Nihility [ Isekai • Dragon Evolution ]

I had stopped breathing as I watched the clearly vampire the Church of Space was after was here in the capital, right next to the church. There were two things in my mind, the first one was that I needed to kill him now, if I killed him everything would be over and we could enjoy being in another world, but the other part told me that I had no chance against him, and that part spoke louder.

I didn't know what gave me that impression, if it was how still the air had become when he arrived, or the amount of people in the floor below cheering as he descended a set of stairs on the opposite side of me.

My heart was beating wildly inside my chest, drowning most of the sounds and making the only sound I could hear be my own heartbeat. I then gasped as my lungs burned for a gulp of fresh air, reminding me that I needed to breathe.

I tried to leave, but the door was locked. Did he notice me and locked the door? I didn't know, and I didn't want to know. I needed to get out of this place before anyone recognized me.

Or I could use this opportunity to infiltrate in whatever is happening here. The thought crossed my mind. I was about to dismiss it as nonsense but when I gave it a little more thought I found that I agreed with it. It made sense. If I infiltrated in whatever was happening here then I could bring inside information back to the church and then finally end this threat.

I made my way to the stairs as I changed my clothes to something more formal, as the people on the floor below seemed to be dressed in fancy clothing. I could feel the sweat descending my neck as I arrived at the stairs.

There would be no more cover from here on now, I would be fully visible so I needed to blend in.

Taking a heavy breath, I got up from my cover and descended the stairs with confidence, even though I was shaking on the inside, ready to pull my armor and sword at a moment's notice. Thankfully no one batted an eye at me as I arrived at the bottom level.

From the stairs I saw the place I was, while in one of the more poor neighborhoods of the capital, seemed incredibly luxurious. I had seen the chains for the chandeliers from above, but didn't register what they were until now. The people here, talking and drinking, I recognized a few from one of the lessons. They were some of the more poor noble houses from the kingdom.

What was actually happening here? The thought crossed my mind over and over, but I had no answers. I decided to take a glass of a liquid from one of the servers that were walking around in servant clothes, but the moment I took it I froze.

Right in front of me were the vacant red eyes of a half-demon, the creatures I had killed left and right until I barely could walk a few days ago, it took all my mental strength to not pull my sword and cut his head clean off his body right then and there, but I managed to keep my emotions in check on the outside as I took the drink and walked to a more secluded area of the giant room.

My stomach was churning and I felt like I would throw up at a moment's notice. How could the mindless creatures that covered the ground with bodies from their frenzy be here, acting as servants to all these people? I felt disgust when looking at their laughing faces and anger when looking at the creatures that behaved like a zombie apocalypse out there and as a loyal servant here. I wanted to take out my sword and hack and slash everyone in sight, but I couldn't, there were too many important people here and I still didn't know what they were doing.

I plastered a fake smile on my face and walked back to the middle of the people, carefully listening to their talks.

"I must say. They are doing a fantastic job of clearing the land of those lower class scums" One of them said, and it took all my might to not behead him right then and there.

"I initially didn't believe when lord Fharos arrived at my summer castle offering the power, but now, after seeing the results I'm sure about following him" Another one said.

"What are your thoughts on the demonstration?" I heard one of the lower nobles ask another, a conversation I slowed my walking to hear.

"I found it fantastic. Who knew using the peasants in such a way would be so effective? I just wonder who that group was when the demonstration subjects reached that military camp. They appeared out of nowhere, killed half of the demonstration subjects and then left. I didn't recognize any of them" The glass in my hand shattered in anger, but I managed to push it into my inventory before I dragged attention to myself.

Demonstration subjects? Was that how they were calling those half-demons we fought? That was a demonstration for them? My anger was boiling and I would lose control at any point if I didn't calm down my emotions, the problem was that I couldn't, not after learning these people were active participants in whatever was happening that caused us to be summoned, that caused Marcos' death.

I wanted to scream at them, to just pull my sword and start slashing left and right, but I knew I couldn't. Even though I had magical powers and was several times stronger than even the strongest human back on Earth, here I was still pretty much a weakling, at least when compared to those that engage in actual fights and stuff.

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I was so angry at that moment that I grabbed the first glass one of those half-demon servants was carrying and drank it in one gulp. It wasn't the best thing to do, but I didn't care at the moment. I had understood at that moment why so many adults delved into alcohol to forget about their problems.

The drink tasted sweet and slid smoothly down my throat. I almost forgot the anger that was building up inside me as the room became more vibrant and the music became louder. I didn't know why I had hesitated drinking it before, it was a wonderful drink.

