Chapter 282 Getting a little taste

Lucian’s vision blurred wildly, and before he could even do anything—

WHAM!

"Agh—!"

A faint cry escaped his lips as his body slammed into a nearby wall with tremendous force.

The impact shook the surrounding structure, sending cracks spreading across the surface behind him. For a moment, Lucian felt as though his entire body had been crushed, the force of the blow making it seem as if his bowels had been pulverised inside his stomach.

His expression twisted briefly.

"You have a strong body, boy..."

Grace muttered, raising a brow as her gaze lingered on his stomach, which hadn’t even burst open despite the force of her punch.

Lucian’s body slowly slid down the wall until his feet touched the ground.

But within a second, he straightened his back and turned towards Grace, rubbing the back of his neck as though he had merely bumped into something.

"Couldn’t you’ve been a bit more gentle...?" he couldn’t help but mutter.

Grace’s expression turned amused as she saw the casualness in his tone.

"I don’t like being very gentle—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Lucian’s figure blurred before her, and in the next instant—

Clank!

"...Especially towards people who are close to that woman..." Grace finished calmly, her voice amused as she blocked the incoming sword with her clawed arm.

Lucian’s expression shifted slightly as he heard her words, confused about who she was talking about.

Either way, instead of stopping, he pulled his sword back and took a step back before thrusting it towards Grace once again.

Clank! Clank!

Grace effortlessly deflected the incoming attacks.

Her sharp claws moved with astonishing precision, knocking his blade away whenever it approached her body, and even when he changed the angles or attempted to catch her off guard, she seemed to respond without difficulty.

"Who do you work for, boy...?" she asked calmly.

"Work...?"

Lucian’s expression twisted.

Work... him...?

Why the heck would he work for, or under, anyone...?!

He twisted his blade, redirecting her claws before moving towards her side.

Clank!

Grace twisted her wrist, knocking his sword away again.

"Then? Aren’t you one of the Scarletts? If so, which branch family did you come from?"

Lucian ignored her question entirely and simply focused on attacking.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name – Grace Sinclair

Race – Vampire (Noble)

Rank – S

Titles – Fallen Scarlett, Envious Heart, Dutiful Daughter

Bloodline – Sinclair Bloodline

Affinity – Fire

Talent – SS

[Attributes]

Strength: S-

Agility: S

Endurance: S-

Charisma: SS

[Evaluation — A woman whose hunger for strength grew alongside her power, slowly twisting into hatred and jealousy towards the Scarletts. Now, she seeks the strength of the strongest vampire... no matter the cost.]

[Affection: 1...3% (Intrigue)]

— — —

A C-Ranker fighting against an S-Rank vampire... that was the most laughable matchup.

It was a little—no, very, very stupid to even try to fight an S-Ranker when they could easily wipe the floor with you, and yet... this man was doing exactly that.

Unfortunately, Lucian didn’t even have time to properly get a look at her status aside from a faint glimpse, though none of that mattered in the fight.

Another sword appeared in his free hand before he thrust it towards Grace’s neck.

"...!"

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she saw the weapon appear out of thin air.

But—

CLANK!

She quickly brought up her other hand, striking the blade with her sharp claws.

The impact rang through the air, but despite the force behind his strike, her claws remained barely damaged.

"Fuck...!" Lucian cursed under his breath, pulling both swords away before returning them to his Inventory.

His attempts to catch her off guard weren’t working particularly well.

"That spatial girl... is she the one helping you?" Grace looked around briefly but couldn’t find anyone nearby... though she was sure that Selthia was somewhere nearby.

How else was the brat bringing out weapons out of nowhere?

Only that girl and her father could do such a thing.

’Why did that old man even send her to the Scarlett Family...?’

Her expression gradually turned irritated, and the more she thought about it, the more she disliked the obvious difference in treatment.

But her thoughts were interrupted when Lucian suddenly moved again.

This time, he didn’t summon another weapon.

Instead, his hands began to change, shifting into sharp claws... though their appearance was slightly more monstrous than Grace’s own.

