Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. This story is an alternate version of the Nagoya arc with differences from the original; please refer to the footnotes at the end. Once again, I would like to thank my beta readers, ResidentialPsycho and Falchion1984, for their help in making this fic possible.
Chapter 19: When Livestock Revolt, Part II
"Now, Narumi-san!" the blue-haired boy cried as he sent Esther's head flying through the air. Since Wesker's servant and bodyguard was stronger than an average vampire soldier, both Satoshi and Narumi had prepared for the possibility that decapitation alone might not be enough to destroy him. *1*
"Don't worry, leave it to me, Sato!" Narumi reassured him as he drew back his trident and charged at Esther's still-standing headless body. Thrusting the three wickedly sharp prongs, Narumi pierced the heart with a spray of blood and a satisfying gurgle. He then poured all the demonic power he could muster into the weapon, and the body soon turned to ash and was scattered on the breeze.
Were it not for the fact that they still had Wesker to deal with, Satoshi would have ordered Krad to relax, if not release his hold on him, as soon as Esther was destroyed.
Now that their biggest obstacle to Wesker was removed, Narumi and Satoshi quickly joined their other squad mates, including Daisuke and the Harada twins, who no longer had to fight the vampire decoys after they turned to ash upon the demise of their creator. With Wesker being their final and most powerful opponent, the three squads surrounded him in a large circle to block off any escape attempts he might make.
Not that the proud noble would ever consider trying to escape- not from a gaggle of insolent humans whom he regarded as little more than unruly cattle, their presence and affront and the notion of them being able to kill him being laughable.
If nothing else, his pride would ensure that he'd fight to the end…though, just whose end remained very much in question.
"Good work, Shusaku!" Narumi praised his friend. "Just try to hold him a little longer for the kids and me to finish the job!"
"'Finish the job'?" Wesker sneered as he raised one arm, eyeing with distaste the demon chain he'd been bound with. He gave the expression of one who was wordlessly asking if he were supposed to be impressed before forcing Yuu and Kimizuki back with a wide slash of his long sword. "You talk as if I'm some pushover like those lower vampires you just eliminated. Your pride and over-confidence is foolish, human. And both will cost you your life as well as the lives of your subordinates!"
Instead of trying to break off Shusaku's chain like everyone had expected, Wesker shocked them by taking his sword and slicing off his own bound arm before jumping back several yards, seemingly unbothered by the blood that was pouring out of the stump below his right elbow.
"Wh…what the heck is he doing!?" Risa asked in astonishment as she and Riku lowered their weapons slightly.
Alarmed, Shinoa called out to the twins with an outstretched arm and hand.
"Don't let your guard down, you two! Even with a missing arm, that noble mustn't be taken lightly!"
"She's right!" Mitsuba added. "Everyone, keep your weapons raised!"
"So, what are we going to do now, Sato?" Daisuke asked his squad leader as he moved slightly closer to Satoshi. However, the red-haired boy still stayed far enough from his squad leader to ensure that Wesker wouldn't be able to slip past them easily.
"I'm not sure," Satoshi answered calmly as he looked down at the noble's severed arm that had just landed before his feet a moment earlier. "But there's no way we can hold onto this formation and keep Wesker from escaping if he decides to try. That leaves us with only one option…"
Before Daisuke could ask his squad leader what he meant, Satoshi quickly cleared his throat to distract the vampire lord's attention from Narumi.
"Hey, freak!" he called to the noble as he pointed his glowing gold-toned katana at Wesker and tried his best to imitate Yuichiro's mocking lilt. "I know you dumb leeches can reattach your severed limbs, but can you grow back a new one like a lizard if we vaporize them with a curse?" *2*
Forgetting the others for a moment, Wesker turned around and narrowed his eyes at Satoshi.
"What are you getting at, human?" he growled.
"Oh, nothing! Just wanted to test out a little theory of mine, that's all!" the blue-haired boy answered in a semi-playful tone accompanied by a grin as he quickly positioned his sword downward and speared Wesker's severed arm with his blade like it was a hunk of meat before glancing over the noble's shoulder and giving Kimizuki a wink.
