Chapter 43 — A Father's Sacrifice

"This sword is yours. I found it beside Bastian's body," Rowan said, pointing with his chin at a sword lying on the table.

"Acacia Southern Sword, Elias Kirrin's sword. I'm surprised this sword is in your hand. It looks like they did use you against me. I'm not surprised they used cunning and cowardly means to destroy my clan. It's just that I didn't think that a smart kid like you could be controlled so easily by them," he added, smiling a cynical smile.

"They never take advantage of me. On the other hand, they helped me a lot. They were strangers but treated me well, unlike my relatives, who never even acknowledged me as one of them. After all, I have to thank them because thanks to them, now I know all of your rottenness," said Cliff with emotion visible from his blushing face.

"Why did you do that to my mother? Why do you have the heart to tarnish and leave it after you're satisfied? Do you know that what you did has ruined the life of a good girl?" added Cliff, who succeeded in making Rowan widen in surprise. He is surprised that Cliff knows about his past with Clara. However, considering that for the past three years, Cliff has lived with the Kirrin Clan, of course, it's not something strange if they tell Cliff about his dark past. Vampires of the Kirrin Clan have always been a nuisance to Rowan because they can read other people's minds, including seeing other people's past and future. Rowan regretted deciding to spare them when they lost the war. If he had allowed the entire Kirrin Clan to be slaughtered back then, something like this would never have happened. He also didn't have to face his son, who now seemed to hate him so much.

"Because of you, her family hated my mother, especially her father. The villagers also ignored her. She was no longer considered part of them. None of the men wanted to marry her. She suffered when she was pregnant with your child, and she almost died when she gave birth to your child. Do you know that Haah?!" shouted Cliff, who could no longer contain his anger.

"That's the fatal mistake I've ever made in life. I've always regretted it too. Because always thinking about your mother, I decided not to kill humans and drink their blood again. That is why since that incident, I have made animal blood as my food, "said Rowan with a downcast face full of regret.

"You think your regret is enough to make up for your mistakes? Your regrets are nothing compared to my mother's suffering. My mother even had to raise me, raising her child, who turned out to be a vampire. My mother was kicked out of the house by her father. Meanwhile, her mother, who had been her supporter, had died. My mother was desperate and finally decided to end her life." Cliff's tears started to fall as he imagined his mother's past suffering.

"Even in her last moment, you still didn't care about her. Do you remember that time I begged you to save my dying mother? But what were you doing then? You just stood looking at my mother. You let her die. Even then, you could have saved her. You can bite her and turn her into a vampire. At least she's alive and here right now with me. Until her last breath, the only pain you can give to my mother. All this time, I thought there was no more jerk than Nick Dawson, but it turns out you're way worse than that kid of yours!!" Cliff's gaze was so intimidating. All the anger he felt, he poured out through words. He let it out through his screams and stares. Rowan could feel the hatred that was so deep in Cliff.

"When one day you have someone who means a lot to you that you fight tooth and nail to keep her human because you know death is the best way than having to turn her into a vampire. When you have someone so important to you that you wouldn't even think of turning them into a monster like you, you'll understand why I did that to your mother. Why did I let her die peacefully? You will understand the reason one day," said Rowan with a straight look at Cliff's eyes which were still full of tears.

"Nonsense. It would help if you were punished for what you did to my mother; death is your most appropriate punishment. I will punish you with my hands as I did to the people who hurt my mother. Did you know I already massacred the entire population of Tussand Village? My happiest moments were when I watched my grandfather die because my new creations ate him. Hahaha." Rowan froze where he stood when he heard Cliff's confession. He didn't expect that it wasn't just all of the Dawson Clan vampires whom Cliff had killed but also all of the human residents of Tussand Village. He was increasingly convinced that his son had sunk too far into the darkness.

"You want to kill me? Then it would help if you had that sword to be able to kill me. Take that sword and come, fight me!" challenged Rowan as he pointed at the sword still lying on the table.

"I don't need that sword you picked up. I don't want to use a sword that you have touched with your dirty hands," Cliff said excitedly. Rowan took the sword and threw it at Cliff, but Cliff didn't take it at all and let the sword fall to the floor and lay there.

"You can't possibly kill me without that sword."

"I can kill you with my bare hands!!" cried Cliff angrily, feeling that Rowan had underestimated his strength.

After that, Cliff didn't waste any more time. He started to launch attacks using Alvaro's stolen natural abilities. He moves everything in the room with his eyes. Unsuspected objects can become sharp weapons, but Cliff is capable of it. He flung back some of the curtains stuck on the windows, which with their ability, could wrap around and crush Rowan's bones just like it had done with Nick.

