[489] Awakened
August nodded at Esdeath, her eyes burning with fervent desire.
He was generous with his own people, especially the women reborn as his vassals—those he regarded as his wives from the depths of his heart.
Esdeath, at this moment, had no other thoughts. Her mind was consumed with an insatiable craving for August's blood.
Stepping closer, she sank her fangs into his neck.
Spurt!
Her sharp fangs pierced his skin, and his blood flowed into her throat.
Exquisite flavor! Soul-deep ecstasy! A transformation of body and mind!
That was Esdeath's state in that instant.
Simultaneously, the familiars transferred into her body began to surge.
August was now her medium. The magic and vitality in his blood dwarfed even Yukina Himeragi's, a shrine maiden with exceptional medium qualifications, by countless magnitudes.
Boom!
A cataclysmic wave of magic erupted from Esdeath's form.
Soon, after sating her bloodlust with August's essence, clarity returned to her eyes.
Sensing the monumental changes within her, she was awestruck. This was a earth-shattering transformation—calling it a leap to the heavens wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Slowly releasing August, Esdeath reveled in the terrifying power coursing through her, her heart pounding with exhilaration.
"These things inside me—they feel incredibly strong."
"Those are familiars."
"Familiars?"
"Yes. They're my gift to you—the mightiest power in this world, the strength of the strongest vampire progenitor, the Fourth Progenitor. Wielder of twelve calamity-level familiars."
"Twelve? But I only sense nine in me."
"They'll all be yours eventually. Don't worry."
"Hm."
Esdeath didn't dwell on it. She trusted August.
And she was eager to test this newfound power.
As the new Fourth Progenitor, the blood memories of her predecessor naturally became hers.
Unlike the half-baked Kojou Akatsuki, Esdeath was no weakling to begin with. Having drunk August's blood, she fused with the Fourth Progenitor's power and inherited a portion of its blood memories.
Though incomplete, this fragment was enough. After processing it, Esdeath grasped her new identity and the power she now wielded—known as "familiars."
"Come forth, my familiars."
Unlike Kojou's incantation-like summons, Esdeath called them forth directly.
A blaze of terrifying magic ignited, and massive figures materialized around her.
First Familiar: Mesarthim-Adamas!
Second Familiar: Cor Tauri-Sucinum!
Third Familiar: Al-Meissa Mercury!
Fourth Familiar: Natra-Cinereus!
Fifth Familiar: Regulus-Aurum!
Seventh Familiar: Kiffa-Ater!
Eighth Familiar: Shaula-Viola!
Ninth Familiar: Al-Nasl-Minium!
Eleventh Familiar: Sadalmelik-Albus!
Nine mighty progenitor-level familiars were summoned simultaneously by the new Fourth Progenitor, Esdeath.
Their sole medium? August.
Born from a "curse," these beasts found a perfect match in August—embodiment of the four deadly sins, master of the Gate of Sin, with four hearts fused with those sins.
A single drop of his blood was primal sin itself—a supreme tonic for familiars.
Now, as the Fourth Progenitor, Esdeath needed only to reclaim the remaining three familiars and elevate her power to true "progenitor" status. Then, she'd be the second fully realized Fourth Progenitor in this world.
The other three familiars posed no issue.
Sixth Familiar: Minelauva Iris, held in the Chaos Dominion of the Third Progenitor, absent from the Blazing Banquet.
Tenth Familiar: Dabih-Crystallus, also stored in the Third Progenitor's Chaos Dominion, absent from the Blazing Banquet.
And the final Twelfth Familiar: Alrescha-Glacies, residing within Kojou Akatsuki's sister, Nagisa Akatsuki, alongside the slumbering soul of Aurora, the twelfth vessel of the Kaleid Blood.
Roar!
At that moment, all nine familiars roared skyward, their deafening cries reverberating across Itogami Island.
Far away, the First Progenitor in the Warlord's Domain, the Second Progenitor in the Fallen Dynasty, and the Third Progenitor in the Chaos Dominion all sensed something, turning their gazes toward Itogami Island in unison.
Within the Chaos Dominion, the sixth vessel and the tenth vessel, Dimensional, stirred, feeling the call of their kin.
Boom!
The next instant, a chilling frost descended upon an apartment on Itogami Island.
In a flash, everything within a kilometer—human or demon—was frozen solid.
Step, step.
A girl with golden hair, clad in the junior high uniform of Saikai Academy, emerged from the apartment.
Behind her loomed a familiar—a fusion of mermaid and demonic bird—radiating the frigid aura that encased the area.
Though Aurora's power within Nagisa had waned, it still held the might to freeze an ocean in an instant.
Now awakened, it indiscriminately encased everything within a kilometer in ice.
---
"This is bad. That man actually stripped the Fourth Progenitor's power and gave it to a woman, fully unleashing it in an instant."
Atop a high-rise building, Koyomi Shizuka's face darkened.
Through her shikigami, she'd witnessed Esdeath claim the Fourth Progenitor's power.
She could hardly believe it—a single small card had turned this woman into the new Fourth Progenitor.
Even more unbelievable, with just one bite of August's blood, she'd brought nine familiars under her command.
---
If you're interested in reading more, feel free to visit my pat reon, https , // www .pat reon. com /XElenea