“Weakling.”
The words that came out of Sirius Moonreaver’s mouth resonated within my mind. My head was hurting, my body was in tremendous pain, and my sensory organs were all over the place. However, hearing the man’s words brought me more agony than anything else.
Because it was true.
Compared to the man who pierced my chest, I really was a weakling. I didn’t even notice his presence, let alone his deadly attack. If he wanted to, he could have beheaded me before I could even react. The only reason why I was still alive was due to some kind of sick mercy he granted me.
“Brother! What are you doing?!”
Lilith rushed over to my side, immediately grabbing the suave man’s arm that had pierced through my chest. She used all of her force to push her brother away, but it was to no avail. Sirius Moonreaver was insistent on leaving an imprint on my body, and not even his precious little sister could do anything to stop him.
“Lilith, why are you protecting this trash?”
“Trash?! Jin is going to be my Bloodmate!”
“Bloodmate? This weakling?”
Sirius Moonreaver continued disregarding me, his vale eyes looking down at me with complete disdain. The family head of the Moonreaver House was a mammoth of a man. Standing at two and a half metres tall, Sirius towered over most humans. Heck, I would even say that he’s the tallest person I’d ever met. However, his build wasn’t that of a bodybuilder, and neither was it too bulky. The man looked like a toned scholar who just happened to be two and a half metres tall.
But even though he seemed like a refined gentleman, his actions sure didn’t feel that way.
The arm that was lodged in my chest refused to budge. Not even after Lilith used all of her strength to push it away. Plus, for some reason, I felt like my body was paralysed. It seemed like the Moonreaver Head was running static through my body, forcing it to temporarily refuse my orders.
It was all too emasculating.
“Is he the reason why you infiltrated the Everwinter Estate and was forced to do Matriarch Innocence’s bidding?”-.
“That doesn’t concern you, Brother!”
“Oh, but it does.” Sirius Moonreaver raised his arm with me attached to it and disdainfully growled at me. “My dear sister. While the Moonreaver House pampers you, we expect big things from you. You will be the future head of the House, and you have to act like it. The fact that you actively antagonised the Everwinter House, our long-established partner, for the sake of this mere insect is completely unacceptable. Furthermore…”
The blonde colossal Vampire stared into my eyes as if he were a predator that wished to engulf his prey in one shot.
“What right does this brat have to be your Bloodmate? He’s just a disgusting frog who dares to dream bigger than he is. Let me get rid of him for you.”
This man… He’s serious. He wants to kill me.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe gap between the two of us was far too big. It didn’t matter if it were our physical stature, magic power, or even wealth of experience. Sirius Moonreaver, the thousand-year-old True Vampire and the head of one of the world’s greatest Vampire Houses, towers over me like a mountain to a pebble.
I couldn’t even move a muscle as his free arm attempted to sever my head off my neck.
However, just seconds before the overwhelming Vampire could reap my soul, Lilith’s body glistened in a golden light as the image of the Blood Moon appeared before our eyes.
“STOP IT NOW!!!”
“Lilith…”
“IF YOU DON’T LET JIN GO, I’LL DESTROY YOU AND THE MOONREAVER CLAN!!!”
The blonde goddess glowed with a symphony of lightning, starlight and moonlight. Magic power, one far more powerful than any magician I’d ever encountered, filled the atmosphere and lightened the pressure around me. Even the thousand-year-old Vampire that was Sirius Moonreaver couldn’t help but scowl.
“Lilith, are you willing to go that far?”
“BROTHER! I WON’T LET YOU HARM A SINGLE HAIR ON JIN!!!”
“You motherfucker…”
A bad word came out of Sirius’ mouth, but it wasn’t directed at his beloved sister. Instead, he growled at me with eyes that could kill a million men. Unwillingly, he released the grasp he had on my body before throwing me to the side at the speed of sound.
“Guargh!!!”
My body rolled a dozen times before finally coming to a stop. Multiple abrasions, lacerations and punctures could be seen on my pale, weak body as I sat uncomfortably in a pool of my own blood. However, those injuries started to heal rapidly. Only the hole in my chest took some time to recover.
“Jin!!!”
Lilith rushed over and instantly tended to me. Since I had a Vampire’s regenerative factor, there was no need for any medical attention. Yet, the girl still bathed me in a warm, artificial Blood Moonlight baptism, hoping to increase the chances of fully healing my injuries.
“Jin, talk to me! Are you alright?!”
“Y-Yes, just barely.”
I was in agony. My bones were shattered, my body was in tatters, and my world was spinning. However, I’ll live to fight another day.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t expect…”
“No, don’t apologise…”
I rubbed Lilith’s ethereal goddess-like face, forcibly stopping the tears from spilling out. I didn’t want to ruin her image. A beautiful girl such as Lilith shouldn’t cry. She should always be smiling and happy. The one that should cry was the man who made her this way.
