What do I do, what can I do!? I can't fling the spear with any real momentum like this, and it was too short to reach……wait, what if I extend the handle out by forming more ice along the length of it? It was worth a shot!

  I grabbed the claw hovering above my heart and formed a shard of ice inside it, snapping the finger off, before raising my left arm and angling the spear in the direction of its chest. I held the spear by the base of the blunt end and channeled as much Mana through it as I could, the handle extending out rapidly and reaching the monster's chest……but without enough force to pierce through.

  With a sudden flick of its claws, it slashed my right shoulder and immobilized my right arm, while taking off another left claw and positioning it above my heart. Why did it not slash my left shoulder or break my ice spear? It really was toying with me! Of course, win or lose, the Vampire controlling this monster would not be affected, it was simply playing a game……damn it, that was the only reason why I'm still alive.

  It began to slowly plunge its left claw into my chest, breaking the skin, piercing through the flesh, and started to crack through my ribs above my heart. No, I cannot die like this, not here……I still……need to get……stronger!

  Using all my strength, I thrusted my left arm up as I let out a loud roar, while extending the spear as much as I could and mustering all the power I had into driving the spear up. The tip of the spear pressed into to monster's skin, before piercing through its chest right as my ribs broke……and killing it before it could kill me.

  It disappeared, and I collapsed onto the ground, unable to calm my ragged breathing, my body in a lot of pain. I shakily reached down to my belt and touched the healing scroll, a wave of dizziness hitting my head as I healed myself. I had numerous scars all over me, the bases of my two left fingers that nearly fell off, my right shoulder when that Abominable Snowman almost bit my arm off, and the left side of my chest was scarred too.

  The black mist was floating above me, but I do not need to worry, it cannot enter my body, Kuro was an exception thanks the Mana Orb stuck in his chest serving as a medium. I believe it's safe to say that I have taken enough risks today, at any rate, I was far too worn out to continue……I should head back now……suddenly, the black mist rapidly flew down behind me, and I began to turn around and see where it was going, when I felt a sharp pain in my back and abdomen, before coughing out a puddle of blood. Wh-what just……?

  I slowly looked down at my stomach, my eyes widening in horror and shock……there was a thick, sharp chunk of ice jutting out, my blood dripping off it. It had broken my belt, and my healing scroll had fallen off and rolled away out of my reach. I turned around to see……the third Iceman, the one that one of the Abominable Snowman threw at me.

  Its arms had broken off, as had one of its legs, and its torso was cracked, but it was still alive……and the black mist was floating around its head. It was laying on the ground, half buried under the snow, and it had arched its back up and pierced its remaining leg through my midsection. A-am I going to die here……? After fighting and surviving against all those Abominable Snowmen and Ice Wyverns, i-is this how I die?

  Without thinking, I then grabbed the chunk of ice that was poking out of my stomach and began channeling my Mana into my fingers, freezing the chunk of ice while also freezing the wound around it, numbing the pain and stopping the bleeding……what am I doing, this is a futile effort, all I was doing was delaying my death by an insignificant margin……but if I'm about to die, there's no need to think about anything, even if my actions are contradictary, I do not care!

  I used a Mana Orb to replenish my Mana and continued desperately channeling ice into the Iceman leg that was pierced through me, aimlessly and pointlessly……or so I thought. Because suddenly, the Iceman began struggling to pull out of me……no, more specifically, the Vampire controlling it was struggling to break free, but……I do not understand, why does it not simply fly away in its black mist?

  I did not understand, but I did understand that it did not want me to keep doing what I was doing……in which case, I shall keep doing it! I let out a hoarse yet loud cry of determination as I continued channeling Mana into the block of ice, my entire body was numb and ice cold but I couldn't stop……

  The Iceman then suddenly stopped struggling and slumped, before disappearing into dust, leaving me with a hole in my stomach, my entire body deathly cold. I collapsed onto my knees and fell onto my front, trembling and shivering violently, as I struggled to hold onto my consciousness. I could not see the black mist anywhere……did it fly off at some point without me noticing?

  I suppose it does not matter……I was quite certain that I was about to die.

  "D-damn it, what did you do, human!?"

  A hallucination? I really am dying, aren't I?

  "Hey, don't you dare brush me off as a mere hallucination! How did you trap me so, human!?"

  Human? What does-?

  "Tch, it would appear as though you are too delirious to respond adequately. Very well……I have no choice but to pull you inside your own consciousness!"

  Wha……?……

  What is going on? I was surrounded by darkness, and I could not feel my body……was I dead?

