(a)

Nalan woke up from a nightmare.

Cold sweat soaked through his shirt, leaving a clear humanoid silhouette on the floor behind him. The sun shone through the window, shining on him, bringing a touch of warmth to the tired body...... And did not burn him to ashes, as in the past.

Lilith was gone, as were the dozen or so shriveled vampire corpses. Nalan Twilight was the only one left in this hut, and it seemed a little empty.

Nalan Twilight struggled to stand up with two hands and sat up. The first thing he did when he got up was to look down at his belly.

There were five small holes in his clothes, and underneath it was fair skin, intact, with not a single wound on it. Everything that happened last night seemed to be false...... No, that's impossible.

His body clearly told him that what he had experienced was real and could not be faked. He's weak, and even though the word "weak" is hard to get along with vampires at any given moment, that's how he really says about the moment. If he had a mirror in his hand at this time, he would have been able to see how pale and haggard his face was, and even the complexion of a terminal cancer patient was better than his.

He staggered up from the ground with his hands and feet, embarrassed and ugly, trembling his legs and feet, and staggered towards the door. He was like an old man on the verge of death, getting up from his sickbed before he died, dragging his rotten wood-like body out of the house to see the sunrise for the last time, and then breathe.

Of course, Nalan Twilight didn't plan to die like this, in fact, he had just walked through the Ghost Gate, and now was the time to regain his life.

"Rebirth", like "death", returns you to zero, but the former starts from zero, and the latter ends with zero.

"Hah...... Drink......"

Nalan Xuan gasped and exerted all his strength before pushing the wooden door open. His current physical strength may not even be as good as that of a three-year-old child, it is simply the level of a baby.

The door opened, and by inertia he rushed out into the street, falling into a shallow pit full of water. The dark and foul-smelling mud gradually covered him, but he didn't care, and he didn't even wipe it.

The world outside has stopped stormy, and after this night's baptism, everything has taken on a new look. The sun cleared the dark clouds and sprinkled down one after another, warm, quiet, and full of vitality.

If "life" must have a source, Nalan thought, it would not be water, nor wind, earth, fire, or lightning.

That's the light.

He slowly raised his head and faced the sun, his eyes glistening with tears.

It's been a long time since I've seen the sunrise again after 800 years......

(b)

Six hours ago.

The rain was still falling outside, and it never seemed to stop. There was a dead silence in the room, and Nalan sat on her knees in front of Lilith, her head hanging down, motionless, as if she were dead.

He kept that stunned expression all the time, his eyes widened, and he desperately tried to look up at the demon again, but he couldn't. He had lost all strength, including the strength to speak, the strength to breathe, and the strength to beat his heart.

From a medical point of view, he was now a corpse. But he still had thoughts, and that frantic mind struggled in his brain, trying to break out of the cage of this flesh, but in the end, it was in vain.

He was imprisoned by his own body.

For an old fritter like Nalan Twilight who dances on the tip of a knife, the torture of ripping meat and skinning is pediatric. The real horror is not the pain, but the fact that you don't even feel the pain, as it is now.

Alive, but dead, dead, but unable to leave.

"I know you have something to say...... Lilith said, "but I don't want to hear it, and you can't say it." ”

"So, sit down obediently and listen to me. ”

"According to the contract, I have to give you 'power', and I did, I want to know what that is?"

"It's a bit of a shame to say, but in fact, the vampire race is a flawed work, in other words, a half-finished product. At that time, Cain was banished, and came to ask me for help, but I had no choice but to hand over the unfinished 'blood' to him, and then there were you. ”

"This thing is strong, but it is also flawed. Especially the fear of sunlight, I tried all kinds at that time, but I couldn't change anything. But now, things are a little different......"

"What I just gave you is a new 'bloodline', which is a purer, unblemished bloodline. I finally finished it, and I was worried that there were no test subjects, but just then, you came to the door. ”

"You'll have many advantages over traditional vampires, you'll be unafraid of sunlight, running water, and silverware, and any physical attacks will be useless against you, and even magic that isn't strong enough will no longer threaten you. You'll also gain access to many abilities that you never have, and in fact, even I, the creator, can't fully control its mutations. ”

"All in all, you're going to get stronger, you're going to be stronger without limits, if you can survive tonight, of course...... I don't seem to have told you about it? Now you listen, this seed that has been injected into your body is not suitable for everyone, and to be more specific, more than ninety percent of people can't adapt to it. Those who are eliminated in the process of 'metamorphosis' will lose all power and become vegetative people who can't even blink an eye, but they won't die, they won't even lose consciousness. They will remain awake forever, their consciousness locked in their bodies, twisted and berserk, until death frees them. ”

"That is, if you fail and no one comes to kill you, then you better pray that the sun will shine through. Otherwise, hehe...... I wonder how many years it takes for a strong man like you to lose his mind, five hundred years, or a thousand years?"

"Only the truly lucky ones can complete the transformation and turn into butterflies, before you, there has never been such a person, will you be the first, or one of the many imprisoned souls?"

"Ah, yes!"

At this time, Lilith suddenly raised a finger, as if remembering something, and said:

"One more thing, I just glanced at the magic in your body, do you know what I found?"

