A/N: (October 25th)
Yo.
Time for the story to finally kick it up a notch!
But before that, let me address one review:
The "First" French Incident has been implied at several points throughout the story so far. It's a big, defining moment for many characters in this narrative— and once it's fully revealed what it truly was with full context, you'll know.
You also definitely know if you've read Tsukihime (and/or the Remake) lol
Alright, let's get into it. Thank you for those who have been following and reading this story— I know that it's probably not going to get as many eyes since it barely brings up any Fate concepts (there hasn't been a single Servant in the story so far, as an example), so for those who are still here, I thank you for reading!
Enjoy.
Chapter IV: The Dead of the Night
It started at the crack of dusk.
Just as the sun reached below the horizon, hell cracked from below and spread like a plague through the defenseless town.
Warnings weren't heeded. The only one who had the authority to prepare for such an overwhelming threat was too wrapped up in his own hubris to even make an effort.
Not to mention that, once he was met with such an enemy, he collapsed like nothing more than a paper tiger in front of a storm.
The town of almost one-hundred thousand had been locked in from all directions. The Dead Apostles emerged from the town's borders and traveled inward, gripping Avignon in a vice that none could escape from.
The town's center, and the Palais des Papes, was the second major target. Outside of the Palace walls, hundreds of groaning Corpses wandered, hunting down any straggling prey and either sucking them dry, or turning them into one of their own.
In less than an hour, the whole town was beginning to fall.
It was a textbook, surgical strike that disallowed any and all counterattack. Even the current forces of Academy City present in Avignon could only serve to somewhat slow the armada of monsters tearing down humans by the dozens.
Avignon's defense forces were useless. Help from the French government would be too late to arrive.
The only group with a chance to turn the tide, were…
"I am the Nineteenth of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, Vlov Arkhangel.
I have come for your head, Imagine Breaker."
The Vampire Knight stepped forward.
Kamijou stepped back. The ones behind him were ones he couldn't see get hurt no matter what.
Even if his enemy was the most powerful Vampire in existence, he'd give up his life before any of his friends.
He couldn't properly tell, but the pressure he felt was enough to almost collapse his lungs. He struggled to even breathe as the heat of the enemy Apostle came ever so closer.
Touma grit his teeth and tightened his gaze. He wouldn't back down. "…You aren't the first person to want my head, Vlov."
"…"
The Vampire paused. His blood red eyes never relented for a second, showing the Imagine Breaker the absolute, impassable gap between the two of them with just a look.
"I will be the last."
The Vampire twitched his wrist.
Before Kamijou could even brace, he felt a sharp tug at his collar that immediately flung him backwards. His shirt pushed against his neck as an intense slash of whirring metal swung mere millimeters from his face.
He couldn't even see it, barely even register it, but he knew what happened.
Vlov Arkhangel had just attacked him. If it weren't for him being pulled back, his head would have been sliced clean from his body.
Speaking of—
He turned his still-functioning head, and saw the flash of red and brunette get between him and the vampire. "Tohsa—?!"
"RUN, Kamijou!" She shouted. "We need to get out of here! That's an Ancestor! None of…
…None of us have a chance…!"
His breath stopped at that second. With the adrenaline fading just for a moment, he finally recognized what the word Ancestor meant.
The Dead Apostle Ancestors. The Rank IX Vampires that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Before them was one of their members, ready to tear them asunder faster than any of them could react.
The dread finally set in Kamijou's heart. The truth sunk into his stomach, and almost made him vomit from terror right then and there.
He forced everything down. If he let any emotions show, he'd be nothing more than the Dead currently walking the streets, or an unmoving body on the ground.
Now was the time to think rationally. And the only rational thought he could manifest was—
'Run.'
He turned tail. With an unfathomable force before him, and with his nearly powerless friends in comparison to it, discretion quickly became the better part of valor.
But—
'How can I run?'
He could only take three steps before he noticed that the pale bloodsucker in black had appeared in front of him, faster than he could react.
His enemy was of equal strength to a Heroic Spirit. So of course, mere humans couldn't hope to outrun one, let alone overpower.
Despite them all being decent fighters in their own right…even combined, they just couldn't hold a candle.
This truth, Kamijou realized as Vlov Arkhangel raised his sword.
And a clang of metal slapped him out of his hopeless trance.
"KAMIJOU!"
A certain Amakusa Christian stood between him and absolute death.
Her Friuli spear ground against Vlov's blade. While the mage known as Itsuwa seemed to be giving it beyond her maximum effort, the vampire's bored eyes made it clear that she was naught but an inconvenience.
Touma's pupils narrowed in horror as the situation finally set in for what was coming next.
"R-Run…!" Itsuwa stammered. "Get…out of…here…! There's still…a…chance…as long as you're…alive…!"
Vlov flicked his wrist like little more than swatting a fly. Itsuwa cried out as she was blown backward, up into the air; but years of battle-experience kicked in in a heartbeat as she flipped and righted herself within a fraction of a second.
If her enemy was a monster bathed in flame, she had to quell the inferno with—
'Icy Night Wind!'
In a split-second action, Itsuwa funneled magical energy into her spearhead, brimming it with surging mana, and thrusted it forth.
She could see Vlov's scarlet-laced eyes narrow ever so slightly, letting her know that her retaliation had actually caught him off guard.
He took a step back. Itsuwa charged forward, and the swordsman and spearwoman clashed in a blur.
Touma groaned as flash and shockwave rattled through his eyes and bones, nearly stumbling him over. A grip on his arm from Tohsaka kept him upright as he turned back to see what had caused such a powerful strike.
Everything had happened in merely seconds— almost too fast for him to process, so only now did he suddenly realize who had gotten them out of the jaws of defeat.
"…Ah—!"
He reached out his arm, opposite of where he, Index and the others were running. He could hear Tohsaka fling gemstones ahead, blowing a gap between the Dead Apostles' hordes of bodies, but he, surprisingly, couldn't find himself to care.
Just beyond his grasp, was a girl that had protected him…so, so many times. One of the Amakusa Christians' finest was standing before humanity's greatest nightmare.
But she didn't budge. She didn't retreat with them, which would only result in them being picked off one-by-one like fish in a barrel.
Instead, Itsuwa of the Amakusa held her ground, her spear gripped steadily as the heat from around her singed her clothes and burned her skin.
As an impassable nightmare slowly approached her from several meters away. Her attack had gained distance, but served to do little other than that. The sulwart wall of Itsuwa was the only reason she and her friends weren't burned to ashes.
Behind her, she finally heard that desperate cry.
"I…Itsu…!
ITSUWA—!"
