Vampire's Slice of Life

Amidst the ongoing panic in the captal's center, one Giant stood calm in a corner and watched the battle unfold.

He was still enough to be mistaken for a statue.

Ever since the ex chief's faction began making movements, there was an uneasy feeling that wouldn't go. Something was wrong. Khimav couldn't pinpoint exactly where, but something indeed was.

Members of the ex chief's faction weren't stupid enough to pull such risky moves. They must've figured out by now that they weren't wanted by the current chief and his faction. This would've been enough reason to not be rash.

Yet, here they were.

Khimav had seen the chaos unfold before his eyes. The way a random girl caused a lot of Giants to go berserk wasn't something he could ever make out.

Khimav could go and kill the girl right away, but there was a certain vampire entity standing at a distance from her, overlooking the entire battlefield with a calm gaze.

From a distance, he looked like a seasoned warrior. No, the much better term to describe him would be an authority, a rule of some sort. The regal aura that naturally spread out from his body wasn't something anyone could have.

The person in the distance seemed comparatively weaker, but Khimav didn't make his move. He stood in place and locked his spiritual sense on Lith.

Time gradually passed and everyone in the capital's center was eventually infected.

A promising young Giant charged with all his might to protect his people. The vampire entity watching over the battlefield seemed interested in this Giant.

The young Giant's cries came to an end as he did his best to even out the threats. He tried to avoid the infectious droplets, but alas, they were everywhere.

He succumbed to the infection, and was knocked out by the vampire entity, thus sleeping peacefully in the middle of a battle.

With him going down, the vampire entity seemed to have lost interest in the battlefield. His gaze shifted and locked itself with Khimav's.

Khimav frowned. Although he expected that entity to know that he was being stalked, with how his reaction was, it was evident that he knew for how long Khimav had been watching him.

Khimav stood rooted in his spot and watched the man fly close to him with his set of bat wings.

Lith hovered in midair before Khimav and stared into his eyes.

The man in front had a poised look. Composed, confident, and cunning could be the accurate words to describe him.

"I assume you are the reason for this chaos, yes?"

There was no greeting. No pleasantries or formalities. Khimav went straight to the point and asked Lith.

"Yes." Lith replied.

"Why?" Khimav wondered. "Why meddle in others' affairs?"

Lith shrugged. "I wouldn't meddle if I didn't have a proper reason."

"And what would that be?"

Lith flashed a small smile. "Heh. It's to stop the infighting among you lot."

Khimav's brows burrowed in response. "Stop infighting by causing infighting? Is this not adding fuel to the fire than sand?"

Lith shook his head. "You are so old yet you lack white the wisdom. Are all Giants like this?"

Khimav didn't answer and stared at Lith with serious eyes. There was no time to joke or play around.

Lith shrugged to his lack of interest.

"I'll tell you why I did what I did. Firstly, you wouldn't be present here had I not forced you to. Secondly, you are the only man capable enough to put a stop to most things here."

Khimav listened without interrupting with utmost seriousness.

"Listen carefully, I'll not say it again."

Lith's voice was firm, his gaze locked onto Khimav's.

There was an air of superiority when talking with Khimav. It wasn't arrogance, but his natural trait.

"That Mother Seia you're worshiping has used you. Your wife was poisoned by her lackeys to get you under control, and heck, they even set you up to be with your wife. It was a plan that was initiated before you could even realize you're living."

There would come a sudden day in everyone's life where they would be fully conscious of their thoughts, who they are, what they are and so on.

From that moment onwards, they would remember important events of their life in great detail. It was applicable on all sentient organisms in the world.

"I am not going to tell you how I know what I know. And I don't care if you believe me or not. I have one offer for you. If you take it, you won't regret it. But if you don't, you'll curse yourself for life and may even endanger your poisoned wife."

Khimav clenched his fist and his body trembled. There were so many things Lith had said that he couldn't understand. However, the last line, he understood it completely.

Nobody was allowed to talk about his wife, and definitely not in such pessimistic way. Had it been a normal situation, Khimav would've plucked out the tongue that spoke ill.

The person in front was fearless. Khimav did not know the extent of his capabilities. For all he knew, this person could have hidden experts protecting him for the shadows.

"Whether you select or reject, it hardly concerns me."

Lith dropped a reality-check bomb on Khimav.

"If you end up rejecting, I'll eliminate you and stop the infighting by putting someone up on the throne and lead the Giants. As for whether I'm capable of doing or not, you'll know the answer once you make a choice."

"I'll give you three minutes to consider carefully."

Lith took out his phone and fiddled with it, waiting for Khimav's answer.

A minute in, the reality of the situation dawned upon Khimav.

He took a deep breath and instead of answering, asked, "How do you know my wife is poisoned?"

"I just do." A flat reply followed suit almost instantly.

Khimav wasn't dejected by the lack of formal tone by Lith. He continued to ask without shame, "Can you heal my wife?"

"Yes. I can also heal every one of your family members from any illness they possess and can de-age your appearance along with your wife's."

"What's the credibility of your words?"

Lith turned the phone down and looked up at the Giant's face.

A smirk spread across his face as he said, "There is none. It's up to you to believe it or. It. This is a gamble, a literal gamble that I'm forcing upon you."

Khimav's head ached with stress as thousands of possibilities played out in his mind in regards to the conversation he just had with him.

No matter through which angle he saw it, Lith's words contained no loophole or things that could be taken advantage of. He also wasn't hesitating whatsoever or nervous in front of Khimav.

From Giants standpoint, nobody could hold a candle to Khimav. That's just how good he was. Beings lower than him would be afraid of his Emperor Rank aura but Lith wasn't.

He was definitely an expert. Khimav didn't need more proof than this. As for the credibility part…

Did Khimav even have a chance to refuse?

The moment Lith said he could heal his wife, he was already sold.

Nobody was able to treat her till now and Khimav was running out of options. He had consulted, and had many skillful alchemists visit him.

Unfortunately, no one was able to say anything in regards to his wife's condition.

Since he had reached a dead end, anything from here onwards was an opportunity he couldn't miss to take.

Three minutes passed by in the blink of an eye.

Khimav gave his answer honestly. He first stated as to why he would side with Lith. Then, he asked right away about how his wife would be healed.

Lith looked in the distance, towards the peak of a tall mountain at the periphery of the Giant Kingdom.

Pointing at that place, Lith said, "A dandelion lies in that place. It looks like a dandelion, smells, and disperses like one, but is actually an odd terrestrial species similar to sea anemone."

"It is alive and can move around."

"Find it, dry it, make a powder. Use the powder with small quantities of basic alkaline solutions and apply it all over your wife's body."

Khimav hurriedly took notes in his mental library, afraid that he might lose out on some vital information.

Lith knew the guy's weak points and targeted exactly those.

He had little time remaining for the quest's ending, and had to move fast. He didn't plan to be cruel, but was forced to do so.

Whatever opinion Khimav would have of him later, Lith didn't bother or care.

Though, he did feel pity for him.

Lith didn't know how it would feel to have your loved ones be on deathbed, and he certainly wasn't planning on feeling it. However, helping his wife was a small task and the least Lith could do for Khimav to gain his loyalty.

This dude was resilient, strong, and capable. It would be a fine addition to his party if he were to be recruited.

Finishing the paste's ingredient list, Lith said, "Now go. Find those plants. I'll help you make the paste if you come quickly."

With a small bow, Khimav vanished from his spot and went to grab the ingredients. Whether the words were true or not, he was going to find out in a while and make his move.