Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela 2

Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela (Book 2) is the second volume of the Seraph of the End: The Story of Vampire Michaela light novel series.

Chapter 1
(Still waiting on part 1.)

Ferid Bathory uses ink to draw maps on parchment. He tears them up and tosses them onto the floor to express his dissatisfaction as he makes yet another attempt. Crowley knocks on the door and asks to come in, but Ferid tells him that he is busy right now. When Crowley asks what Ferid is doing, Ferid mentions dreaming about becoming a painter. When Crowley points out that this is a map and not a painting, Ferid says he hates those who have no understanding of art.

Crowley asks him why he is drawing a map of Sanguinem, and Ferid says he is planning on letting it be found by children who want to escape Sanguinem. He says that, once the children’s eyes sparkle as they believe they escaped, he will ambush and devour them. Crowley tells him that his tastes are terrible and never change.

Ferid finally makes a satisfactory map. He reflects on his grand plan that he put into motion over ten years ago. He now needed Mika to steal it.

When Crowley makes a joke about preferring to see a nude woman, Crowley laughs and knocks over a glass of blood, instantly catching Crowley’s attention.

Crowley demands to know why Ferid made him come here from Nagoya, and Ferid teases him before laughing. Ferid reflects that it is almost time for him to fulfill his promise to a certain human, but for now Crowley continues talking about his past.

This is the story about the name “Michaela” and the grand plan spanning for over a millennium that Ferid’s sire discussed.

Chapter 2
Gilbert Chartres was murdered in the Templar Knights’ HQ. Crowley restrains himself from attending the funeral service because his presence would cause a political fight and sideline the investigating the murder. Instead, he waits for Ferid Bathory. Although he was supposed to arrive before noon, it is almost evening.

Instead of Ferid, Roy Rouland comes to Crowley’s door. Roy yells at Crowley and attempts to punch him for not coming to the funeral. When Jose tries to intervene in their fight, Roy kicks him away. A swordfight breaks out, and Crowley intentionally breaks Roy’s sword. Crowley knocks him to the ground. Roy asks him about losing faith in God and asks if their survival was divine providence. He tries to talk Crowley into returning to the Knights Templar.

When Crowley rejects God, Roy tells him to at least pray for Gilbert. Roy and Jose leave to attend the burial service.

When Crowley asks for God to give him an answer, Ferid appears and tells him he shall not test God’s love. He then teases Crowley for not getting ready, despite the fact it is Ferid’s fault they had not left hours ago. Crowley wonders why God let a virtuous person like Gilbert die and let such a corrupt and immoral man like Ferid live. Ferid notices his thoughts and asks if he wants to become like him, although he will be hated by God. Ferid says he can have all the women and meat he could possibly want, every day. Crowley says that, right now, he only wants the person responsible for the murders.

They head to a far away village to find the master named Haeberle, who made the needle they found at the crime scene with the prostitutes. Crowley says he does not plan on returning until he catches Gilbert’s murderer.

Chapter 3
After two days, Ferid and Crowley finally arrive at the village with the workshop they came to visit. They arrive in the morning, and Ferid appears to be sleeping. The sunlight is bright, and Ferid asks if Crowley can shut the window, but Crowley says it is a pleasant morning. Ferid moans that he hates the sun and mornings.

They come upon four dead bodies. Ferid says they are already too late and has figured out what happened.

He gripes about the sunlight while fidgeting with his ring, saying that it does not appear to be working properly.

At Crowley’s insistence, they finally exit the carriage to investigate. Ferid appears dizzy and owlish in the sunlight and begs to wait to investigate until the evening.

Ferid says the killer already escaped because the village is quiet and points out that the blood has already been washed away by the rain, so everyone was killed around six hours prior. Ferid asks to wait to investigate until evening. Crowley realizes they would have made it on time if Ferid had picked Crowley up on schedule for their trip. Ferid mentions that Crowley would not have even found this village if not for him.

Ferid says he did not want his new friend to be killed, and Crowley is angry about Ferid knowing what was going to happen and then preventing Crowley from meeting the culprit.

Ferid says he will not assist Crowley in suicide and asks Crowley to look at the sword wounds. Crowley realizes there were multiple attackers present, and says it could not be the monster from the war.

Crowley prods Ferid for answers, and Ferid says he is selling him too highly. Then, he mentions he has a rough idea of who killed Gilbert. Ferid says they need evidence first and once again asks if they can wait until dusk.

