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The world is cursed by an Eternal Night that makes men weak to sin. In this world, vampire gods rule the world and the worshippers of God are few and driven underground in fear of being killed or corrupted. Ivy's family once hunted the vampires but is now serving them, however, one servant of God will reignite the last bit of good left within her soul, which may save the world.

Venatores Noctis: Fading Virtue: Chapter 3 – Burn the Curse, Burn the Moon

Chapter 3 – Burn the Curse, Burn the Moon

To her surprise, Ivy awakens unchained in a rather luxurious room. She finds that her whip isn’t by her side and that nothing has been done to her. Her wounds from her fall have even been healed. Part of her is thankful that she doesn’t have to help the worshippers of God anymore, but at the same time, she feels worried about them being corrupted, especially Bernice. To see where she is, Ivy looks out the window to see that she is in a castle with neighboring castles around it and smaller buildings around them that are puny in comparison. Her curiosity about Bernice and the others then moves her to exit the room.

In contrast to her luxurious room, Ivy finds herself in a hallway full of cells where people are being corrupted and tortured. Her want for justice slowly begins to burn as she sees this and finds herself unable to do anything. Going further along, she finds a room where a person is becoming a vampire god. This person smashes several holy objects until they are cursed with the blasphemous baptism and covered with the blood of a baptized infant. Black spikes come out of the new god’s neck, go through its face, and emerge at the top of its head as if crowning it. Seeing the infant die a gruesome death and the other lords and gods celebrate it forces Ivy to act even though she is easily seen by the gods who wished her to see this.

“Ah, we were just going to wake you up and bring you here. You will be a god like us. Isn’t this a grand blessing?” one of the gods says.

“Why? It’s not something that I want,” Ivy says.

“Because of your power and because of your sinful soul. A person can only become a god like us if most of the light of God is lost from a person’s soul and yours is perfect.”

“I can’t use that power without asking God for it.”

The gods look at each other and consult one another. Even the new god has a say in this.

One of them speaks for the rest as it says, “That will be of no issue. With you allied with us, God will no longer be able to use you against us. As a god, you’ll live eternally blaspheming God with every action, every breath of your life. You will have true freedom to do whatever you want.”

“I don’t care for God, but I don’t want this! Above all, I don’t want an innocent infant to die for my sake.”

“You don’t have a choice in this. Besides, we can see from your sinful soul that you would like nothing different than the pleasures that only sin can afford, or do we need to remind you?”

“I think we do,” a god interrupts, “I think we should have her pleasure herself with the body of the holy woman.”

“The what?”

“One of the women who was with you was a fine treat indeed. She prayed out loud for her God and you to save her. Here, we have no more use of her corpse.”

The god throws over to Ivy the mangled body of Bernice who is barely recognizable to her. Ivy looks at her face in horror and begins to sob as she silently apologizes to her.

“That woman was something else. If there was anyone holy among that herd of sheep, it was her because of how strongly she resisted us until her death. Having our way with her was some of the best fun I had in months.”

“I’ll kill you!” Ivy says with her fists raised.

“With what? Your bare hands? Your nonexistent fire powers or perhaps this?” the god says before showing Ivy her whip and then crushing it with its hands. “You have nothing to fight us with. Perhaps you’ll find something later.”

“We would like a good challenge since the Church of God doesn’t give us any.”

“It would be nice, but for now since you’re so resistant, we should get you to relax. Perhaps sin a bit more before you become a god so that you’ll become more powerful.”

“Maybe we should actually have her pleasure herself with that corpse. Oh, what beautiful corruption will be born from that!”

“Perhaps we should.”

The gods activate Ivy’s curse and put it into overdrive.

“I’m sorry, Bernice,” Ivy says to herself.

“Get up. You can still fight this,” a voice says in her head.

Inside her mind, Ivy sees her guardian angel.

“I can’t do anything.”

“You can allow God to act through you.”

“But I can’t. The only thing that I can feel like I can do is to give myself over to my sins.”

“I felt totally out of control of myself too once, but submission to God is true freedom,” an unfamiliar voice says to her.

“I was afraid of the destiny God put me in. Still, I trusted in Him and triumphed with the help of my friends,” another voice says.

“I let my pride and zeal overcome me, and yet, God gave me a second chance,” yet another voice chimes in along with many others who give their testimony of service to God.

“Who are these people?” Ivy asks her angel.

“These are your saintly ancestors. They are praying that you overcome your challenges and are giving you the opportunity to do so. The choice is up to you.”

“Why does it have to be me? I’m nothing but a worthless whore.”

“You are not that to God. You are His precious creation that He died for and even now, He wants you to live and redeem yourself.”

Touched by this, Ivy’s strength begins to restore itself.

“I know you can do it, Ivy!” the voice of Bernice says from beyond.

Hearing the voice of Bernice and finally beginning to understand her purpose in life, Ivy prays to God, “I see now or at least see as best I can. Okay, God. Do with me what You will. Let the flames of justice burn through me and put an end to this eternal night.”

At her word, Ivy and everything and everyone around her begins to catch fire. This fire spread from not only this castle and the surrounding castle but quickly spreads throughout every inch of the world to burn the evil from it. Cities and long lasting monuments easily crumble while the vampires and their serfs of all kinds burn to ash as well. While this is happening, Ivy is struggling to keep this fire alight as it burns her as well. Despite the pain, she holds on preferring the freeing pains of the divine fire over the dark pleasures of her curse being inflicted on her by demons. Her angel, her ancestors, and Bernice continue to strengthen her with their prayers to keep her going.

