A small stature, light weight, a body flung into the air, and an external force strong enough to shatter buildings.

Even with telekinesis softening the blow, the outcome was inevitable—I was hurled through the air like a ragdoll.

Crash!
My breath was knocked out of me, and my vision blurred for a moment. When I came to, I found myself lying helplessly on the cold, hard ground.

“Ugh… I think I’m really going to die…”

Though I was resting against the floor, it felt as though the world was spinning endlessly. Up and down were indistinguishable, my head swimming in nausea.

I tried to push myself up, but the searing pain radiating through my body robbed me of all strength.

Had I slammed into something hard while flying through the air? It seemed I wouldn’t be able to move until the pain subsided somewhat.

As I lay there, panting and on the verge of losing consciousness, I forced my eyes to stay open. That’s when I heard Drakel’s voice, not too far away.

“Ha… Haha… That really startled me. I didn’t expect you to charge at me like that. You completely caught me off guard. Well played, Ghost.”

The sound of footsteps echoed through the quiet building. Turning my head with great effort, I saw Drakel approaching, looking completely unscathed.

Standing tall, he gazed at me sprawled on the ground and spoke with amusement.

“Were you aiming for my heart? Too bad. I’m not sure what you were planning, but it seems things didn’t go your way!”

Drakel strode up to my incapacitated body and kicked me with his boot.

I barely managed to cushion the blow with the last remnants of my telekinesis, but the force still sent me rolling across the floor.

That hurt! Couldn’t he go a bit easier on me?

Glaring at him as I lay there, I noticed Drakel suddenly paused, stroking his chin with a surprised expression.

“Well, now… This is unexpected. I never imagined the Ghost would have such a beautiful face. Good thing I didn’t tear it apart with magic earlier. That would’ve been a real shame.”
“...!”

What?

Startled, I quickly raised my hands to my face.

What I felt wasn’t the mask that should have been there but soft, smooth skin.

Had my mask fallen off when I was tumbling across the ground earlier?

Panic surged through me, and I hastily adjusted the cloth draped over me to cover my face again.

His eyes, filled with greed and desire, gave me the same eerie feeling as the perverted blonde nobleman I’d encountered before—no, this was even worse.

“Ha! I’ve changed my mind, Ghost. Consider yourself honored—I’ll share my noble blood with you and make you like me. You’ll serve me for eternity!”

Nope, definitely a pervert.

I shot him a disgusted glare. If I could speak, I would have cursed him out on the spot, but my inability to talk felt more infuriating than ever in that moment.

Drakel ignored my glare, convinced he’d already won. He approached leisurely, raising his sharp claws as if to mark the end of our fight.

I could guess his plan: he would inject his blood into me, turning me into a vampire. Then I’d be cursed with an insatiable thirst for blood, bound as his servant forever.

That was something I absolutely refused to let happen.

“Well… it’s true that the fight is already over.”

I let the tension drain from my shoulders, feigning resignation.

Who would’ve thought that my adorable, lovely face would buy me this much time? For someone in my position, it was an incredible stroke of luck.

“Hrk… Khack! Cough, cough!”

Drakel stopped in his tracks, suddenly overcome by violent coughing.

It wasn’t just an ordinary cough—it sounded as if he was trying to expel something from deep inside.

Soon, he hunched forward, retching black, coagulated blood onto the floor.

“Urgh… What… What is this?!”

Drakel’s appearance began to change.

The youthful face he’d shown just moments ago was now wrinkling rapidly. His crimson hair, vibrant like fresh blood, paled and turned white.

It was as if the very concept of “youth” was draining from his body.

Drakel looked at me with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if demanding an explanation.

In response, I revealed the object tightly held in my hand—a necklace.

“That… That’s…!”

Dangling from my fingers was a peculiar necklace. Its charm was a cube within a cube, its shape shifting unpredictably depending on the angle of view.

This was the Tesseract, an artifact that defied the physical laws of this world, belonging instead to an entirely different dimension.

“In the original story, didn’t they describe it as a 4D object manifesting in 3D space? Looking at it in person is… giving me a headache.”

Just staring at the necklace felt like my brain was short-circuiting, as though it was rebelling against the very idea of its existence.

But the Tesseract wasn’t just a strange, incomprehensible trinket. Its true purpose lay in its ability to draw out possibilities from alternate realities.

For example, it could generate infinite pseudo-zombies made of materials that didn’t exist in this world or restore an ancient vampire to the prime of their life.

“Give it back! Hand it over, you little brat!”

Drakel’s body continued to deteriorate.

His fingers and toes swelled grotesquely before collapsing in on themselves. His once-imposing frame withered, leaving him skeletal and frail.

If he hadn’t used so much magic earlier, he might have been able to recover despite losing the Tesseract. But the cost of his excessive power usage had sealed his fate.

“Condition two for defeating Drakel: steal the Tesseract in a single, calculated move. Weaknesses hurt the most when the target doesn’t realize they have one.”

I smirked at Drakel’s crumbling form.

Only Drakel and the shadowy figure who’d given him the Tesseract would’ve known of its existence. He’d kept it hidden, never flaunting it openly.

His only mistake? Running into someone who vividly remembered the details of the original story.

“Guess I never thought my pickpocketing skills would save me here,” I mused.

Grimacing from the lingering pain, I forced myself to stand and shuffled over to retrieve my mask.

Though telekinesis would’ve been faster, I’d used up nearly all my reserves. At most, I could manage two more uses.

As I replaced my mask, Drakel staggered toward me, blood streaming from his frail body.

“Give… it… back! The necklace… give it back…!”

Though his body was falling apart, he somehow held himself together with his remaining blood magic.

Despite his desperate appearance, I couldn’t underestimate him—he was still a noble vampire.

But there was no need to worry.

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass rang out as someone burst through the building’s window.

“Found you! Vampire! And… Ghost?!”

Standing there was none other than Sakuragi Alice, clad in a kimono, wielding a cybernetic katana.

Her blade glistened with dark liquid, evidence of the zombies she’d just been cutting through.

So, my “guest” had arrived, right on schedule.

Alice scanned the room quickly, her sharp eyes taking in the situation. Then, with a bright smile, she dashed toward Drakel.

“Ghost! I have so much to talk to you about, so don’t you dare run away!”

Wait, what? I don’t have anything to talk about!

Before I could protest, Alice’s attention was fully locked on Drakel.

“You wretched woman! Don’t interfere!”
“Wretched woman? You dare call me that?!”

With a click, a fuel cartridge slid into the hilt of Alice’s katana, igniting a blue plasma edge.

“I’m a young maiden!”

Slash!

Alice’s blade sliced cleanly through Drakel’s limbs, cutting off his blood magic defenses with ease.

The vampire’s face twisted in horror. Without the Tesseract, he was powerless to stop her attacks.

“Should’ve just let her handle it from the start,” I muttered, smirking at the irony.

Alice pinned Drakel to the ground with her foot and declared her victory.

“Now, wait there until the police arrive!”

The fight was over.

The Blood Night Incident had been neutralized. With Drakel subdued and the zombies gone, there was no more fuel to sustain the chaos.

My job was done. Time to vanish before Alice dragged me into her mess.

“Ghost! Don’t go! Please, wait!” Alice shouted.

Ignoring her pleas, I raised a hand in a silent wave and disappeared out the window.

The Ghost leaves, Alice. Best of luck!