They enter the village and see women and children dangling upside-down by their legs. They have been drained of blood. He asks for Ferid’s opinion, but Ferid is gone. He eventually hears Ferid’s voice from a house on the northwest side of the village. He realizes that numerous footprints are headed in that direction but then notices they go on past the house Ferid is in. Puzzled, he wonders why Ferid entered this one and finds Ferid in the bedroom in pitch black darkness happily lying on the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.

Crowley scolds him for being tired so early and says he is amazed Ferid can sleep so well surrounded by corpses. Ferid points out that Crowley slept near corpses on the Crusade, but Crowley says that was not the same.

Crowley asks about the footprints, and Ferid mentions that the couple hanging in front of this residence were not slain by a sword. Ferid says this means they did not try to run away, and Ferid asks why. Ferid taps the ring on his hand and mutters about the ring fixing itself.

With that, Ferid is suddenly full of energy and opens the blinds, thanking the Lord for the sun and confounding Crowley.

Ferid reveals a six-year-old child under the bed, and the child jumps at Ferid with a knife. Crowley disables the child. He realizes how long the child was hiding under the bed and asks Ferid to deal with the parents hanging outside. Ferid refuses, saying his clothes will get dirty. Crowley then sighs and asks him to look after the child instead. When Ferid answers that he will as long as the child’s face suits his tastes, Crowley recalls that Ferid is an indiscriminate pervert who should not be alone with children.

Crowley calms down the child and tells him that his parents died protecting him.

Ferid says there is nothing more they need to investigate there, and Crowley asks if Ferid is hiding something from him. Ferid says he has no reason to point out the obvious.

Crowley follows a line of logic. Ferid reveals that Nald Vine, a noble, is the one who ordered the needle. He was a comrade of Crowley’s who fought on a different battlefield during the Crusades. After the war, he began muttering about a demon who drank human blood and began acting oddly.

They send the child to Ferid’s carriage, and Ferid talks about Nald Vine. After the war, Nald was disowned by his family and began drinking the blood of livestock and servants while muttering about it granting him immortality. Ferid then points out how methodical these murders have been and how easy it was to trace the needle back to the owner, and Crowley realizes Nald was set up. Additionally, Gilbert Chartres was far stronger than Nald Vine.

Crowley wonders if the Templar Order killed Gilbert, and Ferid jokes that it took him long enough. Crowley demands the names of the ringleaders and slams Ferid against a wall. Ferid points out that Crowley, like Nald, has already shown signs of going insane. He says Crowley would not need to ask him if he kept in touch with his comrades because he would know who Gilbert’s rivals were.

Ferid says these developments can no longer be stopped and says that Crowley would only end up being killed along with Roy Rouland even if he returned. Crowley realizes Ferid’s goal was to pull Crowley safely away from the political struggle.

Crowley realizes how logical Ferid has been but says Ferid took his harassment too far. Ferid says that losing God is always a tragedy and appears sad for a brief moment. He says he also lost God a very long time ago.

Half a month later, Crowley walks down a street during a heavy downpour. After Crowley left, Roy Rouland and several more Templars had been killed in addition to the village and prostitutes. These bloodsucking serial murders kept the townsfolk in fear, and no one dared to walk after dark. Aside from some high-ranking laughing Templar Knights, that is.

The seven of them make such a ruckus that vows to honorable poverty, chastity, and pliability were in doubt.

Crowley watches them through the rain. He recognized all of their faces and names. After all, he saved their lives during the war. Crowley approaches them. When they ask who he is, he says that he is the bloodsucking monster.

They burst into roaring laughter. After all, they were the ones who, while impersonating a bloodsucking monster, killed the prostitutes, the villagers, and their own Templar Order comrades. They had no need to fear a bloodsucking monster.

They laugh and tell him to stop the stupid jokes, but Crowley beheads the first one before he can even finish speaking. The remaining six quickly draw their swords. Crowley cuts off the left foot of one. They surround him and attempt to kill their attacker. Crowley cuts through one’s abdomen.

When Crowley swerves, his hood falls down, and the knights recognize him. Crowley asks them if they were the ones who killed Gilbert and Roy. One tries to explain the circumstances, but Crowley beheads him.