Eventually, the castle around her crumbles, but her angel protects her from this. The entire world burns until finally, a flare shoots out from it to blow up the false moon to bits. After a short while, Ivy’s fire subsides and the world is free from the slaves of sin and false gods. Looking around, Ivy sees the ruins of the castle around her. Not many survived with her in this location with all of them saying that a light protected them, a light that Ivy explains to them was their guardian angel.

The smoke from the flames then dissipates to reveal the sun’s light that hasn’t shined on the earth for generations. It is then that Ivy realizes that the curse marks on her are gone and that she feels freer than ever.

She then gets down on her knees and says, “Thank you, God, for being so patient with me! I promise you that the sinful woman that I was burned up and the woman that you want me to be has emerged from her ashes. Please, continue to grant us your aid and help us rebuild a better society in Your name.”

Ivy takes a couple of the infants that survived, kisses them, and leads the survivors of the fire to a better tomorrow as she follows the light of God that now lives within her.

 

The End

Venatores Noctis: Fading Virtue: Chapter 2 – New Purpose and People

Chapter 2 – New Purpose and People

As both Ivy and the woman walk through the city, Ivy hears the faint sound of crying infants.

“Do you hear crying infants?” Ivy asks.

“It’s faint. Do you think…” the woman says.

At the thought of the implication, Ivy runs to the source of the noise and hastily removes the rubble muffling it. She finds crying infants wrapped in the same light that her guardian angel had. Her heart flutters in joy while holding as many infants as she can and trying not to cry.

“Thanks be to God. It’s a miracle,” the woman says.

“It’s a miracle they haven’t been killed while their serf mothers and fathers did. This place used to be a place where infants were born for the sake of them being used as sacrifices or experimented on to later become serfs. Wait, if the infants here are okay, then the rest must be,” Ivy says.

People with cloaks and weapons approach the two with caution.

Ivy takes her whip out and then says, “Who are you?”

“Bernice?” a man says.

The man takes off his hood to reveal himself as someone that the woman recognizes. Seeing him causes Bernice to run and hug him.

“I’m so glad that you’re safe,” Bernice says to the man.

“And I am even more glad that you’re alive. It’s a miracle that you didn’t die or were enslaved when you went on your suicide mission.”

“How did you survive the city catching on fire and what are you doing out here?”

“The flames didn’t affect us even though they spread beneath the city and we’re here to see what happened and if it’s actually safe to live above ground. Since these infants are alive, I’m sure the others are saving the rest from the burned down facilities that produced them. How did you survive?”

“The flames didn’t affect us either and this Aurora’s guardian angel saved us from a collapsing castle. She also started the fire with her hands believe it or not.”

“Did she really?”

“I don’t even understand how I did it and the angel says that I’m supposed to burn the world and moon of sin. It’s ridiculous.”

“Well, if you wanted to save me and save these infants, then there must be a part of you that still yearns for justice and truth.”

“I didn’t want to see another person be corrupted against their will in front of me. I also can’t stand the sacrifice of infants, especially because-no, forget it.”

“Okay. Whatever the case is, we should get these infants to safety.”

“Right.”

With the man and his friend’s help, Bernice and Ivy take the infants down below the city where there are many like them. In this underground part of the city lies the Church of God. Many parts of it are decorated with crucifixes, statues of saints, images of the Blessed Mother, and other holy images.

“It’s a wonder that this place was never discovered,” Ivy says.

“That’s because the holy images we have here dull the senses of the vampires and gods and because our God protects us,” Bernice says.

“If you say so. I’ve seen plenty of your own captured, tortured, defiled, and maimed despite their constant pleading for their God’s help.”

“But God did answer my prayers and deliver me from the vampires and showed me His purpose for you. It’s true that God doesn’t seem to answer all our prayers, but that’s for a good reason beyond our understanding.”

“It’s the Aurora,” a citizen of the underground Church says.

“Isn’t their family traitorous?”

“They were traitorous to begin with even after they were considered heroes.”

“They even still use the whip that one of their ancestors used to whip the back of Christ as if it’s some honorable weapon.”

“Those legends about them saving our world are false.”

“Ignore them,” Bernice says.

“I know that. Where are you taking me anyway? Is your pope here?”

“No. I don’t even know if we have a current one. I’m taking you to a mystic who might be able to tell you how to fulfill God’s will for you.”

Even though she doesn’t know what a mystic is, Ivy lets herself be led to one that Bernice knows of. When she meets the mystic, she becomes even warier of him because of the man’s blindness. The mystic gets up as soon as Ivy enters the room and somehow walks in front of her despite his blindness.

“You’re Ivy Aurora. It’s an honor to meet you,” the man says.

“How did you know that? How can you even see?” Ivy says.

“I may not be able to see the physical reality, but my spiritual sight is second only to my fellow mystics. Give me your hands so that I may tell you what you want to know.”

Ivy allows the man to touch her hands out of curiosity.

“What do you see, blind man?”

“I can see a faint ember that is struggling to stay alive. This is the last thing keeping your soul alive that yearns to burn for justice.”

“It yearns to burn? Haha, something in my soul telling you what it wants to do is the most absurd thing I’ve heard today when I know it better than you do and there’s nothing in me that says that.”

