“I think I’ll prefer night. If it’s the night, then the lab won’t have much security. We should be able to get in easily so I can get her body back,” Atlas commented.

“What after that?” Lilith asked. “Do you have a way out after getting her body back?”

“Of course I do. I haven’t been sitting idle all this while. I’ve memorized this entire place. I know all the exits. It won’t be easy, but it’s still possible,” Atlas responded.

“If you had this information, why didn’t you leave with your sister before?” Lilith asked, seemingly confused.

Atlas didn’t know what to say. He could only look at the shadow in silence.

How could he tell her that he did it for the safety of his sister? He was naive enough to think that it was safer for his sister to stay here than to attempt an escape? If only he had a little more courage, he might have been able to save her, taking her far from here before this day arrived.

“I have a way to escape, but there are people keeping an eye there. The way I was before, there was a great chance that I would’ve been caught. But now… Things will be different. I think I can be successful this time.”

He glanced back at all the cells one last time. It was certainly surprising to see how many cells this place actually had. It was as if it was created to hold entire armies. There was also another question in his head. Why were two underground floors created? The first underground floor where the kids were kept and the lab existed.

The second underground floor with the prisons which was just under. And Castiel slept in the room which was connected to the last cell on the lowest floor. There must’ve been a reason for it.

He really wanted to ask Lilith more about it, but it was the time for silence since he started climbing stairs. He didn’t want to alert the guards upstairs with his words.

He climbed the stairs, placing his foot on the ground gently to not make any noise.

As he had expected, there were guards upstairs. As soon as he reached the end of the stairs, he was able to hear the bickering of two guards.

“Man, those three have been gone for quite some time. Why is it taking them so long to bring a kid back? Could something have gone wrong?” A heavy voice fell on the ears of Atlas.

“What could have gone wrong? It’s not like they went there to fight a great beast. They just went there to bring a kid who’s already half dead,” responded the second guard. “Don’t think too much. Nothing can go wrong.”

“Hehehe, that’s true as well. I’m sure they must be wasting time there. I would’ve done the same. But talking about the boy, he was truly crazy. He actually killed people here. It’s the first time where one of the staff members here were killed, and not only one but two! I wonder where he got the courage from.”

“Who knows. People do crazy things when they lose their minds. It just goes on to show that you can’t underestimate these kids. That’s why always be alert in front of those menaces.”

“Hahaha, I know, I know. I’m not planning to make a mistake like underestimating them. I don’t want to be the third staff member to die in the future. It’ll be embarrassing to die at the hands of a kid.”

Atlas peeped through the corners of the wall behind which he was hiding. He could see the two guys immersed in conversation. None of them were looking toward the stairs. Unfortunately, those two weren’t there alone.

For some reason, the entire hallway was filled with guards this time. Atlas could see more guards standing there. It was the first time he had seen so many guards on this floor at once.

Even when it was the time for blood donation, he only saw four guards at max. But currently, there were around twenty guards in the hallway alone.

‘There goes my plan to take the two guards out quickly and have free reign on this floor.’

“You can’t do it. There is no way to fight so many people without alerting everyone. The Vampires would be here in five minutes if you did that.” Lilith warned. “Don’t go ahead with the old plan. You need to change it.”

“I know.” Atlas scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with a new plan.

‘What can I do here? I can’t just stand on the stairs all day? I need to find a solution fast!’

“Wait a minute! Why are we being so stupid here?! Vampires can realize that I’m not one of the Vampires staying here. They would attack me, but what about human guards? To them, I’m a Vampire too! I can fool them! I can pretend to be a Vampire with my speed and strength. I just need to play the part!”

“You can’t,” Lilith said right away, shattering his plan. “You can’t fool them.”

“Why?”

“Did you even look at yourself? Fine. Describe to me the defining characteristics of a Vampire that are more commonly known?”

“Pale skin, strength, and speed with incredible healing?”

“Did you forget about the eyes?” Lilith asked. “What color eyes do you think you have?”

“Green… Ah, that’s right. How can I forget! All Vampires have red eyes. I haven’t heard about one with green. That will give me away! They won’t believe I’m a Vampire! How is it possible though? Why do Progenitors have different eyes than the Vampires? Aren’t they Vampires as well?”