He let out a pain-filled scream.
He could see Itsuwa's head turn ever so slightly at him. Even with the brutality before her, Itsuwa still decided to look behind at who she was saving.
She had saved him. He had saved her.
Now it was time to get a one-up on him.
"See you around, Kamijou.
I…"
Her heart skipped a beat. Even in this situation, she still felt that way.
She looked between Vlov and her retreating friends. It would still be a few more seconds until the vampire caught her.
So in those precious few moments, she mouthed something that she and that certain young man wouldn't ever forget.
"I…I…"
She looked to the red-clad mage holding his hand, and inwardly sighed.
Even in this chaos, she managed to find a tinge of resolution.
Smiling to herself, she finished her words.
"…You'll be okay."
She turned to the Dead Apostle. Vlov had once more raised his bloodstained cleaver.
And so too did she raise her spear, declaring her resolve against the vampire of flame.
xXx
Three Years Ago.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat.
Pain.
Pain was all I felt that night. Orange and red was all I could see through my eyes, eyelids burned open and unable to close.
I couldn't blink. My eyes were going blind. My skin stopped feeling. All my ears could make out were the crackling of burned wood and the gargling of people who were no longer people.
I wanted to die. I wanted to die. I want to die.
If this was God's plan for me, if He was all good…then He should have granted me mercy and stopped my breathing then and there.
But no. I kept breathing. I kept moving. Beyond all hardship, my barely functioning, crippled human body still desired something more than death.
"…mom…"
Every step stabbed coarse, hot rocks and ashen splinters into my craggled and necrosing skin.
My throat was almost too parched to speak. I didn't even know if I was saying those words aloud…but I hoped they reached out anyway.
Hope.
Hope.
Hope.
It's quite the trait for a human to have. God must have given me lots of it.
He shouldn't have.
"…Mom…Dad…"
I sputtered out for the only two people in my life that could give me comfort. My arms haplessly reached out in front of me as I sought for something that was already too far gone and beyond reach.
Mom. Dad.
My God, my God.
'Why have you—?'
"Ah—!"
Something sharp pierced into my tiny neck.
'…Forsaken me…?'
The sharp pain turned dull, then vanished in a mere moment.
…But something else grabbed hold of my body as I fell to the floor with a pitiful yelp.
"A-Ahh…G-Guhh…"
Something in my heart— no, deeper than that, was changing. My body convulsed as a new sensation burned through my veins.
I reached up toward the bloodred, billowy skies.
The only ever-present, unchanging feature…was the cruel glow of the full, brimming Moon.
'Mom…Dad…'
…
…A hand grabbed my own. No, it wasn't a hand, but…something else, something organic but utterly inhuman.
It wrapped around my useless body, and carried me up toward the watchful Moon.
It was then that I had decided.
If this was God's plan for me, then He cannot be all good.
And if this was God's plan, then fuck Him.
Fuck Him.
Fuck Him.
I don't need Him. There's something else calling my name.
Something else that can give me purpose again. Something else that can give me something beyond just a useless, tragically short life.
As I rose up to my new purpose, my newfound rebirth, I peer over to a figure standing at the edge of a massive, ragged stone wall.
Her wild ocean hair, her beaming red eyes. Those disgusting tattooed marks on her nude body as she licked her lips and watched and watched and watched.
She watched my entire life burn away…her entire life burn away.
She had to pay. She had to pay.
Pay.
Pay.
Pay.
I would make her pay.
All I had to do…
…was ask that crimson Moon.
xXx
"Looks like you've been doing oh-so well, Elesia."
In the halls of the fallen palace, the Executor and the Vampire stood firmly against each other. Diametrically opposed…despite being born in the same village. They were raised around the same people, and taught the same culture and religion.
Ciel's eyes softened as the girl's auburn, twirling locks were easily recognizable.
"Noel." Ciel replied. "Yeah, you're…Noel."
Noel was two years her senior…and from the looks of it, neither of them really changed in appearance. The only thing that really demarcated any sort of growth were the clothes they donned over their shoulders.
One clad in a holy blue, and one donned in a pinkish, hellish red.
One who took the path of the righteous, and one who chose the path of the blasphemous.
And yet…
'Neither of us have…'
Ciel staved off her feelings, and took a calming breath. "You survived as well, it seems."
The vampire rolled her eyes, as if her statement was the most obvious in the world. "No shit, smartass. Did turning back into a human melt your brain cells, or something?"
Ciel made no response. Dissatisfied with her silence, Noel continued. "But to answer your question, Elesia…yes. The only one. I don't count you—
—Because you caused it, didn't you?"
…
They hadn't yet come to blows, but Noel's words alone were enough to cut more than just skin-deep.
Just under the calm surface, Ciel felt her blood begin to boil from those repulsive, repugnant thoughts of three years ago.
There wasn't a single day where those thoughts left her mind…but hearing it from someone else flicked a switch inside her.
"And I know, I know, that's not exactly fair," Noel said, "Since it wasn't you you who caused it. But…"
'…But it was still my body.' Ciel finished for her in her head. 'I was still aware of everything. I still made those decisions, even if 'I' wasn't entirely 'me'.
I did it. I…did it.'
The pink mist around them started to look like those unbearably hot flames. The chapel had the same color as those impassable, claustrophobic walls.
Ciel twitched. Her patience— or perhaps more correctly, her sanity— could only take so much.
Before she could even begin to wallow in her own thoughts and self-loathing, she made up her mind.
"…So what?"
Noel perked up in confusion at the Burial Agent's succinct response.
"So what if I was the cause?" Ciel replied, however hard it was for her to keep her tongue moving. "The bottom line here, Noel, is that I chose to rise and repent. Maybe I'll never be successful at it. But you—"
A blur of blue and a gust of wind forced the young vampire to jerk backward, her head limboed backward.
It happened at the speed of a butterfly flap. A shining silver blade of the Church, that could mortally wound a heretic with a simple stab.
"—You willingly chose to fall."
Gritting her teeth, Noel heard the blade fling just barely over her head, crashing into the wall behind her as she jumped away to gain distance.
In a retalitative panic, the vampire swiped her arm forward. The pink mist around her immediately formed black-pink spears at her command, and launched them in response to the Executor's attack.
'More!'
She swiped her other arm. Then again. Then again.
'More! More! MORE!'
In a single breath, she had released an onslaught of what must have been a dozen or more skewers, each moving fast enough to shatter concrete and pierce steel.
If she wanted to defeat an enemy tailor-made to hunt her kind, she had to be relentless in her attack. The best defense was always the best offense, after all.
