"Wait a minute…" Rudy turned to Jane and asked, "Did you not ask me to take Rias while the portal is open? How did you want me to do that with this seal or spell or whatever it is on Rias?"

  "A vampire's power is at its peak in the vampire world. So if you take Rias out of here, the spell would weaken, and I think even you would be able to break it with a little effort," Jane answered.

  "Then I can break it here too." Rudy grabbed the shackles with his hands and pulled them, but they got tighter instead.

  "Stupid! Don't do that! The spell effect will increase, and it will cause Rias more pain! Furthermore, it will drain your life force!" Jane warned Rudy with a concerned look on her face, although it was for Rias or Rudy, no one knew.

  "Thanks for your concern, but if I can't endure a little pain for Rias, I can't prove my love for her. Rias once told me that no one could break us apart, but you did. Now, it's my turn to fulfill that promise!"

  Rudy grabbed the shackles with his hands and grunted as it started sucking Rudy's lifeforce.

  "You…!" Jane wanted to intervene and stop Rudy from doing that.

  'What's wrong with him? He is purposely letting his life force get sucked! This is no diffrent than suicide!'

  Jane was left baffled after seeing the color of Rudy's lifeforce.

  'Light blue color…? That's a holy color similar to gods and angels.'

  However, she couldn't help but gasp in shock after seeing Rudy's life force change from blue to black.

  'What? How did his life force change? Does he have two life forces? Impossible! No human or even entity can have more than one lifeforce!'

  A few seconds later, Jane dropped to her knees after witnessing something mind-blowing.

  'Blue, black, red, green, purple, and many more. How can someone have that much life force? I have read all the books in the vampire library, even the forbidden ones that were written from ancient times, such as lost races and magic. And I have never heard of this. Just what is he?! I knew he wasn't a human, but what the hell is he?'

  Jane was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize the shackles had started to melt because they couldn't hold Rudy's lifeforce.

  CRACK! CRACK!

  With a creaking noise, all the shackles broke and fell to the ground with a loud clunk that rumbled the very ground they were standing on.

  CLANK!

  The shackles themselves weren't heavy from the start, but they became so heavy after sucking Rudy's lifeforce.

  After shattering the shackles around Rias' body, Rudy turned to Jane and said, "What now?"

  Jane was so afraid of Rudy that she couldn't help but tremble.

  "Why isn't she waking up?" Rudy asked in a raspy voice. For some reason, Rudy's voice had changed, but Rudy assumed it was because his life force was sucked in a considerable amount.

  "It seems… that the vampire monarch cast multiple spells on her. You only removed the first one…" Jane answered in a meek voice.

  "How do I remove other spells then?"

  "I don't know. Maybe if I knew what spells were used on her, I could help you."

  Rudy clenched his fists and asked, "Where is the palace?"

  "That's…"

  "Where is the palace, Jane?!"

  Jane slowly raised her trembling hand to the west and said, "You should be able to see it from the outside. The red moon's light falls directly on top of the palace's tower,"

  "Thank you." Rudy placed his hand on Jane's shoulder and walked past her after saying, "Take care of Rias for me, will ya?"

  After saying that, Rudy left the chamber and walked out of the alley. He immediately jumped into the air, soaring through the sky.

  "Rias, the thing is… I have always been in love with you. The first time I laid my eyes on you, I was charmed by you. Your beauty is otherworldly, and I have never seen someone as charming as you. But… I was also scared of you," Rudy talked to himself.

  "It was natural for me to be scared after spending hours in the haunted house. I have read many stories about vampires, myths, and even folklore. I was a big fan of all that, and I used to read them as a breather whenever I got bored of studying."

  "Of course, I never believed in them as it was never scientifically proven. But I loved them regardless, and I also knew how dangerous they were. They were branded as monsters, and humans tend to fear those above them."

  "I never told you this, but I was always scared of you. I never trusted you even though I loved you. And that's why, I never took you to meet mom. I may not worry about my life, but I couldn't put mom's life in danger."

  "However, my feelings changed as I spent more time with you, and before I realized it, I had stopped fearing you. Or maybe my love for you had simply surpassed my fear for you. Or perhaps, I just didn't care about anything."

  "I had so many dreams planned. I know our love story would never meet a happy ending as you were a vampire who could lie for thousands of years, and I was a mere human. Despite knowing all that, I still wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."

  "It was saddening for me to think of the day I would die. But I felt more devastated after knowing that you would have to spend the rest of your life without me."

  "After Jane took you back, I forgot everything about you. But just as I remembered everything again, it hadn't even been 30 full minutes, but I couldn't bear the pain of not being able to see you. I… couldn't imagine what you would feel like."

  "However… not anymore."

  Rudy hovered on top of the vampire palace and crashed through the ceilings. He landed in the hall where all the vampires were celebrating.

  "Bring me the vampire monarch!" he beckoned.