Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Dozens of kilometers away, a glimmer of light flashed in Evangeline's eyes.

"After all, I am already dead, reduced to nothing but ashes. Even if I was on par with you in life, I can't perform at even half the level I had in life after death."

Silence. The silence lasted for several seconds.

"Just how powerful is the Lord of War?"

“It was stronger than we expected, and probably even stronger than you expected,” Evangeline replied. “So strong that we didn’t even understand what was happening before we were all dead.”

"…………"

“The reason you can see us here is because of Alucard’s uniqueness. Its power makes it the embodiment of the concept of ‘uncertainty.’ It can exist anywhere, yet it doesn’t exist in any region, so even after we are all dead, it still retains a sliver of life.”

“...But it’s dead too,” Alice said softly. “Alucard is actually dead too. What survived is probably just an echo. Just as it said before, ‘Only one living vampire remains here.’ And that vampire refers to me, not it.”

“Yes, it died too.” Evangeline nodded firmly. “But only the present and future versions of it died; the past version is still alive. Although it won’t live long, it’s still half-alive. With its destiny nearing its end, it had no way to prolong its life, but it was able to reverse the timeline after the War Lord’s divine power faded, swallowing us up just before we were killed by the War Lord. So, while the outcome didn’t change, we gained a little more time before our true death. And with that little bit of time, we waited for you.”

"...You want revenge."

“To be precise, it’s revenge.” Another voice answered before Evangeline could speak—Alice turned her head and saw a black-haired girl holding a long sword and wearing a Japanese sailor uniform.

That was Yoru, another vampire lord whom Israphael knew to be wary of. By the standards of the Winged Race, she was on the same level as Evangeline and Alucard.

"Although we had long anticipated our defeat, we cannot accept a defeat of this magnitude. We still haven't figured out who dragged us out of our respective worlds and threw us from our peaceful daily lives into this chaotic place. And even if we do find out, we want to die in a battle against an evenly matched opponent, rather than being wiped out like a whisk by a powerful being as we are now."

"Dragon Break...wasn't it done by that unknown dragon king from the Dragon Essence?"

“No,” Evangeline denied. “The intelligent dragon is merely the material for the ‘Dragon Break’ spell, or rather, it is the dragon that was ‘broken’ itself. Because the essence of the dragon spirit is a fragment of spacetime, as long as it is used in a special way, it can shake the river of time, making a mess of the past and the future, this world and that world—of course, this is just a theory deduced from the phenomena observed. The real reason is still unknown. The only thing we can be sure of is that the dragon spirit is not the direct culprit behind the Dragon Break.”

“That’s why the Lord of War suppressed his Winged race, preventing them from causing trouble for the Dragon Spirit race. He was also wary of the person behind the Dragon Break. Of course, this also included the fact that he wasn’t entirely confident in defeating the Lord of the North Wind.” Xiaoye continued, picking up where Evangeline left off. “Based on this premise, we vampires concluded that the Lord of War wouldn’t act rashly. And he certainly did just that for the past few decades. He originally wouldn’t have participated in the Winged race’s war at all,”

“Until this time, until you, and the arrival of your inevitable companions.”

"So...you actually want revenge against me?"

“Not entirely, but this might also be a factor.” Evangeline’s voice rang out again, and unbeknownst to many, countless shadowy winged phantoms quietly appeared on the surface of the River Styx. These were vampires, some powerful, some weak, some relatively intact, some fragmented. Their numbers numbered in the thousands, perhaps insignificant compared to the entire River Styx, but their presence was subtly connected to the entire fortress, as if forming a unified whole.

“Personally, I don’t condone this kind of shameless, almost venting-of-anger approach. But unfortunately, I’m now part of the group.” Evangeline shrugged with a hint of helplessness. “Alucard is preoccupied with his own problems, and most of the other members feel they should settle scores with you, so we have no choice but to submit to the majority. However, as the one who takes action, I do have some say in the specific execution.”

"So you don't plan to take action directly?"

“After all, we’ve been waiting for you for so long. We might as well wait a little longer.” Evangeline shrugged, and Yoru tacitly agreed.

“I can see that beneath this facade you hide another, completely different face. That might be the real you, and you are currently wavering between these two facades.” Her words seemed to have a hidden meaning, and Alice understood what she meant.

