The sigils on the floor blazed brighter, blood runes crawling up the obsidian pillars like veins of fire. Whips, claws, and tendrils of blood lashed out indiscriminately, ripping through weaker demons and beastkin as if they were cattle being culled. Every scream echoed in triplicate within the domain, the sound amplified until it became a cacophony of despair.

The mysterious vampiress stood in the center of the circle, her eyes glowing like pools of scarlet flame, her cloak spread wide as though she were the domain itself. The pressure radiating from her was suffocating, bending weaker spines and driving even some C-rank warriors to their knees.

Around her, the other vampires revealed their true strength. One conjured spears of blood that hovered in a deadly halo before firing off like crimson comets. Another summoned numerous blood orbs that shot in different directions creating chains of explosions. A third tore open their palm, smearing their blood into the runes, and in response, the domain's whips grew sharper, more vicious.

The entire place descended into complete and utter madness. Demons bellowed as they struggled against the bindings, beastkin slashed wildly, and the priestess on stage trembled violently, her divine aura fluttering like a dying flame.

However, amid it all, the lean, rune-marked "successor" remained unmoved, his dark eyes fixed on the vampires as though this chaos wasn't even worth his notice.

"Impudent leeches. Just because we allowed you to step foot in our land, doesn't mean you can forget your place." His dark skin shimmered as the crude tattoos across his body ignited one by one, each rune burning like molten metal.

The blood whips lashed at him, shrieking like living serpents, but they never touched his flesh. Every tendril of blood that came within a few feet of him dissolved into ash, burned away by an invisible force.

The runes glowed hotter, and then with a single step forward, the successor shattered the floor beneath him.

The entire blood domain quivered. The crimson glow flickered as if terrified, and several of the blood constructs, chains, claws, whips, snapped apart like glass struck by a hammer, exhausted red wisps raining everywhere.

The demon's cold gaze locked onto the vampiress at the center of the circle. "You dare bare your fangs at me?"

He extended a hand lazily toward her, and the tattoos along his arm crawled and twisted, rearranging themselves into a glowing sigil that pulsed with authority.

The vampiress immediately trembled, her scarlet eyes widening as she realized what it was.

A Lord's mark! A fragment of the Demon Lord's own authority, branded upon his heir!

Impossible! How could this demon already possess something like this? This development was not within their calculations. The sight of the Lord's Mark glowing on the demon's arm was something no one had expected.

Her blood domain strained violently against it, the runes hissing and writhing as though they'd been branded with fire. The whips faltered, claws shattered mid-swing, and half the bindings on the weaker demons evaporated in a burst of steam.

"Impossible…" she hissed, her voice reverberating across the collapsing circle. "The Mark should only awaken after the ritual… after the coronation…"

The successor's lips curved into the faintest smirk, though his gaze remained cold. "Rituals are for those who need permission. I was chosen."

The Lord's Mark pulsed again. This time the entire domain convulsed. Infernal flames erupted everywhere.

Blood orbs detonated in midair, showering crimson mist. The vampire conjurer who had unleashed them screamed as his own body burst apart, veins rupturing one by one. The spears of blood hanging in the air shattered into shards and rained down harmlessly.

The vampiress staggered, blood flowing freely from her mouth. Her eyes still flashed dangerously. Clearly, she was not ready to give up just yet even though this was not the fight she had signed up for.

A blood sword appeared in her hands as she dashed towards the demon. She moved like a streak of scarlet lightning, her blood sword howling as it carved through the air. The sword extended unnaturally, its powerful aura stretching ten meters forward, enough to bisect a squad of demons in a single blow.

The successor didn't even flinch. A shockwave rippled out from him, and the infernal flames wreathing his body coalesced into a jagged weapon of his own, a black glaive, its edge dripping with fire that wasn't flame but raw authority.

Blood and fire collided. The black glaive and the blood-forged sword met with a thunderclap that sent shockwaves tearing through the auditorium. Walls cracked, and obsidian pillars splintered. The entire place was about to collapse. The force of the clash drove weaker onlookers to their knees, blood spraying from their ears under the weight of the two powers colliding.

The vampiress roared, her aura erupting, fueling her weapon with the essence of blood. Her blade shrieked, stretching further, veins of crimson pulsing along its edge. She pushed with everything she had, desperate to cut through.

But the glaive, wreathed in infernal authority, didn't yield. The successor's mark blazed brighter, and with it came an oppressive heat that wasn't flame but sheer will. Each rune on his skin bled power into the weapon, making it feel as though the Demon Lord himself stood behind the strike.

Bit by bit, the vampiress's sword cracked. Crimson fissures spiderwebbed along its length as the glaive bore down. At last, with a final grinding sound, the blood sword split apart in her hands, bursting into shards that dissolved into a fine red mist.

The recoil hurled her backward, crashing her against the runed pillars with a deafening crack. Blood poured from her lips, but her eyes still burned with defiance even as her body trembled from the backlash.

"Did you think the blood of vermin could rival the will of a king?" The demon sneered as he walked towards her weakened body. Another infernal glaive appeared in his hand and with a look of utter contempt, he raised his hand, wanting to bring it down on the woman and end her life once and for all.

However, the raised hand surprisingly could not be brought down.

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