My Horny Stepmom Turns Me into Her Vampire Slave

Chapter 261: B - Family secrets

The silver-furred lycan’s paw comes crashing down on Hakuto, its claws a split second away from tearing through his chest, when...

SCREEECH!

A sharp metallic screech cuts through the silence of the night.

"What the fuck...?!" Itsu mutters, his eyes wide in shock.

His paw stops dead in midair, his long, razor-sharp claws blocked by a sword before they can reach their target.

But this is no ordinary sword.

It has a thick, slightly curved blade forged from a crystal-like material that looks like diamond, with an intense white light glowing from within.

Hakuto is the one holding the sword. His arm is also covered in armor made of the same glowing crystalline material, stretching from his wrist all the way to his shoulder.

Claire and Irina stare at him in silence, still in shock.

Even Itsu can’t believe what he’s seeing, and instinctively leaps back.

"That power... I never imagined you had the Sacred Light. I thought I was the one surprising you... but it looks like the tables have turned...!" Itsu says with a nervous growl. "And yet... there’s something else. That diamond sword... what the hell kind of power is that?! Could it be alchemy...? No... Sacred Light belongs to earthlings, while magic belongs to the humans of N’Raeth... None of this makes any sense!"

But Hakuto has no intention of wasting time explaining himself and immediately charges at the lycan.

The massive, glowing diamond sword comes crashing down on Itsu, and he barely manages to catch the blow with his claws.

He blocks it with great effort, his hind paws digging into the ground under the crushing pressure.

The tip of blade stops just inches from his snout.

Itsu counters with a swipe of his paw, but Hakuto dodges with a quick sidestep.

A split second later, Hakuto’s spinning kick slams into Itsu’s stomach and sends him flying backward.

The fight tears across the villa’s garden, the two moving so fast that Claire and Irina can barely keep track of them.

"Unlike your dear stepsisters, you did one hell of a job hiding your power... Seriously, I didn’t suspect a thing. If I had, there’s no fucking way I would’ve been stupid enough to attack you head-on," Itsu growls, his voice growing more tired and frustrated by the second.

No matter how hard he tries, none of his attacks can even touch Hakuto. Every single one is blocked or dodged with ease.

"Yeah, you made a big mistake, Itzu."

SLASH!

Hakuto swings his sword in a fast, precise diagonal slash from low to high, carving a deep wound from Itsu’s right thigh all the way to his left shoulder.

"D-Damn it... i-it can’t really end like this..." Itsu growls as he drops to his knees.

He clutches his side as blood pours from the deep wound.

"Why do you want Claire and Irina? Who sent you?" Hakuto asks, standing over him with a cold, threatening stare.

"I-If I tell you... do you promise you’ll let me live...?" Itsu rasps weakly.

"I promise."

"H-His name... is Masato Rōga... boss of the Blackfang..."

"Blackfang..." Hakuto repeats thoughtfully. "One of the most powerful yakuza factions, if I remember correctly. Why would the yakuza be interested in capturing two demons?"

"I-I don’t know why... They never told me the reason, I swear... I’m just one of thousands who were ordered to search for a girl with traits of both a vampire and a succubus... and Claire matches that description perfectly. I knew she was a succubus because of the scent her kind gives off — only a lycan’s nose can detect it. And I confirmed she was also a vampire when I saw her eyes flash red for that brief moment in the hallway..."

"Are you saying Claire is some kind of vampire-succubus hybrid...? Bullshit. Those two races can’t reproduce with each other."

"I don’t know what to tell you. I know as much as you do... Those were the orders I got, and I followed them. I swear that’s everything I know... Now please, let me go, Hakotto, my dear friend..."

In response, Hakuto raises his sword to Itsu’s throat.

"W-What the hell are you doing...? You promised you’d let me go if I told you everything...!"

"I lied."

"N-No, please, don’t do this... I’ll disappear forever, I swear...!"

"Oh, yeah. We agree on that. You’re going to disappear forever. Goodbye, Itsu. And by the way, my name is Hakuto."

SLASH!

The lycan’s head rolls through a pool of blood until it stops at Hakuto’s feet, severed cleanly from its body with a single strike.

With the lycan dead, Hakuto turns his attention back to the villa. He breathes a sigh of relief when he looks through the still-open door and sees Claire and Irina standing there, safe and unharmed.

