Red Winter Cometh

Meanwhile—Kita Ward.

Scarnetti’s clone leapt through rooftops, windows, apartments, and most importantly, the chaos that had long devoured Osaka City. It finally loomed at the top of an apartment’s complex, as it examined its surroundings.

…

As his skin quivered slightly at the cold whistling wind, Sarai almost woke up. Yet refusing to let go of him, darkness dragged him back into its cradles.

That’s when a scorching heat seared his right wrist.

The red wristlet that Enji had given him burned into faint flames and faded with the air, ultimately functioning as the last trigger to reel him back into reality.

His eyes slowly opened, glimpsing the clown’s face.

At that instant, malice carved itself into his eyes. He seized his knife, sliced open the sigils along his throat, and manifested a scorpion’s tail from his back. It erupted, arching in a blur of motion, an arc that would soon wrap itself around the clown’s neck, tightly crushing it.

Sarai wrenched his body sideways, escaping the clown’s hold, whose body already crashed against the apartment complex rooftop.

Thud! The clown’s body melted into lustrous paint.

A clone…? Scarnetti? What…? Sarai cupped his temple in both shock and dread.

I remember the sound of explosions and the rising smoke before someone struck the nape of my neck and I fell unconscious… Was it some Faithful terrorist attack? Does this have something to do with Scarnetti and Aliskra? Sarai was utterly clueless as he pondered.

H–Hopefully… Mitsu-san and the others are okay… No—I need to get back there and know what happened. He quickly brushed off his coat, white blouse, and loose pants, then looked over his shoulder, seeking the closest station.

Suddenly, his eyes spotted a rather satisfying sight.

In the short distance across the street, the sign “Kita Ward Elevated Railway Station.” waved back at him.

…

Inside the station, people leaned against the glass, staring at the chaos their beloved city had suffered. On the other side, train tracks stretched to the vanishing point.

It’s strangely full here. Shouldn’t people be evacuating? Sarai pondered.

After mere minutes of boring wait, the train finally emerged.

Screech! Despite echoing sharply, the train’s arrival noise didn’t attract anyone’s attention, except Sarai’s, who stood hurriedly and headed toward the door.

What the fuck? These people are weird—

“What in hell are you doing?”

“Get out of here.”

A whisper echoed loudly in his mind, cutting his train of thought.

“There is not a single human in this place.”

It was the Scorpion.

What…? Sarai’s eyes wandered, before finally disappearing into a sudden darkness. A power outage occurred.

Piercing the darkness were multiple pairs of red eyes.

“It’s a pack of hungry vampires.”

“Run.”

Demonic roars echoed inside the station as the multiple red eyes approached Sarai at tremendous speed, dozens more emerging from within the train itself.

A deadly delivery.

Sarai, who had long ago activated his Magic, mutated his lower back into a scorpion tail and speared the ceiling beams.

A brutal yank swung him into a wild arc like a human pendulum, ultimately shattering the glass wall as he shot out of the station and vanished into the street.

What the fuck is going on…? How did the Scorpion even know they were vampires? In fact, what are vampires—

Vampires? Sarai was all of a sudden drenched in sweat.

L-Lilith…? Is she here...? He wondered, soaked and trembling like a wet piece of paper.

I need to get the hell out of…

…here… All Sarai did was raise his head slightly.

To think such a minor action would instill the belief that he was in pandemonium itself in his heart was quite terrifying.

Thump. Thump. Sarai’s heart hammered his ribs.

There were too many of them.

An absurd number.

What in hell…? Sarai wondered. Was it their demonic red eyes? Or were their vast leather wings eclipsing the sky that terrified him the most?

Or vampires, of course. The immeasurable pack of bloodthirsty devils.

Turning his gaze all over the place, Sarai made the grave mistake of confirming his own death.

There was no escape.

I’m going to die here… Perhaps he had no issue with death, but being devoured alive didn’t sound so satisfactory for the young man.

Stifling numerous throat-tightening swallows, he took a desperate fighting stance as his scorpion tail swayed.

The vampires flapped their wings, creating a gust of strong wind.

Their fanged mouths drooled as they drew a collective surge toward Sarai, whose body trembled in existential horror.

Eventually, he had dropped his defenses, completely giving up.

Until—Drip-drop-drip.

The foggy night sky began to rain.

And peculiarly, for a reason Sarai could never guess, it wasn’t just water that rained down on the earth, but the vampires too. With each droplet of water crashing against the ground, two vampires fell.

THUD!

It appeared as though the drops of rain tore through their bodies.

THUD!

Blood traced its way down from every fallen one. They were all dead.

What is happening...? He thought.

The rain had grown to a roaring downpour as it cleansed every remaining devil.

In mere seconds. Every single vampire had fallen to the ground, covering it just as they did the sky moments ago.

This is bad… I should get out of here. Sarai took a couple of steps backward. He quickly raised his head, looking for any possible remaining threats.

And that’s when a sight that, in one way or another, managed to drive a greater terror into his heart was cast in the range of his view above in the sky.

It was no angel, no devil, and certainly no vampire.

Only a regular man, dressed like every other man out there.

His brown hair was neatly knotted at the back of his head, while his short facial hair begged to be shaved.

He loomed very high in the sky, rain sheeting over him. Regardless of that, he did not appear wet, as if the droplets of water slid down an invisible barrier that closely surrounded him.

Who the hell is that? Am I seeing things, or is he really… standing on the raindrops? His hair was heavy with water, plastered to his scalp.

He watched the brown-haired man step down midair as if walking on a staircase.

The raindrops froze beneath his winter boots as he stepped on them. Eventually, still hovering, he had a better view of Sarai.

The brown-haired man chuckled, “So it indeed is you.”

“Sarai Kanazaki, we finally meet,” he yelled, almost proudly.

Who…? Sarai's eyes sharpened as he stood his ground.

“Who the hell are you?” He screamed.

The brown-haired man seized the umbrella strapped to his back and sighed silently. “Masato Kurose. A BND detective who was tasked with finding you.”

He aimed the umbrella’s sharp tip at Sarai. “It’s not you that I’m interested in, though.” He tilted his head to the left. “It’s what resides within you.”

He is definitely talking about the Scorpion. Sarai wondered silently.

He clenched his hands tightly and said, “Sorry to let you know, but I have no time for you now. Mr. Masato, or whatever your name is.”

Kurose stared at the young man bluntly and pulled back his umbrella. “I see.”

In less than a second, an ice-cold, vast wave of mana engulfed him.

As the raindrops struck him, Sarai felt mana humming within each one.

Suddenly, one raindrop struck his right cheek sharply, resulting in a tiny scratch.

Then occurred another scratching raindrop.

And another one.

Until one of them tore through his coat, blouse, and the very flesh of his arm.

D-Did he do this...? Feeling the pain swim through his nerves, Sarai retreated to the canopy of a closed shop nearby so as to hide from the rain.

He raised his gaze slowly.

Looming menacingly, Kurose flicked his umbrella open. “Red winter cometh, beacon of hope.”

The raindrops instantly blossomed into a crimson red.