Arthur pointed at his face, speaking sternly.
"Look at my face and ask that question again."
Damien got a clue and piped down, looking at his legs and awkwardly laughing.
"Yeah, no, that uh, makes sense. Um, but yeah, who is she?"
"She's a member of the Rem family, the Dream Dragon. She can teleport to dreams at will, and I don't know if there's a range limitation," he said. "Now, a question for you, Damien."
"Yes?"
"What's your Dragon Art? Do you know?" He asked.
"Ahhh, that. Uh, no, not yet. But I hope it's good" Damien said sincerely. Then, Arthur looked towards his mother.
"Why did you volunteer to kill me?"
"Our family has a history of torturing for blood. Both you and Hiein need it in order to wield your abilities, so it's quite important. I knew they'd deem your blood as insufficient, but as we have a reputation to uphold, the family would most likely torture you to death. I refused to let you die that way," she told him.
Then, she continued.
"I… I know this doesn't make up for it, and I probably should… no, I definitely should have been more upfront, but it was the only way I could think of at the time. I'm sorry, Arthur. Even now, if you wish to kill me, I won't fight back. You have the right to do so."
Arthur looked down at the floor, biting his lip and exhaling through his nose.
'If I can love these people, then…'
One more question was all he needed.
"Do you two… love me?"
Without hesitation, they both nodded their heads. Arthur gulped his spit, and the pain in his heart grew further. That ugly flower remained unchanged.
'I've made up my mind. I'm going to ruin everything. There's no point in staying with them, as if I do, they'll only get hurt.'
'I'm going to die soon. It's best if they don't care about me. If they love me, it's only because…'
'Because they don't see what I see in myself.'
Arthur stood up, looked at the both of them, and glanced at Damien with a sad smile.
"Please get as strong as you can, and protect mom. Be humble, go to Hiein, if that's the man from earlier, and apologize. Tell him that you hate me, that I tried to kill you too. That way, you'll be protected by him, and I'll do the rest," he told his little brother.
"What? So you're just going to run off on your own?" Damien asked. Arthur nodded his head.
"I will. The entire world's going to be after me, if they think I hate you and you hate me, they'll accept you, and they won't use you to hurt me. So please, get stronger and keep mom safe, I'll be the enemy that they'll put their everything into killing."
"That's not fair!" Damien yelled. "Don't go trying to be some stupid hero, this isn't a damn comic book! You're not the 'self sacrificial older brother' or whatever, you're just an idiot who's leaving us behind after we wanted to join you! Protect us!"
"I… I can't do that," Arthur hissed. Then, he left them behind, running off.
Of course, protecting anyone was far beyond his reach. Even if he got stronger, there were two problems with protecting them.
The first one was the emotional problem. Arthur, even with his newfound strength, was still Arthur. Eternally, forever, he would be too weak to protect anyone. He cannot save anyone, not even himself.
And the second was the practical problem. Arthur only had a month at best to live, assuming he continued to abuse steroids. Unless he accomplished his goal of killing every dragon, with the exception of those he judged to be fit for living, all within that month, the people he kept close would eventually be killed after he was gone.
…
As for Alicia, she was currently out shopping when the whole thing came about. So, naturally, when she returned, she saw the whole family who lived at that mansion, all sitting around with unhappy faces.
The building was a mess, there was a lot of blood on the ground, including a leg which looked like it'd been bombed off of the body.
She went over to Damien, who saw her and waved.
"The heck happened here? Who's leg is that!?" She yelled.
"Arthur, he came back, and…" Damien muttered.
"What? What happened? Is that his…"
"It's Clover's. Apparently, eating a member of the same family boosts your power, so—"
"The Second Taboo…"
"Yeah, that. He succeeded. You can ask Hiein, but I initially tried to reason with him. Me and mom, did. But when we talked to him, we realized… he's too far gone. For your sake, sister, I think it's best if we… y'know, try to avoid thinking about it entirely."
Alicia stood there with shock, before she looked down and nodded her head softly. "Understood… Is he still… no, I can still smell him."
She looked towards the direction of the scent, her gaze forward with sadness. And, to herself, she muttered,
"I'm sorry…"
…
Arthur arrived back at the Graves mansion, seeing Chad in the kitchen, raiding the fridge and making himself a turkey and cheese sandwich.
"Hm hm hm hm, la di da daa, you put the turkey down, then the cheese, then the bread, and you got… a turkey and cheese sammywichie~!"
The blood was still on the floor, as Chad refused to clean it up. Arthur went over to him, and Chad looked at him with a smile.