Before Wesker could react, Satoshi quickly drew back his sword with the noble's severed arm and swung it in Kimizuki's direction. As with Riku's sai and demon contractor Mileena, Krad ensured that Wesker's arm flew directly towards the pink-haired boy without fail after it finally slipped off his blade.
Catching on to Satoshi's plan quickly, Kimizuki easily caught the severed limb with the blade of one of his twin swords and pinned it to the ground, twisting it around slightly as he followed the other boy's lead and gave Wesker a taunting grin.
"Now that you mention it, that's a very interesting question, Hiwatari!" the pink-haired boy exclaimed. "Why don't we find out?"
Turning around to face Kimizuki, Wesker gave him his most intimidating stare, his dark eye shadow making his crimson eyes even more intense.
"I wouldn't do that, boys..." he warned softly. "It would be unwise to make me angry…"
"Oh, is that supposed to frighten me?" Kimizuki mocked. Like Yuichiro, he did not scare easily. "Could it be that this is your dominant arm? Well, if you want it back, you better start begging before I cook and feed it to the crows!"
Glaring at the pink-haired boy, Wesker started to take a step in his direction.
"I'll kill you, you little bastard!" he snarled, gnashing his teeth so hard everyone could hear his jaw creaking.
"Huh, what did you say?" Kimizuki teased while cupping a hand to his ear. "If you ask real nice, I might just give you back your arm in one piece!"
As expected, the pink-haired boy's snarky comment struck a nerve with the proud noble who would never do something so degrading as to beg a lowly human for anything. As if Wesker didn't already look creepy enough when he frowned with disdain at watching Satoshi and Kimizuki fool around with his arm, the noble's face twisted into an even uglier, monstrous expression as he finally charged towards Kimizuki with his sword drawn.
"Filthy human livestock! I'll kill you all!" he roared.
As soon as the noble made his move, Narumi, Satoshi, and Shinoa gave the signal for their squads to close in on Wesker.
"Here he comes!" Shinoa cried. "Close off his escape and finish him!"
"Heh, easier said than done, Shinoa!" Mitsuba scoffed, but obeyed nonetheless. Swinging her demon axe, she unleashed the energy crackling within to slow down the enraged noble, leaving him open to attack from the others.
Unlike the rest of their squads, Kimizuki stood his ground since he knew Wesker would surely come after him to reclaim his severed arm.
The pink-haired boy did not even raise his free sword to defend himself which puzzled the vampire lord charging towards him until he caught sight of an additional three humans standing behind Kimizuki: a young man in his mid-twenties flanked by two teenage boys. All three were armed with long-ranged weapons aimed at him.
"Good job, Kimizuki! We'll take it from here!" Shinya called from behind the pink-haired boy as he gave the signal for Yoichi and Takeshi to fire with him.
With three powerful demonic projectiles flying towards him, Wesker was forced to break off his attack on Kimizuki in order to defend himself.
As expected from a vampire lord of his station, Wesker was able to deflect and vaporize the incoming demonic bullets. But, as the energy that shaped itself into tigers, crows, and phoenixes burst into halos of light before his eyes, his vision became more and more dazzled until he could see only a confusing mishmash of half-light and indistinct shadows.
For a vampire, such blindness would last only for a moment, but that was all it took for Yuichiro to run him through with her sword from behind. At the sudden attack, Wesker howled, this time in pain more than anger, and reached back with his free arm to grab Yuu. But it was too late and she'd already leapt away. It didn't take the noble long to realize that Yuichiro was not a typical JIDA soldier and that her weapon was no ordinary one if it could cause him a great deal of pain from the wound it inflicted.
Collapsing to his knees, Wesker placed the hand of his only arm to his chest where Yuichiro's sword had exited after entering his body from the back. In addition to dark blood, black mist also came out of the vampire lord's ghastly wound.
"Wh..what's going on here?" he gasped. "Why isn't my wound healing!?"
"Well, that's how it is with cursed weapons. It looks like you vamps take your enemies far too lightly!" Narumi said sharply before calling out to his nearest subordinates to finish what Yuichiro had started.
"Yayoi! Risa! Riku! Finish him!" he ordered.
"Right, sir!" the young auburn-haired woman shot back as she and the Harada twins rushed in to destroy the weakened noble once and for all.
