Vamp!

Vamp! III - Chapter 4 B

Waldstein Castle Laboratory.
The festivities must have already begun by now, but there was no sign of Doctor's return.
Professor had combed through many more videos and archives, but she could not find anything of particular use. She sometimes turned to check the live footage being fed from all over the island, but she could not see him on any of the cameras. In fact, there were very few people showing up on the screens now. It was as though humanity had vanished entirely from anywhere that wasn't the heart of the festival.
Professor was stumped. She sighed worriedly and went to Doctor's desk in a corner of the room.
<Oh, Doctor... I know you might scold me for this later, but you left my lid flipped open! We can call it even now!>
Though she felt sorry for having to do so, Professor reached her arms towards the locked drawer.
There was a crunch. Professor's arm quickly began to rifle through the distorted drawer.
<Oh?>
There was a photograph partially sticking out from a notebook.
Thinking it unusual, Professor gently reached out and grabbed the picture.
<This is Doctor and... Um... I wonder who this could be?>
The photograph seemed to have been taken in this very laboratory. Its subjects were Doctor and a girl. The girl looked to be slightly older than he was, and there was a somewhat downcast look in her eyes.
She was an unfamiliar face to Professor. The photograph was likely from the time before her memories began.
<I wonder... Could this be... the old me?>
With trepidation, Professor began to search for more information about the girl. But the only clue she found was the note scrawled on the back of the photograph.
[I've printed out another copy of the photo of myself and Theo as per the viscount's request. -Elsa]
<Elsa... Elsa...?>
Professor struggled for a moment, trying to match up the name on the note to the face in the photograph. But she soon turned her body from side to side in defeat.
<Ohh... I can't remember a thing!>
But holding on to the hope that the photograph might provide her with some sort of clue, Professor decided that she would show it to the viscount or another vampire.
<Wouldn't it be wonderful if this pretty girl was really me?>
Professor took a magnet from a whiteboard in the corner of the room and fixed the photograph onto one of her arms.
It felt as though Doctor was right by her side. Professor grew slightly more hopeful.
Not yet knowing what was taking place aboveground,
Not yet knowing the true identity of the girl in the photograph...
<=>
Somewhere along a thoroughfare on Growerth.
The street was eerily quiet, deserted and lit at regular intervals by blindingly bright streetlights.
The countless eyes shining from the fluttering darkness glared in unison at the being at the center of the shadows.
Until just moments ago, the eyes had been smoldering with fury and hatred. But now those emotions had been replaced by a sense of sadistic joy.
Surrounded by these innumerable eyes, Shizune Kijima closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Though she was by no means crippled as though trampled upon by a suit of armor, Shizune was clearly injured grievously. She was covered in cuts that would not heal, blood spouting from every laceration.
When she was first surrounded by the flock of bats, Shizune had dodged the dancing silver whip. But her advantage was quickly lost.
Melhilm, in the form of countless bats, tore at her from every direction. Each attack was ruthlessly directed at her eyes. And despite the fact that his attacks had never once fully connected as he intended, his abilities worked in flawless conjunction with Theresia's Eater abilities.
The dense clump of bats was darkness incarnate.
If Shizune focused, she could have easily cut down the creatures that continued to target her eyes. But each time she resolved to either attack or defend against them, the silver whip cut through the shadows and made its way towards her.
The darkness clawed at her and invaded her line of sight.
The sound of countless wingbeats concealed Theresia's footsteps. The movement of the great flock of bats confounded her sense of direction.
So widely were the bats spread that even Theresia was partially blinded by their masses. But her whips struck true, perhaps thanks to her ability to sense vampires--or perhaps because Melhilm was signaling her somehow.
Shizune, meanwhile, sensed Melhilm from every direction. But Theresia's presence continued to elude her.
It was a one-sided battle where her foe could locate her with pinpoint accuracy while Shizune herself was helpless to counter. The mass of darkness blinded her as it attacked.
The assault continued for some time.
Then, the blow that would decide the battle was driven into Shizune's thigh.
The tip of Theresia's whip tore through cloth, cut past her thighbone, and lodged itself in her leg. A splash of red lit up the blackness around Shizune.
"...!"
Swallowing her scream, Shizune took hold of the whip buried in her thigh and drew out the silver tip from her flesh.
"...Gotcha..." The former Eater chuckled, covered in cold sweat.
The darkness parted slightly, creating a tunnel of bats leading straight to Theresia.
But in spite of Shizune's grip on her weapon, Theresia could not have looked more nonchalant.
"Maybe this is because you're a former Eater, but it looks to me that you rely too much on your ability to sense vampires. I'll take care not to reproduce your mistakes myself in the future." She said plainly.
