“Do you know what this is, you old-fashioned swordsman? This is an American-made pistol—the Colt Lightning. Better than the Japanese matchlock, which can make only one shot at a time. This shoots every time I pull the trigger, as many as six times in a row! Now, come on out. I have four bullets left, and I’ll shoot every single one into your body.”
Daigo had heard about the repeating gun. Though he had thought he had been able picture it in his mind, it turned out he had no idea what the gun could really do. Seeing it for the first time, he could do no more than acknowledge its lethal power. Renta must have bought it from some shady foreigner in Yokohama.
“During the war of the go-isshin, you swordsmen fell, one after the next, before the muzzle of the gun. That’s when the age of the sword truly ended. Do you mean to repeat history here, you fools? Look at this.”
Passing the gun into his left hand, he used his right hand to peel back the Inverness and black shirt.
Only a faint red line remained on his side where Tatsu had cut him.
Renta threw his head back and laughed.
“Nothing but a stake through the heart can destroy us. There’s no sense in your resisting us. Now show yourself and surrender.”
A third shot rang out. It missed the coffin by seven feet and went through the shutter.
He can’t aim as well with his left hand.
As soon as he realized this, Daigo ran out in a crouch.
“What—?”
Renta pulled the trigger twice in quick succession.
The first shot grazed Daigo’s shoulder; the second disappeared into nothingness.
Just when the hammer was cocked and Renta was about to fire another shot, a white flash streaked before Renta’s eyes.
There was a terrible sound.
Daigo’s sword had cut off Renta’s right hand, which had gone up instinctively, then it cut off Renta’s arm at the shoulder.
“Gwwahhh!”
Daigo moved to deliver the final blow to the vampire, who was now throwing his head back in pain. As he advanced, he heard Renta scream someone’s name.
When he heard the name, Daigo stopped the trajectory of the blade from colliding with the shadow that now descended.
“Takako-san!?”
It was indeed Takako who stood between Renta and Daigo. But could this really be the same heavyset young girl he had known? Only her belly and thighs gave any sign of her former plumpness; her face and upper body were shriveled, as if her insides had been sucked out of her.
Her eyes bulged like those of a goldfish, while only two teeth peered out of her half-opened mouth. The rest had been pulled out. The nails on her hands and feet were also gone. They had been peeled off. And why was her mouth split from ear to ear? It had been torn apart. Why did she stagger when she moved? The lengths of her arms and legs were uneven. Why? Just look at the seams where the joints come together at the knees. The joints had been severed, cut down, and connected again.
“I’m… so… glad…,” she said sounding very much like Takako. “You came… to… see me… Daigo-sama… you… must have… known my… feelings… for you…”
Daigo could not move. This thing in front of him was unmistakably Takako. No, it had once been Takako.
“Can you kill her? Can you kill this girl?” Renta stood behind her, holding his left shoulder and showing his fangs. “People say she’s my sister. But she is nothing but a traitor. She was suspicious of me from the start. And today, she went to your dojo, probably to tell you about me. But I had my eye on her, knowing that she would betray me one day. That’s why I pretended to go out at night. And I tailed her. She’s my creation now. She is a new person. Her body and blood will be completely new by the end of the night. But she needs fresh blood for that. Feed on him, my dear sister.”
A white wrinkled arm reached out and wrapped around Daigo’s neck.
“Hear my wishes… Daigo-sama… Let me kiss you… please.”
Her bloody eyes blazing, she drew her withered face closer and pressed her lips against Daigo’s neck.
Her body quivered.
“Daigo… sama…”
The sword had penetrated her heart and through her back.
“I’m… so… glad …”
Drawing the blade back, Daigo saw Takako crumple to the floor.
Renta stood on the other side of her with the muzzle of the gun pointed at him. Barely ten feet separated them.
“Only one shot left, but I won’t miss from this distance.”
“Shoot me in the heart or the head. Otherwise, you will die,” Daigo said calmly, trying to hide the hatred, a hatred of a force he had never felt before. Renta could not be allowed to live. This man, who had invited a foreign devil to his native land and then tried to change that land into an unspeakable hell.
Renta grinned. “Even if I shoot you someplace else, you will still die.”
The gun pointed down. Daigo was stricken with shock. With the sound of the gunshot, heat ripped through his left thigh, and he fell to one knee.
“Now you can’t move. I’d drink your blood myself, but you’re still dangerous. Let the others have you first.” Renta jerked his chin behind him.
Something or some things began to stir in the other room.
The sound of them creeping over the tatami floor drew closer and closer.
Finally, they materialized as four shadows and surrounded Daigo.
“Let me introduce you to my family. My father, Shosuke; mother, Tsukiyo; the head clerk, Shuzo; and the accountant, Hachisuke. Hey, this gentleman will help you satisfy your thirst. Welcome him.”
The shadows lowered their heads.
They had all probably had an ordinary working day at the brokerage house only yesterday.
“Let me drink,” they all said at once.