Chapter 41

- Mary-senpai... are you really sure you want to go now?!

The half-witch smiled, looking at Isa's anxious face, who was tightly holding her arms, almost pulling her towards her; Subaru was looking at them unconvinced, rubbing his nape, while Shuu yawned, still with a bothered grimace, and Mark quietly swayed on the spot, his eyes still swollen and red after crying a lot.

- Isacchi, it has to be now... let's say I suddenly feel powerful - Mary giggled, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Isa curled her lips and lowered her head, apparently surrendering to her decision; suddenly she jerked her head up and, clutching her skirt in her hands, yelled:

- I'M COMING WITH YOU!

Silence.

- It doesn't seem a good ide...

- I'm coming with you, I'm coming with you, I'M COMING WITH YOU! - she protested, shaking her head violently, making the two vampires think of her like a whimsical child.

Mary raised her hand and opened her mouth to try and reply again, but, seeing Isa's determined gaze, she let out an amused snort and accepted; Subaru jumped and exclaimed that he would have joined them as well: Shuu gave him a mischievous sneer, making him blush and mumble it was only because he was curious about the Dragon.

- Shall we go? - Shuu muttered, bored - I want it to end quickly.

- You could just move your ass back to the shelter- the albino frowned at him.

The blond blinked and gave him an indecipherable look.

- What do you all have against my rear...?

Mary bit her lips to hold back a laugh and patted both of them, urging them to proceed along the path to the lake (where the Dragon was supposed to be); Isa immediately clung to Subaru's arm, making him blush and stutter.

The half-witch and the other vampire exchanged a knowing look, smiling at the couple behind them, unaware of Mark's sulky grimace, still slightly jealous.

Suddenly, Ruki called:

- Izanami.

They all turned to him, Shuu glaring at him and wrapping an arm around his wife's waist; at this reaction, the vampire looked at him amused and turned again to Mary, who was looking at him curiously to know what he wanted.

- I promised to the Glass Lady that I'll protect you. So you can't refuse my request to join you - he said with a serious tone.

- There's no need... - the blond was about to say, annoyed, but was interrupted by the girl who nodded with a smile.

- All right, Ki-kun.

Shuu widened his eyes and protested, following her as she ignored him, shaking her head and pinching his nose from time to time; the albino and the witch also followed them, as Ruki turned for a second to stare at Mark, standing still, as if he was waiting for someone to come.

And in fact, Yui ran out of the shelter's exit, shouting to wait for her, and behind her an annoyed Ayato Mr. Flyer, Laito and Claire also appeared, the couple with their fingers intertwined; before anyone could add anything else, Shuu grumbled at everyone to hurry up: evidently he was already missing lying in a quiet place, the poor boy.

The neo-vampire quickly reached the half-witch, grabbing her hands in hers and begging her to let her come with them: she looked as if she had just woken up from a nightmare, judging by her terrified eyes, goose bumps on her quivering arms; Subaru, at her words, raised an eyebrow and Shuu rubbed his neck unconvinced.

- You'd be a hindrance, as weak as you are - the latter muttered, receiving a glare from both his wife and his megalomaniac brother.

Subaru nodded and was about to add something when Yui herself suddenly teleported in front of him and punched him right in the face, flooring everyone except Mark, who smiled, and Mr Flyer.

- I'm not weak! - she said, clasping her hands on the cape she was wearing, then panicked as looked from one brother to the other, stammering that she had hit the wrong person, having wanted to aim at the blond.

Silence fell, interrupted by Yui's apologizing and the albino's painful and surprised moans, whom Isa assisted, although cracking a smile; Ayato put his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders, laughing and approving that gesture, proud of her, then holding her to him and murmuring something in her ear that made her blush and squeal embarrassed; Shuu and Ruki refrained from giggling in front of Subaru's slightly bruised nose, who glared at Laito that was mocking him by asking him if he understood what the poor walls felt whenever punched by his powerful fist.

Mr Flyer cleared his throat and went over to the little group, nodding his head to the vampires and holding out four swords, each with a different hilt, scabbard and blade.

- They might turn useful - he just murmured, briefly explaining the characteristics of each, so that the four young men could choose the one that most inspired each of them.

Meanwhile, Laito and Claire had approached Mary to hug her and kiss her cheeks, both at the same time, causing her to blush because of the sudden gesture; Shuu's eye twitched at that scene, while choosing his weapon, and he wasn't the only one: Mark had puffed up his cheeks, sulking as always jealous of his beloved sister.

- Be careful, Micchan~ Fufu - the vampire exclaimed cheerfully.

- Yeah - Claire said, touching her belly to mention the life that was developing inside and then putting her hand on hers, and winked – They'll become good friends like us, right?

Her friend blinked a little, confused, then widened her eyes in disbelief and grabbed the half-demon's shoulders who chuckled as she turned to Laito, amused by her reaction (although he had noticed a veil of uncertainty in her eyes...), and back to her, with a smile widening more and more on her lips.

