The scene shifted to the top floor of the eastern wing of Misawa Cram School.
This was an exceptionally vast lecture hall.
Like a ballroom, the lecture hall not only had a venue as spacious as a gymnasium, but also a stage.
At that moment, Aureolus and Himegami Aisa stood upon the stage, waiting silently as though expecting something.
"Tap..."
Footsteps suddenly rang out.
Aureolus and Himegami Aisa raised their eyes at the same time, looking ahead.
Then, they saw it.
Beyond the large doors ahead, a figure was slowly approaching.
"Crack..."
The next second, such a sound entered Aureolus and Himegami Aisa's ears.
It was the sound of cracking.
But what was cracking?
Was it the sound of the floor cracking beneath footsteps?
Was it the sound of the air being forced apart?
Or was it the soul-shaking crack that sounded within Aureolus and Himegami Aisa's hearts as they faced that figure, one that had existed only in legend?
It was none of those.
Aureolus understood what it was.
"Space itself is crying out..."
As incomparably powerful fluctuations of energy surged forth, the space in this world was indeed crying out.
And the center of those energy fluctuations was naturally that slowly approaching figure.
A terrifying pressure flowed through the air.
A shocking aura continuously trembled outward.
Aureolus and Himegami Aisa could even see the world around the approaching figure twisting as though it were a mirage, swaying faintly.
"So this is a vampire?"
A smile appeared on Aureolus's face, though sweat streamed down his forehead.
Vampires.
They had always been beings regarded by magicians as symbols of terror.
Although Aureolus had no talent for magic, as a master of alchemy, he understood the meaning behind that well enough.
Thus, when truly facing that figure and such a terrifying