"Who… exactly are you?"
Shuzen Issa stared straight at Arthur, eyes sharp enough to pin a man in the air.
Arthur smiled.
"Since you're asking so sincerely, I'll tell you."
"My name is Arthur."
"And right now, I'm just the man of your two daughters. That's all."
"...Two—two daughters?!"
Shuzen Issa's eyes flew wide.
Not one.
Two.
This human actually ran off with two of his adorable daughters?!
As an old father…
He felt the sky collapse in that moment.
"Who? Who else?" he forced out.
"Moka."
Arthur very kindly answered him.
Not bad, right? Very considerate.
Arthur silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart.
Surely, after hearing that, Shuzen Issa's heart must be… warm?
Yes. It was warm.
So warm that, the moment he heard it, a surge of hot blood blasted out of Shuzen Issa's heart and rushed through every inch of his body.
His face flushed bright red.
Blue veins bulged on his forehead.
He even felt like his teeth were about to crack from clenching.
"Ya'ai. Move!"
He ground the words out.
He was already past the point of anger.
"…"
But Shuzen Ya'ai only glanced at him… and didn't move at all.
"You—!!!"
Shuzen Issa's face went red to the ears.
Seeing how hard the man was holding it in, Arthur, ever the considerate one, smiled.
"If you wanna make a move, then make a move. Don't hold it in. You'll hurt yourself."
"Relax. Even if you go all out, you still won't hurt Ya'ai."
A barrier bloomed behind him and turned into a throne-shaped seat.
Arthur sat down, pulled Shuzen Ya'ai onto his lap, and watched Shuzen Issa calmly, lips tilted in amusement.
"Good… good… good!"
Seeing his own daughter looking at Arthur with that kind of trust, Shuzen Issa once again laughed from sheer rage, spitting out three "good"s in a row.
This time he didn't hesitate.
Invisible, overwhelming psychokinesis gathered at a point and blasted toward Arthur.
A Blue Sanctuary flickered into place in front of them.
The psychic strike slammed into the sanctuary — and a formless shockwave rolled outward.
"Mm?!"
Shuzen Issa's eyes narrowed. His own telekinesis had hit something like an unbreakable wall.
So. The kid had some weight to him.
The next second, he erupted with yōkai power.
Blood-red demonic power wrapped around him like fire. His telekinesis and demon power wove together, turning into a blood-red tornado that howled straight at Arthur.
It smashed into the Azure Sanctuary.
Red and blue light crashed and tangled in midair.
Power spattered in every direction.
Winds, sharp as blades, spun out.
The terrifying energy wave spread for tens of thousands of meters; leaves flew off every tree around the estate and whirled in the sky.
All the other members of the Shuzen family who saw this felt a genuine brush with death. Their faces changed.
They all backed far, far away.
Thousands of meters from the center of the fight. No one wanted to be collateral.
Fights between bigshots…
Were not for "small fry" to walk into.
This wave-vs-wave lasted a full minute before it finally died down.
That alone showed Shuzen Issa's strength.
As the head of a vampire clan, his power had already reached T1 among the Yōkai Domain's elites — close to T0. There were very, very few stronger than him.
When he stopped pouring out his demon power and telekinesis, when the commotion finally calmed, he looked back at Arthur… and frowned.
The boy was completely fine.
Arthur smiled at him.
"Since you're done… now it's my turn."
He hadn't even finished the sentence.
Arthur's spiritual power exploded outward, turning into a giant, invisible hand that slapped down at Shuzen Issa.
"Mm?!"
Sensing that powerful psionic pressure, Shuzen Issa's expression changed. He, too, erupted with telekinesis to meet it.
Two torrents of willpower crashed in midair.
Bang, bang, bang — explosions boomed in the sky.
The next instant, Shuzen Issa's face changed again.
With a dull whump, his telekinesis was completely crushed — and he, like a badminton shuttlecock, was slapped out of the sky by that invisible hand.
A heavy boom shook the ground.
Dust shot up.
The ground caved in, a deep pit forming.
A streak of blood-red light shot out of the crater…
And reformed into Shuzen Issa in midair.
His hair was disheveled now, and his clothes were torn in a few places.
"Again?!"
He had just stabilized himself when, before he could even flare up, he felt another massive psychic palm coming down.
He burst out with telekinesis and demon power together.
But it only held for two seconds.
Two seconds was enough.
He slipped out of the hand's range, turned into a blood-red light sphere, and charged straight at Arthur.
Arthur's expression didn't change. His smile didn't move.
A thread of golden light flashed in his eyes.
A brilliant gold gleam split the air in front of him.
The Golden General appeared from nothing.
That massive golden palm swung.
Smack!
Shuzen Issa, rushing straight in, was slapped away again.
Then, behind him, the Silver General manifested.
Another palm sent Shuzen Issa flying back toward the Golden General.
Smack, smack, smack…
The Golden General and the Silver General started playing "paddleball" with Shuzen Issa in the sky.
You hit once.
I hit once.
They were having a grand old time.
"Th-this…"
Watching her father get batted around like a ball, Shuzen Ya'ai's red lips parted slightly, an odd look in her eyes.
Shuzen Issa was suffocating with humiliation.
Every time he tried to gather power to fight back — smack — he'd be slapped mid-cast, and all that power would scatter.
He just… couldn't struggle.
He could only be the "toy."
About thirty seconds later…
Feeling it was enough, Arthur released his full spiritual power and grabbed Shuzen Issa in a single invisible hand.
The Golden and Silver Generals vanished.
Shuzen Issa exploded with everything he had.
But it didn't shake Arthur's psychic grip at all.
He hung there in midair, firmly locked.
Arthur looked at the still-struggling, thoroughly bedraggled, lightly blood-streaked Shuzen Issa and chuckled.
"Wanna keep going?"
"…"
Shuzen Issa's expression shifted again and again.
His fists clenched tight.
Unwilling. Furious. Stifled.
As a top-tier powerhouse in the Yōkai Domain…
When had he ever been dismissed like this?
But the truth was right in front of him.
He was nowhere near Arthur's level.
The moment Arthur got serious, he was exactly like he was now — no room to fight back.
And the kicker?
The other party was human.
Worst of all… the brat had taken two of his daughters in one go.
And there was nothing he could do.
He could only hang there.
Like a powerless father.
Arthur looked at the furious, utterly humiliated Shuzen Issa and chuckled.
"Take me to where you're hiding Alucard's true body. Don't worry — I already killed him."
"You killed— you?"
Shuzen Issa actually let out a short laugh, like he'd just heard something ridiculous.
He opened his mouth, clearly about to sneer.
But Shuzen Ya'ai cut him off:
"Arthur's telling the truth. Alucard's avatar was Fujisaki Miyabi, and I saw him die with my own eyes."
"Avatar? Fujisaki Miyabi…?"
Shuzen Issa froze for a second, eyes slowly widening.
Shuzen Ya'ai quickly explained what had happened — Fujisaki Miyabi's identity, Arthur destroying him, and how the Compendium hadn't lit because the main body was still sealed.
When she finished, Shuzen Issa's brows knitted. His gaze flickered.
He fell silent.
For about a full minute, he weighed it — Arthur's power just now, Ya'ai's stance, the fact that Alucard's true body was indeed the Shuzen family's biggest hidden bomb…
Finally, after judging the situation,
…he made a decision.
"...Fine."
His tone was still stiff, still unwilling.
"But I'll take you there."
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