...Crimson Moon Brunestud's Mystic Eyes?
Shirou frowned slightly.
Curious about the being said to be the source of all vampires, he had once looked into it.
The fundamental units that make up the universe, celestial bodies, are not merely cold spheres.
Like humans and animals, they possess consciousness of their own. Every celestial body is an ancient living being.
However, planets themselves cannot directly wield power. To protect itself, the will of a star will either create or select the most exceptional and powerful individual.
These beings are called Aristoteles, the Ultimate ONEs.
As the strongest individual of their respective planets, each possesses overwhelming power capable of sweeping across the entire surface.
Crimson Moon Brunestud was the Ultimate One of the Moon, the King of the Moon known as Type-Moon.
This differed from the traditional astronomical definition of the Moon as Earth's satellite.
In the world of Magecraft, the Moon was considered Earth's sister celestial body, and therefore possessed a corresponding Aristotle.
Earth, on the other hand, was one of the few celestial bodies incapable of producing an Aristotle.
After humanity replaced the Divine Spirits as the new primates, the Will of the Earth, the planetary Counter Force known as Gaia, developed a profound sense of crisis.
Humans might be weak and ignorant now, but someday in the future, would they not kill her?
Uneasy about the fate of her as their mother planet, Gaia conveyed her concerns to Crimson Moon Brunestud.
"Since you cannot act for yourself, I will protect you in your stead."
Summoned by Gaia, the King of the Moon made a pact with the planet through his vivid crimson eyes, eyes both fearsome and gentle.
He had originally appeared on Earth in response to Gaia's request for aid in transforming the world into a more perfect True World. His true purpose, however, was to seize control of Earth.
Whenever the Counter Force Gaia deemed it necessary, she would create a race modeled after the King of the Moon known as the True Ancestors. They were mediators of nature, the Tactile Sensors of the Stars, and Gaia's direct means of defending herself against humanity.
The True Ancestors were both enemies of the primates and mediators of nature, so the Counter Force Alaya regarded them with both rejection and tolerance.
However, Crimson Moon's true objective was not to protect the planet, but to rule the surface. He intended to turn Earth into his own domain, with the True Ancestors serving as the vanguard of his invasion.
After arriving on Earth, Crimson Moon realized that he belonged neither to the Primates nor to Gaia. Sooner or later, one of those Counter Forces would correct his existence. He therefore began trying to leave behind a successor, a True Ancestor equal to him in purity.
He repeatedly attempted to create a True Ancestor whose abilities matched his own so that he could reincarnate through them, but every attempt ended in failure.
Even the most promising successor candidate, Altrouge Brunestud, the Ninth of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, was far too unstable.
Crimson Moon was therefore forced to teach the True Ancestors how to create more of their own kind.
Around the fifth century AD, humanity fought a great war against Crimson Moon and his kin.
The King of the Moon was defeated because he had no understanding of Magic that existed beyond the established rules. He was destroyed before he could leave behind a successor.
Before his destruction, however, Crimson Moon Brunestud left behind a Reality Marble that would give birth to "a race called the True Ancestors into which he could enter."
Crimson Moon had implanted a backdoor in every True Ancestor. Within each of them existed a guiding principle known as Crimson Moon, but only a True Ancestor who attained the same degree of purity as him would be capable of receiving him.
When the perfect successor was born, Crimson Moon Brunestud would overwrite their will, take possession of their vessel, and descend upon the earth once more as the King of the Moon.
Among the True Ancestors created by Crimson Moon, some gradually fell while feeding normally and began indulging in bloodsucking.
These fallen True Ancestors attacked humans and created a new kind of vampire known as the Dead Apostles.
Crimson Moon Brunestud was the common origin of both the True Ancestors and the Dead Apostles. That was likely why vampires were influenced by and received blessings from the moon.
That was everything Shirou's world knew about Crimson Moon.
