The calm and indifferent princess, Altrouge, looked at the Avenger Knight, who was deeply cornered, "Well, will you surrender?"
"Of course… not!"
The resolute Avenger Knight, even in dire straits, remained unyielding.
He raised his battle sword towards the Dead Apostle Princess, "I have long been firm, my life exists to avenge the Dead Apostle race.
Walking this path, I should die on this path.
I, Anhalt, dying here, is a fitting end, I will never bow my head!"
Without another word, Anhalt swung the Avenger in his hand, and a crescent-shaped black sword qi slashed out again!
The materialized sword qi, formed entirely of demonic energy, possessed a powerful force capable of breaking a thousand armies with a single strike, even from his heavily injured body.
It blasted towards the Black Princess with an unstoppable momentum, but… in the Black Princess's eyes, there was no hint of seriousness.
Altrouge merely raised her hand in front of her, unperturbed, allowing the opponent's attack to strike her, and then… Boom!
Amidst a violent sound, the Black Princess stood motionless, blocking the powerful strike with just one hand!
"Crack!"
The materialized blade light formed by demonic energy was crushed in her hand.
The next moment, her figure flashed like lightning, instantly appearing before Anhalt, her right hand forming a claw… Rip!
A blood-red light shot into the sky!
The Black Princess leaned back slightly, raising her right hand high, it was covered in blood, dripping onto the ground.
"Ugh…" Anhalt half-knelt on the ground, his face ashen, his eyes showing pain.
Currently, there were five deep finger holes in his left chest, and a sword mark in the middle of the blood holes.
The last sword strike from Rin had left a wound that had been slow to heal.
Blood gushed out along the five blood holes and the sword mark.
The Avenger Knight, having suffered another devastating blow, remained unyielding, and despite his severe injuries, he once again raised the Sword of Vengeance, pointing it at Altrouge.
Firm and unyielding, vowing not to retreat, Anhalt at this moment was incredibly similar to Rin just now.
Altrouge looked at this enemy, who had just pushed her to the brink of death, with immense complexity, and sighed deeply.
"Rest in peace…"
Endless blood-light erupted in the shared domain.
The heavily injured Avenger Knight ultimately could not withstand the child of gaia, and under Altrouge's final blow, he was cleaved in half, making resurrection impossible.
Altrouge looked at the blood bead suspended on her index finger, which was the Essence of Blood refined from all of Anhalt's blood.
She calmly put it into her mouth, then reached up and touched a shallow scar on her face.
This was left by Anhalt's final desperate strike.
Although it had no practical effect, the concept of human will was deeply etched into the Black Princess's heart.
Altrouge bowed and picked up Anhalt's magic sword "Avenger".
This sword originally belonged to the previous Eighteenth Ancestor of the Dead Apostles; Anhalt later killed the predecessor and seized it.
To Altrouge, it was a decent sword, quite usable.
The "Holy Burial Scripture" was directly ignored by the Black Princess; she did not possess Anhalt's masochistic endurance.
Altrouge walked to Rin's side and activated her authority as a child of gaia, instantly restoring the damaged landscape to its original state.
The grace of gaia was bestowed upon Rin, helping her to quickly recover her physical condition.
Rin, whose physical condition was rapidly recovering, soon woke up.
What she saw was Altrouge in her fully restored state.
"Your Royal Highness, you've recovered?"
Altrouge responded to Rin with a gentle nod.
Rin wearily sat up from the ground and subconsciously touched the side of her neck where she had been bitten, feeling her body's condition.
She didn't feel anything unusual.
"Haven't I already become your Dead Apostle? Why don't I feel anything?"
"It's not complete yet," Altrouge explained.
"After you lost consciousness, I drew your blood again.
Phantasmal Species are creatures of the gaia-side, and Dead Apostles also belong to the gaia-side.
Therefore, my blood can awaken the Dragon Factor within you, and by absorbing your Dragon Blood, I recovered ahead of schedule."
Rin blinked rapidly, looking at this Dead Apostle Princess, thinking: So you inject it in and then suck it back out? Are you saying the original flavor isn't good enough, so you add some seasoning before drinking it?
"Then I won't turn into a Dead Apostle?"
"You will, it's just that the blood contract isn't complete yet.
After some time, you'll gradually transform, starting as a Ghoul, just like those humans infected by ordinary Dead Apostles."
The Black Princess delivered bad news directly to Rin.
"What?!"
When a human is bitten, the Vampire's blood remains in their body, so even if killed, they are not completely dead. The brain rots several years after death, and the soul is fixed to the physical body. To supplement the decaying flesh, they consume other corpses. Once the body is supplemented, they grow into a Living Dead.
The chance of becoming a Ghoul is about one in a hundred people.
Following this is the Living Corpse stage, the phase after a Ghoul has supplemented its body. Their abilities are inferior to the Dead, but they are an independent member of the Blood-sucking Race with their own will. After regaining their knowledge as a human, they are called a Vampire.
This is the stage where a Living Dead spends time regaining the knowledge from their human period. The chance of surviving to this stage is about one in ten thousand people.
The Vampires who become the biological parents of these Vampires are called Dead Apostles. Some Vampires will kill their blood relative Dead Apostle and then become a New Dead Apostle themselves.
Rin definitely didn't want her brain to rot away, die, and then be revived. Although she was confident she wouldn't be inferior to Mayu Arima, who could awaken in a day, this kind of thing wasn't determined solely by aptitude.
Seeing Rin looking somewhat "panicked," the Black Princess smiled playfully, squatting down, and kneading and pinching Rin's delicate face with her jade-like hand:
"Don't worry, Little Darling, I won't let you turn into that. Given your body, you can hold out for at least a week. Completing the Blood Contract takes a long time, and we have urgent matters right now. Once we rescue Dabai and the others, I will complete the contract with you, and then you'll be mine. Stick with me from now on."
"..."
She was teased... Altrouge handed the Demonic Sword "Avenger" to Rin. Rin tried to reach out and grasp the Dead Apostle's Demonic Sword. It was cold to the touch, but she didn't feel the corrosion of Death Energy on her, indicating she truly had been mixed with Dead Apostle components.
"Take this sword. We are going to rescue Dabai and the others," Altrouge said, pulling Rin up and running quickly toward the exit.
Rin only felt an irresistible immense force pull her flying! Rin was dragged along by Altrouge like a kite, and the surrounding scenery rapidly receded.
But, rescuing Dabai, they are...!!!
"Your Highness the Princess, can I not go?!"
"Rin, what are you saying? You are my designated Retainer, of course you must advance and retreat with me. Otherwise..."
"..." So if I don't take a risk and use the back door, I have to start from the bottom as a Ghoul, huh...
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