"I've become human again? This is incredible!"
Kallen was still immersed in shock. She had long since given up hope on such a thing. After all, for someone who had died five hundred years ago, being resurrected at all was already a miracle.
As the price for that miracle, merely losing her identity as a human had already been quite mild. Vampires might have many weaknesses, but they also came with plenty of benefits.
Not to mention that plenty of people in the world nowadays didn't even want to be human anymore~
"Don't move, don't move. Let me check your body."
As Elias spoke, he grabbed Kallen and thoroughly examined her inside and out before nodding in satisfaction.
Originally, Kallen could only remain alive by sharing Luna's life force, and she suffered from the same bloodlust herself. After these past two days, she had long since been pushed close to her limit.
But perhaps she truly deserved to be called the shield of the people, the saint of the Kaslana family. Kallen had actually suppressed that bloodlust through sheer willpower.
After all, no matter how hard Luna tried, she simply couldn't endure it.
"Now, Kallen Kaslana, you've lost everything that made you a vampire—your endless lifespan, the power of blood, and the curse of bloodlust. But you've become human again."
Elias planted his hands on his hips, thinking that this was what true resurrection looked like.
Before, Kallen could only be said to share a single life with Luna. But now things were different. She had become a completely independent existence with a life that belonged solely to her.
Although the moment she became human again, she also ceased to be ageless and immortal, with the power of the Kaslana bloodline and the power of creation Elias had left within her body,
living another two or three hundred years in the future would be effortless.
"Thank you, but besides me..."
"I know. Tomorrow, I'll turn the other infected people back into humans too. Heh, though I bet that even if they're given the chance, some of them definitely won't want to keep being human."
Elias crossed his arms as he spoke. There were far too many people in this world who didn't want to be human anymore, and besides, being a vampire was super cool~!
Not that he intended to care about those people's wishes. After all, a savior's salvation could sometimes be rather overbearing. Whether you wanted it or not, you had to accept it.
Elias gently stroked Luna's head as he spoke.
"You don't have to blame yourself anymore. I know you've always been hung up on the people you hurt, Luna, but... this time, I'll make up for those mistakes in your place."
"Human, if you're this good to me... what am I supposed to do?"
Crystal tears shimmered in the vampire girl's eyes.
"Silly girl, have you forgotten our vow? We'll always be together from now on, and our relationship will only grow closer and closer. Something this small doesn't even count as a problem."
Besides, it was only saving a few people.
That was far easier than saving the world.
Elias lifted the pitifully adorable vampire girl onto his lap and turned her to face him. Then, for who knew how many times today, he unbuttoned the top of his shirt.
"!!!"
Kallen's small mouth fell open in surprise. The instant she saw the "rose" near Elias' neck, she recognized it. That was the mark unique to Luna's first embrace, a vampire's covenant.
She subconsciously touched her own neck. In the past, Kallen had possessed an identical first-embrace mark there, but when she became human again, the mark had disappeared along with everything else.
A vampire's first embrace wasn't something given casually.
In this world, only Elias and the former Kallen had ever received Luna's first embrace. That rose-shaped crest represented the unique and irreplaceable place they held in the vampire girl's heart.
Though now, Elias had completely monopolized that symbol of importance.
"Ahm~"
Luna's crimson eyes grew hazy and unfocused. She was becoming increasingly unable to resist Elias' Holy Blood of Salvation.
The vampire girl raised her slender arms and wrapped them around the white-haired boy's long neck. First, she inhaled the fragrance of the Holy Blood through his skin. Then she lightly licked Elias' collarbone with the tip of her tongue before finally finding the right spot and biting down.
Slurp... slurp... gulp...
Luna's cheeks turned an alluring crimson as she wondered how she was ever supposed to live without this person in the future.
She was already becoming completely shaped by Elias.
"L-Luna?!"
"Whoa, there she goes again and again and again. How many times has it been today?"
"Thirteen times already. Sigh~ Miss Luna, please don't think that just because you're a vampire, you can drink Captain's blood whenever you want... Show at least a little restraint."
The corner of Rosemary's eye twitched, while Ai also looked somewhat speechless.
Still, they couldn't exactly do anything about it. One person loved drinking blood, while the other enjoyed having his blood drunk. If this were anyone else, there was no way their body could withstand this kind of abuse. Thirteen times in one day would have drained an ordinary person dry long ago.
But this person happened to be Elias, the Herrscher of Rebirth who commanded the Authorities of life and death. His blood could regenerate endlessly, and only he could satisfy a blood-drinking fanatic like Luna.
(Restraint? Restraint is impossible!)
Luna blinked with an obvious smile in her eyes. At every other moment, she hated her identity as a vampire, but tasting Elias' blood was the sole exception.
She practically wished she could drown in his blood. Even if she went mad from it, she would gladly accept that fate.
"S-So wasteful!!"
