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 - Golden Seal — Your Memory, Reflected in Unseeing Eyes
Light filled the basement of the ruined church.
No—it was less light than it was *color*.
The underground sealed chamber of the crumbling Chapel of St. Agnes. Dust drifted through the air, and the smell of scorched stone stung the nose. At the center of that space, Leonardo Watch's left eye burned a brilliant gold.
The Eyes of the Gods were trying, now, to see everything.
Most of his vision was already swallowed by a white haze. His right eye showed almost nothing—contours, distances, colors all blurred and melted away.
But his left eye was different.
Beyond the white haze, there were things he could see with perfect clarity.
The light of the Bloodline spellwork carved into Lily's body. Countless lines pulsing red. Those lines, now illuminated by the golden glow, rose to the surface.
"...I can see it."
A voice slipped from Leo's lips.
It was quieter than even he expected.
The lines of the spellwork were visible now, one by one, with perfect clarity. Where each began, where they crossed, where they led—the structure poured into his mind like a map.
There was no pain.
No—to be precise, there was no room left to feel pain.
The Eyes of the Gods burned like fire. Something pulsed violently deep inside his eyeballs. It felt like countless needles stabbing into his optic nerves. A sharp ache shot up the back of his nose, and something warm trickled down his lip. A nosebleed.
But Leo didn't close his eyes.
He couldn't afford to.
"...Lily, hang on. I'm ending this now."
His voice wasn't meant for anyone—it echoed quietly, as if he were convincing himself.
The air in the sealed chamber trembled.
Black mist spilled from Lily's body, crawling across the room. The remnants of Count Möbius. The residue of a Bloodline kin that Klaus had struck down three months ago, now trying once again to take possession of Lily's body.
The mist crept toward Leo's feet.
Cold.
Where it touched him, body heat drained away. His fingertips were going numb.
" Still you resist?"
A voice that wasn't hers came from Lily's mouth. An old man's voice, cold enough to freeze the marrow.
" What do you think you can see with those eyes? Your vision is as good as ruined already."
The mist clung to Leo's face.
His vision clouded further, whiter still.
But Leo smiled.
"...Yeah. You're right. I can barely see anything anymore."
The Eyes of the Gods blazed gold.
"But I can see your core just fine."
In that instant, Leo shouted.
" Zapp-san!! The center of the mist—deep in Lily's chest, the intersection of the spellwork!! The core's right there!!"
In the corner of the sealed chamber, a silver-haired man leaning against the wall twisted his lips into a grin.
Zapp Renfro. His sharp blue eyes glittered with fighting spirit. He wiped the blood from his mouth roughly with the back of his hand.
" Perfect. I was waiting for those words."
Zapp drew blood from his ring.
Tou-Ryu Blood Technique: Kagutsuchi. His way of fighting—transmuting blood into a blade. The blood shifted in his hand, becoming a blade of flame.
" Let's go, fish-man! You too!"
" Y-yes!"
Zed O'Brien answered, his voice trembling. The fish-man boy twitched the gills at his neck as he turned his own blood into a blade. Tou-Ryu Blood Technique: Shinatobe. His blade carved away space itself.
The two of them leaped at the same instant.
Zapp's Kagutsuchi tore through the black mist.
The flaming blade burned the mist, evaporating it.
" Insolent...!"
The mist stretched out like tentacles, trying to ensnare Zapp.
But its movement stopped—just for an instant.
" Sorry. I'll be sealing your movements."
Chain Sumeragi's voice echoed from nowhere in particular.
Her form was invisible. She was diluting her own existence. As a member of the Werewolf Bureau's Special Intelligence Division, her ability let her thin out her presence and move without anyone noticing.
The black mist's tentacles were caught by something unseen, frozen in place.
Chain, still in her diluted state, was locking down the remnant's movements.
" Nice work, you crazy woman!"
" Praise from you does absolutely nothing for me."
Chain's voice was cold, but her movements were precise.
Zapp's blade was drawn into the heart of the mist.
*Clang!!*
Sparks scattered.
Kagutsuchi had cut through something hard. The core. The blade had reached the remnant's core.
" Guhh...!"
The remnant's voice twisted with pain.
But the core didn't break.
The black mist gathered around the core protectively and began to regenerate.
" It's regenerating... so fast!"
Zed swung Shinatobe.
The vacuum blade carved away space, interfering with the mist's regeneration. Carved space doesn't fill in immediately. It was preventing the mist from spilling out through the gaps.
" ...Not yet. Carve more."
" I—I know!"
Zed's hands didn't stop.
Bleeding, he swung Shinatobe again and again. Space was carved away, and the mist's regeneration slowed.
Then the ceiling of the sealed chamber collapsed further.
Debris came crashing down.
" Not on my watch."
A woman's voice came from beyond the collapsed ceiling.
K・K. Her red long-coat billowing, she had a large sniper rifle trained on the target. A married woman with two children—Libra's marksman.
Her blood wrapped her bullets in electric charge. Blood Bullet Martial Arts.
" If it regenerates, I'll just shoot it so it can't."
A roar.
An electrified bullet pierced the mist's core.
The core screamed.
" Guaaaaaah!!"
The core's regeneration stopped completely.
The electric charge was burning through the mist's cells.
" ...Now, Klaus."
As if in answer to K・K's voice.
A massive shadow appeared in the entrance of the sealed chamber.
Klaus V. Reinherz.
Libra's leader. A red-haired giant. Sharp, narrow eyes behind glasses. His white shirt and vest were stained with dust. In his hands, knuckle guards shaped like crosses.
" ...Understood."
Klaus's voice was quiet.
But in it was a definite anger.
Anger for a comrade who had been hurt.
Anger at the one who had used a girl named Lily as a vessel.
