Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded

That was close⸺.

Though she had seen them as nothing more than a distraction, she could not dispute their efficacy.

Her body was filled with holes. Wounds covered the surface of her skin, flesh jutting out from every angle. Recovery had taken up most of her energy. She could barely afford to keep running. It was cold. She did not possess enough strength. Her thirst for blood was growing stronger by the second, weakening even her thoughts.

The people of this world were not to be underestimated.

They were weak on their own, yet they possessed such mysterious implements. Weapons capable of firing off lead pellets ⸺ apparently, they were called ‘guns’ ⸺ that were stronger than any bow and arrow she knew of. Surrounded by that sheer number of people, even though her body was immortal, she would doubtless face grave danger. From now on, she would need to take the utmost precautions. Procuring one of those strange weapons to analyze would not be a bad idea either.

And not only that. These humans had been equipped with peculiar glasses capable of seeing through her illusions. Furthermore, they were able to cooperate to such an extent that they were able to undertake actions independently of one another, almost as if they understood each other completely. As a result, they were exceedingly swift, allowing them to set up an encirclement with little notice. Their speedy organization and response were beyond her wildest expectations.

Moreover, she could not sense a single speck of rahtena coming from their tools.

In other words, this meant that these tools of theirs were not activated by some form of mildi, but rather through normal means. If those weapons were able to be produced en masse in factories, this world’s militaries must possess quite the power indeed. The Book of Niba could not have predicted the future to this extent.

However, this was no time to be investigating such matters. Above all else, she needed to get away from this place as soon as possible⸺.

Whilst these warriors still had their eyes turned away from her, she stealthily looked for a means of escape. It was no use. They kept all the exits under close watch.

It was then that a voice rang out.

It sounded close. And yet far.

Was it the voice of a man? Or that of a woman? She could not tell. It was a mystery. Exuding intelligence, the proud voice seemed capable of seeing through her true nature.

（Go back through that hallway and turn to the left please.）

The voice rang out. It spoke in Farbanian.

（Beyond the doorway, there is a square-shaped opening. Though it is covered by metal bars, your strength should be sufficient to twist them out of the way. If you advance that way, you shall arrive at a place where these filthy Dorini shall not be able to touch you.)

She felt the presence of rahtena. Out of the corner of her eye, the vampire could see a small insect, one not even the size of her pinky, flying away into the distance. Rahtena was emanating off that bug.

『Mildi, huh?』

（With all due respect, please heed my voice. I promise nothing bad shall come of it.）

『Hmm……』

Glaring at the flying insect one last time, she stared at the corridor behind her ⸺ towards the left corner.

Based on the conversations between the SWAT team and the patrolling officers over the radio, the vampire was no longer in the vicinity of the bookstore. A rollcall had been done as well. No one was found missing. In other words, she had neither killed anyone nor breached the blockade.

Even so, the fact that they have not found her yet was strange.

Matoba had ordered the delivery of infrared goggles for the policemen participating in the operation, going through the top brass at headquarters for approval. Although it had been impossible to prepare goggles for everyone, one in every two officers had a pair equipped. With her illusions, the vampire could not possibly have expected them to counter her tricks using their equipment. These goggles were the main reason why the SWAT team was able to aim their weapons at her without any trouble whatsoever.

『She’s gotta be lurking around here somewhere. Search the lofts, under the floors, whatever! Look closely! Find her? All units, report!』

The SWAT team leader shouted over the wireless.

The replies he got were all the same.

Negative, negative, negative.

In the first place, they were able to discover the bookstore Tilarna had been kidnapped to only thanks to the optical security cameras installed around the mall. Compared to them, even lasers would not have been able to detect the small, spherical objects left behind by the vampire. By taking advantage of this point, they were able to carry out the encirclement.

「That vampire, can she cast something to completely erase her presence?」

Matoba asked Tilarna, who had accompanied him on his search of the surroundings.

「Most likely not. If she could, she would have used it earlier. Her illusions were not able to deceive your infrared goggles, so she clearly cannot do much better than that.」

「Then, why can’t we find her?」

At that moment, a report came in from the secure line at Vice. The caller was a colleague who had been studying a map of the mall’s interior from outside.

『Heads up. That vampire may have already left the mall by now.』

The detective ⸺ Jamie Austin ⸺ told Matoba over the radio.

「What do you mean by that?」

『There’s one section of the basement that houses an air conditioning unit. Seems like you can go further underground by going through there. The vent’s just big enough for a person to squeeze by. If you go two hundred meters south from there, you’ll arrive at a subway line.』

「That true?」

『No mistake. They built this mall on top of an abandoned train station, so this is probably just the leftovers of the construction. The way there should have been blocked by several sets of iron bars, but that vampire can just break them off, can’t she? 』

「Yeah, you’re probably right. Shit. Where’s the closest entrance to that subway?」

『Service gate over by 9A in East Plaza. But rather than chasing after her, you’d be better running her off through the subway at the nearby park.』

Frustratingly enough, the ones closest to the emergency exit outside were Matoba and Tilarna, who had been going around the eastern section of the mall. No, more precisely, it was two officers from the local precinct. However, judging from their faces, these two were far from ideal. One was an experienced, hotheaded youngling. The other an old man better-suited to running a desk job.

「You better keep up. Let’s go.」

Muttering that, Matoba dashed towards the emergency exit Jamie had pointed out.

「Nevertheless⸺」

Coming from behind, Tilarna said.

