Chapter 1024: Cernunnos: Come Drink My Blood
The immortality of Dead Apostles is flawed!
Unlike the naturally perfect True Ancestors, the immortality of Dead Apostles must be maintained through "bloodsucking"!
Dead Apostles are, fundamentally, deceased beings. As time passes, their bodies gradually lose vitality and disintegrate like corpses.
To suppress this disintegration, Dead Apostles must continuously suck blood!
They maintain their physical vitality through bloodsucking!
As long as they keep sucking blood, they possess limitless life force!
That's right.
Unlike True Ancestors—who developed bloodsucking habits because their blueprint was based on bloodsucking creatures—Dead Apostles suck blood to maintain their physical immortality!
For True Ancestors, bloodsucking is merely a habit, an addiction like drugs.
It serves no essential purpose and is purely for enjoyment.
If they wished, they could resist this addiction with firm willpower. However, most True Ancestors choose to indulge their desires, which led to the creation of "Dead Apostles" as their food source.
There are even fallen True Ancestors completely obsessed with bloodsucking. Some upright True Ancestors couldn't bear to witness such fallen behavior, so eight hundred years ago, they created Arcueid—an executioner specifically designed to eliminate fallen True Ancestors.
For Dead Apostles, bloodsucking is essential for survival. They use human blood to maintain their physical vitality, just as humans need to breathe.
However.
Of course.
Both True Ancestors and Dead Apostles can accelerate injury recovery and accumulate power through bloodsucking—this remains an unchanging truth.
Therefore, cases of Dead Apostles hunting humans extensively to gain strength or heal injuries occasionally occur.
"Eiji, how are you feeling?"
While Eiji was experiencing his physical changes, a somewhat nervous voice came from outside the barrier.
Turning to look, Cernunnos was holding her staff, watching him anxiously.
"I'm fine—no urge to rampage."
Eiji patted his stomach.
After brief consideration, he cheerfully confirmed that everything was alright.
"Great!"
Cernunnos couldn't help but smile happily for him.
She then dispelled the multiple layered barriers surrounding them.
"Aren't you experiencing bloodsucking impulses?"
Approaching him, Cernunnos examined him incredulously.
Outwardly, he appeared almost unchanged, though a demonic aura had indeed emerged. Anyone familiar with Dead Apostles would immediately recognize his identity.
However, in this fairy kingdom, Eiji now resembled a fairy himself, seamlessly blending into the fairy community.
One glance.
Another glance.
He's actually quite handsome!
"No, I currently feel intensely thirsty throughout my body—like I could drink several barrels of blood."
Eiji's expression remained calm.
But his words nearly startled Cernunnos.
"However, this impulse can be suppressed with willpower. I'm currently restraining the bloodsucking urge, and it basically doesn't affect anything."
Just like Arcueid.
Arcueid also constantly suppresses her blood-sucking impulses through willpower, but this method is extremely draining on her mental energy. As a result, she can usually only exert about thirty percent of her full strength at most.
Eiji, however, is different—his mental energy is extraordinarily powerful!
Thanks to his synchronization with several other versions of himself, his mental energy has reached an astonishing level. Even when suppressing blood-sucking impulses, it hardly affects his combat capabilities.
Benefiting from the ample blood provided by Arcueid, after transforming into a Dead Apostle, Eiji skipped five stages—Deceased, Ghoul, Immortal, Nightkin, and Nightmare—and directly ascended to the "Lord-class" Dead Apostle level!
It's worth noting that the Ancestors of the Dead Apostles are generally at this level as well, though each of those Ancestors has accumulated centuries or even millennia of blood, making their power terrifyingly profound.
In terms of pure Dead Apostle scale, Eiji still falls somewhat short.
However, once he obtains the power of the Fourth True Ancestor, the balance of strength will be completely reversed!
That said, because he was already immensely powerful to begin with, the slight boost from becoming a non-human is negligible.
No special abilities have awakened either.
Overall, after becoming a Dead Apostle, his survivability has been greatly enhanced.
Just this one benefit alone satisfies Eiji immensely.
"Using mental energy to suppress blood-sucking impulses?"
Upon hearing this, Celyn showed a somewhat dumbfounded expression.
"Your mental fortitude appears far tougher than I imagined. However, as time passes, blood-sucking impulses will grow increasingly stronger. By then, it will inevitably affect every aspect of your being..."
She hesitated for a moment.
"As long as you're fine these next couple days, afterward I'll... Whoa, what are you doing?!"
Eiji was startled by her actions.
Celyn, as if steeling her resolve, placed her hand on the bow at her chest and slowly untied it.
"Drink my blood!"
She pulled open her collar, proactively exposing her neck.
"Though I don't know if a Fairy of Paradise's blood is suitable for Dead Apostles compared to humans, we have no other choice now!"
Her snow-white, jade-like skin was brazenly laid bare before Eiji's eyes.
"This is also for the sake of exploring the Great Cavity! If something goes wrong during the exploration and you can't suppress your blood-sucking impulses, wouldn't it be too late for regrets if all our efforts are wasted? Better to let you vent here and now!"
A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
Her wording might have been slightly off, but a subtle sense of shame gave her a somewhat reckless, nothing-left-to-lose attitude!
"Hurry up!"
It would be impolite to refuse such earnest generosity!
"Then I'm coming!"
Eiji nodded solemnly.
He reached out, drew Celyn's slender body into his embrace, lowered his head, and pressed his lips against her fair, tender neck.
Celyn trembled slightly.
She felt like she was being taken advantage of!
"Mmph!"
Immediately after, she furrowed her brows tightly.
Abruptly, sharp fangs pierced her blood vessels, thirstily sucking the blood from within her body.
Such high-quality blood!
Eiji could sense that Celyn's blood carried astonishing power!
As that blood surged into his body, it was like throwing ice into boiling water—his blood-sucking impulses rapidly eased while his internal magical energy accumulated at a staggering rate!
For Dead Apostles, blood is power!
Powerful blood signifies extraordinary strength!
However, he wondered if drinking the blood of a Fairy of Paradise would alter his nature as a Dead Apostle... And what would happen if he later consumed the Fourth True Ancestor?
What kind of vampire would he become then?
Savoring the delicious blood, Eiji even felt the impulse to hold Celyn and keep biting her until the end of time.
But he still stopped his blood-sucking.
He withdrew his fangs and gently licked the bite marks on her neck with his tongue.
He couldn't drink any more.
Even for a Fairy of Paradise, excessive blood loss would lead to weakness, or even death.
"Th-That's not necessary!"
As the pain in her neck faded, she suddenly felt the sensation of being licked.
Celyn hurriedly pushed Eiji away.
"Since you're satisfied, let's leave now!"
She adjusted her collar, turned around, and walked out of the dense forest.
Goosebumps rose on her neck, a clear sign of how startled she was.
Eiji withdrew his gaze, chuckled softly, and followed closely behind.
"Remember not to tell anyone about this. Unless they are a True Ancestor naturally on par with Arlen, vampires are looked down upon in the Fairy Kingdom."
"I know, it's our little secret!"
"..."
Celyn was momentarily at a loss for words.
It felt as though her future husband had suddenly become slick-tongued and glib.