Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump...
The vampire girl's heart pounded violently. She stared blankly at the white-haired boy before her, clearly sensing the aura of one of her own kind coming from him.
When their gazes met, the crimson eyes symbolizing their vampire bloodlines seemed to shine even brighter. At the same time, the blood flowing through both of their bodies grew scorching hot, as though resonating with each other.
Outside the panoramic glass windows of the presidential suite, that ominous, beautiful, and romantic crimson moon hung high in the night sky.
Its cold and eerie red moonlight spilled across the city.
As though celebrating the birth of a noble vampire prince.
The corners of Elias' lips rose slightly. Combined with his bewitching charm and elegant temperament, it seemed as though a single glance or smile from him would be enough to make every woman in the world fall for him.
"Let's see what new abilities I got. Hmm... mist-form body, vampire covenant, blood-drinking enhancement..."
He had gained quite a few new abilities, though Elias already possessed so many that even he was nearly losing count, so he didn't feel any obvious increase in raw strength.
His charm, however, seemed to have risen another level.
After clearing the Previous Era scenario, Elias had already received the reward [Flawless Ego] from Elysia.
It increased his personal charm by 100% and granted him an aura identical to Miss Pink Elf's, flawless and pure like a crystal flower, making people feel happy simply by looking at him.
But now that Elias had obtained the vampire Meta-Morph factor, he possessed the complete opposite kind of aura as well, decadent, elegant, and wicked. Those blood-red eyes almost seemed capable of luring others into depravity.
Two completely opposite temperaments now existed within the same person. He resembled both an angel descended from heaven and a demon risen from hell.
"Mm~ This feels insanely cool."
Elias stretched beneath the crimson moon. After obtaining the vampire Meta-Morph factor, he now felt incredibly energetic, as though he had become the master of the night itself, while nighttime also provided a certain boost to his strength.
"Human, uh... should I still call you Human?"
Luna began struggling over what to call him. Looking at Elias, who now resembled a vampire prince, at the very least, his appearance and aura seemed to have surpassed the limits of humanity.
Elias chuckled softly and raised a hand to pat Luna's head.
"Of course. In the end, it's only a form of address. Besides, I merely obtained a vampire Meta-Morph factor. That doesn't mean I've actually become a vampire. After all... there are far too many different kinds of power mixed into this body."
Even Elias couldn't help laughing at his own words.
The vampire Meta-Morph factor only accounted for one several-hundred-thousandth of his genes. Frankly, even Elias himself was amazed that he could still maintain a human appearance at all.
After all, ordinary human genes were simply far too weak compared to the massive number of high-level Honkai Beast genes inside him.
Still, there was an old saying from Shenzhou: one's appearance was born from one's heart. Perhaps as long as Elias forever retained a human heart, his appearance would forever remain human as well.
"How does it feel, Luna? You could say we're the same kind now. As for me... I think you've become even cuter."
"Mm, me too. I think you're even more handsome now, Human."
Perhaps the vampire Meta-Morph factors were resonating.
Whenever Elias and Luna looked at each other now, it was as though countless beauty filters were automatically layered over the other person, making each of them look especially attractive.
If outsiders rated their looks at one hundred points, then in each other's eyes, they started at no less than one hundred and fifty. At the same time, both instinctively wanted to draw closer to the other.
Luna felt this even more strongly. As the only pure vampire in the world before this, she had always carried a sense of loneliness, because she was an anomaly with no one else like her.
Otto called that loneliness "the sorrow of blood."
But now, things were different.
Although the vampire Meta-Morph factor only occupied one several-hundred-thousandth of Elias' Chimera genes, a Chimera MANTIS was defined by being able to draw out one hundred percent of every Meta-Morph factor's ability, sometimes even surpassing the original owner.
At this moment, as Luna looked at Elias, the loneliness that had always clung to her like a shadow seemed to disappear. Her delicate body trembled with emotion as she threw herself directly into Elias' arms.
"Luna, what do you think would happen if two vampires drank each other's blood?" Elias suddenly asked.
"I-I don't know."
"Then let's try it. I can't wait anymore."
"Mm!"
Elias subconsciously licked his lips. Looking at Luna, who was as beautiful as a doll, was like looking at an incredibly delicious strawberry cake. For a moment, he genuinely didn't know where he should start.
Because every part of her looked delicious!
Luna's choice was the same as always, his neck. Apparently, in her eyes, the blood there tasted the best.
"Then~ I'll choose this side."
Elias' gaze fell on Luna's small hand. He gently took the girl's right hand and lifted it to his lips. Two sharp fangs emerged before biting into the soft flesh below her thumb.
Elias: Slurp... slurp... gulp...
Luna: "Ah... ngh..."
The vampire girl's eyes widened. She instinctively tried to pull her right hand back, but Elias held it firmly. In the end, Luna could only cover her mouth with her left hand to keep any dangerous sounds from slipping out.
She had always been the one drinking other people's blood. This was the first time anyone had ever drunk hers. The completely unfamiliar sensation was so comfortable that Luna momentarily forgot to enjoy Elias' blood herself.
On the other side, Elias was enjoying himself immensely too.
(Ahhh, this really is addictive~)
Luna's blood was like rich rose wine. Somehow, it even gave Elias, who normally couldn't get drunk, a faint tipsy sensation. Of course, the most important thing was how incredibly satisfying it felt to reverse their usual roles.
In the past, he had always been the one having his blood drunk. Now the situation had completely reversed. Elias had become the aggressor, while Luna was on the receiving end.
