"Human, from now on, wherever you go, take me with you, okay? I... don't want to leave you anymore."
"Uh..."
Elias' mismatched eyes widened in surprise. He looked down at the vampire girl clinging tightly to him, as though she were embracing a treasure more important than her own life.
Luna's answer had caught him completely off guard.
After all, his question just now had only been an invitation for Luna to visit the Proper World with him to "get treated." He hadn't meant anything beyond that. Yet the meaning contained in the vampire girl's response was obviously far more than that!
No matter how he looked at it, this was an incredibly weighty confession and request to remain by his side for the rest of her life. Elias was momentarily dumbfounded.
He had merely thrown out a simple basic attack.
He hadn't expected Luna to immediately unleash her ultimate.
Caught completely unprepared, he had taken the full damage head-on.
After all, having such a cute and beautiful vampire girl say she wanted to spend her entire life with you was lethally effective!
"Is... is that not okay...?"
Seeing that Elias hadn't responded for so long, Luna couldn't help tightening her small hands, panic appearing on her beautiful face.
At the same time, the crimson moon in the night sky was covered by drifting black clouds, as though even this ominous moon refused to witness the girl's feelings being rejected.
Fortunately, Elias had never intended to do such a thing.
"No, no. It's just too sudden. You shocked me speechless, Luna. Wow, you really got me there."
Elias stroked Luna's head as he spoke. Because of the difference in their heights, Luna could only hug him around the waist, burying the delicate face that would surely devastate nations ten thousand years from now against his abdomen.
As he petted the fluffy white-haired girl, Elias couldn't help wondering why things had turned out this way.
And with emotional intelligence that even slightly surpassed Miss Pink Elf's, he immediately figured it out.
(Ah. Looks like I went overboard with the heartfelt treatment again...)
When all was said and done, it actually wasn't anything unusual.
Elias had simply done what he always did. He couldn't bear to watch tragedy unfold before his eyes, so he stopped it. He wanted to see a happy ending, so he changed the sorrowful fate that should have occurred.
After all, protecting beautiful girls was his sacred duty~
Because Luna wanted to understand the world, Elias personally showed her the beauty it contained.
Because Luna had nearly collapsed and destroyed herself, Elias used the promise of a future and his own blood to bring her salvation.
That was all it was... To this savior who had already saved countless people and even entire worlds, it was nothing extraordinary. It could even be called an ordinary part of his daily routine.
But to Luna, it was the first ray of light in her entire life.
So naturally, she wanted to chase after that light. She wanted that light to shine upon her forever and keep her warm.
If Elias used his own affection-rating system instead of the Herrscher of Good and Evil's, his current affection for Luna was 450 points.
Meanwhile, Luna's affection for Elias was 9,999,999 points.
So the vampire girl's request to remain together for life was admittedly a little too heavy. An ordinary person might have chosen to reject her.
But...
Elias: "Okay. Let's stay together forever."
Luna: "!!!"
No matter when or where, Elias would always respond to your expectations.
And this wasn't some irresponsible nonsense. After all, anyone in the world who truly knew Elias understood one thing.
His vows, agreements, and promises were just like his Eternity Signet. They would never fade away.
So what if his affection wasn't high enough yet? According to Elias' own experience, once he fully opened his heart to someone, he would start liking them at lightspeed.
Luna's invitation was certainly heavy, but... she was a white-haired, red-eyed vampire beauty!! Don't forget that Elias, as a man of the Celestial Empire, was naturally a white-hair enthusiast!
A girl who struck his preferences this perfectly had just asked to stay with him forever. Elias could rack his brains and still fail to find a single reason to refuse Luna, especially considering what it felt like to have her drink his blood.
Su! Per! Comfortable!
"Human, y-you really mean it?"
Luna's eyes widened as she couldn't help confirming it again.
"Of course. My word is absolute!"
Elias immediately gave her an affirmative answer. At that moment, the vampire girl felt flowers bloom throughout her heart, and her arms tightened around the white-haired boy even more.
Incidentally, although Luna was admittedly a little young and would still need another six years before turning eighteen, even though both Elias and Luna were special existences who could ignore human law, Elias still had no intention of crossing that line.
After all, Elias had absolute confidence in himself.
Once she had met him, there was no possibility whatsoever that this vampire girl would fall in love with someone else during her lifetime. The probability was as close to zero as Elysia suddenly becoming unpopular with the world one day.
"Emmm, wait! I feel like I agreed a little too casually just now. A promise like this really ought to be made more solemnly."
Elias suddenly thought of something. He had always been a romantic who cared greatly about ceremony, so he patted Luna's slender back, signaling for the girl to temporarily release him.
"Hm?" x3
Luna, Rosemary, and Ai all froze.
Then, in the very next second, Elias took Luna's small hand and lowered himself onto one knee. The white-haired boy's picturesque smile sent the vampire girl's heart into turmoil. He looked just like a noble and elegant white knight from a fairy tale.
Elias raised Luna's hand, lightly kissed the back of it, and said, "By the crimson moon, I swear that in this life, we shall never part."
At that moment, the black clouds in the night sky were scattered by azure winds.
The scarlet full moon revealed itself once again, seemingly shining even brighter than before.
As though bearing witness to the white-haired boy's vow.
