Revenge, Alliance, and Auction
As the sacrificial magic circle offered to the Daughter of the Abyss erased Muyounggui and every trace connected to him, the others all stared at me in shock—everyone except Mimata Chieri, who already had some grasp of my abilities. I ignored their gazes and bent down to pick up the black object left behind where the necromancer had vanished.
All the continuous tributes must have finally paid off. It looked like the Daughter of the Abyss had sent me a gift in return. The offering I’d delivered this time was exceptionally rare, after all. The spiritual body of a necromancer who had lived for hundreds of years, a Death Knight’s armor, and even a high-grade weapon in the form of that giant scythe—I had sent them all as a lavish feast. She must have been very pleased.
What materialized was a glossy black metal bracelet. A bracelet, though? I focused my mind on it, and an information window appeared.
Legendary Armor
Bracelet-type equipment created by the Daughter of the Abyss with love poured into every detail. When a sufficient amount of abyss is infused, it transforms into black armor that covers the entire body. It was reforged from the armor once worn by a Death Knight, compressed under the pressure of the abyss itself.
It possesses powerful defensive capabilities and additional performance bonuses related to the abyss.
Upon Armor Transformation:
● Base Defense + (Abyss + Resistance) × 75% additional defense.
● Drastically increases the efficiency of Abyss stats and the multiplier for abyss-type skills.
● Abyss +5, Strength +3, Agility +3, Nerve +3
● Immunity to side effects of Abyss stats while the armor is equipped.
A Legendary-grade transforming armor! And it was a gift from the Daughter of the Abyss in return for my tribute. She had apparently taken the Death Knight’s armor I offered and reforged it into this piece. The options didn’t list exact numerical increases for the Abyss stat efficiency or skill multipliers, but the raw stats were incredibly generous. Fourteen points total. That was the equivalent of seven whole levels.
The +5 to Abyss had worried me at first—side effects could be nasty—but the very next line showed that the thoughtful Daughter of the Abyss had even granted immunity to those side effects. It seemed all those regular offerings had been worth it.
Though I was inwardly stunned by the bracelet’s options, I kept a straight face and calmly slipped it onto my wrist. Then I turned to Otagi Yuka.
“Miss Otagi, what will you do now?”
She thought for a moment before answering, her voice blunt and resolute.
“Now that the obstacle is gone, I’m heading to meet the Black Moon New York branch leader. I can finally take revenge for Mariko.”
The weight of a year spent solely for vengeance seemed to wash over her. Mariko must have been her friend. She rested the golden sword on her shoulder and started to leave the museum, only to pause and glance back at me.
“Oh, right! Thanks for the help. Call me anytime if you need anything—I’ll come running.”
“Yeah. Good luck with the branch leader.”
I had stepped in to save the Fitzgerald mother and daughter, but the result was the same—I had helped her. A vampire like Otagi Yuka could prove useful as an ally someday. After watching her leave the museum, I turned to the Fitzgeralds.
“Did you steal everything you came for?”
My casual, almost friendly tone—Is lunch ready yet?—made the thief-version of Aris falter.
“Y-yes…?”
“Hurry up and finish. I’ll wait here.”
“Why are you waiting for us?” Nae Fitzgerald asked, her voice laced with suspicion.
Wasn’t it obvious? Or had she stolen so much that her memory was failing?
“Last time I was on a mission, you stole something we were supposed to protect. I’m here to give you a little scolding for that.”
“Ah! I remember now, junior!” Mimata Chieri clapped her hands together. “That time at the lab, while we were busy fighting the intruders, these two sneaked in and stole the data right from under us!”
“Never mind. You might try to run, so we’ll just go together.”
I immediately canceled my offer to wait and walked over to the Fitzgeralds. Mimata Chieri followed with her gun trained on them, so the mother and daughter could only sigh and nod in resignation.
“The police will be here soon. Let’s grab the goods and get out quickly.”
They seemed to decide that escaping the museum was more important than arguing with me. The Fitzgeralds led us to the first floor to collect a few more items, then took Mimata Chieri and me up to the third floor. Their earlier hauls from the other levels were already packed into duffel bags.
I slung the heavy duffel over my shoulder, then tucked Aris under one arm and Nae Fitzgerald under the other.
“Kyaa!”
“Ah, nooo~♥”
The one making that coquettish moan was, of course, Nae Fitzgerald. Why was she letting out such a sensual sound when I was literally carrying her off like luggage? When I glanced at her face, she was even smiling.