Theresia then lightly pulled on the whip. Shizune's entire body was rattled by the impact. Although she just managed to avoid being dragged along with it, the movement made clear the difference in their respective abilities.
The bats gathered next to Theresia, and quickly took on the form of a sneering Melhilm.
"This is all you have to show me? I'm almost disappointed. But unlike you mongrel dogs, Theresia's prey was carefully selected. She is a perfect Eater, raised on the most efficient diet of victims."
Theresia was as good as being treated like livestock, but she did not seem to care.
Shizune's spirit must have been broken by now, Melhilm thought, but she was still sneering as though he and Theresia were nothing but ingredients for her next meal.
"Mongrels, huh." She said to herself, her smile twisting further.
Annoyed by the sight, Melhilm spat:
"...Enough of this. Kill her."
"Yes, sir." Theresia answered mechanically, hauling back her whip and retrieving the end from Shizune's grip. Realizing that there was no point in attempting a tug-of-war match, Shizune relented easily.
The whip bolted back towards Theresia, before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
With a sharp crack, the pointed tip again drew nearer towards Shizune, several times faster than it was when Theresia had pulled it back.
Her thigh muscles torn apart by silver, Shizune was unable to avoid the strike.
She didn't even have time to withdraw her grin before the silver glint pierced her chest.
"...It's over. Hmph. I'd wanted to land the killing blow myself, but some things just can't be helped."
Shizune lay spread-eagle on the ground, her body slowly turning to ash. Melhilm threw her a disinterested glance, then turned away.
"Let us be off, Theresia. There is no need to devour this one."
"Yes, sir."
Theresia also showed no sign of emotion at having murdered the vampire.
Melhilm took several steps forward.
"We must be on our way now. If I'd known things would be so simple, I'd never have requested support from Sigmund--"
"Hm?"
They froze.
Melhilm was just about to finish speaking. Theresia was just about to turn around as she realized that Shizune's presence was not at all diminishing.
They were both lightly struck on the back. The impact soon gave way to a sharp burst of pain that assailed their entire bodies.
"...It can't be!"
"...!"
When they turned, they saw Shizune standing on the road.
They were so close that they could almost feel her breath on their skin.
Shizune was smiling self-deprecatingly, standing just within arm's length. How had she gotten so close when her thigh was injured? And before that, how had she survived the blow to the chest?
Melhilm was lost in panicked confusion, but the answer was simple.
"Yeah... You're right, Melhilm."
Both he and Theresia had forgotten one important fact.
Thinking of Shizune as an Eater-turned vampire, they fought her as they would an Eater--a human being with enhanced strength and reflexes that could overpower vampires.
"I'm an Eater. I'm a worthless mongrel who eats the flesh of my enemies and steals away their powers."
And so, Melhilm and Theresia had underestimated Shizune's abilities as a vampire.
"That's why... I've always been pretty good at stealing other people's techniques."
They never realized the fact that there was single a bat flapping in the air, high above them. Shizune's heart, in the form of a bat, was looking down on them as though watching a pair of clowns in a performance.
"...!"
Theresia quickly lashed out with a kick, but Shizune's body turned into fog. The attack would not connect.
"You little-!"
Though surprised by Shizune turning into fog, Melhilm made to transform back into a flock of bats. Swallowing the anger he felt at Shizune turning into fog--an ability he did not possess--Melhilm prepared to devour the fog in the form of his many bats.
But just as his transformation began, another mass of bats rose up as though in a wall after his own black flock.
'What?!'
The bats originating from Shizune chased down Melhilm's bats one by one, plunging their fangs into the mouths of his bats and tearing out the tongues of their enemies.
Melhilm understood instinctively as he lost his advantage; at this rate, his own bats would be devoured by Shizune's. He quickly gathered back the intact bats and reformed his body--though there were no pieces missing from himself, his face looked gaunter and his skin was pale.
Shizune followed suit, gathering her bats back to her own body.
"You two forgot one important thing. Especially you, Melhilm. You're a pretty poor excuse for a vampire."
Energized by the feast of the bats, Shizune Kijima smiled ruthlessly.
"It's nighttime, Melhilm."
She sneered at Theresia, swallowing her confidence whole.
"And you know what that means, right? This is the hour of vampires, little girl."
"...Ugh..."
Theresia's practiced nonchalance faltered.
'I can't believe I let my guard down...'
When she first realized that Shizune had dipped her own legs in hot asphalt and fled, Theresia had sensed something about her--something like aggravating tenacity.
But her own overwhelming superiority had robbed her of that sense of caution. No Eater would allow themselves to relax if all they had done was pierce the target's heart. Theresia bit her lip.
"I bet you've only taken down vampires the Organization assigned to you." Shizune said with a sympathetic look, "you've only ever fought vampires they knew you'd be able to defeat, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. You have a lot of experience in battle, but you've never really been in trouble, have you?"
