When the edge of the chain finally touched her forehead, Elena exclaimed, “I give up!”
The way she said the words, it seemed like she was spitting up blood.
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III
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To be completely honest, she wasn’t even sure that was going to save her. He’ll just cut me down here and now—that was her strongest feeling. Somewhere in her heart, she thought it would be inevitable coming from that young man. And that was why she was left so stunned when the pressure she felt was gone so suddenly.
But the surprises didn’t end there.
D had turned his gaze toward the manor as if he’d lost all interest in her, but she saw his right hand.
“Where’s the sword!” the girl exclaimed.
It was at that point every inch of Elena’s flesh rose with goose bumps. She’d seen a flash of steel, felt it strike her chain, and even heard the sound of it. Although each of these had the earmarks of a fierce blow from a skilled blade, she had to wonder if it’d all been an illusion. Could it be the blow she’d barely managed to stop, and then struggled with all her might to deflect with absolutely no success, had been nothing more than a barehanded chop?
“Is there anyone in the manor aside from the four knights?”
It was only several seconds later that the girl understood D was asking her a question. And she didn’t answer until several seconds more had passed.
“I don’t know. No one’s been inside.”
And that was all she said before she hung her head. She’d realized that if D was holding his sword, she’d never be able to stop it and would inevitably be cut in two. Then she suddenly thought of something. Looking up again with desperation on her face, she asked, “Do you want something up there? Say, could it be—you’re a Vampire Hunter, aren’t you?”
“Ever been outside it?” asked D.
“Sure I have. Plenty of times,” Elena replied, feeling the center of her chest grow hot. In dribs and drabs, blood began to work its way through her frozen heart once more. “There are no defense systems right up to the castle walls. There used to be all kinds of stuff set up in the old days, but if there’s any now they’ll only be on the inside.”
“How about entrances?”
“Nothing but the castle gate—I was going to say, but there’s one more. Again, this was a long time ago, but when some folks from the village were preparing for guerrilla warfare, they made a hole in the wall the day before. Not long ago—maybe three days back—I was out that way and it’s still there. Don’t worry,” she added, “it’s more than big enough for you to get through. So, you going up there?”
“If you don’t have any business with me, go home.”
“No way. Take me with you,” Elena said as she felt power surging through her body.
All her despair was banished. The young man who’d bested her like she was a mere infant was going to fight the Noble up in the manor. The mere thought of it was enough to make her body tremble with excitement.
“I’ve got some serious ill will toward those clowns,” Elena said. “The princess, in particular. Come on, you’ve gotta let me help you. I take back what I said earlier. I’ve got no problem with you running the show.”
“It takes more than ill will to destroy a Noble,” D said frostily as he looked up at the sky.
Elena imagined he was calculating how long he had until sunset.
The figure in black leaned forward casually. Without a sound, he drifted down from a height of fifty feet. The way his coat spread out reminded the girl of a certain creature. It looked just like a—
As the traveler was heading for his horse, the girl called out to him, “I’m going, too!”
And with that cry Elena tightened her grip on her chain and raced after D.
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Less than five minutes after leaving the ruins, Elena found herself mired in a new sense of surprise. Although her bike was supposed to be twice as fast as the average cyborg horse, she could barely keep up with the galloping rider. Since it didn’t look like he was riding a custom model, the only conclusion she could draw was that it was due to his horsemanship.
When they reached the foot of the hill, D looked back at the girl and said, “Wait here.”
“Not a chance,” Elena replied, shaking her head. “After all, I haven’t even told you where the hole is yet. I don’t care how good you are, you’ll still be looking for it when the sun goes down. And once that happens, much as you may hate it, the princess will be in her element. Even if that doesn’t happen, the four knights still move around by day, too. You could use all the friends you can get.”
Saying nothing, D rode up to the bike and leaned over. His left hand reached out and took hold of the handlebars. A second later he let go and wheeled his horse around. He didn’t lash his mount or give it the spurs; he just rode on with the reins in his hands.
“Of all the nerve,” Elena spat. But as she gave the accelerator a twist, her eyes bulged in their sockets.
Her bike wouldn’t budge. Although the engine was running, the transmission wasn’t functioning.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she grumbled. “I just tuned the damn thing this morning!”
Without so much as a backward glance at Elena as she wildly wrestled with the throttle, the black pair of rider and mount swiftly dwindled in the distance.
“You’re gonna pay for that, buster!” Elena shouted with all the anger in her heart.
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The layout of the grounds around the manor and the traps set there were things D had committed to memory.
Mazes, quicksand, flooding areas, spear-lined pits, swarms of monstrous insects—these were not the only death traps that might prove inescapable for invaders. The electronic brains that controlled everything surely maintained their constant vigil through the day, too. And even if someone made it through all of those defenses, the four knights would be waiting for him. This wasn’t the sort of place anyone who valued his life would go.
D advanced in silence.
