Chapter 43: The Name of the Tainted Moon

The night sky over Tokyo was unnervingly still.
Through their comms, Reiga’s voice echoed in the ears of every deployed Priest team.

“Team One, report.”
“Area secure. No hostiles.”
“Team Two?”
“Perimeter clear. All quiet.”

One after another, the reports came in. Every sector of Tokyo seemed peaceful — too peaceful.
Inside the mobile command vehicle, Reiga and Kanata stared at the wall of monitors, dozens of camera feeds showing silent streets and rooftops.

Outside, Celestine, Itsuha, and Rio guarded their assigned units. Even they sounded relaxed over the radio.

“Nothing to report here,” Itsuha said.
“Same here,” Celestine added.
“Even the air feels… calm,” Rio muttered.

Reiga frowned. “This isn’t right. It’s too quiet.”

Kanata stepped out of the vehicle, the night wind brushing against his face. He looked up at the sky — the moon glowed bright and heavy, but not whole. A single dark cloud veiled part of it.

His instincts screamed.

He reentered the van quickly. “Reiga! The moon — it’s not fully visible yet. Something’s off. The eclipse hasn’t started.”

Reiga’s eyes widened. “Then it’s a false calm.”

Moments later, the call went out:
“All teams, fall back to base. Repeat — retreat immediately!”

Kanata slumped at his desk, his cheek pressed to the cold wood.
“Haaah… so much for last night. Guess all our effort was for nothing.”

Rio chuckled beside him. “Don’t tell me you’re disappointed the vampires didn’t show.”

Kanata groaned. “If they ran off to another country, good for them. I could use some sleep.”

His sentence was cut short by a blaring siren — the academy’s emergency alarm.
A voice came over the loudspeakers.

“All Priest-role mages, report to the central hall immediately!”

Kanata blinked. “Again?! You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Reiga burst through the door, his face grim. “There’s been another attack — worse than before.”

They hurried to the hall, where Reiga addressed the assembled mages.
“Authorities found a cruise ship adrift off the Tokyo coast. Every passenger… dead.”

Gasps filled the room.

“The bodies were mutilated — throats torn open, blood drained. Identical to the previous cases.”

The hall fell silent. Kanata felt his chest tighten.

“But here’s the real problem,” Reiga continued. “The killer wasn’t Subject-02. We’re dealing with someone else.”

The crowd broke into uneasy murmurs. Even the Priests looked shaken.

Evelyn stood on the bloodstained deck of the cruise ship, the sea wind whipping her silver hair.
Dozens of lifeless bodies lay covered under sheets. A High Elite unit secured the perimeter as she examined the wounds.

“Same bite pattern,” she muttered. “But stronger… deeper.”

An officer approached her cautiously. “Ma’am, do you suspect Subject-02?”

Evelyn shook her head. “No. This isn’t her. This is… someone else.”

“Who, then?”

Evelyn’s gaze darkened. “His name is Vlad — the Cursed Vampire King. He’s been searching for his daughter… and plans to use her as a sacrifice.”

The officer paled. “You mean— Subject-02?”

“Yes.” Evelyn’s voice softened. “She’s his daughter. But something went wrong. She shouldn’t have turned feral…”
She clenched her fist. “Someone must be controlling her.”

Kanata walked home, his hands buried in his pockets. The air felt lighter than usual. Then — a familiar glint of gold caught his eye.

There, by the park fountain, sat the blonde-haired girl — Subject-02. But this time, she wasn’t violent.
She giggled softly, surrounded by stray cats, feeding them from her palms.

Kanata stopped a few meters away, watching quietly.
“Cute, aren’t they?” he said.

The girl jumped, startled, before smiling shyly.
Kanata crouched beside her and offered a handful of cat food.
“Here, want to help me feed them?”

Her eyes brightened. She nodded, speaking softly in a foreign tongue Kanata couldn’t understand. Yet her laughter — gentle, innocent — needed no translation.

Finally, she spoke in Japanese.
“They’re so adorable. I wish I could live with them forever.”

Kanata smiled. “You should. Everyone deserves something to protect.”

He hesitated. “Do you… have a name?”

The girl’s eyes dimmed. “No. My father called me… sacrifice.”

Kanata froze. “…That’s awful.”

After a long silence, he looked up. “Then how about ‘Lucy’? It suits you.”

Her face lit up like dawn. “Lucy? That sounds pretty. Okay, Oni-chan — I’m Lucy now!”

Her smile was pure, fragile — like sunlight on water.
Kanata felt something unfamiliar stir in his chest.

Moments later, Haqua appeared, carrying two cups of pudding.
“Onii-chan! Oh? Who’s this?”

Kanata whispered, “Her name’s Lucy. Just… pretend you don’t know who she really is.”

Haqua blinked, then smiled warmly. “Hi, Lucy! Let’s play!”

The two girls spent the afternoon laughing, sharing ice cream and pudding under the sun. For a fleeting moment, everything felt normal.

Lucy stood alone under the same moon that had once hidden behind clouds.
Now, it glowed crimson — the Blood Moon had risen.

Pain seized her chest. She gasped, falling to her knees, clutching her throat.

“N-no… please… not again…”

Her voice trembled as her body convulsed.
Fangs lengthened. Her eyes bled scarlet.

Kanata, sensing something, ran toward the park — only to find her trembling, crying, and changing before his eyes.

“Lucy!”

She looked up at him, her tears glowing in the red moonlight.
“Onii-chan… help me… someone’s making me do this…”

Kanata froze. The air felt sharp, unnatural — and from somewhere in the shadows, a deep, ancient laughter echoed.