Floating down slowly through the hole in the roof, the Fool descended.
His eyes drifted around the store, the smile on his face never fading.
Not finding who he was looking for, he puffed his cheeks and scratched his head.
"Aww, did he run away? …That's no fun."
Then he wandered around the shop for a while, knocking over baskets and shelves.
"Or maybe he's playing hide and seek? Hehe… you'll never win against me."
Further away, Kris hid behind the cashier counter.
His regeneration was focused on his arms, slowly reconstructing them.
Alright… what's different about him?
Aside from being able to fly, he completely nullifies my infrared.
I don't know exactly why, but his color is like that of an object.
Which makes it almost impossible to pick him out from everything else.
"Eee—found you!"
The vampire suddenly shouted as he smashed through a shelf, sending a chill down Kris's spine.
"Damn. I'll get it right next time."
Shit… I need time to regenerate. The problem with leaving the shop is that I'll be at a disadvantage against his flight.
His eyes dropped to his arms—one of them already back to normal.
"Ugh, I'm bored. I'll go after that girl."
He let out a quiet sigh.
Sorry, Marceline. As soon as I recover, I'll come help you.
Suddenly, silence.
Too silent.
His head lifted—two blue eyes staring straight at him.
A disturbing grin stretched from ear to ear.
"Found you."
Reacting instantly, Kris drove his stake—gripped in his only usable hand—straight into the madman's chest.
However, the Fool slipped into a fluid loop around his arm, lunging in with a punch.
What the—
The impact slammed into his face, launching him into the wall behind him and shattering what remained of the shell around his mouth.
Fuck.
Not even giving him time to think, the vampire forced him to dodge as he came at him like a rocket—both legs first—crashing straight through the wall.
Fuck it… he doesn't have any openings. What the hell is that agility?
Before he could get out of there, the vampire came back down, landing hard enough to shatter the counter.
"Haha."
"This is fun."
I can't take him head-on.
He thought it as he vaulted over the counter and ran toward the shelves.
Right behind him, the madman caught up quickly, throwing a punch toward the back of his neck.
Kris shifted back into his original form, letting the fist pass through his liquid body—burning the vampire in the process.
As he reached the shelves, he returned to his human form, sprinting through the aisles.
However, the Fool simply flew over the shelves, already on his tail again.
Kris spotted a net in one of the baskets.
He grabbed it and threw it at the vampire.
The Fool reacted to the object, pulling back slightly.
Right before his eyes, the net was pierced by a green spear aimed at his chest.
At the cost of his arm, he slipped past it.
"Oops."
But suddenly, the spear split open into five pointed petals, forcing him to retreat even further as they tried to close in around him.
Tch.
The humanoid frowned, his single eyebrow tightening.
At least we're even now.
However, under his indignant gaze, the vampire raised the stump of his arm.
It began to regenerate at an abnormal speed—bones forming first, then veins threading through, and finally muscle wrapping over it.
You've got to be kidding me.
With a quick sidestep, he dodged another flying charge.
Right after, he sprinted toward the exit.
I'm not winning this on my own.
Just a few steps from the door, an impact slammed into his back, dragging him straight through it.
His body was sent flying at high speed, crashing across the street.
He got back up without much difficulty, briefly glancing at his arms.
Finally… it's back.
Then his gaze returned to the shop, where the Fool drifted out calmly through the broken doorway.
Flight, speed, strength, regeneration… this guy has no weaknesses.
Actually… he hasn't even been taking this seriously from the start.
How can I use that to my advantage?
"Ow!"
Hm?
With an excited grin, looping lightly in the air, the vampire asked,
"What was that thing you did with your arm, huh?"
"Are you some kind of rubber man?"
…
What?
"You're weird."
Look who's talking.
"And your arms grew back? Wow, that's amazing."
"How much can you take before you break completely?"
At that, Kris braced himself for another charge.
But before the Fool could attack, he suddenly veered away, dodging a powerful strike that would have split him in half, rising higher into the air.
"Got held up. My bad."
Still without his mouth, Kris simply gave her a nod.
"Heh, looks like the cat got your tongue."
He rolled his single eye as the other began to regenerate, moving over to her side.
"Damn, that's a cool axe! Can I keep it after I rip your head off?"
"Nah—but if you want, I can take yours."
"Huh? But I'll turn to dust!"
"Even better."
"Hmm…"
The vampire brought a hand to his chin, contemplating.
"I just had an even better idea."
With his eyes wide open, he looked down at them from above.
"I'll take both your heads—and the axe will be a bonus."
And then—he lunged at both of them.
Come on.
Kris simply waited for the charge, while Marceline braced herself to deflect.
A single instant was all it took for him to grab the humanoid, already pulling him along for a "ride."
If you keep trying the same thing…
However, midair, Kris's body tore open into a torrent of spiked tendrils.
…you're not going to get anywhere.
"Whoa!"
As the tendrils tried to close in on him, the madman let go, allowing Kris's body to continue forward with its momentum.
Without warning, the half-demon came in right behind him, swinging her axe in a wide horizontal arc.
The vampire drifted up, dodging over it.
Marceline shifted her grip on the axe and followed immediately with a diagonal slash, giving him no time to react.
