"Sigmado?!"
Urd's expression was grave; this was the first time Luke had seen such a significant change in Urd's expression.
"Looks like he's trying to maintain a 'cool and aloof' persona, huh."
Urd ignored Luke's joke, not daring to take his eyes off the Progenitor for even a second.
The Progenitor, controlling Shinoa Hiragi's body, casually kicked aside a nearby player and gave a faint smile.
"It's quite rude to keep staring at a girl's body like that~"
Urd frowned, not daring to make a reckless move.
Lest Karr and Guren silently moved to stand behind him.
Amidst this tense atmosphere, there was one presence who completely lacked any sense of tact.
"Ah! All of you, die!"
The wings behind the Seraph-form Yuichiro fully unfurled, flapping toward the Progenitor; everywhere the resulting cyclone passed turned into salt as white as snow.
The Progenitor simply smiled, raised his right hand, and with a mere swipe to his side, the cyclone vanished into thin air.
"What a naughty child."
With those words, he arrived in front of the Seraph at a speed the others could barely track.
A look of astonishment appeared on the Seraph's face.
So fast!
But he couldn't react at all; before everyone's eyes, the Progenitor slapped the Seraph across the face.
The Seraph's expression froze for a moment.
It was so light... The force of this slap was likely only at the level of a normal human's full strength. Although it left a handprint on Yuichiro's cheek, it was completely inconsequential to him in his Seraph form.
Oddly enough, the handprint showed no signs of healing despite the Seraph's regenerative powers.
Thinking the Progenitor was mocking him, the Seraph was about to explode in rage.
"Ah..."
But as soon as he opened his mouth, he was slapped on the other cheek.
The Progenitor's indifferent voice rang out.
"Sorry, those two slaps were on behalf of this body's owner."
The Seraph got angry... for a moment!
He had been led by the nose ever since the first slap.
Seeing the Progenitor throw a punch at his stomach this time, the Seraph prepared to tank the hit and counter-attack.
What a joke; a punch at human level wouldn't even be enough to tickle him.
Bang!
A figure went flying backward, slamming into the hall's wall like a missile. If the wall underground hadn't been solid, there was no telling how much further he would have flown.
Luke pointed at the Progenitor and shouted.
"You old fossil! Do you have any idea how expensive this wall is?!"
As he spoke, he angrily punched a nearby pillar, which immediately splintered with countless cracks.
"How truly brave, Mr. Luke..."
Guren swallowed hard and said sincerely.
Krul's expression was also sour; this guy did nothing but embarrass her.
How do you deal with a boyfriend who's a total nutcase?
What surprised everyone even more was that the Progenitor actually smiled and apologized to Luke.
"My apologies, my apologies."
He's so cooperative, he really is... I'm moved to tears.
Having apologized, the Progenitor appeared before the wall-embedded Yuichiro in an instant. Murmuring something as Demonic Aura surged, he thrust his hand directly into Yuichiro's lower abdomen.
Urd and the others didn't dare step forward to stop him; in their minds, the Progenitor had always been an unfathomable and peerlessly powerful existence.
As a result, they didn't dare act recklessly until they understood the Progenitor's goal.
But Mika didn't care about any of that. If you dare touch Yuu-chan, I'll fight you even if you are the Progenitor!
Mika ran toward them with unsteady steps.
"What are you doing to my Yuu-chan?!"
Luke quickly grabbed Mika and covered his mouth, thinking to himself that Yuichiro was a pure succubus.
Look at how infatuated he's made our Mika; the kid can't even tell who's boss anymore.
Can't you see that even when the Progenitor is just possessing Shinoa Hiragi, even Urd doesn't dare attack? Can we have a bit of common sense, please?
Soon, the Progenitor pulled a sin key out of Yuichiro's body. When he withdrew his hand, there wasn't a single wound on Yuichiro's abdomen.
See! Now that's what you call professional!
Seeing the Progenitor obtain the sin key from Yuichiro's body, Krul's expression became complicated.
Luke had said that to help her brother reconstruct his body, the only hope lay with the Progenitor or by gathering all the sin keys.
But with a sin key falling into the Progenitor's hands, things were going to be difficult.
Luke was also at a loss for a moment; he hadn't expected the Progenitor to go straight for the sin key inside Yuichiro as soon as he possessed the body.
