「Kingdom, was it? What is it exactly that you rule over, other than a pile of garbage? It seems that your claim is contested, too.」

Lily says with pure disdain in her voice, glaring at self-proclaimed King Roskiel.

「By whom? The queen? Please… I've heard of a barony in the capital ruled by a vampire, and apparently with the queen's blessing… Was it you, then?」

Roskiel asks in a mocking tone while spreading his arms, smirking as he takes a few steps closer, and away from the parapet.

「Of course. And nobody dares to challenge my claim. I have carved out a chunk of land where vampires may live free from fear of being hunted down.」

With her arms crossed, Lily nods. She walks over to the parapet by her side, and glances at the mayor's mansion.

「Lilia, please… You place value in the words and recognition of a human?… I don't need to be uncontested. 」

The baron replies, shrugging his hands and leaning onto the parapet with one hand. She lets out a sigh.

「Such a poor taste…」

Lily shakes her head in disapproval as her eyes gaze on the pikes in the courtyard, and she turns her attention back to Roskiel.

「…I told you my name is Lily. And a human it may be, but my domain still holds more recognition than yours. From the very beginning, no one challenged me.」

She adds, scowling at the baron.

「Give it time, Lilia… Or are you saying that you're here to challenge me?」

He replies, and shrugs his hands, waiting for her reply with his hands held behind his back. His cape flutters slightly from the motion.

「No. I am not here to challenge your claim at all…」

「Why, that pleases me-」

「…I have much better reasons than that to rip you apart limb by limb. My memory of you is that of a pest, and a coward, constantly hiding behind your lackeys.」

Lily replies, interrupting Baron Roskiel. She glares at him, and his smirk briefly fades, before reappearing right away.

「Are you referring to our little… Disagreement that he and I had? It was about things way over your head for someone your age…」

Roskiel asks, raising one hand to shrug it, briefly pretending to search for a better word. Looking at Lily, he casually paces around the garrison's roof with his hands behind his back.

「…By the way, how is Baron Hemaluna doing?…」

He asks with a smug grin as he spreads his hands, slightly leaning back with his knees. Lily's lip twitches in anger despite her attempt to remain nonchalant.

「…Oh, I forgot. Pardon me, after so many years my memories are getting foggy…」

The baron continues, shrugging his shoulders after uttering out a non-apology, smirking. Lily steps on a small pebble, rolls it back onto her boot, and kicks it up to grab it.

「…It's a shame what happened. Baron Hemaluna fraternized with humans too much, and too little with us- 」

Crack!… Fsssss…

Baron Roskiel catches the small, supersonic object speeding for his face, abruptly stopping mid-sentence. He bares his fangs in pain.

「Nggh…」

Clunk…

He opens his hand, and looks at the red, glowing hot rock searing his hand. He drops it, turning his scarlet gaze to Lily, who casually recovers out of her baseball-like throwing pose.

「Keep my master's name out of your filthy mouth.」

Lily demands, glaring at Roskiel with a cold expression. He shakes his hand a few times as it smokes gently.

「…You know, Lilia, in my travels, I've been to Temuria. There, I saw a strange little odd plant. It was covered in something like rose thorns, but much smaller…」

The baron says in a calm tone, placing his hands back behind his back, returning to casually pacing around while Lily continues glaring at him.

「…It seemed like it didn't need anything to thrive, and grew out of the sand. Being green, it stuck out there like a sore thumb. No animal dared to touch them, but the birds loved it so…」

He continues, aimlessly walking around on the garrison roof. He glances the other way, and sees the orange flashes slowly making their way towards the mansion.

「…I thought a lot about that plant. Why does it grow? Does it not understand the futility of sprouting in the sand? And why is it covered in those spines?-」

「What is your point?」

Lily bluntly asks, interrupting Roskiel's story. An amused huff escapes his nose, and his boots noisily scrape against the rock making the garrison's ceiling as he turns to face Lily.

「Seeing you again after all those years, and realizing you didn't change at all conjured its image in my head. You're a lot like that plant…」

The baron shrugs his caped shoulders as he speaks.

「…Prickly.」

He adds, grinning at Lily with his fangs bared.

「You've spent centuries pestering my master, constantly sending your lackeys. You didn't show your face once since I warned you. Wise, but also infuriating…」

Lily replies, tapping her arm with her clawed finger, glaring daggers at the baron's grinning face.

