The sea of rubble that was Border Town was once again covered in a deathly silence.
In a certain basement in the Border Town.
Glimmering light faintly flickered while fragments of words would occasionally sound out within the darkness.
The white identity token hanging around Ji Bai’s chest emitted speckles of heat. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, as if he was carefully listening to something.
“…And that’s all. In short, you can already consider yourself blessed that you’re being pardoned for the incident you’ve caused. You have to apologize to me with a heart full of gratitude, got it? If it wasn’t for me personally going to Lil’ Yiyi and pleading for you, I reckon you would have already been wiped of your memories and expelled!” Lin Tuo sounded extremely pleased with himself on the other end of the call. Even if the man himself wasn’t before him, Ji Bai could imagine that towering nose of his.
“Oh, thank you.”
”Hey, hey 一 What’s the deal with that emotionless tone?? …Forget it, an intelligentsia with rich life experiences like myself is too lazy to argue with a brat like you. You should hurry up and return. I will forgive you on the merit that you have saved someone and, hmm… have you copy the school regulations twenty times as punishment and treat your teacher to a meal. Then this matter will be resolved. Quite a bargain, don’t you think?”
“…Come again?” Ji Bai was puzzled.
“That’s right. You don’t get what is happening here, do you? To put it in the words of the higher-ups, it’d be: Your rank is too low, and your authority is too limited. This mission is not open to you. Do you understand it now?”
“I don’t.” Stated Ji Bai emotionlessly.
“Hey 一 Say brat, don’t tell me you have gotten addicted to disobeying rules, right? No one can protect you if you cross the red line again, got it? This matter is not your responsibility; All you need to do is come back and be a good babysitter.”
“If I don’t take responsibility, who will?” Ji Bai asked emotionlessly.
“Of course, there are more suitable candidates… These are exceptionally abnormal times and the monsters that appeared are troublesome enough even for demons to handle. Naturally the best of the best of our students will be dispatched.” Lin Tuo paused as his tone turned solemn.
“All that can be done now is to try our best and prevent this unreasonable disaster from spreading… Border Town can no longer be saved.”
“Besides… This is a matter that even demons can’t accomplish, what could a mere human like you do?”
”What could I do…?” Ji Bai slightly raised his head, as his eyes stared at the pitch-black ceiling in a slight trance.
‘What can I do?’
…………
“This won’t do, this won’t do at all! You’re too slow! Also, your heels are not allowed to move half a step; You must stay where you are and not dodge one bit!” An old-man reeking of alcohol chided while sitting cross-legged on a rock.
With a wine gourd in his hand, he slowly moved his obese body that was as round as a ball while indiscriminately criticizing the injury-riddled youth below the rock.
“Huff, huff… How is it possible to not dodge…?” The youth tightly grasped onto a broken, wooden-hilted sword with his hand. The crook of his thumb had long been stained with fresh blood.
”How would it be impossible? If that’d be the case, then how did I accomplish it?? Again!” The old man picked up a gravel stone and blew a mouthful of air on it.
In an instant, the stone turned into countless sharp shards that flew towards the teenager below.
In the midst of panicking, the youth chaotically swung the wooden-hilted sword in his hands. As one would expect, he was injured once more, with several new cut wounds appearing on his body before he collapsed onto the ground.
“This doesn’t work… This doesn’t work at all! What you’re doing isn’t training, but abuse! Why are you assessing me based on the standards of a demon… It’s simply impossible for humans to accomplish that!”
“Noisy! A brat like you knows nothing! You’re already beginning to give up on yourself this soon?? Don’t go out and call yourself a man, much less a disciple of mine if you don’t possess even a modicum of perseverance! This old man can’t afford to lose his reputation!”
”Y-You dastardly useless old fogey! You only know how to make things difficult for me!” The youth tossed his wooden-hilted sword to the side in despair.
“Hey?! You’re just a spoiled brat that’s still wet behind the ears! Do you really look down on your own race this much??”
