Day 5: Infernal River of Blood IIShiki wakes up to the sound of Arcueid in the kitchen. She notices his awakening and comes out to greet him, but quickly collapses on the floor. The wound she suffered during the fight with Vlov is severe.
Shiki notices something off about her and manages to convince her to show him the wound. Arcueid has taped it over with masking tape. Stunned at her lack of common sense, Shiki goes out to buy medical supplies and returns to tend to her wound properly, even if she is a vampire.
Arcueid explains that Vlov is not just any vampire, he's an Ancestor, one of 27 vampires who act as kings in their society. All of them possess a Principle, a curse of sorts that manifests as a unique power distinct from their other properties as a vampire. She surmises that is the true nature of his blue flames.
Shiki hears about the hotel on TV, the incident being covered up as an accidental fire. He starts to feel survivor's guilt over the 200 dead and becomes more convinced that the two of them need to stop the rampaging vampire.
Arcueid says that if they wait 3 days, she can regain enough of her power to take him down, but Shiki understands what that will mean for the city. He insists they deal with Vlov immediately.
Arcueid and Shiki compromise, they will wait until night, at which point they will lure Vlov out into the open, at the central park of Souya.
Their plan is for Arcueid to suppress Vlov with her spectral chains, giving enough space for Shiki to finish him off with his eyes. Since Vlov is unaware that Shiki would be a threat, he will most likely treat him the same as any other human, paying him no mind whatsoever.
Time passes and the pair arrive at the park. Arcueid can tell Shiki is afraid of the antagonistic Vlov, wondering why he's not afraid of her, a vampire all the same. Shiki feels that Arcueid, who does not drink human blood, is not someone he can feel fear for.
And then, as they wait, fire streaks into their view. The downtown of Souya is in flames.
- - -
Vlov's mind is in shambles. He's too cold, he must have more warm blood. From his underground lair beneath Souya station, he emerges, his coffin opening up on the surface.
His mere presence is that of a unavoidable natural disaster. The people on the street burst into flames before they know what hit them. Vlov's ghouls are unleashed, they too, consumed by the inferno, turning into smoldering husks, yet still attacking the populace.
Vlov has no reason left. He has abandoned all pretense of hiding.
- - -
Shiki and Arcueid rush towards the scene, but its already too late. People are running in panic, the police has setup a makeshift barrier around the outbreak zone, Shiki can't get in.
rcueid urges Shiki away from the scene, leading him into a back-alley. She grabs onto him, and leaps into the air, to his bewilderment. The two soar above the city, until the land on the other side of the outbreak.
They can see the police futily trying to stop the vampire and his ghouls. If Vlov is not stopped, he will continue until the city is consumed. Arcueid confides that if they just let him "burn out" until there is nothing left to consume, he will be weak enough for her to defeat. Shiki however, cannot allow that possibility and asks for her help.
Arcueid leaps into the air, her figure reflected by the moon. Gravity ceases its influence upon her and she floats, gathering strength before crashing down upon Vlov's location. Her impact shatters the ground, opening up a massive impact crater several tens of meters deep.
Shiki runs after Arcueid and arrives at the edge of the pit to see the two vampires in battle. They are evenly matched, Vlov having brandished a cleaver to fight against Arcueid's claws. As the battle continues however, it becomes clear Arcueid has the upper hand. She steadily chips away at Vlov, taking away more and more of his blood as he regenerates.
Finally, Vlov unleashes his trump card. The fiery claws that had assaulted Arcueid before attacks her, three at once. A massive explosion resounds.
But Arcueid is unharmed. She emerges from the fire in a new attire. The time given to her by Shiki has allowed her to reconfigure her body, now specialized against the heat.
The two continue to fight, and Vlov's impeccable fighting form starts to crumble as he loses more and more of his reason under the pressure. Desperate for more warm blood, he tries to exit the battlefield. Arcueid unleashes her powers, conjuring a stream of vines that burst out of the ground and grabbing onto the fleeing vampire. No matter how much they burn, the vines continue to grow, allowing Vlov no escape.
Arcueid declares the fight over and rushes in to deal the killing blow. However, Shiki has a bad feeling about it and it is then that he realizes. The blue fire is different. It is but an after effect of Vlov's real nature. He calls out to Arcueid, warning her of his true nature. Vlov's Principle is that of cold, not heat.
