Then he placed his hand on my head and gently explained:

"Don't worry, I don't have any ulterior motives. As a gentleman, it's only natural to help women in need. Moreover, you're highly esteemed among the vampire community, so I can't just ignore you like that."

Brand's attitude was sincere, and after listening to him, I began to feel that he was trustworthy. Therefore, I stopped doubting and entrusted my fate entirely to him.

"I understand... Thank you for your help."

Brand took off his gloves and placed his hands on our heads, while explaining:

"Now, I'll begin to lift the seal. Please don't move. Although the awakening of your vampire powers has weakened the seal to some extent, removing it is still very dangerous. If one thing goes wrong, we could both be seriously injured."

Serious injury? Our injuries couldn't get any worse, could they? Although I wanted to comment on this, I held back.

Perhaps my thoughts were written all over my face because Brand immediately reassured me:

"Don't worry, I'm confident that I can do this. Besides, today happens to be a full moon, so my powers are at their peak. As long as nothing unexpected happens, we should be fine."

Is there any connection between the moon and Brand's powers? Ah... come to think of it, I vaguely remember something about vampires and the waxing and waning of the moon having an effect...

Well, thinking about it won't change anything anyway. Our lives are in someone else's hands now, so all we can do is pray.

Just then, a soft light suddenly appeared beneath our feet, and upon closer inspection, it was a magical circle.

Brand closed his eyes and began murmuring words that I couldn't understand:

"Moon phase program initiated, sequence number 333. Activating dispel program for seal magic, corresponding sequence 666, understanding of spell formation concept achieved. Seal structure consists of sixteen layers... Initiating reverse interference with the first phase of the seal, seal release."

I wasn't sure what Brand was doing exactly, but as he released our seal, the atmosphere around us also changed noticeably. The air seemed to solidify, the leaves began to rustle, and the sound was like a whisper from the world, gradually resonating with some kind of power within me.

That power was strong, dark, and deep, and I could sense that it was not something benevolent. However, as the power gradually filled my body, I didn't feel any discomfort. Instead, it was like being liberated, I was able to accept it naturally.

I noticed changes within myself. It wasn't that the surrounding sounds became louder, but rather my hearing became sharper. Not only that, but all my other senses became unusually sensitive.

My keen sense of smell allowed me to detect the scent of blood from afar. Wherever my gaze fell, there was nothing I couldn't see clearly, as if everything were right in front of me. Even in the darkness without light, the objects I looked at appeared bright as if it were daytime, unaffected by the darkness.

Now I understood that this "me" was the true me... It felt like waking up from a half-dream, half-sleep state, finally fully awake.

As I tried to adapt to the changes in my body, I heard Luna's startled cry beside me:

"Sis... sister, look! Look at the moon!"

"The moon? Ah!!"

Seeing Luna so nervous, I also raised my head slightly to look up. Although the moon was still hanging there, at this moment, the moon had turned into a blood-red crimson moon.

"The... the moon has turned red!?"

I had never seen such a peculiar sight in my life, suddenly feeling as if I didn't know where I was.

The crimson blood moon appeared as if it were veiled in blood, adding to its mysterious aura. It seemed like an ominous omen of some evil entity descending upon the world, filling the moonlight with unease.

The moon emitting a blood-red glow looked so fearsome, yet it also evoked a sense of familiarity...

As if I had seen it somewhere before, making me feel deeply nostalgic.

However, we weren't the only ones surprised by the phenomenon of the red moon. Even Brand had difficulty hiding his astonished expression.

"No way? Your power... is strong enough to influence the moon? I can't believe the legends are true! This is bad, the magical power is too strong, if this continues... all the vampires in the world will know of your existence!!"

It seemed that rather than surprise, there was perhaps more fear in him. It was like witnessing an incomprehensible phenomenon that made it difficult for him to accept such a reality.

"What's going on? Why did the moon turn red? What does it have to do with us?!"

"In legends... when the moon turns crimson, it heralds the reign of a king. You... or one among you, will be the future ruler of the night!"

"Uhh...!?"

