Chapter 101
The beast that had bared its teeth suddenly became docile.
Seeing his shoulders settle from their restless movement, Meloni let out a faint sigh.
“Good.”
Resigned, she opened her mouth.
“I’ll tell you.”
“Meloni…”
Luxuria grabbed Meloni’s hand and gave it a slight tug. Meloni smiled softly, as if to say it was okay.
Cain’s face twisted at Luxuria’s action. It seemed as if he might lunge at her any moment, so Meloni quickly hid her behind him again.
“Cain, I said I’d tell you. Try attacking Luxuria one more time.”
“….”
“That time, it’ll really be you dead and me dead.”
“Hah!”
Cain let out an annoyed exhale and glared at Meloni. His crimson eyes blazed with anger.
“How can you go around protecting my other self?”
Meloni glanced back and gently pushed Luxuria toward Abel, just as she intended. Luxuria scurried toward Abel as Meloni planned.
Abel, too, hid her behind his back just like Meloni had done. Luxuria was completely concealed by Abel’s size.
“Are you really going to explain even that pathetic situation?”
“…Yes.”
“How kind of you.”
Meloni felt a surge of irritation at the mocking tone but held her breath and endured it.
However, the one who couldn’t hold back was Luxuria, hidden behind Abel.
“You idiot! Apologize to Meloni!”
Both Meloni and Cain turned their heads toward Luxuria.
“You’ll regret it. You…!”
“Stop!”
Meloni’s commanding voice echoed through the mountains. Instantly, everything fell silent.
With a deep sigh, she scratched the back of her head.
“Listen carefully.”
She couldn’t go into every minute detail. Cain’s memories weren’t fully intact, and there wasn’t enough time to tell everything, so she decided to give him just the essential points.
It was an unavoidable choice.
She couldn’t act according to Baron, that bastard’s, plan.
“The first thing that woke you from your deep sleep was Baron’s blood.”
“…What?”
“You don’t remember, do you? You awoke after drinking Baron’s blood. But before that, Baron drank your blood.”
“Could it be…”
“Yes.”
Meloni ground her teeth unconsciously.
“He intended to turn you into a replica.”
“Nice story you’ve made up.”
“Believe it if you want to.”
Meloni shrugged.
“You couldn’t kill Baron’s other self. You hesitated at the decisive moment.”
“….”
“He couldn’t turn you into a replica.”
“What the…?”
“But the Baron’s blood lingering inside you recognized him as the master.”
It was truly a cursed situation. Because of that, countless people had tried to kill Baron for over a hundred years.
Cain seemed to finally believe her words. He had indeed tried to kill Baron but failed and had stopped short of finishing him.
“Sabina, knowing this, devised a plan to get you out of Baron’s grasp.”
“Why does Sabina come into this?”
“It’s a story from a hundred years ago.”
“….”
“The plan was to fragment your power and later recombine it.”
“Why go through all that trouble?”
Cain’s power was truly immense. If he returned to Baron’s side, it would become extremely dangerous.
So Sabina planned to fragment Cain’s power temporarily and put him to sleep, then kill Baron and restore his power afterward.
Since he wasn’t a complete replica, it wouldn’t matter if the master died.
‘Of course, it didn’t matter anyway since Cain was an immortal being.’
But Baron noticed the plan and triggered the Third Species War, and during that time, Sabina was killed.
“That’s how it was.”
After explaining this, Meloni observed Cain’s reaction. His face looked as if he had been hit hard in the back of the head.
Seeing Cain’s dazed expression, Meloni thought to herself:
‘Now all that’s left is to dilute Baron’s blood.’
She continued speaking.
“Later, to prevent me, Sabina’s reincarnation, from carrying out the plan, Baron fed you his blood again and woke you.”
“….”
“That was the time, eleven years ago, when you killed my parents.”
“Ah…”
“At that time, you even tried to kill me.”
Meloni glanced at Abel.
“There’s a witness here.”
“I remember that.”
Cain ran a rough hand through his hair.
“Back then, he wanted to feed on your blood, so he didn’t care if you lived or died.”
“That’s why I opened my sexual energy to kill you.”
For a moment, Cain and Meloni’s gazes met in the air. They simply looked at each other, silently.
It wasn’t a glare. They were just staring quietly, as if time had stopped.
After a long while, it was Meloni who broke the silence.
“Now you understand, right?”
“Yeah… roughly.”
“So you mustn’t grow stronger anymore.”
“Why?”
“…Have you listened carefully to everything so far?”
“I said I got it, doesn’t mean I agree.”
Cain’s lips curled slightly. His stubborn expression made Meloni frown.
“What do you want me to do, huh?”
Cain stepped closer. Meloni didn’t move; she only lifted her head.
“Mel, think about it.”
“About what?”
In the past, she would have shot him with a silver bullet without hesitation. Now, she couldn’t, which frustrated her deeply.
She tried to endure it, but the silver bullet’s pain was intense.
‘Come to think of it, Cain enduring that is impressive too.’
He was a man who could withstand extreme pain. That much she had to admit.
She simply clenched the umbrella tightly. Cain noticed and let out a small chuckle as he reached for it.
“That’s your business.”
Cain naturally took the umbrella from her hands, examined it, and opened it.
“Of course, I get angry at that bastard moving as he pleases.”
“You understand perfectly. And yet you still want to regain your power?”
“That’s right.”
“You…”
“After I corner him on the edge, I’ll kill him.”
Cain paused for a moment, folded the umbrella, and handed it back to Meloni.
“Mel, you can do it, right?”
“….”
Cain’s gaze turned sharply toward Abel and Luxuria, who were watching him. His aura shifted instantly.
“Why are you all staring like that?”
“C-Cain, you…”
“You’ll be absorbed by me soon. Stay quiet.”
His eyes lingered on Meloni for a moment before disappearing.
“I’ll put it off for Meloni’s sake.”
“This is ridiculous.”
Muttering to herself, Meloni swung the umbrella with all her strength and hit Cain’s thigh.
“Cain.”
After calling him, she extended her forearm. Cain tilted his head, looking at her slender arm.
“Why is this?”
“Drink it.”
“Why me? I don’t want to drink blood right now.”
“No.”
Meloni shook her head firmly. She drew a dagger from her waist, lightly cut her wrist, and red blood slowly trickled down.
Cain’s eyes widened as he grabbed her wrist tightly.
“What are you doing?”
“I told you to drink it.”
“I said I don’t need it.”
“The only thing that can remove Baron’s blood inside you is my blood.”
Cain’s grip tightened even more, making the blood flow faster, but Meloni stayed still.
“Mel… you really…”
“It’s better you drink it before that precious blood falls to the ground.”
Cain swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving as he did. Before the blood pooled on the floor, he stuck out his tongue and licked it. Soon, his lips were stained red.
“Haah…”
His hot breath brushed against her wrist, sending a shiver through Meloni’s body for some reason.
Blinking, she bit her lip slightly. At this point, what was the point of getting worked up now?
“Is what you said… really true?”
Cain’s reaction suggested he hadn’t believed her before, yet now he seemed to accept it.
Meloni nodded.
“It’s also the only way.”
There was no other choice. This was the only method.
Fortunately, Cain drank Meloni’s blood repeatedly without any memory. It was a relief to have given him her blood.
Cain lightly sucked at the wound with his lips. For some reason, today the sound of him drinking her blood seemed unusually vivid.
“I… like it.”
By the time the bleeding stopped, Cain let go of her wrist. As Meloni shook it off from the stinging sensation,
“But you should know this.”
“What?”
Instead of answering, Cain grabbed Meloni’s shoulder and pulled her close.
