The restaurant was discreet, a traditional refuge in the middle of the urban bustle. Red lanterns flickered at the entrance, and the scent of hot broth and spices floated through the air. Vergil and Sapphire followed Kaguya down the narrow tatami corridor, where the muffled sound of conversation and laughter created a cozy atmosphere.
Vergil was wearing an impeccably cut black overcoat that fell to his knees. Underneath, a gray shirt with a high collar marked his athletic figure, and well-fitting dark pants completed the ensemble. His silver hair still had traces of disarray, but this only enhanced his intimidating presence.
Sapphire, next to her, wore a wine dress that hugged her curves naturally. The thin fabric reflected the ambient light, and a subtle side slit revealed the smooth skin of her leg with every step. Her long dark blue hair was partially tied up, with a few loose strands framing her face with its refined features.
Kaguya, anwhile, maintained her elegant posture in a white kimono, embroidered with discreet gold details. The black obi marked her slender waist, and her hair tied up in a traditional bun added an air of sophistication. Despite her composure, there was sothing rigid about her movents, as if she was still deciding which posture to adopt in front of her unusual companions.
The attendant guided them to a reserved area, where a low table made of dark wood awaited them. After settling in, the initial silence was broken by the soft sound of tea being served.
"This place has an interesting atmosphere." Vergil comnted, observing his surroundings.
Kaguya nodded, pouring herself so tea with delicate movents. "It's quiet... discreet. Frequented by people who prefer to avoid the spotlight."
Sapphire smiled, drumming her fingers against the edge of the table. "Hmmm, it's a good refuge then. Do you co here often?"
Kaguya hesitated for a mont before answering. "From ti to ti. The nu is nice, and the service is... reliable."
The choice of words made Sapphire arch an eyebrow slightly.
The dishes began to arrive - handmade sushi laid out on a porcelain plate, portions of golden tempura and steaming bowls of ran. The conversation unfolded naturally, revolving around trivia: the quality of the sake, the most striking flavors of the local cuisine, the subtlety of the preparation.
Vergil, in an apparently casual gesture, rested his glass on the table and looked out at the street beyond the window. "I imagine that maintaining order in certain circles is complicated... Predictability has beco a rare luxury these days."
Kaguya held the chopsticks for a mont before taking a piece of sushi. "It depends on how you deal with the unexpected. So prefer absolute control... others bet on adaptation."
"Interesting." Sapphire comnted, gently stirring the sake in her glass. "I imagine you see a lot of that, don't you? Dealing with different strategies, managing conflicting interests..."
Kaguya relaxed slightly, bringing the glass of tea to her lips. "It's part of the job. Influential people have their own ways of solving problems."
Vergil tilted his head slightly. "And so must be more ticulous than others."
Kaguya let out a small, almost imperceptible sigh. "Naturally."
Dinner proceeded unhurriedly. Sapphire conducted the conversation smoothly, veering between trivia and subtle topics. Kaguya, without realizing it, had loosened up enough to let details slip out here and there. Small gestures, pauses and word choices revealed more than she realized.
When the last cup of sake was finally emptied, Sapphire rested her chin on her hand, a satisfied gleam in her eyes. "It's been a pleasant evening."
Vergil just grinned, twirling the cup between his fingers. And Kaguya had no idea.
Vergil twirled the empty cup between his fingers, his silver eyes reflecting the soft light of the lanterns. A discreet smile appeared on his lips before he muttered, as if comnting on the mood of the evening:
"Did you know you were being followed, Kaguya?"
The woman's white kimono moved slightly as she raised her eyes to him, surprise contained in her expression. But before she could reply, the sudden sound of sothing heavy tearing through the air caught everyone's attention.
BAM!
Two bodies went through the paper partition of the restaurant and were thrown towards the table, stopping in mid-air a few centiters from the floor. The two vampires, their faces contorted in horror, struggled futilely against an invisible force that lifted them by the neck. Their feet kicked the void, clawing at their throats as if they were trying to pull on a steel necklace that wasn't there.
Kaguya remained still, but her hands tightened the fabric of her kimono for a mont. Her eyes moved quickly from Vergil to Sapphire, searching for any clue as to what was going on.
"How rude." Sapphire sighed, leisurely picking up a piece of sushi. "I don't like being spied on while I eat."
