"Boom-!"
With a thunderous crash, the meteor that had fallen from the sky hit the ground hard, creating a powerful shock wave that sent dirt and stones flying in all directions.
"...!"
Ciel moved quickly, her robes fluttering as she agilely leaped across the ground, skillfully dodging the shockwave. In no time, she had moved away from the epicenter and escaped the aftershocks.
At that moment, the dagger that had spun like a windmill, deflecting the nail-like swords, curved like a boomerang in mid-air, hurtling toward the source of the shockwave.
"Pa!"
With a crisp sound, the returning dagger was caught in someone's hand.
The blast wave gradually subsided and silence fell over the scene.
"Huh?"
It seemed that only now did Arcueid realize what was happening. She stopped trying to free her limbs and froze.
Ciel's expression grew tense, her body slowly tensing in readiness.
Then a voice rang out.
"Who would have thought that in such a short time, you would encounter the Executor from the Burial Agency?"
Fang Li spun the dagger in his hand, glanced at Arcueid who was nailed to the tree trunk, and spoke calmly, completely ignoring her blood-soaked and pitiful state.
"With such luck, why don't you use it to find the 'Snake' instead?"
As he said this, Fang Li suddenly swung the dagger in his hand.
"Clang!"
With a metallic sound, the swords that had pierced Arcueid were all cut into pieces.
"Ugh..."
Arcueid slid down the tree trunk and collapsed involuntarily in a pool of her own blood.
Her body, covered in bloody holes, began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"You..." Arcueid, kneeling in the blood, gasped for breath and looked up at Fang Li, unable to stop herself from asking, "Why are you here?"
Hearing this, Fang Li's face turned slightly irritated.
"Because a certain lonely True Ancestor complained that I didn't keep her company, yet she went off on her own."
After speaking, Fang Li turned his head and looked ahead.
There, Ciel was staring intently at Fang Li, her hand already gripping a throwing sword again.
"I won't bother asking why you're here - just like that idiot woman."
Fang Li ignored Arcueid's protesting look and turned to Ciel.
"But hunting vampires in broad daylight? Even if you're hostile to them, you should be more careful."
Fang Li's casual remark, like the last time, didn't evoke any reaction from Ciel.
Ciel continued to stare at Fang Li, and after a while, she asked in an emotionless voice, "Do you want to save this vampire?
It wasn't an accusation, just a simple confirmation.
"I don't understand," Ciel said. "Vampires are the enemies of humanity. Why would you want to help her?"
"Just because she's not human, does that mean she doesn't deserve help?" Fang Li replied with a faint smile. "You make it sound like if everyone were human, they'd all help each other."
"It's because humans don't always help each other, even among themselves, that I find it puzzling," Ciel said coldly. "If humans don't help each other, why would a human help a vampire?"
"In other words, if humans are not worth helping, then vampires are even less, right?" Fang Li shrugged and said, "Too bad, human or vampire, it makes no difference to me."
This wasn't just a noble sentiment.
If it were Ryougi Shiki, she would probably say the same thing.
"After all, in my 'eyes,' human or vampire, they're nothing more than broken puppets divided by 'death.'"
Ciel fell silent at Fang Li's words.
It was unclear how she interpreted what Fang Li had said, or maybe she didn't understand him at all. Ciel raised her throwing sword and aimed it at Arcueid, who was kneeling under the tree.
"No matter what you think, the True Ancestor is beyond saving," Ciel said as if it were an undeniable fact. "If we don't destroy her before the 'Serpent' makes a move, this city will quickly become a dead zone."
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the air changed.
Arcueid's expression also changed.
Only Fang Li remained unchanged, his expression calm as he spoke to Ciel, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Do you really not understand?" Ciel looked at Fang Li as if trying to see through his thoughts and calmly replied, "Even if you pretend you don't understand, it won't work. And if you really don't understand, then let me explain it to you."
With that, Ciel delivered her cold declaration, as if she was striking directly at Fang Li's mind.
"Arcueid Brunestud."
"This Princess of the True Ancestors is on the verge of falling."
"So she's almost beyond saving."
The merciless words stirred something deep within.
Arcueid lowered her head, her delicate body trembling slightly, though it was unclear whether it was from anger or frustration.
Fang Li, on the other hand, remained silent, though he sighed inwardly.
Of course, Fang Li knew exactly what Ciel meant.
Falling.
There is only one situation that would cause someone to use this term to describe the state of a True Ancestor.
And that is when a True Ancestor's will is completely overtaken by their vampiric impulses.
Yes.
The vampiric urges in Arcueid's body had been awakened.
Just as the past True Ancestors had suffered under the burden of their own vampiric urges.
Although Arcueid had been created by the True Ancestors as a weapon to eliminate the fallen among them, she was still a True Ancestor herself.
Naturally, Arcueid also possessed vampiric urges.
Even more naturally, Arcueid was not the type to indulge in those impulses, freely drinking human blood and falling from grace. Otherwise, her role as an executioner would be utterly contradictory.
Thus, as early as 800 years ago, Arcueid began using her own power to suppress the Vampiric Impulses within her.
And even after dedicating most of her power to suppressing these impulses, Arcueid still possessed combat abilities that could strike fear into the hearts of even the Dead Apostle Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
This was the reason why Fang Li previously estimated Arcueid's true strength to be of the second rank.
Even after using most of her power to suppress her Vampiric Impulses, Arcueid still had the strength to intimidate Dead Apostle Ancestors of the third rank. How could her true rank be anything less?
However, the current Arcueid was facing the crisis of falling.
"For some unknown reason, she is now extremely weakened, her power largely depleted. She no longer has enough strength to keep her Vampiric Impulses in check."
Ciel's unfeeling declaration continued.
"If this continues, she will inevitably lose to her own Vampiric Impulses and completely become a monster that feeds on human blood."
"Even knowing this, do you still think it doesn't matter?"
...
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