Andura clutched the sword wound on his chest, his ice-blue pupils trembling slightly from the intense pain and a deeper sense of shock.
The sharp aura of magic power lingering in the wound was bone-chillingly familiar—it was indeed the trauma caused by his own “Mirror Imitation” attack being reflected back at him!
It was no illusion, nor was it a trick.
Had he really…
copied “kirato”?
Even the traits…
Just how…
did this guy manage to do it?
Countless questions and a hint of uncontrollable fear churned in his heart.
His pride as the Captain of the Warriors was still struggling, but his reason coldly reminded him: continuing the fight offered slim chances of victory, and he might even perish here.
Taking a deep breath of the cold, sulfur-scented air of the Demon Realm, Andura forced himself to calm down.
With a flick of his wrist and a faint glimmer, he withdrew the real “kirato” back into his body.
He forced a look of as much calm as possible onto his pale face, though alarm still lurked deep within his eyes.
“It seems…
I have underestimated your capabilities.” Andura’s voice was somewhat hoarse as he straightened his back slightly, trying to maintain a final shred of dignity.
“How about…
we let the misunderstanding between us end here?
I am willing to apologize for my previous offense and leave this area immediately.”
He proposed a truce; it was the most realistic choice after weighing the pros and cons.
If you can’t win, don’t fight.
The elegance of the Vampire Clan sometimes manifested in this kind of “cutting losses in time.”
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Lucifer’s figure in his sight suddenly blurred, like a reflection in water disturbed by a pebble, and then vanished completely!
There were no traces of a magic power eruption, no spatial fluctuations; he had simply hidden himself out of thin air!
“Gone?!
How is that possible!” Andura’s hair stood on end.
At the very moment his mind was tensed to the limit—
“I think…
it’s not that great.”
A voice so calm it was almost indifferent rang out right against the back of his neck, like a whisper!
He was right there!
“!!” Andura was scared out of his wits.
His combat instincts made him desperately try to lung forward while turning back to block with his arm.
But it was too late.
“Puchi—!” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The dull sound of a sharp weapon cutting into flesh and severing bone reached his own ears clearly.
“Aaaargh—!!” A shrill scream finally broke through his throat.
Andura clutched the bleeding wound on his left shoulder tightly with his remaining right hand, his magic power surging wildly in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
At the same time, the wings on his back flapped frantically as his body lurched forward for dozens of meters before he turned around, still shaken.
Lucifer still floated quietly in the position where he had been behind him.
From the tip of the replica “kirato” in his hand, a drop of dark red blood was slowly sliding down.
There was no pleasure or anger in his pure black eyes, only a bottomless calm, as if he hadn’t just severed an arm but had merely brushed away a speck of dust.
“You…
what exactly do you want before you’ll let me go?!” Andura’s voice was distorted by pain and fear.
His face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat mixed with blood soaked his ornate formal attire.
While the loss of an arm was not fatal to the Vampire Clan, it was enough to severely damage their combat strength and vitality.
The Vampire Clan did not possess the terrifying limb regeneration capabilities of the Demon Clan.
At this moment, only the most primal desire for survival remained in his heart.
Attacking again and again, did he really think I would let it go so easily?
Lucifer sneered inwardly.
But seeing Andura’s wretched and miserable state, a more long-term idea lit up in his mind like a spark in the darkness.
In the future, he was destined to walk a path of opposition against the Demon King.
At that time, he would have to face not only that unfathomable Creator but also the entire massive Demon Clan and its most elite “Ten Commandments.”
Fighting alone would be no different from striking a stone with an egg.
He needed allies, he needed power, even if they were just temporary pawns for mutual use.
The Vampire Clan, a race that was forced to depend on the Demon Clan in the original story and was full of resentment, might…
become a hidden piece he could lay down in advance.
Thinking of this, a trace of imperceptible calculation flashed in Lucifer’s eyes.
He pressed his left hand against his waist, and a dense Demon God Power surged out, quickly condensing and shaping itself by his side into a black scabbard of ancient design, wrapped in demonic patterns.
With a turn of his wrist, the replica “kirato” made a clear sound as it entered the scabbard, fitting steadily inside as if it had never been drawn.
Seeing Lucifer sheathe his sword and his aura seem to soften slightly, Andura’s tense nerves relaxed a bit.
A lingering bit of wishful thinking made him believe the other party might intend to stop there.
However, this relaxation didn’t even last for a moment.
Lucifer’s figure vanished from the spot once again.
“Bang—!!”
A dull thud was accompanied by the slight cracking sound of bones breaking.
Andura’s eyes bulged, the air in his lungs was forced out, and his whole body arched like a cooked shrimp.
He was sent flying backward by the terrifying force of this punch, slamming heavily into the rock wall behind him, creating a web-like pattern of cracks.
He then slowly slid down, kneeling on the ground and gagging violently, but he could vomit nothing but blood foam that continuously overflowed from the corners of his mouth. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“This punch is the ‘greeting gift’ for your initial sneak attack.” Lucifer shook his hand as if merely dusting it off, his voice still terrifyingly calm.
Andura curled up on the ground, the intense pain and feeling of suffocation making him nearly faint.
His remaining consciousness told him that his life and death were entirely at the whim of the other party.
Lucifer slowly approached, looking down at the trembling Andura from above, his pure black eyes like the abyss of a judge.
“It’s not impossible for me to let you go.” He spoke slowly, each word striking Andura’s heart.
“But you need to pay a ‘price’.”
Andura raised his head with difficulty, his eyes a mix of pain and a glimmer of hope.
“Bring me thirty…
creatures with a Combat Class of over five thousand.” Lucifer stated his condition.
This was the most direct way to test the efficiency of [Eternal Absorption] while also quickly accumulating initial “nourishment.”
As explorers, the Vampire Clan should have some catches, or at least know where to find suitable “prey.”
“Thirty…
Combat Class of five thousand?!” Andura’s first reaction was that it was absurd and impossible.
In the Vampire Clan, those with a Combat Class of five thousand were already the core strength of the clan, comparable to elite warriors.
Demanding thirty such bodies all at once was practically taking away more than half of the backbone of his Vanguard Squad.
The price was too high; the clan would never agree.
But just as he was about to refuse or even prepare for a desperate struggle, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Deep in his ice-blue eyes, a very subtle hint of vampire-like cunning and calculation passed through.
Panting heavily, he endured the sharp pain in his abdomen and the dizziness from the blood loss at his severed arm.
He struggled to prop up his body with his right hand, sitting against the rock wall, and looked up at Lucifer, his voice hoarse but clear:
“…Fine.
I agree.”
This straightforward answer actually made Lucifer raise an eyebrow slightly.
Andura did not explain.
He just gritted his teeth and used his remaining magic power to temporarily seal the severe wounds on his shoulder and abdomen.
The silver-white wings on his back unfolded with effort; though their luster was dim, they could barely manage flight.
“Follow me.” He gave Lucifer a deep look, said no more, and with a flap of his wings, took the lead, flying stumblingly in a certain direction.
He didn’t even glance back at the direction where his severed arm had fallen, as if it were a burden that could be completely discarded.
Lucifer watched Andura’s staggering back as he flew away, his pure black eyes narrowing slightly.
Without hesitation, the black wings on Lucifer’s back spread out, and his figure turned into a steady streak of black light, following unhurriedly behind Andura toward an unknown destination.
A deal, with each having their own hidden motives, thus began.
Under the dark red sky of the Demon Realm, two figures, one in front of the other, streaked across the desolate horizon, disappearing into the thickening mist and the unknown.