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The outskirts of Tours, in a grand hall within an ancient castle steeped in history.
The surrounding walls were lined with sconces, upon which milky-white candles rested. The orange candlelight, emanating from the burning wicks, illuminated the entire reception hall.
In the center of the hall, two mobile beds, much like hospital gurneys, were placed. A figure lay flat on each.
"Ah—!" Blood, his entire body bound in gauze imbued with a healing concept, opened his mouth, allowing a Dead Apostle maid to slowly pour sweet blood into it.
"Not the blood of a beautiful boy—bad review!" Blood swallowed the blood, frowning, his face showing disgust.
"Blood, how do you even know it's not the blood of a beautiful boy? Is your tongue more sensitive than my nose?" Fou, crouching beside Altrouge's jade-like feet, wagged its tail, silently retorting.
"Spare us a word, Blood. If you hadn't spent so long sucking blood earlier, we wouldn't be in such a miserable state," Strout, lying beside Blood, said slowly, impassively enjoying being fed by a maid.
Caught off guard, the two had suffered Gransurg's anti-Dead Apostle specialized attack.
Though both were powerful and had struggled to survive with grievous injuries, they were subsequently carried thousands of miles by Gransurg's Dead Apostles to evade Arcueid's pursuit.
It was a miracle they were alive at all.
"Well, now. Still complaining about the blood? Looks like you're recovering well, Blood. That stuff called Phoenix Tears is pretty effective, huh?" Altrouge, seated on a sofa to the right of the hall, lightly lifted a coffee cup from the table, took a delicate sip, and chuckled softly.
"Apologies, Your Highness. For troubling you and Mister Haru." Strout spoke, his face filled with shame. As a guardian knight, to have his lord go to such lengths to protect him—for Strout, this was a grave dereliction of duty.
"Ah, ah, dereliction of duty indeed! A contract knight, and yet... Indeed, I should have run Gransurg's bird-head through with a sword! What a disgrace!" Blood closed his eyes, speaking weakly.
Although they were severely injured by a sneak attack, for the two of them, being insta-killed was indeed a great humiliation.
"Don't worry about those details. It's good enough that you're alive. However, you should thank that brat Arcueid—she's the one who saved you both." Altrouge gently set down her teacup, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, a soft smile appearing on her pretty face.
For the two guardian knights she had spent countless years with, Altrouge regarded them as family. In her eyes, compared to the guardian knight contract they had signed, the safety of her family members was paramount.
"Speaking of which, Your Highness. Where did Lady White Princess and Mister Haru go? After treating us earlier, they seem to have disappeared?" Blood asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Arcueid? That brat is probably sleeping. She won't wake up until dusk," Altrouge narrowed her eyes, speaking with envy.
If not for worrying about the safety of her two knights, she probably would also be waiting for dusk on a soft, comfortable bed.
"As for Haru? After confirming you two were alright, he asked me for the key to the basement. He's probably in the basement now," Altrouge tilted her head, a thoughtful look in her crimson eyes.
———
In the cold, damp basement, Haru slowly pulled white gloves onto his hands, then put on a white surgical mask. Coupled with the white coat and white cap he wore, he looked every bit the surgeon about to perform an operation.
Haru's right index finger twitched lightly, and a Single-Action spell called Dust Removal was quickly activated.
The basement, originally in a dilapidated state for many years, was instantly refreshed. Accumulated dust and cobwebs gathered into a soccer ball-sized clump, rolling thump-thump into a nearby corner.
An iridescent light flickered in his deep gray pupils.
Immediately following, a standardized operating table appeared out of thin air before Haru.
His index finger twitched slightly, and Gransurg, who had been stored in a separate dimension, fell with a thump onto the operating table.
"Ugh... You... bastard!!" Gransurg, having just regenerated from minced meat through his formidable immortality, his body was covered in yellow rose patterns—the materialization of a B-rank curse concept.
Like a debuff reducing max HP in a game, the powerful curse directly suppressed Gransurg's strength to the level of an ordinary person.
It could be said that Gransurg was currently at his weakest since birth.
Haru silently took out a scalpel and forceps.
A pitch-black, profound negative energy emanated from them. He was now very curious—about the power composition of the Lord of the Black Wing's Dead Apostle-slaying privilege, the body structure of avian Dead Apostles, and so on, and so forth...
Under Gransurg's terrified gaze, he was vivisected.
....
Approximately several hours later, Haru silently removed the blood-soaked white gloves, rubbing his slightly stubbled chin, and said with a grave expression.
"A special type of soul attack? It seems to have a slaughter concept targeting its own race. Based on my situation, with some modifications, it seems it could become a Primate Murder without species limitation."
"Moreover, this special body structure—if I absorb its advantages, it would greatly improve my body's flexibility and coordination."
Haru retracted Gransurg, who was in the process of resurrection cool-down, back into the dimensional space as research material, and slowly walked out of the basement.
Without directly heading to his and Altrouge's room, Haru went to a tidied-up guest room because he sensed that his first direct Dead Apostle subordinate had awakened.
———
Pale purple, waist-length hair, the tips slightly tinged with crimson. Her already pale skin became even more flawlessly white after turning into a Dead Apostle; one could even see the blue veins through her skin. Her sleeping face, with closed eyes, held a fragile beauty.
Having just become a Dead Apostle, the girl was currently completely naked. Whether it was her full chest, or her front and back areas with their dense forests, all directly entered Haru's view.
Narbareck's eyebrows twitched lightly, then she slowly opened her eyes. Her already crimson eyes now held the unique scarlet hue of a Dead Apostle.
"Welcome to this cruel world, my child!" Haru caressed the girl's snow-white skin, looking at Narbareck with eyes full of desire.
"Ara, the poison on my body is gone." Sensing that fervent gaze, Narbareck's pale face showed a pathological flush. She directly spread her legs, exposing that hint of pink directly to Haru's eyes.
"Good girl!" Haru touched Narbareck's pretty face, unbuckled his belt with a wicked smile, and thrust his waist forward, directly entering the somewhat dry passage.
Crimson blood dripped onto the bedsheet.
The room was filled with an air of spring.
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