Chapter 38

Ayato had raised Yui to carry her on his back, but it was somewhat questionable as a convenient solution, since, while running, the girl kept on jolting (and also had to hold in one hand the sword given by Anna); certainly, however, considering that they had flying piranhas on their heels, she preferred that little torture at the thought of being nibbled alive by those horrible and weird little creatures.

On the other hand, the vampire thought that those hunters and Reiji would have been good friends: Anna said hunters had fun experimenting on any creature or element at hand, a hobby shared by his bespectacled brother.

Anna was much more stressed than she would have been in "normal" conditions: she was still irritated with Reiji because of his comments on her ability to nullify magical powers within a certain limited area, considering it somewhat useless because of this defect and thus wounding her pride; furthermore, Kanato kept on screaming for the pack of donuts that his hand had dropped during his flight and which he hadn't been able to retrieve back because the witch, wisely, had prevented him from doing it.

Which has priority, our security or your gluttony?!, the girl thought, promising that as soon as she had got a free moment, she would have choked him; if she hadn't got slaughtered first...

- Stairs! - she warned, rushing in a hurry, jumping the last three steps, and ignored Ayato's comment that he could do better; did he really have to dwell on his arrogant attitudes at such a moment?

These vampires... !, Anna groaned in her head, quivering with irritation.

Then, turning at a crossroads, she stopped.

- Hey, why the fuck did you stop! - the green-eyed vampire began to curse, displeased, and then stopped as soon as he heard a sinister sound of broken bones.

In front of them, an almond-eyed girl and the flashy blood-stained dress had just broken the neck belonging to what Anna recognized as one of their twenty-five-year-old seniors; she recalled him delivering mail between one part of the island and the other, and that he would often bring Isa some apricot krapfen for breakfast.

The killer was...

- Rai-san...?! - she exclaimed in horror and above all stunned.

"There are traitors and plots everywhere"; her sisters' fears were terribly founded.

She turned slowly towards her, a unsettling smile full of malice on her face: she was unrecognizable; Anna kept her eyes wide open in shock, until adversary's sudden movement in her direction awakened her senses.

- Move towards that column, hurry! - she shouted to the vampires, pointing to the aforementioned point with the sword, which she then unsheathed, defending herself in time from Rai's bayonet, which disappeared from her sight and reappeared behind her.

Anna remembered that the Calling twins had the power to teleport anywhere in the surroundings, from one moment to the next: she was clearly at disadvantage, unless she was able to use her power; but with an enemy who kept popping out of anywhere, it would have been difficult if not impossible.

She still had the readiness, and luck, to block another blow; then, a burning and sharp sensation spread from her shoulder: she drove Rai away with her katana, the time to recover and observe the depth of the wound, but unfortunately the opponent was much faster and she saw her appear in front of her, ready to kill her as she heard Yui's voice screaming her name, terrified.

That stab never came: she stopped in mid-air, just after the sound of a fired bullet, and Rai staggered back, her face contracted in a confused and distressed grimace, while the dress was stained red at the back and a little at the chest too; then she collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide and glassy.

The witch looked at the corpse with obvious perplexity, then at the person who had aimed the gun at her opponent: it was the twin, Mai, with a lost and dazed expression, shaking hands tightening her gun and lowering it, causing it to fall to the ground; she stammered something, agitated, anxious, horrified and... full of tormenting regret.

- I didn't want to... I don't... I don't know why... we shouldn't have... RAI - she said her sister's name with a hoarse voice and full of pain, then stuttered other words without an obvious logical connection, not very clear headed.

Finally, she got back her rifle, pointing it at her with difficulty; Anna felt herself stiffen.

- I'm sorry.

- MAI-SAN, NO!

The repentant young woman fell to the ground, her eyes closed and wet; she seemed more serene than the other twin.


Azusa grabbed Finn's little body, and Yuuma smiled at them, preventing his little brother from losing his balance by falling backwards due to the strong impact.

- Finn...! Are you ok...?! - the vampire asked alarmed, clasping her shoulders with his arm and her hand with his own; the tiny witch muttered something incomprehensible with a faint voice and her eyes moved from his face to the demon who had flung her away.

It was too strong for her and, unfortunately, she feared she had got a slight fracture of her tibia, judging by the excruciating pain running through her whole leg; she needed reinforcements and she certainly didn't want to let Subaru and Yuuma take care of it, while they had advanced a few steps, cracking their hands, ready to fight that creature.

Before any of them could move, Claire had landed among them; she was crouched on the ground with one knee bent and stretched out her arms, her hands clutching each a purple fan with golden floral motifs.

- Cl-... Claire... - her friend whispered, as Azusa helped her standing up.

- It's okay now, Ficchan~ I'll take care of it – her voice dropped, causing slight shivers of emotion along Laito's back, who was looking at her with interest and excitement.

