The bone spur almost pierced Vader's heart.
Wade fell from the stairs, and Lucian saw his expression at the moment he fell.
There was no anger, no pain. Vader's scarlet eyes still carried the hatred he had just shown towards him, and a strong...
Confused.
It seemed as if even he himself did not know why he stepped forward and blocked the bone spur that was supposed to hit Lucian.
Wade fell to the ground, bone spurs piercing his body. At the same time, the system's voice sounded in Lucian's mind.
"Fuck! Fuck!" The system seemed to have become a repeater, and could only express its shock at the scene with exclamation. But soon it immediately said: "Five, take this opportunity to run away! Although Wade doesn't look like he can get up for a while, he will definitely make you pay when he recovers. Run away quickly, you won't have such a great opportunity again in the future—"
Wade was lying on the ground, staring at Lucian on the steps. His eyes had become dim, and a large amount of black mist was pouring out of his body, repairing his body ecstatically.
This will be his second death and rebirth.
The last thing reflected in his scarlet eyes was Lucian's figure. Lucian was standing there, his white face was covered with his blood. There was no smile on his face, which was a feeling he did not understand.
He did not come, nor did he leave.
…
Vader woke up again three days later. Before that, he came back from Houston Manor, ignored the thanks and praises of the paladins, grabbed Lucian's arm, and threw him into the carriage.
After he woke up at the bottom of the basement and pulled out the bone spur that had pierced his body, he saw Lucian still in the basement. The man he had discovered his intention to kill did not leave, but curled up on the steps, not moving at all.
He sat in the blood, his body, face, and even his brand new shoes were all dirty. He raised his eyes dazedly when he saw the murderous man approaching.
"You're awake."
This was the only thing Lucian said to him.
After returning to the palace, Vader slept for three whole days. In the basement, he swallowed the drop of blood that was taken by the demons in order to save his life. The blood belonging to the demons transformed his body, allowing him to gain the power of darkness and shadows while also having a new form.
During the three days he was unconscious and the three days after he woke up, Lucian was locked in a dark room. Vader put shackles on him that prevented him from using magic.
Lucian curled up his body, his eyes fixed on a spot in the room. His long silver hair had turned gray. Wade had fallen into a deep sleep these days, and no one dared to take care of him. After Wade woke up, he seemed to have forgotten about him and didn't come over. When he was "hungry" and couldn't bear it any more, he let the system block his consciousness and locked his soul in a small dark room to be in a daze.
The system was still chattering in his ears. In addition to worrying about Lucian's future, it was also reviewing his previous actions. Finally, it said, "Alas, host, it's a pity. At that time, you were just a little short of emotional energy, and you could open the way back."
Lucian said nothing.
"But fortunately, after he fell from the stairs, you didn't run away in the end." The system said happily, "Don't worry, don't worry, even if you only have one breath left, I can still collect your soul. This morning, the center finally received my letter and replied that they are studying the cause. No. 5, you are saved! After the center opens a channel to take you back, you will be a hero again in the next world."
Lucian groaned in a muffled voice. The system's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and when it recalled Lucian's eyes and Wade's eyes when he saw Wade blocking the knife for him and falling down, a sense of uneasiness suddenly surged into its heart.
"Host," it said cautiously, "what are you thinking about?"
Lucian didn't speak for a long time.
Just as the system's tension was rising to the point of sounding an alarm, it finally heard Lucian's voice again: "I was thinking if I had run down the stairs in panic, thrown myself on him with tears in my eyes, hugged his face and apologized, treated him and pulled out the bone spur..."
The system's panic level gradually increased to the red alert level.
"... Then, they stabbed it into his heart again, saying that they found that the bone spur was misaligned." Lucian said, "Is his hatred value now 100%?"
system:…
Lucian: "Could I have left this world then?"
The system said sincerely: "I think it's okay."
… Why should it worry about Lucian’s emotional fluctuations? Lucian is still the heartless No. 5.
The system continued to dial the control center. But what it didn't see was that Lucian's soul was sitting in the corner, staring at one place with a blank look in his eyes.
"Why didn't I do that?" he whispered.
Nor did he take the opportunity to escape as he had planned in the past.
"He nearly killed me and dislocated my wrist," he thought.
He thought again of the scene when Wade fell, and he was in those scarlet eyes.
Lucian looked up at his body in the dark room. His body's "addiction" had come back. He twisted his body in the dark room, emitting sweet whimpers that sounded like pain and desire.
He suddenly felt that he had been turned into a monster by Vader.
The door was opened at this moment. He saw a dark figure appear in front of the door. After accidentally swallowing the drop of blood belonging to the demon clan, Wade's red eyes were so bright that a blood-red teardrop mole appeared at the corner of his eye. He stood in front of the door, watching the white-haired succubus struggling on the ground, crawling towards him involuntarily dragging the chain, and stretched out his hand, with no expression on his elegant face.
It was at this time that Lucian returned to his body.
