Chapter 31

Akane ate most of the takoyaki, which Caleb was fine with. After their meal, the two walked around for a bit, just taking in the sights. Occasionally, she would check her mirror to see if that man was still following them.

"Still there?" Caleb quietly asked, eyes forward.

"Mhmm," she responded matter-of-factly before putting her mirror away and taking his arm again. "By the way. Sorry for eating most of the takoyaki. It was just really yummy."

He smiled at her and shook his head. "It's no sweat. If need be, I can always find another stall."

As they continued their walk, the couple passed by a man who appeared to be in his forties. He was seemingly quite drunk, nearly falling over more than once. They attempted to pass when he suddenly tripped forward, falling to a knee.

"Goodness, are you okay?" Akane asked as they helped him up to his feet.

"Pardon me..." he slurred.

Caleb chuckled, taking an arm and helping him up. "Had a bit too much tonight, friend?"

Rather than respond, the man made a grab at Akane's behind.

"Hey!" She jerked away. "Hands to yourself, you pervert!"

"Bah, I didn't do anything..." the forty-something grumbled in a drunken stupor.

"I'm sorry; what did he just do?" Caleb asked in English.

"He just tried to cop a feel," she insisted angrily, glaring at the older man. "I definitely just felt his hand on my ass."

Caleb scowled at the man, speaking in Japanese again. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to apologize to my girlfriend. You may be our elder, but I cannot in good conscience overlook this blatant disrespect. Where I'm from, such an act is considered a form of assault."

"Don't speak to me of disrespect, boy," he slurred angrily. "You're not in America anymore. In this country, women belong to their husbands." The drunk then grinned at Akane lecherously. "And the girls? They belong to the people."

Akane backed away, shivering in disgust. Meanwhile, the ringing in Caleb's skull had completely drowned out all sound around him as white-hot fury burned behind his eyes.

"Glare at me all you want, gaijin. We're on a public street. There's a koban right around the corner. I'll have you locked up by the end of the night if you make a move on me."

A sadistic grin spread across Caleb's lips as his eyes began to glow.

"Could I speak with you in private for a moment?" he asked, impressing his will upon the drunk. "In that alley behind the dumpster?"

His drunken scowl turned into a blank, vacant expression as he slowly nodded his head and began walking into the dark private alley. "Yes, you may."

Caleb nodded in appreciation before removing his coat. "Hold this for a second, babe."

"Of course, darling."

She took his coat for him while Caleb grabbed a set of black leather gloves from the inner pocket. After donning the gloves, Caleb briskly made his way down the back alley behind the drunk, pulling a weighty section of metal pipe from the wall as he did so.

Akane stood watch, the sound of her darling boyfriend bashing the old pervert's skull in directly behind her. For the briefest moment, she made eye contact with the hooded figure off in the distance, the two of them acknowledging one another.

When he was finally done, Caleb casually tossed the pipe aside and returned. Now coated in the man's blood, he did away with the evidence by biting down his lip, seemingly swallowing the red liquid as it pulled away from his clothes, mouth, and face, converted into vitae.

By the time he was back to her, Caleb was completely clean. He placed the gloves back into his coat, which she helped him into.

"Still need to find another vendor?" she asked in English.

He shook his head. "Not anymore, no. Damned if I'm not sick and tired of killing citizens in my host country, though. Really makes me feel like the quintessential ugly American."

"Well, as a woman from this country, I personally feel you deserve a medal," she assured, smiling up at him lovingly.

His smile returned as well. "Thanks, babe."

"I'm pretty sure he knows what you just did," Akane admitted, referring to the hooded figure.

Caleb chuckled before taking her hand in his and resuming their walk. "Doesn't surprise me in the least. He's a Tumala Hashashin, had him figured out pretty much from the moment I saw the hood."

"So he's an assassin?" she asked while gripping his arm protectively.

"It's what the Middle Eastern Chapter is infamous for, at least within the cult," he explained. "Some say they invented the concept. If not invented it, then definitely perfected it. This will be nothing like my fight with Sana. The Tumala show no mercy, no leniency. That man will use whatever means necessary to complete the contract and eliminate me."

She seethed in anger at his words. "So when do we kill him?"

"Patience, my love," he insisted gently. "He won't make a move until he can afford to. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy the evening and come up with a plan."

"He has those same powers you do, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, he does."

"How do they work? I remember you telling me a little about your cult's origins. But I'll need to know more about your magic if I'm to help you come up with a suitable counterplan."