But in another parallel world, the world in which he had once acted as the Savior, Crimson Moon and all his kin had been swept away by the Holy Sword. From that point onward, the Human Order followed a completely different path.
According to Makiri, Crimson Moon had not been completely eradicated in this world. That was why beings like the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, threats to human history itself, still existed.
Ordinarily, monsters like the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles should never have existed at all.
They were "entities hostile to human history," a deadly poison that corroded the world. Their mere existence destabilized the Human Order, so the Counter Force should have corrected them.
Yet it was precisely that crimson stain drifting down from the Moon that created the conditions allowing the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles to exist today.
These eyes of mine... are Crimson Moon Brunestud's Mystic Eyes?
After hearing Nrvnqsr Chaos's claim, Shirou instinctively placed a hand over the Mystic Eye Killers.
That was complete nonsense. He had never even met Crimson Moon Brunestud in this world.
Crimson Moon Brunestud's physical body had been reduced to ashes fifteen hundred years before Shirou's birth, back in Artoria's era.
No... The vampires could not possibly be unaware of that. So why would they make such an obvious mistake?
Shirou was about to question him further, but Nrvnqsr Chaos seemed unwilling to say anything more.
He raised one hand, and his black overcoat billowed open like a cloak.
Only then did Shirou see the chaotic darkness swirling beneath it.
"————————!!"
Something enormous burst from within that darkness.
CHOMP———— Two foul gusts of wind closed in on him, one from above and one from below.
The chaos beneath the coat had produced the enormous jaws of a pitch-black crocodile, so huge that it looked like something straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Shirou raised the Blades of Chaos to defend himself, only to be struck by an unbelievable impact.
It was impossible to imagine a Magical Beast possessing such strength. Shirou's arms went numb. It felt as though an entire continent had come hurtling into him.
That was no crocodile. It was practically a Leviathan...
"...Ugh!!"
The boy who had just used technique to suppress Vlov's power as a Dead Apostle was sent flying without the slightest resistance.
The instant he was knocked away, his body instinctively counterattacked.
Uncoiling the chain wrapped around his forearm, Shirou hurled the Blades of Chaos. The blade sank into the soft flesh inside the crocodile's upper jaw.
"BOOM——————!!!"
The chain became a fuse. The flame that sprang from Shirou's palm surged along it, intensified, and erupted from the blade at the far end.
The black crocodile was blown apart by the flames. Its original shape became almost impossible to discern, leaving behind nothing but a burning, charred carcass.
Did I get it...?
Despite defeating such a powerful familiar, Shirou felt no excitement.
Then, lying in the snow, he witnessed something unnatural.
The crocodile familiar's charred corpse dissolved into black liquid. It flowed back toward Nrvnqsr Chaos like slime, then vanished into his overcoat.
"..."
The corpse was eaten?
No... Could it be...?
Shirou suddenly recalled the name written in the report on the black Dead Apostle.
Nrvnqsr Chaos.
It did not sound like a name he had used while he was still human. In that case, the meaning behind that name was...
"!!"
Shirou thought he was beginning to understand why the man had chosen a surname like Chaos.
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet, but just as he prepared to counterattack...
"Aaaaaaah!"
The neglected Vlov sprang forward and lunged at Shirou.
He raised his enormous spear, aiming its point, wreathed in absolute zero, directly at Shirou's heart.
Flawless.
That was the only way to describe the Dead Apostle's movements.
Even the finest warrior would have been overwhelmed by that swift, ferocious form, utterly devoid of openings. This was a realm of martial skill beyond human reach, accumulated over Vlov's centuries of life.
The colossal steel spear, a weapon absent from this world and capable of shattering the very laws of the planet, was the Idea Blood inherited by Vlov Arkhangel.
It was about to pierce the body of the boy who had no time to react.
But it did not.
Shirou blocked the strike with his burning twin blades, then drove a kick into the chest of the vampire lunging toward him.
Vlov screamed as he was sent flying.
"Tsk...!"
