Iris rises into the air, hovering about ten meters above the ground as dozens of violet energy spheres form around her.

"Take this, bastard!"

The spheres converge on Axel, tearing through the air at blinding speed.

"A high-level succubus spell — impressive. But unfortunately for you, you don’t stand a chance against someone like me!"

In an instant, a solid axe of blood takes shape in his hand. With a rapid flurry of strikes, he cuts through Iris’s barrage, slicing each sphere apart and dispersing them one by one.

"If you think that’s all I’ve got, you’re sorely mistaken — you haven’t seen anything yet!"

Iris raises her hands to the sky as a massive sphere of violet energy forms above her, nearly five meters across. With a sharp motion, she slams her arms downward, sending the colossal orb crashing toward Axel.

But once again, he remains unfazed.

He hurls his axe into the air, sending it spinning like a whirling blade. Just before impact, the weapon suddenly expands, growing tenfold as it continues to rotate.

The enormous spell is cleaved clean in two, erupting into a violent explosion.

Even with the smoke obscuring her vision, Iris narrowly avoids the massive spinning axe as it bursts through the haze.

But that won’t work on Axel.

The vampire charges through the smoke an instant later, catching Iris off guard with a crushing punch to the stomach.

She’s sent flying, crashing through the wall of a building behind her.

Axel lands lightly as the blood axe arcs back like a boomerang, returning to his hand and shrinking back to its original size.

A look of disappointment crosses his face as he stares at the motionless heap of rubble beneath which Iris lies.

"Don’t tell me she’s already dead. What a letdown... I swear, the moment I’m back in New York, I’m giving Frank a piece of my mind. I could’ve still been in Italy right now, fucking my Melania in some chalet in the Alps — instead, I got dragged here to deal with a bunch of useless nobodies. What a waste of time."

He starts walking toward the rubble at an unhurried pace, his axe steady in his grip.

Suddenly, he stops. A satisfied grin curls across his lips.

"Good... I can have a bit more fun."

Thin streaks of violet light seep through the cracks between the slabs of concrete—then a violent surge of energy blasts them apart.

Iris rises from the wreckage, her body covered in blood and dust. She’s wounded in several places, but nothing that looks fatal.

"You’re tougher than you look, succubus. Good. It’s a shame I have to kill someone like you — you’d be quite useful to us. But unfortunately, you and your idiot brother didn’t leave us much of a choice."

"Don’t get ahead of yourself, vampire. You should know my brother isn’t the only one trained by Raelor Valraen! Picking a fight with us will be the last mistake you ever make!"

Oh... now that’s interesting. So she might be capable of using Paralysis Magic too? Well... there’s only one way to find out.

Axel lowers his stance, then bursts forward in a lightning-fast charge.

Iris fires back, launching a powerful sphere of energy straight at him.

"You may be a capable succubus... but your repertoire is painfully predictable."

Axel springs upward, clearing the spell with ease. But before he can land, Iris takes to the air and swoops down on him.

She thrusts her arm forward — a beam of energy erupts from her palm.

Caught midair, Axel has no chance to evade.

He barely twists his torso, just enough to avoid a fatal blow — the attack meant for his head instead tears straight through his shoulder.

He’s hurled backward, crashing and skidding violently across the ground before slamming into a concrete support pillar.

Iris descends, her gaze locked on the spot where he landed.

She keeps her distance, taking that brief window to catch her breath — though it lasts far less than she hoped.

Within seconds, Axel is already back on his feet, the gaping wound in his shoulder completely regenerated.

"So... you don’t have Paralysis Magic. Good. Otherwise, I might’ve actually had a problem... maybe. Either way, you’ve just wasted your only chance to kill me — and you won’t be getting another. I told you, didn’t I? You never stood a chance against someone like me. I’ll end this with my next move, Iris Toya."

"You’re right — only my brother was able to obtain that power... but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own trump cards! It’s not always the strongest who wins, Axel Volkom — especially against a succubus! You’ve managed to endure my attacks... but let’s see how you handle this!"

In an instant, Iris’s eyes ignite with a violet glow.

She is using Charming Magic — a spell that allows a succubus to control the mind of anyone who feels sexual attraction toward her. Through this magic, she can perceive that attraction as a colored aura surrounding her target.

The color of the aura reflects the intensity of the desire:

White: no attraction

Yellow: mild attraction

Orange: strong attraction

Red: overwhelming attraction

For Charming Magic to take effect, the aura must be at least orange.

If it is white or yellow, succubi can rely on Seduction Magic instead — a spell that stimulates desire and alters the aura’s color.

An average succubus can raise the level by one stage (for example, from yellow to orange, or from orange to red).

More skilled succubi can increase it by two levels. In extremely rare cases, some can even elevate attraction directly from white to red.

At this moment, the aura Iris sees around Axel burns with a deep orange glow... and yet, she cannot control his mind.

"What’s wrong, succubus? You look nervous. Did your precious mind-control magic just fail you?"

"T-This doesn’t make any sense... I can clearly feel your attraction toward me. How is it possible I can’t control your mind? A vampire shouldn’t have this kind of resistance!"

"And you’d be right. But after six years happily involved with one of your kind, I’ve learned a few tricks to resist Charming Magic. It took me four long years to learn how to resist my dear Melania’s mind control — a succubus far more alluring and powerful than you. In other words... you have no chance of influencing my mind. Now do you see why I said you never stood a chance against someone like me? This battle was over before it even began."

A dense aura of Sanguis energy begins to spiral around Axel. His skin flushes faintly red, his muscles swelling with sudden power.

"And now, as promised... the strike that ends this."

The vampire bursts toward her at a speed far beyond anything before — so fast that Iris, already exhausted, has no chance to counter or even evade the lightning-fast axe strike as it cleaves straight into her.

SLASH!