When the Predator first attacked him, Ryner had predicted it by observing his enemy and using his instincts that he honed in countless battles. Just before he got struck by that punch that would have turned him into chunks of meat, he jumped back with all his might and got grazed by it. Furthermore, he blocked the blow with his assault rifle which broke his weapon. He wanted to evade it completely, but he wasn’t fast enough and still got hit. For a normal human body, the attack and the resulting shockwave was still enough to break his ribs and damage his internal organs. While rolling on the ground after being sent flying nearly ten meters away, he knocked his head and lost consciousness for a dozen seconds before regaining his senses.

“Urgh… Bad idea, damn it…” [Ryner]

He groaned softly as he endured the excruciating pain coursing through his body and forced his heavy eyelids to open. The healing potion that he put in his pocket shattered from violently hitting the floor multiple times and the contents soaked into his leg. It was slowly healing his broken bones and damaged organs, stopping his internal hemorrhaging. To speed up the recovery process, he pulled out another vial containing green liquid from his pocket dimension and gulped it down, healing completely in ten seconds.

“(I can’t kill it with my current firearms. Besides, no point in keeping my Artifacts hidden if it gets me killed. It’d be a huge waste of life force to recreate another body… And if I’m too slow Maya will die.)” [Ryner]

After nearly dying from that single punch, Ryner realized that he wouldn’t win by holding back on using his Artifacts, his Heaven’s Blades. He didn’t have time to come up with a plan since the others may be dying while he hid in the corridor. Making up his mind, he stored away his shattered rifle and took out his holy sword, the White Wing. Simply by holding it, he was granted various enchantments that elevated his physical abilities, much like body strengthening magic.

“How the hell is this place still working anyway?!” [Ryner]

He hurriedly ran back to the room with the sounds of people fighting coming from it while yelling to himself. At the entrance, he found Maya who was struggling with a broken arm and leg to get out of the hole in the wall she made when she was thrown.

“Master-ugh!” [Maya]

When she saw him, relief washed over her and she forgot the agony of having broken limbs, but it quickly came back the next second and she frowned in pain. Seeing her condition, he quickly took out a healing potion from his pocket dimension as well as a pair of gloves.

“(I can’t win by myself… So, I’ll trust you with them, Maya.)” [Ryner]

He thought in his head while scanning the room to evaluate the situation.

“(Dead bodies, three of them, the knights from before. Cain’s out, a blow to the head, maybe still alive. No dead heroes, but useless right now. Ryan’s out too, got hit in the chest, probably alive. That kid lost his arm, huge blood loss, can still be saved. Sword girl-)” [Ryner]

In less than a minute since the battle began, there were already three casualties. He understood the situation in an instant with one look just in time to see Aria on the ground and about to be killed. Another girl, Elena, began shooting fireballs at the Predator to save her.

While he threw the potion and gloves to Maya, he thrusted his sword forward and an eighty meters long blade of light stabbed into the back of the War Puppet, pushing it forward and causing it to miss its target. After it fled to the side, everyone noticed him with Maya already up despite being not fully healed yet and putting the gloves on. Seeing how little damage it received after being stabbed in the back with a Heaven’s Blade, Ryner once more realized how foolish he was to try and take it out with simple firearms.

“Seriously… What was I thinking pulling a gun on a freaking Predator?” [Ryner]

“RAAAWRRR!!!” [Predator]

As if responding to his grumble, the Predator roared threateningly.

“Maya, get the one-armed kid first and the others. Tell them to escape and then come help me.” [Ryner]

Ryner said as he passed her three more vials of healing potion while keeping the War Puppet in check by emitting bloodlust.

“Those gloves will respond to your thoughts. Just remember the time I used it.” [Ryner]

With time running out, he quickly told her some instructions on how to use the weapons he gave her and rushed out the moment she grabbed the vials. Although Maya looked reluctant to leave him to fight alone, she knew that now wasn’t the time to argue and focused on the task given to her.

Ryner ran to the Predator with speed comparable to an A rank thanks to the White Wing’s power, but it reached him with far superior speed as it turned into a blur and threw a powerful punch at him. However, unlike the first time, Ryner wasn’t blown away and held his ground as a white wall of light appeared before him and blocked the blow. Seeing its attack blocked, it roared with irritation and continued hammering it with its deadly fists, creating shockwaves and blowing away the dust around them. The barrier wouldn’t last for long and his enhanced strength could only allow him to barely keep up with his enemy. He needed help to take it down which was why he gave his slave those gloves that were on par with his sword.

