[Diana's POV]
Fear.
That was a feeling that I was all too familiar with.
The fear which engulfed me as I stood before a vampire that I'd only seen before in history books, although it wasn't as bad as before when I couldn't even move, it was firmly in second place.
It had been over a hundred years since the last sighting of one of these beings and I was unlucky enough to be the one to encounter one as he emerged from wherever he came from.
He introduced himself as Draven Church and after I collapsed to the floor, my knees giving out, he was able to lift me up into the air with no more than a little movement from his hand.
I thought I knew what he was planning on doing to me.
I heard and read stories of how vampires feed upon human blood to regenerate their mana and satisfy their hunger.
As his fangs plunged into my neck, I felt the energy leave my body and after struggling to keep them open, my heavy eyelids closed.
A change was occurring in my body. That was something I was aware of even as I drifted away.
'What is he doing to me?'
I half-opened my eyes and saw Draven was still attached to my neck.
'Please... please let me live,' I wanted to beg out loud but was unable to open my mouth.
As my eyes closed again, they didn't open for a while.
When it finally did, I saw a familiar face in front of me; not Draven but one that I had been haunted by for months.
It was Bell Agnus and I wanted to look around to see if the vampire was still around but I didn't even have the strength to move a finger, let alone my entire body.
I could barely see Bell with my vision a little blurry.
I felt like he was staring at me with apologetic eyes but I couldn't confirm them.
As I was trying so hard to regather my consciousness that was slipping away, he said to me in a voice that was calming, "It's alright. Just rest. You'll be okay."
Like a lullaby, his reassuring words caused my eyes to close and for my mind to drift away.
When I woke up, immediately I sat up in a panic, wondering if that vampire was still there.
But as I looked around, I realized that I wasn't still up on the rooftop but was instead in the nurse's room.
"How?" I uttered as I looked down at the blanket that was put over me.
Then I recalled Bell's face again and realized he must've brought me down here.
Many questions ran through my mind as I got off the bed.
First, what was he doing up there on the rooftop?
I was there because I saw the teachers from outside my window looking up at the sky and not wanting to evacuate with the other students, I snuck out to the rooftop.
'Was Bell there for the same reason?'
But then I remember that the class he had at this time of day takes place on the first floor so unless he ran up twelve flights of stairs without getting caught, I doubted that he snuck out during evacuation like I did.
Secondly, how did he get past Draven?
When I opened my eyes for a brief second on that rooftop, I didn't see Draven but instead, it was Bell who was assuring me that everything would be fine.
'Did he defeat the vampire?'
And as I asked myself that question, a shiver crawled up my arms and my hair stood up like an amplified goosebump.
I shook my head at first, refusing to believe that a human the same age as me would be able to defeat a being that was almost considered mythical nowadays.
Then I remember the story I read in the newspaper that was delivered to my locker.
He has a demon curse mark on him and those are only acquired through defeating a demon.
As I gulped, I wondered if Draven suffered the same fate as that demon.
It was the logical answer but at the same time, it also wasn't logical.
I'm pretty good at sensing the mana and strength of other students and in the two instances I had seen him since his return to the academy, he didn't feel that powerful.
'Then how?' I asked. 'How did he defeat the vampire?'
I wondered if I was hallucinating and I never saw Bell in the first place.
Perhaps in the face of death, I was imagining the first face that came to mind.
But if that was the case, then why was he comforting me rather than haunting me like he usually would do so in my nightmares?
Confused, I ran my hands through my hair until it was a mess.
Then as I placed my palms on the sink that was there in the nurse's room, I couldn't help but notice that the reflection in front of me wasn't one that I was used to seeing.
My skin looked multiple shades paler and if it was any lighter, it'd be pure white.
"What the..." I uttered, touching the mirror to see if it was real.
Then I noticed my fingernails and they were sharp even though I trimmed them every week to as smooth and pristine as possible.
"No, this can't be," I said, before opening my mouth. "No no no."
I looked down at the water that was running and placed my palm underneath the stream before splashing my face with it.
I was convinced that I was seeing things.
Then I looked up at the mirror once again and knew that this was now a reality.
I opened my mouth once again and like the same Draven that had made me faint on the rooftop, I had two fangs that were long and sharp.
With the palm of my thumb, I pressed up against the fangs and realized they were real.
They were extremely sharp and if I pressed a little harder, my thumb would be pierced and blood would begin to drip.
Placing my hand over my mouth, I shook my head over and over, refusing to believe that this was happening.
I was wrong. I was so wrong.
Draven wasn't sucking my blood like I assumed he was.
No, he had turned me into a vampire just like he was.
As I heard a door open, I nearly panicked and for a split second, I truly believed that a vampire hunter was on the other side with a stake in hand, ready to stab my heart.
But remembering I was at school, I was able to regather myself.
It was the nurse.
"Hey," she said, an eyebrow raised. "What are you doing here?" she asked while taking off her gloves and throwing them away in the trash.
"I was feeling a little under the weather so I was resting here," I answered her.
The nurse looked baffled. "When did you even... never mind. You're telling me that you didn't hear all that ruckus outside?"