“I… If I’m also a demon…”
“Smack!” A cane struck the youth’s forehead.
“Ouch…” Having to take the pain head-on, the youth covered his forehead and screamed incessantly.
”Listen carefully, you darned brat! You must never ever underestimate your potential. Your birth and talents can never be used as excuses for incompetence and mediocrity!”
”Do you know that the extreme path of the sword can surpass the tiers between species?”
“Pffft…You’re lying again! Did you accomplish it then?” The youth asked in disdain.
”No, I’m a far cry from that.” The old man shook his head and drank a mouthful of wine.
“What?? Even a demon like you couldn’t achieve that? Why do you place your hopes on me then?”
“It’s because I couldn’t achieve it that I place my hopes on you.” Murmured the old man.
“What humans can achieve far exceeds your imagination. This is what you told me yourself.”
…………
“What humans can achieve far exceeds your imagination.” Ji Bai murmured as if speaking to himself.
“…Huh? What are you saying, brat??” On the other end of the call, Lin Tuo was completely stupefied.
“…” JI Bai didn’t answer and hung up the call. With one hand holding onto his molybdenum helmet and the other on his damaged long sword whose blade was chipped at its edges, he left the basement.
…………
“That brat… How great… He’s most likely going to do something foolish again. Are all youngsters this recklessly brave nowadays?” Lin Tuo supported his forehead with his hand and threw his identification token onto a table at the corner.
His glance unconsciously swept past the dust-covered knight pendant below the clock in his room before he momentarily froze and revealed a bitter smile.
“Perhaps… the one who has gotten timid is me?”
…………
”Clack, clack, clac…” Pulling the doors to the basement open, Ji Bai looked up into the sky that suggested the imminent arrival of dusk.
Following a glimmer of scarlet light after he closed his eyes, a pack of bats surrounded his ankles and flew upwards. They pieced together like cloth strips to form a western dress.
The girl’s silver hair swayed along with the wind as she opened her scarlet jewel-like eyes.
Vampires and humans were very much alike when it came to their eating patterns, which adhered to a regime of three meals a day. The only difference between them lay in the types of food they ate, as well as their preference towards enjoying high tea and desserts as opposed to regular meals.
In other words, vampires were the same as humans. They would grow famished if they skip a meal. When that happened, they would be unable to use their strength and even their ability to use [Magic] would be affected.
However, this didn’t have as much of an impact when it came to Bai Ji, who provided her vampire form with only the lowest amount of nutrition.
Not only did she needed to suppress the inner demons in her heart when transforming and battling in her vampire form, she would also have to periodically endure the torture of hunger, which was a torment in and of itself.
Rather than be a walking corpse, she might as well lay herself down into a coffin.
Bai Ji understood very well that if she followed the traditional eating habits of vampires to their full extent, she would subconsciously count herself as one eventually.
The so-called ‘feminine teachings’ of Lilias were undoubtedly done for this reason as well. She had wanted to thoroughly shatter her consciousness of being a human and swap it with a completely new set of vampire routines and habits by engraving a set of subtle changes onto her.
Unfortunately for Lilias, she had underestimated Ji Bai’s self-control and his strong sense of identity as a human.
Her scarlet eyes stared up into the sky and a pair of massive pitch-black wings burst out from her back.
A howling gust of wind was created with a flap.
…………
Lan Yu leaned against the tip of the clock tower, with the large mouth on his abdomen long since shut tight 一 He had seemingly finished eating.
The wounds from the previous battle had fully recovered, with his physique seemingly having gotten an evolutionary boost.
Needless to say, his evolution wasn’t merely just on the surface… Ordinary demons could no longer pose a threat to him.
It was at this moment that his eyes that were previously shut tight suddenly opened.
Looking into the distance, a bright and beautiful silvery light flashed past in the distant pitch black sky一Like an angel signaling the break of dawn.