The reason she thought of that cross-dressing vampire was because the girl remembered that he possessed an incomparably powerful Sacred Gear within him.
That was the Evil Eye of World Stoppage!
This Sacred Gear was extremely powerful. It could freeze the time of objects within its field of vision, and it was also the power of Balor, the demon god of Celtic mythology.
Whether human or demon, it could stop their movements. Its only flaw was that it could not stop anyone stronger than its wielder.
Not only that, this Sacred Gear was not even complete. What Gasper possessed was a Sacred Gear that had reached the level of a "Sacred Gear."
There was another personality within his body. It was not a vampire, but an existence born from the concept of darkness, due to the influence of the Norse evil god Balor mixing in at his birth. It was itself the reincarnation of a fragment of the consciousness of Balor, the demon god of Celtic mythology.
As for Balor's abilities, they were the so-called Eyes of Death Perception. Its stopping ability was enhanced to a cheat-like level, while the darkness it controlled could cover an entire town and create unknown creatures.
The Evil Eye of World Stoppage was merely one of the abilities of the Sacred Gear known as the Beast of the New Moon of Forbidden Night and Veil of True Darkness. Once the two were combined, they became the new Sacred Gear, the Evil Eye King of Time-Space Domination.
Once someone completely mastered the power of this Sacred Gear, they would possess the potential to become a Transcender.
At that thought, Miss Moonlit could no longer suppress the impulse in her heart. Although she did not yet know whether that cross-dressing vampire was in the castle at this time.
She still wanted to go and see what was happening. A Sacred Gear was right before her eyes. How could she willingly pass it by without taking a look?
Besides that cross-dressing vampire, the vampire companion by his side also possessed a Sacred Gear.
That was Valerie Tepes, who was also of mixed blood.
The Sacred Gear she possessed was the Holy Grail, one of the three true Holy Relic Sacred Gears, a Sacred Gear set consisting of three Grails.
Legend had it that it was used at the Last Supper to hold Jesus's blood. It was an item capable of overturning the laws of life, possessing the power to reverse or distort life. It could grant others a certain degree of immortality or resurrect things that had perished.
Resurrection/immortality!
Even if it was only resurrection and immortality to a certain extent...
With the temptation of these two Sacred Gears, the girl had to follow them and take a look.
The night grew deeper and deeper.
Even the moon was shrouded by dark clouds, leaving the world extremely dim.
But this had no effect on nocturnal creatures like vampires. The journey went very smoothly, and Miss Moonlit followed those vampires without leaving any trace of being discovered.
She did not know how long they had walked. Gradually, the sky even began to brighten.
But they should be close, right?
The girl looked at the deep mountains not far ahead. Those vampires would not dare face direct sunlight.
She also vaguely remembered that the vampires of the DxD World lived in the remote mountains of Europe, far from humans. The town built by the vampires lay behind those mountains...
They had two internal factions, which were hostile to each other.
They were the patriarchal Tepes Faction and the matriarchal Camilla Faction.
Before long, they passed through the mountains and, sure enough, arrived in an unfamiliar town.
This town was not too different from those outside. High-rise buildings stood everywhere, yet it still retained a medieval style.
The entire city was shrouded in a thick mist. The chill was piercing, and sunlight could not be seen. The damp fog seemed to possess a life of its own as it brushed against one's body... It would probably make ordinary people feel extremely uncomfortable, but for vampires, it was just right.
Watching the carriage fully enter the town, Miss Moonlit hesitated for a few seconds before following it inside.
There were quite a few people living in the town. No, rather, almost everyone living here was a vampire. Compared to human cities, this town was colder and quieter.
Once she reached the town, the girl could no longer stay hidden. The environment here did not allow it.
But since they were all vampires, it should be fine for her to simply enter, right?
With that thought, Moonlit made a slight change to her appearance... then walked into the town. Even if something happened, she should be able to escape.
Compared to heading for the angels' Heaven, the Fallen Angels' territory, or the demons' Underworld, this was merely a vampire town... It was not even the central castle, so the danger was not that great.