“You think all Vampires have red eyes? That’s not true for the most part,” Lilith responded lazily.

“I’ve only seen or heard about ones with red eyes though.” Atlas let out.

“Let me tell you in simpler terms so you can understand better. You know I told you about the Four Vampire Progenitors?” Lilith asked.

“Yeah.” Atlas nodded in response. He knew there were Four Progenitors in the past.

“All four of them had different eye colors. Vampire Progenitor Castiel, my master, had beautiful green eyes. The second was Vampire Progenitor Atlan, who had deep black eyes. The third was Vampire Progenitor Lucius, who had golden eyes. And lastly, Vampire Progenitor Ramiel had blood-red eyes.”

“All the vampires that you saw so far are from Ramiel’s lineage. The Vampires with golden eyes will be from Progenitor Lucius’ lineage and so on.”

“Lineage? You mean their bloodline? Why didn’t I see vampires with Golden, green, or black eyes then? Why?”

“Because Vampire Progenitor Ramiel was more into turning people into Vampires. Think of him as someone who liked to collect more toys. If I’m not wrong, this entire Palace is occupied by Vampires from his lineage. They won’t consider you one of them,” Lilith explained.

“That’s why I said they won’t believe you’re with Lord Severis either, even if you prove that you’re a Vampire. At best, they’ll think you’re an intruder from outside. They’ll kill you for sneaking here.”

“Ramiel’s lineage… So all the Vampires in this world are from his lineage since other Lineages aren’t seen as far as I can remember,” Atlas muttered, frowning.

“Ramiel was different from most. The others didn’t turn humans as much as he did. Whenever he saw someone who intrigued him, he turned them into Vampires who worked for him.”

“If I’m not wrong, with time, the people he turned made more vampires. That’s why red-eyed Vampires must be more common in your world. A lot of time has passed, after all.”

“On the other hand, the rest of the Progenitors were more reserved with who they turned. Progenitor Lucius and Atlan only turned four and five people respectively; the last I remember meanwhile, Ramiel turned over a thousand by then.”

“I don’t know what happened in the last few centuries, but it’s either Vampires from other lineages went into seclusion, or they’re so low in number that they’re so rare to find that no one has any information about them.”

“Turning humans into Vampires? Is that really possible? I didn’t hear about that either. Is it also an ability exclusive to Progenitors?” Atlas asked.

Lilith didn’t know how to respond. She couldn’t believe Atlas was so stupid. “Where do you think Vampires come from? They come from mothers and grow up? You idiot. Vampires are made when humans are turned!”

“Also, any Vampire can turn a human into one of them. However, there is an intrinsic difference. The humans turned directly by the Progenitors are the strongest after them. They are called Alpha Vampires, but we used to call them Generals during our time.”

” A Progenitor can turn any number of humans into a Vampire. However, an Alpha Vampire can only turn ten Vampires in his lifetime. The humans that are turned by Alpha Vampires were known as Beta Vampires or Commanders in our time. They are weaker than Alpha Vampires.”

” A Beta Vampire is different, though. They could turn around a hundred humans in their lifetime if they wished. However, only the first human they turn is special. That person also becomes a Beta Vampire, but he’s known in our world as a Second Generation Beta Vampire who is weaker than the first Generation Beta vampire who turned him.”

“That aside, as I said, the first Generation Beta can turn a hundred humans. After the first human, the ninety-nine that he turns are known as Servant Vampires. They are even weaker than the second generation beta. That’s why each Vampire is careful when selecting who to turn first.”

“That sounds so complicated,” Atlas frowned. He was having a hard time understanding the explanation.

“I know it’s a little complicated, but that’s the hierarchy that you must know now that you’re here. It will come in handy. Anyway, in basic terms, just know that the older a Vampire is, the stronger he is since it means he’s a higher-grade Vampire who came before others. That’s why newborns are the easiest to kill. Do you understand?”

Even though Atlas didn’t understand what she said entirely, he nodded his head. In any case, he didn’t need to care about how strong the Vampires were or their hierarchy. It wasn’t as if he was going to climb their hierarchy? He just needed his sister, and then he was going to disappear forever.

Despite having clarity about what he wanted, he still couldn’t overcome his curiosity. “What about the person whose body I’m occupying? How many did Castiel turn? Where are my Generals?”