Being the closest of the three, Yayoi jumped into the air, her sword angled for the kill as she aimed for Wesker's head. But, the vampire lord was far from ready to accept defeat and easily caught the blade of her weapon with his free hand.
With a feral snarl, he twisted the weapon hard enough to throw her to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, he snatched up his own sword again and rose, his tall figure looming over the three young women.
"I refuse to be killed by pathetic livestock…" Wesker snarled before raising his weapon, intent on using his remaining strength to cut Yayoi and the Harada twins down. The noble knew he wouldn't be able to fight off all the humans who had him maimed and surrounded but figured that if he was going to go down, he would take a least one or two of them with him.
Alarmed, Narumi called out to his auburn-haired subordinate.
"Yayoi!"
However, before the brunet sergeant could jump to her aid, Risa acted quickly and made an upward swipe with her right fan at Wesker, slicing off his remaining hand at the wrist and rendering him completely helpless. Without his other arm, the noble could not make a grab for his newly severed hand but Riku decided not to take any chances and quickly flung one of her sai at the appendage, spearing it through the palm and carrying it several dozen yards away. The flight ended with the hand pinned to a tree at the far side of park, far out of the doomed Wesker's reach.
"It's over, vampire…" Narumi said calmly as he walked up to the white-haired vampire lord with Yuichiro at his side. "You should have run away when you had the chance but your pride and over-confidence blinded you. Kind of ironic when you said those same qualities would end up costing me and my subordinates our lives, don't you think?"
Knowing that he had depleted the last of his strength and energy to fight and that the wound inflicted on him by Yuichiro was likely to be fatal, Lucal Wesker collapsed to his knees again and gave Narumi one last defiant glare.
"Don't expect me to beg, human," he snarled.
"Not even to save your life?" Yuichiro challenged.
"Never. I'd rather die than suffer the humiliation of begging lowly worms like you to spare me," the vampire lord sneered.
Narumi sighed. Although a bit disappointed, the brunet sergeant couldn't say that he was surprised to hear such an answer from a noble like Wesker. Or any vampire noble for that matter.
"As you wish," Narumi said as he raised his trident. "Since you did put up a good fight, I suppose we can at least grant you a dignified death, Lord Wesker."
Yuichiro frowned. For some reason she could not make sense of, she found herself almost pitying Wesker in his last moments of prideful but futile defiance. She said nothing, however, as she watched Narumi deliver the death blow, finishing off the white-haired vampire lord and scattering his ashes to the winds. *3*
After the threat had past, all three squads were finally able to relax. A few members even took a moment to celebrate their victory by cheering or high-fiving each other.
"Whoo hoo! We did it!" Shinoa cheered as she took Mitsuba in a bear-hug. Normally, the blonde girl hated public displays of affection but, since she was also in a good mood, Mitsuba decided to humor her squad leader and did not resist Shinoa's tight hold.
"Miss Endo, are you alright?" Risa asked gently as she and Riku helped the older woman to her feet.
Yayoi smiled as she patted Risa's hand and accepted the twins' assistance.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, both of you," she said.
"You're welcome," Riku replied. "I'm glad we were able to beat that monster."
"Yeah, me too," Daisuke agreed as he and Satoshi approached the three women before shooting a glance in Yuichiro and Narumi's direction. "Though I really must admit, that Lucal bastard looked quite scary when you and Kimizuki riled him, Sato. I've never seen anyone wear so much make-up, even the little Miss Haradas," he joked, ignoring the annoyed glances the twins were sending his way.
Satoshi chuckled. "Well, it was quite necessary. I'm just glad Kimiziku was able to catch on quickly and played along so well."
"You're welcome," the pink-haired boy said as he walked up from behind Satoshi and Daisuke. "Though I'd appreciate it if you guys didn't talk about me as if I weren't here, Hiwatari."
Satoshi rolled his eyes. "Of course, Kimizuki. I meant it as praise, you know."
Kimizuki smirked. "I do. I was just kidding."
The three boys looked at each other for a moment before they busted into good-natured laughter.
Though he knew that the mission was far from over, Narumi said nothing but smiled and allowed his subordinates to have their moment. In a time of war, any reason they could find to laugh or smile was a good one, at least that's the way he saw it. Shifting his attention to Yuichiro, Narumi was about to ask if she was unhurt before they both heard Yoichi calling out to them.