Still, she had to remain extremely vigilant...
Vampires of the Tepes Faction
"Security really is tight!"
Miss Moonlit stood in a dark corner, making her attire as inconspicuous as possible while watching the vampire guards passing by.
Fortunately, this was merely a town on the outskirts of the vampire faction. Although there were patrols, they were not overly strict. After all, many vampires lived in the town, including quite a few mixed-blood vampires and a small number of humans.
But the ancient castle in the center was different. There were vampire guards every few steps, and their strength was not bad either.
The girl could even sense vampires inside whose strength rivaled Higher Demons. As for whether there were vampires comparable to Demon King Class beings, she did not know.
She could barely deal with the strength of a Higher Demon, but she did not dare take too many risks against quasi-demon kings or stronger. After all, Miss Moonlit's level had not fully risen yet, and her strength was limited...
If she were level 80 now, she could have charged in openly.
"Looks like there's no way to save them. Sorry, humans..."
Miss Moonlit watched the carriage carrying the humans pass through the town and arrive at the gates of the vampire castle, unable to stop herself from sighing.
Originally, the girl had planned to save them once she followed the carriage to the vampire territory, but she had not expected the vampire faction to be so powerful.
Although it could not compare with the three major factions, it was far beyond any ordinary force.
After all, this was the vampires' homeland.
Vampires had always possessed long lives. Who knew whether some ancient undead were sleeping in coffins? Once there was any disturbance, they might awaken from those coffins.
Most vampires grew stronger with age. Those ancient undead sleeping in coffins definitely would not be weak.
Speaking of age, none of them should be older than her, right? At least, none of them were older than she was now...
Moonlit Wife was over ten thousand years old.
Of course, that was not meant as dislike. A woman three years older brought gold bricks; thirty years older brought a kingdom; three hundred years older brought immortal pills. Three thousand years older, and she would join the ranks of immortals.
Moonlit Wife was ten thousand years older. Even Chang'e herself could not make her trade!
"...I should find that cross-dressing vampire first!"
Watching the carriage completely enter the castle, the girl could only withdraw her gaze. Entering the castle with her current strength would be too risky.
The castle was where the core pure-blooded vampires lived. The guards there were far beyond those in the outer town.
Although it was easy for her to disguise herself because she was also a vampire, and most vampires would directly regard her as one of their own.
They were still different in the end.
Besides, even if they were both vampires, it did not mean there would be peace among them.
Differences in factions, families, mixed blood and pure blood...
All kinds of disputes and conflicting interests made vampire society extremely complicated.
Her targets, Sparda Vlad and Valerie Tepes, were both mixed-blood vampires. They should not live in the castle. Perhaps she could find them in this town?
That would be wonderful. She would not need to risk breaking into the castle.
The defenses of the outer territory were strict as well, but they were much easier to deal with than those of the castle.
Entering the streets of the town, the girl wandered around outside... hoping she might directly spot that cross-dressing vampire.
Though it was a foolish method, the odds were still fairly high. The girl vaguely remembered... that vampire simply could not control his Sacred Gear, and every time it went out of control, it caused a huge commotion...
It was also for that reason that he had been hated and rejected by his fellow vampires since childhood. Even after he later escaped the vampire faction, he was still despised outside because he could not control his Sacred Gear.
That continued until he met the Demon Princess, Rias, and became her servant, finally finding a place to belong.
Unfortunately, after wandering around for half the day, the girl found nothing. Then, upon seeing a tavern... she considered it for a moment and walked inside.
There were quite a few customers inside. Perhaps she could obtain the information she wanted...
Pushing open the tavern door, the girl entered.
Compared to the desolation outside, the interior was incredibly lively. It seemed that even vampires could not change such habits.
That made sense. Aside from the smog that never dispersed from the sky and the central castle, this town was no different from human towns outside. It was merely that the human residents had been replaced with vampires.
Moreover, compared to pure-blooded vampires, human-vampire hybrids could survive on human food, though they could also drink blood.
Other than being unable to endure sunlight, they were no different from humans. There were quite a few such mixed-blood vampires in the town.
