Chapter Summaries

Fang Li, Arcueid, and Tohno Shiki tracked a mysterious figure to an industrial lot, where Arcueid fought a group of dead and Nero-like beasts. As Tohno Shiki hesitated over joining the battle, a beast attacked him, and its bite made him laugh as his blood began to boil.

• Fang Li checked on Tohno Shiki, who was shaken by the death he saw covering the fleeing figure.
• Fang Li and Tohno Shiki followed Arcueid through the alley to an industrial lot where she tore apart three dead.
• Eleven more enemies appeared, including seven dead and four beasts resembling wolves and tigers, which Arcueid recognized as Nero's familiars.
• Arcueid charged the group while Fang Li asked Tohno Shiki whether he would join the fight.
• A beast attacked Tohno Shiki from behind and bit his hand, causing him to laugh as his blood began to boil.

Tohno Shiki’s Nanaya blood awakened, turning him into the Killer Demon and driving him to attack Arcueid. Just as they clashed, Fang Li appeared between them and stopped both of their attacks.

• A silver flash severed the beast biting Tohno Shiki, and Shiki crushed its head with his hand.
• Tohno Shiki’s pupils turned ice-blue as his Nanaya blood awakened, and Arcueid recognized him as the murderer who had killed her.
• Tohno Shiki sensed Arcueid as his ideal prey and charged at her, seeing faint Death Lines but no Death Points.
• Arcueid charged at Tohno Shiki, and the two attacked each other with his knife and her claws.
• Fang Li appeared between them and seized both their hands, stopping the clash.

Fang Li stopped Tohno Shiki and Arcueid from killing each other, then confronted them about their actions. Tohno Shiki remained shaken by his recurring murderous impulse, while Arcueid decided Fang Li alone could compensate for her lost power.

• Fang Li caught Tohno Shiki and Arcueid's wrists just before their attacks landed, then threw them into a pile of stones to stop their fight.
• Fang Li scolded Arcueid for trying to kill Tohno Shiki, and the two argued while Tohno Shiki wondered why he had attacked her again.
• Tohno Shiki asked Fang Li whether his eyes caused his murderous impulse, but Fang Li refused to explain and warned him that fighting monsters meant entering a world beyond ordinary people.
• Arcueid recognized that Tohno Shiki could become a Killer Demon when a switch within him was triggered, and decided Fang Li alone could make up for her lost strength.

Fang Li and the others returned to the Tohno estate after discovering that an executor of the Holy Church had slaughtered the creatures at the construction site. As Misaki City drew an expanding cast of supernatural forces, Arcueid told Fang Li that what she needed to do would not change, and asked if the same was true for him.

• Fang Li, Tohno Shiki, and Arcueid climbed over the locked estate gate and returned to their rooms late at night.
• Fang Li recalled how he and Arcueid had found the dead and beasts at the construction site pinned down by Black Keys.
• Arcueid recognized the weapons as Black Keys and suspected that an executor of the Holy Church, possibly a particular woman, had killed the creatures.
• Fang Li concluded that Misaki City had become a battlefield drawing in Arcueid, a Dead Apostle, the Tohno family, a Seven Nights Clan survivor, the unidentified Snake, and the Holy Church's executors.
• Arcueid revealed that she had been awake and told Fang Li that her objective would not change, asking if his would either.

Fang Li and Arcueid discussed his reasons for fighting vampires and the origins of his unusual combat ability. Arcueid recognized a painful similarity between them before falling silent as dawn arrived.

• Fang Li asked why Arcueid believed he had a personal reason to exterminate vampires, and she pointed out that he had repeatedly chosen to fight them.
• Arcueid questioned how Fang Li had gained his extraordinary combat ability and speculated that he was connected to an ancient mystery.
• Fang Li said his only special experience was training to kill people and insisted that he was telling the truth.
• Arcueid murmured that Fang Li seemed a lot like her, then hid beneath the covers after he noticed her sorrow.
• Fang Li watched Arcueid fall silent and looked toward the sky as dawn arrived.