The black skewers fell. Noel saw the blue Executor move to intercept, her fingers interlaced with silver blades like claws.
"Hyah!"
A burst of air blew past both of their faces as the sting of clashing metal rang through their ears. Divine steel and unholy iron sparked together, creating a heretically holy dance of swords.
Noel's skewers flung haphazardly in all directions, their trajectory cut short by centimeters as Ciel's impregnable defense proved her assault useless.
'What else can I…'
She looked around their enclosed battlefield. The mist that marked her territory had nearly saturated the entire room.
Grinning to herself, the Dead Apostle known as Noel made her next move, curling her fingers and causing the very ground to shake below her.
Noel had two options going forward. Her spears— or more accurately, her bells, could be used to ring and summon the Dead crawling around outside. She abandoned that plan, however, once she realized that the weaklings outside were repulsed by the existence of the Palais des Papes, which contained nearly enough Divine Mystery to rival that of the Vatican.
So, she chose plan B. If she couldn't overwhelm the Burial Agent with numbers, she just had to obliterate her with sheer power.
'I will show you…ELESIA!'
The stone ground burst open. Rose-tinted vines of thorns lashed outward and whipped around Ciel's ankles like chains.
Her teeth grit as sharp pains struck into her skin. The Burial Agent had, just for a moment, become vulnerable.
Noel knew, however, that an Executor of Elesia's caliber wouldn't be perturbed for long by an entrapment like that. In seconds, or possibly even faster, she would cut herself free.
She had to stop that before it happened. Before her was an enemy who had slain Dead Apostles far more powerful than herself— the only advantage Noel had was the fact that they knew each other.
She could read the slight hesitance in Elesia's eyes. Even though she had declared war against her, she could tell that her punches were being pulled, if ever so slightly.
She had to end it before Elesia's mercy ran short.
And so, with the window of opportunity closing, Noel outstretched her arms as a massive ring of black skewers burst into existence among the mist, dozens upon dozens.
She made enough to slaughter a whole Church's worth of victims— but it was all intended for one target alone.
'Fall!'
Noel's eyes glinted, and her bells followed her command.
They rained down like arrows, cracking the ground and bursting plumes of dust into the air as she shot down hellfire toward the Burial Agent, hoping to transform her into swiss cheese.
A part of her wanted Elesia's death to be slower. More prolonged. More painful.
But she had to give it her all. Otherwise—
"You can't beat her by yourself, girl."
She remembered the only words that that chivalrous Vampire had given her, a few nights before.
She didn't like that Ancestor…especially since he was the youngest of the Twenty-Seven. But, considering that she was beyond a fledgling herself, he was still very much her senior.
"If there were ever a time to take heed of my words, then heed me now.
She has slain Vampires stronger than you and I…the Castle and the Sword both fell short to her. Do not take her lightly. Overwhelm her from the start."
Vlov Arkhangel was nothing if not strategic. She had learned a little of his knightly background, and thus, at the very least, took his combat advice to heart.
And it seemed as if it was working out for her.
She couldn't risk prolonging the fight. It would be impossible for her to win.
'So a rain of bells should be enough…'
Noel lowered down near the fading dust cloud. Her skewers littered the broken, tattered earth, stabbed into the stone by the hundreds. Even she was amazed at how much power she had just exhumed— it was probably enough to slaughter an entire battalion of regular Executors.
"Where are you looking, Noel?"
But that voice above caused her rotten heart to sink to her stomach.
There was no body, slaughtered and pinned to the ground like roadkill.
Instead, upon peering to the ceiling of the grand chapel, Noel's eyes widened at the blue-haired Burial Agent, her back arched as she somersaulted through the air.
She wasn't unscathed, however. Just under her ankle-length nundress, was—
'Her feet, they're—!'
A twin stream of blood flowed from her lower calves where her boots should have been.
Two, absolutely clean and smooth amputations. Indeed, she had slashed her feet clean from her body, so she could break free of Noel's trap and dodge the oncoming skewers. It must have been a split, split second decision— faster than Noel could even properly react to.
But…
'That doesn't make sense…!'
Elesia flung a pair of black keys at her again, which Noel narrowly evaded due to still being confused at her enemy's decision.
She had completely, utterly disabled her ability to move. So why—?
'Why—?!'
Upon deflected another volley of silver, she realized.
Underneath Elesia's dress was a strange, inhuman glow…and with it, came something that Noel couldn't explain.
Her bones reappeared, taking the shape of feet. Muscles, tendons and flesh surrounded it not even a moment later, completely reforming the lost limbs in seconds.
Her shoes were gone, but the Executor's feet had returned, good as new, as if the amputation hadn't even occurred in the first place.
Only then, did Elesia finally flip back onto the ground, her facial expression seeming like she was satisfied with the look on Noel's face.
"…You…" Noel muttered.
It clicked in her head what had happened to Elesia. Suddenly, it all made sense.
'The Snake survived, and she's alive too. Meaning that—'
"You still have our powers, don't you…?" Noel asked aloud.
Elesia didn't reply, but her silence was loud enough to answer for her.
It made sense. The regrowth of her feet did not look like typical regeneration— but rather like localized time reversal…
…which is exactly how Dead Apostles recovered from wounds, however mortal or debilitating they may seem.
The enemy before her had slain Petastructure and Be'ze. With a restorative ability just as that, it all made sense as to how she was capable of doing so.
The blood in Noel's veins boiled. It wasn't enough to simply maim her extremities— she had to go for a fatal shot, now.
"So what if I do?" Elesia replied. "It doesn't change what you have to do, Noel. You want to kill me. That's all there is to it."
Elesia's sound advice made her even angrier. Her fanged teeth ground so hard they could crack in her wrath.
"…Elesia…"
One-by-one, the skewers grew and multiplied around Noel's body. In response, the Executor summoned those holy keys into her hands once more.
"You will die…by my hand…
…ELESIA—!"
The Dead Apostle rushed forward.
The Burial Agent remained unmoving. Her eyes softened in pity as she let out a tiny, exasperated sigh.
"…You fool."
xXx
The heat.
The heat was unbearable.
It burned into Itsuwa's lungs, making each consecutive breath in and out harder than the last.
She gripped tightly to her Friuli Spear all the same, as she locked into combat with one of humankind's deadliest archenemies.
Several meters away stood the black-cloaked Vlov Arkhangel, his never-changing, neutral gaze looking at her in dissatisfaction as he raised his arm. Amongst the burning pyres of fire around her, flaming, walking corpses marched over to her at his leisurely command.
Itsuwa grit her teeth, and whipped her spear in an sonic-speed arc, creating a shockwave-laced burst that forced them away. She already had experienced one of them getting past her guard— Vlov could apparently order them to explode, and one had already winded her.
