Vampire Hunter D 16: Tyrant's Stars
Page 27
“You’re very perceptive,” the count replied, breaking into a grin. “While I was with Matthew, I became possessed. You’ll have to match steel with me, D!”
“Are you one of Sigma’s terminals?”
“Yes.”
D found nothing surprising about this third terminal—the “new” foe his left hand had identified. For this young man, foes existed to be slain—that’s all there was to it.
The “count” closed the distance between them—the possessed android had already discovered it was useless to try to play games with D. The spear thrusted repeatedly. Anyone could’ve seen its attacks weren’t lacking in power. If D had tried to parry one, his sword would have been broken or knocked out of his hands. But before the Hunter could do anything, he’d have to contend with the swiftness of those repeated jabs.
The android count made thirty thrusts a second, and D dodged or blocked them all. The Hunter’s parries were intense. Though it stood twelve feet away, the sentry couldn’t come any closer. Both its hands were numb—they’d lost some of their functionality. It made one more jab using all its deadly skill—but though it possessed the utmost speed and precision, its attacks followed a certain pattern.
Batting away the long spear with terrific force, D kicked off the ground. He became a black shooting star flying toward the giant’s chest. His blade bit deep.
When one of this young man’s strokes landed, it didn’t matter if his foe were human, Noble, or android. His sword had pierced a vital point—the section of the chest where the electronic brain was
housed. Electromagnetic waves flew in all directions, tingeing D’s exquisite countenance blue.
For an instant, the world shook violently, and from above the heads of the pair a vast amount of stony rubble and other building materials rained down.
The barrier had vanished. One of the missiles had scored a direct hit on the same floor where D was doing battle.
“I did it!” the blackened hand exclaimed atop the half-melted crystals. “You see that, Sigma? You’re finished, so kiss your ass goodbye!”
The left hand made a fist and bounced up into the air, but around it the points of light were rapidly fading.
“Damn, did we get taken out, too? Well, we’ll be back online in two seconds. Hang on, D!”
It was during those two seconds that the missile exploded.
When D managed to extract himself from the mountain of rubble, there was no sign of the faux count anywhere. That it was pinned under the wreckage seemed the least plausible scenario.
Two seconds later, the barrier was up again, but during that time the enemy, in flying gear, had crossed the moat and gotten about thirty men into the fortress. Lasers, missiles, and particle-cannon fire greeted them. Before the might of a defensive system that incorporated the Sacred Ancestor’s technology, the enemy soldiers were slain one after another, and all of them were gunned down within an hour. The corpses of each and every enemy soldier were delivered to Count Braujou in the operations center. Taking one look at them, the count arched his eyebrows and snatched up a lifeless body.
“What’s this?”
It was a dead tree branch less than a foot and a half in length.
The android count staggered aimlessly down the corridor. It had been given a backup electronic brain that supported the one damaged by D’s blow, and this brain was allowing it to move its legs. However, its foe’s attack had been sharp and precise. The shock had damaged the backup brain, and the android ultimately toppled in an empty stretch of corridor.
It was waiting for a death from which there would be no waking, but just then an incredibly large and wicked presence spread out above it.
“Hmm. One of Sigma’s terminals, are you?” the voice said.
The speaker made no attempt to touch it.
“In that case, you should be able to possess people. Do you still have enough strength to transfer?”
Was this a friend or a foe? The possessed android couldn’t decide, but for some reason it didn’t feel like fighting. The being sapped even its electronic will.
“Seurat, put out your hand.”
The android watched as an enormous hand stretched out by its face. It was about as large as the possessed android’s own. But it couldn’t possibly belong to the source of the voice. It knew that much. No matter how large the hand might have been, it still belonged to a living creature from this world. However, the source of the voice was not—he was something else entirely.
Using considerable strength, the faux count brought its right hand up to the outstretched one. As always, the final transfer was far from dramatic.
“Good enough,” it heard a voice say once it was inside the persona of Seurat.
“Who are you supposed to be?” the count called out to the gigantic figure up ahead.
Halting, the shadowy form turned and looked.
“Dear me,” the Nobleman said in spite of himself.
With a frame about the same size as the count’s, the figure wore the blue shirt and black vest that were considered standard warrior attire, and stuck through the belt that girded his waist was a weapon—a longsword. The man’s gloves and slacks were also black.
“Who are you?”
“Seurat is the name,” the giant replied, putting his feet together and making a slight bow. His eyes never left the count.
“You’re one of Valcua’s seven, aren’t you?”
Braujou could recall hearing the name before.
“That is correct. And you would be Count Braujou. Just the man I was looking for. I slipped in here during that missile explosion, but I have no idea where the children in question are. Kindly tell me where I might find them.”
“Hmph! And if 1 refuse?”
“Then you’ll leave me no choice. I’ll resort to my sword.”
The blade glistened in the giant’s right hand. But when had he drawn it?
He was the last of Valcua’s seven—Seurat. Now he stood against a Greater Noble.
Outside, the battle still raged. But where was D?
END
What I remember about Tyrant’s Stars is where I wrote it. Actually, I’d completely forgotten until I was asked to pen this postscript, and I was surprised when I looked at the postscript to the Japanese edition and saw it there. Where should I write it but Istanbul in Turkey?
Even on a sightseeing excursion overseas, I write manuscripts. You finish seeing the sights, have dinner, take a shower, and then relax . . . but I just can’t take it easy like that. On a trip overseas for ten days to two weeks, I’ll write anywhere from one hundred fifty to three hundred pages. Even in Japan, I’ll write anywhere. On the platform for a train out to the airport, in the train, in a taxi—although the wildest of all had to be the time when a deadline coincided with the final showing of a movie I wanted to see and I was actually writing at the theater. I’m not talking about sitting on a sofa in the lobby between shows. I mean in my seat, while the movie was playing. Fortunately it was a movie I’d seen before, so I knew which parts I wanted to see and which parts didn’t really matter. During the latter, I wrote by the light of the screen. Of course, that wasn’t bright enough. Since I couldn’t see the lines on the paper, I went by instinct. Just trying to get in the general area, you could say. When I checked what I’d written later, everything pretty much lined up, which was beyond strange and downright comedic! Even I had a good laugh that time.
That’s how I am, so when I go overseas it’s no different. While the bus is headed toward our destination, I write like mad... I only steal peeks at the scenery. But still it stays with me as a series of memories. Later, when I compare them to the recollections of my traveling companions, they overlap for the most part. Said companions then give me an odd look for a while, as if they were scrutinizing an alien disguised as a human being. Even I think it’s kind of a shame after going to all the trouble of visiting a foreign country.
On a plane though, with just sky and clouds around me, nothing beats writing. The bli
nds get drawn and everyone goes to sleep. But since I do my work while other people sleep, my pen just keeps going.
While we’re on the subject, I have this particular habit of always doing something while I write. On the way to New York, this inconvenienced those around me, but that discussion will have to wait until the next volume.
Hideyuki Kikuchi
August 19, 2010
while watching Horror Hotel