"Hey, Yuu!" Yoichi cried, waving to catch Yuichiro's attention before he raced over and threw his arms around her. Both suddenly recalled that day he'd found her, miraculously unharmed, after she'd run afoul of a vampire who had broken out of a lab near their school and been thrown out of a window by said creature.
And Yoichi was grateful that this time, Guren wasn't there to pull them apart.
"Hey, Yoi!" Yuu greeted as she returned the younger boy's hug. "Thank you for helping us; your timing back there was perfect!"
"Well, to be honest, we couldn't have done it without Shinya's guidance," Yoichi admitted as he turned his head towards the major general's direction.
Looking over Yoichi's shoulder, Yuu found herself smiling at the sight of Shinya approaching with Takeshi at his side.
"I see…" she said. "I'm glad."
"Good to see you too, Yuichiro…" Shinya said good-naturedly.
"Likewise, Shinya," Yuu replied as she released Yoichi and asked, "How are Guren and the others doing?"
At the younger girl's question, Shinya frowned slightly. "I haven't seen them since we parted this morning," the older man confessed.
Yuichiro's brow furrowed in concern for her guardian and the rest of his squad.
"And you haven't heard anything from them either?"
Shinya shook his head. "No…there was no time for anything like that. I know you're concerned for Guren, but, I assure you, he's more than capable of taking care of himself and his squad."
"That's what I told Miss Harada and the rest of the newbies earlier," Narumi added. "We've already done our part. Now, we should let them do theirs."
"But didn't you say we can assist them if we finished early?" Yuichiro persisted.
"Yes, we will if we don't hear from them soon, I promise you, Yuichiro," Shinya assured. "But for now, please trust them, trust Guren, like you've always done."
The ravenette sighed and closed her eyes, but she knew her superiors were right. Since the day he took her in, Yuichiro had never seen Guren fail to return from a mission alive and in one piece. She could only hope that won't be changing any time soon.
"Okay… I understand, Shinya."
SSSSSS
"Everyone, stay back! Let me handle this!" Guren ordered before charging towards his opponent.
Though Guren had seen, and killed, quite a few vampires in his time, this one stood out from the rest. He was an incredibly obese noble vampire dressed like a circus performer. As ridiculous as that might sound and look, it was clear this particular nosferatu was no joke, for he turned with surprising agility and hissed at him, his fingertips elongating into vicious claws.
Normally, Sayuri and Shigure, Guren's more fragile subordinates, had absolute faith in their commander's abilities to fight difficult opponents alone. But the sheer size of the vampire lord, Mel Stefano, was enough to make them have doubts since the monster made Guren look like a dwarf in comparison.
However, Guren charged forward, undeterred by the monster five times his size. He lunged, pushing his body to the limits as cut his sword through the vampire's thick fat and ribs, piercing his heart. Guren would never admit it, but he knew that his victory was likely made possible by Stefano's limited mobility in the narrow subway that served as their battlefield.
With blood dripping down his mouth and splattering onto his clothing, the elephant-sized vampire lord glared at Guren with his small crimson eyes.
"Don't think this means you've won, human worm!" he snarled. "It won't be long before the rest of your kind is enslaved by us!"
Unfazed by the threat since it wasn't the first time he heard one like it from a vampire, Guren shot Stefano a dirty look.
"Just shut up and die already, you pig!" he growled and finally sliced the weakened vampire lord in half to finish him off.
Still, despite both his victory and his bluster, Guren was in rough shape. Mel Stefano's girth had proven quite deceptive, for he was a far more powerful enemy than one would've suspected. Though Guren had slain the nosferatu, he was little better off: his dark uniform was caked with blood from the gashes made by his opponent's knife-like claws and his body ached all over from the bruises that were the result of being thrown around the subway like a rag doll.
Once his opponent was finally reduced to ash, Guren's legs finally buckled beneath him and he dropped onto one knee, panting hard as he nearly plunged his sword into the concrete to maintain his balance.
"Shit…" he cursed softly. "That was too close…"
"Guren, are you ok?!" Mito asked in concern as she as well as Sayuri and Shigure surrounded their squad leader to help him up but Guren refused.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Save your energy, all of you, you'll be needing it."