I lied, "No. I fell asleep and just woke up a minute ago."
I didn't want her to know that I was on the rooftop because I didn't want to be investigated.
If I was investigated, naturally they'd question what I was doing up there.
Then as they question me, they'll probably realize that I'm now a vampire of sorts.
If they realize that I'm no longer human but instead a member of one of the most feared factions, they'll exterminate me.
That was my train of thought.
She must've noticed the panic that was bouncing around inside me because the nurse shook her head and assured me, "Don't worry. You're not in trouble. I was just curious what you were doing here went the other students have all evacuated."
"Oh..." I let out a sigh of relief, "...that's good. I thought you were going to punish me or something."
"Punish you?" she laughed. "The last thing I'll do is punish a student for feeling under the weather. You'll be fine."
She reached for her pocket and took out a piece of candy which she tossed to me.
"Are doctors recommended to give sick people sugar?" I asked.
"I'm a nurse," she said. "Not a doctor. A little sugar never hurt anyone."
As I chuckled, I saw the nurse's face brighten up a little and I realized that she was trying to improve my mood.
She must've realized that I was feeling down as she was speaking to me.
"Stay here," she said. "Just sleep a little longer as the teachers clean up the remaining mess outside. I'll wake you up when you need to return to class."
Accepting the offer, I laid back down on the bed.
I didn't feel fatigued. On the contrary, I felt like I had more energy than ever.
Despite that, as I began thinking back on what happened on the rooftop, recalling that fear and the scene of the bats ramming into each other until they formed a vampire, I felt like throwing up and closed my eyes, wanting to drift off into the realm between life and death.
Every time the face of Draven appeared in my mind, I quickly tried to toss it to the side with another image that was just as powerful.
I wanted to see fields of flowers, infinite rainbows, etc., but every time, all I saw was the face of Bell Agnus.
My teeth began to grind by itself and even though I appreciated that he saved me, 'If that's even the case,' but I also despised that he wouldn't leave me alone even in my attempt to fall asleep.
'Leave me alone Bell,' I thought to myself as he appeared again.
And the longer I laid there on the bed, the less often Draven Church's face appeared and the more often that Bell Agnus was there.
It was like a house cockroach that you couldn't remove.
'Leave me alone!'
Screaming, letting out all the emotions in my thought, I felt so tired by the end of this "brain exercise" that I ended up falling asleep.
My last thought was, 'Fuck off Bell.'
❖ ❖ ❖
[Bell's POV]
It was a shame that artifacts work in such a weird way because although Gon's ability was still usable, it wouldn't regenerate unless I deplete it all the time.
So that's what I did.
It was a little sad to put Gon to rest so soon but I needed the usage of the ability at full strength the next time so I had no choice but to put it to sleep by running the ability non-stop.
'I'll see you in a bit, master,' said Gon as she yawned.
'See you soon,' I responded and the connection between us disappeared.
Wrapping the sword up with the cloth, I placed it back in the box.
Vaulheshia, the artifact that took the place of my right pinky finger, asked me, 'Master, when are you planning on using me?'
Her voice was very rough and a little deep, almost resembling a Viking man but there was still that hint of femininity which reminded me of how strange it was for all of the main character's artifacts to have the voice of a woman.
Urisha and Yanari, my two new artifacts also chimed in.
'Yeah master, what about us?'
'I'm getting bored master. Let me have some fun too.'
'Alright you three, calm down,' I said. 'Stop being so impatient. I'll be utilizing you three soon enough. Just wait.'
'Yes!'
'Finally!'
'Thank you, master.'
The three artifacts made it sound like they were about to be doing something trivial when that was the furthest thing from the truth.
Like a master thief, I was able to take off my disguise and remove all evidence that I was the one who smashed open the enclosure for the skeleton.
Once they begin investigating who it was that committed the crime, I had no doubt in my mind that they wouldn't even consider me as a suspect.
So, as if I was taking a nice walk in the park, I began heading to my next class as Beginner Leadership was already over for the day.
The students were still in the basement of the main building where the walls were fortified and there were enough defensive features to instantly kill any lower-class demon that dare try and infiltrate.
All basement of the Halls on campus leads to the main building.
Draven was meant to enter the basement and make his way to the treasury located at the basement of Alexander Hall which wasn't being guarded at the moment because every adult was focused on protecting the students.
Sitting in my seat, I was in an empty classroom and while waiting for the students to return to class, I was on my phone looking at the news.
Just as expected, people were freaking out over the eyeball and what it meant.
Most speculated that the demon king had returned while a few believed that it was just a demon trying to trick the humans into believing such a thing using an illusion of some sort.
The former was the truth.
I was having fun, seeing the reactions of the entire world.
In the novel, I only ever got to hear about this major event in passing because the novel followed the main character and he spent the majority of the first arc in this rural village where he trained with his childhood friend, then they were attacked by a demonic monster, then he saved his friend, and coincidentally one of the teachers at the academy happened to see it and noticed his potentially which led to him being offered a scholarship.
By the time he arrived at the academy, it was already the second semester, and the sexual assault of Diana, the appearance of the demon king and Draven, all that was simply referred to in conversation.
