"Okay, Princess and I will go in and hunt for the bastard. You stay here Yuta, if you stumble onto him, feel free to throw Rika at the problem." Aoko quickly relays the situation.
I grit my teeth. "No way! I'm going in as well! I mean, why did I even run here if I'm not going to confront him!?"
There's no way I can just let Aoko and Arcueid enter this hellfire while I just stay outside waiting like a fucking loser, specially since I came here to kill this guy.
After Ciel warned me, we all quickly rushed to my neighborhood. We were hoping we could catch this dead apostle before he left the area.
But now Aoko is denying me entrance for some reason. That's unlike her, where is my nutjob Sensei when I need her!?
Arcueid sighs. "You're right, you coming here was a mistake." I feel like you didn't understand my comment! "Your mentor is right Yuta."
I roll my eyes. "No, she isn't! Now let's go in, every second we waste here could be important." I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next.
What does a person even do when their entire neighborhood burns down!? I would already be lost if it was just my apartment, but it's like this vampire brought hell on earth right here!
And that's just the small worthless problem... How many people have died right now? The number must be unbelievably right. I thought I wouldn't care about this sort of stuff, but...
It's my fault, I'm certain this dead apostle is either after Rika or Arcueid, and while I won't blame either of them for this, I can't help, but be annoyed by my fuck up.
A person dying because a vampire is in town is one thing, a person dying because I brought a vampire here is another. I have to take responsibility and kill him.
Arcueid suddenly glares at me. My whole body instantly freezes, and it's not out of fear. It's simple, my body refuses to move no matter what.
Rika instantly comes out. "What's the big deal Bimbocueid!?" She shields my body from Arcueid's glare, and so I can move again.
The blonde vampire sighs. "Just trying to prove a point Rika, I'm not trying to hurt Yuta at all. In fact I'm trying to save him."
She continues. "Yuta, Rika is indeed strong, but your just human... It's not that I don't believe you or anything, but you quite literally can't enter the fire."
Aoko nods. "The princess is right. Humans can't handle the loss of oxygen, you would pass out, and even in the miracle scenario where you didn't, your lungs would be damaged forever from the smoke."
She sighs. "And we haven't even begun talking about just the normal dangers from the fire, or the damaged structure of this place..."
She continues. "I have ways to avoid that, but you don't. Stay here Yuta, and if you encounter the vampire, then kill him." That's...!
Absolutely correct. I hate to admit, but right now I'm a liability, I'm deadweight, dragging Rika back. I might as well have white hair and a robot arm right now.
I look towards my ghost girlfriend. "Fine! Then go without me Rika!" That way they have a bigger chance of finding him.
Rika shakes her head. "Nuh-uh! I won't leave Yuta alone with a dangerous vampire nearby!" Damn it! Just go already!
Before I can say anything, Sensei interjects. "Yuta, Rika is right. For whatever reason her curse revolves around you, she needs you to stay alive."
She continues. "All it would take is a stray ghoul, and then both of you are dead... And in the worst case scenario where the dead apostle is specifically hunting you down... You need Rika by your side."
Yeah, I'm dying my hair white and replacing my fucking arm! I'm the biggest deadweight to ever deadweight.
I look down and swallow my own saliva. "I understand, good luck out there Sensei." That's all I can do. Wish that they will all be safe.
Sensei smiles. "Don't feel too bad Yuta. You're human, you're normal, and that isn't a bad thing at all." And then she and Arcueid rush through the fire.
I... I didn't think too much about Rika's fight with Arcueid a few days ago, but I was useless back then huh? I just grabbed an stick and tried to follow them around.
What the fuck was I gonna do with a stick? Even with Shiki's glasses the answer to that is nothing... I'm the annoying worthless side-character here, there's nothing protagonistic about me at all.
Rika gives me an worried look. "Yuta? Are you okay...?" Ah, I'm freaking her out with my unusual silence.
I nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Rika." I'm feeling great, I stayed behind just so I couldn't get hurt, so there's no way I would feel bad.
Why did I even rush here? I should have went towards the police station like Ciel said. I'm just an ordinary guy, one who can't be this close to disaster.
Suddenly I feel a hand patting my hair, it's Rika. "Yuta, I just want you to know, that you're my hero." Ah, I went so far into self-deprecation that I made Rika feel bad.
I smile. "You're my hero too Rika." There's no point in dwelling on my weakness. I never cared about it before, and I'm not going to suddenly start caring about it now.
My phone rings again, this time it's a number I recognize. "Yo Shiki." Did he finally see the news? Did Akiha give him his phone back!?
His voice sounds dead calm, it's almost freaky. "Are you alright? Tell me your position, I'm going there right now." Wow, worried Shiki, a pretty common occurrence.
