Chapter 206: Clash At The Khalfani Hotel (2)

Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Clash At The Khalfani Hotel (2)

Ramses Khalfani.

He was a tall, lean man in his fifties. Cold, calculating eyes. Golden rings on every finger. A heavy gold chain around his neck. A Late Grand Core master.

Ramses looked up from his paperwork. His expression didn’t change. He studied Lucian.

"Now who the fuck are you, boy?" Ramses said, his voice calm and unhurried.

Lucian walked forward. His Early Grand Core aura blazed. Thrum. The marble floor cracked beneath each step. Crack. Crack. Crack. The air grew heavy. The bodyguards shifted uneasily. The mana pressure in the room doubled.

One of the Early Grand Core lieutenants — a stocky man with a shaved head — smirked. "Just an Early Grand Core? I’ll handle him al—"

"Give me the location of the Apeps."

Silence.

Every eye in the room locked onto Lucian. The tension spiked. Auras flared simultaneously — the bodyguards, the lieutenants, and Ramses himself. Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. The room trembled under the collective pressure.

Ramses leaned back in his chair. His golden rings clinked against the desk as he steepled his fingers. "Who are you? And what is your connection to the vampires?"

Lucian’s expression didn’t change. "Give me the location. Or we do this the hard way."

Ramses’ aura flared. BOOM. The chandelier above them swung violently. His eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you threatening me? In my own house?"

He looked at his men. "Kill him. No torture every information from him then kill him."

The stocky Early Grand Core lieutenant moved first. He rushed forward, raising his hand. A massive telekinetic hand materialized in the air — translucent, glowing with faint purple energy. Fwooooosh. It slammed into Lucian’s chest with the force of a freight train.

CRASH!

Lucian was thrown backward. His back hit the marble wall. Crack. The wall spiderwebbed behind him. Dust rained from the ceiling. The lieutenant smirked, lowering his hand.

"So weak."

Lucian pulled himself from the wall. Creak. Marble debris fell from his shoulders. He was uninjured. He rolled his neck, cracking it. Pop.

B-Rank Telekinesis.

Pathetic, Lucian murmured.

The lieutenant’s smirk faltered. He hadn’t even left a mark.

Light Acceleration activated. Flick.

Lucian disappeared. The lieutenant’s eyes widened. He looked left. Right. Down—

Lucian was already behind him. The black greatsword swung in a single, clean horizontal arc. SWISH.

The lieutenant’s head separated from his neck. Thud. The body crumpled. The head rolled across the marble floor, coming to rest against the desk. Clunk.

The room froze.

Lucian straightened. Fear Aura erupted from his body. PULSE. A dark, suffocating presence spread outward. The bodyguards’ faces went white. Their legs trembled. Two of them dropped their weapons. Clink. Clink. The Mid Grand Core lieutenant took an involuntary step backward, sweat beading on his forehead.

Lucian moved with blinding speed. The greatsword sang through the air. SWISH. SWISH. Two Peak Core bodyguards fell — bisected at the waist. Their bodies hit the floor in pieces. Squelch. Thud. Thud. Blood pooled across the marble.

Two more Peak Core guards charged. Lucian met them with a rising slash. SWISH. The greatsword carved through both in a single stroke. Squelch. Crash. Their bodies flew backward, crashing through a glass display case. Shards rained down. Tink. Tink. Tink.

Ramses stood up from his chair. Sand began gathering around his body — swirling, rising, forming a dense armor of compressed grains. Fwooooosh. He removed his suit jacket, letting it fall to the floor. His shirt stretched over lean, corded muscle.

"All of you are so useless," Ramses said coldly.

He attacked. FWISH. FWISH. FWISH. Sand spears — each one three meters long, compressed to the density of steel — launched from his palms. They screamed toward Lucian with killing intent.

Lucian fired Blood Spears. Pew. Pew. Pew. The crimson projectiles met the sand spears mid-air. CRACK. CRACK. CRASH. Each collision sent shockwaves through the penthouse. Walls cracked. The ceiling groaned. Marble tiles shattered underfoot.

The Mid Grand Core lieutenant transformed. His body expanded. Muscles bulged. Hair sprouted across his arms and face. His jaw extended into a muzzle. Claws erupted from his fingertips. A beast — a wolf-like creature, towering at eight feet. Rooooaaar. He lunged at Lucian from behind.

