That voice…?
Kurose Akira's brows knitted together as his gaze locked onto the Blood Spirit Bone Dagger in his hand. A faint crimson glow pulsed along its surface, and the blade trembled violently, as if responding to some unseen call.
Wait.
His heart jolted.
That voice… it wasn't coming from the Blood Spirit Bone Dagger at all.
Akira moved instantly, pulling the painting he had recovered from Count Vlas's castle out of his inventory.
The golden-haired woman within the frame was smiling.
Not gently.
Not warmly.
Her smile was twisted—eerily intimate, chilling to the bone. Her blood-red pupils were fixed squarely on Akira's neck, and two sharp fangs gleamed as they slid free from her lips, as though she could already taste his blood.
At the same time, that strange moaning voice echoed again in his ears.
"Such exquisite blood…"
"Blood… you crave blood too…"
"Don't you?"
"Offer your blood… to me…"
…?
Akira's eyes hardened. He was about to inspect the painting's information panel when, in the next instant, the image reverted to its original, lifeless state—as though nothing had happened.
The sudden shift made his expression sink even further.
Originally, he had assumed this was nothing more than an ordinary collectible painting—something that would grant him the [Vampire] tag once three were gathered.
Now, it was painfully obvious that he had underestimated it.
At that moment, a system notification materialized before his eyes.
[Due to the influence of 'Bloodthirst,' you have been afflicted by the Blood Curse of a Vampire Progenitor.]
[Your body now harbors an intense craving for blood! You must consume blood once within 24 hours, or you will lose rational control.]
[Warning: Upon losing control, Bloodthirst will be amplified to 200% effectiveness and persist indefinitely until large quantities of blood are consumed and sanity is restored.]
"…This is bad."
Akira's face turned grim.
He could clearly feel his canines sharpening. They weren't as pronounced as a true vampire's fangs, but they were already sharp enough to tear through flesh with ease.
At the same time, his pupils—once a dark brown—were gradually being stained with crimson, as if his very nature were inching closer to vampirism.
"Thankfully… as long as I drink blood once within 24 hours, the effect is suppressed…"
He muttered under his breath.
The condition itself wasn't difficult to meet. He could always seek out Ivsha and feed from her whenever necessary.
But he didn't want to waste this.
[Bloodthirst] granted a full-stat boost.
If he was going to be cursed anyway, he intended to extract every possible advantage from it.
Ideally, he could complete commissions while under the buff and resolve the curse afterward.
Even so, Akira still wanted a permanent solution.
If something unforeseen caused him to lose control, it could pose a direct threat to his guild members.
"The library might have records on lifting vampire curses… I should check."
He recalled that the library housed vast archives, though he wasn't optimistic.
Most of its tomes originated from the Magic Continent, while this curse came from the Abyss.
Worse still—it was inflicted by a Vampire Progenitor.
There was no guarantee any solution existed.
Before heading to the library, Akira stopped by the guild hall.
Ivsha and the elf sisters had already departed—returning either to the church or the Elven Kingdom. Loserine, unusually enough, had left the training room and was walking toward the teleportation gate.
"Loserine? Heading out?"
Akira asked, surprised. She rarely left the guild at all.
"Yes. I'm going to see Roxia."
"To see Roxia? Something urgent?"
At this hour, it had to be.
"She said there's something important she needs to discuss with you. I'm going to bring her here."
"With me?"
That caught Akira off guard. He hadn't expected Roxia to be looking for him.
"You'll understand once she arrives. I'm leaving now."
Loserine stepped into the teleportation circle and vanished toward Sunset City.
After a few seconds of thought, Akira turned and headed straight for the library.
With the library's precision search function, locating vampire-related books was easy—
But one hour later, Akira returned empty-handed.
Despite combing through every available text on vampires, there wasn't a single mention of suppressing—or lifting—the Blood Curse of a Progenitor.
His temples throbbed.
This curse appeared to be unprecedented in this world.
He had truly hit the jackpot.
When he returned to the guild hall, Loserine and Roxia were already seated together. The moment they noticed him, both pairs of eyes snapped toward him in near-perfect unison.
Akira almost said something—but held back.
