Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 61: INFILTRATION PLAN [WE'LL BECOME PRIESTS]

cHAptEr 61:

inFiLtrAtiOn pLAn

[wE'LL bEcOmE priEsts!]

   ETHAN'S IDEA wasn't bad, but Mikhael really meant to go along with what he planned.

Ever since he left the Underground Necropolis, Mikhael found out that he was capable of wielding the dead mana — although not as good as the other one. To him, that was no different than having a new doors opened, so he would, when he isn't lazing around with Dante or being taken care of Ethan, play around with it to see if he could store it into talismans.

In the end, his guess was right.

Mikhael created the world's first talisman with dead mana, but seeing as he was reluctant to use it — he had to make another one. It was quite taxing on him, but in the end he managed to make three talismans that day. After that he was so tired that he slept like a log the entire night, but once he woke up, he immediately went to look for Ethan.

His eyes became extremely sensitive when it comes to dead mana as well — he found out that whenever vampires used their abilities, they subconsciously use the dead mana in their bodies. Vampires who had red eyes would look like they had dead mana seeping out from their bodies making them stand out from the crowd in his eyes.

But the most eye-catching was Ethan — whenever Mikhael looked at him, he was like a blob of darkness wandering around, and not even Dante had that much dead mana. Mikhael shrugged it off since Dante wasn't a decent Pureblood, but for Ethan...

Ever since he saw his future, Mikhael seriously began to worry.

Maybe this dead mana had to do something with his death? He had no idea, this was something Mikhael never heard of before. In that case, he must stay by his side all the time and protect him.

Mikhael wasn't cold-hearted. Although the two only slept once in a whim, this person was still someone who took care of Mikhael all this time. Mikhael also felt quite comfortable around him, and other than times when Ethan would provoke him by calling him wife, their days were indeed peaceful.

So, his initial like might've grown a bit more after all this time.

But since neither of them made a move to clarify their relationship, Mikhael put that thought out of his mind.

But now...

He was only certain that he didn't want this person to die. His urge to finish the barrier only grew stronger, with it — he can have a bigger chance to protect this guy.

   "Try to use this," he put two newly made talismans in front of Ethan, surprising him. He didn't understand why the little guy gave them to him. Vampires can't use talismans.

   "How?"

Unless it's made of their blood, but Ethan was sure that he haven't given his blood to Mikhael yet.

   'Ah...'

Right, he forgot to give that other thing to him as well.

   "Take this, I shouldn't keep it anymore," he gave him that vial filled with his heart blood and Mikhael unceremoniously took it. He was just about to ask for it as well, having run out of material.

   "It's something new I've made," Mikhael explained pointing at those two talismans, "You know when you fight with something and your whole body feels like it's brimming with some odd energy and especially when you summon familiars and feel all tingly or whatnot?"

   "..."

Mikhael really had no idea how to explain mana.

He who can see and sense it naturally really couldn't speak the same language with those who cannot.

But he did realize that dead mana was the source of power with vampires. Perhaps, the period when they can call out their familiars had something to do with it? Or no — every vampire was born with at least one familiar, so could familiars actually be the source of all that dead mana? Like a portable, never-exhausting spiritual talisman or Armament?

Mikhael felt like he caught onto something important here.

   "What with it?" But once he heard Ethan's voice, that idea disappeared before he could continue to ponder on it.

   "Try to get a hang of that feeling, then pour that wobbly sluggish energy into this talisman," he replied as he looked at Ethan with expectation in his eyes. Mikhael could activate them since he was the one who made them, but for other vampires...

This would be a new starting point if he succeeded. If he could later modify those eight needles with this kind of mana... Mikhael couldn't wait to see what will be born out of that union.

Perhaps, he'd even have it easier to influence vampire's thirst this way and completely get rid of it.

   "..."

Ethan didn't understand why Mikhael described this feeling like that, but he blamed it on Mikhael being a human who didn't understand a thing. In fact, to Ethan, that feeling came naturally like breathing. There wasn't anything uncomfortable about controlling the so-called dead mana, nor was there ever a moment when that feeling got out of control.

Very casually, he poured in dead mana into that talisman and to his surprise, the runes began to glow before a single icicle formed above it. Ethan felt that he could make it go anywhere just by thinking about it — and he tried that out as well. As expected, the icicle followed his every instruction while Mikhael's eyes glowed with happiness.

