Atop the Spiral Clock Tower.
Medea Bartholomew stood alone inside the Pumpkin Carriage.
Her eyes were shut tight, her right hand extended out through the carriage window. The tip of each finger rippled like water, starlight flickering ceaselessly at their ends.
Ever since Silf had burst out of the Pumpkin Carriage, Professor Medea had been using astrology to regulate the entire Ritual.
With everything she had, she suppressed the negative effects that Professor Silf's intrusion had inflicted upon the Ritual, keeping it from mutating and allowing it to continue.
She understood full well that she had to keep the Ritual running as a whole until the star that represented Ophelia… Brad shone again.
The rest she could only leave to Professor Silf, who had entered the Ritual, and to Dark and the others who had been inside it all along.
Fortunately, matters themselves had not slid any further toward disaster.
The "Magic Guide Forging", which had been interrupted for some unknown reason, was suddenly reactivated, and everything seemed to be turning out fine!
But with mishaps cropping up one after another, Professor Medea did not dare relax on that account.
She immediately took over Ophelia Brad's work, making emergency adjustments to the whole Ritual and forcibly dragging its course back onto the original track.
"Back on course at last…"
A faint sheen of sweat beaded on Medea's forehead.
Tonight's affair concerned Ophelia Brad's very life.
So she had performed a divination beforehand.
Though the result still held some fog within it, the overall outcome had leaned toward the positive.
She had never expected so many errors to arise along the way.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
…
At the same time.
Professor Silf, who had taken the form of wind, had already drifted into the secret passage.
Her speed was extraordinary; in only a few minutes she crossed every obstacle and arrived outside the Demon King's Castle.
That thread of clear wind paused briefly outside, then rushed straight in, and before long it had entered that great hall.
The "[Paradise]" that occupied half the hall left Professor Silf astonished, but her gaze quickly turned to the other side of the hall.
"Dark, Virt, Robert, Tom…"
She confirmed the safety of the students present first of all, then saw Ophelia Brad lying quietly in the center of the Blood Magic Circle.
"Fwoo—"
The clear wind swept inward.
Professor Silf took shape right beside Dark Demon and at once asked, "How are things going?"
…
Dark Demon was not surprised by Professor Silf's appearance.
Somewhat relieved, he said, "The final Forging stage has been reactivated, but the course of the Ritual has changed."
Professor Silf's brow creased slightly. "What change?"
Still watching the Blood Sacrifice unfold, Dark said, "The 'Demon King' must enter the vessel in order to be reborn."
"Demon King, vessel?" Professor Silf's gaze swept across the scene, and she deciphered the meaning behind Dark's words almost at once.
Her eyes were drawn to Bastemon, which was performing precise manipulations of the blood energy, and a rush of relief mingled with dread welled up within her.
It was precisely because she had grasped the meaning behind Dark's words that she could sense the danger buried in them.
Had Dark's Magic Guide Spirit not happened to possess "a talent for Blood Magic" and responded in time, Ophelia Brad would likely already be a true corpse.
In that instant her heart lurched into a pounding beat, and the dread inside her took a long while to subside.
All at once.
The Blood Magic Circle, which had all but been redrawn anew with Ophelia's fresh blood, welled up with rich crimson light from below.
Under the circle's power, Ophelia Brad's body slowly floated upward.
Virt, drawn helplessly closer, clenched his hands especially tight with tension.
Ryan Hacks gently rocked his cane, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
Robert stood off to one side the whole time, restless from head to toe.
The chanting drifting through the air suddenly quickened.
Under the power of the Blood Sacrifice, a blurred form emerged bit by bit from within Ophelia Brad's body.
Though one could not make out Ophelia Brad's likeness in that form, it was without doubt her soul.
A trace of tension surfaced on Dark's face.
The next steps could not tolerate the slightest error.
Bastemon's expression was grave; encountering the Blood Sacrifice technique for the first time, it moved as if treading on thin ice.
After successfully separating Ophelia Brad's soul from her body, it drove the soul into the blood energy, fusing it with the blood into a slender thread that bored into the bottle holding Vampire Vlad.
"Mrow!"
