Legacy World 4.31 Vlad's Plan

Vlad and Vanora went through the day and subsequent ones without letting anyone know what had happened between them. However, those around them could tell that Vlad got a lot more attached to Vanora. /She must have accepted him./ Everyone surmised, without the couple’s knowledge.

In truth, Vlad’s near obsession with staying with Vanora every second of the day was for security reasons. Both of them did not want the night at the inn to repeat itself. Moreover, his power in this world and over the plot may be useful in dire times. So, Vanora was fine with Vlad being around her while she bathed, as long as he kept his back towards her. The only exception was when she was taking a dump.

The hell beings’ inference was not too far off, though. Their tightened security was only possible because of Vanora’s trust in Vlad. Now that she was convinced he had gone out of character, she need not fret that his actions were done with the intention to trip her up, for the plot to progress according to how it should. It gave her a little sense of camaraderie, since she imagined him as her in her original world. He had gained some awareness and acted against the plot, except that Vlad seemed much more capable of changing his fate. During their passionate night, it was also established that Vlad would not take advantage of her.

Just like that, another few months passed.

BaoBao remained missing, but Vanora never stopped reminding him that she was still waiting for him. She also talked to BaoBao as if he was present in her mind.

In the meantime, Vanora opened up to Vlad, little by little. Eventually, he learnt about her entire past and how she was dead set on fulfilling her parents' wish for her to live on.

No one showed any issue with accepting Vanora as their Lady despite the difference in their strength. They talked about how her aura and mannerisms matched Vlad’s. Anyway, even if they had an issue, no one dared to object, especially after news of that street orgy travelled throughout hell.

An army of hell beings now stood in an expansive barren ground in hell. The size could not be compared to what it started off as. With the desire to end the war fast, Vlad decided to keep their numbers up and growing. However, an army of this size would be easily spotted from anywhere. So, Vlad had to teleport the entire army back to hell with him.

"This will be our last battle and it will be our victory!" Vlad yelled confidently.

Everyone cheered so loudly that the ground tremored. They wanted to get back to their lives of indulging in their sinful pleasures as soon as possible. This was far too much work and discipline for their liking.

Meanwhile, one demon hid her worries from showing on her face. /The last battle.../

Vanora looked as calm as always. However, Vlad still picked up on how she was a little more fidgety than usual. She also seemed a little distracted. His ability to tell how she felt had improved to the point that he did not need to rely on his aura perception.

While everyone else either prepared or rested for the battle, Vlad subtly nodded at Vanora. Understanding it as his cue to follow him, she did. They arrived at a more secluded part of the forest. She thought that he merely had something he needed to do there, but he suddenly turned around and asked, "What's troubling you?" His voice was soft and gentle.

Being caught off guard, she stammered. "N- Nothing."

Knowing better than to believe her words, Vlad comforted her. "This may be our largest and fiercest battle as of yet, but don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Vanora allowed Vlad to envelop her in his warm embrace. She closed her eyes and listened to his steady heartbeat. Focusing entirely on it helped her to gradually relax her tense muscles. Suddenly, she let slip her real concern. "This won't turn out well..."

"Why?" He gently probed.

Her eyes flew wide open. /Did I say that out loud?/

Her mind quickly searched for an excuse, then she realised that she always had a convenient excuse at hand. "I don't know. It probably is just my gut instinct." She shrugged.

His look turned serious as he thought about what she said. /Could this be a prediction? She could have been unconsciously processing all the knowledge and information she gained from all her previous opponents./

"Then you should take it seriously. Don't belittle yourself. Don't reject it, then worry about it on your own."

Vanora chewed on her bottom lip and gave a small nod.

"So? Is there anything more to this?" He probed again.

"Well… I suspect that there's an angel who can kill us and win the war."

"Any idea who it is?"

/Saying too much would probably be more clairvoyant./ Vanora shook her head.

"Got it." He ruffled her hair. "Good girl."

Vanora pursed her lips slightly.

"Now... We may need to alter our plans a little..."

He considered ditching the war and his role as the demon lord just to keep Vanora safe. Her safety was his priority. However, Vanora would not like this kind of cowardly behaviour.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"I know just the thing." Vlad grinned.

Vlad brought Vanora along with him to the surface, then created a colossal underground maze in a matter of hours. Then, he briefed all the hell beings at once. Their final showdown got pushed back by a few days for the hell beings to familiarise themselves with the maze.

Finally, the day of confrontation arrived. While the hell beings got dispatched, Vanora talked to BaoBao once more, before she got too busy. /BaoBao, we're already nearing the big boss battle. Didn't you enjoy these sort of moments? Didn't you find it exciting? Come back soon then./

Different groups of hell beings split up. While some got hunted down, others needed to actively search for angels to kill. Meanwhile, Vanora and Vlad stayed in the centre of the underground maze.

"Whoever our challenger is, they should get worn out by the time they make it here." He smiled, crossed his legs, and leisurely leaned back, like he was sitting in an invisible lounge chair.

/I sure hope so./

Overtime, the number of angels dwindled enough for other angels to become wary. In comparison, the number of hell beings were not too different. A certain couple cornered a group of hell beings. All, except one, laid on the ground, slowly disintegrating into white sparkles.

"I'm really trying to be nice here. Just tell me where all the missing angels are and I'll let you go. Live your life in hell and do your hellish activities. Do you not want that?" The female of the couple spoke with a sweet smile.

However, the grotesque hell being with warts all over his slimy body merely continued to scramble backwards on all fours.

