In a semi-conscious state, Arcueid's awareness gradually recovered from the chaos. After opening her eyes, what appeared in her view was an endless beautiful sea of flowers, and a pavilion standing not far away.
"This... a dream?"
This wasn't reality, but inside a dream.
Arcueid could still distinguish it. She had just regained consciousness now, but her body hadn't awakened yet.
"My dream... shouldn't it be inside the Millennium Castle?"
All this time, Arcueid only dreamed one thing: she confined herself in the unchanging Millennium Castle, sleeping for centuries.
That was the only thing she dreamed of.
The sea of flowers in front of her was an impossible scenery for her to dream.
(Sea of flowers...)
"Is that you, Merry?"
"Yes, it's me."
Inside the pavilion, countless flower petals gathered, gradually forming Merry's figure. She made a heart gesture to Arcueid and smiled: "This is the Magical Merry loved by all and blooming everywhere."
Indeed.
Only Merry could turn someone else's dream into something like this.
Arcueid approached and sat down: "You woke me up."
"Correct." Merry nodded with a smile. "It was pretty exhausting, you know. Your Vampiric Impulse accumulated over a dozen years might mean nothing to you, but for us outsiders, it's immense mental pressure, like pulling you out of a whirlpool."
Merry felt her arm nearly break, though whether it broke or not didn't matter; she could recover just by thinking about it in the dream.
"I see. I feel fine, much lighter than before. But thank you so much, Merry! Otherwise, it might have taken me a long time to struggle out on my own."
"Actually, nearly a day has passed in the real world, and I needed about half a day to pull you out—well, the main reason was to resolve your Vampiric Impulse."
"I see... Eh?"
Realizing certain information Merry uttered, Arcueid was stunned for a moment.
Resolve the Vampiric Impulse?
"Merry, did you manage to suppress my Vampiric Impulse again?"
"No, no, I'm not that strong. If it were Shiki, it'd be easy, but I can't resolve it permanently. I just helped you trick your body and instincts—for now, what you crave isn't blood anymore, but sucking Mana."
Merry briefly explained the plan she and Naoki had decided on.
Changing the Vampiric Impulse into an impulse to suck Mana—abbreviated as Mana Drinking Impulse—combined with Arcueid's constitution that continuously receives Mana from the planet, this resolves the Vampiric Impulse in a relatively semi-permanent way.
Literally, it changed from sucking living beings' blood to sucking the planet's blood.
"When you wake up, your body will start craving Mana. Since it's just converted, the initial craving will be very strong. Naoki is already prepared to recharge your Mana. After the first wave of replenishment, the situation should stabilize through the planet."
"That way, you won't have to worry about the Vampiric Impulse issue until this planet truly withers."
Merry explained.
"Or, if you want a permanent solution, Shiki will come later and she can help you kill that impulse. Actually, using this method can also restore your shrunken body."
"My shrunken body? What's wrong with my body?" Arcueid frowned.
After a pause, Merry slapped the table, and the smooth table surface suddenly displayed Arcueid's situation in the real world—she, about eight or nine years old, was sleeping soundly on the sofa, like a sleeping princess waiting for a prince to wake her.
"You and Naoki used too much power to stop Tiamat. And to stop you who was rampaging at that time, Naoki chose to subdue you with a mutual suicide method—resulting in both of you turning into children, and needing a lot of Mana to return to your original form and power."
"So that's what happened..."
Arcueid realized.
"So Naoki is also a child now?"
"Regarding that..."
Merry slapped the table again, and the image on it suddenly dissolved into ripples, and after stabilizing, what was displayed was Merry pinning Naoki on the bed and deeply kissing him.
Scratching her face slightly embarrassed, Merry laughed: "Actually, I'm doing two things at once. While explaining to you here, in the real world, I'm also giving Mana to Naoki. It's my turn by coincidence, so it's unavoidable if it overlaps."
"Giving Mana?"
"Yes, with a large amount of Mana to shorten your recovery time. Mucosal contact is the most efficient."
As Merry here said that, the Merry there moved even more restlessly, her cheeks flushed, looking truly immersed in pleasure.
And Naoki seemed to respond to her too. His arms and legs wrapped around Merry's neck and waist, locking her body tightly.
*SMACK!*
The image suddenly stopped here, and the Merry sitting in front of Arcueid suddenly shivered.
Arcueid frowned: "Merry, what's wrong with you? Your body... No, this is a dream. So, your mental state isn't good?"
"No, I just suddenly received a little surprise, a bit startled eek—!"
Startled eek?
Hearing Merry's somewhat odd final sound, Arcueid frowned even more.
After struggling to stabilize her mental state, Merry hurriedly instructed Arcueid as if in a rush: "A-anyway, after you wake up, find Naoki. He knows what to do, then just follow your instincts ugh!"
Before finishing speaking, Merry's body suddenly turned into an illusion for a moment.
"Seriously, it's been a day, why is she still so energetic. That's why this fairy with unlimited stamina setting is really... N-now, then, I have urgent business, I'll go first—"
Even before her words finished, Merry directly vanished in front of Arcueid.
Arcueid tilted her head in confusion: "What's really going on... Whatever, after I wake up and meet Naoki, I'll surely understand. Merry said I've slept a day, so it's indeed time to wake up."
Thinking that, Arcueid began trying to hold her breath.
Several minutes later.
"Ugh..."
Opening her eyes again, seeing Avalon's dome filling her view, Arcueid slowly rose from the sofa.
"Hmm, this time I'm really back... Ugh!"
Suddenly, for a moment, a strong impulse erupted from within Arcueid's body.
It was the Vampiric Impulse!
Arcueid, who had felt it once or twice before, immediately understood her condition, but when she prepared to forcibly suppress it, this impulse oddly gave her a sense of incongruity.
It wasn't an impulse for blood, but a craving for the ubiquitous Mana.
(This... this is what Merry called the Mana Drinking Impulse?)
Feeling Mana flowing little by little into her body, and the impulse slightly subsiding under the Mana's influence, Arcueid probably understood what Merry meant—but this method was too slow!
If relying only on sucking Mana like this, it would take a very long time until the impulse weakened to the point where she could suppress it all at once.
"Oh right, Naoki. Merry said I have to find him."
Arcueid immediately looked around for Naoki's figure. She remembered in the earlier image, Naoki was with Merry on a big bed.
Coincidentally, right as Arcueid turned, a big bed appeared in her view. Merry lay half-covered on the bed, looking limp as if all her strength was drained.
And near the head of the bed...
"Gulp~~~~"
Seeing Naoki emitting a strong Mana aura, about twelve years old, Arcueid unconsciously swallowed.
Delicious, Tasty, Smells good, Want to eat his Mana... Thoughts like that started surging in Arcueid's mind, as if Naoki in front of her was a delicious dish prepared specially for her.
"Ugh... Naoki..."
"Eh, you're awake?"
Turning and seeing Arcueid who had unconsciously arrived at the bedside, Naoki remembered Merry's message earlier, then reached out and pulled Arcueid onto the bed. Instantly, he kissed Arcueid's lips.
*BOOM!*
Instantly, Mana, like a volcanic eruption, flowed from Naoki's body to Arcueid's through the touching parts, filling the huge void in her heart.
Instinctively, Arcueid strongly gripped Naoki's arms, pressing him down little by little.
"Give me more, Naoki, give me more Mana..."
"Yes, all of it is yours."