"By my reckoning, the time is about right. They should be finishing up soon. We can't let them find us."
Luke looked in the direction where Rig and the others were and offered a reminder to Krul.
Just then, a voice rang out.
"Um... could you let us out?"
Though the chances were slim, Yuichiro still asked the two of them.
After a brief moment of thought, Krul refused.
"Letting you out would be pointless. You're too weak without the sin key."
Mika also wanted to persuade her, knowing he couldn't convince Krul, but someone else could. He started making meaningful eye contact with Luke.
Luke used his eyes to convey to Mika that this matter was indeed very difficult; with High-ranking Ancestors present, letting them escape would be dereliction of duty for the Sanguinem Vampires. He wasn't sure if Mika understood.
Huh, come to think of it, being accused of dereliction doesn't seem to have any punishment?
Krul turned her head and looked at Luke strangely.
"What's wrong with your eyes?"
"Ah, well... My body's eyes were open while I was viewing the memories, so they're a bit dry. Just moving them around a bit now."
"Heh, you decide."
Krul didn't expose him and, ignoring Mika and Yuichiro, walked towards Rig's direction.
Now, Krul only needed to collect the sin keys together with Luke to prepare for the resurrection of asuramaru, also known as Ashera Tepes. She didn't care much about anything else.
Luke didn't expect Krul to dump the responsibility on him so quickly. He looked at Mika and Yuichiro.
"Well, let's get this straight first. If I let you leave, you just leave. Don't harbor any ideas like trying to snatch the Progenitor from us. Otherwise, if you get caught again, I won't care."
Luke directly issued a disclaimer.
Luke and Krul walked out of the iron cage without locking it.
Yuichiro knew Luke possessed a sin key, but he didn't ask. Even he wasn't so foolish as to think Luke, who had been collecting sin keys from the start, would hand it over. They needed a long-term plan.
After Krul and Luke had gone some distance, Yuichiro cautiously moved closer to Mika again.
"Mika, the Vampires might kill the Progenitor. We have to rescue him from the Vampires' clutches!"
Mika didn't directly refute him. Instead, he started counting on his fingers.
"Two Second Progenitors, two Third Progenitors, plus the Fourth and Sixth Progenitors, and then Luke, who's even a bit stronger than Krul. Can we really rescue the Progenitor?"
Yuichiro's enthusiasm was instantly doused, but he still forced an awkward laugh and remained stubborn.
"Don't sell us short. As long as the two of us work together..."
Even onikiri, who had been slacking off, couldn't take it anymore and couldn't help but mock.
"First figure out how to escape from Sanguinem with these companions of yours before talking about rescuing the Progenitor from those monsters."
"onikiri! You don't believe in me either!"
"You started telling the joke first."
Just as Yuichiro was feeling utterly dejected and at a loss, Mika thought for a moment and suddenly spoke up.
"Actually, it's not completely hopeless."
"Ooh, I knew it! Mika, what's your idea?"
Mika looked at onikiri at Yuichiro's waist.
"It's for me to also possess the sword. onikiri and I would strengthen you together. That way, your power after Demon Transformation might allow you to escape from the Progenitors, but you still couldn't defeat all of them."
Yuichiro was stunned for a moment, sighed, and waved his hand.
"That guy onikiri wouldn't agree to share a sword with you."
"Absolutely not!"
"See? Can't you just possess me directly?"
Mika shook his head.
"No, I can't."
Actually, it was possible, but it would cause great harm to Yuichiro himself, and Mika didn't want that.
"Ugh~ My head hurts."
Mika and Yuichiro looked towards the source of the voice.
"Kimizuki, you're awake!"
Shihō Kimizuki got up from the ground, rubbing his head.
"Ah, stupid Yu."
Mika looked at the twin swords at Shihō Kimizuki's waist, thought of the Ghost Box King's ability, and quickly said to Yuichiro.
"Anyway, let's use Shihō Kimizuki's demon's ability to escape first. We'll think about the Progenitor and the sin keys later."
Then Shihō Kimizuki, still a bit dazed from just waking up, used the Ghost Box King to store Yoichi, Mitsuba, and Mirai Kimizuki into coffins.
"Stupid Yu, I didn't know you could pick locks?"
"No time to explain. Let's get out first and see if we can rescue Shinya as well."
However, just as they reached the iron cage of Hiiragi Shinya, they heard footsteps approaching. Probably patrolling Vampires.
"Damn it!"
Their cage was already empty and would definitely be discovered. Now they had no choice but to abandon Hiiragi Shinya. Surely Vampires wouldn't give another Vampire a hard time.
Mika returned inside Yuichiro, with Shihō Kimizuki following behind. Luckily, Mika knew the way out.
After they left, the owner of the footsteps finally appeared.
"Ate it all quite cleanly."
Crowley slowly pushed away the meal cart left behind after Yuichiro had finished eating.
Yuichiro and Kimizuki ran quickly. Strangely, they didn't see a single Vampire along the way.
Mika gradually sensed something was wrong. Some places were even key patrol areas, yet they still didn't encounter any Vampires.
"Yu, be careful. Something's off."
"Yeah, I noticed that too."
Ten minutes later, Yuichiro arrived at that familiar exit of Sanguinem.
Then, a flurry of footsteps came from behind them, along with a voice.
"They're up ahead."
This startled Yuichiro and Kimizuki, making them hurry their pace. They didn't notice the complete lack of urgency in that voice.
The two soon saw the light outside, but a figure was standing at the exit, holding something round in hand.
Mika's voice was somewhat grave.
"Crowley!"
The footsteps behind them grew closer.
Shihō Kimizuki drew his twin swords, ready to charge.
"I'll hold him off! Kimizuki, you take everyone and run first!"
Yuichiro had a determined, desperate air about him, drawing onikiri and preparing to strike.
However, when Yuichiro got close and saw the situation clearly, he froze in place.
Crowley was holding a head, a Vampire's head, its face etched with disbelief.
Crowley's face was still stained with blood. He smiled at Yuichiro, his expression harmless.
Yuichiro glanced around and frowned, questioning him.
"Why are you here? Did you know about this all along?"
Crowley casually crushed the Vampire head in his hand.
"That guy Luke asked me to clear a path for you."
Yuichiro couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"You killed all the Vampires on the way?!"
Crowley smiled and shook his head gently. He wasn't taking that blame!
"No, I only killed the two guarding the exit. The ones along the way were all diverted. I am a Progenitor, after all."
"Made it!"
At that moment, the footsteps from behind also caught up.
Yuichiro and Kimizuki quickly turned around, on guard.
"This aura... it's Lacus and René."
Mika recognized the auras of two of the Vampires.
Yuichiro didn't know them.
"Who? Are they on our side?"
"They're on Luke and Krul's side."
"Then in this situation, doesn't that make them allies!"
You will get 30 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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