The glow of magical power flickered in the air.
Stroke by stroke, an eye-like pattern was traced into the empty space.
An ominous premonition rose in the heart of "Root Avrora." Her body, already tense with caution, seemed to shrink even further.
A Beast Vassal?
No, that didn't seem right. It was just pure magic.
Choosing to use magic instead of a Beast Vassal? This Fifth Primogenitor was underestimating her a bit.
The girl who looked like Nagisa raised both hands, her gaze sharpening.
Behind her, the ice-sculpted mermaid stretched its body, a chilling air surging outwards along with a mist.
The eye-like pattern in the air suddenly seemed to come alive, its eyelid trembling slightly.
Then, it opened.
An eyeball, shimmering with a strange light, appeared within the pattern, its gaze fixed intently on the black-haired girl across the way, whose face was a picture of astonishment.
Countless identical patterns materialized all around, each one revealing a magical eye within.
Scarlet flames instantly dispersed the encircling cold, while the icy mist itself was suppressed by the chill of the Alrescha-Glacies. A fierce wind, sharp as a blade, grazed the black-haired girl's cheek.
A drop of crimson liquid fell softly. The world's strongest vampire was bleeding.
A flash of fury erupted from those blazing pupils. Magical energy overflowing from within her transformed into a howling gale, eclipsing the radiance of the magical eyes.
The Alrescha-Glacies swung its fishtail, a bone-chilling cold sweeping through the area.
The atmosphere plummeted in temperature, the air thickening with a freezing white mist.
In an instant, the temperature dropped below absolute zero, the intense cold making it impossible for anything to maintain its solid form.
Accompanied by the icy fog, the Beast Vassal transformed its magical power into a torrent of frigid violence, rushing toward Brunestud.
The surrounding environment began to crumble to dust. Walls started to collapse, and the slightly harsh sunlight pierced into this underground space.
Everything was gradually enveloped in a vast, pale, and dim obscurity.
Ordinary magical eyes couldn't hope to rival the Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor... this was expected.
Brunestud, entirely unsurprised, tapped a finger in the empty air. One of the patterns, receiving its command, slowly opened.
"The Fifth Primogenitor... how interesting."
As if the earlier fury had been an illusion, the figure hidden behind the icy mist, "Root Avrora," murmured in a calm tone.
It wouldn't do for her, in her incomplete state, to be caught by this fellow kin.
She shifted her footing slightly, preparing a temporary retreat.
Just then, a peculiar sound suddenly reverberated around them.
The concealing icy fog seemed to touch some invisible object, and the wintry scene dissipated like a burst bubble.
"What?!"
A look of stunned disbelief appeared on "Root Avrora's" face. Lifting her gaze, she saw a pair of magical eyes shimmering with a rainbow hue, emitting pulses of magical energy.
The anti-magic eyes seemed quite effective. So these were the legendary eyes theorized to be capable of killing a Primogenitor.
Brunestud nodded in satisfaction, peering through the mist at "Root Avrora" opposite her.
Then, her eyes widened slightly.
"You neutralized my magical energy?"
And... it seemed that wasn't all.
"Root Avrora," feeling her body locked in place, slowly let a bitter expression spread across her face.
Brunestud's own crimson eyes began to glow as well.
"Nullifying magical energy... feels very similar to the legendary secret weapon of the Lion King Organization."
It wasn't just her. Watching covertly from a distance, Minamiya Natsuki also let out a soft exclamation.
"...Divine Oscillation Effect?"
Liana, clutching her throat, coughed lightly.
The wounds inflicted by the necromancer beastman were slowly healing.
"Correct. As expected of a vampire from the Warlord's Empire, you're quite knowledgeable."
Ignoring Natsuki's teasing tone, Liana stared intently at the ice coffin beside them. "...Why has the Fourth Primogenitor awakened?"
They had brought it out with them when Natsuki teleported them away.
"She is the Fourth Primogenitor. A body cursed by the gods cannot truly die. It's not strange for her to revive given the slightest opportunity."
"A slight opportunity... because of the Fifth Primogenitor's arrival?"
"Could also be the blood in the vicinity." Natsuki shrugged, his gaze flicking towards the girl in the coffin.