But not like this, typically his voice sounds actually concerned and not frigid. Is he raging right now? That's no good.
I try my best to sound reassuring. "I'm alright Shiki. And don't worry about the fire, Sensei and Arcueid are handling it."
I continue. "We can't help, since the smoke from the fire would kill us." Shiki is in the same boat as me, he can't enter this blazing inferno.
His voice now doesn't sound as cold. "I see... So this is a vampire huh? Cocky enough that even TV is showing his exploits."
About that... "It gets worse, this vampire is not the one we were hunting. We found out about his existence today." Someone with a fire related trait, one that is not a passive ability.
That's all I know about the enemy Sensei and Arcueid are going to face. I don't know if he's a newcomer or a veteran, whether he is a mage or a warrior.
Hopefully he is an incompetent sucker, I mean he attacked my apartment, presumably to get Arcueid and she wasn't even there.
Shiki sighs. "Another one!? And this one killed so many people..." I imagine Shiki cares way more about the death count than I do.
And the death count is so high that even a heartless monster like me cares a little bit. "Yeah, but we're going to put him down tonight." He's an animal trapped in a cage of his own making.
That said, I can't help, but be worried. That's because this vampire willingly chose to start this which mean he is either stupid or incredibly strong.
Shiki still sounds worried, but he has calmed down to some extent. "Got it, and if you need a place to stay, feel free to come here." As expected of my bro.
I smile. "Thanks for the offer, but I got everything handled already... See ya." He returns that and we end the call.
The truth is that I don't have anything handled at all. But this vampire will probably just destroy whatever place I go to.
He is probably after Arcueid and I refuse to abandon her, which means I will stay homeless until he dies.
What's with the weird feeling in my chest? He's dying tonight, so everything is going to be fine, right?
Besides, I don't even know if he's after Arcueid at all! Maybe he just picked a random neighborhood to turn into ashes and got unlucky... Something's off.
My stomach is turning against itself. It's a familiar feeling of danger, the same one I felt earlier when I met Toji.
I quickly look into the hellfire. "Get ready Rika, here comes trouble." I will trust my instincts, even if they aren't some genetic gift like Shiki's.
Rika immediately gets in front of me. "Okay Yuta! Let's kill whatever is coming." I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it!
Slowly we hear footsteps, someone is calmly walking away from the blaze that has consumed the city block. He takes his sweet time, as if it doesn't affect him at all.
Slowly his form is revealed. He is a tall white haired man with red eyes and pale skin. Everything about him screams vampire, from his appearance, to his clothes and even to an aura that surrounds him.
Once he sees me, he mutters. "The curse user huh? So the thing that's killing my ghouls is the princess of the true ancestors." His voice makes him sound like a Yu-Gi-Oh player... Actually, no Yu-Gi-Oh player would sound this cool.
He slowly turns around and starts walking back into the gigantic graveyard he created, as if he isn't bothered by my presence at all.
Still, this confirms one thing. This bastard is after Arcueid, he probably wanted to burn my future girlfriend alive. He wanted to inflict one of the worst deaths imaginable into the cute girl that hasn't even finished the Twilight series.
I point at him. "Rika use a Galick Gun!" There's no way I can allow him to live, and there's no way I can allow him to confront Arcueid either.
He wants to go towards her, but I know Arcueid is freakishly strong, so strong that I simply can't accept he is stronger.
Which means one thing, he has some sort of counter for her abilities. Someway or another this guy has some gimmick that can fuck up Arcueid.
Rika shouts. "Love Bullet!" And fires at him, and just like she said, it's less of a beam and more of a bullet. That's because she didn't have any time to charge, this man won't simply wait after all.
Her shot is incredibly fast, faster than the human eye can track, and certainly faster than any real life bullet. The fasted commercial cartridge in the world can reach speeds of around one thousand and four hundred meters per second, and Rika's bullet makes that look slow.
The vampire isn't even looking at us, he already turned around. There's no way he can dodge, it doesn't matter how fast he is.
He dodges it of course, he simply moves his head sideways. Rika made a mistake, she aimed at the smallest spot she could, in this instance she shouldn't have aimed for the head.
He turns around to face us, and audibly sighs. "I suppose I can respect the fact that you two wish to fight for your master." His gaze is locked onto Rika, he quickly recognized who's the real threat.
His voice has a weird amount of respect in it. "You stand before Vlov Arkhangel, the nineteenth, may this battle heat up my body, Queen of Curses." Right now the word knight comes to mind, this Vlov guy sounds chivalrous.
Even though he has killed hundreds of people tonight, even though he has undoubtedly killed thousands of people throughout the ages... This man is a knight, or maybe he holds that title because he killed in the first place?
