Chapter 42

The roar came from the area where the shelter was located, meaning it had been attacked; Mary immediately felt her heart in her throat, even though she knew that the protective barriers would have worked against the offense for a certain period of time.

At the same time, she had perceived negative vibes getting more intense: demonic creatures were approaching their position; the vampires had also realized the imminent danger and had placed their hand on theirs swords' hilt, ready to unsheathe them, except Subaru who had just lined up in front of Isa, alert and frowning.

Mary had telepathically called her twin, clutching the grip on the hem of the cloth wrapped around the Dragon's head: he had confirmed her that, thanks to his fine hearing, the shelter had been attacked and she was surprised when her brother added that he had heard the Yuuma, Kou and Azusa's voices along with girls and all of their companions' ones, who were busy facing their enemies; a small smile appeared on her lips for a short time (she guessed that Reiji and Laito were making a contribution in their own way, and that Kanato was still in the dungeons to keep an eye on Rose).

- Mary! - she heard Shuu calling her, alarmed.

The half-witch just noticed in a sphere of fire (she had had enough of flames...) darting towards her: she dodged it jumping to the side, only to feel her waist grasped to lift and quickly move her away, at last finding herself with her feet on the ground and in her husband's arms; Yui had teleported herself with the Dragon's head in her arms, holding it with difficulty because of its weight, and Ayato had moved behind her, pointing the sword at one of the dozens of dreadful beings that had surrounded them.

- Here I am - Mark "appeared" suddenly beside his sister, perceiving the intense look she gave him; he slightly smiled.

Their eyes faded to silver and their hair to white (though it wasn't possible to see it with his dyed pink hair) and, a few centimetres below their left earlobe, the three moles resembling a black clover had faded into a red poppy and branches of purple filaments branched out of it, adorning their white skin with abstract motifs, in particular around their eyes like masks.

- Are you preparing for a Carnival?! - Ayato joked sourly.

Mark darted to one of the monstrous creatures and, having developed small blades from his arm, he decapitated it. Then, he seemed to disappear before their eyes and in a short time another dozen found themselves headless; meanwhile, Mary had lowered herself to her knees and laid her hands on the damp grass, closing her eyes and focusing: as Mark eliminated the remaining enemies, millions of needles emerged from the ground, ever higher and more robust, expanding towards the wood.

Vampires heard moans of pain and noises of broken bones and pierced flesh, aware that other approaching enemies had been annihilated.

Ayato suddenly captured a movement behind him and promptly turned, unsheathing the sword that Mr Flyer had provided them: with a single precise slash he tore a hunter's chest diagonally and the opponent gave a harrowing cry of pain, falling to the ground.

The battle had began.


Yuuma snapped a man's neck with nonchalance, disturbing the little girl he had just saved; she stammered a frightened thanks and, staring at him in fear, rose to her feet to run to her companions who were trying in every way to keep the barrier active, some repairing the holes that some enemies had cause while trying pass through.

The giant snorted and shrugged his shoulders at that reaction, looking around for some familiar face: he twisted his mouth as soon as he saw a long blond braid, whose owner was piercing a small annoying demon, which disintegrated into a cloud of purple powder reaching the girl's eyes and causing her an intense itch. The vampire laughed at seeing her swear and rub her eyes, and a fraction of a second later he widened his eyes.

An creature with prominent and bizarre-shaped horns appeared behind the witch, ready to kill her.

- GOLDILOCKS!

Before Anna could insult him, she saw him appear in front of her, still in a blurred way, and she blushed at feeling an arm wrapped around her waist; she heard a sound of broken bones behind her and a grunt of pain: Yuuma had just twisted the demon's arm, fracturing its radius and ulna, and with a quick gesture he threw it to the ground.

Finn came jumping over the enemy and she destroyed its rib cage with a fist.

- Are you all right? – the tiny girl asked, impassively gazing on the two.

- Good job, dwarf - the giant giggled, raising his thumb in a gesture of approval, then lowering his face to the witch in his arms and blinking, confused.