She opened the fans and suddenly the wind rose, at first weak and then, as Claire settled upright, moving like dancing, it intensified and seemed to concentrate around the demon who looked around in confusion, as confused were even the vampires while noticing the girl's hair become white: after all she was also a half-witch and half-demon, like Mary.

The girl crossed her arms and on the surface of the fans an irregular golden crust appeared, made by millions of small pointed crystals; the she waited for the wind to form a sort of small whirlwind, inside which the enemy tried to stay with his feet on the ground and emitted electric shocks, in vain.

At last, Claire stretched out her arms in front of her and the golden fragments broke away from the fans, entering the whirlwind that got even more brutal, deeply scratching the demon, everywhere; as Claire decided it was enough, it slowly vanished and the enemy's body fell to the ground, covered entirely with blood.

The vampires gasped: until then, apart from the rare episodes in which they had witnessed Mary's fights, no power had seemed so fierce and ruthless as that; Laito clapped, approaching the half-demon who in the meantime had placed her fans in two special pockets tied to her legs.

- Nfu~ A truly admirable and enthusiastic show, Claire-chan~ - he chirped in a subtle tone, wrapping an arm around her waist and...

- FUCK, LAITO, CAN'T YOU READ THE MOOD?! - Subaru shouted, as Kou showed a disgusted grimace and helped Azusa to accompany Finn along the road she had told them leading to the shelter.

- What a pervert... - Yuuma spat to the ground, following his two brothers with Ruki, the latter without first giving the same vampire a disgusted look.

Shuu yawned and staggered behind them; meanwhile, the two lovebirds exchanged some last effusion.


He was running at breakneck speed, ignoring the branches scratching his face and his favourite leather jacket; he couldn't shield his face with his arms, since he was holding the Dragon's head in those, wrapped in thick sheets, the most superficial ones beginning to stain with that dark green blood; the priests had warned him: he had to hurry to the shelter to get it there safely, before the blood touched his skin, burning it and causing some drastic change in his powers or in his organism.

Morten slid down a slope and swiftly crossed the river bank, following its course as it led directly to the shelter; he recalled Mark telling him about that time he had fallen into water with his twin, only to be saved by their father. In short, he forgot what he was thinking and leaped across the spot where the river flowed underground for a short part.

Sweat was sliding along his skin and he was so hot he didn't feel the cold air at the end of November; so hot that he no longer felt the pain of the wounds obtained by avoiding the enemies who had followed him for a while, blocked in time by Anna's older sisters: Angela had thrown him something to alleviate any burns due to the Dragon's blood, Ellen had screamed at him that she would have warned Mark of his situation (even if the twin was already aware of it, most likely).

- WOAH! - he slipped, this time accidentally; he rolled keeping the head to his chest, not feeling a few drops of blood staining and burning the skin of his hands, and he got dirty with mud until he slammed a little badly against a heavy old trunk.

He mumbled something about his back aching and got up after taking a deep breath.

I have to bring this head safel...

Although he was still a little stunned by the fall, he clearly heard a giggle clouded by his steps: he stopped and, with his mind, rummaged through his memories to find the person whom that way of laughing belonged to, albeit more wicked and cruel than the sweet and modest tone than his memory conveyed.

He turned and his hazel eyes met her amber ones, her teammate's, her bestfriend's: whitish blond curls framing her face, Rose was in front of him, her old daggers soaked in poison hovering in the air around her, ready to pierce the wizard's body.

- Hey, Rose. It's been a while - the blond mockingly muttered, stepping back a bit and placing the Dragon's head under one arm to free the other to attack and defend himself.

- Morten. As obnoxious as ever - she smiled; the skin was greyish and covered by stitchings like Ryan's, irrefutable sign that she was a zombie, resurrected by some kind of forbidden and cursed spell.

- Better obnoxious than traitor - he hissed sourly and promptly pulled wires in front of him, stopping some daggers in time, as he pulled the trunk near him against the enemy.

I have no... time to face her...

Bitterly, he turned and ran as fast as he could, keeping his ears to the ground and preparing at the moment some small traps with his wires; he felt a piercing pain on his hands and, giving a quick glance a them, he realized that the Dragon's blood had burned his skin so much that it had created deep wounds in his flesh.

He wasted no time in cursing and accelerated, thanking his family genes-...

Another sensation of pain, even more acute and unbearable, spread from the back across the body: it slowed only a couple of steps, and then he resumed his pace, panting and dazed; he began seeing coloured lights at the corner of the eye, signature of that poison's creator which impregnated the blade stuck on his back...

I can't ... stop now...

He clenched his teeth, sweating a lot, and kept on running, screaming as he pulled the sturdy trunk of a fir tree with his wires, breaking it and throwing it against Rose who was taken aback by that strength, although he was already at his limit: toxins were already corroding his guts, according to the times she had measured correctly.

