" Who am I, you ask?" " I'm just a passerby who forgot something on the way." He answered the question ironically to the hunters who retorted by asking, " May we know what it is that you left behind?"
For this second question, Shinichi looked behind him and as he slightly grinned, he turned back to the hunters and said, " Something significant. You will be so kind as to let me take it back with me."
By " something significant", would he happen to be talking about me?" The vampire princess subconsciously wondered as she gazed at Shinichi's back.
The hunters on the other hand said, " If your intention for coming here is so that you can take that vampire with you, then you can forget it now as that's not going to happen as per your initial plan."
" A vampire?" What are you talking about right now?" Turning back once more, he gazed into the vampire princess's eyes and said, " I don't see any vampire here though. All that I see here is a fragile human being who's scared out of her wits due to the cruelty you're harboring right at this very moment."
" This is no human. She looks like that because she lost her powers partially. In reality, she's a monster that must be exterminated." They shouted right before him. " This has nothing to do with you, so kindly step away and let us do our thing. We wouldn't want to hurt a human."
Right at that moment, the vampire princess became conscious of how dangerous the current situation could be for Shinichi who was only human and so attempted to stop him. Gathering her strength to get back up, she muttered standing behind him, " Hey human, get out of here! This is my battle and my business. This has nothing to do with you, so don't interfere." She uttered to him but Shinichi remained silent.
" For once we agree on something. You should listen to her and do as she tells you." One of the hunters said to Shinichi who finally broke the silence. " Yes, I should, that's for sure, but I won't."
" Why won't you—--------------?" The vampire princess was cut short before she could complete her statement. " Didn't I mention it to you earlier?"
" I have no intention of dying here and neither will you." He repeated his earliest words to which she retorted, " But, you don't stand an ounce of a chance against them."
" Even so that might be the case, I have to try at the very least." Retorting back to her, he added, " I'll hold them back until you're back to full power, so have some trust in me and focus on recuperating." Wanting to retort once again, she recalled the words that he had said at the very beginning. " You'd better not die or else, I won't forgive you."
Grinning slightly in the corner of the mouth, he uttered, " Got it, Yoruhime!"
The combat officially started and the ones to land the first blow were the hunters. Shinichi managed to evade the attacks as best as he could, but when it came to magic-wielding, he was hit at once and was propelled to the ground. That one hit injured him gravely.
" Hey, are you alright?" The vampire princess asked out of concern from a distance. Standing back up despite the injuries, he uttered, " I have a proper name which I go by and you should use it instead of addressing me as human."
Yoruhime was relieved that Shinichi was back to his feet but looking at the injuries the attack had caused him, she felt sick to her stomach. Although she was in human form, Shinichi's blood flow still affected her but it didn't show as much as when she was in her vampiric form.
" I need to control myself." She interiorly muttered to control her pulsations. Shinichi's attention was on the fight ahead so he didn't notice anything wrong with the vampire princess.
The second magic-wielding hit Shinichi again and this time, with a greater impact than the previous one. Shinichi felt as if he was being torn apart from the inside as he felt increasing pain with each passing second.
" This pain is unbearable." Shinichi gasped in pain. " Do you understand now?" One of the hunters utters in mockery.
?
" You don't stand an ounce of a chance against us, so it'll be best if you back off."
?
This time, instead of the normal response, Shinichi didn't retort as he normally would. Sighing painfully, he subconsciously thought, " Maybe they're right, what can I possibly do in this state? I don't stand an ounce of a chance against them. After all, at the end of the day, I'm nothing but just a human."
…
" I came here to lend Yoruhime my assistance, but more than anything, I'm doing nothing but dragging her down. If anything, I'm of no help at all."
Due to the pain, his vision became blurry and he slowly closed his eyes as he dozed off to sleep. Seeing that, the hunters laughed, thinking he had succumbed to his severe injuries.
" See that, Vampire Princess!" One of the hunters uttered, closely added by the second, " We told him he didn't stand an ounce of a chance against us, but he wouldn't listen and now he's dead."
" Had he listened to us, he would still be alive." The second hunter uttered, concluding his statement.
Yoruhime was baffled by the hunters' mockery of the situation and looking at Shinichi's inert body on the ground, she uttered strongly, " He promised me he'd protect me—----------- He promised he'd protect me until I was fully back on power."
She mumbled to herself and thinking back at her encounter with Shinichi and his latest words, she uttered even more strongly, " He's not dead just yet, so don't count your chickens just yet."
" Damn vampire, you're delusional—--------" Another uttered as another said almost instantly as an order, " Hey, go and check up on the boy as it looks like that vampire doesn't believe us."
