Dawn approached as the crimson full moon sank low. The rising sun pierced the deepest darkness before daybreak, casting the first faint light upon the land.

Inside a cave in Sylia Forest, a hazy magic circle glowed faintly on the ground. A man and a woman materialized within it, as if teleported, their forms illuminated by the cave’s dim dawn light.

"Never thought the emergency magic I set up for hunts would be used like this," Lem muttered.

This teleportation circle, hidden in a cave near Sylia Forest, was Lem’s last resort—a failsafe woven with rare magical materials to save his team from total annihilation. Only he and Marn knew of its existence. Marn, his closest friend, would never betray its location. For now, they were safe.

Lem gazed toward Fort Posein, its silhouette blazing against the horizon. Silently, he apologized to his longtime hunting partner.

Beside him stood Selena—a voluptuous woman drenched in blood. Once his mother, now a demon. Her body was clad in a tight, purple gown woven from her own magic, showcasing her ample curves. But the garment was tattered beyond repair from battle. Gashes covered her skin, rabbit-horn daggers still embedded in her thigh and waist. Crimson blood seeped steadily from her wounds.

Unfazed, Selena shoved Lem against the cave wall. Her bare breasts pressed against his chest as she lifted a blood-slicked knee between his legs. She kissed his neck, her voice dripping with seduction: "How about tasting your mother’s youthful body?"

"Who’d lust after their own mother, you wretched Succubus?" Lem shoved her off effortlessly. "You’re so weak you can barely hold me down. Even maintaining that magic outfit is draining you, damn demon."

"Ah… caught me." Selena slumped weakly into a corner. With a pained grimace, she yanked the daggers from her flesh. As if her magic had finally exhausted itself, the purple gown dissolved like mist, revealing her scarred, naked body. "We got wrecked tonight. So why save me? Why betray Dante just to drag me here?" She pressed a hand against her bleeding waist wound, sweat beading on her brow.

"I’ve realized something," Lem said quietly. "Even if a demon controls her body… she’s still my mother. And you must still hold some of her memories."

"Who knows?" Selena replied carelessly, tending to a chest wound while letting him see her bare body.

"When Dante ambushed you earlier… you let his dagger hit you because I was standing behind you. If you’d dodged, it would’ve struck me instead."

"Maybe I just didn’t see it coming…" Naked and trembling, Selena tried to stand, clutching her wounds.

"Lie still," Lem snapped as she collapsed again. "In your state, you’ll be Corpse Eater bait the moment you step outside."

"Pah. Even wounded, I’d crush any Corpse Eater." Selena gripped a broken spear as a crutch, forcing herself upright. Blood gushed anew from her thigh.

Lem sighed. He grabbed bandages from a stash in the cave’s corner, wrested the spear from her hand, and shoved her back to the ground. "Honestly. Even my mother’s tough body can’t take this abuse."

"Enjoying playing with my flesh?" Selena teased as he wrapped her thigh.

Lem tightened the bandage viciously. Selena let out a moan—half genuine pain, half theatrical.

As Lem worked, a figure emerged from the cave’s shadows. A silver-haired woman in a crimson gown materialized like smoke. Blood Witch Lilith stood before them, elegant and chilling.

Selena lunged for her spear—but Lilith’s left eye flashed. Time froze around Selena. The Time-Stopping Demon Eye had her locked in place.

"I didn’t come for you, Succubus," Lilith purred. "I seek the Ghoul Hunter."

Lem ignored her, focusing on Selena’s wounds.

"Does it excite you? Defiling your mother’s body like this?"

"Push me too far, Blood Witch." Lem finally whirled, murder in his eyes.

"Oh dear~" Lilith laughed. "What can a weakling like you do? You can’t even save *her* life."

"What do you mean?" Lem’s hands stilled.

"You’ve seen it yourself. Her blood won’t stop flowing. This body should’ve rotted twenty years ago. She’s half-Succubus, half-Lich—a mongrel Undead. She’ll wither or decay beyond saving any moment now."

"So what?"

"I can give you the power to save her. After all, the one who resurrected her was a member of my library. Don’t you want to free your mother’s soul from this shell?"

"Lies."

"Yet you’re curious." Lilith leaned closer. "Let’s make a deal. Lem, weak human mage—you have the rare potential to become a Vampire. I’ll grant you my blood, Vampiric power, and borrowing rights to the Chronicle Hall. In return? When you die, you’ll join my library as a living book."

"Who’d sell their soul to a treacherous Vampire?" Lem spat.

"But my unreasonable little brother is already galloping through this forest." Lilith’s fingers danced over the blood pooling beneath Selena. An image shimmered in the crimson liquid: Dante and Elaina charging toward the woods on horseback. "You think you’re hidden? Dante’s nose is sharper than a hound’s. He *is* the Kingdom’s lapdog, after all." She giggled at her own joke.

Seeing the famously lazy Dante in relentless pursuit, panic flickered in Lem’s eyes. Desperation clouding his judgment, he locked gazes with Lilith. "Explain. What does ‘living book’ mean?"

"A book is a book~" Lilith’s smile widened. "I collect fascinating stories. I adore your past… and crave your future. You have the makings of a protagonist. After death, you’ll reside in my library, narrating the story of your life for eternity."

She saw his resolve crumbling. "I swear by Astaroth’s name—my library is more comfortable than Heaven or Hell."

Lem looked at Selena’s fading form. "Fine. Lend me the power to save her."

"As you wish, my dear contractor," Lilith whispered, sealing the pact with a smile. "My future protagonist."