Its expression changed in a flash. After boring into the bottle, that blood thread broke free of its control and plunged violently into the brow of Vampire Vlad!
On the brow of that tiny infant curled inside the bottle, a single point of blood-red now appeared.
"The Forging has begun!"
Dark's decisive voice eased Bastemon out of its tension.
The familiar No.1 Forging Circle bloomed at the heart of the Blood Magic Circle, and in an instant it covered the whole thing, taking command of the Forging stage.
Without doubt, the Ritual had entered its final phase once more.
From here, one had only to wait quietly, and the "Ritual Forging" — using the entire Ritual as its material — would begin on its own and run through to the end.
—That was indeed the original plan.
But that was the Forging method meant for "Vampire Vlad."
In the course of the Forging, the spiritual awareness of "Vampire Vlad" would be worn away, leaving him a Magic Guide Spirit with no awareness at all.
Even if Ophelia Brad's soul, driven by the Ritual, completely displaced the soul-consciousness of "Vampire Vlad," it too would be worn away.
To preserve Ophelia Brad's awareness, Dark had to add something essential into the mix — namely, a "Major Sin"!
Though he still did not know the principle behind it, Dark understood very well that a "Major Sin" could indeed serve to preserve awareness.
The question now was how much to add, and how to extract it.
As for the type of "Major Sin," the choice was beyond doubt: "Lust."
The compatibility between "Lust" and vampires was, without question, the very best.
But Dark had no magic-brain dropper in hand, so to extract the "Lust" he would have to use another method.
Fortunately, he had the good habit of tucking every usable card into his card pouch.
So he reached into the pouch and drew out a "Flower Card"!
The face of this "Flower Card" was adorned with a corn poppy blazing like fire, holding a beauty that gave itself up to burn away entirely.
When it came to using a "Flower Card" to draw out "Lust," Dark was already thoroughly practiced.
The only problem was that the "Lust" infused into a "Flower Card" was very difficult to reuse.
But relying on the driving force of the Ritual itself, a "Flower Card" cast into the Forging Circle should be forcibly broken down and absorbed.
In short.
The momentum was now unstoppable; the entire Ritual would push the new Magic Guide Card toward a successful Forging.
Dark held the "Flower Card" in his hand, pressed it with his fingers, and poured in mana.
As the mana flowed in, the corn poppy on the flower card suddenly kindled with a red glow like flame.
Dark stopped the flow at once, then flung the "Flower Card" out.
The "Flower Card" could absorb "Lust" using the transfer of mana as its medium.
But apart from the special suits, the moment the absorbed "Lust" exceeded 1 point, a violent surge would break out.
So Dark controlled the output of "Lust" with great precision, keeping it between 0.9 and 1 point, and thereby held the surge in check.
But a single "Flower Card" was of course not enough.
Watching the Forging Circle that had already devoured that corn-poppy "Flower Card," he then fed in a second, and a third "Flower Card," each infused with "Lust."
One point of "Major Sin" could forge a "Major Sin I."
Three points of "Major Sin" could forge a "Major Sin II."
Ten points of "Major Sin" could forge a "Major Sin III."
After feeding in three "Flower Cards" in a row, Dark still felt it was not stable enough. After thinking it over carefully, he went on to feed in eight more "Flower Cards."
That made eleven "Flower Cards" in all, and the points of "Lust" they contained had just barely passed 10.
Only then did Dark cease, tucking the last three remaining "Flower Cards" back into his card pouch.
Had he used the "[Fruit of Lust]," a fruit cultivated from just seven points of "Lust" would have achieved the effect of ten points of "Lust."
But without a "[Fruit of Lust]" on hand, he had no choice but to waste a little.
And only once he had stopped did Professor Silf ask, "Dark, what is your purpose in adding these eleven 'Flower Cards'?"
Dark's expression eased. "To preserve Ophelia Brad's awareness."
True, after the Magic Guide Card was successfully forged, he did have ways to give the Magic Guide Spirit its awareness back.
Yet he had always believed that awareness gained that way was not the same as the original awareness.
