-----
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"Huff... huff..."
Five or six minutes later, Moka Akashiya gently pushed Max away, her hands pressed against his chest as she tried to catch her breath, her face flushed bright red.
She was a vampire, after all—she didn't even need to breathe if she didn't want to. She could probably hold her breath for centuries if she felt like it.
But when she kissed Max, it was like she couldn't breathe at all. Her heart pounded so wildly it felt like it might burst right out of her chest.Her whole body felt soft and tingly.
Max didn't immediately dispel his domain, the King's Realm. Instead, he held Moka in his arms, sitting with her on the golden throne.
He looked down at her with a gentle smile."Moka, the bond is complete. From now on, you'll always belong to me."
"Mhm..."
Hearing that, Moka leaned her head against his chest, her eyes shining with quiet joy as she gave a small hum of acknowledgment.
After a while, Max tilted his head slightly and smiled."Moka, aren't you going to check out the power I just gave you?"
"I guess I should..."
Moka blinked, then nodded softly before focusing on the new energy inside her.
She closed her eyes.
And then she saw it—a massive golden sword, hanging suspended in the air.
She could feel the new energy flowing through her veins.
Opening her eyes, she raised her right hand.Golden particles of light flickered into existence, swirling into the shape of flames, tinged faintly with red.
She could sense how this energy blended seamlessly with her own demonic power, amplifying it several times over.
Her whole body thrummed with raw strength.
"What kind of power is this?"
She looked at Max curiously.
Max chuckled. "That's spiritual energy. You can think of it as another form of demonic power—they're basically the same thing. The contract gave you the ability to fully unleash your strength."
What he had granted her was the golden king's Power of Fate—an ability that drew out a person's potential to its absolute limit.
As a vampire known more for brute strength than fancy tricks, Moka had always relied on pure physical ability reinforced by demonic energy.Her fists and kicks were her weapons.
Now that her power had been unlocked, her combat ability would at least double—maybe even more.
Even though Moka's current form was still her "sealed" human state, with the golden spiritual energy flowing through her, she could probably punch through a delivery truck like it was paper.
Her defense had also skyrocketed.
The spiritual energy granted to his familiars came directly from the Primordial Force itself—at least a hundred times stronger than ordinary energy.
And her authority as his familiar was also enhanced.
If a single King's Authority was "blue grade," then seven combined barely reached "purple."But this Supreme King's Authority... it wasn't just purple—it was close to gold.
Its power was hundreds, maybe even thousands of times stronger.
"I see..." Moka murmured, a look of realization crossing her face.
No wonder when she used it, she felt like she could tear the world apart with a single punch.
Max smiled faintly. "Wanna test how strong you've gotten?"
"...Sure."
She hesitated for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
Moka wasn't particularly fond of fighting,but since Max had suggested it, she figured it couldn't hurt to try.
He scooped her up princess-style and took a step forward—instantly appearing on the grassy field below.
With a flick of his thoughts, a barrier the size of a large doorway shimmered into existence ahead of them.
Setting her down, he said with a grin, "Go ahead. Use your full power and get used to how it feels."
"Alright, I'm going for it!"
Moka took a deep breath, clenched her right hand into a fist, and stepped forward.
She focused all her attention inward.Golden light, streaked with red, flared around her hand.
And then she punched the barrier.
She only used half her strength—but even so, the impact made the entire barrier ripple like water.
Moka blinked in surprise.
It really did feel like punching the surface of a lake.
She threw another punch.Then another.And another.
Following Max's advice, she kept drawing on the spiritual energy inside her.
Ten minutes later, Max finally dissolved the Supreme King's Realm.
Its core attribute was Control—the power to create a sovereign's domain, a space ruled entirely by the King.
Within that realm, Max was the supreme ruler.He could shrink or expand the space at will,manipulate teleportation, distortion, collapse, slicing, and even complete spatial lock.
And that wasn't even the full extent of its power.
"Let's go home," Max said softly, scooping up the slightly out-of-breath Moka.
He rose into the air, flying toward Tokyo's Nerima district.
Unlike their arrival, this time he didn't rush.
Held securely in his arms, Moka's cheeks flushed pink.She smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck, then closed her eyes and rested against him.
...
Twenty minutes earlier
When Max had removed Moka's sealing cross—
In the northeast of Japan, Fukushima Prefecture—deep in a remote, uninhabited mountain region near Soma City—a powerful barrier shrouded a hidden spatial passage.
On the other side was a small world,roughly the size of Earth's landmass.
This was the Demon Realm—the place where Moka had grown up.
In the Shuzen family's underground chamber,something that had lain dormant for ages suddenly trembled faintly.
A man appeared in an instant.
He frowned at the stone coffin before him, murmuring,"The seal here... it's fluctuating. Could it be that Moka's seal in the human world has been removed?"
He fell silent for a moment, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.Then, after one last look at the coffin, he vanished.
At the same time, elsewhere—
A handsome middle-aged man in a black tailcoat, with slicked-back dark hair, opened his crimson eyes.
"That's her aura!"
He closed his eyes again, feeling his own demonic energy surge.Moments later, he turned toward the direction of the spatial passage.
"The human world..." he muttered, his gaze deep and unreadable.
...
Earth, Tokyo – Meguro District
Miko Yotsuya arrived to meet up with Hana Yurikawa, who had gotten there first.
"Miko, you finally made it," Hana said, puffing out her cheeks slightly.
Ever since Miko had met Max, she'd seemed... different sometimes.Off, somehow.
"Sorry," Miko apologized quickly.
"Eh, never mind," Hana said with a smile, brushing it off. "Let's go! That dessert shop I told you about also has drinks—their fruit milkshakes are super popular."
She turned and started leading the way.
"Milkshakes..."
Miko followed behind her, eyes flickering as an odd thought popped into her head.
Suddenly, she remembered that time with Max—the sticky, creamy, slightly sour-sweet taste, kind of like thick milk.
It hadn't tasted weird at all, actually.It was... surprisingly good.
Wait—what the hell am I thinking?!
Miko snapped out of it, her face going bright red as she realized how indecent her thoughts had gotten.
"....."