“(Crap, hurry Maya… Man, my vacation sucks.)” [Ryner]

While her master was stalling for time and leading the monster away from the frightened group of heroes, Maya made her way to Jayce who had fainted from blood loss, put his arm back on his shoulder and poured the green liquid on the injury. After it made contact with his skin, it glowed faintly before disappearing. In a few seconds, the arm had begun to reattach itself and the wound was closing.

“(Incredible, just where did you get these, Master?)” [Maya]

She thought with admiration before looking at the dumbstruck girl that was several meters away from her and told her to get everyone out of here just like she was instructed to. After getting a nod, she headed towards Ryan and Cain who were further away from the group.

Healing potions existed in this world, so she was familiar with them when Ryner healed her with them during their training. However, his were the only ones that were green and could heal injuries in seconds while others were red and took minutes. As such, people often succumbed to their fatal wounds before the healing potions had time to work.

Elena, who had quickly grabbed Aria when Ryner began fighting and checked her condition with a desperate look on her face, saw Jayce get his arm reattach. When she confirmed that her best friend wasn’t going to die, she had planned to run to his side and heal him herself, though she really felt like throwing up every time she saw his lost limb. But, the beastman had beaten her to it. Her expression changed to shock and she repeatedly looked at Maya, the healed arm and the empty vial with wide eyes. The whole group had used healing potions many times already, but they never produced such results.

“Urgh… Hmm…” [Aria]

She nodded to Maya’s words while wondering where she got those. Then, soft groaning interrupted her thoughts and she looked down at her best friend that was lying on her back.

“Aria! Aria!” [Elena]

She called out her name with teary eyes while moving her hand on top of the black-haired girl’s chest and began treating her as her palm emitted a soft glow.

“Urrgh… E-Elena…? What…?” [Aria]

Aria woke up, but she didn’t fully recover her consciousness because she suffered such terrible blunt force trauma for the first time of her life. So, her memory of recent events was a bit fuzzy. Before her senses came back and she began to panic, Elena tried to reassure her.

“You’re alright! It’s going to be alright! Ryner is going to-!” [Elena]

“MAYA?! YOU DONE YET?!” [Ryner]

Just as she was about to say “save us”, her so-called savior was in a pinch because the Predator had just punched through his barrier, shattering the wall of light into pieces like glass. He was forced to jump back and parry any incoming attacks. When its fist came, he tilted his body to the side and used his sword to divert the trajectory away from him. His blade was coated in a light and when he parried its blow, he would scrape off a part of its flesh which soon covered its arms in blood.

The Predator stopped after the second blow when both its arms had large cuts in them and warily watched its enemy from a short distance. Although it looked like Ryner had the advantage, he barely managed to parry each attack and was forced to stay on defense. It took everything he had to stop himself from being knocked away when his blade collided with his creation’s arms.

“(It’ll take a bit before the shield fixes itself. Damn it, I should have put a kill switch on these things. But, that would be a structural weakness that Alice could take advantage of. So, I did a good job with my War Puppets, I guess. But, they can’t recognize me if I’m not in my true form. Then again, Alice can create bodies just like me and imitate me. So, I DID do a good job with my War Puppets.)” [Ryner]

While Ryner was so care freely harboring conflicting thoughts about his creations, the Predator once more charged at him. At that moment, Maya had rushed to his side with her two gloves now turned into gauntlets with yellow plates and two black lines on the back of the hands and near the elbows. Imagining what had happened when they fought the bandits together, she punched it with all her might. The War Puppet, having judged that her attack was no threat, tried to catch it with its left hand. But, contrary to its expectations, it was blown away by an explosion and its hand was damaged.

Seeing that her attack was effective, a wild grin appeared on her face as she knocked her fists together. Since the moment she put the gloves on, her body felt light and power surged through her. If it was with these weapons, then she could win.

“Glad to see you’ve got the hang of it.” [Ryner]

Her master said as he moved next to her with his sword held in both hands and the tip pointed at the War Puppet.

