Chapter 181: RANK-UP!

“I hate you, Papa.”

Mable’s words hit Koya like a physical blow. His eyes widened in genuine surprise and shock as he immediately reached out and took hold of his daughter’s small shoulders, looking directly into her eyes with concern.

“You hate me?” Koya asked with a confused expression. “H-how… what did Papa do wrong?”

Mable blinked at him, then puffed out her cheeks in an adorable display of childish anger. “You said no carries!” she declared accusingly.

She turned her face to the right, maintaining those puffed cheeks like an angry chipmunk. “You’re the one who said ‘no carries anymore’ in your sleep! I heard you!”

Koya blinked several times, processing this information.

“Well… uh… I was having a dream where I had a whole lot of children running around, and you were fully grown into an adult woman. So in that context, why would I still need to carry you when you’re that big?”

He genuinely didn’t understand why he’d been having such a specific dream in the first place. Not that he was complaining about the idea of having many children with his wives… that was actually kind of nice to think about. But in practical terms, having a large number of children wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world to manage. And more importantly, why would Mable still want to be carried at that age when she’d be—

Mable suddenly turned back to face him directly, her young eyes filled with absolute conviction and determination that seemed far too mature for a child who was only a few weeks old.

“Papa,” she said seriously, “it doesn’t matter if I’m really big and even become an old woman someday. I still want you to carry me no matter what.”

Koya sighed deeply. Weren’t children supposed to eventually feel embarrassment or shame about being carried by their parents? Apparently that normal development didn’t apply to his dragon daughter at all.

‘She’ll grow out of it eventually,’ Koya thought with resignation. “Alright, alright. Papa will keep carrying you.”

He stood up from where he’d been lying on the couch and scooped Mable up with one arm, holding her securely against his side. She immediately perked up with a bright, sunshine smile that could melt ice.

“Good Papa! I don’t hate you anymore!” she declared cheerfully.

Koya let out a relieved sigh.

Having his daughter’s affection restored felt good. “You really shouldn’t be saying you hate Papa so easily, you know. You’re going to break my heart if you keep— wait, is it just me or are you getting bigger?”

Now that he was actually holding her, Mable weighed considerably more than he remembered. And looking at her properly, she appeared far larger physically than the last time he’d seen her before leaving for his exams. Her limbs were longer and her face looked more developed.

Mable perked up proudly. “Of course I’m growing, Papa! What did you think was going to happen? I’m a dragon!”

Koya reached out with his free hand and gently placed his finger on her forehead, pushing lightly. “You look even cuter than before… and that ribbon in your hair is really cute too.”

Mable couldn’t help herself at the compliment. She suddenly jumped out of his supporting arm and wrapped both her small arms tightly around his neck, hugging him with surprising strength.

“Welcome back, Papa!” she said with pure joy. “I love you so much!”

Koya felt warmth spread through his chest. He placed his hand on the back of her head and patted her blond hair gently.

“I love you too, Mable. More than you know.”

Then he finally looked around properly to take in his surroundings. He was definitely back in Star mansion… his home and he could see Victoria across the room, though notably, the crazy silver-haired Vampire woman who’d been viciously attacking him during that fight was also standing there.

Koya’s combat instincts immediately kicked in. He jumped backward reflexively to create defensive distance between himself and Tej, just in case she decided to attack again.

However, something completely unexpected happened as he moved.

A pair of large black wings suddenly erupted from his back without warning… tearing through his shirt and spreading wide. They were made actually real and bat-like except they were pretty big.

All of the women in the room looked at him with identical expressions of complete surprise.

“What the hell…” Koya muttered, twisting his neck to try and see his own back properly.

It felt incredibly strange and disorienting to have entirely new limbs suddenly attached to his body. The wings twitched involuntarily each time he even thought about moving them, responding to his subconscious intentions.

Then the system notifications started appearing in his vision.

