A Drive Along Death's Shoreline

"A Drive Along Death's Shoreline" (死海ドライブ) is the forty-fourth chapter of the Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign manga series, written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto.

Synopsis
Crowley and Ferid mention becoming buddy-buddy with Yu and Mika, and Ferid says he killed all of Crowley's friends once. It took 800 years, but the two of them are now "buddy-buddy."

Yu, Mika, and their group discuss Ferid. Yu and Mika realize Yu's conversion into a demon is continuing even when he is in human form.

Yoichi sees Ferid and Crowley and announces they are coming. The group takes their curse stimulant pills and flees. Ferid orders Crowley to chase after them.

As they run, Yu realizes Ferid intentionally let Yu shoot him in the head and escape to Guren's side. Yu considers talking to Ferid to try and figure out who is behind all this, but Mika tells him not to.

Crowley jumps in front of them and then strikes Mitsuba down.

Summary
Crowley Eusford and Ferid Bathory quickly drive to the fishing village where the Shinoa squad and others had been hiding. Crowley points out that Ferid already killed Yu and Mika's entire family for fun, and Ferid agrees. Ferid says they are going on this trip to become their new best friends anyway. When Crowley says that is unlikely, Ferid cheerfully tells him to not be confined by common sense and says how the idea of "former enemies coming together all through the power of friendship" is so exciting. Ferid mentions killing all of Crowley's friends once and states that they are now "buddy-buddy." However, Ferid says taking 800 years to become buddy-buddy with Yu and Mika might be just a little too long in this case.

Back at the fishing village, Yu asks about the best way to rescue to vampire queen. Mika says Krul was captured by Ferid. Yu recalls that Ferid is the one who split the two of them up and killed the rest of their family. Yu brings up shooting Ferid in the head four years ago, but he then realizes that a gun would not kill a vampire. He mentions that Ferid is probably still alive, but Mika points out that Yu saw him back in Shinjuku. Mika asks if Yu really did not notice Ferid at all, but Yu says he was so overwhelmed to find out that Mika was still alive that he was too busy looking at Mika to see anything else.

Makoto asks them to stop talking over their heads and explain what they were talking about. Shinoa begins to explain that Yu and Mika were held in the vampire capital when they were little, but Yu notices a strange sound. Mika says it is a car engine. Yoichi runs to investigate.

Mika says that a human like Yu should not be able to hear that. Mika asks if the demon's possession is advancing even while Yu is awake. Yu answers that it probably is and says his senses are sharper and that he feels a little stronger. Mika is concerned that Yu is really turning into a demon, but Yu blows it off and says that he can protect everyone better if he is stronger. Mika asks what the point is if Yu loses his humanity, but Yu says Mika can hear the sound, too. Since Mika is not human, Yu says this makes them the same.

Yoichi uses his cursed gear to see Ferid and Crowley's approach. He announces that the red-haired monster they fought in Nagoya is coming. He says a smaller, silver-haired one is with him, and Mika says it must be Ferid. He says they captured the vampire queen.

When Shinoa asks why are they coming there, Mika says he does not know but advises their group to have nothing to do with Ferid and company. Yu asks about the villagers, but Shiho says the vampires have no reason to target them since their group is the reason they are in danger in the first place. Shinoa orders them to take their curse stimulant pills now and to run as fast as they can.

Crowley points out the group spotted them and are running. Ferid orders Crowley to run after them since he is busy driving. When Crowley, who mentioned how much he hates running during the previous arc, then offers to drive instead, Ferid tells him to get going. He says Crowley needs to stop them. He can cut off a leg or two, but he tells Crowley not to kill them. Crowley brings up Ferid's previous comments about becoming buddy-buddy with Yu and Mika before jumping out of the car to chase after them.

Yu asks Mika about Ferid's strength, and Mika says he is probably the second most powerful vampire in Japan. Mitsuba asks if he is even more powerful than the red-haired one, who is a thirteenth progenitor. Makoto mentions that stronger vampires have higher progenitor rankings. Yu states that Ferid is a seventh progenitor, alarming the humans.

Yu realizes that Ferid let Yu shoot him and escape to Guren on purpose. Yu considers that Ferid and Guren might have been in cahoots, but Yu pushes that thought away and says that Guren was crying. He recalls Kureto's comment about the Hyakuya Sect orphanages and wonders who is behind it. Since it looks like Kureto was still seeking information about it, Yu believes this was not his plan. He believes Guren could not be behind it either. He thinks about asking Ferid for more information.

Mika realizes Yu is thinking of something dangerous and advises him against it. He mentions going to Ferid's mansion when they were younger and says he still regrets it every day. Yu insists it was not Mika's fault.

Shiho pats Yu on the back and tells them to quit talking and focus on running.

Yoichi says the whole world is messed up right now and that they know nothing, but the only thing they can be sure of is that, no matter how terrible things get, all of them are friends.

Crowley lands in front of their group and quickly races between them to strike Mitsuba's shoulder with his sword and send her flying.

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance:

Gallery
Manga panels provide a visual overview of the events of chapter 44 with depictions of the characters, Seraph of the End world and scenarios.