“It’s a wonderful present, Master. But, I still prefer the collar~.” [Maya]

They spoke in a relaxed and playful manner, but neither of them let their guard down as they kept their eyes on the Predator who was looking at its hand. Realizing that the woman was also a major threat, it set her as a priority target and focused on eliminating her as well.

“RAAAAAAAWWRR!!!” [Predator]

With its roar as the signal, the two sides clashed once more. However, it wasn’t one-sided like before. Maya engaged the War Puppet in close-combat and every time he saw an opening, Ryner would jump in and slash at the creature. When Maya punched, an explosion would occur and the Predator would be blown back, injured and bleeding.

When it attacked, the beast girl would block without breaking her bones thanks to the gauntlets empowering her and Ryner would use this chance to thrust his sword forward from the side and stab it with a blade of light. Although it was their first time fighting together, Ryner effectively coordinated with her movements and covered her whenever she was defenseless. Dust and debris were blown away, violent shockwaves were created and bright explosions roared out.

“Hurry! We need to get out of here!” [Aria]

“Everyone, keep your head down and move quickly!” [Elena]

During this intense fight, the heroes that were curled up into a ball and trembling with fear the whole time were trying to escape. The bloodthirsty robber that had been holding them at gunpoint was now busy shooting at the cops. Under the leadership of Aria who was back on her feet and Elena, they grabbed the Knight Commander, Ryan and Jayce who were all still unconscious. Then, they fled the place and made their way back to the corridor that led them here. Despite their fear, they were swift on their feet and moved quickly. If someone ensured their survival, humans would often listen to their orders.

“(You two, please be careful.)” [Elena]

“(Those guys… They actually had such powerful Artifacts… Hurry up and bring them out sooner, you damn idiots!)” [Aria]

Along the way, the two current leaders of the group were watching the battle unfold away from them. While the brown-haired girl was praying for the safety of the master and slave duo, the black-haired girl was insulting them in her mind for not bringing out their best weapons at the start. However, both of them had worried looks in their eyes as they gently touched the round bells given to them.

“(No way… They’re actually fighting it!)” [sam]

Unlike these two girls, one of the heroes, Sam, got his confidence back when he saw how Maya was fighting on par with that monster and how Ryner was wounding it. Thinking that he could help out too because he was a hero in this world, he separated from the retreating group and bravely went towards the fight. When he judged that he was close enough, he stopped in his tracks as he focused to gather his mana for one big spell. His two best friends that understood his feelings, Kirk and Tom, also followed him and got ready to attack from a distance. They nodded to each other and held their hands out with their palms facing the Predator. Each of them held similar, but different thoughts.

“(I can do this. I’m a hero after all! Saving girls and taking down monsters are part of a hero’s job!)” [Sam]

“(I can’t believe I was so scared for even a second. If those guys can do it, then so can I! I just need to hit it with a powerful attack!)” [Kirk]

“(I can’t back down here! I need to take it down! I need to protect the animal ears!)” [Tom]

They then began to chant as they imagined what magic they would invoke. Chanting was like training wheels. Once one was used to casting a spell, then he wouldn’t need to chant anymore which could save his life in battle. It was like learning how to ride a bicycle. The simpler and weaker the spell, the easier it was to master it. But, the more powerful the spell, the harder it was to do voiceless incantations.

Even for the weaker spells, these heroes that had a lot of mana could generate a simple fireball that had enough heat to turn metal bright red. Now, these three high schoolers were going to cast something much more powerful.

“?! Wait! STOP!” [Aria]

Finally noticing that three of her classmates weren’t following along, Aria forgot about discretion and yelled at the top of her lungs, but it was too late.

““LIGHTNING’S MIGHT!”” [Sam, Kirk and Tom]

The idiot trio unleashed the same spell and bluish white lightning flew out of their hands like a spear as they headed straight towards the Predator. Sensing the attack, Ryner and Maya jumped back to get out of its range, but their enemy who also noticed it simply took it head on.

“Damn it, those idiots! They’re still here?!” [Ryner]

While the young men were rejoicing in their successful surprise attack and slapped each other’s hands, Ryner clicked his tongue and watched the idiot trio with frustration. Their magic was causing many arcs of lightning to fly out of the War Puppet’s body that stood in one place without moving. It was continuously being electrocuted and intense light was being produced. One look was enough to tell anyone that any ordinary living beings would be turned into charcoal. But, Ryner knew that this wouldn’t kill it.