The remaining three flee. Crowley cuts one down from behind and throws a knife into the neck of another. The last one remaining was the most skilled, but he never even bothered to see what became of his comrades. Crowley recalls that retreat is forbidden unless a knight is outnumbered by three to one. Crowley catches him, and they duel. Crowley disarms him and prepares to strike him down.

The man begs and asks about the future of the Knights Templar. He says that, in order to kill all involved, he would have to kill several hundreds. Crowley points out that they are the ringleaders. The man insists they did it for justice and the future of the Order. He says that Gilbert, Roy, and Commander Alfred would not want Crowley to do this. He tells Crowley to just return to the Order because everyone is waiting for him.

Crowley simply says that there is no justice in what he is doing and cuts the man’s body in two.

Crowley looks down at his former comrades. Ferid appears, then telling Crowley he promised to escape right after. Ferid makes some cracks about killing vampires and says he has warm soup for Crowley in his mansion.

After that, Crowley returns to his normal everyday life of teaching children swordplay. Time passes, and the six-year-old boy that Ferid found is now eight (note: this change in age may be a typo from the fan translation). His name is Marlon, and he lived at Crowley’s house. Although Crowley was planning on sending him out once he found a job, Marlon was exceptional at housework. Like the students there, he becomes inspired by the sword and wants to become a splendid knight like Crowley in the future and join the Knights Templar.

Jose, who is now an assistant teacher at the training school, intrudes. He and Marlon begin discussing what to make for dinner. Jose praises Marlon’s talent with the sword. When Crowley comments that Jose’s basics are lacking, Jose finally convinces Crowley to teach him. Crowley instructs Jose on the form and then tells him to stand like that for five hours. When Jose asks if that is a joke, Crowley says his own mentor told him to not move for half a year. Marlon asks to join. When Marlon takes his stance, Crowley note that he really looks like he already has talent. He would make an excellent Templar Knight, but he is not aware that those same knights he admires killed his parents.

Crowley chuckles at Jose and notes that he does not have any talent but is kind and able to make those around him love him. As far as Crowley is concerned, that is fine because he would not be able to protect anyone even at Crowley’s level.

Crowley walks outside in the midday light. His neighbors greet him. The Order has yet to proclaim Nald Vine guilty, and Crowley suspects this is because the Order is in disarray after he killed the ringleaders. Even so, he believes Nald shall be apprehended soon.

An elegant carriage approaches Crowley, and he recognizes the driver. He enters the carriage and sits across from Ferid.

Ferid whines about being bored when Crowley is not around, even though they just saw each other three days ago. Crowley says nothing interesting will happen around him anymore since the vampire hunt is over. Ferid cheerfully says the hunt for the real vampire that Crowley saw in that battle is not over yet. When Crowley says that vampire was an illusion, Ferid points out that Nald also saw him. Ferid says they should go visit him before he gets executed. He says Nald will be pronounced the killer and arrested in five days.

Crowley asks how Ferid got such information, and Ferid says he got it from someone even higher-ranking than the Order.

Regardless of Crowley’s wishes, Ferid’s driver takes them to Nald Vine’s mansion. When Crowley wonders if he was be monitored by the Templars for his own comments about bloodsucking monsters, Ferid assures him that he will not be punished because the Order of the Knights Templar is dying. He says they do not see the need to set him up for a crime and kill him.

Ferid says they must visit Nald Vine to make sure if Crowley really saw a hallucination at the end of the Crusades and says he cannot possibly let a friend be obsessed with a delusion for the rest of his life.

The carriage reaches a mansion on the outskirts of town. It is overrun with weeds and has chipped walls and broken windows. Ferid and Crowley enter the house. Crowley recognizes the putrid stench of rotting blood. They find a door with wet blood leaking under it. When Crowley moves to open the door, Ferid hides behind him in fear.

Crowley enters the room and notes barrels that are probably full of rotten blood. He hears a slurping sound and notices a cachectic chronically-ill appearing thirty-year-old man sucking on a dead woman’s neck. Even though she had died quite some time ago and her blood already coagulated, he continued sucking with enthusiasm. If Crowley had not known this was Nald Vine, his former comrade, he would never have recognized him.

Crowley and Nald start talking, and Crowley asks why he is drinking blood. Nald insists drinking blood can make him immortal because he saw a monster during the war that broke people like toys and drank them dry. Crowley recalls the tan vampire with black clothes and hair. He recalls blood-red eyes and sharp fangs.

