Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 203: "It’s complicated."

The spiral staircase seemed endless. Each step clinked with the sound of metal on stone, echoing back from the void like footsteps chasing him. No walls. No railings. Just the black glass winding downward, coiled like a serpent’s spine through the dark.

Lucifer didn’t breathe.

Didn’t think.

He just moved.

At the base of the stairs, the space widened. A circular arena carved from polished obsidian, smooth like liquid but hard as death. At the center, a single stone brazier lit itself—fireless flame, white as bone. Then shadows crawled out from the edges.

Six of them.

Then twelve.

Then more.

Figures emerged, skin pale, armor torn. Eyes missing. Throats slashed. Some headless. All dead.

But moving.

Wights. Fallen vampires.

Not feral like the first.

These ones remembered who they were.

They circled him, dragging blades, some with claws, others with warhammers or staffs crusted in dried blood. Not a sound from them. Just the soft scrape of death reborn.

Then they ran.

All at once.

Lucifer didn’t blink.

Blood welled from his arms and spun into a crescent—Crimson Reaver. A double-bladed scythe that pulsed with red arcs.

He dashed forward, not away.

Sliced through the first four with one spinning sweep, blood exploding into mist behind him. Another lunged—axe overhead.

Lucifer caught the handle barehanded, boots sliding back on the stone.

Then twisted the weapon sideways and buried the other blade of his scythe through its chest, pinning it into the ground.

A spear jabbed at his ribs.

He bent back, matrix-style, the tip missing by a hair. As he snapped upright, he slammed his knee into the attacker’s jaw and followed it with a palm strike that shattered its face.

One of them jumped from above—massive body slamming down like a corpse from the sky.

Lucifer raised a single hand.

Blood surged into a circle—Crimson Shield.

The impact cracked the air, but he stood firm. The shield shattered—but so did the wight’s arms.

Lucifer countered with a whip made of blood-spikes, lashing across the arena, flaying two more in a single swipe.

Still they came.

Still they bled.

Still they died.

But it wasn’t enough.

The room began to shift again. The floor pulsed, then cracked open.

Two figures rose from below.

Tall. Graceful. Wrapped in noble robes that hissed with enchantments.

High Vampires.

From the Age Before. Court-level.

Their fangs weren’t just for blood. They were for dominion.

And their eyes locked onto Lucifer with something worse than hate.

Recognition.

"You are not worthy," one of them said.

Lucifer didn’t speak.

He just clenched his fists—and the blood around him thickened into armor.

Bloodmail Shell—each scale etched with runes of war.

The vampire on the left disappeared in a blink. Speed magic—Warp Step.

Lucifer turned just in time to catch a strike from a black rapier—barely deflecting it with his forearm. Sparks flew.

He retaliated with a blood spike from his elbow, forcing the vampire back.

The other one raised both arms—sigils floating from his sleeves.

A ritual.

Lucifer felt the space begin to bend—dimensional suppression.

He dropped to one knee, stabbed his scythe into the ground, and poured power into it.

Crimson Howl.

A blood shockwave tore outward, canceling the ritual in a flash of red light and blasting back both vampires.

He was up again—dashing forward, boots shattering the floor.

The rapier-user parried, barely, and the two clashed in a flurry of movement.

Blade against blade. Blood against blood.

Lucifer slid under a sweep, spun, and sliced upward—catching the vampire’s side and spraying silver ichor across the room.

The other cast again.

This time a chain spell—Thorns of Anathema.

Black vines erupted from the floor, barbed and poisonous.

Lucifer bled from his hands—raw power—and ignited his aura.

Bloodburn State.

His veins lit up, his skin cracked with crimson heat, and the chains melted on contact.

He jumped high—twisted mid-air—and rained down ten blood spears in a spiral.

Crimson Break.

Three impaled the spellcaster. Two more pinned his arms to the floor.

The last pierced his throat.

The rapier vampire screamed and charged again.

Lucifer caught the blade with his bare hand.

Blood splashed.

His grin was feral now—like his father.

He whispered:

"You bled kings. I bleed gods."

