The Death of Aozaki Touko

Time passed quickly, and night arrived.

After enlisting Ciel's help to handle the aftermath, Naoki and Arcueid continued their search for Vlov.

According to Arcueid, vampires would release a special wave, and by following that wave, one could find them. She could locate other vampires because of this sense. Although she had guidance from Gaia, she basically didn't use this method.

However, this also applied in reverse for other vampires.

In accordance with Arcueid's thinking, Vlov had come to this town because he was targeting her, so as long as she released her own wave, even if she didn't search for him, Vlov would appear before her himself. The reason she was searching was only to find him as quickly as possible.

Her physical condition was no longer an issue. Although her strength hadn't fully recovered, Naoki was still the main force in this fight, so it shouldn't escalate to the worst-case scenario.

However, as the sun set and the silver moon rose from the east, let alone Vlov, Arcueid hadn't sensed any unique vampire waves within her range at all.

"What exactly is wrong with that guy?"

Leaning against a fence, Arcueid continued to tap it with a slightly annoyed expression.

"It's understandable that he didn't come out during the day because Dead Apostles dislike sunlight, but it's already night and he still hasn't appeared. Since his target is me, after I released my aura, he should have come looking for me immediately."

"Could it be that he's planning to play with us? No, come to think of it, we've never met him, nor did we make any arrangements to meet here." Naoki asked.

"Thinking somewhat extremely, isn't it possible that he hasn't noticed our existence at all?"

"No, that's impossible. Because he's an Ancestor, he will definitely come."

Ancestors—although not all of them, but most of them highly valued their pride, cared greatly about their image, and would never do things that would embarrass them. Vlov used to be a medieval knight, and the 19th Ancestor before him who saved him was also a standard Ancestor. He must have always been educated that way.

So, in a situation where Arcueid was releasing her aura without concealing her presence, even provocatively, he would definitely come.

If provoked, one must retaliate. Turning around and fleeing would only show weakness and fear. If Vlov were replaced by any other of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, they would definitely have the same thought.

"By the way, Naoki, you've been looking at your phone for a while now, who are you chatting with?"

"Just wanted to contact Shiki." Naoki said, "Since Vlov is a Dead Apostle of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, his immortality must be top-notch. I want to finish the fight as quickly as possible so as not to affect the surroundings too much. If Shiki intervenes, one slash is enough. You could say it's the safest insurance."

"But Shiki hasn't replied to my messages all this time, and she's not answering calls either. I don't know what she's doing."

The phone showed that more than ten messages he had sent earlier were still unread. This meant Ryougi Shiki probably wasn't carrying her phone. This kind of thing had happened before after the incident in Mifune Town. She herself didn't care much about phones and often had to be reminded by Naoki to bring it.

'Is it the same this time? Hah, I can't stand her.'

Putting away his phone, Naoki sighed helplessly.

"It's actually not a problem if Shiki doesn't come. Vlov's immortality isn't comparable to Nero's. Even you and I can kill him."

"The immortality of vampires comes from blood. Blood is their source of power. To maintain their immortality, they must consume a lot of blood, and if their blood is insufficient, their immortality will be greatly weakened, to the point where they can't regenerate."

"You mean, we just need to keep beating him to death until he can't regenerate anymore."

Arcueid's explanation relieved Naoki a little—she was an expert in this.

But just at that moment, the phone he had just put in his pocket suddenly rang. Naoki took it out and had just answered: "Hello—"

"Kouhai-kun! Is Arcueid with you?!"

It was Aoko's voice, sounding like she was running, with the sound of heavy breathing and a clear rush of wind.

"Yeah, she's with me, what's wrong?"

"I'm heading to Kitaguchi Station right now! There's another fire there! You guys hurry over there too!"

Kitaguchi Station?

Didn't it just burn down two days ago? Why did Vlov go there again?

"I understand—Arcueid!"

"Is that guy really an Ancestor?"

When Naoki turned around, he saw Arcueid staring into the distance, muttering something in a low voice. Following the direction of her gaze, Naoki also unconsciously fell silent.

The sky—the night—seemed to be burning, releasing a fiery red light in the darkness of the night.

A fire.

"Let's go, Arcueid."

"Um!"

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Underground—it should be underground.

Ryougi Shiki wasn't sure where she was either. Because her head had been hit hard before, her memory was somewhat chaotic. She only remembered falling from a height downwards, so she guessed she might be underground.

The sound of damp water echoed around her. She could feel her body touching water. The coldness made Shiki's consciousness a little clearer.

"I... ugh..."

The piercing pain from all over her body made Shiki frown slightly. Because her night vision was quite good, she clearly saw her situation.

Although due to Avalon within her body, her injuries themselves had almost completely healed, she wasn't mistaken. She had extensive burns all over her body.

"Burns... right, I remember Touko and I were in that convenience store..."

Memories slowly became clearer.

Shiki remembered that she and Aoko were attacked in the convenience store by a large black panther and a corpse whose entire body was burning. Although the resolution was quite easy, during the follow-up investigation, they encountered a strange man underground.

The man directly attacked them both as soon as they met, releasing flames with an extremely high temperature, enough to melt everything around them.

The two of them, completely unprepared, were helplessly struck and could only escape with difficulty through an underground waterway. And from the current situation—

"Here... under the bridge, dragged here by the underground waterway? Come to think of it, last time I was pushed into the water by the impact of the fire attacking from behind—wait, where's Touko?"

Hurriedly standing up from the water, Shiki anxiously looked around. She remembered Aoko running with her, but now she didn't see a single figure around...

No.

Although it didn't look like a human figure, on the riverbank not far from her, lay something with a human-like silhouette.

Shiki knew what it was. After approaching and seeing it, she immediately understood.

It was a charred corpse.

The corpse of Aozaki Touko.