When Crowley asks him about the war, he begins screaming and stating that Crowley just wants to make fool out of him. He screams about needing to gain immortality before that monster kills him. He plunges his head into a bucket and begins slurping up blood.

Nald screams that he is a vampire and threatens to drink Crowley’s blood, too. Crowley pushes him back and recalls how plump Nald used to be before the Crusades. Nald falls to the floor and says that Crowley would never believe him.

Nald recalls his last battle. He says that seventy of them survived, and they were about to reach the main body of the army. Just then, a single man killed all of them while laughing and drank their blood like it was the most delicious substance. He was so fast and strong that no one was able to put up a fight, and they all gave up halfway through and let the massacre just happen.

The description was the same as Crowley’s own battle. Right up until Nald specifies that the monster had silver hair with red eyes and white skin. He says the vampire had a frivolous laugh with a shallow but beautiful face.

Just then, a familiar silver-haired pale man appears behind Nald. Crowley never sees Ferid move from behind him to the other side of the room.

Ferid laughs and holds Nald’s head up by the hair. Crowley never saw him sever it. Blood gushes from the torso. Ferid holds the head and faces it, scolding him for pretending to be a vampire because that may make the real thing take offense.

Ferid jokes with Crowley a little before Crowley asks him if he is a vampire. Ferid only smiles. Crowley knows he can probably not defeat him. Ferid taunts him and throws Nald’s head to the ground. Although he was in a different unit, he still had acquaintances in Nald’s unit, and he realizes Ferid killed his comrades back them. He forces himself to stay calm because he would not be able to extract revenge by losing his head (literally). Instead of attacking now, Crowley insists he was not very close with Nald or his unit.

Ferid asks if they can still be friends, but Crowley turns him down. Crowley says it is impossible to have a friendship built on lies. Crowley asks about the dark-skinned vampire, but Ferid only smiles. Crowley asks Ferid about his goal, and Ferid says he is observing Crowley to make sure he does not waste his life on worthless revenge and obsesses over only Ferid for all eternity.

Outside, a voice calls out to arrest Nald Vine for the murder of Gilbert Chartres. Crowley realizes what Ferid said about them coming in five days was a lie. He also realizes they will all be killed if they entered the mansion since a genuine vampire is inside.

Crowley quickly screams for them to leave at once, but Ferid moves to the window. He laughs saying that Crowley’s comrades don’t believe him.

The knights outside curse Nald Vine for killing his own comrades. Ferid jokingly sings out to Commander Alfred about not being able to save his comrades again and asking for the Lord.

Crowley unsheathes his sword and attacks Ferid, who snaps the sword in half. When he moves to stab Ferid, Ferid grabs his arm. Ferid lets Crowley gouge out his eyeballs, but he only laughs. By the time Crowley’s hand moves back, the eyes have already regenerated. Ferid forces Crowley to the ground.

Crowley begs Ferid to spare his comrades. Ferid mentions that Gilbert said the same thing and says his blood was delicious.

Enraged, Crowley curses him and strains his arms against Ferid’s grip. One of his arms breaks. He decides he will break out of Ferid’s hold and kill him, even if he has to tear off his own arms.

Ferid gleefully comments that Crowley is plenty obsessed with him already. Ferid says that Gilbert would have been killed sooner or later, and all he did was speed things up. Crowley decides he cannot believe a thing Ferid says. Ferid states that Crowley did not kill guiltless comrades since they were planning to kill Gilbert anyway, but he says Crowley did not protect anyone either. Crowley struggles.

When Crowley says he will kill Ferid, Ferid asks how. He says no weapon is effective against a vampire unless it is made of silver. He finally stops struggling since he cannot defeat Ferid in strength. Ferid pushes him to the floor and bites into his neck. Crowley fights against the mind-numbing pleasure of being bitten to grasp the silver needle from the prostitutes’ crime scene and stab Ferid in the neck with it.

Ferid screams and jumps back.

Crowley is too weak from blood loss to even laugh. He is relieved that, in the end, God smiled upon him by granting him the strength to kill the bloodsucking monster. He listens as Ferid writhes on the floor, screaming, and cursing Crowley.

Then, Ferid abruptly stops screaming and laughs that Crowley was pushed to the point to believe such a transparent lie. Ferid strokes Commander Alfred’s rosary and tells Crowley not to hate God.