The young woman in question had a very red face, tight lips, eyes wide open: her hands were resting on his chest, in an attempt to pull away, but seemed to have been... captivated by the pectorals her fingertips were touching just above the thin fabric covering them; after all, the last physical contact she had ever had with a male had been kissing her father's cheek when she was seven years old.

The vampire was baffled for a few seconds, then grinned.

- Mh... your ass is not bad, I could even like yo-

- DON'T GET ANY STRANGE IDEAS, YOU DAMN VAMPIRE!

Yuuma admitted to himself that, besides having a nice butt, she surely knew how to punch...


- Claire-chan~ - Laito wrinkled his lips as he tried to hold the half-demon under her.

- Come on, Laito-kun~ I have to help my teammates, we'll have time to cuddle lat-!

The vampire threw himself on the lips of the purple-eyed girl with enthusiasm, shushing her and leaving her breathless; he rose and, at first smiling, he then took on an unusually serious expression and lowered himself to kiss her belly and caress it, resting his cheek on it, after lifting her tank top.

- The little creature in here needs tranquillity~.

Claire looked at him slightly displaced by his attitude; then, a tender smile appeared on her lips, and she raised her hands to caress his reddish-brown hair.

- WOAH! What are you doing here?! How diiirty~ - Kou shuddered between the horrified and the disgusted, appearing at the door of that isolated and dark room; behind him Azusa peeked out, impassive and nibbling on his finger, and Lucy, who covered her face, embarrassed.

Claire and Laito looked at them and exchanged a confused look, then burst out laughing; Kou gave them an irritated look and snorted, taking away the little brother and the little witch who was still stuttering to them that it wasn't the time to do certain things and that they had to help everyone at that moment.

- Ops~ - the two lovers exclaimed in unison.


Reiji and Lily looked at Martha with a tense expression: having volunteered to keep an eye on the communications, they had locked themselves in the room with all the devices to receive and send information via radio waves and other means; at that moment, they were talking to...

- K-Karlheinz-sama... - the younger female vampire murmured in a faint voice; she wanted Theo to be there with her so much, he could have encouraged her with his carelessness! The wizard, however, was busy defending the shelter from the enemies.

The male breathed deeply and asked politely for the receiver to be given to him.

- Father? Yes... what...?

His eyes widened: what did he mean by "We'll be there, but for a short time"? And who was the other person with him?


- ISA-CHAN!

The witch saw Yui dropping in front of her to shield her from a hunter's attack, receiving the violent blow straight on her head: Ayato yelled and proceeded to behead the man who had dared to hurt his girlfriend, unconscious in Isa's trembling arms; the neo-vampire was bleeding from the head, awakening tremendous memories in the amber-eyed girl.

Subaru, after having slammed a demon against the tree and clawed his throat to death, had turned towards the girl only to stiffen on the spot, alarmed: along her skin were forming white lines, like Mark and Mary's ones, with geometric patterns; the half-witch realized what was happening and shouted to everyone to be careful.

Isa seemed to murmur something, almost in a state of trance, and finally let out a powerful and high-pitched cry; at the same time a rush of energy radiated from her throughout the surrounding area, causing everyone to lose balance: the witch powers caused thin layer of ice to appear and cover the whole area, thickening and trapping the enemies in fatal grips. Fortunately the vampires and the twins were safe.

Silence fell and the boys exchanged stunned looks; Subaru hurried to the girl and gently took her into his arms.

- H-Hey! Isa?!

Ayato joined them, worried about Yui; meanwhile the others approached too, Mary bending down to retrieve the Dragon's head, Mark thoughtful, Shuu snorting annoyed and Ruki observing the two girls carefully: pausing on the witch, he considered that it wasn't the case to go on with them.

Mark nodded, agreeing with the vampire, and added:

- It'd be better if I took you back to the shelter... Isa is too weak... And Yui-san too...

- No…! - was the sudden reaction of the latter, with a choked voice - I have to... go...

- Yui, don't say bullshit! In these conditions you can do no-... - Ayato replied, after having licked her wounds on the head with difficulty (it wasn't certainly easy with her hair).

