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- Returning to his resting place, he stared at the corpse on its hastily
- improvised bed and at the woman who was neither living nor dead. The
- matter of the woman herself didn’t seem so urgent. If it wanted to,
- the vampire that had gorged itself the previous night could hold off for an
- interval of several days. What’s more, because the vampire knew what D
- was capable of, the vampire wasn’t likely to make a casual call on his
- victim. Despite the slim chances of attack, D had taken custody of her
- because he’d surmised what would happen if she were to be summoned.
- Victims who fell under a vampire’s spell came under a kind of long-range hypnosis and could unleash brutal attacks even on the people who were trying to protect them.
- The most fearsome thing about this hypnotic state was the way it could
- surpass the subconscious limits humans imposed on their own flesh. Trying
- to hold down a victim thrashing about with the full power inherent in the
- human body—roughly seven times their normal strength—was a difficult
- task for a team of five men of like physiques. A graceful maiden shattering
- the shinbone of a professional combatant wouldn’t even be considered news
- on the Frontier. Before it came to such a struggle, those attending to the
- victim would do their best to make merciless use of a stake. Those who
- should be protecting them became their murderers—was that a tragedy or a
- comedy?
- But if that was the case, toward what end had D appropriated the
- creature’s corpse? And what was the meaning of his weird conversation
- with the countenanced carbuncle? The change came at exactly three Morning.
- D’s eyes shone mysteriously. Without any extraneous action, the cadaver slowly raised its torso.
- The dead body got up now and slipped off the table, its face alone
- remaining set in the blank mask of death. But, for something with all its
- internal organs extracted and a great subsidence in its abdomen, it possessed
- a tenacious, even mysterious, vitality.
- “Just as I thought,” D muttered.
- The living corpse went to the jars and began a hair-raising activity.
- Skillfully removing the spring-loaded cap from one and plunging its hand
- in, it extracted the dripping entrails, ripped open its sealed wound, and
- lovingly pushed inwards, shoving its intestines back into their rightful
- place.
- 4 - 2
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