Just yesterday, the bustling center of Lusher was brimming with life.
Now, the remnants of what once was, perfectly destroyed, lay in the ruins where the Luminous Kingdom’s Palace had once stood, as the dawn broke to announce the end of a long night.
“Look at that. What did I say?”
The red-haired Knight thrust his sword, made not of silver or iron but pure light, into the ground. It flickered for a few seconds before vanishing as if melting into the air.
Luminous gazed down at the three Vampires rolling on the ground.
Even after multiple collisions and broken attempts throughout the night, the three relentless Vampires, who had been attacking him doggedly, no longer made a move, even though he stood defenseless with his weapon sheathed away.
No, they could no longer make a move.
He had won, and they had lost.
“I’ll give you credit, though. Honestly, I thought I could handle you even in your current condition, but lasting until dawn is a noteworthy achievement. Who in the world could dare withstand a night against the God of Light?”
“…Stop the nonsense and just kill me.”
Martini Sahelrn shot him a cold glare.
Even with her legs severed and unable to stand, she looked as if she would still bite if given a chance, and Luminous shrugged his shoulders.
Looking around, Jeil and Stella’s enemies showed no signs of easing up either.
If dawn had not broken, they would have fought to the literal last breath.
Remembering the battle from last night, Luminous shook his head. For mere creatures, one couldn’t deny their tenacity.
However, even so, they could now only crawl on the ground.
The species known as vampires, or more precisely, the servants of vampires had an unbreakable, clear limit.
What good does a strong resolution and will do when they become powerless the moment they stand in the sun? That incompleteness was truly unfortunate.
“Raul Carlos, he was quite clever after all.”
Luminous smacked his lips in disappointment.
For Luminous, a spiritual entity that must parasitize others to live, finding a stable way to enjoy immortality was an endeavor older than the establishment of the Church itself.
How’s this for a thought? To confront an enemy that the frail body of an old man could not endure and, in exchange, to offer up the Luminous Kingdom and the Church—no matter how you slice it, there’s no benefit in that.
Through this incident, Luminous was convinced that, to truly become a God, he needed to resolve this issue first.
No matter how powerful his divinity was, if the body he was using couldn’t withstand it, he was useless.
However, even if he painstakingly found a decent vessel, ordinary beings couldn’t escape aging and death over time, and having to feel a threat to his life each time was exceedingly unwelcome for Luminous.
Moreover, changing bodies wasn’t something he could do on a whim.
To perform the rite of transferring vessels, one needed to meet specific conditions and have ample time, and once transitioned, there was a 100-day period where the body couldn’t be changed again, necessitating great caution.
Especially right after a swap, the limitations on the new vessel accepting him made it a real hassle.
A God is an absolute being. Luminous needed a perfect vessel befitting an immortal, not an imperfect human body.
And no matter how much thought he gave it, he had to admit that the most suitable race for his vessel was indeed vampires.
“Thinking back on it, I wonder if light and darkness were designed to perfect each other by consuming one another since the dawn of time.”
Light, which could only live by borrowing the body of mortals, and the darkness consumed by the instinct of bloodlust.
The former was physically imperfect, the latter mentally—yet when compared, they both shared surprisingly similar qualities.
Perhaps to attain perfection, light needed to embrace darkness; that was the current line of thought for Luminous.
“So, worry not. I won’t kill you.”
The three Vampires gazed up at him with rebellious eyes. With expressions that could’ve bitten their tongues and died, Luminous couldn’t help but suppress a laugh.
No matter how bright it was, a Vampire of the Grand Duchy wouldn’t be so weak as to die just because they bit their tongue. Even if they could, he’d notice beforehand and stop them.
At that moment, their life and death lay entirely in his hands, so wasn’t it amusing that they struggled against him with no idea what the future held?
“Now that I’ve got three first-generation servants right here, there’s no way I’m throwing this opportunity away.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The more I look, the more I think Raul’s approach was the right one.”
Erasing the bloodlust and weakness to the sun from the vampire’s body—that had been Cardinal Raul Carlos’s goal.
Though Raul was killed by his experimental fourth progenitor before completing his research, the materials he left behind hadn’t been discarded and now rested in Luminous’s hands.