Their status here was simply rather low.
After ordering a glass of the local specialty liquor from the bar, the girl took the cup to an empty seat. Then she removed the hat concealing her appearance, and her snow-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
Noticing the girl's appearance, many people in the tavern froze, a hint of amazement appearing on their faces. Even among vampires, who generally had excellent looks, the girl was exceptionally beautiful.
Fortunately, no one rashly came over to strike up a conversation. Vampires had a clear hierarchy, and they did not wish to be punished over something trivial.
Only at certain special occasions, such as balls, could they boldly pursue and confess their feelings to girls they liked.
Before long, the atmosphere returned to normal.
People would occasionally still steal glances toward Miss Moonlit, but they no longer reacted with such shock.
No one came to question her just because her face was unfamiliar, either. Unlike inside the castle, the town was home to numerous vampires and mixed-bloods, making it complicated beyond measure. A single unfamiliar face could not possibly cause much of a stir.
As long as they confirmed she was a vampire, there was nothing to care about.
It was precisely because she knew this that Miss Moonlit removed her disguise in the tavern. Otherwise, hiding herself too carefully would only appear stranger.
Raising the glass, the girl held it before her cute little nose and sniffed it, frowning slightly...
There was a faint smell of blood in the liquor.
It should have been mixed with blood, and likely human blood at that.
For vampires, adding blood probably made it taste better, but she did not need it. Unless they were targets she had chosen, she would not casually drink another person's blood.
Setting down the glass, the girl began listening to the conversations around her.
Most of it was useless chatter, though there was occasionally some interesting news. Miss Moonlit knew very little about the vampires of the DxD World, and many things were entirely new to her.
Several hundred years ago, the vampire world suffered a huge schism due to a certain incident, giving rise to the male-dominated Tepes Faction and the female-dominated Camilla Faction.
And now, the girl was within the territory of the Tepes Faction.
There were also many vampire families within these two major factions. As far as the girl knew, Gasper was a descendant of the famous Vladi family of the Tepes Faction.
Valerie was even a descendant of the Tepes royal family. However, neither of them was a pure-blooded vampire. They were mixed-blood children born from vampires and humans.
Vampires were a race with a strict hierarchy that placed enormous importance on bloodlines. Humans were viewed by them as food and livestock, while children born with humans were called mongrels, their status low and their existence insignificant.
Chapter of the Past
What a headache!
The girl propped her chin on her right hand and looked at the sky with a worried expression.
The thing she least wanted to see had happened. The two vampires she had her eyes on were mixed-bloods, yet they were inside the heavily guarded castle.
It had already been four or five days since the girl arrived in the vampire town. During those days, she had not found that cross-dressing vampire anywhere in town.
At first, she thought that guy had already escaped this place. But the information she gathered in the tavern and elsewhere proved that the vampire was still within this vampire faction.
And he was inside the castle...
To confirm the accuracy of the information, she had even purchased clues related to the bounty on the Sacred Gear. They also indicated that he was in the vampire castle, imprisoned and guarded...
It should be said that many mixed-bloods from prominent Tepes families and royal bloodlines were confined in one place.
So, she now had two choices before her. Either give up on these two Sacred Gears and leave, or risk infiltrating the vampire castle and take those two vampires away!
As for why she intended to take them away instead of directly stealing their Sacred Gears, it was mainly because Gasper's situation was rather special. Strictly speaking, the Sacred Gear in his body had not been created by God of the Bible.
Instead, it was the manifestation of the power and authority of Balor, the Norse evil god.
The reason Gasper could possess this Sacred Gear was entirely because he himself could be considered the reincarnation of Balor's consciousness.
The Sacred Gear, the Evil Eye of World Stoppage, was only one part of the evil god's complete power. Even if she could take that Sacred Gear now, the girl was concerned whether the Beast of the New Moon that shrouded Forbidden Night and darkness could still form.
It would undoubtedly be simplest and most complete to wait until both appeared and combined into a Sacred Gear before stripping it away.
As for the other Sacred Gear, the "Holy Grail," she could seize it first...
Before you continue