Crowley’s consciousness grows hazy, and Ferid taunts him. He asks if he hates him and wants to kill him. He asks if Crowley’s heart is burning with revenge. Ferid says he is going to kill more of Crowley’s comrades after this. Then, he will return to town and kill everyone associated with Crowley. He gleefully notes a spark returned to Crowley’s eyes. Ferid laughs and says that Crowley is thinking only of him. He says he shall grant Crowley the strength he desires from the bottom of his heart.

Ferid pulls out a vial of blood and forces it into Crowley’s mouth. His heart begins beating so heard and pounding so quickly that it hurts. He finds his voice, despite being too weak to talk a few seconds ago. He asks what Ferid did to him, but Ferid only laughs. Crowley’s heart stops, and he is horrified to live despite having died. The most intense pain he ever experienced courses through him and makes him scream.

Ferid tells him to savor the pain because it is the last time he will be able to feel it so acutely. He says that he will lose consciousness, sleep, and eventually wake up. He says he should chase after Ferid and reminds him why he hates Ferid so much.

Crowley hears the Templar Knights outside and begs Ferid not to kill them. He grows hazy again as he feels his humanity die and be replaced by something abominable.

When Crowley wakes up, it is already evening. Although it is pitch dark outside, he sees everything as though it is midday. He realizes he can see everything with greater clarity than ever before, and the sheer beauty could have brought him to tears before. However, he feels nothing. His heart no longer beats. He can hear well enough to hear the insects and rats running down below. All he feels is an utterly unquenchable thirst.

His previously broken arm is healed and moves fine. The bite wound from Ferid has healed.

Crowley realizes his thirst is for blood, and his yearning makes his body tremble. The rotting blood in the barrels does not interest him. He sees the corpses of more than twenty Templar Knights. They have been ripped into pieces. He recognizes their faces as his former comrades, the former comrades who survived against all odds and managed to return home from the Crusades. Despite all that, Gilbert struggled against an internal conspiracy and was killed by a monster in the middle of nowhere.

He feels that this is ironic and pointless. Even though a monster had appeared, the humans were not righteous either.

Crowley blames himself for their deaths. Then, he recalls that Jose and Marlon are also in danger. He takes a sword from one of the corpses and leaves to avenge his comrades.

He races to his house, but there is no one to be found.

He then runs to Ferid’s mansion and enters by force. The children in transparent clothing are no longer there. All he sees is Jose sleeping on the dining table. He hears Jose’s heartbeat and craves his blood.

Ferid advises him to drink. Crowley turns to face him and sees Marlon dangling in Ferid’s arm. Marlon has a delighted expression, but he is already dead. Blood trickles from Marlon’s pale neck. Ferid flings the corpse to the floor and states that blood is the most delicious when one drinks the prey dry.

Ferid says that sunlight works on killing vampires. Ferid toss a ring at Crowley and tells him to wear it if he wishes to walk during the day.

Crowley attacks Ferid. Although he can now see Ferid’s movements, he is still outmatched. Ferid lets Crowley cut off his fingers but then cuts Crowley into two. He easily reattaches his fingers. As Crowley crawls to reach his lower half, Ferid keeps kicking it out of reach.

The loss of blood feels unbearable to Crowley and begins driving him mad.

Ferid tells him that the only thing a vampire needs is blood. Without it, Crowley will lose his sanity and become a demon, wandering in agony for all eternity. He says he provided Crowley’s share and gestures to Jose, lying asleep on the table.

Crowley begs Ferid to kill him. Ferid states that vampires cannot die. They either go mad from living for too long and become demons or drag out an aimless eternity. With that, Ferid leaves.

Crowley pulls himself together and looks thirstily at Jose. Jose stirs, and Crowley refuses to show the pure squire this foul form. Crowley flees and decides to get revenge on Crowley.

Years pass by, and Crowley stops county after about twenty years. He learns that he does not age or change his appearance. He perceives days and nights differently and hardly notices their passage. Time and places continue changing around him.

He travels, hunting down Crowley. He comes across vampires and learns about vampire laws and hierarchy from a pretentious eleventh progenitor, whom Crowley beheads. The progenitor yells at him for possessing such power. When Crowley mentions Ferid, the eleventh progenitor states that Ferid is only a seventh progenitor, meaning his spawn would have a rank of no higher than thirteenth at best. Crowley kills him too easily to be sired by merely a seventh progenitor. Without the ring for protection, the progenitor turns to ash beneath the sunlight.

