Chapter 42: Vampires make other vampires?

Lucius’s mind, replaced by the faint, rhythmic sound of quiet swallowing.

He did not open his eyes immediately.

He let his heightened vampire senses map out his immediate surroundings first. The air in the lavish bedroom was thick and warm, completely saturated with the musky, lingering scent of sweat, potent magic, and the undeniable copper tang of raw blood.

The heavy velvet curtains were drawn tight against the large windows, blocking out the morning sun and keeping the room draped in a comfortable, protective shadow.

A distinct, shifting weight was settled directly over his waist.

Lucius finally opened his eyes, his vision piercing the dimness of the room with absolute clarity.

Dori was sitting fully astride his hips. She was completely naked, her wild, dirt-free red hair cascading down her pale shoulders like a waterfall of fire. Her head was bowed deeply, her face pressed flush against the side of his neck. He could feel the sharp, precise puncture of her fangs sinking into his collarbone, drawing out a slow, steady stream of his potent True Vampire blood.

She purred.

It was a low, vibrating sound that rumbled deep within her chest, echoing the sheer, intoxicating pleasure she felt from feeding directly from her progenitor.

Her slender hands were planted firmly on his chest, her sharp nails digging just slightly into his skin to anchor herself as she drank her fill.

Lucius did not push her away. He simply let out a slow, quiet breath, staring up at the intricate wooden carvings on the ceiling.

He felt no human pain from the bite, only a strange, echoing warmth that pulsed through his veins. She was marking her territory, reinforcing the primal bond between master and servant after the chaotic events of the previous night.

He turned his head slightly to the opposite side of the massive, feather-stuffed bed.

Guinevere was sound asleep, her body curled tightly against his side. The noblewoman was entirely stripped of her dark traveling clothes, wearing nothing but her sheer, silken underwear.

Her vibrant purple hair was a tangled mess spread across the pillows, a stark contrast to her flawless, porcelain skin. Both of her arms were wrapped desperately around his left arm, her face buried into his shoulder as if she were clinging to the only solid object in a world that had completely shattered around her.

The tear stains on her cheeks had dried, leaving her features looking incredibly fragile and exhausted. The divine curse, the brutal realization of her father’s murder, and the overwhelming transformation into a Willing Blood Kin had drained every single ounce of her energy.

She had finally found her anchor in him, trading her human grief for eternal servitude.

Lucius lay there in the quiet room.

’Just a few weeks ago, I was eating cheap instant noodles in a cramped apartment back on Earth,’ he noted in his mind, feeling a dark sense of irony wash over him. ’I bled red blood, I walked in the sunlight, and I died from a clumsy fall in a dungeon. Now, I am a monster commanding an undead army, with a girl drinking my blood and a grieving noblewoman clinging to my arm.’

He raised his free right hand, his pale fingers gently brushing through Dori’s vibrant red hair.

She shivered at the touch, her fangs withdrawing slowly from his neck. She licked the twin puncture wounds clean with a rough swipe of her tongue, sealing the skin perfectly before she raised her head to look down at him.

Her glowing crimson eyes were dilated, entirely clouded with absolute, fanatical devotion.

"Good morning, Master," Dori whispered, her raspy voice thick and heavy from the blood.

She leaned down, rubbing her cheek affectionately against his jaw like a domesticated predator.

"Enough," Lucius murmured smoothly, his deep voice maintaining a quiet authority so he would not wake the sleeping girl beside him. "Get off me, Dori. I need to move."

Dori pouted slightly, her lower lip jutting out in a brief display of feral disappointment, but her loyalty was absolute. She obediently unwrapped her legs from his waist and rolled to the side, sliding off the mattress with the terrifying, silent grace of a shadow.

Lucius carefully and methodically untangled his left arm from Guinevere’s desperate grip. The purple-haired girl shifted in her sleep, letting out a soft, distressed whimper at the loss of his warmth, but she did not wake.

He pulled the thick velvet blankets up over her shoulders, covering her exposed skin before he quietly slipped out of the bed.

The cool air of the opulent apartment brushed against his bare chest as he walked over to the wooden chair near the corner of the room. He picked up his dark linen shirt and fitted trousers, dressing himself in total silence.

He buckled his heavy leather belt, his mind already shifting gears from the intimate aftermath of the night to the cold, calculated logistics of his growing syndicate.

Just as he pulled his heavy combat boots on, his enhanced senses picked up a subtle, unnatural shift in the atmosphere.

It was not a sound, but a feeling. A cold, pulsing rhythm echoing through the invisible tether of his Faction Grid. He turned his glowing red gaze toward the closed balcony doors.

From beneath the narrow crack at the bottom of the wooden frame, a thin tendril of dark, necrotic mist was slowly seeping into the room. It curled against the floorboards, forming the faint, shifting outline of a serpent before dissipating into thin air.

It was a signal.

Lucius narrowed his eyes, fully understanding the silent message. He walked past Dori, who was currently pulling her midnight-blue tunic over her head, and pointed a single pale finger at the sleeping noblewoman.

"Stay here and watch over her," Lucius commanded softly. "Do not let her leave this room until I return."

Dori nodded immediately, her crimson eyes flashing with understanding. She took a protective stance near the edge of the bed, her hands resting near her hips.

Lucius opened the heavy wooden door of the bedroom and stepped out into the hallway.

The interior of the rented apartment was completely silent, the expensive carpets muffling his footsteps as he navigated the winding corridors. He bypassed the main reception area and headed directly toward the rear of the property, where a private, enclosed garden sat walled off from the bustling noble district.

He pushed the glass doors open and stepped out into the crisp morning air.