“Oh, but it does. You just silence it even as it whispers to you, and because of what happened, it’s a whisper that you can no longer ignore. The ember was ignited when you saw innocent people tortured, die, and become corrupted.”

“That did make me upset, but-”

“But where you really wanted God, truth, and justice to be real was when you heard and witnessed the death of baptized infants especially the death of your child.”

Everyone who hears it looks at the mystic and Ivy.

“How do you know about my child?!”

“Your soul told me about it.”

“Well, it won’t tell you anything else!” Ivy tries to move away, but she feels that she’s paralyzed in place and can only move her shoulders. Her eyes then focus on her guardian angel who appears in her sight without warning and shows her that it is the one that is holding her. “What did you do to me?”

“I’m not doing anything. It’s your angel who wants you to realize your true nature so that you will repent and save your soul.”

“Why now when it’s let me be who I am? Why now when God let the vampires take over the world and enact their will on everyone?”

“I cannot say for sure. Perhaps we deserved it. Perhaps it is necessary so that a greater good might be born from it. The only thing that I can say for certain is that you are the one who will save us with your fire.”

“People keep saying I should use it, but I don’t even know how to!”

“You have an idea of how. Do the same thing as you did before. Give yourself over to God and you will be complete and who you are meant to be. Here, I will allow you to feel the same peace that you felt when God touched your soul and allowed your flames of righteous anger the ability to manifest.”

“I didn’t feel any peace…”

It is then that Ivy remembers the touch of God that happened for less than a second. This feeling is like that of resting after a day of work when everything is done or something close to the feeling of being in Heaven or even closer to the feeling of true love.

“There it is. Remember that feeling and you will truly become the Ivy Aurora that God made you to be. Forget it, and you will become like the vampire gods. Nothing but an empty vessel for demons.”

With that said, the mystic lets go of Ivy’s hands. She loses the feeling of peace and is back to feeling empty and craving physical pleasures, which she begins to hate. Ivy then leaves the mystic and goes to Bernice.

“That was amazing what the mystic told you. Now you know how to fulfill your God-given role,” Bernice excitingly says.

“Uh huh,” Ivy lukewarmly responds.

“I’m sorry about your child. If you need anyone to talk to-”

“I don’t want to talk about it to anyone.”

“Okay, okay.”

Before they have a chance to relax, they see that the people are beginning to pack up. Concerned about this, Bernice goes to one of the Church leaders to ask why this is.

“Most of us are afraid that the vampires that come here will annihilate us because of what they’ll find. Because of this, we’ve decided to move to another place,” the leader says.

“Why’s that? God has given us Constantinople to be our own?” Bernice says.

“It makes sense,” Ivy comments, “This city isn’t yours just because your God burned it and made it safe for you. The gods may just bring in an army to destroy you or worse when they learn of what happened, which I’m sure they already have.”

“And just because an Aurora is helping us doesn’t mean that this one will save the world now. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate your help and trust that God has good things for us. I just don’t trust you too well because of what your family has done as of late.”

“Then this is where we part ways.”

“Hold on. I still know of your skills that we can put to use.”

“I don’t think holy people like you want my skills.”

“You know what I’m talking about. Your skills as a fighter and not a prostitute. We’ll pay you to keep us safe until we find a place we can live. It’s been decided by the council that you can have any reward for this within reason.”

“Oh? Why’s this?”

“We do not forget the good that your family has done and what you have done according to Bernice. The Auroras did stay faithful to the Church until the generations of Saint Claudius’ blessed children and grandchildren passed away.”

“I see. I accept.”

“Sir, I think we should do more than just pay her. She has the blessing from God to change the world,” Bernice says.

“If it comes to that, then by all means she can stay with us permanently. It’s just not something that we see happening in the near future.”

“Ivy…”

“Don’t worry about me, Bernice. I’ll be fine. Now, come on, and let’s help your people pack up. The gods will be on their way here before you know it.”

Bernice reluctantly accepts the reality of the situation and silently prays that Ivy stays with them. After packing up, the followers of God and Ivy load as much as they can on the horses and handmade carriages the Church has kept fed and hidden in the underground before heading out. Ivy sits on the rear carriage while other defenders sit on the outside carriages with their blessed weapons drawn and ready for a fight. It isn’t long before they get this fight as many beastmen and vampires come running their way. The defenders hardly manage to defend the carriages besides Ivy who can narrowly hold her own.

“Ivy!” Bernice says who is under attack.

“Come on, come on! Don’t you want to save your worshippers, God?” Ivy silently thinks.

She tries to remember the feeling to activate her flames until she starts to pray for a second, which lights up her whip. Her whip is also extended and able to release fire projectiles out at distant enemies that she uses to save Bernice and the other carriages.

“I knew you could do it!” Bernice says.

“Oh, please. I don’t even know what I did,” Ivy says.

Many more enemies approach them until not even Ivy’s upgraded whip cannot help them.

“Come on! Where’s that feeling?” Ivy thinks to herself.

Soon after, Bernice and those around her are overwhelmed and their horses are killed so that the carriages crash. This causes Ivy to panic to try to strengthen her flames.

“Come on, flames, activate already! You’ve already allowed so many innocents to die!”

“Watch out!” Ivy’s carriage driver says.

A group of beastmen and vampire serfs throw themselves at their carriage causing it to crash.

“You have to do something now or we’re all going to die or worse. Do what you did before,” Ivy silently says to God.

