Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.05

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Messianic dramaturgy

The vampires only fought for a few minutes, but to a regular human like me, it felt like forever. Lives were most definitely on the line here.

The battle that unfolded in front of us was ferocious. Their arms, legs, and fangs scratched at each other, tearing pieces from each other’s bodies, yet most of their wounds healed up in the blink of an eye. Neither Scarlet nor Elizabeth paid any heed to the blood they were shedding, or the pain. Of course, there was no way Natsunagi or I could intervene. All we could do was stand in a corner and watch the monsters maul each other.

“Kimizuka? Doesn’t it look as if Scarlet’s only using his left wing?” Natsunagi murmured, as we took cover in the shadow of the water tower. It was true—he’d only unfurled one of the black wings the Inventor had given him.

“Maybe the other one was damaged in the fight on the way here?”

“Maybe. It’s pretty obvious he’s favoring his right side.”

Natsunagi may not have had Saikawa’s sapphire eye, but her own ruby-red eyes analyzed the flow of the battle. For a period of her life, she’d experienced combat as Hel, so she could still see more about some aspects of the situation than an ordinary person could.

“Ah, I see. I’ll tear off your remaining wing as well, then.”

Elizabeth had also noticed Scarlet’s injury. Her eyes glowed eerily, and several of the mummies that had already been taken out got back up. The undying minions all rushed Scarlet at once, grabbing him by the arms and legs, creating a brief opening.

Elizabeth was already in the air by then. Her lost leg was regenerating, although the muscles were exposed. “The idea of colluding with that scientist, of all people! Gah, it makes me so mad.” She aimed a devastating kick at Scarlet with her undamaged leg.

“____________!”

Scarlet guarded with his wing, but her kick went right through it. He flew backward, and black fragments scattered through the air. The wing the Inventor had given him had been brutally shattered.

“Our race has no allies. The government, scientists, humans—they’re all our enemies!”

Elizabeth charged like the wind. She had no weapon, nor did she need one; her right arm was a spear that would run her prey through. Scarlet climbed unsteadily to his feet, and almost immediately, the two of them clashed.

“—Ungh!”

We heard a brief sob. The battle was over. A figure had collapsed—Elizabeth.

Scarlet was holding a large, oddly shaped sword in his right hand. He definitely hadn’t had that a moment ago; its red blade almost looked as if it was made of solidified blood.

“In battle, he who deceives wins.”

Had Stephen invented that weapon, too? It might have used the same optical camouflage as Scarlet’s wings; however, the vanquished didn’t have the right to know these answers. Wounded by the blade, Elizabeth sank to her knees on the concrete, violently spitting up blood.

“Elizabeth, you can’t defeat me.” Scarlet gazed coldly down at his defeated opponent, his white suit dyed with blood. “We’re merely on different levels. No matter how one struggles, the weak can’t defeat the strong. You can’t overturn destiny.”

“____________!”

“Accept your fate. No—take pride in it. You’ve reached the end of your natural lifespan. Ascend to heaven.” Scarlet was a breath away from destroying the last evil vampire, completing his mission as a Tuner.

“…I won’t be going there. Hell will do.” Spitting up blood, Elizabeth climbed shakily to her feet.

“You’ll die if you don’t focus on recovering your organs.”

“You’re the one who declared my life was over. At the end, I’ll stand on my own two feet and fulfill my mission,” Elizabeth said, glaring at Scarlet. “I’ll take the traitor who keeps killing his innocent kin with me!”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she’d said.

Scarlet was killing innocent vampires?

That couldn’t be right.

“Scarlet’s only defeating evil vampires as a Tuner…”

But the white demon turned to look at me and Natsunagi—both of us visibly unsettled—and gave a brief, mocking smile.

When had it started?

How long had we had the wrong idea? How long had he been tricking us?

“Matters cannot always be delineated in terms of red and black.”

That remark Scarlet had made. Had I already been taken in by his words back then? Had I unconsciously started to avoid pursuing answers and the truth?

“I vowed I’d stop you no matter what it took. That I would use what little remained of my life to protect my fellow vampires!” As Elizabeth spat out these words, her face was a mask of resentment.

They’d effectively swapped roles: Elizabeth was on the side of justice, and Scarlet was evil.

“Why? Scarlet, why would you go around killing vampires who haven’t done anything?” What did he get out of it?

But Elizabeth was the one who answered. “It’s simple. He did it so he could be the lone survivor. The old Federation Government ordered the destruction of the vampire race; however, in exchange for becoming a Tuner and accepting that mission, this man was officially granted permission to survive! That ridiculous position name, ‘Vampire,’ is proof that he is the only vampire in the world they recognize…!” she shrieked, tears of blood running down her cheeks.

Scarlet didn’t respond. His face was blank. Now that the fight was over, all he had to do was wait for Elizabeth’s life to run out.

“But Scarlet, I’ll tell you this: The Federation Government will betray you.” Getting her breathing under control, Elizabeth tried to start a conversation.

Scarlet’s expression shifted very slightly; apparently, he was listening.

“Last year, I tortured a certain Tuner and got some information out of them. They were working in secret to eliminate the Vampire, on the orders of the Federation Government, and were supposed to do it after you’d destroyed all the vampires. The government has always considered you expendable.”

“Oh? And who was that Tuner?” Scarlet’s eyes narrowed.

He wanted to know who had been trying to eliminate him.

“Fritz Stewart, the Revolutionary.”

I hadn’t been expecting to hear that name, and my shoulders flinched.

“Who’s that?” Natsunagi asked, and I gave her a brief rundown: That the Revolutionary was a man who’d been involved in politics in both the public and hidden spheres of the world. That, when Siesta and I had met him last summer, Fritz had actually been an impostor, having had his identity stolen by the Phantom Thief.

Exactly—Fritz Stewart, the Revolutionary, was already dead by then.

“I see. So it was you who killed him, Elizabeth?” Scarlet had ascertained the truth. When we’d met him, the Phantom Thief had told us that he hadn’t been the one to kill Fritz. Who would’ve believed we’d find a connection to that case here?

“Now do you see?” Dragging her leg, Elizabeth took a step closer to Scarlet. “The Federation Government is our enemy. So are the Tuners. We were born as the children of demons, and our race has no allies. There’s no place for us in this world. So let’s leave it together.” With a smile, Elizabeth gently spread her arms. “Scarlet, in the end, you were a disposable pawn of the government. However, we are kin. Members of a race that dies young. The same blood flows through both of us; we share the same pain, the same sins. We are one another’s only comrades.”

Elizabeth approached Scarlet, one step after another. Until finally… “Everyone’s equal in hell. Let’s find happiness in the next world.”

I heard a dull impact.

Elizabeth’s right arm had impaled Scarlet’s stomach.

“Scarlet!” I yelled without thinking. I tried to run to him, but Natsunagi stopped me.

Once again, the one who’d collapsed was Elizabeth.

“Wh-why…?”

“You meant to devour me and be the sole survivor, didn’t you?”

Elizabeth had fallen to her knees, and Scarlet’s face was dark as he looked down at her. The arm she’d impaled him with had melted, almost as if it had evaporated.

“…Ha! Did you lace your own body with poison? Well done.” Understanding her opponent’s trick, Elizabeth laughed. It was a feat that would only have been possible for the king of vampires, with his extraordinary ability to regenerate.

“…So this is the end? This is the role I was given?” Elizabeth looked up at the sky, a whisper escaping her lips. “So I wasn’t the hero? …Ha-ha! Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”