"Don't look at her."
Akishige Yaze stared fixedly at Arcueid's feet, carefully avoiding her crimson eyes.
"As the master of the Mystic Eyes Collection Train, it's impossible for her not to possess mystic eyes. I don't know what type they are, but don't look."
Slowly, he pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and put them on, raising his gun with a sharp, fluid motion.
Bang.
Fire erupted from the muzzle, a dark bullet shooting forth carrying the pungent smell of gunpowder.
A normal bullet?
Arcueid raised her palm and swung it down hard.
The 'Cleansing' was something to be wary of, but a mere bullet like this...
The instant her sharp claws met the bullet, a spark flickered beside it.
The air in front of Arcueid suddenly glowed with a deep crimson hue.
Countless tiny black particles materialized within her line of sight.
Boom—
The air seemed to freeze for a moment, followed immediately by a deafening roar.
The shockwave tore through the air like the roar of some primordial beast, scorching flames igniting amidst the storm.
An invisible force, like a giant hammer, lifted Arcueid and slammed her against the wall.
The surrounding air warped in the intense heat, the blazing fire's glare forcing Akishige Yaze to squint.
A dodecahedral barrier protected him firmly, the attacking flames gradually dissipating, surrounded by the deep red particles.
"Did it work?"
He took a deep breath, staring into the smoke-shrouded epicenter of the explosion.
The choking smell of sulfur filled his lungs, along with a thread of unease.
While an explosion couldn't possibly kill a Primogenitor, it should be enough to injure a vampire whose physical prowess wasn't their strong point.
After that, the power of 'Cleansing' could hinder the vampire's regeneration. But the appearance of this Primogenitor, who shouldn't even exist in this world, had put him on high alert.
"You transformed the air in front of me into gunpowder?"
Sure enough, a cheerful, girlish voice rang out from the center of the smoke, and Akishige Yaze's nerves tightened once more.
The flames parted, the white hem of her dress fluttering up and down.
Arcueid leaped out, completely unscathed.
She brushed off her black and white combat suit, a smirk playing on her lips. "A dust explosion is indeed dangerous."
Her scarlet eyes fixed on Akishige Yaze like a hunter sighting its prey.
In the next instant, her golden hair streamed like a meteor. With a piercing sonic boom, Arcueid seemed to teleport, appearing right in front of Akishige Yaze.
Her pale, delicate palm slammed against the deep crimson dodecahedral barrier with overwhelming force.
"Ugh!" Akishige Yaze grunted, sent flying along with his barrier.
So even pure physical force can't break through the 'Cleansing'?
Arcueid glanced at him, then spun around sharply.
From within the dissipating smoke behind her, deep red 'Cleansing' particles rapidly coalesced, and the form of the High Priestess manifested within them.
Then, the translucent, ghost-like girl showered Arcueid with deep red bullets.
Unhurried, Arcueid swung her arm, channeling mana down towards her feet.
Her eyes snapped open.
The fiercely surging bullets dissipated like bubbles before they could even touch Arcueid's body.
An eye-like pattern had appeared at her feet, a rainbow-hued mystic eye glaring defiantly at the deep red light.
The mana was erased?
Akishige Yaze swallowed the blood in his mouth, struggling to his feet, teeth gritted.
He hadn't really expected to defeat this Fifth Primogenitor, but having his killing move so easily thwarted still rankled.
Watching Arcueid nimbly dodging the 'Cleansing' attacks, a thought seemed to strike him. He called out in a low voice, "[Priestess of Abel]."
A girl appeared beside him, her body covered in scars as if she'd been dismembered. Her hollow eyes glanced at him without emotion.
"What if..." Akishige Yaze leaned in and whispered.
Crash—
A rock, flung by a vine, interrupted their conversation.
"Heeave—ho!"
You can't just have a meeting in the middle of a fight!
Countless rocks materialized out of thin air, vines pulling them back before hurling them at Akishige Yaze.
'I think I'm starting to understand how the 'Cleansing' attacks work... So...'
Arcueit clenched her fists, took a deep, energizing breath. "Alrighty~, let's get started!"
The surrounding mana was sucked in by Arcueid all at once, a heavy pressure spreading through the underground cavern.
Get started?
The deep red particles shattered the incoming rocks one by one.
The sensation, as if facing the crushing weight of a falling moon, made Akishige Yaze grit his teeth.
She wasn't even serious until now?
"Of course not."
As if reading his confusion, Arcueid curled her lips into her usual, lively smile.
"Let me show you what being a little serious looks like."
Akishige Yaze warily raised his pistol, simultaneously casting a discreet glance at the High Priestess floating nearby.
'Even though we were interrupted, she should have heard me.'
