It wasn't that Naoki had never seen a bloody scene; he had even caused them himself several times, although each time it wasn't fatal.
However, a bloody scene as severe as this was truly a first for him.
A whole human had been cut into seventeen pieces, blood staining the entire entrance red—walls, door, floor tiles, shoe rack, ceiling... like water gushing out after a water balloon burst, everywhere.
"How gruesome."
Beo stepped on the blood and crouched down, observing some pieces of flesh.
"Judging from the spread, it seems she was attacked from behind; there were no signs of resistance nearby. Cut into seventeen pieces in an instant? The perpetrator must be incredibly skilled."
"However, this shouldn't be the work of a vampire."
Of course, how could this be the work of a vampire? If it were a vampire, the corpse lying here shouldn't be this mutilated person, but the vampire who did it.
'He's already made his move, so the current time point is the night before it starts?'
Naoki knew who the mutilated person in front of him was, and he also knew the culprit.
The victim was the daughter of a True Ancestor, Arcueid Brunestud.
The culprit was Tohno Shiki, just like Ryougi Shiki, a descendant of the Nanaya family, one of the four demon-slaying families, the last Nanaya.
Since Arcueid had already been mutilated now, it meant today was the day before the start of the Tsukihime storyline.
'I really chose the right time to come to Misaki Town.'
Thinking about this, Naoki walked a few steps inside: "Beo, help me reassemble these body parts."
"Eh? Why?" Beo blinked his eyes in confusion, "It's been cut into pieces like this; don't tell me you're still thinking of saving her? Even with your scabbard, it's impossible to save her; once someone is killed, they're dead."
"But the one who was mutilated isn't human; even if she's been cut into pieces like this, she's definitely still alive."
The unexpectedly firm tone made Beo fall silent for a moment, then he chuckled and asked: "In this situation, you still think this person is alive? She's not a high-level being like me whose soul is materially manifested."
"I didn't say she's the same existence as you; I just said she's not human."
Not human?
"Then you mean she's a vampire? A vampire who can revive after dying?"
"She is a True Ancestor."
Lifting Arcueid's severed head, Naoki stared at her ruby-red eyes that had already lost their light. Those eyes, in their final moments, did not show the anger, regret, sadness, or despair usually possessed by a dying person, but rather an unnatural astonishment.
Why was she attacked so suddenly?
Why was she killed?
How did the opponent kill her?
Her gaze seemed to tell those questions.
"You're really a strange person." Beo brought a severed leg and approached Naoki, connecting it to the rest of Arcueid's body like putting together a puzzle, "Could it be that this dead person is someone you know?"
"Known isn't exactly the right word; there's just a bit of a causal relationship."
Placing Arcueid's head on her neck and connecting it, standing up and looking at the reassembled Arcueid, Naoki placed his hand on his chest. The scabbard that shone with holy light once again emerged from within his body.
The Noble Phantasm that could heal all wounds and curses, Avalon.
Although he didn't know how much effect it would have on wounds caused by the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, if it was implanted into Arcueid's body, it should be able to slightly accelerate her recovery.
"This should be fine. Beo, can I ask you to continue patrolling on your own? I want to take her back to the hotel first."
"Yeah, leave it to me."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Pain.
That was the only reality Arcueid could feel at this moment.
Her whole body ached terribly; her consciousness, which had fainted a moment ago due to the extreme pain, was instantly awakened by the same pain the next moment, as if her entire body had been cut into countless pieces.
—Correction. Not as if; she had indeed been attacked from behind, then killed, her body cut into seventeen scattered pieces. And strangely, her self-healing ability, which could usually ignore even fatal wounds, was completely ineffective against these gaping wounds; there were no signs of healing at all.
If it weren't for the fact that she was a special existence among the True Ancestors, she would have already died. Even so, only her consciousness remained awake, while her body was killed; she clearly couldn't be considered alive.
Of course, as long as her body was reassembled and she exerted most of her power, she should be able to revive with difficulty.
It's just that—
'It hurts so much; because it hurts too much, I can't concentrate at all to control my body. That unreasonable bastard, just wait until my body recovers; I will definitely retaliate!'
Arcueid saw the person who killed her.
'After asking how he killed me, I will kill him hundreds of times! A bastard who doesn't know how to kill properly!'
*BUZZ!*
Right at that moment, a faint sound mixed with the intense pain, seeping into Arcueid's consciousness. Like an endless snowstorm suddenly stopping, she was bathed in warm sunlight again. Along with that momentary sound, a comfortable warmth that made her want to fall asleep slowly spread throughout her body.
Strange, her body should have been destroyed, but Arcueid currently felt a sense of [wholeness].
Did someone reassemble her?
—This should be fine.
Someone's voice sounded in Arcueid's ears.
A man's voice, somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before, but how could that be? In the past 800 years, the number of her interactions with others was almost zero; even conversations were almost nonexistent; she was always immersed in her own dreams.
'That's right... dreams...'
Arcueid laboriously recalled a fragment.
It had just happened recently, in her last dream before she woke up, there was someone who, due to various coincidences and accidents, accidentally entered her dream. That person's voice was somewhat similar to the one she had just heard.
She remembered it was a man, with blond hair like hers, giving off an impression similar to her own.
His name was...
'Ugh...'
The intense pain and the warmth, two almost contradictory sensations, completely overwhelmed Arcueid's consciousness before she could remember the man's name.