Chapter 42: Now you understand me.

Maria looked at Sasha and continued:

"I don't know about the other vampire hunters, but for Carlos and me, we just treated it like a job... We had no personal grudge or special reason to hunt vampires."

"Carlos and I grew up in a poor area of New Jersey, Camden... We were both orphans."

"..." Ruby and Natalia looked at Maria with curiosity.

"Two orphans surviving on the street, we could barely survive day to day, and to make matters worse, I was a girl..." She spoke the last part with a bit of hatred:

"What would eventually happen to me was obvious... I could only maintain my purity because Carlos defended me tooth and nail; he was always more developed than the people around, despite being only ten years old, he was stronger and faster than an ordinary human."

"At the time, I didn't know; I just came to find out what this abnormality of Carlos was in the future... He was a man who had the 'potential' that the priests talked about so much, he could more easily access the energy of 'God '..."

"To access this power, you need to have faith in something... I don't know what Carlos's faith was when he was younger; he never told me. But, one thing was undeniable; he was strong. "

She sighed, "We survived on the street, for 13 years, we stole, we killed for each other, we survived..."

"Until one day, a priest approached us and offered us shelter... At first, we didn't believe in the priest, but something happened that made us trust the priest." She made a face that said she didn't want to talk too much about this.

"It was in that church that the priest discovered Carlos' potential. I remember that, at the time, the priest seemed very happy. Of course, I was happy for Carlos too, but I was also afraid... I was afraid of separating from him."

"I also auditioned to find out if I had the potential to become a slayer, and unfortunately, I didn't have the same potential as Carlos, but I had something more special..." She looked at Sasha, and slowly her blue eyes darken, "I had faith."

"I had faith in Carlos... And, because of that faith, I was able to use the hunter's powers; despite not believing in God. I believed in Carlos; for me, he was my god."

Maria makes a gesture with her hand, and then strands, almost invisible to the naked eye, began to dance around as if protecting her.

"My power is much weaker than common hunters, especially if I'm comparing my power to Carlos, but one thing is for sure... If a vampire is trapped by my threads, it's an arduous task to break free."

"Because of that, I knew I needed to be smarter and work on trapping, I was the brain, and Carlos was the muscle..."

"..." A moment of silence fell around.

"Is this supposed to move me or something?" Sasha asked neutrally with the same look.

"No." Maria denied it, she undid her power and looked at Sasha: "All I did was to survive. The hunting job was good, and we just had to kill the 'monsters' of the church, and in return, we would earn a lot of money, but... Living a little with you and observing your daily life, I could see that you are no different from humans."

"..."

"Sometimes... A thought pops into my head; could I have done things differently...?" She spoke and continued:

"But when I look back on my living conditions, I realized that I had no other alternative. Either I would become a hunter and earn enough money to be independent, or I would enter the criminal world. After all, I already had hands stained with human blood... And I don't regret the decisions I made; I did what I did just to survive."

"And now, I'm suffering the consequences of my actions..."

"...But," She bites her lip, "...Just don't kill Carlos. Please, he's all I have left..." Small tears threatened to fall from Maria's face.

"...." Sasha looks at Maria with a neutral face.

Ruby and Natalia look at Sasha and wait for her answer.

"Just imagine..." Sasha started to speak, she took a deep breath and held the hatred in her heart that threatened to explode.

"...." Maria continued to look at Sasha.

"Just imagine, you went out to solve a little problem with your friends. Then, when the problem is solved, you decide to return home, and the moment you enter your home, your precious home that should be the safest place, a place for you to lie down and relax..."

"...You find the dead body of your 'god'."

"..." Maria was silent.

"And if that wasn't enough, imagine that the enemy who killed your 'god' just did it because it was a 'job'?" Sasha asked.

"... Tell me." Sasha's eyes were glowing blood-red, "How would you feel?"

"..." Maria remained silent, she bit her lip and didn't answer Sasha's question.

Unable to hold the hate in her heart, lightning began to cover Sasha's body, and she roared:

"TELL ME! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL!?"

