Yamato woke up in shock, drenched in sweat, still gasping for air.
He was lying on a wooden bed inside a simple cabin, dim light filtering through the window. Slowly, he sat up, scanning the room with cautious eyes. In front of him sat a calm-looking girl with brown hair and dark brown eyes.
In a trembling voice, he asked,
"Where am I?... Who is this girl?"
The last thing he remembered… was fighting a boy with white hair.
The girl looked at him and said calmly,
"So, you've finally woken up."
Yamato looked at her in surprise,
"Who are you?"
She replied confidently,
"I'm Zeina... from the Kinzo family. I found you lying on the ground, your body covered in severe burns. I treated you. You've been unconscious for two days. The entire time, you were making strange noises… as if you were in pain. What happened to you?"
Yamato hesitated before answering,
"Nothing..."
But deep inside, a hidden voice whispered to him:
"So it was real... that person... that power... it's the power of humans."
Zeina interrupted his thoughts with a cold tone,
"You fought him, didn't you?"
Yamato asked cautiously,
"What do you mean?"
Zeina said,
"Your eyes tell me you encountered 'Sai' for some reason."
"Sai?" Yamato repeated, surprised.
"A boy with white hair and black eyes, who uses lightning techniques. Is he the one you fought?"
Yamato nodded hesitantly,
"Yes, I fought him."
Zeina spoke in a cold, direct tone:
"You... you're a vampire, aren't you?"
Yamato froze in place, his eyes widened, and tension appeared on his face. Then, in a low voice, he said:
"What makes you think that?"
She replied confidently,
"You possess the Rave aura."
"Yes... I do," Yamato admitted after a short silence. Then he added:
"But please, tell me everything you know about him."
Zeina sighed, then said:
"Sai... his full name is Sai Kaguro. He's the youngest member of the Shinda Organization. He's only 15 years old, and yet, he's one of the royal families."
Yamato asked,
"The royal families?"
She answered,
"Yes, the royal families are prestigious bloodlines who possess the rarest and most powerful types of golden imprints. Their techniques are known as 'Royal Imprints,' the foundation of all other imprints that came after. There are three Royal Imprints: Illusion, Lightning, and Destruction. Sai inherited the Lightning imprint from his family, and he managed to reach Rank O because of it."
Yamato asked with growing curiosity,
"And what are the names of these royal families?"
Zeina replied,
"The 'Ego' family for the Illusion technique, the 'Kaguro' family for Lightning, and the 'Kinzo' family for Destruction."
Then Yamato asked in confusion:
"Wait... aren't you also from one of those families?"
Zeina said:
"I am. But I was exiled from the family years ago. Now, I work as a mercenary... I hunt down powerful imprint users."
---
One day earlier – Shinda Organization Headquarters:
Sai was sitting with two other members of the organization.
The first was a boy with yellow hair and eyes, named "Geto."
The second was a young man with long black hair and brown eyes, named "Ryo."
Ryo spoke sharply,
"You disappointed me, Sai."
Sai responded,
"I told you... his imprint resembled Director Shin's. I couldn't handle the shock and couldn't finish the fight."
Geto said calmly,
"So... a vampire with a golden imprint."
The golden imprint is a combat style exclusive to humans, allowing them to fight vampires. Only a very rare few possess it.
Ryo asked,
"I heard you fought him, Geto. Is that true?"
Geto nodded,
"Yes, I encountered him at the school. But he vanished before I could catch him. Then the whole place exploded from an attack by Director Shin."
Sai, staring at the ground, muttered:
"So... even the Director lost to him..."
The members exchanged heavy glances.
Geto added in a dark tone,
"We need to take his imprint… the Erasure Imprint should not remain in the hands of a vampire."