"I'm seducing you, Captain."
Rosemary smiled faintly, beautiful enough to bring down a kingdom.
This witch, seemingly born to make the entire world fall at her feet, extended her right hand toward Elias like a queen demanding that her knight kiss the back of her hand.
Elias felt his heart take a vicious hit.
(Ahhh, this woman... she's dangerously sweet!)
The blood in his body seemed to heat up. Elias narrowed his eyes and licked his lips, then bit down on Rosemary's delicate hand without hesitation and began drinking the witch's blood.
"!!!"
Rosemary's delicate body trembled. Had she not bitten her crimson lip in time, an alluring moan might have escaped directly.
This unprecedented sensation was so pleasurable that even her soul seemed ready to sink into it. Rosemary drew a deep breath and found it terrifying. In that instant just now, a certain impulse had arisen in her heart.
If blood was the price for this pleasure, then perhaps she should simply let this person take all the blood in her body.
Rosemary had great confidence in her own willpower. In fact, she was far stronger in that regard than the overwhelming majority of people in the world. Yet even she had nearly fallen immediately.
"Captain, you're becoming more and more dangerous, especially to girls. From now on, please don't drink the blood of anyone besides us, or you'll definitely cause trouble."
Rosemary spoke with flushed cheeks, occasionally letting out a faint breath.
Slurp... slurp... gulp...
As Elias used his blood-drinking ability, his heterochromatic eyes turned bright crimson. That elegant, bewitching aura made the witch's heartbeat accelerate even further, yet he closed his eyes.
Elias didn't respond to Rosemary's words. In fact, he hadn't even noticed that she had spoken, because all of his attention was focused on the witch's precious blood.
Perhaps because Luna was a vampire while Rosemary was human, the taste of their blood differed greatly.
(So good. So delicious. It tastes like rosemary. Not only is the flavor incredibly layered, it's so fragrant~)
A flush appeared on Elias' face as he revealed an intoxicated expression. He instinctively sucked twice more with extra force, thinking how mysterious and sweet the flavor was, like fine wine aged for a hundred years.
His closed crimson eyes opened again, gazing at the rosemary witch before him with a hazy, scorching look.
If Luna's blood could make Elias slightly tipsy, then Rosemary's blood was enough to get him completely drunk.
"As expected of my witch. You're absolutely amazing."
"Hehe. As long as Captain likes it. You may continue enjoying Rosemary until you're satisfied."
"...Don't tempt me like that. I'm not confident I can withstand it... Just one more sip."
After enjoying one final mouthful, Elias reluctantly removed his fangs from the back of the witch's hand. He planted a light kiss there before finally releasing the elegant hand that would surely haunt his thoughts from now on.
"I somehow feel like I lost a little."
Luna puffed out her cheeks, looking at Rosemary as though she were facing a formidable opponent. Her own blood could only make Elias tipsy, while the witch's blood could get him completely drunk.
The winner and loser were obvious.
And although Luna had plenty of confidence in herself, because of her current age she could still mostly only be described as cute.
As the someone once said,
"Cuteness is worthless before sex appeal."
This witch, who embodied elegance, mystery, and sensuality all at once, simply had far too much charm. Luna felt that before she grew up, she might have difficulty competing with Rosemary.
On top of that, Rosemary wasn't merely beautiful with an incredible figure. She was also especially considerate and capable, like a max-level maid without a single flaw or weakness to be found. She could only be described as perfect.
She was way too strong!
(Elias: "No matter which bubble world you're in, Rita Rossweisse is a perfect woman.")
"Me, me, me! I'm next!"
At that moment, the AI girl raised her right hand high and stood on tiptoe.
"Ai?"
"Captain, hurry up and taste mine! Hmph~ Ai-chan's blood is definitely the most delicious!"
"...I just hope it doesn't taste like cabbage."
Elias joked, but he was also genuinely curious as he bit down on Ai's wrist.
He felt as though he might be awakening some new preference. Luna's problem had already been solved, but now Elias still wanted to return to the Proper World and bite everyone in the dormitory once.
Yet at that very moment, Elias suddenly widened his eyes and revealed an utterly astonished expression. His gaze toward Ai also became somewhat complicated and subtle.
(This taste really is beyond anything I expected.)
"How is it, Captain? Isn't it super delicious?"
"Mm, it is good. It tastes kind of like... juice squeezed from unripe fruit?"
"Eh? T-That's it? What do you mean, juice?! Shouldn't it taste rich and fragrant like fine wine?"
Ai slammed both hands on the table, refusing to accept this result.
She was so elegant and beautiful. No matter how you looked at it, she was clearly the same style of perfect woman as Rosemary. How could her taste possibly resemble fruit juice?
The corner of Elias' mouth twitched. Ai, you and Rosemary are obviously completely different types, okay? Sure, the body I constructed for you really is elegant and mature, but... you're a cabbage!
To put it nicely, she had childlike innocence.
To put it directly, she was a lovable idiot.
(Hmm... Could the taste of blood be determined by a person's life experiences? That would actually make sense. Ai has been online for less than a month, while Luna is only twelve.)
