Chapter 362: A Well-Protected Girl
That was True Ancestor Ron’s attack. At his level, he already possessed his own spatial domain, like the angel Seraph. Each person’s spatial domain had different powers. Seraph’s domain power was unknown, but perhaps she wasn’t an angel specialized in combat. After all, she had only taken action once so far, fulfilling Li Lige’s wish for revenge. After that, she just focused on Adele, observing and protecting her.
But True Ancestor Ron, an elemental vampire, was different. The spatial domain he unfolded in the shadows contained storms, thunder, ice, snow, magma, all the raging elements. He tried to pull Adele into it, but it was interrupted by a light magic attack, preventing his domain from fully unfolding. That’s why Adele was safe and sound. But the girl might never know about this.
True Ancestor Ron emerged from the shadows. Who would have thought that his purpose wasn’t just to bring Dorothy back, but also to target Adele? But fortunately, someone had taken precautions, preventing him from succeeding. And that person was Victoria, who teleported there at the same moment.
Ron had anticipated this. The only person with such profound light magic skills was Victoria, the genius who once shocked the magical world. A thousand years have passed, I never thought I would meet her again in this era.
Speaking of these two, they had interacted a long time ago. It was a literal “fight.” Ron, as an elemental vampire, was naturally curious about the mages who used elemental magic and wanted to compete with the best of them. So he came to the magical world and, under the guise of exchanging magical knowledge, defeated several renowned mages. Just as he was arrogantly mocking the magical world for lacking talent, Victoria, who had just become the youngest legendary mage, stepped forward, using only elemental magic to duel him.
The result was unexpected. They were evenly matched. But for Ron, a draw was a loss. Because besides elemental magic, Victoria also mastered various other types of magic. And he couldn’t even defeat her in the field he was most confident in. It could be said that if she used other magic, Ron would have already lost. And at that time, Victoria hadn’t even reached her peak.
Feeling ashamed, Ron left the magical world in his black robes. So it turned out that he hadn’t started wearing the black robes after his body began to crystallize. He had been wearing them for a long time. It was just that now, they were even more useful.
Under the black robes, Ron’s voice was no longer what it used to be, but a low and hoarse rasp. “Victoria, are you going to interfere in even this trivial matter?”
“I, as a True Ancestor, wouldn’t harm a fellow vampire. I just want to ask some questions.”
Victoria shook her head with a chuckle. “This isn’t interfering.”
“She’s my student, I have a duty to protect her.”
“If you really have questions to ask, you can do so with me as a witness.”
“I think she won’t refuse such a request.”
“Hmph,” Ron just snorted. He wouldn’t reveal his true intentions to Victoria. But if there really was a clue about God’s thirteenth drop of blood on Adele, then, one Victoria couldn’t stop him from doing anything to survive. The current Ron was absolutely confident that he could defeat Victoria. After all, one had become stronger and stronger over a thousand years, reaching the pinnacle of elemental magic, while the other was trapped in the space-time turbulence, her progress stagnating.
The next moment, True Ancestor Ron disappeared before Victoria’s eyes. But it was foreseeable that, as a True Ancestor, he wouldn’t give up so easily. As long as his suspicion remained, Adele would be in constant danger, and Victoria would have to keep protecting her. But the real problem wasn’t the time and energy Victoria would have to expend, but rather, what was the difference between her and True Ancestor Ron?
Inside her body, a monster from another world resided, its spirit and will somehow merged with hers. Although Victoria’s will was currently dominant, she could clearly feel that as she recovered, the monster’s will was also recovering. It coveted everything about the girl even more greedily than Ron. Tentacles extended from Victoria’s shadow, reaching and grasping, wanting to capture Adele, dissect her, chew her up, and obtain everything that belonged to her. Victoria could even faintly hear whispers from the abyss. Although it was a voice from another world, she somehow understood its meaning.
“Devour her, devour her!”
“You will gradually understand everything!”
“You will become…a great being that cannot be named, described, or understood, invincible and incomprehensible!”