At her allowing God to act through her, Ivy’s strength is restored. She becomes like a fiery tornado that tears through the army until the gods activate her curse to bring her down. Ivy is able to resist her temptations only for a short while until she is consumed by them.

“Where’s that feeling? I can’t find it,” Ivy says to herself while trying to resist her curse.

The flames from her whip are gone along with her strength. Many of the worshippers of God are killed while few are cursed with the fate of whatever twisted desire the gods have for them.

“So, this is the famous Aurora. It appears that there’s more to her than her sexual proficiency and strength in battle,” one of the gods says as they approach her.

“I think we have our explanation as to how Constantinople burned down,” another says, “I say we don’t kill her and use her as a weapon to dominate the other gods.”

“I say we should. Her family and she have done great services for my family and friends in more than one way,” a third god says.

“You don’t think she’ll turn on us?”

“People like her, like us, only need to be satiated with pleasures of all kinds. Just look how happy she is now.”

“Oh, that’s right, but for now, let’s get her back to our castles. Let her pleasures overwhelm her until she falls unconscious. I don’t want to take any chances after what she did, but I also want her to have a taste of her future reward for serving us.”

“You are too generous, but I do want to see her lose herself in an overwhelming amount of pleasure. Let me see it!”

The pleasure inflicted on Ivy through her curse is increased until she falls unconscious. She is then taken with the rest of the worshippers of God to the combined castle of these vampire gods and a new horror that awaits them.

Venatores Noctis: Fading Virtue: Chapter 1 – Using a Spark for an Inferno

Chapter 1 – Using a Spark for an Inferno

Ivy sneaks behind a vampire god and wraps her family’s whip around his neck. Despite the metal-like spikes that come from the vampire’s neck, go through its face, and come out the top of its head like a crown, Ivy’s whip crushes it as if it were paper and makes the god bleed and suffocate.

“It’s time for you to die, monster,” Ivy says.

“Curses! To think it would end this way,” the god says as it struggles to free itself.

“You sealed your fate with your sins!”

“…still…to die at the hands of an Aurora is an honor. Let it be known that I was bested by a hunter from a legendary family-”

The two chuckle before beginning to laugh.

“What? Can’t keep up the act anymore?”

“It’s one of my favorites, but it does make me laugh. I appreciate the gift of your pleasing pain, Ivy.” The vampire god taps out but Ivy doesn’t stop strangling him. “Ivy?”

“What is it? I thought you enjoyed the pain.”

“Yes, its way of putting my life in danger is enticing since I rarely ever feel it, but it’s sad to say that our good time must end sooner or later. We can continue this again later once I recover.”

“Aww, but I’m just getting started.”

“Wha-what??

Seeing that Ivy seriously won’t release him, the god tries to break the whip around his neck, however, since it is a holy weapon, he only burns his hands as a result. He then uses his vampire god ability to activate the tattoos on Ivy’s eye, heart, and the one slightly below her waist. This causes her ecstasy which almost stops her, but she manages to narrowly persevere and behead the god. She then obsessively touches her tattoos as if wanting her curse to continuously feed her pleasure. Her sensations are quieted by another vampire god who enters the room and uses his abilities on her tattoos to calm her down.

“You’ll have the chance to experience an even greater pleasure now that you’re mine,” the god says.

“Don’t keep me waiting for long. You know what’ll happen if you do,” Ivy says before holding the god’s arm as if she is his wife.

To show his take over of the city, the serfs of the vampire god hang the decaying body of the god that Ivy killed from the balcony before the new vampire god gives a speech about his take over with Ivy at his side. Those who hear this gather gifts for their new ruler, especially supporters of the old ruler. On the other hand, those who are fearful of this sudden change of rule attempt to leave the city only to be ambushed and killed by supporters of the new rule. Ivy and her master indulge in the pleasures of their take over before going their separate ways to enjoy even more of their spoils given to them by their beastmen serfs.

“Congratulations on another successful takeover, Ivy. How long will you let this new ruler live?” a human woman serf asks.

“Depends how long he can entertain me,” Ivy answers.

“What about your other loyalties?”

“Those other gods can wait. The world is already theirs. It’s not like there’s any rush to replace one ruler with another.”

“I mean the Church.”

“Rome has long been overthrown and been driven underground so they’re no concern of mine. My family hasn’t been dedicated to the Church for a few generations now that you mention it. Why do you ask?”

“I heard about the history of your family and thought that part of you would still care for it.”

“As far as I know, the God that my family fought for has abandoned us to the darkness in a good way. We can be whoever we want and indulge in every pleasure imaginable until the day we die.”

“I wouldn’t say that God has abandoned us.”

“Have you looked outside at all? The sun never shines. Instead, a warm moon shines during the day and a cold moon shines during the night. This was a blessing given to us by the vampire gods who brought out our true nature through the spell that they call the Eternal Night. You should be enjoying this life rather than worrying about some dying Church and its long lost God. Are you a worshipper of this God? Are you from the Church?”

“Um…I’ve been in contact with people associated with it. It’s how I know what I know.”

“Everyone. Leave the room. Except you.” Every serf in the room leaves except for the one Ivy is talking to. “You don’t belong here, little lamb. Your loyalties are too easy to spot because of the way you talk. I’m sure that even the serfs could tell that you serve the Church. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if it was true that a descendent of the legendary vampire hunting family was under their spell rather than a willing slave, so I snuck my way here to get to you.”

