Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 267: "Perfect. Let hate carve the path."

The city burned around them.

Lucifer's boots cracked the pavement as he stepped forward, crimson shadows snaking across the broken street. Nythra's molten glow bathed the ruins in sick firelight, her scars bleeding heat that warped the air. Between them, the sigil pulsed like a beating heart, the portal behind it widening with each drop of blood spilled.

They didn't wait.

Lucifer moved first, shadows stretching into spears that ripped forward in a black tide. Nythra raised her arm, the cracks across her skin flaring bright, and swung. The spears shattered against her molten aura, bursting into shards that hissed into the stone. She lunged through the smoke, faster than a thought, her jagged wing slicing downward.

Lucifer twisted aside. The wing ripped a gash through the ground where he had stood, molten fire spraying from the wound in the earth. He caught her wrist as it came past, pulling her forward and driving his knee into her ribs.

The impact shook the street. Her body dented the stone before she rolled and sprang back up, coughing blood that hissed into steam the moment it hit the air.

Her grin widened. "Better than I thought."

Lucifer flexed his fingers, his crimson eyes never leaving her. "I haven't even started."

She roared and rushed again.

Their fists collided mid-air. The sound split windows across the block, glass shattering and raining down. Shockwaves rippled outward, tossing the bodies of the mad humans aside like leaves in a storm. The two of them pressed forward, neither giving ground, veins bulging, auras flaring until the very sky seemed to bend above them.

Nythra twisted first, pulling back and driving her elbow toward his skull. Lucifer caught it with his forearm, shadows coiling to absorb the heat, but her strength still pushed him a step back. He snapped his hand forward, claws slicing across her chest. Molten blood sprayed, sizzling against his shadows.

She didn't flinch. Her grin only sharpened. She swung her other hand low, claws tearing through his side.

Lucifer hissed, shadows rushing to seal the wound even as blood stained his shirt. He didn't back away. He shoved his palm into her gut, crimson energy flaring, and unleashed a blast that hurled her through the wreckage of a tower.

Stone and steel collapsed around her. Dust filled the street.

Lucifer stood tall in the haze, crimson shadows circling his frame. His chest rose steady, though blood still dripped down his side.

The dust parted.

Nythra walked out, molten light pouring from her cracks brighter than before. Her laughter echoed through the ruins, raw and sharp. "Yes. Just like him. He bled me too."

Lucifer's smirk flickered. "Then you'll die the same way." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

They clashed again.

This time she feinted high, her wing cutting wide, only to vanish and reappear low, her claws aiming for his heart. Lucifer spun, cloak of shadows sweeping out, catching her in mid-swing and slamming her into the ground. He followed, landing on her chest, his claws stabbing down—

But her molten blood erupted, a geyser of fire and heat that forced him back. She surged up, her hand seizing his throat. Her grip tightened, cracks glowing along her arm. "I'll crush you from the inside out."

Lucifer's crimson aura burst, shadows exploding from his body in a storm of blades. They tore into her, ripping flesh, snapping her hold. He leapt back, one hand rubbing his throat where her grip had seared his skin.

Nythra laughed again, blood dripping from her arms. "Yes. Strong. But you're not him yet."

Lucifer's eyes burned. "I don't need to be him."

He raised his hand. The street behind her erupted, shadows forming into colossal spears that shot forward like a rain of arrows. She roared, her wings flaring wide, shards of broken light spinning outward to meet them. The collision lit the night in black and red, explosions ripping through the street.

They both vanished into the storm.

Lucifer appeared first, his claws slashing across her shoulder. She caught his wrist with her teeth, her jaw snapping down hard enough to crack bone. He snarled, shadows stabbing from his other arm into her side. She screamed, molten blood splashing, but instead of faltering she slammed her forehead into his.

The crack split the air.

They staggered apart, both bleeding, both grinning.

Lucifer wiped blood from his mouth. "You're persistent."

Nythra spat molten blood onto the street. "I'm hate made flesh. I don't stop."

The sigil behind them pulsed harder, the portal widening until the shapes of armored vampires could be seen within, waiting for the gate to finish drinking enough blood.

Lucifer knew he needed more time. He let her rush. He let her strike. He gauged her rhythm—her swings, her bursts, the moments when her molten glow dimmed before flaring again.

She was strong. Too strong to take lightly. But she was also wild, her rage blinding her.

He ducked her next slash, shadows forming a blade in his hand. He cut upward, slicing deep into her side. She shrieked, twisting, her molten blood spraying across the wall and burning it black. She didn't fall. She didn't even slow.

Her claws slammed into his chest, digging deep. Blood poured down his ribs. He growled, his shadows whipping out in a dozen spears that stabbed into her body from every angle.

She screamed, but her grin never left. "Bleed with me!"

She clamped her claws tighter, dragging him into the air before smashing him down into the cracked sigil. The ground quaked, lines of crimson flaring as his blood mixed with it. The portal roared wider.

Lucifer coughed blood, his hand pressing into the ground. His eyes narrowed. "You just made it stronger."

He shoved his palm down, feeding his blood into the magic. The portal widened, a clawed hand stretching out from the other side. His army was almost here.

Nythra saw it. Her eyes burned hotter, her rage boiling. "No! Not again. I won't let another Progenitor rise!"

She raised both hands, molten cracks running down her arms, and slammed them toward his chest.

Lucifer caught them. His shadows flared, his muscles straining, crimson veins crawling across his skin. The street split beneath them, light pouring up from the ground as their auras collided.

The air howled.

Buildings shattered.

The sky itself seemed to bend under the pressure.

Lucifer gritted his teeth, his crimson eyes boring into hers. "You want Damaris' death avenged? Fine. But I'm not him."

Nythra roared back, her molten cracks splitting wider, her body burning itself alive for strength. "Then die as his blood!"

They shoved against each other, power spilling out in waves that lit the city. Shadows and molten fire clashed, neither giving way. The portal pulsed behind them, hungrier, louder, answering Lucifer's blood.

For a moment, they were even. Perfectly matched.

Then Lucifer smirked.

"You bleed easier."

He twisted, shadows stabbing up through the ground into her legs. She screamed, her grip faltering. He tore free, his claws slashing across her throat. Molten blood sprayed, her wings flaring wild as she staggered back.

Lucifer rose, his aura burning, his shadows coiling around him like living armor. "And you're in my way."

Nythra clutched her throat, molten blood spilling between her fingers, but her grin was still there. "Good. Good! You fight like him."

Her body shook, molten cracks burning brighter, brighter, until it seemed she would explode. She lunged again, screaming, every ounce of her hate pouring into the strike.

Lucifer met her head-on.

The city broke around them. Towers collapsed, the street split, fire and shadow lit the skyline.

They clashed in the heart of New Earth, evenly matched, neither yielding, their fight shaking the very realm.

And Adam, watching from afar, smiled faintly as he whispered to himself.

"Perfect. Let hate carve the path."