I sprinted toward the open window and leapt out, the two women still tucked against my sides. In the distance, the wail of sirens was growing louder. The police were closing in. Time to move.
Even while under attack by Muyounggui’s forces, Otagi Yuka had kept Eve searching for the location of Jackson Shaw, the Black Moon New York branch leader. If she defeated the executioner, Shaw would almost certainly try to flee the moment he learned of it. She had to reach him before news of Muyounggui’s defeat could arrive.
“Miss Otagi, what will you do now?”
The man who had crushed Muyounggui with overwhelming martial arts and then erased every trace of him with some mysterious ritual—Taira Ryuta—asked the question. Otagi Yuka answered immediately. She already knew exactly where Jackson Shaw was hiding. There was no time to waste.
“Now that the obstacle is gone, I’m heading to meet the Black Moon New York branch leader. I can finally take revenge for Mariko.”
It had been nearly a year since she crossed the ocean alone to avenge her best friend, Takasugi Mariko. A full year of living only for this moment. Because of it, Otagi Yuka’s heart had already become that of a demon. The only one who could quench her rage was Jackson Shaw.
As she moved to walk past Taira Ryuta, a pleasant scent suddenly caught her attention. It was coming from him.
What a nice smell. What cologne does he use?
Even with vengeance right in front of her, the thought made her want to laugh at herself. Then she realized she hadn’t yet thanked him.
Without Taira Ryuta, the cold corpse cooling on the museum floor would have been hers. Or worse—she might have suffered an even more miserable fate at Muyounggui’s hands.
“Oh, right! Thanks for the help. Call me anytime if you need anything—I’ll come running.”
“Yeah. Good luck with the branch leader.”
When she turned slightly to thank him, Taira Ryuta gave a small smile and nodded. Her heart gave a sudden, powerful thump.
Otagi Yuka didn’t yet understand the emotion she was feeling. Embarrassed by the warmth she felt rising in her cheeks, she turned away and left the museum without another word.
Outside, she climbed onto the motorcycle she had parked nearby and raced toward the address Eve had uncovered. Jackson Shaw’s hideout was a luxurious villa in Manhattan.
All that wealth, built on the suffering of victims like her friend Mariko. The thought made her blood boil. Following the address, she slipped into room 501 on the fifth floor. No matter how securely the doors were locked, they were useless against a vampire who could dissolve into red mist.
She flowed into the bedroom where quiet snoring could be heard. Jackson Shaw lay sound asleep on a king-size bed. It was the middle of the night, after all.
Slap! Slap!
Otagi Yuka woke him with two sharp blows to the face. Shaw hadn’t earned his position as branch leader for nothing—he immediately reached for the pistol on the nightstand.
Slash!
But the golden sword moved faster than he could aim. His wrist flew off while he was still gripping the gun, rendering it useless.
“Graaah…!”
“Shh.”
She clamped a hand over his mouth before he could scream and pressed a finger to her own lips, signaling silence.
“I’d love to take my time and make you suffer… but your screaming might wake the neighbors. I’ll finish this quickly.”
“Ugh… Why? Why are you doing this?!”
From his perspective, he probably had no idea why a vampire was attacking him. Though given how many people he had hurt, he could probably guess.
“You killed my friend. Even if you didn’t pull the trigger yourself.”
“Just… a friend…?”
Just a friend? The words made Otagi Yuka’s vision flash red with fury.
“Yes, just a friend. So I suppose it’s fine if I only cut off your limbs, right?”
She silenced his mouth again and used the golden sword to sever his remaining arm and both legs.
“Guh…! Guuuuh…!”
The agony made Shaw’s eyes roll back as he thrashed wildly. Otagi Yuka kept her hand firmly over his mouth and simply watched him suffer.
Only when he was on the verge of death from blood loss did she finally slit his throat to end it. Although the bleeding was her doing, she had wanted the finishing blow to come from her own hand.
Otagi Yuka stood up. Using the vampire’s unique dominion over blood, she drew every drop of Jackson Shaw’s blood from her clothes and skin. Anyone seeing her now would never believe she had committed murder with a blade just thirty seconds earlier.
“Time to go home.”
Just as someone had once told her, revenge felt hollow. But it had been something she absolutely needed to do. She left Shaw’s residence to say goodbye to Eve. It was time to return to Japan, where her parents were waiting.
I wonder if I might run into Taira Ryuta again in Japan?
The frivolous thought made her shake her head sharply, banishing it.
Becoming a twenty-year-old student!