“And you would break the curse that’s making me a slave to my sin?”

“I was going to try and risk my life so that something would be done about the vampires. Your family has saved the world from them before.”

“You’re in over your head and out of your mind. I don’t need saving, but you do. Leave now before the serfs tell the new ruler of this city that you’re here.”

“Why would he care that a nobody like me is here?”

“Because you’re a native but pure soul. At best, he’ll beat you to death with your own limbs and laugh as you scream and cry in agony. At worst, he’ll slowly corrupt you and turn you into a mindless serf or a plaything for his desires.”

“But your family and you-”

“Have been fighting for the vampire gods ever since the Eternal Night began. I’ve even been told that my family took part in making it happen.”

“I see that there’s still light in you since you want to save me. Why won’t you fight against the evils of the vampires?”

“What evil? I’m enjoying my life the way it is. Now, no more talking. Get out of here while I distract the god and tell your Church that if they’re going to get rid of any evil then they ought to stop giving up priests that baptize the babies the vampires use in their ritual to become the beings that they are.”

In a rush, Ivy pushes the woman to a secret exit and throws her out of it. She then runs to find the vampire god who is headed her way.

“I heard there was a servant of God with you. Where is she?” the vampire god says.

“Gone. Why do you have to concern yourself with her when you have me?” Ivy answers.

“Did you get rid of her?”

“I did because I know you’ll be giving her all your attention.” She kisses and embraces the god. “Give me all you would’ve given her and more. I crave it. You can even let the serfs watch. Make it a spectacle.”

Encouraged by his insatiable lust, the god agrees, tells the serfs that they can be involved, and takes Ivy to the public bedchamber where sex is a show and the serfs involved with it are nothing but playthings whose lives are expendable for the sake of pleasure. There, Ivy tries her best to play around and tease the god for as long as she can while fighting her own desire to give in. This happens for a time until he gets tired of the teasing and uses his abilities on her tattoos to weaken her resistance to the point where she gives in, however, at this same moment, the woman of the Church is brought in by serfs.

“We found her, your majesty!” the serf says as they drag in the woman who is bruised and in chains with her clothes torn.

“Wa-wait! You still haven’t satisfied me yet!” Ivy says desperately trying to save the woman.

“Two is better than one since I know you don’t like watching.”

“Stop it!”

“Oh, but I thought you liked this. Where’s your taste for all forms of exquisite pleasure?”

As the god says this, he intensifies Ivy’s curse, but she resists it. Flashes of infants dying in blasphemous baptisms and other women and men like her being cruelly killed and degraded fill her mind and ignites a dead part of her that wishes for justice.

For the first time in her life, she prays in her mind, “If you’re out there, God who this woman worships, save her. Save her by any means necessary. Pull out a miracle as you are said to do. You can even use me if you wish. Just don’t make any more of the innocent die. I beg of you.”

At her word, Ivy’s hands slowly begin to ignite in flames as she continues to scream while fighting her curse. Everyone in the room watches her in awe before the flames from her hands leap from her hands and spread to everyone and everything until the entire castle they are in catches fire. The god quickly turns to ash whereas the serfs burn to death at various speeds depending on the person’s soul. This flame quenches Ivy’s lust and wakes her up enough to grab the woman and take her out of the room. Looking out the window, she sees that her flames have enveloped the entire city.

Eventually, the damage done to the castle by her flames is enough to make it collapse, however, a mysterious light envelops them and cuts the falling debris to save them. When the dust settles, Ivy and the woman see that the castle has fallen to the ground around them. Every house and building in the city has also fallen and its citizens are all ash. The light that saved Ivy and the woman then manifests as an angel with four wings, four burned arms that hold fire, and a singular eye as a face.

“What kind of god are you?” Ivy asks it.

“I am no god. I am your guardian angel,” it says.

“Guardian angel?”

“You can see what the light is manifested as and what it says, and it’s your guardian angel?” the woman asks.

“That’s what it says.”

“Amazing. Every member of the Aurora family was said to be able to see and communicate with their guardian angel. It must be here to lead you to your God-given destiny.”

“My what? I don’t care for that. I only wanted to save you.”

“You wanted more,” the angel says, “Your heart yearned for justice and the small piece of your soul that was still pure was allowed to manifest itself as that small flame that burned this entire city and its sinful inhabitants to the ground. Follow the woman’s advice and you will be led to the true freedom and justice that you desire.”

“I don’t desire that. I just want my pleasures-”

“Don’t lie and regress back to your old self as you sit on the precipice of change because it will result in your damnation. Follow the woman and burn the world and moon of sin.”

With its final word, the angel disappears in a flash of light.

“What did your angel tell you to do?”

“It told me to follow you and burn the world and moon of sin.”

“Follow me? It’s an honor to be thought of as your guide. I can help you with that, but how are you going to burn the world and moon of sin?”

“No clue. I really don’t even know how I used that fire that manifested from my soul.”

“I see. We’ll figure it out. You still have your family’s whip with you, right?”

“I still got it.”

“Then we’ll be good for now. Follow me.”

“As if I have a better choice.”

Ivy follows the injured woman unsure of the future ahead of her but somehow feeling freer than ever before.

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After the institution of vampire hunting parties by his grandfather, Never, Claudius seeks to live up to his grandfather's legacy by finishing what he started. He seeks to destroy the Tower of Blasphemy that has sunk into the ground by himself no matter the cost but is everything that's hard to do and doing exactly what your heroes did always the correct decision?