The High Priestess's face, both ugly and beautiful, gave a slight nod. Then, this familiar-yet-unfamiliar face suddenly seemed to change.
No, it didn't change. Someone was blocking his view.
Sleek, short golden hair. Red pupils brimming with faint amusement.
Arcueid, who had been on the far side of the cavern an instant ago, was now right before his eyes. Akishige Yaze's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
No warning. No sound. No trace.
Just a blink, and the golden-haired vampire had crossed the space between them, instantly appearing before him.
And then—
A punch was thrown.
The small fist stirred a violent storm, the displaced air easily punching through the thick, hard metal wall opposite.
BOOM—
A few seconds later, the deafening sound of the sonic barrier, loud enough to shatter eardrums, finally arrived belatedly.
Golden strands danced in the air currents. Scarlet eyes narrowed slightly as they looked at the man whose body was disintegrating.
In that split second, Akishige Yaze's physical form vanished under this blow, turning into minute particles.
The particles drifted down like pure white grains of salt... No, they were grains of salt.
"Hmm? You can use it like that too?"
Arcueid puffed out her cheeks slightly and looked sideways in annoyance.
The deep red particles swirled around the High Priestess. Bathed in the light, Akishige Yaze, who had just turned to salt, was slowly reforming.
The white salt grains transformed into lumps of flesh.
The High Priestess had used 'Cleansing' to save Akishige Yaze from that strike.
The reassembled Akishige Yaze stood rigidly in place, eyes wide and vacant, mouth agape in shock.
A moment later, his body shuddered violently, like someone startled awake from a deep sleep.
Gasping for breath as he returned to his senses, sweat poured down his temples.
"...[Priestess of Abel]. Can it be done?"
"It is worth an attempt."
No sooner had she spoken than the High Priestess vanished from the spot.
Good.
Akishige Yaze wiped the sweat from his face, a determined glint in his eyes.
Then, he stepped forward, walking straight towards Arcueid.
Oh?
"Instead of running away, you're approaching me?" Arcueid asked with interest, a smirk playing on her lips as she planted a hand on her hip.
The golden-haired vampire stood leisurely in place, waiting for her opponent to approach.
"Because I'm going to win!"
As the words left his mouth, Akishige Yaze swiftly drew his pistol, the dark muzzle aiming at the vampire—or rather, it started to aim.
A pair of vivid red eyes shone within his vision.
At the same time, the gun fell limply to the ground with a clear, clattering sound.
"Too slow, too slow."
Before Akishige Yaze could even begin his attack, Arcueid had already unleashed a swipe of her claws.
The vacuum claw attack tore through half of Akishige Yaze's body as easily as ripping fragile paper.
Huh?
He didn't use the 'Cleansing' power?
Arcueid frowned in puzzlement, her red eyes darting around keenly, but she found no trace of the High Priestess.
Crack.
The sound of shattering glass drew Arcueid's gaze back. She tilted her head, looking at the broken glasses.
These are... Mystic Eye Killers?
"Was it... really too slow?"
The supposedly mesmerized Akishige Yaze looked at the vampire before him and grinned.
'Don't underestimate our research into mystic eyes.'
The glasses on the bridge of his nose had shattered into pieces, the sharp fragments piercing his skin, drawing crimson blood.
The space in front of him suddenly began to waver, a sense of crisis abruptly blooming in Arcueid's heart.
Hyper-Adaptability—an innate supernatural ability that could be used without relying on mana. It was the bloodline passed down through the Yaze family for generations.
As the head of the family, Akishige Yaze naturally possessed this ability.
It felt as if the very air around her had become hostile. Countless invisible attacks materialized in the surrounding space.
Arcueid jerked sideways, but the multitude of invisible blades still sliced into her arm.
In the next instant, a deep red glow appeared upon these invisible blades.
"What if all Primogenitors were created by the 'Cleansing'?"
Akishige Yaze lifted his blood-smeared face, a confident, ferocious smile twisting his features. He pointed his one remaining arm at Arcueid. "Then—"
Blood dripped down, veins bulging in his eyes as he roared with all his might, "The 'Cleansing' should, in principle, be able to destroy a Primogenitor!"
He didn't know if Arcueid harbored familiars within her. Powerful familiars could preserve their host's life even if the host's body turned to dust.
Just in case...
"No matter where you came from, Primogenitor, now, become a mere human!"
The vanished High Priestess abandoned maintaining her physical form, focusing entirely on manipulating the power of 'Cleansing'.
Deep red light flooded the entire underground cavern.
Mana surging from the Earth's leylines supplied the energy for the 'Cleansing's activation. The power capable of altering the very principles of the world reached out and touched Arcueid's body.
Arcueid's form was slowly submerged within the deep red particles.
And then,
A terrifying silence fell.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.