I kept walking as the conversations around me faded into a mix of barely distinguished voices. I even reached for the table on one of the sides of the room filled with food. I saw various meat based snacks and started to eat them, each one feeling like a small explosion of flavour hit my mouth.

I heard the conversations about how they used the peasants to convert them into a powerful army that didn't need to rest, eat or sleep, and they would even create more of their own using the local populace to increase their numbers. I had to agree, it was one of the best strategies I ever heard. Those filthy peasants should learn their place and kneel before us nobles.

I suddenly bumped into a cat person wearing a tuxedo and a golden mask, dropping my glass and the small plate of food I was holding with me.

"Oh. I am so sorry" He said. His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. "Here, let me help you" He passed a cloth on my wet clothes and they dried and then he offered me another glass, to compensate for the one he had caused me to drop.

I almost snatched it out of his hand. Of course I would take it as compensation. He had almost ruined my perfect clothes, how dared he do such a thing. I would need to find his house later and make them understand their place as well.

With a swift move, I drank every last drop of the liquid inside the glass, finding it odd that it was a bit bitter instead of the delicious sweet taste it usually has. As I was about to reach for my next drink, I stopped.

What was I doing? I wasn't a noble, why was I thinking I was one, and even considering the general public as filthy peasants? That wasn't like me at all. I looked around, trying to find the cat person but I couldn't.

What… What had just happened? Was it the drinks? Or the food? Or both? I didn't know what had happened and how I had freed myself from it. I decided to stay away from either, to not repeat what had just happened.

I was shaking as the sudden realisation of my mind being controlled hit me like a truck. I took a look at my skill list, but a calming sensation came from somewhere deep inside myself and I closed it. I didn't need to look at my skill list to know that there wasn't anything wrong with my mind. I was back 100%.

The event continued around me as had this internal debate. It wasn't really a debate, as I wasn't mind controlled anymore, even if what had happened was mind control. If it were, that meant that all these people around me weren't really themselves, but mind controlled slaves. Something to take note of before delivering the information back to the church.

I kept walking until I saw the vampire a dozen meters away from me. He was circled by a series of people, being elves, humans, a dwarf and the cat person guy from earlier, he was laughing with them and drinking as well, so he probably was under mind control as well. Though, his movement felt a little mechanical.

The vampire then made a movement with his hand and the music stopped, then he grabbed a small crystal device from his pocket and put it under his mouth.

"As we wrap this meeting up, I would like to ask you about the progress of the task I had left you from the previous meeting" He said out loud. Some people looked at the person next to them, talked something and then repeated until all the small conversation arrived at a single woman next to the vampire. She wasn't that far from me, so I could hear her soft voice.

"Security inside the churches of the Great Ones were more complex than we previously thought, as such we were unable to retrieve the information about the location of the Genesis Seal from them, but we managed to uncover a few clues from some of them" She said, waiting for the vampire to nod his head for her to continue.

"The third seal is located where the soul meets the body of the world. The fifth seal is located on the empty moon and the seventh is located somewhere between life and death" She said.

The vampire seemed to think for a few minutes as the people waited for his response. I was anxious about needing to get out of there. This was dangerous, really dangerous.

Then, the vampire started speaking again.

"Thank you all for giving me this valuable information. I will send the invitation for our next meeting soon, and it will probably be the last. For now, enjoy the food and drinks. They were made with perfectly curated meat from my subjects" He said, before walking up the stairs and taking the giant pair of doors that closed behind him.

"Perfectly curated meat from… my subject?" I repeated his words, and the hidden meaning dawned upon me. The snacks I had been eating were made out of people.

I felt my stomach churn and felt the vomit crawling up my esophagus. I ran to the stairs and, while holding my mouth with one of my hands, reached for the door where I came from and pulled it open. Thankfully it was unlocked and I was able to take two more steps outside before throwing up in the hallway.

I saw the red pieces of meat on the floor, and just the thought that I had eaten the flesh of someone made me throw up again. I needed to get out of there, so with trembling steps I walked all the way back from where I came from and exited from the hole I had made on the wall. Once outside I ran back to the church's grounds, not stopping until I saw a few clerks that usually worked under the pontiff herself and basically begged them to go get the pontiff for me as I had very important information that I needed to relay to her at that very instance.

My mind was racing so much I didn't even notice when the pontiff arrived behind me, touching me on my shoulder to get my attention.

"I am here. Let's talk" She said and then waved her hand in one of the meeting rooms.