Yi Ze took Vivian’s “forehead flick” head-on. It wasn’t that he couldn’t dodge, but rather that he wanted to test the limits of his own defense.
In his mind, how much power could a single finger flick possibly have?
He decided to take this opportunity to see exactly what this seemingly petite vampire was made of.
As it turned out, the power far exceeded his estimates.
That seemingly casual flick contained power like a mountain flood, instantly blasting him away. He crashed through a dozen ruined walls before being buried deep within a pile of rubble.
Although his body sustained no actual damage—not even a scratch on his skin—the terrifying impact and the “flight” distance still made him marvel inwardly.
“This strength… she’s got some kick!”
Yi Ze shook his slightly dazed head inside the ruins.
“However, it looks like my defense is enough to tank her attacks without a problem.”
This greatly reassured him. Although he didn’t know the specific rank of this silver-haired loli within the Blood Clan, he deduced based on the latent rule of “no unbeatable bosses appearing in the early stages of the plot” that her strength should still be within a controllable range.
If an existence capable of instant-killing the protagonist’s party appeared right at the start, the original story wouldn’t be able to unfold at all.
“Since I’ve been hit, I have to strike back, right?” Yi Ze stood up from the ruins, his gaze locking onto Vivian in the air.
In the next moment, he kicked off the ground. The earth cracked as his figure appeared before Vivian like a teleportation. He swung a fist!
He deliberately controlled the power of this punch, keeping it roughly equivalent to when he killed the Lord-tier Goblin.
Mainly, he wasn’t sure about the opponent’s specific defensive strength. In case he used too much force and exploded this delicate and fragile-looking little loli’s head, the scene would be far too bloody, and he would feel psychological discomfort.
“Bang!”
His fist landed squarely on Vivian’s chin.
Her petite body was tossed high into the sky like a kite with a broken string.
Yi Ze shook his wrist as he watched Vivian turn into a black dot flying toward the night sky. A strange sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart. “Why does this… feel a bit good?”
He muttered to himself, then suddenly shuddered. “I won’t develop some weird hobby because of this, will I?”
A hundred meters up in the air, Vivian managed to stabilize herself. Her small, exquisite chin throbbed with a burning pain, filling her ruby-like eyes with shock and indignant rage.
“It hurts… it hurts so much!” She clutched her chin in disbelief.
Her physical defense was top-tier even among ancient magical creatures. In the last century, the only one who could make her feel pain with pure physical strength was that stupid dragon with the slow brain from a hundred years ago!
“That guy down there… is definitely not human!” Vivian was certain. A human could never possess such terrifying physical strength!
He must be like her, some kind of ancient magical creature specialized in disguising as a human!
Being toyed with and beaten like this by someone of unknown origins caused her pride as the Queen of the Blood Clan to burn with fury.
She let out a sharp cry, and a faint blood-red light emanated from her body. Like a meteor, she dove down from a hundred meters high, using a brutal headbutt that completely contradicted her appearance to smash toward the crown of Yi Ze’s head!
“Dong!”
A muffled sound echoed, like metal striking stone!
This time, Yi Ze clearly felt the pain—it felt as if his head had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer. His ears rang, and he even saw a few gold stars dancing before his eyes.
He bared his teeth and rubbed his forehead.
Vivian, on the other hand, had it worse. She clutched her forehead, which had instantly swollen up, tears welling in her eyes from the pain. “Ugh… You, why is your head so hard?”
Yi Ze rubbed his head irritably.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you, you brat? Who headbutts people just because they disagree? Do you have a problem in here?”
He pointed at his temple, speechless at this vampire loli’s fighting style. He didn’t even bother with polite speech anymore.
“Brat… Brat?!”
Vivian was so angry she nearly jumped. She ignored the pain in her forehead, her small face flushing bright red.
“I am the noble Queen of the Blood Clan! How dare you be so insolent!”
“Queen of the Blood Clan?” Yi Ze looked her up and down and curled his lip. “With that pint-sized body, you’re a queen?”
“I… My current appearance is only to better suppress the overly powerful energy within my body!” Vivian craned her neck and argued, trying to maintain her dignity. “My original form is very… very elegant and magnificent!”
“Oh?” Yi Ze’s interest was piqued. Did she really have a hidden trump card? “Then why don’t you show me what you originally look like?”
“I… I…” Vivian’s momentum instantly withered. Her eyes darted around, and she began to stutter. “I just completed a First Embrace and consumed too much energy. Right now… right now I can’t use that power…”
Seeing her guilty expression, Yi Ze understood. He gave a mischievous grin and intentionally drawled his words: “Little… sis… ter, lying isn’t what good children do~”
“Aaaaah! You’re not allowed to call me little sister!”
Vivian completely broke down. In her shame and indignation, she made a move that left Yi Ze dumbfounded—she suddenly lowered her head and delivered another headbutt. This time, her target was Yi Ze’s crotch!
“Holy crap!” Caught off guard, Yi Ze felt a massive force hit him. Although his defense still wasn’t breached, that moment of impact and the potential threat made him break into a cold sweat.
If he hadn’t maxed out his defense, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
“How… how are you okay?!” Vivian looked up at Yi Ze, who was still standing straight. Her face was filled with confusion and disbelief. “The books clearly said… that this is the weakness of all male creatures…”
“Heh.” Yi Ze was truly annoyed now. His expression turned completely cold.
