At first, there was stillness after Leona's proposal.
A grunt could be heard from the end of the phone.
"Leona. You're not seriously tryna bribe me, are you?"
A wicked grin formed on the Underworld King's lips.
"It's not a bribe, it's a tribute. A tribute to our partnership."
Another silence.
"No way," Idia said, "not anymore. I'm not gonna let you sucker me this time!"
"Even if I promised you the limited edition of Sparkplug Girl: Plus on the Perseus XL?"
A laugh could be heard from the phone.
"Nice try, Your Highness," Idia mocked, "but I had gotten that ages ago. I've already gotten 10 whole copies, each from a different version of the game counsel!"
"Even the German one?"
Yet another silence.
"You're lying," Idia accused, "you can't have that version."
"Can't I? I'll have you know that my older brother's a huge gamer nerd like yourself and let me have one of his copies. It can be yours too if you comply."
Idia growled.
"You better not be lying! And don't call us nerds, that's rude!"
The call cut immediately after.
After a moment Leona laughed.
"Alright, that settles the matter of handling casualties," his mood lessened as he spoke, "Now all there is to do is figure out how we infiltrate the place."
He pointed to Ruggie.
"Gather the men in here, especially Jack. Any input is welcome."
"Oh!" Deuce pipped up, "W-why don't we overwhelm them with numbers?"
"Good in theory, but it wouldn't work."
"Huh?"
"We ain't got the manpower for that," Ruggie explained as he pressed a button on a wall, "it'd take all three sectors to even compete with the Vampires underground. Though, if we're honest, that wouldn't matter since their magic is superior."
Deflated by Ruggie's response, Deuce sat back in his seat.
Ace ran his fingers through his hair while he was deep in thought.
"Couldn't we try bartering?" He said after a minute.
Ruggie raised a brow.
"With a King of Vampires?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, we could try. Leona's phone call inspired my idea."
Deuce's brows twinned.
"But what could a vampire want?"
Ace's face fell.
"...I got nothing. Just forget it."
"Wait! You might be onto somethin'." Ruggie chimed in as he went into a chest, much to Leona's annoyance.
"You're seriously gonna do that while we have guests? You've gotten pretty bad at hidin' your bad habits, huh?"
Ruggie smacked his lips.
"I ain't steal these! (Most of 'em) These are souvenirs from down under!"
"Keep tellin' yourself that. Even if they're vampire's stuff ya outta know better."
"Are you gonna keep yappin' or are ya gonna listen? There's a particular item that those snaggletooths have been tryna nab since my great grandad was a baby!"
He took out a dark green gem that had a black slit in the middle, loosely resembling a snake's eyes.
Ace grimaced at the sight of it.
"It looks creepy," was all Deuce said.
Leona glowered at his attendant.
"What the hell's the meaning of this, Ruggie?! Why's a thing like that in your possession?"
Ruggie lowered his brows in disbelief at his king's comment.
"Don't be such a worrywart. Those things can't curse me as long as I don't look at it too long, yeah?"
Ace and Deuce quickly turned away, making sure to not look at the strange jewel.
"I'm sayin' that thing is disgusting!" Leona bellowed.
"And I'm sayin' this is just the thing to get that Draconia guy to comply."
"W-what the hell is that?!" Ace shouted, still looking away.
"What kind of crazy person would snag a cursed artifact and hold it nilly willy in front of random people?" Deuce added, fear laced in his voice.
"It's not just any cursed artifact!" Ruggie defended, "this is the Draconia Family crest, known as the Devil's Eye."
Leona's face paled, also turned away to avoid looking at it for too long.
"I not sure if I wanna know how you even got that thing..."
"This Devil's Eye was hidden away in a cult shrine I found in the outskirts of the Queendom a while back. Had it stored away ever since."
He paused for a moment to grab a white cloth to cover the gem.
"I covered it up so you can all relax now. Buncha babies," he muttered the last part. "It don't even petrify ya that long."
Ace, Deuce, and the guards peeked from behind there hiding spaces.
"Maybe warn us properly before you bring something that can curse people!" Ace shouted.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ruggie said nonchalantly.
Leona glared at Ruggie again.
"Don't act so calm about that thing!"
He thought for a moment.
"I don't even think those mosquitos would want something like that in the first place, seeming as you nabbed so easily."
Ruggie blinked after placing the Devil's Eye on a nearby table.
Oncoming footsteps resounded in the Throne room and a handful of soldiers, Jack included, came in wearing full blown armor.
They looked like knights from a Final Fantasy game.
"You called for us, Your Highness?" Jack asked as he and the others bowed.
"Yeah, I'm plottin' a rescue mission. I need your input on how to go about this thing, however."
An inquiry came into the lion beastman's head.
"Say, Jack?"
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"What kinda person is your friend?"
Jack thought for a moment before giving an answer.
"They're stubborn as hell, if you'll excuse my vulgarity, My Lord. Though they're also very clever."
Leona nodded at his words.
"In that case, we may have some time after all."
Ace and Deuce looked at each other.
"What's he mean, Ace?"
"I dunno, maybe he's gauging Y/n's survivability?"
Deuce's eyes widened.
"Please be okay, Y/n, we're coming for you..."
YOU ARE READING
Twisted Tales: Vampire Bites By Midnight (Malleus x Reader)
VampirgeschichtenYou're the graduate of Night Raven Academy, a unisex college that is known for taking in both magicless and gifted students. On the the day of the graduation party, after it's over, you prepare to leave after finding Grim sleeping in the hall by him...