「…My master never held grudges, so I took that duty up for myself. There are very few things I fantasize about, but driving white-hot nails through your eyeballs is one of them.」

「Why so violent, Lilia!? It's true I could have picked my envoys a little better… But times were as they were!」

With a sarcastic tone, Baron Roskiel spreads his arms, fluttering his cape.

「Before I take your head off, answer me this riddle…」

Lily lowers her golden head with her arms crossed.

「…How, and more importantly, why did a coward like you decide to invade a city, a city full of vampire lamps, that you could have just avoided by going elsewhere?」

She asks, raising her disdainful eyes back to the baron.

「Why, because then I wouldn't be taking a city full of vampire lamps, of course!」

Roskiel nonchalantly replies, briefly spreading his arms before returning them behind his back.

…Boommm!…

A loud, distant explosion echoing through the city streets briefly distracts them both.

「…So it's a statement after all? Then answer me this… Why?」

「Because the previous demon lord failed to, of course. I thought a lot about the vampire lamps too, and discovered a critical weakness, albeit the Night of Fangs was already over…」

Lily asks, and the baron nonchalantly replies with a shrug of his shoulders.

「…Vampire lamps destroy vampires quite ruthlessly, but what about other beings?…」

He continues, raising his brow as he asks a rhetorical question. Lily narrows her scarlet eyes as she listens.

「…As I said, it was already too late by the time I thought about this, but what if other beings would destroy the lamps for us?…」

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The baron shrugs, and resumes pacing around the roof.

「…Humans would be far too easily stopped. Meanwhile, the undead would have too much difficulty getting in. The most comparable being to a vampire is, of course, a demon…」

Roskiel continues explaining, gesturing, waving small circles with his clawed hand.

「…But by that time, unfortunately, the ranks of the demons were already thin. Far too thin to be spared for a mere baron. It were the closing days of the Night of Fangs anyway.」

Resigned, he shrugs his arms, grimacing slightly.

「And just how did a coward and a nobody manage to reign in so many demons under his command? I had to kill at least three dozen of lesser and greater fiends each to get here.」

Lily asks, tilting her golden head. Her twin tails jiggle from the motion.

「That many?… You are such a troublemaker, Lilia…」

The baron's head perks up, and he lets out a frustrated sigh.

「…Why, the demon lord granted me these forces. On my way to here, I collected as many vampires as I could to join me. My plan worked flawlessly.」

He nonchalantly replies, causing Lily's head to perk up in turn.

「What? The demon lord?… So the rumors were true? The demon lord really is back?」

Visibly surprised, she utters out with her brows furrowed, and quickly regains her composure.

「Of course, and I will be the very first general. Once I repel this attack, it will be official…」

The baron nods, and a grin appears on his face.

「…Now then, Lilia… You said that you are not here to challenge my claim, but you say that you've killed my fiends?… How am I meant to take this?」

He asks, spreading his arms and baring his fangs with an amused expression.

「What happens in the kingdom is none of my concern… This is a personal matter. Now that I know it's you, I'm here to exact vengeance, as my master would have never done it himself.」

Lily replies and shrugs her shoulders. She uncrosses her arms, and splays her clawed fingers while her glare grows colder.

「Are you even aware of the power difference between us, Lilia? Could you at any point go up against your master?」

Baron Roskiel asks, taking on a pose akin to a boxer's, but with his hands open.

「…I will torture you for a little longer just for that comparison.」

Lily growls back, and shoots through the distance to Roskiel in a fraction of a second, slashing her claws at his throat.

Thwump!

He blocks it with his forearm, sending him sliding backwards. He reaches the parapet, and flips backwards from the force. Lily doesn't wait, and simply leaps over it to give pursuit.

FWOOP!-THUD!

Lily shoots downward with her boots directed at Roskiel. Shifting her weight to be many times more than it should be, she stomps onto him, pinning him to the ground below. Roskiel had only managed to shift her boots out of the way before Lily could crush his heart, and landed on his stomach instead. With blood spewing from his mouth, Roskiel splays his fingers while staring at her leg.

Swoosh!

Roskiel's claws rend thin air as Lily backflips away, gracefully descending to the ground a few paces away. He quickly picks himself up, coughing up blood and rapidly regenerating.

