Belicia's footsteps sounded in the dungeon, getting closer and closer to him.
The last time I saw her was that rainy night.
Lausanne II's vision was a little blurry.
How many years ago was that?
Where? Eternal Star City? Emerald City? In his remote and hard-to-find assassin's cabin, or in Turnbull's chief's house, which is as simple as an army sentry post?
Lausanne II closed his eyes tightly.
The footsteps stopped beside him.
"Why, are you surprised to see me?"
Her voice is sweet but lazy, reminiscent of the warm sun in winter.
"No," the vampire killer's voice was hoarse, "Kathleen hinted that you would come."
The woman sighed softly:
"As expected of a knife bitch, I sold you out now - I don't miss my old feelings at all."
Lausanne II did not open his eyes. He tried his best to keep his voice steady: "They asked you to persuade me to surrender?"
"almost."
"That's not—"
"That's impossible," Belicia finished his words first and sighed softly, "We all know this."
Lausanne II opened his eyes.
He turned his eyes inch by inch and looked at the person coming.
Looking at his most familiar face.
"But you still came."
Belicia looks different from before.
She is still beautiful and charming, with a moving smile, even more moving than before.
But Lausanne II knew that she was no longer the girl who giggled with him on the roof while watching the sunset.
Maybe she never was.
"You should take a look at the battles of those big shots outside," Belicia sighed, as if complaining to an old friend about the troubles of life, "Do I have a choice?"
Lausanne II was silent for a few seconds.
"You have it."
The killer said softly:
"You should have had a choice."
Everyone should have it.
The girl who once accompanied him to watch the sunset on the roof was stunned for a few seconds. She raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.
"Did you kill that tower?"
"tower?"
Lausanne II frowned.
"Yes, tower," Belicia said in a nonchalant tone, "The abandoned sentry tower outside the North Gate Bridge is tall, pointed, old and broken. It looks like a person bending down to wave: Are you coming?
?”
Watchtower...
The killer's thoughts moved.
He moved his gaze and looked at the woman again.
That charming woman with the same smile.
The killer understood something.
"You, it's you." He affirmed.
Belicia smiled.
"for me."
She raised her eyebrows and curled her lips:
"First use the knife bitch as bait to spread the word and lead you to Beimen Bridge..."
Belicia walked slowly and came behind him.
"I will lead you to the sentry tower and tell you: yes, this is a hunting trap, and the Knife Bitch's backstage is probably on the top of the tower."
Lausanne II's eyes froze.
"For most ordinary people, maybe it would be time to give up, but..."
But she understands me.
The vampire killer said silently.
"But I know you."
Belicia's words were calm and confident. Without stopping, she slowly approached the weak light in the corner.
"And with your pride and arrogance, or in other words, extreme and paranoia..."
As the woman gets closer to the light, the shadow behind her becomes wider and larger.
Until it completely enveloped Lausanne II.
"You have to at least try."
Belicia said softly.
He will try to move forward.
Belicia looked at the small flame of the lamp that was flickering in front of her eyes but still burning.
Break through obstacles.
Escape the trap.
Even at the end of the road.
Even if you are covered in bruises.
Until he breaks through the obstacles and even reaches the tower.
Take a look at what the scenery is like on the top of the unattainable tower.
As for why he had to do this...
Belicia took out a cigarette box from her arms, elegantly took out a cigarette, pressed the cigarette butt on the surface of the box, and flattened the tobacco.
"As Old Turnbull said: Only like this can you rely on pain and self-destruction as a fulcrum to completely break through yourself, completely kill the once meticulous, naive and upright knight apprentice, and transform into a new person..."
In the deep darkness, Lausanne II said nothing.
"...Become the man covered in blood, stepping on countless corpses, rushing to the extreme without changing his expression, and making people fearful - Lausanne II."
Belicia sighed.
"Once upon a time, even if those targets you were targeting were informed in advance and prepared, even if there were iron walls and bodyguards all over the place, even if they were anonymous and hidden, they would still be unable to escape death, except for the black sword..."
Jingle Bell.