She had a damage transference charm that shifted the heat from her skin to her clothes— though that likely meant most of it was burned off by now. She, however, had more things to worry about than mere modesty.
Death by fire was looming over her. At some point, she was bound to give.
'…No. I'm not going to. I WILL see them again. I will see…
…him again…!'
Her eyes glinted as a second wind coursed through her body, and she pushed off the ground for leverage as she rushed forward.
Vlov recognized her newfound strength immediately. With only a narrowing of his eyes and nothing more, hand-shaped flames the width of whole human bodies burst into existence, born from the conflagrations burning down this region of Avignon.
They roared forward. Itsuwa raised up her spear, and kept plunging onward with no attempt to evade.
If she delayed her charge any further, she wouldn't have a chance to make this work. She had to take the heat— head-on, if she had to.
The first fire hand fell. Her spear took the brunt of its force, and shattered its structure as its holy tip rendered the heretical flames apart.
Its remaining heat still singed her skin, however. Coming out of the attack, she was much less than unscathed.
Vlov looked at her with just a modicum of bewilderment. From his perspective, the girl was blindingly charging him— which likely meant she had something up her sleeve that could maybe catch him off guard.
He couldn't quite figure out what it would be, however. The girl was a powerful mage— but compared to an Ancestor, she may as well be an ant trying to take down a lion.
From what she had demonstrated thus far, nothing she could do could really serve to strain him any further than a warm-up. He barely needed to exert a tenth of his strength against her.
It was true that his true prey— the Imagine Breaker— had escaped. He, however, was willing to let him escape from his clutches, for the simple fact that—
"I don't NEED him need him, right now. It would be nice if you caught him, Vlovvy, but don't be bummed out if you can't, okay? Just bring me Terra's head and burn down Avignon, and your side of the deal will be complete."
He already accomplished his goal, so everything after that was essentially bonus work for him. He hadn't stretched his limbs or exerted himself in years, so this battle with this young mage did serve as a sort of interludal entertainment.
And, considering the Imagine Breaker's personality…
'He'll return to face me soon enough. It's in his nature.'
But for now, he focused on the girl before him.
The girl who, by his estimates, was on her last legs.
His second flame-wreathed hand scorched into her once more, but her legs still seemed to move without delay.
In only a few short seconds, she had closed the gap between him and her. Not intending for her to get anywhere close to him, he curled his finger— a command to let the nearby Dead enter the fray for him.
In the corner of Itsuwa's eyes, she spotted a handful of flaming Dead turn their craggled, red and black heads, and suddenly leap forward— using themselves as literal barriers between her and Vlov and cutting off her chance at a retalitative attack.
'That's perfect.'
She grit her teeth, and in the chaos of the brutal, billowing hot battlefield, Itsuwa found the careful concentration to draw a circle in the air with her spear.
Next, Itsuwa narrowed her burning, dry eyes, as her mouth activated High-Speed Incantation.
A multi-line chant was announced in a single second.
"Let the warmth of the Sun be Heaven's rays.
Even in the darkest depths of the Earth, the Lord shines eternal."
The circle she drew appeared on Vlov's chest. He immediately noticed the magical energy, and burst his left hand aflame as he raised his arm to erase it immediately.
But it would be too late.
Her spell was too fast.
Itsuwa grinned as her reckless plan turned out to be the perfect trap.
"Purify our peril— Midday's Light!"
The tip of her spear stabbed into the flaming Dead before her.
And all at once, a twin explosion of white burst out, blindingly bright like the summer sun.
The circle on Vlov Arkhangel's chest erupted like a miniature nova. His eyes widened as something he didn't expect to feel, suddenly coursed through his body all at once.
Pain.
Excruciating, divine pain.
"Ah…guh—!"
Just for a second, it was as if he was standing in direct sunlight. In that brief moment, he realized the true makeup of the spell that she had used on him.
'It replicates…the light of the sun…so of course, using it on a Dead Apostle, would…!'
Irregardless of a Dead Apostle's position, the light of the Sun proved to be harmful. Paradoxically, it was more fatal the higher up in ranking a Vampire was; though there were some key exceptions, particularly in the top ten.
Vlov, however, was not one of those exceptions. And thus, the pain he felt was truly, irritatingly true.
Itsuwa, still rushing forward, opened her dried eyes. Her vision was blurred beyond belief, but she could still make out what was immediately in front of her.
The adrenaline in her body proved to stifle what was certainly ungodly amounts of burning agony all throughout her entire body; so if she wanted to end this, she had to end it now.
Her sunlight spell had killed the Dead in her way, but more importantly…
'…He's actually off his guard!'
Vlov Arkhangel had stumbled backward, his chest fuming with black smoke, burned by the temporary light of her fleeting sun.
She wouldn't get another chance like this again.
Vlov Arkhangel was astonishingly powerful. Itsuwa was certain that even if their Priestess were here, he would give her a battle that could go either way.
But he made one mistake: hubris. Assuming a mage like her couldn't deal real damage to her. He considered her a simple obstacle to just swat away like a gnat.
She wasn't that, however….and she would prove it within the next three seconds.
Readying herself, Itsuwa of the Amakusa took in a breath, and pounced forward within Vlov's guard.
"Secret Technique—"
In a blurred flash, the Amakusa Christian whipped her Friuli Spear. Emerging from its razor's edge were glints of steeled wires, seven in total.
Wires thin enough, and sharp enough, to deliver surgical, deadly slices that guaranteed victory, at angles inescapable.
It was similar to a certain swordmaster's ability to slay swallows, though Itsuwa's technique, derived from the Amakusan Sword Saint, Kaori Kanzaki, was much more in-line with the laws of physics…yet equally as unstoppable all the same.
The glints of wires barreled down on Vlov all at once.
And Itsuwa finished the unleashing of her hidden spear.
"Shichikō Shichijin."
xXx
"You will die…by my hand…ELESIA—!"
The Dead Apostle launched her blackened skewers, her face filled with anguish and rage.
And on the opposite corner, Ciel remained unmoving, letting her enemy descend.
She outstretched her arms. A second later, she felt the excruciating pain of those spears stabbing and piercing her body, some running straight through while others stopped to impale her.
She fell backward. She opened her eyes and saw Noel's disgusted face turn into a sickening smile, like she had finally caught her prey.
However…Ciel was anything but.
A flash of light enveloped her body. Noel cringed backward, the unexpected brightness stunning her like a flashbang.
Something hard and metallic touched the vampire's stomach. Before she could realize what it was, she heard the click of a trigger being pulled…
…and the smoking burst of a gun being fired.
