«I-I'm coming...i'm coming... aaaah»
Levreshka Dulcar, fully naked, drops her weight onto Lyon Valakys's equally bare body, lying beneath her. The two are sprawled on the floor of an abandoned house at the borders of the Mildelar kingdom.
«In this past year, you've changed a lot, and I can't say I mind,» Levreshka remarks with a mischievous tone, tracing her finger down Lyon's chest to his abs. During the Valakys massacre, Lyon had been scrawny—far too scrawny—with no trace of muscle. But over the past year, his body had transformed enough to pleasantly surprise Levreshka.
«I'd say the effort I spent finding you this year was more than worth it,» she adds, alluding to the night of passion they'd just shared.
After activating the Scarlet Crown System, Lyon had vanished into thin air before Levreshka's astonished eyes, just as she was about to kill him—a failure her father, Markus Dulcar, had not forgiven.
«How could you let that good-for-nothing escape?! As long as that brat, the last survivor of the Volkom family, is alive, I can't claim the power of the Scarlet Crown System! You have one year to bring me his head, or it will be yours that falls!»
«A professional assassin of your caliber shouldn't indulge in these kinds of distractions,» Lyon remarks, unable to hide his pleasure at having Levreshka naked on top of him. Since their youth, when the Valakys and Dulcar families maintained a fragile peace, Lyon and Levreshka had been close friends. As they grew older, however, Lyon began seeing her differently, finding her attractive. During his adolescence, more than one erotic thought about Levreshka had haunted him—feelings she never returned, preferring older, more muscular men. But now, everything felt different.
«I wouldn't call it a distraction, rather a sign of our friendship,» Levreshka replies in her usual sadistic tone. «I knew you were dying to sleep with me, so I wanted to grant you that... before killing you, that's all.»
Lyon sighs. «Then do what you came here to do. We've had more than enough fun, and I'm in a bit of a hurry.»
«In a hurry for what? To enter the realm of the dead?» Levreshka gets to her feet, slipping into her clothes one by one: red lace underwear, a very revealing black dress, and black ankle boots. Lyon does the same, quickly dressing himself.
Outside lies nothingness: a vast, endless desert. Yet amid that desolation, beyond the small house, stands a massive, heavy black stone gate, sealed and adorned with engravings so ancient that modern vampires cannot decipher them.
«The gate that leads to the human world. I didn't even think it existed; I thought it was just an old legend...» Levreshka murmurs, her eyes fixed on the black stone structure. «So this is your goal? To escape to the human world? You're truly stupid. No sane vampire would ever set foot there.»
«That's exactly why no one will come looking for me there,» Lyon replies, stepping forward until he's face-to-face with Levreshka, standing about ten meters apart. «Let's put an end to this waste of time quickly.»
«That's exactly what I want to do!»
LEVRESHKA: «BLOOD WORD – DAGGERS!»
Blood drips from Levreshka's palms, instantly solidifying into two crimson daggers, glossy and metallic in appearance. The very same ones she used to kill Cassian.
At that moment, numbers and symbols flash before Lyon's eyes on a red holographic screen visible only to him.
[Analysis in progress... Analysis in progress...] announces a metallic voice in his head, the voice of the Scarlet Crown System. [Analysis complete. Levreshka Dulcar. Age: 19. Race: Vampire. Power level: 8300]
«Your power level is 8300... truly impressive,» Lyon remarks, his tone tinged with surprise. «The average for warrior vampires is 150. No wonder you managed to eliminate Cassian so easily.»
«The power of the Scarlet Crown also lets you detect your opponents' strength?» Levreshka asks, visibly surprised. «A perfect ability for a master of escape like you.»
«This is just one of the many abilities I've gained thanks to the Scarlet Crown! I'm no longer the boy from that night,» Lyon retorts.
LYON: «BLOOD WORD – SWORD!»
Like Levreshka, Lyon uses his own blood to create a long, gleaming sword.