The curtains slid toward Rowan. However, with just one glance of his left eye, in an instant, Rowan turned the curtains into pieces of sand. Cliff gasped at the sight. He didn't expect Rowan's natural left eye ability to turn the object he stared at into a splinter of sand. He had indeed seen Rowan's right eye, which could explode an enemy's body with just one glance. Now for the first time, he saw the natural ability of his father's left eye, which was no less scary than the natural ability of his right eye.

Cliff subconsciously stepped back. He started to freak out at how terrifying his father's natural ability was. No wonder his father was called the strongest vampire and was feared by even Elias Kirrin.

Cliff returned to using the natural abilities he stole. Now he uses Alex's natural ability to move the sharp weapons that hang on the room's walls. Several sharp weapons, most of them in the form of swords, shot quickly toward Rowan. However, again, none of the weapons could injure him because the weapons shattered into bits of sand before hitting him.

However, Cliff didn't give up that easily. Now he's using the natural ability he stole from Rose. With a look in his eyes, a blazing fire suddenly appeared, burning all over Rowan's body.

"Hahaha... feel it! You will burn to death. Your remains won't even be recognizable!!" cried Cliff with satisfaction and a triumphant laugh when he saw the fire getting bigger and bigger, burning Rowan's body.

"You used my wife's ability to kill me? No kidding, Cliff. I've lived many years with Rose. She had used this ability hundreds of times when mad at me. Do you think I'm a stupid man who will let myself die at the hands of my wife? Of course not. I already know very well how to put out this fire." Rowan didn't just talk big because the fire burning him began to die out, or instead, it seemed as if his body had absorbed it so that the big fire was no longer visible.

Cliff couldn't believe he saw it, even though his body was burnt by fire, but Rowan didn't look the least bit hurt.

"Monsters! You damn monsters!! What kind of monster are you?!" shouted Cliff, starting to get scared by his father's extraordinary power. He kept walking backward, further increasing his distance from the man in front of him whom he knew to be his biological father.

"You can survive your wife's ability, but you definitely won't be able to survive your child's ability, right? I bet that cowardly man never dared to use his skills on you!" Cliff's words before he finally uses Nick's ability to attack Rowan. And look, this time, Cliff succeeded because Rowan was groaning in pain in front of him with one knee touching the floor.

"I hate Nick, but this time I let him laugh with satisfaction up there because he witnessed the father he wanted to kill so badly would now die thanks to his abilities. I'm sure he's pleased up there now. Did you know that your son always has the ambition to kill you? Same as me. Hahaha." Victorious laughter came again from Cliff's mouth, especially when he saw Rowan coughing and spurting blood from his mouth.

"Time to say goodbye, Rowan Dawson." Cliff intended to use his eye power to its fullest, but it backfired. Suddenly he felt his eyes throbbing with pain. It was more painful than when he felt that pain when fighting Bastian.

Cliff groaned in pain as he clutched his eyes. He couldn't see anything because everything was blurry. He also felt blood flowing from his eyes. He couldn't open his eyes anymore, so he closed them as tight as possible. His pain was even worse than the stab wound in his chest yesterday.

"I don't know who told you how to steal other vampires' natural abilities. But it seems that person didn't tell you the effect if you overuse your stolen ability." Cliff heard Rowan's words clearly but didn't answer because he was too busy holding his throbbing eyes as if they wanted to pop out of their sockets.

"You're just a half-blood vampire. Of course, your body won't be able to endure the natural abilities of pure-blood vampires that are too great. Moreover, you stole the natural abilities of more than one vampire. Your eyes will be permanently blinded if you continue to overuse your abilities," added Rowan.

"Shut up!! You bastard!!" Cliff shouted, cursing at Rowan as both hands kept rubbing his eyes to make them open again.

When he could finally slowly open his eyes, even though his vision was blurry, he could still see Rowan walking towards him, which succeeded in scaring Cliff to death. He thought Rowan would kill him using his natural abilities this time.

However, apparently what happened was far from what he expected. Rowan beat Cliff as hard as he could. He hit Cliff's stomach with his fist until blood spurted from Cliff's mouth. He also kicked Cliff so hard that his back hit the wall. Also, before Cliff could stand up straight, he elbowed Cliff in the back, causing him to fall back on the floor. Rowan sat on Cliff's body by sitting on his stomach, then beat Cliff's face repeatedly until his face was bruised, creating several wounds that oozed fresh blood.

"Kill me, dammit! Instead of you torturing me like this. Kill me with the power of your eyes!!" cried Cliff. Rowan stopped hitting Cliff in the face. He held Cliff's face with both hands, tilting his head so Cliff's eyes met his.

"I can never kill you, no matter how angry I am at you."

"Nonsense, the proof is you beat me to a pulp like this. You better just kill me, you bastard!!" said Cliff, calling his father without a hint of courtesy. Yet the man he was talking to was his father, a father he should respect.

"Think of these spankings as a father's way of punishing his son who has made many mistakes," said Rowan, and Cliff was just stunned to hear that.

