As the temporary power of Blood Influx disappeared, Akiael entered his destination only to find that the interior was much different compared to the hallways that he had previously had traversed. It is wondrous that so much time and dedication was spent to display one subject. Though instead of having ailes of records and papers, it was more of a showcase room, now that the Empire has started to format all important documents to digital format and be stored on designated computers.

The room itself was ailed with comfortable leather chairs and a designated seat for his royal majesty as signified by the golden replica of the throne in the corner. The seats were all facing a large rectangular window, closed off by steel shutters with a small stage fitted with the latest presentation decoration and technology with a three-dimensional holographic projector that spanned the whole room. The sight was clearly made to appease the king to ensure that the Sector would secure even more funding than the hefty amount of the pie they already have. However, the room had its lights turned off and a red escape symbol glowing signified that the people that were here fled to a more secure location, evident by the lack of guards protecting the place and that a trap door was opened in the corner of the room.

Judging by its position and looks, it seemed to be protecting the treasure of this facility, if any intruder ever got here considering the layer of security that would be present on any other normal day. Though the building interior only has traps in more private areas such as the evacuation locations, outbreak rooms, and air vents, the amount of security on the exterior including but not limited to: mounted automatic guns, roaming tanks, and anti-magic barrier made it pretty damn hard to get inside, unless you have a scheduled midday pizza delivery that is actually storing an intruder and an insider who can get you enough information to know about all this security. The fact is that almost nobody has made it inside all of the layers of guards and surveillance which left little in the budget for securing the actual experiment. Thus the Sector resorted to hiring some budget royal guards and a totally secret trap door to secure all of the information about the subject. Suffice to say the Sector High Supervisor did not take into account the factor of human stupidity and incompetence into the equation, a common error.

Taking full advantage of the schmuck who failed at his job, Akiael swiftly ran through the sights to his objective.

His feet stepped on the ornate red carpet and went down the stairs to see what could only be described as a small office workplace accompanied by the slight humming of hard drives. Rows and columns of desks with the old style flat screen computers were mounted on wood and metal desks. In the back were bookcases filled with records that were not fully converted into digital format yet. Besides the bookcases, a compact office that presumably belonged to the overseer of the room was abandoned, though it was much nicer than the rooms outside it. On the opposite end was a shuttered window exactly the same from the floor above it, however unlike its counterpart, in the center was two tightly shut, steel doors which were not under the protection of the metal shutters.

Nevertheless, Akiael had a job to do. He took off his cape and held it in one hand as he prepared to “permanently borrow” everything of importance from the room though his leg injury left him limping as blood soaked to his pants. He turned on all of the computers one by one and took time to look through each set of files. As he was on his fifth computer he realized that every single file was downloadable via the admin’s computer.

So he booted the system up and downloaded every single important file related to the experiments conducted in the facility while avoiding the manager’s copious amount of porn; blushing at one glance. Akiael pulled out a few USB drives and inserted them to copy the files.

Click. Click. Click. With his secondary task completed, Akiael proceeded to throw the drives inside his cape and destroy all of the evidence he could get his hands on.

He held his hand in front of the desk and aimed at the computer. “Dark Ball.” The energy inside the ball was always mystifying to Akiael. It was as if one could see the endless void of Hell inside it. Swirling into the unfathomable oblivion then finally unleashing its might upon the mortal realm. The sight of a spherical hole in the desk would make any technophile disgraced at the sight while anyone who is technophobic would certainly cheer for the destruction of this data.

Suffice to say Akiael strived to complete his task by doing the same to each computer in the room. It was as if an artist was writing his signature to his masterpiece. Intentional or not, the vampire made the same hole on every single desk in the exact same location. Whether the action would inspire fear or awe, is debatable.

With the information objective completed, Akiael moved on to the main entree of the whole infiltration. The vampire tore the door open with no care for his surroundings.

Unlike the room before, only the melodic sound of complete silence could reach the vampire’s ears. The sound was calming though it would be eerie to the common mortal. In the center of the room, a pedestal sat under a column-like vessel. Inside was a girl who was unconscious as a transparent fluid glowed within the green glass of the container as it stretched between the floor and the ceiling of the two-story room. The wiring and pipes were cleverly orchestrated no different from a spider’s web which covered the container top and bottom to ensure that the inhabit survives in the recovery fluid. Strangely this fluid was the only source of light in the room, comforting the silence.

Akiael opened a portal through his cape and threw his weapons in there, taking out the Black Torch.

With the temptation of his objective in front of him, the vampire tightened his hand into a fist and steeled himself to use the spell “Spirit Absorb.”

Spirit Absorb (Lvl.4)

I art thou. Thou are I. Thou has created a new vow forged with mutual interest and the purity of blood. May the combination of arms assimilate into a new truth.

Current Effects:

Cast upon the soul of any living being to “possess” its strength. May only be used if the user defeats the target in battle or upon receiving a part or whole of the target’s soul.

However as soon as the vampire was about to put an end to the girl’s misery, Akiael observed a few other noticeable points of interest. The vessel had a rectangular door on the back of it, not exactly the wisest security function, and the whole room had an extensive sigil centering around the experiment. Any normal person attempting to read the ancient language inscription would be struck with a migraine, making it clear that these words are not only foreign but literally imbued with power.

Akiael stared at the unorthodox runes closely and observed the language differently than from an amateur. ‘A Major Beast Contract Sigil? No, did they somehow change a human into a monster?’ The vampire amused the thought while switching eyes between the mortal girl and the familiar inscriptions.

