“Plona! Plona!!”
I gripped Plona’s shoulders, forcing her down as she thrashed around with her eyes rolled back.
Beneath my hands, Plona’s body flailed restlessly. I called her name and leaned closer to her whitened eyes, but she merely trembled, showing no signs of waking up as she hovered at the brink of death.
“Stella! What’s happening?!”
“I’ll check for a moment.”
It seemed Stella, who had been just watching from the back, wasn’t willing to just stand by while I asked questions. She stepped forward and examined Plona.
Stella’s eyebrows twitched as she paused for a moment; her hand resumed movement but her slightly raised brow showed no signs of settling.
“Did you not only drink blood a little while ago, but also keep infusing it?”
“…Uh, maybe?”
Even though her tone was calm, there was a hint of reproach behind her words, making me feel guilty as I awkwardly nodded.
Finally, as if she had found the cause, Stella’s eyebrows returned to their normal position. A sigh, slightly audible, felt like a whip crack, making me flinch involuntarily.
“First of all, half of the cause is the clash between the Light Spirit and True Blood. The body accustomed to holy magic starts to reject the vampire transformation. Additionally, there’s a magical poison reacting to the Light Spirit in her system, which adds to the problem.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“I think it’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t die from excessive blood loss before the transformation is complete. As long as she’s alive, her body will reconstruct itself as a vampire even if it breaks down. But the problem lies elsewhere.”
Having listened up to that point, I felt my heart sink.
“Is there another problem?”
A possible scenario flashed through my mind. I wanted to deny it instinctively, but the lack of a causal relationship between Stella’s first question and her answer made it clear that the following words wouldn’t be pleasant.
“I think you might have infused too much blood. Considering her reaction, it seems that wasn’t your intention. Particularly, True Blood, which the Progenitor possesses, is so concentrated that if injected excessively, the host might not withstand it and their body could collapse. Of course, if they can endure it and survive, they would become a much stronger follower.”
My mind went white with Stella’s explanation.
Could my impulsive, reckless decision to fill Plona with blood, thinking it would solve the issue of losing control to the bloodsucking urge, actually threaten her life?
Despite feeling lightheaded, I couldn’t just collapse in despair.
I had a responsibility. Since everything was caused by my actions, I had to properly assess the situation and take responsibility.
“Since everyone has different capacities, I can’t guarantee what will happen with the infused True Blood. However, as a Knight, she must be a natural vessel, so we can assume she will be among the top tier.”
Is this a silver lining in an unfortunate situation…? I wasn’t sure if I had the right to be happy about a good piece of news amidst a disaster I had caused.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“What can you do about the blood that has already been infused? If only you had some blood magic, it might be different.”
Stella’s nonchalant words opened my eyes wide.
I suddenly realized I hadn’t used blood magic in front of this maid yet. I had considered using it for the color application at the beginning but hadn’t.
“I can use blood magic… just a bit.”
I ended my rushed response with a tinge of uncertainty, grappling with the fundamental question of whether I could claim to use magic I had only just realized today.
I didn’t even have the ability to apply it like I wanted; I only knew a few cases of it.
Trying to use it once nearly knocked me out, so claiming I could confidently wield it would be foolish.
So, I assumed Stella wouldn’t take my unconfident reply seriously, but her reaction took me by surprise.
“…You said you can use blood magic?”
Stella’s eyes widened, an expression of disbelief on her face.
Though her exterior remained calm, I could see the most distinct unease I had ever witnessed in her.
“Uh, yeah. Just a little.”
In a reflexive motion, I flicked a drop of blood from my body forward.
The drop shot out like a bullet, making a small hole in the earthy floor with a soft “thud.”
Even though it was just a test for proof, I felt my confidence slipping as I worried it looked too simple. Suddenly, Stella shot a question back at me sharply.
“When did you learn blood magic? How far can you control it?”
“Well, I just realized it today… I can sort of enhance myself a bit and apply color, and I can shoot it like I did just now.”
“What do you mean by color application specifically?”
“Um, I can feel the life force of the opponent? It’s like I can perceive their heartbeat regardless of my senses. I can feel the pulse of the blood flowing through.”
Stella lost her words for a moment, her mouth gaping slightly. It was just a short second, but this time the agitation was undeniable compared to earlier.
“I apologize. I didn’t imagine you would reach such a level already.”
