True Incubus: The Demon with No Limits

”Hmm. So the bait is gone, huh?”

A calm voice echoed through the corridor.

Lucian’s eyes instantly moved towards its source.

And finally, after a minute-long wait, a man stepped out from behind one of the distant turns.

A man who matched the description Lucian had been given by Silvian and Sabine.

Varek.

It was... honestly strange.

One would hear of everything he had done and think of a monster with a crazed smile on his face, filled with endless bloodlust.

But—

Varek was nothing like that.

He actually looked perfectly composed.

His hair was dark, almost black, swept neatly away from his pale face. His eyes were strangely empty, different from the crazed glow one would expect him to have, and his clothes were clean and elegant despite everything that had happened inside the Trial.

Well, at least most of them were clean.

There was blood on one of his sleeves. It wasn’t his, obviously.

It was one of his victims’.

Lucian stared at him, observing his movements.

The Vampire walked towards them without hurry, as though he had simply encountered a group of travellers on the road.

Lucian noticed how he did not hear any footsteps or any other sound, for that matter. If he closed his eyes right now, he wouldn’t know Varek was in front of him.

And Lucian, of all people, knew how difficult that was to achieve.

Well, apparently not so much for Vampires, since Silvian too seemed to have the same gift.

While Lucian stared at Varek, the Vampire did the same, just that he wasn’t focused only on him. His gaze moved across everyone, taking his time to analyse all three women before finally—

He stopped at Lucian.

He already seemed pleased by what he was seeing, especially when he saw the number of Waymarks the group had.

A total of eleven Waymarks.

Varek could already see multiple ways to use them as bait.

They would be far better than the bait he had used so far. After all, just one Waymark would be enough to lure anyone.

But eleven of them?

Honestly, once he captured them and absorbed energy from them, he could even use them to place multiple baits at different locations.

So yes, Varek was more than satisfied when he observed the group, but when his eyes fell on Lucian, when he observed him, that satisfaction rose.

For the first time, his empty eyes showed something.

Interest.

”Oh...”

His crimson eyes shone as they noticed the violet energy practically oozing out of Lucian’s body.

”That is quite something.”

He praised.

Lucian narrowed his eyes. He did not like being stared at like he was prey, something inside him felt... insulted.

Varek did not care.

He continued staring at Lucian, then, as if he noticed something, his interest rose.

”Your blood...

How are you alive, Human?”

He asked curiously.

Then he smiled—

”Or is the Human already gone?”

Naomi frowned at those words.

What... did he mean by that...?

Isolde and Sabine frowned as well.

Lucian, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes.

So he could see it as well, huh.

He realised it.

Vampires understood blood better than others, so it wasn’t surprising that he could see the state his body was in.

A body that had completely accepted Demonic Blood, and not just any Demonic Blood, the blood of a High Incubus.

No Human body could do that.

So it was a logical conclusion that a Demon had taken over his body.

The Enclave had the same theory.

Not that any of it mattered, not right now.

”Not that it matters.”

And apparently, Varek had the same thought.

The Vampire smiled as he stared at the dense energy around Lucian. He was almost... fascinated.

”How long do you think you could continue?”

He asked out loud.

”If I broke something...”

He spoke, his eyes moving towards Lucian’s arms.

”...you would simply heal it.”

Then, he stared at his legs.

”And if I broke it again...”

His smile widened even more.

”You would heal again.”

Then, he looked right into Lucian’s eyes and—

”How much energy do you need to heal broken limbs? How long do you think this much energy would last?”

”...”

Lucian did not say anything.

He only observed.

He could tell what the Vampire was thinking.

With the amount of energy around him, it would heal him again and again, making him somewhat of an ideal target for Varek, who could continue inflicting pain upon him and gain strength from his suffering.

”No answer?”

Varek tilted his head.

”Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll find the answers on my own.”

He shrugged.

”I wonder how much stronger I would become before you finally stopped screaming.”

He continued speaking, almost as if he was thinking about the experiment he was about to conduct.

”With that much energy constantly repairing your body...

I might not even need anyone else after you.”

He laughed.

”Perhaps you could finally give me enough to deal with Silvian.”

”Silvian?”

Lucian raised an eyebrow curiously.

”Veyr.”

Varek replied.

”The only one left in this place who could still threaten me.”

Those words instantly froze Lucian.

Only one left?

...what?

Then what about... Rhydan?

For the first time since Varek appeared, Lucian felt something cold run through his body.

His mind immediately created an image he absolutely did not want to see.

Rhydan restrained somewhere in this maze, with a broken body, sealed mouth, and Varek standing over him, slowly carving away at someone Lucian considered... a friend.

Lucian’s hands trembled, the violet energy around him became unstable.

Varek blinked at the sudden reaction. Lucian did not care. He stared at the bloodsucker with frighteningly cold eyes.

”What happened to the Wolf?”

”The Wolf?”

Varek frowned.

”Rhydan Greyfang.”

Lucian answered and Varek only stared at him with a flat look on his face.

”Have you lost your mind? Why are you asking me about him?”

The next instant, the coldness disappeared from Lucian’s face.

”...you didn’t attack him?”

”Hah?”

The Vampire actually seemed offended.

”Why in the hell would I target that monster?

Do you take me for a fool?”

”...huh?”