Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 170: Nothing

Lucifer stood silent.

The wind blew ash across his feet, carrying faint sparks from distant fires. His wings shifted behind him, feathers curling inward as his molten eyes locked onto the clone before him. For a long moment, neither moved. Their auras pulsed softly against each other, rippling through the cracked street like quiet thunder.

The clone tilted his head slightly. His black hair fell across his blood-smeared face, eyes glowing with that flickering, broken red light. His grin faded into something calmer. Something emptier.

Lucifer narrowed his gaze. He saw it. This one... he was not like the others. There was no blind hunger in his eyes. No mindless rage. Just... quiet purpose. Quiet longing. He felt it like a faint echo against his own aura.

"What do you want?" Lucifer asked softly. His voice was quiet, carrying through the ruined street with the weight of something final. Something tired.

The clone’s wings twitched once. Feathers burned faint crimson at their tips, flickering out in thin wisps of smoke. He lowered his gaze slightly, looking at Lucifer with eyes that held nothing human.

"I want... to know why I exist," he whispered.

The words fell into the silence like drops of black blood into still water. Mob shifted where he stood, clutching his bleeding chest, his golden eyes wide with pain and quiet grief. Vina and Rey leaned against each other, their ragged breaths catching in the silent morning air as they watched the two mirror images face each other.

Lucifer tilted his head, horns casting thin shadows across his bloodstreaked face. "You were created," he said, his voice low and rough. "Not born. Created to kill. That is all."

The clone’s eyes flickered. His lips parted slightly, trembling with something like pain. "Then... if I kill you... I become you...?"

Lucifer exhaled softly, shaking his head once. "No," he whispered. "You remain nothing."

The clone’s wings twitched harder. His fists clenched at his sides, black claws digging into his palms until dark blood dripped onto the broken asphalt. His breath trembled out in ragged, shaking gasps as his gaze burned deeper into Lucifer’s quiet, unbreakable stare.

Ella’s quiet sob broke the silence.

She knelt beside Francisca’s cold body, tears dripping steadily onto her pale, still face. Her long hair hung around her shoulders, streaked with dust and blood. Her eyes lifted, locking onto Mob as he struggled to remain standing, golden light flickering along his wounds with each shallow breath.

"Mob..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "Go."

He blinked, confused through the pain. "What...?"

She swallowed, her tears dripping faster as she looked back at Francisca. Her voice cracked as she forced the words out. "Go gather the others. The hunters. Our parents. Everyone. Tell them... tell them my father is dead... and this world... it’s about to be destroyed."

Mob’s golden eyes widened further. He looked at her, at Lucifer, at the trembling clone before them. His wings twitched weakly behind him, glowing faint silver against the smoky dawn.

"Ella..." he whispered.

"Go," she said again, her voice firmer despite her shaking shoulders. "It’s time to go home."

Mob clenched his teeth, pain burning through his chest as he forced himself upright. His sword dissolved into glowing motes of silver-blue light, drifting away on the breeze. He spread his wings wide, feathers flickering with faint glyphs as he turned away, blood dripping steadily onto the ground.

"Don’t die," he whispered to Lucifer, his voice cracking as he lifted into the air.

Lucifer didn’t answer. His eyes remained locked on the clone, burning deeper with every silent beat of his heart.

Mob rose into the sky, wings carving the smoke as he disappeared into the silent dawn. His divine light faded from view, leaving only ash drifting upward in his wake.

The clone stepped forward.

His wings spread wide, burning brighter at the edges. Blood dripped steadily from his fingertips, searing the pavement where it fell. His black sclera eyes locked onto Lucifer with trembling rage and silent, breaking grief.

"Fight me," he whispered again. "Please... fight me..."

Lucifer shook his head softly. His wings twitched once, the feathers folding tighter against his back. The runes along his arms burned faint crimson, pulsing in rhythm with his quiet, unbreakable aura.

"I will not," he said softly.

The clone snarled, stepping forward faster, his claws raised. "FIGHT ME!"

Lucifer didn’t move. His eyes burned with silent sadness as the clone lunged, wings folding inward as his claws slashed down toward Lucifer’s chest.

But Lucifer caught his wrists.

The impact cracked the ground beneath their feet, splintering the asphalt outward in jagged lines. Dust lifted around them, drifting through the dawnlight as their auras clashed in silent, quivering ripples. The clone strained against his grip, trembling with silent rage as his eyes burned brighter with flickering red sparks.

"WHY WON’T YOU FIGHT ME?!" he screamed.

Lucifer didn’t answer. He pulled the clone closer, pressing their foreheads together. Their auras folded into each other, swirling crimson shadow and molten gold in silent storms.

"You are not me," Lucifer whispered, his voice trembling with quiet grief. "You never will be."

The clone’s body trembled harder. Tears spilled from his black sclera eyes, dripping onto Lucifer’s blood-streaked chest. His claws curled inward, scraping against Lucifer’s skin without force.

"Then... then what am I...?" he whispered, his voice breaking into a quiet sob.

Lucifer closed his eyes. His horns burned faint crimson as he spoke the words that cut deeper than any blade.

"Nothing," he whispered.

The clone’s breath caught. His wings fell limp behind him, feathers flickering out into silent black smoke. His knees buckled, collapsing against Lucifer’s chest as silent tears spilled down his pale face.

Lucifer released his wrists. He wrapped his arms around the trembling clone, holding him close against his chest. Their blood mixed in silent streams down their bodies, dripping onto the fractured ground below.

Vina and Rey watched silently, their chests heaving with ragged breaths. The quiet wind blew dust around them, catching the faint morning light in drifting spirals. Ella wept softly, her hand still pressed to Francisca’s cold cheek.

The clone sobbed against Lucifer’s chest, silent, shaking sobs that broke into trembling gasps.

"I... I just wanted... to be real..." he whispered.

Lucifer closed his eyes tighter, his horns dimming as he held the broken shadow of himself against his heart.

"I know," he whispered back.

The dawn rose slowly behind them, painting the ruined city in quiet gold as the wind carried drifting ash across silent bodies and cracked streets. The air trembled with a grief too deep for words. Too old for tears.

Lucifer held his clone tighter.

And for a moment, there was no king or shadow.

Only an original holding a broken echo as the world died quietly around them.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