A minute later, Elias released Luna's small hand. The power of creation healed the bite marks he had left. Although he really wanted to drink for a little longer, Luna was still so small.
Elias worried that he might accidentally drain her dry.
At the same time, a white six-winged crest appeared on the back of Luna's hand. This was the vampire covenant Elias had left behind, carrying the same meaning as the rose crest Luna had placed on his neck earlier that day.
"H-Human, I can keep going."
"Thank you, but I treasure good things, so we'll stop here for now. Getting greedy isn't good."
"Ugh... I'll work hard and grow up quickly!"
Luna thought back to when she drank blood herself. She never showed the slightest restraint and drank as much as she wanted, though admittedly that was because Elias could regenerate blood endlessly.
But comparing herself to him now, she still felt an intense sense of guilt. When Elias drank blood, he was like an elegant gentleman dining gracefully, and even she, the one being "eaten," found it incredibly comfortable.
But how could one minute possibly be enough to satisfy him!
It was all because her body was too small and couldn't hold much blood. Luna immediately made up her mind. She would definitely grow bigger than Sister—no, wait, bigger than Himeko!
But aside from that, something unexpected also happened.
"Eh? This feeling... I think I'm cured?"
"Mm. This really is surprising."
"Human, I owe you more and more."
Luna clenched her small hand. She could clearly feel that some kind of change, or rather evolution, had occurred within her.
The instant the two bit each other, some mysterious connection formed. Elias and Luna had actually become each other's familiars, and now the two shared a special sense of one another through some unseen bond.
From now on, no matter how far apart they were, separated by dozens of bubble worlds, hundreds of bubble worlds, or even with one in the Sea of Quanta and the other in the Proper World, they would still be able to sense each other's existence.
Breathing, heartbeat, emotions, distance, and more.
As long as the other person remained alive, Elias and Luna would be able to sense each other's location no matter where they were.
Beyond that, due to the special nature of vampires, they also provided a certain enhancement to their familiars.
With Luna's strength, the enhancement she provided Elias was naturally negligible. But the boost Elias provided Luna was almost unimaginable! It had even corrected the flaws in her Meta-Morph factor.
At this moment, Luna already possessed the strength of a Vipralopa-class MANTIS, comparable to a Herrscher with five Cores.
Put simply, she could already go to the Proper World and spar with a certain pink elf lady. More importantly, Luna's weaknesses as a vampire had actually disappeared as well.
From now on, sunlight would no longer affect her, nor would she suffer uncontrollable bloodlust.
Elias: "Heh, looks like we don't need to keep the eternal night going anymore. The sun's vacation is canceled. It can return to work normally tomorrow."
Luna: "This is too dreamlike. A-Am I really not dreaming? Human, hit me once."
Elias: "No. I can't bear to. I'll bite you instead."
Luna: "T-That's okay too."
Originally, Elias had planned to return to the Proper World after leaving this bubble world and find Snake to solve Luna's physical condition.
But now, that no longer seemed necessary.
Afterward, Elias enthusiastically continued researching his new abilities. Although the vampire Meta-Morph factor wasn't particularly strong in direct combat, it was genuinely fun to experiment with.
Luna also happily helped him test things. For the two of them in their current states, using nighttime for sleep felt far too wasteful. Both were brimming with energy and didn't feel tired in the slightest.
...
The next morning.
"Captain, Miss Luna, are you two absolutely certain you didn't make some enormous mistake last night?"
"Absolutely certain! Rosemary, don't get the wrong idea!"
"Mm-hm! Human and I didn't do anything bad."
Elias and Luna nodded furiously.
Under the witch's scrutinizing gaze, even the savior and the vampire were beginning to sweat. Rosemary stared at the two with a complicated expression, not knowing what to say.
When she had gone to wake the two of them that morning, she had genuinely been startled, because the instant Rosemary opened the door, she saw a huge amount of blood splattered across the floor!
The enormous bed in particular had been completely dyed red!
Heaven knew what these two had been doing last night. There had been enough bleeding to make whoever cleaned the suite afterward faint on the spot!!
Elias: "Ahem. We got a little carried away."
Rosemary: "Captain, you really are..."
The witch sighed again. After noticing the additional bewitching charm surrounding the white-haired boy, she felt delighted, but couldn't help feeling a little jealous as well. She hadn't expected this person to actually become one of the blood race.
Her Demon King really did like Miss Luna.
It seemed this witch of his was about to fall out of favor~
But just as Rosemary began feeling somewhat dejected, a pair of hands wrapped around her slender waist. The witch turned and found the white-haired boy staring directly at her.
"Do you have any orders for me, Captain?"
"I just wanted to apologize for making you worry."
"If you're apologizing, then it'd be better to show some sincerity."
Rosemary turned her head aside as she spoke.
Elias froze for a moment. Countless ways of showing sincerity flashed through his mind, such as a date, a gift, something lewd, and so on.
But in the next second, Rosemary removed the glove from her left hand, revealing a slender and flawless pale hand. Then, like a queen, she extended it toward Elias' lips.
"Captain, would you like to taste my blood and see whose is more delicious, mine or Miss Luna's?"
"Uh, Rosemary, are you jealous?"
Elias blinked in surprise. Looking at the delicate hand extended before him, he felt as though his preference system needed an update.
Rosemary's entire body trembled at those words, but then the corners of her lips curved upward into a witch's smile capable of stealing hearts and souls.
"Jealous? Hehe~ Of course not."
"I'm seducing you, Captain."