I grin. "Hey, I'm here too you know? Don't just acknowledge my girlfriend and ignore me." Specially since I'm going to kill you.
I won't use Sensei's gloves, but I will definitely use Shiki's glasses, they should be able to put down this monster. Of course using them against a monster like this will be dangerous, but hopefully Rika can pin him down.
The only annoying thing is that only I can use the copied powers, if Rika could this would be way easier... Arcueid wearing Shiki's glasses sounds scary.
Vlov remains emotionless. "A king shouldn't try to bring attention to himself amongst the battlefield. Do not disrespect your servant like that boy... Though I guess in the end you're way too young to understand anything."
I spat right back. "Says the guy who just wiped out a neighborhood for no reason! What did they do to you, huh!?"
He looks down, almost saddened. "Nothing, they didn't do anything, so I cannot in anyway say you're wrong in calling me childish."
He continues. "Their only mistake was being in my way... And I can hardly blame them for being unaware of the supernatural."
He glares at me. "But I will keep killing, until I get my hands on the true ancestor's princess, until I get my hands on the snake... So if you wish for this carnage to end, then let me go, I will fulfill my goal soon enough."
I snort. "You just said the dumbest thing ever! You're even more of a victim blamer than me! And for your information, I'm not letting you lay a finger on Arcueid!"
There's a ghost of a smile on his face. "How loyal... That's good. However you misunderstand the situation, sometimes a knight must end his king's sadness."
He continues. "This will benefit both of us, so let me put an end to the true ancestor's princess millenia of suffering."
I glare at him. "Sorry, but I'm not Arcueid's knight or anything. It's just that she's my woman, so I can't let you near her."
Immediately something in the air shift, Vlov glares at me. "I see, it's only natural a man will protect his love with the desperation of a cornered animal, so be it."
I extend my hand towards Rika. "Weapons please." It's time to conquer this knight's pride, to remind him of how scary a battlefield can be!
Rika opens her own body, inside of it are Sensei's gloves and Shiki's glasses. "Take your pick Yuta!" I take the glasses of course.
As I put them on, I'm immediately hit with a headache. The structural weakness of all things is revealed to me, lines appearing all over them, including Vlov.
It's crazy to think about how Shiki lives with these on at all times... No he doesn't, thanks to Sensei he doesn't have to go crazy.
I don't have a sword right now, so my kendo lessons are useless, but it's not like I plan on trading blows with Vlov anyways, this glasses are purely to end him once Rika defeats him.
Until now Vlov has waited, like a proud knight refusing to fight until his opponent is armed. But finally he asks the most important question. "Is your sword sharp, dog of the White Princess?"
I smirk. "I don't know about my sword, but my girlfriend is invincible." Of that I have no doubt. Rika didn't lose even to Arcueid, so there's no way she will lose to this knight.
The battle begins, Vlov doesn't dash at Rika as one would expect of a knight. Instead he act like an Archer, jumping back and extending his hand towards Rika.
Fire gathers at his palm, and he launches three fireballs towards my ghost girlfriend. They aren't as fast as Rika's bullet, nor are they as massive as a fully charged Galick Gun.
But the moment they appear I begin sweating, just their mere presence is enough to raise the already high temperature of this place. Vlov really is a human killer.
But Rika isn't human, she just swathes the fire away like it's nothing. "Ah! I won't even get a tan from that!" As I thought, Rika is completely invincible.
Vlov doesn't show any reaction towards her comment, he simply keeps jumping back towards the fire. The more distance he can get, the better his position will be.
He is like a zoner from a fighting game, I imagine that the moment we get close he's finished. So all I have to do is close the gap between us.
But there's something telling me I shouldn't rush after him, it's the same instinct that has saved me multiple times before, the one that warned me about Toji and about Vlov himself.
I mutter. "Nah, this is fine." I will ignore it for now, I have to get close if I want to cut him after all. So I begin my dash at him, Rika follows suit of course.
Vlov smirks. "Like a moth to a flame." Very funny vampire man, did it take a millenia for you to come up with that?
He points his index finger at Rika. "If pure firepower won't work, then how about piercing?" And then fire spears leave his fingers.
How can one even turn pure fire into something that pierces? It's simple... They can't, this is pure bait, an old knight trying to use new tricks.
Rika treats it like the fireballs and walks through it, in this fight Vlov is throughly outclassed. Nothing he can do would ever hurt Rika.
While we dash I roll and grab a piece of something that's on the ground. It's not metal so it isn't too hot, and it's also similar enough to a sword.
Now I can actually use my Mystic Eyes of Death Perception with some skill. I still won't engage Vlov in physical combat, but this is better than nothing.
