After Luna woke up, she found herself still in the arms of the middle-aged vampire, Ryan.

Although she didn't want to, she still blushed fiercely and began fidgeting. She didn't remember this vampire in particular from her memories, and considering she remembered every single one of them, she knew that this man was at most only 2000 years old.

Hence, in her mind, it was like being carried by someone her own age. For some reason, she couldn't help but become extremely embarrassed and hide her head in her arms.

Having flown for the entire night without rest, Ryan was really tired now. Furthermore, he was also carrying Luna with him, so it was double the effort.

Although a vampire's stamina is not something to make fun of, especially in battle, vampires are not orcs. They focus mainly on magic, not on body training, so they are nowhere as enduring.

Sure, they are stronger than even 50 men combined, but so are basically all the other races. A normal elf has the magical power of a hundred common men, a common demon is as strong and has the same magic as 50 men whilst a common orc is as strong as 100 men.

Of course, humans have the strangest potentials, as some are complete trash whilst others have amazing talent capable of making all the other races envious. However, that is only a minority.

Ryan's tired gaze moved up to the skies, where the moon was starting to disappear. It would only take around 20 more minutes for the sun to come out, hence, Ryan had to hurry.

He would not make it back in one night. That much was obvious considering it took him two full nights to come here even when he was alone, so it's only natural it takes as much time going back. He landed near a natural cave with Luna in tow, where he then promptly entered and sealed the entrance shut with stones.

Noticing that the girl was awake and blushing fiercely, he chuckled and began poking her cheek in a playful manner.

Luna was startled when she felt the finger poking her, however, she soon relaxed and went along with Ryan's game.

"S-stop it..." she said whilst shying away from the pokes. He stopped and looked at her with a teasing smile, however, he suppressed it and after leaving her next to a wall, he sat down next to her and tenderly stroked her head.

The blush that she had been trying to suppress reappeared again. At this point, rather than being angry at Ryan, she was angrier at herself. She, a 3000 years old ex-male, could not contain her own hormones? She never was a doctor, nevermind a vampire doctor, so she had no idea of her own biology, but this was still unacceptable!

However, before she could do anything, Ryan pulled her into a hug once more as he began telling a story, "A long time ago, I too sought adventure and glory for us vampires. I would dash head-first into witch hunter-infested areas, slaughtering my way through danger. Then, as I got older, I learned that no matter how much I try, I could not solve all of our problems alone..."

Ryan smiled bitterly as his hug unconsciously tightened. The blush that Luna had been trying so hard to suppress was reignited when she felt Ryan's arm accidentally scrape close to her chest. Her mind was in chaos after a mere accidental, and in reality, completely irrelevant touch. 

All her mind could register at that moment was her own subconscious yelling 'He touched me! Pervert! Pedophile! He touched me!', therefore, she couldn't even hear what Ryan was saying as he continued his story.

"After I learned that, I stopped. I took a number of years simply relaxing, preparing myself. Then, after I felt ready, I took the responsibility of being one of the 5 Hounds of the Council. I never regretted my decision, for I feel that it was the right thing to do. However, very soon, I met her..."

"She was the most beautiful and noble vampire I have ever met. Luckily, she returned those feelings, so we soon married. Afterwards, we received the blessing of the moon and conceived a talented child after some time. I spent three centuries with him. I loved him to the bottom of my heart, however, he soon found someone he loved, and so young too."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"With mine, my wife's and her own parent's blessings, him and that woman got married. Her name was... Laura, I think? Anyway, after that, we decided to send them to a safer zone, far from the conflicts of us older vampires."

At this point, Ryan had already clenched his fist hard enough that they were bleeding. With gritted teeth, he continued, "Never did I think that, after only a hundred years of them being there, we would suddenly find out that two vampires had been slain in that area. After checking, we found out that they had both died."

"As a Hound, it was my responsibility to investigate, and as a father, it was my decision. I raced there with my friend over to the scene. There, I fond you. I don't know what to think. Should I be angry at you for making my son sacrifice himself for you, or love you?" Ryan asked to himself more than anyone.