   "It really works," he whispered, but then got louder, "I'm a freaking genius! Of course it works, haha! When I set out to do something, I scare even myself!"

Ethan looked at this brat who asked to be praised and couldn't help but smile a bit.

   "How?" He couldn't help but ask curiously. It's not that Ethan never tried to use a talisman before, but no matter what he did — it was simply impossible. Yet this...

   "Hehe, you want to know?"

   "I do..."

Why did this sound like...

   "Too bad, it's a secret."

...like he's talking with an i***t!

   "Anyway, now that I'm sure it works, it would be simple to sneak you inside," Mikhael continued, "With those talismans, you can easily pass as a spell-caster. Although I can't make some more powerful talismans since I lack a good quality blood, it's fine if you're s weak spell-caster as well. No one will doubt it."

   "..."

Ethan was surprised, but seeing that Mikhael was careful with preparations, he felt like a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders. But how come this person isn't careful about himself, instead worries for other people?

   "Ah, if you need more blood..." He pulled out a silver case from his void before opening it in front of Mikhael. There were at least fifteen vials filled to the brink with blood and Mikhael's eyes shone when he saw what's inside.

   "The Sixth Pureblood thought that he should show sincerity since what your friend offered was more than satisfying," he continued, but Mikhael couldn't hear anything else after he realized what this blood was.

Whom it belonged to, that is.

Mikhael immediately stood up before going over to Ethan and grabbing his face. Then he began to kiss him all over his face unrestrainedly, showing how happy is he with this gift.

Ethan was too stunned to move, and by the time he realized that he was taken advantage of once more, Mikhael had already grabbed that case and ran away.

He met Dante in the way and paused before kissing him all over as well — he simply felt like he must show how happy he is. How could he not be happy? One must know that the most material from Sixth Pureblood Mikhael collected doesn't even compare to a single vial of that blood — no matter if ordinary! But. What. Is. This?

Just as he regretted missing the chance to drain him of blood in Underground Necropolis, he managed to obtain all this blood. There should be at least two galons of blood and more in this case!

Mikhael has said before that Ethan's blood was the best of the best when it came to drawing talismans, and that was only when he still wasn't capable of utilizing dead mana. But now that he could use it to craft talismans, how could Mikhael refuse the urge of using the most suitable material for it? But he already spent all blood he got from Ethan!

This was simply a godsend gift from heavens!

As he happily retreated to his room with never seen before vigor after waking up, Mikhael completely dedicated himself to crafting more talismans. Since he used Ethan's blood, he wasn't met with resistance while drawing symbols nor did he have to use dead mana in his own body because this blood had more than enough of it — and he drew over twenty talismans before he eventually fell asleep. He could only curse his own body for getting tired so fast.

He naturally didn't notice that when he kissed Dante, someone couldn't contain his jealousy and sent daggers his way the entire day.

The next day, Ethan became worried since Mikhael didn't come out the entire day, but once he opened the doors, he became paralyzed.

   "Oh, you're here already? Just in time, I finished making one for you as well, we can depart now," Mikhael spoke, but once Ethan saw how he looked, forget about replying, he couldn't even blink.

   "It's going to be hard to prove our identities in this messy situation, but I already put our entries and dealt with everything else. I need to thank you for that, your internet was a good thing."

Ethan finally reacted when he saw that Mikhael's about to leave.

   "What identities? What are you wearing, what's going on?"

   "Huh, this? I already told you that were going to infiltrate Neo Academy, naturally those are our identities?"

   "Priests?"

Indeed, Mikhael right now wore black priest robes and a simply looking black mask that hid his upper face that revealed his peach colored eyes. He already used a hair dye to change his color to black, but attached to his belt was a little book that looked like Bible. He was in process of putting a silver cross around his neck when Ethan entered.

   "Not just any priest! When it comes to choosing the next Pope, there's a group of spell-casters who failed to become candidates, but we're otherwise powerful. In order to not lose such valuable forces, they are instead trained as protectors and usually spend their time going around the world in order to not influence selection of the next Pope."

   "..."

   "Naturally, they go back after selection and protect the Pope or do his bidding in the world later."

   'What is this? How do you know all that?'

   "It would be troublesome if some protectors want to stay with one candidate, but another is chosen to be Pope. You should know, those candidates all disappear once a Pope is chosen."

