Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela 1

Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela 1 (終わりのセラフ 吸血鬼ミカエラの物語 1) is the first book of the Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela light novel series and seventh novel overall to Seraph of the End, written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto.

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance:
 * Mikaela Hyakuya (Prologue)
 * Mikaela's mother (Prologue)
 * Mikaela's father (Prologue)
 * Yūichirō Hyakuya (Chapter 1)
 * Ferid Bathory (Chapter 1)
 * Sakuma (Chapter 1)
 * Crowley Eusford (Chapter 1)
 * Josef von Esterhazy (Chapter 2)
 * Gilbert Chartes (Chapter 2)
 * Jose (Chapter 2)
 * Ella (Chapter 2)
 * Victor Roleine (Chapter 3)
 * Gustavo (Chapter 3)
 * Alfred (Chapter 3)
 * Rosso (Chapter 3)
 * Raux (Chapter 3)

Prologue
The prologue opens up stating that this is a story of revenge, going back to the origin of vampires when the angel Michaela fell to the earth.

Mikaela recalls the night his parents die. His father is speeding while drunk driving on the highway. His mother opens the door of their minivan and tells Mika to jump out. He says he does not want to and asks his father for help, but he ignores him.

He knows his alcoholic father will not help since he beats Mika every chance he gets and blames Mika for his wife's insanity. When his dad hit him, Mika would always tell him he loves him. Mika's mother began acting odd after joining a religious organization and attending strange gatherings back when Mika was five years old. His father began drinking around the same time. Mika wonders if that religion is the cause of all of this.

At 120 km/h, his mother smiles at him and tells him to jump. She tells him he will be okay because he is a chosen child. He promises to be a good boy. Since she says he is a good boy, he promises to be even better and make both of his parents happy. He cries, and she grabs his arm. If he wants to make them happy, then he has to jump off. She tells him he carries the name Michaela. He begs her not to abandon him, but she pushes him from the car.

Mika sustains many serious injuries and breaks both his right arm and left leg but remains conscious.

He sees his drunk father collide the minivan into another car and topple over, triggering a pileup and a huge explosion.

Years later, Mika wonders what his mother meant when she said he was a chosen child with the special name of Michaela. He lives on as vampire livestock.

Chapter 1
In Sanguinem in 2016, Mika donates his blood, cringing as the needle pierces his neck. He chats with Yuichiro, who is sitting next to him. Mika thinks Yu is kind because he always maintains the children's hope about defeating vampires. Mika wonders how he can get a future for the other children. He recalls Ferid Bathory, who is a seventh progenitor and is rumored to have children frequently visit his residence. Unlike the other vampires, he is interested in humans and would even help them improve their livelihood.

Once they finish up and leave, Yu asks him what is wrong and says Mika is spacing out. Mika only says he feels tired after donating blood. Yu prattles on about killing vampires again before telling Mika to not carry everything on his own shoulders. Mika knows that one wrong move will get him killed, and he cannot risk Yu dying. If they both died, then who would take care of the younger children?

Mika tells him not to worry and asks what Yu's surname is, but Yu cannot remember. Yu asks Mika about his family since he does not look Japanese. Mika's mother was Japanese but his father was Russian. Mika says his last name was Shindo. Mika says all of the orphans use the surname Hyakuya because they are all family.

He thinks about the "special" name Mikaela and looked into it after his parents died. He knows it is a female variant of the name Michael but has no idea what his delusional mother was talking about all those years ago.

Mika sees Ferid's mansion and splits off from Yu. He says he is going to get food from Sakuma's group and that Yu cannot come because he started a fight last time. In actuality, this is a lie, and Mika intends to visit Ferid Bathory.

Meanwhile, Ferid reflects on how boring the world of vampires is since it does not change even over thousands of years. He opened a library to the human children and is reading a book there. He enjoys watching human children, who carry the blinding light of life. The children manage the library and book loans themselves. Ferid resents the fact that humans have so many desires while vampires only desire blood.

Since Ferid is present, none of the children will dare enter with the exception of Sakuma, who is sixteen or seventeen years old. Sakuma reports that he leaked information to Mika about receiving special treatment for earning Ferid's favor.

