Chapter 16: Vampire of the Castle III

Allen, Alice, and Lavi are trapped by the man-eating flowers as one of them bites Lavi's leg.

"GYAA!" Lavi screams. "OUCH! DAMN IT, I CAN'T SEE KURO-CHAN! I DROPPED MY HAMMER SOMEWHERE TOO!"

"What's happening over there!?" Allen asks as he tries to find both Krory and Akuma Eliade, but fails since the huge plants are blocking the view.

"They're making a lot of sounds..." Alice says as she looks around.

Fighting...?" Lavi assumes, but before he could get another word out, Krory's plants suddenly engulf Lavi. Both Allen's and Alice's eyes widen with their mouths drop. "UWGYA―!" He screams, punching the plants inside, trying to get out.

"Allen, did you take care of a plant like this when we were younger...?" Alice asks Allen looks at her then at the plant that ate Lavi and something clicks in his mind.

"LAVI-! CALM DOWN AND DO AS I SAY!" Allen shouts.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!? I'M GONNA GET EATEN IF I CALM DOWN!" Lavi shouts back.

"Alice reminded me of something! When I was with the Master, I took care of the same type of flowers!" Allen says, recalling that memory.

"REALLY!? THEN YOU CAN STOP THIS ONE?" Lavi asks.

"Yes. So listen already! These flowers won't bite humans who are kind to them. So put your heart into it and show these flowers some love and affection."

"GOT IT!" Lavi says. "I LOVE YOU-!"

~Meanwhile~

Krory and Akuma Eliade are still fighting and with Krory's speed, it allows him to land several successive blows to Akuma Eliade.

"UGH!" Akuma Eliade groans, but summoning several bubbles. Krory backs away quickly, distancing himself from the bubbles and Akuma Eliade. "Heh heh." Akuma Eliade chuckles. "Sharp senses. You were right to back away. These balls are my special ability." Akuma Eliade says.

"Special ability?" Krory says.

"LET SEE IF YOU CAN DODGE THEM!" Akuma Eliade throws several bubbles at him, one misses and hits one of the flowers, instead, and making it wither.

'The flower withered!?' Krory thought as he focuses on the flower.

"HERE, HAVE SOME MORE!" Akuma Eliade them throws more bubbles encapsulates his arm and bursts, leaving Krory's arm drains.

"UGH! YOU..." Kroly then notices something. "Is this water!?" He thought as he smiles, figuring something out. "I see..." He mumbles as he stops dodging and stands on a crooked rail. "So these balls evaporate and trap all the water from a solid body? Such idiocy! Eliade. The punishment for damaging Grandpa's flowers is severe."

"Hmph. Even when the Innocence makes you high, you remain a narrow-minded fool! You social recluse! You don't actually give a damn about these things, do you!?" Akuma Eliade says. "PLACING ALL THE BLAME ON YOUR GRANDFATHER FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD... YOU'RE JUST AFRAID YOU COULD GET HURT OUTSIDE THE CASTLE! BUA-KA! COWARD! ROTTING AWAY IN THIS CASTLE SUITS YOU JUST FINE!"

"Aah...I thought that if I was with you, I wouldn't mind spending my life that way. Eliade, I don't want to see you like this." Krory states. 'Even though you're an Akuma, I still love you, Eliade. If I was with you...' He says in his mind. "I'll make you disappear without a trace." He lunges himself towards Akuma Eliade.

"NO!" Akuma Eliade screams as she fires dozen of bubbles.

"OOOOOO... UO―!" Krory yells as the bubbles encase him completely.

Once the bubbles drain his entire body of all of its water and leaving him to flutter to the ground like paper, Akuma Eliade changes into her human form and walks to his side, looking down on Krory's flatten body.

'Goodbye, Arystar- You know, that one thing that I always wanted to try... The thing that makes a woman 'The Most Beautiful'. No matter how inferior a woman is compared to me, when they do that they become dazzlingly 'beautiful'. But no matter how much I wanted to, I could never do that. Because I'm an Akuma, I kill all the men that get closer to me. If there exists a man that I cannot kill... He would be... the one could destroy me.' Eliade thought.

Suddenly Krory's body lunges at her again and bites her neck.

"What's this...? You can still move...? Eliade asks as she smiles to herself. "A..rystar..." She stammers. "I just wanted to love you..."

Krory drains all the Akuma blood from Eliade and the bubbles - that linger around the room - bursts and rain down on the area.

Inside the cage of the man-eating plants

"I love you, I love you, I love you!" Lavi shouts. "Hey, aren't we hurting still?" He asks and continues to shout 'I love you' to the plants.

"But look!" Allen exclaims. "The flowers aren't biting out heads off anymore!"

"Also, their grips are loosening up as well." Alice adds as a drop of water falls on her. "Rain?"

Allen and Lavi notice it as well. The rain starts to pour down on them and the flowers release the three Exorcists. Allen and Alice exchange looks as Lavi seems exhausted after shouting "I love you" for quite a while. The three then make their way to Krory, who's looking at the ground.

"Krory?" Allen calls.

"You stupid flower..." Krory mutters. "YOU UGLY, CRAP, NAUSEATING, PIECE OF SHIT OF A FLOWER!" He shouts. Then, as Krory insults the flowers, a large one opens its mouth and engulfs the Exorcists and Krory.

"WAAAAH!" Allen shouts.

