Chapter 50: Chapter 50 - The World of Shinoa
"You are all comrades, a new family whose members you must protect. Until your last breath. Now, about your first mission... first, head to Harajuku, find a vampire settlement there that hunts humans and keeps them in captivity, destroy it, free the prisoners, and then proceed to Shinjuku," Lieutenant Colonel Guren explained to them about their first assignment.
"As you sayyy, " Shinoa replied with her usual smirk, which she had been sporting lately.
"What the heck..." the new addition to the squad protested, displeased that Shinoa was the commander and that she had to obey her.
"Mii-chan, you're breaking my girlish heart with your outrage... " Shinoa said, enjoying herself as she watched the golden-haired girl fume.
"See! " Mitsuba Sangū glanced at the lieutenant colonel, but he simply waved his hand dismissively, as if to say, "Just go and carry out the mission already."
It didn't take long before the squad headed towards the mission location. The sights here were... depressing. The ruined city lacked vibrant colors; it only showcased how people used to live before the apocalypse and what had become of it.
"It's been a while since I've been outside the walls... since the moment when the Imperial Army saved me, " Yoichi Saotome spoke, his cursed weapon being a folding bow that was currently not in its activated state. " Kimizuki, Yu, you used to patrol this area before attending regular school, right?"
"Been there," Hakuja nodded, and immediately heard a scoff from the new squad member. "What?"
"Don't pretend to be a hero," she looked at the squad with a crooked smile. "You killed a couple of Horsemen in the enchanted wall area, and you think you can handle everything? Just step half a mile away from the wall, and you can encounter real Horsemen who are a hundred times stronger! It's a whole different level!" she exclaimed, pointing her finger at the slightly stunned guy with such a speech. "One wrong step, and you're dead! Don't break formation! And if you don't want to die, watch your backs, idiots." She turned away from them and marched forward.
"Isn't she adorable?" Shinoa chuckled. "Taking so much responsibility for the rookies' lives," the girl sang a little.
"Shut up!" came the irritated reply from the blonde.
"See that? Adorable, right?" Shinoa responded cheerfully.
"Is that meant for us?" Kimizuki glared at her.
"Nah," she answered cheerfully, looking back at the chat.
Hermione Granger: It really is an apocalypse... the whole city in ruins.
Rias Gremory: Feels like reading a horror manga...
Erina Nakiri: I agree... if even the city infrastructure is disrupted, that means all the restaurants, cafes... I couldn't live in such a world, there won't even be food supplies!
"You're always looking around as if you're expecting something," Kimizuki noticed.
"Really? You think vampires?" Yuichiro immediately tensed, placing his hand on the handle of his cursed weapon.
"No, idiots, just waiting for a friend," she replied casually.
Hermione Granger: Don't you think you're arousing unnecessary suspicion from the squad? How will you explain Tony's arrival?
Winter Schnee: I recommend coming up with a logical and simple story about how you know him, so you're prepared for questioning. Try to add as little lies as possible, as it's easy to get tangled in them, and instead, tell the truth but leave out certain details.
Rias Gremory: Well, you're the right-hand of the general... it's to be expected. I suppose you're used to seeing such types of destroyed cities?
Winter Schnee: Yes, Grimm frequently destroy villages far from populated areas. But I haven't encountered a virus that kills most of the population. Moreover, our populations are vastly different, it would simply wipe out everyone that remains.
"Kyaa!" came the cry of a child, and the whole squad immediately froze and turned towards the sound. There, a little girl was running, and behind her...
"Apocalypse Horsemen," Yoichi whispered, and Hakuja was about to dash forward to protect the girl, but the blonde caught his hand.
"Stay put, you fool! Maintain formation. It's a vampire trap," she said immediately, pain evident on her face. At that moment, the Horseman shattered the asphalt with a tail strike and flung the girl a couple of meters forward, exposing its grotesque mouth.
