Lirae froze mid-motion, crimson still glistening on her lips. Her voice came out in a whisper. "Erelion…"

Damon's eyes narrowed. That name. He recognized it from his last life. Erelion, the Emerald Storm, one of the youngest elven warlords and a rising star among the elven militant factions who led many of the assaults on the human kingdoms.

But why was this guy here, and how did Lirae know him?

Wait… Damon quickly connected the dots. In his last life, Lirae had already died a long time ago when that assault happened back in the outpost. However, he had changed that story, and now she was alive. So… did that change this elf's story as well?

Snapping Damon out of his thoughts, a thorny hand appeared around his neck and started crushing him.

"You…" Erelion growled. "Bloodsucker! You dared to defile my Lirae?!"

Lirae screamed, "Stop! He didn't force me, Erelion! I chose this! You have no right to-"

But Erelion didn't even glance at her. His focus was absolute, feral. "He turned you into a monster."

Damon, on the other hand, only grinned. The next second, a blood tendril appeared. It sliced cleanly through the thorny vines constricting his throat, reducing them to writhing, steaming strands of shredded bark and sap.

"Monster, huh? I wonder who the monster is. Someone blindly attacking without knowing what happened or the person who is trying to get her out of here?"

"You corrupted her," Erelion spat, raising both arms. The chamber's wooden pillars groaned, vines bursting from the floor like serpents. "You think blood gives you the right to claim her?! She's not yours to take!"

Lirae stepped between them, her body trembling as both blood and nature energy surged in opposite directions. Her voice shook. "I am not a prize, Erelion. I made my choice."

"You made your choice because you thought there was no other way. Perhaps this pathetic monster couldn't give you an alternative but I can, Lirae. I can take you out of here, right now. First, I need to stop this transformation."

Before Damon could react, the mana in the air distorted and several figures started appearing one after the other. The female knight, several guards and couple of C rank experts, all appeared at the same time, completely surrounding Lirae's quarters.

Erelion used this chance to shout loudly. "A vampire!"

Immediately, everyone's eyes turned towards Damon. The blood tendril dancing around him was proof enough and without hesitation every single person in the chamber started attacking the lone vampire.

Damon didn't flinch. The moment the attacks surged toward him, swords flashing, spells cast, divine energy blasting, he stepped forward instead of back, his expression devoid of fear.

With a flick of his hand, the blood tendril shot outward and expanded into a crimson shield, absorbing the first barrage of strikes. Explosions of light and mana thundered through the chamber, but when the dust cleared, Damon stood unharmed, the ground around him scorched and cracked.

He exhaled slowly. "I was trying to leave peacefully."

Blood erupted from beneath his feet in a shockwave, forming jagged spears that shot outward with deadly precision. One C-rank mage barely managed to erect a barrier in time, while another was slammed into the wall, his weapon clattering away.

The female knight met Damon's strike head-on, her blade shimmering with divine enchantment, but her arm trembled upon impact. He was stronger than she expected.

"Lirae, stay behind me!" Damon called out, only to realize that he no longer sensed her presence. Not just her but Erelion was also missing.

"Heh." Damon grinned. It looked like the bastard dragged Lirae and ran away using the commotion. He did not know what teleportation skill he used but he needed to learn it. Something like this could be very useful down the line.

Damon did not mind so much. He had a few tricks of his own. But first he needed to get out of here. He silently summoned his shadow clone who sneaked through the ins and outs of the royal palace in a matter of seconds.

Damon easily held his own in that time. Before the reinforcements arrived, he was out of there, switching places with his shadow clone. The entire royal force searched everywhere high and low, only to turn up empty handed. Because of the shadow clone, they were unable to track him using magic skills.

Immediately multiple C ranks made their move and started combing through the city and the city outskirts but the crowd in a Kingdom capital city was no joke. Damon only needed a couple of Blinks to arrive at the teleportation center and from there in a minute, he disappeared.

On the outskirts of a random city, he activated Blood Gate and opened up a portal to Blood Hall. The moment he decided to bring out Lirae one way or the other he had already asked Kaelthorn and green eyes to leave. So when he returned to the Blood Hall, the two of them were already waiting for him.

"My Lord, is everything alright? The entire light faction is talking about it. You kidnapped a princess?" Varnyx rushed over to ask him.

"Don't let anyone disturb me for a while." Damon quickly hurried over to his private chambers. He closed his eyes to rethink all of his plans. Things had now taken a drastic turn and he needed to plan for the new scenario.

A pair of soft hands appeared from behind him and started massaging him. "What happened now? Its barely been a few hours since we last met and you are already knee deep in some problem? You kidnapped a princess?"

"Kate…" Damon smiled. "How are you doing?"

"I am fine. But I think I should be the one asking you this question. Is everything fine? Isn't Lirae the girl who helped you get your family out of the prison? Cough. Cough. Your niece even told me that she was your fiance? You brought her here?"

***

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