Sure enough, when the lightning finally subsided and only small blue sparks occasionally appeared, everyone also understood it. The faces of the boys that were in the middle of celebration were colored with disbelief. It was a failure. They only did some light damage. They slowly began to retreat while sweating profusely without showing their backs to it. Terror once more took a hold of their hearts and their teeth clattered.

It was still standing. And it was looking at them. They couldn’t tell if it was angry, but they knew that it singled them out. The Predator used its tail to flick a rock the size of a fist upward and grabbed it.

“Maya!” [Ryner]

Knowing what it was about to do, Ryner swung his sword while calling out his slave’s name. A blade of light long enough to reach his foe manifested and just as it was about to cut into its throat, it jumped back ten meters and threw the rock at the same time with all its might.

An explosive sound echoed in the room as Sam flew backwards and rolled on the ground like a wheel. To the bystanders, it looked like someone got hit by a tank’s cannon. The projectile hit him on the forehead and shattered into pieces upon impact, but the strength behind it was powerful enough to injure the S rank hero. When he finally stopped rolling, blood was flowing down his face and he held onto his forehead while writhing in pain.

“AAARRGH!!!” [Sam]

““… Eh?”” [Kirk and Tom]

Kirk and Tom uttered in an idiotic voice, not understanding what happened. After all, how could a mere rock hurt their bodies that were reinforced with magic? It was the same for the escaping group that stopped in their tracks when they saw their three classmates cast that high level spell, wondering what they were doing because they weren’t retreating with them.

“S-Sam!” [Elena]

Elena was scared. Her legs were trembling and she really wanted to run away right now, but as the healer of the group, she knew she had to help them. Otherwise, people would die again. Just like when she nearly lost her friends. So, making up her mind, she took a step forward, but before she could begin to run, her best friend grabbed her by the arm.

“Wait!” [Aria]

Her action prevented the girl with bells in her hair to experience terrible pain. The Predator, having noticed that they were trying to get out of the room, followed its directive and ignored the priority targets to chase after the fleeing forces. Its job was to wipe out as many targets as it could. If there were enemies that it couldn’t beat easily and others that were trying to run away from it, then it would choose the others because that was its order. That was how Ryner made it to reduce Alice’s forces. However, in this day and age, such an order made it a horrifying monster that wouldn’t let anyone escape from death.

The War Puppet ran towards the two remaining attackers with Maya hot on its tail, but she couldn’t shrink the distance between them. In the next few seconds, Kirk and Tom were in its hands as it caught them by their heads without dropping its speed and it squeezed them with the intention of crushing their skulls. Stepping on Sam and breaking his ribs along the way, it flung the struggling Kirk at Maya who couldn’t dodge and got blown backwards before throwing Tom at the group. The poor boy crashed into other unfortunate heroes like a flying bowling ball knocking down pins in its path. In one move, nearly half of the group was already on the ground.

“Damn it! Get up! Everyone, get up now!!” [Aria]

No matter how desperate her shouting was, it was too late. The Predator jumped up and prepared its fist as it planned on landing in the middle of the herd of sheep to send them all to the slaughterhouse. Screams were raised and tears flowed out as people despaired once more seeing their imminent deaths. Aria tightly held onto the terrified Elena’s arm and got ready to drag her with her towards the corridor.

However, while it was in the air, it couldn’t dodge anymore. Taking this chance, Ryner, who was slower than his creation and his slave, created a long blade of light and swung it vertically upwards. It hit right between the War Puppet’s legs and cut into its flesh from head to toe. He pulled back with all his strength and the Predator flew back, away from the group and with blood flowing out of its new injury that would have split anyone in half vertically.

Without letting his guard down, he checked on the condition of Sam who lost consciousness after getting stepped on while Maya arrived next to him with a fainted Kirk over her shoulder. When he confirmed that he wasn’t going to die, he put his full attention on the Predator that crouched low to charge at them after rolling to its feet.

“It’s just a flesh wound, kid. You’ll live. MEDIC!” [Ryner]

“Oh my~, I thought you didn’t like them?” [Maya]

Maya asked as she laid Kirk on the ground.

“It’s true that I’m training them just to beat them up, but I’m still technically their teacher. So, if it wants to kill my students, it needs my permission first.” [Ryner]

He shrugged his shoulders and answered in a carefree manner to which Maya smiled happily at his words.

