I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space - Chapter 354: First Blood

Chapter 354: First Blood

“Anyway,” Merisa continued after a brief pause, lifting her hands and wiping the tears from her face as if erasing them meant erasing the moment itself. “Let’s clear things out today.”

Her expression steadied again, but something had changed beneath it.

“I… I really don’t want that kind of thing to happen.”

Her voice lowered slightly.

Even if it was an illusion, it had left something behind. Something deep. Something that refused to disappear. A fear she never wanted to face again. A future she would never allow to exist.

She didn’t want to wait.

Not anymore.

So she looked straight at Razeal.

She was done circling.

She was done letting unspoken things rot between them.

Now

She wanted answers.

Now

She wanted the truth laid bare.

And whatever happened after that… she would face it.

Razeal frowned slightly, his brows drawing together as he studied her face, trying to reconcile what he was seeing with what he knew. Something about Merisa felt… off. Not weak.. never that but unsettled, as if she had stepped out of something that had shaken her from the inside. The illusion had ended, yet whatever it had stirred clearly had not. Her posture was straighter than before, but her hands lingered too still at her sides, fingers barely flexing, as though she was restraining something rather than relaxing.

“Clear out what…?” Razeal finally asked, his voice low, edged with confusion rather than challenge. His eyes never left her. She’s really acting strange since she came out of that illusion.

For a moment, Merisa did not said anything just looking at him, truly looking at him.. and something in her expression shifted subtle, but unmistakable. Then she spoke, her tone measured, deliberate, as though she were reciting words she had rehearsed and un-rehearsed a hundred times.

“Do you remember what I said back then?” she asked. “That I would never apologize for what I did? That I was not wrong to punish you?”

At her words Razeal suddenly went cold.

The curiosity drained from his face almost instantly, replaced by a detached stillness. His gaze hardening as if frost had crept behind his eyes. Still he did not answer. He did not even react outwardly. He simply stared at her, unmoving, unyielding.. like someone who had learned long ago that reacting only gave others leverage.

Like he cares anyways? he thought coldly. He said nothing. Letting her talk as what’s she planning at now.

Merisa inhaled deeply, the breath steady but heavy, as though it carried weight she had avoided bearing for years. When she spoke again, the words came differently this time.. not sharp, not authoritative, but stripped bare of command.

“I’m sorry.”

The words fell into the space between them with a quiet finality.

Merisa lifted her head and met his gaze directly, her eyes unwavering despite the tremor in her voice. “I’m sorry… that I was so hard on you. Yes, you made mistakes but I was wrong to punish you the way I did. Wrong to go that far.”

Razeal froze.

For a heartbeat he simply stared at her, his mind refusing to process what his ears had heard. An apology? From her? A heartless women who didn’t even beleived in him? For that? His thoughts suddenly tangled, memories colliding with disbelief. She had said she would never apologize. She had built that stance into her identity, into her principles, into the very justification for what she had done. And now she was stepping back from it. Not just retreating.. but dismantling it herself?

She was going back on her own words?

That alone weirded him out more than the apology ever could.

This isn’t her, he thought, his mind racing. She doesn’t do this. She could never bends. Never retreats. Never admits fault.. especially not to me.. Who she thinks is wrong.

His kinda felt weird, though he couldn’t tell if it was anger, confusion, or something far more dangerous. He searched her face, instinctively looking for deception, for manipulation, for some hidden motive beneath the softness. But instead he caught it.

Fear?

It flickered in her eyes, faint but real. Not the fear of him. Not the fear of losing authority. But something deeper, quieter. Something she was bracing against rather than fleeing from.

What is she afraid of? he wondered. And for the first time, the question came not from suspicion.. but genuine uncertainty.

He was still trying to make sense of it when she spoke again.

“Raze…”

Her voice had changed.

The sound of it struck him harder than any shouted command ever could. Gentle. Careful. Almost hesitant. His breath caught before he realized it had. His head tilted slightly, his body reacting before his mind could interfere.

That tone.

The same tone she used when he was a child. The tone filled with warmth, with patience, with a quiet promise that he was safe.

She had never used that voice again after the incident.

Slowly.. very slowly Razeal lifted his head and met her gaze properly this time.

“Raze,” she said again, softer now. “I have never asked you for anything.”

