Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 175: It is not a request

The being stood silent, its wings spread wide, glowing white against the dark, cracked sky. Its veil of silver glyphs rippled faintly in the cold wind as ash drifted around it like dead snow. Its eyes were hidden behind the veil, but Mob felt their weight pressing into his chest like a quiet blade.

"I... is it you...?" Mob whispered, his voice trembling as tears slipped down his cheeks. "Father...?"

The being tilted its head slightly. The glyphs shifted across its hidden face, forming silent, flickering patterns that pulsed with faint white light.

"I am not your father," it said softly.

Mob’s breath caught. His eyes widened further as his knees weakened under him, trembling against the broken stone.

"Then... who...?"

"I am a Herald of the Throne," the being said. Its voice carried no anger, no warmth, only calm, absolute finality. "I was sent here by the Archangel Michael."

Mob’s wings twitched behind him, feathers trembling in the dying dawn. His tears fell harder now, dripping onto the cracked marble at his feet.

"Michael..." he whispered. "My... my father... sent you...?"

"Yes."

Mob shook his head slowly, his hair falling across his tear-streaked face. He stepped back, away from the being, his bare feet scraping faintly against the dust-covered floor.

"No... no, I can’t go..." he said, his voice breaking. "I can’t leave them... not now... not when... when everything is falling apart..."

The being did not move. Its white wings burned silently in the fading light. The glyphs across its veil shifted again, forming quiet runes that flickered softly.

"It is not a request," it said calmly. "It is an order."

Mob clenched his fists. His eyes burned with silent grief as he looked back toward the Origin HQ. Through the broken glass walls, he saw Lucifer standing alone near Francisca’s body. He saw Vulpina, curled forward in silent despair. He saw the witches kneeling in circles of blood and runes, their hands shaking as they drew lines that would save what was left of their people. He saw everything. Everyone.

And he shook his head again.

"I won’t go," he said softly. His voice trembled, but the quiet certainty in it made the Herald tilt its head again. "I won’t leave them. I don’t care if it’s an order. They need me."

The Herald’s wings folded slightly. Its veil rippled as the glyphs burned brighter, casting sharp shadows across Mob’s tear-streaked face.

"This world is dying," it said, its voice deeper now, vibrating through the cracked stone under their feet. "You have no place here."

Mob spread his wings behind him, feathers flickering with faint silver light. The dying dawn caught in his golden eyes, illuminating the tears still falling down his cheeks.

"Then I’ll die with them," he whispered.

For a moment, there was only silence. The cold wind blew through the ruined courtyard, lifting ash in swirling ghosts around their still forms. The Herald said nothing. Its white wings flickered faintly as it reached out a hand toward Mob, pale fingers glowing with silent light.

"That is not your fate," it said.

Mob took another step back, his wings trembling harder now. He clenched his fists so tight blood dripped from his palms, mixing with the tears at his feet.

"Please... please don’t take me from them..." he whispered.

The Herald’s hand remained outstretched. Its voice was quiet, almost gentle, but the finality in it burned deeper than any blade.

"It is time to come home, Son of Michael," it said. "Your place is not here. Your father calls for you."

Mob fell to his knees. His wings folded inward around him, feathers curling close against his trembling body. His eyes blurred with tears as he bowed his head, shaking with silent sobs.

He felt it. The finality. The inevitability. The dying pulse of the world under him. The quiet, absolute truth in the Herald’s words.

He looked up slowly, eyes burning with grief as he met the hidden gaze behind the veil of glyphs.

"Will... will they be okay...?" he asked softly. "Will... Lucifer... will he survive...?"

The Herald said nothing. Its wings flickered faintly in the dim dawn as it lowered its outstretched hand.

"That is not your concern anymore."

Mob closed his eyes. A single sob slipped past his lips as he bowed his head deeper, tears falling silently onto the cracked marble below.

"I’m sorry..." he whispered to no one. To everyone. To Lucifer. To Francisca. To the world he had tried so hard to protect but could not save.

The Herald stepped forward. Its light washed over him in silent waves, lifting the ash from the ground around them into drifting spirals of white. Mob felt his wings dissolve into faint silver mist, feathers breaking apart into motes of pale light that rose into the air like silent stars.

His body lifted from the cracked marble, rising slowly into the quiet embrace of the Herald’s light. His tears drifted upward with him, shining like tiny shards of gold in the fading dawn.

The Herald turned away, its massive wings folding around Mob’s dissolving form. Its veil flickered with final glyphs as it spoke one last time, its voice echoing softly through the silent courtyard.

"The Archangel Michael awaits."

And with a single beat of its wings, the Herald rose into the dying sky, carrying Mob’s fading light with it. The white beam narrowed, twisting upward into the dark, cracked heavens until it vanished beyond the poisoned clouds, leaving only silence and drifting ash in its wake.

Lucifer watched from the shattered steps of the HQ, his white hair flicking across his bloodstreaked face in the cold wind. His crimson eyes narrowed faintly, burning with silent rage and quiet grief as he lowered his gaze to the cracked marble at his feet.

Another taken.

Another lost.

He clenched his fists. The runes along his forearms flickered dimly, pulsing in time with his slow, steady breaths. Behind him, the witches continued to chant softly, their blood runes glowing brighter as the teleportation circle neared completion. Greta barked orders to the family heads gathering in the wide hall, her iron chains rattling with each sharp command. Children cried quietly against their mothers’ chests. Hunters carried the wounded on stretchers made of spirit-forged bone and black cloth.

The world trembled again.

Lucifer raised his gaze to the broken horizon. The dying dawn flickered faintly against his silent eyes. His grip tightened around Francisca’s cold body as he whispered softly under his breath.

"Hold on... just a little longer."

And as the earth cracked beneath their feet and the sky burned dark with Adam’s silent conquest, the last remnants of the world gathered in the fading halls of Origin, praying for a salvation that only the condemned could give them.

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