Chapter 469: A Vampire Who Already Died

Jonathan knelt on the cold stone floor, his knees pressed against ancient rock as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. The silence around him felt oppressive, as if even the air demanded caution before being drawn into his lungs. When he finally lifted his face to look at the being before him, the shock hit instantly.

It wasn’t human.

Jonathan’s heart lurched, a sharp tremor rippling through his body. This wasn’t just fear. It ran deeper than that, something instinctive and humiliating, a weakness blooming in his chest. It was the primal awareness of prey recognizing a predator before understanding what danger truly meant. Like a rat staring at a massive wolf, knowing that a single wrong movement would be its last.

“My name is Tobias. I hold the Twelfth Seat of the Reaper Court,” the being said calmly.

The voice was steady, restrained, completely devoid of emotion. Jonathan’s body reacted before his mind could catch up. His lips moved on their own, and a single word slipped out.

“M-monster.”

The air froze.

Jonathan immediately felt Dmitri’s gaze slam into him, sharp and heavy, like a blade about to fall. Before he could even flinch, a powerful hand forced his head down, pressing him fully into a bow.

“My deepest apologies, Lord Tobias!” the Grand Master said urgently. “He is ignorant.”

“I don’t mind,” the Reaper replied, without the slightest hint of irritation. “I am well aware of what I am.”

Jonathan kept his eyes lowered, but the creature’s presence was impossible to ignore. Even without looking directly at it, his mind kept reconstructing the image over and over.

It wasn’t a man. It wasn’t human.

The figure before him was a warped humanoid shape, something between a corpse and a mockery of life. Its skin resembled that of an ancient mummy, dried and cracked, marred by darkened patches as though time and death itself had gnawed at the flesh. A worn, heavy cloak draped over its frame, carrying the faint stench of something long divorced from the world of the living. One of its eyes glowed purple, an unnatural, constant light that seemed to see far beyond the surface of things.

“Chosen Jonathan, I am what they call a Lich,” the Reaper said. “But I was once human. I simply chose a more monstrous path to power within the system. Just as you chose to become a vampire. The difference is that my transformation came through a powerful artifact.”

The creature stepped forward.

Jonathan’s body stiffened before his mind even registered the movement. In one skeletal hand, a staff appeared as if it had always been there. In the other, cadaverous fingers extended toward him. Before he could react, Jonathan felt something seize him, not physically, but from within. His body rose from the floor on its own, muscles obeying a will that was not his.

He was standing, but he was not in control.

“It’s better if you stand,” the Lich said flatly. “I don’t enjoy looking down. It irritates me.”

“Of course, Lord Tobias,” Dmitri answered without hesitation.

“Sit.”

The Lich gestured toward a nearby table. The chairs slid across the stone floor by themselves, stopping neatly in front of them.

Jonathan walked to one, each step unsteady. His legs trembled, his thoughts tangled and sluggish. He couldn’t speak. What overwhelmed him wasn’t just fear. A sudden sadness washed over him, an inexplicable loss, as if something inside him were being siphoned away. Happiness simply… vanished.

This wasn’t natural.

Jonathan was certain of one thing. Whatever he was feeling had everything to do with being so close to that creature.

“And to think that after all these years of waiting, the Chosen of Lasiurus has finally appeared,” the Lich said, walking slowly across the hall.

“He arrived only recently, but we’re already making every preparation to accelerate his growth in power,” Dmitri replied with clear reverence. His voice was calm and measured, and the severe expression Jonathan knew so well was nowhere to be found in the presence of that entity.

Jonathan listened, doing his best to focus, but his mind struggled to keep up.

From what little he knew, the only way a vampire could create other vampires was by reaching Rank D.

“O-only humans can become vampires,” Jonathan said, forcing his voice to remain steady.

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The creature stopped.

Its violet gaze locked onto him, suddenly heavy and sharp.

“Are you calling me stupid?”

Fear surged through Jonathan in an instant.

“N-no,” he answered quickly. “I’m just saying I’m new to all of this. I don’t know if I’ll meet expectations. From what I studied, only humans become… vampires, right?”

The Lich raised an eyebrow and began walking toward him, the staff tapping against the floor with every step. When it reached him, it lifted a skeletal hand and touched Jonathan’s chin with its dead fingers.

Jonathan felt an overwhelming urge to run. He swallowed hard, convinced he was about to die.

“Still Rank E,” the Lich said at last, stepping back. “Very weak. But better than nothing.”

The creature moved a few steps away, then extended a hand toward a chest resting near the wall. The gesture was casual, almost careless, yet the result was immediate.