“You will become the…God of the new world!”
Victoria’s eyelids twitched from the headache. Of course, she wouldn’t be tempted by the monster. But she had to protect Adele in this state of mental contamination. She didn’t know whether Ron would give up first, or she would break down first. But Victoria had already made up her mind. Only a monster would sacrifice its own student to survive. Before that, Victoria would use her last shred of conscious will to put an end to herself, and to that monster.
She strolled through the campus, her consciousness covering the entire academy, watching Adele return to the classroom, study, have breaks, walk her beloved girl home in the evening, and kiss her downstairs. Victoria always kept herself at a distance from Adele, close but not too close, never to be discovered.
As for the fact that there was another presence watching Adele in the dark, Victoria had already noticed it. She just smiled slightly, as if finding it unbelievable, and murmured, “A girl favored by an angel…”
“How interesting.”
“More and more interesting.” In Victoria’s time, the Grand Library of the magical world contained many ancient secrets, including chapters about angels. But the arrival of the otherworldly monster almost destroyed most of the library’s information. So this information currently existed only in Victoria’s mind. But it wasn’t a crucial secret. Otherwise, Victoria would have recorded it immediately after her revival and left it for the magical world. This information just gave Victoria a better understanding of angels, these pure and innocent beings, than others.
So she was friendly towards the angel, sending a message through telepathy, “If that time comes, and I can’t do it myself,”
“Miss Angel, perhaps you can help me.”
“Purify my sins, Miss Angel.”
“…” The angel in the dark didn’t respond, just blinked her hundreds of eyes in the void, as if saying, “I understand.”
Soon, Adele, completely unaware of all this, returned to her dorm. For her, the pressure from True Ancestor Ron wasn’t particularly strong. Or rather, until now, Adele still thought he was only after Dorothy. She didn’t know that she had been protected once, targeted by a True Ancestor. It was foreseeable that if Victoria hadn’t acted, Seraph, hiding in the dark, might have also protected the witch she created. The girl who was once bullied by everyone had unknowingly become the one being protected, which was quite a thought.
Chapter 363: A Sudden Pang
Back to the oblivious Adele, she had just walked Tang Linlang home and was returning to the academy by taxi. She had been spending so much time with Dorothy, Kaiser, and Wofoo recently that she had neglected Linlang, who was closest to her. So she took this opportunity to walk her home and deepen their relationship. They kissed secretly downstairs like a young couple in a secret relationship. A light but romantic kiss. Even after a while, Adele could still taste Linlang’s sweetness when she licked her lips.
The girl shook her head slightly. Since she was almost back at the dorm, she would stop thinking about this for now. She took out her key, opened the door, and called out habitually, “Xiao Ai, First Snow~ I’m back.”
Adele now seemed to assume that First Snow was always at her dorm. But what she didn’t expect was that before she could even turn the key, she heard a click from inside. Then, someone opened the door and met her gaze. But it wasn’t Xiao Ai, but a girl Adele hadn’t expected.
Adele’s eyes trembled, and she just managed to utter a syllable, “Her…,” before being pulled into a soft, cool embrace. It was Hermione. Before Adele could even wonder why she was at her dorm, her body reacted instinctively, her eyes closing, her shoulders relaxing as she nestled into the girl’s arms.
“Mmm…” People really did make strange sounds when they felt comfortable, like the purring sound coming from Adele’s throat now.
Hermione’s heart instantly melted into jelly. If Adele wanted to taste it, she would feed it to her spoon by spoon.
After a while, another familiar voice woke Adele from her embrace with Hermione.
“Master…” Adele shivered in Hermione’s arms.
“Celeste!” Hermione’s expression showed a subtle displeasure. Shifting your attention immediately after hearing another person’s voice while cuddling with me…
But Adele couldn’t care less about that for now. She was confused. “Why…Hermione, Celeste! Why are you both here!?” The girl couldn’t help but feel bewildered. Because in her impression, Hermione and Celeste should be mutually exclusive, like ice and fire. There shouldn’t be any possibility of them getting along, except in her presence. But the current scene clearly overturned Adele’s understanding.
