Before the tension in the air could settle, strong waves, like air gusts but not physical, crashed against my body, my eyes immediately attracted to one dimly lit brick wall in the corner of the hall, very close to us.

Shwiii!

A powerful cracking sound echoed in the room as the space itself started to break. One crack, then four, then twelve, before all cracks blasted into an oval of purple darkness, exuding an ominous aura.

"Is the illusion activated their side?" Kobi asked Zhenny with some worry, who nodded. If it wasn't, this much movement would've instantly attracted so many guards, guards now purely guarding the area around us.

"Grant is watching the entire place, so he would notice this degree of change in space and must have used it before anyone realised. Nothing to worry." She muttered without turning toward Kobi. From her tone, she clearly trusted Grant very much.

Noticing Alya's curious look, she explained with a soft smile, "He's with us on this scout mission. Really resourceful ally to have, I gotta admit."

"That kid will surely be one of the greatest in the future. He basically carried us in that SS-class mission!" Kobi shook his head with a proud smile.

"Tell me another twelve-year-old who can lead troublesome soldiers capable of destroying a state with precision and successfully kill a high council judge with forty-two corrupt politicians in just two hours?!" He praised without holding back, clearly expecting everyone to join in.

Holy glaze! I smiled awkwardly, but nodded with amazed eyes. It seemed like Kobi would've attacked me if I didn't. Alya's eyes widened, clearly etching this Grant in her memory.

I understood her reaction. I had to agree, his illusion used on us was very powerful and lasting, without any time limits. It would've been very troublesome to win if he had attacked with Zhenny and Kobi before. This was one dangerous kid.

Tap! Tap!

A figure soon walked out of the purple crack, the ground shaking as a tall man revealed himself. He was wearing a monk-like grey robe, his perfect abs and 3D round shoulders revealing themselves through it.

He glanced at us passively, ruffling his orange hair and scratching his cat-like ears. But his tail was nowhere to be seen.

"We finally meet, the last vampire." Surprisingly, he greeted me first.

But last? Isn't Alya a vampire, too?

"Hi," I nodded as he strode forward with a look of indifference.

Before he reached us, the crack wobbled as more figures, one by one, entered the large hall, each of them looking fiercer than the other, also walking toward us.

Alya nudged me on my side, blinking in a way probably only I could understand.

The man seemed to have some sort of animosity toward me. It didn't surprise me anymore; every other person I'd met had some sort of animosity toward me.

This world is so racist! was my only thought as the man extended his hand toward me.

"I am Louise."

"Lucien." I was about to extend mine to shake his hand, but his next words made me freeze.

"Hand over that divine-grade artifact," he said directly. "We will protect you with our lives. But it's better if you hand it over to me… I can put it to better use in emergencies here. Don't you think?" He smirked, tilting the extended hand slightly as if expecting me to place something.

Huh? I had a divine-grade artifact?

Alya's pupils instantly dilated. "Luci… You had something like that?"

Wait, what?! No, I don't! I profusely shook my head. She seemed to believe me. For now.

The man continued coldly, "From what I understood with the information Zhenny provided, you have a trump card that can make you invincible against even all of us and all of the church's dogs combined… right?"

The Alphas behind him were also quite shocked by his words, murmuring to each other.

Noticing my confused face, he added further, "The only thing that is capable of doing that with such perfection is a divine-grade artifact…

The highest-tier rating for Arcana artifacts. Perhaps it's only natural for the last survivor of that empire to inherit something like this." His eyes narrowed.

His voice grew a bit sincere. "I know it's important to you. It should be. And, of course, I will give it back to you when we are done. But right now, I would put it to better use than you. Understand that our lives are in danger." He said, pointing at everyone around us with his eyes, making a "give me" motion with his extended hand.

"Louise, stop this right now! We don't have time for this stupidity! Like I reported, Lucien and Alya managed to defeat us both with no challenge. He's plenty capable!" Zhenny instantly got in front of me, her feet trembling in her combat shoes, though.

"No offence, but defeating you two is not much of an achievement." He scratched his chin. "You are hardly at the Adept stage at best. Vampires, at their levels, should be around that. It's not a praise for them but an insult for you." Zhenny's lips shook.

Louise then glanced at me. "But could he do the same to me?" He took one step toward us, which was enough for Zhenny to instinctively stumble back, only to be caught by unmoving Alya, staring at Louise with oozing bloodlust. He didn't pretend to notice it.

I see now… My face grew a bit colder. I touched the cold, textured deck of cards. That Pazuzu dude, I wonder how much he told Zhenny. It didn't feel good to have my secrets exposed.

With a few more seconds of tense silence, I extended my hand, getting it just beside his as his smirk began to widen.

"Luci…" Alya gasped, but soon lowered her head.

She was probably thinking this was something my mom handed to me, which I avoided using when we were getting tortured that brutally, and now I was just going to hand it over to a stranger we had just met, and she had no say in it.

But all her assumptions were wrong.

Thwack!

"I refuse," I said, slapping his extended hand away, as my red eyes glowed menacingly, staring deep into his dilated black eyes.

"As for 'Could he do the same to me', I can." His hands began shaking, my throat tightening as my instincts flared, sensing danger.

Ignoring my instincts, I continued, "In your own words, 'It can make me invincible against all of you.' You're absolutely right."

I walked closer, our faces just inches away as he forgot how to breathe, his cocky smirk vanishing without him realising. My instincts stopped flaring.

"If you keep getting on my nerves, whatever Pazuzu wants with me will be over. And…" My lips curled upward. "I will kill you all."

Silence.

It stayed like this for a whole minute, neither Louise nor the other Alphas saying anything, my words still echoing in their minds. They knew I meant every bit of it.

What Louise said wasn't particularly illogical; he was definitely more experienced. But if I had given in, it would've been equal to kneeling on the ground and licking his feet. This was an equal deal, and I didn't owe him my shit.

Either I stood on business, or be his bitch. The choice was obvious.

After a few more seconds of tense stare-down, my cold grin switched into a soft, friendly smile, no evidence of that cold grin remaining. I patted Louise's shoulder.

"All right, partner, we've got this!" I said shamelessly.

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