Venatores Noctis: Selfless Self-Destruction: Chapter 3 – Results of Lost Hope

Chapter 3 – Results of Lost Hope

After his long travels, Claudius arrives at the site of the tower to find that an entrance to it jutting out of the ground is surrounded by beastmen and strange black skeleton vampires that have little to no skin on their bones set up in the battle ruined campsite that surrounds the site.

“You are welcome inside,” a beastman says.

Despite not being attacked by the beastmen, Claudius takes advantage of their passivity to kill them with three large swipes of his whip. He winches after the attack because of his injury from the vampire lord and remembers what the woman said before offering up the pain the penance and going down the stairs to enter the upside down tower. The stairs down are a crumbled mess with dirt slowly dripping down like an hourglass as if the structure will collapse if broken in the right place. Further down, Claudius enters the first room. This room contains ruined what must’ve been beautiful statues, paintings, furniture, and more. These ruined objects are being cleaned and fixed by serfs, and just like the beastmen on the surface, these ones don’t mind Claudius' presence.

One of them bows to Claudius then says, “Welcome to our castle. Please, do not mind our appearance and make yourself at home. Do you need first aid? We have many doctors that can help you.”

The beastman’s honest question about his health gives Claudius pause before he stabs it with the end of his whip to silently kill it. This method is the way by which Claudius slays every single serf and vampire in this castle with a few small fights that end in seconds here and there. Claudius does a thorough cleaning of this castle hoping to find a vampire lord or someone to tell him where the center of the tower is, but he doesn’t find any. It then occurs to him that he let his zealotry get to him and did not see the obvious opportunity.

“It wouldn’t be a sin to take advantage of their hospitality so I can find the center of the tower,” Claudius silently says to himself before realizing another thing. “Guardian angel, my guardian dear. My grandfather’s guardian angel led him through his trials to his fate, his wife, and the only serfs who could redeem themselves. Will you not show me the way as well?”

Waiting in silent prayer gives Claudius no answers so he assumes he is where he is meant to be and that his chosen course of action is correct. When he travels further down into the tower, he finds himself in another castle, but this is more like a small town. Every large room contains something different. Some are taverns, bakeries, and restaurants, while others are homes and even churches. To his surprise, the churches practice the same true Catholic faith that he does and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of sin or misdeeds, however, he is still uneased by the sight of the beastmen, skeletal vampires, and other vampires who go about their daily business as if they weren’t monsters living in a destroyed castle. Reconcentrating his efforts on his task, he goes up to a human serf who is selling clothes that he is making.

Claudius asks him, “Might you know where the lord of this castle is?”

“Dead and in the ground where he belongs. Were you hoping to kill him yourself?” the serf answers.

“I was.”

“Well, there’s nothing evil in this tower anymore, friend. The serfs have risen up in every castle in this tower, killed the lords, and now we live here in relative peace.”

“Relative?”

“Relative because fights will sometimes break out and the Corpus may lose themselves to their sinful ways, but I think we’re doing better than one would expect.”

“A Corpus? Those creatures of legend are here?”

“You’ve surely passed several by. There are no true vampires in this area. Not anymore.”

“I’ve been attacked by vampires in this area and my holy whip has killed them.”

“If you know the legends, then you know that the Corpus die when God allows them to and when their penance has been paid, so they can enter Heaven. This is a tragedy really. I assume that’s why you’re all beat up?”

“Yes, and it’s why I doubt that the Corpus are here.”

“I can’t help that and can only assure you that what the Corpus do is outside of their will and they helped us destroy the last of the lords. They even destroyed the blasphemous magic in here that allowed those who used it to teleport.”

“I thought Saint Nevar destroyed that when he destroyed the tower.”

“He did, but the power to make portals still existed within the tower since it all fell to the ground. Now, thanks to the serfs, that power is forever lost.”

“Why did the serfs rebel?”

“Because of Saint Nevar’s and Saint Josiah’s example. They inspired us to rebel.”

“Then why also did the serfs rebel against the Church?”

“We haven’t. It’s just that we’re rebelling against those in Church that take advantage of us and think of serfs as nothing more than irredeemable creatures, which is ironic because of the saints who were serfs and Saint Raven who was a Corpus.”

Finding no way to argue with the serf’s point, Claudius wonders what to say next for a few seconds.

“Who runs this mess of castles then and how is it still together?”

“The most powerful of serfs that led the assault on the lords. You’ll find them a few castles down. As for keeping it together, it probably has to do with the original magic that kept it together and maybe even the will of God since it’s so improbable that it’s still together.”

Hearing that it’s God’s will that this tower be together ignites Claudius’ anger since it sounds like blasphemy to him, but he holds his rage in a way that doesn’t show his rage on his face or body language. He then thanks the serf before moving down to visit the leaders of the serfs. On his way there, the two other castles he passes through are filled with similar scenes to the last with one castle having schools and libraries and the second having farms and bakeries. It is then that Claudius’ resolve wavers as a young child comes up to him and asks him if he needs a doctor and food since his condition is obvious to this child. This child is also part wolf, which shows Claudius that the serfs have been here long enough to reproduce. In his mind and the mind of some of the others in the Church, it is an abomination for beastmen to reproduce despite them still being considered men and having the same rights as men, assuming the place they’re living in isn’t biased against them.

“No, I’m fine,” Claudius says to the boy.