"It seems there's no more need for me to intervene." Professor Silf let a heartfelt smile show. "The Ritual has progressed this far; in theory, no more variables should arise. Though the final result differs somewhat, at least Ophelia's soul-consciousness has been preserved. The Demon King bloodline within Ophelia's body should also have been rooted out by this Forging."
Dark nodded. "From here, we only need to wait for the Ritual to end, then draw Ophelia Brad's soul-consciousness out of the Magic Guide Card and pour it back into her body, and she can be revived. But everything after that must rely on the professors."
"Don't worry." Professor Silf said with satisfaction, "To others this might seem a difficult thing. But at St. Marian's Academy, it's no great matter. I happen to know a professor deeply versed in this secret art of soul transference; when the time comes, I'll go and ask him myself."
"Good, then."
Dark finally let a faint smile show as well.
He turned his head toward Virt and gave him a nod.
Virt was instantly so moved that hot tears brimmed in his eyes.
…
The Forging that followed went very smoothly, driven by the power of the Ritual.
When the final Forging ended, the "Vampire Vlad" in the bottle had been completely refined away — not even the bottle was left behind. The Blood Magic Circle, covered beneath the No.1 Forging Circle, suddenly released a magnificent column of crimson light that shot straight to the ceiling.
The No.1 Forging Circle itself, however, swiftly drew inward, leaving only a slowly rotating sphere of blood within the pillar of light.
The crimson light released by the Blood Magic Circle was also being rapidly absorbed by that blood sphere.
With great speed, the pillar of light thinned and vanished, all the crimson light drawn utterly into the blood sphere.
Dark reached out slightly, and the blood sphere, as if it had a mind of its own, dropped into his palm.
This step should originally have been done by Bastemon, but Bastemon had already reached its limit during the Forging, so now its master could only stand in for it.
Dark moved the blood sphere to his left hand, then drew out his Mana Pen with his right, poured in mana, tapped lightly above the sphere, and drew downward, opening a slit.
Along that slit the blood sphere blossomed outward like an opening flower, and a Magic Guide Card with a blood-colored base appeared in his palm.
Dark carefully lifted this Magic Guide Card, then glanced back at those around him, his gaze lingering an extra moment on Professor Ryan Hacks before withdrawing.
"Take a look first." Professor Silf said, holding back her excitement.
Dark nodded, and with great care poured mana into the Magic Guide Card.
Because this Magic Guide Card had not used a standard blank Magic Guide Card, its overall style was entirely different from an ordinary Magic Guide Card.
The back of the Magic Guide Card looked as if dyed red with fresh blood, painted with blood patterns bearing the distinctive style of the Blood Clan.
On the front, the border frame was gray, with a bat's wing on each side.
The card face too was all crimson, its true image hidden from view.
Only when Dark poured mana into it did that expanse of crimson draw apart to both sides like a curtain, revealing the true picture.
Ophelia Brad sat within it, an awkward look on her face.
But seeing her expression so lively, Dark could not hold back a smile.
Awkward? So be it!
It wasn't me who was embarrassed, after all!
Delighted, Dark studied Ophelia Brad's appearance. Now that she had been forged into a Magic Guide Spirit, her features carried a shadow of Vampire Vlad, like a girl born of the fusion of the two. The rest of her had changed greatly as well.
The most obvious of all was her long hair — once pitch-black, later gradually shifting to blood-red — which had now become a cherry-blossom pink.
Pink hair, red eyes, a face grown more youthful, skin still pale as before.
She bore a pair of delicate bat wings and wore a dress with a black base and red lining, a black parasol boned with fangs propped at an angle beside her.
Reborn upon the foundation of "Vampire Vlad," Ophelia Brad had, beyond all doubt, become a true Vampire.
At least until her soul was transferred back into her body, she would have to go on living in the guise of a Vampire.
As for the name of this Magic Guide Card, it was "Vampire Young Lady."
The Magic Guide Card named "Vampire Young Lady" gave off a faint golden halo — a genuine gold card.
But its rank was somewhat lower than Dark had expected, merely a seven-star gold card.
This was indeed a surprise.
Dark had thought it would be at least eight-star, or possibly even nine-star.
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