Hiiragi Shinya was getting a bit impatient.
"So, what is Guren's secret?"
Luke raised his hand and wagged his index finger.
"No, no, no. I only share my information with Vampires, and you aren't one yet~"
Shinya's expression was complicated. Was there really no escape? With Luke right there, his chances of running away were practically zero.
"Then what should I do?"
Shinya was also curious about how a human turns into a Vampire.
Luke stretched and started walking toward the door.
"Come on, let's go somewhere else. It's not convenient here. Anyway, it's quite complicated."
Shinya nodded and followed behind Luke. It made sense; becoming a Vampire probably required some sort of complex ritual.
The naive Hiiragi Shinya had no idea that he was about to undergo a "ritual" he would never forget for the rest of his life... Luke led Shinya toward a plaza in the Vampire residential area.
They encountered many Vampires along the way, all of whom bowed respectfully to Luke. He was already used to it.
Shinya grew increasingly surprised. Many of the Vampires they passed had powerful auras and wore noble attire, yet they still addressed Luke as Lord Luke with the utmost respect.
It seemed this guy held a rather high status among the Vampires.
Just then, a clear voice rang out.
"Luke!"
Mika walked toward Luke with a warm smile. He had gone on several missions with Lacus and the others over the past few days and was gradually adapting to life as a Vampire.
Aside from feeling a bit uncomfortable when Lacus and the others fed on human blood, everything else was fine. After all, their actions had indeed saved many humans from the Four Horsemen of John.
Mika had also killed many members of the Imperial Demon Army. Every time he thought about their inhumane experiments and how they might have been performed on his family from the Hyakuya Orphanage, he was consumed by rage.
Luke had also prepared an ample supply of blood for him in advance.
Luke greeted Mika as well.
"Yahallo, Mika! How have you been lately?"
Mika replied.
"Not bad, I'm adjusting. Luke, what are you planning to do?"
Luke stepped aside to reveal Shinya behind him and introduced him to Mika.
"I'm about to take..."
The moment Mika saw Shinya's Imperial Demon Army uniform, his expression darkened instantly. Before Luke could finish his sentence, Mika drew his sword and slashed at Shinya.
Startled, Shinya scrambled back, byakkomaru appearing in his hand. However, Mika's sword was already about to strike, and Shinya didn't have time to block.
Crap!
At the critical moment, Mika's sword stopped mid-air, and byakkomaru successfully parried the blade.
Mika asked Luke in confusion.
"Luke, what are you doing? This is an Imperial Demon Army dog! Let me kill him!"
Luke held Mika back and soothed him.
"Mika, calm down for a second. He has nothing to do with the experiments. On the contrary, he's from the faction that opposes them."
Mika stared at Shinya with his sword drawn for a moment, then sheathed it and nodded to Luke.
"I trust you, Luke. But as for him—if he makes even the slightest suspicious move, I'll cut him down without mercy! Don't let him deceive you!"
It seemed Mika's emotions were becoming colder, yet his feelings for his family seemed to be growing stronger. Was it just an illusion?
Luke shook his head, pushing the thought aside, and leaned in to whisper into Mika's ear.
"Don't worry, Mika. Don't you know me? I'll be lucky if I don't bamboozle him into the ground. How could he possibly trick me? Listen, I'm planning to... what do you think?"
Luke told Mika about Shinya's situation and his own plan. The change in Mika's expression was quite a sight.
First came confusion, then shock, and finally, there was a faint hint of anticipation and sympathy in his eyes as he looked at Shinya.
Shinya felt uncomfortable under Mika's gaze, but he couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling.
After hearing Luke's plan, Mika couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.
"I'll go with you."
With the war against the Japanese Imperial Demon Army approaching, Mika didn't have any missions outside lately. Out of a bit of mischief, he decided to watch Shinya's "ritual" to become a Vampire.
Mika glanced at Shinya expressionlessly and followed quietly behind Luke. Shinya remained vigilant, fearing Mika might attack again without warning, and followed along.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the plaza in the Vampire residential area, where both Upper-ranking and Lower-ranking Vampires passed through.
Shinya looked at the passing Vampires, feeling a bit puzzled. Was the ritual to become a Vampire really supposed to take place in such a high-traffic plaza?
Luke patted Shinya on the shoulder.
"Don't you know spells? Draw a fairly large pattern for an Illumination Spell on the ground."
Shinya frowned, a sense of unease rising in his heart.
"Your Vampire rituals require the use of human spells?" he asked.
Luke switched into full bamboozle mode.
"You don't get it, do you? This ritual is normally performed at sunset to represent the rejection of sunlight. Since the sun is already down and you're in such a hurry to ask about Guren, we have to substitute it by activating and then deactivating an Illumination Spell."
Uh... that actually seemed to make a little bit of sense.
Shinya glanced at Mika. Mika didn't look friendly, but he still nodded.
Shinya believed it a bit more. This blond Vampire looked quite honest; surely he wouldn't lie.
Shinya drew a spell circle about the size of a manhole cover and then asked,
"What's next?"
Luke quietly had Miku start recording while he answered.
"Activate the spell, stand in the light, and then slowly weaken the output of your cursed energy until the spell stops. At the same time, you need to curl up in the light with your arms around your knees and chant, 'I shall welcome a new birth, I shall discard my human body, I shall become the master of the new world.'"
Mika turned his head away, pretending to observe the passing Vampires to hide the fact that he was stifling a laugh.
Shinya found the ritual unbelievable. It was so embarrassing! He couldn't help but feel suspicious.
And the ritual was just too slapdash!
Luke quickly added,
"Don't be shy. We Vampires won't care about you performing the ritual; after all, we all went through this. You just need to follow the steps, and I'll handle the rest of the ritual's support."
Shinya hesitated, unable to make up his mind. He was actually quite thin-skinned.
Luke said to Mika in an exaggerated tone,
"Mika, let me tell you, Guren's secret is really interesting. Do you want to hear it? I'm only telling you because you're a Vampire. Lean in close, don't let the human hear!"
Shinya glared at Luke. He knew perfectly well that Luke was trying to provoke him, but... he was actually falling for it.
Shinya took a deep breath, activated the Curse Talisman, then closed his eyes and curled up in the light with his arms around his knees, muttering under his breath,
"I... shall welcome a new birth. I shall discard my human body. I shall... become the master of the new world."
Though it was hard to say, Shinya finished the chant.
A bright light suddenly flared up in the plaza, inevitably drawing the gaze of all the Vampires.
"Hey, what is that guy doing? Huh? He's a human!"
"No idea."
"Look, Lord Luke is watching the show. Needless to say, this kind of performance art is clearly Lord Luke's masterpiece."
"You really know him well."
The murmurs of Saito's Vampires reached Luke's ears. He glared at them, and the Vampires scattered at once.
Shinya didn't have such keen hearing. After finishing the words Luke had taught him, he hurriedly stood up just as the spell ended and the light vanished.
Shinya's cheeks were flushed crimson. He felt like he had just suffered a social death. He could never let his comrades in the Moon Demon Company know about this. Never!
Luke held back his laughter. He absolutely had to show this to Shinya's teammates! Hahaha! The gentle boy-next-door had turned into a chuunibyou youth!
Shinya didn't notice any changes in his body. His first reaction was that he'd been tricked!
Luke spoke before Shinya could, handing him a test tube.
"Here, just drink this and the ritual will be complete."
Luke snapped his fingers and pointed at Shinya.
"Hiiragi Shinya, from now on, you are my Thrall!"
You will get 30 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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