Shinji Matou at Your Service

Chains! Chains! Chains!

Chains! Chains! Chains! Chains!

Countless silver chains crisscrossed and filled the entire spacious room, leaving no place to step.

In the center, surrounded by countless chains, was a jade throne.

Seated on the throne was a woman.

She had shoulder-length blonde hair and slender eyebrows.

Her appearance was flawless, without a single blemish.

She was dressed entirely in white as if it were her trademark—a pure white figure.

Before the woman's appearance, white had always been the signature color of Justeaze and the series of homunculus modeled after her. But after she appeared, this label could only belong to her.

This was because the white of the Einzbern was an artificially crafted color, whereas she was naturally born this way—whiter than snow. Her purity alone was enough to leave a profound impact, and she also possessed a beauty that surpassed even this purity.

In terms of sheer beauty, she was undoubtedly the most beautiful person Shinji had ever seen—although saying this felt a bit unfair to Justeaze, the pinnacle of artificial beings, and the unparalleled Queen of the Land of Shadow, Scáthach, it was a fact, an undeniable fact.

She seemed to be favored by the world itself, concentrating all the essence of beauty onto her.

And she was the reason Shinji was stunned.

At first sight, Shinji recognized her identity.

"Arcueid Brunestud."

The last True Ancestor, the princess among True Ancestors, the executioner of vampires, the pure white vampire princess... and a candidate for Type-Moon!

Yes, the "moon" in Type-Moon.

She was also the heroine of Shinji's gateway and entry work into the Type-Moon universe, "Tsukihime." She was his favorite character not just in the Type-Moon series, but in the entire two-dimensional world, bar none.

Shinji stood at the doorway, silently, not daring to disturb her slumber.

Only when his stomach protested did he gently close the door and slide down to sit against the door frame.

"I've finally met you, Princess. So this is her castle, Millennium Castle Brunestud. I didn't expect to stumble upon this place by accident."

Since it was the Millennium Castle Brunestud, the high-hanging full moon and the abnormal activity of the Greater Source could be explained.

The sea of memories surged, and all memories about her surfaced.

The heroine of Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tohya, born on December 25, with a height of 167 cm, weight of 52 kg, and measurements of B88 W55 H85...

Sorry, I digressed, let's start over.

The origin of vampires, the True Ancestors, were not native to Earth but creatures from the moon. At their pinnacle was the King of the Moon, the Ultimate One of the Moon, Crimson Moon Brunestud. Responding to a signal from Earth's Counter Force, Gaia, Crimson Moon came to Earth.

Initially intending to bring Earth under her control, she discovered upon arrival that she belonged neither to Gaia nor to the Alaya. Eventually, she would be corrected by the Counter Force, so she conceived the idea of creating a successor.

On the other hand, Gaia, sensing the threat of humanity, also prepared to create a species to act on its behalf.

Thus, the True Ancestors were born. They were Gaia's creations, modeled after the Crimson Moon and simulated to resemble humans—to restrain humanity, a similar physical and mental structure was indispensable.

They could be seen as Crimson Moon's children, as well as Gaia's children, the touch of nature.

However, none of these children reached Crimson Moon's level and were insufficient to be her reincarnation, hence they were not given the name Brunestud. This is not hard to understand; after all, the Crimson Moon was an Ultimate One, the pinnacle of the moon, not something that could be easily replicated.

The first to receive this name was the Black Princess, Altrouge. She was the closest to Crimson Moon in ability, but due to some uncertainties, she was ultimately deemed a failure.

Around the 6th century AD, Crimson Moon angered the Second Magician and was eventually killed by the latter. However, Gaia's creation of True Ancestors did not stop and continued until a certain Christmas in the 11th century.

On that day, the last True Ancestor, who reached the same level as Crimson Moon, Arcueid Brunestud, was born. From her birth, she was given the name "Brunestud."

Since then, Gaia has not created any more True Ancestors because they had an irreparable flaw—the impulse to drink blood.

All True Ancestors crave the blood of the humans they are supposed to restrain, not because of physiological needs. As a touch of nature, True Ancestors can draw power directly from nature and do not need to eat. Their "blood-sucking impulse" is purely a result of mental inheritance; Crimson Moon herself had a strong "blood-sucking impulse"—which is why they are classified as vampires.

Initially, this impulse could be suppressed by the immense mental power that True Ancestors are born with, but this suppression has its limits. Because the blood-sucking impulse cannot be fundamentally resolved, the desire slowly accumulates and eventually cannot be controlled by their power. Such True Ancestors would voluntarily enter eternal slumber, which can be considered their lifespan despite having no concept of lifespan.

Some True Ancestors succumbed to the blood-sucking desire and began to drink blood. However, once a True Ancestor drinks blood, it becomes like an addiction, making the blood-sucking impulse even harder to suppress, leading to continuous blood-sucking. Humans bitten by True Ancestors turn into Dead Apostles, and those bitten by Dead Apostles also become Dead Apostles, causing their numbers to surge.

The True Ancestors saw the spread of Dead Apostles as dangerous, even threatening their existence, so the unfallen True Ancestors decided to appoint an executioner to clean up their ranks—this person was Arcueid.

To the True Ancestors, she was merely a tool, needing to know nothing. They firmly believed that with her immense power and purest heart, she was perfect and wouldn't be bothered by the "blood-sucking impulse" because she didn't even know what blood-sucking was.

Unfortunately, the True Ancestors overlooked one thing: human desire. Besides Arcueid, the Church also hunted vampires, leading her to meet the Church's magus, Roa. This was the source of all nightmares.

Roa deceived the naive Arcueid into drinking his blood. It was her first and last time drinking blood. The blood caused Arcueid to go berserk, killing all the True Ancestors in the Millennium Castle Brunestud. Meanwhile, Roa, upon being bitten, seized part of her power and became a powerful Dead Apostle, using this power to achieve infinite reincarnation, becoming the Serpent of Akasha.

Since then, Arcueid has only done two things: suppress her blood-sucking impulse through slumber in the Millennium Castle and hunt Roa. Whenever Roa awakens, she awakens as well to destroy him completely, then returns to her slumber, repeating the cycle. She has eliminated Roa's reincarnations seventeen times, and his eighteenth awakening marks the beginning of the story of Tsukihime.

Thinking about this, Shinji felt very conflicted.