Levreshka's eyes widen. «Since when... since when have you been able to use Blood Words?! These are high-level spells that only the most powerful vampires can master! How is it possible that someone as inept as you can wield them?!»
«I told you, my dear. I'm no longer the boy from that night! And now... prepare yourself!» Lyon lunges at Levreshka with lightning speed, delivering a powerful sword strike. She manages to block it with both daggers, but not without effort.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The metallic clash of their weapons echoes through the silent desert air.
«How... how did you do it? How did you become so strong in just one year?!» Levreshka's once-confident tone quickly gives way to frustration. No matter how hard she tries, Lyon's defense is impenetrable, and his attacks grow faster with every move. «After the wonderful night of sex you gave me, I planned to kill you without making you suffer. Your loss!»
LEVRESHKA: «BLOOD WORD – CRIMSON RAIN!»
«The same spell you used to kill Cassian. How monotonous. Apparently, you haven't improved much since last year,» Lyon taunts.
With a series of swift movements, he effortlessly weaves through the barrage of daggers, like a man slipping through raindrops during a storm without getting wet.
[Analysis in progress... Movement patterns of Levreshka Dulcar: memorized. Calculating attack strategy]
Once again, Lyon's vision fills with diagrams and data. The Scarlet Crown System, having processed the information captured through Lyon's eyes, delivers in real-time the sequence of moves required to break Levreshka's defense and kill her.
With a swift sidestep, Lyon shifts to Levreshka's left, the weak point identified by the system. He thrusts his sword forward, and she blocks it by crossing her daggers in an X. At that exact moment, however, Lyon releases the sword and twists his torso, landing a kick squarely in Levreshka's stomach. The blow unbalances her, sending her to the ground. He follows with a second kick to her legs, completing the maneuver. Lyon catches his sword mid-air before it falls and points it at her throat.
After the rapid sequence, Levreshka finds herself pinned to the ground, disarmed, with Lyon's sword tip at her throat. She swallows hard, sweat forming as she becomes acutely aware of her imminent end. She wants to speak—anything that could save her—but her pride locks the words in her throat.
Then, something unexpected happens: Lyon's sword liquefies, reverting to simple blood that drips onto Levreshka's paralyzed body.
«What... what does this mean?!» Levreshka asks, her voice trembling with disbelief.
«Killing you now would be too merciful,» Lyon says. «I've spent the past year living in the shadows, a fugitive, moving through places far from the vampires' gaze, always fearing that someone might conspire against me. Knowing that bastard of a father of yours, he's surely threatened to kill you for letting the last Volkom escape. Now it's your turn to live as a fugitive, until your father decides to kill you himself!»
«Lyon Valakys... you're such a bastard!» Levreshka exclaims, gritting her teeth in frustration. «Now I understand. I understand why my father craves that power so much—it turned you, in just one year, from a nobody into a vampire stronger than me. I still can't believe I was defeated by you... if my power level is 830, how high have you reached?!»
Meanwhile, Lyon starts walking toward the black stone gate but pauses briefly. He tilts his head slightly, casting her a quick glance. «My power level is... a secret,» he says simply before continuing on his way.
As Lyon nears the gate, the metallic voice resonates in his head:
[Deciphering formula... Deciphering formula...]
The Scarlet Crown System swiftly decodes the ancient engravings on the gate, which slowly starts to swing open as Lyon repeats the formula carved into its surface.
«You can't leave me here like this...» Levreshka murmurs, her voice laced with desperation as she imagines the fate awaiting her upon returning to the Dulcar royal castle, which had been the Valakys castle just a year ago.
Lyon steps through the gate, beyond which stretches an abyss of absolute darkness. With a sudden burst of determination, Levreshka rises to her feet and breaks into a desperate sprint toward the gate, which has already begun closing the moment Lyon passed through. By the narrowest of margins, she manages to cross the threshold.