"No matter which side you ultimately choose, you still have to choose one. Only by making a choice can you have the opportunity to give it your all and even reach a higher level. If you continue to be stuck here, hesitating between the two, the result may not be ideal."

“We want to kill you, while my peers and I want to have a real fight with you. To balance the two, I’ve decided to give you a chance to completely side with one of us. Only in this way can you unleash the power to defeat me and fight us fairly. Otherwise, your only choices are death or fleeing this place.”

“But I don’t want to run away.” — Alice looked at the two men in front of her with a complicated expression, gently pressing her hand to her chest. She finally understood why she had stopped here: because she herself craved a fight.

No, it wasn't her who craved battle, but Remilia, Remilia Scarlet. Even if all that was used to carry the concept was a ring containing a remnant soul, the blood of slaughter that had slumbered in the Land of Peace for so long was already boiling.

The next moment, a smile that didn't belong to Alice appeared on her lips.

Her body then tilted backward and plunged into the now calm, black River Styx.

This is the capital of the vampires, the region in the entire world where the concept of 'vampire' is most concentrated. And when the strong and powerful, no longer lost, fall into the River Styx, where darkness surpasses even blood, new concepts surround the old arrangements, unfolding a new ritual.

—The compilation of the Book of Revelation.

—External Texts, Night Symbols, Cradle of the Demon King

Section 26. Ritual Drafting in Progress...

In the deep, dark River Styx, Alice stepped through the gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Just as she remembered, or perhaps it was extracted from her memories and reconstructed. When she pushed open the two walnut doors, the soles of her boots making a series of crisp, coherent knocking sounds in the marble corridor, she felt as if she had returned to the era hundreds of years ago when she first visited this vampire city.

[How nostalgic... Two witches who barely escaped their predicament, a group of vampires being hunted. A fortress built using two different technologies... Before entering Gensokyo, we survived thanks to this fortress, which could almost completely conceal our identities. Those days...]

Well, it wasn't exactly a good day.

Thoughts shifted, and Alice, with practiced ease, navigated the long hallway and corridors to a familiar reception room. She sat down in her usual spot, and an unseen servant poured her her usual coffee. Opposite the coffee was a steaming cup of black tea.

The steaming tea exudes a bloody aroma, indicating that the blood type is B.

The hand holding the black tea was delicate and slender, as smooth as white jade.

“This kind of meeting is quite interesting, Alice.” The owner of the hand smiled, but there was little joy in her eyes. “Alice Margotrovid. Although what appears here is merely a pre-made mimic AI, a real-time response interface like a customized program, now that this program is activated, it must be that you intend to use the protective gear I gave Patchouli to compile the Apocalypse.”

Alice took a sip of the coffee she remembered, then lowered her eyes.

She was well aware, of course, that the Remilia before her was merely a pre-prepared, real-time response device based on a fragment of a soul, not the real Remilia—the Supreme God was extremely strict in cracking down on smuggling, and any life brought back to the Supreme God's space without permission would be instantly destroyed. Remilia was clearly far from being at a level that warranted the Supreme God's special attention.

She put down her coffee cup.

"I'm hesitating."

“Of course you’re hesitant, Alice Margotrovid.”

“I hesitate to grant you liberation here, to free you from a soul fragment that merely carries parts of 'Remilia Scarlet's' qualities. To activate your concepts and will and become a truly independent individual.”

"Are you afraid I'll return to the original Gensokyo world and devour the Remilia you know?" The vampire girl holding the red tea smiled. "That's certainly possible. After all, once you break free from the curse's suppression, your power could surge to an unbelievable level in a very short time, perhaps even reaching godhood and becoming a powerhouse beyond mortals—I gave this ring to Patchouli hoping to offer her some assistance, making her pursuit of you less difficult. And now that the ring is in your hands, it means she no longer needs my power; she only needs my concept."

"You must be dealing with vampires, Alice Margot Lloyd. And you've come here to have me take your place, to become a powerful vampire somewhere I don't know, and fight for you, is that it?"

“It’s a little unusual to deal with someone like you, Remilia,” Alice said calmly. “But you’re right, I do need your help to revive in this world as a vampire and defeat all your kind. Then you can ascend to a higher level here and help me deal with a very powerful enemy.”