The hunter did as he was being ordered to and went to check on Shinichi. Checking his pulse, the hunter grinned and said to his direct superior, " His pulse is very weak, boss."
Getting back to his feet and rejoining the others, the boss of the hunters uttered toward Yoruhime, " Too bad, he's not dead yet, but it should occur anytime now. This is only just a matter of time before his suffering comes to an end."
…
" To think that he's in this situation because of you, damn vampire. You brought him to his death. You must be so happy right now, right?" " You brought misery to yet another living thing."
Disheveled by the situation before her, Yoruhime's complexion went dark as she sunk deeper into a memory she thought she had long forgotten.
" Hime, it's going to be alright, so don't be sad!" A gentle voice told her to which she retorted, " How can I not be sad when you're bleeding so much, Ria."
" I'll use my power to treat your wound, so just hang on!" Attempting to use her healing powers on her, Ria stopped her hand and said, " You can't do that, Hime!"
" Why not?" She asked as tears rolled down her eyes.
" You know exactly why, Hime!"
…
" If you use your healing powers to heal me, you're going to attract danger to yourself, Hime and that's the last thing I want. You're not strong enough to deal with them. In your current state, you wouldn't last even five minutes against them."
…
" It's over for me, so don't feel bad for me, Hime." As the tears around the young Yoruhime increased, Ria gently wiped those tears away and said, " Don't cry, please, and listen to me!"
…
" Before I go, there's one last thing I can do for you." Not finishing her statement, she extended her arm to her and said, " Offering you my blood is the one thing I can do for you right at this very moment, so take it."
" No."
" No, I refuse—---------- I refuse—----" Crying even harder, she uttered additionally, " I won't drink your blood, I refuse."
" Hime, why are you being like this?----------------"-----------------" I told you not to feel bad for—--------"
Before Ria could finish her statement, the young Yoruhime stopped her and uttered strongly, " That's because you're my friend, Ria." You're the first friend, the first who fully accepted me without shying away from me, so how—------ how could I drink your blood as a means for survival?"
…
" Hime, I know this situation is unsettling for you, but please try to understand!"
The young vampire princess wasn't listening to a word Ria was saying as she was busy with something else.
Slicing her wrist slightly, blood started sipping out, and seeing that, Ria panicked and with a horrifying look on her face, she asked the latter, " What are you doing?"
She didn't answer and continued with what she was doing. As enough blood had sipped out from her wrists, she recited an incantation, " Blood Magic!"
?
Understanding at last what it was she was trying to do, Ria shouted as a means to stop her but also to get her back to her senses. " Stop it now, Hime!" " What are you trying to do?"
Yoruhime's memory ended there as she snapped back to reality.
On the other side, the vampires were barely keeping up against their assailants. Both sides have lost an increasing number of men in total, but the vampires, although they were battling it out with the hunters, couldn't stop worrying about their princess.
Back to Yoruhime and the other vampire hunters, the vampire princess gazed fiercely at the hunters before her and uttered in a defeated tone, " I have a proposition for you. Will you hear me out?"
" A proposition?"
" What could a vampire such as yourself want to propose to us?"
…
Sighing deeply and gazing at the unconscious Shinichi on the ground, she uttered defeated, " You're after me, are you not?"
…
" All this massacre, was it not so that you could capture me?"
…
" My proposition to you is the following: I'll surrender myself to you, and in exchange, all that I'm asking is that you let my clansmen go."
…
" We've lost way too many men at the current time and if this continues, even more lives will be lost. The only thing I can do for now is buy us time, even if just a little." The vampire princess subconsciously thought as she gazed at the dire situation in front of her.
The hunters looked upon themselves and laughed sarcastically at the defeated vampire princess. The hunters' boss said in mockery, " It had to take so many lives for you to finally become reasonable, I see."
…
Continuing after a long pause, the hunter said, " But, what if I were to decline your offer?" " What will you do, then?"
Grinning maliciously, the vampire princess uttered, " You won't decline my offer because you very much know you'll be the ones losing out in the end."
Grinning apprehensive, the hunter retorted, " You're so full of yourself, are you now?" " As you want to be captured that badly, it would be so inconsiderate of us if we were not to grant your last request, wouldn't you agree?"
…
" Capture her!"
As the hunters diverted themselves toward the vampire princess to capture her, something unexpected happened that even Yoruhime didn't see coming. The almost-dying Shinichi rose from the ground and although his state of being was still very much dire, he stood firmly against the hunters.
" What the hell?" The boss's hunters said in irritation. " How come you're still alive?"
…
" You should have been on your way to the other world by now."
…
The vampire princess was as very much stunned as to what was going on, but for some strange reason, the Shinichi guarding her like a shield who was standing before her once again wasn't moving and neither was he uttering a single word.
…