- I MUST GO! – she interrupted him, her voice hoarse and full of anguish.

Ayato looked at her, frowning and murmured she was crazy; other weak words came out of his girlfriend's lips about some duty, and she even pronounced Izanami's name.

Mary sighed loudly and stood up, raising the Dragon's head, helped by Shuu; as if in charge of a group of agents, she assigned each of them a task: Mark would have brought Isa and Subaru to the shelter and they would have remained there (of course the twin didn't approve of this), the others would have went on towards the lake.

After the half-wizard agreed to be teleported by the albino, the latter focused his eyes on them, hesitantly.

- Good luck... - he whispered slightly, imperceptibly; disappeared.

Ayato stood up muttering something, not without glaring at the half-witch, and he put on the back the poor girlfriend who was whispering nonsense, feverish: the blow must have had stunned her a lot, putting her in a confusing state; shaking his head, Ruki wondered what had driven her to insist so much, considering it was really mad of her.

The group proceeded, taking care not to slip on the ice; they realized they weren't very far from the destination and in about ten minutes they arrived at the lake, clear and glowing due to the little creatures guarding that space surrounded by a curious combination of willows and firs; the vampires were amazed by those little feline-faced beings, with no hind legs, and with a light blue mantle made of something similar to a fluid, ethereal substance.

Mary took a deep breath and exchanged a knowing look with Shuu: they both advanced and entered with their feet into the water, proceeding carefully until they plunged with the water reaching their knees, then their thighs, then their belly; Ruki was looking, strangely tense, almost aware that something unexpected would have happened soon; Ayato had stopped at the shore, gently laying the girl's body and bathing her head with the lake's water, which miraculously healed her wounds and made her regain her senses with a few drops poured into her mouth.

Rising, Yui blinked, meeting his vampire's relieved face and smiling gently at him; suddenly, as if seized by a terrible omen, she suddenly raised her back and looked around, focusing her attention on the two immersed in the lake up to their elbows.

- MARY-SENPAI! Shuu-SAN! COME BACK!

At first hesitantly, Mary felt a strange sensation coming from below, around her legs, as if the water was boiling: Shuu held his breath as he saw the water become dark and more viscous, resembling the consistency of mud; they both let out a gasp as soon as they realized they were being sucked into it. The half-witch clutched the Dragon's head in her arms, desperate and unable to formulate solutions in her head, taken aback; unconsciously, Ruki, Ayato and Yui joined them by instinct, in an attempt to help them escape: they were also stuck and they all were slowly swallowed up.

Everything became black, but only for a few seconds.


Aneki... it hurts... it hurts...

Where are you

AneKI

I DON'T HEAR YOur thoughtS

ONLY YOUR SCREAMS IN YOUR DREAMS

wakE UP

IT HUR-


Yui woke up with a spasm, feeling with her hands the surface on which she was laying, moist and palpable; she turned her head to the right and left, in the first case noticing the Ayato, still unconscious, and in the second the Shuu's back, confused at seeing that his blue cardigan was clean, though they had been trapped in that mysterious slime. She raised her bust by leaning on her elbows, examined herself and the others, finding Mary next to the blond and Ruki in front of her: no one had got dirty; she deduced that it was just an misleading expedient to move them to that place...

Her eyes widened in horror as soon as she realized where they were: it was the same place she had dreamt, that infinite and surreal expanse of water where they didn't sink; she looked up and saw that dome hovering above them, sinister, furrowed by several cracks, and at last she turned and found the poor, withering tree, behind which was a huge figure curled up, covered with celestial and opaque scales.

- The Dragon…! - the vampire exclaimed in a choked voice, placing her hands in front of her mouth in a gesture of dismay; she shook her head and trembled, looking for the poor creature's head.

Where is it?!

- Mary-senpai, Mary-senpai...! - the blonde reached the half-witch and crouched next to her, shaking her and continuing to call her.