“You used ‘deal with’ instead of ‘solve’. Then it seems to be a powerful enemy. Is it a transcendent being that has entered the realm of gods? Or a supreme god who is even higher than the transcendent? Ah… that’s not important. What’s important is that Remilia Scarlet, who is still in Gensokyo, had already foreseen this. So, even though I haven’t yet gained my own will, I can give the answer here on her behalf.”

The vampire laughed, revealing sharp fangs, but without a trace of cuteness. Her gaze was sharp, her expression serious, and the smile playing on her lips resembled that of a bloodthirsty beast. It was as if this truly was the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and the person sitting opposite the witch was indeed the mistress of that mansion. The only difference from Gensokyo was that what appeared before the witch was not the crimson young moon that had transformed from Remilia into Remi, who only knew how to crouch and cover her head in fear, except for tripping over flat ground. Instead, it was a crimson demon, more ancient, more imbued with history, and closer to its true nature—one who had once unleashed seas of blood and calamities on ancient battlefields!

The girl's smile transformed into the savage grin of a bloodthirsty man. Her clear, innocent childlike voice turned into a low murmur, like thousands of swords writhing in a sea of ​​blood.

"Go ahead and do it, Alice. Remilia has long since rotted away in Gensokyo, decayed, broken, and worthless like the rag dolls Fran tore apart. As one of the last vampires in Gensokyo, and perhaps in my world, I have sent too many of my kin to hell—no, perhaps they didn't even get to hell, only to turn to dust in the mists of death—I've had enough of this life, and I long for change. Even if my true form in Gensokyo is ultimately devoured and turns on, it doesn't matter, because you should know very well that when I handed over this ring, I had already made my decision."

"...No regrets?"

“I have no regrets left to bear.” The vampire before the witch set down his empty teacup. “And you are the same. You have no regrets left to bear, Alice, Alice Margot Lloyd. Just as you didn’t come here to ask for my opinion. You’ve already made your decision, haven’t you?”

"...You noticed?"

“We’ve been neighbors for so many years, how could I not see it?” Remilia chuckled as her expression returned to normal. “The reason you hesitated at this last step is simply because your desire for control is too strong, which has affected your judgment.”

“You are the best puppeteer I have ever seen, but you have never been able to create a puppet that can be self-disciplined. Even if you repeatedly emphasize how much you want to make a fully self-disciplined puppet, and even if a real model, such as Medici from Lily of the Valley, is placed in front of you for comparison and study, you still can’t make it... Do you know why? Many people know, and I think you should have known it yourself long ago.”

"You simply don't want to create something that's out of your control. You simply can't stand a completely uncontrollable puzzle. You've been a puppeteer for a long time, and you only want to be a puppeteer. You only want everything to be a puppet in your hands, to the point that you go to great lengths to control every variable you can touch."

"………………" The girl remained silent.

“See, I wasn’t wrong.” Remilia tilted her head slightly. “You always like to make a lot of plans, so many, even if 99% of them are useless, you still want to exhaust them. Because you can’t tolerate variables in your plans—you’re not used to taking your anger out on others, so you push yourself even harder. Because of this driving force, you will naturally become strong after you lose your shackles. However, it is precisely because of this that you will taste a bitter fruit after you become strong to a certain limit.”

"Because you will definitely want to control everything inside you. And unfortunately, you simply can't do that."

“I can do it,” Alice suddenly said. “What I crave is change, and I will eventually exhaust all change. Even if I can’t do it now, I will in the future. Even if I can’t in the future, I will die on the road to exhausting all change.”

“Then I’ll wait and see, Alice.” Remilia poured herself a second cup of black tea. “Although you’ve been hiding things from me until now, since you’re so confident, I’ll just take it as you’re telling the truth. After all, you’ve made your decision, and even if something goes wrong later, the one who’ll come after you will be Patchouli, not me.”

"So, what are you waiting for?"

As she spoke, the body of Israphal, a Skywing race sealed deep within the River Styx, quietly dissolved. It was reconstructed, and with the powerful conceptual compatibility unique to the Skywing race, the concept of 'vampire' brought by the waters of the River Styx was largely incorporated into it. The reconstructed body gradually took on the form of Remilia.

The Staff of Domination returned to where it belonged. Although Remilia, a vampire, possessed such a treasure, she didn't actually like using a spear to fight people—her luck would decrease when she held a spear. She didn't know when she came to this realization, but she had been practicing it ever since.

Remilia in the Scarlet Devil Mansion disappeared without a trace.