But is too late, Arcueid's attack tears of part of the last blood Vlov has and he can no longer contain his true nature. The fire is peeled off and Vlov's mind becomes clear again. Him and Arcuied converse about his origins. Arcueid recognizes his abilities as those of Zaria, an Ancestor without any kin. Vlov reveals he killed Zaria to gain their place.
He summons forth a massive spear from his shadow and attacks Arcueid, a massive wave of cold following in its wake, freezing everything in its path.
Arcueid tries something to counter as she hears Shiki call out to her, but is knocked out, her new attire fading into her old. Vlov calls forth his minions to consume her and bring his heart to him. Finally, Shiki makes up his mind, though knowing it amounts to suicide, he rushes to Arcueid's aid.
He will only be able to live a few minutes in the freezing environment, which has become arctic-like. He rushes the Dead and easily cuts them apart with his knife. He approaches Arcueid, trying to wake her up and asking for her assistance. Though now awake, she is too weak to do much.
More of the Dead approach and Shiki repels them. Vlov still doesn't perceive Shiki. Shiki's chance is there. He rushes the Ancestor, who finally notices him just a few meters before the two come in contact.
To both of their surprise, just before Shiki can arrive, Vlov retreats backwards. Vlov doesn't understand why, but his instincts told him that Shiki had the means to kill him.
Vlov finally starts to take Shiki seriously, using his cold to send spears of ice towards him from a safe distance. Shiki is able to repel a few of them, but starts becoming overwhelmed as Vlov sends out more and more.
As Vlov is firing his icicles, one of them hits Arcueid, who once again wakes up. She tears at the ground and throws a block of concrete at him. Vlov once again summons his spear and tears the incoming projectile apart.
Shiki desperately tries to formulate some way of killing Vlov. He understands that even if he had come close to Vlov, the cold aura would've meant his death as he got closer. As he fights, he surmises two things about Vlov's Principle.
1. Vlov cannot move freely while emanating the wave of cold.
2. Vlov can concentrate the wave, or spread it out, and its strength is accordingly affected depending on where Vlov needs it. Shiki needs to find a blind spot.Shiki retreats to Arcueid, telling her to do the thing with the ground once more. As they talk Vlov continues with his assault. Finally, Arcueid obliges Shiki and tears at the ground again, ripping apart the soil and sending a wave of debris towards Vlov.
Vlov calmly looks on as his assailants go to work. He understand the attack to be a cover for Shiki to approach him. He readies his last blood, his few remaining stocks. There is one within he cannot let go of yet, even if that means his death.
Vlov's spear appears, repelling the debris in front of him. But nothing is there. He looks up and sees Shiki riding on one of the blocks, chained onto it by Arcueid's vines. The vines converge onto the other debris, coming together into an aerial pathway. Shiki can now assault Vlov from above, where his cold aura is not concentrated.
Shiki runs in, there are still 2 more obstacles left for him to overcome. First the spear comes flying, but his body bends and twists just enough to avoid it. Then the icicles fly at him, but he manages to just about avoid dying, taking a few hits in the process.
He sees Vlov's point of death. He's almost there. Vlov isn't done however, he pulls out his cleaver once more to repel Shiki's attack. But it's too late. Shiki's knife cuts out Vlov's existence.
The cold dissipates immediately. Shiki collapses onto the ground, dead tired. Arcueid walks over to him, happy at their victory. She reveals that under normal circumstances Shiki should have died in the cold, but as he warned her of the cold, she coated the surface with a repellant, which no doubt served to save many lives in the surroundings, as well as Shiki.
Shiki is badly injured, but Arcueid offers to patch him up, using the remains of a dead Ancestor to tend to his wounds. Afterwards, Arcueid offers to bring him home, and the two leave the scene.
- - -
Outside the breakout zone, a trio of people are discussing the ways in which they should cover-up the incident, something that will prove difficult given its scale. The boss of the three is called Mario, he orders one of his subordinates, Andou, to clean up the scene while he and his other subordinate, Berlusconi, take care of some bureaucratic work.
He wants to contact two undercover agents that are present in Souya.
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