「Khakh… That's new. It wasn't a spell, was it?」

He asks, wiping the blood off his chin. Lily remains silent, and continues glaring at Roskiel with murder in her scarlet eyes. She lunges at him again, jabbing at his throat with her claws.

Thump!… Tfwap-fwap-fwap-tfwap!

Roskiel deflects her arm just in time, and blocks the following flurry of blows coming from Lily, leaping back with each swing. Though her claws carve through the flesh on his arms, none of the swipes leave lasting damage, as Roskiel simply regenerates.

Swoosh!

Yet when Roskiel swings his hand, Lily simply jumps away, not even making an attempt to block. An amused huff escapes him.

「Ahhh… It seems that you are aware, but you have made a dimwitted attempt to fight me. Go back to your domain, Liliana. I will allow it if you do it now.」

He says with a grin, raising his claws higher, roughly to his head level.

「Are you afraid, Roskiel? I'm quite comfortable fighting you. In fact, I can't wait until I de-limb you.」

Lily asks, and throws an empty barrel from nearby a building with one of her hands.

Crash!

Roskiel swats it out of the way like a fly, and clenches his teeth when he realizes that it was a distraction. Lily used the barrel's obstruction to get closer without Roskiel noticing, and her hand is rushing for his stomach. He jumps away, briefly making contact with her wrist when trying to catch her arm. Lily audibly clicks her tongue.

「Tsk… I was going to hold you down by your spine and lop your head off… Shame.」

She shrugs, closely watching Roskiel's actions. In their short skirmish, they've crossed a considerable distance already, owing to disproportionately large leaps across the streets.

Roskiel looks over his shoulder, and glances at the magic lamp shining many paces behind him. He leaps over, and wraps his arms around it.

Krrrrkkkkkk!… Krrrrrrkkkk!…

「What is he-?」

Clank!

Lily watches on as the streetlight's metal squeals and whines while Baron Roskiel is pulling onto it. Finally, Roskiel rips the entire streetlight out, and holds it like a two-handed club.

「…You're not going to seriously-?」

Lily asks with an incredulous expression on her face, but her question is cut short when Roskiel lunges in while swinging his improvised club.

BOOOOOM!…

The gem inside the housing shatters on the cobblestone from the overhead blow. Though Lily is already far away, some glass and metal shrapnel reaches her, digging into her tiny body.

「Tsk… How dare you damage my dress!?」

She shouts, clenching her teeth in fury as she lowers her tattered sleeve from her eye level. Roskiel raises what is now just an oversized wrought iron staff with ease.

「…I'm afraid I will damage much more, Liliana. It'll be a shame, your dress is nice.」

Roskiel remarks with a grin, and lunges in for another swing.

CLANGGG!

Lily effortlessly moves out of the way, and the gemless lamppost impacts a home's stone wall. The iron rings like a bell, and Lily rears her hand back for a jab aimed at his armpit.

FWOOP!

「Stand still, you pest!…」

She growls through her teeth as Roskiel just barely leans back out of the vicious jab of her claws. She is now far too close for him to swing his improvised weapon.

FWOOP-FWOOP-FWOOP-Clankkkk!…

Her sleeves flutter noisily as she swings her arms wildly. Due to his leaps and bodily contortions, Lily is unable to land a square hit, and all the damage to his shoulders and sides regenerates instantly. The moment she thinks she has him, Baron Roskiel blocks the blow to his throat with his streetlight post, and leaps away.

「Vampire!」

A voice shouts from Roskiel's side. A man points a lamp-like staff at him. The baron's crimson eyes widen as he guesses who the human is, and what the weapon does.

Click.

「Eh?」

Clickclickclick.

The human pulls the crossbow-like trigger, and nothing happens, aside from the noise of a soft click coming from the weapon. He tries a few more times, and likewise nothing happens.

「…Fuck, I need to swap my gem!」

The human calls out towards his back, where the rest of his group is rushing to join him. Baron Roskiel lets out a relieved huff, and leaps to the nearest rooftop.

「He's getting away!」

Somebody from the group shouts.

「I won't let you, coward!…」

Lily shouts, glaring at the baron, and leaps after him across the homes' rooftops.

「Vampire lady, wait!-」

Roland calls out, raising his armored hand towards her, but she disappears before he can properly finish his sentence.

「Ahh… There she goes…」

He sighs out, and looks at the torn-out stump of the magic lamp…