Chapter 338: The Wish of the Twelfth Root?
"It's too late, Liana Caruana."
The beastman arrogantly laughed as he pierced Liana with his claws.
Vampires are called the strongest demon race because they possess the overwhelming trump card of beasts.
Physically, they are actually among the more fragile categories of demons, and Liana, being a slender woman, holds no advantage in stature.
Not to mention Hazaroff had undergone divine beast transformation.
With one side strengthened and the other weakened, Liana's fragile vampire body was like thin paper to the divine beast-transformed Hazaroff, easily tearing open her chest and shattering her heart.
Even though vampires possess extraordinary regenerative abilities, Liana was merely an "Old Generation" vampire; having her heart shattered inevitably led to death.
Liana, with her heart pierced, was flung against the wall like a ragdoll by Hazaroff.
The woman left a splatter of tomato sauce-like stain on the pristine wall, her hands hanging limply as she slumped there.
Cold, so cold.
And her body hurt so much.
For the first time, Liana felt this kind of despair. She still wanted to stop those beastmen from reaching the coffin chamber, but the massive loss of blood and life force within her left her powerless.
She could only watch helplessly as those beastmen took away the hope of reviving Caruana, as they stole the lives of the young.
"I'm sorry, Doctor..."
As her life force drained away, a mist formed in Liana's eyes, crystal-clear tears of blood slowly sliding from the corners, her pale lips forming faint words.
Unfortunately, her words could no longer be heard by anyone.
Yet, just as her consciousness was about to sink forever into darkness, she seemed to hear a faint applause in her daze.
Whose applause?
That probably didn't matter anymore.
But for the beastmen invading the MAR Research Institute, it mattered greatly.
The leader, "Death Emperor's Brother" Golan Hazaroff, had already reverted from divine beast form to human, but he halted his steps toward the coffin chamber due to the sudden applause and faint footsteps echoing from behind. He turned around, narrowing his eyes to look down the corridor behind him.
Under the flickering lights, Hazaroff saw a man and a woman suddenly appear at the far end of the corridor, slowly walking toward them.
Not just him, the other beastmen underlings saw them clearly too.
"Tch, more humans? Like locusts."
Hazaroff sneered, completely disregarding the man and woman, waving his hand for his subordinates to deal with them.
He himself prepared to push open the door to the coffin chamber.
But at that moment, Hazaroff froze, because he heard a cold voice—
"You are courting death."
Tokoyogi Aya's voice quietly echoed through the underground corridor, her calm tone as if merely stating a simple fact.
Simultaneously, the Witch took another step forward, her gaze sharp and cold as she fixed it on those reckless beastmen, as if returning to the Witch Scribe of old!
Whether due to pressure or command, facing the Witch who was step by step approaching them, the armed beastmen abruptly pulled their triggers.
And not just them—the MAR security personnel who should have been dead were now pushing aside the rubble piled on their bodies, staggering to their feet and turning toward them.
They opened fire wildly.
A dense barrage of specially designed anti-demon bullets sprayed out, practically filling the narrow corridor as the assault surged toward the bodies of Mahiro and the other.
"Merely walking corpses."
Tokoyogi Aya sneered coldly, her body erupting with tangible magical power. A pale blue knight instantly materialized before her, blocking the bullets.
Magical energy radiating from her surface formed a barrier.
The specially crafted bullets halted in mid-air, trapped within the barrier layer, unable to penetrate the solid defense in the slightest.
Meanwhile, a grimoire appeared in her hand, floating before her as its pages flipped rapidly.
"CS are ultimately just CS, but your memories... I shall take them..."
Her voice seemed to deliver a chilling final judgment. The beastmen and walking corpses enveloped by the invisible magical barrier felt their bodies continuously eroding as Tokoyogi Aya forcibly extracted memories from within them.
The grimoire 'No.014' possessed the ability to extract Personal History—the accumulated time of an individual's existence since birth, or in other words, the personal history amassed from a magical perspective.