Ferid is reading a book about names that Mika read before. Since it was a book young children would not read, Ferid figures Mika is probably intelligent. Ferid likes smart kids. He flips to the section about Michael and asks Sakuma if he knows about the angel Michael. Sakuma says no and says his family is Buddhist, but Ferid laughs when Sakuma does not even recognize the Heart Sutra. Sakuma makes a hasty exit.

Vampires never enter the library because they have no interest in reading and no desires anyway. They only lust for blood.

Crowley Eusford approaches Ferid. When Crowley finishes the line from the sutra, Ferid says a Buddhist should not lose to a Christian when it comes to Buddhist lore, but Crowley says he already forgot Christianity. Crowley used to be one of the Knights Templar who went on crusades when he was human. He says no god will come and protect him.

When Crowley asks what Ferid is reading, Ferid says it is the Bible. Crowley points out the lie and then asks why Ferid summoned him all the way from Nagoya. They first say that Ferid summoned him just to be a nuisance, but then Ferid asks if Crowley remembers the name Michaela. Crowley struggles to remember. Ferid has Crowley speak about when he became a vampire.

Crowley reflects on his time in the 13th century.

Chapter 2
In the 13th century, Crowley reflects on the nightmare he has of his comrades being killed and flashbacks from battle during the Crusades. He wakes up to the sounds of swords clashing as his ten students spar. One of the students, Josef von Esterhazy (name unconfirmed), calls him out on napping during their practice. Josef insists he knows the basics of swordsmanship and wants to learn actual combat. Crowley dismisses them, but Josef attacks him anyway. Crowley defeats him instantly.

Gilbert Chartes, now a Templar Knight and candidate to become the next Master of the Order, arrives. He asks Crowley why he no longer attends church. When Crowley tries to avoid the topic, Gilbert says he and his comrades believe Crowley is most suitable for the Master position. Unfortunately, Crowley experienced so much that he can no longer believe in God. Crowley rejects the offer and says he prefers teaching students, who have a future ahead of them. Gilbert says he will return every day until Crowley caves and insists he will put Crowley in center stage the same way Crowley saved Gilbert during the war.

Since Crowley caught a group of three burglars breaking into a home three houses down shortly after moving here, so his neighbors began cooking meals for him and cleaning his house once a week in exchange for protection.

Jose, a squire, visits Crowley. Crowley reminds him that he does not want Jose to visit him anymore, but Jose insists--and has kept it up for the past year already. Crowley tries to send him home, but he refuses to leave.

They walk through town, and Jose beams up at Crowley whenever the people greet them. Crowley calls Jose's expression annoying and says Jose's flashy uniform is the reason people keep calling out to him.

Jose says he prays every day to become tall and muscular like Crowley.

They eventually come across a crowd near an alley. The bystanders report a blood-sucking monster is in there. Crowley enters the alley to investigate in spite of the danger. A prostitute warns him that the monster only targets and kills women like her, and it killed thirty of them in the past six months. She calls the person the Night Fiend.

Crowley finds a murdered woman on the ground but notices there is too little blood. He sees seven other victims pinned to the wall with something like a stake, hanging upside down with their legs tied up. He suspects the killer strung them up and slashed their necks to have them bleed into something like a keg below.

Crowley sends Jose to get the Knights Templar to deal with this.

He soon hears a laughing, flippant voice behind him and turns to see a beautiful bewitching man with long silver hair and expensive clothes. When Crowley asks the man if he is a noble, he laughs and asks if Crowley is the killer. Crowley wonders if this man is the murderer and tenses his muscles as if he were going to draw his sword. If this person is a skilled military man, then Crowley believes he will react. The man does not react and says he does not have the physique to hoist the corpses so high. Crowley believes him since he is thin and does not appear to have undergone any training. The man's name is Ferid Bathory.

When Crowley asks Ferid what he is doing there, Ferid says he is there to kill a woman or two. When Crowley tries to get more clear information, he eventually determines Ferid is both easy-going and mildly annoying.

Ferid talks to Crowley about buying prostitutes, but Crowley says he does not buy women. Ferid asks if he is a virgin but then says women would not leave Crowley alone with that body and face. Ferid reaches out to touch Crowley's chest, but Crowley catches his hand.