  "No, you are not dead, human, not yet anyway. How……how did you do that!?"

  "What is this!? I don't understand what's happening here!" I exclaimed in confusion, "Who are you!?"

  "Insolent……! Tch, it would appear as though your ignorance is genuine. Very well, then……I am Atticus Rhain, one of the most powerful Vampires in existence……or at least, I was, until you trapped my consciousness and Dark Magic in your half-dead body!"……

  what?

  "Huh? That makes no sense, how could I possibly have trapped you?"

  "If I knew the answer to that, why would I be demanding to know the answer to that!? What did you do when I stabbed you using the body of the Iceman, the Dark Magic containing my consciousness got sucked into your body with no way out……it should not even be possible, we Vampires cannot enter human bodies!"

  "I started to……to channel my Mana into the Iceman's body as well as my own, just like I'd done with the other monsters before, but since it was already made of ice, the result was different."

  "And why would you do such a thing if not to entrap me!?"

  "Well, I……I think it was to numb the pain and stop the bleeding……or maybe I thought that freezing the Iceman would……actually, I am not quite sure what I was thinking……no, maybe I was not thinking at all, just acting out of sheer desperation with no specific objective in mind……," I replied, as I recalled my actions.

  "Now I understand, you froze the Iceman and yourself simultaneously, partially fusing yourself to it, which somehow caused my Dark Magic and consciousness to automatically flow into your body, but before I could leave, the Iceman died and disappeared. Tch, this is why humans are such inferior creatures……though I suppose I cannot scoff at your tenacity, I admit your drive to live impresses me."

  Hm, he appeared to have simmered down……had he simply accepted his fate?

  "You do not seem angry anymore……"

  "Well, that is the difference between us Vampires and you humans……we have a greater capacity to see the bigger picture, and we understand the pointlessness of struggle in a situation where doing so would yield no results. Therefore, in order to think more clearly, I must accept this predicament and consider all possibilities. I shall now inspect your memories, perhaps you are aware of some information that would be useful to me……"

  What did he just say?

  " My memories? Wait, stop……!"

  I trailed off as I felt an invasive presence in my mind, it felt almost like my head was being violated……

  "Interesting, so one of us has possessed a human in the past, and quite recently at that……and what's more, it was King Lazarus himself. I see, he used this 'Mana Orb' as a medium……but now is it embedded in that human's chest? I shall need to inspect your memories concerning this human. Ah, a healing ability, I do not believe I have ever seen that in a human……how interesting, the king granted him a portion of his power, I thought his Dark Magic seemed to have diminished a bit recently, now I know. The boy's body does not appear to be fully human any longer, there are certainly more than a few Vampiric traces in his physiology now. This is all well and good, but it tells me nothing about how to escape your body……without a natural healing ability, there is no way to assimilate and fuse a Mana Orb with a human body, I highly doubt a simple healing spell will suffice. I need to look through more memories……"

  "N-no, stop it-!"

  "I sense a tremendous mass of envy and greed within you……you envy those stronger than you and have a strong greed to optain more power, despite being more powerful than most other humans yourself. I cannot say that I dislike those traits……"

  "Enough already, stop invading my memories!"

  "Hm, some of those that you envy may even be strong enough to hold their own against a Vampire……the boy who King Lazarus granted a portion of his power to is certainly stronger than most average Vampires. Oh, what's this?"

  "Wh-what?"

  "Intriguing, you possess sexual attraction towards the same sex……I do not believe that is efficient in the matter of procreation, however."

  "H-hey, just which of my memories are looking at-!?"

  "Let us see what else you know. Boring……irrelevant……useless……tch, do you not have any more useful information in your brain? I suppose that settles it."

  "Huh, settles what?" I inquired skeptically.

  "Is it not obvious? I cannot leave your body, but it is on the verge of death unless……if I convert this Dark Magic into Vampire life energy, that will likely heal your body and make it stronger. After that, I shall take over your consciousness and replace your ownership of this body."

  Wait, what? He was going to take over my body? No, but that's……I was snapped out of my thoughts as I suddenly felt like my consciousness was started to fade, like it was on a pedastal but something was trying to push it off and take its place……

  So, I was finally going to get stronger, but at the cost of my own consciousness……no, I refuse to give up my body, I will not let this monster take over me!

  "Get……out of my head!" I exclaimed, resisting with all my might.

  "Impressive resistance, but a human cannot overpower a Vampire."

