Chapter 74: The Unfathomable Transformation

“These two were ordinary humans before. They were human?”

Lucia’s anger intensified upon hearing this.

If they had once been human, it implied a Bloodkin had performed the Embrace ritual on them. For those who were once human, and even held positions of power, to betray their kind and become mere lackeys for the Bloodkin was infuriating.

‘Hmph,’ she scoffed. ‘To think that Bloodkin would actually Embrace them, using such a method to infiltrate humanity? What a despicable tactic!’

“No, they were not transformed into Bloodkin through the Embrace ritual.”

The White-robed Bishop shook her head, refuting Lucia’s assertion.

To transform a human into a Vampire through the Embrace ritual, the human must maintain their purity. However, the Church’s investigation revealed that these two were already impure before they even joined the Church and the Mage Association.

“That means they were Embraced before they joined any human organization!”

“No, Lucia, have you forgotten? Joining human organizations requires multiple assessments. If there was even the slightest anomaly with them, we would have uncovered it immediately. They simply did not meet the conditions for the Embrace.”

“Wh-what…?”

Upon hearing this, Lucia was utterly bewildered. If they weren’t naturally born Bloodkin, nor transformed through the Embrace ritual, then how exactly did they become Bloodkin?

Even the internal staff who were privy to this information found it perplexing. If they weren’t pure, they should have only been transformed into mindless Ghouls.

Yet, they clearly possessed consciousness and intelligence. The only difference from true Bloodkin was their lack of the special abilities Lovelenica had just mentioned.

However, some information had been uncovered about this Mage. She had actually been expelled from the Mage Association two years prior, the reason being her clandestine research into dark magic.

Neither Lucia nor Lovelenica were surprised by the news of Rachel’s dark magic research. They had already faced Rachel in combat, and those shadowy black arms were a manifestation of dark magic, something they had experienced firsthand.

“The Church currently has two theories.”

“The first is that the Bloodkin have mastered a method to transform individuals into Bloodkin without requiring purity. Though these might be incomplete Bloodkin, this method significantly lowers the barrier to entry.”

“If this is indeed true, they could mass-produce such Bloodkin, which would be a catastrophe for the human kingdom, and even the entire world.”

“The second theory concerns dark magic. It’s possible that the dark magic studied by that Mage contains elements related to Bloodkin transformation.”

“In any case, there is undoubtedly some unspeakable conspiracy behind their transformation into Bloodkin. The Church will continue to thoroughly investigate that Mage’s background and relationships. We will inform you if any new information surfaces.”

After relaying all the information currently known to the Church, the White-robed Bishop dismissed the two of them.

Stepping out of the cathedral, Lucia appeared somewhat displeased. While reviewing the archives earlier, she had discovered that the name Rachel was indeed the Bloodkin’s true name, one she had used since childhood. At least on that point, Rachel had not deceived her.

“What’s wrong, Lucia? You seem rather unhappy.”

“Teacher, I don’t understand why that Mage named Rachel would become a Bloodkin. From the tone of her voice back then, she even said she willingly transformed for the Bloodkin.”

She seemed to take pride in being a Bloodkin. Lucia looked at Lovelenica, her expression one of utter bewilderment.

“Her file details her background. She lived in a village on the border of the Arcadia Kingdom. When she was fourteen, a Bloodkin attacked her village, killing all the humans and leaving her as the sole survivor.”

“Her body was also defiled. If the Mage Association hadn’t arrived in time, she undoubtedly would have been killed by that Bloodkin as well.”

“Later, as an adult, during a mission, she faced several Werewolf bandits of Impure-level strength. All her companions sacrificed themselves to protect her, enabling her to barely defeat the group of Werewolf bandits.”

“Fantasy Creatures consistently plundered, constantly took the lives of those around her, and even defiled her purity. So why, then, did she not feel shame but rather pride in being a Bloodkin?”

“Did she have no emotions at all? Did the deaths of her parents and companions mean nothing to her?”

“Teacher, I don’t understand…”

Lucia truly couldn’t comprehend Rachel’s attitude. She felt that her own upbringing shared some similarities with Rachel’s; their families had both been killed by Fantasy Creatures.

The only differences were that Lucia’s purity had not been defiled, and her companions were still alive.

However, Lucia believed that even if her own purity had been defiled, and Imeline or Attestor had unfortunately sacrificed themselves in future battles against Fantasy Creatures, she would only desire to eradicate them even more, to banish all Fantasy Creatures entirely.

“Sigh…”

Lovelenica let out a helpless sigh. She was considerably older than Lucia and, having experienced various ups and downs in life before her transmigration, possessed a far deeper understanding of human nature.

She recalled their conversation during the confrontation on the city wall and felt she could perhaps understand Rachel’s perspective.

“Perhaps, she just didn’t want to be plundered anymore.”

“…Didn’t want to be plundered anymore?”

Lucia sounded confused, seemingly unable to grasp Lovelenica’s meaning.

“If she didn’t want to be plundered by Fantasy Creatures, couldn’t she just train diligently within the Mage Association? Once her strength grew, wouldn’t she be able to resist them?”

“It’s not quite that simple,” Lovelenica said, shaking her head with a wry smile.

“Not everyone possesses talent like yours, Lucia. Doesn’t her file state that she began cultivating late and her aptitude was only average? She only reached the Third Rank at twenty-six years old.”

“Not everyone is like you, Imeline, or Attestor, breaking through to the Third Rank before even reaching adulthood. You are the protagonist group from the original story, with talent among the most exceptional in the Arcadia Kingdom. How could an ordinary person like Rachel ever compare to you?”

“This…”

Upon hearing Lovelenica’s explanation, Lucia finally realized she had overlooked Rachel’s cultivation speed. Rachel’s progress was indeed far slower than her own, yet Lucia still couldn’t quite comprehend it.

“So she wanted to gain powerful strength quickly?”

“Exactly. Otherwise, why would she have been secretly researching dark magic?”

“But dark magic is evil magic! It requires human blood and sacrifices to be used!”