Luminous had always thought he couldn’t steal a vampire’s body. He knew the dark spirit dwelling in true blood repelled that of the spirit of light.
To seize another’s body, Luminous needed to establish a mental connection through mutual consent and then widen the passage for his mind to transfer, but first, the spirit of light had to take root. Otherwise, there was no starting point.
But what if he could completely suppress the dark spirit dwelling in the vampire’s body?
“The fourth progenitor proved with his life that I could significantly hinder the dark spirit’s activity.”
Even though Luminous knew of Raul’s research, he had not expected much at the time. The weakness of the servants was divine magic, but that was not the case for the progenitors.
What had to be suppressed to seize a vampire’s body was not the servants but the powers of the progenitor.
Transforming an ordinary mortal body into an imperfect immortal depended solely on the power contained in true blood, so Luminous had no confidence that he could interfere with an equal spirit’s power.
But now, things had changed.
Through his battle with Aria, Luminous realized that his powers and those of the vampires could interfere in ways he had never imagined.
“His Majesty will never return like this!”
“Oh, indeed. I wouldn’t dream of denying your futile beliefs. That’s the leisure of the victor, isn’t it?”
With a nonchalant demeanor, Luminous smirked and continued his thoughts.
Raul Carlos’s wish had come to nothing. But what if he combined the research materials he left behind with Luminous’s powers?
This time, perhaps he could completely suppress the dark spirit in the vampire’s body and extract the trait of eternal life.
Of course, there were still checks to run—was there no difference in lifespan, how much did they suffer from the sun’s effects, and was there a way to fully utilize their regenerative abilities? Yet, it was certainly worth the effort.
Compared to seeking a better vessel for two thousand years, investing time in this possibility couldn’t even be called a waste.
And when Luminous finally conquered the vampire’s body, the three most suitable candidates for his vessel were right in front of him.
Yes, among the existing servants of vampires, the strongest and most free—those first-generation servants who had lost their first progenitor.
“So, for now, I’ll let you live. As long as you can still say you’re alive just by having your heart taken out and stored away.”
*
Having finished Aria’s emergency treatment, Plona and her group returned to Randell with the defeated troops.
In just one night, they lost 40% of the troops sent to Lusher.
Since the initial force hadn’t been numerous, it might not seem like much when just looking at the numbers. Still, considering it was a mission carried out only by carefully selected elite forces, it was a painful loss in power.
The atmosphere in the Scarlet Allied Kingdom’s defense line established in Randell was considerably chaotic.
It was their first major defeat after continuous victories since the Queen’s ascension, making it all the more overwhelming.
Moreover, the unexpected emergence of a formidable foe like Luminous, the Queen who had fallen into a comatose state, the absence of Martini, Jeil, and Stella, who hadn’t even returned, all added to the confusion that was intensifying.
Naturally, Plona, Eleonora, and Lavina weren’t escapees from this atmosphere.
A week had passed since they had returned with Aria. They still sat in front of her sickbed with gloomy expressions.
“…We should’ve all retreated together, even if it meant pushing ourselves.”
“Plona. Regretting it now won’t change a thing.”
Though Lavina muttered in a comforting tone, her expression was hardly any brighter.
A week ago, after completing Aria’s emergency treatment and retreating, they secured her safety and intended to re-enter Lusher to try and rescue Martini and the others who had stayed to buy time.
The outcome was failure.
After exhausting themselves to save Aria, they no longer had the strength to break through the puppets of Luminous, which had taken posts thicker as they approached the center of Lusher.
In the end, all they could do was pray that Martini’s group might miraculously return safely.
Yet, as a week passed, they still had not returned.
Due to the nature of vampires, a battle could have been resolved at most in a night. The absence of news after a week was far too clear a sign.
However, perhaps unfortunate joy could be found in that Luminous and his acolytes did not seem to have intentions of leaving Lusher for now, as a peculiar peace hung in the air like the calm before a storm.
But this false peace wouldn’t last long. And there was only one person who could quell this unsettling atmosphere.
“…Sister.”
Plona called out to Aria in a feeble voice.
Her peacefully shut eyes seemed as if they were in a deep sleep, yet a week had passed since that day, and she had yet to open them.
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