Belisia'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 somewhat blurry.

 How many years ago was that?

Where? Yongxing City? Emerald City? In his own remote and hard-to-find assassin's hut, or in Turnbull's chief's house, as simple as an army sentry post?

 Lausanne II closed his eyes tightly.

 The sound of 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 said hoarsely, "Kathleen hinted that you would come."

 The woman sighed softly:

　　"As expected of a knife bitch, I sold my mother out now - I don't even 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 the face he was most familiar with.

 “But you’re still here.”

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.

Perhaps she never was.

“You should take a look at the battles of the big guys 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 something.

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.

 “Have you killed the 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 and waving: Are you coming? ?”

Watch tower…

 The killer's thoughts suddenly changed.

 He moved his eyes 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 up the corners of her mouth:

 “I’ll use the knife **** as bait first, let out some noise, and lure 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 backstage of Knife Bitch is probably at 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. She kept walking and slowly approached the weak light in the corner.

 “And with your pride and arrogance, or in other words, extreme and bigotry...”

 As the woman gets closer to the light, the shadow behind her becomes wider and larger.

 Until Lausanne II was completely enveloped.

 “You have to at least give it a try.”

Belicia said softly.

 He will try to move forward.

Belicia looked at the small flame of the lamp that was dimming but still burning.

 Break obstacles.

 Escape from the trap.

 Even if there is no end of the road.

 Even if you are covered in bruises.

 Until he breaks through the obstacles and even reaches the tower.

Look at what the scenery is like on the top of the unattainable tower.

 As to why he had to do this...

Belicia took out a cigarette box from her arms, elegantly took out a cigarette, pressed the **** on 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 yourself..."

 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 face, and making people feared - Lausanne II."

Belicia sighed.

“Once upon a time, even if the targets you were targeting were informed in advance and prepared, even if there were iron walls and bodyguards everywhere, even if they were anonymous and could hide their traces, they would still be able to die, except for the black sword...”

Jingle Bell.

The chains on the prisoner's body made a soft sound, interrupting the woman.

 Except for the Black Sword, of course.

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 **** 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 and put the end of the cigarette to the flame:

“The ‘Head Wolf’ Feisuo paid to recruit 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 are the cannon fodder who come here 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, so they should give you a warm-up.”

The cigarette burns black and smoke rises.

 Lausanne II’s face was expressionless, as if he didn’t hear anything.

"Then there are 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. , constantly consumed.”

 In the smoke, the tobacco in the cigarette starts 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 for their lives. .”

 Working hard, risking one’s life for one’s life…

　　【If you can't win, then do nothing? 】

 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 very end are the subordinates of the great 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.”

In case he retreats and escapes midway, or if he hasn't been exhausted enough, he should gather his strength to fight back...

Belicia pulled back her wrist and took a puff of the cigarette.

 The cigarette **** was very bright for a moment and burned quickly.

“After all, it’s easy to kill an extreme master, but hard to catch him.”

It would be even more difficult to catch him in the huge Emerald City or even in the South Bank Territory.

 That's right, 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.

Following her movement, the cigarette **** 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: his opponents were sometimes strong and sometimes weak, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, some were respectable and some were despicable, and they even suspected each other and were at odds with each other, which made him chopping melons and vegetables with ease, and sometimes he was in a panic. , forcing him to adapt back and forth between dismissing **** and dueling masters, consuming physical strength, straining energy, and confusing cognition, just like...

 “Quad,” 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 **** thinks she knows your weakness, and thinks she can control you with a little blood... Feisuo is so frightened that she only throws money to hire people, and hides in a corner where no one knows, not even daring to meet you. Lu... the big shot sitting in Kongming Palace has nothing to do with you running around. 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 also the killer with the most personality and style - this completely distinguishes you from those mediocre peers who work for money, fame, and superiority: you are more dangerous, more proactive, It’s 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 bitch," 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.

 “This has always been the case.”

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, her eyes fixed on him.

 But she soon discovered that when this moment came, she was not as relieved and relaxed 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 only a touch...

 Sadness.

Belicia’s heart tightened.

"I remember that you don't smoke often," the killer said softly, "unless something bad happens."

　　Very annoying and 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 from Kongming Palace exclusively for dignitaries—it’s 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, Fissot 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 like this…”

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 and saw the scenery from there?”

 The woman threw away the cigarette **** 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’s tone was calm, “and 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, get out of this door, and 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 moved further and further 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, and you don’t have the slightest bit of unwillingness or resentment?”

 Belicia stamped out the cigarette butts on the ground and spoke in a hurry.

"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.

 Perhaps… it’s not so unclear.

but…

  “It’s not important anymore.”

 The killer's face was expressionless.

 As of now, it is meaningless.

 “Not important?”

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, am I still the **** who betrayed and framed you, causing your complete defeat, causing you to be in such a bad situation?"

 The woman walked up to him, gritting her teeth unconsciously.

 “Can you really let it all go, my dear?”

“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 cesspool?"

 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 that has ever happened—”

 Hurrah!

Before Belicia finished speaking, she heard a sharp sound of metal, and a sudden change occurred!

boom!

"Ah You-"

Amid 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, his fingers tightening, "and you are too close."

Before his eyes, Belicia was kneeling on the ground, having difficulty breathing. Her hands were desperately trying to claw at 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 perspective of the Vampires, her neck is long and white, and the blood vessels under her skin are slowly pulsating.

 The temptation 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 come near 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 claws 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 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 your own fingertips.

Why?

 “Let’s do it, 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 released his fingers and his arm fell to the ground.

Belicia, who was 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 **** and the killer, we are all completely broken instruments, just barely held together with glue and clay to make do.

“But the cracks inside cannot be glued together.

 “Broken, complicated, awkward, contradictory, cursed by the past.”

 Lausanne II's breath was stagnant.

 “So we can attract each other.”

 The woman's eyes turned 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 like a madman, 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.

As long as he thought 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 not my bitch, nor 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 ceased to trust me wholeheartedly. He looked at me There is deep fear in his eyes."

 But he doesn't care.

Whether it was Old Turnbull's twists and turns, 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 didn't care.

 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 enemies and dissenters—just like Dogtooth Bert, and maybe more.”

 Lausanne II opened his eyes and smiled indifferently:

“You didn’t tell me whether you betrayed me or not. Just like me, you were just...doing your job.”

 A task, 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 replied 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 have never been Didn’t work.”

Belicia slowly turned her head, her eyes complex.

“That’s right, I have never been poisoned, and I am even more careful and vigilant about you.”

 The woman chuckled.

“Come on! When Boss Bert goes crazy and dies, and Old Turnbull asks you if you would like to take me in for a while,” 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 is worried about 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 disgusting vampire blood can heal all injuries and miraculously bring the dead back to life.”

That drop of blood filled with 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 poison that only made the pain worse.

That drop of hope of survival is enough to drive many people crazy.

 From his past.

 Huge his present moment.

 Destroy his future.

 Just listen to Lausanne II whisper:

 “I threw it away a long time ago, even before I met you.”

　　　I don’t know where to throw it in an unknown sewer.

 Waiting to be eroded, corrupted and broken by time.

 Buried forever.

until…

“Until that rainy night in Eternal Star 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 make the cold-blooded and cruel Lausanne II's jaw drop."

 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, Belisia?”

"Where did you know that, and how did you retrieve the drop of source blood? Was it deliberate? Or was it premeditated?"

besides…

 “Why do you want to give it back to me!”

 Lausanne II was breathing 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.

 Why do you want him to live?

 Want him to die in the dark night and wake up in an even deeper night?

 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.

 The chains of the captives no longer ring. (End of chapter)