Strike the Blood, Vol. 10: Bride of the Dark God by Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako

Author:Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako [Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2018-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

5

Celesta Ciate was standing on a pier outside the harbor.

She was wearing leather sandals and a colorful, embroidered dress. Her trademark honey-colored hair was flapping in the strong ocean breeze.

She leaned over a rusted railing as she gazed absentmindedly at a ship floating in the bay. It was an extraordinarily large, privately owned cruise ship, the Oceanus Grave II—if the words of Kojou Akatsuki proved true, Dimitrie Vattler would be aboard.

I want to meet Dimitrie Vattler, she had thought. He is the savior who rescued me from despair in that blood-drenched temple. But…I don’t want to meet him, she also reflected. I feel like, if I meet him, everything will come to an end. All of this tranquility, like a brief, happy dream—

“Celesta—!”

Kojou called her name. With annoyance, Celesta looked over her shoulder in the direction of the voice. Kojou, out of breath from running, saw for himself that Celesta was all right, so he stopped, seemingly exhausted of strength. Yukina, standing still at his side, took a handkerchief out and began meticulously wiping his sweat-covered brow. They’re acting intimate even in a public place, thought Celesta, twitching an eyebrow.

She’d figured they’d probably catch up eventually, but it had been much faster than she’d anticipated.

They’ve probably been looking for me pretty desperately. Grudgingly, she could not fail to acknowledge that this made her just a little bit happy, but she covered up that emotion with a glare at Kojou.

“What did you come for?! Are you a stalker?! You really are a pervert, aren’t you?!” she accused.

“Oh, shut up! What do you think you’re doing?! Running off on your own like that—what would you do if you couldn’t meet Vattler, huh?!”

Kojou replaced Celesta’s barbs with one of his own.

“Th-that doesn’t have anything to do with you!”

“Like hell it doesn’t, idiot.”

“I-idiot…?! Did you just call me an idiot…?!”

“I’m here because I want to save you! Come with us already!”

“What the hell?! That doesn’t make sense!”

Celesta continued giving Kojou an annoyed glare, even while feeling overwhelmed by his unnerving bluster. However, he did not avert his eyes.

Finally, Celesta seemed to relent, her cheeks puffing up in a pout as she belatedly murmured, “I remembered.”

“Ah?”

“Memories from before Lord Vattler rescued me. Just a little, though.”

“Then that means…”

Kojou broke off what he was going to say halfway. He knew that Celesta’s last memory had been of someone trying to kill her in that temple.

“They…abducted me from my village and took me to a run-down temple deep in the forest. They meant to use me as a sacrifice.”

Celesta put her fragmented memories into words.

The silhouette of the Oceanus Grave II had triggered the return of her memories. She’d seen the ship once before, probably right before being transported to Itogami Island after the tragedy at the temple.

“By them, you mean the beast men? Zazalamagiu worshippers?” Kojou asked belligerently.

However, Celesta shook her head. “You’re wrong… Those were the people…trying to protect me…”

“…What?!”

“The people trying to sacrifice me were…soldiers. A woman…was giving them orders.”

Celesta closed her eyes as she remembered the scene.

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