"…Gah—!"
Multiple dull pains pulsed into and right through her stomach. A shudder tremored through her whole body as Noel lost the ability to float and crumpled to the ground.
She managed to somehow land on her feet, but her legs turned numb and failed to hold the rest of her body as she collapsed onto her knees not a moment later.
'What…was…?'
She coughed. She felt and saw something sticky and wet and dark leave her mouth.
Anger, confusion, bewilderment, rage— all of that coalesced into a tightened, stressed expression as she looked up to the enemy who had turned the tables— who had initiated her own entrapment.
Though in this case, Noel had no such method of countering it. For some reason, the bullets that Elesia had fired seemed to be stifling her time-reversal restoration; not outright negating it, but slowing it down far faster than she would have liked.
The Burial Agent stood tall— her clothes completely changed. Now out of her nun-like outfit, she was donned in a much more mobile, combat-ready uniform. In her gloved hands was a rifle, intended to put down the deadliest of bloodsuckers.
The impalements that Noel had sustained upon her were no longer visible, in part due to the change in the Executor's wardrobe.
Without missing a beat, Ciel fired on Noel once again.
Some bullets ricoheted off of her skewers, that she had instinctively put between them as a defensive maneuver. Others pushed through her defenses, and struck her where it would hurt.
"Ahhh…ghhh…!"
Every strike upon her body became more and more painful. The bullets must have been laced with some holy energy specifically designed to destroy vampires.
If Noel was hit by enough of them, then…
"Damn it…why can't I…?"
She launched a volley of black stakes at her enemy once more…but without even looking, Elesia simply moved her head to the side and walked forward, completely evading the trajectory without a second thought.
The look on her face told Noel that Elesia was done playing around— every action from here forward was meant to eliminate her whatever the cost.
'…No.'
Noel inwardly nodded to herself.
'There's still a…way…'
She fell fully to her knees, and held her head down as if to surrender.
The assault rifle stopped its onslaught, if only for a moment.
"Giving up?" Elesia asked. "…Fine by me. I wouldn't have given you mercy either way. That's the Lord's job."
She laced her finger around the trigger once again.
Yet the very second she was about to plunge it down and end Noel's life, the Dead Apostle played their very last, desperate card.
Ciel's eyes widened as a gust of rose petals flew by her, and began to swirl around Noel's petite, bleeding body.
And her eyes…
'These are—!'
Upon seeing them, Ciel immediately recognized the Ancestor who had granted Noel her powers.
Just like how seeing a Servant's Noble Phantasm could determine their True Name, so too could revealing an Idea Blood realize a Dead Apostle's identity.
The glowing, pinkish, rose irises were the most beautiful, repugnant, irresistible, bewitching Mystic Eyes in the world.
The Idea Blood of the Fifteenth Ancestor, Rita Rozay-en.
'…The Mystic Eyes of…Roses…!'
Their power surged through Ciel's eye sockets and straight into her brain— no, her very soul.
She pushed against it. If one had a strong enough constitution, they could resist a Mystic Eye's effects.
Ciel held a lot of raw power. That was the main reason why the Burial Agency chose her as the seventh member…
…though what she was lacking in was the experience. Perhaps, given several more years of experience and practice, she could have brushed aside the effects and pressed forward unabated.
But as it stood, despite her best efforts, her resistance was overcome.
And to the Roses she fell.
xXx
"I hate you, Elesia."
A familiar scene burned to life before the two of them.
Tall, impassable walls. Wooden homes and buildings, burning to crisped ashes.
Walking corpses. Inhuman monsters watching it all unfold.
And at the center of them, stood…
"You did this. You did this.
You.
Did.
This."
A lone figure watched overhead, clad in a cape that fluttered in the smoke-filled winds.
Their crimson eyes betrayed their ocean blue hair—
"—Like how you betrayed them. Your mother. Your father. Your friends.
Me."
The flames somehow got even hotter.
The screams became weaker. The human life in that village was dying by the second— either becoming prey, or becoming like the both of them.
"This all could have been avoided if you had just killed yourself. But you didn't. You coward.
That Snake could have moved on to someone else. But you chose to keep him inside you. You fought it, when it would have been easier for all of us if you had just died.
If you died…maybe your parents would still be here."
The cape-clad vampire blinked. Below, she swore she could have heard something cry out in the village below.
Someone…crying out for her name.
"Ele…sia…Elesia…!"
'…You're not…'
She closed her eyes. At this point in time, they were already long, long gone. They were her first victims, after all.
"God abandoned us. Abandoned you. But you crawled back to him like a good little girl. How pathetic. God's followers are a bunch of hypocrites, anyway. How you've become so devout to them…is beyond me, Elesia.
I thought you'd be like me. You can imagine my disgust when I realized you were just like the others. A hypocrite who did horrible things, thinking they can do good just because they have a cross around their neck.
Well guess what? You can't. You're destined to hell. I'm going to drag you down there with me. Satan will torture us together…and I can't wait to hear you scream."
"…"
…
'…Are you done?'
"What?"
'I asked you…are you done?'
The blue-haired vampire glared forward and reached out her hand.
"…Gah—!"
The walls disappeared. So too did the flames.
Ciel opened her eyes— or perhaps they always were open— and locked sights with the dim glow of Noel's weakening Mystic Eyes.
She was back in reality, within the tattered interior of the Palais des Papes.
"…I've recalled that night…much too many times, Noel…so your little show…isn't going…to stop me…!"
The vampire gagged as Ciel grabbed her by the neck. Vampires didn't breathe to survive, but crushing their windpipe would prove to be painful regardless.
It wasn't how she was going to finish the job, anyway.
Lifting Noel up in the air, and slamming a triplet of Black Keys upon the ground, Ciel grit her teeth as she started her incantation.
"I kill. I let live.
I wound. I heal."
Noel's eyes brightened in response as her struggling grunts started to sound like roars of rage. Divine light pushed into her skin as a field of holy aura enveloped around the two of them.
It was painful. Oh, so painful. So painful that she wanted to just die.
But before that—
'I will drag you to hell, ELESIA!'
Her Mystic Eyes of Roses blared to life once again.
Ciel faltered as, all around her, the burning village once again seared into her mind.
At her feet, in the corner of her eyes, she saw the disemboweled, unmoving corpses of a mother and father.
"…Shatter!
I welcome the old. I welcome the lost.
Devote thyself to me, learn from me…Obey me!"
The chapel returned.
Noel's grip on her hands became stronger, from what must have been pure, unfiltered survival instinct.