- Let's go?

Mary snorted: it was better to leave immediately before Shuu's mood worsened...


- I have no good memories of undergrounds - Subaru muttered grimly, recalling the escape from the mansion when they had been advised of the hunters in town.

The other vampires couldn't disagree with those words; Isa was looking at them a little curious, as Yui sighed with a nervous smile and Mary shrugged, telepathically communicating something with Mark, next to each other to support the Dragon's head wrapped in a large enchanted cloth: the blood, which mysteriously kept on flowing, would have remained inside without losing a single drop, otherwise risking to cause damage to someone.

- Don't worry, Subaru-kun, this passage is much shorter than it looks - the little girl smiled, squeezing his arm.

The albino stammered something about leaving his limb, then surrendered.

- We've been walking for an hour - Ruki said coldly, followed by Shuu's annoyed snort.

Isa chuckled unsettled by the vampire's glare and murmured that they were close to the exit; Ayato asked if it wasn't a little strange that they hadn't been attacked yet by any enemy, evidently bored: his brothers and the Mukami glared at him, preferring to avoid such obstacles as much as possible.

- If no one has detected anything unusual, there are no problems - Mary said.

- Still, let's be cautious - Mark whispered, focused on the surrounding sounds - We wouldn't want them to have an ace up their sleeve more powerful than all of us...

- Even more than Karlheinz-sama's sons? - Isa asked a little perplexed and before Ayato could reply, proudly, the half-witch had already answered her.

- Even the weakest, if extraordinarily clever, could behead Shuu.

The blond arched an eyebrow and shook his head, chuckling, though partly agreeing with his wife's statement; Ruki also nodded and Subaru mumbled something, frowning, as Ayato protested and cursed.

They stopped as soon as the subterranean tunnel suddenly trembled, accompanied by heavy thuds, louder and louder and then gradually fainter, making them stiffen and sharpen their senses; Yui combed her hair with her fingers, shaking off a small pile of dust that had fallen on her, while Mark murmured that, from what he had heard a dozen meters above their heads, it had probably been a creature whose name wasn't grasped.

- The clanptocler-what? - exclaimed Ayato with eyebrows bent in a confused grimace.

- Klamptoteklerunzay - Mary repeated, sighing nostalgically - One of my first objects of study... – she sighed again.

And source of trouble, Shuu thought, yawning and not paying much attention to the long explanation his wife gave about that creature living in the thickest and darkest forests and often exploited for purposes opposed to its peaceful yet easily malleable nature, and for this reason it often lived half its long existence (a few hundred years).

Subaru asked how big it was to cause so much commotion; as Isa recalled from her school books it was about twenty meters long, they all focused on finding efficient comparisons to properly figure these dimensions, most of them a little impressed. In particular, Ayato wondered what it fed on.

Mary sighed and rubbed her forehead, brushing her hair and then glancing at Mark, with whom she began a brief telepathic chat; after a few seconds the twin nodded and, after laying the Dragon's head on the ground, under the others' curious (and slightly annoyed) eyes he seemed to disappear, moving to some unknown place at the speed of sound.

- Let's go on - the girl said, then motioning for Yui to approach her to help her carry the Dragon's head.

The blonde, happy to be useful, came up and lifted the other end of the towel and realized how little and nothing the poor creature's head weighed: amazed, she chatted about it with her friend, every now and then also listening to Isa, having a better knowledge as the priestess; at one point, the little witch mentioned something about a dimension and, while exiting that underground passage, Yui stopped, widening her eyes.

Mary glanced at her curiously and motioned for the others to continue, staying aloof with the vampire and asking her if she had anything to tell her: with her pink eyes slightly frightened, she revealed that she had dreamed of being in a surreal space, with her feet on a surface that looked like water, and above her head a hovering dome consisting only of the foundations that rested on a drum, or rather a sort of corridor with a circular structure; she had slumped against a bare tree's protruding roots, which had begun to flourish and fill with leaves, and among the branches she had seen a large red apple.

Yui took a deep breath and went on: she had picked the apple and suddenly the tree had begun to lose its leaves and to rot slowly; then, she had been swallowed by the water beneath her, as if a sea trench had been suddenly created.

Mary blinked, thinking, and murmured that it didn't look so terrifying to her, considering how scared her friend was; the latter nodded.

- But... inside of me... I felt a very strong unease... And that's not all!

- Eh? - the other exclaimed, surprised.

- You suddenly appeared in my dream: at one point, I knew how to swim and I saw you float unconscious in the water... so I came to rescue you... and, once emerged, that building was collapsing... the tree had been uprooted and underneath there was the Dragon's head! And it was bleeding a lot... - she murmured with her trembling voice.

The half-witch widened her eyes.

You know what that means, don't you, Aneki?

It'll be... all in vain...

She sighed and brushed her hair in a gesture of despair; Yui grabbed her hands, squeezing them.

- What shall we do…? - she whispered.

Suddenly they heard a roar.


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