"Yo broski! How'd it go?" He asked.
"Well. In fact, I got what I wanted. I evolved my Blood Armory even further," Arthur said. He held his hand out, and formed a tendril of red blood from his skin, using his own blood.
"I don't know if the previous user of Blood Armory could do this with or without an evolution, but the fact remains that I don't need external blood or injuries. I took the idea from him, as I remembered seeing him use it on the night we met."
Hiein did not need external blood. It was useful, as it was stronger than using his own blood, but the fact remained that it was not necessary for basic usage.
Chad took a bite of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing as he gave Arthur a thumbs up. Arthur went to him, getting closer and looking up at him with an evil grin.
"This seems so obvious that I should've thought of this a long time ago, but would you mind giving me your blood?" Arthur asked.
To speak objectively and without lie, even a single drop of Chad's blood would be enough to create a weapon that surpassed Bloodline Ace's. There was no exaggeration.
"Ahaha, nope, sorry broski, I can't," Chad replied.
"Hm?"
"Think of it like this. I have a bajillion HP. No knife, gun, bomb, chemical, or anything like that can damage me enough to draw blood. My ability, in video game terms, gives me 300 quadrillion HP, and I heal 999 quintillion HP per millisecond, constantly, always. Things can change my appearance, since I dyed my hair while using these red contacts, but the hair dye won't ever damage my hair, ever."
"Huh? How do you know this?"
"The voices tell me so. I haven't aged a day since I was born, I was born and immediately became this. I've never known pain or consequence, and by the time I was 5, I realized that the only limitations I had were myself. My parents controlled me, using me for what they wanted, but then I stopped, and I killed my grandfather because I wanted to let them know that if they didn't live for me, I'd kill them."
Spilling out some contents of his past, Chad finished his sandwich.
"I only eat because it's fun and an enjoyable pastime. I don't need to breathe or sleep, but I do them anyways because it seems interesting. So that is why I can't give you my blood. I'm unable to be damaged enough to give blood."
"Shall we test it?" Arthur asked. Chad smiled and nodded his head, saying "Go ahead!"
Arthur formed that same cutlass, the shards as well. He needed to break the sound barrier, so he backed up, took a step, and swung that sword, delivering the mass of shards.
The end result was Chad being flung back, as even if he was the strongest, he still had a definite mass, and such force being inflicted upon him would carry him off the ground.
But, when they checked the area afterwards, no blood was shed, and Chad said he didn't feel any pain, it was like a fly landed on him.
"Well, thanks anyways, I guess," Arthur told him. Then, he looked at Chad with a glance.
"Do you know where Moon ran off to?"
"Ah, yeah, he's at our family's other house. We're really rich, so our family is actually kinda big. He might be staying with our uncle, though."
"I see. Hm. Well, I don't have much time to waste. Do you know where the head of the Graves family lives? As in, the big guy in charge?"
"Ah, yeah. That's our grand-uncle, Kaiser. I'll tell you where they live, they live up in New York City as pretty famous guys."
…
Arthur booked a flight, as if he flew into a city, he might be easily caught. He boarded the plane, and off he went to New York City.
He went to where Chad told him to go, and arrived at a giant skyscraper. He entered inside, and was met with many people who fit the description of belonging to the Graves family.
And then, from an elevator, he saw a youthful man with short black hair and a suit, spot him and approach him. The man was surrounded by two people, each of whom seemed a little older than he.
The man went to Arthur, looking down on him and smiling.
"So, you must be Arthur, Arthur Graves? You smell like a traitor, so I can only assume it truly is you," the man said. "Yeah, it's me. And you are?"
"Kaiser, grand-uncle of that troublesome boy," said the man, before patting Arthur on the shoulder hard. "Come up to the penthouse, I would love to speak with you."
Arthur hummed a response, before following the man into the elevator. Upon entering, Arthur raised his hand, and Kaiser looked at him with curiosity.
"Oh? What is it?" He asked. The ring on Arthur's finger, that of the blood of three dragons, grew spikes after shattering and reforming itself.
"Ahhh, yes. That Blood Armory, such a dramatic ability. It's nothing too special, however," Kaiser said. "Though, what was the purpose in showing me such a thing?"
"To let you know that I'm armed," Arthur answered.
"Aha! So you don't wish to kill us, right?" Kaiser laughed. Arthur nodded his head.
"It's like the total opposite of a hoodlum receiving their first gun. Once one obtains strength, it's only natural they wish to use it. So, they'll yearn for someone to make them use it. It seems you don't want violence with us, is that right?"
