Here ... only a short pre-chapter note. I realized now that i had written the wrong date in Chapter 3, now I am going to correct. The right one (the time in which they are actually Negi and his group) is the 1327, not the 57. This is for historical reasons (the Hundred Years War in 1357 was NOT going on, that was in fact any of its short years of 'pause').
Sorry again the error, now I leave you to the chapter.
Enjoy the reading!
Chapter 9 - Ancient grudges
(Eva's Group)
"Brat!" Eva called as soon as Takamichi let her go.
The other girls were still staring at the walls, from which the teacher's voice was originated.
"Negi... Girls..." Asuna said stroking a wall.
"What did he mean by that 'you do not forget you'? And why he has apologized to you, Eva?" she continued.
"It seemed like he had committed some horrible action!"
"I do not know! Damn, I have no idea what he was talking about! Chachazero! Cursed doll! What the brat said to you? And especially when he would have told? the girl shouted in the direction of the angle at which she had abandoned the doll.
No response.
"Chachazero!" Eva called again, her voice more irritated.
Mana pointed the beam of her flashlight at the point where the vampire was calling: it was empty.
Frowning, she left the secret room and looked around: the corridor was empty in both sides.
Even the turkish magician had disappeared.
"It must have been Abid, provided that that is his name. I thought he would recover more slowly." she said, returning.
Then she noticed the glint of something hanging from the ceiling.
Enlightening, she recognized the object: it was the Cassiopeia of Lin Shen Chao.
Without a word she retrieved it, using the throne as a climbing aid.
As she came down, all gathered around to see.
The device was reduced quite bad: a lancet missing, and various quadrants were removed, in addition to having a thin coating of rust to cover it.
Turning it, they noticed a fine inscription, where they recognized the elegant writing Negi.
It read: 'Today, July 18th, Year of the Lord 1328. Negi, Ako, Chisame, Chao, Chachamaru, Kotaro, Evangeline AK and William. Greetings from Byzantium. '.
"Wha ...?" Eva began to ask, reading her name.
"Who would be the last two? And what would mean 1330?" she added immediately after.
The homonymous exist, however unlikely, and she did not remember at all from the clock before having met Chao.
"I do not know... but we'll think to it later. We'd better hurry to get your doll before the wizards of Istanbul which by the way, we attached. Otherwise will be a warm welcome for our teacher and our companions." interjected dry Mana.
A low rumble rang out the tunnels of the crypt, which trembled violently for a few seconds.
As the shock was over, the girls went out in the corridor to look for the cause of the noise, but what they saw was only a dense dust.
"I do not like anything about this situation. Let's go out." said Mana serious.
A clicking sound began to be heard in the corridors, while the mercenary opened the way to the group.
They proceeded slowly, it was hard to see with all that dust suspended, which seemed to grow more and more dense.
In advancing, the girl at every intersection controlled the GPS, now crossed by electrostatic discharge.
After yet another turning point, she noticed a little glint in the darkness before her.
Intrigued, she lit up the area, and what she saw made her shudder: the beam of light was reflected on a large skeleton that was staggering towards her, with two emerald firebrands glowed in the eye sockets.
The hands were outstretched and clawing the void, while the jaw opened and closed with rhythmic jerks, as if he were trying to speak.
Quick as a flash, Mana pulled out a gun and shot the creature, hitting her in the shoulder.
The skeleton flew to the ground, but after a few seconds he stood up, taking its determined march despite the lack of a limb, flew a few feet away.
"What was that? What happens Tatsumiya?" Asuna asked, right behind her.
"Nothing in particular... some necromancer is trying to block us the way." the mercenary fired another shot, this time smashing the skull of the undead, which crumbled into dust.
"...and I would say with very bland attempts." she finished turning with a slight smile on her lips.
Before returning serious when she noticed other skeletons approaching from the same direction as the first.
Even these were quickly destroyed, but they were soon replaced by another small group, just popped up.
"Guys... They are pushy!" she commented, starting to shoot.
A small scream came from behind her, immediately dominated by a sharp crash.
"Mana... They're starting to arrive also from here! If we do not hurry to find a larger space to be able to move, we risk of being overwhelmed by their number." Takamichi informed her from behind.
"What's going on? I do not see anything! And do not come on him, brat...!" Eva was yelling in the meantime, from the center of the row.
Mana glanced at the GPS looking for a space large enough and well defensible: there was one, but it was behind a thick door about twenty yards away.
Ridding of the skeletons in front of her, the mercenary shouted to the others to follow her.
