Chapter 371: I need you at your strongest.

"That’s nothing more than speculation."

Aurelia spoke and the instant she did, Lucian’s grin widened.

"Then perhaps I should thank you for confirming my speculation."

Those words made Aurelia stare at him for a moment, then, she let out a small laugh.

"That’s impressive."

She praised.

"I am impressive, I know."

Lucian kept nodding to himself. For a moment, the two just smiled, then, Lucian’s eyes returned to the unknown Vampire.

He hadn’t reacted to their conversation at all, from the beginning, he had this flat, robotic look on his face that showed no annoyance, amusement or anything at all.

It was almost as if he couldn’t feel anything.

It was kinda creepy.

So Lucian turned back to Aurelia and asked another question.

"How strong is he?"

He was curious.

He could sense that the Vampire wasn’t weak, in fact, he could feel the Vampire was stronger than most people here.

Still, because the Vampire was actively suppressing his presence, Lucian couldn’t pinpoint his exact strength.

Aurelia glanced at the Vampire for a moment, then, her gaze returned to Lucian and she answered.

"A High Elder."

And the instant Lucian heard those words—

His smile disappeared.

"A... High Elder...?"

He looked at the man again.

High Elder was just one step below an Ancient Vampire.

"Yes."

Aurelia nodded with an amused smile on her face, wondering when Lucian would figure it out and Lucian...

His mind started thinking about his grand battle with an Archdemon.

"He could have killed Neroth anytime he wanted."

Lucian muttered out loud.

Of course, a High Elder would never normally be enough to take down an Archdemon, but Neroth wasn’t exactly comparable to an Archdemon. He was inside the body of a Redborn Vampire.

Even if he had that ridiculous amount of energy around him and control over the Hearth, against a High Elder, the battle would have been over in minutes.

"Most likely."

Aurelia answered as her eyes shone with amusement.

Her ’most likely’ was obviously a ’definitely.’

Lucian knew that. He stared at the woman in front of him with a blank look on his face and...

"Then why the hell did I fight him?"

He lost his head for god’s sake!

The unknown Vampire’s expression remained unchanged. Aurelia’s eyes, however, were now shining with even more intense amusement.

She was clearly enjoying this.

"I couldn’t reveal him."

She answered. Lucian frowned and Aurelia started explaining.

"He is one of the deepest assets I have inside Arcelis territory. He was never registered with the Hearth, House Arcelis doesn’t know he is here and I intend to keep it that way."

"Wait..."

Lucian’s face changed.

"When you said I needed to meet Varek because your people can be tracked..."

"I had him."

"But you didn’t use him because you wanted him to remain hidden."

Lucian spoke slowly as the realisation sunk in.

"And I had you, so I had no reason to call him."

Lucian nodded.

That explained a lot.

He looked at the unknown Vampire again and—

"So he has been operating inside Arcelis territory without their knowledge?"

"For a long time."

Aurelia nodded.

"How long?"

He asked curiously, Aurelia only smiled, not answering and Lucian raised both his hands.

"Right.

Secrets."

Aurelia nodded approvingly.

"See? Learning boundaries."

Lucian chuckled.

"Indeed."

Aurelia nodded again.

Then, Lucian looked around at the destroyed Estate and...

"So you let Neroth run rampant and destroy the Estate when you could have stopped him anytime you wanted...?"

He couldn’t help but ask.

"Arcelis Estate isn’t my responsibility."

Aurelia shrugged as if this didn’t bother her in the least and Lucian, as he stared at her, once again realised she wasn’t just some beautiful woman.

She was Aurelia Veyr.

An Ancient Vampire who could be... very cruel if she wanted to.

Aurelia looked around for a moment, then, her gaze returned to Lucian and she continued.

"The Arcelis went against the order I explicitly gave them, kept an Archdemon’s Heart in their possession and even lost control of their most powerful formation to him. I have no duty to protect them after a blunder this major, especially when it would cost me one of my greatest assets."

She spoke in a cold tone.

Lucian listened carefully, then—

"Though if Neroth was actually about to kill you, he would have intervened."

She spoke in a very serious tone.

Lucian stared at her, then, at the High Elder.

The Vampire finally acknowledged him with the smallest nod.

Lucian blinked at that.

Then suddenly—

"Besides..."

Aurelia spoke again as the amusement in her eyes returned.

"I wanted to see how you would fare in the battle."

Lucian raised an eyebrow at that.

"I wanted to see how long you would last. I’ve heard Silvian praise you and compare you to Rhydan, I wanted to assess you on my own."

"And what did you assess?"

Lucian asked curiously.

"Silvian was wrong."

Aurelia answered without a second of pause. Lucian raised an eyebrow and the Vampire smiled.

"You had no control over your body, so I just wanted to see how long you could avoid Neroth’s attacks before I finally needed to intervene.

I never thought you would win.

Silvian was wrong.

You are not comparable to Rhydan, you are above him."

Those words meant quite a lot to Lucian and not just because they were coming from Aurelia, but also because he actually respected Rhydan as a Warrior.

Being called better than him felt... rewarding.

"Thank you."

Lucian nodded with a genuine smile on his face.

Aurelia stared at that smile for a few seconds, then, as if she wanted to change the sudden air that had formed, a cheeky smile appeared on her face.

"I also wanted to see what you would do."

"What I would do...?"

Lucian tilted his head and Aurelia...

"Of course."

She nodded as she took a slow step towards him.

"After all...

I was weak, powerless and alone."

Her voice became soft as the Vampire stopped right in front of him. Her crimson eyes stared right into his violet ones.

"That is usually when bad men show their true nature.

Who knows what you might have done with me?"

She spoke and Lucian...

He gave her the flattest look he could manage.

Aurelia stared back with an amused smile, waiting for a reply.

"Oh, don’t worry."

Then suddenly, a big grin appeared on Lucian’s face as he closed the distance between them even further.

"What I intend to do won’t be nearly as fun if you don’t have the power to take it.

I need you at your strongest."