Ferid continues to chat about the hypocrisy of the knights. Since he will not be catching a prostitute today, he says this may be his chance to copulate with a corpse instead.

He reaches into the neck of the corpse on the ground and begins digging in her neck. Crowley asks him some questions, and Ferid says he heard a rumor about vampires.

Jose returns and says the Knights Templar are coming. Instead of waiting for their arrival, Crowley leaves, and Ferid joins him while stating he will become a target for a witch hunt if Crowley is not around.

Unfortunately, they run into Gilbert and more of Crowley's supporters. Crowley assigns the murder investigation to them and says he has somewhere to be. When Gilbert calls him out on his lie, Ferid speaks up and says he invited Crowley to his mansion for a dinner party. Ferid grabs Crowley's hand and pulls him along. After they reach the first corner, Crowley pulls his hand free.

When Ferid invites Crowley to his house, Crowley refuses the invitation, stating that he does not want to go to the house of some pervert he just met. Certainly, not one who sticks his fingers down corpse's throats.

Ferid presents a fine needle he dug out from the victim's throat. He says that he and Crowley should solve this case, but Crowley tells him to give that to the knights. Ferid tells Crowley to do that himself but warns Crowley that the knights will be all over him the moment he does so.

Ferid reveals the needle is silver and hollow. He says it was made with skill. Crowley quickly realizes that Ferid is actually quite intelligent and stuck his fingers in the corpse because he knew that was the most likely location to find any evidence.

Crowley begins to feel that Ferid might be dangerous. However, he realizes he and Ferid have the best chance of solving this case.

After Crowley tries to get more information from Ferid, he absolutely refuses until Crowley comes to his dinner party. He invites Jose as well before prancing away. Crowley sees Ferid as a man so beautiful he seems to corrupt people. In retrospect, Crowley sees this fascination with Ferid as the start of everything.

Later, Crowley and Jose visit Ferid's estate. Many boys and girls reside their and greet them. They wear thin transparent clothing. With the right light, the clothes show off their nude forms. Crowley feels that this is particularly obscene. Jose turns red and asks what on earth this is. Crowley considers this to be one of the pervert's pastime hobbies and feels like laughing at how openly perverted and cheerful Ferid is. Crowley realizes that all of the children appear as though they will grow up into stunningly beautiful adults some day.

When Crowley asks Ferid about the clothing, Ferid asks if Crowley would like to wear them. When Crowley rejects the offer, Ferid insists they would look great on a man so well-developed as him. Crowley asks if Ferid is into children, but Ferid says he is not and only that he wants to please Crowley with them. Ferid tells him he can sleep with anyone there, but Crowley declines because he does not want Ferid's hand-me-downs. Ferid says he does not touch them because he is not after their bodies, which makes Crowley wonder what exactly rich perverts do to pass the time.

Jose does not know where to look, so he keeps watching the ground. Ferid is delighted.

Ferid has a fancy dinner served for Crowley and Jose and has genuinely silver silverware for them. When Crowley asks Ferid why he will not eat, Ferid says he is a light-eater. Crowley suggests the food is poisoned. When Ferid asks why, Crowley asks if it might be to make him wear the transparent clothing. Ferid laughs and says he should have poisoned the food in that case.

They begin to dine, and a girl fills a ceramic goblet to the brim with red liquid. Crowley believes the liquid looks like blood. Ferid says it is red wine with some blood from the game at tonight's dinner added to it. He has red wine served to Crowley and Jose.

Surprisingly, Crowley enjoys himself. Jose feasts on the food and gulps down the wine, eventually making Crowley tell him he has had enough. Ferid jokes that he has transparent clothes ready for Jose as well and that all he needs is for Jose to drink himself silly.

Drunk, Jose scolds Crowley for not acquiring a higher position in the Knights Templar.

Ferid says he has a place for Jose to sleep and summons Ella, the most beautiful girl serving them, to take Jose to a room to sleep. When Jose becomes flustered with her, Ferid tells him he can sleep with her.

The two leave, and Crowley calls Ferid a devil. Ferid says it is the humans' fault for falling into depravity. Ferid keeps having Crowley's glass refilled with wine to make him more and more drunk. He manages to pry and charm Crowley into talking about his past.