Running, she struck down the small groups that she met on the way, until she came to a massive stone door, with a large pentacle engraved on it.
"Help me to open it!" She ordered her companions.
Together, with great effort, they managed to move the door a few millimeters.
As it happened, a metallic click sounded in the corridor.
Promptly, all moved away, when a series of sharp spears sprang up from the floor, ready to pierce, but despite this there was a scream of pain: Yue, too slow to dodge, had been stabbed in the foot.
Ashen-faced, was babbling something through her tears of pain, trying not to move the impaled foot.
"Yue!" Nodoka cried, turning pale her as well.
With a sharp blow, Nagase severed the spear and taken into shoulder Yue, semi-conscious.
From the corridor were beginning to reach them the undead.
"Quick! Finish to open it!" Mana called attention, taking up to push with all her might, after destroying all the remaining spears.
With a final effort, the girls managed to open a chink large enough to allow the passage.
As they entered, they closed the massive door behind them.
They were in a large hall, with high ceiling supported by two large circular colonnades. At the center of the room, a large block of black marble rose up to about a meter and a half. A slab of thickness more limited there was resting above it: it was probably a sarcophagus.
Five lugubrious braziers were assigned to illuminate the room, swinging lazily hanging from the ceiling, arranged in a circle around the sarcophagus.
"Come on! Konoka, please!" Nagase called, putting gently her wounded companion on the marble surface.
Quickly, a pool of blood began to form in the wound, while Yue lost consciousness.
Konoka hastened to activate the pactio card, and how she had in her hand her fans, she healed in a few moments the foot of the classmate.
Suddenly, the braziers were extinguished with a hiss.
The blood began to boil under Ayase, while pale greenish fires flared up in place of old firebrands.
Eva shuddered.
A slight breeze stood in the hall, while with a squeal, the lid of the sarcophagus slid to the side.
A gurgling voice was perfectly audible from the dark hole that has just appeared.
"Heeello, little bitsss!"
The girls drew their weapons backing away, while Kaede took Yue and quickly receded from the foot of the sarcophagus, where she had fallen.
Slowly, a monstrous figure stood up from inside the sepulcher: a black mantle full of magical seals covering it up as if it were a mummy.
When he tore it off, almost like tissue paper, the girls stepped back further, intimidated.
"Herbert..." Evangeline murmured, with a flash of pure terror in her eyes, finding refuge behind Takamichi.
These, puzzled by the reaction of the girl, put his hand on her head, making her gently retreat a little, and then put their hands in the pockets of his suit.
Meanwhile, the creature had started to make smack all the joints, producing creepy noises, then lock with the neck bent, intent to sniff intensely with his nostrils dilated.
"Yooou..." he said, inhaling again, "Yeees! You have his smell!" he shouted, and began to hopping with joy, with a wicked sparkle in his eyes.
"He has done very, veeery bad to the Count!" He said, stopping with very serious expression and looking at the present with a grim look.
The girls looked at each other quizzically.
"S-sorry, b-but could you te-tell us who are you t-talking about?" Nodoka asked in a terrified voice.
"The boy! The prey of the Count!" the being yelled, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"He dared to defeat the Count."
Then he returned to sniff.
"Boy?" Takamichi asked curiously "What boy?".
"Pooowerful!" The creature said with a horrifying and broad smile, spreading his arms.
"With a looong stick! I will use it as a spit: yes! Yes!" he explained as if it was the invention of the century, then seemed to notice something "I feel... AH! There is also the other prey! The succulent and sweet girl!" then bubbled with ecstatic air.
"Come on, baby! The Count was veeery thirsty!" he said, extending an arm towards Evangeline.
The girls saw their companion stiffen, with tears in her eyes and clenched teeth, start walking, unsteadily and mechanical towards the aberration.
"N-no! I will not! Stop me!" the girl began to pray desperately, as she passed next to Takamichi.
The other girls were watching amazed at the scene, when Mana moved up behind Eve and violently pulled her back, taking her by the shoulders.
Herbert made a puzzled face.
"Hmm? And who are you?" the voice of the vampire changed radically, taking on a decidedly darker tone" How dare you deny the Count his prey?"
And without waiting for an answer, with incredible speed threw it on the mercenary, with claws extended toward her arms.
His leap was interrupted by a violent impact with a fist of Takamichi, which threw him to the side.
Snarling, the beast quickly got to his feet, and immediately found himself targeted by a large number of shurikens and bullets, which just even touch the skin.
Again, he dived towards Mana and Takahata reacted again with one of his powerful uprights, but this time, to everyone's surprise, the vampire dodged the fast blow turning on itself.
