The greasy smoke of the alchemical fire was still licking the stone walls when the trio—now a quartet—pulled themselves out of the ventilation ducts overlooking the Academy's hanging gardens. The cool night air was a blessing after the stench of death in the catacombs, but for Lucian, the respite was short-lived.
He was carrying Selene, the winged creature, whose body seemed as light as a feather despite the devastating power she had displayed. Her wings—dirty white, stained with purple—were folded around her like a silk shroud.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[BOUND INDIVIDUAL: SELENE (BLOOD ANGEL – S-RANK POTENTIAL)]
[STATUS: STABILIZATION COMA]
[WARNING: THE ANGEL'S ENERGY IS POLAR TO THAT OF THE VAMPIRE. RISK OF AURA DISSONANCE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY.]
Aria needed no encouragement to confirm the system's warning. She walked a few steps behind Lucian, her eyes never leaving the newcomer. Every time the wind pushed a strand of Selene's silver hair toward Lucian, Aria let out a low growl, an infrasonic vibration that made the greenhouse flowers tremble.
"Put her down in the grass and let's finish this, Master," Aria hissed. "Her aura reeks of 'Light.' Even corrupted, it makes me sick. We should leave her here for the gardeners to pick up."
"She's evidence, Aria. And an ally," Lucian replied, tightening his hold on the young woman.
"An ally?" Shizuka scoffed, wiping her katana's blade with a strip of silk. "Lucian, look at yourself. You're already caught between a psychopathic vampire and an obsessed heiress. You really think adding a deranged angel to the equation will simplify your student life?"
She stepped closer, her blue eyes sparkling with a mix of exhaustion and excitement.
"But I'll admit… you have taste. If you survive the week, I might almost be impressed."
"We need to hide her," Lucian cut in. "Shizuka, you said your family owns a secondary residence near the campus, right?"
The samurai paused, a calculating glint crossing her gaze.
"Yes. The Shadow Pavilion. It's protected by family seals. Even Patriarch Blackwood couldn't enter without triggering a diplomatic war. But… that will make you indebted to me, Lucian. Very indebted."
"I accept," he said without hesitation.
The Shadow Pavilion was a structure of black wood and rice paper, nestled within a grove of enchanted bamboo. It was a haven of silence and Japanese discipline amid Albion's gothic opulence.
Once Selene was laid on a futon, Shizuka dismissed her servants with an imperious gesture. She turned to Lucian, who had collapsed into an armchair, drained by the backlash of [Blood Berserker] mode.
"Now that we're safe, let's speak seriously," Shizuka began, sitting cross-legged across from him, her sword resting on her knees. "Valerius was only a pawn. But the Blackwoods aren't the only ones involved. The Church of Light has been hunting the Primordial Blood for centuries. If they learn you have it—"
"They won't," Aria interrupted, emerging from the shadows in the corner of the room. "Because anyone who gets close enough to see it will already be bleeding out."
She moved to Lucian and sat on the armrest of his chair, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a blatant display of possession, fixing Shizuka with silent defiance.
"Shizuka," Lucian said, ignoring the tension, "you mentioned my father. What exactly do you know about his plans for Alistair?"
"Your father wants to make Alistair the next 'Hero of the Prophecy.' But Alistair has hit his mana ceiling. He's only Rank B+, and he'll never go higher naturally. Valerius's project aimed to create an 'Ascendant Transfusion.' They planned to extract your blood, filter it through an angel's heart—Selene—and inject it into Alistair to forcibly awaken him to Rank S."
Lucian's disgust hardened into icy resolve. His father didn't even see him as a son, but as a spare-parts reservoir for his 'legitimate' child.
[SCENARIO QUEST ACTIVATED: THE DEBUTANT BALL]
[OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE THE BLACKWOOD RECEPTION IN 3 DAYS]
[REWARD: IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHURCH'S ALLIES AND BLOOD EVOLUTION]
"I'm going," Lucian announced. "I'm going back into the lion's den."
"Are you insane?" Shizuka exclaimed. "Alistair saw you! He knows you're not the same!"
"No. Alistair saw a monster in the dark. He saw a vampire. He didn't see me. And with Aria's help and your camouflage skills, I'll present myself as the young heir of a minor Kurogane branch."
Aria let out a delighted laugh.
"Oh, Master… I love this idea. Watching you dance among your enemies while I lurk in their shadows, ready to slit throats at the first sign. It's almost… romantic."
She leaned in and nipped Lucian's ear, her eyes glowing with an increasingly hard-to-ignore SMUT glint. Shizuka, meanwhile, stood abruptly, jealousy vibrating through her aura.
"If you do this, I'm in. I'll be your official escort. A Hoshi and a Kurogane together is a political alliance no one would dare challenge. But…"
She stepped closer, driving Aria back with a sharp look, and placed her hand on Lucian's knee, gripping just hard enough for him to feel her strength.
"If we do this, you give me what you gave Aria. I won't remain a temporary ally. I want your blood, Lucian. I want to feel that power flowing through me."
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[BLOOD CONTRACT PROPOSAL DETECTED: SHIZUKA HOSHI]
[RISK: ARIA MAY ENTER 'BLOOD FURY' MODE]
[BENEFIT: UNLOCK SKILL 'MONARCH'S BLADE']
Lucian looked at the two women. One was a nocturnal predator who loved him with devouring violence; the other, an elite warrior who saw in him her only path to transcendence. Behind them, on the futon, Selene began to moan softly in her sleep, her wings twitching.
"Aria," Lucian said, his voice calm but commanding.
The vampire tensed, ready to protest, but Lucian's gaze—the Monarch's gaze—pinned her in place.
"If I'm going to survive that ball, I need Shizuka at her peak. That doesn't mean I belong to you any less. You are my First. But I am the Master of this harem. Is that clear?"
Aria remained silent for a long moment, her nails digging into the armrest's wood. Finally, she bowed, a masochistic smile stretching her lips.
"Your will is my only law… my Monarch. Do what you must. But I reserve the right to punish her if she grows too arrogant."
Lucian turned to Shizuka.
"Come closer."
He didn't bite Shizuka as he did Aria. Instead, he took his own knife, cut his palm, and did the same to Shizuka's. They pressed their hands together, mixing their fluids.
The effect was immediate. Shizuka stifled a cry, her eyes briefly turning crimson. She collapsed against Lucian, her body wracked by spasms of raw power. Lucian's blood, charged with primordial mana, was rewriting her magical circuits.
"It's… it's too much…" she murmured, clutching his tunic. "I feel… everything…"
[BLOOD CONTRACT ESTABLISHED: SHIZUKA HOSHI (RANK: BLOOD KNIGHT)]
[SYNCHRONIZATION: 10%]
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL 15]
As Shizuka regained her senses, Selene finally opened her eyes. She didn't scream. She slowly sat up, her silver gaze fixing on Lucian with a purity that cut through the room's darkness. She stood, her wings unfurling majestically, and knelt at Lucian's feet.
"Creator," she said, her voice resonating like a crystal bell. "I feel my soul bound to yours. I am the blade that strikes in the light to conceal your shadow."
Aria growled, Shizuka gasped, and Lucian found himself at the center of three female gazes whose intensity could have consumed an entire forest.
"Good," Lucian said, rising with new authority. "We have three days to make me a convincing noble, and the three of you a unit capable of toppling an empire. The Blackwood ball won't be a celebration. It will be an execution."
The comedy was over. The parody of the weak little 'Zero' student gave way to the rise of a tyrant.