Baba Yaga's Gate

October 26th, 2221—00:10 a. m.

“I will show that pale guy the power of the Avenging Phoenix,” declared Kaito with determination.

Following his partner’s indication, Nori began to conjure a magical portal.

Akiko picked Sun up from the ground, who had fallen unconscious from the pain a minute ago.

Sneaking closer, the two Canus that still remained in the room waiting for their chance to act began to approach Squad 3, drawn by Sun’s blood.

“It is meant to reach headquarters as soon as they grant us access, rookie, take Sun,” Nori indicated with authority, as if he intended to assume the status of the absent Captain who had just flown out through the ceiling with Marius. “I will take care of these dogs,” he declared confidently.

“What are you saying, idiot?!” Akiko questioned.

“You alone won’t be able to handle two vampires!” Kaito added.

“Shut up!” Nori snarled. “Especially you, old man!” he pointed at Kaito. “I’ve faced worse things alone and you know it!” he boasted. “I know you’re the strongest among us, leaving the Captain aside of course, but don’t underestimate those who are weaker than you or be overly overprotective, we are not your grandchildren!” He pointed at the portal. “Now get out of here, Akiko!”

Nori lowered the zipper of his jacket, revealing his arsenal of knives that covered his chest in an X shape, he drew two with both hands and began to juggle them with skill.

Faced with such determination, Akiko did not dare to protest despite her insecurities about leaving all the work to Nori, who had previously shown reluctance to fight, so she took Sun and carefully lifted him.

Seeing how their prey was escaping, the Canus decided to attack, one jumped to strike at Akiko and push her aside so the other could snatch Sun from her hands.

Nori threw both knives at the Canus above, one grazed his neck and the other cut one of his ears, the pain disoriented the Canus who twisted in the air compromising the aerodynamics of his maneuver, diverting his trajectory resulting in him crashing face-first into the ground.

While the Canus tasted the floor, Nori took two more knives and threw them at his other enemy who charged with open jaws at Akiko, who did not know how to react since carrying Sun made it difficult for her to defend herself; both blades struck accurately into the vampire’s tongue and pinned it against the wall, leaving the beast trapped. Akiko took advantage of this vulnerability to draw her Katana.

The Canus cut off his tongue and responded to Akiko’s hostility by throwing his claws, slashing through the air shortening the rookie’s range, who swung her sword above her head but could not advance. Nori threw two knives that deflected the vampire’s claws, frustrating his attack, handing his prey to Akiko on a silver platter and in the blink of an eye, the vampire had lost his head.

“Clean cut,” Nori pointed out in a bragging manner. “Remember never to mess with me,” he joked.

Akiko responded with a smile and a wink.

The head flew through the air and entered the magical portal, getting lost in the blue vortex that contracted, bending the surrounding space compressing until it disappeared, preventing Akiko from crossing it, allowing the other Canus to attack her. The furious and wounded beast with half of its face soaked in its pink blood charged at her side and with a powerful slash tore through her skin, muscle and ligaments, while also splitting her ribs in two.

“Akiko!” Kaito shouted.

“Akiko!” Nori shouted.

Streams of blood burst out from the pronounced fissure in Akiko’s flesh and the Canus opened its jaws to drink it.

Nori threw several knives at the vampire, but after being able to feed, the Canus had renewed its strength. He transmuted the Vitagia of his victim into anti-plasma and recharged his entire body, enhancing his physical abilities, especially speed, thus managing to dodge the knives and in fractions of a second began moving across the floor, disappearing and reappearing everywhere, confusing his enemies who could not keep up with his movement with their eyes.

“Damn it!” Kaito shouted. “Kid, open another portal!”

“Nori, please…” Akiko groaned between coughs of blood, struggling to stay on her feet while pressing her wound to stop the bleeding.

“I can’t start conjuring,” Nori replied. “I’d be exposed to an enemy attack!”

“I’ve got your back!” Kaito proposed.

“And who’s going to cover Akiko?!” Nori questioned. “She’s the most vulnerable prey!”

“Don’t say nonsense!” Akiko protested. “The Canus only caught me by surprise, it won’t touch me again, I assure you!”

“Damn it, fine!” Nori relented. “Don’t even think about dying!”

Nori concentrated his Vitagia into a cluster between his hands and made it spin, forming a whirlwind.

“Light the spark and blaze with brilliance!” Nori pronounced solemnly as if reciting a poem. “Warrior’s torch, Purge’s bonfire, I summon you… Baba Yaga’s Gate!”

Nori’s Vitagia transmuted into cosmic energy that compressed into a speck of dust before exploding like a micro-white supernova, sending hundreds of sparks and flashes flying. Nori contained this chaos in a space between his palms, which molded like a sphere of light.

While Nori conjured the portal, the Canus finally made a move and lunged at Kaito with the intention of biting his neck. Akiko could not foresee the attack, but she knew it was most likely aimed at the strongest first, so her body reacted reflexively without a plan, however, her speed could not compete with that of a freshly enhanced vampire.

