Her tone was sharp, impatient.. but behind it, her face was pale with pain, her body trembling.

He sighed again. "You really didn't change? Seeing any lady with less clothes and.. Evil faces in your head" he murmured quietly, almost to himself.

Her eyes flashed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," he said, crouching down beside her, "even when you're about to die, you still talk too much."

She glared, though her lips curved faintly perhaps out of habit, or maybe defiance. "And you still like to run your mouth when you should be doing something useful."

He met her gaze, crimson eyes locking with hers blue and red reflecting in each other. For a moment, the tension, the pain, even the scent of blood seemed to fade.

"Fine," Razeal murmured, nodding slightly before glancing down at Maria. His crimson eyes softened for a moment though the subtle glow within them made the gesture look more unsettling than comforting.

"Well… don't worry. You'll be fine. It's just your body adjusting. The pain, the trembling it's all normal. It's because of the demon heart transplant. Your body's simply… trying to synchronize with it." His tone was calm, though faintly detached, like he was reciting something logical rather than offering comfort.

Maria's eyes twitched as she tilted her head slightly toward him. "Oh, really?" she said flatly. "Normal, you say? Because I'm pretty sure that giant fish with the six-foot spear-like nose just pierced my stomach and came out the other side." She pointed at the gaping wound with her trembling hand, irritation sharp in her eyes. "And I'm pretty damn certain that's not what I'd call normal. So.. maybe heal that first before telling me about what the fuck is demon hearts?"

"Umm… yeah Right. The wound." He blinked once, looking briefly lost before turning his gaze toward Neptunia, who stood a few steps away. "So… uh… do you know how to heal?" He was like embarrassed.

Neptunia blinked back at him, her expression blank for a second, as if processing what she just heard. Then, she raised an eyebrow. "I definitely don't. Trust me." Her tone carried both disbelief and judgment, her arms raised as she was shaking them

But instead of leaving it at that, she looked down at Maria, her gaze lingering for a moment longer than necessary almost thoughtful, almost guilty. Then she looked up again, straight into Razeal's crimson eyes.

The air between them grew tense.

Razeal's gaze narrowed his deep crimson irises focusing sharply on her as if studying her soul. Neptunia didn't flinch. She stood her ground, her lips tightening slightly as her heartbeat quickened.

"Don't look at me like that…" she muttered softly, her voice slipping into something unguarded. "I might actually fall in love with those eyes."

Razeal's brows furrowed disgustingly.

Neptunia blinked, realizing what she'd said out loud. Her face went blank almost instantly, pretending like the words never existed. "I mean.. believe me, you should probably look at your own face first before trying to intimidate people with those eyes." She quickly turned her head away..

Maria, even in her half-dead state, blinked at them both from the ground. "Wait.. wait, wait WHAT? What do you mean asking her if she knows how to heal?!" Her voice shot upward with disbelief and anger, her expression darkening. "Don't tell me you actually don't know how to heal?!"

Razeal sighed, ignoring Neptunia's lingering glance as he crouched near Maria again. "And why exactly would you think I'd know how to heal people? Hm?" he asked calmly. "As far as I know, you're the one with the water attribute. Shouldn't you be the one who can heal? I remember the Grave family being known for water-based healing arts back in the empire."

Maria's eyes twitched again, her face tightening. "Healing with water attribute spells is at least A-ranked, genius!" she snapped. "Do I look like someone who was qualified to learn that?! And even if I was.. why in the hell would I waste my time learning healing of all things?!" She hissed the words, one hand pressing against the wound on her stomach, the other waving dismissively. "There are better things to learn than patching up people like some medic!"

"Heiress of the Grave family doesn't know how to heal," Razeal said flatly, his tone halfway between disappointment and sarcasm. "Great. That's just perfect."

Maria glared at him, grinding her teeth. "You wanna keep talking or actually do something about this hole in my body?!"

Razeal exhaled sharply through his nose, shaking his head. "Alright, alright fine. Let me see what I can do." His eyes flicked downward, then back to her wound. "Maybe I can learn something ou now. I still have time."

Maria's eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean 'learn now'?!"

"Obviously," Razeal said simply, ignoring her tone, "I'm going to learn some healing stuff."

Her face twisted with disbelief. "You're insane. You can't just.."