The blade grazed the vampire's face, taking his eye with it.
"Ouch!"
She was about to follow up with another strike when an impact slammed into her abdomen, sending her flying.
Using his own head, the Fool had launched himself into her.
The blow hurled her toward a nearby building, crashing straight through its wall.
Before he could go after her, he felt something latch onto his leg.
When he looked down, a greenish tendril was coiled around it.
"Got you."
The tendril began to spread, tightening around his entire body—spikes forming within it, driving into him from the inside.
Blood burst from his openings in a cascading spray.
A moment later, Kris spun his own body, the motion sending the vampire crashing through multiple buildings.
"Ha—"
The madman let it slip through blood-covered teeth.
"HAHAHA—"
He burst into manic laughter, Kris's brow tightening.
Suddenly, the madman tore through the part restraining him with his arms—both riddled with holes and releasing steam, just like the rest of his body.
Without giving the humanoid any time to react, he grabbed the tendril and spun, ripping him off the ground and slamming him into nearby buildings.
Damn.
He quickly tore off part of his arm, freeing himself as he was thrown into the second floor of a hotel.
Alright… I get it now.
His leg was twisted in the opposite direction, his arm severed in half.
Moments later, it returned to normal.
I felt it—I pierced his heart.
Which means:
He can only be killed with a stake.
In slow steps, he made his way to the hole he had come through, lightly bracing himself against the wall.
Bathed in moonlight, the Fool floated calmly. He looked as if he were lying back against the sky—his eyes fixed on the moon.
Kris scanned the battlefield, searching for Marceline.
He spotted her emerging through the wall she had been thrown through, her hand wiping a trail of blood from her lip.
His gaze returned to the vampire as he began to laugh.
"It's been so long since I've let loose like this."
"Thank you."
Still in the air, he turned slightly, facing them upside down, a grin stretched from ear to ear.
"I'll remember you… for about twelve years."
Kris scowled, while Marceline gave a faint smile.
What is he talking about?
This guy's insane.
And the Fool spun once more in the air, now slowly descending toward the ground.
Raising an eyebrow, the half-demon rested her axe on her shoulder.
Does he want a head-on fight?
Having already dropped down from the hotel, the humanoid stepped forward toward the vampire, his arms held out in front of his body—
their shape shifting constantly.
He's confident in close combat.
In his mind, the punch he had taken flashed briefly.
When the vampire finally settled atop a streetlight, the three of them came to a stop.
The tension of the standoff seemed to silence the world around them.
…
Three seconds passed.
But they felt like an eternity.
The tension was broken by the Fool.
With a single step, he leapt off the post.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a torrent of spikes surged toward him—only to be effortlessly avoided as he floated past them.
From behind, Marceline lunged upward with a vertical strike.
He placed the sole of his foot against the blade, using it as leverage to launch himself toward Kris.
His charge was absorbed by the humanoid's other arm, expanded into a warped shield.
The impact warped the shield even further, the force dragging him back a few steps.
With no chance to reposition, a kick slipped past the blind spot created by the shield, striking his face and cracking part of it around the eye.
The vampire moved to follow up with a hook, but the half-demon's axe cut into his shoulder—failing to take his head only because of an instinctive dodge.
The vampire turned to her, lunging into a swift attack.
With a horizontal slash, she tried to meet it.
However, the vampire made a smooth turn, fluidly avoiding the strike before driving a punch toward her face.
Marceline gritted her teeth and threw her forehead into the trajectory, absorbing part of the blow.
The impact pushed both of them back, a faint shockwave rippling between them.
"Urgh."
"Haha!"
That made Kris's eyes widen slightly.
She reacted.
The Fool recovered from the shockwave and lunged again.
The half-demon, still slightly disoriented, tried to deflect with a slash.
But the madman curved around it in an arc, grabbing her by the mouth—before slamming her into the ground.
The impact drove her down with a heavy crash, cracking the concrete beneath her.
He moved to throw another punch, but was suddenly knocked away by a greenish club.
"Fuck…"
She muttered, squeezing her eyes shut.
When she opened them, Kris's arm was extended toward her, offering help.
A wave of nostalgia hit her—someone's memory surfacing in her mind.
She took it, pulling herself up as thin lines of blood ran down her forehead.
Furrowing her brows, she wiped it away with her sleeve.
Damn… that was worse than I thought.
"I'll be honest."
"Hm?"
Taking advantage of the brief lull, Kris regenerated part of his mouth.
"We're at a disadvantage."
"I'm almost out of energy—I've spent too much just keeping up with him."
"What? I have to fight him alone?!"
In an attempt to calm her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I have a plan… but in the end, it still involves you fighting him on your own."
"Huh? How do you expect me to—"
"Damn! You really sent me flying, you know?"
The Fool's return cut her off.
His arm had already regenerated, and he was rolling his other shoulder.
"Oh! Look what I found back there!"
From his back pocket, he pulled out a pair of bug-eyed glasses and put them on, the eyes bouncing out on springs.
"Haha!"
"Hey!"
The humanoid caught his attention.
"Hm?"
"Wanna do something fun?"
At the suggestion, he tossed the glasses aside, turning to him with excitement.
"Like what?"
"How about…"
"Tag?"