†Chapter 9: Fight to the Death†
THE man in the shadows watched Zelaide with one glowing eye.
“You…I know you,” Zelaide breathed, controlling the anger in his voice.
“That you do. I also know you…very well.”
“…You’re a Beast Blood?”
Burhardt—Shank—answered with a thin smile. “Only half.”
“Half?”
“That’s right.”
Mating between Beast Bloods and humans was possible. The likelihood of a child being born of their union was small, but not impossible. However, almost all the children turned out to be pure Beast Blood. Half-breeds didn’t exist. Extensive research had proved it.
“You can’t tell from this eye?” Shank pointed to his one glowing eye. “I am on par with the rest of you when it comes to physical strength, but as you can see, my appearance is entirely human aside from my right eye. That is what has allowed me to live among the humans my entire life—all while I cursed this wretched blood coursing through my veins.”
Shank was short and skinny even by average human male standards. His teeth weren’t sharp and pointed. Bathed in the afternoon light, he looked like a cordial gentleman. But he wasn’t one.
“You curse Beast Bloods despite being one?”
“My mother was human. But not my father’s mate. By giving birth to me, a child no different from a human, my mother was abandoned by my father. Rejected by human society as well, she took her own life. It happened more than fifty years ago though!”
Shank lunged at Zelaide before he finished speaking. He released several circular weapons with sharpened outer edges. One cut through Zelaide’s shoulder and came back around to Shank’s hand after making a sharp loop.
“GUAH!”
“Hahaha! That’s the spot the Bijour got you last time. Thank you for putting on such an entertaining show for me to watch through the security cameras. Granted, you were just following Murakami’s script.”
The thin, round blade ran with precision through the healing wound, reopening it. Blood dripped down Zelaide’s arm onto his fingertips.
“…Bastard!”
“I modified a surgical blade into a chakram,” Shank said as he spun the circular blade around his index finger. The cold light from his right eye reflected off the blade. “I’m a biologist and a doctor. I specialize in handling scalpels. The blade itself is on the smaller side, but it cuts through flesh better than a knife. Worked wonders on your shoulder, didn’t it?”
“Are you the one who killed Manuela?” Zelaide seethed.
“Of course I did. Haydn planned on framing you as the murderer and filming you getting tortured to death in prison, but that wasn’t very fun for me. So I let Murakami’s plan work without interference. Haydn went raging mad, but aren’t you glad you get to be killed by me here instead?”
Zelaide ground his teeth. Flying into a rage would put him at a disadvantage.
“In any case, your stupidity astounds me,” Shank continued. “I dropped so many hints that I was targeting you both. That foolish woman wouldn’t listen. I even went so far as to use a precious Chude embryo—and she still didn’t notice. I nearly died of boredom.”
“…Why were you targeting us?” Zelaide asked.
“I was contracted to do so, just like you.”
“Your client is this mansion’s owner?”
“Correct. The other reason is personal. I wanted to fight you to the death after driving you to the brink, just like this!”
With Shank’s signal, bullets rained down from every angle.
“…Tch!”
“I don’t want to fight alongside humans, but I’m at a physical disadvantage, so I’ll let them wear you down first. Not like they can kill you anyway. Go on. Run, beasty, run. Hahaha!” Shank belted out a deep, rumbling laugh.
Zelaide jumped back, but the bullets came in rapid succession. There were at least three shooters stationed on the catwalk circling the greenhouse for an aerial view of the plants. He escaped the bullets by rolling on the floor and launching himself off the wall.
Shank threw his weird weapon into the mix whenever he saw an opening. Zelaide could only run—he couldn’t find an opening to counterattack. But he didn’t sustain a single new injury.
Scowling, Shank caught the circular blade when it returned and spun it on his finger. “Hah… No wonder you take so much pride in your fast legs. But how long can you keep this up?”
Shank spun around and sent two chakrams flying after him.
Zelaide dodged the first and shot down the second. Bullets continued to pelt the floor around him, busting the tiles, walls, plants, and furniture. He tried to escape through the door leading out of the room, but a spray of bullets forced him back.
“Shit…I can’t get outta here.” Panic rushed in on him. “DAMN IT ALL!” Zelaide howled louder than the bullets.
And, as if summoned by his howl, the glass ceiling shattered.
“Uwah!”
“The hell?!”
Five men smashed through the ceiling and plunged into the greenhouse, along with falling shards of glass.
“Yo! I have such good timing! Go me!”
“Vulcan! You’re late!” Zelaide shouted.
“Don’t be stupid. I rushed here so fast I didn’t even stop to take a piss!” Vulcan hollered.
Luce, Leo, and two men Zelaide didn’t know dropped behind him.
“I’m Maiti. I’m here to help!”
“The name’s Ludo. I owed Vulcan a favor.”
Zelaide’s reinforcements smiled.
“Don’t they look dependable? We’ll handle things here, so scurry off to your mate! I’ll make it so you owe me big for this,” Vulcan smirked.
“Found loads of Nightz packed in a truck parked inside the mansion! And a warehouse with piles of dried Night Blooms in the garden!” Luce bounded into the air, snapping his long whip on the ground.
“Now go! Run for your mate!” Leo fired his twin pistols at the same time.
The Beast Bloods charged in the respective directions of their prey, brandishing their weapons of choice, dodging between the plants to take out anyone with a gun. An all-out melee ensued, kicking up gun smoke and debris from the shattered ceiling. Several dozen screams rose from within the chaos.
“Hold your horses there, buster.”
“…Move.”
It was none other than Vulcan who blocked Shank from chasing after Zelaide.
“I’ll play with you… Might not be as fun for ya though.”
“…Tch!” Showing signs of anger for the first time, Shank unleashed the chakram from his fingers.
“Go!” Vulcan glanced over at Zelaide and grinned. The other Beast Bloods each gave their own signs of approval as they clashed with the enemy.
Accepting his kin’s assistance, Zelaide bolted out of the oversized greenhouse and down the hallway heading deeper into the massive mansion.
Another shooter sniped at him from behind one of the many doors lining the walls. Zelaide opened a different door and used it as a shield. Once the shooting stopped, he charged the shooter, knocking him over with the door. Even the sturdiest wood door was nothing more than scrap when rammed with all the force of an ox.
As he proceeded, various defense systems and enemies got in his way, but Zelaide only thought of getting to Euphemia.
The mansion shed its classic, elegant looks for more constructive ones the further he advanced. A sensor in the walls triggered, activating a shield blocking the way forward. He plunged into it with his IHT. The moment the energy field came in contact with the device, a very expensive and illegal hack sent a pulse into the shield, short-circuiting it. That triggered a bulkhead to lower, which he slid under just in time before it sealed.
Then, at last, a round door came into view at the end of the never-ending hallway.
Every cell in his body sensed it—his mate was just past that door.
Just a little further. Yumi is right ahead!