"Blood Moon Barrier, activate!"

Under Yuri’s control, a thousand-meter circle around the old castle was enveloped by a strange blood moon that rose, tinting everything in sight with a layer of red.

In the castle's garden, the vampire maids were lined up, cutting their own wrists with sharp knives and letting their blood fall on the garden vegetation.

The plants absorbed their blood, gradually changing their original color to red and swaying wildly.

The flowers also became even more vibrant, as if the blood was about to drip from them.

Inside the castle, at every window, there was at least one fully armed guard, hiding in the darkness.

Their originally red eyes were the perfect disguise under the blood moon.

However, this was not enough.

If a real war broke out, these guards would be useless.

To ensure complete security, it was necessary to awaken more powerful guardians.

Yuri entered a dark room.

The room was empty, except for the front wall, where five coffins of varying sizes were propped up.

The quality and material of these coffins were almost as refined as those of Shirley and her mother, for inside them were sleeping the five most powerful guardians of the Bartoli family from ancient times.

They possessed power comparable to a True Ancestor and had participated in countless battles.

Even without waking Shirley’s mother, they were sufficient to ensure the castle’s safety.

"She who pierced the gods—Alyss, Infinite Darkness—Sheila, Blood Countess—Audrey, Azarada—Lamina, Wild Massacre—Merlin!"

"Now, awaken from your slumber, it’s time to serve the Bartoli family..."

As he spoke, Yuri bit his finger and let a few drops of blood fall onto the coffins, which were quickly absorbed.

After absorbing the blood, the coffins began to tremble one by one.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The first to open was the coffin on the far left, where the guardian known as Alyss was sleeping.

Her greatest achievement was as her title indicated—she pierced the gods!

The coffin lid fell heavily to the ground, and a woman dressed in a somewhat torn black and white dress emerged from within.

At her waist, she carried three sharp swords on each side.

These six swords symbolized the six gods she had pierced.

Additionally, she had marks on her face symbolizing the "piercing," like piercings in her ears, nose, and tongue… and further down, on her breasts, there were two… and even further down, at the end...

"Are there prey so soon?"

Alyss smiled darkly.

The second coffin to be opened was beside her, and a black mist began to emanate as soon as the lid was slightly lifted.

When the coffin was fully opened, a woman wrapped in black mist slowly emerged.

As the mist dissipated, it revealed a woman with long black hair, a black dress, black lipstick, black eyeshadow, and nails painted black.

"I didn’t sleep very well..."

Sheila yawned and spoke sleepily.

The next one to be opened was the coffin on the far right.

As soon as it was opened, a strong smell of blood spread, waking the others from their sleepy confusion.

"It’s been a while, my dears..."

A woman dressed elegantly, very beautiful with a great presence, but seemingly ordinary compared to the others, emerged. Such appearance could be mimicked by humans.

However, as one of the five guardians, she was not as simple as she appeared.

Her love for blood and her mastery over it were such that even a True Ancestor would have to consult her.

"Ah! I was having a lovely dream until you woke me up!"

Beside her, a childish voice complained.

From a small coffin emerged a tiny girl, looking about five or six years old, even shorter than Shirley.

She stood with her hands on her hips, speaking angrily.

On her small body, many stitched wounds were visible, none of which seemed to be battle scars.

They resembled more like occasional injuries, such as a cut from eating, a fall while walking, a bump against a table edge, or an accident from playing.

So why could such an unlucky girl be a guardian?

Lamina thought scars were cool and never healed them, which should clarify the matter.

Finally, the largest coffin was opened.

She wore black armor covered in spikes, each spike long enough to injure anyone who approached, yet they did not hinder her movement.

One could imagine what would happen if a "tank" human covered in spikes invaded enemy territory.

"Why were we awakened this time?"

A hoarse, deep female voice came from the armor covering her face.

Upon hearing this, the five guardians fixed their gazes on Yuri.

Under their oppressive stares, Yuri maintained his serious expression and said, "This time… it’s really to guard against certain things, but before that..."

Yuri’s gaze turned grave.

Even without further explanation, everyone there understood his meaning.

"Then, let’s begin..."

...

"Cheers!!!"

The scene shifted to a smaller room, where five large mugs of beer and a goblet clinked together.

"Ah, finally a reason to go out after so long..."

"Yes, hahaha, this time… ahem, she’s still not here, it’s really great!"

"Ah! My glass broke, you’ll pay for this!"

"Little girl, stop bothering and go play with your dolls."

"Who are you calling a little girl, you old hag!"

"Ah? You idiot..."

The atmosphere was quite... lively...