[Pureblood Vampire Warriors—step forward! Mock the daylight!]
Misha lifted her head to the sky. Elder Bai's furious roar at the moment of his death still seemed to linger beneath the blue heavens over the TOPS headquarters.
Even down in the pitch-black sewers—where only rippling water reflected faint glimmers of light—you could still hear the resentment and madness woven into that declaration.
Misha lowered her gaze and let out a quiet sigh.
"So it's really come to this…"
At her words, Miyabi raised her demon blade, the icy edge leveled straight at Misha. She looked far more guarded than before, her brows knit tightly as her calm voice echoed through the hollow sewer.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing much. Just that all the elders of our vampire clan have now been confirmed dead. Which means we'll have no choice but to carry this war through to the end—until every last pureblood vampire falls. Void Hunter."
The moment she finished speaking, before Miyabi could fully grasp her meaning, Misha laughed softly and drove a fist into the sewer wall.
Boom!
The entire sewer shuddered from the force of that single punch.
The ice sheet Miyabi had frozen solid split apart. Filthy wastewater rushed down from upstream, its stench surging forward along with thick white vapor.
Miyabi clicked her tongue and instinctively sidestepped to the edge of the tunnel wall.
Then her eyes widened.
The ceiling overhead collapsed without warning. Sunlight poured straight down, and a massive shadow spread across the water's surface.
She looked up, startled.
But the source of that destruction—and the looming shadow—wasn't some colossal monster she'd imagined. It was only a small rat, standing with its back to the sun, its shadow stretched long and distorted.
No… that's not right.
No rat had crimson eyes. And no rat radiated Ether activity this violently unstable.
This was a Sacrifice.
"Kokura, come here."
What shocked Miyabi even more was Misha calmly calling the Sacrifice by name—and then openly reaching out toward the edge of the sunlight.
Without even a moment's hesitation, Misha thrust her hand straight into the sun.
Sizzle!
The sound was like flesh dropped into hot oil.
Black smoke immediately rose from her palm. Her pale skin flushed red as blood seeped out—only to be instantly vaporized by the heat, forming a thick, crusted layer of dried blood over her hand.
If she stayed under the sunlight any longer, that entire arm might have been ruined.
[Squeak~]
Kokura squeaked as it leapt down from the top of the narrow channel, landing precisely in Misha's palm.
"What are you trying to do?"
Unable to make sense of it, Miyabi asked directly.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Misha lifted Kokura to her mouth—and bit down.
Purple fluid exploded outward, splashing across her face.
With the mouse clenched between her teeth, her right eye shut tight, her face smeared with thick purple liquid, Misha's entire body began to glow. The light grew brighter and denser with each passing second.
She swallowed, gulping Kokura down whole, then let out a satisfied belch. A strange curve tugged at her lips.
"Obviously… to mock the daylight."
Boom!
The instant the words left her mouth, the glow around her body surged to its limit.
A pillar of light erupted, blasting through the sewer and shooting straight into the sky.
In an instant, the heavens were washed clean. The blazing sun was swallowed by violet radiance, and for a fleeting moment, it felt as if the sky itself had been forced lower.
Hundreds of thousands of human soldiers and half-blood vampires alike were drawn to the phenomenon.
They stared upward in stunned silence, pupils trembling, mouths opening and closing as if shock had sealed their voices shut.
Several seconds passed before one human soldier finally remembered to report in. He pressed a hand to the earpiece beneath his helmet and spoke dully.
"Calling Command, calling… huh?"
No response.
Command had gone completely silent.
No. 11 sat at the center of a ring of monitors filled with static. She raised her small hand and slammed it hard against the table.
"Damn it—signal's cut!"
Her face looked calm, but inside, fury was boiling over. If her anxiety could take shape, it would have burned the world to ash.
"What the hell… is that thing?"
Her eyes widened suddenly.
The massive violet beam she'd been watching began to fade, shrinking into a hazy purple speck.
No. 11 grabbed a pair of binoculars and pressed them to her left eye.
"No—that's not a speck… it's a vampire."
"A vampire wearing purple exoskeletal armor, carrying a dark violet scythe…"
"No. 11, look out!"
Wise lunged forward, grabbing Belle and No. 11 as he rolled them aside.
By the time the three regained their bearings and looked back, the spot where No. 11 had been standing was gone.
A beam of purple light had crashed down from above. Every communication device in the area was erased in an instant. A massive crater gaped in the ground, its depths scorched black—ants passing through didn't even leave corpses behind.
"This…"
Belle stared, dumbfounded, unable to say a single word.
...
High above, Misha gazed down at the dense mass of people below.
To her, they were no bigger than ants. And yet, wherever they moved, smoke and explosions followed. The half-blood vampires were wiped out in droves before they even had a chance to act.
By the time they reacted, despite their overwhelming advantage in equipment, all they could manage was a stalemate—until Phaga seized an opening, flanking them and striking at their rear.
[Pureblood vampires are all born strong. But time is a blade—and every stroke cuts us down.]
[The aged elders are our only weakness.]
[And they chose suicide…]
Misha stared deeply into her own palm. Then she closed her hand, as if drawing all her thoughts back into herself. What remained in her eyes was only feral killing intent—and a faint violet glow.
[You… will all die.]
She lifted her hand sharply, and the "sky" rose with it.
With the sun's scorching presence gone, violet clouds churned violently, raining down beams of purple light like falling meteors, smashing into the ground one after another.
[All pureblood vampires—heed my command. Assemble!]
Misha's shout rang across the heavens.
From every corner of the TOPS headquarters building, tens of thousands of pureblood vampires took flight.
Their numbers weren't vast—but gathered together, those ten thousand shone brighter than the sun that had vanished.
Every human soldier felt their mind go blank, as if a heavy hammer had struck their chest.
They never imagined pureblood vampires could appear so openly in broad daylight—and suffer no harm at all.
Was it because the sun had been blocked?
The next moment, Misha pointed downward with slender fingers. Her icy tone sent chills through even the pureblood vampires themselves.
[Today, enjoy your hunt.]
[Charge!]
Whoosh!
More than ten thousand pureblood vampires burst into shrill laughter and scattered in every direction. They charged headlong into gunfire, treating human bullets and artillery as nothing more than a breeze.
"Keheheh!"
One pureblood vampire dressed in everyday clothes flew straight through the hail of bullets, his body riddled with holes, and grabbed a human soldier.
"Y-you—ah!"
Before the soldier could struggle, the vampire leaned in and bit down on his neck. The fragile artery ruptured instantly, blood pouring out as the vampire gulped greedily, his throat bobbing with each swallow.
When no more blood came, he shook the soldier by the neck. Not a single drop fell. Realizing there was nothing left to take, he tossed the body aside.
"Tsk. Useless."
Scowling, he turned his gaze toward another human. His expression brightened instantly, lips curling upward as he lifted a hand in greeting.
"Hey there. Care to join me for afternoon tea?"
"Of course. You are the afternoon tea."
"As for your Starlight—Miss Misha will take care of that."