Vergil tilted his head slightly, watching the vampires squirm like uncontrolled puppets. His smile didn't change, but the cold glint in his eye made it clear that he was far from annoyed - in fact, he seed amused.
"I suppose these are acquaintances of yours, Kaguya?" He asked, his serene voice contrasting with the brutal scene before them.
She took a deep breath before answering, keeping her posture rigid. "I don't recognize them."
Vergil flicked a finger, and the vampires were pulled even higher, their bones crackling under the pressure. One of them managed to let out a choked grunt before the air began to escape from his lungs.
"That makes things interesting." He said, almost casually.
The restaurant remained in an oppressive silence. By now, the few custors who were present had sneaked out, fearful of getting involved in sothing way beyond their capabilities.
Sapphire crossed her legs, watching the two vampires as if they were broken pieces in a ga of chess. "They don't sll like Alucard... do they?"
Vergil didn't answer imdiately, but the invisible grip intensified, and the vampires' eyes began to roll. The life drained out of them like sand through their fingers.
Kaguya finally spoke, her voice firm but controlled. "If that's the case, then perhaps it would be wise to listen to them before crushing them like insects."
Vergil blinked slowly, and then, with a snap of his fingers, the bodies were thrown to the ground like dolls without strings. The vampires choked, trying to suck in air greedily.
"Convincing." He said, leaning forward. "Very good. Speak up. Now."
The two vampires swallowed, trembling. They knew that death had already grazed their necks.
The two vampires crawled on the ground, coughing as they tried to catch their breath. Vergil's gaze hung over them like the blade of a guillotine about to fall. The silence in the restaurant was suffocating.
One of them, still shaking, tried to speak, but his voice ca out garbled, a hoarse squeak that barely ford words. He swallowed and tried again.
"N-Our master... He asked us..." He stopped, his eyes going from Vergil to Sapphire and then to Kaguya, as if looking for an invisible way out. "He asked us to follow Alucard's personal maid."
The tension deepened. Kaguya remained still, but her hands hidden under the long sleeves of her kimono tightened.
Sapphire raised an eyebrow and cast a discreet glance at Vergil before muttering, almost as if she were bored: "Funny. Looks like soone underestimated your discretion, Kaguya."
The woman didn't reply, keeping her countenance impassive.
Vergil rested his chin on one hand and let a thin smile slip. "And what kind of master asks you to follow a simple maid?" His voice was calm, but carried an unmistakable weight.
The other vampire, more nervous, cringed as he realized that Vergil's eyes were on him now. He stamred, trying to formulate sothing coherent. "N-We don't know! We just follow orders!"
"Ah..." Vergil sighed and, with an almost lazy movent of his hand, the invisible force grabbed one of the vampires again, lifting him a few centiters off the ground. The desperation in the creature's eyes grew instantly.
"I asked for your master's na." He repeated, his voice now carrying sothing cold and implacable.
The vampire gasped, trying to resist the crushing pressure that squeezed his body, but in the end he gave in. Dragamir
"D-Dragamir!" He shouted. "V-Vladislaus Dragamir! He sent us!" Sapphire exchanged a glance with Vergil, her smile becoming a little sharper.
"How convenient." She comnted, leaning her face on her hand. "Looks like our dinner ca with an unexpected dessert."
Vergil tilted his head slightly at Kaguya, watching her curiously. "Did you know that?"
She kept her composure, but her eyes flashed for a brief mont. "No. But now I'm curious."
The vampire still held by Vergil's power struggled, his eyes wide, while his companion remained motionless, completely overco by fear.
Vergil let out an amused sigh, resting his chin on his hand. His cold, precise gaze analyzed the two fallen vampires as if they were re insects crushed to the ground. Then he smiled cuttingly. "Well... I believe that garbage should be cleaned up, regardless of the occasion, right?"
Sapphire moved with the grace of a satiated predator, raising her hand as a crimson fla rose from her fingertips. The fire twitched, pulsing as if it were alive, as if it yearned for what was about to happen.
She twirled her fingers in the air, letting the fla dance between them, before blowing softly. The breath was almost a whisper, but it carried a death sentence.