Klaus raised his knuckle guards.
Brain Grid Blood Battle Technique. His way of fighting—transmuting his blood into the power of destruction and sealing.
" Remnant of Count Möbius. I will not let you have your way."
The air around Klaus trembled.
His blood gathered into his fists, radiating a dark crimson light.
" Blood of the Annihilating Peak."
Klaus brought his fist down.
*Dooooooon!!!*
The entire sealed chamber shook.
The black mist was blown away in an instant. The core lay exposed, defenseless, before Klaus's fist.
" Stop...! I... I'm not... not yet...!"
The remnant's voice trembled with terror.
" It's over."
Klaus's fist shattered the core.
*Craaaaaash!!*
The core burst apart.
The black mist screamed as it dissolved into the air.
But Leo was watching.
With the Eyes of the Gods, clearly.
The fragments of the shattered core were being drawn into Lily's body.
The remnant had not been completely destroyed.
The spellwork carved into Lily's body was pulling the residue into her.
(So that's it. This is the true power of the sealing spellwork.)
Leo understood.
The spellwork carved into Lily's body wasn't meant to summon the remnant. It was meant to seal the remnant inside her.
Argyula hadn't made his daughter a vessel.
He had entrusted her with the duty of sealing the remnant.
"...Lily. Your father wanted to protect you."
Leo's Eyes of the Gods shone even brighter.
The golden light resonated with the spellwork carved into Lily's body.
The lines of the spellwork shifted from red to gold.
" Leonardo, what are you doing?"
Klaus asked sharply.
" I'm activating the sealing spellwork. If we leave it like this, the remnant will escape back into the mist. I'm sealing it inside Lily."
" ...Can you do it?"
" I can. My Eyes of the Gods are reacting to the spellwork. This light is proof."
Leo approached Lily.
Climbing over the debris, he came to the front of the collapsed altar.
Lily was still unconscious. Countless spellwork lines rose to the surface of her white skin, shining gold.
Leo took her hand.
Cold.
But deep within that hand, he felt a definite warmth.
" It's okay. I'll take care of it."
Leo's catchphrase.
This time, for sure, he would protect her.
He opened the Eyes of the Gods to their fullest.
His vision was dyed gold.
The white haze dissolved.
No—that wasn't it. He was seeing what lay beyond the haze.
The spellwork lines danced across Lily's body, one by one. Guided by the light of Leo's Eyes of the Gods, they began to form a single shape.
The shape of a seal.
" ...Seal."
Leo murmured.
In that instant, Lily's body was wrapped in gold.
The black mist was drawn into her.
" Stop...! I... I don't want to disappear...!"
The remnant's voice leaked from Lily's mouth.
But it was already feeble.
" You... you'll regret this someday... sealing me inside this girl..."
The mist vanished into Lily.
The last wisp was drawn deep into her chest.
The spellwork's light blazed once, fiercely, then quietly subsided.
Silence settled over the sealed chamber.
Dust drifted slowly down.
"...Is it over?"
Zapp murmured as he extinguished Kagutsuchi.
" Yes. The remnant has been sealed within Lady Lily."
At some point, an old butler had appeared in the entrance of the sealed chamber. Gilbert Franke Altstein. Klaus's servant, his entire body wrapped in bandages. His voice was calm.
" It has not been completely destroyed. However, it can no longer emerge."
" Tch. So we couldn't kill the damn thing outright."
Zapp clicked his tongue.
" Zapp. For now, let us be glad Lily is safe."
At Klaus's words, Zapp fell silent.
Leo, still holding Lily's hand, was gazing at her face.
His vision was beginning to cloud with white haze again.
The light of the Eyes of the Gods was fading.
(Ah. I'm losing it again.)
Leo quietly accepted the sensation.
The fear of losing his sight was gone.
He had protected Lily.
That alone was enough.
"...Nn."
A small sound slipped from Lily's lips.
Her eyelids trembled.
Slowly, her eyes opened.
Her blood-red eyes vaguely reflected Leo's face.
"...Leonardo...?"
Lily's voice was hoarse.
" Yeah. It's me. It's okay. Everything's okay now."
Leo mustered the best smile he could.
Lily's eyes welled with tears.
" Thank you... Onii-chan..."
At those words, Leo's chest tightened.
Lily seemed to realize a moment later what she had said.
" Ah... I—I'm sorry. That's not—I didn't mean... But... I wanted to call you that..."
Lily's cheeks flushed red.
Leo smiled.
" Yeah. That's fine."
Leo wrapped Lily's hand in both of his.
The warmth of her fingertips reached him.
His palms, which had only ever been used to send money to Michella, were now—definitely—being used to protect someone.
That thought warmed Leo's heart, slowly and gently.
" I'm... not scared. Because you're here beside me."
Lily murmured softly.
She understood perfectly well that the remnant had been sealed inside her body. That the spellwork's marks had not disappeared.
Even so, she said she wasn't scared.
It was the first moment the longing of a girl who wanted someone to lean on had ever been fulfilled.
Leo squeezed her hand back.
" Yeah. I'm not scared either."
It wasn't a lie.
Between the two of them, a definite connection had been born.
That sensation he'd felt when the Eyes of the Gods and the spellwork resonated.
Their bond had truly connected.
It was before dawn when they returned to Libra headquarters.
The fog of Hellsalem's Lot is thickest just before daybreak. The streetlights blurred, bleeding softly into the haze.
Leo's vision was much the same.
The white haze blurred the streetlights into layer upon layer of soft glow.
(It's worse than before.)
Leo murmured it in his mind.
But he never said it aloud.
Libra headquarters occupied a converted old city hall building. Twelve floors above ground, three below. In the conference room on
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