But in truth, Arcueid Brunestud's purpose in appearing this time in Kyoto Prefecture was the same as both Ciel's and Lucan's — they were all here for the reincarnation vessel of the Akasha Serpent, Roa.
Compared to Lucan, who purely came just to resolve a few hidden dangers—
And compared to Ciel, who herself had once suffered the influence of Michel Roa Valdamjong's failed reincarnation, passively becoming bound to him, acquiring that false immortality obtained through reincarnation — as long as Roa did not die, she could never return to the state of an ordinary human — therefore, no matter what, she had to utterly destroy Roa as a targeted mission.
Arcueid's reason for acting was even more direct, more straightforward.
More simply — she just wanted revenge.
Of course, within that was also intermingled the most fundamental behavioral drive she had been born with, as the "True Ancestor who executes True Ancestors."
The existence called Roa might not count as a True Ancestor, but his act of borrowing Arcueid's power to complete a reincarnation ritual, transforming himself into a Dead Apostle to obtain immortality, in itself met the preconditions for execution.
But if one started from Arcueid's own will, it was only that.
Because she had once been deceived, causing herself to fall into madness, which in turn led to the ruin of the True Ancestors in the Millennium Castle.
From then on, Roa's existence always made Arcueid feel disgust, vexation.
So she wanted to end it.
So she had to carry out execution.
To bury him completely!
This came from her nature, from her instinct, from her duty — and even more from the likes and dislikes of the individual named Arcueid.
Thus every time Roa's trace appeared, Arcueid would inevitably arrive harboring killing intent.
This time was no exception.
So from the very beginning, Lucan had not been surprised at all by her appearance.
"But that's not the reason you followed us, Arcueid Brunestud."
Hearing the muttering words of the short-haired golden-haired girl at his side, Lucan cast a sidelong glance. In the jolting, enclosed car cabin, the warm air from the air conditioning whooshed, dispelling the abnormal, heavy chill of late autumn outside the window.
In the front row of the car, the merciful yet seductive face of Kisho-in Kiara reflected in the rearview mirror, smiling with a look that said she was thoroughly enjoying the show.
In the passenger seat, Ciel's face was heavy with vigilance.
Facing Lucan's sidelong inquiry, the golden-haired girl crouching in the back seat also replied:
"If I didn't come along, how could I hit back?"
"Those ninety-nine slashes you just gave me really hurt, you know!"
"And also, that 'voice' told me — if I follow you, I can find Roa."
Yes.
Even though she had just been sliced into ninety-nine pieces — her body and even the 'space' itself cut apart — at this very moment, the one called Arcueid, the last and highest-ranked True Ancestor, still sat as though nothing had happened in Lucan's vehicle. She was even casually tearing open the snacks stored in the car, eating while mumbling.
She looked nothing at all like the snarling, feral figure she had been just moments before.
Lucan's gaze swept over her crouched posture on the seat — golden short hair spilling forward, framing the full swell of her chest; the white sweater stretched taut across it. Her knee-length skirt had ridden up from her crouched pose all the way to her thighs, exposing the curve of her rounded hips pressed into the seat, and the pale flesh of her inner thighs sunk slightly into the cushion.
She dangled her black-stockinged calves, toes hooked on her sandals and swinging, her knees pressed together to squeeze out an even fuller curve of her thighs.
Her whole demeanor radiated good mood.
As for her words about wanting to "get back at him," Lucan wasn't the least concerned. Unless Arcueid possessed wisdom to match her power, capable of properly wielding that mystery, he had no reason to be worried. Against vampires, he had a hundred ways to deal with them!
Even if he couldn't kill them, he could suppress them completely!
As for Arcueid insisting on tagging along… Lucan couldn't stop her.
He could win against her, but he couldn't kill her.
Even sealing her away, this girl could simply self-detonate and then regenerate her body to escape.
Of course, up to today, both in simulations and in reality, Lucan had already dealt with quite a number of Dead Apostles — even Dead Apostle Ancestors. The likes of Atemu Lin Anashu had already been utterly buried by his hand. As for the principle of the immortality of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, he had almost completely unraveled it. If not, he would never have come to Kyoto in such force.
But this was still his first time encountering the source of the Dead Apostles — a True Ancestor.
The immortality of a True Ancestor was completely different from that of a Dead Apostle Ancestor—
The immortality of the Ancestors was mostly self-derived, relying on super-speed regeneration or state reversal.
The immortality of the True Ancestors, however, was bound to the planet, reconstructing themselves by the planet's mystery. Even among elementals, it was the highest grade of restoration ability.
As mentioned before.
—True Ancestors were in essence a kind of elemental, only with the defect of vampirism, needing blood to maintain sanity.
And Arcueid was the aberration among aberrations.
Her regeneration was to the extent that as long as the planet existed, even if her form collapsed or her soul perished temporarily, she could swiftly reconstruct herself.
She didn't even have the vampiric flaw of other True Ancestors. She did not need to drink blood to sustain herself or her sanity. Even though her body still carried that mistaken "impulse," it was only an illusion.
If not for that, back then she would not have been tricked by Roa into consuming blood by contract, falling into frenzy.
Normally, a True Ancestor drinking blood only gained greater clarity of mind.
—In some sense, to suppress this erroneous impulse, most of Arcueid's power was consumed.
