«Big brother… today is your eighteenth birthday and you still haven't gotten me my present!»
Yuzu grumbles — a petite girl with long black hair and hazel eyes.
She walks hand in hand with her brother, Ren Toya.
Classes had ended later than usual that day, and they're heading home along a path through the woods that leads to their house.
«So let me get this straight… it's my birthday, and I'm the one who has to get you a present?»
Yuzu pouts.
«Of course! You and I are basically the same, get that into your head! So it's my birthday too!»
«You already turned fourteen two months ago! How many birthdays are you going to celebrate this year?»
«Big brother… you really don't get girls at all!»
Ren shrugs.
«If you say so…»
All of a sudden, his slight, amused smile disappears.
«Yuzu, stay back!» Ren orders, extending his arm in front of his sister and pushing her behind him.
«W-What is it, big brother?»
Before she can finish speaking, a shadow emerges from the trees and blocks their way.
A figure even taller than Ren, wrapped in a long black cloak that hides him completely. Beneath the hood is a plain plastic mask, the kind you buy at bargain-bin Halloween shops.
But it isn't the cheap mask that frightens Ren — it's the man wearing it. Behind the slits, a pair of sinister blood-red eyes gleam in the darkness.
The eyes of a vampire.
«Ren Toya,» the vampire says in a disguised voice. «The time I granted you has run out. What have you decided?»
«My answer is the same as last time — and it's still no!»
«That's not what I was hoping to hear,» the vampire murmurs.
«Y-You heard my big brother! We have no intention of joining you! Now get lost if you value your life!» Yuzu snaps.
«I'm not talking to you, stupid girl. My boss isn't interested in a weak succubus like you. Only Ren and Iris matter to him.»
«All the more reason to refuse your offer,» Ren cuts in. «I wouldn't abandon my little sisters for anything in the world!»
«What a shame. The idea of fighting you doesn't excite me. But if you won't come with me willingly, then you'll come by force!»
As he talks, a deep wound opens on his palm. The blood that pours out starts to float and twist, shaping itself into a crimson rapier.
He lunges immediately at Ren.
The blade of solid blood is about to strike when… CLANG!
The vampire's slash is blocked by a massive two-handed greatsword of pure violet energy, its blade laced with lightning. Ren swings it with such ease that it looks light as a feather.
But that's not all. Ren's entire body is now wreathed in violet lightning, and imposing bat-like wings — also violet — unfurl from his back.
The vampire retreats in short bursts, but Ren closes the distance in a flash and unleashes a lightning-fast slash.
The vampire tries to counter with a straight thrust, but Ren slips aside with a quick sidestep and slams a vicious kick into his stomach.
«You're strong, Ren Toya. But I expected nothing less from someone trained by Raelor Valraen himself.»
When he hears that name, Ren grits his teeth in fury.
"How the hell does that bastard know Raelor?!" he thinks.
But there's no time for questions.
Ren charges again, and the clash erupts with devastating force.
They move so fast that a normal human eye could never track them. Even Yuzu struggles to see who has the upper hand.
Suddenly, the vampire creates distance. Once he's far enough away, he extends his left arm toward Ren and… «Blood Manipulation: Spike Barrage!»
A wound opens on his palm, and his blood transforms into a machine-gun burst of razor-sharp spikes that hurtle toward Ren at incredible speed.
But he isn't caught off guard.
He swings his blade through the air, and a wave of lightning erupts from it, instantly dispersing the rain of sharpened blood.
Still, not all the spikes are deflected.
One pierces his left arm. Another hits his right thigh.
A sharp stab of pain shoots through him, but he can't afford to give in.
The lightning around him crackles even more fiercely — and… SLASH!
Piercing, agonized screams burst from the vampire's mouth.
One moment, Ren was more than twenty meters away.
The next, his greatsword tears a deep gash from the vampire's left thigh all the way up to his right shoulder.
«F-Fuck… why isn't the wound regenerating?!» the vampire snarls, drenched in blood. «Unless… d-don't tell me you can use that magic too?! I-I was sure Raelor was the only living incubus capable of it…»
«You said it yourself. It was that damned bastard who taught me everything I know — and it'll be because of his teachings that I'll kill him! But now…»
He levels the massive greatsword at the vampire.
«…it's time for the finishing blow!»
Just as Ren is about to bring down the strike that will end the fight… FLASH!
The vampire barely manages to pull a small red sphere from his pocket and hurl it to the ground. As it shatters, a blinding explosion of red light erupts, forcing Ren to shield his eyes.
When the light fades a few seconds later, only the vampire's spilled blood remains — traces left behind during his escape.
Ren could follow them and finish him off for good. But as far as he knows, the vampire might not be alone — and someone could take advantage of that to harm Yuzu, unconscious on the ground.
He won't take that risk.
And as Ren limps home with his sister in his arms, a boy with hair darker than the night and eyes glowing crimson watches from a distance.