"Your daughter's current condition... has she allowed the Fourth Primogenitor's consciousness and Beast Vassals into her body?"
Minamiya Natsuki kept her eyes fixed on the distant battlefield, idly twirling the parasol in her hand.
"The Fourth Primogenitor's consciousness and Beast Vassals..."
Natsuki repeated in a low voice, shuddering before he could finish.
For Nagisa to end up like this, there was no other explanation than being dominated by the Fourth Primogenitor's consciousness.
She was an exceptional spiritual medium; achieving something like this wasn't impossible.
"In that case, Nagisa's body will..."
A vampire's Beast Vassal consumes the host's life force as the price for being summoned.
That is why it's said only vampires, possessing near-infinite 'vitality,' can command them.
Even if she absorbed the Fourth Primogenitor's consciousness, Nagisa's physical body was still that of a fragile human girl.
"If what's inside Nagisa is the Fourth Primogenitor..."
Liana pointed at the ice coffin, her voice tinged with horror.
"Then who is she?"
Minamiya Natsuki whirled around. The sleeping beauty within had, at some point, opened her eyes.
Huge ripples spread through the space around her, and chains wreathed in golden light slowly emerged.
If this sleeping beauty was the real Fourth Primogenitor, she needed to get away immediately.
An incomplete Fourth Primogenitor would be no match for the Princess.
The petite girl with pale gold hair sat up in the ice coffin, rubbing her eyes as if she hadn't fully woken up.
She looked around, uneasily hunching her shoulders.
Then, she let out a helpless sound.
"Ah... mm..."
Huh?
Avrora slowly peeked out from behind Minamiya Natsuki.
Seemingly frightened by Natsuki, the golden-haired girl's blue eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"No... don't..."
The girl sobbed between hiccups, just like a child.
As her crying echoed in the area, the commotion of the distant battle also gradually began to cease.
"Is that you?"
Brunestud glanced at the girl in the coffin, the magical eyes behind her closing one by one.
"..."
"Root Avrora," with great difficulty, cast a look at the girl in the coffin and fell silent. "She is merely my dregs."
As if afraid Brunestud wouldn't believe her, she added.
"Truly."
"I believe you." Brunestud nodded gently, her gaze shifting to the ice mermaid.
In the next instant, a cold that seemed capable of freezing souls flooded "Root Avrora's" senses.
A slender longsword had appeared beside Brunestud at some unknown time.
The Princess simply and purely raised her hand. The flying sword traced a graceful arc through the air as it swept forward.
Sapphire blue magical light coiled around the blade, moving with it as it swung. The radiance of magic transformed into shards of ice that shot forward.
The surging magical energy scattered the icy mist. The blade, accompanied by the ice shards, pierced through the Alrescha-Glacies.
This Fifth Primogenitor... had she been playing around before?
"Root Avrora" let out a silent sigh.
The spinning sword came to rest gently against her slender, pale neck.
"Guh... go on, kill me."
She resigned herself, closing her eyes.
But the sword did not advance further.
"I see." "Root Avrora," looking at the Brunestud beside her, revealed boundless scorn in her eyes.
"You also crave my power, do you?"
Kin Devourer.
Generally, it refers to a vampire drinking the blood of their kin, absorbing the other's bloodline and abilities for their own use.
However, taking the other into oneself carries the risk of being usurped from within, one's very existence overwritten by the other.
It seemed this Fifth Primogenitor also coveted the power of her, the strongest Primogenitor.
"Come then, drink my blood."
"Root Avrora's" lips curled in a mocking smile.
Then, within her body, they would see who the final victor would be.
"Drink blood?"
The long sword tapped the black-haired girl on the head. Brunestud narrowed her eyes in disgust. "Do not mention such a thing in front of me."
"A vampire who hates drinking blood? Are you mocking me?"
"Blood is one of the things I despise."
"You don't drink blood? Then how do you use your Bea—"
Mid-sentence, "Root Avrora" froze.
This Primogenitor before her... she hadn't used a Beast Vassal at all.
A cool touch suddenly registered on her forehead. A slender finger was pressed against it.
The next moment, darkness enveloped her senses.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.