Urd, what are you doing? Didn't you come to Japan specifically to find the Progenitor? Go for it! Why are you playing mute now?
Luke now had four sin keys in his possession, which did indeed pose a threat to the Progenitor. But the Progenitor was no fool; he wouldn't just stand there and let someone stab him with a sin key.
Ferid, I miss you.
If Luke had Ferid's brain, he might have been able to come up with a plan.
Holding the sin key, the Progenitor faced the Vampires once again.
Urd finally spoke.
"It has been a long time, Lord Sigmado."
Luke couldn't help but roll his eyes at Urd.
Bro, is that all you could come up with?
Toying with the sin key in his hand, the Progenitor said casually.
"I just want to save some beyond-saving fellows."
Urd found this strange.
Beyond saving, yet he still wants to save them?
The Progenitor had granted the Vampires eternal life, yet he abandoned them, turning the longevity envied by all creatures into a curse.
It was almost impossible for a Vampire to die of natural causes. At first, Luke had been quite puzzled.
Since Vampires viewed life as a curse, why didn't they just seek death during actual combat?
To put it simply, it was to avoid suffering. The most painful death for a Vampire was being burned by sunlight, followed by being eroded by Demonic Aura.
Either way, it was a torment for a Vampire's body and soul.
And if the head or heart suffered irreversible damage, a Vampire who was only interested in blood would turn into a Demon craving all desires.
They would either have to sacrifice their freedom to become a cursed gear to feed on others' desires, or endure a life of agony.
Thus, a natural death was the ultimate wish of almost every Vampire.
And the Progenitor before them was the one who started it all.
Urd and the Progenitor continued their back-and-forth, both sides remaining perfectly calm.
Lest Karr and Guren, however, felt as though a fight could break out at any second and remained on high alert.
Krul walked over to Luke's side, and he released the constantly struggling Mika.
"Yuu-chan!"
Mika didn't even have time to take issue with Luke's prolonged restraint and rushed straight toward Yuichiro.
Luke sighed as he watched Mika's retreating back.
"I wish my girlfriend would be like that if I ever got into danger."
Krul crossed her arms and looked at Luke with a smile.
"Maybe you should go try it. Go snatch the sin key back. If you lose, maybe I'll have a good cry for you."
"Eh? What if I lose and get killed? Maybe the Progenitor has a way to erase me directly instead of turning me into a Demon?"
Krul was silent for a moment before speaking.
"If you dare to die, I won't let you off even if I have to go to hell!"
"How overbearing."
"Heh, what I say goes."
While they chatted, their attention remained fixed on the Progenitor.
There might be a tough battle ahead today.
Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the ground suddenly began to vibrate violently. All the Vampires were stunned. Luke also vaguely heard a long, muffled sound from above, but he didn't pay it much mind.
An earthquake?
Cracks began to appear on the surrounding floor and walls, and dust started falling from the ceiling.
Are you kidding me?! An earthquake strong enough to shatter the walls of Sanguinem? There's definitely something wrong!
Even the Progenitor felt a bit strange.
But seeing that the place was about to collapse, they had to leave quickly! Being buried dozens of meters underground would be troublesome even for him.
Everyone ran toward the exit. As Luke ran, he noticed Mika following behind with the unconscious Yuichiro on his back.
Just as he was about to turn back, he saw a spatial rift suddenly open behind Mika.
Rig!
Rig grabbed Yuichiro and yanked him out, pulling Mika along with him.
Luke figured he was probably after the sin key, and the earthquake surely had something to do with him as well.
But he didn't know that Yuichiro's sin key had already been taken.
"Buddy, I've got plenty of sin keys! Save me!"
Rig glanced at him and smiled.
"Give them to me, and I'll save you."
"Don't be like that, we're friends, aren't we? Take Krul and me out first."
"Goodbye."
Seeing that Rig was about to close the rift, Luke threw his magic sword. Before the rift could close, the tip of the sword jammed it, preventing it from shutting completely.
Luke breathed a sigh of relief. He made it!
"How about that, Krul? Isn't your man amazing?"
"Get lost, just get out already!"
"Yes..."
The dimensional gun was, after all, a cursed gear that operated on Demonic Aura. So as long as the magic sword jammed the rift, it could similarly carve out an opening, though it couldn't be controlled as flexibly as the dimensional gun.
Luke took Krul through the rift and reached the outside world.
You will get 30 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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