The Accidental Vampire

"I want your Key Fragment for that place. I believe I should keep it secure with me. With Yovana and the Werewolves on your trail, I don't think it's right to have the fragment stay with you. It's not secure."

Atlas raised his hand, directly asking for her Key Fragments.

If Atlan wanted him to be direct, he was going to be direct about it.

"You want the Key Fragment?" Atlan asked, frowning. "You do realize that I've had it since the beginning, and despite everything I went through, I kept it secure. By doubting my ability to keep that time secure, you're doubting me... You know that?"

"Just for that, I never would've given you that stone. However..." Even though he seemed slightly upset at being questioned like that, he was still a bit calmer with Castiel since the guy had just saved him.

"However, I don't like to keep someone's favor. You saved my life. You brought me back. In exchange for that favor, I would be willing to give back the Key Fragment. But after that, we would be equal. I won't owe anything," he suggested. "Do you accept that?"

Even though all of them had decided to keep a key Fragment, he didn't feel any need to keep it. It was as secure with him as it was with Castiel or anyone else. They've all had it for centuries, after all. If Atlas wanted it, he was willing to give it in exchange for this favor.

If, despite having his differences, Atlas came to save him, then he could also give a piece of stone that was mostly useless for him.

"I accept that." Atlas agreed. He had expected that he might need to fight Atlan again for the stone, but if it came that easy, then he could only agree.

With that, he was going to have his third Key Fragment! All he was going to need was the fourth and the last one... The Key Fragment that was with the Blood Council.

Lancaster raised his hand. A formation appeared above his head.

From the formation, a blazing Sword came! It was Atlan's soul weapon.

Seeing Atlan call out his sword, Atlas took a step back, wondering if he was going to attack.

Atlan didn't attack. He just held the heavy sword firmly. On the hilt of the sword, a piece of cloth was wrapped around firmly, seemingly very old.

Atlan unwrapped the piece of clothing and kept it before sending the Sword back.

He showed the other side of the piece of cloth, revealing a spell formation carved there.

"The reason I was able to keep the Key Fragment safe... It's because it was with my Soul Sword."

Atlan placed the piece of cloth on the ground before wiping his lips that had some good on them.

He placed his blood on the piece of cloth right in the middle of the formation. The space became slightly unstable above the formation as it started shining. The formation disappeared from the piece of clothing, but what was left was a small piece of stone.

Atlan picked up the small piece of stone and tossed it off at Atlas. "There. We are equal now."

After giving the Key Fragment to Atlan, he turned around and started leaving.

"Where will you be going next?" Atlas asked, watching Atlan leaving alone.

"Wherever the Destiny takes me. We'll meet again when it's that time... Until then, I'll enjoy what this world has to offer... See you then!"

Waving his hands, Atlan left. Along the way, he picked up a body and started feasting on the blood. It had been a really long time since he tasted human blood. He had been really weak without it. Finally, he could taste the blood and feel his old strength again.

"Also, Lilith!" Just as he was about to disappear from the view, he stopped. He turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I regret what I did in the past. You aren't half bad. Thank you for forgetting our differences and still coming to save me! Castiel was right! You deserved to live, and I'm glad he succeeded!"

His future disappeared as soon as he finished speaking what was in his heart.

He knew that Lilith must've hated him since he was a part of her village being destroyed. And he also supported the notion that Lilith needed to be killed because she was from their enemy clan! Despite all that, Lilith survived thanks to Castiel and managed to grow to be a powerful mage.

And even after all that, she didn't look for revenge. She didn't come to kill him. Instead, she came to help him… He believed he owed Lilith an apology. He was wrong in believing that she was going to be like her clan that wanted to kill them. Instead, she was different from them. She was good.

Lilith stood in her place, wondering if she heard it right. Even she hadn't expected that Atlan would apologize to her after all these years.

"I suppose we did the right thing by saving him, didn't we?" Atlas asked, observing the third Key Fragment. He kept the third Fragment with him. "But I don't understand one thing. He kept talking about some 'time' for some reason. What was he talking about?"

Lilith shook her head.

"I don't think we need to think about it. We don't have too much time. We need to get the Fourth Fragment. The Blood Council is very far, and it's not going to be easy."

She also started leaving. Even though Lilith acted as if she didn't know, for some reason, Atlas felt that she did know and that she was trying to avoid the topic.

He also felt that whatever it was, it was related to the reason that Castiel went to his Eternal sleep in the past. Even when he asked her why he did that at the start, Lilith hadn't answered. And now he felt he knew why that was the case. There was really something she wanted to hide.

Unfortunately for him, if she didn't want to tell him, he couldn't force her to tell. And he was right about another thing as well. They really didn't have too much time to waste here. The journey was the most time-consuming part, and the faster they could receive the fourth key Fragment, the faster they could achieve their goals.

It was better to be done before the deadline than to leave everything for the end, especially since there was no way to guess what unexpected factors could come into play later.

He was right as well. An expected factor had started taking shape... One that even he couldn't have expected.