Shirou rose to his feet, panting.
The feeling in both arms had grown dull.
Looking down, he saw that the block had left his arms severely frostbitten.
The Blades of Chaos were unaffected because they burned with the fires of hell, but Shirou now possessed only the body of an ordinary high school student. It could not withstand cold of that magnitude.
This was the Idea Blood of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles.
A Texture Rule, a set of physical laws similar to the fairies' Fairy Domain or the Divine Spirits' Divine Power.
However, this power had been born solely to kill and destroy human history.
"You're remarkably tenacious."
Nrvnqsr Chaos's calm voice rang out once more.
The endless white expanse of ice and snow was now occupied by an army of pitch-black beasts.
All manner of beasts appeared in gigantic forms that defied the laws of nature.
Rhinos, lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, sharks, eagles, deer, snakes, wolves, scorpions, centipedes, stag beetles, wasps...
They were modeled after animals found in nature, but that was where the resemblance ended.
Each had a pitch-black body, bloodthirsty eyes, and power equal to that of a Phantasmal Species. Even more continued to emerge from the darkness behind Nrvnqsr Chaos.
Shirou had once heard that the amount of genetic information a human body could contain was limited. A human could control no more than around thirty familiars, and even a single Phantasmal Species would exceed the capacity of human genetic factors.
Even among the Dead Apostles, only a rare few were capable of commanding large numbers of familiars.
Yet the man before him seemed to possess an inexhaustible supply of powerful familiars.
"You told Vlov earlier that you excel at battles of attrition, didn't you?"
Nrvnqsr Chaos gave a cold laugh. "Then I'll indulge you... Let's see how long you can survive against my Beast Legion."
Shirou steadied his breathing and assumed a defensive stance.
Although his arms were frostbitten, it was nothing serious. A few swings of the Blades of Chaos would heal them.
The real problem was Nrvnqsr Chaos.
Shirou spotted the crocodile he had just killed.
It was not a new one. It was the exact same crocodile.
As unbelievable as it seemed, after Shirou killed it, it had returned to Nrvnqsr Chaos's body and revived instantly.
That meant killing all these black Beasts would accomplish nothing.
As long as the Dead Apostle Nrvnqsr Chaos remained alive, he could endlessly revive the Beast familiars within his body.
And as for killing Nrvnqsr Chaos...
Unless Shirou was mistaken, the man before him possessed immortality that ranked among the highest even within the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles.
He needed to deal with both him and Vlov as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Tohsaka and the others would freeze to death on this ice plain.
Shirou considered his options and began forming a strategy, but then...
"Say, aren't all of you taking me a little too lightly?"
A voice echoed directly inside everyone's mind.
"This is my territory. If anyone gets to kill him, it should be me, wouldn't you agree, Nrvnqsr Chaos?"
...
There stood a rose in magnificent bloom.
Under the effects of the Idea Blood's Freeze, everything within a radius of several thousand meters had been transformed into a merciless world of ice.
At one hundred degrees below zero, flowers should have been utterly incapable of blooming.
Yet roses more vivid than blood began appearing one after another, rapidly spreading across the endless white snowfield.
A graceful woman emerged onto the battlefield where Shirou and the Dead Apostles had been fighting.
She had a beautiful face, luxurious curls, deep red eyes, pale skin, and a sensual figure.
Dozens of roses drifted around her. She was the train manager Shirou had seen the previous night.
Rita Rozay-en, the Fifteenth of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles.
Shirou narrowed his eyes.
The atmosphere... had changed?
Rita Rozay-en walked leisurely across the snow, leaving the imprints of her high heels behind her.
"To trespass upon my territory despite being an Ancestor…"
"Nrvnqsr Chaos, unlike the newcomer over there, you are a veteran among the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles. Surely you wouldn't make such an elementary mistake."
A playful expression crossed her face as she asked, "Are you trying to start an all-out war with me?"