But Alice remained seated in her chair, a cup of coffee that had gone cold beside her. She slowly raised the cup, took a sip, and the icy, bitter taste washed over her heart and lungs.

She sighed softly.

"Hesitant, dawdling, looking before and after, proceeding cautiously. So, I've already come into contact with my inner demons, and my power is already impatiently pushing me to a higher level... or perhaps..."

"Are you awake? My past, my nightmares, my doubts, my memories, the obstacles I determined I would inevitably encounter once I reached this level."

"...Luoye".

She closed her eyes and fell into deep contemplation in the very depths of the Book of Revelation she was working on.

......................................................

The stagnant waters of the River Styx began to boil, and from where Alice had fallen, a massive vortex, stretching for tens of kilometers, suddenly appeared. Crimson and frenzied tangible blood energy surged from the core of the vortex, and a blurry human figure gradually became clearer within it.

The vampire who called herself 'Remilia Scarlet' reappeared in the sight of Evangeline and the other Highlords. Compared to when she fell, her aura had strengthened, but her energy reserves seemed to have decreased. The grand ritual seemed to have had no effect whatsoever; there was no natural disaster, no destruction, no sudden spatial anomalies, or strange summoning. And the vampire at the core of the ritual gave the impression of being weaker.

Her power had weakened, but her aura had strengthened. Despite having the same appearance and posture, the one who appeared now resembled a vampire even more than before. Her gaze then slowly shifted, landing on Evangeline, who stood silently in the distant sky.

“I’ve kept you waiting.” The young vampire lifted her skirt slightly. “Nice to meet you. I am Remilia. Remilia Scarlet. Not a True Ancestor, nor a King. But my enemies call me ‘Crimson Demon.’ And I believe we will get along very well for some time to come.”

"After all, the ceremony is still being drafted—"

The next moment, a spurt of blood suddenly appeared from her neck!

Unbeknownst to her, Sayo, wielding a long sword, had lurked in her shadow. The moment she uttered the word 'compile,' a blade of light erupted from the shadows, instantly slashing her a million times over! She barely had time to resist before her defense crumbled, and the endless blades that followed cleaved her into a jumble of unformed blood and gore, which was then incinerated by a sudden burst of blazing flames before it could even fall and scatter!

She died, like a weakling, like an ant, offering little resistance before perishing. Even her remains failed to fall into the dark River Styx, but were instead incinerated and burned on its surface by the cursed fire of hatred, leaving not a trace of ash.

Then, the figure of Xiaoye appeared beside Yiwenjielin.

"Something's not right." The girl with the knife frowned slightly. "Every strike should hit, every blow should be fatal, but I don't feel like I killed her... Is it some kind of highly specialized immortality? Did it just fall into the river to prepare for this kind of stalling tactic?"

“It doesn’t seem like it.” Evangeline shook her head. Above the dome, countless magical runes were rapidly shifting within the energy sphere she had released. “Buying time is indeed more advantageous for her, but if she’s willing to do this, wouldn’t it be better to just escape from the start? We can’t stop her, and—”

Her words suddenly stopped.

In her vision, a thin line of blood appeared on the cheek of Sayo, who had just slain her opponent. It was the only effective resistance the foreign vampire had offered when she was killed. And this wound should have healed before it was even inflicted!

How is that possible?!

This is the River of Death, the manifestation of Alucard's power. The entire fortress is its body, while the Highlord remnants within it represent its power. Just as extraordinary beings don't need to consider limb injuries, all wounds should be healed the instant they are generated, before theoretical exhaustion or being struck beyond the critical threshold.

However, a section of the dead river was damaged!

The next moment, the small figure reappeared from the ashes in the air!

"I take back what I said earlier." The young vampire was reborn from destruction, a crimson energy spear appearing in her hand without any medium. "I really dislike people like you who don't let others finish speaking. So..."

"Then may you all remain in eternal slumber, filled with doubt!"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Wayward Demon

On the still River Styx, demons dance wildly.

As Remilia Scarlet revealed her immense power, enough to rival her many adversaries, the 'River of Dead,' hidden in the void and integrated with the entire fortress, finally boiled over. The delusions of the vampires, and the Great Lords who had died before achieving their goals due to the Lord of War's forceful intervention, all awoke from their slumber, pouring all their formidable strength into the bodies of their enemies.

War, war, a massive war.