Kaito sensed the hostile presence of the Canus behind him, released his Vitagia, and manifested a “radar field,” a basic defensive trick that allows him to sense the volume and weight of any object within a three-meter range; in this way, he managed to evade the bite by leaning left and grabbed his attacker by the neck with his arm, beginning to squeeze his biceps, strangling him.

“Don’t let him go!” Akiko commanded, swinging her katana with the intention of splitting the Canus in two through the torso. However, it managed to spot her shadow projected on the wall in front and delivered a kick that took the rookie by surprise, hitting her between neck and chest, sending her flying into the vanity mirror.

“Akiko!” Kaito exclaimed, loosening his grip slightly.

Seeing that the Canus was about to break free, Nori quickly formulated a plan.

“Old man, let him go!” he ordered Kaito.

“What the hell are you saying, kid?!”

“Just do it!”

Kaito, worried about Akiko and Sun, who lay inert on the floor covered by fragments of the mirror, decided to play along with Nori and released the vampire. Launching himself off a jump using Kaito’s back, the Canus made a great leap.

Nori threw the sphere of energy toward the ceiling right at the point of the Canus’ collision, who received the light projectile that exploded on contact with his body; under the power of cosmic energy, the vampire’s body was reduced to ashes.

“Eat that, vampiric scum!” Nori mocked. “Still hungry?!”

“Akiko, please respond!” Kaito begged, shaking his companion’s body to bring her back to consciousness, receiving no answer.

Finally, the portal was completed on the ceiling, the white vortex tinged blue and began to pulse.

“Old man, quickly, we have to take Akiko and Sun to headquarters,” Nori said while moving the portal to the ground to allow Kaito to enter. “The Captain will take care of Marius while we return with reinforcements, you don’t have to stay and fight, let’s go!”

Kaito began moving toward the portal while Nori lifted Akiko and Sun from the ground, when suddenly he stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong, old man?”

“Activate your sensors, kid.”

Nori closed his eyes and concentrated to sense the Vitagia of living beings in the area, managing to feel the presence of his captain and Marius.

“The vampire’s Vitagia…”

“Weak, even weaker than before, besides that, he seems very injured.”

“Whatever… let’s move, portal,” Nori indicated, taking the lead over his companion’s intentions, but he remained still, eyes fixed in the direction where Marius was felt to be.

“He’s weak… vulnerable…”

“Great, then we win, it’s time to leave and let the lone wolf handle the rest.”

“No!” Kaito objected. “The Captain is far from him, at this rate he will regenerate and escape…” He exhaled a deep sigh of resignation. “We have to stop him!”

“I agree, but we are not closer than the Captain…”

“But you can open a portal!”

Nori began to sweat, veins showing on his temple.

“And what do you expect us to do?!”

“I don’t expect anything from you, just your support and that you take care of bringing Sun and Akiko to headquarters and request reinforcements along with a containment team.”

“You intend to face Marius alone?!”

Kaito responded with silence, he could not speak a daring “yes,” knowing that what he intended surpassed the unimaginable, and perhaps… if he were the same as years ago, he wouldn’t even think of such recklessness, but since joining Squad 3, his berserker side, which he had long despised, began to awaken, and with each battle started integrating into his being as if it had always been there. Facing enemies stronger than himself and then even stronger ones, surpassing his limits, becoming not only the strongest member of the team but one of the most powerful Berserkers in his clan’s history, a merit even the elders he despised could not deny. However, there was a wall he had not yet crossed: goblins, fairies, demons, specters, all of them were nothing compared to a Tyrant Vampire. The terror they instill in the Night Knight made the Helios agency decree an exception to the most important command of the code: “A Night Knight always finishes their mission,” adding: “Except when a Tyrant is present.” Besides that, due to agreements with the Shadow Realm between humanity and the four families, a situation like this was not supposed to happen, yet here was such a unique opportunity, a chance for Kaito to test his strength against the strongest enemy he might ever face in his life.

“Not even you could handle a Tyrant!” Nori condemned. “Unless it’s a member of the Dracula family!”

“Maybe not with just my strength, but…” He looked at his chest. “Maybe…”

“No!” Nori roared. “Absolutely not!” He shouted so loudly he almost coughed. “The Captain ordered that you are forbidden to transform unless she commands it!” He approached him, pulling his jacket, bringing his face close to his own. “Last time you almost died!”

“It’s a risk I must take.”

“Why? Even if he managed to escape, it’s impossible for him to continue with whatever he was planning here. We already discovered it; Heros will leave no stone unturned until we catch the damn thing!”

“We don’t know what he’s planning, it’s too risky, and we don’t know if politicians will interfere. After all, he’s no ordinary vampire. We must take him into custody and extract all information we can as soon as possible, especially if he is truly involved with the spell of the eternal night.”

The veteran’s words were reasonable; although extremely risky, the potential benefit was too great if successful. However, there was an undeniable truth, which, despite bruising the old man’s ego, Nori had to state:

“You won’t be able to defeat him.”

“I know, but I can keep him in place until reinforcements arrive.”

Nori lowered his head in frustration.

“Fine… it was a pleasure meeting you, decrepit and crazy old man.”

“The pleasure was mine… spoiled, cowardly kid.”