"To hell with formation! What kind of vampire slayer are you if you can't save a child?" he said, wrenching his hand free from the girl's grip. "Even if I have to become bait, I will save her. I'm sick and tired of feeling guilty for abandoning people in distress!" the boy confidently shouted and rushed towards the Horseman, stopping its claw strike just as it was about to crush the girl.
"Why does the Horseman obey vampires if it's a trap?" Kimizuki didn't understand as he rushed to help his comrade, especially since the blonde girl also ran towards Yu. Shinoa didn't stop him, even though she clearly felt they were being observed from the roof of a nearby high-rise building.
"They don't obey; they simply don't care about vampires. But killing humans, that's what they readily do, and that's what they enjoy. It's as if they're punishing us," Shinoa spoke activating her cursed weapon, which immediately growled discontentedly, as if the demon within it didn't like something... perhaps the fact that it couldn't influence Shinoa, who had already let someone into her heart. At times, the demon could easily manipulate her because of that, but after taking that potion, it couldn't.
"Idiot!" the blonde shouted and with her demonic weapon severed the Horseman's claw, then abruptly looked upward. "Vampires!" she yelled and moved aside, just as a vampire landed in that spot, breaking the asphalt with its fall. Apparently, it had planned to land on the girl. Two other vampires landed gracefully beside it.
"Vampires lure people using this method," the blonde girl shouted.
"Stupid little humans," one of the vampires smirked arrogantly, looking at them like an aristocrat looking at feces beneath their feet.
"Stupid little vampires," someone's voice unexpectedly sounded behind the vampires. One of the vampires, the one who had spoken earlier, managed to notice the joyful smile on the violet-haired person's face before feeling an iron grip on their neck, and then darkness...
***
"Hmm, there was quite a bit of talk," I commented, lifting the vampire's corpse, whose head was crushed from meeting the asphalt and the force exerted on it.
The vampire's blood had a dark shade and clearly wasn't red like a human's, but that was to be expected. As for my feelings about killing... Well, I didn't feel too good after Lex's death, but this... Perhaps the conversation in the Spirit Arena really helped. I know it needs to be done, so I don't feel any remorse for it.
"Scum!" the second vampire angrily shouted and was about to rush at the "pitiful little human" when they suddenly felt emptiness... quite literally, caused by my hand that pierced right through them.
Honestly, I didn't expect that, thought they would be tougher, so I struck a little harder, but ended up piercing their chest. The vampire was clearly still alive, perhaps even would have healed, but I didn't give them a chance to recover and with a strike of my hand... ripped their head off.
"Hmm, a bit weak," I observed, watching the vampire's body fall down and once again feeling almost nothing, except for a certain disgust...
The first one had already died and turned to ashes after that, an interesting effect. And I felt my medallion heat up. But this one doesn't hurry to turn to ashes... The third vampire was a woman, looking at me with a mixture of anger and fear. She gripped her sword tightly, and at that moment, a dark-haired guy pounced on her, catching her off guard, so he managed to impale her with his weapon, and then some tattoos appeared on his face.
"Give me strength, Ashuramaru!" he exclaimed, and dark energy rose from the weapon, tearing the vampire girl apart, and she quickly turned to ashes, and once again, I felt my medallion replenish.
"Not bad," I gave him a thumbs-up, still standing next to the body of the second vampire, which hadn't turned to ashes yet.
"Who are you?!" the blond-haired girl shouted, pointing her weapon at me.
"Administrator"kun! "immediately after the blonde girl's shout, Shinoa's cry could be heard, and she jumped on me like a koala, wrapping her legs around me and rubbing her face against my chest.
"What the hell... "Yuichiro commented, lowering his sword, watching the squad leader passionately embrace the tall guy who appeared out of nowhere.
"Um, do you know him? "asked the shyest member of the squad.
"No," the pink-haired one shook his head and adjusted his glasses with his finger, but still prepared to draw his swords.