   "This doesn't seem to be how Vatican operated all those years, no?"

   "Human Pope is one thing, they indeed need some old fogey to control the human masses while I'm talking about the real power of church. The Pope I'm telling you about holds the ultimate power in Vatican and will never show his face outside. They must never die before it's their time and a new is chosen every twenty years. If they die in the meantime, it would be mess — so their identities are strongly hidden."

   "..."

   'Then why do you know that?'

   "Anyway, I already used internet to play around their archives and added two more protectors. Since they travel the world all the time, their numbers and locations are something not even the Pope should know. Protectors are people who should be the most capable of killing the Pope, so their identity is also hidden in order to prevent those with ulterior motives from initiating their rebellion."

   "..."

   'Again, why do you know all that? You don't happen to have tried to kill one guy like that?'

   "How did you... Infiltrate their archives?" He chose to ignore some matters. Whatever, it's his secret. Ethan felt like his head will ache if he asked Mikhael about why he knew all those things.

   "I was into hacking when I was younger." Indeed, at the beginning of the third millennium, Mikhael became curious about internet and technology, so he decided to become a hacker himself. As for the archives... Mikhael had hacked into them long, long time ago, ah.

In fact, he even helped to create those digital archives back then, it would be weird if he couldn't infiltrate them now.

Every identity was one more safe card to Mikhael, so he didn't hesitate to create as many escape routes as possible. It would be impossible to hunt him down if it really came down to it, but Mikhael preferred freedom and found running away to be a bother, so he made sure to never leak information about his identity.

   "Anyway, on the internet while searching information about war and Neo Academy, I learned that those protectors were finally revealed to the world — well, human side, at least — and made to enter the Academy. Apparently, the Pope is going to enter soon, in order to see that artifact and grow stronger. We're to protect him, so this opportunity came just in time."

   "..."

   'You even know that? How did you even get that information on internet? Isn't internet useless nowadays?'

Ethan didn't know, but Mikhael didn't bother to explain.

People like hackers had their means of surviving. The more chaotic situation, the more they'll have hidden information nor just anyone can afford to see. Mikhael was someone who built his network for over century, how could he have easy time hunting down his prey?

And... How could he earn so much money if not for using some dirty ways?

He could probably even find out who was Pope's woman if he dug through internet properly. But Mikhael had no time to do so.

   "Take this," he gave Ethan his own set of clothes. Mikhael had sharp eyes, he could clearly see Ethan's three sizes, so crafting clothes for him wasn't a problem. The robes Protectors wore were actually somewhat like a protective Armament. So you just needed a decent spell-casters to draw a proper talisman and you could easily make it.

Mikhael didn't want to admit it, but the only reason he chose this identity was because he learned that protectors in the academy didn't need to join ranks. So, they can continue to wear those clothes that were made the same way like other's robes — he thought that black was better than other colors.

   "This booklet is what you should use to fight instead of talismans - call it Holy Bible or something, it was used to scam people of the bast to believe in God's power or whatnot.. Whenever you need something, just rip off a page and use it like normal talismans. I was kind enough to add instructions to know which spell is meant for what," Mikhael added.

"They're the same as the one from yesterday. This cross is similar, use it like talisman, it'll turn into a sword. But their use is limited, only five times — so be careful. I'll make another when you need it."

It can't be helped - drawing a talisman and making an Armament with dead mana are two completely different things. Mikhael barely made this one which doesn't even have power nor special spells inscribed inside.

And it only lasted five times!

Five!

Mikhael never made a disposable Armament, this was the first time. His ego received a strong blow, even though it's his first time using dead mana.

He felt like those beginner spell-casters.

But looking at Ethan, he felt that it's worth it. He should probably make more stuff for him, must make sure to keep his life intact.

When he thought up to that point, he closed the doors behind Ethan with a lock before sitting on the nearby chair, not even blinking as he looked at him.

   "..."

   "What's this?"

   "Change your clothes. We need to move soon, before Pope enters the Academy," Mikhael replied, with strong sense of justice in his words.

   "..."

Ethan chose to not say anything about that, this guy even knew when the other guy is going to make a move. So much for Pope's protection.

   "Why are you looking at me?" 

   "Can't I?"

   "..."

How could Mikhael miss this opportunity? Such a good body, what a shame to be hidden underneath all those clothes. But then again, not many had seen it aside from Mikhael, no?

