stand-in creed

Vigorous way.

Jump track.

The action of making a move.

Everything is so simple and clear.

"……call."

Inhale.

Exhale.

The pounced figure of the man in black gradually approached.

Nero just set up his posture and concentrated on the man's attack.

'This man is fundamentally different from the punks in Rome.You only need to look at his eyes to understand that this guy is a real "killer"...but I am not easy to deal with.

'All my nerves are tense, and I can detect even the subtle changes in the air.This kind of tension made me recall the first time when I was ten years old and was surrounded by a group of gangsters to extort pocket money. I don’t know if they have been discharged from the hospital... huh?The air flow is wrong! '

Nero rarely believed in such rhetoric as "illusion".

Where is the illusion so easy to meet?

At this moment, Nero felt some changes in the flow of air behind him, which was the same as the air that those gangsters who were beaten to the ground by him wanted to sneak attack when he turned around.

There is something behind me!

"!"

Without the slightest hesitation.

Nero, who was going to sideways to avoid a position and then punch the opponent in the face, immediately changed his strategy and made a somersault to the left with his feet, trying to avoid the sneak attack from behind.

Nero looked behind where he was just now.

Nothing.

Even though he had nothing, Nero could clearly feel the air being cut by something, as if...someone was wielding a knife?

"……whispering sound."

Just as Nero evaded, the man in black in front also made a puzzling movement.

When he flew into the air, he suddenly stretched out his right toe and kicked the upper edge of a tombstone, as if tripping himself on purpose, he fell to the ground, but when his head was about to hit the ground, he slammed his hands on the ground to react The force bounced itself back to its original position.

It's not like changing the strategy on the spot, but like planning to make such a juggling action before swooping.

"...?"

Nero, who dodged sideways, looked at the killer in front of him with some doubts.

Why are you acting acrobatics all of a sudden?

I really can't see anything behind me, is it really my illusion?

As for the scarlet gaze of the man in black, it was a bit dignified.

"The evasion action just now...

"You bastard, you can see my "substitute", right?If this is the case, you are also a stand-in messenger! "

Nero couldn't understand what the man was saying at all.

substitute?

Something completely unheard of.

Is the abnormal flow of air I felt just now caused by this thing called a "stand-in"?

"Aren't you going to call out your double, kid?

"Let me admire and appreciate, what kind of substitute can a kid like you have!"

The man in black yelled.

Hearing this, Nero thought to himself: "What does he mean by this, is everyone's substitute is different?" '

Immediately, I had an idea in my mind: "Why do you think I didn't call out a substitute, sir."

"……Um?!"

The man in black's eyes widened, and he immediately looked down at his feet with fear on his face, and then carefully looked around.

'Look at your feet first?This thing called a stand-in could attack from any direction, I can understand that, but his first reaction was from the feet instead of the surroundings, does it mean that his stand-in can also attack from the feet? 'Nero's brain was running fast.

But soon, Nero noticed something else.

Cracked tombstones.

The tombstone where the man stretched out his foot and tripped himself.

'I'm sure that the tombstone was intact before, but now there are cracks, this kind of power is definitely not possessed by normal people!

'Why trip yourself up on purpose?

'If the double can attack me, he has such strong physical strength that he can completely attack me with his double. Why would he pretend to attack me but get stuck in the middle of the attack?

'This is illogical... No, it does seem illogical at first glance, but in fact it just lacks the conditions required for decryption, which makes me unable to see the real logic behind it.

'What does it mean to attack me and not attack me?Is there any reason why he can't attack me? '

At this moment, Nero's brain is like an overclocked CPU, quickly analyzing everything he sees and hears with cold rational logic.

Invisible substitute.

Inexplicable action.

Power beyond ordinary humans.

Nero's intuition told him that as long as all the puzzles were solved, he could defeat the man in front of him.

Immediately Nero looked at the vigilant man in front of him and opened his mouth.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Assassin. It's not that I was wrong. I seem to see that your teeth are all fangs. In addition to that tombstone that was kicked by you... What's going on?

"Red eyes, pale skin, sharp fangs, superhuman strength.

"You guy, you can't be a vampire in a storybook, right?"

"...What, you guys are clearly from Ripple's family, yet you don't know about vampires?"

