Faintly... she heard the sound of a heartbeat.
But Rita knew that was impossible.
Although he was not yet going all out, Fou had clearly had his sadistic streak awakened.
And with the Living Saint and the Black Princess still requiring her vigilance, any thought of fighting Gaia's monster one-on-one with grace and composure had been peeled away as easily as a sticker.
What washed those thoughts away was a waterfall of crimson blood.
Even as an Ancestor, Rita Rozay-en could only have her body repeatedly destroyed and restored.
To preserve as much of her ability to think as possible, she could at most protect the area above her neck. She had no attention to spare for her heart.
Legend had it that vampires' bodies felt no pain, but as a Dead Apostle through and through, Rita could declare that this was merely a lie humans had deliberately woven to preserve the purity of their fantasies.
Precisely because of her powerful immortality, that pain cut all the deeper into her bones.
...How humiliating.
Though she said nothing, the expression on Rita's face plainly revealed her thoughts.
From an observer's perspective, however, never mind reaching a fever pitch, the battle had not even moved beyond the probing stage-her regenerative ability remained completely unaffected.
To be precise, she could keep up this kind of exchange for an entire night without any trouble.
But the girl could not permit herself to show weakness before an enemy she had just made such bold declarations to.
That was especially true when she noticed that Roland and Altrouge Brunestud apparently had no intention of joining the fight and were merely watching with relish.
For Rita, who prided herself on being a noble, being treated like a lion in a circus was no different from a desperate