The Arrogant Vampire Princess of the Blood-Red Castle
By the time Go Yushin had pushed completely out of the dense underbrush of the Obsidian Forest, his breathing had settled into something remarkably even and calm.
Barely days ago, he had been a novice Awakened who tensed every muscle in his body and broke into a cold sweat at the mere sight of a single low-grade monster.
But now, everything was different.
D-rank mana surging up from the deepest reaches of his dantian coursed through every blood vessel in his body, and his flesh was already reacting on pure instinct — knowing exactly where the energy would flow, and where it would gather and condense.
Yushin gazed steadily down at the weapon gripped in his right hand.
The cold leather wrapped around the hilt, and the jet-black blade rising above it.
This was Black Moon, the demonic sword that held a deep, resplendent darkness — as if a single drop of moonlight from the black night sky had been condensed into steel.
Though its starting grade was a bottom-tier F-rank, the very fact that it could change form at its wielder's will and grow alongside him was proof enough of its boundless potential.
"It's finally starting to feel like it belongs in my hand."
When Yushin flicked his wrist with a light snap, the blue mana erupting from Black Moon's tip did not scatter into the air — it clung to the blade, tracing a smooth, fluid arc.
Unlike the crude old method of forcibly wringing and gathering his energy, he could now layer mana over the blade as naturally as breathing.
Mana loss rate has been dramatically reduced.
The efficiency of focused mana sword strikes has stabilized.
Yurang-i's deadpan report brushed past his ears.
Strangely enough, ever since they had emerged from the forest, the system had been holding its tongue, taking a more cautious stance than usual.
Beyond the forest's edge lay a desolate rocky pass leading toward a massive crimson fortress looming on the horizon.
The moment his foot crossed into it, the atmospheric pressure dropped sharply, and a chill that gnawed at the skin spread across the air like creeping tension.
Perfect silence — no monster cries, not even the sound of insects in the grass.
Yet Yushin's sharpened senses did not miss the covert, razor-sharp gazes that coiled relentlessly around him from the empty air.
"...So it wasn't just my imagination."
As Yushin tightened his grip on Black Moon, the blade gave a faint tremble, as if responding to its master's fighting spirit.
At the same instant, the scattered gazes converged, and pairs of red eyes bloomed one by one from the shadows of the rock crevices flanking both sides of the pass.
Ssssak—
Low, rumbling beast breaths overlapped from every direction.
An ominous grinding of sharp claws scraping against stone.
The creatures guarding this place were on a completely different level from the mindless hellhounds he had just dispatched in the forest.
They were intelligent variant beasts that didn't simply charge — they perfectly covered Yushin's blind spots, maintaining their distance as they tightened a circular encirclement around him.
Please exercise caution. The specimens stationed near the castle are guardian beasts of superior bloodlines, highly adapted to the Demon King's residual miasma.
"In other words, these things can actually think."
The corners of Yushin's mouth curled into a grin.
Instead of an answer, Black Moon answered for him, vibrating ferociously as it spewed forth a jet-black sword aura.
Tat!
The largest of the pack, the alpha wolf-beast, kicked off a boulder and shot toward him like a bolt of lightning.
An unhesitating, clean trajectory.
The instant the beast swung its razor-sharp forepaws midair, Yushin did not retreat — he plunged straight into it head-on.
He focused his mana onto a single, razor-fine line along the keenest edge of the blade.
Sseog!
Pshoooook!
The moment Black Moon's blade cleaved through the air, the beast's neck was severed in a single stroke, and dark crimson blood geysered skyward.
And yet, even in the instant its head left its body, the creature loosed a piercing shriek toward its packmates — and the rest of the beasts, reacting to that signal, swarmed in from all sides at once.
"Ha, these bastards just don't quit...!"
Yushin lowered his stance and drew every muscle in his body taut.
There was no retreat.
This was the final gate on the road to a Demon King candidate's castle — and a proving ground where he would have to demonstrate, with his own hands, just how much stronger he had become.
KWAAANG! PWEOEOK!
Yushin took the charging beast's fist head-on with his bare body.
It was an impact that, in the past, would have shattered his bones and sent him flying — but his hardened, fully matured muscles and joints bore its full weight without yielding.
He could feel every cell in his body overcoming the flesh-searing pain and binding themselves together, harder and more resilient than before.
Absorbing live-combat impact — Strength rank is rising.
Endurance rank is rising.