“Fufu, you’re acting shy like when we first met, Master~.” [Maya]

“Huh? Since when-“ [Ryner]

Their usual banter ended when their enemy rushed at them. Maya went ahead to intercept the attack. They exchanged blows as both sides dodged, blocked and parried with Ryner joining the fray soon after, leaving the two injured heroes to be retrieved by their comrades. More shockwaves and explosions were born from these blurry figures clashing head-on.

On the heroes’ side, once Elena was done treating Tom who had a cracked skull, she and Aria as well as four others that were brave enough to follow them went to get Sam and Kirk.

“How are they?” [Aria]

Aria, who tightly grasped onto her sword, asked her best friend who was checking their wounds without looking at her. Her eyes were warily following the monster that could tear them apart in one hit. When the Predator tried to run towards them, she nearly got a heart attack. Luckily, Ryner tripped it with his Artifact that could make a long blade of light and Maya punched it in the face with an explosive fist.

“I-I-I need to heal them here. We shouldn’t move them.” [Elena]

Elena tried to speak calmly, but her voice was trembling and her face was pale. Still, she forced herself to concentrate and used the healing ability that few in this world possessed to treat her classmates’ injuries.

“Then please hurry. We can’t stay here.” [Aria]

Sweat covered Aria’s forehead and someone among them gulped loudly. They all knew what would happen if they attracted its attention.

“(We’re gonna die. Please Ryner! Maya! Win!)” [Aria]

Ignoring the young ones that tried to stay out of sight, Maya focused on trading blows with her foe. Bruises were starting to appear on her arms from blocking its blows and she had numerous scratches with blood seeping out from its claws. She had become stronger thanks to the gloves that turned into gauntlets, but she wasn’t invincible. If they kept dragging the fight out, then she would lose. Furthermore, the heroes were now recognized as fleeing targets, so Ryner and Maya had to be careful because it might suddenly target them.

Then again, the Predator didn’t look too good either with all the cuts and burns on its body. Its combat capability was dropping from losing blood and eating explosions in the face.

“(Gotta kill it soon.)” [Ryner]

Ryner thought in his head as he covered the beastman. Just as the War Puppet dodged Maya’s punch and was about to pierce her back with its claws, he stopped its attack by stabbing its raised arm from the side with a blade of light and swung his sword at its neck. Reacting quickly, it leaned back and the blade passed above its head. Using this opening, Maya punched it with her two fists at the same time and sent it flying backwards after two explosions hit it in the stomach.

After rolling around like a ball, it got back on its feet just in time to dodge the beastman next punch by stepping back. Maya followed up by jumping up and sending a roundhouse kick at its face, but it tilted back to dodge her foot and when she had her back to it because of her momentum, he caught her slim tail with its left hand and slammed her in the ground. The impact raised a cloud of dust and created a crater.

“Gaah!” [Maya]

Still holding onto her tail, it pulled her towards it and raised its arm, ready to slam her in the ground again with its fist. At that moment, Ryner jumped in, slashed at the fingers of the hand that was holding her tail which caused it to let go and caught Maya from behind midair with his back turned towards the enemy. Seeing this, the War Puppet attacked without hesitation and Ryner placed his sword on his back to block the fist.

It wouldn’t be enough to protect him from the devastating punch and he would have been knocked into the ground with Maya whom he was trying to protect. However, in his hand was an Artifact, a Heaven’s Blade.

A wall of light appeared in front of the sword and stopped the incoming strike.

“Knock it on the ground!” [Ryner]

After uttering that short order, Ryner turned around and switched places with Maya. She charged at the opponent with her fists at the ready. She punched its stomach which caused an explosion that made it slide back and crouch forward. Right away, she delivered an uppercut in its face that had once more created another explosion and made it greatly tilt backward. Then, she jumped over it, grabbed its horns and lifted it over her head as she flipped in the air before slamming it in the ground hard like it did to her, raising dust and creating a crater as well.

Using this chance, Ryner fell on its back with his sword pointed downwards and stabbed into its neck with a blade of light.

“Pull its head off!” [Ryner]

He yelled out as he ordered his weapon to extend the blade of light while forcing it down, cutting deeper into the hard flesh that kept resisting. Hearing his words, Maya held onto the horns and pulled with all her might.