"Think of it as a father teaching his son to stop sinning." Rowan paused and looked at Cliff with pity, who was once so kind and gentle but now had turned evil.

"And think of it as a father's way of awakening his son to return to the right path," concluded Rowan. He stood up and away from Cliff's helpless body, which was already full of wounds from the previous blows.

Rowan thought their fight was over, but Cliff didn't. He got up and grabbed his sword lying on the floor not far from him. He was about to stab Rowan in the heart, but luckily Rowan managed to hold Cliff's sword blade by holding it when the tip of the sword was slightly stuck in his left chest. His movement was a little too late, then the tip of the sword was sure to penetrate his heart.

"So you want to kill me?" Rowan muttered softly but still could be heard by Cliff.

"Stop killing people. You are strong now. You can use your power to protect the people you care about." Rowan was in the middle of giving Cliff some advice, but Cliff responded with a sinister smile.

"Protecting the people, I care about? No kidding. You and your family have taken away the people I care about. I live alone in this world," said Cliff firmly.

"You are still very young. You still have a long life, son. Someday you will have people who are precious to you, so you will protect them even if you have to risk your life." Rowan released his grip on Cliff's sword blade as if he had given up if Cliff thrust his sword deeper. However, Cliff just kept silent. He didn't move the hand holding the sword as if he suddenly hesitated to stab his father.

"If my death can remove the hatred in your heart, get you back on the right path, and make you return to how you used to be a kind and gentle man like your mother. So I'm willing to lay down my life for you," added Rowan while placing one hand on Cliff's head. He stroked it gently, something he often did when Cliff was a kid. And it seems that Cliff remembers the gentle touch because now Cliff's eyes, still dripping with blood, are perfectly rounded.

"No matter what you have done to me, you are still my proud son. I will always love you, Cliff Dawson," said Rowan with a genuine smile on his handsome face.

Cliff seemed to have forgotten how to move when suddenly Rowan stepped forward to approach Cliff so that the point of the sword stabbed deeper and penetrated Rowan's heart. Cliff still didn't budge when Rowan's body toppled over and fell on him, so now he was sprawled on the floor with Rowan's body on top of him.

That's the end of Rowan Dawson's life. The strongest vampire will sacrifice his life to save his son from the darkness.

***

A man with dark black hair long to touch his back was walking with a smile on his face. He wanted to meet someone to convey the happy news he had just heard.

He opened a luxurious door with various carvings without knocking first, making a man and woman gasp in shock because of his actions.

"Brother, there is some good news," said the man, who was none other than Erian Kirrin. Elias and Emma stared in wonder, especially when they found Erian had a bright smile on his face.

"I just heard from our spies. Rowan Dawson is dead," he said gleefully. Elias and Emma, who heard it were no less excited. Elias even jumped up and down like a child who had just gotten the toy he was after.

"So, that youngster managed to kill our great enemy? The enemy I've been wanting to kill," Elias said excitedly.

"Yes, the child succeeded," said Erian. They laughed uproariously, apparently very satisfied to hear the good news. It seems they didn't know that it wasn't Cliff who killed him, but Rowan himself, who decided to sacrifice his life to revive Cliff. Let only Rowan and Cliff know the truth.

"We have to throw a big party. Invite all members of the Kirrin Clan to this Castle. We celebrate Rowan Dawson's death as grandly as possible and simultaneously celebrate the Kirrin Clan, who will be the only vampire clan on earth." Erian and Emma nodded their heads, very enthusiastic about their eldest brother's grand plan.

"Oh yes. Bro, what are we going to do with Cliff? Maybe he will become a threat to us in the future," asked Erian, looking worried.

"No. That child will never be a threat to us because he will forever consider us his savior. So, let him make up his mind. If he wants to come back here and join us, of course, we must welcome him with open arms," said Elias without hesitation.

"Besides, he's a very talented vampire. If he stole Rowan's natural abilities as well, then he really would become the strongest vampire in Rowan's place. I'm sure my beautiful sister also doesn't mind if she is married to him. You will get offspring with extraordinary powers. Isn't that right, Emma dear?" Emma was stunned to hear her brother's question, and soon her face blushed.

"I admit that in terms of appearance, he is beautiful. He is also very admirable to be a life partner. But to love him and ask him to be my husband, I didn't think that far ahead. Of course, I will not refuse if he wants to get married. But I also won't force it if he doesn't want marriage," Emma said calmly but coldly.

"You are indeed my wise little sister," Elias exclaimed as he hugged his little sister's body.

"Let's let Cliff live his own life. Besides, as far as I know, he intends to end his life after completing his revenge." Elias's last words before the three vampire brothers raised the glasses filled with blood in their hands.

They toasted to celebrate Rowan's death and the downfall of the Dawson Clan.