The chains on the prisoner's body made a soft sound, interrupting the woman.
Except of course, Black Sword.
Only the black sword.
Belicia in front of the light turned back, looked at the prisoner covered in shadow, smiled, and continued:
"Of course, the knife bitch and the sentry tower are just the beginning. As for how to catch you in the trap, especially to prevent you from running away when the situation is bad..."
In the firelight, Belicia relaxed her wrist lightly and put the cigarette end to the flame:
"The 'Head Wolf' Feisuo paid for the recruitment of people, but at my suggestion, he posted bounties in batches, and the news he released was half-true and half-false."
The shadow cast under her became thicker and thicker, almost covering the entire dungeon.
"The first batch is the cannon fodder who came to die for the sake of making a fortune without knowing what they are doing, but they are better because they are hot-headed and there are many of them. They have the right to warm up for you."
The cigarette burns black and smoke rises.
Lausanne II was expressionless, as if he didn't hear anything.
"Then there are the experienced veterans: mercenaries, adventurers, outlaws from the Brotherhood, and contestants in the competition. They have both strength and hard ideas, so they must be fully prepared and force you to deal with them carefully.
,constant consumption.”
In the smoke, the tobacco in the cigarette begins to glow red and shiny.
The killer remained silent.
"In the end, there are only a very small group of people who, for various noble or stubborn, rational or absurd reasons, insist on coming even if they know your details, and will risk their lives to kill you, even if they sacrifice their lives.
.”
Working hard without caring about one's own safety, exchanging one's life for one's life...
[If you can’t win, then you don’t do anything?]
The stone-sculpted Lausanne II thought of something, and his frozen expression finally moved.
The flame of the lamp is barely noticeable, but penetrates the layers of tobacco unstoppably.
"Only at the end are the subordinates of the big man in the kingdom: those unimaginably luxurious lineups, those extreme masters who all have names and surnames and can confront you head-on - they can't go all-in at once.
, please note that you are just conceited, not a fool."
What if he retreats and escapes midway, or if he hasn't been consumed enough yet, he should gather his strength to fight back...
Belicia pulled back her wrist and took a puff of her cigarette.
The cigarette butt burned brightly for a moment and spread quickly.
"After all, it's easy to kill an extreme master, but difficult to catch him."
If you want to catch him in the huge Emerald City or even in the South Bank Territory, it will be even harder.
Yes, capturing an extreme killer alive requires so much preparation.
Or, capturing an extreme killer alive only requires so much preparation.
Belicia put down her cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.
As she moved, the cigarette butt immediately dimmed, leaving only ashes in the burned place.
While Belicia spoke calmly, Lausanne II remained silent.
I see.
He thought calmly.
That's why he discovered in the trap that his opponents were sometimes strong and sometimes weak, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, some were respectable and some were despicable, and they would even be suspicious of each other, making him chopping melons and vegetables with ease, and sometimes in a panic.
, forcing him to adapt back and forth between dismissing bastards and dueling masters, consuming physical strength, straining energy, and confusing cognition, just like, just like...
"Quirk," the killer said hoarsely, "That trap is like a quagmire."
He stepped in and fell into a sticky and annoying struggle, but he always felt that the obstacles on the road could be broken with a snap of his fingers, the trap in front of him was not unsolvable, and the tower in front of him was within reach...
Until it sinks deeper and deeper.
Unable to move.
Belicia smiled, closed her eyes, raised her head, and took a puff of cigarette.
"Knife bitch thinks she knows your weakness and thinks she can control you by shedding some blood... Feisuo was so frightened that she threw money to hire people and hid in a corner where no one knew about her.
Dare to show yourself... The big shot sitting in Kongming Palace has nothing to do with you hiding here and there. It is said that even the famous royal guards can't catch you..."
The vampire killer was still staring at the dark ceiling, motionless.
"But only I, only I know, what your true background is."
Belicia exhaled a breath of hollow and insubstantial smoke.
"Lausanne II, you are a killer with temperament, and you are also the killer with the most personality and style - this completely distinguishes you from those mediocre peers who work for money and fame, and work for the top: you are more dangerous and more proactive
, more unpredictable.”
