Enrico and Yumeha stopped by a store before leaving and bought some mana recovery stones, food, and new clothes with magical protection.
Enrico did not want to risk having his clothes torn during training or some unexpected situation. After buying everything they considered necessary, the two placed the items into two bags, one for each of them, and headed toward Sanos's square.
"It's getting dark, so that's good."
"Why, master?"
"It needs to be nighttime for us to enter the place I need to go."
Enrico then took out a large piece of paper with a symbol of a sword resting against a heart. To be more precise, that drawing had been made with blood. His own blood. Little by little, he had removed small amounts of his own blood to create that magical symbol.
'Since I developed my blood until it became the best in the world after I drank that, perhaps the result will be even better than I'm imagining.'
He placed the paper on the ground and asked Yumeha to step on it as well.
They still needed to wait until night arrived for the magic to work, so Enrico used that time to talk with her. He discreetly looked around and realized that there were only civilians nearby, and they were far enough away that they could not hear them. Then, he lowered his voice.
"We're going to meet the vampires."
"What? But, master, those bloodsuckers are very dangerous for us humans."
"I know..."
Enrico perfectly understood Yumeha's reaction. Although the vampires had stopped attacking humans as frequently in recent times, it was still possible to hear stories about people being taken by them and disappearing without leaving any trace.
All races had a certain aversion to vampires, and if it weren't for demons and the Nartheis, they would probably be considered the most hated race on the continent because of what they did.
"This is very dangerous. I heard about a girl who disappeared a few days ago in the forest. The only thing left behind was the trace of their blood magic... We can't trust them, master."
"I understand where you're coming from, but I need to go. We're going to need them in the future."
Enrico understood that feeling because he himself did not like vampires. In the original story, practically all of them were enemies of the protagonists, and because of that, he had also grown up with the same distrust.
However, if he could solve that problem before things reached the point shown in the story, everything could become different.
Yumeha remained silent for a few seconds before writing something on the paper and showing it to Enrico.
'So they can help us in the future you desire?'
Enrico simply nodded in confirmation. Yumeha seemed to calm down a little after that. If her master believed that those bloodsuckers could be useful in the future, then she would trust him and put that feeling aside.
At least until some vampire tried to attack Enrico.
Upon realizing that night was finally beginning to arrive, Enrico asked Yumeha to put on the necklace he had bought.
Those necklaces were capable of hiding their users' scent from vampires. They were relatively safe items and could be found for sale, but the price was quite high.
'Thanks again, Serenya.'
Yumeha put the necklace around her neck together with her precious Magatama necklace, the gift she had received from her master during the festival.
She loved that gift very much and did not intend to leave it behind, even now that they were about to enter an extremely dangerous place.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
Yumeha destroyed the paper using her Yatagarasu magic. The flames consumed the symbol and made the paper disappear completely. Enrico remained waiting for the right moment, discreetly watching around them until he was certain that no one was paying attention to them.
'Those two aren't...?'
Two shadows were standing in the distance, watching them. As soon as they realized that Enrico had looked in their direction, they quickly disappeared from sight.
Enrico took advantage of that moment and activated the magic he had prepared. The space around the two seemed to distort, and their bodies quickly disappeared along with the rest of the paper.
In the original story, that same method had been used by one of the villains to access the vampires' dimension.
On that occasion, he had taken two people with him, both subordinates who would accompany him during the journey. Enrico, on the other hand, intended to do something similar, but taking only one person.
'Yumeha will come with me.'
When they opened their eyes again, the two were in a city in Sanos, but there was something completely different about that place.
The moon in the sky was red, and no electric lights seemed to exist. Only torches scattered around the houses partially illuminated the streets, creating an atmosphere completely different from that found in the real Sanos.
"Master, where are we?"
"Reverse Sanos. One of the cities in the vampires' dimension. A place where dawn never comes."
Reverse Sanos was a dimension created by the first vampire, who wished to protect his race from the evil god Zarthoren, the God of Silent Carnage.
However, there was a major problem. When the first vampire died, he left his own body behind, which would later be used as a vessel for Zarthoren's resurrection.
The first vampire wished to protect his race, but he also looked at them with some disappointment. Vampires were easily dominated by their own instincts and ended up being carried away by their desire for blood. Because of that, in addition to creating that dimension, he also placed a curse on the entire race to prevent them from losing control so easily.
This curse was connected to a black necklace attached around their necks. All vampires received one as soon as they were born, and Enrico had prepared two similar necklaces for himself and Yumeha.
Thanks to that, they could disguise themselves as vampires and prevent their presence from being discovered immediately, since vampires mainly recognized one another by their scent.
To complete the plan, Enrico had also bought some vials containing vampire blood.
"Wait, my Ketsumei... What do you mean this is a city of vampires?"
"That's right, dear. Could you explain why you came to such a dangerous place?"
"Young master, I would like you to give a good explanation about all of this."
Enrico froze upon hearing those voices. He and Yumeha slowly turned around and found Rina, Aoi, and Angela behind them. The first two seemed worried about him, while Angela's expression made it clear that she was about to scold him.
"How...? Don't tell me..."
Enrico tried to understand why they had appeared in that place. He could only think of one possible explanation. His blood had become so powerful that perhaps it had affected the magic of that paper. Instead of transporting only Yumeha, the ritual might have taken all the people who had a strong connection with him and were near the location at that moment.
Before he could think of a solution, voices began to emerge from the streets.
"What's happening outside?"
"That's human blood."
"It seems someone brought dinner."
Enrico looked at the surrounding houses and saw the doors beginning to open. One after another, several vampires began to emerge, attracted by the scent that had suddenly appeared in the city.
The mark left by the paper, which had hidden their presence for a few moments, was disappearing.
Enrico's plan was to take advantage of precisely that period of invisibility to leave the city before the vampires noticed their existence. Afterward, he intended to enter again as someone coming from another city and begin his investigation without raising suspicion.
But he had barely arrived, and everything was already going wrong.
'Shit.'