Fang Li learned that Tohno Shiki had left for school after a troubling night, and Tohno Akiha asked him to watch over her brother. As Fang Li headed to the school, he reflected on the strange connection and shared fate he might have with Shiki.

• Hisui reported that Tohno Shiki was missing, but Fang Li discovered his uniform and schoolbag were gone and concluded he had gone to school.
• Tohno Akiha admitted she could guess what troubled her brother and asked Fang Li to keep an eye on him, trusting her judgment of Fang Li.
• Fang Li left the Tohno family home and went to Tohno Shiki's school.
• As Fang Li walked through campus, he recalled the strange traveler's claim that he and Tohno Shiki were alike and might share an unknown fate.

Fang Li overheard Tohno Shiki confide in Ciel about the fear of becoming someone else without control. After Ciel reassured him and left, Fang Li emerged from hiding, believing fate had bound him to more than one person.

• Fang Li spotted Tohno Shiki talking with his upperclassman, Ciel, and climbed into a nearby tree to listen.
• Ciel asked Tohno Shiki what was troubling him, and he cautiously asked how she would feel about becoming someone else without control.
• Tohno Shiki admitted that losing control of himself would be terrifying, and Ciel encouraged him to trust himself and do what he believed was right.
• When the bell rang, Tohno Shiki returned to class, and Ciel watched him leave before turning a cold gaze toward Fang Li's hiding place.
• Ciel dismissed the possibility that anyone was there and left, after which Fang Li emerged and said fate had bound him to more than one person.

Fang Li watched Tohno Shiki wrestle with his demon-exorcising impulse and wondered whether Ryougi Shiki wanted him to observe Shiki or reach the Root. As Shiki left school, Ciel ambushed Fang Li with nail-shaped swords.

• Fang Li spent the day at school refining his Star Pulse Energy while keeping an eye on Tohno Shiki, who remained troubled after class.
• Fang Li speculated that observing Tohno Shiki might reveal how to resolve their similar problems, but wondered whether Ryougi Shiki had instead sent him to observe the Root.
• Fang Li considered how reaching the Root might require becoming a sixth Magician and hoped his soul’s fragmentation could be resolved another way.
• Tohno Shiki left school near nightfall, and Fang Li prepared to follow him.
• Ciel attacked Fang Li with a volley of nail-shaped swords, revealing that she had discovered an intruder.

Fang Li confronted Ciel, whose identity as a Burial Agency executor was revealed, and fought her as she attacked with Black Keys. The chapter ended with Ciel's Cremation Rite engulfing Fang Li in flames.

• Fang Li identified Ciel as a Burial Agency executor who had concealed herself at school using suggestion magic.
• Ciel reacted with hostility when Fang Li mentioned her relationship with Shiki and attacked him with Black Keys.
• Ciel used the Iron Armor Effect to hurl Black Keys with enough force to shatter a tree, while Fang Li deflected them with Moon Blade.
• Ciel cast the Cremation Rite on a Black Key, causing flames to erupt when it struck Fang Li's Moon Blade.
• Ciel hurled more enchanted Black Keys, and the resulting flames engulfed Fang Li.

Fang Li defeated Ciel in a brief fight on the evening campus, then vanished after insisting he was not a heretic. Ciel suspected the Tohno family was hiding more about the foreigner than just his identity as a vampire.

• Ciel watched Fang Li emerge unharmed from the Explosive Flame and recognized his strength.
• Fang Li rushed Ciel at high speed, evaded her Black Keys, and cut through the magical-energy blades.
• Fang Li pressed a dagger to Ciel's throat and questioned her use of lethal force.
• Ciel asked who Fang Li was, and he answered that he was not a heretic before withdrawing and vanishing.
• Ciel realized Fang Li had left and wondered what else the Tohno family was hiding.

