— — — — — —
As soon as Ryo opened the Dimensional Forum, the first thing he saw was a flood of private messages.
Most of them were from Kanae Kocho, checking in on him. Next were messages from Nemu, relaying greetings from Orihime Inoue. Every now and then, even Aizen would drop off some research data on the Hōgyoku.
"Huh. So Aizen passed that file to Nemu," Ryo muttered, immediately catching on.
Back when he was still in the Demon Slayer world, he'd already tested something: as long as the original questioner allowed it, other members could use forum-bound items to send him messages.
Kanae's diary and Aizen's research file were both examples of those "forum-anchored" tools.
That said, only the actual questioner could send official summons.
So Ryo wasn't exactly surprised by the influx of side messages.
After casually replying to a few of them, Ryo typed up a new post in the Dimensional Forum: 〚Who's the third sleeping questioner?〛
[Answer: The third questioner is: Avrora Florestina. She is currently in a dormant state.]
Avrora Florestina? Ryo blinked in surprise.
He remembered that name—it was from an anime he'd seen a while back called Strike the Blood.
If memory served, she was one of the twelve Kaleid Blood of the Fourth Primogenitor, the most powerful vampire in that world.
In that universe, the three reigning primogenitors had once allied to slay Cain, the Sinful God.
Originally, the Fourth Primogenitor was created by the Devas and placed at Cain's side as an observer. His mission: to kill Cain if he ever activated the Cleansing—a forbidden ritual capable of rewriting reality itself to destroy deities.
But after spending countless years together, the Fourth Primogenitor came to see Cain as his closest friend—and Cain felt the same. The Devas had anticipated this possibility. So when they created the Fourth Primogenitor, they embedded a curse into his artificial soul: Root, an alternate personality designed as a failsafe—a ruthless killing program that would awaken under specific conditions.
When the time came, Root took over. The Fourth Primogenitor, no longer in control, killed and consumed Cain.
Devastated by what he'd done, he turned his fury on the Devas. Ironically, Cain's activation of the Cleansing had already stripped the Devas of their immortality and divinity, leaving them defenseless. The God-Killing weapon they had created destroyed them, along with their civilization and technology—everything consumed in his wrath.
Eventually, the Fourth Primogenitor was defeated by the combined efforts of a few surviving Devas and the other three primogenitors. To contain his power, they sealed him away, splitting his strength into twelve parts. From his ribs and blood, they created twelve artificial vampires to house his Beast Vassals.
Avrora Florestina was one of those twelve—specifically, the twelfth.
And her name? It practically screamed Sleeping Beauty—a fitting alias for a fairy-tale slumber.
Frowning slightly, Ryo typed out another question:
〚"If Avrora's still asleep, does that mean the story's set before the anime begins? She didn't even have a name yet at that point after all."〛
[Answer: Name designation is based on the forum's observation of the timeline.]
"Huh. Makes sense," Ryo shrugged. The idea that the forum could observe different timelines wasn't that surprising to him.
After all, it had handed him a Cosmo system on a silver platter. At this point, his opinion of the Dimensional Forum was sky-high.
In fact, Ryo wouldn't be shocked if it turned out the Forum's abilities even surpassed the control center of the Little Garden itself.
Sure, the features were kinda janky, and earning points was a pain in the ass—but power-wise? Unmatched.
〚"Is there a way to wake Avrora up? Or maybe just skip her and go to the next questioner?"〛
He typed out another post.
—No demand, no market.
That was basically the situation. As long as Avrora remained asleep, he couldn't jump into her world.
Even if the Forum had acknowledged him as its master, it still weirdly respected the will of the questioners. Both times he'd crossed dimensions, it had only been possible because the questioner had initiated the summon.
But now? Avrora was unconscious.
Which left him stuck.
Honestly, the whole situation made him feel like some deadbeat older brother trying to wake his little sister up at 4 a.m. just to be annoying.
—Total villain behavior.
[Answer: Due to special circumstances, current rules have been altered. Avrora Florestina has been forcibly awakened. Please descend into World 003 using Mental Wave to initiate dialogue with the questioner.]
Ryo sighed, watching the response pop up. "Wouldn't it be easier to just pick the fourth one instead?"
Waking up a sleeping little girl just to avoid choosing someone else? This Forum really had zero shame.
[Confirm: Proceed with dimensional descent?]
Staring at the prompt, Ryo exhaled deeply.
"…Yeah."
The moment he mentally confirmed, his consciousness began to drift—suspended somewhere between wakefulness and sleep.
Nearby, Leticia noticed Ryo nodding off. She gently draped a towel over him and whispered, "Have a good rest."
Then she tiptoed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her.
And just like that, Ryo's mind slipped into the world of Strike the Blood.
— — —
Island of Gozo – Underground Tomb
Deep within the icy tomb lay a girl with radiant golden hair, her face breathtakingly beautiful, limbs slender and small—like something out of a dream.
She was wrapped in an old white robe, her delicate frame sealed inside a massive ice coffin.
At a glance, the name Avrora Florestina might evoke images of a sleeping princess. But right now, she looked far more like a prisoner than a fairytale beauty.
And then—suddenly—her gem-like eyes fluttered open.
It was all triggered by a mysterious voice that had just echoed through her mind.
[Questioner forcibly awakened. Would you like to send a query to the responder?]
By some unknown force, Avrora's consciousness had been jolted awake.
And along with it… the "Primordial Soul" of the Fourth Primogenitor—sealed deep within her—also stirred.
The very instant it awakened, it took full control of Avrora's body.
That was the terrifying dominance the Fourth Primogenitor held over its familiars.
Avrora had no way of resisting. Her own consciousness was instantly shoved back into dormancy.
But what the Primordial Soul didn't realize was that just before being suppressed, Avrora had been forcefully reawakened by that same strange power. Now, even though she couldn't fight for control of her body, she remained aware.
Meanwhile, the Primordial Soul—now fully possessing the body—took a few moments to adjust. Then, her icy voice echoed through the tomb:
"Who are you?"
[Answer: This is the Hyperdimensional Answer Forum—also known as the Dimensional Forum.]
The Fourth Primogenitor opened her eyes and scanned the frozen tomb, but found no one present.
"Such insolence," she hissed.
'How dare they hide from me, the Fourth Primogenitor?'
A moment later, a mermaid with wings on her back appeared, holding an ornate amphora.
In that instant, the entire underground tomb was swallowed by a storm of ice.
In the world of Strike the Blood, vampires wielded supernatural strength through their familiars—beasts that fed off their life force.
The one now materializing was the twelfth familiar of the Fourth Primogenitor: Alrescha-Glacies, the Bewitching Princess of Azure Ice.
Her dominion was absolute cold.
Under her power, the entire tomb was frozen solid.
And yet, when the ice failed to land a hit—when she felt no resistance—Primordial frowned.
"Show yourself!"
[Response: Unauthorized contact detected. Initiating link with designated host.]
A few moments later, glowing lights flickered into existence.
And from them, Ryo emerged—clad in his black Shinigami uniform—into the heart of this frozen wasteland.
He opened his eyes, took a quick look around at the icy tundra, and grinned.
"What is this, Santa's home? Why's it so damn cold?"
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