"Don't think you're the only one who can merge with his Beast Vassal."
With those words, Vatler did not hesitate—he lunged at Kojou, jaws wide open, clearly intending to devour him whole.
"…" Kojou stared at him calmly, showing no sign of concern at being swallowed.
Boom!!
Just as Vatler was about to bite down, an overwhelming surge of magic burst forth from Kojou, blasting Vatler away in a violent explosion.
The force he unleashed was so immense, it felt like a bottomless ocean, its waves swallowing everything in silence.
"Damn…" Vatler muttered as he rolled across the ground, before steadying himself once more. His blazing eyes gleamed with bloodlust as he licked his split lip.
"This isn't ordinary power… it's the power of a far greater beast," he said, his voice trembling with a mix of awe and ecstasy, his body quivering as if he had finally found prey he had long sought.
Kojou remained unmoved, his shoulders relaxed, his expression calm as though nothing had happened.
"If you intend to devour me, then first make sure you can digest what you bite," he said coldly, as a black aura tinged with deep blue light spread from his body, covering the entire area.
Vatler froze for a moment, then a mad laugh erupted from his chest—laughter dripping with both death-wish and exaltation.
"Ha…hahaha! Splendid! This is exactly what I've been searching for! Power untamable, a beast unchained! Show me, Kojou! Show me your true hell!"
The ground trembled beneath them as the sky above began to crack like fragile glass, their clashing energies distorting the air, as though reality itself struggled to contain them.
"So this is all you've got?" Kojou spoke in a low voice, his crimson eyes blazing as his heartbeat thundered like war drums.
In an instant, the aura around him surged to an unbelievable height—an overwhelming power that defied description. Even the shadows themselves seemed to shiver under its pressure.
"Out of respect, I'll fight as a Vampire… to the very end."
With those words, Kojou's arm darkened to black, glowing with pulsating crimson veins.
"Come on… The Twelve Avatars of Destruction!"
At his call, all of his Familiars materialized behind him: Mesarthim-Adamas, Cor Tauri-Sucinum, Al-Meissa Mercury, Natra-Cinereus, Regulus-Aurum, Kiffa-Ater, Shaula-Viola, Al-Nasl-Minium, Sadalmelik-Albus, and Alrescha-Glacies.
Ten monstrous beings, wrought of pure magical power, rose behind him, roaring and shrieking toward Vatler, who stood in stunned disbelief.
Beast Vassals were not mere pets or loyal servants to Vampires. They were predators, feeding on the negative life force of their hosts, never bound by loyalty or obedience.
Summoning them placed a crushing burden on a Vampire's soul—so much that most dared not call forth more than one at a time. To summon even two required a soul of immense strength.
Even Primogenitors could not summon many without risk—the strain immense, their souls under constant threat of collapse.
And yet…
Here stood Kojou, summoning ten Beast Vassals simultaneously, without the faintest sign of strain. As though the difference between summoning one and ten meant nothing to him.
What made it worse for Vatler—Fourth Primogenitor's Beast Vassals were far deadlier than those of any other Primogenitor, the weight they placed on his soul infinitely greater.
Normally, Kojou could never have achieved such a feat unless he had fully become the Fourth Primogenitor. Even then, it should not have been so effortless.
But his soul was different—his soul was that of Lucifer himself. Not only fragments, but the original. With such a foundation, no amount of Fourth Primogenitor's power could crush him.
Vatler's body trembled as his wide eyes drank in the sight of the ten roaring monsters surrounding Kojou, awe and madness warring within him. Yet he did not retreat.
"Heh… ten beasts? No… that's insane… that's—" his words broke off into hysterical laughter, arms flung wide as if to embrace the end of the world.
But Kojou moved.
There were no more words. No warning.
Just a single gesture.
And the Familiars struck as one.
The sky erupted in dark-blue radiance, a storm of power exploding outward like a cataclysmic tempest, tearing toward Vatler.
The impact was absolute. His body was blown apart, shredded into fragments of flesh and smoke. Yet he did not die. Slowly, agonizingly, his form pulled itself back together, piece by piece, as though his very existence refused oblivion.
Collapsed on his knees, his face a ruin, eyes dim, his skin marred with ash and blood, ribs jutting grotesquely like broken pillars—Vatler still laughed.
A choked, wheezing laugh, spewing bloody knives from between his shattered teeth.
"As expected of the man who slew and devoured the former Fourth Primogenitor… stealing his power." Vatler smiled through madness and blood, his eyes locked on Kojou with unholy ecstasy. "Devour me, Kojou. If it's you… I wouldn't mind being eaten."
"I won't devour you." Kojou sighed, unimpressed by Vatler's pitiful state. "But instead… you'll become my servant. I intend to build my own Dominion. And in it, you'll find more battles than you could ever dream of. How about it?"
Vatler smiled, blood dripping from his mouth. His body shook with pain, yet no resistance surfaced. On the contrary, his head dipped slightly, a grin twisted with both madness and devotion etched across his broken face.
"Your servant…? Hahaha… how ironic. From hunter to hound… but… splendid!" he rasped, his voice raw, as though the offer was no humiliation but a divine honor.
He lifted his eyes to Kojou—those blazing eyes had not lost their hunger. Instead, they burned brighter, glinting with a warped light of loyalty.
"If serving you means witnessing that power forever… to be the first to see your fall or your triumph… then I accept!"
"In that case, pour your magic into this circle," Kojou commanded, as a radiant white magic circle manifested before him.
Zecht.
A spell used to bind promises between two souls. Should one break the pact, their very source would self-destruct. If the difference in power between the two was vast, the stronger could enforce it unilaterally.
It was a spell Kojou had learned from Anos. This circle would bind Vatler in absolute loyalty. Should he bare his fangs against Kojou, pain far greater than that of body or soul would crush him—not killing him, but condemning him to eternal torment until he surrendered his intent.
This was not only for Kojou's protection, but also for all his Blood Servants and those close to him. Vatler would be a servant incapable of harming them.
"A binding spell… how intriguing." Vatler studied the Zecht circle, easily discerning its function. Yet he did not resist. Instead, he grinned madly, channeling his magic into it.
After all, this was nothing to him. If anything, it only promised pleasure—the ecstasy of one day shattering the chains, baring his fangs once more at Kojou, and reveling in another battle where life itself was on the line.
...
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