“Jin… You’re really crazy, you know that?”
Just as quickly as he’d arrived, Sirius Moonreaver departed without even sparing me a second glance. My guess is that being the Moonreaver Head, he had an array of duties and responsibilities to tend to and practically had no free time to deal with small things like me.
And yet, that man ran all the way down here when he’d suspected that Lilith was about to be taken away.
What a sis-con.
“Why would you say that?”
“No one in their right mind would challenge a head of a Guardian Family, let alone the head of the Moonreaver House.” Lilith shook her head and frowned. “It must have been a century since the head of the Moonreaver House has been called to duel. I don’t know if you’re just brave or pure dumb.”
“What do you think?”
I smiled suggestively as my hands continued to stroke Lilith’s soft, blonde hair. The girl looked like she was about to snap, but she still immensely enjoyed the tenderness of my touch. Snorting, she said:
“I think you’re dumb.”
“Hehe, then I’m your dumbo.”
“Y-You! Can you be serious for just one second?!”
How could I? Watching Lilith’s animated response that came straight from a comic book only filled my heart with joy. Every fibre of my being wanted to continue teasing the young lass, but I had to endure it for now. Now that I’d thrown down the gauntlet, every second was precious.
A month to train wasn’t ideal, but it was the best time frame for me. After all, Irina would be exiting from her isolated training by then. Win-or-lose, I had this entire month to hone my skills as well as awaken my new ones. Speaking of which…
“Lilith… Do you think I have a chance?”
The girl fell silent at my question. She raised her brow as if she’d fallen into a deep state of contemplation. It was only after fifteen seconds that Lilith stared right in my face and said determinedly.
“No, you’ll be utterly destroyed.”
“Ouch…”
“I’m being serious!”
It wasn’t that Lilith lacked faith in me. Heck, she was the one who moved mountains just to recover me from the Everwinter Estate. The problem was my opponent.
“My brother is over a thousand years old, and unlike most members of the Moonreaver House, he was trained as a warrior. So, he wasn’t like those lazy True Vampires you’ve encountered. My brother led expedition after expedition to slay the Outer Demons. He’d also participated in multiple battles against the Holy Church and the Werewolves. I dare say that no thousand-year-old Vampire is as strong as him.”
Haha, I guessed that was the case. After all, one doesn’t become the head of a Guardian House as a weakling.
“He’s capable of using high-level magic that eludes most magicians, fights fist-to-fist with Werewolves has the brains befitting that of a Moonreaver, and has pioneered new magic in his field. My brother is the epitome of how terrifying Vampires can be.”
Oh ho? So he’s drawing that much praise from Lilith, huh? I guess that’s another reason to bring him down a peg or two.
“… As expected, you should withdraw from this fight, Jin. In a duel, not even I can protect you if my brother tries to kill you.”
“Haha, too late for that now, isn’t it?”
What kind of man would I be if I backed out from the fight? Not to mention, there was no way the Moonreaver House would accept it if Lilith was in a relationship with a coward. Being weak was one thing, but not having the guts to face your adversaries and rise up higher was practically unforgivable.
And I would rather die a weakling than be known as a coward.
“Don’t worry, I have a trump card.”
“Oh? What is that?”
“You, my precious little flower!”
I laughed heartily. My hands pulled the stunned girl down to my lap, and my arms lovingly wrapped around Lilith’s shoulders. I gently stroked her hair and went down to her nape with my free hand. Feeling my massage, the blonde goddess purred in pleasure and bit the bottom of her lip.
“Y-You… Tch, how are you this good at sweet-talking?! I bet you’ve practised a lot on Irina.”
“Hehe, don’t you like it?”
“… I hate you.”
Lilith was coquettish yet shy. This contrast really prickled at my heartstrings, and so I couldn’t help but tease the young woman even further.
“No, I’m being serious.” I continued to stroke the adorable kitten in my arms as I continued: “You are the one who knows Sirius Moonreaver. His abilities and his tendencies. Fortunately for me, he agreed to my handicap, and I only needed to land a single hit on him. If we combine our forces, I’m confident we can come up with a plan of attack.”
“Hah… If you say so.”
Lilith wore a helpless smile. I could tell that she wished for me to abandon such foolishness and simply be protected under her umbrella. Alas, I wasn’t going to be a man that stands behind his woman.
“Hehe, you’re the best. So, what is your brother’s weakness?”
“If I were to be completely frank, he has absolutely none,” Lilith replied without even thinking about it.
“I said that he was trained as a warrior, right? His martial arts have reached the Kyrios stage. In human terms, that means he’s an Eight-Star Master.”
Hoh… And here I’d thought that True Vampires didn’t train in martial arts. Even if you gathered every Hunter in the world, the number of SS-Ranked martial artists could be counted with the fingers in one hand. Reaching Eight-star is a colossal feat for a True Vampire, who is known for their disdain of physical techniques in favour of their powerful magical talents.