He had been worried that Itsu might not have come alone.

"Big bro, that was incredible! You killed that scary monster in the blink of an eye! I’m even happier that you joined our family!" Irina exclaims, jumping into Hakuto’s arms as soon as he steps back inside.

But a moment later, she pulls away and returns to her sister’s side when she realizes he’s in no mood to celebrate.

Quite the opposite.

His expression is deadly serious.

"Claire. Irina. We need to talk. Now."

As he says it, he keeps the diamond sword pointed at the two sisters and motions for them to sit on the couch.

They obey without a word.

"So... you really are demons...?"

"H-Half-demons, actually..." Claire corrects him.

She tries to sound confident, but her fear is obvious.

"Our mother, Kagura, is a demon — a succubus, to be exact. And our father is a vampire. Or rather, he was. He died thirteen years ago."

"So you’re the daughters of a vampire and a succubus. Itsu was right, then. But as far as I know, vampires and succubi can’t have children together."

"It shouldn’t be possible, yet here we are. Our hybrid nature is why Mom and Dad fled Elyndra. It’s also why that lycan tried to capture us. Irina and I... we’re anomalies. We shouldn’t even exist. Maybe it would’ve been better if we’d never been born at all..."

There’s so much sadness in her voice that Hakuto’s heart almost aches for her.

"Itsu told me he works for the yakuza. Do you know why they’re after you?"

Claire shakes her head.

"The yakuza...? N-No... we’ve never had anything to do with people like them. But since Irina and I have the powers of both vampires and succubi, I guess there are plenty of people who’d want to get their hands on us. Maybe they want to study us or experiment on us. I honestly have no idea..."

Hakuto lets out a long sigh and lowers his sword before making it vanish into countless shards of light.

Only then does Claire jump to her feet, her legs still trembling as she points an accusing finger at him.

"Y-You... that power, the Sacred Light. If you can use it, that means... you’re a Monster Slayer?! And what the hell was that other power you used?! Don’t tell me... you’re here to kill us too?! Just so you know, we won’t go down without a fight!"

"My dad and I are out of that life. You don’t need to worry," Hakuto says, raising his hands to calm her down. "As for that other power... well, let’s just say you two aren’t the only anomalies. To keep it simple, not long after I was born, a small crystal formed inside my heart. It lets me use carbon alchemy, though nowhere near the level of a real alchemist. It happens when traces of magical energy crystallize inside a human’s heart during the first few years of life. That’s all there is to it."

"Oh, I see... That’s strange. I’ve never heard of anything like that before..." Claire murmurs.

"W-Wait... you and... your dad?! So Shin is a Monster Slayer too?! And he’s out there somewhere alone with my mother!" Irina shouts in panic.

"Didn’t you listen to a word I just said?! We don’t work for HESPARC anymore. Actually, I was never even part of it. My dad got fired when I was still a baby. Back then, he was considered the strongest Monster Slayer in the world, so I guess he must’ve screwed up pretty badly, though he’s never told me what happened. Now we’re just two regular guys who, until last week, lived in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo."

And yet, even Hakuto doesn’t sound convinced by his own words.

He can’t believe all of this is just a coincidence, or that his father knew nothing about Kagura and her daughters’ true nature.

In fact, the more he thinks about it, the more certain he becomes that his father is behind all of this.

By now, he’s convinced that even Shin’s marriage to Kagura has nothing to do with love. He’s even starting to suspect they aren’t actually married at all.

Claire begins to have the exact same suspicions.

"I’m sure Mom had her reasons for keeping us in the dark. That’s probably why they got married so suddenly without telling us anything... Honestly, I’m almost relieved it’s just a cover. I never understood why she’d marry someone like him in the first place. Or at least, that’s what I want to believe. It’d be crazy if all of this really was just a coincidence..."

"Sweet as always..." Hakuto mutters.

She couldn’t even say thank you... right after I saved her life...

"So what do we do now...? Call Mom and Shin and ask them what’s going on...?" Irina asks, collapsing onto the couch, exhausted after everything that happened that evening.

"No. That idiot father of mine chose to keep us in the dark even though he knew how dangerous this was. What if I hadn’t been home? What if Itsu hadn’t come alone? He put us in danger for no reason, and I intend to return the favor."