Her lips pressed together briefly, as if steadying herself, before she continued. “But just this once… I’ll ask. Forgive me. I will forgive you too. Call it begging, if you want. I don’t care.” Her voice faltered, not breaking but thinning, stretched by emotion she was no longer containing. “I can’t keep going like this.. I’m just really tired.”

The silence between them grew heavy.

“I’ll let you go,” Merisa said. “Let’s start from the beginning. For both of us. We leave everything that happened where it belongs.. in the past.” Her eyes searched his face, not demanding, not commanding. “I won’t force you. I won’t stop you.”

Then, after a pause, she added quietly, “I’m removing your restrictions.”

“If you run away, I won’t stop you.”

The words barely registered before he felt it.

The invisible pressure that had wrapped around his body.. tightening, suppressing, binding vanished suddenly. His limbs responded instantly, muscles flexing freely, breath flowing without resistance. Razeal blinked, stunned, testing his fingers, his shoulders, his legs.

Seriously?

He looked up weirdly.

Merisa stood before him, her posture open, arms slowly lifting.. not in authority, not in power, but in invitation. Her expression was gentle, unguarded, almost fragile in a way he had never seen her allow herself to be.

“If you forgive me,” she said softly, “then come here.”

Razeal just simply stared at her.

His mind screamed disbelief. Is this a joke? Is she manipulating me? Is this another test? Everything in him resisted the idea every scar, every resentment, every lesson carved into him by years of pain and suffering?

And yet… his heart betrayed him.

It thumped once. Then again. Uneven. Unwelcomed

He didn’t want to care. After everything, he shouldn’t really care. He had told himself that countless times. But she had apologized? Truly apologized? And the look on her face lost, vulnerable, stripped of dominance made something twist weird inside him.

It wasn’t forgiveness. Never

But it was definitely hesitation.

And for Razeal, that alone was dangerous.

He remained where he was, suspended between the instinct to walk away and the ache he had buried too deeply to name, staring at the woman who had once been only his mother.. and wondering whether the past was really something that could be left behind, or if it would always reach back for him the moment he lowered his guard.

Still… his body did not move.

Razeal turned his head slightly, his gaze drifting past her shoulder toward the endless stretch of the ocean beyond. The water was calm now.. deceptively so.. The distance feeling inviting rather than unreachable. Open. Free. If he wanted to run, he could. Nothing bound him anymore. No restraints. No invisible pressure blocking his limbs. No energy anchoring him in place.

He could leave.

The thought lingered, sharp and tempting. One step.. no, not even that. He could simply turn, vanish into the horizon. No explanations. No forgiveness. No reopening wounds that had never properly closed.

But then… he turned back.

Slowly, reluctantly, his eyes returned to her face.

Merisa was still standing there, arms open, unmoving, as though afraid that even the smallest shift would shatter whatever fragile moment this was. Her expression held no authority now, no command masked as care. Only quiet resolve, threaded with something dangerously close to desperation. She was serious. Not forcing. Not testing. Waiting.

Razeal looked into her eyes.. really looked this time.. and felt something weird twist uncomfortably in his chest. He inhaled deeply, the breath slow and heavy, as though he were pulling it up from somewhere far deeper than his lungs. Thoughts collided inside his head, layered and loud, yet somehow all leading to the same place. He shook his head once, sharply, as if to silence them.

“…Fuck it,” he muttered under his breath.

Then, almost against his own will, his body moved.

He began to float toward her, slow and deliberate, each inch closing the distance carrying more weight than any battlefield advance ever had.

[Host, what are you doing?]

The system’s voice cut in sharply, immediate and alarmed, but Razeal didn’t even flinch. His eyes stayed locked on Merisa as he drifted closer, ignoring the intrusion entirely. When he was close enough, close enough to feel her presence without power or pressure between them, he lifted his arms.. hesitant, uncertain before opening them.

From the side, Maria and Sofia watched in stunned silence. Both of them had frozen without realizing it, their expressions caught in disbelief. Still neither spoke neither interrupted. There was something profoundly raw unfolding in front of them something that they couldn’t seems to beleive it.. Like didn’t these two people just had killing or dying level of haterate towards each other’s? What happened so suddenly?

So he really is soft on the inside, Maria thought, surprised despite herself.