The boy doesn’t appear to believe him until he says, “Okay. Hey, how can I look as cool as you? Did you get that look by being a knight of the Church?”

For some reason, a beastman turns to look at Claudius at the hearing of this then runs away deeper into the tower. The beast’s suspicious behavior causes Claudius to chase after it until he finds himself at a dead end that happens to be a graveyard. Many gravestones litter this room with inscriptions that note some of these people as the ones that fought for the serfs’ freedom while others are noted as being victims of the vampires and even the Church. Seeing that there’s no way out of this room, Claudius feels out the walls and then the graves to try to find a possible hidden exit. The boy even more curious about Claudius than Claudius is about the beastman follows him into the graveyard to watch him until he becomes impatient and approaches him again.

He says, “What are you looking for, sir?”

“Nothing that should concern you,” Claudius answers.

“You look like you’re looking for secrets. Let me see if I can help. I found a chicken in a wall once. Don’t know why it was there, but I heard the lord that had the castle I found it in loved eating chickens so much that he had to hide his excess stock of it in all sorts of places.”

Ignoring what the boy said, Claudius thinks to himself about how to get him to leave.

“Hey, I found a secret staircase! Is this what you’re looking for.”

The spot where the boy finds the staircase is an ordinary grave that doesn’t stick out in any way. Seeing the staircase, Claudius moves passed the boy and down the stairs without even thinking to thank him. This secret reveals an area filled with the mangled bodies of serfs, humans, knights, and other seemingly normal folks. Despite this being a horrid sight, part of Claudius is sourly relieved that his suspicions that this tower still contains evil are correct. Going further in, he finds several beastmen, Corpus, and humans talking to each other.

“The Church has sent their soldiers to kill us! I told you they were going to!” one of them says.

“Maybe this is a misunderstanding. Did you send out your allies to scare them away again? You know that you’ll only be met with force and prolong this misunderstanding,” another beastman counters.

“That was for a good reason.”

“And what reason may that be? So you can continue with these experimentations that you inherited from the lords? I thought that we promised to move beyond this.”

“And I thought that you said I can continue them as a last resort because of the knowledge that would be lost.”

“That wasn’t me. That was my weakened side talking.”

“All the Corpus say the same thing, but it’s no matter. The lords here had an amazing last resort plan among many and we need to take advantage of it. We can’t let their research go to waste.”

“Their research that forces people to combine into a singular body? It’s an abomination.”

“You know how prideful the lords were and how they hated each other. They had a plan to separate themselves once they no longer needed to be combined. Granted, it was in its early stages, but you can see that I’ve been getting good results in undoing the beast modifications they put on people and those they have combined with others.”

“Most aren’t well in the mind after your experiments.”

“Okay, okay, but it’s something that we must make a decision on right now. If I explain any more details of the experiments, then we’ll be here all day. The Church’s soldiers have already killed the guards on the surface and those in the uppermost castle. Now, after everything that I’ve explained and the enemy banging at our gates, tell me that you agree with me.”

“If the Church sent their soldiers here, then we’d be seeing more than just one and there would be more chaos.”

“Tch. You dolt. You don’t understand what is happening!”

During this conversation, Claudius is unsure of how to act while listening in on what the enemy knows of him. His enemy is clear and in front of him, however, he is outnumbered and in no shape to take on so many at once, especially with the Corpus among them. The side who is on the side of the Corpus probably wouldn’t appreciate it if he killed the beast experimenter even though they are against each other, so that option is out of Claudius’ mind. Even so, looking around at all the scientific experimentations done on both the living and dead here that mocks God’s creation begs him to act sooner rather than later. Thinking that this was the same challenge that his grandfather faced, Claudius silently prays for bravery, strength, and bravery before leaping into action. He kills several beastmen with an efficient use of his whip and continues to kill multiple of them as he takes advantage of their surprise.

“I told you they’re here to kill us!” the experimenter says before working some kind of strange machinery. “I have no choice but to activate it as it is. You can thank me later.”

“No, wait!” the Corpus says to no avail.

A dark force comes out of the machine and shakes the very tower. It begins to suck in everything around it and seeing as how it is breaking apart the tower, Claudius assumes that it will destroy it and begins to leave. On his way out, he sees the boy that was following him get sucked in the direction of the dark force. At that moment, it was as if time was moving slowly. Claudius saw the boy’s terrified expression and saw him reaching out for him. A part of his soul tugs at him to go save the boy, but he thinks that living the life of a beastman is a curse, so he abandons him.

Even while leaving, Claudius doesn’t help anyone who is struggling not to get sucked in or fall victim to the collapsing tower. In fact, he pushes passed them and uses them to pull himself up while they fall. Eventually, Claudius makes his way out of the tower. He falls to the ground out of exhaustion and struggles to even stand. He then watches the staircase that goes into the tower slowly begin to sink down. Part of him remembers the boy and thinks about him again as he feels that he could’ve saved him.

“No, I couldn’t have been able to,” Claudius says to the rogue thought in his head.

As the staircase continues to sink, Claudius can see beastmen, Corpus, and other human serfs desperately trying to fit through the narrow hole that none can seem to fit through. The poor people beg Claudius to help them, but he just sits there thinking to himself that they deserve it.

“Pray for mercy because your death is near Repent of your sin of rebelling against the Church,” Claudius says to them.