Chapter 3
A flashback of 1217 begins, before Crowley and his compatriots departed for the Crusade.

The knights celebrate in a feasting hall. Victor joins Crowley and starts talking about the women. Crowley says he has not slept with anyone. Victor shouts out that Crowley is losing his virginity tonight, and one red-faced girl says she already had sex with Crowley. Victor says she can sleep with him that night instead.

Gustavo joins them next, stating he does not want to die on the battlefield from a broken chastity oath.

Commander Alfred enters the hall. The knights abruptly stand at attention. He asks if they left him his share of women. Too scared to be sure if this is a joke or not, they stand silently until Victor offers the girl who had sex with Crowley to him. Alfred gives them permission to party.

Alfred joins Crowley when Gustavo leaves. He gives Crowley the order to slay more enemies than anyone else and protect their allies.

After Alfred leaves, Gilbert takes his place. They talk about the war.

Crowley heads outside and Victor exits as well before puking from intoxication. Crowley takes care of him. Commander Alfred approaches them and tells him to cheer up his comrades with optimism instead of looking so pale on the battlefield. The commander laughs when Victor begins vomiting again. When Victor asks him if he is going to spend the night with a woman, Alfred says he will spend the night with his wife. The commander leaves, and Victor and Crowley return to the dining hall.

Ferid interrupts the story to ask if Crowley slept with anyone that night.

Returning to the flashback, Crowley recollects the horrible battlefield where all of his comrades died around him as they fought to kill the heathens. The heathens begin to call him "Shaitan," meaning "Devil." He, Gustavo, Victor, and their remaining comrades fight for their lives. Commander Alfred receives a fatal wound. Gilbert bluffs to the enemy that they have a few thousand reinforcements coming to their aid, and the enemy freezes. Gilbert says he heard the papal legate, Pelagius, was captured, meaning the Crusades may soon be called off.

The commander tells Crowley that the knights and soldiers are calling Crowley a hero. Before expiring, Commander Alfred gives Crowley the final order to not die in a place like this. Crowley wonders if God is even watching this scene.

Crowley takes command and orders the Christians to retreat.

They travel day and night, fight many times, and lose many comrades. Victor whines that he keeps seeing women in his sleep. He says he would rather talk about women than water because talking about water will only make them thirstier. They are out of food and water. They focus on reaching Damietta, one of the enemy strongholds they took early in the Crusade. Gustavo says he wants to hear more talk about women, and Crowley reminds them of the chastity oath. Gustavo says he will think about that after having sex with a woman or two.

Victor makes up a funny story about Crowley and a woman, and Crowley responds by saying she told him Victor could not get it up with her. The soldiers laugh weakly.

They see Damnietta, but another hundred or so heathens appear from behind and charge at them. Crowley orders his friends to run for their lives while he unsheathes his sword and plans to guard their rear. Victor, Gustavo, and seven others join him. When Gilbert tries to stay behind as well, Crowley orders him to lead their remaining comrades to Damietta. When he argues, Crowley punches him in the face. He orders Gilbert to return with reinforcements.

They fight for their lives. Rosso and then Gustavo are killed. Eventually, they are able to flee. Crowley and his comrades pray to God, feeling so grateful that seven of them still managed to survive against so many. They see this as a miracle. Crowley says he will pray when they return since he is grateful to God, even if He only smiled upon them once at the very end.

An unarmed lone tanned man dressed in black approaches them from Damietta. They ask who he is, but he does not answer. Crowley describes him as bizarrely beautiful with blood-red eyes and fangs. The man disappears, and the next thing Crowley hears is the screaming of his comrades as two of them die. With an inhuman speed, the monster continues to slaughter them. He says he does not like the blood of weaklings.

Crowley orders them to fight as a united front, and the monster remarks that Crowley must be the strongest there. He reaches for Crowley's neck. Crowley attacks him, but he breaks Crowley's sword. Crowley shoves the broken blade at his neck, which the monster dodges easily. While he is distracted, Victor and three other knights stab the creature with their swords. Nonplussed, he grins at them.

