate patterns on the tie, and an inlaid red ruby in the center of it. As a half vampire himself — Mikhael really has no idea why this man openly showcased his cross when vampires and the Vatican clearly hated each other! And the Vatican was Mikhael's sworn enemy for life; the two have been causing trouble for each other throughout the last four centuries!

"He'll stay as the resident of Eden, throw him among other newlings. Next!" As the man above finished talking, Mikhael finally snapped out of a daze. Budding love or whatnot, how could it compare with Mikhael's safety! He won't live in the territory of Purebloods even for a man like this!

"Hell no, I object!" For the first time since he sat there, the man raised his head to look at Mikhael, with a frown on his face. His lips parted and opened a few times before he eventually spoke, seemingly hesitating about something. "Your hair is blonde."

One more thing about vampires — when they turned, they usually lost their original hair color and it turned white — every part of the body, yes!

Unless they were Purebloods or born naturally — and indeed, vampires can conceive. They can't produce blood, not babies. What would be the big deal about sex if they couldn't even come? And using simple math of two and two together, you can conceive. Woala!

"Why yes, it's called hair dye. With nowadays technology, it covers gray hair 100%, have you ever heard of it?" Since you look like you really needed one!

What's with that weird hair of his, did the man intentionally dye it this way? Mikhael had no idea what made him snap like that, but he casually shrugged off his mood swing as a consequence of his bad luck today. Had it been his usual self — Mikhael would've acted cute like a good kid and tried to win over this guy with sympathy. So what's this random... Noble? Higher Noble? What is this guy even, for real now?

"For it to be used on an ugly brat like you, it's truly a waste." It was not the answer Mikhael expected to hear nor for Ethan to say. But something about the blond kid in front of him just made his blood boil and retort back in anger.

At the same time, a stifling silence spread in the place.

"It's still better than your punk-like hairstyle! Do you think you're some kind of magical blood unicorn of darkness?" Mikhael threw back, adding oil to the fire. Did he offend this kid in his past life, perhaps? Ethan was confused, why must this kid attack his hairstyle? His thought process froze.

His hair was naturally like this, although it indeed turned this way because of an incident in the past. He didn't want to deal with this mad newling any longer, so he simply snorted and released his aura — which suddenly crashed down on Mikhael like a tidal wave. At the same time, Mikhael immediately recognized the rank of the man in front of him.

A Pureblood.

Chills spread from every crevice of his body, filling it with lingering terror that simply made Mikhael unable to even breathe. As if he was just a helpless leaf drowning in an endless sea storm, the pressure he couldn't resist had him almost drenched in sweat from head to toes. First, he opposed and managed to get noticed by a Pureblood. Second, he lost his ticket from Eden and third, he was registered and couldn't run away anymore — they'd definitely find him, wherever he might end up going! Moreover... This crow Pureblood, ah — is known as the most dangerous madman that had razed down a peninsula when provoked! Not only did he do it during the Great War, but he's done it all alone!

Ethan couldn't keep his aura around for long or else he'd inconvenience his own people working here — so he retracted it once he made sure that he had scared off the little newling. With air back to his lungs, Mikhael immediately tried to salvage the situation. "That... The great Lord, just now my alter ego resurfaced and spoke in my stead. How about we start the interrogation anew."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Not only Ethan, all the vampires around them paused and gave Mikhael an odd look. This level of shameless nonsense... Even a three years old could do better, no?

"It's fine, alter ego or not — you share the same body so you count as one," Ethan didn't even look at him as he took back Mikhael's papers and added "mentally unstable" to his data. Anyway, split personalities aren't rare, even among vampires. Their blood can't heal their retardation, no matter how omnipotent in the regeneration area.

"Why don't you want to stay in Eden?" But as the qualified ruler of Eden, he still decided to give this guy a chance.

"I'm a good kid that's been wrongly brought here after doing a good deed. So, in my humble opinion, I do indeed deserve another chance." Mikhael's entire tone of speech changed. Ethan silently glanced at the data in front of him. Really, this kid did come here after starting a fight with another vampire in order to save a human. But he still narrowed his eyes; a newling that can beat up another crazed newling is still better than that crazed newling. "Then, your maker is... There's no "Blutabdruck" on you? So, dead." Ethan was also a bit curious as to why this newling would openly oppose him.

'Blutabdruck' was a blood imprint left on the vampire by their makers.

It usually appears in a form of tattoo on their necks where they've been bitten during the process of the First Embrace — or change. It could only be removed once their maker died and a vampire would become free from that point onward.

So Ethan nodded to himself. If this kid's maker died and had no time to teach him about the rules, then it makes sense why the little vampire was so unbridled in front of him despite sensing Ethan's bloodline just now. "Judging from your accent, you seem to be of British origin... This is Constantine's territory, how did you even end up all the way here?"

Very well, the little guy could even cross the ocean to come here and cause trouble! Are all newlings this ferocious nowadays!? "So, what's your name?"

"Why should I tell you, a stranger, my name? You might even rape me for all I know!" Mikhael lost it. He officially lost it — is what everyone around him thought. Buggers, even he himself thought that he lost it once he realized what he just said!

