28: Return to the Imperial Capital

Around eight the next morning, Haruki and the others were already prepared.

Before dawn, Akame had returned to Gozuki's side. The sisters had clearly spent the whole night talking. Haruki hadn't asked Kurome what the two of them had discussed—after all, everyone needed their own space—but Kurome's mood seemed noticeably low.

Now the group had gathered on a large open field a short distance from the village. Besides Haruki, Gin, Nina, and Kurome, Tsukushi and Pony were also there, standing quietly to the side—but their behavior was a little strange.

Roughly an hour earlier, around 7 a.m., Tsukushi and Pony had both woken up—almost simultaneously.

When Nina told Haruki they were awake, he immediately went to their room, only to find the two girls sitting there, staring at each other with odd expressions.

Upon closer inspection, Haruki noticed traces of blood at the corners of their mouths, and on each of their necks were two tiny puncture marks—barely visible to the naked eye. The marks were already healing rapidly, and within moments, they had vanished entirely.

After questioning Gin, who had stayed with Tsukushi and Pony throughout the night, Haruki learned what had happened—and the explanation left him both amused and exasperated.

It turned out that the moment the girls had awakened, Gin noticed right away and wanted to greet them. But before she could, Tsukushi and Pony suddenly lunged at each other and, before she could stop them, started drinking each other's blood. By the time they regained their senses, they were already in their current dazed state.

After Gin finished explaining, Nina and Kurome also turned their eyes to Haruki. That morning, after Akame had left, Nina had told Kurome everything about Haruki—every detail—and reminded her not to share it with anyone else.

"Brother, didn't you say it was an elixir of immortality? You never mentioned anything like this happening."

Nina, the most familiar and lively among the girls, questioned Haruki directly.

Haruki scratched his head awkwardly. He had already figured out the cause as soon as he entered the room. As a True Ancestor Vampire, he didn't need to drink blood himself—so over time, he had completely forgotten about that part of a vampire's nature. Tsukushi and Pony's reactions were clearly due to an inability to fully suppress the instinctual craving for blood. Normally, as progenitor-level vampires, they should have had strong resistance to that urge. A single feeding over a long period would have been more than enough. But having just recovered from near-fatal injuries, and still groggy from sleep, they'd acted entirely on instinct.

After explaining the situation to Gin, Nina, and Kurome, Haruki turned his gaze back to the two girls still sitting there in a daze.

"You should already understand what's going on. If we hadn't used this method, the best you could've hoped for would be a life as cripples. And by now, you should also understand what it means to be a vampire. I don't want word of this getting out, so for now, you'll be coming with us back to the Imperial Capital. Don't worry—you'll have chances to see Gozuki and the others again."

Before diluting his blood, Haruki had already infused it with specific knowledge about vampires, including cultivation methods unique to the vampire clan. In a way, this served as a form of inheritance. As his blood relatives, Tsukushi and Pony were now effectively his descendants.

After all, nature maintains its balance: the more powerful a species is, the harder it is for them to reproduce. Vampires, standing at the top of the demon world, were no exception. Natural reproduction was rare, so creating bloodkin through sharing one's blood was a common practice among their kind. Even so, the vampire population remained scarce compared to humans.

Right now, Tsukushi and Pony were feeling conflicted. On one hand, they had not only escaped death at the fangs of a powerful Danger Beast, but also gained something most people could only dream of—immortality. On the other hand, they were about to leave behind the companions they had lived with for over three years, and their future was now uncertain. They still hadn't realized that, due to the transformation, they might spend the rest of their lives stuck in their current petite forms. Fortunately, Haruki's blood had at least caused their bodies to grow significantly compared to before.

And that... was the full story behind what had happened that morning.

…

"Brother, aren't we heading back to the Imperial Capital? Why are we just standing around here? Shouldn't we be leaving already?"

Haruki looked at Nina, who had asked the question, and lightly tapped her on the head.

"Silly girl, you know how far the capital is. What, you think we're walking all the way back? We'd be lucky to get there in a month."

"Then hurry up and pull out that shiny flying thing! What are we standing here for?"

Nina pressed on stubbornly.

But then she noticed Gin and Kurome both looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Airhead, it's called Vimana, not 'that shiny thing.' And think about it—we were already crammed on it with just the three of us. Now we've got six people. How are we all supposed to fit?"

Haruki shot her a side-eye.

"Then how are we supposed to get there?"

Nina pouted, annoyed as everyone around her tried to stifle their laughter.

"Haha, just wait—you'll see."

Haruki kept the suspense going.

Moments later, a piercing cry shattered the silence. Instantly, within dozens of miles of the sound's origin, every living creature—whether human, ordinary Danger Beast, or even Super-Class Danger Beast—dropped to the ground, trembling.

Then, as the sky briefly darkened, a massive phoenix appeared before them. Even with her wings folded, she spanned at least two to three hundred meters.

Her entire body was pure white, not a single feather out of place. Deep blue eyes shimmered with both wisdom and fierce majesty. When she stood there suppressing her aura, she was as harmless as a still pond—giving off no sense of danger at all. But the moment she bared her fangs, an overwhelming pressure filled the air, so suffocating that everyone present struggled to breathe—everyone except Haruki.

Indeed, what appeared before them was none other than the Ice Phoenix—Haruki's pet, tamed over a thousand years ago. After his eastern and western campaigns and the founding of the Empire, Haruki hadn't kept the massive, intimidating beast by his side. Instead, he had her leave behind some of her essence for the creation of the Teigu Demon God Manifestation: Demon's Extract, and then sent her back to her old domain. Naturally, Haruki hadn't shortchanged her—he'd left behind a trove of rare treasures to aid her growth.

After a thousand years, Ice Phoenix was now several times stronger than before. If Haruki had to guess, she'd long since surpassed the Super-Class Danger Beast level.

"Master, I'm here. Shall I take you back to the Imperial Capital?"

Her voice, crisp and cold, rang out and snapped the girls out of their daze. Over the centuries—and under Haruki's instruction—the already intelligent Ice Phoenix had learned to speak fluently.

"A Danger Beast that can talk?!"

No one knew who blurted it out, but the other girls immediately echoed the shock.

Among them, Tsukushi and Pony were the most stunned. Back during training with Gozuki, even facing slightly stronger Danger Beasts meant they had to run for their lives. Just yesterday, they had nearly died in the jaws of a giant snake. But that snake compared to the Ice Phoenix? Like an ant before an elephant—no, a dinosaur. And now, seeing this unimaginably powerful Danger Beast act as tame as a housecat before Haruki left the two of them utterly speechless. They still had no idea that Haruki had casually killed that snake in seconds.

"Hmph! What's so amazing about that? I just didn't feel like learning before. If I had, I'd have mastered it ages ago."

Despite being over a thousand years old, it was clear the Ice Phoenix still had a youthful mentality from living in the frozen north. She came off like a haughty, slightly spoiled girl.

Her words helped break the tension, and the girls, all about the same age, quickly warmed up to her.

"Alright, now that Ice Phoenix is here, let's get going."

Seeing the girls starting to settle in for a chat, Haruki quickly cut in.

"Okay!" they all responded.

"But... how do we get up there?"

Nina finally asked the question everyone had been wondering.

"Hmph, leave that to me!"

Ice Phoenix's proud voice echoed again.

She exhaled gently, and a wide, glittering ice path materialized before their eyes.

Once everyone was on her back, Ice Phoenix unfurled her wings and soared into the sky like a flash of light, disappearing in the direction of the Imperial Capital.

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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