Without even listening to Shizune, Theresia once more prepared to strike with her whip.
Shizune, however, did not react. She looked up into the air with her hands behind her back, as though about to recite her life story.
"It was the same for me. But for the past year, I was all alone. That one year's all the difference between you and me."
Something about the scene struck Melhilm as odd.
And by the time he looked down at his subordinate's feet, it was already too late.
As Theresia prepared to attack the defenseless Shizune, she leaned back to prepare for the strike. The moment she was at the furthest point, something grabbed hold of her ankles.
"...?!"
Theresia lost her balance and nearly toppled over. But her reflexes allowed her to push off the ground with her hand and leap backwards.
Shizune did not miss this chance.
With frightening speed, she closed the gap between herself and Theresia as the latter was in midair. Shizune's arms were gone below the elbows, and a pair of hands were limp on the ground where Theresia's feet had been only moments earlier.
'Impossible!'
Realizing that Shizune had copied his own technique, Melhilm let out a silent scream. She couldn't have so quickly mastered the art of turning her hands into bats and exercising control over them. He narrowed his eyes and looked closely.
'That bitch!'
The two arms sticking out of the ground were not completely separate from Shizune. The bats were connected through the shadow cast under her feet, reaching even to the ground under Theresia.
In other words, the arms had never been separated from Shizune. Of course, putting the bats in the distance into the form of her own hands must have taken a great deal of effort, Melhilm theorized. And by the time he reached this thought, Theresia had been caught in Shizune's grasp.
As soon as Shizune brushed up against them, the flock of bats returned to her body and gave back her hands. With them, she tightly took hold of Theresia's whip-arm.
"Ugh..."
Theresia could feel her bones creaking under the strain. She tried to lash out with a kick, but Shizune's knee came forward and stopped her.
Although Theresia was still physically stronger, their position closed the gap in strength to its limit. If Shizune knew any Judo or Aikido techniques, at this point she could easily overcome Theresia's raw power.
But in spite of her great advantage, Shizune paused to say to the Eater:
"My teacher Traugott told me; one cycle of seasons is enough to change a human completely."
Her eyes glinted as she put even more pressure into the arms holding Theresia's.
"And that goes even more so for vampires!"
The moment Shizune broke out into a cold grin, Theresia saw her chance. She quickly leaned her head back for a headbutt.
But the moment she did so, an animal's jaws were clamped around her neck.
"?! ...Ugh... Ack...!"
"You know, once I see power, I can't go without making it mine."
Melhilm made to jump in, but he quickly stopped.
"'Cause I'm a worthless mongrel Eater, that's why."
A wolf's muzzle was sticking out of Shizune's chest--the spot Theresia had pierced with her whip earlier--and was holding Theresia by the neck. Although neither Melhilm or Theresia had any way of knowing, this was a technique of Mage's that Shizune had fallen victim to last year.
"I finally got back at you for what happened earlier. We're even now."
Before even finishing her sentence, Shizune let go of Theresia's arm, and with the latter's neck still in the jaws of the muzzle, kicked her body.
Her free hand slid down towards the wolf's muzzle, but Shizune withdrew the jaws. If she had been a second later, Theresia's carotid artery would have been slashed open.
Shizune jumped backwards and licked her lips with Melhilm and Theresia locked in her sights.
"It's dinnertime."
Her smile was cold as ice. She would probably carry out her threat word-for-word.
Melhilm felt a chill run down his spine as he remembered their encounter the previous year.
But Shizune's feast was interrupted by a sudden intrusion.
The sound of a car's engines reached her ears.
The headlights illuminated them from the distance. The honk of a klaxon signaled them to move.
Not even blinking at the noise, Shizune elegantly walked over to Theresia. She intended to drink the Eater's blood before finally devouring Melhilm.
Melhilm considered transforming once more to escape, but once he saw the state of the car racing towards them, a twisted grin rose to his lips.
Shizune was certain that the car would either stop or swerve to avoid them. And even if the driver could not, she knew that she had enough time to get out of the way.
But when the car was within spitting distance, her ears caught the sound of the engine growling even louder than before.
"...?!"
She leapt into the air with her uninjured leg and jumped sideways, glancing at the source of the noise.
A mass of metal blitzed past the spot she had been standing in a moment ago, before skidding to a stop several dozen meters away.
"...Probably not a drunk driver, huh."
She knew this was no accident because she took note of Melhilm, standing across the road from her. A nonchalant smile had returned to his face.
At the same time, she heard something else approaching from the distance.
Throughout the course of the battle, the island's thoroughfare had been strangely devoid of vehicles. But it was as though the all the absent cars were returning at once, racing towards Shizune without caring that she was on the road. The cars slowed as they drew near, ignoring lanes as they parked in a formation around her.