"Roxia, I heard you were looking for me?"
"Yes."
Roxia nodded and stood.
"Princess Vivian has invited me once again to become her Royal Knight. As before, I refused. However…"
"Oh?"
Akira stepped closer.
"However?"
"This time, Princess Vivian gave me something."
She withdrew a necklace inlaid with a jet-black gemstone.
Akira's gaze swept over it, and its information unfolded.
[Pendant of Night (Epic): A magic array is sealed within this pendant. When placed inside a city core, it can protect an entire city from the effects of Night.]
"Protection from Night…?"
Akira stroked his chin, puzzled.
Why would Night require immunity?
Did darkness itself affect living beings?
Yet from the pendant's description, it was clear Vivian harbored no ill intent. There were no lingering magical residues—this was purely a defensive artifact.
"She also warned me to stay away from the royal capital for a while," Roxia added quietly. "I don't fully understand what she meant."
"…Stay away from the capital."
Akira fell silent.
It likely had something to do with the upcoming Stellar Convocation.
The situation in the Starfall Kingdom was becoming increasingly volatile.
The old king was nearing death.
Every heir was maneuvering in the shadows.
Vivian's warning wasn't subtle—she was urging Roxia to stay far from the impending conflict.
But Night…
Could Princess Vivian be planning to invoke the Truth of Night, plunging the Starfall Kingdom into eternal darkness?
It seemed unlikely.
Even the former Night Witch hadn't possessed such power.
The Starfall Kingdom was a mid-tier human nation with tens of millions of citizens—nearly ten million in the royal capital alone.
Six Guardian Cities, along with hundreds of territories and fortresses, housed the remaining eighty percent.
Militarily, the capital alone commanded over forty percent of the kingdom's strength.
Just the Hundred Stellar Knights were enough to strike fear into any faction.
And yet—those knights didn't fully answer to the royal family.
Vivian's current influence was far from sufficient to dominate the capital, let alone the entire kingdom.
As for eternal night?
Impossible.
Historical records ranked the Night Witch below the Icefield Witch.
Among nearly a hundred witches, the Night Witch barely scraped past Tier-1—while the Icefield Witch was an undisputed Tier-0.
And then there was Count Vlas—
Publicly a territorial lord.
Privately a vampire.
Why was someone like that embedded in the Starfall Kingdom's political framework?
Did the royal family have ties to the demon race?
A Succubus Baroness.
A Witch Princess.
A Vampire Count.
The deeper Akira thought, the more chaotic the kingdom appeared.
"Regardless of Princess Vivian's true intent, her warning makes sense," Akira said. "Stay away from the capital for now."
"I understand."
Roxia nodded, carefully storing the pendant.
Akira watched the necklace disappear.
If his suspicions were correct—if darkness truly descended upon the kingdom—this pendant might become Sunset City's final safeguard.
"Anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"No."
"Then I'll get back to work. Loserine—make sure Roxia gets home safely."
"I… I don't want to go back today."
Roxia suddenly spoke, her blue eyes shimmering with a hint of pleading.
"…?"
"I want to talk with Aunt Natasha for a while."
"That's fine."
Akira nodded and returned to his room.
He still needed a solution for the Vampire Progenitor's curse.
If the library couldn't help, he might have to turn to the demon race.
Idith?
Or…
A vampire.
And then it hit him.
There was a vampire inside the Fairy Consort Guild.
If he could contact her, she might know how to resolve this.
Akira opened his chat interface. The Fairy Consort Guild's leader had previously shared intelligence about a demon den—meaning he had their contact.
Since they weren't close, he carefully composed a formal, courteous message and sent it.
"Now… we wait."
He closed the interface.
The in-game clock read 9:00 PM.
Since tomorrow was Sunday, he decided not to log out and instead rest within the guild.
When Akira closed his eyes, his consciousness was once again drawn into the dreamscape woven by the World Tree.
The familiar wooden cabin appeared before him.
This time, he paused at the doorway.
According to the rotation—
Tonight was supposed to belong to the true Elf Queen.
With that thought, Akira stepped forward and pushed open the door.
And froze.
Inside the cabin sat two Elf Queens.
One clad in white.
One shrouded in black.