At the dinner table, while eating, Crimson Moon asked Ryuya, "So, Blood, what do you plan to do next?"
They had already spent so many years in the Roman Empire. Gradually growing accustomed to the maid Justice, although Crimson Moon still maintained the Moon King's pride, she clearly had one more person besides Ryuya whom she could acknowledge and take seriously.
Ryuya thought for a moment and replied, "Let's continue like this for now. Nero is still too young."
Nero: "Huh???"
Not understanding what her teacher and Crimson Moon were discussing, Nero instinctively felt afraid.
As for Justice, the artificial Machine God rarely ate, mostly just calmly watched Ryuya eat.
Nodding to confirm Ryuya's thoughts, Crimson Moon didn't care much about staying in Rome. She just added, "Speaking of which, some Dead Apostles came to the Millennium Castle looking for me. So, should we go back for a bit?"
As the most ancient Moon King, the True Ancestors were all created by Gaia and Crimson Moon. Besides the True Ancestors, beings called Dead Apostles were subordinates of the True Ancestors.
A simple explanation: those who can suck blood are all vampires.
The birth of vampires is simple: powerful humans who die can retain their souls. By chance, these powerful souls lose their reason and instinctively start eating people and drinking blood to restore their bodies… these are Ghouls.
After consuming enough flesh and blood, the Ghouls restore their former bodies and regain their reason… these are Vampires.
True Ancestors are completely different from Vampires. Created by Crimson Moon and Gaia to suppress humanity, True Ancestors' bloodsucking impulse has nothing to do with Vampires. But since both suck blood, humans classify True Ancestors and Vampires as the same kind.
As for Dead Apostles, as mentioned before, to restrict humanity, True Ancestors are born with an impulse to drink human blood… it's their instinct.
To control this instinct, True Ancestors control some humans, turning them into a third type of creature between human and True Ancestor after sucking their blood, serving as the True Ancestors' reserve food.
But as time passed, the reserve food didn't want to be controlled by the True Ancestors either.
Realizing that sucking blood could make them powerful, the reserve food that betrayed the True Ancestors became the Dead Apostles.
In other words, True Ancestors are dragons, Dead Apostles are mixed-bloods of dragons, and Vampires are big birds that can fly.
The reason all three are uniformly called vampires is purely because the humans naming and categorizing them were stupid.
"Dead Apostles looking for you? What about them?"
What about Dead Apostles... actually, not all of them are necessarily betrayers of the True Ancestors.
Some Dead Apostles remain loyal to the True Ancestors, like Gransurg, the one who provided information to Ryuya in the Millennium Castle during the last simulation.
Hearing that those Dead Apostles who had left the Millennium Castle had returned, Ryuya remembered they didn't come back in the last simulation.
"Don't know. Gransurg said it's best if you and I go back. What do you think?"
Boredly playing with her knife and fork, having finished her meal, Crimson Moon felt recently that she was a bit tired and also wanted to eat something sour.
Her mood was inexplicably not great. Under the table, she gently kicked Ryuya.
"Go back?"
Noticing little Nero's reluctant expression beside him, Ryuya thought briefly and felt there wasn't much need to stay in Rome for now. It would be better to return to the Millennium Castle, as it wouldn't waste much time anyway.
"Then let's go back. We'll take Nero with us."
"Ah? I can go home with Teacher too?"
Very curious about the 'home' Ryuya mentioned, Nero had heard too many messages and legends about the Millennium Castle, as Ryuya and Crimson Moon often mentioned it.
"Mmm, Nero can definitely come along."
Gently patting the little girl's head, Ryuya took Nero, Crimson Moon, and Justice back to the Millennium Castle.
[Returning to the Millennium Castle, you found that besides many defected Dead Apostles gathered here, there were also many other Phantasmal Species.]
[Dead Apostles, Vampires, Youkai, Elves, Werewolves, etc. Although not as numerous as the myriad races in Uruk, in the era just after Anno Domini began, Phantasmal Species were not few.]
[Puzzled, looking at these Phantasmal Species, you received an unexpected answer.]
["Moon King, return our King to us!"]
[Staring fixedly at Crimson Moon, the Phantasmal Species had actually come for you.]
[Yes, unlike the scheming humans, now that the Age of Gods was gradually declining, the Phantasmal Species no longer possessed their former glory. Just like the youkai in the Rashomon World, in the current world, Phantasmal Species were clearly endangered.]
[But unlike the primate humans, these Phantasmal Species were clearly closer to Gaia. Sensing the birth of the Earth King from the changes on Earth over the years, the Phantasmal Species had been communicating with each other. Finally reaching a consensus, they came to the Millennium Castle to confront the Moon King.]
["Hand over our King, Crimson Moon! Give us back our King!"]
[The Earth King was not just a manifestation of Gaia, but also the King of all endangered Phantasmal Species. As the consciousness of the entire planet, your existence was their final salvation.]
[Not expecting someone to actively offer their allegiance after obtaining the Earth King title, you remembered the Earth King title inherited from the last simulation. You didn't know that acknowledged Earth King had so many benefits.]
["Tch."]
[Simply disdaining to waste words on those Phantasmal Species and Dead Apostles, Crimson Moon just glared at you fiercely. Feeling her temper growing worse, she said to leave the rest to you, as she wanted to go eat something else.]
[And so, releasing your Earth King aura, surrounded by numerous Phantasmal Species, you became the sole King of the Phantasmal Species in the Roman Empire and the surrounding continents. Except for that mysterious ancient Eastern country, you received the allegiance of all non-humans.]
[The title of Earth King played a far greater role in this era than you had imagined.]
[Originally planning to nurture Nero into the King of Rome, while you yourself became the King of all True Ancestors, Phantasmal Species, etc., the situation developed smoothly beyond expectation. While happy, you wanted to share this joy with Crimson Moon.]
[But...]
["Can't be bothered with you."]
[Her temper growing increasingly strange, even starting to act unreasonably. The Moon King's actions were something even she couldn't understand, throwing inexplicable tantrums. Looking at the constantly angry Crimson Moon, you suddenly thought of a possibility, which was...]
["Justice! Quickly check Crimson Moon's body!"]
[Because Crimson Moon's strength was immense, no doctor could diagnose her. But Justice was different. As an artificial human maid and Machine God, she possessed the complete medical knowledge of the previous epoch.]
[Nodding, she lightly scanned Crimson Moon's body. Justice's usually expressionless face showed a rare trace of surprise.]
[After briefly confirming again, Justice bowed slightly to you and Crimson Moon and said calmly, "Congratulations, Master. Congratulations, Lady Crimson Moon. You are expecting a child."]
["Huh? Justice, you mean... I'm pregnant?"]
[Looking at the serious Justice, incredulously stroking her own belly, this was the first time Crimson Moon had heard that a planetary consciousness could get pregnant.]
[But... Justice, with her absolute capabilities, had no need to lie, nor any reason to. Combined with Crimson Moon's own slight feelings, so...]
["I'm going to... be a mother?"]
[Widening her eyes as she looked at Ryuya, the Moon King was completely bewildered.]