Celeste was standing a step behind Hermione, gazing at her Master Adele with doting eyes. And besides the two of them, Xiao Ai was carefully carrying a white cat down the stairs. She was still small, and even though First Snow wasn’t a big cat in her cat form, it still seemed a bit strenuous for her to carry.
“Let me explain,” Hermione sighed, her tone as cold as ever, but it didn’t mean she was heartless. It was just her usual way of speaking, a classic tsundere.
“Actually, this is an accident. We definitely didn’t plan to come to you together, Adele.”
“Definitely not,” Celeste echoed.
“So it’s a coincidence? Like you both missed me so much, and then at the same moment, you had the same thought and acted on it…”
“Please don’t use that word!”
“Master, please don’t describe me and…” Adele tilted her head and gradually smiled. She didn’t bother thinking about those complicated things. Anyway, Hermione and Celeste had unexpectedly bumped into each other, and for the same reason. But they wouldn’t admit it and continued to hide the fact that their relationship wasn’t as bad as before.
Today was truly a lucky day. Not only had the relationship between Dorothy and Edith become harmonious, but even Hermione and Celeste were showing signs of thawing.
First Snow gently struggled free from Xiao Ai’s arms and flew up, landing on Adele’s shoulder, then meowed contentedly. Xiao Ai also came over, took Mama’s hand, and placed it on her head, explaining, “I heard the doorbell, and after looking through the peephole, I saw Sister Hermione and Sister Celeste, so I opened the door.”
Her words filled the last piece of the puzzle, explaining why Celeste and Hermione were both in her dorm. Adele was speechless, but her hand instinctively started petting Xiao Ai’s hair. Xiao Ai looked very comfortable.
After a while, Adele remembered to remind her, “You can only open the door for people you know. If it’s a stranger, Xiao Ai, you must be careful.”
“Mm-hmm, Mama said so. Don’t open the door for strangers, and don’t eat candy from strangers.”
First Snow’s tail swayed, seemingly happy about Xiao Ai’s sensibleness. Headmistress Winona had probably given First Snow similar warnings, making her nostalgic.
“Xiao Ai answered very well, a kiss as a reward!” Adele said, squatting down and quickly kissing the little one’s cheek. But the happiness lingered in Xiao Ai’s heart.
Hermione and Celeste looked at this scene enviously. But they wouldn’t be jealous of a child.
“Speaking of which, hasn’t Dorothy come back yet?”
“Dorothy?” Hermione was the first to react, puzzled.
“Ah, you don’t know yet…” This was a bit awkward, Adele thought.
“Let’s go upstairs and talk.” So everyone followed Adele to her small, fragrant…bedroom! Where else could they go?
Adele’s dorm had never been so lively. Including herself, there were five…or rather, four girls and a cute cat. Wait, First Snow, don’t transform into your cat-girl form! It’s good to be a cat! We didn’t plan this together to keep it from you! But before Adele’s telepathic message could reach her, First Snow, probably feeling like an outsider in her cat form, immediately transformed into a silver-haired cat-girl and clung to Adele’s arm, becoming the closest girl to Sister Adele besides Xiao Ai, who was sitting in her lap.
Hermione, being aloof, stood in a corner, but her gaze never left Adele. So envious but too tsundere to say it.
Celeste was different. Her principle was to be as close to her Master as possible, so she quickly occupied the spot on Adele’s other side. But she just sat there demurely, not clinging to Adele’s arm like First Snow.
Hermione couldn’t stand being left out, so she started the conversation, preventing Adele from continuing to indulge in the joy of being surrounded by beautiful girls.
“So, Dorothy is currently staying at your place, Adele?”
“I noticed the door to the next room is open, and the room is clean and tidy, clearly prepared for a guest.”
