Chapter 115: “Elegant Fallen”
Queen Shaya gently embraced Bai, her body close, her usual cold scarlet eyes now holding a strange, unreadable emotion.
Bai looked up at her, her dazed eyes unable to decipher the meaning in Shaya’s gaze.
“Are we… not enemies?” she asked, confused.
“Enemies? When were we ever enemies?” Shaya replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.
From the very beginning, she had never seen Bai as an enemy. She had seen her as a potential kin, a worthy successor she had been searching for for thousands of years.
Vampire kin were not enemies, but family.
Bai’s hostility had been a misunderstanding.
Of course, the main reason was that Bai knew nothing about Vampires, about the First Embrace, about what it meant to be kin.
Weakened from blood loss, the thirst surged again, and Bai’s consciousness began to fade.
This time, she couldn’t resist, her mouth opening, her fangs sinking into Shaya’s white neck.
Shaya felt a strange tingling sensation, a slight drain of her power, insignificant to her, but a torrent of life-giving energy for Bai.
The wound on Bai’s chest healed instantly, her aura surging, officially entering the Calamity Class, though she had yet to master her Authority.
Shaya had sealed the space around them, shielding them from outside view.
After what seemed like an eternity, Bai’s consciousness returned, and she found her mouth still attached to Shaya’s neck.
And because of their height difference, she was being held in Shaya’s arms, looking small and delicate.
“Ah!”
She quickly pulled away. This time, Shaya didn’t stop her.
“Where… where am I?” Bai asked, looking at the darkness around them, a hint of panic in her voice. “Where’s Ara?”
“No one dares to touch what’s mine. She’s safe,” Shaya said, her gaze fixed on Bai, a satisfied look in her eyes. It seemed her long search for a kin had been worth it.
“And now… I…” Bai looked at her hands. They looked the same, but she could feel an immense power coursing through her, a strength she had only ever felt in her [Rebirth from Death] form.
“Rasam-bo Bai,” Shaya smiled. “You have inherited my surname… and my power.”
Rasam-bo was the surname of the Vampire royal family, meaning “Elegant Fallen,” a perfect blend of elegance and ruthlessness, the rulers of all Vampires.
Each generation of Rasam-bo was usually a single lineage. And since Queen Rasam-bo Shaya had never taken a kin before, Bai and Shaya were now the only two with that name.
“I told you, you can use this power to do whatever you want,” Shaya said, tilting her head slightly. “It is my gift to you.”
With that, the sealed space dissolved, and Bai found herself standing in the same spot as before, dazed.
Shaya had already moved, now standing beside Ara.
“So you’re Ara? The Weapon of the past… but it seems you and Bai are quite close.”
Shaya was in a good mood, even striking up a conversation with Ara.
“What did you do to Bai?” Ara pouted, her expression tense.
“Although the First Embrace is only half-complete, she is now… my sister,” Shaya said, her arms crossed, looking at Bai, who was slowly beginning to understand. “Yes, sister.”
Although Vampire kin were usually considered the next generation, making Bai her daughter, Shaya felt that “daughter” didn’t quite fit. “Sister” felt more… appropriate.
And she was the one who made the rules.
Azakana, still present, his face grim, his gaze darting between Bai and Shaya, was trying to process what had just happened.
He could tell their First Embrace wasn’t complete.
There had been no pact, no exchange of blood, only Bai receiving Shaya’s.
So, he wasn’t sure if attacking Bai now would be a violation of their agreement, or if it would cross Shaya’s line.
“I won’t interfere, Bai,” Shaya said, then looked at Azakana. “If you can’t even handle this… back-stabbing coward with the power I’ve given you… then I’ve made a mistake.”
“Absurd!” Azakana shrieked, insulted. “You dare defy me, the one who has received the Abyssal Lord’s blessing?!”
In his mind, the Abyssal Lord was a thousand times more powerful than Shaya, and her blessing far greater than Shaya’s incomplete First Embrace.
But Shaya’s words had given him an opening. The fight was once again between him and Bai.
“…” Bai sighed, looking at Azakana. “I don’t need to defeat you, Azakana. You’re already dead.”
“Hmm?” Azakana paused, then scoffed.
But as he was about to laugh, he saw Bai’s eyes shift, from crimson to dark gold.
He knew he wasn’t in a soul vision. This was real. His face paled.
Perhaps because of her contact with him, Bai had acquired the ability of soul vision.
And in her vision, she saw a silver figure, similar to herself, standing behind Azakana.
This was the source of his enhanced power.
“The Abyssal Lord…?”
She did look… a bit like her.
Although she didn’t know how Azakana had obtained this power, she had a feeling she could also use it.
She walked towards him, or rather, towards the silver figure behind him.
The silver figure seemed to lower its head slightly, meeting her gaze.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!”
Azakana felt a surge of panic, unleashing all his psychic abilities at the approaching Bai.
But they were all useless.