“RAAWWWRR!!!” [Predator]

The Predator roared from pain as its flesh was being cut and torn apart. Its tissue snapped like strings and more blood came flowing out in response. The man’s sword kept stabbing into its neck and the woman kept pulling its head off. When it tried to get back up, she would make it lose balance by tugging its horns strongly. Giving up on the idea, it tried to grab onto her legs and managed to get the right one with its hands. At the same time, it wrapped its tail around the man’s neck, though he managed to put his left arm in to prevent it from strangling him.

No matter, it would break both his arm as well as his neck and it would crush the woman’s leg. As such, it squeezed as hard as it could to try and get them off it. As the pressure increased, so did their pain. Ryner was suffocating and the bones in Maya’s leg were creaking. The master’s vision was getting blurry and the slave couldn’t put any more strength in her leg.

“Arrrgh!” [Ryner]

“Aaahhh!” [Maya]

After a few seconds, Ryner’s forearm snapped and Maya’s foreleg shattered. However, instead of stopping their attacks, the two muffled their screams and used even more force. A pool of blood was already formed at the base of the Predator’s head. The blade dug into the bone. They were close to victory. So, there was no way they would stop now.

“RAAAAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!” [Predator]

The War Puppet was helpless as its neck was slowly being cut in two and pulled apart. It roared loudly to instill fear, but it did it no good before these two opponents. After all, one of them was a young woman with animal ears and a tail who drew courage from her master. So long as he was by her side, she would bravely fight on.

The other one looked unimpressive, but he was the worse of the lot. It was a man with unkempt black hair and dark brown eyes with a white eye on the right. It wasn’t made to recognize his human form which was a pity for it.

The one before it was its creator and right now, instead of being afraid of its roar, he found it annoying.

“RAAAAA-!!!” [Predator]

Finally, the blade of light went straight through its neck and Maya tore its head off. Blood uncontrollably spurted out of the gaping hole and dyed the ground red. The Predator died while roaring.

The group of heroes who saw its decapitated figure was speechless. It wasn’t because of the gruesome death, but because they were victorious. Their instructor that they thought would be useless against the guardians of the ruin managed to kill it with his slave that rivaled the heroes in strength. No, these two surpassed them.

“It’s… Over…?” [Random hero]

But, what was on their minds wasn’t who was stronger. Rather, all they could think of was that they were finally safe.

“It’s over… It’s over!” [Random hero]

Relief washed over them and happiness soon came after. Many fell on the ground once they lost their tension and cried on the spot.

“We’re safe… We’re safe! *Sniff sniff* We’re safe! *Sob*” [Random hero]

“T-thank goodness… *Sniff* Thank goodneeeeess UWAAAAAAHHH~!” [Random hero]

“We’re alive! We’re ALIIIIIIIVE!!!” [Random hero]

While the heroes were crying, cheering and celebrating, Ryner let go of his sword and used his right hand to get the tail off him while Maya dropped the severed head and slowly pulled the fingers away from her leg.

“Well, that was fun-ouch…! Let’s never do it again.” [Ryner]

Ryner said after unwrapping the tail around his neck and broken arm.

“Really? But, I loved fighting together against a powerful enemy~.” [Maya]

Maya shamelessly spoke in a playful tone after getting her shattered leg free. The man who fought with an expressionless face and cold eyes now donned a lazy expression as he asked for the gauntlets back before answering her. His slave obediently changed them back into gloves and took them off. Once he received them, he put them back into his pocket dimension along with his holy sword.

“That was way too strong. You should find someone weaker next time. Too much excitement is bad for a tourist.” [Ryner]

“(Then again, since this is my fortress, am I a tourist anymore?)” [Ryner]

“Tourist?” [Maya]

She asked while tilting her head in puzzlement. As usual, her master said some things that she simply couldn’t understand.

“I thank you for your compliments, Lord Thorne.” [Evelyn]

“No, no, no. Offering compliments is the least I can do to behold such beauty. And please, call me Edward, Milady.” [Edward]

Another two decades passed by with nothing but failures. Evelyn wanted to get back to her research, but right now, she had to entertain this noble who visited her mansion. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties, was quite handsome, had curly black hair, red eyes and a slim figure. He wore luxurious clothes that were mainly black with red linings. A short red cape that reached his middle back and covered his left shoulder had black thorns depicting a tree on the left front and on the back.