The action took place at such speed that the mercenary had time to shoot only two shots before being landed by the beast.
This quickly got up astride the girl and then give her a powerful clawed toward the face.
Mana was able to parry with one arm, in which three very deep furrows opened.
A strangled cry came out from her lips, as the vampire took a second blow, which was blocked by a large and thick blade that came between the two.
With a wrist shot, Asuna brought the blade toward the creature, and with a grunt worthy of a bodybuilder levered on the sword with all her strength and her weight.
The blade sank into the creature's chest with creepy creaking and crashing of broken bones, before you lift up the figure from the body of the mercenary and hurl it to the ground nearby.
In a few moments the beast was back on its feet, despite the abdomen crumpled up.
Meanwhile, Nodoka and Konoka were racing towards Evangeline, and they were holding the little girl nailed to the ground: she still was trying to wriggle to execute the order given to her. In the meantime, Fei was also thrown into the fray.
"What's going on? Who is this monster?" Konoka asked while blocking an arm of the girl.
"He's... a Vampire. Mighty. Ancient... It is he who has cursed me!" Eva also was desperately trying to stop, but she could not regain control of her body.
Fortunately for her companions, currently her strength was that of a ten-year-any, given her limitation in the use of magic so, after a knowing look, Konoka blocked the limbs of the vampire leaning above with her own, while Nodoka evoked her Diarius Ejus.
"Too bad you're not Secchan... I should remember this!" she muttered to herself, sullenly.
"T-tell me his n-name, Eva! From what he s-said, he seems to have met with Professor Negi! "The librarian asked with unexpected courage.
"I see ..." Evangeline said with a smirk, "His name was Herbert von Shulter, the last time I met him.".
Quick, the librarian said the name and immediately images and writings began to appear on the book ..
Starting to read, it seemed written by a sick mind.
Disconnected phrases appeared and disappeared on its pages, images flowed and then become large carmine-red spots.
Nodoka was as mesmerized by the whirlwind of madness, but soon she recovered and began leafing through the diary backward, digging in the memories of the vampire.
In a flash she realized that she had leafed through over five hundred years of history: by now she jumped the pages in blocks, all the same, in which it was frantically repeated a single word, written distorted, almost engraved by hate with which it was designed.
Revenge.
Then she met a page entirely covered by an image: a guy probably fifteen or sixteen years old, with reddish hair and a long rod hanging on his back, surrounded by three hooded figures, were lifting a heavy slab of black marble.
The boy's face was serious and at the same time relieved.
"Professor..." Nodoka recognized him, his heart pounding.
The date indicated on the next page was August 13, 1332.
"Nodoka!" she heard Konoe shouting , next to her.
Turning around, she was just in time to dodge the body of Ku, like a pebble thrown by a slap of the vampire.
The battle was still in progress.
Takamichi and Mana were struggling to keep their distance from the monster, who seemed minimally affected by the hail of bullets and blows that was pouring on him, while Asuna had just suffered the same fate of Fei.
After a further flurry of shuriken thrown by Kaede and her copies, a powerful dark aura began to surround the vampire.
With a roar, the beast threw himself like a bullet towards Takamichi, who with great difficulty dodged throwing himself to the ground.
The Count completely ignored the professor, in order to land upon the door, which shattered without any problems.
As he left the room, a strong tremor shook all the catacombs, followed by a long lament of agony.
Then everything went silent.
"It's... is it over?" Konoka asked, feeling Eva stop fidgeting "What happened?" she continued, turning away.
"I think he fled..." Takahata said , dusting the dress while he was getting up.
"Gi-girls..." Nodoka called, approaching.
"Y-you say that it is p-possible that he is... is the professor?" she asked, showing the page of the diary, which was rapidly fading.
"It would seem him!" Asuna said, rubbing her shoulder "Although I would say that it is Nag... his father." she corrected herself.
The others looked at her surprised.
"Without glasses they are identical!" The girl justified herself, embarrassed.
"He's the brat. He has my ring." Evangeline pointed out after having observed the image, when she was back on her feet.
In that moment Ku reached them limping, with on her shoulder Yue.
"Wow! He was strong, that man!" she said amused" Too bad he's gone!"
-End Chapter-
Okay, sorry for the delay. The fact is that these days have been extremely ... 'full'.
But return to the story!
What did you think of the chapter? Maybe a little obvious, but hey! a thousand year old vampire can not be beaten by Negi (no matter how powerful) just like that!
But tell me yours! Do not be afraid to comment!
Until next time, hoping to post the next chapter soon!