The enemy threw other daggers, most of them avoided, some tearing his clothes and skin, one slipping into his calf's flesh; she heard his painful groans, pleased, but felt an impatient anger in noting that the wizard wouldn't have stopped even if beheaded.

Obviously she was exaggerating, and was ready to resort to that inhumane decision to get rid of him and finally take possession of the Dragon's head.

Everything went wrong, however, because before she could pounce on him, Mark had appeared in front of her, his silver eyes sprayed with scarlet and silver blades that soon emerged from the ground, directed towards her; Rose let out a hostile grunt and dodged it just in time, backing off through great leaps, until her back collided against something very small, cold, and almost sharp...

Then two shots, and she saw two bullets coming out of her stomach, bursting in front of her face and thus grazing her chin and cheeks.

- THEO...! – she shouted, turning to stab him on his neck; her wrist was blocked by the half-wizard's hand, appeared next to his friend, who took off his uniform jacket, revealing a tight black jumpsuit underneath, his glasses and his beret, brushing his black hair while keeping his eyes closed.

When he opened them, cold green irises stared at Rose, who evilly smiled, a little electrified by their serious expressions full of hatred towards her.

- It's time for showdown.

Theo's voice had never been so grave and grim.


Mary yelled at Ryan to step aside, because she didn't want to see him fall apart once again and then help him to fix himself: as soon as he moved, her butterflies hurled at the demonic being the ruins which they had recovered from a small abandoned building in the middle of the woods that had been the river keeper's house many years ago.

The creature was buried by that pile of ruins, knocking it out for the time being and thus allowing the two to focus on the last of the two Reapers they still had to face; the first had been promptly pierced by Mary's silver blades, later realizing she could no longer manipulate them.

Ryan tamed the shadows, making them raise and surround the Reaper; subsequently, he disappeared behind one of them, leaving the enemy to look around confused.

Meanwhile, Mary had momentarily moved aside, focusing on her own powers: it was as if there was some kind of interference between her will and her power; she couldn't create silver blades, or perceive silver atoms around her and manipulate them. It was likely another of the many anomalies that occurred during the process to become Izanami...

He heard the Reaper uttering a kind of roar and then the collision of two blades: emerging from a tangle of shadows, Ryan had tried to split the opponent, but it promptly blocked the attack with its scythe; they began to push each other and the fate of each depended on the outcome.

If Ryan had managed to get the upper hand, he would have split the Reaper in two and then pierced its "heart" with his scythe's tip, putting an end to its existence; if the opposite had occurred, the Reaper could have made the zombie one of its kind.

Reapers were very strong creatures in this: Ryan was losing.

At that very moment Mary jumped on the enemy's back, squeezing his head in her arms, allowing the young man to proceed as above.

- Thank goodness... thank you, Mary-chan - he smiled, after watching the creature melt into a dark mush that was slowly absorbed by the soil.

The girl barely returned the smile, and then stiffened: Mark had just told her what had happened to Morten and reported it to him, whom she rushed with to the river; the blond shouldn't have been too far, according to the quick calculations she made while running, ignoring the agonizing pain in her lung because of the effort.

As soon as they were a few steps from reaching the stream, it was enough to look first to the left and then to the right to see the wizard standing near the shore that bathed the envelope wrapped around the Dragon's head, abandoned at his feet.

- Morten! We're here! – Mary cried in relief, running towards him.

Ryan stared at him thoughtfully, and his face took on a bitter twist while approaching.

- Mo-senpai! - the girl exclaimed, placing a hand on the shoulder of his friend – It's ok now, we're here to help you! We'll go to the shelter together...! - as she went on, her smile faded, until she fell silent to observe him better.

Morten's body was barely cold, stiff, dripping with blood because of the wounds and the poison, which among the various damages it caused also quick bleeding; his glassy eyes were firm on point of the river, his mouth slightly ajar with a scarlet thread dripping on the side of the face that wasn't visible from their position.

- Mo-senpai...? - Mary called him, almost breathless - Come on, I know you're tired... but we still have... - her lips began to tremble.

- Mary-chan.

Ryan's voice made her turn towards him, slowly and reluctantly: she feared that he was about to confirm her atrocious suspicion; the zombie-boy looked at her with eyes veiled with compassion and a slight embittered smile.

- He's already dead - his words were like a fist in the stomach.

- But... it's... it's... standing ... - Mary stumbled on the spot, eyes wide open and watering.

- Incredible, right? He was so strong, so determined, that even his body has forgotten that it can rest in peace, by now - Ryan murmured, his voice cracking; if he had been alive, he would have shed several tears.

On the other hand, tears were sliding down her cheeks.


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