Rosemary and Ai involuntarily raised their heads toward the scarlet moon that had appeared at precisely the perfect moment. They couldn't help marveling at how, despite being a symbol of misfortune,
it somehow looked truly beautiful right now.
"Human, my Human! I love you more than anything!"
Tears of emotion glistened in Luna's eyes. She could no longer find words capable of describing what she felt at this moment. The vampire girl opened her arms again and tightly embraced the white-haired boy.
Because Elias was kneeling on one knee, Luna successfully wrapped her arms around his neck this time. Then the vampire girl directly planted a kiss on the white-haired boy's cheek.
Fortunately, it wasn't mucous-membrane contact, or the great savior himself would have had to report to the police.
"I'm so jealous. Can it be my turn next~?"
"Uh, somehow I feel like even if Miss Luna doesn't grow up, her combat power is already terrifying. I also... really envy her."
Ai and Rosemary stared longingly at the scene. They suddenly felt as though they had lost, yet couldn't figure out exactly what they had lost at.
The two girls exchanged glances and simultaneously decided that they wouldn't hold back later. They would create a romantic scene too, then make a beautiful vow with this person.
...
Several minutes later.
"I mean, does everyone really need to stick this close to me?"
Elias looked helplessly at the girls around him.
At this moment, Rosemary was hugging his right arm, Ai was clinging to his left, and Luna, who had possessed the aura of the heroine just moments ago, was now hanging off his body like an adorable accessory.
"Human, I don't want even a single centimeter between us."
"Captain, Ai-chan feels the same!"
"Captain, walking at night can be dangerous for a woman. Please allow Rita to rely on you for a little while."
With three exceptionally beautiful girls simultaneously pressing against him, Elias felt happy, but he also found it difficult to move. At this point, he actually found himself hoping some suicidal thug would show up and break the situation apart.
And then...
Thug: "What the hell?! Where'd this pretty-boy bastard come from, getting all these women?! No way! I'm gonna teach him a lesson!"
The three girls: "Know your place. Don't interrupt us."
Elias: "..."
There wasn't even any need for Elias to act. Three attacks were unleashed simultaneously and disposed of the thug on the spot. Seriously, the guy had absolutely no situational awareness. Couldn't he see that the women were busy fighting over a man?
And in truth, even without counting Elias, there probably wasn't anyone in this bubble world capable of defeating these three girls.
Elias raised his head toward the sky and suddenly felt an intense sense of déjà vu.
(Uh... Why do I feel like I'm gradually returning to the same situation I was in back in the Proper World? Seriously? I fled all the way into the Sea of Quanta and still can't escape the destiny of romantic calamities?)
Maybe next time he should just run into outer space...
"Grrrgle~~"
At that moment, Elias' stomach growled. Only then did he remember that he had spent the entire afternoon having fun and hadn't eaten dinner yet.
However, the greatest reason for his energy consumption was actually Luna drinking his blood. Ever since Elias had declared on the Ferris wheel that he would take responsibility for all of Luna's blood needs from then on, the vampire girl had basically stopped holding herself back.
While they played throughout the amusement park that afternoon, she would occasionally need to take a sip, since being surrounded by so many people constantly triggered her urge to drink blood.
If Elias hadn't been the Herrscher of Rebirth with maxed-out self-healing, then undoing the top two buttons of his shirt right now would reveal more than a dozen bite marks left by Luna.
Elias didn't mind in the slightest. First, because he personally enjoyed it quite a lot. Second, because this was a kind of conditioning.
His blood held an ultimate temptation for Luna as a vampire, and the more she drank, the deeper its influence became. Once it crossed a certain threshold, it could even alter Luna's instincts.
For example... making her lose all interest in the blood of any human besides Elias from now on.
After all, it was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to return from luxury to frugality. A divine tongue accustomed to the finest delicacies would vomit when forced to eat anything else. In fact, after only half a day, the results were already quite noticeable.
Now, even while standing in a crowd, Luna had absolutely no interest in the blood of people filled with nicotine, cholesterol, and all manner of terrible substances.
Compared to Elias' blood, their blood could only be described as nuclear wastewater or Ganges water.
However, although the authority of the Herrscher of Rebirth could create an endless supply of blood for Elias, every time Luna drank from him, it still consumed a little of his stamina.
And so, Elias was hungry!
"There's a burger place right over there... Tch, why couldn't it be a ramen shop? Whatever, whatever. It'll do."
"Oh my~ Making Captain eat junk food. Rita truly has failed in her duties."
"It's only once in a while. I don't mind."
As Elias spoke, he pushed open the burger shop's door. The place was already close to closing time, so there weren't any other customers.
But just as Elias was about to order, a white-haired beauty wearing an employee uniform hurried past while clumsily cleaning up. At the same time, a red-haired girl just as beautiful was standing behind the register, balancing the accounts.
Kallen: "Welcome... Theresa?!"
Himeko: "Eh? Elias!"
Elias: "Hi-Himeko?"
Luna: "S-Sister?!"
None of them had ever expected to run into acquaintances here. All four simultaneously shouted the name of the person opposite them, and the situation immediately became interesting.
The two unrelated girls blinked in confusion.
Rosemary: "Has the good part started?"
Ai: "Quick, get me some fries and cola!"