“And that’s in both hand-to-hand combat and spearmanship. Well, his spearmanship should be slighter better as it’s said that he’d learnt from the Spear Paragon himself in his prime.”
“Wait, the Spear Paragon that you’re talking about is THAT Spear Paragon.”
“Is there another?”
The Spear Paragon was history’s greatest spearmaster and one of humanity’s greatest heroes. It was said that he single-handedly annihilated an army of Outer Demons, including dozens of Calamity-ranked demons, all while protecting his comrades. Unfortunately, he met his end on the battlefield, surrounded by the river of blood he’d created and corpses upon corpses of high-ranking Outer Demons.
And since the Spear Paragon lived nine hundred years ago, when technology wasn’t as developed, there weren’t many records of his godlike spearmanship. Over the centuries, his teachings had been lost to time, and there was hardly anyone who could replicate the spear that reaped the souls of a million Outer Demons.
But it seems that Sirius had learnt it.
“Not only that, my brother has mastered the use of dimensional magic. Only a handful of Elders and previous Clan Leaders can match his dominance with magic. Honestly, the only way you can beat him is if you launch a surprise attack, but even that’s a reach as his reaction time is beyond the limits of Spacetime.”
“Hoho…”
Looks like I have a lot of homework to do if I wish to win this upcoming battle.
“Then, we shouldn’t waste any more time, right?” I brushed Lilith’s hair to the side, tracing my fingers down her soft, supple cheeks. Our eyes locked together, and my fangs escaped from my mouth. “Shall we continue where we left off?”
“…”
Lilith looked at my open mouth, and her face instantly turned crimson. As someone who couldn’t even watch Irina and I go at it, it surely was an embarrassing experience for the young girl. And from what I’d heard from her attendant, Lilith rarely interacted with other Vampires due to her immense talent and overprotective brother.
It was even accurate to say that I was more of a Vampire than she was.
But still… The girl wasn’t one to turn down a free meal.
Lilith was already wearing a blouse that showed her clavicle, but she lowered the straps from her shoulder even further. She bashfully looked away as if she was forced to commit this seductive act. However, both she and I knew that it wasn’t the case.
Lilith was inviting me… And I would be a fool to decline.
“Lilith… Let’s eat.”
“Ahhh!!!”
The moment my fangs met the soft, tender flesh of Lilith’s shoulders, a provocative moan escaped from the girl’s mouth. Her body convulsed, and her tense muscles softened up. And as if to facilitate our feeding process, Lilith moved to a more comfortable position allowing much of her delectable, warm fluids to flow into my mouth.
And boy, was it delicious.
Irina’s blood was comparable to that of the sweetest dessert humanity could ever hope to create. It was akin to enjoying ice cream on a warm summer’s day with layer upon layer of sweetness which would soothe the thirsty soul. It was a heavenly taste that only kept improving with time and was quite possibly the best thing I’d ever tasted.
And yet… Lilith’s blood was just as tasty.
I’d felt like I’d been brought to a five, nay, ten-star restaurant and was given a meal made with the finest ingredients ever procured by mankind. It tasted like it was made with dozens of fruity flavours blended into one. Strawberries, bananas, grapes… Lilith’s blood seemed to contain hints of all of the best fruits in the world, mixed together to form a fermented wine that brewers could only dream of making.
The blossoming aroma of Spring also exploded in my mouth, creating a symphony of essences that overwhelmed my tastebuds.
Like my first time sucking Irina’s blood, it took all of my willpower to stop myself from losing control. It was a meal that I wanted to savour, not rush. And luckily for me, Lilith felt the same way.
Krttt…
The barely audible sound of Lilith biting into my flesh tickled the side of my ears. I opened one eye and looked at the girl who was trying hard to keep her fangs in my neck, all while her adorable little face was shaking off tears.
Damn it… Why is she so cute?!
At 1.71 meters tall, Lilith was by no means a small woman. However, compared to my 1.99 meters height and broad frame, Lilith did seem like a little girl. Especially when she became intoxicated by my blood while straddling on my lap.
Our Vampire senses were heightened, and we shared a long, deep connection as we sucked on each other’s blood. The pleasure we’d both felt had been increased tenfold, and it felt like the entire world had stopped for us.
No, the entire world did stop for us.
Unknowingly, my magic power created a pocket in Spacetime where we were free to do whatever we wished. Untethered by the laws of the world and unrestrained by the Moonreaver Dimension. I could feel magic power rising from the inner workings of my soul, but I hardly cared for any of that.
All of my attention was focused on the beautiful woman in my arms, and the same sentiment was shared by her.
We’d even forgotten about our objective for coming to this training room in the first place.
The two of us were nothing more than bloodsucking beasts at this point.
Enamoured with our scents and tastes, the two of us continued deep into the night.