血王:夜王朝

Chapter 12：逆转

At the junction of the commercial and residential districts, a bullying incident is unfolding. The victim is a fifteen-year-old minor girl, and the perpetrators are a group of over a dozen idle, thuggish men. To the onlookers, the girl appears quite odd, her drunken demeanor causing astonishment—how could a minor girl be so intoxicated?

"What do you want to do?" Rachel suddenly asks as the thugs prepare to take her to a secluded spot. She leans against a utility pole, looking quite peculiar.

"Huh? Weren't we supposed to use that drug? Why is she still conscious?" one of the thugs wonders, and the others share his surprise. Redworm No. 17 is a drug so potent it can drag even the most chaste ascetics into the abyss of desire. Once it comes into contact with a person's saliva or sweat, it seeps in like lightning, affecting the individual to the marrow, dooming them to a descent into the abyss of lust.

"Actually, this is not bad either. Keeping her conscious, aware of what she's doing, unable to resist but forced to comply with us, isn't that thrilling?" another thug says with a leer.

"Ha, you're right," the others agree.

"Little girl, we're here to have our way with you. Got it? Come on, it's cold here, let's find a place where we can warm you up," they jeer.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, how pitiful," Rachel says, her face flushed but expressionless. Her appearance is eerie, and under the dim streetlights, her blood-colored eyes seem like those of a demon, causing the thugs who meet her gaze to shudder from the depths of their being.

"Why talk so much? Pretty girl, I suggest you behave. We're just doing a job, no need to make things difficult for each other. See this?" The leader brandishes a dagger in front of Rachel's face. "If you don't cooperate, we might have to do some 'creative' damage to your face. Of course, even if you scream and attract the patrol soldiers, we're not scared. We'll make sure to scar your face before they get here. Do you understand the stakes?"

Rachel doesn't respond. From his eyes, she can tell he's capable of such an act. She's confused—she hasn't deliberately offended anyone; why are they treating her this way?

"Sigh, can't you just take me there without touching me? It feels disgusting," Rachel mutters, struggling to stand and walking towards the shadows from which the thugs emerged. Her cooperation stuns the thugs.

"Uh, is she... so compliant?" one stammers.

"Something's off. I think we should just back off. Her eyes were red, and when I looked into them, my heart skipped a beat. This is not good," another suggests abandoning the plan.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Are you scared of a little girl? What will you accomplish in the future? Keep up, those rich young masters are waiting for news. If we don't bring back satisfactory results, we'll be in trouble. Move it," the leader scolds, following closely behind Rachel, who's now some distance ahead, ensuring she doesn't run away. The others exchange glances but know they're all in this together and have no choice but to proceed.

The group moves away from the main road, heading into the narrow alleys. Between the residential and commercial districts, there are many abandoned and undeveloped plots—half-constructed buildings and skeletal structures. Rachel staggers ahead, and the thugs try to grab her several times, but she's slippery, evading their grasp each time.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? This is far enough," the leader calls out impatiently as they reach a spot well away from the main road, where patrol soldiers won't venture.

"Ah, is this the place? Alright then, they've arrived anyway," Rachel mutters to herself, moving aside and climbing onto a marble sculpture, lying there listlessly. This bizarre behavior makes the leader's veins bulge with frustration.

"What are you doing up there? Looking for trouble? Get down here. If you behave, we might go easy on you. Don't cause us any trouble, or you'll experience the legendary pain of defloration," he threatens.

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood right now. I was supposed to go to the city gate to relieve the guard so he could go home for a meal and rest, and I could earn some extra money. But you've messed up my plans for tonight. But I'm feeling a bit lazy now, so let them entertain you," Rachel says in a flat tone, as if stating a fact.

"What 'them'?" the thugs look at each other in confusion.

"Damn it, looks like being too gentle won't do. For a disobedient kid like you, we'll have to get rough. You and you, drag her down," the leader says, planting his dagger in the ground and starting to undress. The two he points to approach the sculpture, ready to pull Rachel down, and everything seems to be heading in a bad direction.

Hidden in the shadows, several individuals who had come to watch under Meier's orders are hesitating about whether to intervene. Meier's instructions for this mission were vague, and she didn't specify exactly what to do, leaving them uncertain and unable to act immediately. But before they can make a decision, the situation takes a turn.

The sound of chains clattering fills the air, followed by the thud of heavy objects hitting flesh and a thug's abrupt scream. One of the men who had moved to pull Rachel down is sent flying, landing with a thud and falling unconscious.

This is not the end. The other man's hand is still reaching out, less than ten centimeters from Rachel, about to grab her, when a sudden storm erupts, blowing him up into the air. He soars seven meters high and is sent flying along a beautiful parabola to a ruined building dozens of meters away, creating a cloud of dust.

"What the—" the thugs freeze in shock, and when they look back at Rachel, they are astonished to find two twin girls there, one with pink hair and one with blue. Due to the dim light, they can't see clearly, but one thing is certain and agreed upon by all.

"Beautiful, are they elves?" the leader mutters in a daze. His question is answered by Rem's meteor hammer.

"Haaah!" Rem lets out an intoxicating battle cry, her petite body unleashing a ferocious, domineering strength as she charges into the group of thugs like a tiger. No one can stand against her; those who are barely grazed by her hammer immediately spit out blood and fall unconscious without a sound.