Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 156: "This is the end for you."

Darkness breathed around him.

Lucifer opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the heavy shadow that curled across his skin like a second flesh. His chest burned where Adam’s blow had landed, but there was no pain now. Only cold. Cold that seeped into his bones and out the other side, as though he was standing half in reality, half in something older.

He pushed himself to his feet.

The ground beneath him wasn’t stone or earth. It was... something between blood and shadow, shifting under his boots like liquid glass. The air was thick, metallic on his tongue. He exhaled softly, steam curling from his lips in thin red wisps.

Above him, three moons hung in the black sky. Massive. Red. Bleeding light down onto the realm. They pulsed slowly, almost like beating hearts. The sky itself was pitch black, dotted with faint white sparks like a dying ember field.

He turned in a slow circle, scanning the landscape.

Mountains of dark stone rose in the distance, their peaks twisting like horns. Rivers of thick crimson light flowed between them, illuminating the endless darkness. And at the very center of the realm, rising out of black mist, was a castle.

It wasn’t ancient stone or glittering marble. It was built from something alive. Tall towers made of dark bone and veins of red crystal, pulsing softly with inner glow. Its windows burned like smouldering coals in the void.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes.

He walked.

Each step rippled across the liquid ground, leaving faint red footprints that faded seconds later. The air grew colder as he approached the castle gates. Massive iron doors loomed before him, etched with old runes that hummed softly when he reached out to touch them.

The gates opened on their own.

Inside, torches burned with blood-red fire along cavernous halls. He walked in silence, feeling the aura of the place press against his mind. It wasn’t just demonic. It wasn’t just vampiric.

It was both.

He reached a grand hall at the castle’s heart. Black pillars lined the walls, each wrapped in chains made of something darker than metal. A faint red mist drifted along the floor.

At the end of the hall sat a throne.

And on it... a man.

Lucifer stopped.

The man sat calmly, one leg over the other, fingers steepled under his chin. His hair was long, white as death, tied loosely behind him so it fell down his back like ghost silk. His skin was pale, almost translucent under the red firelight. His eyes burned crimson, deeper and older than Lucifer’s own, with irises ringed in black sigils that pulsed softly every few seconds.

But his face was different. Sharper cheekbones, a stronger jaw. Lines of age and knowledge carved softly into his features. He wore no crown, just a long black coat lined with silver embroidery, open to reveal a chest marked with runes that moved like living ink across his skin.

The man smiled.

"Finally," he said softly. His voice carried across the vast hall without echo. Warm. Familiar. "You’re awake."

Lucifer frowned.

He took a cautious step forward.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice low, wary.

The man chuckled, leaning back in the throne. "Always direct. Good. Saves us time."

He tilted his head slightly, studying Lucifer with those ancient eyes. There was something in his gaze. Warmth. Relief. A sadness so old it barely had room to breathe.

"Look at you," he whispered. "My son. Grown strong. Wielding power with such... effortless grace."

Lucifer froze.

His heartbeat slowed. For a second, he couldn’t feel his own body. He just stood there, staring at the man, trying to place his features. His aura. His voice.

"...what did you say?" Lucifer asked, his voice rough.

The man’s smile widened slightly, though it remained sad.

"My son," he repeated softly. "My blood. My heir."

Lucifer shook his head slowly, eyes narrowing. "That’s impossible. My father is dead."

"Yes," the man said. "He is."

He spread his arms slightly, as if gesturing to the hall, the realm itself.

"And yet... here I am."

Lucifer took another step forward, fists clenched. "If this is a trick—"

"It’s not."

The man’s voice grew quiet. Heavy. Each syllable like iron laid gently onto silk.

"I am the Vampire Progenitor. The First Blood. The origin of our race."

He paused, his eyes softening further.

"And I am your father."

Silence fell.

Lucifer felt his chest tighten. His knees almost buckled, but he forced them straight. He looked at the man again, this time seeing past the difference in features. Seeing the aura. The blood. The echoes of his own power mirrored there, but older. Deeper. Woven with something else.

Something... demonic.

"You’re... alive?" Lucifer whispered, voice breaking despite himself.

The man’s smile faltered, and for a moment, his eyes glimmered with grief.

"No," he said softly. "Not truly. My body died long ago. Slain... by Adam."

Lucifer’s eyes darkened, rage flickering through him like lightning.

"I saw his plan," his father continued. "I saw what he was doing. How he was using death to step beyond mortality. I tried to stop him."

He closed his eyes, a sigh slipping from his lips.

"I failed."

He looked back at Lucifer, gaze steady.

"But before I died, I created this realm. A shard of my soul fused with the system I built. The same system you now carry within you."

Lucifer’s eyes widened.

"You... created the system?"

His father nodded. "It was my legacy. My prison. My hope. A fragment of my consciousness fused with its core functions. Watching. Guiding. Waiting... for you."

