Chapter 181

“Viktor, Viktor...!”

A desperate voice.

Carmilla held Viktor's mangled body and wailed.

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, while the fingers gripping his sleeve did nothing but tremble.

Carmilla had half lost her mind.

Still sobbing, she pressed down on the boy's wounds.

She used Bloodcraft to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing she could do about the body parts that had already been blown away.

“No... No! You said you wouldn't leave me, so please... wake up!”

Her crying was utterly meaningless.

The boy was barely clinging to life. Carmilla had only postponed his death by a few minutes. She had no power to change the ending that had already been decided. Even knowing that, she couldn't stop moving her hands. Delicate Bloodcraft pressed down on Viktor's wounds.

Splat-.

His condition did not improve in the slightest.

The blood pooling across the plaza was forming a vast puddle.

That red mirror reflected only the boy and the girl who could not accept reality.

“Please... I'll do anything, so please...”

A foolish plea repeated over and over.

Before long, several more figures appeared in the mirror.

“Sir Viktor! It looked like something had happened, so we came to help!”

“What? What happened?”

“Your Highness! W-where is Sir Vik... tor...?”

The children had rushed to the plaza as soon as they noticed the Blue Knight stirring.

They all looked terrible after their fierce battles.

Though exhausted, they searched for Viktor first.

As they ran forward, they noticed something and stopped in their tracks.

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......Huh?”

A shape that could not possibly be Viktor.

A shape that absolutely could not be Viktor.

Carmilla was clutching it as she wailed at the top of her lungs.

That lump of flesh was too small to look human, making it difficult to tell from afar that it was a boy.

“Could that be... Sir Viktor...?”

“Fuck, no. That's impossible...”

“Sir Vik... tor...?”

The children each mouthed their words in a daze.

Their minds were already worn down by exhaustion.

It felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over their heads.

Their warmth vanished at once, and only numbing terror clawed at the backs of their heads.

As a brief denial of reality settled over them, Rin, who had been quiet until then, murmured a single sentence.

“......That's Viktor.”

The ice girl calmly forced them to face reality.

Rin wore the same expressionless face as always.

Yet her pupils were trembling more than ever before.

White vapor escaped with her freezing breath, and her lips were just as desperate.

““......””

A few short seconds that felt eternal.

The children froze without even breathing.

Their minds had been bleached white before they could say anything.

“......No.”

“Fuck.”

Mangled was the only word that suited the boy.

Viktor had only managed to protect his upper body and head, just enough to avoid instant death.

“Urgh, gasp...”

Most of the rest of him was not intact.

His entire lower body had been blown away. His right arm was missing as if it had been incinerated, and his left arm had been torn apart halfway through, leaving nothing below the elbow.

His upper body had not escaped unharmed, either. Even though he had layered barrier after barrier, the Stake's power multiplied twentyfold had been more than enough to shatter his defenses. Viktor's entire body looked as though it had been burned. Not a single part of him was intact, and his body seemed closer to death than life.

“No... I can't lose Viktor too. Not like this...”

Carmilla muttered as if her soul had left her body.

Her trembling hand removed his mask. Behind it were black eyes clouded with dull color. His breathing was so faint that it seemed ready to stop at any moment.

“Sir Viktor!”

Ranne stepped forward.

She squeezed out every last bit of Starlight she had left and wrapped it around Viktor like a blessing.

It was a futile struggle.

Even Ranne knew it was meaningless.

Tears dripped onto the back of her hand, which shone with holy light.

“Hey! Wake up! If you fall asleep like this, you'll never wake up again! Fuck, open your eyes properly...!”

“Sir Viktor, please... Please, no. At least not you, Sir Viktor... If this happens, I...”

“Viktor. I won't ask you to pet me anymore. I won't bother you either. So just once...”

Their words differed, but every one of them was a plea.

Alice, Ranne, and Caitlin all shed tears.

At the same time, the children realized it.

‘It's too late.’

It was already too late.

These were not injuries that could be healed by wishing for recovery.

From the moment he was caught in that explosion, the boy's end had been written as unavoidable.

“Ah, ah...”

That was when despair had settled over them.

Twitch-.

Viktor's body moved slightly.

At the same time, green light burst from Carmilla's hand.

“......?!”

A vivid radiance surged forth.

The source of the light was Carmilla's ring finger.

The ring the boy had put on her once emitted a translucent green aura.

“Your Highness? W-what is this...?”

“Huh...?”

The children were shaken.

As they watched, a wind like lush greenery wrapped around the boy.

Blue energy rippled, while overflowing life force sang into the sky.

