Vladislav’s head slowly turned back, his crimson eyes fixing on Adam with cold amusement. His jaw, which should have been shattered, was already reforming, the bones knitting back together with an audible crunch.

"You have strength," he admitted, touching his jaw with pale fingers. "I’ll grant you that."

Adam didn’t respond. His fist was still raised, dark energy crackling around his knuckles. His crimson eyes never left Vladislav’s face.

Lilith pressed against Adam’s back, her threads already re-forming, weaving a protective web around them both. Her voice was soft, meant only for him. "His regeneration... it’s faster than anything I’ve seen."

Adam’s crimson eyes narrowed. "Then we hit him harder."

Vladislav’s hollow smile widened. "Foolish."

He raised his hand, and the blood weapons hovering in the air shifted, condensing, merging into a single massive spear. It pulsed with dark, crimson light, hungry and eager.

"[Blood Dominion:Bloodlet Symphony]."

The spear shot toward them.

Adam didn’t dodge. He stepped forward, his arms spreading wide, and his aura surged.

"[Monarch’s Aegis]."

The barrier snapped into place, shimmering with defensive energy. The spear struck it, and for a moment, they held the blood pressing against the shield, the shield straining against the blood.

Then the Aegis cracked.

Adam’s eyes widened. The spear broke through, tearing toward his chest.

Isolde’s blood intercepted it.

A tendril of crimson, thick as a serpent, wrapped around the spear, yanking it aside. It struck the stone floor, and the ground exploded, shards of rock spraying in all directions.

Isolde stood behind Adam, her hands raised, blood swirling around her like a living shroud. Her pale eyes were fixed on Vladislav, and her voice was cold, steady.

"You’re not touching him."

Vladislav’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Protecting a monster? How unlike you, Isolde."

Isolde’s voice turned cold. "He’s not a monster. He’s... he’s more real than you ever were."

Vladislav’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in those crimson eyes. "Interesting."

He raised his hand to attack again—

But Ignis was faster.

[Dragon’s Will: Solar Impact].

She slammed into Vladislav’s chest like a comet, her fist wreathed in solar fire. The impact drove him back, his feet carving trenches in the stone floor. His head snapped forward, his crown of thorns flickering.

Ignis didn’t let up. Her fists hammered against his guard, each strike faster than the last, each one wreathed in flames that seared his pale flesh.

"Stay away from them!"

Vladislav caught her fist.

His fingers closed around her wrist, and he held her there, suspended, her flames sputtering against his grip. His voice was soft, almost gentle.

"You’re young. Your flames are hot, but uncontrolled." He tightened his grip, and Ignis gasped, her wrist bones creaking. "You rely on emotion instead of precision."

"Let her go!"

Lilith’s threads shot forward, wrapping around Vladislav’s arm, his throat, his crown. She pulled, and the vampire lord stumbled, his grip on Ignis loosening.

Ignis yanked her hand free and leaped back, cradling her wrist. Her flames flickered, dimmed, but didn’t die.

Adam was already moving.

"[Abyssal Pierce]!"

His claws, wreathed in void energy, tore across Vladislav’s chest. Black ichor sprayed. The vampire lord staggered, his form flickering.

But he didn’t fall.

His hand shot out, catching Adam’s wrist, and his crimson eyes blazed.

"[Blood Dominion: Crimson Grasp]."

The blood around them surged, wrapping around Adam’s arms, his legs, his throat. It lifted him off the ground, suspending him in the air, and Vladislav stepped closer, his hollow smile returning.

"You’re persistent. I’ll give you that."

He raised his other hand, and a blade of blood formed in his grip, its edge gleaming with that hungry, devouring light.

"But persistence won’t save you."

Isolde’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding.

"Adam! Use the Crown!"

Adam’s eyes widened. The Crown of the Hollow Glutton blazed on his brow, its hungry light pushing back against the blood that held him. He could feel it, the souls of the dead pressing against his consciousness, waiting to be used.

He reached out with his will.

[Domineering Will].

The psychic pressure exploded outward, slamming into Vladislav’s mind. The vampire lord staggered, his grip on Adam loosening, the blood around him faltering.

"Kneel."

The word struck Vladislav like a physical blow. His knees buckled. His form flickered, the crown of thorns on his brow dimming.

Adam dropped to the ground, gasping, the blood falling away from him in crimson chunks.

He didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward, his claws extended.

"[Monarch’s Pierce]!"