Ciel was pressuring onto her a spell that would kill her outright, and the Dead Apostle was doing everything in her power to stop it.
The eyes burned to life again. The village flashed in and out of existence from Ciel's perspective, turning back and forth between illusion and reality like flipping through a picture book.
It was overwhelming. She was giving Noel as much physical pain as Noel was granting her mental.
The Idea Blood and Baptism Rite collided their powers against one another. Ultimately, something had to give.
"Rest. Do not forget prayer. Do not forget me.
For I am the light that will relieve thee of thy burdens."
Noel's nails dug into her skin, drawing blood on her forearms, weakening her grip however she could.
Her screams of pain turned into cries of anguish. Noel wanted to shout that bitch's name so badly, but her body simply couldn't put together words as that holy aura began dismantling her.
If she didn't break out of it before Elesia finished, her restorative powers would prove useless. Her body would completely erase, down to the soul.
She grit her teeth, and lashed out those ragged thorns from the Earth. They wrapped around Ciel's body to try and pull her away, but the Baptism Rite's holy light purged them before she could make any meaningful headway.
"Ele…si…aaaaa…!"
She kept her Mystic Eyes trained on her as best she could, trying to tear apart her mind before the Burial Agent could tear apart her body.
'If only…I had…more…
…More…more…more…!'
If she had the unabridged, full strength of Rita's Mystic Eyes of Roses, then this would have been over before it began.
But compared to Rita, she was only a middling Rank VI. Compared to a Rank IX, she was paltry.
She hated that.
She was so much stronger.
Yet still fell far too short.
"Do not pretend.
Retribution for forgiveness, betrayal for trust, despair for hope, darkness for light, dark death for the living.
Relief is in my hands. I will anoint thee, and leave a mark.
Eternal life…is given through death."
'No…I don't want to die…I don't want to die…
I'll be going to hell. I won't be able to see them…and she took it from me! She took any chance I had in seeing them again!
The only thing I want…in this whole world…is to drag her down with me!
Please…please…'
"Ask for forgiveness here.
I, the incarnation, shall swear."
Her Mystic Eyes faded out.
Her head rolled back. She hadn't noticed before, but their battle must have shattered the stone ceiling above.
She peered up, and met the gaze of a certain celestial object, observing from afar.
'…Please…O bright, shining Moon…please give me…a mira…cle…'
Her limbs went limp. She felt them begin to fade away.
Her eyes could no longer see. The grip around her neck began to numb.
The last thing she heard…were the final words of the Seventeenth Vessel.
"Kyrie…Elei—"
xXx
The cold.
The cold was unbearable.
It constantly ate at him from the inside. It was consuming him, ever so slightly, ever so slowly, for decades upon decades; centuries upon centuries.
The only reason he resisted it was sheer determination. Sheer will and hardened courage, that he had learned from his time as a knight.
It was his will alone that that Idea Blood he possessed did not overwhelm his body. If he had no such mental and physical strength, he would have ceased to exist long ago.
Yet here he was, standing before a field of flash-frozen ice.
…but it was still cold, oh-so cold all the same.
"…Haaahhh…"
He breathed out. A cloud puffed in front of his face as he held his coat that proved little to protect him from the new environment he himself created.
No flame in existence could withstand his true nature. No flame existed that could satisfy him.
Which is why he was so bewildered, that…
"…You pushed me…this far…"
Vlov Arkhangel stepped backward.
Seven steel wires, now completely frozen and encased in ice, broke free from his body. His restorative powers kicked into action, reversing the damage that her attack had dealt to him.
The girl had launched an attack that, had he not activated his Idea Blood's true nature when he did, would have surely torn him to pieces.
It was nearly on the level of a Saint— powerful, holy beings with natures akin to the Son of God. In many ways, they were direct rivals to the Twenty-Seven Ancestors that he called himself a part of.
As such, an attack of that caliber could have easily downed him. There was a good chance he would recover— especially if it failed to pierce his heart or behead him, but he chose to not take that chance.
He clearly took the girl too lightly. For that…
"…you have gained my respect, human girl."
He tapped the frozen wires with his cleaver-shaped blade, and they immediately crumbled into shards that fell among the ice below.
Vlov looked down…and nearly took pity upon her unmoving body.
Her half-burnt hair was now caked in snow and ice. Her eyelids had burned away, leaving her nearly unrecognizable eyes staring wide in shock-terror.
Her charred arms splayed to her sides, her legs nearly as maimed. Her clothes had long since burned away, replaced with a blanket of ice that was coating her body by the second.
Even then…Vlov narrowed his eyes, and sensed the tiniest spark of life still trying to hold on, despite her body being far beyond repair.
It would take an inhuman miracle to save her. In the mage world, perhaps a Holy Grail, born from the True Magics.
Of course, a bite to her neck might prove to salvage her as well, however…
"…Itsuwa is your name, is it not?" Vlov asked. He knew all-too well that her senses were gone, however, so his words were falling on deaf ears. Nevertheless, he spoke anyway. "You sacrificed yourself to buy your allies time. That is an act only the truly strong can accomplish."
He turned around. While she might prove useful to him as a vampire, turning her into an enemy for her allies was an underhanded tactic that he'd rather not do.
"I'm certain they will mourn your death with their heads held high. So rest in that solace."
He walked away without another word.
xXx
"Kyrie…Elei—"
She found herself immediately, and utterly unable to speak out that final phrase…as her tongue literally froze over, preventing her from speaking another word.
In fact, it wasn't just her tongue.
Her entire body stopped moving. All she could do was fall to the ground as a sensation so unfathomably cold overwhelmed her body so much that she couldn't even fully process it.
Ciel collapsed to the ground.
As soon as she did…everything became blank.
…
"Ahhh…hhhh…ghhh…"
A certain Dead Apostle collapsed in the snow.
Only her upper body remained. She was cut off at the stomach, and one of her arms had completely disintegrated by the shoulder.
But with the Baptism Rite now dissipated, her restorative powers, slowly, if ever so gradually, began to reverse the damage done to her.
The cold only served to slow that process, however.
Noel raised her hand to the sky. That gleaming Moon somehow granted her wish.
She was still living. Despite it being unbearably cold, she was still living.
"Ahhh…thank…yo…"
She blinked. Someone was blocking her view.
Luckily— or perhaps, unfortunately…it was someone she recognized.
"Come. This is no place to die."
She felt her weak body lift up and over their shoulder.
And in a flash, she and her savior vanished from the blizzard.
xXx
Closing the door of the abandoned house behind them, only then did Touma Kamijou find the strength within him to rest.
