Chapter 66: Chapter 66: The Moon Princess of the Millennium Castle
[Year 1000 of the Western Calendar]
[You, as a True Ancestor, have already lived for two thousand years]
[Exactly as you had envisioned]
[Generally, True Ancestors who reach this age have either gone mad or cannot suppress their blood-sucking impulses, yet you have managed to maintain your actions in an incomprehensible way]
[Even going so far as to hunt down fallen True Ancestors]
[Even in the four hundredth year after the Moon King's death, your deterrent power over the True Ancestors and Dead Apostles is no less than hers]
[In reality, you are also aware of your condition]
[Over two thousand years of experience as a True Ancestor]
[Constantly dividing your power to suppress the blood-sucking impulse within you, that critical threshold has become increasingly clear]
[But you have been researching since a thousand years ago]
[How to suppress the blood-sucking impulse originating from the depths of the soul without eradicating the principle of the blood oath]
[Thus, you entrusted the task of hunting down fallen True Ancestors to Altrouge, while the management of the Millennium Castle was handed over to the Dead Apostles who worshipped the True Ancestors]
[Now, you are the symbol of the Millennium Castle]
[Even the small Dead Apostles you granted authority to are not ignored by any True Ancestor]
[Currently, you are focused on combating the blood-sucking impulse]
[You have come to the surface]
[You encountered a group of magicians on the European continent; they were apprentices of the former Third Magus]
[You did not reveal your identity to the magicians]
[However, the magicians' research piqued your interest]
[You yourself had studied magic leaning towards the realm of the soul under Solomon, and these magicians were tirelessly working to recreate the Third Magic of their ancestor]
"Since we are comrades suffering from the pain of the soul, let me lend you a hand."
Moran said to the group of Third Magic apprentices.
This was a very equal transaction.
[You chose to provide your knowledge of divine magic, while the Third Magic apprentices would research the Third Magic with you]
[In fact, they did not refuse the offer]
[The time that followed was spent researching the Third Magic; through the knowledge inherited from the divine era and your own long experience and perspective, you successfully recreated the Third Magic]
[Your junior, Zelretch, mastered the Second Magic]
[It is not surprising that you learned the Third Magic]
[However, you discovered something; even if you successfully recreated the Third Magic, the materialization of the soul]
[It still could not suppress the blood-sucking impulse]
[The materialization of the soul only allows for the immortality of the soul and the ability to shape the soul at will; the former the True Ancestor can already achieve. Even if you cut the shape of the soul, you cannot sever the principle of the blood oath within the soul]
[The Third Magic is indeed mastered by you]
[But in reality, its significance to you is merely the addition of an infinite magical power furnace equivalent to a perpetual motion machine]
"Not even the materialization of the soul can solve it…"
Moran let out a deep sigh.
He did not feel joy at mastering the materialization of the soul, only a sense of discomfort as if his fist had struck cotton.
The magicians attempting to recreate the Third Magic were not.
They found it hard to believe that the Third Magic had truly been mastered by a True Ancestor, and that it had been recreated in just a few decades, achieving what had not been accomplished for over a thousand years.
[You do not care about the Third Magic]
[So you transferred the materials on the Third Magic to the magicians and stated that you would not return to this workshop in the future]
[The group of magicians attempted to replicate your miracle]
[In the end, they could not do it]
[In the now-diminished mystery, even if they obtained your knowledge, they could not recreate the Third Magic]
["That is a method only a True Ancestor can use"]
["It is not a technique that we humans can use at all"]
["Monster! That is a monster!"]
[The magicians felt a deep sense of despair at the gap between humans and True Ancestors]
[Despair that gave rise to madness]
[Your success only made them realize that the recreation of the Third Magic was fundamentally unrelated to them; it was entirely based on your own strength in all aspects, leading to an overwhelming force]
[More than any setback]
[These magicians couldn't accept it]
[In the end, half of these magicians chose to commit suicide, and the other half chose to completely abolish magic and leave the workshop]
[Just like you finally obtained the Third Magic]
[As if, all of this ultimately had no meaning]
[In the end, even you left the workshop and returned to the inner side of the planet, leaving behind only a deserted workshop]
[Inside, there were only automatically running homunculi]
[Besides that, there was nothing]
[The year 1100 AD]
[Since the unsuccessful research into the Third Magic, you have never stepped out of Millennium Castle]
[You forcibly suppress the increasingly strong urge to drink blood]
[At the same time, remembering the will of Brunestud of the Crimson Moon]
[Since Brunestud of the Crimson Moon's death, you have never forgotten the matter of creating a True Ancestor, and now this matter is about to come to fruition]
[Exhausting all the crystallizations of technology]
[You used all your magical knowledge, as well as the legacy left by Brunestud of the Crimson Moon, and after hundreds of years with a group of True Ancestors, you finally created the ultimate True Ancestor]
[You bestowed upon her the name of the True Ancestor royalty]
[Her name is— Arcueid Brunestud]
In a courtyard without any sunlight…
Here is filled with pure white moon flowers planted by you.
A flawless, pure white maiden stands quietly in the sea of flowers, her long golden hair swaying gently in the warm breeze.
She is like the most perfect and exquisite work of art.
Her fair skin is without a single blemish.
"…Completed."
Moran couldn't help but reach out his hand.
He gently stroked the fair cheek of the maiden before him.
[In that instant, the shadow in his mind overlapped with her]
[Arcueid is almost identical to Brunestud of the Crimson Moon in your memory, the only difference is probably the age gap]
[No matter how much the maiden before you resembles your former lover]
[You are also very clear about one thing]
[Arcueid is not the Brunestud of the Crimson Moon you deeply loved after all]
The maiden's eyes are empty and lifeless.
Having just been born, she has not received any knowledge.
She doesn't even understand language.
Nor can she comprehend the meaning of self.
"Arcueid Brunestud—from now on, this is your name."
"Arc…ueid…?"
Arcueid repeated blankly.
There was still incomprehension in her expression.
This appearance is just like the homunculi that Moran once saw in the Third Magic workshop.
A feeling of pity arises in his heart.
[Arcueid was brought by you to the center of Millennium Castle's main hall]
[All the True Ancestors are gathered here]
[You are sitting on the throne, resting with your eyes closed, and the True Ancestors below don't need to listen to know what they are discussing]
[—The Fallen True Ancestors].