The world was filled with red, a dizzying red.
Blood! Blood! Blood!
Blood was everywhere, endless and boundless, staining the tranquil night sky and the bright moon, completely engulfing the ancient Millennium Castle Brunestud and devouring its inhabitants residing within.
The True Ancestors, beings on par with the legendary Nature Gods and Spirits, capable of altering the world with mere imagination, were like lambs to the slaughter. Despite their desperate struggles, they could not escape their fated demise.
The difference was that after the lambs were slaughtered, their bodies remained, but the True Ancestors, born from nature, would return to nature upon death, leaving no trace behind.
In the end, the ancient Thousand-Year Castle had only one remaining pure white princess, sitting dumbfounded on the ground, clutching her head with blood-stained hands, her eyes vacant.
...
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
A few hours later, Shinji repeated the same action.
Opened his eyes, confirming his surroundings, and checking his body.
"Am I still alive?"
Yes, he had passed out again and saw an extremely tragic scene while unconscious.
The death of the True Ancestors, the sorrow of the Millennium Castle Brunestud.
That day, the princess became the last True Ancestor.
"Was that a dream just now? But why?"
He had no connection with her, so why did he see her past?
Sitting up from the ground, Shinji rubbed his temples forcefully, trying to focus his still-dizzy mind and recall the memories before he passed out.
If he remembered correctly, Arcueid had used her signature ability, Marble Phantasm, and he had no choice but to counter with the Third Magic.
He thought his body would be torn apart by her, but unexpectedly, as they got closer, his soul's light suddenly went out of control, causing Arcueid's manifested pure white world to follow suit.
The pure white and azure colors intertwined, quickly expanding outward, and finally exploded.
At that moment, Shinji felt as if his head had been struck by a massive hammer, losing consciousness in less than a second.
Then, he had a dream. Upon waking, he found himself back in the Millennium Castle Brunestud. Both the pure white world and the azure light had vanished, along with the traces of their previous battle. If not for the change in his position and his torn clothes, he might have thought everything was a dream.
Pressing his hand against the floor that should have been shattered, he pondered.
"So that's it, I've heard that Millennium Castle Brunestud is a product of Marble Phantasm, maintaining its original appearance and quickly repairing any damage. What a convenient ability."
Getting up from the ground, he habitually scanned his surroundings and saw Arcueid once again.
She was lying not far from him, in a similar posture, with her eyes closed.
"Uh... no way."
It was one thing for him to pass out, but how did Arcueid also pass out? Was that explosion really that intense?
Swearing by the two great Counter forces, it was an accident! Who knew why the Third Magic and Marble Phantasm would cause such a reaction? Could it be that he was naturally prone to causing explosions?
After some wild thoughts, noticing that Arcueid still showed no signs of waking up, Shinji cautiously approached her.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but the princess seemed slightly different from when she was bound by chains. Though still as beautiful, there seemed to be a bit more lively spirit in her cold tranquility. Maybe it was due to the recent intense activity? She looked even cuter.
Uh, got sidetracked again.
Possibly due to the explosion, his thoughts were unusually unruly.
Suppressing his chaotic thoughts with reason, Shinji bent down and gently picked up the unconscious princess. At twelve years old, he had no ill intentions; he simply thought it was inappropriate for her to sleep here and wanted to carry her to the nearby room with a bed.
However, as soon as he took a step, Arcueid murmured and woke up.
Shinji's body instantly stiffened.
It wasn't that he was afraid Arcueid would misunderstand anything. Although she was already 800 years old, she spent most of her time sleeping, with only one year of actual active time, all of which was spent hunting vampires. She probably didn't even know what misunderstanding meant.
But precisely because of this, her thoughts were very simple: if it was a target to be hunted, she would kill it directly — this was what Shinji was worried about. At such a close distance, with just a flick of her finger, his head could be sent flying.
Should he throw her away?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Arcueid moved. She extended her finger and touched Shinji's chest. The movement was unexpectedly gentle, like a dragonfly lightly skimming the water — a touch and then withdrawal.
His head remained intact on his body, and Shinji wasn't harmed. However, there was a smear of red on Arcueid's hand. It was a fragment of Shinji's shattered clothing, torn by the pressure of the earlier battle, with a bit of blood on it.
Arcueid brought the cloth to her nose and sniffed it, then spoke, "Hmm, you're indeed human. Although there's a bit of Dead Apostle scent, I mistook you earlier."
With these words, Shinji immediately relaxed.
"Thank goodness. So, you don't want to kill me anymore, right?"
"You're not a Dead Apostle, why would I kill you?"
Arcueid stared at Shinji with her eyes redder than blood, looking both pure and innocent.
Shinji was amused by her.
"But you almost killed me just now."
"That's because you had such a strong scent of a Dead Apostle and an ancient one at that."
"You mean it was my fault?"
"Yes, it was your fault."
Arcueid nodded seriously, without any sophistry or arrogance — she genuinely thought so.
"Ah..."
Although Shinji already knew she was a naturally clueless princess, he hadn't expected her to be this naïve. This level of ignorance was almost disastrous in a certain sense.
Shinji wanted to press his temples with his hands, but he was holding Arcueid with both of them.
So, he made a resolute decision. He loosened his hands and directly dropped Arcueid onto the ground.
"Ow! What are you doing?"
Arcueid let out a cry of protest as her bottom hit the floor.
"Nothing, just a little revenge on the princess who almost killed me and a small punishment for a True Ancestor who doesn't realize her own mistakes."
Shinji clapped his hands, looking refreshed.
"Mistakes? Punishment?"
Arcueid sitting on the ground looked bewildered.
Shinji's head began to ache again. It seemed that educating the princess would not be a task solved in a short time.