Belicia snorted disdainfully.
"So, dear, remember: the person who caught you was not Katharine, not Feisuo, not the big shot in the kingdom who had no fingers in the soil, and not even their lackey," Belicia said calmly, "but
I."
she.
The girl who always had empty eyes, depressed brows, and a lonely and heavy smile, the girl who would sit on the roof with him and watch the sunset quietly.
"I see."
Lausanne II lay peacefully in the dark shadows.
"It's always been like this."
Belicia took another puff of cigarette and added coldly.
But that's all.
Whether it was then or now.
She walked up to him and forced herself to look down at the prisoner without taking her eyes off him.
But she soon discovered that when this moment arrived, she was not as relieved and happy as she had expected.
On the contrary, when Lausanne II slowly looked at her, there was no anger, no injustice, and no pain in his eyes.
And just a touch...
sorrow.
Belicia's heart tightened.
"I remember that you don't smoke often," the killer said softly, "unless something bad happens."
It's a very annoying, annoying thing.
"Isn't it bad enough to see you?"
Belicia turned her head sharply and stopped looking at him.
"Besides, this is not an ordinary tobacco, but a rare product of Kongming Palace exclusively for dignitaries - it is silky smooth in the lungs and has a full aftertaste."
Belicia closed her eyes and sighed in the smoke:
"You know, whether it's Turnbull, whether it's Faisal or Knife Bitch, I'm starting to understand their choices: after all, who wouldn't want to be born with this?"
Lausanne II was silent for a second.
"But if you were born this way..."
The killer said in a deep voice:
"How can you understand their choice?"
There was silence in the dungeon.
Until Belicia snorted coldly.
"Tell me, before you were captured by mistake, you finally climbed up to that high tower. Did you see the scenery up there?"
The woman threw away the cigarette butt and changed the subject:
"Is it true that as long as you stand on top, everything below will become extremely small and insignificant?"
What greeted her was still silence.
After a while, Lausanne II’s voice sounded faintly, full of deep fatigue:
"Let's go back."
Belicia frowned.
"Go back to what?"
"Get out of here, go back," the killer said in a calm tone, "Don't have anything to do with anyone or anything here again."
Belicia was silent for a while.
"That's it? Nothing more?"
Lausanne II closed his eyes in the shadows.
"Yes, let's go. Once you get out of this door, don't look back."
Belicia did not reply immediately.
Her breathing slowly quickened.
A few seconds later, the woman's footsteps sounded, getting closer and closer to the killer.
"The culprit who caused your misfortune is right in front of you," Belicia said coldly, "And this is your reaction? Let me go back?"
She got farther and farther away from the light, and the shadow cast by her gradually faded away.
The dungeon is illuminated again.
"As for the group of people outside the door," Lausanne II ignored her questioning, "no matter what they want you to do, what benefits they have promised you, what threats they have made... you should not participate."
"You are so calm and indifferent, don't you have the slightest bit of unwillingness or resentment?"
Belicia stamped out the cigarette butts on the ground and spoke urgently.
"Even back then, when we were still together, I poisoned your daily diet, causing you and the old Turnbull gang leader to be defeated at the hands of the Black Sword for no apparent reason?"
Lausanne II tightened his fingers.
Maybe... it's not so unclear.
but……
"It's not important anymore."
The killer's face was expressionless.
As of now, it has no meaning.
"unimportant?"
Belicia asked in disbelief:
"Even before that, you killed Heijian twice without success. Was it because I informed him in advance so that he could be prepared and escape pursuit?"
Lausanne II remained motionless.
"Even then and now, I am still the bitch who betrayed and framed you, causing your complete defeat, causing you to be in such a bad situation, and ended up in this situation?"
The woman walked up to him and gritted her teeth unconsciously.
"Can you really let it all go, honey?"
"Let go of all the injustice and misfortune you have suffered, both in the past and now?"
Lausanne II looked indifferent.
"Are you willing to die like this in this stinky cesspit?"
Belicia took a deep breath, slowly crouched down, and approached the killer.