Crowley continues wandering and wandering. He watches humans always killing each other for power and influence, noting that they sometimes change their pretexts and Gods. However, they always scream about killing others in the name of justice. He sees the vampires, but notes they do absolutely nothing and just exist for the days of their boring eternal life. Without the goal of hunting down Ferid, Crowley wonders if he would lose his mind to those empty endless days.

Eventually, Crowley walks through a battlefield to find a man in his forties with a lush mustache. Although dying, the man refuses to release the flag of the Crusaders. The man asks if he is dreaming because he sees Crowley looking the same as he did long ago. He says he continued practicing with the sword every day. He begins to ask if he became a worthy knight but dies before being able to finish his question.

Crowley removes Commander Albert’s rosary from his neck and places it atop Jose’s body. He praises him for dying on a battlefield and says he is a much worthier knight than Crowley ever was. He closes Jose’s eyes and tells him to rest in peace.

A few decades later, Crowley finally hears information about a brothel owner who is a wealthy pervert and gathers boys and girls and makes them wear obscene clothing. Crowley arrives and notices that the mansion looks exactly like the one Ferid lived in before.

At the front gate, a girl in transparent clothes welcomes him and calls him by name.

Ferid and Crowley chat. Crowley has a first-class sword that he took from the eleventh progenitor. Ferid teases him and asks how many humans has he drunk from until today. Crowley has been a vampire for over fifty years now and can no longer guess the number. Even when he exercised self-control, he could only last three days without blood. Ferid asks Crowley how many of them he has drained to death, but Crowley remains silent. Ferid says vampires cannot resist that urge and that reason gets thrown out of the window when blood is in front of them.

Ferid is correct. Even though Crowley originally felt guilty when overcome by that irresistible desire and drinking a person dry, those feelings have long since faded. His feelings of love, anger, sorrow, and so on are also much weaker than when he was human. After watching Jose die, this feelings disappeared even more quickly. Now that he no longer has any human acquaintances, humans only appear as food to him.

Ferid asks Crowley why he came here today. Crowley’s memory is hazy, but he says he is here for revenge. Crowley can remember the names of his comrades but not their faces. Ferid teases him merrily and says that Ferid’s face is the only one Crowley remembers. Day after day, he says Crowley only thought of Ferid’s face because finding him was his only purpose for living.

Crowley attacks him and cuts into Ferid’s neck. He hesitates when Ferid does not dodge and asks him why he is not dodging. Ferid asks him why he is not beheading him. Ferid answers his own question. He says Crowley no longer has a reason to kill him because he no longer has the strong emotions he had at the beginning. He is now a true vampire. Crowley drops his sword.

Ferid says he turned Crowley into a vampire because he wanted a friend. Ferid explains that there are eleven eleventh progenitors, twelve twelfth progenitors, and five fifth progenitors for a total of 210 progenitors holding up to the twentieth rank.

Crowley says that fighting the eleventh progenitor was like fighting a child and asks whose blood Ferid fed him.

Ferid says vampires make companions to share their despair with. By spreading one’s own curse to another, the sire and young vampire become master and servant, and the servant shall always be weaker and dumber than the master.

Ferid tells Crowley to say that Ferid is his sire, so he should play the role of a thirteenth progenitor and be careful. When Crowley asks why, Ferid says that the two of them will be imprisoned for all eternity if anyone finds out Crowley was sired with stolen blood.

Crowley asks if Ferid thinks he will obediently follow him, and Ferid says yes because Crowley has nothing better to do.

When Crowley asks when Ferid first began targeting him, Ferid says he began a little more than 150 years prior to turning Crowley. Ferid reveals that they share the same sire, a second progenitor who often changes him name but is most recently going by Saito and living in a Far East island country.

Crowley attack Ferid with a sword, and the two spar. Crowley notices that Ferid has been through high-level sword training and has very refined movements. It reminds him of ceremonial fencing taught to royalty. He is more proficient than Crowley.

Ferid mentions that a vampire’s strength grows longer the longer he or she lives, and Crowley asks if that means he will never be able to defeat Ferid.

Ferid cuts off Crowley’s arm, and Crowley tries to rip Ferid’s head off. Ferid cuts Crowley’s head off instead. Ferid picks up the severed head and promises to guide Crowley to be able to defeat him. He holds his hand out to Crowley’s body to annoy him.