Tohno Shiki walked home with Fang Li and asked him for three things: to keep helping hunt the vampire, to teach him how to fight, and to stop him if he lost control again. Fang Li agreed to all three, and Shiki returned to the Tohno home looking more at ease as a new phase of events began.

• Tohno Shiki met Fang Li on the way home and asked whether they would hunt the dead and beasts again that night.
• Fang Li spelled out Shiki’s reasons for joining them and reminded him that he had nearly killed Arcueid after losing control.
• Shiki accepted that Fang Li would not reveal the truth and asked to keep hunting the vampire, learn to fight, and be stopped if he lost control again.
• Fang Li agreed to all three requests, and Shiki returned to the Tohno home looking brighter, reassuring Tohno Akiha, Kohaku, and Hisui.
• Fang Li returned to his room and told the awakened Arcueid what Shiki had asked; Arcueid remarked that humans were troublesome.

Fang Li trained Tohno Shiki to fight less predictably and awaken the Seven Nights Assassination Technique. After leaving Shiki to rest, Fang Li found Arcueid upset because they had been neglecting her.

• Tohno Shiki attacked Fang Li with his knife, but Fang Li deflected the strike and kicked him down.
• Fang Li criticized Shiki’s predictable attacks and told him to rely on his instincts and focus on killing.
• Fang Li explained that Shiki’s body already knew the Seven Nights Assassination Technique and that combat training could help him fight independently.
• Fang Li told Shiki to think over his advice while he rested, then went to speak with Arcueid.
• Arcueid complained that Fang Li and Shiki had ignored her, left her alone, and never taken her out to play.

Fang Li explained to Arcueid how the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception depended on what their users could perceive and believe they could kill. He ended by demonstrating how easily he could wound himself with his Moon Blade.

• Arcueid complained that Fang Li and Tohno Shiki spent too little time with her while training and hunting separately.
• Fang Li corrected Arcueid's claim that Tohno Shiki could kill anything, explaining that Shiki's eyes were limited to living things he could perceive.
• Arcueid asked whether Fang Li could kill mysteries and concepts, and Fang Li said his eyes could reach beyond Shiki's but still had limits.
• Fang Li explained that perception, understanding, and belief shaped what the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception could kill.
• Fang Li cut his palm with his Moon Blade to demonstrate how fragile humans were.

After cutting his palm, Fang Li questioned why his soul had granted him the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, believing the answer could reveal his soul’s true nature. Arcueid lost control at the sight of his blood and fled the Tohno family estate, and Fang Li pursued her to the outskirts of Misaki City, where an unknown speaker confronted her.

• Fang Li cut his palm and began questioning why he had gained the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception rather than another power related to death.
• Arcueid became fixated on Fang Li’s blood and nearly brought his hand to her mouth before he stopped her.
• Arcueid struck Fang Li’s hand away, then fled the Tohno family estate to escape her urges.
• Fang Li told Tohno Shiki to inform Kohaku and Hisui that he was leaving, then chased after Arcueid.
• Arcueid reached a grassy field on the outskirts of Misaki City, where a voice addressed her from above.

Fang Li searched Misaki City for Arcueid and found her presence faint beyond the city, where she was trapped in a battle with Ciel. After breaking the barrier around the battlefield, he arrived just in time to deflect Ciel’s Black Keys and descend toward her.

• Fang Li searched Misaki City from the air but could not find Arcueid and grew concerned about her condition.
• Fang Li sensed Arcueid’s faint presence in the grasslands beyond the city and discovered a barrier meant to keep ordinary people away.
• Ciel pinned Arcueid to a tree with Black Keys and prepared to finish her while Arcueid struggled to free herself.
• Fang Li cut through the barrier and rushed into the grassland.
• Fang Li’s spinning dagger knocked away Ciel’s Black Keys, and he descended toward Ciel.

