Late at night, the Imperial Demon Army's main headquarters was shrouded in an eerie silence.
Chaotic footsteps broke that stillness.
In her dorm room, Hiiragi Shinoa lay on her bed.
Suddenly—
"Ugh…!!!"
A piercing alarm blared throughout the entire base.
Then came screams, echoing one after another.
Shinoa's eyes snapped open, her amethyst irises contracting sharply in the darkness.
"An enemy attack?!"
She flipped off the bed in one swift move, almost by instinct summoning her Cursed Gear, Shikama Dōji.
The demonic weapon hummed faintly in her grasp, as if sensing danger too.
Outside her window, fire lit up the night sky.
Shinoa pulled the curtains aside, and the sight made her inhale sharply.
Dozens of vampires were rampaging through the base, their crimson eyes glowing menacingly in the darkness.
Even more alarming, she caught sight of a figure clad in opulent attire.
"A vampire noble?!"
No time to hesitate.
Shinoa swiftly changed into her uniform.
Shikama Dōji transformed into a large scythe in her hand.
She kicked open the window and leapt from the third floor. Landing with a roll to lessen the impact, she then sprinted toward the nearest battlefield.
A vampire had a human soldier by the throat, fangs poised to sink into his artery.
Shinoa's scythe flashed silver, and the vampire's head was severed before dissolving into ash.
The soldier gasped and coughed in terror.
"Our eastern defensive line has collapsed! A progenitor is here—there's a vampire progenitor!"
"Got it!"
Just as Shinoa turned to head that way, the ground shook violently. A blinding white light erupted from the center of the base.
"What on earth…?"
All the battling vampires paused, warily eyeing the source of that brilliance.
Shinoa felt a sudden inexplicable dread, as though something terrifying was about to awaken.
From the central research building, an entire outer wall crumbled away.
A petite figure hovered in midair.
It was a girl, clad in a white lab coat, her body bound by numerous rune-etched chains.
Shoulder-length black hair whipped about in a storm of energy.
Behind her spread four wings of pure light.
But the most shocking detail was her eyes—now entirely black.
No pupils, nothing but dark emptiness within.
"Fifth Trumpet, activate."
An icy voice from the loudspeaker echoed—Hiiragi Kureto's, one of the leaders of the Imperial Demon Army.
"Target: Exterminate all vampires."
Suspended midair, the girl's movements were eerily mechanical as she slowly raised her head.
"!!!"
From her mouth came a shrill, inhuman screech.
Next moment, her form started to twist.
Under her skin, bizarre black markings emerged; the four luminous wings turned into six black, demonic wings.
"The Seraph of the End?!"
Shinoa, watching that spectacle, felt her grip on the scythe tremble.
It was the second time she'd seen a result of the Imperial Demon Army's Seraph experiments.
The vampires' assault, the Seraph unveiling its power… Possibly linked to Hyakuya Yuuichirou's fate and the death of a progenitor.
Right then, that girl harnessing the Fifth Trumpet's power morphed into a massive demonic hunting beast—Abaddon!
Transformed into Abaddon, the figure known as "Kimizuki Mirai" dove down.
Anything in her path, be it structures or living beings, was swallowed by black tar-like fluid.
One vampire noble tried to block her, only to be skewered through the chest by a blade formed from that tar.
"W-what is that monster?!"
Other vampires recoiled in fear, stumbling back.
"Mirai! Stop!"
A shout rang out.
A slightly younger boy, disregarding all obstacles, rushed toward Abaddon.
His gaze was torn between anguish and disbelief.
He was Kimizuki Shiho.
The monster standing before him used to be his sister, Kimizuki Mirai!
Seeing that his own little sister had turned into a beast, Kimizuki Shiho was at a loss.
He only knew that his sister, said to be infected with the "Demon Apocalypse Virus," had been quarantined for treatment.
But now—what was this?
The Imperial Demon Army had promised to cure his sister; in truth, they had turned her into a weapon against vampires.
Abaddon—Mirai—looked toward the call, halting her slaughter.
She turned mechanically in the direction of the voice.
Her face flickered with some confusion, that dull blackness in her eyes wavering faintly.
"Mi… rai?"
Abaddon tilted her head, letting out a hoarse half-broken syllable.
Kimizuki Shiho's eyes brimmed with tears. He forced himself onward.
"It's me, your brother!"
"Remember? We promised to find a way to cure you, together…"
Abaddon's body quivered, the black markings pulsing in and out.
Suddenly, she clutched her head, uttering a tormented cry.
Shattered fragments of memory crashed into her mind like a tidal wave.
—Running in the rain, her brother carrying her frail form…
—Inside the laboratory, the cold restraints, needles piercing her spine…
—That callous man named Hiiragi Kureto gazing down, saying: "Your existence is merely a weapon…"
"No… Stop…!"
Abaddon's power began spiraling out of control.
Dark energy exploded around her.
Kimizuki Shiho was hurled away by the shockwave, slamming into a wall.
He struggled up, blood leaking from his mouth, yet again reached out for his sister:
"Mirai… come back… I'm here for you…"
Hidden from the shadows, Hiiragi Kureto stood observing. His eyes narrowed.
He was calculating how to respond.
Because Kimizuki Shiho was also one of their experiment subjects.
They had lost one subject—Hyakuya Yuuichirou.
Accelerating the experiment on Kimizuki Mirai had tipped off the vampires.
But they still couldn't afford to lose her.
Just as he prepared to command his men to restrain her, Abaddon's black eyes glinted ominously.
She let out a nonhuman roar. A black beam shot from her palm—
"Bzzz!!"
—piercing Kimizuki Shiho's chest straight through.
The unexpected happened so fast: Abaddon, out of control, ended up killing Kimizuki Mirai's own brother.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
"This isn't good!"
Kureto's pupils shrank, realizing that tragedy had occurred beyond their predictions.
~~~
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