This grimoire was originally something she had prepared to use against her old rival, Natsuki Minamiya, because only this method could reclaim the "Dark Oath Book" from Natsuki Minamiya's memories.
But using it on this bunch was just a small test of its power.
Thud!
Thud, thud, thud!
The beastmen who had been standing moments ago collapsed one by one under the erosion of the magical barrier, losing their lives.
"Tokoyogi Aya, the Witch of the Chronicles!"
Watching his subordinates fall one after another, Hazaroff gritted his teeth and uttered the newcomer's name word by word.
He hadn't expected this witch to escape from the barrier prison, let alone appear here and instantly inflict heavy casualties on his subordinates.
Both of these events were beyond Hazaroff's expectations.
He was now seething with rage. His plans had been disrupted by the appearance of the Witch of the Chronicles, but he harbored no resentment toward his subordinates.
How terrifying the Witch of the Chronicles truly was—Hazaroff understood that all too well. She was a fearsome woman capable of matching the "Witch of the Void," Natsuki Minamiya.
"If you're seeking death, then die!"
First, eliminate the enemy before him, then kill the man protected behind that woman—this was the optimal solution v instantly devised.
Hazaroff took a deep breath, his chest swelling high as boiling magical power condensed within it.
Roar—!
With a roar, Hazaroff unleashed his beastly nature once more, transforming from human form into his beast form.
Although continuous divine beast transformations would severely impact his lifespan, facing this renowned witch, Hazaroff had no choice but to take the matter seriously.
However, against the Witch of the Chronicles, Hazaroff wouldn't foolishly charge into close combat as he had earlier against Liana.
Instead, he began frantically gathering astonishing magical power within his body.
Vampires rely on their Familiar Beasts, but Witches are different—especially the Record-Keeper Witch, whose methods can be bizarre and unpredictable.
As the only beastman besides the Black Death Emperor himself proficient in necromancy, he intended to utterly annihilate his opponent with the powerful Divine Beast's Blazing Breath!
Once unleashed, even this MAR Research Institute would be—blown sky-high along with it!
However, just as sparks flickered at the corners of his mouth and his attack was about to take shape, Hazaroff's pupils suddenly contracted.
The man who had been at the end of the corridor moments ago now eerily appeared right before him.
At the same time, a hand reached out—a pale, bony hand that grew larger in Hazaroff's vision until, in an instant, it clamped tightly over his mouth.
The Divine Beast's Blazing Breath, which should have been unleashed, was now forcibly trapped within his mouth.
Boom!
A muffled sound echoed as blood and black smoke trickled from the corners of Hazaroff's mouth. Simultaneously, his body was slammed forcefully onto the ground by the seemingly frail man.
How is this possible?!
Hazaroff was horrified inside.
He was a noble beastman, possessing the strongest physique and power, not to mention having activated his Divine Beast Transformation. How could he be thrown to the ground like an insect by a mere ant?!
Could it be that a mere human possessed strength rivaling that of a dragon?!
This absolutely couldn't be true!
But there was no time for Hazaroff to dwell on it any longer.
Mahiro's other hand was already raised into the air, and he chanted:
"Cold and ruthless steel queen, Demon King Killing Sacred Sword—"
"—Become a blade of steel here and now, and aid me in slaying my enemies!"
[As you wish.]
Clang!
A shimmering white light transformed into a blade gripped in his hand. Before Hazaroff could even glimpse the inscriptions on the sword, the white steel blade had already pierced through his mouth and out the back of his skull.
Rip!
In an especially brutal and bloody manner, it tore through Hazaroff's jaw, slicing off half of his head.
As it tumbled, the remaining half of Hazaroff's head still bore an expression of disbelief from his final moments.
"Hah, and here I thought you were something special. With skills like these, you dare claim to rival dragons and angels?"
Casually dispersing the Demon King Killing Sacred Sword, Mahiro sneered at the half-head lying on the ground, then stomped on it, crushing it to pieces.
After finishing this, he didn't forget to wave in the direction of Tokoyogi Aya.
"Aya, hurry up and follow. Come see the legendary Fourth Primogenitor."
