Her skin was translucent and pale, her eyes large, with perfectly symmetrical, delicate features.
She was a girl whose presence felt somewhat faint, almost ethereal, like a fairy.
And this very girl, in the dead of night, extended an invitation to a passerby.
"Want to play with me?"
She took the bait.
"Eh~ How do you want to play?"
The golden-haired vampire revealed a bright smile under the moonlight. Arcueid leisurely approached the blue-haired girl.
Behind her, Trimmau quietly removed the fishing-line-attached Demon Registry ID from her right hand.
Moonlight cascaded like water over the princess, and that smile, bathed in the moon's glow, left the blue-haired girl frozen in place.
So late at night, with a complete stranger—wasn't she afraid?
Watching Arcueid approach, the girl's eyes wavered with something like pity, and then...
"A city that never sleeps, where demons strut about freely—this island is nothing but a cursed, decadent capital."
A soft, sorrowful voice came from behind Arcueid.
In the shadows beneath a roadside tree stood a man dressed in robes like a clergyman.
He was a foreigner with military-short blond hair, a metal monocle like an eyepatch covering his left eye.
Even with the robes, one could make out his powerful, muscular build beneath.
Silence fell.
It was as if the wind had swept away the chirping of insects in the park; the night suddenly grew still.
"Everyone has the right to walk beneath the moonlight."
Her skirt fluttering, Arcueid glanced sideways at the uninvited guest not far away. "Except for the ill-mannered."
A heavy, palpable pressure spilled from her reddish eyes, which glinted with a faint gold.
The man's eyes narrowed sharply, his straight back involuntarily bending.
Tonight's prey... something was off.
He slowly tightened his grip on the axe in his hand and replied solemnly,
"My apologies. I am Rudolf Eustach, the Annihilation Priest of Lotharingia."
"Leave."
Arcueid gave him a cold glance, then turned her attention back to the blue-haired girl.
Once her crimson gaze shifted away, Rudolf gasped heavily.
This pressure... and on Itogami Island too. Could this girl be...
"A monk from the West European Church—you did not enter Itogami Island through official channels." Trimmau stared intently at him, data streaming through her eyes.
She was already linked to the island's database.
"...I have no reason to obey laws set by apostates who grovel before demons."
"Then please leave Itogami Island by tonight."
Watching the girl before him start contacting others, Rudolf gritted his teeth silently.
All his long preparations couldn't end in nothing.
The man kicked off the ground, his burly figure accelerating violently as he roared, "Astarte!"
The blue-haired girl called Astarte quietly closed her eyes.
She opened her cloak and announced in a flat, artificial voice, "Command accepted. Execute, [Rhododactylos]."
As she spoke, a force burst forth from within her cloak.
It was a crystalline arm emitting a pale white glow.
Larger than the girl's slender frame, the arm slithered like a snake, lunging at the silver-haired maid.
His goal was retreat.
Rudolf looked toward a building sinking into the darkness in the distance and broke into a run. But the next instant, gravity multiplied over tenfold, crushing him to the ground.
"H-How... how can this be?"
Could they not even buy a moment's time?
He strained to look back.
The familiar that should have stopped the silver-haired maid was easily blocked by the golden-haired girl.
As if handling a child's playful antics, Arcueid lightly raised her palm, and the giant glowing arm halted before the princess.
Astarte stared in shock at the princess, who was toying with her familiar as if it were a plaything. She knew the power of the beast inside her.
To stop it with just her body... She must be a servant of the Fifth Primogenitor!
Mana surged from Rudolf.
Golden light instantly burst from the gaps in the priest's robes.
At the same time, a bluish-white glow enveloped him.
As if erased by something, the gravity imposed by Trimmau suddenly vanished.
Armor-enhanced muscles propelled Rudolf as he swiftly fled into the distance.
A Divine Oscillation Effect spell?
The ultimate secret art in anti-demon combat, capable of nullifying any attack born of mana—the trump card hidden by the Lion King Organization.
Though still incomplete, the spell's development was nearing perfection.
Trump cards everywhere—typical of your matchmaking agency.
Arcueid gazed at the blue-haired girl before her, a faint light shimmering in her eyes.
The expressionless face of Astarte suddenly relaxed. The familiar slowly returned to her body, and without it, the girl collapsed into the princess's arms.
Meanwhile, the fleeing priest was hoisted into the air by chains.
From the empty space, a petite girl holding a parasol stepped out.
With the clinking of chains, Rudolf was dragged into the distorted space.
Rudolf Eustach's invasion was to reclaim a holy relic.
Itogami Island was built over a ley line—a massive path of spiritual energy flowing across the Earth's surface—far south of the mainland.
Land constructed over a ley line becomes saturated with spiritual energy, enabling more powerful spiritual and magical experiments than under normal conditions.
For a Demon Sanctuary conducting research on demons, this was an ideal setup. Building a city over a ley line was an essential part of the artificial island plan.
The city's designer, Itogami Senra, executed it masterfully.
He originally intended to liken the island's four segments—north, south, east, west—to the Four Symbols of Feng Shui, using their organic connection to control the ley line. Yet, one unsolvable problem remained.
With the technology of the time, there was no material strong enough to support the weight of four interconnected artificial islands.
Faced with this engineering bottleneck, the designer turned to curses for a solution.
A human pillar.
To strengthen the structure, he resorted to the dark art of human sacrifice.
Thus, the sacrificial offering chosen by Itogami Senra to support the city was the remains of a saint, seized from the West European Church.
Had Rudolf succeeded, the entire island would have sunk, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents.
Holding the information she'd uncovered, Natsuki Minamiya glanced at Astarte in Arcueid's arms.
"This the artificial lifeform that was with the priest?"
"Mhm."
"Then hand her over to me."
"Fine by me." Arcueid passed Astarte to Trimmau. "But don't you already have six maids?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Natsuki Minamiya twirled her parasol, righteous indignation in her tone. "She's a person of interest in this case."
"Alright."
Arcueid rubbed her smooth chin. "Where's the Keystone Gate?"
That was the location of the holy relic.
"I'll send you the coordinates."
"Good."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.