“It can’t be Xiao Ai or First Snow living there.” Xiao Ai wasn’t old enough to sleep alone, and even if she was, she would act coquettishly and refuse. As for First Snow, she considered herself a cat, and cats had the natural right to be on the bed. More arrogant cats would even think that everything in the house belonged to them, and their owner was just their servant. First Snow’s personality is already very good for a cat, meow.
“Let me explain everything from the beginning,” Adele said softly, shifting her attention from Xiao Ai and First Snow after hearing Hermione’s words.
Then, she told Hermione and Celeste everything about Dorothy’s escape, including how she sneaked into her dorm in the middle of the night and…stayed there, and how she had contacted Headmistress Winona to reinstate Dorothy’s student status. Then there was the current situation, True Ancestor Ron’s arrival, and Dorothy’s refusal to return to Twilight City with him. But Adele didn’t think True Ancestor Ron would give up so easily. So Dorothy, who still hadn’t returned to Adele’s dorm, was a bit worrying.
Adele hugged Xiao Ai a little tighter, burying her face in the little one’s soft shoulder as if to calm herself down, and took a deep breath of Xiao Ai’s scent. Cuddling energy…absorbing…
Xiao Ai’s reaction was gentle and joyful, letting out a soft “Mm~”. She didn’t care about Dorothy at all. But if Mama became vulnerable because of Dorothy, perhaps…she would have a chance?
Hermione narrowed her deep, ice-blue eyes and immediately comforted the girl, “Don’t worry about her. With her status, she’ll be fine wherever she is.”
“Who would dare to lay a finger on her?”
“So I think she’s probably just having fun outside and forgot the time.”
“But speaking of True Ancestor Ron…Adele, do you know something?”
Hearing this, Adele gently raised her head, her expression easy to understand.
“?” A tilted-head question mark.
Hermione couldn’t help but step forward and stroke Adele’s hair. She just couldn’t resist, wanting to be close to Adele… No matter how icy her exterior seemed, her heart and…other parts were warm, even hot.
“It seems you don’t know.”
“But I think this is important information, please listen.” Everyone in the bedroom perked up their ears, even Celeste, who usually didn’t get along with Hermione. Because she heard the seriousness and tension in Hermione’s tone.
Before Hermione’s next words, she used ice elemental magic to create a temporary silent domain in this space. It wasn’t that sound couldn’t travel inside, but that the sound inside wouldn’t travel outside through the windows or walls. This was to prevent eavesdropping.
“What’s your impression of True Ancestor Ron, Adele?”
“Him? He seems strange, always wearing a black robe, and his exposed arms are also strange, like porcelain or jade.” The original novel didn’t describe the Vampire True Ancestors in detail. Adele only learned about many of them after arriving in Twilight City. So it was natural for her not to know about True Ancestor Ron’s past.
“That’s called elemental crystallization, a terrifying phenomenon. The body assimilates with elements, an irreversible process. One day, even consciousness will completely disappear.”
“Eh! But isn’t he a True Ancestor?” In Adele’s view, True Ancestors should be immortal and powerful. How could they be afflicted by such a terrifying phenomenon?
“Precisely because he’s a True Ancestor, the backlash is particularly strong, invading the very source of his bloodline.”
“Anyway, it’s complicated, I won’t go into details.”
“The important thing is Xiao Ai!” Hearing this, Adele immediately hugged Xiao Ai tighter. Xiao Ai also looked up, blinking her innocent, pure pink eyes at Hermione. Ugh…crap, is this the power of a child-like “Adele”? It feels like it’s melting my heart.
Fortunately, Hermione was very good at hiding her emotions, so her expression remained as cold as ice and snow. “If I remember correctly, Xiao Ai is the girl you brought from the Blood Secret Realm, right, Adele?”
“Mm…”
“As far as I know, there are no intelligent beings in the Blood Secret Realm. So what exactly is Xiao Ai…?” Hermione’s voice lowered. “I can’t say for sure, but I know that the True Ancestors have long believed that the thirteenth drop of the Goddess’s blood is hidden in the Blood Secret Realm.”
