My Horny Stepmom Turns Me into Her Vampire Slave

"What are you doing in our territory, vampire?" the tattooed man growls.

Who the fuck is this creep?! And how does he know I'm a vampire? Shit... what a mess...

"Vampire...? I have no idea what you're talking about, but why don't you get the hell out of here?" Chris snaps back.

Hina immediately jumps to her feet.

She stares at the man with terror in her eyes, her whole body visibly trembling.

"C-Chris, please... d-don't provoke him anymore. Just apologize..." she stammers in a barely audible voice.

"Hina, what's going on? Who is this guy...?"

"He lives in the same apartment building as me... he's an important member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, one of the yakuza syndicates... they practically control all of Tokyo..."

So Hina slowly shifts her gaze from the man to Chris.

"W-Why did he call you a vampire...? Is that some kind of codename rival syndicates use for each other...? C-Chris... don't tell me you're involved in that world too...?"

"D-Don't be ridiculous! Do I look like the kind of guy who does shady business with the yakuza?!"

"Vampire, I'm telling you for the last time. What are you doing in our territory?! You should know this area belongs to us, and you vampires are supposed to stay out of it!"

"I don't know a damn thing about any of that! I'm not even from around here!"

With that, Chris jumps to his feet as well.

He grabs Hina by the hand and pulls her away.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

"O-Okay... take me home, and don't you dare ask me out ever again! I don't want anything to do with a criminal!"

"For the record, you're the one who asked me out... and I've already told you, I'm not a criminal! That guy must've mistaken me for someone else!"

"Where do you think you're going, vampire? You've trespassed in my territory, and you'll pay for that insult with your life!"

Chris is on alert instantly.

He spins around and steps in front of Hina, shielding her with his body.

He expects the man to pull out a gun and point it at them, but what happens instead shocks him far more.

The man standing before him... is no longer a man.

He transforms into a werewolf nearly three meters tall, with silver fur and narrow, menacing yellow eyes.

Thick strands of drool drip from his jaws, lined with long, razor-sharp teeth that gleam in the moonlight.

W-What the fuck is happening...? Who the hell is this monster? Don't tell me he's... a werewolf?! Do those things actually exist? Neither Isabelle nor anyone else ever told me about them!

The imposing creature towering over Chris is a lycan.

A lycan's strength can be identified by the color of its fur.

The weakest have brown fur. Above them are the silver-furred lycans, and at the very top are the black-furred ones.

A silver-furred lycan is roughly five times stronger than a brown-furred one, while a black-furred lycan is about ten times stronger than a silver-furred lycan.

The terror already consuming Hina becomes impossible to describe at the sight of the monster.

The fear is so primal and overwhelming that she faints before she can even let out a scream.

Chris lets out a long sigh of relief as Hina's body collapses onto the grass.

Then Chris turns back to the lycan.

"I already told you, I don't know anything about what you're talking about. Let us leave, and I promise I'll never set foot in this neighborhood again. More importantly, I won't hurt you."

"You've got a lot of nerve talking tough to me! Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a brat!"

The lycan drops to all fours and lunges at Chris with startling speed.

It raises a massive paw and slashes with enough force to tear through a thick concrete wall.

But then... Clang!

Chris intercepts the lycan's long, razor-sharp claws with the blade of his blood katana.

Chris's eyes widen in disbelief.

H-How is this possible...?

The lycan's attack doesn't push him back even a single step.

And no matter how much force the creature puts into breaking through Chris's guard, it doesn't budge.

Is that thing much weaker than it looks...? Or maybe... am I the one who's gotten stronger?

Well, I guess all the beatings Mia gave me during this month of training actually paid off...

With a sharp motion, Chris slides his katana downward.

First comes the shrill screech of steel scraping against claws.

Then come the lycan's agonized screams.

Chris's blade carves a diagonal path across the creature's body, opening a long gash across its abdomen.

The lycan instantly leaps backward, pressing a paw against the wound to stop the blood pouring out.

"Y-You damn brat... you've gotten yourself into trouble far beyond anything you can imagine! Now things are going to get a lot worse for you!"

The lycan throws back its head and lets out a long, piercing howl.

S-Shit... don't tell me... he's calling for backup?!

Chris immediately raises his guard, positioning himself beside Hina's unconscious body.

As long as it was one-on-one, there wasn't a problem, but... if he really called for backup, attacking that werewolf would mean leaving Hina at their mercy. I can't let something happen to her because of me!

He scans the area carefully.

A few moments later, four more lycans emerge from the surrounding trees.

One has silver fur. The other three are brown-furred.

"You may be strong, but five against one? You don't stand a chance, you little vampire! Nobody crosses us and gets away with it! Nobody!"

The lycans unleash a chorus of savage barks before charging Chris all at once.

He remains perfectly still, maintaining his stance beside Hina.

Then, just as the lycans' massive clawed paws are about to crash down on him, Chris's body becomes encased in the translucent orange bone armor generated by his Innatus.

His katana vanishes, replaced by a long, razor-sharp bone spear.

The instant the attack lands, the armor's automatic defense system activates.

Massive spikes erupt from the bony shell, piercing straight through the lycans' forelegs.

Then Chris fires those same spikes outward like a porcupine launching its quills, impaling the lycans.

Two of the brown-furred lycans are struck in vital areas and collapse to the ground, writhing in pools of blood before dying moments later.

The remaining three recoil in terror.

"T-That... that's an Innatus...? Looks like those bastards from the Inagawa-kai decided to send their heavy hitters after us... this means war!"

The Inagawa-kai...? If I remember correctly, that's another criminal organization... have they really mistaken me for someone from a rival gang?! Goddamn, what a clusterfuck...

Since trying to reason with them was completely useless, I guess my only option is to end this and get as far away from here as possible.

Chris hurls his bone spike like a javelin, piercing straight through the head of the last remaining brown-furred lycan.

Then, in a blur of motion, he crushes the skull of the wounded silver-furred lycan with a single punch, killing it instantly.

When he turns toward the last surviving lycan, it's gone.

Instinctively, he shoots a worried glance toward Hina.

She's still there.

Thank God that werewolf was more interested in saving his own skin than kidnapping Hina...

Isabelle would be seriously pissed if she found out I couldn't keep track of just five enemies at once...

Chris lets out a long sigh of relief and dismisses his Innatus.

All's well that ends well... I'd better get the hell out of here before more of them show up...

He scoops Hina into his arms and takes off at full speed.