"Do they not understand a word I'm saying?!" Her nice facade fell apart. "The others refused to spill anything as well!" She used her sword to point at what little was left of the dead hell beings.

"Angela, control yourself. He's the last of this group. I know that you have it in you." The male of the couple finally spoke up.

Angela gritted her teeth hard and took several deep breaths. "Okay. Okay. Yes, I got this." She recovered her composure, then threatened with a sweet smile. "You know… If you can't provide us with any information, I'll have to kill you, just like I killed your friends."

Suddenly, the hell being's thin, almost non-existent, lips stretched into a grin. "Fuck you!"

"You give me no choice…" She raised her sword but before she could swing it, the black mark of a rose covered the entire ground they were standing on. The next instant, the ground opened up like a cavity and swallowed them whole. Angela and Michael tried to fly, but their wings did not work. Although they were caught by surprise, they managed to land gracefully. The ground above was already recovering ita initial appearance. Before the last ray of daylight got blocked, Angela caught the slimy hell being slinking away. Angela ruthlessly jabbed forward in that direction, at the same time that they got engulfed in darkness.

Back in the center of the maze, Vanora focused on her hearing and smell to keep track of the ongoing battle. An idea to direct her flames through the ground and provide support passed through her mind, but the noise increased with the number of angels caught in this maze. The stench of blood and rot got increasingly overwhelming as well. Absorbing and processing all this sensory information eventually gave her a jarring headache, so she did not trust that her judgement of positions will be accurate. Nonetheless, she kept up her surveillance.

In the meantime, she planned for the possibility of Vlad changing his fate.

/Since I can avoid my death by faking it then hiding… This means that a change in the plot should be fine as long as it's not too drastic… I hope. Could Vlad do this too?/ Vanora wanted to repay her debt by helping him keep his life. If the world's consciousness ended up stronger than Vlad's will, even if he was unwilling to die, he may still die in the upcoming fight.

/But how am I going to convince him to fake his death and hide? Why would he want to give up his demon lord life?/

Overtime, beads of sweat formed on her forehead. /If BaoBao was here, knowing about the happenings beyond these walls would be a piece of cake…/

Vlad no longer lounged as lazily as he did at the beginning. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He wore a frown as he stared at Vanora. The whole point of staying in the center was so that she could conserve her energy. The way she behaved completely defeated the purpose. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her to take a break, Vanora spoke, "Raven, your target's in tunnel A4."

Raven disappeared without a sound or a single acknowledgement.

Vlad had entrusted Raven with the task to defeat that supposed strongest angel who could end his and Vanora's life. Even if Raven could not win, she should at least put the angel on his or her last leg. The absolute darkness that enveloped the entire underground maze was merely an advantage for the hell beings, but it could be considered Raven's playground.

"Can you rest now?" Vlad asked and placed a hand on Vanora's shoulder.

Vanora nodded, but she did not dare to relax like Vlad did. She had experienced enough failures to not become complacent or over confident at the most important juncture.

"What should we do now?" Angela thought aloud.

The hell being that had been disintegrating into white sparkles just disappeared completely. Now, the only other light sources were the random occasional flashes down the tunnel and around the corner. However, it only made it harder for them to see in the dark. It was not long enough to illuminate their way. The pauses were not long enough for their eyes to adjust to the dark.

"The dark is their advantage. They can see a lot better than us. So, we should aim to light this place up." Michael calmly strategised.

Another flash of light lit up the tunnel, and lit up the profile of a cold beauty in front of Michael's face. His heart did a flip as he jumped to the side. The blow that would have finished him off struck the roof instead and caused debris to fall.

"Angela!"

"I saw!" She quickly used all the light powers she had, which also granted them occasional light that revealed Raven's position.

Although Raven moved and attacked unpredictably, Michael and Angela had great reflexes that allowed them to escape by the skin of their teeth each time.

After a long drawn out fight, Michael and Angela resorted to randomly swinging their swords in the dark. Their successive attacks incidentally resulted in a chain combo that gave Raven nowhere to run to.

Raven was forced to back off and so disappeared into the shadows.

As the pair saw Raven retreat, they took this chance to keep up their attacks and ended up busting through the wall. They refused to be the rats in their maze. They also needed to quickly gather more angels, so that they could chain their attacks and produce the light that they needed to see in the dark.

The entire place rumbled dangerously from their attack. This told them that they could not do this too many times, or they would lose.

Unfortunately for Raven, fortune was on the couple's side. They encountered fellow angels a lot sooner than they had expected. With the execution of their plan, Raven lost the cover of the darkness and could only rely on hiding in shadows and her physical prowess. However, try as hard as she might, she just could not get closer to defeating them. This greatly unsettled her. The angels were getting closer and closer to Vlad and Vanora.

A queasy feeling hit Vanora. She had been paying particular attention to the sounds of Raven's battle, so she knew that Angela and Michael had not been defeated yet. Although the outcome was something she expected, it still did not feel nice.

Her head suddenly snapped to her right. She immediately grabbed Vlad's arm, then pulled him back together with her.

At the same time that the wall to their right got blasted down, Vanora created a hole at the top of another wall. It became a platform where they could silently observe from above.

Raven lost her cool for once, and acted hastily. This made her careless and the couple above watched as Raven got decapitated. The group of angels turned to leave, while Raven's corpse slowly disintegrated into white sparkles. That was until a pair of bright golden orbs floating in the dark caught their attention.