“Whoever drinks it can become the thirteenth True Ancestor.” Hermione’s meaning was clear. She had revealed that the origin of the True Ancestors was related to the Goddess’s blood. But Seraph also said that Xiao Ai was the “creation of a false god.” A Goddess whose blood alone could create twelve True Ancestors…was a false god? Could Xiao Ai be that thirteenth drop of blood? Adele’s mind was in a mess.
Noticing the girl’s dejection, Hermione quickly added, “I’m not doubting Xiao Ai’s identity. In fact, in my eyes, she’s just a cute little girl who deserves to be protected.”
“But in True Ancestor Ron’s eyes, it might be different.”
“The situation is urgent. True Ancestor Ron, due to elemental crystallization, might only have a few decades left to live.”
“And he stubbornly believes that only by drinking the thirteenth drop of the Goddess’s blood can he regain immortality.”
“So…Adele, please hide Xiao Ai well, don’t let anyone other than us find out.”
“Especially True Ancestor Ron.”
“At least, until this period passes.” Hermione’s words brought the originally cheerful atmosphere to a freezing point. She really is an ice elemental vampire… But Adele didn’t blame the girl, but rather thanked her. Because Adele didn’t understand the reason behind this, she might have let her guard down and let Ron discover Xiao Ai’s existence. At that time, with Adele’s limited skills, she couldn’t resist the pressure of a True Ancestor. If Xiao Ai was really taken away by him… No, impossible! Adele didn’t even want to think about it.
Adele quietly held Xiao Ai’s hand tightly. She had never asked Xiao Ai what she was. She didn’t care about those things. Just a glance was enough for her to promise future companionship. Perhaps this seemed too naive and unguarded to others, but Adele trusted her own judgment, trusted the feeling she had when she looked into Xiao Ai’s eyes.
“I…understand. Thank you, Hermione!”
“I’ll be careful during this time.”
Xiao Ai listened silently to the conversation between Mama and Hermione. With her intelligence, she should understand that she might be in danger. But the little one didn’t panic, just pursed her lips and looked into the void, as if thinking or daydreaming. No one knew what she was thinking.
“I’ll inform you as soon as I have any news, Adele,” Hermione said gently, her gaze soft with concern and comfort.
Celeste also clenched her fists nervously, her chest heaving with her slightly rapid breathing. But she didn’t speak, probably thinking that she couldn’t help much in this matter involving a True Ancestor. This made Celeste feel immensely guilty. Perhaps Hermione couldn’t help Adele much with her abilities either, but at least she had her family background, which gave her access to information about True Ancestor Ron’s actions.
Perhaps sensing Celeste’s feelings, Adele suddenly reached out and placed her hand on Celeste’s soft, plump thigh, as if saying, It’s okay, silly, it’s enough that you care.
The most confused one was First Snow, the cat-girl clinging to Adele. Her tail started to sway, usually a sign of a cat’s anxiety, meaning that First Snow was also worried. I won’t let that True Ancestor Ron harm Xiao Ai! So she hurriedly said, “I-I’ll go ask Xiao Wei for help!”
“She’ll beat up the bad guy, meow!” First Snow’s innocent words injected a bit of liveliness into the heavy atmosphere. Although it wasn’t enough to make everyone laugh, a faint smile appeared on Adele’s face. She nuzzled First Snow’s cheek with her own soft cheek and thanked her, “Thank you, First Snow~.”
Then, Adele took a deep breath and said encouragingly, “As long as we all work together, I believe Xiao Ai will be safe and sound through this!”
Hermione smiled slightly and immediately echoed, “Definitely.”
Celeste also secretly clenched her fist, “Definitely…”
“Definitely, meow!”
Only Xiao Ai looked at this scene, slightly speechless, feeling the warmth from everyone. This was the first time she had experienced this in her hazy life. For some reason, the little one’s eyes suddenly felt a bit sore.
