Chapter 65 Starfall (2)

“Sirius Moonreaver…”

The blonde, noble man didn’t answer my call. Brushing his face with his hand, the Lord of the Moonreaver House wiped the despondent expression off his face. Speaking of which, the moment he arrived, I could see that his cheeks were hollowed out, and his eyes seemed somewhat lethargic. And while Vampires were effectively immortal and could heal any injury, they couldn’t hide the mental stress that they succumbed to.

And looking at Sirius’ condition, I could tell he was in a bad state. It wasn’t horrible by any metric, and on the outside, he looked as healthy as can be. But that slight change in expression was enough for me to deduce his true mental state.

Perhaps he hadn’t slept since the Bloodborne-Moonreaver war, or perhaps he had been swamped by work and barely had a chance to suck someone’s blood. Or maybe… Just maybe… The stress of his sister not talking to him had gotten to his head. Either way, all of those little factors add up, causing the man to seem like a gaunt patient that could barely keep his mind straight.

“Jin Valter,” the Moonreaver Lord snorted coldly. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my sister? You sure have a lot of nerve, acting so intimate with her.”

“What I do with Lilith is none of your business. Especially after today.”

“Heh… Do you really think that you stand a chance?”

Sirius’ cold laugh quickly turned into one with derision. If he were a few centimetres taller, he would have looked down at me as if he were an adult disciplining a child. Tch, that condescending nature of his really pisses me off.

“I wouldn’t have proposed this duel if I thought I would lose.”

“… I really don’t know where you get your confidence from.”

Sirius shook his head, placing both his hands behind his back. His gaze shot free from my body and glanced over my shoulder where Lilith was standing. I followed his line of sight and saw the clearly worried girl. Both her hands were clasped together as if she was trying to say a prayer, and her face had turned whiter than the luminescent moon that hung over our heads.

“… I never got to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

I promptly snapped my head back with a raised brow, confused by the goodwill that Sirius was showing me. His gaze quickly switched from locking eyes with Lilith to locking horns with me. With the most neutral expression he’d shown me since we’d first met, the man said:

“You protected Lilith during the battle. I got the report from Capella. If not for your intervention, Lilith might have been kidnapped by the Shadowfiends.”

“It’s my duty to protect the women I love.”

“…”

Sirius’ eyes twitched for a moment, but they quickly reverted back to his calm and collected state. Smiling, he continued:

“That being said, it’s a fact that you protected her in my stead. For that, I shall give my warmest thanks.” Sirius didn’t go as far as to bow, but the sincerity in his eyes conveyed his thoughts. “As a result, I won’t kill you today. However, you will be exiled and banned from forever stepping foot in the Moonreaver Dimension. You will stay far away from Lilith and never bother her for the rest of her life.”

“Hmph! That’s if you win this duel today!”

“…”

Sirius smiled and said nothing. It was as if he knew the results were set in stone before the duel started. However, now that he had got his word of thanks out of the way, he seemingly lost interest in me and stared right at Lilith.

“So, shall we begin this ‘duel’ of yours?”

“… Before we do that, may I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Why are you so against Lilith having a relationship with me?”

In hindsight, I should have asked this question ages ago, but due to our hostile introduction, I never got to calm my mind to ask him. After all, how could I even reason with someone who pierced his arm through my chest the second we’d first met? Still, it was a question that plagued me ever since I proposed this duel.

“… Since you saved my sister once, I’ll indulge your curiosity.” Sirius’ voice turned softer as his eyes grew even warmer. “My parents never thought of having another child. They always thought that one was enough and never intended on raising another. Essentially, Lilith was an accident.”

Hoh? So even Vampires suffer from unwanted pregnancies. No, that actually made a lot of sense. From what I’d learnt from Irina, Vampires had extremely low fertility, and some couples couldn’t produce a baby even after a thousand years of trying. This was why protection basically didn’t exist in the Vampire world.

“And so, when they first got pregnant with Lilith, they wished to abort her.”

“Huh?!”

Now that pissed me off. I’d never met Lilith’s parents, but just thinking that they attempted to kill her… Not only that, they dared to neglect her for all these years… Yeah, let’s give them a slap the next time we meet.

“However, my grandmother was sorely against it. She fought tooth and nail for my sister, even to the point of selling some of her assets to convince my parents to keep Lilith. Such a fool…”

Sirius couldn’t contain his laughter as his eyes moved from Lilith to the vast lake before us.

“Just like Lilith, I was close with my grandmother. I was far closer to her than my damned parents. And so, when she passed away, she made me promise to always protect Lilith. To keep her away from harm and to keep her safe for the rest of her life.”

“And you determined that I’m unsafe to her?”

“… Do you know how much she has sacrificed for you?”

Sirius’ vale eyes emitted a frosty aura that could rival that of the Everwinter Matriarch. He stared right at my soul, seemingly ready to burn it down at a moment’s notice.