Fang Li rescued Arcueid from Ciel’s attack, but Ciel revealed that Arcueid’s dwindling power could no longer restrain her blood-drinking impulse. The chapter left Arcueid at risk of becoming a monster that preyed on humans.

• Fang Li caught his returning dagger and shattered the throwing swords pinning Arcueid to a tree.
• Arcueid healed and asked Fang Li why he had come, and he said she had wandered off after complaining that he did not keep her company.
• Fang Li questioned Ciel’s attack on Arcueid, while Ciel asked why he would help a vampire.
• Ciel warned that Arcueid was beyond saving and that the city could become a city of the dead if she was not exterminated.
• Ciel explained that Arcueid’s power had dwindled, leaving her unable to suppress her blood-drinking impulse.

Fang Li used his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and Moon Blade to cut away the bloodlust tormenting Arcueid, preventing her from falling into a world-threatening calamity. Arcueid recovered, Ciel left, and Fang Li reflected that his ability was more complicated than he had thought.

• Ciel explained that Arcueid's bloodlust could overwhelm her and turn her into a berserk calamity, making this the best moment to kill her.
• Fang Li activated his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and approached Arcueid as Ciel watched.
• Fang Li stabbed Arcueid in the chest with Moon Blade, and a sound of something breaking came from within her.
• Arcueid's presence and breathing stabilized, and Fang Li pulled out Moon Blade without blood on it.
• Ciel acknowledged that Arcueid had gotten her life back and vanished, while Arcueid complained and Fang Li wondered at the nature of what he had done.

After Fang Li killed Arcueid’s urge to suck blood, the two discussed the danger of his Mystic Eyes and the temporary nature of her relief. The chapter left them recognizing that Fang Li’s soul was still accumulating records of death and Arcueid’s bloodlust could return.

• Fang Li returned with cold drinks and sat beside the recovered Arcueid, who said she felt more relaxed than she had in years.
• Arcueid praised Fang Li for killing her urge to suck blood and warned that his Mystic Eyes might grow powerful enough to make him godlike.
• Arcueid advised Fang Li to use his eyes less, unaware that his soul continued recording death as he traveled between worlds.
• Fang Li told Arcueid that her bloodlust had only been cured temporarily and that the desire could arise again.

Fang Li confronted Arcueid about her plan to return to sleep after her bloodlust was temporarily suppressed, and helped her recognize that she had begun wanting things beyond hunting vampires. Arcueid remained uncertain about how to live for herself, but Fang Li told her to keep doing the things that made her happy.

• Arcueid explained that she had suppressed her accumulating bloodlust for eight hundred years and had planned to sleep forever after her latest mission.
• Fang Li pointed out that Arcueid had spent almost all that time asleep and challenged her to live for herself instead.
• Arcueid admitted she did not know how to live beyond exterminating vampires because no one had ever taught her anything else.
• Fang Li reminded Arcueid that she had chosen to talk, stay with others, and ask him to play, even though she considered such things unnecessary.
• Fang Li told Arcueid to keep doing those unnecessary things because they made her happy.

Fang Li encouraged Arcueid to pursue the happiness she had found in ordinary life, but Arcueid insisted on eliminating the Dead Apostle "Snake," who had deceived her eight hundred years earlier. Fang Li agreed to help her hunt him in Misaki City.

• Arcueid realized that talking, shopping, and playing with someone made her happy, and Fang Li told her she was free to live as she wished.
• Arcueid declared that she had to eliminate "Snake" before pursuing her new life, and Fang Li accepted her resolve.
• The story recounted how "Snake" deceived Arcueid into drinking his blood eight hundred years earlier, gained her power, and became a Dead Apostle.
• After Arcueid killed "Snake," he repeatedly reincarnated into unborn infants, so Arcueid continued waking from slumber to hunt him.
• Arcueid grasped Fang Li's hand as he promised to help her find and kill "Snake" in Misaki City.