Then crushed the vampire’s skull with his grip.

The silence after was thick.

Bodies everywhere.

The system didn’t speak. No prompt. No rewards.

Just a sound.

A deep groan.

The floor beneath him trembled—and parted again.

Lucifer dropped through the hole, not resisting.

The third floor awaited.

But the second floor didn’t vanish.

The dead didn’t vanish.

They stayed behind.

Because the tower wasn’t done recording him.

And he wasn’t done bleeding into it.

Not yet.

Vampire Realm

Ash-colored stone stretched across the distance like a living city under construction. Spires rose half-built in the background, scaffolds made from bloodsteel and dark wood clinging to the sides of the cliffs. Vampires moved in silence—hammering, lifting, carving—disciplined and tireless. This was their new home. The Vampire Realm, reborn under a new ruler.

Above it all, the black sky held no sun, just a soft ambient glow pulsing from the veins of the ground itself. A place untouched by time, thick with old power. Fresh, but ancient.

Luna sat on a wide ledge overlooking the construction, legs pulled up loosely, arms resting on her knees. Her coat was off, draped beside her. She looked calmer than usual, but the silence around her didn’t feel peaceful. It felt like the kind of quiet that came after something broke.

Ella sat beside her with a sigh, brushing her fingers through her wind-swept white hair. Her heels dangled off the edge, tapping softly against the rock.

"You’re really staying here, huh?" Ella asked, keeping her eyes forward.

Luna didn’t respond at first. She just watched the vampires below moving as if they’d done this before in another life. Then she nodded, slowly.

"There’s nothing left for me back there," she said. "Earth’s falling apart..."

She trailed off.

Ella gave a short breath of amusement, turning toward her slightly. "Yeah, that’s the logical answer. But I’m not asking as a reporter."

Luna looked at her.

Ella smirked. "I’m not a fool. I know what someone in love looks like. And that’s what I’m seeing right now."

Luna blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

Ella gestured casually with her chin toward the ground level. "You see that girl over there? The one leaning against the pillar?"

Luna’s eyes flicked to where she pointed. She recognized her instantly. Vina.

"She’s in love with him too," Ella said. "But she hasn’t said it. Probably because of her history with him. Tried to kill him once. Or twice. Hard to walk that back."

She paused, her tone softening. "But you... you’ve told him. And from the way you’re holding your breath right now, I’m guessing he told you back. But something’s still stopping you."

Luna looked away, her voice low. "It’s complicated."

"It always is," Ella said. "Especially with someone like him."

There was a long pause between them. The kind that didn’t feel awkward—just heavy with things they both knew but hadn’t said yet.

Ella exhaled again, this time slower.

"Look, I’m not gonna pretend like I’ve got some kind of exclusive pass into his heart. But I’ve seen enough to know he’s not a one-woman kind of guy. He told me straight up when I said I loved him."

Luna turned her head slightly.

Ella continued, "He said he wants a harem. That’s always been something he wanted. Not in a childish, shallow way. But real. Deep. Intense. Like everything he does. He’s not gonna lie to anyone about it."

She leaned back on her palms, staring into the dark sky.

"And I told him I’m fine with that. Because I’d rather be one of the women who stood beside him... than the only one who walked away because I was scared to share."

Luna was quiet for a long time.

Below them, construction went on—smooth, silent, almost ritualistic. The kind of world that didn’t exist before Lucifer returned. A world built from blood and power and second chances.

Ella turned to Luna again, her tone quieter now.

"You don’t have to rush anything. Just don’t waste what you already have. He chose you. That means something."

Luna didn’t speak, but her fingers gripped the stone ledge a little tighter. Not from fear. Not from anger. Just weight.

She finally said, "Do you really think this place can be home?"

Ella smiled, not the happy kind—just honest.

"It already is. For all of us that didn’t have one."

And for a while, neither of them said anything else.

The wind blew gently across the high ledge, brushing Luna’s hair across her face as she stared out at a realm being shaped from darkness.

Not a dream.

Not a sanctuary.

But a place where monsters, broken people, and old hearts could try again.

And maybe that was enough for now.