The girl squeezed her eyes and opened them slowly, dazed and slightly sweaty, as if she had lived some nightmare before awakening; in the meantime, the other vampires were also regaining consciousness, Ayato and Ruki cautiously looking at the place, Shuu making sure that his wife hadn't been injured and helping her to stand up.

- Mary-senpai, the head! It's not here! - Yui grabbed her arms in terror.

The vampires widened their eyes on her, baffled, and her friend looked at her in disbelief at first, then upset, looking around and lingering on the Dragon's body, and she walked towards it as Shuu advised her to stop, tense: the young woman perceived negative vibes coming from the same direction and halted to wait for the unknown individual to appear.

A few seconds later, from behind the reptilian being a man with short white hair appeared; he was slightly olive-skinned, had emerald-green eyes and little beard on his chin; he was wearing a large, richly decorated plum-coloured overcoat over his shirt.

Shuu seemed to let out a howl.

- Burai... the Demon Lord...

Ayato's eyes widened: this meant he was Cordelia's father, that is his own grandfather?! He thought that his cousin was also his niece, then...

The demon smiled and looked at the red-haired vampire.

- Mh, it's the first time meeting one of Cordelia's sons...

With eyes of the same shade of green, the two exchanged a look, the older one scornful and the younger one hostile.

Meanwhile the half-witch's dark iris were staring at Dragon's head that the man was holding by one of its horns, the dark green blood dripping on the expanse of water dyeing it momentarily and then fading; she swallowed and stepped steadily toward him, drawing his attention.

- You are... - Burai narrowed his eyes with resentment; he would have never thought to see the daughter of the one who had left his family, the Demon royal dynasty, to follow her own values ... and he would have never thought that she would have become Izanami.

Mary stretched out her arm in front of her.

- The Dragon's head, please. It must be returned.

"Grandpa"? Brrr, it sounds so bad...

The man shook his head, letting out a short laugh, and he gave her an ironic look.

- Oh, don't worry, my hybrid granddaughter: the Dragon will get his head back...

The girl felt a smile appearing on her lips, even if being called "hybrid" irritated her.

- Otherwise I won't be able to feed on it.

The half-witch's mouth took on a twist of shock mixed with horror; Yui let out a horrified gasp, Ayato felt his eye twitch in recording and mentally replaying several times what he had just heard, Shuu and Ruki felt revulsion towards that man's words.

- What's your plan? - the blond asked, standing in front of his wife, protective.

Burai looked at them, tilting his head, whispering nauseated that Izanami had found as a companion one of the inept sons of that repulsive man.

- Become the most powerful. You should know very well, as the first-born and heir of the Sakamaki family, that the a dragon's flesh bestows all its powers on the person who consumes them. Only in this way I'll be able to defeat Karlheinz and possibly face the Tsukinami dynasty's survivors! – the demon explained more and more vehemently, his eyes injected with blood and veiled by the irrational desire for power.

Ruki wondered why he hadn't already begun to feed on the poor Dragon, instead of waiting for his head; he then remembered that its blood and body, in that state, were cursed: the Demon Lord needed everything to be in order to achieve his goal.

- That's why you have... all this...?! Do you have any idea of what you've caused?! - Mary clenched her fists, thinking of all the people who had died and were probably dying.

Burai laughed.

- Think what you want, granddaughter; but everyone is free to do what is most convenient, don't you think so? I'm willing to do anything to take revenge on Karlheinz... even damage the balance between dimensions and go back to my word about secular agreements! – he hissed full of hatred and resentment towards the Vampire King, turning towards the Dragon's headless neck and about to attach the head to it while performing the apposite spell with the other hand.

- STOP! - the half-witch rushed towards him only to be thrown by an invisible force, rolling on the ground in pain.

Shuu and Ruki helped her getting up, making sure she was uninjured; they saw Ayato unsheathe the sword and take the run-up towards his relative and, agitated, Yui screamed at him to stop: he was also hurled and hit his head, as well as being injured by splinters of what looked like emerald fragments .

The demon smiled, satisfied, and proceeded, suddenly stopping his hand in mid-air: he had sensed the presence of...

- You never change, father.