Suddenly the scenery changed. Greenery so dark it was nearly black seemed to have been utterly rooted out here, leaving the reddish brown soil exposed. Bereft of a single rock or tree or blade of grass, the tableau that stretched before him was one of relentless destruction and ruin.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, D rode right through the area. Soon he heard the sound of running water growing closer. After continuing on for another five minutes, the horse and rider found their advance blocked by a powerful torrent of water.
Clear as glass, the river seemed to swerve away from the hill to the west—where the castle loomed—as it rushed along to provide water for this whole region. Further upstream—about sixty feet from the Hunter’s present location—a rope bridge spanned the river. Thirty feet in the air, it stretched three times that length and ended at the base of a steep slope that led directly to the castle gate.
When he was just fifteen feet shy of the bridge, a voice that D alone heard said, “This sure is fishy.” The words echoed from the vicinity of his left hand, which was wrapped around the reins. “The brush we came through earlier, this river, the bridge—they’re all rigged with all kinds of traps. That’s what my gut’s telling me. What,” the hand then exclaimed, “you’ve already started across it?! You just don’t listen, do you?”
Yet for all the objections and dissatisfaction the voice had carried, D crossed the bridge without incident and came to a path that ran like a tunnel through rows of trees with interwoven branches. The sun was blotted out, and shadows and light began to form a vivid mosaic on the rider and his horse.
“See—it’s starting already,” the voice said.
At the round exit from the sheltered pathway stood a crimson horse and rider.
The air was tinged with omens of combat.
This was enemy territory—and D would be at a tremendous disadvantage. Yet the gorgeous huntsman advanced. As if that was the way he’d always gone, without hesi
tation or fear.
The Red Knight remained just as he was, too.
An irresistible force and an immovable object—what would happen when the two of them met? Even the leaves on the branches interlacing overhead seemed to listen intently and have their eyes wide open for that moment.
However, the Red Knight quickly stepped to one side.
D went right by him on the covered path as if it were completely natural. He didn’t even glance at his formidable opponent.
“I’ve come to meet you and serve as your guide,” the Red Knight said in a voice like grating metal after the Hunter had gone several steps past him.
“I don’t need one,” D replied.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. We’ve known for some time now that you would come. I have orders from the princess to come meet you, but to do nothing else.”
The sun was still high. Although this was the time when the Nobility should be slumbering, there were some who merely entered their coffins but remained awake.
Giving a kick to his mount’s flanks, the Red Knight galloped over to D. “Regardless of your wishes,” he continued, “I will serve as your guide. That is my duty to my liege.”
Still facing forward, D asked, “What would you do if I came at you with my sword?”
Rarely did the Hunter pose a question like that.
“I would have no choice but to stand there and be cut down. I’ve not been told to fight.”
Those were surprising words coming from the mouth of a knight whose ferocity was unrivaled.
“Then your lady must be quite important to you.”
“Correct.”
“And if you were ordered to do so, could you stand by and watch as I cut down your princess and the others?” asked D.
“In that case, I would take my own life after killing you,” the Red Knight replied. “However, there’s no need to worry on that account.” In a tone of unassailable confidence he continued, “If you think the princess could be killed by the likes of you—well, once you’ve met her, you’ll understand.”
Saying no more, he continued on for another five minutes, and the two of them came to the bottom of a wide slope. At the top of that nearly sixty-degree incline the manor and the walls that surrounded it were visible.
“This slope is the last line of defense,” said the Red Knight.
His ordinary voice was enough to make children go pale, but now it had an even stranger ring to it. That of nostalgia.
“In times past,” he continued, “we came down this to meet our foes in battle. Forces that vastly outnumbered us have pushed in this far. However, not even the mightiest of foes ever gained the top of this slope. We formed an iron wall where wave after wave of attackers broke until the enemy eventually retreated. Though that was all so very long ago.”
His voice cut out. And when he quickly started speaking again, his tone had changed once more.
“What we did then and do now has always been prompted by the spirit of our princess, who defends this solitary outpost. In the world below, they are quick to speak of the end of the Nobility, but we recognize no such occurrence. We shall not allow that in the domain of our princess. For here the Nobility are still resplendent in their glory.”
The crimson horse set one hoof on the steep slope. The way it climbed so easily seemed to defy the law of gravity.
After ascending roughly a hundred and fifty feet, the knight asked, “Having trouble keeping up?” But when he turned around, what he saw made his eyes go wide within his helmet.
D was less than three paces behind him.
The soil covering the slope would collapse with frightening ease—this was to prevent foes from advancing any further. Climbing it at a steady pace required equestrian skills far greater than most riders possessed.
As they sent black earth sliding downward, the pair finished their ascent of the slope and soon came to the gate. The towers that adorned all four corners of the manor, the passageways linking all the smaller buildings, and the very manor itself all had a stately air, but those who beheld this structure were bound to get a far different impression. Thousands of cracks formed spidery webs in the towering stone walls, the spires of the towers were on the point of collapse, and the masonry was riddled with little holes that gaped like vacant eye sockets. And while the crossed antennae for harnessing both the power of the wind and the electrical energy in the air continued to turn, that only served to make the rest of this place seem dead by comparison.
