Magical User Aozaki Aoko Case Files Chapter 179

After a period of searching, Akiha Tohno had already found traces of Shiki Tohno’s brutal killings of ordinary humans.

The private soldiers of the Tohno branch family had discovered the corpses of young women, gnawed and drained of blood, in various locations within the Souya district. There were also cases where the bodies were missing, but partial remains were left behind.

Akiha Tohno had been constantly on the move during this time, even taking a temporary leave from school. The corporate operations were handed over to her deputy for temporary management, with all her energy focused on finding Shiki Tohno’s whereabouts.

Although many of the victims in the cases already found looked quite strange, the abilities and preferences of the Tohno bloodline varied greatly after their reversal. It wasn’t too unusual for a Shiki Tohno who liked to drain people dry, like a vampire, to emerge.

Even Akiha herself occasionally felt the urge to drink human blood to suppress her reversal impulses, but she had suppressed them with her powerful strength.

However, what Akiha Tohno didn’t know was that the current “Shiki Tohno” was not her former brother at all, nor was he a product of the Tohno family bloodline losing control and reversing.

This monster, which gnawed humans to the bone and drained their blood, was merely a mixed product of a certain vampire’s memory data combined with Shiki Tohno’s residual memories—a piece of garbage that was neither here nor there.

Although the Tohno family was a member of the裏世界 (Ura Sekai – lit. “backside world” or “underworld”) possessing the bloodline of “魔” (Ma – lit. “demon” or “magic”), they knew very little about the magical world.

As a result, they would not have information about “Dead Apostles,” which rarely appeared in Japan, and naturally would not connect the Shiki Tohno, who had been imprisoned in the dungeon, with vampires.

No, in reality, Akiha Tohno had indeed read scattered mentions of “Dead Apostles” in her father’s notes, but that was undoubtedly akin to vampires in fantasy literary works, meaning knowledge to the extent of “if you are not bitten by a vampire, you will not become one.”

The reincarnation characteristic of the Snake of Akasha completely bypassed these “classic elements.” That is, any target he set his sights on, unless they were professionally trained mages or powerful special creatures, would have their bodies occupied by him, completing the reincarnation ritual.

Although Akiha was still tracking Shiki Tohno, the real Shiki Tohno had long since died. Given the current strength of the Tohno family, she had no chance of finding the “Shiki Tohno” who was determined to hide and possessed a vast amount of magical knowledge.

However, certain self-important mixed products do not act entirely according to reasonable logic. Roa, who believed that a part of him was still Shiki Tohno, was in such a state.

Before his reversal, Shiki Tohno was a super sis-con. His love for his younger sister, Akiha, even surpassed physiological phenomena like the reversal impulse.

After being possessed by Roa, “Shiki Tohno” still believed this to be true, but in reality, with his vampirification, the unbreakable bottom line within him had long since vanished.

Therefore, at the critical juncture when Akiha Tohno personally set out and found a suspected hiding place for Shiki Tohno, “Shiki Tohno” decided to personally come out and persuade his sister, wanting her to join his ranks and become a Dead Apostle as well.

He was very clear about the fact that his sister’s bloodline talent in the Tohno family far surpassed his own. Therefore, once Akiha also completed her Dead Apostle transformation, his strength would greatly increase. At the very least, facing the lackeys of the Holy Church would become much easier.

At this time, Roa did not yet know that two Magicians and another Dead Apostle Ancestor had also joined the hunt for him. All he was considering was improving his own strength and completing the so-called “Ascension Ritual,” so that he would no longer fear Arcueid, who was pursuing him.

Previously, during the incident in France, he had been forced to temporarily reincarnate into a village girl to perform the ritual. The fortunate part was that the village girl’s talent was truly strong, allowing him to almost fully recover his powers. The unfortunate part was that another Ancestor came to disrupt his ritual, ultimately leading to his death at the hands of the True Ancestor Princess who arrived.

“Akiha, you’ve become even more beautiful.” ‘Shiki Tohno’ emerged from the dark corner and said, looking at Akiha Tohno with a nostalgic expression, “I haven’t seen you for a long time since I was sent to the dungeon. I’ve missed you very much…”

Akiha, whose heart had long been tempered to be very mature, felt no emotion at Shiki Tohno’s words. She merely scoffed at how this “brother” had harbored ill intentions towards her so early on, which she had to admit made her feel a little disgusted.

“There’s nothing more to say between us,” Akiha said coldly, her black hair completely transformed into crimson, her entire aura surging. “You know the Tohno family’s rules. Once you cross that line of reversal, there’s only death.”

“Is that really so?” Shiki Tohno said sarcastically. “Then why didn’t Dad kill me when he found out I had reversed? He just locked me in the dungeon.”

“Father might have believed that you, who hadn’t killed anyone, perhaps had a glimmer of hope for salvation,” Akiha Tohno said sadly. “But looking at what you’ve done now, I certainly wouldn’t think so.”

“…I don’t have a brother named ‘Shiki Tohno.’ This generation of the Tohno family has only one heir, Akiha Tohno.” Akiha Tohno paused, then continued in a cold tone.

Hearing these words from his “most beloved” Akiha, “Shiki Tohno’s” expression twisted, as if he had fallen into some painful memory.

But he eventually broke free from the fragmented memory. What was revealed on his face was clearly no longer the boy who held peculiar feelings for his sister.

It was the face of a vampire who had slaughtered countless humans, created countless tragedies, and was filled with betrayal and conspiracy.

Roa extended his right hand, and in an instant, activated the magic circle that had been set up nearby, creating a huge explosion in a short amount of time.

The subordinates Akiha brought today were, at best, low-level half-breeds who were stronger than ordinary humans. They couldn’t even develop their innate abilities.

Although these combat personnel were rigorously trained and equipped with modern firearms as weapons, they were powerless against a vampire proficient in magic.

They immediately unleashed a storm of bullets towards “Shiki Tohno,” but how could a Dead Apostle of this level be dealt with by bullets?

Akiha Tohno immediately manipulated her Kanzashi in the explosion. Her crimson hair, like some flowing flame, rapidly elongated, protecting herself and some of her subordinates within, to prevent being affected by the blast.