Just why did he have such a strong reaction to someone asking his name? Mikhael felt unprecedented rage and grievance at that moment that he even wanted to stab the Pureblood in front of him in order to vent. 'Did I finally go senile?'

"..." Blasted blood of the Ancients, it was taking an enormous amount of restraint for Ethan not to slap this little guy into ashes! 'Weren't we talking like normal people just a second ago!? What's with your mood swings, brat!?'

Ethan directly crossed the words he wrote before and left "delusional idiot" instead. "I would never accept an unruly being like you in my bed even if you were to willingly offer yourself to me." His brain would hurt if he could hold a normal conversation with him in one, but then fight in another second.

By now, many tried to avert their eyes from the meaningless argument their Lord had with a nameless vampire of no lineage — but just couldn't as Ethan's voice fell down and the two became the only source of noise in the hall.

'He looks a bit familiar. I'm certain I've seen this wretched face somewhere before...' Ethan eyed Mikhael suspiciously.

"I wouldn't take your dick up my ass even if I were deprived of sex for entire millennia, either!" He instantly dropped from number 1 to -100 on Mikhael's list. 'Ah, no, I didn't want to say that!'

Buggers, he really wanted to act like an innocent child, but what the fuck? Did someone from those Magus clans curse him today as well? Someone really wanted him dead, ah!

"It's good that we share the same sentiment." Red eyes got locked into a staring contest with the blue ones which didn't falter for even a second and utter silence surrounded the two. Ethan observed the blond vampire carefully before his eyes landed on Mikhael's wrist. Noticing the faint red line on it, he felt like he suddenly understood everything.

"So that's how it is," he mused to himself, "You were turned by your owner?"

"...come again?" Where did this non-existent owner sprout out from? How come Mikhael didn't know of it? He forgot all about curses as he followed Ethan's gaze that fell on the faint red line around his wrist and then became speechless.

This ghost thing that appeared on his hand from who-knows-where looked extremely similar to the mark that vampires placed on their human pets! Which is absurd since Mikhael would never have allowed himself to become another vampire's pet! He himself was a vampire, and this is something meant for the humans that vampires kept around for snacks and sex — so no bloody way could his pride allow it! But how did it suddenly turn into some sappy drama in which he was a pet kept by some vampire, turned into a vampire by him until one day his sugar daddy vampire died leaving him sad and all alone? 'Sixth idiot, do your people know how good you are at screening a play!?'

"I definitely wouldn't do something that belonged to another vampire."

"Bloody hell, come down here to properly chat about life if you dare!" Mikhael felt that he really might climb to this guy and start punching him soon.

Heh!

Ethan only sneered, but to Mikhael — this small action made him even more riled up than any other insult Ethan could have thrown his way.

'I'll sweep your house clean later!'

He won't stop until only bare walls remain! Mikhael actually lunged forward to start fighting with this guy, but fortunately, the two Higher Nobles by his side restrained him in time. Blasted blood, they've seen vampires that tried to attack them, tried to attack W.E.R.P. agents, tried to escape — but this is the first time that a madman tried to attack their Lord Pureblood!

"Let's see... Flame," with that he scribbled something else on the paper as Mikhael stared at him in confusion, "Just a silly little child that doesn't know his place, so there's no need to kick you to the South district. Be grateful."

"Be grateful, my ass! Let me punch you so that I can truly be grateful!!" Mikhael still held some sanity, so he didn't really try to break out through those two Higher Nobles. But the bulging veins on his forehead and gnashed teeth as he watched Ethan were enough to express his feelings at the moment.

"Or should I take you to work for me, Flame?" Mikhael could accept everything, but being worked to death without getting paid crossed his bottom line!

He'll even bite for the sake of money, OK!? And he definitely won't work for a Pureblood! "What blasted Flame? I'll burn your house if you dare to make me work for you!"

"..."

Ethan hesitated for a single second before removing his gaze, as if he couldn't be bothered to deal with this wild thing. "Get used to it, brat, it's your new name. Put the restrainer on him, then kick him out. His things can be left with him! Next!" And with that, those two vampire Nobles whose backs got completely drenched in sweat acted like they were granted amnesty — dragging away Mikhael who was too weak to fight them off.

'This crazy newling is fucking insane! How come he didn't even falter in front of our Lord's aura!?'

'Blasted blood of our Shadow Lord, I thought that we'd be forced to accompany him!'

'Blasted blood of all unholy things, he didn't even get thrown to the South after all those words he had said!'

'It's a good thing that we don't need to take him to the South, though! That place is scary!'

Mikhael had no idea about the complicated thoughts those two Nobles had as he was busy regretting that he had not fed in a long time. Just one sip, if he had just a mouthful of blood right now, he would have duked it out with that Pureblood bastard! But even if he was helpless to fight back, Mikhael still didn't forget to send daggers at the certain black haired wood-stuck-up-the-ass Pureblood until Ethan was no longer in his sight. He swore to beat the crap out of that man once he was done feeding — if he could find someone to secretly feed on, that is.

Since Mikhael, with the current state of his body, could no longer feed on human blood — only vampire's... But that fact alone was something completely unheard of in their race, save it for Purebloods.