Vampire Hunter D: Dark Nocturne Page B

“Why would you protect them? It doesn’t seem to be out of some sort of youthful humanitarianism.”
    And then his voice dipped lower, as if he’d suddenly thought of something, and he said, “Are you certain nothing happened last night?”
    Ry didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
    â€œNot that it matters much. We’ve got to hurry up and take care of that group down below.”
    Opening a flap on his uniform, Bijima pulled out a square lump. There was a slim silver tube stuck in it. A fuse—and the block was plastic explosive. Judging by the pinkish color, it was an incendiary charge. While the fifty-thousand-degree blast might not kill true Nobles, it would be far more than their servants could withstand. Bijima’s thick fingers gave the fuse a twist, and then the man brought back his right arm for an underhand throw.
    â€œStop it!
    The boy was about to rush forward when a flash of white zipped right in front of his nose. As he recoiled, the bomb flew in a parabolic arc over his head. But another line intersected it in midair. Destroying the fuse alone, a stake of rough wood came down and stuck in the bushes.
    â€œD?” both Ry and Amne shouted, while Price muttered the same name with infinite hatred. The blade he’d swung at Ry should’ve taken off the boy’s head. But at the warrior’s feet was the long thin stake that’d thrown his footwork into disarray.
    In a spot fifteen feet from either of the warriors stood the Vampire Hunter in inky black, backed by a colossal carving of a demonic head with eyes bulging and fangs bared.
    â€œWhat are you doing out here?” Price asked as he took a step back with his right leg to avoid the stake that’d foiled him. When he and his compatriot had left the mayor’s house, they’d come straight here. And they’d been given instructions from D that they’d be free to do what they liked until night. The ruins were something they’d learned about at a bar soon after they’d arrived in the village.
    â€œI followed the boy,” D replied succinctly.

 

“I see. Let’s call it a day, then,” Price said, returning his longsword to its sheath. “But I will have to report back to the mayor the fact that you spared a horde of Noble reserves.”
    â€œThere’s no need to do that,” D replied, his voice borne on the wind—a wind with an edge like a knife.
    As Price stared at him in amazement, he continued, “You were going to cut him down, weren’t you?” He was referring, of course, to Ry.
    A second later, Price decided what he had to do. There was no use trying to deny anything with this man.
    â€œKeep out of this,” he bade Bijima as he stepped to the fore, but as simple as that sounded, trying to take on D empty-handed was an act of complete insanity.
    A chill raced down Ry’s spine. The other man looked so utterly defenseless, it was actually unsettling.
    D dashed forward, the wind swirling in his wake. A silvery glint raced from his scabbard. And right before the Hunter’s eyes, a vermilion flash flared into existence. Still stuck in the same pose as when he’d brought his blade down the first time, D made no second attack.
    But he hadn’t slain his opponent. Price leapt back about six feet. In his face, a pair of red lights blazed. His eyes.
    â€œHow do you like my evil eyes?” Price asked as he blinked.
    Anyone who saw the demonic red light that radiated from his pupils would be blinded instantaneously, and there was nothing they could do to restore their sight. It would also send enough pain searing through their brain to drive a person insane. The eyes had the very same effect on even the most vicious of beasts or demonic creatures. The fact that the young man in black still held his sword—or worse, that he was also still on his feet—could’ve only seemed like a miracle or a nightmare to