Having by now recovered, Luna looked up at him with a strange expression. Without a word and ignoring the strange pain in her chest, she hugged Ryan back.

Feeling this, Ryan, who was looking at the ceiling with a blank expression, looked down at Luna to see her hugging him. Although she was hiding it, she could tell from the slight twitches and trembling that she was scared.

Sighing, he hugged her back, squeezing. After a while, he began laughing a dry, sad laugh. Soon, a single red tear fell from his red eyes, dropping onto the much slammer Luna. 

Soon, a strange scene could be seen. A relatively young girl, looking 14 years old, and a middle-aged vampire, at least 2000 years old, found themselves hugging each other whilst mourning the loss of their parents and son respectively.

After a while, Ryan suddenly gave a kiss on the forehead before releasing her and saying "... I guess you're my granddaughter... Heh, you never did tell me your name though..." Ryan said as he chuckled, trying to cheer up the atmosphere.

Blushing whilst for some reason feeling a slight pain in her chest, Luna murmured "... Luna..." As she looked away shyly, not daring to make eye contact.

"Luna, eh? What a beautiful name..." Ryan smiled as he closed his eyes and began waiting for the sun to go down, letting the chaos of Luna's mind take over.

For some reason, Luna felt somewhat disappointed in her heart, and yet, there was a feeling of liberation like a heavy stone had been lifted from her heart. She couldn't interpret those feelings, nor understand them, but she understood the general idea, a sense of loss, and yet the knowledge that she wouldn't have to deal with this.

As for what she wanted to deal with? She didn't know. She barely knew Ryan, and yet, a deep sense of trust and familiarity had already been rooted in her. It might have been from his gentle demeanor, similar looks to her dad and because he saved her during the hardest time in this, and in truth, all of her life.

Although she wasn't experienced, she still recognized one thing, she enjoyed the love Ryan showed her. Hence, for the first time, Luna took action herself.

Awkwardly moving next to Ryan, she rested her head on his shoulder as he took his hand and held it tight. Ryan's eyes opened and looked at her for a second before closing, his mouth twitching into a slight smile. 

Although Luna was experiencing the full might of early hormonal influence, Ryan was already very old, and way past this stage. Furthermore, he was a loyal married man, so he harbored no thoughts on Luna, only seeing her as a granddaughter, which she truly was.

Like this, the two waited for the sun to go down. Occasionally, Luna would twitch slightly embarrassment, as if afraid she was doing something wrong. However, after a while of seeing Ryan not rejecting this, Luna relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy this feeling, a calm sense of safety washing over her.

Be it humans, demons, elves, dwarves, dragons, foxes, wolves, anything that has a brain, there are basic necessities in life. Number one is food, then comes water. Then, depending on the race, shelter, and socialization. However, there is one thing all living beings want, safety.

For safety, people will go to any lengths, and for a young girl(?) like Luna, especially after feeling so vulnerable, weak, and threatened in front of the witch hunter, Ryan represented everything that is safe. It's no wonder she was acting the way she was, even if it was the Blood Monarch, he would have enjoyed this feeling.

Finally, when the sun went down and the moon came up, Ryan blasted the sealed entrance away, and with Luna riding him piggyback, he headed towards Noctem, where a great many angry vampires waited.

Meanwhile, inside of the demon capital...

A young man in his prime early 20's stood in front of a giant man attended by several beauties. This giant man had two huge demonic horns and a leathery tail along with black skin and red runes all over his body. 

"Father, your son carries the news to you." The young man said. The man looked at him with curiosity, asking, "Lucifer, you should know that I do not like to be disturbed during my resting time. I hope you truly do carry important news."

Nodding, Lucifer began speaking, "There have been reports from one of all of our spies in the human court. Apparently, the Daughter of Ice incident has truly angered the vampires this time according to their angry demands to hand her over. I suspected that they were gathering, and soon enough, my speculation was proven true."

Taking out a letter, Lucifer handed it to his father. Looking at it, the man furrowed his brows as he asked, "What is this?"

Smiling with a cold glint, Lucifer explained "It is an offer. An offer of vengeance, but also an opportunity. They are proposing to go to war with the humans..."