He sighed, his legs giving out from the constant running. Tsuchimikado did take them the rest of the way by car, but running to said car knocked the breath out of him.
It wasn't just a simple sprint. He had to evade the Dead at every corner, while also making sure his friends were all accounted for.
Miraculously, everyone was. Well, except for…
'…Itsuwa…Ciel…'
He hung his head. They had left the two of them behind. Itsuwa by choice— but they practically abandoned Ciel.
He, Tohsaka, Index, Sakura and Tsuchimikado had fled to the commune town of Sorgues, only several kilometers northeast of Avignon. The smoke from the city was still very much visible from their location— their only solace was that the Dead hadn't quite spread far enough, so they were safe for the time being.
According to the French radio that Motoharu had turned on in the car, every town, city and commune within a fifty-kilometer radius of Avignon had been issued an immediate evacuation.
He still remembered the words that Tsuchimikado had said, upon hearing that governmental announcement.
"…This is way different than three years ago…"
Which only left one question in Touma's mind.
'What happened three years ago?'
It must have been an event similar to this one; the destruction of a whole French town, but probably not on the same scale.
A part of him wanted to ask what exactly it was, but at the moment, they had more pressing matters.
He took in a breath. Any emotions he felt, he'd have to save it for later.
Until after this conflict was over.
'And as long as Ciel and Itsuwa are still out there…' He glanced out a window, which left a clear view of the billowing black clouds from just a town over. Strangely enough, however, the flames seemed to be dying out. '…I can't rest.'
He stood to his feet. He noticed the rest of the group had settled around the living room, giving a thousand-yard stare into the center coffee table.
Only Index was the one still on her feet, rummaging through the kitchen probably to find a snack for everyone. He felt bad about the French family that they were probably stealing from; but more pressing matters were at hand than breaking-and-entering.
If they didn't find a way to stop those vampires, then this house might not even be left standing.
"…Okay."
He walked over to the sofas, and put on his brave face. "What's our next move?"
…
It didn't seem like any of them really had much of an urge to speak. Tsuchimikado leaned back and crossed his arms; underneath his sunglasses, Touma could tell his eyes were trying to put together a plan as best he could.
Motoharu was their planner, and usually the brains behind their operations. If he couldn't figure something out, then…
"…Well, I think the next move is pretty simple." Tsuchimikado finally said. "We get Itsuwa and Ciel back. If we can, we defeat Vlov Arkhangel, too. All of that is way easier said than done, though."
"…Agreed." Tohsaka admitted. "Saving our friends is the highest priority…though even that might be too much to ask for, really, considering that Itsuwa-san…"
Touma's finger twitched. While he didn't exactly disagree with Tohsaka— Itsuwa was left on her own against an impossibly strong enemy, he couldn't just assume she was gone.
Not until he saw a body.
"…No. Let's…let's assume they're both alive." Touma said, sitting down next to the rest of them. "I'm sure Ciel would have found Vlov by now, and might be fighting him as we speak, in which case…all we have to do is help her defeat Vlov."
"What makes you so sure that Ciel's alive?" Tsuchimikado asked.
'…Oh. Right. Did Ciel never tell him?'
Looking back at the events of the Holy Grail War, he couldn't recall when Ciel had ever disclosed that information with Tsuchimikado around.
"She is. Trust me— she's fought Servants before toe-to-toe, so she can probably handle him. Hopefully…" Touma trailed off. "…So we have to go back for her. Her, and Itsuwa."
"I like your enthusiasm, Kamijou." Tohsaka said. "But even with that…how can we get them? Just retreating nearly cost us our lives. If we willingly go back into the fire without a proper plan, then…"
Touma sighed. She had a point.
They knew they had to return as soon as possible, to ensure the chances of recovering both of them were as high as they could.
Yet at the same time, they couldn't rush in haphazardly. Such reckless thinking surely meant death.
"…Argh, you're right." He leaned forward, clearing the table in front of them as he gestured for a pen and paper. "Let's get the details down, then…"
xXx
Despite her body focused on making her friends food, Index's mind was entirely some place else.
With every slice of the tomato, onion, or break of a lettuce leaf, Index couldn't help but recall those horrid sights only hours ago.
'Dead Apostles…I know them. I've read about them. And yet…'
She set the bread on the cutting board, preparing to stack the ingredients atop to create a hastily-made, but hopefully decently-tasting sandwich. 'And yet…I still can't quite accept how terrifying they truly are.'
Even the weakest ones could overpower a human. It was a miracle in of itself how she had escaped from Avignon with nothing but minor scratches.
And the strongest…
'…One of them's there. Vlov. The Nineteenth.'
From her knowledge, he wasn't the most powerful by a long-shot. He was a newer member, and since the general strength of a Vampire came with age, Vlov was quite low on the totem pole of Ancestors.
Yet he was an Ancestor all the same…so Index really didn't know how they could…
'…How can we win?
Imagine Breaker probably doesn't work on him. Rin's magecraft is probably minor at best, and ineffective at worst.
Our best bets are Ciel and Itsuwa…but I don't know where Ciel is, and Itsuwa…'
She set down her knife, and took a breath.
'I don't even know if Itsuwa's alive right now.
…If only I wasn't just a glorified talking encyclopedia.
…maybe I could do more than just stand on the sidelines like this. I guess keeping up everyone's morale is a big help by itself, but…'
She shook off her thoughts, and cut the sandwich in half, setting the two pieces atop a pile that she had already made.
"Alright, that should be good." Index breathed aloud. "Sorry for raiding your pantry, whoever lives here. We can't fight on an empty stomach, after all."
She picked up the plate to carry it to the living room.
But set it down in confusion, as a vibration whirred in her pocket. "Eh? Someone is…?"
She found that strange. Usually calls went through to Touma, so for her to be receiving a call was a little out of the blue.
Nevertheless, she reached under her nun's habit, finding the inner pocket and produced a flip-phone from her dress.
"H-Hello?"
"Yo. Index-san, right? Sorry— I would have called Kamijou-san, but he wasn't picking up. Probably broke his phone again, or something."
Index's eyes slowly widened in understanding. That masculine voice— she could recognize it anywhere…well, as well as literally anything else she sensed, but that was beside the point.
"You're—!"
"Yep. Ever since the news about Avignon hit, I ordered a rendezvous and focused in on your location. Luckily, we were all scattered around France, so gathering together wasn't too much of a tall task.
Might wanna check the front door."
"…Got it!"
She put her phone away, and nearly rushed as she grabbed her plate of food and rushed out to the living room.
Needless to say, her quick pace caught the attention of Touma and the others.
"Oi, Index, what's got you so—?"