He stopped talking. His body moved at extreme speed, and before Vivian could react, he grabbed her by the waist. Like an adult picking up a child, he easily pinned her facedown across his lap.
“You! What do you want to do?! Let me go!” Vivian struggled in a panic, but she found the man’s arms were like iron bands, unmoving.
“Not behaving, are you? Headbutting people, are you? Pretending to be an adult, are you? Giving the First Embrace to whoever you like, are you!”
—
With every sentence Yi Ze spoke, he raised his palm and mercilessly slapped that little bottom covered by the black Western-style dress!
“Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!”
The crisp, loud sounds of slapping were exceptionally piercing in the silent ruins.
“Ah! You… how dare you… how dare you hit me…” Vivian was shocked at first, followed by boundless shame and pain. As the dignified Queen of the Blood Clan, when had she ever suffered such humiliation!
“Stop! I command you to stop!”
“Dammit! When my power returns, I will definitely…”
“Waaaah… it hurts… stop hitting me… I… I know I was wrong… uwaaaaah…”
The threats and commands she clung to at first quickly turned into tearful pleas for mercy.
Yi Ze was also getting caught up in the heat of the moment. On one hand, it was because her bratty fighting style was truly irritating. On the other hand, and more importantly, if she hadn’t given Rhea the First Embrace, why would he be at risk of being hunted by a blackened Rhea in the future?
At the thought of this, he unconsciously hit a bit harder.
Truth be told, although this loli looked small, her bottom was quite fleshy. The sensation of hitting her… was actually a bit addictive?
It wasn’t until Vivian was crying inconsolably, with tears and snot almost mixing together, that Yi Ze suddenly snapped out of it, realizing he might have gone a bit too far.
He stopped awkwardly and set the sobbing Vivian down.
After calming his emotions slightly, Yi Ze began to ask about serious matters, his face grave. “The people of the Raymond Territory, did you kill them? Was it also you who turned them into vampires?”
Vivian’s eyes were red. She sniffled while habitually trying to strike a haughty pose, her small hand instinctively straightening her messy skirt. “Hmph! Naturally, it was I… I who did it…”
“Hmm?” Yi Ze’s gaze turned cold, and the hand he had just lowered seemed ready to rise again.
Vivian flinched, quickly protecting her rear with both hands. She told the truth with a sob: “No… it wasn’t me! I don’t know who did it either! I slept for a long, long time. When I woke up, I felt the scent of my kind here, so I came to take a look…”
Yi Ze stared into her eyes, trying to distinguish truth from lies. “Then why did you give Rhea the First Embrace?”
Vivian bit her lip aggrievedly. “I… I’ve been alone for a long, long time. I was a bit lonely… I just got here and that companion of yours… my current ‘daughter,’ she attacked me without a word. I got angry, and since her hair is as pretty as mine, I… I just gave her the First Embrace…”
Looking at Vivian’s expression, which didn’t seem fake, Yi Ze’s brow furrowed.
If she was telling the truth, then it meant that behind the tragedy of the Raymond Territory, there was another—or perhaps a group of—vampires hidden?
And looking at Vivian, she didn’t seem to know these “kindred”?
“Are you sure you’re telling the truth?” Yi Ze confirmed once more.
Vivian puffed out her flat chest, trying her best to look dignified. “I am the noble Queen of the Blood Clan, Vivian! Is there any need for me to deceive a lowly…”
She saw Yi Ze’s raised eyebrow and quickly swallowed the rest of her sentence, changing it to, “…no need to lie to you!”
Yi Ze gave her an extremely skeptical look, scanning her up and down. His gaze clearly said: “Queen of the Blood Clan? With that behavior of getting spanked over someone’s lap?”
Vivian was so provoked by his gaze that she jumped. “What kind of look is that! I really am the Queen of the Blood Clan! Back in the era when I led the Blood Clan to slaughter in all directions, you didn’t even exist yet!”
“Fine, fine, I believe you, I believe you.” Yi Ze was too lazy to argue with a boastful brat and waved her off dismissively.
“You don’t believe me at all!” Vivian’s cheeks puffed out in anger. But seeing Yi Ze’s “kind” smile, she ultimately didn’t dare to argue further. She only muttered in a low voice, “Hmph, just wait until I recover my strength… whatever.” She suddenly changed the subject, curiously looking Yi Ze over. “By the way, what race are you exactly?”
Yi Ze was puzzled. “I’m human.”
Vivian shook her head like a rattle. “Fine, if you don’t want to say it, don’t say it. Who are you trying to fool! How could a human have such a hard body!”
Yi Ze didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and he didn’t bother to explain. It seemed his defense appeared as proof of being “non-human” in the eyes of a real non-human entity.
Just then, Vivian seemed to sense something. She suddenly turned her head to look toward where Rhea had collapsed. Her previously aggrieved little face instantly radiated an excited glow. She pointed at Yi Ze and announced in a nasal but triumphant tone:
“You’re toasted! Hahaha! I feel it! My precious daughter is about to wake up!”
—
“Once my daughter wakes up, just you wait! I’ll have her beat you up mercilessly! Everything you did to me just now, I’ll pay you back ten times, a hundred times over!”