"KURO-CHAN! WHAT'RE YOU DOING!" Lavi asks. "THE FLOWERS IS PISSED NOW!"

"SHUSH, YOU!" Krory exclaims and Alice looks at Krory with wide-eyes as she sees him crying. "I have destroyed Eliade... I... no longer have the will to live anymore..."

"He's suicidal...!" Allen and Lavi say. "And he's going to take us with him!" The two adds as Krory continues to brawl out his eyes.

"NOW, KILL ME FLOWER! YOU DUMBASS!" Krory suddenly yells, angering the flower even more.

"GYAAA! STOP THAT, IDIOT!" Allen and Lavi say as Allen covers Krory's mouth.

"Please calm down!" Allen says as Alice moves closer to them.

"You've damaged your right arm." Alice points out.

"No this thing... If I drink an Akuma's blood again, it should be fine..." Krory explains. "Hah... ha... I've become such a monster... What I loved, I destroyed..." Allen's and Alice's eyes widen as they see the sadness in Krory. "I just want to die..."

Allen parts his lips to say something, but Alice beat him to it. She grabs Krory's collar, pulling him away from Allen's grip.

"If it's painful," Alice says with pain lingering within in her voice, "just become an Exorcist. Exorcists destroy Akuma, you know? And you've destroyed an Akuma called 'Eliade'. And if you continue to destroy Akuma, then that'll be the reason you destroyed Eliade. If you have a reason to live... You can continue living for your reason. Because you too are, just another Apostle of Innocence." Alice finishes and Krory looks into Alice's eyes and then looks at the floor, silently crying out his grief.

Alice release Krory's collar and smiles as she pats him on the shoulder.

In the large room

After Krory finishes weeping, the four escape the flower's mouth and sit on higher ground, wanting to say away from the flowers. Allen takes out a picture of General Cross and shows it to Krory.

"So like, he looks like this..." Allen says.

"Oh... yes, that man had came here." Krory says.

"What did this man come here for?" Alice asks.

"He introduced himself as a friend of Grandfather's, saying that he heard the news about Grandfather," Krory explains. "And that he came to return what he had borrowed."

"What he had borrowed?"

"A flower. The man-eating offspring." Allen's and Alice's eyes widen.

"Man-..." Allen stammers as he thought about the plant he took care of.


~Three Years Ago~

General Cross had given Allen the responsibility of taking care of a plant, named "Rosanne".

"It withers, and your head withers, comprende?" General Cross warns as the plant, Rosanne gnaws on Allen's head with Alice watching this.


'Oh that...' Allen thought as he goes to the rail and is in memory lane and Krory gives a questioning look to Lavi and Alice.

"Oh, don't mind him. He's just reminiscing about his terrible past." Lavi explains.

"But... he came to return the flower, and that was it?" Alice asks.

"Correct. However, after that, the flower was a little... odd." Krory answers. "It had suddenly bitten me and the next thing I know, it began to wither and die."


Krory sits on the floor, he groans and he holds his throat, struggling to breath.

"Agh... help..." Krory groans in pain. "Was it poisonous...!? MY BODY'S BURNING...!"

Krory then vomited on the floor and all his teeth come out one he vomited. His eyes widens in shock.

"MMPH MMEEF? (My teeth?)"

Then, in Krory's mouth, something moves and he covers it.

"UGH! AHA―..." He says in pain and then his teeth grew, but sharper like a shark's teeth.


"Now that I think about it, that flower must've been the Innocence that you were talking about. Since then, I began to attack Akuma... and," Krory pauses. "I've... with Eliade..." He tears up at the thought of his dead lover.

"We're looking for that guy." Lavi speaks, changing the subject. "Kuro-chan, got any ideas?"

"Oh, I recall him saying he wanted to go to the East Country, so as the grandson of his friend, he asks me to lend him money." Krory explains as Allen joins back into the conversation.

'Here too!?' The Exorcists exclaim in their heads.

Then Krory stands up and the Exorcists looks up at him. "Can you three... wait for me in front of the castle?" He asks. "I just need to make some preparations."

Allen, Lavi, and Alice smile at him.

"Sure." Alice says.

Outside of the castle

"Ah~ Day's about to break." Lavi points out as he stretches out his limbs. "It's been a rough night..."

"Yeah. But we got hints as to as to the Master's whereabouts. If he borrowed that mush money, he could possibly go all the way to China." Alice says as she stares off into space and smiles sadly.

"Don't make a face like that, it looks like you did something wrong." Lavi says as Alice looks at him. "You're right, it probably wasn't the most inspiring way, but for Kuro-chan right now, I think what he needed most was a 'reason'." Allen places a hand on Alice's shoulder.

"Lavi's right. Things will be fine eventually." He says with a smile and Alice nods.

Suddenly, behind the three, the castle explodes into flames. This surprises the Exorcists.

"THE CASTLE...!" Lavi shouts as they turn around, facing the burning castle.

Krory's word replays in Alice's head: "Can you three... wait for me in front of the castle?"

"No..." Alice says in disbelief.

Just as they think that Krory has committed suicide, a figure appears within the burning flames. Krory emerges from the flames and he smiles and laughs at the Exorcists.

"Haha... What's with that face? Did you think I died?" Krory says, walking towards them. "Everything's all right." He assures them.

'Eliade, I will continue to destroy Akuma. If I don't, then what for exactly... did I destroyed you for?'