「Congratulations! You have successfully inherited the Vampire God Bloodline from Vampire Queen Progenitor: Tejilia Ravenieth → Now registered as Amagi Tejilia, as she has officially become your Blood Wife through the vampire marriage contract.」

「Congratulations! You have now become the King of All Vampires by right of bloodline inheritance and marriage bond.」

「Your Fighting Spirit Reserves have reached maximum capacity for your current rank. Your Mana Reserves have reached maximum capacity for your current rank. You have met all requirements for breakthrough advancement! Would you like to rank up immediately?!」

「You now have permanent access to use Royal Blood Techniques that have been inherited directly into your Bloodline through the marriage bond.」

「You can now command and compel lesser Vampires to obey your direct orders. Note: Members of the Vampire God Bloodline will not be affected by this compulsion ability due to their royal status.」

Koya blinked repeatedly at the flood of system screens appearing before his eyes. For several long seconds, he couldn’t quite process or understand what he was reading.

He had become… a Vampire? Just like that? And that woman Tej had somehow become his wife through some kind of blood contract ritual? Which meant that all of this had happened while he was unconscious and—

‘She entered a Blood Contract with me, but don’t I have to agree to something like that first?’ Koya thought with frustration and a heavy sigh. ‘Doesn’t marriage require mutual consent?’

He focused his will on the new wings protruding from his back, mentally commanding them to retract. Surprisingly, they responded immediately to his intention, folding inward and somehow being absorbed back into his body as if they’d never existed.

The holes in his shirt remained as evidence, though.

This was definitely going to take significant getting used to.

“Papa, what was that?!” Mable asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Those were so cool!”

“It’s just some new trick I picked up recently,” Koya said evasively, not wanting to explain the complicated vampire situation right now.

Mable reached up and touched his hair with her small hands. “Oh! Your hair is way longer now too, Papa!”

Koya blinked and reached up to feel it himself. “Oh… yeah, you’re right. It grew out for some reason.”

Hakai cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention.

Koya carefully arranged Mable more comfortably in his arms and turned to focus on the rest of the women gathered in the room. “Oh, hey everyone. I’m back—”

“MASTERRRR~! I MISSED YOUUUUUU SO MUCH!”

Akemi immediately tore through the crowd of other women like an orange-haired missile, her hair bouncing wildly as she crashed into Koya and wrapped her arms around whatever parts of him she could reach while he was still holding Mable.

Koya chuckled warmly despite being slightly winded by the impact. He reached down with his free hand and patted her head affectionately. “Akemi, calm down. I’m here now, safe and sound.”

She pulled her face back just enough to look up at him with those bright, adoring eyes.

“Master! I’ve completely mastered my Healing magic now… well, as far as my current rank allows me to advance at least. But I can even heal torn-off limbs now! So it doesn’t matter if your hand gets cut off in battle… if you give me enough time and mana, I can heal you back to perfect condition!”

Koya patted her head again, genuinely impressed and she leaned into his touch like a cat seeking affection.

“Master, did I do good? Am I useful to you now?” she asked with obvious hope in her voice.

“Yes, that’s incredible growth, Akemi. You’ve worked very hard,” Koya said sincerely then a thought occurred to him. “Wait… how exactly did you test the torn limbs healing? That’s pretty specific.”

“Oh! Yuna tore off her own arm during training, so I got to practice!” Akemi said cheerfully.

Koya’s head snapped around immediately. His gaze landed on Yuna… the black-haired woman who was currently staring at the ground while trembling slightly, clearly nervous about his reaction.

Akemi suddenly pushed herself away from Koya and ran over to where Yuna stood.

‘Perfect,’ Akemi thought with a cunning smile on her face. ‘If I get Yuna in trouble with Master, then he’ll only want me next to him instead.’

She physically pushed the older woman forward toward Koya.

“Ma-Master… welcome back,” Yuna said with her voice shaking as she stumbled forward.

Koya reached out and gently took her hand in his, examining it with concern.

“Which arm did you tear off? And what kind of training exercise possibly causes someone’s entire hand to be ripped off their body…”

Yuna swallowed hard. Her Master actually cared about her safety that much?