When Crowley says he is thirsty, Ferid says they should get a drink and travel together for a couple of centuries.

Chapter 4
Ferid watches Crowley sleep in a coffin. Although vampires do not need to sleep, they do so in order to spend the time and forget everything for only a few hours. Thanks to Crowley’s story, he was able to finish drawing the map. If Crowley had not reminded him why he was working on this plan that started centuries ago, Ferid would have lost interest in everything in a flash.

Walking through the mansion, he comes across a couple of the children he favors. The first one is a pretty boy with black hair and fresh, vibrant blood. Since Ferid has already forgotten his name, he notes his interest in him is fading and he should kill him soon. The boy thanks him for letting him live in luxury and leaves.

An intelligent fourteen-year-old girl greets him next. Since he has also forgotten her name, he decides he should kill her soon as well. She notes it is unusual to see him walking during this time of day since he has been staying in his study in the afternoons.

He left the map on a bookshelf in his study. Although children were welcome to enter freely, they never dared because they knew their lives would be in danger the moment they saw something they should not.

Ferid then encounters Mika and has no problem remembering his name. He asks if Mika’s life has become comfortable. Mika begins to confirm it, but Ferid touches Mika’s neck before Mika can finish speaking. This surprises Mika, but then he relaxes and does not resist. Ferid calls him a good boy. He then bites him and drinks his blood, noting that it is warm and tastes of hope. Among all the children Ferid has at the moment, Mika has the most delicious blood.

Mika begins to shudder, but Ferid has difficulty stopping. The better the blood tastes, the greater the desire to drink a person to death becomes. Only when Mika says Ferid’s name is he able to remove his mouth. Since he needs so much self-control to do so, he feels like praising himself. He believes the only reason he is able to stop is for the pleasure that awaits him in the future.

Mika pants and presses a hand to his neck. Mika’s blood trickles from the wound, igniting Ferid’s bloodlust anew. Since he knows Mika will be unable to move if he drinks anymore, Ferid holds himself back and asks if Mika is alright. Mika thanks Ferid because the only way he can live as he does is because Ferid favors him. Ferid knows Mika thinks the opposite but is impressed by Mika’s flattery.

Ferid begins walking away. Foolish children usually run at this point because they hate being livestock, but Mika continues to gaze at him with admiration in a flawless act. Ferid looks back, and Mika smiles as if he has nothing to hide. Ferid laughs to himself, certain that Mika found that map and was going to escape.

He returns to his study, noting that it is in perfect order. He had memorized the book order completely. His memory was always far too good, even when he was a human child, and he believes this is why he was always bored. One of the books is slightly off. In this shelf, Ferid hid interesting items for the children, including weapons, keys to forbidden areas, and study papers on forbidden magic. No child had ever tried that until now. Ferid is aware that an old gun and the map are missing.

The children from the Hyakuya Orphanage, including Mika, Yu, and some others, were all test subjects for the Seraph of the End magic research project. The moments vampires discovered these experiments, they were obligated to utterly destroy any organization conducting them. Four years ago on December 25th, 2012, Krul Tepes received orders to destroy the Hyakuya Sect and mobilized vampires to march on Tokyo. However, the experiment was activated. Although it was stopped midway, the human population was reduced to one-tenth its original numbers by a raging virus. The vampires were relatively unconcerned since many of them believed the human population needed to be culled anyway.

In spite of all that, Krul hides the orphans in an act of betrayal and would be sentenced to an eternity of being immured into stone if she were caught. This is the reason she does not openly protect Mika or the others since she risked having the Progenitor Council finding out and punishing her. Ferid even made sure to drink Mika’s blood in front of Krul’s underlings. Ferid says that, if Yu and Mika were to run away or die, even Krul would become angry.

He notes that everything is going to start soon and unfold fast. The plans he began over the past several hundred years would now come into motion. First Krul, a third progenitor, would take action, and then the other high-ranking progenitors would move. As only a seventh progenitor, Ferid was weaker to any of them in power. In order to take them on, he required plans, luck, brains… and the ability to enjoy himself.

Although this plan has taken a few centuries to orchestrate, even Ferid does not know the whole picture. Mika appears to be the completed product, but Ferid does not know whose plan started all of this. Ferid does not know what to do if he fails, and he does not know what to do with the other orphans. He notes this is much more fun when he does not know what will happen.