When he returned to his body, he felt his whole body burning. He pulled his hand back, trying to suppress his trembling and crawl back to the corner, but someone grabbed his ankle while he was moving.
The chains rattled as he was dragged back by Vader.
Wade turned him over, lifted up his long silver-gray hair, and leaned over to look at him. He stared at him for a long, long time, but never said a word.
Finally he lowered his head and bit Lucian's neck fiercely!
Lucian's voice was suppressed in his throat. Blood flowed from his body and flowed into Vader's throat. He felt cold, fear, and the almost pleasant numbness brought by the fangs to paralyze the prey. Finally, Vader got up from the semi-conscious him. He opened his collar, scratched the blood vessels with his nails, and put his bloody neck into Lucian's mouth.
It seemed that only when Lucian was almost unconscious would he put his neck into Lucian's mouth.
He insisted on using his neck to feed him blood, and he also insisted on making Lucian lose consciousness at this time.
This exchange of blood lasted for a long time. Finally, at the end of the feeding, Lucian heard Wade's voice: "In the basement, you really wanted to kill me, right?"
In his arms, Lucian nodded and said "hmm" vaguely.
Vader was silent.
After a long time, Lucian heard his slightly sarcastic voice: "You can't even lie to me... But it's okay."
"At least it was a nice answer," he said.
"Will you punish me?" Lucian whispered in his arms.
Wade sneered: "Haven't you been like this from the beginning to the end?"
After a long time, he heard Lucian's voice: "Why did you..."
Blocked that bone spur
"An accident," Vader replied.
"… "
Finally, he heard Lucian say "OK", and then he heard Lucian say dazedly: "That's good, then I don't have to feel guilty..."
Lucian fell into a deep sleep. He didn't know that Wade was staring at his face until dawn.
Lucian woke up in Vader's bed. There was no anklet on his ankle, just the finger marks left by Vader when he grabbed him and dragged him back. Lucian blinked, and then saw Vader coming.
When Wade arrived, Lucian's first words were: "Are you not going to lock me up?"
Wade still had the chill of late autumn on him. He hung his windbreaker on the hanger, then said slowly, "It's the same whether it's closed or not—one more chain or one less chain, there's no difference."
Lucian didn't say anything. He watched Wade untie his tie and asked him, "Are you okay?"
Wade sneered, "Are you sad that I'm not dead?"
"You saved me, how could I say such things?" Lucian said.
Wade grabbed his chin and held his other hand against Wade's chest. Wade said sarcastically, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm not that easy to die. And thanks to that injury, I successfully merged that drop of blood from the demons."
"Stop doing useless things, Lucian," he said, "and don't think you can do whatever you want."
He heard Lucian say "hmm" obediently, and then asked: "Blood? What is blood?"
"The Creator created ten major races and gave them gifts. Unfortunately, human greed led to the betrayal of the ten major races born from Him. In order to seize power, they killed His body, split His last strength into ten drops of divine blood and took them away to various races to warn them of His resurrection. The corpse of the Creator who intended revenge was framed as a fallen being and a devil, and I am His bloodline." Wade said, "The first time I died because of you, I merged with the drop of blood stored in the Undead. This time, I merged with the blood stored in the Demon Race. Before you plan to sneak attack and kill me, consider your own safety first, Lucian."
“Oh…” Lucian pretended to hear it for the first time, and said, “So, your heart beats so fast because you merged with this drop of divine blood?”
Vader coldly shook his hand away.
Lucian rubbed his wrist and complained a little. But Wade said to him, "Change your clothes and come out with me."
"Where are we going?" Lucian asked.
"The cemetery," said Wade.
Lucian changed into a black suit. Before leaving, Wade suddenly said, "Lower your neck."
Lucian lowered his head, and Vader hung a silver chain around his neck.
Under the chain hung the ruby ring bought from the auction. The ruby was bright red and hung in the hollow of his delicate and pale collarbone.
Vader pressed his finger there. Lucian looked up at him.
"Let's go." Wade said.
The carriage was driving on the road to the royal city. Lucian sat beside Vader, and the ruby was pressed against his collarbone, cool, hard, and yet hot. The carriage seemed to have traveled a very long way, and he saw Vader leaning his head against the window, his eyes looking out the window indifferently.
Finally, Lucian spoke.
"That means that blood allows you to transcend death, right?"
silence.
After a long time, he heard Vader chuckle softly: "Some people think that immortality is a gift. But isn't it a curse to not even have the freedom to control your own death?"
Lucian didn't say anything. He suddenly realized that Vader might not be collecting blood for his own strength.
Rather, there is an unavoidable black hole in his destiny, and he can only keep going until he is sucked into falling.
As he was thinking, he heard Wade's voice: "So, don't get me wrong."
"What's the misunderstanding?"
Wade looked away and ignored him.
He cannot die, so there is no sacrifice of life.
—Only accidents, he thought.
An accident that made him want to strangle himself to death afterwards.
It was not until they arrived at the remote and secluded cemetery by carriage that Lucian realized who Wade was taking him to see.
On the old tombstone was written the name "Vivian".