Chapter 121: The Duel Challenge

"Liliana!" Baiye ignored the pain in his severed arm, staring blankly at my face as if trying to carve my image into his heart forever. "Thank goodness, you're still alive. Thank goodness!" he muttered, lost in a daze.

I vanished instantly from where I stood, reappearing before Xuelan. "Help me look after him," I said, gently placing the person I was carrying beside her.

"Xingyu!" Xuelan exclaimed in shock upon seeing whom I had laid down. Indeed, Xingyu’s current state was enough to startle anyone. He was unconscious, his left arm severed at the shoulder just like Baiye’s, and several deep wounds marked his body, exposing bone. Even more startling was that every wound on his body was as smooth as a mirror, without a single drop of blood seeping out.

"Lady Liliana, what is this?" Xuelan asked, surprised, too caught up to even express her relief at my sudden arrival.

"Cuts from spatial forces. Being pulled into a dimensional rift and surviving is a miracle in itself. I sensed Xingyu being sucked into the void and rushed over as fast as I could, but the dimension is far too vast. Even though I could sense his presence, I couldn't find him instantly. If I had arrived a moment later, he would have been torn apart by a spatial storm. Fortunately, it wasn't too late; at least his life was preserved," I told Xuelan before turning toward Baiye. "Take care of him for now; I have something to say to Baiye." With that, I vanished once more, reappearing in front of him.

"Baiye, it’s been a long time." I gently helped Ang up while speaking softly to Baiye.

"Indeed, it has been a long time, Liliana." Woken by my voice, Baiye snapped out of his stupor.

"Baiye, you’ve gone too far." I looked at the wounds on Ang, indifferent to the fact that my dress was soaked through with his blood.

"Too far? Hahaha!" Baiye burst into frantic laughter at my words, only stopping after a long while. I stood there, listening to his manic laughter in silence. "I only regret not being able to kill them before you arrived. The biggest pity is that this piece of trash actually clung to life." Baiye glanced at the unconscious Xingyu and spat with hatred. "I wanted to offer their blood as a grand welcome banquet for your return, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. But it doesn't matter. As long as I can have you, whether they live or die is irrelevant." He stared at me with madness in his eyes. "Liliana, you can only be mine! No one else is allowed to touch you!"

"Baiye, stop this. Leave this place and never appear before me again. I can spare you," I said calmly, looking at his crazed expression.

"Spare me? Hahaha!" Baiye laughed wildly again. "I have lost everything now. Liliana, you are my only obsession. I will never let you go." He fixed his gaze on me, and in his eyes, I saw a fanatical possessiveness.

"If that is the case, then there is only battle between us." I said flatly, pulling the blood-soaked Ang up to lean on my shoulder. "In three days, I will come for you—a battle that belongs only to the two of us. Victory, defeat, life, and death will be decided by this encounter." With that, I turned and walked toward Xuelan without looking back.

"Liliana! Are you pitying me? Why don't you kill me now? I don't need your pity!" Baiye roared at me, the exertion reopening his wounds and spraying blood across the ground.

"Pity? I don't have such trivial emotions," I said without turning around. "It’s just that, as you are now, you are not qualified to be my opponent."

"Xuelan, can you move on your own?" I asked as I reached her side.

"No problem, Lady Liliana," Xuelan replied, struggling to stand. "I apologize, Lady Liliana, for causing you trouble again," she said with a look of guilt.

Facing her apology, I shook my head slightly. "It is I who implicated you. Had it not been for me, you would still be the noble Second Judge; how could you have encountered so many dangers?" I said apologetically.

"Lady Liliana, it is Xuelan's honor to be by your side," she said sincerely, without a trace of resentment.

"Mm, thank you, Xuelan," I said softly. "Let’s go."

"Liliana!" Just as I was speaking with Xuelan, Baiye, ignoring his own injuries, roared and charged at me.

Facing his charge, I vanished instantly. A massive, pitch-black scythe emerged from the void, piercing Baiye’s chest and pinning him to the ground. I reappeared next to Xuelan and steadied Ang, all in the blink of an eye.