These were clearly ruins.
“Open the gate!” the Red Knight bellowed. His voice was so loud that it seemed like it could blast away the air before his mouth and create a vacuum. “On orders from the princess, I’ve brought D,” he added. “Open the gate!”
Before the echoes of his voice had faded there was the sound of iron scraping iron and a black shadow dropped across them from above. Between the two of them and the gate lay a deep moat that was bone dry. And the door that barred the gate was actually a drawbridge.
While such an accessory was appropriate for a fortress, it hardly suited a manor of such simple but elegant taste. Two thick chains stretched from either side of the drawbridge to disappear into the castle.
After the bridge touched down with an earth-shaking thud, the pair crossed it and entered the castle.
A desolate sight greeted D. The front yard of the manor.
The mounds of brush and dead leaves that had accumulated called to mind the random peaks left by eroding soil. The roof of each and every bower had collapsed, and in part of the main manor all that remained were white pillars. When mercilessly exposed by the sunlight, the scene didn’t have an iota of the grace the term “extinction” might imply, and the light only served to emphasize the lurid nature of the place to a spine-chilling degree.
“Don’t let any of this mislead you. This is merely its daylight form,” the Red Knight told the traveler as his horse advanced toward an outbuilding that was fairly undamaged by comparison. One room that D passed through seemed to have been maintained by someone, as it still retained the luxurious gold and crystal appointments from its construction long ago.
“As you are no doubt aware, you shall have to wait until night.”
And with that final remark, the Red Knight headed toward the door. Then stopped in his tracks. When he spun around, D was standing right behind him.
“Why, you . . . ,” the knight groaned as the most unearthly aura blasted his face—and for the first time he realized what the gorgeous young man actually was. “Only once in the past has anyone ever angered me so,” said the knight. “Are you one of those, too—a Vampire Hunter?”
“Yes, I am,” said D. “Where can I find the princess and everyone else?”
As D asked the question, both his arms hung idly by his sides. He didn’t have a single muscle tensed. And that’s what was scary. That was why he was someone to be feared.
“Do you actually think I would tell you?” the Red Knight finally replied with a mocking laugh. “Will you cut me down? So be it. I should love to fight you. However, my princess has ordered me not to raise a hand against you even if you take your blade to me. At the very least, you will not pass this way. D, I shall see you again in the next world.”
The knight stood tall in front of the door, his chest thrown out with determination. A veritable Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades.
“Aren’t you going to run away?” asked D.
The Red Knight roared with laughter. “I don’t believe I’ve ever even heard that expression before.”
Even if it might mean his own death, he seemed intent on watching every last movement of D’s blade. But as the knight’s eyes were open wide, their depths reflected a sudden flash. A flash of black.
Seeing the giant lose consciousness from a thrust into the thinnest part of his armor—the gorget around his throat—D returned his sheath and the sword it still held to his back.
“My, but he was a patient fellow,” a low voice said wi
th admiration from the Hunter’s left hand.
The Red Knight didn’t fall. He’d lost consciousness still standing there like a wrathful temple guardian.
“Well, that’s that. Mind if I ask you a question?” said the disembodied voice. “Are you gonna knock him over, or did you have something else in mind?” the voice cackled, but its laughter ended in a muffled cry.
Clenching his left hand tightly enough to nearly break his own fingers, D kicked off the floor. The hem of his coat fluttering like wings, he soared like a mystic bird to the skylight fifteen feet above him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hideyuki Kikuchi was born in Chiba, Japan in 1949. He attended the prestigious Aoyama University and wrote his first novel Demon City Shinjuku in 1982. Over the past two decades, Kikuchi has authored numerous horror novels, and is one of Japan’s leading horror masters, writing novels in the tradition of occidental horror authors like Fritz Leiber, Robert Bloch, H. P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King. As of 2004, there are seventeen novels in his hugely popular ongoing Vampire Hunter D series. Many live action and anime movies of the 1980s and 1990s have been based on Kikuchi’s novels.
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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Yoshitaka Amano was born in Shizuoka, Japan. He is well known as a manga and anime artist and is the famed designer for the Final Fantasy game series. Amano took part in designing characters for many of Tatsunoko Productions’ greatest cartoons, including Gatchaman (released in the U.S. as G-Force and Battle of the Planets). Amano became a freelancer at the age of thirty and has collaborated with numerous writers, creating nearly twenty illustrated books that have sold millions of copies. Since the late 1990s Amano has worked with several American comics publishers, including DC Comics on the illustrated Sandman novel Sandman: The Dream Hunters with Neil Gaiman and Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer with best-selling author Greg Rucka for Marvel Comics.
Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part 2 Page 27