Luke took Mika to the residential area of the Upper-ranking Vampires again. Some of the Vampires here even had strength comparable to nobles.
"By the way, Luke, what rank am I now?"
"I'm not sure either. A direct subordinate of the Third Progenitor should be a noble, but I don't know if your current strength is at that level."
Luke arrived at a small villa. With palaces, villas, and ordinary houses all underground, he really wondered how amazing the engineers must have been.
He knocked on the door, and a Vampire with blue-purple hair opened it, still wearing casual clothes.
"Moe... ahem, Lord Luke, is something the matter?"
Luke had arrived in a good mood, but hearing the title the other party almost blurted out made his mood turn sour, even though the other person corrected himself in time.
It seemed the beating he gave him last time wasn't painful enough!
"Lacus, does your defense force have any missions to go to the surface recently?"
Lacus clearly didn't expect Luke to be asking about this.
"No, things have been pretty quiet lately. Why?"
Lacus had a dejected look on his face; it was obvious he hadn't been to the surface in a long time either.
Luke put on an expression of deep regret and pain.
"You guys are truly slothful! This won't do. Go get René, find a few more capable Upper-ranking Vampires, and we'll go for a spin on the surface."
"Really?! Did Lady Krul agree to this?"
Lacus was pleasantly surprised.
Luke walked over to Lacus, threw an arm over his shoulder, and applied pressure with his hand as revenge for Lacus's slip of the tongue just now.
These guys must definitely still be calling me by that embarrassing title behind my back!
"Don't worry, how could I come looking for you without Lady Krul's permission? I haven't even been to the surface yet."
Lacus grimaced in pain but didn't dare resist; the torture his fingers endured last time was still fresh in his memory.
When Luke first introduced himself, Lacus had laughed uncontrollably. At the same time, Lacus was somewhat jealous that Luke was Krul's direct subordinate, so during their second meeting, he and René mocked the lucky fellow.
The result was that the initially timid Luke took them both on and utterly crushed him and René.
One had to know that he and René were top-tier among Upper-ranking Vampires, even stronger than some nobles, yet the two of them together were completely dominated by Luke.
The key point was that this Luke was a freak! His methods of torture were simply unheard of!
He would snap their fingers while asking them what 100 minus 7 equals.
Since then, the two had willingly called him Lord Luke, though they still secretly thought 'Cute King' sounded better.
Only then did Lacus notice Mika following behind.
It was a Vampire he hadn't seen before.
"Who is this?"
Luke let go, and Lacus rubbed his shoulder aggrievedly.
"A new friend, my subordinate."
"Oh, I see."
Lacus sized Mika up; he was quite good-looking, and his smile felt sincere.
Luke patted Lacus's shoulder again.
"I'll wait for you guys at the exit. Go gather some people—don't pick anyone from Ferid's side, got it? It doesn't matter if we have fewer people. Oh, and bring a car."
Lacus smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll always be on Lady Krul's side."
Luke's mouth twitched.
"Just pick a side in your heart; there's no need to say it out loud, it's easy to get targeted."
The last person who said that had already been killed by Ferid and was currently lying inside Luke's demon sword.
An hour later, Lacus and René arrived at the exit with two other Vampires, a male and a female, to meet up with Luke and Mika.
Everyone had excitement written on their faces.
"OK, that's enough. If you've got your equipment, let's head out."
"Lord, where are we going?"
Luke thought for a moment and said to the group of Vampires,
"Let's go to Ikebukuro. The Imperial Demon Army headquarters is near there, it'll be fun."
Everyone cheered. Blood to drink, fights to be had—how was this a temporary mission? This was practically a vacation on the company's dime!
Especially Lacus; the attack on Shibuya eight years ago was the most fun he'd ever had. There was a girl whose blood he truly liked, but unfortunately, he didn't know his own strength and drained her dry. He hadn't found her younger brother either.
Luke muttered to himself,
"Of course, it would be even more wonderful if I could run into a headless female rider racing on a motorcycle."
"Luke, what are you saying?"
Mika heard Luke mumbling something, but even with his enhanced hearing, he couldn't make it out, so he asked.
"Oh, nothing. Let's get in the car."
Luke turned and asked everyone,
"Who knows how to drive?"
René stepped forward, indicating he could.
"Good! You sit in the passenger seat!"
"Huh?"
Everyone was stunned. The one who can drive sits in the passenger seat?
Luke had a look of novelty on his face as he looked at the Armored Vehicle.
"What's with the 'huh'? Look at those dark circles under René's eyes; he clearly hasn't rested well. No driving while fatigued! I'll drive!"
The Vampires were collectively speechless. René's dark circles had always been like that—it wasn't like he didn't know.
Lacus asked weakly,
"Lord Luke, do you... know how to drive?"
Luke replied righteously,
"I don't! That's why René is sitting in the passenger seat to teach me."
René couldn't take it anymore.
"Maybe I should just do it."
"Overruled! Get in! Stop talking nonsense. If you don't get in, we're not going out to play... I mean, to do the mission!"
Everyone looked at each other and finally decided to compromise, piling into the car one after another.
"This is the brake, this is the gas, this is the gear shift, and this..."
As soon as they got in, René began to carefully explain to Luke how to drive the vehicle.
Even though no one would likely die even in a car crash, it would still hurt! Having every bone in your body shattered is no fun!
If their luck was bad enough and their head got crushed, even a Vampire would die!
So René, the usually cold, silent, and expressionless handsome guy, was forced into becoming a chatterbox.
It went in one of Luke's ears and out the other; he was getting a bit impatient.
"Alright, alright, I got it, I got it. Is everyone seated?"
René reminded him,
"Lord Luke, seatbelt."
Luke said disdainfully,
"Driving without a seatbelt—you're either a badass or a handsome guy! And as it happens, I'm both! Hang on tight!"
With that, he slammed his foot down on the gas.
Nothing happened.
René spoke up appropriately,
"The... the ignition."
Luke was a bit embarrassed.
"René, let's swap seats! There are no seatbelts in the back!"
Lacus poked his head into the front row, looking at René piteously, his face written with fear.
René turned his head away.
"The view outside this car is quite nice."
"Ah!!! René, you bastard!"
We haven't even started moving, where's the view?
Luke grew impatient and pushed Lacus's head back to the rear seat.
"You can't even guide my driving, get back there!"
After Luke started the engine, he slammed the gas pedal down again.
Vroom vroom vroom.
The roar of the engine tightened the nerves of every Vampire in the car except Luke.
The Armored Vehicle shot forward like an arrow from a bow. One had to admit, the mission vehicles in the Vampire city were impressive, reaching a hundred kilometers per hour in less than a second.
"Ooh! Sweet!"
"Aaaah!!!"
"Lord Luke, there's a turn! Turn the steering wheel!!!"
"Luke, right, right!"
"Slow down! Sharp turn! Let off the gas!"
"Luke! I send my regards to your entire family!!!"
And so, amidst everyone's "cheers," Luke grew increasingly excited, speeding across the mountain terrain at a hundred kilometers per hour toward Ikebukuro.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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