Crowley tries to order everyone to escape, but the monster says he will not let them get away. He kills the other soldiers and saves Crowley for last. Crowley begs the monster to stop. The mysterious man bites into Victor's neck and drinks his blood before dropping his corpse.

The monster pulls Crowley to his feet, but Crowley no longer has any energy left to fear or resist him. He tells the monster to kill him. The monster says he does not enjoy the blood of unresisting humans and that blood tastes best when it is filled with fury. The vampire bites Crowley anyway, and Crowley describes it as being illogically pleasurable. He notices how beautiful the sky is and hopes this is a dream.

He hears voices. Someone addresses the monster as "Raux" (name unconfirmed). Raux asks what he is doing there, and the voice laughs and ignores the question. He says that Crowley is Michaela, so he cannot let him kill Crowley.

Crowley falls unconscious and wakes up later to hear Gilbert's voice. He says he had a terrible dream where everyone was killed by a monster, but he then sits up to see their corpses lying around him. He screams at God, asking what He is trying to do. Gilbert begs him to calm down.

He tells Gilbert to pray for their fallen comrades. Crowley himself prays as well, praying that God grant peace to them. He never prays again after this.

Stepping out of the flashback, Crowley says he must have scene a hallucination during that time. Ferid asks if that monster might be the same one as now. Crowley says no since no such monster can exist.

When Crowley makes to leave, Ferid tries to convince him to stay for the night, but Crowley leaves anyway.

The next day, Crowley sleeps in. His students wake him up, and Josef apologizes for his rudeness yesterday. He has them practice the basics, and Ferid walks up.

Ferid chats with him, but Crowley says he does not want to work on this case. Jose runs up to them in a panic and reports that Gilbert was murdered and had all of his blood drawn out.

Crowley goes to the quarters of the Knights Templar. Gilbert was killed in the prayer room under a cross. His corpse has an expression of terror. He sees two fang-like wounds on his neck. Ferid joins him and appears to have noticed something. However, he refuses to divulge anything since Crowley called him a stranger earlier. He then asks what Crowley would do if he knew since he is no longer interested in hunting down this so-called vampire. Ferid persuades Crowley into asking Ferid to join him on this vampire hunt.

Thus, their vampire extermination begins.

Intermission
Ferid asks Crowley to put his story on hold because he has some business to attend to. They joke about drinking wine. When Crowley says he is interested in knowing how Ferid became a vampire, Ferid just laughs.

Both Crowley and Ferid are victims in the tale of the name "Michaela," and now Ferid leaves to meet a boy with the name Mikaela.

That day, Mika recalls that there is a rumor about children disappearing here. Regardless, he knocks on the mansion door. The inside is magnificent. A girl shows him in and says he is Lord Ferid's special favorite. There are many toys inside. There is a garden outside filled with many colorful flowers.

The girl addresses Lord Ferid, who then rises out of the flower bed with trails of blood dripping from his lips. A young boy also emerges. When he sees Mika, he covers his neck in shame. Ferid tells the boy he may now leave and can take anything he likes from the grounds. The boy thanks him graciously and runs off. The girl leaves as well.

Mika says he heard he could get benefits from Lord Ferid if he came, and Ferid says that is true as long as Ferid likes him. Mika thinks of the Hyakuya orphans. Mika asks what he should do to get Ferid to like him, and Ferid says he has already taken a shine to them. He praises Mika's blue eyes and golden hair. He asks Mika's name and then calls it a good one. Mika says he is not very fond of his name.

Ferid says that, in the past, his master called him "Michaela."

Ferid bites him, and Mika feels a humiliating immoral pleasure mixed with pain. He becomes weak and concerned he might die. Ferid stops, saying that he nearly drank too much. Mika falls to the ground and is unable to stand up. He struggles to breathe.

Mika decides he absolutely cannot bring Yu or the others here. Mika realizes he is crying.

Ferid tells him to eat in the dining room and then return. Mika wipes his tears and smiles.

Mika sees the abundance of food. Instead of eating there, he pictures the smiling faces of his family and takes fruit with him. Once he returns home, the children ask him while he is late. He decides that he will grin and bear it, no matter how horrible this place is. The children see the grapes and become very excited.

Mikaela reflects that he got involved in a journey that is over two thousand years old.