  Shut up……I will not surrender my body, I want this power, if you want my body then I want your power! I was pushing back against the force trying to overwhelm my consciousness, resisting with all my might……but I was still losing ground. No, I cannot lose this battle……if I win this……if I win this, I may even be strong enough to defeat them……Ekai, Kuro, Azyl……I will be able to beat them all!

  "Wh-what is this, humans should not be capable of such willpower……just how deep do your envy and greed run!?"

  "Shut up! Right here and now, I shall establish a strong foundation for my consciousness inside my body, so much so that you will never be able to take over!"

  I could feel it……if I pushed back hard enough, I could smother and overwhelm his consciousness with my own……

  "W-wait, stop this! Very well, I agree to negotiate……I said stop!"

  "I refuse, you will not take over my body!"

  "You fool, you do not understand! If you crush my consciousness, my Dark Magic will overwhelm your body and kill you!"……

  was that true? If it was, I could not risk continuing this……fine then, I almost had him just now, I should have no trouble overwhelming him if he attempts to take over again.

  "Explain, what do you mean by that?"

  "I first need to convert the Dark Magic to Vampire life energy and assimilate it into your body, that will almost definitely heal your fatal injury, and make you much stronger as a result……however, you are running out of time so we must act fast, I do not believe that you will survive for more than another ten minutes or so. And if your body dies, both of our consciousnesses would cease to exist."

  "Are you saying that you will heal my body and then we continue fighting for control? Very well, I'll crush your consciousness-!"

  "Tch, how aggressive……no, I propose that we co-exist. It pains me to admit this, but I will likely lose in a battle of willpower, your greed is stronger than my pride. And that is saying a lot, we Vampires are by nature, proud beings."

  "I don't think so……how do I know you won't try to take over while I'm asleep or something?"

  "There is no time, we shall discuss that after I heal-!"

  "No, I refuse. I need an assurance that you will not, or even better, cannot take over."

  "……very well, then. I shall modify your psychology so that your consciousness cannot be taken over. Human bodies and minds are relatively easy to tweak, it should not be a problem. However, in order to substantiate our co-existence, I shall not make it impossible for my consciousness to control your body, although I shall add the conditions that I can only do so if you allow it and you will be able to wrest back control at any time so long as you wish it. Do you agree to that?"

  "I suppose that does not sound bad. But how do I know you are telling the truth?"

  "Once I finish the psychological modification, you will be able to feel it……and that aside, I mentioned that we Vampires are proud beings. Therefore, we do not lie."

  "And yet, despite that pride, you're fine with your consciousness playing second fiddle in this body?"

  "Not at all, it is far from ideal……but it is preferable to ceasing to exist. Vampires do not die 'naturally' or of old age, but as a consequence of that pseudo-immortality, our souls do not reincarnate upon death like humans do, we well and truly would cease to exist. Therefore, it is something that most of us would even give up our pride to avoid."

  "……fine, then. First do the psychological modification. Then do the life energy conversion or whatever it was."

  "Hmph, taking orders from a human……how humiliating."

  He then finally went quiet, and suddenly I felt something change……the presence of my consciousness felt stronger, and I could feel his consciousness as well, and I felt that I could control which consciousness would be in control……it was a bizarre feeling, my consciousness was not something I had ever 'felt' in this manner before, and yet it felt so natural, I understood how it worked perfectly.

  "I no longer have any control……so you will shortly return to your physical senses, I can no longer maintain your presence inside your own consciousness now that I have completed ceded my grasp over the primary control over your body. I should warn you, you will likely feel a large amount of pain until I finish converting my Dark Magic into Vampire life energy. I suppose that……," He remarked, but I didn't hear the rest of it, his voice fading……

  I opened my eyes with a sharp gasp, the early-evening sun peeking out through the clouds, before screaming in agony as my entire body was seized with excruciating pain, emanating from the hole in my stomach. It was starting to bleed again, and I was in too much pain to even attempt to freeze the wound again, I couldn't move at all……

  That's when I felt my body changing, my bones and muscles getting stronger, while my injury began closing, I shuddered in pain as I felt the organs that were destroyed in my abdomen growing back, it hurt so much……

  I gritted my teeth and beared it as best I could, feeling like I was in pure agony the whole time, tears running down my eyes at the excruciating pain……before I slumped in relief as the pain stopped and then started to fade. I tentatively stood up and and looked down……my stomach had closed up, there was a large, round scar on my abdomen, but the pain was gone, and most of all……I felt incredible. Almost everything about my body felt different, but I liked it……I had never felt so powerful before.