"Hey! What the hell, who is he? Give me an answer, Hiyagi Shinoa!" exclaimed the blonde girl, realizing that the violet"haired girl was ignoring her.
"Hey, Shinoa, your squad is worried. "I said, glancing at the girl.
"Mitsuba, don't be jealous. "she glanced mischievously at the girl.
"Wh-what? I'm not jealous! "the girl stomped her foot. "Ugh, irresponsible! Who the hell are you hugging? And why is the Horseman... "she looked back and saw... the Horseman's body pierced by stone spikes. Moreover, the Horseman was slowly disappearing...
"He's my friend, so don't worry. "she decided to explain what was happening and jumped off me. "So, did you like my body? "she winked at me. "Of course, I'm not as mature as my sister was... "her hands grabbed her own chest. "... but they will grow."
"Wh-what should we do? "Yoichi asked, struggling to lift his arm.
"Hm, kill vampires, fulfill our mission. "Hakuya answered and approached me. "Shinoa knows him, and he kills vampires, that's enough for me. I'm Yuichiro Hakuya. "he introduced himself to me.
"Anthony Luthor, you can just call me Tony. This something is taking a long time to turn to dust. "I looked again at the decapitated body.
"He can regenerate if you attach the head back. "Shinoa said, standing very close to me.
"I'll take care of it... "Hakuya responded eagerly.
"You fools, we need to get out of here. We're behind enemy lines, and who knows how many vampires might come. "said the blonde girl, who was still watching me intently.
"Well, I would agree if it weren't for Tony-kun. "she grabbed my hand with a cute smile. "So we're safe, did you see how easily he dealt with the vampires?"
"Um, Tony-kun, right? Which squad are you from? "Yoichi curiously asked, holding the little girl's hand.
"He's a freelance vampire hunter. "Shinoa immediately replied.
"A-a freelancer? " Yuichiro was amazed. "Such exist?! That's cool! "the guy looked at me with some respect and... envy that I kill vampires.
"I haven't heard of such ones." the pink-haired one said. "But he's strong. I'm Kimizuki Shihou. " he nodded his head at me.
"Sisylana "I said, looking at the vampire's body and closing my eyes from the influx of information.
"Is he a foreigner? "Yoichi quietly asked Shinoa, and she nodded.
"W-what are you doing?! "the blonde girl protested again when I nudged the vampire's head with my foot towards his body. "Idiot?! "she swung her weapon to pierce the lying vampire.
"Ezeefr," I said, briefly glancing at the girl who froze in a strange pose.
"What's that?" Hakuya tilted his head.
"Wh-what's happening to my body?!" the frozen girl exclaimed.
"Hehe," Shinoa smirked and approached the girl, poking her cheek. "Toni-kun, what do you want from the vampire?"
"Don't ignore me!"
"To experiment, and if you're busy, you can leave," I watched as the head slowly regrew onto the body, and the hole in the chest completely healed. "I'll catch up with you later... By the way, you're here to kill vampires, right?"
"Yes, their lair should be somewhere around here," Shinoa nodded and hopped over to me.
"It's in that direction; I can sense a similar signature there, nine vampires," I pointed in the right direction and then looked at the frozen blonde girl again, canceling the spell. As a result, she stumbled and fell on her backside.
"You can sense them? Is that... is it a ability of your cursed weapon?" the pink-haired guy asked somewhat uncertainly.
"You could say that; I'm a person of many talents," at that moment, the vampire's body twitched, and he tried to quickly jump away, but I swiftly pressed my foot to the ground, creating a small crater beneath him
"Not so fast, ill-mannered prey. I haven't finished with you yet. You're an interesting little creature," I lifted him by the throat. He tried to strike me with his hands, but my aura nullified all his attacks, rendering him completely helpless, only squirming powerlessly in an attempt to harm me in any way possible.
"Hehe, it's exciting," Shinoa murmured quietly, and only the members of the squad who were watching everything through the girl's transmission could hear her.
***
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