Blood Blockade Battlefront: Echoes of Hellsalem's Lot
Three months ago, Leonardo Watch used the Gods' Eyes to help Klaus defeat Count Möbius—and the price was his little sister's sight. Now, every coin he earns disappears into an envelope bound for Michela, a silent penance he pays with a smile. But the Eyes are aching more often lately. The blur at the edge of his vision is getting harder to ignore.
In Hellsalem's Lot, a city stitched together from two worlds, Libra keeps the fragile peace. Zapp runs his mouth, Chain worries between insults, and
Blood Blockade Battlefront: Echoes of Hellsalem's Lot - Blood Freeze of Betrayal — The Man He Trusted Summons the Vessel
The stone steps leading down into the ruined church's basement grew colder with every step. The smell of moss creeping along the walls mingled with the scent of old blood. Each time the torchlight flickered, the shadows of the four of them danced eerily across the stone.
Leonardo Watch, still holding Lily's hand, slowly settled his weight onto the final step. Her fingers were cold as ice, trembling faintly.
"It's okay. I'll be right here beside you the whole time."
Lily gave a small nod. Her blood-red eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. The Blood Arts sigils carved across her entire body rose to the surface like veins under the torchlight.
"...I'm not scared. Because you're here with me."
Her voice was barely a whisper, yet there was a firm core beneath it.
The sealing chamber lay on the third underground level of the ruined church. A stone space that had existed since before the Great Collapse, its walls covered end to end in ancient sealing script. The ceiling was high, the air stagnant. At the center of the floor stood a circular altar for drawing Blood Arts formations.
"I'm in position. No signs of aberrations in the surrounding area."
Chain's voice came out of the dark. She had already diluted her presence and was standing watch from a corner of the sealing chamber. Even in the torchlight, the outline of her black suit seemed to blur.
"Tch. This dampness is unreal. My cigarettes are gonna go soggy."
Zapp clicked his tongue. The silver-haired young man leaned against the wall, a cigarette between his lips. His sharp blue eyes glared at the old candlestick on the altar.
"Zapp, smoking here is a bad idea. Open flame is forbidden around the formation."
Zed spoke while the gills at the sides of his neck twitched. The faint sound of air being drawn through his Airgills echoed softly in the quiet room. His skin, fresh out of the cylindrical tank, glistened wetly in the torchlight.
"Shut up, I know."
Zapp plucked the cigarette from his mouth and ran a blood blade across his fingertip for just an instant, snuffing the flame.
Leo stood before the altar.
The plan was simple. Fully release the Blood Arts formation carved into Lily's body, just once. If they did, the residue of Count Möbius that the formation was trying to summon should manifest in this sealing chamber. Leo would use the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods to directly perceive that residue and neutralize the core of the formation.
It was a dangerous gamble.
But there was no other way to stop the formation's progression.
"Lily, are you ready?"
Lily squeezed Leo's hand back tightly.
"...Yes. I trust you."
Leo let go of her hand. She slowly lay down at the center of the altar. Her long white hair spread across the stone, and the red at its tips looked almost like bloodstains.
"We're starting. Everyone, no matter what happens, do not step outside the formation circle."
Leo gently touched his left eye.
The All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods took on a faint heat.
The edges of his vision were bleeding white. Since last night, that haze had been spreading little by little.
(It's fine. I can still see.)
Leo released the Eyes.
Golden light tore through the darkness of the sealing chamber.
The formation carved into Lily's body began to glow red in response to that light. The sigils pulsed like veins, blazing across her white skin.
"...nn—"
Lily's body arched backward like a drawn bow.
The rite of formation release had begun.
The air in the sealing chamber trembled. The ancient script carved into the walls lit up red one character at a time. The formation circle on the floor shone blood-red, and the entire room filled with the atmosphere of another world.
"...Something's coming."
Zed's voice cracked upward.
"I know. Brace yourselves."
Zapp ran blood through his ring. Blood Battle Technique — Kagutsuchi. His blood took the shape of a blade.
That was when it happened.
A man stood in the entrance of the sealing chamber.
A handsome man in a suit, a scar running beside his eyes.
Steven A. Starphase.
"...Steven? Sir?"
Leo stared at him in disbelief.
Why was he here? Only the four of them and Lily were supposed to be part of this operation.
"Hey, Leo. You got started faster than I expected."
Steven wore his usual gentle smile. But his eyes weren't smiling.
"The hell are you doing here? You said you weren't coming on this op!"
Zapp leveled his blood blade at Steven.
"Ah, that's true, I did say that. But circumstances have changed a bit."
Steven walked slowly into the sealing chamber. His footsteps echoed coldly against the stone floor.
"What do you mean by that? Explain yourself."
Chain's voice came from the darkness. She was still maintaining her diluted state.
"It's simple. I'll be the one using this formation."
Leo couldn't believe his ears.
"...What?"
"I'll reverse-use Lily's formation to summon the residue of Count Möbius. And then I'll place it under control."
Steven's voice was as flat as a routine office memo.
"You've gotta be kidding me! Why the hell would you do that?!"
Zapp shouted. His blood blade sliced through the air.
"The Möbius subjugation battle three months ago. Libra was pushed to the brink of annihilation. You all know that, don't you?"
Steven stood beside the altar.
"We won that fight. But it wasn't a complete victory. Möbius's residue is still lurking deep in the mist. Someday, it will inevitably attempt to revive. When that day comes, does Libra stand a chance?"
"So we place the residue under control. That's the deal I've been working out with the higher-ups."
Leo's mind went blank.
A deal with the higher-ups. A plan to use Lily as a vessel.
"...You're the one who cut those pages out of the notebook."
Chain's voice rang out sharply.
