Kin?
Having grown up her entire life without ever hearing she had such a thing, a hint of confusion surfaced on Lady Luna Kindred's delicate and lovely face.
And then—
A young man with vibrant red eyes and a girl with cherry-pink pigtails appeared before her.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, my dear kin."
The young man, with his striking red eyes and canines that subtly protruded from his lips, walked smilingly toward Luna Kindred and extended his hand, as if for a handshake.
Is he… truly one of my kind?
The vampire girl, who had lived her entire life in a laboratory, looked at the young man. He exuded an aura that made her feel an instinctual closeness, and her guard couldn't help but melt away.
"I-I am 'Theresa.' It is a pleasure to meet you."
Like a fawn, long separated from its herd, suddenly finding a companion, a slightly bashful smile graced the girl's adorable cheeks as she clutched several bags of blood in her other hand.
This was the first of her kind she had ever met.
She had no prior experience interacting with her own people and wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to act around them.
Should I offer him half of my blood packs?
The girl, unaware that the blood she held had been delivered by Schicksal personnel at a certain someone's request, pondered this with great seriousness.
When she didn't have enough blood, the feeling was unbearable.
So, her kin must share the same trait, right?
He must also have a desperate need for blood.
Clearly not wanting her newfound kin to experience that terrible, maddening sensation, she made her decision.
After shaking hands with the kin who had such a handsome smile, she offered the blood packs from her other hand.
"This is for you, my kin."
She looked at the young man, who shared her distinct features, with eyes full of innocence and sincerity.
"It's agonizing if you don't drink enough blood."
Yeah, about that… I don't really have that requirement.
Perhaps because his stigmata was a product of the System, Li Zihan possessed no characteristic thirst for blood.
"You should keep them."
"While a willingness to share is a wonderful habit, it's best to look after yourself first, you know."
The young man, who had no need for blood, naturally placed a hand on the vampire girl's head, gently stroking her silver hair, which felt divine to the touch.
The pressure was feather-light, like smoothing the down of a fledgling, or a cat gently kneading with the soft pads of its paws.
He was the one who had prepared this blood in the first place.
Following the mission prompt, he had naturally made his way to Canghai City.
Then, leveraging his alliance with Otto, he had Schicksal's people scan the city's surveillance footage to pinpoint Luna Kindred's general location.
Taking into account Luna Kindred's personality and her aversion to harming humans, he eliminated the most crowded areas and drew up a map.
From there, it was simple.
He found a few deserted alleyways, parked a medical vehicle there, and left opened blood packs inside.
The classic cat-luring gambit.
As it turned out, the method was remarkably effective.
"My kin, would you like to visit an amusement park, an aquarium, and a shopping mall with me?"
Knowing full well that she had spent her life in a laboratory, yearning to see the outside world, the young man extended his invitation after the successful head-pat confirmed he had earned her trust.
"C-Can I?"
The girl, who didn't mind the head-pat in the slightest, widened her eyes, letting out an adorable gasp of excitement.
"Of course."
The young man, a self-admitted lolicon and soft-girl enthusiast, smiled and gave her the exact answer she longed to hear.
The fox girl, who clearly had a profound understanding of a certain someone's character, watched the scene unfold, her eye twitching slightly as Luna Kindred seemed ready to get to know him.
And then—
She made her move.
Before Luna Kindred's bewildered eyes, her handsome, smiling kin was…
Slammed aside by a crimson blur.
"You pervert! Get the hell away from my familiar!" the fox girl roared, clearly unwilling to see her familiar fall into a certain scumbag's clutches.
Familiar?
The vampire girl, utterly lost, froze on the spot.
She had just come for a blood pack.
But somehow, she had met one of her own kind, only to then meet a girl who claimed to be her master.
To be honest, she no longer had any idea what was happening.
She felt an urge to help her kin up.
However, under the gaze of the girl with fox ears, her body refused to obey.
It was as if something deep within her genes had been awakened.
She felt an instinctual reverence for the fox girl, despite her less-than-imposing presence.
"As an artificial human fused with my power, you should be able to sense the origin of the power you possess, shouldn't you?" Ling explained, seeing the utter confusion in Luna Kindred's eyes.
"Relax your body. Let your power resonate with its source. Once the resonance is complete, you will understand everything."
Sense the source of my power?
Feeling an undeniable sense of awe from the girl before her, Luna Kindred instinctively followed her instructions.
This was a suppression of rank.
The Herrscher of Erosion was, after all, the Herrscher of Erosion.
Luna, on the other hand, was merely a genetically modified human who had pilfered a fraction of that power, making her closer to a Honkai Beast than a person.
The relationship between a Herrscher and Honkai beasts is akin to that of a queen bee and her workers. The birth of a Herrscher triggers a surge in the Honkai Beast population in their territory, just as a queen bee populates her hive with more workers to defend it.
These Honkai beasts, like soldiers loyal to their sovereign, are bound by absolute fealty to their ruling Herrscher.
This was an immutable fact.
Thus, despite her human side, as long as no special circumstances arose, Luna Kindred would instinctively obey Ling's commands.
A faint, dark mist of blood began to rise from the vampire girl's body.
And then—
A power of the same origin, yet infinitely more profound, rose from Ling in response.
As she felt that power, Luna Kindred understood.
She truly was her familiar.
"Are... are you my master?"
The vampire girl known as Luna Kindred looked at the former Herrscher, whose form seemed almost ethereal, and asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Of cour—"
Before the word could escape her lips, black and red feathers began to drift through the air.
As if struck on the head by an iron bar, the girl named Ling's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.
Then, she dissolved into a cloud of black-red mist and vanished.
"Eh—"
Growing more and more confused by the situation, the vampire girl found herself completely bewildered.
Her master, in name…
Seemed to be gone.
And then—
An even more ferocious power of Erosion erupted from the side, seizing her mind and commanding her attention.
The source of that power was her kin, the one who had arrived with the girl claiming to be her master.
"Well, if we're going by that logic," the young man said with utter seriousness, having knocked Ling out without a moment's hesitation, "then your master... ought to be me."
Author's Note:
PS: Regarding some readers feeling that my writing is getting watery, let me say a few words.
I mainly felt that a volume with less than thirty chapters was a bit short, so I added a little of Luna Kindred's plot to stretch it out.
Since everyone feels it's just filler, let's start a new volume next.