Flandre instinctively took a single step back, her eyes fixed on the dark mouth of the well. In that same heartbeat, she failed to notice that two arrows formed from high-pressure blood simultaneously shot out from the corpses lying behind her, whistling through the air as they aimed straight for her heart.
However, before she could even turn around to address the threat, a flash of brilliant red light streaked past her. With a sharp, metallic crack, the two blood arrows were shattered into harmless mist instantly. Remilia flew down, landing softly at her sister's side, her wings folding with an elegant snap.
"Sister, you're being far too careless," Remilia remarked, her tone carrying the weight of a gentle but firm lecture.
Flandre looked back toward the cluster of corpses, seeing several more blood arrows manifesting from the stagnant pools of red and firing her way. She didn't dodge this time. Instead, she reached out toward the projectiles and gave a simple, crushing squeeze with her hand; the blood arrows instantly exploded into droplets, scattering uselessly across the frozen ground.
At that same moment, a thick, ominous aura began to emanate from the well behind the two of them. Flandre turned her head to look at the well, her expression one of utter confusion. Was this person an idiot? They had just attempted a sneak attack from the well moments ago; did they truly believe she would forget their hiding spot just because of a distraction from behind?
Remilia merely shrugged, her silence indicating that she had never encountered anyone quite so lacking in tactical intelligence either.
Just as the aura was about to overflow and the assailant prepared to leap out, Flandre reached into the air and pulled out the forty-meter-long, flaming greatsword, Laevateinn. The moment the dark aura poked its head above the stone rim of the well, Flandre spun around with a burst of speed. She performed a decisive jumping slash, the massive blade coming down like a falling star.
The opponent never expected Flandre's reaction to be so immediate or so overwhelming. By the time they tried to react, the flaming greatsword had already slammed into their forehead with bone-crushing force. Accompanied by a miserable, curdled scream and a dull, heavy splash, the dangerous aura inside the well vanished instantly. The corpses nearby, which had been so unnaturally active just moments ago, fell silent and limp once more.
Remilia reached out toward a sturdy rope used for drawing water that sat by the well's edge. Under her influence, the rope instantly came to life like a serpent, diving into the dark depths and dragging the ambusher out into the light. It was a man with a deathly pale face, though much of his body was now charred black from the heat of the flaming sword. From his clothing, it was clear he likely hailed from the far north; the garments were thick, heavy, and designed for the most extreme climates.
"It's him, right?" Flandre asked, looking down at the burnt figure.
Remilia waved her hand in front of her face in a gesture of profound disgust. "That disgusting scent—the stagnation of stolen life—it's definitely him."
Just as the two were preparing to depart, the heavy sound of marching boots echoed through the village. An army of several hundred men rushed over from a short distance away. Seeing the ground covered in fresh corpses and the two sisters standing over the blackened body of the assailant, the soldiers immediately raised their weapons and aimed at them. To the soldiers, the two looked like Blood Demons, and given the gruesome massacre of the villagers, they concluded that the sisters were the perpetrators.
Remilia and Flandre had no desire to cause unnecessary trouble or waste time explaining themselves to a mob. They grabbed the rope, preparing to take flight while dragging the captured Vampire behind them. Naturally, the soldiers were unwilling to let them escape. Several archers immediately let fly a volley of arrows.
Remilia was extremely displeased by the persistence of the attack. She turned her head to look back at the newcomers, her eyes glowing with a sharp, crimson light. With a casual wave of her hand, she sent waves of magic missiles as dense as a city wall pushing toward the crowd. The soldiers were so terrified by the sheer volume of the magical bombardment that they immediately scattered, diving for any cover they could find.
By the time the soldiers emerged, disheveled and covered in dust from their hiding spots, Remilia and Flandre were already nowhere to be found, having vanished into the darkening sky.
"Bastards! These damn Blood Demon are absolute bastards!" the leading officer shouted, his voice cracking with rage as he surveyed the ruins. While some among his ranks had silent doubts about the timeline of the massacre, the visual of the two Blood Demons attacking was enough to cement the blame in their minds. No one dared to raise suspicions in front of the furious commander.
Meanwhile, the two sisters flew north toward the Reunion Movement's territory, the unconscious Blood Demon trailing behind them at the end of the rope. Over an hour later, they arrived back at the mobile module. By now, the sky had turned to deep indigo.
Flandre and Alina were able to contact each other directly through their established channels. Knowing they had captured a high-value suspect, Alina immediately arranged a secure location. The sisters brought the prisoner to a nearby cave, separate from the main mobile modules.
At the entrance of the cave, strange, glowing runes were carved into the stone on both sides. Alina and Yelena were already waiting there. Noticing the inquisitive look in the sisters' eyes, they explained that these runes had been carved with the combined expertise of the Patriot and Logos from Rhodes Island. Because dangerous criminals were held here, these suppression runes kept the prisoners in a state of perpetual weakness, ensuring they could not use their Arts to escape or harm the guards.
The sisters followed Alina inside to escort the Blood Demon to a central chamber. After he was tied securely, Remilia provided a "gentle" wake-up service. Amidst intense pain and a series of ragged screams, the man finally regained consciousness. He immediately tried to surge against his restraints, only for Remilia to step forward and plunge a spear of red light directly into his chest.
"Gah!" The man coughed up a mouthful of dark, thick blood, his body jerking against the chains.
The others in the room looked at Remilia with concern, but she remained perfectly calm. "He won't die. His kind is far more resilient than that."
As she predicted, while blood continued to seep from the wound, the Blood Demon stubbornly clung to life, his breathing heavy and ragged. Alina prepared to step forward to begin the formal interrogation, but Flandre reached out a hand to stop her.
"Don't be in a hurry, Big Sister Alina."
As Flandre approached the prisoner, the pool of blood that had collected on the floor suddenly shivered and rose. It transformed into a jagged, giant axe, swinging with desperate force toward Flandre's head.
"Putting up a pointless struggle!" Flandre didn't even look up at the weapon. She simply reached toward the blood axe and closed her fist. With a sharp snap, the axe burst apart into mist, and the Blood Demon's remaining aura withered away entirely. "Didn't I say it? Why wouldn't you believe that it's a pointless struggle!"
Flandre tilted her head, sizing him up, then turned to look at Alina. "It's settled. Ask whatever you want to ask right here!"
Alina stood at the entrance to begin her questioning. At first, the Blood Demon was uncooperative, his eyes full of spite even at death's door. But after Remilia had him "Cosplay as Natsuki Subaru" for a short time—using her power over fate and blood to bring him back from the brink of death—he became completely cooperative.
He revealed that he was a member of the Sanguine Court. He had been ordered to Ursus to contact a local noble for secret negotiations. On his way back, his bloodlust had overtaken him, and he had casually slaughtered the villagers to satisfy his hunger. As an elite of the Sanguine Court, he hadn't expected the Reunion Movement to have the means to track him, let alone two Vampires who felt entirely alien to him.
He looked up at Remilia and Flandre with a mix of awe and terror. "I haven't seen you in the Court... Are you from the Rose Riverside?"
Remilia remained silent, looking toward her sister. Flandre didn't answer the question about their origins either. Instead, she fixed her gaze on him and asked, "Then why did you kill that entire village of people in Victoria?"
"I killed them because I killed them," the Vampire replied with a chilling, matter-of-fact tone. "Do we Sarkaz truly need a reason to kill people?"