The man in black looked puzzled by Nero's question, as if he was questioning Nero's ability to calculate 16 from a simple calculation problem like "55×28=?".

"That's right, I'm a vampire! A vampire who was endowed with the power of immortality by Master Dio!

"Lao Tzu—has already surpassed human beings!"

Nero thought about it.

"Vampires...it doesn't seem to be surprising now.

"Also, if my guess is correct, this is what the Ripple family refers to?" Nero asked.

The voice fell.

Along with the rhythmic breathing, golden ripples surged all over his body.

Hearing Nero's question, the ghoul looked curiously at the ripples on Nero's body.

"...It seems that Dio-sama is worrying for nothing.

"Your parents don't know anything about Ripple, and you who know how to use Ripple are so weak that you don't even know Ripple's name! It seems that the so-called Ripple Messenger really only exists in Lord Dio's memory!"

The ghouls became more and more arrogant.

However, Nero was keen to capture a word.

"……my parents?

"When you mentioned Ripple's "clan" before, I guessed it, now it seems that my parents' air crash was really caused by you, right? "

"Yeah, so what?" The ghoul spread his hands.

"Then I can only ask you to spit out everything you know."

Heavy rain pattered in the cemetery.

Nero took a step forward, stepping on more and more puddles.

Chapter 4 The Spiral Ladder Part [-]

Ghoul is 25 years old and used to be a sprinter.

An accident a few years ago turned him into a high paraplegic patient on the hospital bed. After spending the few career bonuses he had left as medical expenses but still hopeless for treatment, he could only lie in despair. at home.

And on an accidental night last year, he met a blond man who was traveling around the world.

The man called himself - Dior.

"Do you want to stand up?"

Dior's voice is as tingling as the hair comb and scissors in the hands of a barber.

The majestic words were filled with a reassuring magical power, which convinced him that the man named Dior in front of him could perform miracles and solve the high paraplegia that doctors were helpless.

Then, Dio took out an arrow.

Obviously he didn't hold the arrow, let alone throw it, but the arrow pierced into his neck like a flower in the air, bleeding profusely.

And his consciousness gradually returned to darkness.

When he woke up again, he had become a noble vampire who surpassed human beings.

And one—a stand-in messenger.

It's just that when he showed Dio his double, Dio showed a disgusted expression.

"Such a weak substitute can only be regarded as a half-finished product.

"If you haven't passed the arrow test, even if you are forcibly called back from that world and barely become a substitute messenger, you will still be useless trash after all.

"Your substitute is not even qualified to ask Enya to divination for you."

Hearing this, the ghoul was terrified.

Lord Dior brought him a new body and new power, and Lord Dior is his savior!And he couldn't be of any use to Lord Dior, which made him extremely ashamed.As soon as Dior left, there was no news for a whole year, as if Dior had long forgotten him.

until two weeks ago.

One of Dio's subordinates, a real stand-in emissary, contacted him, told him about the Qibelin family, told him about the restraint relationship between Ripple and vampires, and asked him to deal with a 15-year-old child in Rome ——

Nero A. Zeppelin.

The ghoul happily accepted the task and came to Nero tonight.

It's just that he didn't expect that this kid from Qibelin's family could actually see his double, and he was also a double emissary, and his double was hiding in a certain position right now, ready to give him a fatal blow!

"Want to get information from me? Try it if you can, brat!

"Your head will be the best tribute I can give to Lord Dior! ——Come on, my substitute!"

Seeing that Nero had no intention of attacking him with a stand-in for the time being, the ghoul began to approach Nero.

And around the ghoul, in the air under the rain, there seemed to be something walking along with the ghoul's footsteps.

Nero frowned.

Looking at the ghouls walking towards him step by step, Nero had only one question in mind.

Why are you walking so slowly?

If you really want to launch an attack, shouldn't you just charge up and do it directly?

This question seems to go back to the previous question, why did the ghoul in front of me rather perform such difficult acrobatic moves than attack me with his stand-in?

Thinking about such a problem, Nero not only did not retreat, but took another steady step forward.

"...?!"

Seeing Nero walking towards him, the ghoul actually stopped.

Not only did he stop, but even looking at the movements of his feet, there was a vague tendency to retreat.

"You dare not come near me."