His fist slammed into Vladislav’s chest, driving through flesh, through bone, through the ancient heart that should have been there. The vampire lord’s eyes bulged. Black ichor sprayed from his mouth, his nose, his ears.

The crown of thorns shattered.

Vladislav’s laughter echoed through the chamber, cold and mocking. "Kuhahahaha! Not bad. This is more entertaining than I expected!"

The shattered remnants of his crown didn’t fall. They twisted, reshaping, the broken thorns fusing together into a blade, a long, curved sword that gleamed with the same hungry, blood-red light. Vladislav’s fingers closed around the hilt, and the weapon pulsed in his grip, eager for blood.

"Now," he murmured, his crimson eyes sweeping over them, "I will drain every drop from your veins."

Vladislav moved like smoke over water, his form blurring at the edges, dissolving into a crimson haze that streaked across the chamber. The air where he had been standing shimmered with residual heat, and the blood at his feet rippled outward in a slow, spreading wave.

Adam’s instincts screamed. [Mirage Cascade] —his form split into three afterimages, each one darting in a different direction. Vladislav’s blade passed through the first two, but the third was already counterattacking.

[Pressurized Spines] .

A volley of high-pressure projectiles launched from Adam’s scales, tearing through the air toward Vladislav’s chest. The vampire lord twisted, avoiding most, but one embedded itself in his shoulder. Black ichor sprayed, and his form flickered just for an instant.

Ignis didn’t waste the opening.

She became a comet, flames wreathing her body, her fist aimed at Vladislav’s skull. [Dragon’s Will: Solar Comet].

The vampire lord’s crimson eyes tracked her. His blade swept up, not to block, but to redirect. He caught her fist on the flat of his sword and spun, using her own momentum to hurl her into the stone wall. Ignis crashed hard, the impact cracking the ancient stone, but she pushed herself up almost immediately, flames already rekindling.

Vladislav raised his free hand. The blood that had pooled across the floor answered his call. It rose in a spiraling vortex, swirling around Ignis, pinning her in place.

"Crimson Grasp."

The blood tightened. Ignis gasped, her flames sputtering as the pressure crushed against her ribs, her lungs. She couldn’t move.

Isolde flowed into motion like water finding its way through cracks in stone. Her crown of thorns blazed above her brow, then twisted, reshaping into a crimson blade that slid into her grip. Her pale eyes, fixed on Vladislav’s sword, held no fear.

Her blade swept toward Vladislav’s throat, a desperate strike, fast but not fast enough. Vladislav’s sword came up, meeting hers with a clash of steel and dark light. Isolde’s weapon shattered.

Vladislav’s hollow smile widened. "Still weak."

Isolde didn’t retreat. Her hands shot forward, blood erupting from her palms in a radial wave, a sphere of crimson death that expanded in every direction. [Blood Dominion: Crimson Requiem] .

The blast caught Vladislav in the chest, driving him back, shredding his coat, carving grooves across his pale flesh. Black ichor sprayed. He staggered, his form flickering.

Yet he remained standing.

He raised his blade, and the blood that had been scattered by Isolde’s attack reversed course, flowing back toward him, sinking into his wounds, sealing them.

Lilith appeared behind him.

Soulreaver blazed in her grip, its dark edge aimed at the base of his skull. She drove it forward.

Vladislav’s hand shot back, fingers closing around the blade. The edge bit into his palm, black ichor dripping, but he held it there, suspended inches from his neck.

"Persistent little thing." He turned his head slowly, those crimson eyes boring into hers. "I’ll admit, you’re starting to annoy me."

Lilith’s crimson eyes blazed. Her threads shot from her free hand, wrapping around his arm, his throat but his body was already dissolving into crimson mist, the threads passing through empty air before he reformed a few feet away, completely untouched.

Vladislav’s grip tightened. Soulreaver shuddered, the dark light along its edge flickering.

"Your threads rely on anchors," he sneered, his crimson eyes glinting with contempt. "Without them, you’re just a woman with a sword."

He twisted.

Soulreaver wrenched from Lilith’s grasp, clattering to the stone floor. The vampire lord raised his own blade, its edge gleaming with that hungry, devouring light.

"Now. Let’s have a taste."

Adam’s voice rang out, cold and commanding.

"[Domineering Will]."

The psychic pressure slammed into Vladislav’s mind but this time, he didn’t stagger. His form flickered, but held.

"Fool," Vladislav said, not even looking at Adam. "I’ve already experienced your trick. It won’t work twice."

Adam’s crimson eyes blazed. He was already moving.