Chapter 13: Fire Stick Or Finger?

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Little Kitchen Man.

Those words echoed through Selina’s bedroom, reverberating off the walls. They precisely stomped all over Miss Silver Dragon’s bottom line.

Selina released the hand pinning her tail.

Her previously amiable expression vanished in an instant.

In its place, she raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes into a deeply sinister smile.

The violated White Fluff Ball let out a tiny squeak and stood up. The small white furball walked straight to the blazing fireplace in the room, reached out a tiny hand, and grabbed the long, slender cast-iron poker that had been heated red-hot. The tip of the rod had turned crimson from prolonged burning, its searing heat making the surrounding air shimmer.

“Oh? You dare threaten me, little one.”

Selina’s smile grew even brighter as she carried the fire poker and walked step by step back to the bedside. This time, she loomed over Lilith, who hovered in midair.

“I’ll give you two choices.”

“First, solve my current problem, and I’ll allow you to keep hiding in my ring, playing dead.”

With a flick of her wrist, the rough poker pressed directly against Lilith’s delicate nose. Even in her current soul form attached to the ring, the searing heat seemed ready to make her yelp in pain.

“Second, I’ll stuff your ring into this rod, shove it into the furnace, and give that mouth of yours a good roasting.”

“Choose: my finger, or the fire poker.” In Selina’s hand, the red-hot iron radiated waves of heat.

Lilith actually felt Imperial Pressure emanating from this Silver Dragon who had barely been born, and fear shot through her, making every hair stand on end. She tumbled straight out of the air and landed on the blanket.

“No, no, no!”

As the Vampire Queen, she now waved her hands frantically in front of her chest, scrambling backward.

“Fine! I’ll give it, alright! You crude lizard!”

Tears nearly spilled from Lilith’s eyes as she shouted from the bed, “But when I say it, you’d better not get mad!”

Selina loosened her grip.

With a clang, the fire poker returned to the roaring furnace.

“I won’t get mad.”

Lilith patted her equally flat chest, still shaken.

She quickly swiped her finger through the air, carving out a tiny spatial rift.

An object dropped onto the bedding with a soft thud.

A pitch-black leather collar.

Selina glanced at it, and her small face flushed crimson instantly. The blush spread all the way to the roots of her ears. Lilith spread her hands, looking utterly innocent.

“What does the dagger do? The craftsmanship is exquisite, radiating deep demonic energy. The collar’s surface is covered in mithril inscriptions. Hanging from the center is an inverted cross pendant.”

“Is this a restraint device for the Vampire Race?!” Selina couldn’t hold back a startled shriek.

“Exactly.” The collar on the bed glowed with an eerie red light.

“What can I do? I, the great Vampire Queen, slept in a coffin for centuries. All the divine artifacts in my mausoleum were looted clean by grave robbers!”

“R-right now, this collar for vampires is all that’s left. It can effectively suppress your Dragon Bloodline, preventing you from shifting forms.”

Lilith lowered her head, long black hair veiling her eyes, but a bold cunning stirred within her crimson pupils.

“I’m all in! This silly lizard is hooked!”

“Go on, just put it on and sign a Master-Servant Contract. Vampires, beastfolk, Elves, even soul entities can be contracted. Then this powerful Silver Dragon body will be mine, the blood in your veins will be my Lilith’s, and you’ll be my exclusive blood thrall, mwahaha…”

“Little White Fluff Ball, you think I’ve been wasting my centuries? That burst of fighting spirit made you drop your guard. Didn’t see that coming, did you? Such is the way of an elder.”

The more she imagined it, the more pleased she became, laughing without pause, savoring two seconds of enjoyment before celebrating victory. She buried her face in the bed, laughing so hard she wore herself out, her legs kicking the mattress excitedly, soft feet leaving fresh dents across the sheets. The thrill of schadenfreude made Lilith’s fingertips tremble with excitement.

Then, suddenly, something went wrong.

Selina reached out, snatched up the collar in one swift motion, her speed leaving afterimages.

Of course, she didn’t put it around her own neck.

With a sharp twist of her wrist, she vaulted onto the bed and pinned Lilith down hard beneath her.

Silver hair arced through the air in a cold, hard line. Selina brought the collar down with pinpoint precision onto the unsuspecting black-haired girl before her.

Click.

The metal clasp locked shut, the crisp sound cutting through the bedroom with startling clarity.

Lilith froze, like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

She slowly looked down.

That pitch-black vampire collar was now wrapped perfectly, seamlessly, around her own slender neck.

The inverted cross pendant rested against her collarbone, radiating a cold, mocking gleam.

“And here I thought a soul body couldn’t wear a physical collar.”

Selina withdrew her hand and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Her golden pupils brimmed with mockery and derision.

“Turns out the size fits you perfectly.”

“You…”

Lilith’s mind went completely blank.

She raised both hands like a madwoman, clawing desperately at the collar around her neck.

But she was just an ordinary spiritual body now, and the bulky collar didn’t budge an inch. The mithril inscriptions on the collar erupted in blinding red light, layer after layer, as the Master-Servant Contract, like a branding iron, forcibly seared itself into her soul’s Primordial Origin, binding her to Selina.

Had she been in her prime, such a contract would mean nothing to her. But the problem was that she was now just a wisp of a remnant soul, one that had starved for centuries, too hungry to even eat.

Lilith sat there, utterly stupefied.

Selina, bathed in moonlight, leaned against the headboard with her long, slender legs crossed, her dangling feet now completely still.

“Hehe, I’ve got a bad habit, you see.”

Selina looked at her with a knowing smirk, and that eerie laugh made Lilith tremble.

“Hehehe, I never just accept candy from strangers. Also, you bat, next time you try to ambush someone, could you at least hide that laugh of yours? It’s annoying as hell.”

Feeling the forced contract binding her soul to Selina, Lilith was humiliated, stifled, and tears instantly welled up in her ruby-like eyes.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

“Damn it! Damn it!”

A mighty powerhouse forced to serve as a subordinate to some barely-trace-level baby dragon—what utter disgrace! She huffed and puffed her chest out indignantly.

The power levels of the Kira Continent were ranked: Trace, Transcendent, Master, Holy Domain, and Legend.

And she’d been contracted by a Silver Dragon two whole major realms weaker than her at her peak. Had she really been that careless?!

The clouds outside the window began to thin, and the weak sun started to rise, brightening Selina’s room.

Selina crouched silently by the bedside, still glaring at the Vampire Queen before her. The little Silver Dragon’s anger hadn’t subsided at all—if anything, it was burning even hotter.

So that’s it. This old bat had planned to put that vampire collar on her. What a malicious schemer.