This pure-blooded vampire was one of the many that tried to woo Evelyn and make her his wife. After all, not only was she a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, red eyes and a sensual body, she was the one who prevented a war with the neighboring human kingdom, Ceithon. Many would come to visit her bearing gifts and promises to a better life should she marry them. Even though it’s been more than four hundred years since those events transpired, the number of proposals she received didn’t decrease at all. Then again, her race didn’t forget things in just four hundred years.

Right now, in the middle of the night, Evelyn and Edward were in the living room where she received guests and were sitting face-to-face on a black couch with a wooden table between them. Maids on the side had served them tea and Evelyn had just entrusted to one of them a bouquet of white lilies that the man before her brought with him. Although he was two hundred years older than her, for vampires that had an average lifespan of ten thousand years, an age gap of a few centuries didn’t mean anything.

Vampires aged normally like humans. But, once they reached maturity, they would age slowly which was why Evelyn, who was over nine hundred years old, looked to be in her mid-twenties only. Those that had lived long enough to look old like Daniel Redheart were respected as elders and had thousands of years of experience. As such, to humans, this race was often known as the immortal race.

“I believe it is important to keep a minimum of formality at all times.” [Evelyn]

“My, how serious you are. The flowers I picked for you pale in comparison to your noble heart and elegance.” [Edward]

“You flatter me. Your flowers are quite beautiful.” [Evelyn]

“I am not flattering you. I mean every word, Milady. I am quite happy to hear that you like my gift. If you’d like, I shall bring something more fitting of your splendor the next time I come visit.” [Edward]

“There is no need to force yourself, Lord Thorne. I do not wish to waste your time and fortune when you must be quite busy.” [Evelyn]

This was how it always went. The suitors would try to get her to fancy them and she would politely dump them like dirty laundry with a small smile. Of course, no one took offence because of how skilled she was at dealing with them. To them, she was known as a beautiful maiden that was in the midst of choosing someone worthy of her. In short, she was a tough nut to crack.

She was always polite, always courteous and her poker face was unbreakable. It was all thanks to Ryner’s training who had properly prepared her for negotiations in case she had to deal with politics or with persistent fellows.

“(Really now, did you predict this would happen?)” [Evelyn]

She thought to herself as she pictured the face of the man she loved. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties when she first met him and his appearance hadn’t changed for the past five hundred years that she spent with him. In truth, he was fifty years older than her, but the two looked the same age once she became an adult after a decade or so. During that time, Ryner trained her strictly and repeatedly told her to keep her guard up around men because they were all perverts.

Her beauty was in full bloom when she reached adulthood and sure enough, young nobles who noticed this beautiful young flower, that had grown unbeknownst to them all, came attacking like a swarm of bees. Unfortunately for them, her foster father, the sleepy-looking dhampir, was always there to kill the mood. Now however, she had to fend for herself.

“Truly, for someone as incredible as you to have a traitor of a father is terribly saddening.” [Edward]

“Yes, yes it is.” [Evelyn]

After making some small talks, the conversation soon turned towards her father like always. Every one she met would never fail to mention what a tragedy it was that she had to grow up under his care.

“I believe Lord Redheart was the one that chose him as your guardian. If only he had entrusted the duty to me, I wouldn’t have left you in the hands of such a pathetic dhampir.” [Edward]

“Do not blame Lord Redheart please. He too suffered at my father’s hands.” [Evelyn]

“That is true. He was stabbed by the very servant that he put his trust in. Truly, that Ryner Roseseed! What a despicable man!” [Edward]

He exclaimed in an angry voice while raising his hands to emphasize his outrage. Evelyn, on the other hand, took a sip of her tea before speaking again in a calm manner.

“Yes, he was lacking in several areas.” [Evelyn]

“Not just several, but in many! Mostly in his head! Despite piling up achievements and getting a nobility title, he slaughtered the peace envoy of our neighboring kingdom and killed the Minister of the Right!”

“That was a horrible thing to do. To invite a war like that…” [Evelyn]

She agreed to his words without changing her expression. All of her emotions were cleverly hidden by a small smile.