At present, Rosemary had lived the most "eventful" life of the three. If a vampire drinking blood was actually tasting a person's life, then... what did Elias himself taste like?
Elias lowered his gaze to his own wrist.
Luna had once said that his blood was the most wicked temptation and also the purest sweetness, bliss capable of making all pain vanish in an instant, a deliciousness that made people unable to stop themselves from crying.
Simply put, it was the best-tasting blood in the world!
"Ahm!"
Elias decided to test it, so he opened his mouth and bit his own fingertip. However, the anticipation in his eyes instantly became disappointment, because there was nothing special about it at all. It merely tasted like ordinary blood.
Apparently, vampires couldn't taste their own blood.
(Well, that makes sense. I've never heard of any vampire liking to drink their own blood. Sigh~ What a disappointment.)
Still, Elias was certain that blood didn't automatically taste better simply because someone had lived longer. If a person went through an utterly ordinary life, then their flavor probably wouldn't be anything special either.
But thinking about it this way, Elias felt he had gained yet another reason to treat all the girls well. The happier he made them, the more delicious they would inevitably become.
So... live happily today too!
...
After Luna joined the group, the vampire incidents and crimson moon incident in Sapphire City finally came to an end. Afterward, Elias and the others spent some peaceful time sightseeing around this bubble world.
Although it was indeed a good place for a vacation, they couldn't remain stagnant forever.
Before long, everyone decided to set sail once again. But before that, Elias also finished everything he could do. For example, after Kallen returned to Schicksal, she was shocked to discover...
Otto Apocalypse had actually started doing proper work!
Originally, the saint had still been hesitating over how she should live from now on. Yet the moment she returned to Schicksal, she received a whole pile of Honkai Beast extermination missions personally assigned by "Otto" for her to handle.
And "Otto" himself had also started doing actual work.
Development of the Kallen Fantasy series was halted immediately. All human experimentation and evil schemes were canceled. Every bit of Schicksal's manpower, resources, and funding was redirected toward fighting the Honkai.
Of course, the most important thing was that this "Otto" had actually stopped being Kallen's simp!
For a time, factions such as Anti-Entropy, who knew Otto Apocalypse's true nature very well, all became deeply confused.
What the hell is this guy plotting now?
Could someone have possessed his body?
Welt, Einstein, Tesla, and the others of this bubble world's Anti-Entropy stared at the righteous "Otto," who even personally went onto the battlefield every day to fight Honkai Beasts, and felt as though they were living in a dream.
They seriously suspected that the damn simp had secretly been killed and the one they were seeing now was a fake.
But on second thought, wasn't that actually better?!
Elias: "So weak. As expected, the Honkai inside a mere bubble world is extremely low-level. Emperor-class Honkai Beasts are only about as strong as Chariot-class ones. They're far too easy to deal with."
Elias would soon be leaving, but the puppet he left behind, disguised as Otto to continue leading Schicksal, possessed less than one ten-thousandth of this savior Flame-Chaser's power.
Even so, the strength of this "Otto" puppet would already qualify as Vipralopa-class MANTIS level even in the Proper World. Even if the Honkai sent every Herrscher at once, the puppet could simply crush them all.
And Elias was certain that this bubble world had no Finality. After all, a bubble world was ultimately only a reflection of the Proper World. Its scale was too small to produce a final boss on the level of Finality.
Therefore, his puppet avatar could simply steamroll everything.
Still, even if it could steamroll everything, useful combat forces should naturally be put to work. And so Kallen, as an S-rank Valkyrie, became an extremely convenient worker. She had to eliminate at least one thousand Honkai Beasts every day before her performance could be considered satisfactory.
Kallen: "This Otto isn't right! Something is seriously wrong with him! In the past, he absolutely would never have treated me like this. He would only have regarded me as some fragile flower that needed protection, but..."
She actually felt that this version of "Otto" was much better!
Every day, she fought actively on the Honkai battlefields and saved people who needed saving. Kallen felt that her life had become incredibly fulfilling. After all, she had never been some decorative vase. No matter which bubble world she was in, a Kaslana was always the shield protecting the people.
And to be fair, compared with the Otto who spent every day on a floating island holding a wineglass, wearing a flamboyant purple robe, thinking up evil schemes, tying his hair into an effeminate braid, and simping after her,
Kallen felt that the current "Otto" looked much more handsome! Much more likable too!
After all, objectively speaking, puppet "Otto," dressed in a sharp black-and-white suit, wielding all kinds of Divine Keys transformed from Void Archives, proficient with countless weapons and personally charging at the front lines to slaughter Honkai Beasts, looked unbelievably cool!
The Valkyries of Schicksal were overflowing with morale and similarly felt that the current Bishop was countless times better than before.
Anti-Entropy: "This guy really was possessed, wasn't he?"
Elias: "Heh, this feels like playing a game. It's actually pretty fun."
Elias felt as though he had started an alternate account.
But with strength sufficient to perfectly clear the Previous Era scenario on hell difficulty while slaughtering the Honkai effortlessly, the Honkai in this bubble world was basically tutorial difficulty to him.
Clearing it was easier than eating or drinking. He could probably even speedrun it while AFK!
Elias: "...Wait! I suddenly had a bold idea."