「Why does the Ladé Neven know that path? Even you bolicemen did not immediately realize the existence of such an escape route. Setting aside her intelligence, I do not believe she would be fortunate enough to stumble upon that path.」

「Good point.」

Matoba replied.

「I’m curious about that as well. But chasing after her takes priority, and we probably won’t arrive at an answer even if we tried. What would we do then?」

「Then, there is no choice but to go after her.」

「Exactly.」

The two of them hastened their pace. Passing through the emergency door, they climbed over the chain-link fence to the outside of the mall. Crossing the street, they finally arrived at the park. In one corner, there was a small, concrete building with a chimney on top. Though it looked little more than a warehouse, the warning pasted on the door indicated that it was an emergency entrance to the subway.

Matoba contacted Jamie on the radio.

「We’re about to enter the subway. If you don’t hear from us after ten minutes, narrow the perimeter for me, would ya?」

「Roger that. Be careful down there.」

The red letters on the metal door leading underground spelled, ‘No unauthorized personnel allowed beyond this point.’ Naturally, it had been locked up tight; no amount of pushing or pulling would do much good.

「Get back.」

In an attempt to avoid any incoming shrapnel, they stood diagonally across from the door. Aiming the carbine he had borrowed from the SWAT team at a hinge, Matoba pulled the trigger. Sparks scattered before his eyes as the hinge shattered into pieces. Pointing his weapon at the remaining hinge, he fired once more. After confirming its destruction, Matoba moved to kick down the door. However, before he could do so, Tilarna had flung it open herself. The door fell abruptly opposite.

「Let us go.」

Tilarna muttered, swiftly passing through the doorway to the other side.

She was basically saying, “I won’t let you take all the credit.” Matoba shrugged his shoulders, following after her as they descended into the darkness.

「……Give me a break. This job sure is good for the muscles. I might actually get into running at this rate.」

「Well, that is great, is it not? Much better than riding that godforsaken automobile.」

「Good grief.」

The length of the stairway was equivalent to three flights in an ordinary building. Arriving at the bottom of the steps, a white metal door greeted them. Unlike the one before, it was unlocked. It was smooth sailing from here on out.

A long tunnel lay on the other side.

Rails had been installed on the ground, lit up by the mercury lamps dangling from the ceiling every couple of yards. Out of the many train lines that go under San Teresa ⸺ this was Platform 3. It was one of the lines built at the city’s inception, stretching far above the harbor district.

It was currently just a bit past 1 a.m. Trains should not be passing through here at this time.

Due to the SWAT team nearly finishing her off, the wounded vampire should have been left thirsting for blood. In other words, there was a significant risk that she would resume her attacks on the people sometime soon.

「Over here.」

Tilarna dashed towards the direction of the harbor district. From their point of view, the exit vent Jamie had described should have been located on the right-hand side. Beyond that was the harbor district. If their foe managed to leave the tunnel, there would be no way of pursuing her. Another shall have to become a sacrifice before they could take any further action.

⸻No. That vampire had been much more intelligent than they had expected. This time, she would leave no traces of her prey when she hunted. A most troubling prospect indeed.

「Careful.」

「I know.」

Tilarna took the lead. In less than thirty seconds, they had reached the vent connecting the subway to the mall.

「Bingo.」

Breathing heavily from all the running, Matoba muttered.

On the ceiling, far above where his hands could reach, was a square hole. The bent iron grill had fallen to the ground. When she arrived here, the vampire must have crushed the vent’s cover to pass through. The reason they had not met partway was because the vampire had gone the other way towards the tunnel’s exit.

Matoba flipped the switch on his radio, hoping to call for reinforcements. There was no response whatsoever. Underground, the reception could not reach them.

「Shit. I can’t call for backup.」

「Then, we shall have to make do.」

Tilarna said.

「The Ladé Neven is wounded. Although there is a chance she might assault another citizen, this is also the time to finish her off once and for all.」

「Well, that’s true but⸺」

「Do not dawdle, Kei. The longer we wait, the more casualties will turn up.」

Tilarna rushed on ahead. Though it was not visible just yet, he could feel a strong breeze coming from the tunnel’s exit, brushing against his cheeks.

「Kei.」

In the dim light, Tilarna called out as she ran alongside him.

「What?」

「If possible, I would like to capture her alive.」

「Why?」

Given her strange suggestion, Matoba inquired in return.

「That is⸺」

Tilarna hesitated. She sounded as though she had been deep in thought.

「No. Only if it is possible. I do not wish to count my chickens before they hatch.」

「Hey, hey. You aren’t feeling sympathy for her, are ya? Feeling sorry for trying to kill a vampire stranded in a different world?」

「Fool. ‘Tis not because of that.」

「She killed four people already. And Cecil⸺」

「I know. There is something I wish to hear from her. That is all.」

When she had been nabbed by her at the mall, the vampire had mentioned something particularly of note, but not to such an extent that she could understand.

Besides, she was more concerned with having the tables turned on them. After all, it was only the two of them chasing her down. Though Tilarna did say that the vampire received considerable damage from the SWAT team, finishing the job would not be an easy task. That monstrous strength and those mysterious illusions, combined with hair capable of zigzagging around to attack her would-be victims. Their initial fight at the mall ended in their complete defeat.

However, this time Matoba came fully prepared. A carbine and an automatic pistol, alongside his backup revolver. If all his bullets are not enough to bring her down, then he would give up right there and then.