"You'll find out!" Index exclaimed, setting the sandwiches on the table. "Things might not be so hopeless, after all!"
She sauntered over to the front door. After checking the peephole to confirm that it wasn't some sort of trick from any enemy, she unlocked its latch and swung it open.
Everyone stuck their heads out to greet whoever Index was so excited to see.
And indeed, upon seeing them…
"…Yo, everyone. Crap really hit the fan, huh?"
Men and women, some as young as teenagers and others old enough to be salarymen, stood tall wielding various steeled weapons. Some faces confident, some faces deadly serious.
But they all served to be a beacon of reprieve, all the same. Dozens of honed mage-warriors, hailing from a far eastern Christian sect.
Their leader, a tan-skinned man with wild black hair, carrying a wave-shaped sword, smirked as he stepped up to the doorway.
"We're the Amakusa Christians…here in the place of our former Supreme Pontiff. My name is Tatemiya Saiji.
How can we be of assistance?"
xXx
While the humans began gathering strength for a second wind, the inhumans stood firm over their new dominion of Avignon.
Vlov Arkhangel set his feet upon a spire of what was once a powerful symbol of Catholic faith: the Palais des Papes, as he watched its great, ornately built walls crumble from the deathly cold blizzard that he had cascaded across the small city.
He could feel its divine energy be repressed down by his own will. His Idea Blood had completely overwhelmed its authority, leaving it just as vulnerable and useless as any other building in the already hopeless town.
He watched from below as his Dead wandered, with no real destination or purpose aside from the one command he had given them all: to find any surviving humans, and either execute them or turn them to his cause.
The deal he had made ordered for Avignon to be razed to the ground. Despite him dealing the town a grave blow that would likely leave it unlivable for years, he personally found that to still be insufficient, even if the contract had already been fulfilled.
He closed his palm. On command, the blustery winds howled even louder and stronger, enough to collapse whole buildings by the dozen.
The Nineteenth Ancestor would leave nothing remaining. If it meant he could gather enough energy to eliminate him, then all the better.
That's what this utter obliteration of a human civilization really meant, at its core: a message to the one who he swore to slay, above all else.
"…Hahhh…"
He let out a steam-filled breath. Gritting his fanged teeth, the black-clad vampire lifted up his hand and produced a single, torch-like orange flame from his gloved palm.
"…Cold…"
The temperatures dug into his skin. Despite being his own power, even he wasn't completely immune to its effects. Every time he let out his true strength, the side-effects made him feel like dying.
He had half a mind to retract his blizzard and return the town to normal temperatures; but upon learning that the 7th Burial Agent would be present, he knew that he had to take precautionary measures.
The girl couldn't ever die, after all, thanks to a curse from a man he was all-too familiar with. To disable her, all he had to do was put her in a prison that would perpetually keep her down.
Since she hadn't made any moves to attack him in the hour-or-so since his takeover of Avignon, he assumed his efforts to be working on her. Somewhere, amidst this freezing tundra, she was trapped under his snow and ice.
All that he had to do now, was await for a certain Right Hand's return.
'It would be nice if I did bring him alive, hm?' Vlov thought. 'Fine by me.'
He would be bound to return. From his perspective, his allies were still trapped. Naturally, he would move to save them.
And that's when he'd strike. No human could withstand the temperatures he had forced upon this land.
If it meant gathering power to fell that conniving serpent, then he would even give away one of the Planet's key balancers.
He glanced down to the white, snow-covered field that used to be the town square at the foot of the Palace. Somewhere underneath those piles of cold, was the body of someone that Imagine Breaker called his ally.
"She proved quite capable. So, Imagine Breaker…"
He breathed steadily, and gripped the sword sheathed at his hip. "Show me your—"
"VAMPIRE!"
A booming, masculine voice as loud as thunder roared into the Ancestor's ears as a pressure began to build above his head.
Vlov Arkhangel darted his head up, and immediately fathomed the warrior careening down toward him. He pushed off the spire, narrowly evading the tip of a multi-meter long mace that, if he had remained still, would have dealt serious blunt force to him.
The figure chased him relentlessly. Vlov landed on a rooftop, only for the great mace to swipe at the side of his head, its length proving to be quite difficult to get past.
In a heartbeat, the vampire unsheathed his sword and swiped in one fluid motion, knocking it off trajectory as he continued his descent toward the snowy earth.
'This man is—!'
Vlov grimaced as a blindingly quick overhead strike veered at him, aiming to crush his brains into his neck.
Not to be outdone, the vampiric Knight of Zaria opened his palm as he lifted it into the air. A flash of light summoned something equally as large as the greysteeled mace whirling at his body.
He grit his teeth as his secondary weapon: his snowy-tinted Ice Lance, tested its mettle against an overwhelming strike meant to do nothing but kill.
The ground beneath his feet cracked and splintered, and the shudders through his body made it clear to Vlov that this enemy wasn't one to trifle with.
The mace relented. Vlov lowered his guard.
And just like that, the two men met eyes.
Across from the vampire, stood a man clad in white and blue. His short, tea-colored hair blew wildly in the blizzard, but his straight-lined face remained stoic in the wintry hellscape.
Vlov could tell he was suppressing his strength, but also knew that the power he did feel was immense. Immense enough to rival nearly any one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
Or, in other words…
'One of the two members of that group worth their salt.' Vlov thought.
Vento of the Front and Terra of the Left were simple pushovers. Easily exploitable, easy-to-defeat hypocrites.
The man before him was different. One could simply tell that fact from his appearance alone.
"My name is Acqua of the Back." The man announced. "Vampiric Ancestor…what you have done to this town is unforgivable. Your punishment will be your cleansing from this world."
He lowered into a battle stance.
Vlov Arkhangel remained upright, only hefting his lance between them to keep distance. "Acqua of the Back. Representative of Archangel Gabriel, correct?…You are not the one that I truly desire, but a welcome surprise you are, nonetheless."
His red eyes glinted, as a genuine, excited grin grew across his face.
He hadn't exerted himself this whole time.
But against Acqua…he knew he could finally stretch his freezing limbs.
"I've already slaughtered one of your kind. You'll be no different from the last."
A/N:
I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It's the first time I've written detailed fight scenes since the battles in Heaven's Fall, so I enjoyed letting loose and having fun with the character's powers.
I hope you had fun reading it, too. But uh…RIP to you-know-who.
This is a Nasu-style story, after all. There won't be many safe from the hand of death.
As usual, feel free to review and follow. I'll see you on the spooky day! Feels fitting, for a horror-esq story like this, lol
Next Chapter: "The Divine and the Dead" (October 31st)