“…It’s not like it’s anything extraordinary.”
“The fact that you can use it is significant. I can’t declare it for certain since I’ve never witnessed it myself, but it’s not just magic; it’s a sort of divine power, and it’s likely you could interfere with the conversion brought on by True Blood’s power.”
I hesitated for a moment, but not for long.
Regardless of the circumstances, if there was something I could do, I had to do it.
If my actions had decreased Plona’s chances of survival, then I had to do everything in my power to raise them again.
*
Stella Banteker stared at Aria, lying on the ground with a pale complexion, struggling to catch her breath.
Matching the ragged sounds of her breathing that sounded as if she might pass out at any moment, a calm expression adorned the face of a sky-blue-haired human girl lying beside her.
“I didn’t truly expect you to succeed.”
Though it seemed pathetic to see her rolling around on the ground, what Aria had demonstrated was undeniably blood magic.
She had created a membrane of blood to cover the wound, slowing the bleeding, and she had manually transported the True Blood injected into the knight’s body to her heart while suppressing its power as much as possible.
This had been Aria’s task just moments ago.
“To be honest, I didn’t think the success rate was that high.”
Stella’s duty was to grant Aria’s wish as best as she could.
However, all of this was ultimately for the benefit of the Duchy. Aria’s survival was the Duchy’s hope, so although she wouldn’t directly go against Aria’s wishes, whether the human knight lived or died wasn’t particularly important to Stella.
Thus, while explaining what could theoretically be done in the current situation, Stella didn’t hold much optimism.
But Aria had succeeded. Perhaps she would have survived if left alone, but the undeniable truth was that she hadn’t left it to fate and had saved the human she intended to make her follower with her own power and will.
“His Highness’s judgment wasn’t wrong after all.”
Stella had been wary of relying on the uncertain variable that was the fourth Progenitor to gamble the Duchy’s fate.
By the time Aria was set to leave the Duchy, there was no alternative; thus, she acknowledged it was worth taking a chance for the future, but until then, she genuinely didn’t expect Aria to become the hope of the vampires.
However, now it was clear. Her master, Martini Sahelrn’s vision was indeed accurate.
The fourth Progenitor, Aria, was undeniably a candidate for royalty. One day, she would become the star for the vampires, lighting their dark nights.
“The second user of blood magic in history.”
Aria’s growth was unpredictably rapid, considering the abnormal appetite she had displayed in the Duchy.
By the standards of common sense, no matter how hard she had fought for survival, it should have taken her quite a while to awaken blood magic.
Though it was a weapon symbolizing the Progenitor permitted only to true vampires, it was indeed only the first Progenitor who had showcased its existence, while the second and third Progenitors had never even used it during their lifetimes.
According to the only precedent Martini had heard from the first Progenitor, the amount of life force need for awakening blood magic was indeed enormous, and controlling that ambiguous sensation was incredibly tricky.
Yet, now the fourth Progenitor, who had not even been alive for a year, was able to wield a power that even the first Progenitor, deemed the greatest disaster in the history of Terra, had struggled with.
“It wasn’t just a matter of being able to use it.”
Though Aria had become self-conscious about her newly realized power, Stella marveled at her control.
After all, not only could she feel someone else’s blood flow, but she could distinguish and control the few drops of her own blood mixed in.
The evidence was right there in the form of the Knight, who lay peacefully breathing.
Aria’s blood now flowed through the girl’s heart in considerable amounts. Her heart was no longer human.
The girl, burdened by Aria’s restrained True Blood, was slowly transforming her human body into that of an immortal.
Having successfully integrated that amount of True Blood, she would undoubtedly become a powerful follower.
Even though she still twitched occasionally, that would soon pass. When the girl next opened her eyes, her once blue irises would be stained with red.
“Before that…”
Perhaps the human church was approaching in droves, or maybe it was just Stella’s presence that caused the forest’s owners to become aware.
Either way, it didn’t matter. After all, Aria was bound to leave this forest soon.
Stella waited silently for the cautious presences drawing closer.
Aria, sensing something amiss, suddenly flipped over and sat up. Glancing around hurriedly, she caught a glimpse of Stella, then turned her gaze to follow where Stella was looking.
Finally, a few silhouettes made their appearance.
“Elves.”
As expected, the forest’s owners had shown up. Unfazed by the unfriendly stares, Stella stepped forward.
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