Mito scowled at Guren's remark. Unlike Sayuri and Shigure, who normally kept their opinions on Guren's state of mind and body to themselves, the scarlet-haired woman was a bit more outspoken when expressing her disapproval of their squad leader's stubbornness and pride.
"What good will it do us to save energy if we lost our commander, sir?" Mito demanded.
"Yeah!" Goshi, who was secretly delighted to have an excuse to reprimand his superior, added with a wag of his finger. "You always act so tough, but anyone with eyes in his head could see that that fatso almost wiped the floor with you! It wouldn't have hurt to let us give you a little back-up! In fact, you could have kept at least a few soldiers to assist us while we're at it too!"
"I won't deny that, Goshi," Guren admitted. "But think about it: if it was this hard for us, then it was definitely the right move to increase the manpower for all the other teams, especially Shinoa and Satoshi's squads."
Mito crossed her arms and gave her superior officer a hard stare.
"Like I said, none of that will matter if we lose our commander," she repeated.
"Yes, I know," Guren agreed as he slowly stood up and sheathed his sword. Taking down Stefano had depleted his strength and energy, and he did not want to slow down his recovery by arguing with Mito. "That's why I sent Shinya to the surface. Should I fall, he will take command over all the squads and continue the mission."
"You have excellent forethought, sir. That's why we need you alive to make full use of it," Shigure said as she wiped the blood off her commander's face using a handkerchief she had removed from her uniform pocket.
Although the raven-haired woman was of the same mind as Mito in regards to Guren's survival, she was a bit more discreet in expressing it.
"I agree," Sayuri said as she struggled to keep her emotions under control. "As strong as you are, I still wish you wouldn't push yourself so hard, Guren!"
Goshi, who stood behind the three women and watched the whole exchange in silence, could not help rolling his eyes. For as long as he could remember, Sayuri, Shigure, and Mito doted on their squad leader like he was the world to them. And years later, they would extend that protectiveness to Yuichiro as well after Guren found and adopted her.
Looking at his squad mates now, Goshi could not help but feel envious since he was sure neither Shigure, Sayuri, or Mito would spare him a glance unless he was dying. But the blond man tried to push the thought away since there were more important things that required their attention now.
Guren sighed but did not resist when Shigure wiped his face.
"Fine, I understand. Next time, I'll have another squad assist us. Right now, we better get back to the surface and give Narumi and the newbies assistance if they haven't taken down Wesker yet."
Before anyone could reply, they heard a sudden clatter coming from the stairs of the underground subway as well as ragged breathing. A moment later, the sounds of staggering footsteps gave way to the dull thud of a body hitting the ground and crying for help.
"Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose!"
Turning around, Guren and the rest of his squad saw a young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes that he recognized as Eita Kusunoki, one of the MDC soldiers he sent to Nagoya City Hall earlier.
Guren rushed to the younger man's side, quickly falling to his knees as much as from his wounds as to examine Kusonoki's injuries. Taking care not to worsen the younger man's condition, he carefully turned him over.
"Kusunoki! What are you doing here?!" Guren demanded as he placed his hand over the younger man's wound, it was obviously a vampire-inflicted deep laceration across his abdomen, and it was bleeding profusely. Even for a battle-hardened soldier, Guren cringed when he noticed that Kusonoki's intestines were visible and looked like they were about to fall out.
When the younger man did not answer right away, Guren realized that he had lost a lot of blood and did not have much longer to live. Knowing that there was no way to sugar-coat the truth, Guren said in a calm voice:
"I'm sorry, Kusonoki. You're not going to make it. For the sake of your comrades, I need a full report on what happened…please…"
After taking a moment to catch his breath, the young soldier named Eita Kusunoki, looked Guren in the eye and said:
"I…I'm sorry, sir. The plan failed. The thirty-man attack team you sent to Nagoya Hall have been defeated by the vampires."
Guren released a soft gasp but tried not to let the wounded young soldier see how shocked he was.
"How did that happen? Did one of our own betray us?"
"N..no sir. We were overpowered. Even so, the vampires were not interested in us. They want you —asked for you specifically—to meet them at city hall."