He didn't bother replying to her this time. Instead, he closed his eyes, speaking silently in his mind.

"Valley… there has to be something, right Vampires can heal like with blood or something, yeah? Tell me there's something I can do."

The system's voice responded immediately, calm and ever so slightly smug.

[Well, I'm not sure where you got that idea from, Host… but no. Vampires can't naturally heal others. They can only heal themselves.]

Razeal frowned. "What? Then what's the point of the whole vampire blood power thing?"

[Oh, it's useful ..just not for that. You can use blood to fight, control, enhance your body, even devour essence or increase life force. But healing others? No. That requires specific vampiric skills.]

[And unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to learn those skills fast enough to save her right now.]

Razeal's brows furrowed. "There must be another way."

The system paused a flicker of data rippling faintly through his vision.

[There are options. But most… maybe are unconventional for you right now.]

Razeal tilted his head slightly, waiting.

[You can enter the New Vampire Database I've just constructed.]

[It's formed from the blood essence you absorbed containing the recorded memories, knowledge, and instincts of countless vampires across eras. Literally quadrillions of them.]

[I can search through that and extract memory sequences of vampires who developed and mastered blood-based healing techniques. You can then watch, analyze, and adapt one directly.]

Razeal blinked once, mildly impressed. "You can do that?"

[Obviously. It's what I do.]

He gave a faint smirk. "I thought only that vampire guy.. Vaelitharion ..could do that kind of memory reading."

The system almost sounded offended when it replied.

[Please. Whatever that ancient old weak fossils can do, I can do far better.]

Yeah yeah whatever… "Just tell me what's the next option," Razeal said flatly. His patience was hanging by a thread now the situation was dire, Maria was bleeding out, and the system was still talking like they had all the time in the world.

[Well, you could turn her into a vampire. All you'd need is a small bite ritual here and there, and it would be done. I can even guide you through the entire process, step by step..]

"No," Razeal cut it off instantly, his tone sharp and absolute.

[…Huh?]

"I said no." His crimson eyes narrowed, and he exhaled through his nose in frustration. "Not happening. I don't even know the limits or side effects of being a vampire myself yet. I'm not taking the risk of turning her into one too. It's already bad enough that I shoved a demon heart inside her. Let's not add another existential crisis on top of that.. For her and.. Us too. yeah?"

[Fine, fine…] the system replied, its voice calm but tinged with what suspiciously sounded like amusement. [Then, moving on to the next and final option.]

"Yeah," Razeal muttered. "Go on."

There was a short pause.

[After scanning Maria's body, I discovered something interesting about the demon heart you transplanted into her.]

Razeal blinked. "Am listening."

[Well… that heart didn't belong to a regular demon. It's from a very rare kind one born from two sins instead of one. Specifically Pride and Lust.]

Razeal froze for a second, just staring blankly into the distance. "…Huh?

[Leme explain.]

[You see, demons born from dual sins carry attributes from both. In her case immense pride and regenerative capability derived from lust-based energy. Which, conveniently, means she can heal herself under… certain conditions.]

"Conditions," Razeal repeated dryly. "Yeah, this sounds bad already."

[Not really bad. Just… unconventional.]

Razeal pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just spit it out."

[In simple terms, a deep kiss on the lips lasting at least one minute, ten at most if you lucky will completely heal her. Her body will automatically trigger full regeneration through the stimulation of the lust-sin essence in the demon heart.]

The silence that followed was loud enough to crush mountains.

Razeal blinked once. "Ummm."

[A deep kiss.]

"Villey its not time for pulling my legs. Be serious."

[Completely serious. Scientifically, it's just essence transfer triggered through contact.]

"Stop,"

There was a pause, then the system replied innocently,

[I mean… go on.]

Razeal stared into the air, expression unreadable. "…Unbelievable."

He blinked slowly, as though trying to process his existence.

From below, Maria's strained voice suddenly broke through the awkward silence. "What happened? Are you healing me or not?Thought of anything yet?"

Razeal looked down at her. "Well…" He hesitated, his voice lowering slightly. "I think you definitely wouldn't want to hear the answer to this one."

Maria narrowed her eyes weakly from where she lay on the ground. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Razeal looked down at her.

"…Trust me," he said finally, voice dry. "You really don't want to know."

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