They were unmistakably vampiric, but there was something unusual about his claws... causing Grace’s eyes to narrow briefly.

Lucian lunged forward, his attacks becoming noticeably more ferocious, though they remained precise, too. Meanwhile, Grace didn’t even bother retaliating. Instead, she continued deflecting his claws with an almost casual expression, occasionally shifting her body just enough to make his strikes miss by a narrow margin.

It was almost as though she were deliberately allowing him to attack, as though she were taunting him the entire time.

Lucian could feel it, too, but even so, he continued attacking.

Just then—

"Mother!"

Silas’s voice tore through the air from behind them.

"I’ll fight that lowborn! You don’t need to worry about him—"

Before he could even finish his words, Lucian’s head snapped in his direction.

His blood-red eyes glowed menacingly as they stared at Silas.

"Silence, Worm."

His voice echoed throughout the area, sending a chill down every nearby vampire’s spine as they heard his words.

Silas frowned.

His expression twisted with anger, and he immediately opened his mouth to respond.

But—

"...!"

His eyes widened.

His hand shot towards his mouth, as though he were trying to force it open. But no matter how hard he tried... his lips just wouldn’t part.

A sudden wave of alarm washed over him as he realised that something had happened to his body.

"Don’t even move from your position."

His body instantly stiffened, and even his feet felt as though they had become rooted to the ground. Even his fingers refused to move as he struggled against the invisible force restraining him.

His expression changed completely as he saw those crimson eyes still staring directly into his.

"...What did you do...?"

Grace asked, her eyes narrowed as she glanced at her son before turning towards the brat, trying to understand what had just happened.

But before Lucian could answer—

"PFT... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!!!!"

Vivienne’s loud, maniacal laughter suddenly exploded across the battlefield as she saw Lucian’s actions from the corner of her eye.

The general fighting against her stared at her with a strange expression, seeing her laughing crazily despite the massive wound running from her shoulder all the way down to her stomach.

"I knew that bastard would do that again... especially after charming your fucking dumb son that day...!!!

Hahahaha!!!"

She shouted mockingly, the enormous wound healing within a couple of seconds.

Before the general could even react to her words, a massive flaming vortex shot towards him, swallowing his figure in flames.

BOOOM!

Meanwhile, Grace’s expression darkened, and Silas, who remained frozen in place, could only stare in disbelief.

Charm...?

How was that possible?!

He was a vampire.

He couldn’t be charmed by another vampire, no matter what!

Grace slowly turned towards the young man, whose eyes twitched as he heard Vivienne’s words.

For a moment, he genuinely didn’t know what to say about that.

Though...

’...I don’t think telling them that was important.’

"Boy... you aren’t a normal vampire, are you...?"

Lucian looked at her, but in the next moment, Grace’s figure appeared directly before him in a split second, and before he could even comprehend her movements—

SCHK!

Her arm plunged straight into his stomach, tearing through his flesh as a wet, squelching sound echoed throughout the area.

But then—

Lucian’s claws struck as well.

Although they barely managed to slice across her shoulder, she had already vanished again, reappearing a few steps away from him.

The gaping hole in Lucian’s stomach began healing almost immediately, but Grace’s attention remained elsewhere.

She stared at the blood coating her hand.

Slowly, her eyes flickered to crimson-red, an instinctive hunger suddenly surging within her as she looked at the blood.

Her gaze remained fixed on the dark-red liquid for a few seconds before she slowly raised her hand towards her lips.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed, and, retracting his claws, he once again summoned his swords.

Although his claws were undoubtedly sharper than before, he still lacked the precision and mastery required to use them effectively... especially against his current opponent.

Flames immediately erupted behind him, and without wasting another second—

He shot forward, his body surging through the air as several fireballs followed closely behind him, hurtling towards Grace.

Boom!

One of the fireballs slammed directly into her hand.

"...!"

Grace’s eyes widened as she saw her hand immediately blown apart, scorching flames engulfing her palm and burning away the blood she had been enchanted by.

’What was that...?’

She blinked in confusion.

But before she could make sense of what had happened—

Lucian’s blade almost sliced into her neck, if not for her twisting her body at the last possible moment, narrowly evading the strike.