The door to the elevator opened, and Arthur entered the penthouse. It was a very, very lovely room, and the balcony view was wonderful. Arthur made his way forward, as the man walked to the bar and grabbed a glass of water.
"Well? Ya gonna answer?" He asked.
Arthur turned towards Kaiser. The ring shattered into fine dust, before reforming into a cutlass. Arthur pointed it at his throat, looking at him with narrowed eyes.
"I do wish for violence with you. But not now. Before I kill you, and the rest of the Graves family, I want your help," he asked.
Kaiser had no reaction except laughter. Usually, he was the type of man who would spit out his drink with shock, but this time, he did not. He laughed and looked at Arthur with genuine surprise.
"Are you an idiot? Who does that? I mean, I can't take it seriously, as you're nothing special, but tell me, what is it you seek?"
"I want to kill every single dragon in this world, with the exception of the ones I like. If that happens, once I'm done, I'll kill you afterwards," Arthur explained. Kaiser laughed, keeping a smug grin afterwards.
"Sure, yeah, go ahead. I received word once you entered the building, that your natural lifespan is… ah, no, it's no good to give spoilers," he said. Then, he laughed, going on to say, "but it's not long. If you can beat the time limit, then by all means, you've earned it."
Kaiser clapped his hands, going over and brushing the cutlass to the side, giving Arthur a tender hug.
"I feel like I'm making a bet for a hundred billion dollars, and that I've already paid the ref to make sure I win! You're gonna do most of the work, and all I have to do is sit around, giving addresses and information that's pretty easy to get when you're the head of the family!"
"Huh? Who said that all you're doing is giving addresses?" Arthur asked. Kaiser kept his stupid grin.
"That's what you want, isn't it? To destroy the foundations of our existence by yourself?"
"How'd you…" Arthur asked.
"Death sees everything. Death follows everyone around, waiting for the right time to strike. These eyes of mine see all of existence in the present."
Arthur hummed, before reverting his cutlass to a knife. "Then, shall you give me your blood? To use against the families, especially the stronger ones?"
"Nah, no thanks. After all, if you wipe them out too quickly using the blood of powerful dragons, won't it just make it more likely that we die? So I can't offer you dragon's blood, but I can offer you the locations of every single dragon family."
Ultimately, that was what Arthur wanted. Though he thought Kaiser to be a douchebag for refusing him, he wasn't unwilling to listen.
Arthur accepted the proposal, and in return, he was given a replacement phone with all of the information he needed.
Arthur looked down at the phone, before noticing a clump of dots in Africa.
"Why are there so many dragons in Africa?" He asked.
"Well, in the parts that aren't quite as developed, there's less security cameras and technology. Not to mention, the government near there lets us do many things. So it's a breeding ground for wars, so I'd recommend avoiding those places for now."
"I see. Then, I shall…" Arthur thought, before looking across the world. In Miami Florida, was the Fire Dragon family. Naturally, Florida was quite hot.
On the very first night that started things, he was attacked by members of the Astrid family, descendants of Astrid Onoreq. Arthur wasn't entirely certain why Astrid had a second part to his name, but he paid little attention, as he wanted to head down and make a statement of sorts.
"Would you mind paying for my flights?" Arthur asked.
"Sure! As long as you get the jobs done and stuff, y'know," Kaiser answered.
Arthur didn't have time to sleep. He healed his body to save time that would've been wasted sleeping.
Arthur left, before getting another flight down to Florida.
'It's going to happen, again and again.'
'Over and over, I'll attack families, most of them having done nothing to me prior. What a worthless person I am.'
'But I'll continue. Because even though I know I shouldn't do this, I can't stop. My heart is stained with black ink, and nothing can wash it.'
Arthur, who sat next to the window, opened the cover and looked down at the bright city lights below him. His vision became blurry, and he blinked away his tears.
'I'll always do the things I hate, and I'll never change. I know that for a fact. I'm stuck as myself.'
He laughed out loud.
'Even when I was younger, and tried to hide my patheticness, none of it mattered. Even when I tried to be like everyone else, they wouldn't accept me. They could always see through me, and that's why they hated me.'
'I'm doing the wrong thing, and yet for some reason, I just can't change. All because I was born as myself. If I wasn't myself, then I could be happy. But because I am me, I can't be happy. Any attempt I make will inevitably end in failure, just like when I was a kid. And back then, I couldn't blame any stupid dragons for my failure in life.'
'That's right.'
'I can't be happy in this world.'