The first spark touched the vampires' skin like a burning kiss. One of them let out a muffled moan of pain, his eyes wide as the fire crawled over his flesh like hungry worms. In an instant, his skin began to blacken, crackling and twisting as the flas spread.
The other vampire tried to crawl away, but before he could even let out a cry, the flas consud him. His body convulsed violently, muscles rippling in spasms as the unbearable heat enveloped him.
"AaaaAAAHHHH! NO! NO, PLEASE! AH, DO ANYTHING TO , BUT GET THOSE FLAS OUT! KILL SO OTHER WAY!"
The screams were not just of pain, but of visceral horror. Their flesh liquefied, dripping in steaming clumps onto the floor. The bones began to glow a reddish hue, like tal being lted in a blacksmith's forge. The sll of burning flesh filled the room, thick and nauseating, making it impossible for anyone to ignore the agony they were in.
One of them struggled frantically, his hands already reduced to charred stumps while his jaw tried to move, as if he could still beg for rcy. But all that ca out of his throat was a gurgling noise, his vocal cords already turned to ash.
The second vampire didn't even have the strength to scream for long. His face was no longer recognizable, just a blackened skull covered in lted flesh. His last expression was one of pure despair before his head collapsed in a pile of smoking ashes.
Sapphire watched the scene with a slight smile on her lips, her eyes flickering like embers in the darkness.
"So fragile..." She murmured, making a delicate movent with her fingers. The remaining flas danced in the air before disappearing, leaving only a pair of black smudges on the ground and the suffocating sll of death.
Vergil tilted his head, satisfied. "At least they were good for sothing, if only to entertain us."
Vergil turned his gaze to Kaguya, his cold eyes reflecting the red glow of the dying flas on the ground. The thick sll of burning flesh still hung in the air, suffocating, mixed with the black smoke rising from the ashes of the incinerated vampires.
Kaguya remained motionless, as if trying to convince herself that it wasn't real. Her face remained neutral, but her hands, hidden under the long sleeves of her white silk kimono, were clenched so tightly that her fingers trembled.
Vergil noticed.
"Kaguya," he called softly, but his voice carried a note of implied threat. "How about you go and report to your master what's happened here?"
He smiled - a smile that didn't belong to a human being, but to a demon playing with its prey. The kind of smile that made instinct scream to run.
Kaguya felt a chill run down her spine like ice claws scratching her skin. Her heart hamred in her chest and, for a brief mont, she couldn't breathe.
'M-monsters...!'
The word echoed in her mind as her body instinctively cringed. Her throat closed up and her stomach churned violently. The oppressive feeling around her was overwhelming, as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she couldn't wake up.
An involuntary tremor ran through her legs, and she felt her muscles fail. The pressure was so intense that if she hadn't forced herself to take a deep breath, she would have collapsed right there.
But what was worse was the damp heat that spread through her depths for a terrible instant.
'No... not here...'
Horror overtook his body as he realized what had almost happened. Sha and fear mixed in a storm inside her, but she swallowed dry and did her best to maintain her dignity.
She couldn't weaken now.
Kaguya took a deep breath, forcing her legs to move. Her steps were calculated, rigid, as if she were walking across a minefield. Her gaze avoided that of Vergil and Sapphire, but even without looking directly at them, she knew they were amused by her state.
"Excuse ..." Her voice ca out low, but steady. She needed to get out of there before her body betrayed her even more.
Vergil only tilted his head slightly, watching her with cruel fascination, while Sapphire crossed her arms, her amused smile never faltering.
Alucard's maid turned away, trying to maintain her impeccable posture, but the truth was clear: They had put enough fear into her.
Sapphire let out a low, almost lodic laugh as she poured more sake into her glass, her eyes shining with a mixture of amusent and sothing more dangerous. She swirled the drink gently, watching the liquid dance before bringing the cup to her lips.
"You're cruel." Her voice carried a tone of amusent, but also appreciation.
Vergil smiled sideways, leaning back slightly with the sa predatory nonchalance of a wolf after a feast. He twirled his own cup between his fingers, observing the last remnants of the sake as if they were irrelevant.
"Are you going to tell you don't like it?" His question ca with an unwavering, almost defiant certainty.
Sapphire licked a remaining drop from her lips before smiling, her eyes sparkling like rubies in the restaurant's flickering light.
"I love it."
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