Lucian’s Blood Sense had tracked him the moment he moved. He spun. The black greatsword met the wolf’s claws. CLAAANG! Sparks exploded. The wolf was strong — Mid Grand Core strength enhanced by his transformation. But Lucian was not just any ordinary vampire. He was an ancient vampire and with the realm breaker title active, his body refused to give ground.

The remaining Early Grand Core lieutenant — a woman with fire mana blazing around her fists — attacked from the side. She launched a concentrated fire blast. FWOOOOM! A torrent of flame roared toward Lucian’s exposed back.

Lucian jumped back. Flick. The fire blast passed through where he’d been standing, scorching the marble black. Sizzle.

But Ramses was waiting.

A massive sand fist — five meters across, compressed to the density of concrete — crashed into Lucian’s back. BOOOOM!

Lucian was launched. His body tore through the penthouse wall. CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! He smashed through two interior walls and a decorative pillar before crashing into the outer glass facade. SHATTER! The floor-to-ceiling windows exploded outward. Tink. Tink. Tink. Glass rained down twenty stories to the street below.

Lucian caught himself in mid-air. Light Steps. Flick. His feet found purchase on the building’s exterior. He stood on the glass facade, looking back into the ruined penthouse. But his regeneration was already working — the cracked ribs knitting, the bruised tissue repairing.

The clash had already shattered everything. The penthouse was a ruin. Ceiling exposed. Cold night wind howled through the gaping holes where windows used to be.

Lucian stepped back through the opening. Tap. Tap. His boots crunched on broken glass and marble.

The two remaining lieutenants — the wolf and the fire woman — stood beside Ramses. The four remaining Peak Core bodyguards regrouped behind them, their weapons drawn, their hands shaking.

Ramses stood before his ruined desk, sand swirling around him like a vortex. "You’ve cost me a lot tonight, boy. I’ll take my time pulling you apart."

The lieutenauts and the four peak Core bodyguards rushed forward.

Lucian clapped his hands together. Clap.

"Devouring Void."

A pool of darkness spread from beneath his feet. Fwooooosh. It expanded outward in a ten meters range — a circle of absolute blackness that swallowed light, sound, and mana. The floor beneath it vanished from sight.

The six attackers — the two lieutenants and four Peak Core bodyguards — were caught within its radius instantly.

Their faces went pale.

The Peak Core bodyguards felt it first. A violent, tearing sensation — as if their mana cores were being ripped from their bodies. Their life force drained rapidly. Hsssss. Their skin began to wither. Their eyes dulled. They screamed. Aaaagh! AAAAAH!

"No — WHAT IS THIS—"

"MY MANA — IT’S—"

Two seconds. That was all it took.

The four Peak Core bodyguards collapsed. Their bodies hit the floor like dry leaves. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The two lieutenants had jumped. Whoosh. Whoosh. They launched themselves out of the Devouring Void’s radius, landing ten meters away. But the damage was done.

The wolf lieutenant gasped, clutching his chest. His transformation flickered. The fire woman steadied herself against a broken wall. Their eyes were wide with horror.

Even in those two seconds inside the dark pool — one-fifth of their mana had been drained.

Lucian stepped forward. The Devouring Void receded, the darkness pulling back into his body like a tide retreating from shore. Fwooooosh. He absorbed the stolen energy. His mana reserves, which had dipped from the earlier fight, refilled partially. His crimson eyes glowed brighter.

He licked his lips.

"Come on," Lucian said, his voice carrying a predatory edge. "Is that all you got for me?"

The two lieutenants stared at him. Fear was etched across their faces. They stepped back instinctively.

Then —

FWISH. FWISH.

Sand spears erupted from behind them. They punched through the lieutenants’ backs, through their hearts. Shhhhk. Shhhhk. The tips of the sand spears protruded from their ribcages, dripping blood.

The wolf lieutenant looked down at the spear through his chest. His mouth opened. No sound came. He crumpled. Thud.

The fire woman turned, her eyes wide with betrayal. "Ramses... why..."

Ramses Khalfani stood behind them, his hand outstretched. Sand swirled around his fingers. His expression was utterly cold.

"Your weakness cost me my penthouse," Ramses said. "Weaklings don’t deserve to serve the Khalfani name."

The fire woman’s body hit the floor. Thud.

Ramses lowered his hand. The sand spears dissolved. He looked at Lucian across the ruined penthouse, stepping over the bodies of his own men without a glance.

"Now then," Ramses said, sand swirling around his fists. "Just you and me, boy."