"Even now, you have a chance outside the door to pay for everything in the past——"
Wow!
Before Belicia finished speaking, she heard the sharp sound of metal, and a sudden change occurred!
boom!
"Ah You--"
Amidst Belicia's sudden exclamation, Lausanne II, who suddenly opened his eyes, flashed his left arm and strangled the woman's neck!
"You talk too much, my dear," Lausanne II said coldly, tightening his fingers tighter and tighter, "and you are too close."
In front of him, Belicia was kneeling on the ground having difficulty breathing. Her hands were desperately trying to grab the hard vampire claws on her neck, but with little effect.
Lausanne II tightened his arms and pulled Belicia, who was unable to resist, in front of him.
From the vampire's unique perspective, her neck was long and fair, and the blood vessels under her skin were slowly pulsing.
The allure of fragrance.
【Blood……】
Lausanne II tried hard to suppress the desire in his body, but couldn't help but swallow.
Belicia couldn't shout, and breathing became increasingly difficult.
But after the initial shock, she calmed down immediately.
"But I, if I don't, don't get close to you..."
The woman lowered her hands and stared at the other person.
"How can I understand you and defeat you..."
Lausanne II gritted his teeth.
His sharp fingers gently scratched the skin of her throat.
The feeling on his fingertips told him: she was trembling.
Belicia gently touched the other person's face, raised the corners of her mouth with difficulty, and uttered the last few words:
"...capture you?"
At that moment, Lausanne II's pupils suddenly widened!
He loosened his fingers slightly, and Belicia got some space and immediately took a big breath.
But Lausanne II stared at his hands.
He suddenly realized that it was not Belicia who was trembling.
But my own fingertips.
Why?
"Let's do it, my dear, what are you waiting for?"
Belicia finally calmed down, but she did not resist. Instead, she looked at the hand holding her neck and smiled sadly:
"Don't you want my blood?"
Blood.
Looking at the other party's eyes, Lausanne II suddenly understood something.
The next second, the killer completely let go of his fingers and his arm fell to the ground.
Belicia, who had to be freed from her restraints, lay on the ground, coughed several times, and laughed loudly.
"I know!"
Her laughter was sad and relieved, echoing in the dungeon, causing the lights in the corners to shake rapidly and the lights and shadows on the walls to flash randomly.
"When I first met you, my dear, I knew we were the same!"
Belicia sat sideways on the ground with her legs crooked, and slowly raised her head:
"You and I, the bitch and the killer, we are all completely broken tools, we just used glue and clay to stick them together and make do.
“But the cracks inside cannot be glued together.
"Broken, complicated, awkward, contradictory, cursed by the past."
Lausanne II's breath froze.
"That's why we're attracted to each other."
The woman's eyes were red, and the expression on her face became extremely terrifying:
"Even if they are destined to destroy each other."
Lausanne II was stunned.
【I want people to love you deeply...】
For some reason, looking at Belicia who was laughing and looking crazy, he suddenly remembered what that dirty guy with mental powers had said:
【...You must first send your sincerity.】
He stared blankly at the woman in front of him, knowing that she was still within arm's reach.
Just thinking about it, he could slit the other person's throat immediately.
Drink blood.
but……
Lausanne II closed his eyes and completely suppressed his blood thirst.
"I know."
The killer spoke tiredly, interrupting the woman's increasingly sad laughter:
"I know you're a bitch."
nonsense.
"Congratulations to you," Belicia paused and said sarcastically, "How come I haven't discovered it myself after so many years?"
"But she's not my bitch, and she's not dead Bert's bitch."
Lausanne II spoke slowly, with a calm and indifferent tone:
"You're Turnbull's bitch."
The voice fell.
Belicia's breathing stopped for a second.
"you know?"
"Yes, I know."
Lausanne II closed his eyes again.
"At some point—perhaps the time when I no longer feared an adversary, and few of his men were my close enemies—old Turnbull no longer trusted me wholeheartedly. He
There is deep fear in the eyes he looks at me."
But he doesn't care.
