Elicia let out one final, exasperated sigh, the stern matriarchal tension in her shoulders finally softening as she looked from me to the basket Evelyn was holding.
"Little Ren, we are eating, Evelyn and I bought these skewers specifically for dinner. Now, thanks to your little science project, they probably taste entirely like onions. But we are going to sit down and eat anyway."
She gestured sharply toward the dining room table, where my titration stands, empty beakers, and leftover alchemical ingredients were still laid out like a frontline command post.
"Little Ren, clean up this mess right now, I don't want dangerous medical and chemical equipment scattered all over our family table while we are trying to have a meal." Elicia ordered, pointing a strict finger at the wooden surface.
The fierce, icy demeanor I usually maintained in the underworld completely evaporated under the weight of her gaze.
"I'm sorry, big sister, I will clean it up right away." I said quietly, my cute, childish voice entirely submissive as I bowed my head.
Moving with rapid, deadpan efficiency, I gathered the remaining glass tubes, the graduated burette, the thermometer, and the unrefined sulfur dust, carrying them all into the kitchen. I tucked the raw chemical precursors safely beneath the counter, far away from the food prep areas, ensuring my workspace looked like a normal domestic kitchen once more.
While I cleared the table, Evelyn eagerly marched into the dining room, setting down the wicker basket and pulling out a stack of ceramic plates. She began sliding the steaming, heavily seasoned meat skewers onto the dishes, though she couldn't help but sniff them suspiciously to check if the garlic-and-horseradish vapors had permanently altered the flavor.
With the table spotless and the dinner laid out, the three of us finally sat down together in the quiet, newly ventilated warmth of House 132. The custom grenade belt filled with my fifteen poisonous gas spheres pressed heavily against my waist beneath my shirt, a silent reminder of the brutal vampire hunt awaiting me at midnight… but for now, under the watchful eyes of my sisters, I was just little Ren, sitting down for a family dinner.
We sat together around the wooden family table, the remaining draft from the open windows cooling the room. Elicia's eyes were still slightly pink and watering from the residual tear gas vapors that lingered in the corners of the dining room. As for the microscopic, blistering irritation that the raw mustard gas had initially caused to her and Evelyn's exposed skin… their high-tier vanguard biology and Elicia's lingering restoration magic had healed the tissue damage instantly, erasing any physical trace of the chemical burn.
I looked at both of them, my mismatched jade-green and crimson eyes reflecting the soft ambient glow of the dining room lamp.
"I am truly sorry, big sister. I am sorry, Evelyn, I will be more careful with the ventilation parameters next time."
Elicia wiped a stray tear from her cheek and gave a stern but forgiving nod, while Evelyn simply laughed, waving her hand dismissively as she reached for a skewer.
"Just make sure the next 'onion' experiment happens in the deep basement, little Ren," Evelyn teased.
I picked up one of the grilled meat skewers with my newly restored left hand and took a neat, calculated bite. The heavy seasoning was entirely compromised; the dense chemical fog had saturated the meat, making it taste overwhelmingly like sharply concentrated onions and bitter horseradish. But I chewed and swallowed it with my usual deadpan composure, my absolute immunity ensuring it was completely nutritious despite the toxic flavor.
While my sisters talked, I quietly glanced toward a small gap in the heavy velvet curtains. I had pulled them tightly shut again right before we sat down to ensure no nosy 3rd District neighbors could catch a glimpse of the massive, crimson blood wings folded tightly against my spine. Through the narrow slit in the fabric, I saw the pale, brilliant light of the full moon high in the celestial matrix. The clock had struck midnight. The deployment window was officially open.
I lowered my wooden skewer back to my plate, the clinking of the fifteen poisonous glass spheres around my waist serving as a silent cue beneath my tunic. I looked up, locking my gaze onto my sisters.
"Sisters, I will be leaving. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, I will be deep in the Sisiphon territory. I am officially deploying to hunt down and erase the purebred vampire that massacred the thirty-two Luminous Knights at the southern borders." I stated smoothly, my voice shifting back into its calm, clinical vanguard register.
The dining room table went completely silent. Evelyn froze mid-bite, her eyes widening as the playful amusement completely drained from her face. Elicia lowered her white-gold staff against the edge of the table, her expression hardening back into that sharp, protective worry that always surfaced whenever I took on high-risk underworld contracts.
"The thirty-two Luminous Knights? Eirene, that wasn't just a standard vanguard squad. Those were elite, highly conditioned holy vanguards. If a single purebred anomaly wiped them out completely without a single survivor, you are walking into an extreme-hazard zone." Elicia repeated, her voice dropping into a low, tense register.
"I am aware of the threat parameters, big sister, Chief Anton provided the full tactical breakdown. The target utilizes rapid cellular regeneration fueled entirely by blood absorption. It is functionally identical to my own mechanics, which means I know exactly how to dismantle it." I replied smoothly, my deadpan composure completely unbothered as I stood up from the wooden chair.
I reached down and retrieved my heavy vanguard cloak from the floor. Because it was still heavily saturated with the pungent, stinging scent of the chemical synthesis, I didn't wrap it around my shoulders; instead, I slung it tightly over my arm. I adjusted the custom grenade belt strapped across my waist, ensuring the ten spheres of tear gas and five spheres of mustard gas were perfectly aligned for rapid deployment. Beneath my tunic, the heavy glass vials clinked with a dull, rhythmic weight.
"The wind currents are optimal for high-altitude flight tonight, by taking to the sky right now, at midnight, I can cross the regional borders completely undetected by the capital's watchtowers. No guards will mistake me for the anomaly, and I will reach the perimeter of Sisiphon City exactly as the sun hits the horizon." I continued, turning my gaze toward the tightly pinned velvet curtains.
Evelyn set her plate down, looking at me with a mixture of awe and lingering anxiety.
"Just... make sure you don't get reckless, Eirene. If that thing is as bad as the Bureau says, it's going to be looking for a fight."
"It won't be a fight, It will be a systematic execution. Its healing matrix cannot regenerate tissue that has been completely liquefied by my payload." I stated with a freezing, childish finality that made the air in the dining room drop a few degrees.
I walked toward the back exit of House 132, where the shadow-filled alleyways were completely shielded from the main thoroughfares of the 3rd District. I unlatched the heavy iron security bolts, throwing the door open to the cool, midnight air. The brilliant moonlight poured across the threshold, casting my long, dark silhouette across the kitchen floor.
With a sharp, fluid motion, I let my massive, crimson blood wings unfurl to their full operational span, the dark, undulating energy humming softly in the quiet night. I looked back over my shoulder one last time at Elicia and Evelyn.
"Keep the windows open while I am gone to clear the remaining residue, I will return within seventy-two hours."
Without waiting for a response, I flexed my wings and launched myself violently into the sky, shooting upward into the celestial matrix like a streak of dark, crimson lightning, leaving the capital behind as I charted a direct, high-velocity course toward the arid wastes of the Sisiphon desert.