I had more questions, but Brand interrupted me before I could ask:

"Sorry, let's talk about it later. The priority now is to remove your seal. If we fail under these circumstances, the magic will go out of control, and I don't need to explain what the consequences would be, right?"

Although Brand didn't explicitly say what would happen, it was clear that the outcome of failure would be dangerous. I immediately suppressed my curiosity and patiently waited for him to remove the seal on us. After another minute or so, Brand slowly removed his hands.

The magic circle beneath our feet also began to fade away, and the light gradually dimmed.

"Ugh..."

Brand's complexion wasn't good. He half-knelt down, weak and gasping for breath.

Seeing him in such a bad condition, I couldn't help but express my concern:

"Are you... alright?"

"Heh... heh... quite... a stubborn seal, but I think it's done. From this moment on, you are bona fide vampires."

"So, we're already... vampires?"

I raised my hand and looked at myself. There didn't seem to be any noticeable changes. No extra pair of wings, no claws, or scales.

But I could understand that this "self" now was entirely different from the one just moments ago. It was like shedding a layer of skin that had enveloped me for so long, and now, finally, I had shed that layer.

Although I didn't want to criticize myself and Luna too much, I could feel how much of a "sinister" presence we were now. It wasn't something that could be simply described in words; just sensing this deep and chaotic power made it clear that we were far from being benign.

But ironically, the source of this power stemmed from within us, which only fueled my disgust towards my own existence.

Seeing our confusion, Brand immediately instructed us on what to do:

"First, focus on restoring your bodies. Then, you can gradually adjust. Vampire healing abilities are tens of times stronger than humans'. If you concentrate and focus on healing your wounds, they should recover much faster."

"Really? I'll give it a try... Ah! Ahh!"

Just as I was thinking about it, I immediately felt something unusual happening to my body.

My body began to heat up, my blood seemed to boil, and my wounds started to heal at an astonishing speed.

The smaller wounds healed first, followed by the larger ones. In the blink of an eye, the wounds disappeared completely.

After almost fully recovering, Luna began to gently touch herself up and down, gradually smiling.

"Wow... Huh? All the wounds really healed! Wow! The pain's gone!"

"Are you kidding...? Did I really heal all by myself?"

Just a moment ago, I was in excruciating pain, but now everything was back to normal as if the wounds were fake... Vampire bodies are truly exaggerated.

The only downside was that my clothes didn't return to their original state... There weren't many clothes to begin with, and now I was missing another piece.

"I see..." I lifted my head to gaze at the crimson moon.

Actually, I've heard of this kind of thing before, and now, hearing Brand explain it, it only confirms the truth of it.

Although he's advising us this way, I'm even less inclined to go out on full moon days. Because that also means many "non-human" creatures are active outside during full moon nights, and I'm not particularly interested in mingling with them.

"Speaking of the moon... why did it turn red? What happened?"

Brand didn't answer me immediately.

After standing up, he glanced at the red moon, then slowly began to explain:

"I heard... that the power of True Ancestors is so immense that it can influence the moon in reverse, wreak havoc, even change the world. Until just a moment ago, this was all just a legend, but now, that legend has just become a reality."

"Um... Are you joking?"

If this is a joke, it's probably the coldest joke I've ever heard. If I had the power to wreak havoc and change the world, I'd probably have no trouble breaking more than three bamboo skewers.

Unfortunately, Brand shook his head.

"It's not a joke. The fact that the moon has turned red now proves that the legend is true. Perhaps you're not aware of it, but you do possess the power to change the world. I imagine that from now on... people all over the world will begin to search for you."

"Search for us!? Why?"

"In the past... it was believed that the True Ancestor lineage had long been extinct, but now that your lineage still exists in this world, everyone wants to witness the prowess of the future Night Lords, don't they?"

"The future... Night Lords!?" I felt like my face was twitching.

"Yes, the leaders of vampires. In this world, you are the supreme beings and the most powerful representatives of vampires."

"Um..." I was speechless.

What's going on? Is this some kind of absurd joke being played on me? Just the existence of vampires is already questionable, and now I'm supposed to be some kind of True Ancestor, Night Lord... I don't even know how to react to this.