Cassius

Cassius Lactuca is a vampire scout who serves Melia Bloodheart. He leads the Bloodheart party that watches Nux and his wives on their journey to the Blood Kingdom, then acts as their guide and escort.

Biography

Watching the prospective recruits

Cassius spends three months shadowing Nux's travelling party on Melia's orders. When he finally approaches, he arrives with forty-nine Sage subordinates and identifies himself as their Great Sage leader. He confidently invites the group to the Blood Kingdom and offers his personal assurance of their safety, but Nux refuses to rely on a scout's word and demands a signed, Bloodheart-marked letter from Melia. Cassius initially tries to press the authority of the Duke House, then accepts the condition and returns to his lady rather than forcing the issue. (Chapters 744–745)

Reporting in bat form, Cassius gives Melia an accurate account of Nux's caution and admits that controlling the man would be difficult. He wrongly suggests that Nux's devotion to his wives could provide leverage; Melia corrects him that they are his strength, not his weakness. Cassius also protests that a marked letter is too important for the request, but apologizes as soon as Melia tells him he has exceeded his authority. His report nevertheless shows that he recognizes Nux as unusually perceptive: after seeing him kill powerful Star Beasts, Cassius refuses to treat those observations as a reliable limit because Nux had warned him not to trust what he saw. (Chapter 746)

Escort through the Blood Kingdom

Cassius returns at the appointed time with the marked letter and his scouts, then leads the visitors to a hidden teleportation circle. He uses a vial of blood to activate the installation, brings the party into the Blood Kingdom, and guides them through its tower and market. Once his guests have finished exploring, he arranges Silver Spirit Wolf mounts and delivers them to the Bloodheart estate, where he respectfully announces their arrival to Melia. Melia later states that Cassius will escort the party out safely if they reject her offer, confirming that his responsibility extends to their secure departure as well as their arrival. (Chapters 747–750)

Appearance and personality

Cassius is a 203-centimetre-tall vampire with black hair, pale skin, slightly elongated ears, visible fangs, and blood-red eyes described as hypnotic. He has a lean, well-built body and a striking face. His clothing bears the Bloodheart emblem. (Chapter 744)

He is confident in his House's standing and playful when guiding outsiders, but his loyalty to Melia is the clearer constant: by their private conversation, he has served her for 226 years. He can be presumptuous—especially when assessing how Nux's wives might be used or questioning Melia's marked letter—but accepts correction and resumes his duties without defiance. (Chapters 745–746, 748–749)

Abilities and cultivation

Cassius is a Great Sage and commands forty-nine Sage scouts at his introduction. The corpus does not show him fighting or name his Law, spells, weapons, or combat limits, so his Great Sage status establishes scale without defining a combat style. (Chapter 744)

Like the other vampires in his unit, Cassius can transform between a humanoid body and a bat. He uses the smaller form to enter Melia's room and his party uses bat forms for fast nocturnal travel and concealment during daylight. The transformation's energy source, activation cost, maximum duration, and counters are not explained. (Chapters 746–747)

His most clearly explained scouting technique is not a named supernatural ability. Bloodheart scouts learn to control the surrounding mana so precisely that observers do not sense the normal disturbance caused by their presence. Cassius is described as exceptionally skilled at this method and uses it in a busy market, where even nearby vampires overlook him; Nux can still perceive what he is doing, demonstrating that the concealment is not absolute. (Chapter 748)

Cassius also operates Bloodheart infrastructure: he supplies blood to activate a hidden long-range teleportation circle and injects mana into a tower wall to move its room like an elevator. These are demonstrated uses of existing installations rather than evidence that he personally possesses teleportation or spatial magic. (Chapters 747–748)

Relationships

• Melia Bloodheart: Cassius's lady and commander. He has served her for 226 years, brings her reports, voices objections when he thinks she is risking House resources, and ultimately follows her decisions. (Chapter 746)
• Nux: Cassius begins as Nux's hidden observer and guarded recruiter. Nux detects the surveillance and insists on formal protection; Cassius comes to respect his caution and ability to conceal his true limits, then completes the escort without hostility. (Chapters 744–750)
• Bloodheart scouts: He leads a party of forty-nine Sage vampires during the surveillance mission and the return journey. The individual subordinates and Cassius's longer command history are not identified. (Chapters 744, 747)

Items

Cassius carries a vial of blood used to activate the Blood Kingdom's hidden teleportation circle and temporarily transports Melia's marked letter. Neither is established as a personal signature possession, and no lasting personal inventory is identified. (Chapters 747–748)