The sound of boots echoed through the castle's empty halls.
The bluish torchlight flickered against the rune-covered walls, making the shadows move as if alive.
The woman with short blonde hair walked slowly, her blue shirt rippling softly in the cold current sweeping through the corridors.
In her hand, a black Uzi gleamed under the azure flames. Her gaze was firm — wild and calm at once — the look of someone used to hunting monsters… or being hunted by them.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the darkness — fast, uneven, as if dozens of feet slid across the stone floor.
She stopped. A metallic click rang as her finger locked on the trigger.
From the ceiling, a grotesque creature dropped in front of her — its wings torn, skin gray, eyes blank and pupil-less.
Behind it, dozens more emerged, crawling out from cracks and columns — beings with rusted axes, long teeth, and bones piercing through rotting flesh.
The blonde smirked.
"Ah… a surprise party, is it?"
The first monster roared and charged.
She slid aside, twisting her body gracefully, and in a single motion emptied the Uzi into its chest. The impact threw it against the wall, where it dissolved into black mist.
More came.
The woman drew her second Uzi and began to dance among them — a deadly choreography.
She leapt, spun midair, pushed off a wall, firing twin bursts while upside down.
Each bullet traced lines of light through the azure gloom, tearing through flesh and shattering bone.
An axe whooshed past her face — she ducked, delivered a spinning kick to the creature's knee, and fired upward, blasting its head clean off.
Another lunged from behind; she saw it reflected in a pool of blood on the floor, rolled forward, and fired over her shoulder, the shot exploding the creature into sparks and smoke.
"You guys are really persistent, aren't you?" she muttered, swapping clips with a swift, practiced motion.
"But I'm tired of dancing alone."
She pulled two light grenades from her belt, yanked the pins with her teeth, and tossed them upward.
The explosions flared like twin blue suns.
The monsters screamed, clutching their burning eyes as green fire consumed them.
The woman spun on her heel, firing nonstop, every motion fluid and lethal — a ballerina among corpses.
When the last one screamed and faded into smoke, silence fell again.
She sighed, brushed a lock of hair from her forehead, and looked over the blood- and ash-covered floor.
"That's it? …Disappointing."
Holstering her guns, she drew a silver spear from her back, etched with lunar runes. The tip glowed with blue energy.
She drove it into the ground — sending a wave of energy through the corridor, disintegrating the creatures' remains.
The blonde walked out through the passage, the sound of fine rain echoing outside.
At the edge of a cliff, a massive rock offered partial shelter. She sat there, dismantling her Uzis, reloading them with almost ritual precision.
Raindrops struck her shirt, and the cold wind lifted the damp strands of her hair.
Then a familiar voice — soft and cruel —echoed behind her.
"Well, well…"
She jumped to her feet, aiming her gun.
From the darkness, Cletus emerged.
His smile was the same as ever — crooked, theatrical, taunting. His eyes — two hungry abysses.
"You've gotten a little stronger…"
he said, almost paternal.
Her teeth clenched.
"Go to hell."
He spread his arms, laughing.
"Pointing a gun at me? Your own familiar…?" then, in a venomous whisper,
"Your dear old father?"
She cocked the weapon, voice trembling with hate.
"The only family I had was my mother. And she's dead."
Three gunshots ripped through the air.
But Cletus was already gone.
"You broke my heart!"—his voice echoed through the walls.
"After all, I was the one who gave you your name."
She turned, searching for the sound, until a mocking laugh echoed from atop a statue.
"…my beloved daughter."
She aimed both guns upward, but Cletus appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye, hurling an old book at her face.
Before she could react, he grabbed her arm and flung her out of the castle.
The wind roared as she fell, spinning through the rain. She fired upward as she plummeted— one bullet grazing Cletus's cheek, slicing it open.
The wound healed in seconds. He simply watched as his daughter vanished into the abyss.
Elsewhere in the castle, Lucy walked along an open corridor, moonlight spilling over the wet stone steps.
The sound of something falling from the sky caught her attention.
When she looked up, she saw the blonde plummeting.
Reflexively, she stretched out her arm and caught her by the leg.
"Well, would you look at that? It's raining women tonight." Lucy smirked.
"No wonder the sky looks funny."
The woman aimed her guns at her.
"Let go!"
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"Let you go? Shame to let you end the night as a smear on the ground, blondie."
A gunshot echoed.
The bullet struck Lucy's forehead — she staggered and released the woman.
The blonde fell, but threw her spear, embedding it in the wall and catching herself.
Lucy touched her forehead — the bullet clinked to the ground, and the wound sealed with a red glow.
She shouted down:
"What the hell was that for?! I try to help you, and that's how you say thanks?!"
The woman, still hanging, fired again.
The bullet hit Lucy in the chest — she spat the projectile out.
"You know what? Whatever. Suit yourself."
She turned and walked away.
The blonde, standing now on the jutting wall, watched her go and murmured:
"So… she's a vampire too..."
Up above, Lucy laughed softly.
"I'm starting to think I've got terrible luck with women."
She climbed the stairs leading to the castle's highest tower.
The wind howled, rain growing heavier.
Lightning slashed across the sky — and at the very top, beneath a colossal blue full moon, Nyra stood waiting.
Her silver coat with tribal markings billowed in the storm.
Hearing footsteps, she turned her head slightly — her blue eyes reflecting the tempest.
"So… you finally came"
she said, her voice calm as ever.
Lucy, soaked, spun her pistol around her finger.
"You really know how to throw a party, huh? No food, no drinks, no strippers… just one big baby."
Nyra smiled faintly.
"My sincerest apologies, dear sister. I was so anxious to see you… I may have forgotten to prepare the refreshments."
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"It's been a one year since our last meeting. How about a kiss from your little sis?"
"Or better yet… how about a kiss from THIS?!" she aimed her pistol.
Thunder roared.
Rain turned into a curtain.
"So this is how you do a lovely family reunion?"
Lucy taunted.
The two sisters stared each other down as lightning flared around them.
Nyra took a step forward.
"You're absolutely right."
With a sharp sound, she drew her katana.
The blade reflected the blue moonlight.
The wind held its breath.
Two sisters.
Two moons.
One destiny about to collide.
To be continued…