Ai first wiped the corner of her own mouth. Seeing the blissful expression on Luna's face was enough to make even her crave a taste.
At the same time, she felt that this vampire girl was committing the most extravagant waste imaginable. This was Elias' Holy Blood! Yet Luna was drinking it without the slightest restraint.
Back in the Previous Era, MANTISes heading out on missions could receive one drop of Elias' blood according to their rank for use in emergencies. For example, if they encountered a Honkai Beast they couldn't defeat, scattering that single drop could immediately turn danger into safety.
After all, a single drop of the highest-purity Schariac Holy Blood could kill an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. Beyond that, it was also the most important ingredient in Honkai-treatment medicine. Once diluted, a single drop of Elias' Holy Blood could be made into a hundred doses of medicine capable of treating Honkai sickness.
It could be said that no liquid in this world was more precious than Elias' blood. Even after Mobius and the others became capable of cloning it, that remained true. During that twilight era, anyone caught stealing and selling Holy Blood, regardless of their identity or status, would be torn limb from limb by a certain masked pink-haired fox lady.
This crimson liquid couldn't be measured in money.
Yet now Luna was drinking it without any restriction whatsoever.
"She... she's actually not being eroded by Luna?!"
At the same time, Kallen was once again shocked. In the past, anyone bitten by Luna would turn into a subspecies vampire. Yet the white-haired boy before her was somehow completely different.
He was actually unaffected, neither eroded nor contaminated. In Kallen's eyes, it was simply unbelievable. Even after losing so much blood, Elias' complexion hadn't worsened in the slightest.
"..."
At that moment, Kallen Kaslana understood.
The white-haired boy before her was completely different from herself. He simply had no need to make any choices at all. He could achieve everything he wanted and turn the worst of both worlds into the best of both worlds.
(...I can finally stop worrying.)
There was no need for her to worry anymore. Staying by this person's side was the best possible destination for her little sister. Although Kallen was a little reluctant and more than a little envious, she silently gave Luna her blessing in her heart.
That said, she still felt it would be necessary to remind Elias later that her little sister was only twelve this year. Those lewd things were far too early for her, so he absolutely wasn't allowed to do them!
And yet...
Luna: "Human, I want more~"
Elias: "Mm. Then go ahead."
Kallen: "..."
The perfectly normal act of drinking blood in front of her somehow already looked plenty lewd, and yet she couldn't point out anything actually wrong with it.
...
Afterward, thanks to the tip Elias gave them, Himeko and Kallen were able to end their part-time jobs early.
Although Elias invited both girls aboard his ship, Himeko and Kallen still declined after hesitating for a while. In their words, this bubble world still needed them.
Elias didn't insist.
After all, when he thought about it carefully, once he eventually returned to the Proper World and all the girls in the dormitory saw so many bubble-world counterparts who looked exactly like them suddenly appearing, wouldn't the place completely explode?!
"We'll be leaving this world in a few days. Luna, will you feel reluctant to go?"
"Not really. After all, I only just came out recently, so I don't have any particularly deep attachment to this world. I'll miss Sister a little when we separate, but... I have you, Human. As long as I can be with you, nothing else matters."
"Haha. If Kallen heard you say that, she'd definitely be jealous of me."
After the four returned to the hotel, Elias and Luna weren't sleepy at all. After all, one was an ultimate chimera with limitless stamina, while the other was a vampire overflowing with energy at night.
Ai and Rosemary, on the other hand, immediately collapsed onto the bed. The AI girl and the witch had spent the entire day being force-fed displays of affection. In their own words, they'd been sour all day and were already emotionally exhausted.
The presidential suite's bed was so enormous that even five or six people lying on it together wouldn't feel crowded. Elias was currently sitting in the middle of the luxurious bed, while Luna lay across his lap.
Their long white hair and twin tails were even purer than the white bedding beneath them, making the pair look as beautiful and pristine as a painting.
Luna took one of Elias' hands and placed it on her head, immediately revealing a satisfied smile. She now had two favorite things. The first was drinking Elias' blood, and the second was having him pat her head.
She felt incredibly happy.
But precisely because she was so happy, she also felt a little uneasy.
Because it was too beautiful, she was afraid of losing it.
"Human, why are you so good to me?"
"Hm? What's wrong, Luna? Why ask that all of a sudden?"
Elias gently stroked Luna's cheek, scratching her delicate chin as though teasing a cat. At the same time, he thought that he'd seemingly heard this question many, many times before.
It wasn't only Luna. Elysia, Mei, Kiana, Bronya, and many others seemed to have asked him the same thing.
(Yeah, why am I so good to all of you? The answer seems simple... Because I like you.)
But it seemed there was more to it than that.
Elias raised a hand and placed it over his heart.
He knew without a doubt that what he'd just said was the truth, but... it seemed he also had another "selfish motive."