The truth was that she’d been attempting to vibrate her hand at extremely high frequencies using her sound element manipulation, trying to develop a new technique but in the process of pushing too hard, she’d accidentally caused her entire arm to violently explode off her body. However, Koya didn’t give her the opportunity to explain before he continued speaking.

“Whatever experimental training you were attempting, you need to be far more careful going forward,” he said firmly but kindly. “Not everyone has regeneration abilities… I can regrow lost limbs because of my specific constitution, but the same absolutely cannot be said for you. If you completely destroy your arm beyond what healing magic can repair, you won’t be able to get it back. Ever. Do you understand?”

Yuna felt her chest tighten with emotion. He was scolding her, yes, but only because he genuinely cared about her wellbeing and safety.

She nodded quickly. “I’ll be much more careful from now on, Master. I promise.”

Then she hesitated before asking shyly, “Master… can I hug you now too?”

Koya smiled. “Why not?”

Yuna stepped forward and hugged him carefully but warmly. Unlike Akemi, she didn’t immediately start recounting her accomplishments or seeking praise. She simply held him for a moment, smiled genuinely, and then stepped away to give others space.

Hakai cleared her throat again, this time more insistently.

“Everyone should let Koya rest properly for now,” she announced with authority. “He’ll join us all again for dinner later this evening. Give him some time to recover and process everything that happened.”

All the women chorused.

“Okay…”

Then they began dispersing to give him space.

Koya moved to walk toward Victoria, wanting to check on her and her reunion with her sister Tej. However, he noticed that Victoria was already carrying Tej up the stairs to one of the upper bedrooms with the two sisters talking quietly together.

His brows furrowed slightly. Had Victoria completely forgotten about him in the excitement of being reunited with her long-lost sister? That stung a little.

“Mama Hakai!” Mable suddenly piped up. “Aren’t you going to tell Papa about our super secret mission that you were telling me about earlier?”

Hakai walked over and spread her arms out. Mable immediately transferred from Koya’s arms into Hakai’s, settling comfortably.

“I’ll tell Papa all about it later this evening,” Hakai said, then she looked directly at Koya with those intense eyes. “But for now… would you like to know where she is?”

…

Koya stood in the doorway, looking at the bed where a young woman lay sleeping peacefully.

Disguise Master… or whatever her real name was lay there on her back, snoring very softly. It was obvious that she was in deep sleep, probably exhausted from whatever battle had occurred.

“I see…” Koya muttered quietly so as not to wake her.

Hakai hadn’t given him the full detailed explanation of everything that had happened during their confrontation with Tej and the battle afterward but she had mentioned that Disguise Master had literally risked her own life to save his, throwing herself into mortal danger without hesitation.

That made him feel incredibly grateful and also somewhat guilty that she’d been hurt protecting him despite him trying to protect her.

‘We’ll definitely talk once you wake up,’ Koya thought, looking at her sleeping face.

She looked completely different from how she normally appeared when wearing her various disguises. She had natural black hair now instead of whatever color she usually wore. And her facial features…

He could swear she looked remarkably similar to Hakai, almost like they could be related.

Koya looked around the quiet guest room for a moment, then made a decision. He walked over near the door and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and settling into a meditative position like a cultivator preparing for breakthrough.

‘I’m ready to rank up, System…’ he thought with determination.

After everything he’d been through… the exams, the battles, nearly dying again… he at least hoped this would result in some kind of super rare, never-before-seen rank advancement. ‘After all this stress and growth, it’s hard to imagine I’ll just get something regular.’

「Your Rank Up Is Starting… Please brace yourself, Host.」

Immediately, Koya felt his heart begin to thrum powerfully in his chest. Each beat sent a spasm of energy through his entire body like electrical current. He had to lean slightly away from the door as pressure built inside him.

A red aura and a blue aura suddenly manifested around his body, swirling and beginning to converge together. The blue represented his mana… magical energy while the red represented his Fighting Spirit, or as his friend HeroGod liked to call it when they texted each other daily…

It was Aura.

SHATTER!

Something inside Koya’s body broke like glass… not painfully, but with a sensation of barriers crumbling.