Later that night, the children attempt to escape, and Ferid slaughters them all. Although Ferid severs Mika’s arm and stabs him, he wonders if Krul will really appear. Ferid watches Yu shoot him painfully slowly and decides to let the bullet penetrate his brain in order to give the boys hope before making them lose that hope. The bullet enters his brain, and Ferid momentarily loses consciousness.

He recovers and hears Yu crying and screaming as he escapes to the outside world where Ferid’s partner, Guren Ichinose, is waiting.

Ferid smells the blood of the experimental children surrounding him. Even so, Mika’s blood is the strongest and whets his appetite. Ferid believes the Hyakuya Sect raising Mika had to know the meaning of the name “Michaela.” A boy carrying the Michaela factor is only one in tens of millions. Finding one is incredibly difficult. Since the world has been ruined, it was nearly impossible. That boy is now losing so much blood that he will undoubtedly die.

Low-class vampires in charge of monitoring livestock arrive. One lifts Mika up by the neck (NOTE: This is different from in the manga), but Krul steps in and says that human belongs to her. Even she could not help but respond to the bewitching blood of a Michaela. She scoops a finger into some of Mika’s blood and licks it. She demands answers from Ferid.

Ferid notes he will be dead with the smallest mistake, which gives him a rare surge of thrill.

He greets her and chatters uselessly. He hopes she will wreck his plans or hope he has wrecked hers. She explicitly mentions the seraphs without any prompting. Ferid guesses what she is thinking and notes she should have killed him then. He threatens to have word sent to the Progenitor Council upon his death, and Krul beats him down.

He promises to leave this matter alone and internally mocks Krul’s fear of being caught.

Krul has a few plans that she believes are her own, but Ferid actually set them up a few centuries prior. Even so, Ferid does not know everything and believes Krul may shoulder a deeper darkness. She is particularly concerned about Asura Tepes, who disappeared along with the first progenitor.

Ferid fetches his torn-off arm and leaves, telling Krul how much he loves her. He knows she will soon give Mika her blood and her curse, spinning yet another tragic vampire tale in this world.

Epilogue
Every time Mika closes, his eyes, he sees his true family, not his biological family, smiling on the undersides of his eyelids. Although they had led a horrible life, he regrets what he had done to try and earn them freedom.

It has been two years since Mika became a vampire. He has hardly talked to anyone since he is only surrounded by vampires while the human livestock sees him as a monster and subdoer. Whenever Mika looks at humans, he craves their blood. Denying it was exquisite torture, but he managed to avoid drinking human blood by living off of the queen’s. He does not know how longer he can resist. Mika moans Yu’s name. Despite his blunder, he still has hope because Yu is still alive. Even if he has become a vile monster—

A vampire superior calls Mika’s name. Mika returns his attention to the present. He wears a white military uniform. He also wears a blood-sucking vampire sword.

The officer demands attention, but Mika has no desire to listen to him.

Heavy rain falls down under a pitch-black sky while military aircrafts fly across and bomb the earth beneath. They are in Eastern Europe where dangerous humans risked ending the world with their experiments. The vampires here were to eliminate them and keep the world in peace and order.

The officer says he will not hold back just because Mika is the favorite of a noble. He raises his fist. Mika just thinks about reuniting with Yu while he still has some of his humanity left. He wants to save Yu, his family.

The officer attempts to punch Mika, but Mika easily catches his hand and glowers. Mika considers ripping off his arm. The officer orders him to release his hand or he will kill him. Mika notes that this is impossible.

Crowley Eusford appears and tell them to quit squabbling because the humans are their enemy. Mika meets him for the first time. Although a few nobles were brought in to participate, Mika does not have any interest in them and does not care at all about what the vampires do.

Ferid appears from behind Crowley and orders them to kill all of the humans who experiment on the Seraph of the End. He is in charge of this operation.

Ferid looks at Mika and grins, but Mika avoids eye contact. He starts chatting with Mika and tells Mika he can ask Ferid if he has any questions, but Mika tells him to shut up. Ferid says he shall guide Mika, as his elder. He invites Mika to come to his mansion once this mission is over and says he will tell Mika about his past, but Mika says he is not interested.

Ferid says he thinks this story would be of great interest to Mika, but he says they should focus on the mission first.

Crowley gives the signal for the vampires to annihilate the human organization in Europe.

At fourteen-years-old, the vampire Mikaela sees with his own eyes how ugly and conceited humans are with their forbidden experiments.