Mary stared in awe at her mother emerging from an intra-dimensional gap, appeared from nothing behind Burai, followed by Karlheinz himself, as always showing off a more ambiguous smile than the female demon's natural one.

- You…!

The Demon Lord had no time to exchange a few words with his daughter that he was pierced through his chest by a sword and the face of his enemy in front of his own.

- Everyone will pay the consequences of their actions, sooner or later, Burai. For you, this moment has just arrived - he removed the blade from the man who collapsed to the ground.

The skin was soiled by the blood of the Dragon's head and quickly began to darken, as if necrosis was occurring: it soon disintegrated under the youth's eyes; the white-haired woman didn't bat an eyelash and only her bitter smile let out a "farewell, father".

- Well, one thing is done. Now... - Karlheinz glanced quickly at his sons and the girls, then grabbed the head by its horns and, with the Glass Lady's help, the Dragon regained his head.

Luminous circles formed around the joint between the head and the neck, widening and compacting itself with the flesh of the creature that quivered, emitting a low and hoarse cry of suffering; the woman stroked its head, murmuring soft words of comfort, while the vampire proceeded to completely repair the damage.

Suddenly the dimension seemed to tremble and some fragments of the dome fell to the ground; the Glass Lady urged the little group to get closer and created a protective sphere around them.

- What's happening, old man?! - Ayato snapped against his father, staring at him with hostility; Yui put her hand on his arm, trying to calm him down.

The man gave him a slight sarcastic smile, though softened by her attitude.

- Come on, is this the way to address your father?

- Just sharing the same blood as you disgusts me! - the son replied sourly, growling.

Ruki gave him a disapproving look: how dare he use that tone and insult his saviour? Mary, however, sighed, thinking that it wasn't the time to dwell in conflicts between parent and son, and exchanged a look of agreement with her mother, who kept on comforting the poor Dragon, weak and more and more... pale; she approached it, crouching next to the creature and wondering what was happening to it.

- Unfortunately, Chaos is spreading everywhere... and it's influencing its body and its powers a lot, poor little thing...

"Little"?, Shuu raised an eyebrow, examining that reptilian body: despite it being all twisted on itself, the length of that cluster of scales definitely exceeded thirty meters and the head was too large to remain comfortably in the arms of a single person.

- Even if that guy caused all this mess - Ayato stated, still staring at his father directly in his eyes - Something tells me you're still somehow involved!

The Glass Lady sighed, murmuring that she wasn't wrong; Karlheinz gave her a faintly offended look.

- You're hurting me.

- Please, Karl, you've destroyed three women and six boys' lives, you're as heartless as a blood sample needle - the woman replied, standing up and brushing off her fuchsia coat.

- I saved the life of four orphans, I would like to remind you, dear - he replied, his smile beginning to fade into a grimace.

- Your good deeds made to compensate for your mistakes have no value if you keep on making other mistakes! - the Glass Lady' smile disappeared, stunning the youth watching them argue, a bit perplexed, a bit bored, or a little anxious to find a solution.

- We must give up some things and sometimes sacrifice them to achieve our plans – the Vampire King hissed, grinding his teeth, a reaction that astonished his sons.

Or better: both their behaviour was puzzling them a lot; they looked like two teenagers...

- "Sacrifice" what concerns and belongs to you, Karl! Not ruinining my little sister, - the woman began to list counting with her fingers – not makingpoor Christa lose her mind, not using my friend Beatrix, not making you sons' life a nightmare, not taking advantage of the four you adopted, not imprisoning the Tsukinami brothers, not abandoning your illegitimate child, not involving my daughter! - the demon stared at him intently - What other poor souls will you torture once again to reach your goals?!

- That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't turned down my marriage proposal, Eva!

The atmosphere froze and the tension seized the youths: Ayato gasped in monosyllables, Yui blinked, murmuring if she had heard right, Shuu widened his eyes wishing he had had his earphones on, Ruki brushed his hair in a gesture of nervous breakdown; at last, Mary finally understood everything.

Mother... was the real Eve...?


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