The four black crests that had been visible on his face since he’d last ranked up his power completely vanished, fading away like smoke.

His mana reserves expanded rapidly, growing to hold far more energy than before. At the same time, his Fighting Spirit reserves also increased, filling that newly opened space.

The dual-colored auras covering his body rose higher and higher, eventually filling the entire guest room with swirling energy.

Koya gritted his teeth as he felt something happening to his skeletal structure. Small cracks began forming in his bones… bones that had been hardened and strengthened by his newly acquired Vampire God bloodline.

The cracks appeared and then the bones immediately rebuilt themselves even stronger than before. The process repeated over and over, happening throughout his entire body simultaneously.

It was like his body was being deconstructed and reconstructed from the inside out.

SHATTER!

Another breakthrough barrier collapsed.

His mana reserves increased even more dramatically this time. All the ambient mana in the surrounding area… that was in the room, in the hallway, and even flowing through the mansion suddenly rushed toward him like water flowing downhill. It poured into his expanded reserves, filling them completely.

Koya’s eyes began glowing with power… one eye burning blue and the other burning red. His Fighting Spirit reserves, which had just been expanded to their new limit, were also filled completely by the transformation energy.

The process continued for several long minutes with energy crackling in the air around him.

The floor beneath him developed small cracks from the pressure and even the walls trembled slightly.

Finally, the massive amount of energy that had been swirling and rising into the air above him suddenly reversed direction. It retracted rapidly, being absorbed back into Koya’s body in a rush.

His eyes snapped open… both glowing with power. The left eye burned with blue mana light and the right eye burned with red aura light.

Then something new appeared on his face.

Two thin crests rose slowly from his chin on both sides of his face. The line on the right side was blue and incredibly thin… thinner than the black crests had been. It traveled upward and stopped precisely at the base of his right eye. T

he moment it finished forming, that eye stopped glowing blue.

The line on the left side was red and matched the blue one in thickness. It also traveled upward and stopped at the base of his left eye. That eye stopped glowing red once the crest completed.

Koya let out a long, deep breath. He felt stronger than he’d ever felt in his entire life… He had successfully ranked up! And he had become a—

「CONGRATULATIONS, HOST! You are the only human being in the entire world to awaken both the Blue Crest AND the Red Crest simultaneously! This is unprecedented in all of recorded history!」

「Your Mana reserves have increased drastically beyond normal advancement levels!」

「Your Aura reserves have increased drastically beyond normal advancement levels! Fighting Spirit energy system is now fully complete and will officially be termed as ‘Aura’ going forward.」

「Your existing spells have received a massive power boost across all categories! Blood-related spells have received a special 500% increase in their base power due to your newly acquired Vampire God Bloodline!」

「Your contracted Familiars have all received significant power boosts from your advancement! They are now much stronger!」

‘Damn…’ Koya slowly stood up from his meditative position with his legs steady despite the massive transformation his body had just undergone. ‘So this is the true power of ranking up…’

If this was what happened when he achieved the Blue and Red Crest simultaneously, then what would happen when he eventually advanced to Silver Cre—

His thoughts were interrupted when Disguise Master suddenly sat bolt upright in bed with her eyes wide open.

She immediately ran directly at him and hugged him tightly, using her momentum to force him backward and down. Koya blinked in complete surprise as they tumbled together.

‘Huh?! What’s happening?!’

She had only been able to pull him down because he’d allowed it out of surprise… he could have easily resisted. But why was Disguise Master hugging him so desperately like this?

“Master…” her voice was thick with emotion. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Uh…” Koya looked down at her as she gazed up at him with striking purple eyes that were identical to Hakai’s, She was definitely related to Hakai somehow. “Disguise Mas—”

She lifted one hand and gently pressed her finger against his lips, silencing him.

“You can call me Kaede, Master,” she said softly but clearly. “That’s my real name. My true name is Kaede Hoshigaki, Master.”

Koya blinked in surprise at the formal introduction and the revealed surname.

“This is my real body too, not a disguise,” Kaede continued, searching his face for his reaction. “Master… is this appearance to your liking?”