"Seriously, you are a good seedling, whether it is the foundation of magic or physical fitness, you are very good, if you cultivate it well, you should not be weaker than the 'marauder' who killed two true ancestors. ”

Speaking of which, she seemed a little regretful.

"It's a pity...... Lilith shook her head, "such a good seedling, put in the wild free-range, just crippled." I can only describe your magic in one word - 'rough'. ”

"One more word, it's 'ugly'. ”

"Are you really going to use such inferior magic against Sheila? I have the impression that she is the best of Cain's five sons. Even with the perfect pedigree, I don't think you have much of a chance, after all, the gap is there. ”

"Hmm...... Hawkers,Although we've been together for a short time.,I'm quite fond of you.,I'll help you for free.。 ”

With that, Lilith pushed Nalan Tsi's puppet-like body to the ground, and then rode up, straddled his waist, and pressed her hands to his chest. A beauty like her, riding up like this naked, in normal times, this must be a blood-pumping thing. But now, Nalan Twilight doesn't feel anything.

A faint red light flashed, as if there was a warm current, spreading from his chest to his whole body along the veins. The subtle feeling of comfort was fleeting, and his body soon returned to deathly numbness.

"Hmm...... That's it. ”

Lilith seemed satisfied, clapped her hands, and stood up.

"A little makeover," she said, "I've removed all the magic from you, and it's useless for you to keep them anyway." In its place, a sharp, double-edged dagger...... If you want to kill Sheila, you'll need this blade, not scrap metal pieces that look big but are actually useless. From now on, you can cut everything, and you can only 'cut off' everything. If you can survive tonight, you'll understand. ”

"Well, that's the end of the deal. ”

Lilith took a step back and bowed gracefully.

"I wish you all the best. ”

As the words fell, her form melted in the shadows and quickly vanished.

Nalan Twilight was the only one left in the room, and what awaited him was a long night.

(c)

"And then?"

"Then it took me a while to finally get used to life under the sun. ”

It was dark, and in the twilight mist, the vampires finally saw the outline of the Red Devil Pavilion.

Almost, it's time for dinner.

"Uh-huh......"

Remilia lifted her arm and stretched.

"So, now you, can I understand you as a combination of 'the perfect vampire' and 'the only powerful magic'?" she asked.

"Hmm......" Nalan said after a moment's thought, "not exactly. ”

"My magical abilities have been completely erased by Lilith, and there is nothing left. So, that's obviously not magic. ”

"And what is it?"

"It's a kind of 'rule'. ”

"Rules?"

"Let's put it this way," Nalan Yu held up a finger and explained slowly, "There are two kinds of energy that originates from the soul, the one that is biased towards demons is called 'magic power', and the one that is biased towards gods is called 'spiritual power', and the two are mutually exclusive, and normal people can only have one of the two. Like us vampires, we can only use magic power, but the witch uses the spiritual power of exorcism. ”

"These two energies, like your physical strength, are limited, and if you use too much, they will gradually deplete up, and if you don't rest in time, you will even die. But there is actually one more power, older than these two, and inexhaustible, and that is this 'ability'. ”

"Whether magical or spiritual, they are all part of the rules set by 'God', 'Universe', or any other great unknowable being. Using it is like doing scientific research, which is just to explore, understand, and then use the rules. But this 'ability' of mine is different, its existence itself is a rule. ”

"Analytical, this stone. ”

Nalan stooped down and picked up a pebble, cut it into two neat pieces in front of Remilia, spread it out on his hand, and said:

"When I cut it, I didn't use any external force. I just have to think about it, and it will break in two on its own. It's like water flows and fire burns, and as long as conditions allow, such 'phenomena' naturally occur. And I can create this phenomenon through my own will. ”

"'Phenomenon'......" Remilia nodded.

"I lost a lot of things in exchange for a dagger that was sharp enough, but it was enough. The so-called "weapon" is not needed for anything except the blade. Nalan Yu casually threw away the two pieces of gravel, clapped his hands, and said, "As long as you find the target and go down with a knife, the game is over." Now it seems that this ability really suits me. ”

"And it seems that there is still a lot of potential in my body that has not been tapped. He looked at his clenched fist, and a rather inconspicuous smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Maybe, I have to push myself again, and go to the line of life and death a few more times, maybe I will gain something...... Oh!"

The pain came from the punch Remilia threw at his waist, and he turned his head to look over, only to see Remilia holding her arms in displeasure, distancing herself from him.

"Remy?"

"I hate you, Nalan Twilight. ”

"Huh?"

Seriously, the change was so abrupt that he couldn't figure it out at all. It's still the same old saying, don't guess a girl's mind, it's meaningless.

"I especially hate your attitude of not wanting to die at every turn. Remilia frowned and glared at him, "If you want to die so much, quickly find a place where no one is there and die alone, don't go home, phew!"

She stuck out her tongue at him rather childishly, and then ran to the front alone, and they did not say a word until they returned home. What else could Nalan Twilight do, he could only smile helplessly.

In terms of "not being able to express emotions correctly", really, no one is qualified to laugh at anyone, the entire Red Devil Pavilion is on the same level.

Fail.