Still I feel dizzy for some reason, did this dash tire me more than I thought? I feel like I have ran a marathon. This is weird, normally you'd think the adrenaline running through my body would make me less tired, not more.
Rika has now reached Vlov, she winds up a punch. "Vampires should be hotter! Die for your sins against my fantasies!" You're thinking about Twilight now of all times!?
Still this punch should completely wreck Vlov, considering he ran away he is clearly not as athletic as Arcueid. That said, it's not like I'm expecting him to drop dead or anything, he is an old immortal vampire after all.
What I am expecting, is for him to somehow come up with a fire related trick that lets him jump out of danger. A fire wall maybe? No, Rika would just tank that, it goes without saying that any attack he makes will be worthless.
Which is my my mind can only think about him using fire like Iron Man, propelling himself away from danger. Vlov can only run away, he has carefully conditioned my mind to think that.
Which is why I'm completely surprised when he stands his ground. "Indeed, my appearance is disgusting, unworthy of fantasy." His hands hold onto a black sword.
He carefully parries Rika's blows, diverting her herculean strength away from himself. Before I compared Vlov to an Archer, but now I see he's a true knight.
Vlov isn't a zoner, he is a complete package, a master of all. The vampire only tries building up distance because most people don't have a way to deal with that.
But it doesn't matter how skilled a person is, he will eventually lose to someone who is many times faster and many times stronger than himself.
This is checkmate in a way, or it would be, if it wasn't for one thing. Vlov is a swordsman that fights with only one hand, his second hand is free.
And between the minimum gaps Rika gives him, he aims his hand at me. "If I can't break the shield, the I must simply kill the knight behind it." Five bullets of hell are fired towards me.
They are almost as fast as Rika's Galic Bullet. Their speed is beyond human comprehension, therefore I am dead. That's all there is to it, a human can't block this.
Vlov made them as small as possible on purpose, and so they easily gain speed, maybe the last ones were bait so I would purposefully think he is slow? If so, it worked.
Until now I had foolishly clung to the idea that Vlov wouldn't attack me as long as I didn't attack him. I thought his pride as a knight wouldn't let him.
I was wrong, his ego as a ancient vampire won over his measly chivalrous pride as a knight. So Vlov fired death itself at me.
The first bullet will reach me in point five seconds, after that Rika will reach me and save me. My ghost girlfriend is currently rushing to my side, Vlov let her go, confident that I will die after that.
All I have to do is cut the bullet that is moving towards me before that, a bullet that is faster than the human mind. It goes without saying that I can't move so precisely.
But the moment Vlov began his little talk I was already cutting what's in front of me. Not the bullets, because they hadn't even appeared yet.
My mind strains from what I'm trying to show, to what I'm trying to perceive, but I still do it. I cut a traced line and extinguish whatever fire he makes. I kill oxygen itself.
The first bullet is blocked, the other four never reach me, because my guardian angel arrived in time. "Are you okay Yuta!?" I'm not, I'm feeling really dizzy, and my vision is going white.
Still, I answer while panting. "Yeah, I'm fine Rika, no worries." I just saw my own death, I I thought I was going to die for sure.
Vlov's eyes are open wide, his voice sounds genuinely surprised. "Oh? An amazing show of swordsmanship, had you been born sooner there's no doubt you would have been one of the greats."
I take his compliment with pride, it's shameful to accept it from a vampire, but if a knight like Vlov is saying then it must be true. Even if I'm human, I was simply born in the wrong era, I could have been one of the greats.
Vlov then sighs. "That said, your inexperience drags you back. It's clear that the dog of the black princess is superior in every way."
I raise an eyebrow. "W-what the hell are you talking ab-about?" It's hard to keep my eyes open at all, for some reason I feel more tired than I have ever been.
Rika looks extremely worried. "Yuta!? Did he hit you with something!?" I don't think so, I didn't felt anything at least.
Vlov chuckles. "This heat... It's quite nice. And as for your question Queen of Curses, I haven't hit your master at all. And yet he foolishly followed me into my choice of terrain."
He continues. "This place is full of smoke, I suggest you take him away from here. I have no quarrel against you two... In fact, I'm actually quite impressed, so I won't pursue."
Rika looks between him and me, she doesn't know what to do, so Vlov smirks and answers that to her. "I suggest you go quickly, before his lungs are lost."
I have to say something, before Rika actually follows his advice. "D-don-" But my voice is already lost, I pass out amidst the smoke.
Fucking deadweight. I need white hair and a robot arm.
AN: Imma say it! Vlov is cooler than Nero! Even if it's because his voice actor carries a lot of presence.