Beneath the shadow of Tokyo Station, the man of ten golden rings trudged deeper through kilometres of abandoned underground service tunnels.

  Built between the world wars, they had once been bastions of emergency security. Now, long abandoned by society, the tunnels had become a haven for vampires willing to submit to a far greater force of will.

  Hands tucked casually into his pockets, the man ventured onward. Pale, forgotten vampires watched from the darkness, their eyes following him in silence. None dared to attack. At first glance alone, they understood what he was.

  A monster of near unparalleled strength.

  The difference in their wills was like that between an ant and a lion.

  A kilometre deeper, the floor became slick with water from ruptured pipework, stained crimson by the pollution of the innocent. The man continued on unfazed, his steps unhurried.

  At last, he reached the innermost chamber.

  A small clan of vampires stood guard, but they parted without protest, their bodies stiff with fear. Beyond the chamber gates lay a vermilion shrine, buried underground from an earlier age. Above it, the ceiling was choked with vast webs, layered thick like storm clouds frozen in place.

  The skittering of spider legs echoed overhead. Droplets of blood fell in slow, deliberate drips.

  “Who are you…?” an ominous, feminine voice growled from above.

  The man tilted his head upward, light catching his features. Azure eyes gleamed against his pale, handsome face, a small beauty mark resting just beneath his right eye.

  “Ah, good evening, Duchess.” He removed his black top hat and bowed politely, revealing silver hair still stained with dried blood.

  “I will ask again. Who are you…?”

  Fear crept beneath her voice as her form descended from the shadows. Skin pale as bone. Teeth sharp as knives. Hair black as the darkness that clung to her. Her reddish violet eyes locked onto his beautiful azure ones.

  “That is not information you require,” he replied calmly. “What you may understand is this. I mean no harm to your colony, nor to your monarch’s kingdom. Tokyo is not my dominion, as is evident. I submit to your claim.”

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  The perverse edge he once carried was gone. Only cold logic remained.

  “I see…” She had little choice but to trust him. “Then what is a man of your kind doing among us, if not to conquer? What is your desire?”

  She was probing him. He knew that.

  “I wish only to observe,” he said. “Your domain has been discovered. They intend to slaughter you and the rest of your kind tonight.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “How do you know this? What source of information—”

  “I will not say.” He raised his hand, extending three fingers with deliberate emphasis. “For now, you should be aware that not one, but possibly three Inquisitors will descend upon you before the night ends.”

  Silence swallowed the chamber. And fear finally took root.

  “So you wish to watch only,” she said, her voice equal parts plea and accusation. “To leave your kin to die?”

  “I suppose you could say that.” He paused, and she studied him in tense silence.

  “And…” His gaze sharpened. “I am also here to ensure you cannot escape. Nor evacuate. You will die here tonight, assuming you cannot defeat them.”

  There was no room for negotiation in his declaration. Still, she resisted.

  “So you are here to trap me. Why?”

  “A test must commence. You are a suitable trial. A worthy metric for my studies.”

  “Do you carry no heart?” she shrieked.

  “My heart belongs to one alone,” he replied calmly. “There is no room to share it with another.”

  “How…” She stopped herself, baring her fangs. “Never mind. You leave me with no choice but to assault you. I must inform my monarch of your transgressions against our kind, and of this nest’s impending end.”

  “I respect your autonomy,” he said, unbothered. “Your loyalty to one greater than yourself is admirable. Beautiful, even. But I cannot allow you to leave.” He raised a clawed hand, a quiet promise of what awaited her. “If I must, I will take your heart and claim dominion over it.”

  She did not retreat.

  Her loyalty was bound to her monarch. To abandon that duty would be disgrace beyond forgiveness.

  “So be it, you beast!”

  She launched herself from the shadows, her massive arachnid lower body unfurling as she descended from the ceiling in a final, desperate act of defiance.

  It was futile.

  She was waging war against a being who far surpassed even her monarch in power.

  Her fate had been sealed the moment their eyes met. From the moment they exchanged words.