High-ranking vampires each possessed their own territory and stronghold. This was especially true of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, who were effectively kings in their own right.
Dead Apostles killing one another and fighting over territory was hardly uncommon, but under ordinary circumstances, they took care to avoid trespassing on each other's lands.
As the Rail Zeppelin traveled along Europe's Leylines, it avoided the territories of other Ancestors whenever possible.
That was because the Magecraft train itself was Rita Rozay-en's territory.
Yet Nrvnqsr Chaos and Vlov Arkhangel had barged into her domain and begun their hunting game. Their actions were practically a declaration of war.
"Don't be ridiculous, Rita Rozay-en."
Nrvnqsr Chaos remained unmoved. "The train may be your territory, but the land outside it does not belong to you."
"Are you claiming that everywhere your train passes, all of Europe, is your domain?"
Rita Rozay-en snorted and folded her arms beneath her chest. "That is exactly how I see it. I believe I notified all of you beforehand?"
"Who would pay attention to such nonsense?"
Nrvnqsr Chaos continued, "Besides, White Wing and the others informed you in advance that we would be hunting the bearer of Crimson Moon's Mystic Eyes aboard your train."
"We refrained from invading the train itself and moved the hunt into the wilderness instead. That was already more than enough consideration for you. We even expended a Child of Einnashe to make it happen."
The black Dead Apostle's tone carried an unmistakable threat, as though warning her not to push her luck.
"Yes, yes. They did notify me beforehand. His Majesty the King of the Dead Apostles certainly knows how to make unreasonable demands..."
A trace of murderous intent appeared on Rita Rozay-en's beautiful face.
"I was the one who set my sights on his eyes first."
"..."
Shirou said nothing about already knowing Rita Rozay-en. He kept as low a profile as possible and silently listened to their exchange.
So that was it.
Rita Rozay-en had sent him the invitation because she wanted to turn Shirou's eyes into merchandise.
She did not seem interested in possessing them herself.
She simply believed Shirou was unworthy of keeping them and wanted to "help" him sell them.
If Nrvnqsr Chaos was telling the truth, and Shirou truly possessed Rainbow-class Mystic Eyes without even realizing it, then he really was wasting a priceless treasure. It was no wonder Rita Rozay-en was angry.
However, Rita Rozay-en's plans had fallen through.
Another faction within the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles had also set its sights on Shirou's eyes and intended to strike while he was in Europe for the auction.
That was probably the real reason Rita Rozay-en had secretly met Shirou the previous night and urged him to escape.
Even if Shirou was a hopeless collector of Mystic Eyes, that was still preferable to allowing them to be taken by philistines who knew nothing about art.
But Shirou had ignored her advice and walked straight into the vampires' trap.
Nrvnqsr Chaos said, "Once we obtain those eyes, you will receive suitable compensation."
Rita Rozay-en shrugged. This was not about compensation.
"You killed a guest whom I personally invited aboard my train.
"If word of that spreads, what will become of my reputation?"
Unlike Vlov, the knight who had slain his lord and seized his position, or Nrvnqsr Chaos, who had become a Dead Apostle through research, Rita Rozay-en was the quintessential aristocratic vampire among the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles.
She had inherited both her position among the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles and her estate, including her castle, from a blood relative who had also been a Dead Apostle.
As a vampire lady who fancied herself an artist and lived in extravagant luxury, she naturally could not accept the possibility of becoming a laughingstock.
"...What do you want?" Nrvnqsr Chaos asked.
"My demand is simple. Let me kill him myself," said the Rose Princess.
After considering it for a moment, the black Dead Apostle nodded. "That is acceptable, but why...?"
Rita Rozay-en looked toward the red-haired boy nearby and gave him a bewitching smile.
"You may take his eyes, but I will claim his soul."
"I'm going to make him my servant, my slave."
…
PS: To remain closer to the Tsukihime R setting, this story has given the original "Pillar Monster" Nrvnqsr an enormous boost in power.
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