“Lilith performed a forbidden ritual that ripped out a quarter of her soul when she was just ten years old. Not only that, from then on, she spent years… years! Years of her life devoted to protecting and healing you. And I’m excluding the vast amounts of money she’d spent to ensure your immediate safety.”

… Lilith did all that? No, Irina also did the same, so it makes sense that the rest of the girls were looking out for me in their own unique way.

“Lilith is a talented girl, and she has the potential to surpass me in the future. Her Elysian Melody is one of the most coveted Vampiric Aspects anywhere in the world, and her talent for magic far surpasses any Moonreaver. And yet… She wasted so much of her life on you. And you had the audacity to openly flirt with her like nothing ever happened?”

Sirius spat openly, drawing hatred from some spectators who watched us.

“I was disgusted when I first saw you. I truly was. You were weak and helpless. It was as if you hadn’t trained for a day in your life. Did my precious little sister really throw away half her life to help this weakling? I was truly, truly pissed.” Sirius snorted in anger.

“Lilith is too good for you. You even have that Everwinter brat in the wings. Am I really going to let my sister be a concubine or a second wife? I just can’t allow that. And so…”

“You attacked me?”

“Just so.”

“Hah…”

It seems that Sirius truly does have a legitimate reason to hate me. Not that it mattered, though. Even if the entire Mooneeaver House was against me, I would still do everything in my power to free Lilith from their clutches.

“Why the sigh? Did you think that I’m hostile to you just because you’ve stolen my sister’s heart and that I’m overprotective?”

“I was under that impression.”

“Don’t worry,” Sirius folded his arms and laughed. “I still hate your guts.”

“Thanks, you made it better.”

I had to admit, while I hated this man to the core, I couldn’t help but respect him. Ultimately, he was protecting the precious little sister that he loved. Alas, his methods were far too extreme and completely wrong.

“Good, now could you quit stalling for time and begin the duel? You’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“Inevitable, you say…”

Magic power filled my chest as the familiar five rings graced my fingers. Strength flowed from within my soul, and blood started to pump at a far drastic rate. A burning sensation tingled my eyes, turning them ruby red in the process. I spread my arms out wide, allowing magic power to gush out from the ring on my thumb.

Almost instantly, three clones appeared around my body, each of them donning the same clothes I did. At the same time, I raised my arms to the sky, using my control over space to complete my final preparations. Thunder roared, and the ground shook as my creation ability moved according to my game plan.

It was done. I could finally begin the duel I had been preparing for over a month.

“Impressive, you managed to copy Capella’s mirror clones.”

Oblivious to my prior arrangements, Sirius only commented on the three clones I’d created. At the same time, I could see the silver-haired Asterias drop her jaw the moment she realised I’d used her magic.

In the beginning, I was only capable of creating a mindless clone and had to leave my main body vulnerable while my consciousness inhabited the clone. However, after a few days of training, I’d learned how to split my consciousness and even mastered the art of controlling a few clones at once. Though, there were some limitations. For example, these clones weren’t perfect copies but weaker versions that could only use half of my magic power.

If I had a little more time, I could potentially refine this technique, increasing the number of clones or strengthening them like Capella’s mirror clones. But at the moment, this was the best that I could do.

“Well, since you’re going to go all out, I shall do the same.”

Sirius raised his right arm, and a vortex appeared within the stars. Magic power flowed violently, creating a thunderstorm equivalent to the most violent hurricanes. And with a flick of his wrist, a lightning bolt struck the space between us, revealing a gorgeous, reaping glaive.

“Stardevourer…”

“Hoh? So you’ve heard of it?” Sirius looked genuinely surprised. The Asterias weapons were, after all, the Moonreaver House’s trump card. And for an outsider to know of this, it could only mean one thing.

“Brother?! What are you doing?!”

Lilith was unable to hold back her concern and shouted from her position.

“Are you going to use the Stardevourer on a junior?! Don’t you have any shame?!”

“Lilith, stand down,” Sirius growled, his eyes void of any sibling affection. “I can ignore the fact that you revealed confidential information to someone outside of the Moonreaver House, but if you’re going to interrupt in this duel… I won’t be courteous anymore.”

“Y-you!”

Lilith’s face turned ashen. Her pupils dilated and her nails digging into her palm, it seemed like the girl was about to have an aneurysm. If nothing was done, she would likely wage war against the Moonreaver House herself!

“Lilith, go back.”

“J-Jin! B-But!”

“Don’t worry…” I gave her a tender smile. “Just have faith in me. Didn’t I promise you?”

“Jin…”

If not for the duel, I would have moved my body and embraced Lilith to calm her down. Alas, I had a bigger fish to fry right now. After reassuring the girl, I turned my body back to Sirius and said:

“Let’s duel, shall we?”