He stood slowly from the throne. His aura rippled out, filling the hall with silent power. Blood shadows coiled around his feet like tame serpents.

He walked forward, stopping just before Lucifer.

"You have my blood," he said softly. "But not just mine."

He raised a hand and cupped Lucifer’s cheek lightly, his thumb brushing away dried blood.

"You carry her blood too. Lilith. Demon Progenitor. My beloved."

His gaze hardened slightly, though sadness lingered there like frost.

"But you have not awakened either side fully. You are holding back. Limiting yourself. Afraid to lose what remains of your humanity."

Lucifer swallowed hard, unable to move. The warmth of his father’s hand burned against his cold skin.

"I’m... not afraid," he whispered.

His father chuckled softly. "You are. And that’s alright."

He lowered his hand and turned away, walking back toward the throne.

"I miss you," he said quietly. "I have watched every step you took. Every pain. Every small happiness. Every battle. Every loss."

He sat down again, the throne seeming to grow around him like dark roots.

"And I have waited. Because you are the last of our line. The only one who can carry both legacies forward."

Lucifer clenched his fists so hard his nails cut into his palms.

"Why me?" he asked, his voice shaking with anger he didn’t understand. "Why... why did you leave me alone?!"

His father’s eyes softened with grief.

"I didn’t want to," he whispered. "But Adam forced my hand. When I saw what he was becoming, what he planned to do... I knew none of us would survive unless one remained hidden."

He gestured around the realm.

"So I hid myself here. Bound my soul to the system. And left the world... to you."

He paused, his gaze sharpening.

"But now... it’s time you awaken."

Lucifer’s chest tightened. The air grew heavier around him, pressing against his skin.

"Awaken... what?"

His father raised a hand, fingers curling slightly.

"Your true heritage."

Red light exploded from his palm, swirling around Lucifer in thick streams. Each thread burned as it touched his skin, seeping into his veins, igniting something deep in his blood. He gasped, staggering forward as pain and power rippled through him in waves.

"You are not just a vampire," his father whispered, voice vibrating with ancient power. "You are not just a demon. You are both. A progenitor of both lines."

The red light intensified, wrapping around Lucifer’s body like a cocoon of blood and shadow. His vision blurred with tears he didn’t feel fall.

"I miss you," his father whispered softly, his voice breaking for the first time. "My beautiful boy."

Lucifer’s knees hit the floor, the power burning through him so fierce he thought he might vanish. But through it all, he felt his father’s hand on his head, steady. Warm.

"Awaken," the Progenitor whispered.

"Awaken... and become what you were always meant to be."

Back To The Real World

Adam stood quietly, shadows curling around his bare feet as he looked down at Malakov. The broken man was slumped against the wreckage of his console, breathing raggedly through blood-flecked lips. His gauntlet flickered with dying light, tubes leaking dark serum that pooled beneath him like oil.

Adam sighed softly.

"Look at you," he said, voice calm but heavy. "Look at what you’ve become."

Malakov shivered under his gaze. His cracked goggles reflected Adam’s golden eyes, trembling hands trying to push himself upright, only to collapse again.

"All this..." Adam continued, gesturing around them. "The cloning. The experiments. Twisting your own body until you don’t even recognise yourself. And for what?"

He crouched down in front of Malakov, his gold irises dim and almost sad.

"I seek power too," Adam said softly. "But not like this. Never like this."

Malakov’s teeth ground together. "Y-you... don’t understand... I had to... I had to do it... for humanity..."

Adam tilted his head slightly, studying him like a dying animal caught in barbed wire.

"No," he whispered. "You didn’t. You chose to. You scarred yourself forever. You butchered your own kind for your hunger. That’s not power."

His eyes narrowed, and the shadows around him deepened.

"That’s just pathetic."

Malakov coughed, blood dripping down his chin as he tried to form words. But Adam was already standing, his bare shoulders rolling back with quiet finality.

"You’re not worthy to be called human," Adam said, his voice cold now, stripped of sadness. "You threw that away long ago."

He turned away, ignoring the choked sob that slipped from Malakov’s throat. His bare feet stepped across the broken floor without a sound as he walked toward the central elevator shaft, golden eyes flickering with something far beyond mortal anger or pity.

Above them, the ceiling trembled with distant explosions. The world was changing. His world. Their world.

And there was no place left for men like Malakov in what was coming.

Adam paused once, hand resting against the cold steel of the elevator door. Without turning, he spoke softly, almost like a whisper to himself.

"This is the end for you."

The shadows pooled deeper around his feet, and then he was gone, leaving Malakov trembling in the ruins of his own kingdom.

The silence returned.

Except for the sound of Malakov’s quiet sobbing, echoing off the broken walls like a prayer no one would ever answer.

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