The Sibling's Dueling Spirit
After finishing my business in Hailey Territory, I bid farewell to a pouting Christina.
We’ll meet again soon at the academy, so you don’t have to look so sad.
Still bowing low until the very end, I received the customary escort from Count Hailey and returned as Tepes.
“I’m back, Master.”
I greeted the smiling Daisy with a firm hug. If not for her, the silent ghouls would have just bowed their waists without a word, so I was glad I had hired her. It was actually my sister who did the hiring, though.
“Ah. Master?”
Daisy seemed surprised to find herself suddenly embraced, but she didn’t mind. She cheekily rubbed her soft cheek against me. Finding her cuter than ever, I gently patted her bottom.
“Hic. Umm… not right now.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Ugh.”
She seemed lost in some wild imagination, so I gave her backside a sharp smack. Ow! Daisy let out a cry, wrapped her hands around her stinging cheeks, and waddled backward.
“It hurts!”
“I was imagining something too naughty.”
It felt strangely satisfying to glare at her with wide eyes and a stiff-lipped pout. I chased after her and smacked her bottom a couple more times.
“Waaah! I’m going to clean…!”
While watching her tearful backside flee, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at how delightfully good I felt.
Perhaps I had changed my mood after last night’s events. The anxious restlessness in my heart had finally settled.
*Time to go see my sister.*
I missed seeing Daisy too, but mainly I wanted to visit my sister, so I headed toward the place where her scent lingered.
The air was thick with blood. It seemed like they were training.
“Huu… hwooow…”
As I descended into the underground training hall, my sister, still in her full-body tights, was catching her breath. When she noticed me, her furrowed brows relaxed.
“Scarlet! You’re here? When did you arrive?”
She rushed over with a cheerier voice than usual and jumped into my arms. I felt a strange flutter in my chest, so I hugged her tightly like Daisy.
“Waaah. I’m covered in blood right now.”
“It’s fine.”
“Mmm.”
For a vampire, a bit of blood was nothing compared to getting wet. My sister was flustered, her eyes swirling in panic.
Then she looked up as if searching for words.
“Was it resolved properly?”
“Yeah. It went smoothly.”
“I see. Good.”
That was it. She didn’t ask how, just nodded, which made me curious.
“Why didn’t you ask how?”
“Yeah? Because you said it was resolved well, so it must have been really well resolved.”
“…”
She spoke with such innocent trust that my mood turned oddly complicated.
“What did you do while I was gone?”
“…Just… training…”
I didn’t know why she was stuttering this time unlike before, but I nodded anyway.
“Then how about a spar?”
“I’m fine. You’re not tired?”
Instead of answering, I pinched her cheek hard. How could a few days away leave you tired? Even someone like me wouldn’t complain.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Ouch… ah, let’s do it.”
Sighing, I let go and she stepped back, her cheeks flushing red as she pouted.
“You’re no good at pampering me.”
“Whatever.”
She distanced herself. Her condition was nearly at its peak.
I pulled out a coin and flicked it with my finger—
“Start.”
*
Ting.
The moment the coin hit the ground, a crimson blood barrier wrapped around Leticia’s entire body.
And in an instant, she gripped a red spear in her palm.
I also gripped the black line I had unfolded.
Crack! Accompanied by an electric sound, the gathered lines—
**Line**
**Granted — Lightning**
Boom! Roaring across the wide area, a dozen black bolts of lightning suppressed Leticia’s fearless charge.
She only slowed down, though. The red spear she held twisted and transformed mid-stride.
**Red Spear — Form Transformation.**
The spear, designed for close combat, shifted into a cavalry lance for rapid thrusts.
Then, spreading shadowy wings behind her, she fluttered them. Just as the lightning converged, she charged forward—
Boom!
A sonic boom. She absorbed the lightning’s shock into her body and slipped through in a flash. Her condition was intact, but the blood barrier had split, and the stray lightning strands crackled as they spluttered.
Despite the appearance of a healthy state, the ridiculously accelerated spear thrust closed in on my eyes.
And—
As if anticipating, right before her spear touched me, a shapeless shockwave erupted around me.
No sound. No warning. Leticia felt herself violently repelled.
“Ouch…!”
**Point**
**Granted — Shock**
**Point**
**Granted — Illusion**
The ambush had worked. Knowing Leticia’s personality, I had expected a brute-force charge, so I had placed an illusion spell within the lightning.
She was still inexperienced, so she couldn’t cast two attributes at once. I had instead created two points and granted each one attribute separately. She lacked the skill to manipulate an illusion spell, but—
‘Even if I can’t control it after casting, I can set conditions before throwing the spell.’
Just one. I could not perceive the point and line Scarlet had unfolded. Apart from that, any interference was impossible. The **Granted — Illusion** had yielded a surprisingly successful result.
She had already broken through the lightning, damaging her tough blood barrier, yet she had stubbornly pushed through for another attack.
If I had been even a moment late, the barrier would have regenerated and I wouldn’t have dealt any damage.
“One hit landed…”
Realizing it was my trap, she fluttered her regenerated shadowy wings with a bitter smile.