"Ugh," Ruby and Natalia put their hands over their ears when they hear the lightning's noise.

Maria bites her lip harder and responds in a troubled but honest voice:

"...I would feel hate, I would feel a sense of loss...I would feel empty," She replied.

"Would you forgive the murderer of your precious 'god!?'"

"I wouldn't..." Maria clenched her fists tightly, but in the end, she just sighed and felt very tired.

"...See? Now you understand me." Sasha spoke in a neutral tone with a distorted smile of hate.

"..." Maria didn't answer anymore, she just turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Sasha continued to watch Maria's back until she was out of her sight.

"Natalia..." She lowered her face a little, and her blond hair covered her face.

"Yes, Lady Sasha?"

"Open the gate to Ruby's house..." She spoke neutrally.

Natalia nods and snaps her finger, "Done."

Sasha nods, she gets up from the couch and walks to the door, "I'm going ahead, Ruby," She spoke without turning her back.

"Okay, I'll go after I get some business done at college," Ruby said.

Sasha opens the door, and soon a galaxy-like portal appeared. Sasha entered the portal and soon disappeared from the two women's view.

When Sasha left, Ruby spoke aloud to herself, "In the end, there is no good and bad, there are only consequences of your actions, huh?... It looks like you're correct... Mother"

"Lady Ruby? Something happened?"

"Hmm...?" Ruby looks at Natalia, "Nothing happened. I'm going to sleep a bit; I'm a little tired."

Ruby gets up from the couch and walks towards the exit.

Natalia gets up from her chair and walks towards the kitchen; by the time she enters the kitchen, she sees Maria kneeling on the floor in a fetal position, she was in a corner of the kitchen crying silently.

Sigh!

She sighed and said to herself in a low voice, "I'm not good with these sentimental things."

...

Current location, Lucy's hideout.

Karen walked into Lucy's office and said, "We've been compromised." However, she didn't look worried.

"Indeed, this was to be expected. So what data did the attacker steal?" Lucy, who was sitting in a chair behind an office desk, spoke.

"Only our basic plans."

"Good." Lucy smiled, "Do we know about our little mouse?"

"We couldn't register anything; the intruder suddenly appeared and disappeared with the data," Karen replied.

Lucy puts his hand on his chin, "Hmm, beings able to go underground in a building and walk through an armored vault without being detected."

"Witches... And it's not just any witch," He said.

"Indeed. I had the same conclusion," Karen replied.

Lucy shrugged, "Well, wolves would leave more trails, and noble vampires capable of doing something like that would just storm through the front door; witches would be the most obvious conclusion."

Lucy showed a slight smile on his face, "Our plan is almost complete, soon we will have the power to join the nobility of vampires."

Karen nodded, then she spoke:

"...The Horseman Clan sent reinforcements."

"Oh? They will finally act; I think they are desperate for allies."

"Yes... they are."

"Hmm?" Lucy looked at Karen.

"Why that face? Did something happen?" He asked.

"...Yes, it's okay, I just feel that something is wrong," She said.

"Why?"

"... The reinforcement that Clan Horseman has sent are the three heir sons of the Clan."

"Huh...?" Lucy didn't understand.

"What is that man thinking? Why did he send his children to this place?" Lucy asked out loud as he tapped his finger on the table.

"Maybe for protection?" Karen deduced, "They've won everything that belongs to Clan Fulger, but Clan Fulger's allies are surprisingly loyal to that woman. I've also heard rumors that that woman's sister is planning a game against Clan Horseman."

"...There are rumors that Countess Agnes Snow is not satisfied with this gross shift in power."

"What are the movements of the royal family?" He asked.

"Uncertain... I think they're going to be neutral about all of this."

"...He's being attacked from all sides, huh?" Lucy spoke after thinking a little.

"Yes..." Karen replied.

"Well... No matter what that man's plan is, we just have to hurry our preparations and complete the ritual; I don't want to share the artifact's power with those heirs," Lucy replied with a greedy smile.

"Me neither," Karen replied with the same smile as Lucy.

.......