Sofia exhaled slowly, the tension easing just a fraction. …Not a bad thing, she thought. But I… I kind of have a bad feeling about it. She couldn’t help but dwell on what that woman had just said words about killing him. The feeling lingered, heavy and unsettling. Still, she said nothing. If her husband accepted her, then perhaps it was for the best. She couldn’t do anything about it anyway. Obviously, it was a good thing if the family could come together.

[Stop it, Host.] Villey’s voice snapped again inside Razeal’s head, sharper now, edged with something like anger. [You can’t seriously be thinking of forgiving her. That’s disappointing, Host.]

Razeal though still didn’t respond.. Not that he needed too

The moment he stepped into her reach, something in Merisa broke.

Tears welled suddenly in her eyes, spilling over before she could stop them, streaking down her cheeks as she realized.. really realized that he wasn’t pulling away. That he wasn’t turning his back. There was reluctance on his face, clear and undeniable, but she ignored it, clinging instead to the fact that he was here. That he had chosen this moment.

Before he could reconsider, before fear could catch up to resolve, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. The instant she felt his body against hers.. the reality of him, solid and present her entire frame trembled.

She had him.

She had finally, finally taken him into her arms again.

So much emotion surged through her all at once that words spilled out without order, without restraint, pressed against his shoulder as she held him tightly. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m so sorry… I just I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be the way I should have been.” Her grip tightened unconsciously, as if afraid he might disappear if she loosened it even slightly. “It’s not that I don’t love you. Never that. It was… everything I went through. Everything I couldn’t leave behind.”

Her breath hitched as she continued, the years of restraint finally cracking. “I never moved on. I didn’t know how. And I took it out on you.” Her voice broke. “Please… don’t carry that on your heart. Not as your mother’s burden. I never wanted what happened to you to happen. Never wanted you to become..” She stopped herself, breath shuddering. “I just never wanted you to be hurt like that.”

She held him tighter, words pouring out now, unfiltered, desperate. This wasn’t the composed powerhouse who commanded fear and obedience. This was a woman stripped down to regret and longing, clinging to the one bond she had nearly destroyed. She had spent years maintaining control, maintaining distance.. convincing herself that cold discipline was necessary.. that weakness was unforgivable.

And yet… she cared very Deeply and Painfully.

She didn’t want him to turn out wrong. Didn’t want him to become the very thing she despised most in this world. That fear had ruled her, more than she had ever admitted. It had kept her from stepping back, from softening, from questioning herself. And after the illusion.. after seeing what her path might lead to fear had finally turned inward.

Was it worth it? she had asked herself. Was it really worth losing him completely?

She had always prided herself on never appearing weak, on never returning to the person she once was.. the version of herself she hated most. So she pushed forward relentlessly, even when it hurt. Even when it destroyed what little warmth remained between them.

Now, all of that spilled out as she held him, voice trembling. “I should have done this earlier. I should have said it then. Just… please don’t hate me anymore. From now on.. please.”

Razeal stood there, unmoving.

He still didn’t return the hug.

His arms remained at his sides as she clung to him, her words washing over him one after another. He listened. Every apology. Every fractured explanation. Every confession layered with guilt and fear. He felt her trembling, felt the weight of years pressing into this single moment.. and still, he didn’t move.

Inside though he couldn’t help but cursed

I really fucking hate these vampire emotions.. he thought coldly..

Slowly, his expression hardened not with anger, but with resolve. As if he had reached a decision he didn’t fully like, but could no longer avoid. He inhaled deeply, the breath steadying him, then raised his arms.

Carefully. Hesitantly.

And then he hugged her back.

The movement was slow, almost uncertain, his arms wrapping around her with gentle restraint rather than force. His hands trembled slightly as they settled against her back.. an uncharacteristic weakness he made no effort to hide. This was hard. Far harder than fighting, than running, than cutting ties.

But he did it anyway.

And for the first time in a very long time, neither of them stood alone.

And the moment Razeal’s arms closed around her, Merisa’s body reacted before her mind could catch up.

A sharp tremor ran through her frame, involuntary, almost violent in its suddenness. She stiffened for half a breath, shock rippling through her as the realization struck.. not that he had touched her, but that he had chosen to. She had expected hesitation, resistance, distance. Time. She had prepared herself for rejection dressed in silence. But this.. this was acceptance. Immediate, quiet, devastatingly real.

