Rebirth: Childhood friend of the heroine

There were rumors that once a Duke ranked Vampire came to propose marriage to the Saintess in the past.

However, naturally, she rejected him.

But now all the rumors were proven right.

The man, dressed in a red suit, lazily sat on a chair while he exposed such a vulnerable side that might tempt a person to ambush him. However, Alex knew that attacking him would be pointless; there was no visible loose opening in his stance that he could exploit.

"You have a family already, why are you fixated on the Supreme Grace?" Victor asked with a frown; he was the only being in the room who wasn't shaken up as much as the others.

The younger Vampire heaved a sigh before singing his sad tale, "Truth be told, when I was rejected by my lady, I wanted to live with the rejection and decided to never disturb her." With his left hand pressed against his chest, he spoke with his eyes closed as if to show his innocence.

However, when he opened his eyes, a gleam of obsession flashed in them, as the inhumane added, "However, as much as I tried keeping myself away from the lady, I found my attention drawing toward her even more. I started seeing her in my wives...hallucinating that she was walking into my life and accepting me as her lord. I completely lost my focus on my work...it became so frustrating that I started slaughtering livestock. Kill, kill, kill, is what I could do to prevent myself from thinking about her!" A maddening look overwhelmed his expression, and then, he turned completely still.

With his head leaning forward he glanced at Victor before whispering, "However, none of it was helpful. I just know that I cannot live without her."

The sheer madness and the subtle blood lust of the man was fair evidence to show his obsession over the Saintess. Even though the Vampire has yet to see Sarah's face, he is extremely infatuated with her.

Alex gritted his teeth, 'This bastard is insane...' He could see that Sarah was nervous as she pinched the corner of his sleeve but in front of the adversary she adopted a bold front,

"I have already stated my response to your proposal, Duke. Please don't burden your soul with any more sin."

"Haah~such a lovely voice," It was like he never heard her saying something; the vampire sighed in admiration, clutching his chest and looking euphoric.

"Lady Saintess, there is no point in trying to convince me. Unless you don't want the soldiers outside to die and every being present inside the room to meet their makers, then follow me to my territory and become my wif-"

**CLANG**

The sound of heavy metal colliding against the floor resonated as Alex finally got his patience worn out.

Every eye turned towards him, and Devon seemed to be in a panic, 'No, Alex, don't do anything rashly here...!!'

The tension was intense in the air, the second passing like hours.

Alex silently stood before the Saintess and looked the man in the eyes.

The Vampire narrowed his eyes even though that smile never faded from his face, "You seem quite close to my beloved. You were holding her hand when I came as well. Hmm~since we haven't married yet, I fo-"

"Okay, just stop." Alex voiced, finding not even a fabric of his body liking this specimen who was just casually imposing whatever he wished, "You are here to claim the Saintess and make her yours, right? Then be a man and prove your worth. After all, if you are not strong you won't be able to protect her in the future, right?"

Eryndor frowned; is this kid desperate to die?

Devon took a strong gulp, 'This can turn real ugly in no time....'

Amara was feeling sympathetic and impressed by his words.

Adolf was clenching his fist and was watching everything unfold silently.

Allen grinned, "You are right," He jumped from the chair, and his body seemed weightless enough to provide him a few seconds of flight as he landed before Alex,

"I need to impress my bride before taking her with me. Consider it some sort of courtship contest."

Tilting his gaze, he looked at the Saintess before asking, "Once I defeat your beloved soldier, you won't show any more resistance, right?"

Sarah remained silent; torn between disgust for the inhumane and concern for Alex, she couldn't muster up a single word.

There always remains a spell at the tip of her tongue that can end her life since she knew a long time ago that this world was filled with crazy people who could go to extreme lengths to have her.

The very thought of being touched by someone else who was not Alex made her skin crawl in disgust.

However, now that she had Alex, she knew she wouldn't need to use that spell.

Alex will win this.

Seeing the sudden confidence in her demeanor made Allen smile wider: this is good. He would enjoy her crestfallen expression when this soldier loses. The taste of defeating a prideful woman crumbling at his feet and surrendering in his bed was just too tempting to let go.

"Okay then, shall we proceed?"

"Yes, we shall," Alex responded, not a speck of nervousness in his voice.

"And you all as well, please join us so I can have you all as the eyewitnesses." Turning toward the others, Allen encouraged.

Adolf stepped forward before demanding, "You have more than enough people to witness the duel; let these two go" Without even gesturing, one could tell about who 'two' he was talking about.

Adolf didn't want the rulers of the other two nations to meet their demise here by any chance, or the three major nations of the human race would be under great threat.

However, "Please Adolf, don't bore me. You know I can't let them go just because they have no worth for me."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Eryndor gritted his teeth, "You think you are all high-" The man's words were cut short as a crushing weight descended on him, an overwhelming force that nearly knocked him to the ground. His body froze, his muscles trembling uncontrollably. It wasn't just pressure—it was suffocating, smothering bloodlust, sharper and more focused than anything he had ever felt.

Allen didn't move a muscle, but his gaze, now cold and piercing, locked onto Eryndor with the weight of a predator deciding how to dismantle its prey. The room darkened as if the light itself recoiled from his presence.

The corners of his lips curled upward, but it wasn't a smile—it was a sneer, dripping with contempt.

"You dare raise your voice in my presence?" Allen's voice, smooth yet razor-sharp, sliced through the silence. Read the latest on empire

It was evident that this being was living up to his race as the strongest one, residing at the top of the food chain.

Even Victor was shaken up at how significantly Allen had grown in these two years from what he last saw.

Eryndor didn't open his mouth anymore, and slowly the pain receded.

"If anyone else have any qualms then swallow it since I am not here to listen to your complaints."

Turning his face back to the soldier, Allen said, "Now then, the brave one."

Alex nodded and began walking along with the Saintess.

Seeing how she was holding his sleeve, made Allen feel a very raw murderous intent arose within him. However, for the sake of what he would gain in another few minutes, he stopped himself.

As they all walked towards the backside of the palace, Devon couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Won't it be better for Sir Victor to fight him?"

Although Alex was strong, probably one of the strongest humans as of now, it was an irrefutable fact that Victor was far stronger than Alex. And considering both of them once shared the battlefield, Victor must have much more knowledge about Allen's fighting style.

From whichever angle one sees, Victor would be the best opponent against Allen.

However, "I cannot fight against him..." Victor suddenly voiced what garnered everyone else's attention, wordlessly asking him the reason.

The pure-blood heaved a sigh, "When I was migrating from my birthplace, I signed a contract with the Monarch that under whatever circumstances, I would never reveal their secrets. And in exchange, he gave me the promise that none of the vampires would ever harm me or my family. Naturally, as a reverse effect, I cannot harm them either."

Now they realized why he refused. Also, they now know why Victor didn't react when an intruder arrived in the conference hall.

Alex could feel that despite how much she was trying to hide it, Sarah was nervous.

Matching her strides, he whispered to her, "You know I will win this right?" The confidence in his voice made her feel a little calmer however, the thought of losing him again, made her heart heavy.

"You are fighting for my pride Alex, so I won't accept anything except victory."

The silver head grinned before muttering, "That's more like it."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.

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