As it was a place I had never been to before, I could not directly teleport to it.
So, we decided to walk. The way to the kingdom was filled with many forests.
Just as we were passing through one of the forests, I found a barrier.
It was in the middle of the forest, most trees around it had already shredded their leaves.
"There is some kind of barrier over here.", I said.
"So, what, our path is this way."
"Don't you dragons ever feel a sense of exploration when you see something new?", I asked
"The curiosity of a human once led to the opening of Pandora's Box."
"Don't worry, let's just go inside." They both entered through the barrier and saw a fortress appear which has been hidden behind the wall.
"Wow, this looks like some kind of abandoned fortress?" After looking through the fortress, a bit Azrael found a box-like object.
"There really was a box. Should we open it?" I asked
"Did you already forget about pandora's box?", she replied
"But this is actually a huge box. Box… It looks more like a coffin."
"Do whatever you want.", she replied feeling irritated
I opened the box.
"Oh, it's just a human.", Crimson said.
"No, not a human but a vampire.", I said
She checked the teeth of the vampire.
"There are no fangs, so how could it be a vampire?"
"It's the smell, I remember the scent of vampires clearly. His fangs must have been destroyed."
"Let's just go, there is no point in staying here."
"Wait!! What? Why leave? Shouldn't we wake him up?" I asked
"That guy is just sleeping there peacefully, and you want to wake him up. Why?? To ask him questions like how he lived his life?"
"..."
"Is it your hobby to disturb people in their sleep or what?", she asked
"No, this time I've got some genuine questions to ask."
"Like?"
"Like the relationship between the vampires and the elves."
"And how are you going to wake up a vampire who is in its hibernation period?", she asked
"You see, vampires have certain rules they need to follow. Like, the first-generation vampires can place a command on the second-generation of vampires, and they can do the same to the generation below them. The command can't be disobeyed under any condition. That's how they maintain their hierarchy. So, all we need to do is place a command on him."
"Don't we require a vampire to place a command?"
" Oh, I've got plenty of them. 'Summon undead, Dracula'."
"Holy shit!! You're a bloody necromancer!!", she said in a surprise
"You didn't notice?"
A vampire appeared in front of them, it was wearing the clothes that resembled butler clothes,
"Master, I had applied for a vacation, so, why did you summon me here while I was on my vacation?", the Vampire said.
"Applied? To whom? I did not receive any notice.", I asked
"Ahh, I must have forgotten to submit the letter."
"And you just went? Is that even allowed?"
"Of course, the only command we received was to get along with each other."
"..."
"Forget about that and wake him up."
"Master it might be rude of me but, is it essential to wake him up? After all, a vampire's hibernation is one of the most pleasant moments in its life."
"Haaaah...just…, do it.", I said
"I have placed a command on his body, he will wake up soon. Then, please allow me to take my leave master, and have a pleasant day, my lady."
"Hey, you awake yet?", I asked
"Huh, who are you? And how did I wake up? Have 500 years passed yet? Wait, my fangs? What… Why haven't my fangs recovered yet?", the sleeping vampire woke up in confusion
"Yeah, we kind of woke you up to ask you some questions.", I said
"That's not possible, how did you even get in here? What about the barrier? Ten of my people sacrificed themselves to create that barrier." He said
"Wait, you, you are a dragon, now it makes sense how you were able to get inside the barrier.", he said that while looking at crimson
"Hey, it was me who broke the barrier. And now listen here, I am going to ask you some questions, and you are going to obediently answer it, alright?"
"Why would I ever answer a human, you're not even one of my kin?"
"What's your name?"
"It's Lazarus. Wait, why did I even answer that?"
"There is a command imprinted inside you to follow my every order and answer every question. So, set aside that cocky attitude of yours and nicely answer my questions, or I will make you reveal your deepest and darkest secret right here and now. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"
"No…", replied the vampire
"You look incredibly evil right now, you know. ", said Crimson.
"Now, who are you? What are you doing here? And how much do you know about the relationship between the elves and the vampires?"
He replied," I was once the ruler of the vampires, but I've been betrayed in the end. Now I'm hiding here."
"From the elves or the betrayal?"
"I was the last remaining 1st generation vampire; the time was peaceful, but the lower generation vampires started to revolt."
"Revolt? That shouldn't have been possible.", I said
"That's what I used to think too, but they joined forces with the high elves and were somehow able to go up against the commands placed on them. It caused fighting to arise between my followers and the combined forces of rebellions and the high elves.
In the end, I was defeated. The elves were a lot more superior in terms of numbers, so I escaped here and waited for my recovery.", he replied
"My, oh my, what a tragic story, so do you want revenge?", I asked as an excellent idea has just popped in my head
"Of Course, I want revenge, but right now, I am all alone and without my fangs. I am quite powerless.", he said
"What if I said I could recreate your fangs?", I said confidently
"Nonsense! That's utterly impossible!"
"There is nothing impossible in this world, so, how about it, you get your revenge, and we will also help you with it."
"We will?" The dragon asked.
"Yes, we will."
"But why would you want to help me? And I know from your face that it's not because you are a kind being.", the vampire asked
"Oh, it's never about helping someone, it's all about crushing the vampires."
"But I'm also a vampire?"
"Let's just say that I have a love and hate relationship with them. So, Crimson, now we have 4 kingdoms to destroy."
"Who was the one that said, 'I want to travel the world, not destroy it'?", she replied
"Well, 4 kingdoms do not necessarily make out the whole world, and besides, now you would finally be able to fulfill your reason for existence, like, bringing calamity, and not just sleep."
"Ouch"
"Also now let's see what I could do about your fangs."
[Initiating Deconstruct and Reconstruct]
That's when I suddenly fell to the ground.
[Failed]
[MP has been completely Depleted]
"Hey, are you ok?", she asked
"Yeah, I just ran out of my magic.", I replied
I had totally forgotten that the amount of MP contained within this body was much less compared to my real body. Also, destroying the barrier and just summoning a high-level vampire earlier had nearly depleted my MP.
I was not able to move my body.
"Hey, Crimson, mind carrying me?", Azrael said.
"Wow, the fangs did not completely recover, but at least the base has been reconstructed.", the vampire whispered
"Damn, with the amount of MP in this body I won't be able to cast any high tier spells. But wow, your hair is really smooth."
"Don't touch my hair.", Crimson growled.
"But your breath stinks."
'BAM!''
"There was no need to strike me!" Azrael complained.