Claudius can hear the people’s screams until he hears a loud crushing noise. He lays down before thanking God for his victory and his purpose being fulfilled. After getting up, he limps as he begins his way back home only to be stopped by the ground shaking again.

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy,” Claudius says.

Ready for a fight, Claudius takes out his whip, however, when his enemy emerges from the ground where the tower was, he finds that his whip will probably not be enough. What emerges is an enormous beast that is a mile long and the size of a house along with some of the ruins of the tower. It has the body of a wolf, a half wolf, half fly face, the arm of an ape, a claw for another arm, and the wings of two different kinds of insect. The body is split in two by two different mouths and its lower half is that of a snake. Finally, hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands of humanoid figures can be seen writhing around in it appearing to try to break out and faint moans and screams emanating from its body.

“What kind of ungodly abomination are you?” Claudius says.

“We are the result of not leaving us alone and your persecution,” the creature says in many voices, “Whereas the Church was uncharitable to us, we have been charitable to you in letting you know this before you die.”

“God will not let me fail. To kill you is to achieve my destiny. Guardian angel, grandfather, please grant me strength.”

To Claudius’ dismay, his whip can hardly do any damage to the beast and is run over and seemingly killed by it soon after. In his half dead state, a light enters his mind to wake it up.

“I’m sorry, grandfather. I’ve failed you,” Claudius says.

“No, you haven’t. You still have a chance,” Nevar says.

“Is that you, grandfather?”

“I’m here for you, Claudius.”

“Hurry and grant me your intercession so I can live up to your legacy.”

“You don’t have to live up to my legacy in the way that you think.”

“What do you think?”

“What do you think I mean? Everyone has their own unique God-given purpose. My father achieved his after he died and I did by being pushed into it by God. You have a different one and I’m sorry to say that it’s changed because of your failure, but there’s still a chance to make amends.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

A second light enters his mind, which turns into his guardian angel.

The angel says, “It is true that you were meant to destroy the castle to finally seal away the magic and tainted scientific research within, but you were also meant to save the serfs within and bring them back to the Church and renew their faith in God.”

“What? Why couldn’t you tell me this before?”

“You were shown it and various people gave you good advice. You were shown the goodness of the serfs, given the advice to ask for help from the vampire hunters in your family’s hunting party, and told by a priest that certain people have certain roles in life and not everything harder to do is always right.”

“Then leave me to die so I may serve my penance in Purgatory or let me live in pain for as long as God will allow for the same reason.”

“That will not be necessary if you do what God actually wills. You have another chance if you follow my son’s example who is doing his part correctly,” Nevar says.

“My father? If you say so. I won’t let you down again, grandfather.”

Nevar smiles and then says, “I know you won’t, my grandson.”

Waking up from his injuries, Claudius finds himself with the other members of his family’s hunting party. His wounds are being dressed while others pray over him. They thank God that he’s awake, able to stand, and limp around. He makes his way to one of the leaders of the hunting party, or rather, they meet halfway after Claudius says that he wants to see him as his reason for not resting.

“You should be resting, sir,” the hunting party leader says.

“I will, but not yet. You must know of the massive abomination out there,” Claudius says.

“Oh, we know. It’s been out there for three days destroying towns, farms, and attacking cities on a rampage. We already have an army with siege weapons setting a trap for it. It’ll be dead before you know it especially since it bit off more than it can chew when it attacked Rome.”

“But what you don’t know is that it’s my fault that the beast is loose.”

“We figured you had to do something with it when we found your barely alive body near the ruins of the tower.”

“No, I could’ve stopped it from happening altogether. The beastmen were not allied with the vampires nor was there a single vampire among them. In fact, there were Corpus there. One of them got scared and activated a machine tainted by dark magic that sucked in both the dead and the living to create that creature. What that beastman did is indeed terrible, but it’s not like his fears were unfounded as I proved him right by carving a bloody path to him.”

“There’s no time to worry about that. I’m sure you have some painful penance in mind for yourself to make up for it. I suggest that you don’t do it. Do something simpler like praying that rosary the size of your arm for a while and promise God not to ever do something like that again.”

“I’ve already talked to my grandfather and my guardian angel who told me the error of my ways. I told them that I won’t let them down.”

“Then there’s nothing more to say. Let’s just keep this between ourselves and not tell anyone. Well, tell no one besides your confessor. We’ll get you back to your father soon. I’m sure he hasn’t stopped praying for your safety since you left.”

Sure enough, when Claudius returns to Rome damaged by the beast he unleashed, his father meets him halfway to hug him. Claudius tells his father what happened in secret and this doesn’t change his father’s attitude towards him.

“You aren’t mad at me?” Claudius asks.

“No, because I know that you’ll pick yourself up and become a better man. It was also good to hear that my father said to follow my example despite me being such a klutz. I can already see it in your eyes,” his father says.

“I’m…I’m sorry for everything I said about you. About calling you a coward and…for being such a foolish son.”

“Don’t worry about it. Come, you must get your rest. I’m getting a celebration ready for-Oh! I’ve spoiled the surprise! I’m sorry!”

“A party? For me?”

“Yes, to celebrate your coming back.”

“I…I guess I shouldn’t complain or say what is best for myself. I’ve been doing that for too long and dressing it as God’s will. Thank you for everything, father.”

Claudius embraces his father and looks forward to the future having learned from his mistakes. Once he gets better, he cleans up his appearance, and even though he is still a hunter, he vows to do what is right no matter how hard or easy it may be.

The End