"So this is how it is — a human truly does grow stronger in the moment of crisis...!"
The moment he drove power into his thighs, his soles planted firmly into the earth, forming an unshakable axis.
Yushin pivoted his whole body through that axis and swept Black Moon across in a horizontal arc.
CHWAAAAK!
A black crescent of sword aura carved a semicircle through the air and sliced the waists of two onrushing beasts clean in two.
Organs spilled out and blood flooded the ground — but the last remaining beast did not flee. It climbed atop a boulder and stared down at Yushin in silence.
Its gaze held neither fear nor rage. Only a cold, calculating appraisal.
"Did your master send you?"
When Yushin leveled Black Moon at it, the beast gave a low growl, turned toward the castle walls, and vanished like a shot.
At that very moment, a night wind carrying a sinister, sweet scent of roses wafted over from beyond the blood-red ramparts.
And in that exact instant, a cascade of brilliant system notifications came crashing down on Yushin's ears like a waterfall.
Yushin's eyes went wide at the barrage of messages pouring out one after another.
"A rank-up and the shop unlocking at the same time, right now?!"
Clutching his pounding heart, Yushin touched the translucent shop window floating in the air.
"...Hey, Yurang. Why is the very first page nothing but bizarre crap like contraceptive pills, stamina tonics, and aphrodisiacs?"
"Fine, fair enough... but why are the prices for the Heavenly Demon Physique or the Blessing of the Constellation shaped like that? Ten thousand points for one missile-tier item? That's way too expensive!"
Yushin's current point balance stood at exactly 13 points.
"I get that the shop unlock gave me 10 points, but where the hell did the other 3 come from?"
"......."
Yushin's face flushed blotchy red.
One vaginal creampie deep inside Lilith's virgin pussy yesterday, and the two loads he'd dumped down Lilith's throat this morning.
Exactly three in total.
"Could you really not... phrase that with a little more dignity?"
Yushin gave up on arguing and turned to check the newly added dimension slot window.
◈ Slot 1: Abyss (E-Rank)
◈ Slot 2: Empty
◇ Arhen (E-Rank)
◇ Gomba Company (S-Rank)
◇ Graves (B-Rank)
◇ Harma (C-Rank)
◇ Earth (F-Rank)
"Earth? You're telling me there are other Earths besides the Republic of Korea I grew up in?"
"I see... so every dimension runs on completely different laws."
Yushin nodded along, but as he looked at the new [Return] feature, his thoughts drifted, for a moment, to his sister back in the real world.
"If I stay in another dimension this long, won't Yeona back home drive herself crazy looking for me? That girl completely loses it when I'm not around."
"What a relief. Then I can grow stronger here with total peace of mind."
Yushin paid 10 points at the shop and purchased the most practical-looking item, the [Mana Regulator].
Click.
A cold, silver-metallic bracelet coiling around his wrist.
The instant he fastened it on, the mana in his dantian began to flow without a single obstruction, as if sprinting down a highway, transmitting itself smoothly into Black Moon at his fingertips.
It was an overwhelming sensation — his mana efficiency and control more than doubling in an instant.
With every preparation complete, Yushin finally stood before the massive front gate of the blood-red fortress.
KREEEEEK... THUD!
The heavy iron gates swung open on their own, revealing a majestic marble audience hall.
At the end of a long corridor draped in red carpet, atop a throne stairway entwined with crimson rose vines, the rhythmic click of high heels rang out.
Tap. Tap.
The moment Yushin laid eyes on the figure emerging from the mist, his breath caught in his throat.
Long, vivid crimson hair blazing like fire, and sharply upswept scarlet eyes.
Delicate pointed vampire ears rising above her head, crowned with a demonic thorned-horn ornament.
And beneath a shockingly bold black-and-red see-through corset dress that bared the full valley of her cleavage, garter belts and black stockings hugging her plump, milky-white thighs.
She was a peerless vampire beauty, decadence and arrogance dripping from every inch of her body.
Slowly folding her fan, she parted her crimson lips with a sultry smile, regarding Yushin the way one might regard an insect.
"How dare a lowly human mongrel set foot in my domain..."
Her scarlet eyes flashed with imperious disdain.
"I am Tia — sole heiress of Amelia, the most noble house of the Demon Realm, and the next candidate for Demon King!"
Thus began the fateful first encounter with the hapless vampire princess who was, without knowing it, eagerly waiting to be trampled, conquered, and defiled.