After texting my mother that I was alright, I began reading a few articles that were written in a span of minutes.
"Does this mark the beginning of the Fifth World War?" was the title of one of the articles I read.
They compared side by side the image of the eyeball that appeared in the sky with a black-and-white photo taken the year before the Fourth World War began.
The photo was eerily similar to the picture taken today where there was an eyeball in the sky.
The only difference is that this time, demonic monsters accompanied the eyeball whereas last time, the eyeball was there by itself, looking around for a few minutes before disappearing.
My question is this: If you're a demon king and you want to conquer the overworld where the humans live, why would you announce your arrival and give the humans time to prepare?
If I was the demon king, I'd simply prepare my army and when they least expect it, surprise them with an invasion.
The shitty god had fallen into the cliche of demon kings sending weak enemies to the protagonists, allowing them to get stronger.
I couldn't even blame the shitty god too much for writing this cliche into his story. This was a stupid thing that a lot of stories do.
When the students were let out of the basement and my classmates began entering the room, most of them were surprised to see that I was already there.
"What are you doing here?" asked Bictor, the one who I was closest to in this class.
"Just watching a video analyzing the eyeball and whatnot," I responded, showing him my phone screen.
"You know that's not what I meant. How are you already here?" he asked.
"I was in the bathroom when you guys were being evacuated to the basement," I explained. "I had my headphone on so I didn't even know something was happening."
"So when you came out, it must've felt like a horror movie," Bictor chuckled, imagining my reaction to a school building that was littered with demonic monsters.
"You're not wrong. I thought someone had trapped me in their illusion at first," I sighed, shaking my head.
"How many did you kill?" he whispered.
"Monsters?"
"Yeah. I wanted to fight some monsters but my teacher forced me to evacuate with the rest. Fuck. If I knew, I would've hidden in the bathroom too," said Bictor, treating the invasion of monsters like a casual activity.
Other students still looked spoked and a few were even missing from the classroom which I assumed meant they had left to go home.
"Bictor, you're pretty crazy aren't you?"
"Me? Crazy? No, never. I'm just... intrigued by how it'd feel to crush one of them with my bare fists, that's all. That doesn't make me crazy though."
I could see the bloodlust in his eyes.
"No... I'm pretty sure that makes you crazy. But hey, as long as that craziness isn't aimed at a fellow human, keep at it."
He chuckled at my response and headed back to his seat.
It was hard for the teacher to get through the lesson without it feeling weird because everyone still had their mind on the attack the school just went through.
It got to a point where he turned to us and said, "Alright. Self-study time."
Then he left the classroom and didn't return until the final five minutes of the class where he made sure everyone got packed up and left.
As I was heading outside where Jerman was waiting for me, a person stepped in front of me.
It was Diana who looked like she had just woken up. Her hair was a mess and I could see the traces of drooling on her mouth.
"Hi," she greeted.
"Hey. What's up?" I asked.
She looked around as if to make sure that no one was too close to us.
"Thank you."
"For what?" I asked, pretending to not know what she was speaking about.
"For saving me. You don't have to pretend. I know it was you who brought me down to the nurse's room. I... I won't ask how you managed to get past the vampire but... thank you."
A light smile appeared on my face and I nodded as if to acknowledge the truth.
"You're welcome."
Then she asked me, "Do you know?"
"Know what?"
"The truth about what happened to me," she said. "Do you know?"
I didn't want to place any more burden on her and make her overthink herself over and over so I did the right thing and responded, "If you're referring to the blood that is now flowing in your body then yes... I do know."
'So does the headmistress,' I thought.
She knows but the headmistress doesn't say or do anything about it because she is a great judge of character and through her interactions with Diana, she understands that Diana wouldn't betray the human race just for power when she is already one of the most talented students at the academy.
"Are you going to..."
"Tell people? No," I replied, shaking my head.
"Why? What if I hurt someone?" she asked.
"Are you planning on hurting people?"
"...No."
"There's your answer."
"How can you believe me so easily? What if my body moves and thirsts for blood on its own?" she asked. "What if I lose control? What if—"
"Diana," I interrupted her. "It'll be okay. Just relax. You're not going to do any of those things. You've read the textbook about vampires, werewolves, and other races right?"
She nodded.
"Then you should know that as long as you don't get a taste of fresh human blood then you'll be fine with the thirst. Don't tell me that you've already..."
"No," she said, shaking her head profusely. "I haven't."
Smirking, I told her, "I was just joking."
"Oh."
"You'll be fine Diana. If anything, just treat it as a blessing."
"A blessing?"
"Yes. With vampiric blood, you'll have better control of ice magic. Don't you know that their race has an extreme affinity with the cold?"
She looked down at her palm and starting from the base, she began to create a small ice sculpture of the main academy building down to the last minute detail.
"See," I said, smiling. "It's a blessing."
Walking past her who was still astonished by the control she had over her ice magic, I said, "I'll see you around."
"See you."
As I continued walking, I could sense that she was staring at my back.
'Was that a cool exit?' I asked Liona.
'That was super cool! It's like in that one movie you and Rubi were watching where the badass with sunglasses walked away from the explosion.'