Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 553: The Aristide Family (2)

With his campaign for a chance at keeping the Patriarch seat in his lineage at an end, Julian’s complex and the idea that his sister would somehow still wrestle the seat from him only waxed stronger.

He had failed to sire a male heir, no matter how much he tried, and could not change age-old traditions and statutes to put one of his daughters in his seat once he had passed on, so all he was left with was paranoia as well as a newfound desire to achieve the impossible goal, the legendary Twelfth Circle that was said to grant immortality. After all, if he could live forever, why would he ever need to surrender his seat to another?

Alas, that goal was not going as well as Julian would have hoped. Even with the Aristide family’s vast wealth at his disposal to further his magic enlightenment, the projection of his progress always surpassed the end of his lifespan. Hell, his more talented sister was not even all that close herself, so really, what hope did Julian have?

Speaking of Julian’s sister, Victoire;

One day, almost nineteen years ago, she came back to the Aristide Manor after months out on an expedition and announced she was expecting a child.

At first, Julian thought she was joking. She had to be. Despite Victoire being older than him, she had shown no interest in settling down, showed no interest in having a partner in the short or long term, and it was long accepted—not just by Julian but the vast majority of Aristides—that she was planning to remain a maiden for the rest of her life.

That had actually given Julian some peace. The thought that, as long as traditions were as they were, and his sister didn’t produce an heir herself, the seat would not fall to her even in an indirect way gave him peace, even though his complex remained present— He could just never let go of his paranoia.

In any case, Victoire wasn’t joking. In the months that passed, her stomach grew larger. Julian spent those months sulking with one thought ever present in his head: There was only one thing that could make this already unpleasant situation even worse. Only one thing that could put a stamp on what he could feel was coming.

And sure enough, when the time came, and Victoire had her baby, it was a boy. A healthy baby boy with the golden blond hair of the Aristide family and blue eyes that twinkled.

Victoire named the boy Aurelius, regarding him as if he were some great treasure.

Julian didn’t see it. As far as he was concerned, Aurelius was a threat; The one whom his sister would use as a proxy to take back the seat that she likely always believed should have been hers.

Alas, there was nothing Julian could do; Even though the boy’s father was unknown, the fact that Aurelius had Aristide blood was all that mattered to the family at large in terms of his legitimacy for the Patriarch seat.

Aurelius’s father could have been a commoner, and he would still be welcomed because the Aristides believed their blood was all that mattered in an offspring. Not to mention, Aurelius, with his blond hair and the face he took from his mother, was quintessentially the perfect image of an Aristide. It wasn’t even open to dispute.

Victoire never told anyone who her son’s father was. Whenever anyone asked, she just had a cheeky look on her face and a look of reverence in her eyes like it was some god whose eyes she had been so fortunate to catch.

And that might as well have been the case with the magical talent the boy displayed before he could even talk, as well as the sheer intelligence for Arcane Knowledge that should have been beyond his years or his infant Magic Circle.

Nothing baby Aurelius ever did surprised Victoire, though. Her eyes were always filled with Adoration, doting, and love, but never shock or surprise. As though he were performing exactly as she expected.

And it wasn’t just Victoire who doted on little Aurelius; all seven of Julian’s daughters treated him like their brother and seemed to fight for the right to be his favorite. Despite all the arguments, though, they all agreed on one thing: they needed to keep baby Aurelius safe from their father’s annoyance and petty moods. The little angel deserved love and none of that crap.

Julian had to admit he was hurt by the accusation that he was such a terrible presence, but he also had no desire to know the boy. He preferred to watch him from a distance and constantly root for the boy’s failure.

And then, Aurelius’s age of fifteen came and went. Sixteen followed. And then seventeen. It was only after he turned eighteen that Aurelius finally reached the Third Circle and qualified to attend Lochxen.

Julian had scoffed. For all the talent the boy displayed in his infancy, he felt that was a disappointing turn out. He had expected more.

But apparently, Julian had just been impatient because Aurelius flourished at Lochxen better than any Aristide ever had. After just a month and a half, he returned home for the Mid-Semester Break already at the Fourth Circle.

Even more, he, along with two other students, had actually faced off against a Demon from Hell!

The Aristide family elders were paying closer attention to Aurelius now. They called for meetings, they socialized and introduced him to so many aspects of the Aristide Family traditions that they really might as well have been preparing him for the case of Julian dropping dead the very next day.

After enduring over a month of these practices and gritting his teeth so much in annoyance that he just might have whittled them down to half their actual length, Lochxen resumed, and Julian was glad to see the back of his nephew.

But now, the Academy was on a Semester break, and Aurelius had returned. His Mana seemed even more robust than it had been when he left home last. And had the air of one nearing a Magic Circle Advancement.

But now, today, something happened that filled Julian’s heart with more hope than in years;

A little ways away from the Manor but still well within the territory the Aristide family commanded and well within the sights of Julian’s keen eyes, a cube appeared. The cube wasn’t composed of Mana or any energy belonging to this realm at all.

The energy of the cube felt otherworldly, abhorrent; Demonic energy.

Anyone who had seen the footage of the attacks at Lochxen would already know what it was, and this time, Aurelius was not trapped in with anyone else. For some reason, he was all alone within that Cube, most definitely battling for his life.

As he took a sip of the beverage he was holding and watched the efforts by the family’s Mages and Mage-Knights to get his nephew out of the cube—efforts that were all failing—the grin on the face of Julian II was wide.

Oh, to be able to see what was happening in there.

It would make for such good entertainment, he was sure.

•••

*BANG!!!*

A surge of Demonic energy smashed a stone formation to pieces, forcing Aurelius to throw himself behind another with a Light Element Movement spell that created duplicates and hopefully made it harder for the demons to actually pinpoint his location.

This location was known as Mason-Havon, situated not at all far from the Aristide Manor. It was apparently the chosen worksite of the great Mason who constructed the Manor in all its grandeur.

In any case, while Aurelius had never had a reverence for the place, he hadn’t chosen it on purpose for the location of his next duel against a representative of the Demon Realm. When the duel became imminent, Aurelius had thrown himself out of the Manor and tried to put as much distance between it and himself to prevent any damage to the structure, and was caught up here by the challenge.

Still, he was grateful. Mason Haven was filled with many stone formations that looked like abandoned projects but had been preserved here for sentimental value. While Aurelius’s current enemies might be able to remain afloat for some time, they were more often land-based because it was more comfortable for them. They seemed to have yet to reach the Magical/Demonic power threshold that would grant them flight.

And yes, you heard right; Aurelius was facing not one, but two demonic representatives from Hell.

The two Demons stood at over seven feet but with a build that didn’t have them looking too lanky or bulky.

The two demons were identical and had female-looking forms. The only clothing they wore on their lower halves was loincloths to barely cover their assess and groins. Above the barely-covering loincloths were four pairs of abs leading up to the underside of perky-looking boobs that were covered by fine dark blue fur that reached up to where their nipples would be— That was all the clothing they had on their upper bodies.