Whoooosh-!

“This is... life force?”

Someone murmured.

What flowed from the ring was an immense amount of life force.

Fresh vitality surged as though a piece of nature itself had been cut free and poured out.

Life poured forth.

Then it seeped into the boy.

“Is he... recovering? You all see it too, right? I'm not the only one seeing things, am I?”

“I see it too. But where is such immense life force coming from...?”

“Sir Vik... tor...?”

Squirm-.

His terrible wounds began to recover.

Bones regenerated, the bleeding stopped, and pale new flesh sprouted like fresh buds.

“......”

Carmilla had been staring blankly in shock.

As she held her breath, soft voices filled her ears.

<Sister! Do you remember us?>

<It's been a long time, sis!>

They were young voices.

Voices she had heard in passing once before.

Carmilla was dazed, but she soon remembered who they belonged to.

“...The children we met during the Lunar Eclipse?”

Kindness.

Kindness she had given without expecting anything in return.

<That's right! Thank you for protecting our village back then! It was a place we really cherished!>

<This is our way of repaying you!>

<Please wait just one hour! We'll heal him completely, without leaving even a single wound!>

<Because both big brother and big sister are good people! We're happy to do this much for you!>

Carmilla could not understand what was happening.

Everything was so sudden.

“Were you... spirits? You were...?”

<Yes! Surprised?>

<Surprise!>

The kindness she had given without thinking returned as a miracle in her most desperate moment.

Green wind enveloped the entire plaza.

Life force raged like a storm around the boy.

Flesh filled in, and color returned to his skin.

“......”

Viktor's breathing stabilized.

Focus slowly returned to his black eyes.

“Ah... God.”

“Fuck, I knew this would happen... You fucking bastard. I... hhk, fuck. I knew you wouldn't die...”

“Sniff... A miracle has happened to Sir Viktor...”

“Viktor is recovering. Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness...”

The children surrounded the boy and sobbed.

Unlike a few minutes ago, their tears came from relief and joy.

“Haa...”

Drip-.

Tears ran down her cheeks like rain.

Carmilla sank to the ground and continued holding Viktor's body.

The atmosphere made it seem as though everything had finally ended.

Unfortunately, the situation was not over.

“That is far enough.”

A voice suddenly came from behind them.

When they turned, they saw suspicious figures wearing dark red robes.

They were enemies who had approached while concealing their presence.

The children froze where they stood.

‘Where did they come from...?’

Had they been lying in wait nearby?

They had formed an encirclement, nearly fifty of them.

“The Slayers... I heard they were dangerous, but I never imagined one person could defeat the Blue Knight. We've witnessed something we simply cannot overlook.”

Every one of them possessed strength worthy of a Cult executive.

The robed figures stared at the battered Viktor in Carmilla's arms.

“That boy cannot be allowed to live. If we miss this opportunity, he will soon become a great obstacle to our grand plan.”

The situation was at its worst.

Everyone among them was exhausted.

The other side was a force packed with numerous Chimeras and elite Cult members.

“Hand him over. Both sides have suffered enough losses, so I would prefer to settle this without fighting.”

The children had already been pushed to the verge of collapsing.

Cold sweat ran down their faces. There was no way out.

They did not even have enough strength left to hold their weapons.

“......Ngh.”

Carmilla clenched her fist despite her troubled expression.

The enemies closed the distance.

“This was Oz's decision. Resisting is pointless.”

The companions standing nearby also looked grim.

Even so, they moved to hide the boy behind their backs, as though trying to protect Viktor.

It was a meaningless struggle.

The suspicious figure snorted and pronounced their death sentence.

“If you refuse to surrender, it can't be helped.”

The Cult members unleashed their demonic energy all at once.

Jet-black waves surged, threatening to swallow the entire plaza.

“I'll kill every last one of you.”

The situation was on the verge of exploding.

Then fingers grabbed Carmilla's sleeve.

“Your... Highness...”

“Viktor?”

When had he regained consciousness?

With unfocused eyes, the boy looked up at his liege.

“Your Highness... please drink...”

“Drink...?”

Viktor twitched and tilted his head.

It was as though he were exposing his neck.

The boy's pupils were completely calm.

His steady black eyes quietly held Carmilla's face.

“Blood.”

“...What?”

“Please drink... my blood...”

“......”

His words were still slurred, but their meaning was clear.

The girl's red eyes shook.

“If it's you... even after tasting human blood, you'll be able to control yourself...”

So.

“I want Your Highness... to drink my blood...”

Trust.

The boy only smiled faintly.

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