He didn't care whether it was the twists and turns of old Turnbull, or whether he deliberately let "Lausanne II" hide behind the scenes, stay away from the help and interests of the Blood Bottle Gang, and only be Turnbull's killer.
He just needs to do what he is best at and the purest - wielding a sword and killing people, and that's enough.
"Until you are sent to my side to serve his never-ending interests: spying, monitoring, vigilance, attacking, attacking enemies and dissidents - just like the 'Dog Tooth' Bert, and maybe more.
"
Lausanne II opened his eyes and smiled indifferently:
"You don't have to tell me whether you betray me or not. Just like me, you are just...doing your job."
A mission, a goal.
That's all.
The dungeon was quiet for a long time.
"Did you know it from the beginning, or..."
"I knew you from the first day I saw you."
Lausanne II answered slowly.
"Before coming to the Blood Bottle Gang, I was betrayed by others and betrayed others," the killer said without any hesitation, "so I know."
Belicia, who was sitting next to him, was stunned for several seconds before taking a deep breath.
"and you……"
"Those drugs you put in my diet, sunlight or whatever, I discovered from the first day," Lausanne II showed a smile that was either sarcastic or helpless, "I replaced your goods - they
Never worked."
Belicia slowly turned her head, her eyes complex.
"That's right, I have never been poisoned, and I am even more wary of you. I am always vigilant."
The woman chuckled.
"Don't come! When Boss Bot goes crazy and dies, and old Turnbull asks you if you would like to take me in temporarily," Belicia laughed coldly, "you didn't object either?"
The killer trapped in the shackles turned his eyes and looked at the woman deeply.
Belicia's laughter gradually stopped.
"As a spy or spy, you want to harm me, or Turnbull doesn't trust me, or you even betray Turnbull - I can understand all the possibilities."
The killer looked at the woman calmly:
"There's only one thing I can't figure out no matter what."
Belicia's smile disappeared.
She looked back at the killer calmly and said the answer:
"That drop of blood."
Lausanne II was silent for a long time.
"right."
After an unknown amount of time, he finally spoke.
"That drop of vampire blood is disgusting but can heal all injuries and miraculously bring the dead back to life."
That drop of blood is full of shame and sin, arrogance and malice, darkness and pain.
That drop was said to be a holy medicine for healing, but in fact it was a poison that only made the pain worse.
That drop is enough to drive many people crazy with hope of survival.
from his past.
The present that enveloped him.
Destroy his future.
Just listen to Lausanne II whisper:
"I threw it away a long time ago, even before I met you."
Throw it in an unknown sewer.
Waiting to be eroded, corrupted and broken by time.
Buried forever.
until……
"Until that rainy night in Yongxing City, that night when old Turnbull and I went to the abandoned house to intercept the Black Sword."
That rainy night that decided everything.
His final battle with the Black Sword.
"Before I leave," the killer closed his eyes, "you gave me that drop of blood again."
Belicia smiled.
"Yes, I still remember your expression - there are not many things that can shock the cold-blooded and cruel Lausanne II."
The woman took out another cigarette, but just looked at it dimly.
"You insisted that I bring it, 'just in case,' you said." Lausanne II clenched his remaining left hand, and the chain on his body made a soft sound. "You also said that when I come back, you will explain
everything."
The killer clenched his teeth unconsciously.
"Why, Belicia?"
"How did you know that, and how did you recover that drop of source blood? Was it deliberate? Or was it premeditated?"
besides……
"Why did you give it back to me!"
Lausanne II breathed rapidly and looked at the other party with extremely complicated eyes:
"If you want to poison, why do you want to administer medicine?"
"If you want to harm me, why do you want to help me?"
Since you want him to die.
And why do you want him to live?
Want him to die in the dark night and wake up in an even deeper night?
Do you want him to continue living in this hell-like world after he wakes up?
Crazy for blood?
Why?
"Why?"
The echoes of the killer's questioning floated in the dungeon for a long time.
Belicia was silent for a long time.
"But you never came back."
She spoke softly, avoiding his excited questions:
"At least...come back alive."
After the words fell, the dungeon returned to silence.