The Fallen Vampire

Taira stared through one eye at the man in white and gold robes floating within this simple black space.

It had been a while since he had seen the fallen beast god, over fifty years actually.

He had taken for granted just how wonderful that time of peace was.

"I can tell that you're thinking about something incredibly insulting right now and you'll stop it if you know what's good for you!"

"...Hmph.." Read further on m_vl em,pyr

Fenris showed a smile that was not a smile as he cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"I see that in the time that I have taken my eyes off of you you've become rather arrogant! It seems as though it falls to me to pound some respect into that stupid muzzle of your-"

"Last we spoke you told me you were going to visit me again in fourteen days before disappearing. What changed?"

Fenris' rage seemed to be temporarily halted and he made a face as if he were remembering something unpleasant.

"Hmph... Something came up on my end, whelp. Do not tell me that you were disappointed that I did not attend our meeting as promised?"

"..."

"You're such an unlikeable prick! It is a marvel you were able to trick two women into marrying you."

"Five."

"Excuse me?"

"I have five wives now. As for how I was able to trick them into being with me... I have no more answers than you."

Fenris saw traces of a smile form on the large fox's face while a dreamy and faraway look formed in his eyes.

He'd forgotten just how sentimental this chosen of his could be.

"Sappy bastard... You still make me sick after all this time. Women are to be conquered, not worship-"

Lucia: "Taira~"

Keran: "Are you sleeping?"

Vermeil: "His mind feels... strangely active."

Aveena: "Do you think he's having another puppy dream?"

Enyo: "I hope so! He was so embarrassed the last time!"

Fenris felt his blood run cold as he heard numerous feminine voices suddenly echo from all around him.

"What is this madness..?"

Almost on cue, five women appeared in the dark space around Taira's resting form.

Every single one was just as beautiful as the next, and it would be tough to find their equal even among the jade queens of the upper realm.

They all seemed surprised to find their husband inside of such a dreary dream, and they immediately assumed him to be hiding something.

"Is my husband lucid dreaming again?" Aveena asked as she sat atop his back.

"He has to be, why else would he have changed the landscape to something this uninteresting? He's trying to avoid another puppy dream incident." Vermeil assumed.

Even without his physical body in tact Taira still enjoyed all of the pets he was receiving more than he would have cared to admit.

"Actually my loves, this is-"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The girls nearly jumped out of their skin as the roar of an unfamiliar voice nearly deafened them.

Turning around, they found an older looking man in white and gold robes with nine white tails flowing behind his back.

The vein bulging within his forehead looked like it was only a few seconds away from bursting due to stress.

Vermeil: "It's that Fenris guy!"

Enyo : "I thought you said you hadn't spoken to him in years?"

Lucia : "He's so red... that can't be healthy."

"How are you all here?!" Fenris roared again.

"Spying on my dreams is a past time of theirs." Taira admitted without an ounce of displeasure.

"What!? The lower realm shouldn't.." All of a sudden, Fenris noticed the very distinctive tattoos adorned on the bodies of the girls in a variety of different spaces.

All of a sudden he raised a claw to his head as if he were forming a massive ulcer.

"Don't tell me... you started to practice the 'Sun and Moon Dual Cultivation Art'...?"

"Mhm."

"Ugh..." Fenris made a look of pure disgust as he fought the urge to pluck out his eyes.

There were few cultivation arts he abhorred as much as the sun and moon cultivation art.

Every couple he'd ever met whom used it were a bunch of complete and total saps!

He couldn't fathom why any man would ever willingly use it of their own volition.

Not only did it limit the number of partners one was capable of acquiring, with every new wife gained, the danger of taking another would quadruple.

After all, the art was all about 'compatibility'.

In return for this, they all received those markings, a boost to their cultivation speed proportional to their combined talent, and pleasure during carnal activities that only a few in creation could hope to mimic.

As well as access to their partners' mind, body, and soul whenever and wherever they wanted until the end of time itself.

Even if Fenris tried to push the girls out of this space shared between he and Taira, he couldn't.

Their souls were fused together now, so they could come and go as often as they pleased.

It was all so infuriating that he wanted to tear his godly hair out of his scalp.

But as he agonized over this unfairness, his eyes landed on something peculiar.

One of Taira's wives was a woman with a notably fierce demeanor to go with her green hair and bold horns.

"This can't be right... where in the blazes did you find a dragon..?"

"I didn't find anything."

Lucia gave a short but polite bow as she floated in front of Fenris.

"It is an honor to meet you, god of fallen beasts. I am Lucia, the inheritor of the Heavenly-... I mean the Dragon Clan of the upper realm.... or at least that's what old man Gintanai says."

Taira fought the urge to roll around on the ground laughing as Fenris' jaw nearly fell off his body entirely.

The beast god ripped off his ears and plucked out his eyes before letting them regrow dramatically.

"I'm sorry... would you mind repeating that for me?"

"Sure! Umm... which part though?"

"The bit about you being the inheritor to..."

"Oh yea, supposedly Old Man Gintanai wishes for me to inherit the clan upon my eventual ascendance to the upper realm."

"...You're shitting me."

"No sir, I am not."

"Don't be so polite with him, my love." Taira said as he rolled his eyes. "He has all of the nobility of a bar room drunkard."

Fenris was so stunned by the massive revelation he had just heard that he didn't even bother to address any of Taira's snide comments.

It was true that the dragon clan of the upper realm was not what they used to be, but they were still a top five power.

Selecting an existence from the lower realm to be the inheritor of all of that might was equal parts unfathomable and bewildering.

'It has been ages since I felt like this... I need to lay down.' Fenris turned his eyes away from Taira for a measly fifty years and everything just spun completely out of control.

"I... barely even remember what I called you here for anymore."

"Then does that mean we are done here?"

"No, it does not!"

"Tch." Taira clicked his teeth annoyedly before laying back down with a clear attitude.

"Oh, right." the beast god finally remembered. "I've come to inform you about an upcoming occurrence that you need to take full advantage of. That is, if you want to increase your likelihood of living a long life."

At this, Taira admittedly perked his ears up and lost some of the disdain in his eyes.

"...What is it?"

"The secret realm will soon open in the lower realm for the first time in 2,000 years. You need to get inside before anyone else does."

Finally, Taira sat up and stared at Fenris with laser like focus.

The secret realm is a mystical, one of a kind domain that is said to be connected to the heavens themselves.

It supposedly contains no small supply of bountiful natural resources, hidden treasures, and inheritances centered around enlightenment.

He honestly couldn't believe that Fenris was freely telling him about it ahead of time.

It's arrival in the world was supposed to be random, but now it seemed as though the heavens had quite a hand in bringing it about.

Fenris saw the look on Taira''s face and nearly snorted.

"Are you excited, whelp? That's good. Because this year the stakes are so high that if you let one of those bastard heroes get inside first you will regret it for the rest of your very short life."