"Do you understand now, Baiye? As you are now, you aren't even qualified to die by my hand," I said coldly, looking down at him. "You have three days. Whether you hunt or recover, I hope that in three days, you will not be as weak as you are now." I lifted the unconscious Xingyu and, supporting Ang, walked slowly into the distance with Xuelan limping behind me.

Pinned to the ground by the black scythe, Baiye could only roar, watching us leave with eyes full of frustration. Shortly after we left, the massive scythe shattered and slowly vanished into the night sky. "Liliana!" Finally free, Baiye stood up in a rage and roared at the heavens.

The humans who had fled in terror from the battle between Baiye, Ang, Xingyu, and Xuelan were now cautiously returning to see what had happened, thinking the danger had passed. But they were met by a pair of blood-red eyes staring right at them. Just as they turned to flee, the figure with those eyes lunged, and another rain of blood fell upon the already soaked battlefield.

Baiye greedily devoured the blood, his wounds healing rapidly. Though his strength had not fully returned, his injuries were no longer a hindrance. "Liliana, you are mine. I will never let you escape again!" Standing amidst the bloody rain, Baiye declared with fury before vanishing into the night.

In the suburbs, the mansion where I had once stayed welcomed its owner back. I placed Xingyu gently on the bed in the master bedroom and stepped out. In the grand hall, Xuelan and Ang sat weakly on the sofa. Ang was wrapped in bandages, with fresh blood still seeping through. Xuelan, having consumed blood, had seen her wounds heal slowly; aside from her pale complexion, one could hardly tell she had been severely injured.

"Xuelan, where is Lily?" I asked, noticing her absence.

"Lady Lily was injured earlier. I had Ashus take her back to the Vampire Castle to seek reinforcements," Xuelan replied respectfully.

"That is good. In the Vampire Castle, no one will trouble Lily; she should be safe now." My worried heart finally eased. "And Duke Wind?" I asked, recalling the man I had barely met.

"Duke Wind..." At the mention of his name, Xuelan’s expression darkened. "To buy us time to escape, he was killed by Baiye."

"I see." Hearing the news, I felt a sense of regret, but no deep emotional impact. If it were the other me, perhaps she would have felt sorrow, as they had spent much time together. At this thought, I remembered the two versions of myself standing before the gates of the underworld, watching me return.

"Lady Liliana, are you going to face Baiye alone in three days?" Xuelan asked, voicing her concern.

"Yes. It is time for things between us to reach an end. Everything began because of me, and it is only right that I put the final period to it," I said faintly.

"But you know his strength—it is truly that of a Prince-level vampire. Facing him alone is too dangerous," Xuelan said anxiously, recalling the result of my last encounter with him.

"Do not worry. What happened last time will not happen again," I assured her. "I will win this time. Because now, I am not living only for myself."

"I understand, Lady Liliana. I will not question your decision, but please allow me to accompany you," Xuelan said firmly.

"Very well, we shall go together, and I will bring Ang as well," I said, then turned to Ang. "Ang, are you alright?"

"Please do not worry, My Lady. A werewolf's immortality is not so fragile. I should recover by tomorrow morning, though it might take a while longer before I can fight again," Ang said with a smile. "I never imagined that little one would grow to such a level in such a short time; it is truly astonishing."

"Indeed, the current Baiye is truly strong—so strong that I find myself reluctant to kill him. After all, Prince-level beings are far too rare now." I sighed. Father was missing, Duke Sword had fallen, and now, those possessing Prince-level strength were limited to just the three heads of the Thirteen Clans and Baiye—only four remained. To kill him would be a genuine waste.

"Has Lady Liliana already reached the Prince level?" Xuelan asked, pleasantly surprised.

"I suppose you could say that. After all, having inherited the bloodline from Father and the power from others, it would be quite pathetic if I hadn't broken through to the Prince level by now," I said calmly.

"Xuelan, you and Ang should get some rest. Even if you want to join the battle, you need to recover your strength, don't you? I am going to check on Xingyu." I stood up gently and walked toward the bedroom where Xingyu lay.