“Many would have died. In the end, he showed his true nature. He’s just a pathetic dhampir who let his ambitions get to his head. But, whatever his goals were, you stopped him, handed his body over to Ceithon and negotiated with them to put down their weapons. Simply incredible! ” [Edward]

“It was my duty as a noble from the house of Ivyblood. Also, as his daughter, I believed it was my duty to clean up after his mess.” [Evelyn]

“You shouldn’t call yourself his daughter anymore, Milady. You would only insult yourself.” [Edward]

In the end, the conversation ended with the two badmouthing Ryner until Edward finally left, satisfied with the progress he made with Evelyn. Soon, he will get her to fall for him and she will be his lovely wife… Was what he thought.

In reality, after he closed the door, her expression became utterly terrifying and her bloodshot eyes seemed like they wanted to carve a hole through the door and through the ignorant man’s chest. If a glare could kill someone, then her suitor would have died a hundred times along with all the other nobles that tried to get her hand in marriage.

“What do you know about him…? Just what do you know about him?!” [Evelyn]

She muttered in an enraged and murderous voice so that the servants wouldn’t hear her and tightly clenched her fists to endure her fury. Her nails dug into her skin and blood oozed out, but she paid it no mind and walked back towards her room in a quick pace while donning her poker face again. She needed to get back to work. Luckily for her, that idiot brought some white lilies that could be used in her next experiment.

However, despite the useful gifts, she would have preferred to be left alone. This woman that prevented war had spent centuries hearing the same defamation and she was reaching her limits. If she didn’t find a way to travel to another world soon, then she would probably rip someone’s head off the next time he spoke ill of her father. But, she couldn’t really be mad at them. They were all tricked just like she was before.

Once she reached her room and closed the door behind her, she leaned her back on it and took a deep breath to calm her turbulent emotions. She couldn’t be mad at them. No, the one she should be mad at was already dead. The last person she could be mad at was herself, the one that killed Ryner. Her memories of that time inadvertently came back.

Evelyn and a punitive force tracked down Ryner who escaped into the forest. Despite his reputation, his abilities were acknowledged, so fifty pure-blooded vampires along with his daughter who knew him well were hastily assembled to take him down. She was put in charge because they knew that she was the best chance they had to defeat him. They expected casualties when they would fight him since he was a dhampir that defeated many powerful purebloods and took on hundreds of soldiers by himself. There are even rumors that said he survived after being exposed to sunlight.

However, when they found and fought him, he wasn’t like anything the stories told. He was strong, he fought hard, but it was obvious that he couldn’t win. In the end, some were injured but no one died. Everyone forgot his past accomplishments and thought that he was just a weak dhampir that couldn’t defeat true vampires like them.

He was kneeling on the ground and his body was full of wounds. His clothes were in tatters, his red cape that had the symbol of his house, of his nobility title, was torn off and blood covered him from head to toe. All fifty vampires were standing behind him and were ready to finish him off if he made any sudden moves. While he was breathing hard and trying to keep his consciousness, Evelyn, who didn’t have a single scratch on her, kneeled in front of him, looked at him with hatred and stabbed him in the chest with her sword.

The slim blade pierced through him all the way to the hilt and she felt freed from her feelings, freed from her delusions. It was a mistake to trust him, to fall for him. She should have known that when her parents abandoned her to fulfill their own love. His blood flowed down her blade, dripped onto the ground and dyed the grass red. She could feel his life ending. So, she gave him some parting words.

“Die you traitor.” [Evelyn]

Under everyone’s eyes, she said in a cold voice as she tried to convey the rage and sorrow she felt for being betrayed.

“I’m ashamed to be your daughter.” [Evelyn]

She tried to tell him that she should have never loved him.

In response, he resisted. While coughing blood, he slowly brought his weak arms around her back and tried to claw at her flesh. But, he didn’t have any strength left. So, it only felt like he was tightly clinging onto her as he rested his head on her shoulder. Before long, he died while still holding onto her. His expression looked peaceful, but no one saw the face he made during his last moments, not even his killer.

When the unwanted flashback ended, the pure-blooded vampire couldn’t control herself anymore. Regret, pain and sadness were tormenting her. Her lips trembled and a whimper leaked out from them.

“Why didn’t I know?” [Evelyn]

She said sorrowfully to herself. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” [Evelyn]

Evelyn fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands as she silently cried.

“Ryner…” [Evelyn]