Suddenly a point of inspiration hit the vampire as he began to connected the dots. ‘Dantalian said that the Crown was going to move this experiment soon.’ Akiael then began to look into the window where the presentation room he previously entered above the doorway. ‘The Sector wanted the King to see the experiment for himself but why couldn’t they have just sent a digital report with descriptions?’ The vampire began to tap his chin with his index finger while staring into the ceiling.

‘The sigil is clearly made from a foreign summoner due to the way the runes are carved. But why did the Empire wanted to establish a contract sigil if they could simply psychologically torment the girl into submission?’ The Empire was famously known throughout the globe for their conservative pursuit of progress using any means necessary. The result of having technology unparalleled by most modern civilizations is a testament to this philosophy though some would question whether common practices used such as unethical human experimentation and torture, denial of human rights that other nations have, and severe criminalization for the most minor of offenses has truly made the Empire a great nation.

Finally, as if a combination lock was solved, a metaphoric click echoed within Akiael’s mind. ‘The Empire made an agreement with a foreign power to hand over a successful experiment. To improve their diplomatic relationship the “investor” provided magicians and magical items to ensure that the process is secure. Then a summoner from the investor group would contract the experiment directly in here then have her shipped to a far location. To top it all off, the Crown would receive payment as they transferred all records and the experiment to the “investor”’

Realizing this Akiael began to act quickly. He stepped in front of the vessel and touched the glass with his hand. The reciting from memory he began to initiate the Major Beast Contract Sigil as the circle started to glow in a captivating manner. “I art thou. Thou art I. I make thou a subject of my will. I attest this to the Gods that govern all things natural and living that the subject will be under my command. With goodwill or deep spite, all actions shall be acted upon with determination. I, Akiael Fanlus, confer this vow.”

As soon as the vampire finished reciting the words, the circle started to glow red and energy could be seen jumping out from the runes, dangerously scathing the floor of the room with a burnt mark.

“What the?” The vampire could only spout a few words before the luminescent runes literally evaporated into fog.

Akiael could see nothing in the fog as he began to stand guard.

WARNING!

The contract has failed.

Reasons for failure:

Any species of the human race cannot be under a contract.

Akiael Fanlus: First Offense

Punishment: An inevitable demise in the upcoming months.

Have a nice day.

A blue screen popped up through the fog telling the vampire his future. Akiael read the words over and over again to confirm his fate, each time only being in a confused state of anxiety and shock. Gulping down his saliva, the vampire knew he had a job to do.

Just as the fog cleared, the vessel could be seen shattered into glass pieces in a pattern that left the girl inside unharmed with fluid draining out of the vessel through a sewer grid surrounding the vessel. Upon closer examination, the girl had dark purple hair and seemed to be about the same age as the vampire before her. There didn’t seem to be anything abnormal about the person other than a faded tattoo on her left hand and an orb that seemed to be absorbed into the middle of her spine.

The vampire, having no experience with seeing a girl close to his own age, blushed through his mask realizing that the robe that covered her body was the only clothing she had on. Fortunately for his dignity, she was still unconscious.

He took a deep breath and decided it was time to get out of this claustrophobic facility. The vampire almost took off his cape before realizing that this cape would reject living mortals to be within its confines. Putting his cape back on, the vampire lit the torch in his hand and saw that it was set for ten minutes to explode while setting the charge. Hopefully, the flare would be enough to cause the facility to collapse. He then placed the torch in the corner of the room, then bolstered the girl sideways on his back with his two hands and made way for the exit, still limping at his previous injury.

On his way out, Akiael noticed that the admin room had a particular object of interest. Through the hole that he made in the admin’s desk, a button with the words, “escape” could be seen on the wall.

Then as soon as he started to move, a woman spoke through a speaker. “Attention all workers and personal. The threat on floor 6 has been contained. Please report to your normal workplaces as an officer will take account of those we have tragically lost. Thank you.”

‘At least they are pretending to be nice.’ The vampire thought as he made haste to press the button. Quickly opening the door and pressing the button with his index finger, a wall shuffled a few layers before revealing itself as an elevator. As Akiael entered the elevator, he saw an array of buttons that went to different points to escape from including the roof, which has helicopters on it, as well as to a teleportation room with portals that could easily connect to the Royal Palace. One of the buttons, read, “Load Room.” Assuming that it was his escape route, Akiael shifted his hands behind his head to press the button before realizing that he could use his head to press the button.

With a quick tap of the head, the button glowed and the elevator quickly went up to the Loading Room on the 1st floor only to see Jion with a magazine. Despite seemingly distracted, Jion was prepared for any person to arrive at the room armed as he had his own weaponized surprises hidden away in his hand in the form of a gun.

The agent was startled by the sudden appearance of the elevator that he almost fired at Akiael before noticing the urgency of the situation. Jion took a folder stacked to the brim with papers with him and got into the driver's seat of the truck. Meanwhile, Akiael hopped into the truck area just as soon as two guards walked into the room. Akiael quickly puts down the girl inside the truck before closing the door as bullets were fired at him, making dents in the truck door.

The vampire took in a deep breath after taking into account his recent actions and sat comfortably on a ledge in the shallow darkness of the truck, only feeling the smooth movements of a moving vehicle escaping an armed facility without conflict. He glanced at the small window showing the driver's seat then decided to shut his eyes for some rest. After all, vampires sleep too.