"My, my, dead already?"
On a reddish-brown rocky mountain formed by three peaks arranged in a triangular formation.
Crunch.
A young girl sitting on the shortest peak bit into the red apple in her hand, her ruby-like eyes gazing with boredom at the tengu previously swallowed by the sea of gastric acid.
"The probe failed, huh."
"Of course it did!"
The spirited green-haired Primogenitor Giada Kukulcan appeared on another peak, one hand on her hip, smiling as she observed the distant ashen waves.
"Just a useless yokai, even if enhanced with Primogenitor blood, the chances of obtaining useful intelligence remain slim."
Saying this, Giada smiled as she looked down at the girl standing on the rock below.
Even though it wasn't her first time seeing the other, Giada still thought she was an utterly adorable compatriot.
Pink-toned long hair paired with a pure black strapped gothic dress perfectly embodied the definition of gothic fashion.
Though somewhat flat-chested, her entire body was jade-like, snowy white. Combined with the twin tails tied up with cartoon bat hair accessories, her cuteness increased by more than just one level, making anyone who saw her want to hug her immediately.
However, Giada also understood that if she actually tried to hug her, she'd probably be attacked on the spot.
After all, this little girl was a vampire Primogenitor who carried herself more like a queen than Giada herself.
"According to our earlier wager, if that tengu yokai fails to produce results from the probing, we'll proceed according to my plan."
Saying this, Giada glanced smilingly at the girl who was sulkily eating an apple, teasingly saying:
"You don't have any objections, do you? Krul Tepes!"
"My dear compatriot~"
Krul Tepes cast a sidelong glance, giving Giada an icy look before taking another bite of her apple:
"So then, what's your plan?"
"Intuition!!" Giada puffed out her chest proudly, emitting a cute nasal sound.
Hearing this, Krul fell silent for a moment before saying:
"Expecting you to have any insight was my mistake."
For a brief moment, Krul had genuinely believed Giada might have a better plan than hers, but now it seemed things weren't as she had thought.
In response to Krul's disdain, Giada simply laughed heartily before casually glancing at the distant ocean waves.
"Haven't you noticed yet, Krul?"
Half of Giada's face seemed to sink into shadow.
"How long has that corrosive sea been motionless?"
Krul's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned to gaze at the grey-white ocean, her tone rising a little.
"How can that be? It was approaching just moments ago..."
Just earlier, the grey-white waves had been sweeping in from the horizon as if to devour everything.
But from some unknown point, the sea had remained fixed at the horizon, unable to advance even slightly.
Realising this, Krul peered into the distance, using her Primogenitor vampire vision to observe the meeting point of sea and sky.
It was then she discovered the greatest anomaly.
"The waves are still being pushed forward, but upon reaching a point seven kilometres ahead of us, all the waves simply vanish..."
"What's going on?"
Hearing Krul's words, Giada merely glanced eastward before revealing a pleased smile.
"Just a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" Krul frowned, looking at Giada with some confusion.
This woman, who clearly knew something, seemed to be trying to hint at it while deliberately withholding information.
Was she trying to make her beg for answers? Krul sneered coldly but said nothing, merely staring coldly at Giada.
Whatever secrets Giada was hiding, as long as she kept close watch on her during this period, she would eventually get answers.
As for whether Giada might harm her, Krul wasn't concerned.
When the American Union had invited them at great expense to participate in this True Dragon Legacy competition, the two had signed a contract using a certain contractual Abyss Artefact.
One of its clauses specifically prohibited intentionally harming the other party.
As long as this contract remained in effect, she could temporarily trust Giada.
Meanwhile, Giada felt somewhat helpless under Krul's intense stare.
"Children really are so unlovable."
Muttering this, Giada sighed with regret:
"You should know, the vampires of my lineage possess convenient things called familiars."
Krul raised an eyebrow at this mention, having some understanding of familiars herself.
They were unique beings belonging to the vampires of the Australian Demon Realm's Three Primogenitor Empires, whose combat power and special abilities even surpassed those of their vampire summoners, making them truly ace weapons!
As the emperor of the Primogenitor Empire, all three vampire Primogenitors possess multiple familiars, each designated by the Five Great Powers as 'Demigod Rank combat capability'.
As the Third Primogenitor, Giada Kukulcan possesses twenty-seven such familiars.
If the intelligence provided by the American Union contained no errors, at full release, Giada alone equated to twenty-eight Demigods.
Faced with combat power on such a scale, even Krul had to acknowledge that Giada's strength far surpassed her own, let alone the fact that each of Giada's familiars possessed its own unique special abilities.
"So, ever since arriving in this world, you've been using some kind of familiar to monitor our surroundings?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Giada grinned, her expression one of pleasure as she said: "It never hurts to be cautious."
"Is that so..." Krul lowered her gaze, her tone calm as she asked: "So what have you discovered?"
"A monster."
Giada turned around, curling her lips into a smile as she said:
"Alright, little one, we should get going."
"Following the trail left for us by our kind monster gentleman upwards..."
"Otherwise, we'll miss the opening act of the stage play."
With these words, Giada flashed away and leapt down from the rocky mountain, disappearing from Krul's view.
"What the..."
Krul sighed, stood up from the rocky mountain, patted her trousers to shake off the dust, and stated with an indifferent expression:
"Something that a monster calls a monster - I'd rather not encounter that."
Despite saying this, Krul nonetheless leapt down from the rocky mountain herself, following Giada's trail as she advanced into the distance.