Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

Vassals are often compared to a master’s limbs. That is not just a metaphor. A vassal is governed by their master's mood, will, and commands.

Consider the right arm. It moves when ordered. When one wishes to grasp something, there is no need to consciously control each finger or joint—it moves instinctively to seize it. At times, it may falter due to limitations or unforeseen issues, but it does not act on its own. At least, not unless it belongs to an infant still learning to control its body.

A vassal is precisely like that—a limb. The progenitor wielded thirteen such limbs, using them to wage war upon the world, for she herself possessed only her power and no means to fight directly. But now, those very limbs had been severed and turned against her.

So then… what happens to the power and knowledge that these limbs acquired? Do they belong solely to the limbs, to be lost forever should the chain binding them be severed?

For the most part, yes. But not entirely. A master who has experienced and learned far more through their limbs than they ever could alone is forever changed.

Muri was struck directly by the enormous arm shrouded in darkness, and for a moment, confusion overwhelmed her. Not from the impact itself.

Long ago, the most dangerous enemy of vampires was neither the Holy Crown Church nor humans. It was light—the sacred force that alters all things. Vampires, whose bodies were frozen in death, were unable to change or adapt. To them, sunlight, which transformed the very medium of their bloodcraft, was the most lethal of poisons.

Tyrkanzyaka was no exception. She wrapped herself in blood to shield against the light, using powerful bloodcraft to create a barrier of coagulated blood. That blood, tainted and corrupted by exposure, soon turned pitch black. Yet even its crumbling fragments were repurposed as shields against the sun.

Darkness itself is not a power. It is merely the absence of light, nothing more. If one can block the light, darkness can be created endlessly. Tyrkanzyaka did nothing more than utilize darkened blood as a tool.

However, humans, having long seen vampires enveloped in darkness, feared it as a force that opposed the divine.

And when enough people share a belief, even reality bends to accommodate it—especially when it concerns humans. That was how Tyrkanzyaka came to wield darkness, independent of bloodcraft.

Yet Muri, who was intimately familiar with darkness and had inherited a portion of that power, knew its true nature well. It was nothing more than decayed blood, mere remnants meant to block the light. It lacked the authority even to channel bloodcraft properly.

It had become a false idol—an accumulation of superstition rather than genuine power.@@novelbin@@