"That's right. Arigura's research notes contained a method for reverse-using the formation. I had them disposed of before you could find out."
"You bastard... you can just say that like it's nothing?!"
Zapp's rage shook the air of the sealing chamber.
"Of course it's not nothing."
Steven's voice wavered for the first time.
"This is an agonizing choice made to protect Libra. If Klaus knew, he would never allow it. Even so, it has to be done."
A flicker of anguish crossed Steven's eyes.
"Do you understand? Protecting an organization sometimes means making ruthless decisions. Sacrifice one girl — Lily — and all of Libra is saved. That's the calculation."
"Don't give me that!! Lily is not a sacrifice! She's someone we're supposed to protect!"
Leo was shouting.
"...Leo, you're too kind. In this city, kindness alone won't keep you alive."
Steven raised his right hand.
Light from a Blood Arts formation spilled from his fingertips.
"Now then, let's begin. I'll summon Möbius's residue here."
Steven's formation touched the sigils carved into Lily's body.
In that instant.
Lily's body convulsed violently.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
Lily's scream echoed through the sealing chamber.
The sigils exploded with light. Red radiance engulfed her entire body. The formation had begun to run wild.
"Lily!!"
Leo tried to rush to the altar.
But in the next instant, the air in the sealing chamber changed completely.
Countless blood-flies came pouring out — from cracks in the walls, from fissures in the ceiling. Aberrations the size of a thumb, lesser beings that fed on blood and multiplied. Their numbers weren't in the dozens. Hundreds — no, thousands.
"Damn it! Get out of my way!"
Zapp swung his blood blade wildly. Kagutsuchi's flames burned through the swarm of blood-flies. But no matter how many he burned, more kept pouring out.
"Zapp! Even my Shinatobe can't cut through all of them!"
Zed unleashed a vacuum blade. Blood Battle Technique — Shinatobe. The blade that rent the air bisected swarms of blood-flies. But instead of decreasing, their numbers kept growing.
"...The mist is wrong."
Chain's voice carried a note of alarm.
Mist was flowing into the sealing chamber. No — the mist itself was moving with intent.
"Here it comes."
Steven took a step back.
On the altar, Lily's body rose into the air.
Red light wrapped around her, and black shadows layered over it.
The residue of Count Möbius was taking physical form.
"What the hell did you summon?!"
Zapp lunged at Steven.
But his blade was blocked by the residue's black mist.
"It's useless, Zapp. Your Kagutsuchi can't cut this residue."
The residue was taking shape.
Black mist gathered, assuming human form. One of the thirteen elders of creation, supposedly destroyed three months ago. Its echo was now about to resurrect in the sealing chamber.
"Shut up! Whether I can cut it or not, I'll beat it to death!"
Zapp enlarged his blood blade. Kagutsuchi's flames scorched the air of the sealing chamber.
"Blood Battle Technique — Kagutsuchi, full power!"
Zapp's strike tore through the residue's black mist.
But in the next instant, the severed mist regenerated instantly.
"What?!"
The residue's regenerative ability was abnormal. No matter how many times it was cut, it restored itself in an instant.
"That's what I told you. It won't work."
"My Shinatobe isn't doing a thing either!"
Zed's vacuum blade was swallowed by the residue's mist and vanished.
"...My dilution is being disrupted."
Chain's presence dilution was being interfered with by the mist. The residue was manipulating the mist itself, trying to pinpoint her location.
"Ngh—!"
Chain's form flickered into view for an instant within the mist.
The residue's black mist surged toward her.
"Chain!"
Zapp leaped in front of Chain. His blood blade knocked the black mist away.
"Don't you touch my prey!"
"...Being saved by you. Worst feeling ever."
Chain said it between breaths.
Leo opened his Eyes to their full power.
(I should be able to see it. The residue's core has to be somewhere.)
The All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods shone gold.
Deep within the residue's black mist, he could see something like a red core.
"I see it... That's the residue's core!"
Leo released the Eyes even further.
In that instant.
A searing pain shot through his left eye.
"Gaaaaaah!!"
His vision blew out to pure white.
He couldn't see anything.
The pain pierced through to the back of his skull.
"Leonardo!!"
Lily's scream came from far away.
Leo collapsed where he stood.
His vision wouldn't come back.
Afterimages of white light flickered in front of his eyes.
(I can't see... I can't see anything.)
The price of the Eyes.
It had just been paid.
Leo's eyesight had been drastically reduced.
"Leo kid! Hey, are you okay?!"
Zapp's voice came from close by.
"...Leo, your Eyes have already gone past their limit. If you push further, you'll go completely blind."
Steven's voice was calm. But beneath it, a faint unease seeped through.
"...This is your doing. Take responsibility."
Chain's voice was cold as ice.
"...I know. But it can't be stopped now. The residue has gone out of control, beyond anyone's command."
For the first time, panic crept into Steven's voice.
The residue was draping itself over Lily's body.
"No... Nooo!!"
Lily's scream echoed through the sealing chamber.
The residue was trying to take over her body.
"Like hell! I'm not letting it end here!"
Zapp swung his blood blade wildly. Kagutsuchi's flames burned the residue's mist. But the residue's regenerative ability kept nullifying Zapp's attacks.
"I— my legs are shaking..."
Zed sank to the floor. Terror had frozen his body.
"...Zed, stay back. This is too much for you."
Steven stepped forward to shield Zed.
Leo lay collapsed among the rubble.
His vision had barely returned.
Only a faint flickering of light was visible.
(Lily... I can hear Lily screaming.)
A scene from three months ago flashed through Leo's mind.
The Möbius subjugation battle. That moment when he'd released the Eyes to their limit. Far away, Michela's eyesight had been st
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.