Flames surged beneath her feet, a violent burst of fire slamming straight into Lucian’s head and sending his body flying through the air.

His vision became disoriented for a brief moment, the sudden impact leaving his senses spinning.

However, his head abruptly snapped towards Grace.

"Heh."

A faint chuckle escaped his lips.

Grace’s eyes narrowed.

"What are you laughing at, bo—"

Her expression suddenly changed, and she immediately cut off her burning hand before her figure suddenly disappeared.

And the moment she did—

BOOM!

The severed hand erupted into a violent blaze, covering an area of nearly a metre around it.

"Smart... but still weak."

Her figure blurred.

BAM!

Her fist struck Lucian beneath the jaw, sending him even higher into the air.

She then raised her remaining hand, a fireball forming in her palm and slowly becoming more condensed and sharper... before she hurled it straight at him, who couldn’t do anything while in mid-air.

Seeing the fireball right before his eyes, Lucian merely raised a mild brow.

Before it could touch him—

His body burst apart into hundreds of bats, flapping rapidly as they spread out in every direction.

The fireball tore through the space where his body had been a moment earlier, missing every single one of them.

However, hundreds of additional fireballs shot towards the scattering bats, filling the surrounding air with blazing projectiles.

"How will you escape now...?" she muttered, her voice carrying a faint trace of amusement.

She was genuinely interested in seeing what the boy would do next.

Just as the flames were about to touch him, the bats began to dissolve, melting into crimson mist that spread through the air as the incoming fireballs passed through it.

’Red mist...?’ Grace’s expression turned confused.

But she immediately raised her regenerated hand, blocking another of his swords as it struck at her.

Lucian’s figure emerged from the crimson mist, his eyes gleaming as he continued his assault.

His eyes sharpened, and slowly... the surroundings gradually faded from his awareness until everything seemed to disappear except for the woman standing before him.

[Hunter’s Focus]

His senses sharpened even further, and without hesitation, he continued attacking, his swords sweeping through the air one after another, each strike aimed at a vulnerable part of her body.

Yet...

Not a single attack landed.

All of them were easily, almost mockingly, dodged or redirected, making his attacks look almost laughably slow.

’Increase agility by 100.’

[Ding~!]

[Attribute Points – 357 ? 257]

The instant the notification appeared before his eyes, Lucian’s muscles twitched faintly, and...

His arms blurred as his swords moved noticeably faster, his body shifting unnaturally as Grace’s claws came towards his chest.

"You got faster... but still slow."

"Kh—!"

Lucian’s pupils dilated as her claws pierced his neck before tearing away a portion of his flesh—but fortunately, his neck remained intact.

’Increase constitution by 50.’

[Attribute Points – 257 ? 207]

’Increase agility by 50.’

[Attribute Points – 207 ? 157]

’Increase constitution by 20.’

[Attribute Points – 157 ? 137]

Grace’s brows rose ever so slightly as she saw him moving much faster... much more flexibly.

He twisted his body, feinting with his blade before appearing directly behind her, aiming to strike at her neck once again.

"Boy... you really are after my neck."

Her lips curved into a seductive smile as she turned around, effortlessly blocking his sword with her claws.

"If you just ask me gently, perhaps I’ll let you have a little taste."

Her tone was playful, almost teasing... as though she were dealing with a little kid rather than a true opponent who could harm her.

’Fuck! Put all those points into agility!’

[Attribute Points – 137 ? 0]

Without wasting a second, Lucian attacked with his other sword, only to have it blocked just as easily.

But then—

He released his grip on the sword, and before she could react, his empty hand shot forward as he closed the distance between them and—

Bite!

"...!!!"

Grace’s expression changed completely.

Silas’s body froze, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets and his jaw trembling violently as his lips finally parted.

"Y-Y-You... FUCKING BASTARD...!!!"

Even Vivienne and the general stopped in their tracks for a brief second.

Both of them stared towards Lucian and Grace.

And seeing the scene before her—

"This crazy fucker! Hahahahaha!"