Her breath shuddered out of her chest.

So… he really came back to me.

Her hands tightened reflexively against his back, fingers curling into his clothes as if anchoring herself to the moment. Emotion surged up her throat, warm and overwhelming, threatening to choke her. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words barely holding together. “Thank you for coming back.” Her voice wavered, but she didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. “I promise… I won’t let you go again .. And never let anything happen to you. Not ever again.”

For the first time in longer than she could remember, she felt warmth spread through her chest.. real warmth, not the hollow reassurance of authority or control. And then she noticed it.

Razeal’s arms tightened.

Not abruptly. Not aggressively. But with unmistakable intent.

Her breath caught.. not in fear, not yet but in surprise. She shifted slightly, about to look at him, about to say something

And when suddenly ….it happened.

A sharp, piercing sensation blossomed against the side of her neck.

For a fraction of a second, her mind failed to register what it was. Pressure. Heat. Then pain.. brief, precise and immediately after, something else entirely. Her body locked in place, every muscle seizing as if struck by lightning.

Razeal’s eyes flared.

Crimson light erupted from his pupils, raw and vampiric, burning with an intensity that swallowed every trace of softness that had been there moments ago. Without warning, without hesitation, he sank his fangs deep into her neck, biting through skin and flesh with predatory certainty. His grip held her immobile, his body pressed close, locking her in place before she could even react.

Blood welled instantly, warm and vivid, sliding down her skin.

“Aahh~” Merisa almost moaned, the sound tearing from her throat in broken disbelief. “Wh..what are you…”

The rest of the sentence never formed.

Her entire body went rigid, then weak.. so suddenly it was terrifying. Her thoughts shattered on impact, scattering into incoherent fragments as sensation overwhelmed her. The pain vanished almost immediately, drowned beneath a wave of sensation so intense it stole her breath. Pleasure.. no, euphoria flooded her veins, violent and consuming, radiating outward from the point of the bite.

Her knees buckled.

If not for Razeal’s hold, she would have collapsed.

Her strength abandoned her completely, muscles refusing to respond as her mind spiraled into chaos. She couldn’t even think. Couldn’t resist. Couldn’t even understand what was happening beyond the unbearable intensity coursing through her. Her body sagged helplessly against him, head tilting back, lips parting as a broken, breathless sound escaped her.

Razeal did not stop.

His fangs remained embedded in her neck, drawing blood steadily, deliberately. His expression was utterly cold.. no hesitation, no remorse visible in his face. Around them, the air began to shift. A circle of blood formed at their feet, crimson lines spreading outward as if etched by an unseen hand. Blood seeped not only from Merisa, but from Razeal himself, drawn out and suspended midair by his will.

The blood moved unnaturally, responding to his control, spiraling upward in slow, deliberate arcs before flowing back… into her.

Merisa’s body convulsed faintly as the blood entered her, her eyes rolling back, mouth opening in a silent gasp. The sensation was too much.. too invasive, too intimate, too overwhelming. Her consciousness flickered, barely holding together under the combined assault of pleasure, shock, and loss of control.

Razeal continued drinking.

His eyes burned brighter, crimson light reflecting off the blood swirling around them. His body trembled.. not with uncertainty, but with sensation. This was his first blood since becoming a vampire, and the hunger roared through him with feral intensity. Power surged through his veins, intoxicating and sharp, dragging something ancient and merciless to the surface.

And yet

Tears slipped from his eyes.

Thin, silent streaks traced their way down his cheeks, cutting through the cold glow of his gaze. They fell without sound, without sobs, droplets striking Merisa’s bare shoulder just inches from where his mouth was buried in her neck.

He didn’t wipe them away.

He didn’t even seem aware of them.

[The Vampire Creation ritual?] Villey’s voice rang inside his head, stunned.. then delighted. [Turning her into a vampire? Damn, Host… I misunderstood you. But wow. I didn’t think you’d be this heartless.]

The voice laughed, ecstatic, almost hysterical. [Worthy of being a villain. Finally doing something a villain should do. Ahhh .. this.. Thiss is beautiful. I’m so happy. Finally. Finally.]

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