  "Now that both of our existences have been safely secured……I suppose I ought to get used to living inside a human," Came a sigh……from inside my head.

  "Don't do that, you startled me!" I snapped indignantly.

  "You do not need to speak out loud to communicate with me, I can hear your thoughts."

  Oh, I see……wait, no, I don't like that!

  "Frankly, it does not matter whether you like it or not, it is what it is. Do you want to know the specifics of the improvements to your body?"

  Hm? Oh, yes, I do. Will I be able to heal myself or drain people like Kuro can? And do I have access to a Vampire-like form like he does? What about my Magic, has it improved in any-?

  "One question at a time, human!"

  Stop calling me 'human', I have a name, Vampire!

  "Tch, I suppose we cannot co-exist bearably if we are not civil to each other. Very well……Fuo. I shall permit you to address me as Atticus."

  Yeah, whatever. Answer my questions, Atticus.

  "Why you little-! Hmph, I am the superior being here, therefore……I shall take what you humans call, the 'high road'. First, your body will heal approximately five times faster than that of a normal human, in other words, an injury that would ordinarily take five days to heal for others would heal in a day for you. But you do not have a near-instantaneous healing ability like that human boy does, he already had that ability prior to receiving Vampiric abilities from the King. And he manifested the ability to drain the life force of other humans as a result of his healing ability fusing with the Vampiric life energy of the king. All Vampires have the ability to drain humans with either our fangs or our claws, but he would have not manifested that ability if not for his healing ability. It is a bit strange, his draining ability is not quite the same as ours, but it works in the same way."

  Hm, that is too bad……his healing ability may arguably be his most valuable asset. Also, how do you know all that?

  "Yes, I quite agree, such an ability practically defies the very mortality of humans. And I am capable of determining which Vampiric elements are integrated into his body by simply observing his form in your memories. As for your second question……yes, you do have access to a Vampiric Form that would significantly multiply your abilities, however, you currently would be unlikely to maintain that form for more than three seconds."

  Would it last longer if your consciousness was in control?

  "No, it is not a matter of willpower, your body physically cannot handle it……yet. If you train extensively to master and use this form, however, you will likely be able to use it for a significant amount of time."

  I see, that's promising.

  "As for your third question……your physical abilities have increased by three times what it was at least, as I'm sure you can feel, but as for your Elemental Magic……your Mana capacity remains the same, as does your output. However, while using the Vampiric form, it will be much more powerful, I believe your output may increase while still consuming the same amount of Mana. Ah, one more thing, every Vampire has their own special ability that is unique to them, called an Cross. My Cross is the power to created nightmarish illusions and hallucinations by making direct eye contact with a human within ten meters, it can be resisted with a strong willpower, although it certainly is not an easy feat, some even die of shock from the illusions. Though I'm afraid at this point, I am uncertain about whether you will be able to use that ability. Do you have any other questions?"

  No, that is all for now.

  "I have a question for you……do you plan on revealing your new abilities? I would not advise revealing my existence within you, it may not end well if another human knows that you have a Vampire inside of you."

  That makes me wonder……your Dark Magic that got trapped inside me, is it not just a fraction of your full power?

  "No, that was the case with the King when he went into that boy's body, but in my case, this is most of my Dark Magic……the core of my Dark Magic inside the Forbidden Zone will likely fade away in a handful of days since my consciousness has been cut off from it. Ordinarily, a Vampire's life ends when their core breaks, but in my case, I will sustain my existence using your life force……do not worry, it is unlikely to affect your lifespan. The King is able to seep out small fractions of his Dark Magic and still be able to control the monsters around and even verbally communicate through them……but the rest of us cannot do that, we need to seep out at least more than half of our Dark Magic to control monsters, although our cores cannot seep out, which is why we cannot fully escape. However, in my case now, that is a moot point, I will never return to being a complete Vampire, I have no choice but to die when you die."……

  it is your fault for stabbing me in the first place.

  "Yes, I quite regret that now."

  Well, to answer your question……no, I have no intention of revealing this, not until I have had a chance to train with and get used to my new abilities.

  "It would seem that you are not a complete fool as most humans are."

  Thank you?

  "Now, then……will you be heading home?"

  Huh? Don't be stupid.

  "Stupid-!?"

  I feel stronger than I've ever felt before, and where better to test out what I can do now……why would I not continue on?

  "Fuo……perhaps being trapped inside you will be more amusing that I thought."

  Tch, having your voice constantly in my head is going to be more than a little annoying. But……I am thrilled to find out what I am capable of with all this power……

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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