"Hmph. It's a good thing I requested support." Melhilm sighed. Crowds of people disembarked from the vehicles.
Although Shizune did not sense any vampires among them, the people all looked at her with empty eyes, carrying metal pipes and bladed objects.
It was a group of humans plucked indiscriminately from the city. Men and women, young and old. They stepped out of the cars one by one, standing like a wall before Melhilm and Theresia.
Some of the people were even carrying shotguns. This was not a group composed only of ordinary civilians. Although things would be easiest for Shizune if she killed them all, that was one choice she wanted to avoid. She had no qualms about taking the humans lives, but to do so would be no different from turning the viscount and the island's vampires against herself.
'Is this subjugation?'
Because she could not sense any vampires from the group, Shizune supposed that these were ordinary humans under a vampire's subjugation.
"...Impressive. Is this your handiwork, Melhilm?"
"Hah. I admit even such a feat is possible for me, if I scatter a flock of bats at once." Melhilm said casually, sure once more of his superiority. He gestured with his chin to Theresia and ordered her to retreat, and did the same himself.
"Keep her well occupied, Sigmund."
"Stop right there!"
Shizune tried to chase after her fleeing meal, but the wall of humans grew larger and larger as more cars arrived on the scene. Shizune would need to leap a great height to make it over, but with her thigh grazed with silver, it would be a difficult jump to make. And even if she transformed into fog or a flock of bats, Theresia and Melhilm could probably outrun her.
But before all that, did Shizune have any way of escaping this predicament? Would she have to transform into a flock of bats, or would she have to kill these people after all, with the understanding that she would turn the viscount against herself?
As she continued to ponder, the crowd drew nearer as though attempting to suffocate her. The sight of Melhilm and Theresia escaping made Shizune anxious, tempting her to make an unpleasant decision.
The shotguns were now being aimed at her. The words 'justified self-defense' rose to mind and refused to leave her thoughts.
'I'll kill about ten of them as soon as he fires.' She said to herself.
But at that moment, something descended upon her from overhead.
A gigantic, human-shaped projectile landed without even a signaling gunshot.
Accompanying the gust from the impact was a man. So quick was his approach that Shizune did not notice him until he was right before her eyes.
Even in spite of his powerful presence, she had failed to notice him until now.
At first, Shizune thought that this man, possessed of a chilling presence, was the one behind the subjugation. But he grinned viciously at a man holding a shotgun and drew a firearm of his own, reciting a line straight out of a movie.
"Pointing a gun at a woman? Can you seriously call yourself a real gunman?"
A moment later, a silent projectile was launched. The shotgun was knocked out of the hands of the subjugated human. The crowd flinched in horror.
But as soon as it became apparent that the wielder of the shotgun had been unharmed, they reached out to take hold of the fallen weapon.
But the mysterious gunman was not so courteous that he would give them the chance.
The sound of something cutting through the air shot forth from the barrel of his gun, and the projectile proceeded to sink its fangs into the neck of the man with the shotgun.
As soon as the bat released the man's neck, he went limp and fell to the pavement.
"Tranquilizer shots ain't really my style, but, well..." The blond-haired, blue-eyed man mumbled with a scratch of the head, "gotta do what Mister Gerhardt says, y'know?"
Though the man could have easily blown off his target's head, he suppressed the urge and instead elected to overwrite the subjugation imposed upon the human. It would be a maddening process, Yellow Bridgestone thought to himself, as he recalled his conversation with his brother.
Just after instructing Yellow to look for Melhilm, Ishibashi had added:
"Also, I'm passing on a message from Sir Gerhardt. [Please do not bring the islanders to harm, if at all possible]. This isn't an order, by the way. He bowed his head and made a personal request. So... I'm going to echo his sentiment. Please."
The gunman chortled at the memory.
"Pft. Can't believe my stupid brother actually said 'please'." He mumbled with a laugh, and fired off one silent shot after another.
Each crisp cut of the air was accompanied by a bat. The living projectiles tore into the necks of the humans one by one.
"And that thing with the 'if at all possible'... So if I do get people hurt, that's as good as telling everyone something pathetic like 'Oh, I'm too weak to get this job done properly'!"
The bats flew in perfectly straight lines, landing on the humans' necks with incredible accuracy.
None were exempt from this show of precision; those who were lunging towards Yellow and Shizune, those who were aiming shotguns, and those who were carrying crossbows were alike taken down with equal effort.
He had an infinite supply of ammunition.
The gunman, who did not even need time to reload, was a walking cheat key. He continued to fire away, and at the same time turned back to speak to Shizune for the first time.
"Yo, cutie. I happened to see you surrounded here and thought I'd play a bit of knight-in-shining-armor. But, uh... who are you, anyway?"
<=>