The garden was beautifully manicured, filled with imported exotic flowers and tall, sculpted hedges that provided absolute privacy from the towering buildings surrounding them. The morning dew still clung to the bright green leaves, reflecting the early sunlight that Lucius no longer had to fear.

He walked to the very center of the stone courtyard and stopped, folding his arms neatly across his chest.

"You can come out now," Lucius spoke, his deep voice carrying easily over the rustling leaves.

The shadows cast by the tall hedges immediately began to warp and twist. The dark mist poured out from the corners of the garden, pooling together on the cobblestones like liquid ink. From the center of the darkness, a figure slowly rose.

Terissa stepped forward into the morning light.

She was no longer dressed in the dirty, ruined leather armor of a mountain bandit. She wore a sleek, tailored dark coat that hugged her newly perfected, dangerous curves, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders in rich, shimmering waves. Her pale, flawless skin practically glowed in the sunlight, and her vibrant crimson eyes were entirely fixated on the tall man standing before her.

The moment she closed the distance between them, the former bandit leader dropped smoothly to one knee. She bowed her head deeply, pressing her right hand over the dark, necrotic insignia of the God Mark burned into her collarbone.

"My Lord," Terissa greeted, her voice a soft, incredibly elegant purr that held none of the harshness of her human past. "I have returned exactly as you commanded."

Lucius looked down at her. Internally, however, his mind was processing the sheer magnitude of her display.

’She is genuinely happy to see me,’ Lucius noted, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his thoughts.

He had intentionally sent her away immediately after turning her on the blood-soaked dirt road. He gave her absolute freedom to return to her people, fully expecting her human nature to test the boundaries of her new reality.

He had anticipated that a seasoned leader like her might try to rebel, or at least attempt to ignore his telepathic orders to see if the leash held firm. Yet here she was, traveling across the country and sneaking into a heavily fortified noble district just to kneel at his feet with absolute, unadulterated reverence.

The psychological conditioning of the God Mark was far more absolute than he had ever theorized.

"Rise, Terissa," Lucius commanded smoothly, uncrossing his arms.

Terissa stood up, a beautiful, sharp-fanged smile spreading across her lips. She looked at him with an intoxicating mixture of awe and devotion, her posture radiating the silent, terrifying grace of a true Shadow Commander.

"Report," Lucius stated, getting straight to the point. "Is the foundation set?"

"It is, my Lord," Terissa answered immediately, her tone shifting into a sharp, professional cadence.

"I returned to the hidden settlement in Snake Valley just as you instructed. The banished people under my care were completely terrified by my transformation at first, but they quickly fell into line once they realized my strength had grown exponentially. I have completely secured the perimeter of the mountains using the tactical knowledge you granted me."

She took a single step closer, her crimson eyes gleaming with ambitious pride.

"The new headquarters has been officially established deep within the valley ruins," she continued, detailing the logistics of their growing empire. "We have fortified the natural caves, stockpiled the necessary food and weapons, and established a series of hidden watchtowers along the mountain pass. The Royal Knights of Eldia will never be able to find the settlement unless we explicitly allow them to. We are entirely ready to expand your syndicate from the shadows, my Lord."

Lucius nodded slowly, a dark thrill running through his veins.

He was no longer just a wandering exile trying to survive in the mud. He now had a secure fortress, a loyal commander, and a civilian population he could slowly manipulate and harvest resources from.

"You have done exceptionally well, Terissa," Lucius praised her, his voice sincere. "Your S-rank talent is proving to be incredibly useful."

Terissa practically melted under his praise.

The validation from her progenitor sent a violent, humming surge of raw pleasure directly through her chest. She lowered her gaze submissively for a fleeting second before looking back up at him, a sudden, heavy hesitation replacing her confident smile.

"There is... one more thing, my Lord," Terissa uttered, her voice dropping into a careful whisper. "A request I wish to make, if you would be so gracious as to hear it."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the sudden shift in her aura. "Speak."

Terissa took a deep breath, her hands clasping together in front of her dark coat.

"The people in the settlement are loyal, but they are entirely human and incredibly fragile," she explained, her eyes locking onto his. "If we are to truly build an army capable of threatening the capital, I need lieutenants who can operate in the dark exactly as I do. I have three men in my inner circle. Men who have bled for me, who possess combat talents that rival the kingdom’s elite guard. I want to bring them into monsters such as myself."

Lucius stayed perfectly silent, waiting for her to finish.

"I am asking for your permission, my Lord," Terissa whispered, her voice trembling slightly with anticipation. "I ask for your blessing to turn them. I want to give them the bite and make them monsters, just like us."

Lucius froze.

The morning breeze swept through the garden, rustling the leaves of the exotic flowers, but Lucius did not hear a single sound. His highly calculated mind completely blanked out for a fraction of a second, the sheer weight of her request hitting him like a physical blow to the chest.

’Turn them?’ Lucius echoed in his mind, completely caught off guard.

He stared down at Terissa, who was looking up at him with hopeful, devoted eyes, completely unaware of the massive biological paradox she had just presented to him.

Lucius immediately directed his focus to the empty space directly in front of him.

The ethereal blue glow of the system flared to life in his vision, casting a cool, unnatural light over his sharp, stoic features. He quickly navigated through the cascading brackets of his Faction Grid, his glowing red eyes scanning the strict capacity limits of his Willing Blood Kin slots.

He was the progenitor. He possessed the hundred percent blood purity required to issue the God Mark. But Terissa was asking to distribute the curse herself.

Could his vampires actually create other vampires? Did they possess the biological capability to spawn their own lineage beneath his absolute authority?

Lucius looked past the floating blue interface, staring deeply into Terissa’s crimson eyes.

He realized in that exact moment that he knew absolutely nothing about the true evolutionary limits of the monsters he was creating.