In stark contrast to his earlier cold demeanor, he now resembled a child who had discovered a new toy.
But what was even rarer was that the aloof and indifferent Record-Keeper Witch chose to obey his command, putting away her Grimoire and silently following behind.
Rumble—
The moment the door to the coffin chamber was pushed open, a thin mist rushed forward. The temperature in the air plummeted, filled with a faint chill—a biting, bone-deep cold.
The floor, walls, and ceiling of the room were all covered and frozen with frost, while the welded metal sections were encased in thick layers of ice.
Snowflakes, delicate as flower petals, mingled within the mist, blending into the atmosphere.
Countless icicles sprouted from the solid concrete ground, sharp and thorny like brambles, preventing anyone from approaching.
Mahiro and Tokoyogi Aya paused for a moment, observing the interior of the ice-filled chamber.
The room inside was spacious, akin to a school classroom.
But within this classroom-sized space, only a solitary coffin lay.
Perhaps due to the drastic temperature changes, the reinforced concrete beneath their feet had grown brittle.
Stepping on it produced a series of crunching sounds, as if it were being crushed.
That coffin acted like a freezer, with icy mist spreading from its surroundings. On its surface, the Roman numeral XII was clearly engraved.
It was the "Fairy's Coffin."
This was how Tokoyogi Aya introduced it to him.
Forged by the Celestials, it was an ice coffin used to store—or suppress—the twelve vessels. The number "12" marked on the coffin indicated she was the twelfth test subject, also known as the "Twelfth Vessel of the Fourth Primogenitor—the Flame-Light Night Lord."
As they drew closer, under the dim light filtering in from outside, they could still discern the figure inside despite the thick layer of frost.
It was a young girl with an ethereal, fairy-like appearance.
Her limbs were as slender and delicate as a child's, her skin pale and translucent.
Her hair was a faint golden color, shifting like a rainbow depending on the angle.
A girl around thirteen or fourteen years old, her slightly visible ribs and budding chest, along with her transparently pale skin, were fully exposed to Mahiro, with nothing hidden.
Cute and beautiful, she seemed to have stepped out of a Western painting, possessing a beauty that surpassed humanity.
Such a dreamlike beauty, in his memory, only Miyuki could rival.
The ice coffin sealing her was engraved with a powerful magical barrier. An ordinary person, without the legacy of the Celestials... a holy spear capable of nullifying magical power and tearing through all barriers, would surely be unable to break the seal and awaken her.
But unfortunately, Mahiro was no ordinary person.
"So this is the Twelfth Vessel of the Fourth Primogenitor, Avrora? Nice to meet you."
He reached out and gently touched the surface of the ice coffin. A bone-chilling cold spread through his palm and across his entire body, making even someone with his constitution shiver involuntarily.
But within three seconds, he had already adapted.
Hmm, immune to freezing.
For some reason, a faint, intangible connection seemed to form between him and Avrora, as if he could sense the emotions of the girl inside the coffin.
"Are you sad?"
He whispered softly.
Immediately, he received a puzzled glance from Aya.
But he paid no heed and continued:
"Do you want to save the people outside?"
This time, he received a faint but affirmative response from the girl in the coffin, though her eyes remained closed and she stayed in slumber.
"Alright."
Mahiro chose to agree, considering it fate to have encountered this Miss Avrora. He turned and left the coffin chamber.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to store the "Fairy's Coffin" directly into his ring.
Naturally, he couldn't possibly awaken this Twelfth Vessel here.
However, this attack by the Black Death Emperor faction seemed far more complicated than imagined. He didn't know exactly what had happened in the original story, but the current situation was utterly devastating.
The security personnel of the MAR Research Institute had been completely wiped out, and Akatsuki Kojou's whereabouts were unknown. Given that guy's incredible luck, he probably wasn't dead.
But others weren't so fortunate.
The head of the Caruana family, Liana Caruana, had met a tragic end, just as in the original story.
Then there was Akatsuki Kojou's son, Akatsuki Kojou, who had been riddled with bullets, and his younger sister, Nagisa Akatsuki, who had also died a gruesome death, still dressed in her shrine maiden attire.