"And why should I do that?" Guren asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Because they only killed ten of us. The other twenty were taken hostage…"
At the younger man's confession, Guren gritted his teeth. He had fought the vampires long enough to know what they did to human soldiers they managed to capture alive; they were either tortured to death or kept alive a bit longer to serve as playthings for their captors until they ended up being sucked dry. The ones who were unfortunate enough to capture a vampire's fancy were turned to share the same damned existence as their dames or sires. Should that happen, it was the Demon Army's policy to kill soldiers who had been converted to vampirism since there was no known way to reverse it.
Trying not to think about the grim fate that awaited the captured soldiers if he did not give in to the vampires' demands, Guren turned his attention to the dying soldier in his arms and did his best to comfort him in his last moments.
"I understand…" he said gently. "You need not worry anymore, Kusonoki. I'll take care of it."
The younger man entered a brief spasm of coughing before he apologized for failing his commander.
"I…I'm sorry, sir! We failed you!"
Guren shook his head. "No... you did no such thing. The fault lies entirely with me for setting up a flawed plan. In any case, its not your problem anymore. You've done your duty well, now rest. You deserve it."
As much as it pained him to see yet another young life senselessly slipping away before him and knowing that he was powerless to prevent it, Guren did his best to reassure the dying soldier in his arms that his sacrifice was not in vain. Without turning around, the lieutenant colonel called for his blond subordinate.
"Goshi...if you please…"
Knowing exactly what it was his superior wanted, Goshi nodded before raising his pipe to his lips.
"I'm working on it, sir. He'll go in peace." *4*
Kusonoki's features relaxed as he felt the pain slowly melt from his body. He knew his end was drawing near but used the last of his strength to smile and reach out to the man he admired and respected so much.
"It…it was an honor serving under you, sir…"
Although Kusonoki's hand was stained with blood and grime, Guren took it without hesitation.
"Thank you… your words mean a lot to me. Catch up with the others in heaven and I promise you, we'll win this war—for all humanity."
The younger man said no more but nodded in acknowledgement before he finally closed his eyes for the last time. Even after Kusonoki had passed, Guren held him for a few moments longer before finally lowering him to the ground and crossing his arms over his chest in a gesture of respect. It also pained Guren to know that these empty subway ruins were to be his final resting place, but it could not be helped. Another hard lesson the lieutenant colonel had learned in times of war was that there was often no time to give full honors and a proper burial to those who've fallen in battle.
Although none spoke, the rest of Guren's squad was well aware of this grim truth and observed a moment of silence out of respect for the young soldier who had managed to find his way to them, despite his terrible wound, to give their commander a warning.
When Guren finally stood up, Mito took the opportunity to speak the words that had been on her mind since she heard Kusonoki's confession earlier.
"Guren… As much as I hate to ruin the moment, I have to warn you that this is a trap."
"You think I don't know that, Mito?" Guren replied coldly without turning around.
"No one is saying that, my lord," Goshi began as he lowered his pipe. "But knowing you, I bet you'll go anyway."
Instead of answering, Guren said, "We're going to reinforce Narumi, Shinoa, and Satoshi's squads. Once we do that, I am adding a new target to our hit list. The one currently located in the Nagoya City Hall."
"And who might that be?" Sayuri asked curiously as Shigure and Mito listened in silence.
"A thirteenth progenitor. The same one we saw back in Shinjuku: Crowley Eusford."
Footnotes
1. In most vampire lore, a vampire can be killed by direct exposure to sunlight or by driving a stake through their heart before slicing off their heads. In the Seraph series, common vampires could be killed with the power of demonic weapons but stronger vampires can survive decapitation and withstand sunlight exposure though it will cause them great pain.
2. Vampires in the Seraph series can easily re-attach their severed limbs. Even humans contracted to demons can do so though it is not seen in the manga thus far, only in the LNs.
3. In the anime, Wesker chose to commit suicide before the squads could bring him down but in the manga version, Narumi kills him. For my AU, I stuck with the manga version with a bit of talk before Narumi deals Wesker the death blow.
4. In canon, its not clear what kind of illusion Gosh made for Kusonoki before he passed away but I assumed it was something to ease his physical pain so he could die in peace.