“Sirius Moonreaver…”
“Don’t call me by name, you weakling.”
“…”
How stubborn. I’d thought Lilith’s brother would be different from Irina’s, but all True Vampires are cut from the same cloth. No, the main difference between Sirius and that broken manchild was the fact that Sirius could back up his actions. Alas, I wasn’t strong enough to break this blonde Vampire’s face the same way I did with Irina’s brother.
“Let me tell you this, I don’t accept you being with Lilith, you weakling.”
“…”
“Lilith is a generational talent, a genius that will inherit the Moonreaver House one day. She has the potential to bring the Moonreaver House to greater heights and has no business playing around with a filthy person such as you. So I’m warning you, don’t get too close to Lilith from now on. Bloodmate or not, I’ll ensure you won’t see the light of day.”
“Brother! What are you saying? You have no right to decide who gets to be my Bloodmate.”
“Lilith, you’re still too young to understand. You will have plenty of chances to get better and more worthy Bloodmates. Right now, playing with this weakling will only hold you back.”
“I don’t care about that! Jin will stay with me, no matter what you say!”
“… As expected, this piece of trash should be disposed of.” i????????re????????. ????????m
“Wait a second!”
The two siblings continued to fight, neither willing to back down from their decision. Sirius had no intention of letting me stay near Lilith and was utterly hell-bent on either killing me or forcibly separating me from her. And if push comes to shove…
The man would likely kill me. Or worse, he’ll make sure that I’ll never be able to see Lilith again.
I can’t let that happen.
“Sirius Moonreaver.”
“Trash, I told you not to call me by name.”
“… Do you want to make a bet?”
“A bet?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Yes, a bet.” I smiled valiantly. “Let’s have a duel.”
“A duel?”
“A duel?!”
Sirius raised his eyebrows in shock while Lilith furrowed her brows. One was intrigued by my preposition, while the other was completely stunned by my words. However, one thing was for sure, neither of them could believe my words.
“Yes, let’s fight. If you win, I’ll leave the Moonreaver House. If I win, you will accept our relationship and do everything in your power to assist Lilith in whatever she wants to do.”
“Weakling, I wonder where you get that cocky confidence from.” The Moonreaver House head folded his arms in akimbo and glared at my face. “I have no interest in pummelling trash, but if that’s what it takes to keep you away from Lilith, so be it.”
“Wait!!!”
Lilith jumped in between us and started to greatly dispute our terms.
“Jin! How can you do such an absurd thing?! You’ve only just recovered and have barely awakened your Vampire Aspect! There’s no way that you can win in a fight against my brother!”
“That may be true…”
I wasn’t dumb, and neither was I conceited. I knew very well that I wasn’t a match for Sirius Moonreaver at the moment. No, I wouldn’t even be able to last two strikes from the man. But still… For the sake of our future, this is a fight that I must overcome.
“Lilith, your brother will never accept our relationship if I were to just leech on you like a parasite. I must prove my worth if I want to be by your side.”
“But still…”
“Don’t worry, let me handle it.”
I grabbed Lilith’s tiny hand and gently stroked her head with my other. I pulled the young lass closer to my body and held her in my chest. That drew a raised eyebrow from Sirius, but he was too focused on my following words to do anything about it.
“I am still far too weak to fight you, so I ask that you wait a month for our duel to commence. Additionally, I want Lilith to be by my side to train and assist me during this time. Finally, I wish for a handicap. I doubt that the esteemed head of the Moonreaver House will find honour in defeating a True Vampire that’s less than a year old.”
“Honour… Hmph, you’ve only been a True Vampire for a while, and you’ve already learnt how our society works.”
Bingo.
Just like how Matriarch Innocence wouldn’t lay hands on Lilith even though she had every right to, it was hard for a family head like Sirius to truly go into an equal duel with a junior.
“Fine, I agree to your terms. And since you have some guts, I shall allow you one handicap.” The blonde man thought about it for a moment before saying: “One hit. As long as you manage to land a single hit on my body, it shall be considered your win.”
One hit, huh? That’s more than I’d bargained for. However, that just shows how confident Sirius was at beating me. I’m sure that he thinks the fight would be over within the first millisecond. All in all, this duel is nothing but favourable to me. Even if I lost, all I needed to do was leave the Moonreaver House. The moment I become strong enough, I’ll storm the gates and take Lilith back if I need to.
But it won’t come to that.
“Deal!”
I agreed immediately to the duel. The gap between the world’s most powerful Vampires and myself… Let’s see how big that gap really is, shall we?