After taking one blow, the illusion dissipated. The lines I had spread around me became visible.
“You’ve increased the number a lot. You couldn’t even control a few back then.”
“Thanks to consistent training.”
“Still… it’s far from enough. It was something even my sister couldn’t imagine back then.”
Now… it was possible.
Leticia’s voice grew calm as she spoke, and I fell silent along with her.
Leticia felt a sense of crisis that she was growing too fast for her brother to overtake. I felt a twinge of jealousy toward my sister recalling my past self.
Either way, after a brief respite, we clashed again.
Close combat was her domain. She steadily closed in on me with explosive acceleration, stable speed, sharp reflexes, and superior martial arts.
In contrast, long range was my stage. The vampire who handled blood and shadows in battle no longer panicked at the shadowy blades or blood crows advancing to harass him. I calmly distinguished between offensive and defensive lines, expertly blocking her approach while steadily accumulating damage.
**Line**
**Granted — Autonomous Defense**
**Line**
**Granted — Reflection**
**Line**
**Granted — Penetration**
**Line**
**Granted — Paralysis**
**Line**
**Granted — Sensory Loss**
This was the most efficient combat method available to me, who could only grant one attribute per point and line.
From a distance, I attacked with lines granted **Penetration** and **Paralysis**. The advantage of a line was that it could be moved freely. It could be shot like an arrow, swung like a whip, or launched from multiple angles like a magic bullet. As long as it grazed even once, it counted as a hit.
For defense, I left it to autonomous defense, occasionally reflecting incoming hits with additional **Reflection**.
If I could grant more than two attributes on a single line, the strategic options would expand even further. I could always switch configurations at any moment.
Leticia countered with perfect consistency. As a Weapon Master, she wielded various weapons, but her variations didn’t reach her brother’s level.
Instead, each weapon carried a unique depth.
The black blade swung. It bent. It was often torn apart.
The spear stabbed. It spun. It parried. It pierced through.
The axe swung down. The mace crushed.
The weapon in her hands—the one she alone could create, Blood Tears, made from her heart and blood—changed shape according to the owner’s will.
Her armor supported it. The armor pair, Blood Scales, brought her near-immortal body as close to an undead as it could get.
They collided. Red sword and black thorns.
The red spear was blocked by a black shield.
The black whip was torn by the red axe.
A training that only a near-immortal vampire could endure.
As the duel continued, Leticia’s eyes flickered.
*Gradually…*
She was becoming flexible. Even in battle, her brother was steadily devouring experience and growing.
She felt no stiffness in handling the swirling dark mana. She wielded nearly ten lines as if they were an extension of her own body.
“…Ugh!”
She couldn’t lose yet. She knew it was greed, selfish desire, but she wanted her brother to rely on her a little more.
Of course, even if she lost here, it wouldn’t change his attitude. Leticia knew that much.
But…
If she lost even this, what made her superior to Scarlet? What had changed from before…
She didn’t want to go back to the time when she simply admired her brother from afar.
So,
—
Leticia’s exclusive weapon.
“Oh.”
My eyes widened.
Blood Scales peeled away. Blood Tears lost its form, spinning around Leticia along with the stripped scales.
The swirling shadows rose. The shape of a dragon’s skull enveloped Leticia.
**The Dragon’s Roar.**
The skull of the dead dragon, like an undead, opened its jaws wide.
Blood Scales and Blood Tears seeped into the skull.
The massive dragon head changed into a blood-mixed crimson form.
A massive force vibrated.
I looked up at the thing that filled the underground space completely, making it feel cramped.
“Damn… it’s huge.”
Wasn’t a dragon the ultimate male fantasy? The enormous dragon head held something that stirred a man’s heart.
I couldn’t lose, though. From the moment I challenged her to a spar, I had decided to win.
It wasn’t that I had lightly accepted a spar. At least here, I had to win, or my heart that depended on my sister would change.
Only then would I stop acting spoiled and unleash my dragon aura.
I acknowledged that the trigger needed wasn’t Leticia’s favor, but my own.
Not just a favor that would unlock affection locks, but the moment I truly acknowledged that I loved Scarlet.
The moment I acknowledged myself as Scarlet Tepes.
I squeezed every last drop of my mana. A sudden sense of exhaustion washed over me, but I bit my lip and held on.
A single black dot grew larger. *Crack, crack.* It expanded like a black hole, sucking in everything around it—the most primal and powerful blow I could unleash.
I couldn’t use lines. I couldn’t control them. I couldn’t create anything beyond that.
Granted? I couldn’t manage more than two attributes anyway.
Then, the most primitive form.
By that very act, the strongest.
The attribute **Void Mana** was not something to be granted infinitely.
Because it was too dangerous, I had instead granted other attributes.
**Point** grew larger. In the colorful world, the black dot that looked like a single drop of ink clashed with its surroundings, sending shivers down spines.
Just like the Demon King favored, the large dot was no different from a sphere. A first-order point had warped space with its powerful force, appearing as a sphere’s shape.
The dragon opened its jaws.
The black sphere floated slowly, like a rising balloon.
Finally,
the two forces collided.
—