Thinking up to that point, he suddenly found those priest robes to be really good. Hide, hide everything!

Ethan only sighed once again, he'd long lost the will to fight with this stupid human. If he wants to watch, then let him.

Thus, he began to undress while Mikhael carefully watched and praised his body. Absolutely perfect!

His eyes were good indeed, to have made those clothes according to Ethan's body. Ethan didn't ask why those robes fitted him either, he didn't want more headache.

   "With this, we can go. Vatican is far, but not that far again. I'll add another talisman to our car to increase its speed, so we should make it in time."

   "..."

   'The car already goes 400 km/h after your last modification, and you say you want more speed? Do you want to kill us? Let's be honest here; Constantine sent you to infiltrate my home and kill me, didn't he?'

   "No need, but... Should we really drive that car?"

   "It's fine, those protectors who were sent all over the world must've gotten a mission to spread church's influence and draw in spell-casters. Since the church has a good relationship with Neo Academy, daring to even send their Pope over there, it means that they're ready to play it big," Mikhael spoke, "They won't stay low-key anymore, and that car is full with spells, so it should be okay concerning our identities."

   "But I don't know anything about this protection mission and church," Ethan only now realized this problem.

   "It's fine, I'll tell you everything you need to know. You can also act like an iceberg who doesn't like to talk much," Mikhael wasn't bothered with that at all.

   "..."

   "Fine," Ethan could only succumb to this stupid human. Since the other party already planned everything so meticulously, Ethan couldn't say no. It will be better to go along rather than leave him alone — since he learned that Mikhael is more careful when it comes to other people unlike when it comes to himself, he thought that he really had no way to refuse him.

As for his aura... He should be able to suppress it as long as he doesn't fight without talismans, no?

   "Come here for a second," if Ethan could think about that problem, Mikhael was naturally even more prepared.

He pulled out a black talisman before standing in front of Ethan. Silently chanting something, he placed if over Ethan's chest who only curiously stared at it — it was a real black grade talisman!

He could only watch with surprise and curiosity as that black talisman sunk in his clothes before being absorbed into his body, he could feel that something changed within.

   "Oh, nice — not a trace of resistance! You must've used Sixth Pureblood's assistance to become a Higher Noble, no wonder," Mikhael mused and Ethan absentmindedly nodded.

He could feel his own heart blood on that talisman, so he had an idea what Mikhael meant with those words.Higher Nobles are made from Pureblood's blood, after all - and he acted like Dante's man, but it's more believable to say that he was sent by Sixth Pureblood to protect Dante. It's not suspicious to say that he was made by the same guy, then.

   "Should you try using... Something vampire-like?" Ethan blinked in confusion, but his eyes suddenly lost their red color before turning pitch black under the influence of that talisman.

Mikhael was somewhat taken aback before musing.

   "How odd, are you Asian? No, you don't look so, but black eyes... Never mind, it works. There isn't an ounce of dead mana seeping out of your body anymore, and your eyes were naturally suppressed. Not even if you summon a familiar in front of the Pope would they feel your aura now."

Although Ethan still wore that white mask, his eyes were clearly visible. It was only when Mikhael mentioned it now that Ethan realized that Mikhael's mask had opening for eyes unlike the previous one.

Now that he had a chance to clearly look in his eyes, Ethan found himself to be captivated with those innocent looking eyes.

Unable to control his urge, he raised his hand before messing up Mikhael's hair.

   "Good job, wife."

   "..."

Mikhael felt warm in his heart at first hearing that praise, but his smile soon turned ugly...

And he pulled out an explosive talisman before blasting it Ethan's way!

   "You're the wife!"

Ethan casually avoided that talisman letting it destroy the doors behind him.

   "Who prepared us for this trip, you or me? Isn't it wife's duty to worry about those things, while I - as  a good husband - will be driving the car? You tell me, if you aren't the wife here, who else can it be?" It would be fine if Ethan didn't open his mouth, but once he said that, Mikhael who planned to stop after that talisman only got angrier before blasting another talisman in his face.

Thus, the originally calm house ended up in tatters before the two left this city. As for the passers-by, they ignored this every day's occurrence without thinking too much. And Mikhael gave up on visiting Elias, not wanting to worry him too much because he failed his Deep Slumber.

Thus, a Pureblood and half9blood embarked on a journey to become the church's most outstanding priests.