Her restricted one-tenth state was not unrelated to this, aside from the parts she herself could not control.
—And in some sense, what Lucan wanted to "imprint" and "analyze" was precisely this unparalleled mystery — this immortality unique even among True Ancestors.
Though very difficult.
Though there were no clues yet.
If he could decipher it, it would mean Lucan held the foundation of "god-slaying."
After all, gods too were tendrils of the planet — and among them, the highest rank. Arcueid indeed was similar in nature — though excluding those top-tier deities, the "main god" class. Those were no longer mere tendrils, but akin to rulers of the source of nature itself.
At this moment, what Arcueid had just mentioned — that "voice" — piqued Lucan's interest.
According to her, after she had been deceived by Roa and fell into rampage, she fell into slumber. Each time she awoke from slumber, it was because a voice whispered by her ear. That voice always told her Roa's approximate location, guiding her there to carry out execution. Before this, she had already executed several generations of Roa's reincarnations. Even with Ciel's case — the reason Roa failed to fully lodge into her body was because Arcueid had acted first, forcing Roa to reincarnate prematurely.
Arcueid and Ciel had first met in that very incident.
This time, that voice naturally appeared as always.
And just moments ago, it once again bestowed "revelation" upon Arcueid.
That was—
"Could it be the planet's own Counter Force, Gaia's voice?" Lucan speculated.
True Ancestors were themselves a kind of elemental, tendrils of nature, part of the planet. The Counter Force Gaia represented was the force of planetary motion — encompassing all of nature.
All the more so for Arcueid, the last and strongest True Ancestor, so very special.
Her connection to Gaia could only be deeper than that of any ordinary True Ancestor.
He had dealt many times with Alaya, the Counter Force of humanity.
Gaia, on the other hand, he had rarely come into contact with.
But one thing he knew: as the Counter Force of the planet itself, Gaia was definitely "stronger" than Alaya. Alaya had its Guardians, Gaia had its "Beasts of Gaia."
"What Counter Force, what Gaia?" With crimson eyes glinting, Arcueid tore open another bag of snacks with a ripping sound.
Though she said she wanted to "get back at him," she didn't show the slightest hostility toward Lucan.
"You—"
Unable to contain herself, Ciel, who had been keeping constant watch on the back seat, finally turned around. Her short azure hair swayed with the sudden motion. "You vampire… just what are you plotting?"
The swell beneath her sleeveless top trembled lightly with the movement, the taut line of her arm flexing as she twisted, her short uniform skirt hiking up to reveal her firm black-stockinged thighs, the belt cinched around her waist and hips drawing out a full curve.
The church girl's whole body was taut, hostility written all over her. Because of Roa, she could never let down her guard against any vampire!
Arcueid puffed her cheeks with food, ruby eyes blinking innocently. "Hm?"
Tilting her head, golden hair slid down her shoulder. "Nothing~"
"Quit playing dumb!" Ciel's fingers clenched tightly on the Black Key's grip, her knuckles white with force. "Following along without reason, crowding next to His Eminence, saying you want to 'hit back,' and that there's a 'voice guiding you'—"
"You must be scheming to harm His Eminence!"
"I really mean it!" Arcueid blinked again, still with that innocent look.
"Besides, if I was hurt, of course I'd want to hit back."
"That's not really plotting harm, right?"
"Aside from that…"
Before the words were finished, in the next instant Arcueid suddenly leaned close to Lucan, her nose nearly touching his cheek. She moved so fast that even Lucan, who though not magically enhanced still had superb dynamic vision, nearly missed it.
Her soft body brushed against his chest as she moved.
Then, like a small animal, she sniffed at him. "He smells really good."
"Being next to him, even eating tastes better — even wounds like those just now heal faster, no need to even sleep!"
"This smell is way better than that disgusting 'serpent' scent on you, church doggy!"
Ciel's pupils shook violently. "You—!"
She shot up to her feet, bumping her head with a thunk against the car roof, clutching her head with a yelp before crouching back down.
Arcueid blinked, looking even more innocent.
Lucan only cast a sidelong glance, thinking: the Burial Agency's "Bow," why does she seem kind of… dumbly cute? Could this be Arcueid's "contamination"?
Of course, he had no such smell Arcueid described.
What he carried was simply the constant overflow of infinite True Ether.
This highest-grade magical energy, once abundant in the mythic age's atmosphere, was of course an exquisite energy source for the True Ancestors, who were tendrils of the planet.
The highest-tier "vampiric species" were not simply feeders on blood.
They could devour the blood of the planet itself — that is, the mana of nature.
Arcueid undoubtedly possessed that constitution.
Dwelling in an environment of True Ether naturally made her feel doubly alive!
Even the unavoidable energy loss from being divided into ninety-nine pieces had now been completely restored. Although her link to the planet allowed infinite survival, the recovery process indeed consumed energy.
Of course. Normally, during battle, Lucan's mana could never be allowed to be drained by her. With the Triple Cycle running, he had absolute authority. But once battle was over, it was another matter.
Arcueid could absorb, but she couldn't use it.
Through all this, Kisho-in Kiara remained focused on driving — and watching the show.
The car rumbled along the bumpy road.
And finally, they arrived at Lucan's intended destination.
The highest place in Kyoto — the Heian Shrine, once the inner palace of ancient Heian-kyō, where the "Heavenly Sovereign" once resided.