He recalled that in the original story, it was during this attack by the Black Death Emperor faction that Akatsuki Kojou awakened the slumbering Avrora, becoming the Blood Servant of the Twelfth Primogenitor, and Nagisa developed a phobia of demons as a result.
As for whether they had actually died or not, he really wasn't sure.
Moreover, he was curious. Based on Akatsuki Kojou's personality, he should have been a doting father to his daughter.
If he was such a doting father, why would he let Nagisa risk her life by coming to Gozo Island to make contact with the Twelfth Primogenitor? Could it be that he wanted to use Nagisa's spiritual medium abilities and her Over-Adaptor constitution to awaken and control Avrora?
If that were the case, then Akatsuki Kojou's love was far from pure.
He was even willing to exploit his own daughter.
With these thoughts in mind, Mahiro had already dragged the three bodies out of the rubble and was preparing to resurrect them.
"「Regeneration」, activate."
Hearing Mahiro's murmur, Tokoyogi Aya frowned slightly. As the Witch of the Notary, she knew of no means to bring the dead back to life, nor had she ever heard of a magecraft called 「Regeneration」.
But what followed was a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
She felt a strange ripple emanate from Mahiro's body, enveloping the three corpses before him.
As if time were flowing backward, the bullets embedded in their bodies were expelled, their crushed hearts began to mend, and their injured flesh started to heal.
In less than three seconds, the three lay on the ground completely unharmed, even breathing once more.
Was this truly magecraft?
Tokoyogi Aya began to doubt herself.
Such an ability could hardly be described as anything less than a miracle. The power to reverse life and death was even more mysterious and incomprehensible than her "Dark Oath Chronicles."
For a moment, she felt a peculiar interest in this man.
First, his overwhelmingly powerful physical strength, then his spatial magecraft that allowed him to silently escape the barrier prison, and now this power to reverse life and death...
"What's wrong? Surprised? Want to learn? If you do, I can teach you."
Seeing Tokoyogi Aya's astonished expression, Mahiro couldn't help but tease her.
"Hmph, I have no interest in such power."
Tokoyogi Aya coldly turned her head away, showing not the slightest hint of interest.
But she was merely being stubborn. As a witch, how could she not crave knowledge of magecraft, especially as the Witch of the Notary?
Mahiro saw right through her but chose not to expose her. Instead, he took her small hand and led her directly out of the research institute.
Through these days of interaction, although the Witch's personality remained somewhat prickly, she had gradually stopped rejecting certain forms of contact, such as holding hands.
Though he didn't know where Tokoyogi Aya's change came from—perhaps because he had rescued her from the Barrier Prison?
But given her personality, she didn't seem like the type to repay kindness...
Apart from that, however, Tokoyogi Aya remained as sharp-tongued as ever.
"Are you just leaving like this? I thought you would use this life-saving favor to make that vampire and that little spirit medium girl comply."
Hearing Tokoyogi Aya's sarcastic remark, Mahiro couldn't help but feel exasperated.
"I saved them for various reasons, but mainly because it was the wish of the Twelfth Vessel. Also, is that really how you see me? And how old is Nagisa Akatsuki anyway? Do I look like someone who's that desperate?"
"Isn't that the case? My daughter Yuuma is only four or five years old, yet you didn't hesitate to take her in, did you?"
Alright, you have a point. I'm left speechless.
All the way back to the hotel, they continued bickering like this.
Since it was already past midnight, Yuuma was still fast asleep.
However, shortly after they returned to the room, Mahiro keenly sensed a familiar spatial disturbance.
"You actually helped this man seize the Fourth Primogenitor's vessel, Aya. That doesn't seem like your style."
A clear, melodious voice drifted softly into Mahiro and Aya's ears.
Hearing this voice, Tokoyogi Aya's expression instantly changed.
Looking up, they saw a black-haired Gothic Lolita floating in mid-air, holding a black parasol in the cramped room, gazing down at the two of them.