"Fair enough," Caleb responded agreeably. "Essentially, Blood Sorcerers perform magic and spells through the manipulation of vitae, the spiritual life force that composes the souls of living creatures which manifests in the blood."

"So what all can you do? I've seen you brainwash people, move really fast, and regenerate from wounds, but what other abilities might this guy have?"

He shook his head vehemently. "There's nowhere near enough time. Blood Sorcery is a magical art dating back thousands of years, encompassing dozens of specializations and hundreds of sub-specializations in modern times. Besides, you don't need to know the full extent of our abilities, just our weaknesses."

"Which are?"

"First of all, forget whatever lore or stories you may have heard regarding the supernatural and what they're weak against. Almost all of it is pure crap," he assured. "Silver does nothing. Holy water does nothing. Crucifixes and other religious symbols do nothing." He held up three fingers. "When it comes to our weakness, we have three that I'm personally aware of. One that's ancient and two that are more modern nuisances."

"What's the ancient one?"

"Sunlight," he explained. "There's a reason it's believed the Antediluvians make their dwellings deep underground or at the bottom of the ocean. Our powers have always been significantly weaker during the day, to the point of being almost non-existent." Caleb glanced over his shoulder for half a second. "As for the two modern ones, you've seen them already."

"UV lights and hydrogen peroxide," she responded.

He nodded approvingly. "Yep. Thanks to modern technology, we're no longer safe at night anymore. A powerful enough UV light will not only weaken our powers but outright nullify them. As for hydrogen peroxide, it works equally well, albeit for entirely different reasons. Whereas ultraviolet radiation nullifies our actual ability to manipulate vitae, hydrogen peroxide ruins spells by destroying the catalyst of our magic. That is...the actual blood component. Without blood as a catalyst, we cannot perform our spellcraft."

"So, knowing all this, what do you suppose his next move will be?"

Caleb frowned in thought. "That part I'm still trying to figure out. It's clear he's playing the black move's game instead of the white. But beyond that, I don't know his strategy."

"Beg pardon?"

"In chess, white always moves first. Black moves second," he explained. "For this reason, white tends to have an advantage over black. Because they set the tone of the game, they make the first move and thus employ the opening strategy. Black is at a disadvantage in this scenario because they're now being forced to play the game that white wants to play. It's only once white makes a mistake that black can capitalize and start employing his strategy. Assuming white makes absolutely no mistakes at all, this means black will be permanently stuck making countermoves, which will inevitably lead to a loss."

"So what you're saying is, he's employing a risky strategy hoping to find a weakness he can exploit."

He nodded. "Our opponent has given up the white move in favor of black, allowing me to decide where and how we shall fight. He believes himself to be the superior strategist and is confident I will eventually make a mistake." Caleb held up two fingers. "From this, we can deduce two things. Our enemy must know I'm powerful, and it's likely he'll have a plan in place in the event he can't outmatch me with his blood magic. Some way to get a UV light on me and nullify my powers while we fight. That will be his counter-strategy."

"Wouldn't that nullify his powers too?"

He chuckled. "That hardly matters for the Tumala. They're not just Blood Sorcerers. They're trained assassins. He'll be as deadly with a blade as he will be with spells."

She nodded in understanding. "So then we need to figure out how he plans to remove Blood Magic as a factor and seek to undo that."

"If luring me into a specific location was his intention, then he's doing a piss poor job of it," Caleb observed before shaking his head. "No, no. He's being far too indiscreet right now. He wants us to know he's following us. He wants us to make the first move. Somehow... he's going to set his trap wherever we decide to confront him."

"Could he have portable sources of UV light on him like those Hunters did?" she offered.

"It's likely he does, and we'll need to deal with those as well," Caleb assured. "But small portable lights would only work in an equally small and confined space. Ideally, our best bet will be to confront him in a wide open area, and I'm certain he knows that." He racked his brain, trying to figure out what their assassin's angle could possibly be before growling in frustration. "No, I just don't see it. I don't see how he could possibly illuminate a wide enough area to nullify our abilities."

Akane began digging deep into her mind, recalling every book, every manual, every scrap of information she had on forms of portable light. It would have to be big enough to cover a wide area. An industrial strobe light or something else just as massive. Which would require an equally massive mode of transportation. Something that could cover a large area in a very short amount of time.

She looked up towards the sky. There was only one possibility. Knowing what was in store, she began to formulate a strategy.

"Darling, remind me again where the fireworks display will be held?"