Vladimir Tempest!

For many hours, Lord Sebastian sat still on his chair as if he was a statue. When it was early in the morning, his huge eyelashes fluttered, and a crack appeared in his eyes. His eyelids raised, and his eyes welcomed the study room's bright lights.

They stung his eyes, making him feel so much pain that he closed them.

Lord Sebastian was feeling slightly out of touch with reality, but when he remembered what happened last night, his drowsiness dispersed immediately.

He snapped open his eyes and looked at his surrounding with a scrutinizing gaze. At this moment, Lord Sebastian was the most focused he had been in his entire life. There was an alert expression on his ice-cold, emotionless face. He confirmed that he was not injured as he was not feeling any pain, and although he was uninjured from head to toe, he was still able to make sure that what happened last night wasn't a nightmare. It's because the evidence of his struggle was all around him. The study room was in a mess!

Before he could think of anything else, his wandering gaze landed on the mirror opposite him. It showed his reflection.

In the mirror, he appeared healthy. His complexion was still pale, but it was a healthy kind of paleness, one without any signs of sickness mixed in it. His eyes widened in shock.

His pupils weren't like that of a human. They were like vertical slits, the color of blood.

They weren't his eyes!

At the next moment, what he refused to believe were his widened like saucers, bewilderment and disbelief painting them. Lord Sebastian could see through his body, and he saw a worm-like parasite 3 inches below his navel. It was very long and coiled around his barely visible magic core. It even squirmed, and when it wiggled, Lord Sebastian felt disgusted. A sense of nausea filled him. He found the present situation extremely disturbing. He was feeling disturbed because there was a foreign entity in his body, one that looked highly nauseating! His crimson eyes turned black, and he lost his inner vision. However, what he saw left a visible impact on his mind.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Spiritual Gu, an extremely vicious insect that infects a person's spiritual core and devours every ounce of spiritual energy in it to grow. And once it reaches its adult form, it takes control of a person's body. Since it's already a few meters long, it is not too far away from reaching adulthood. I think you only have three months before you eventually become a mindless puppet."

An extremely thick and imperialistic voice sounded in his ears, shocking him. The information about the parasite in his body was terrifying enough, but the majestic voice that sounded in his ears came as an even bigger terror.

He looked around and found no one in this room.

Since no one was here, where did that voice come from, and how did it know everything about the parasite?

"From inside of you, you foolish peasant." It admonished him as it thought him to be too stupid.

Lord Sebastian blinked his eyes, breathed deeply, told himself that what he was hearing was real, and asked in a thick voice, "Who and what the heck are you?"

"What do you think I am?" It said mockingly.

"An evil spirit?" He remembered seeing an apparition that looked like the horrifying things he had read about in the news and seen on television.

His words pissed off whatever was talking to him.

"You damned peasants, I would've cut you into a thousand pieces tens of thousands of times if it weren't for the fact that you're the only being in a thousand years that had managed to become my vessel, and I don't want to kill you!"

Its voice echoed in his ears, and he felt it ingraining with his mind, hurting him a lot. Blood trickled out of his ears. It was painful, but his squinted eyes glinted in thoughtfulness.

From its words, Lord Sebastian realized that he was highly precious to whatever was talking to him and that it would not kill him no matter how much he steps on it.

He gained newfound confidence as he believed it wouldn't kill him. Lord Sebastian straightest his back and sat up straight with his head high.

"How about you tell me what you are?" He asked as he put his noble demeanor in full display.

It found Lord Sebastian's cool-headedness extremely pleasant. An average person would be shouting hysterically and going bonkers just knowing that there were foreign entities inside of him, but Lord Sebastian was able to keep his cool. He had gone through a lot in his life. Thus, he was acting pretty rational in this situation.

"Listen well; I am the overlord of blood and the ruler of the hell of blood, the first of my name and the prime source of all vampires, Vladimir Tempest the Great!" It revealed its identity to Lord Sebastian.

Vampires existed and lived in harmony with humans; at least, that was what media companies showed on the surface. They followed a hierarchy and each vampire had different strengths, and the people based their ranks on how strong they were. The lowest members of their bund were the mixed blooded, and most vampire bunds didn't expect them and instead hunted them down. Then came the blood servants, household members, nobles, and royals. Only royals called themselves overlords and proclaimed themselves rulers of different planets and places.

"You say you're a vampire royal, but how am I to believe in you?"

"For a mere peasant, you sure have many questions." It chided.

Lord Sebastian was sure that it was going to answer him. He didn't know what it wanted from him, but he was confident that it needed him. It had no choice but to answer him and clear his confusion.

He pressed his lips into a thin line and said, "Curiosity is abundant in me, and answers are what I seek. So please do humor me, your royal highness, Vladimir Tempest."

"Take off your shirt and take a look at your chest." Vladimir Tempest said in a voice that one would use when they wanted to express that they were looking forward to seeing something amusing.

Lord Sebastian took off his chest and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He saw a weird red symbol above his chest, and his eyes opened wide enough to turn into full circles.

"A grade-1 blood symbol?!" He uttered in disbelief.