A boy's heart broke. And from the cracks — something monstrous clawed out."
---
The rooftop was stained with blood and feathers of fallen vampires.
Machio stood bare-chested, his claws dripping crimson. His shirt had vaporized mid-transformation, revealing sculpted abs glowing faintly with a cursed sigil. His eyes glowed red. His breath fogged like a beast's.
Tachibana, bound in chain-silk by vampire magic, stared from the side, blush on her cheeks, her torn gym outfit barely holding together. She tried to sit up.
"M-Machio…"
But he wasn't listening.
He was watching her.
The Mistress of Rosaria.
Cloaked in red petals, half-naked, skin pale as moonlight. Her lips, bloodstained. Her smile, intoxicating.
"You're the one," she purred, walking barefoot across the rooftop tiles. "The one who awakened the Heartless Code. A boy with no fear of lust… or wrath."
She snapped her fingers.
Lightning crackled.
Six vampiric knights emerged from shadow — armored in obsidian, bearing spears of bone. Their fangs glistened. Their eyes hollow.
Machio didn't flinch.
"I don't care if you're some blood goddess or dominatrix cosplay queen," he snarled, raising his clawed fist. "You messed with my partner. That means I bury you."
The Mistress giggled.
"Then try."
---
[BATTLE START: Machio Araki – Heartless Mode v. Rosaria's Bloodguard]
The first knight lunged.
Machio vanished.
A blink later — CRUNCH! — he crushed the knight's helmet with his bare foot, sending its head spinning into the sky like a volleyball.
Two more attacked from behind.
Too slow.
Machio twisted mid-air, grabbing one by the throat and slamming him into the other. His claws shredded through their armor like paper.
A third vampire tried casting a blood spell — glyphs forming in the air.
Machio roared — a demonic blast of anti-magic energy burst from his chest, tearing the spell in half.
Blood splattered the walls.
Tachibana's jaw dropped. "H-He's… cool now? Like really cool?!"
Then she blushed harder. "And he's still shirtless—what is this battle anime fanservice logic?!"
---
But then—
The Mistress moved.
She vanished in a spiral of red light and reappeared behind Machio.
"You're good," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his torso from behind. Her breasts pressed into his back. "But what if I told you… this monster power inside you? It came from me."
Machio froze.
A memory surged.
The system… the voice that once whispered to him in his dream… "Steal the panties of fate, boy…"
That was her.
"You created this system?!"
"Of course," she cooed, licking his neck. "A little game I left in the human world… to find someone delicious like you."
Machio's fist clenched.
And then—
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: UNLOCKED SKILL — HEART-EATER KICK]
"Get off me."
He spun — and with inhuman speed — delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to her midsection, a red shockwave ripping through the rooftop. The Mistress crashed through the water tower, dust and metal spraying.
But she rose from the wreckage.
Laughing.
Her dress half-torn, revealing too much leg, and way too much cleavage.
"You're fun," she whispered again. "I think I'll keep you."
---
Machio panted, blood dripping from a cut above his eye. His eyes flicked to Tachibana — she was trying to break the chain-silk binding her arms, eyes wide in fear and awe.
"Tachibana…"
She shouted, "Don't die, idiot!!"
Machio smirked.
"I won't."
Then looked back at the Mistress.
"But she will."
He dashed forward.
Fangs bared. Claws ready.
She opened her arms, summoning a blade of blood.
And they collided—
---
TO BE CONTINUED