Vampire Progenitor System-Chapter 110: “Don’t Call Me That.”

"Now, my sons, you grow stronger."

Lilith’s voice carried gently across the chamber. Not commanding. Not cold. Just soft. Like a whisper trying to comfort.

But it hit Lucifer like a blade.

He stood still — dead still — eyes locked on her.

His voice came low, sharp.

"Don’t ever call me that."

Lilith blinked.

Just once.

Lucifer stepped forward, his shadow curling unnaturally beneath him.

"I’m not your son. Not in any way that matters."

"You gave birth to me — fine. You did that. But don’t act like that means something now."

His voice didn’t rise, but the weight behind it crushed the silence.

"You weren’t there when I was bleeding in the streets. You weren’t there when I got hunted like a dog for something I didn’t understand. You didn’t see me dying, freezing, choking on blood I didn’t know was mine."

"You weren’t there when I turned."

His eyes burned, not with power, but memory.

"When I died... I came back a vampire. No explanation. No warning. My blood woke up, and it wanted things I didn’t even have words for."

His jaw clenched.

"You weren’t there then either."

He stepped forward again.

"You know what I had before that?"

"A home that never felt like one. People that smiled but never looked past my skin. I was adopted, yeah — but I was never family. Just another mouth. Another weird, quiet kid they didn’t know what to do with."

"I watched them sit around tables and talk like I wasn’t there. I watched other kids get held, hugged, told ’I love you’ — and I sat in corners. Waiting."

"I thought maybe I was broken."

His voice cracked — just slightly.

"But I wasn’t. I was just... yours."

He looked up at her, eyes glinting red.

"And you were never there."

Lilith didn’t speak. Her expression didn’t shift.

Then—

Ruka stepped beside him.

His voice didn’t tremble, but it was raw. Honest.

"Lucifer’s not alone."

"I didn’t know what I was either. Not for a long time. I didn’t even know what demon blood meant."

"My father — he was human. A good man. Kind. Quiet. But he wasn’t supposed to raise someone like me."

"He said I came out crying fire."

"He told me once he thought it was a miracle. Said spirits led him into the forest, showed him where I was — this baby wrapped in old cloth, lying next to a burning tree."

"I was just there. Screaming."

"He picked me up anyway."

Ruka exhaled slowly, as if trying to keep himself steady.

"He raised me in the human world for a while. Said he didn’t believe in fate, but he believed in doing what’s right."

"But even he couldn’t protect me forever."

"When the nightmares started, I didn’t sleep. When I started hearing voices from the wind, feeling things I couldn’t explain, he took me deep into the woods... looking for answers."

"That’s when we stumbled into the Spirit Realm."

"It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t destiny. It was an accident."

His hands curled into fists.

"And suddenly we were in a place where time didn’t move right, where people floated instead of walked. Where emotions made buildings grow and whispers could kill."

"They took me in — the spirits. Not all of them liked me. Some called me a corruption."

"But they trained me."

"Taught me how to channel spirit magic. How to focus my fire. How to stay calm even when I felt like ripping myself apart."

"But they never gave me a mother."

"And my father — he died a few years in. The spirit realm doesn’t keep humans alive long."

"I buried him under a tree that sings when it rains."

Silence.

Lilith’s face softened, barely.

Ruka looked her straight in the eye.

"You could’ve been there."

"Not just for me. But for him. For the man who raised your child."

"But you weren’t."

Lucifer let out a bitter laugh beside him.

"You always had power, Lilith. Don’t lie about that."

"You could’ve reached out. Whispered in dreams. Sent a guide. Something."

"But you chose nothing."

"You left us to guess who we were."

Ruka stepped forward again, slower this time.

"You know what’s worse than pain?" he asked.

"Confusion."

"Looking in the mirror and not knowing what part of you is real. What part is your own. What part comes from a woman you’ve never seen."

"I thought maybe I was cursed."

"Maybe I was just broken."

"But now..."

He gestured lightly at himself. At Lucifer.

"We’re here."

"Scarred. Angry. Worn."

"But we’re still standing."

Lucifer turned to Lilith again. His voice low, final.

"You don’t get to wear pride like a cloak now."

"You didn’t build us."

"You just watched us burn until we became fire."

He took a step closer, face inches from hers.

"I don’t care why you left."

"But don’t call me your son."

"Not until you’ve earned that."

Ruka nodded.

"Don’t try to skip to the ending like you were here for the beginning."

"We’re not children anymore."

"We’re weapons you left to rust."

Lilith’s hand twitched at her side.

But she said nothing.

Lucifer breathed in deep, then exhaled slow.

"There was a time I begged to know who my real mother was. I thought it’d make the ache go away."

He laughed softly.

"But knowing it was you? It just made it worse."

Ruka looked down, then up again.

"I don’t hate you," he said. "But I don’t trust you either."

"Not yet."

"Maybe not ever."

Lucifer nodded.

"I do hate you."

"But I’ll hear what you have to say."

"Not because you’re my mother."

He paused.

"But because I need to know what kind of person walks away from this."

He tapped his chest.

"And doesn’t look back."

Lilith didn’t flinch.

Her eyes glistened faintly now. Not with tears.

With something else.

Loss.

Regret.

Truth.

She lowered her head.

And said quietly—

"...Then I’ll wait."

The chamber fell silent.

Not with peace.

But understanding.

Wounded.

Heavy.

Real.

And that was enough. For now.