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[Crossover] Ch 135: The Akatsuki Family & Liana Caruana
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 22:41:11 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
Island of Gozo
In the depths of a well-organized archaeological dig, Kojou Akatsuki followed behind his father, the archaeologist Gajou Akatsuki, with his younger sister Nagisa Akatsuki trailing close beside him. They were heading down into an ancient underground tomb.
As they walked along a newly opened path, Kojou's face darkened with visible frustration.
"Old man, why the hell did you bring Nagisa here of all places?"
"Come on, Kojou. Sometimes adults have no choice," Gajou replied with a casual grin, completely unfazed by his son's anger.
He didn't even bother trying to explain that the sponsors funding the dig had issued an ultimatum: open the tomb or face prison time and financial ruin. The Akatsuki family's entire livelihood was on the line.
But a kid wouldn't care about that. In Kojou's black-and-white view of the world, money and adult compromises were meaningless. Right was right, wrong was wrong.
"You absolute—!" Kojou growled, fists clenched.
Nagisa, who was already a little nervous, quickly grabbed his arm to calm him.
"It's okay, Kojou. Really. I'm fine."
"See? My sweet Nagisa always understands me." Gajou smiled, equal parts relieved and guilty.
At that moment, a foreign woman with golden hair and a lavish, old-fashioned dress turned her attention toward the sealed wall at the end of the tunnel.
"Doc, get ready. We're starting."
"Yes, yes, my dearest Liana," he replied, wearing a smile so greasy it could butter toast.
To an outsider, it might've looked like he was flirting. In reality, she was one of the people bankrolling this expedition—a shareholder. She was also one of the reasons he was being forced to push forward against his better judgment.
So yeah, Gajou was being cheeky on purpose.
Liana Caruana barely spared him a glance before turning her sharp gaze to Nagisa.
"That girl… Are you sure she can break through that wall?"
The wall she referred to was no ordinary barrier. It was the one sealing away the Fourth Primogenitor, doll No. 12.
Liana knew firsthand how insane this wall was. She'd nearly bankrupted her entire family trying to get to this point.
That barrier could tank heavy artillery, even the destructive power of vampire familiars. Nothing short of an act of God could break it.
Gajou, still grinning, replied, "Don't worry. When it comes to shrine maidens, no one's more gifted than Nagisa."
"A high-ranking miko?" Liana raised an eyebrow, surprised. That awkward, anxious-looking girl was that powerful? What a waste.
Kojou's worry deepened.
"Old man, what exactly are you planning with Nagisa?" he demanded.
The closer they got to the heart of the tomb, the more uneasy Kojou felt. Something down there was stirring—a terrible presence, something ancient and cruel waking from slumber.
He wanted to turn back. Every instinct screamed at him to run.
Meanwhile, Gajou, seemingly unfazed by the creeping dread in the air, smiled lightly.
"Kojou... ever heard the story?"
"About the vampire with no clan, the lone strongest? The one who shows up at every turning point in history, bringing slaughter and chaos?"
Kojou blinked, then frowned. "You're talking about 'The Tyrant and the Fool,' the legendary Fourth Primogenitor? That's just a fairy tale our teacher made up."
Gajou let out a dry chuckle and ruffled Kojou's hair.
"Not a fairy tale. It's real."
Then, turning toward the massive black wall, he added. "That so-called legend—the Fourth Primogenitor—is right behind that wall."
And Nagisa was the key to unlocking it… Gajou thought silently, anxiety gnawing at him.
Even knowing this was the Fourth Primogenitor's tomb, the ominous aura unsettled him deeply.
Suddenly, Liana's expression tightened. "Gajou… your daughter…"
Father and son whipped around.
Nagisa stood with wide, glassy eyes, completely vacant, slowly lifting off the ground as if possessed.
"Oh boy…" Gajou rubbed the back of his head. "She's channeling the builder's will already?"
He'd expected this. Shrine maidens with strong spiritual power could sync with lingering memories in ancient ruins. That was their edge—by channeling the will of the tomb's creator, they could unlock mechanisms even modern tech couldn't touch.
Who better to open the vault than the one who made the lock?
"Nagisa!" Kojou shouted and tried to run to her, but Liana stopped him with a firm arm.
"If you don't want her to get hurt, don't touch her."
Grinding his teeth, Kojou reluctantly backed off, his heart pounding with worry.
Nagisa, still blank-eyed, floated to the massive wall. After a moment of silence, she raised a hand.
Fshhhh—
Without a sound, the wall vanished.
Gajou's jaw dropped.
"Wait… So the key wasn't brute force—it was shifting the door into another dimension? That means the entire tomb is in a pocket space? Ancient people were insane!"
Before anyone could respond, an unnatural cold hit them like a freight train.
One moment they were in a tropical island tomb—the next, it was like the Arctic had invaded.
"What the hell? Why is it freezing all of a sudden?!"
Kojou hugged himself, teeth chattering.
No one answered.
Gajou looked up—and froze.
Inside the newly revealed chamber, encased in swirling frost and ice, stood a man.
He had sharp black eyes, hair to match, and wore ancient, noble robes. He stood tall in the snow-covered chamber, gazing at them with quiet curiosity.
Behind him floated a winged, mermaid-like creature holding a jug—an ethereal, monstrous familiar.
"That's…" Liana whispered, voice trembling. "The Twelfth Familiar… The Bewitching Princess of Azure Ice. No doubt about it—it's the Fourth Primogenitor's familiar!"
Gajou snapped out of his daze, eyes locked on the broken coffin in the center of the room.
"No way. He's already awake? He's just been waiting for us to open the door?"
The strongest vampire in the world, casually standing there like he had all the time in the world.
Gajou had never wanted to nope out of a situation more in his life.
Liana, regaining her composure, dropped to one knee in a practiced motion.
"Liana Caruana, Sixth Head of the Caruana Family, humbly greets the Fourth Primogenitor."
Ryo—yes, that Yagami guy—lowered his gaze slightly and said calmly: "A descendant of Juran, huh?"
Liana's pupils shrank. She bowed even lower.
Juran… That was the surname of Ki Juranbarada, Founder of the Holy Ground Treaty, the oldest of the vampire primogenitors publicly acknowledged to exist; Emperor of the Warlord's Empire, the Dominion boasting the world's greatest military force; the First Primogenitor, aka the Lost Warlord. That was the true Ki Juran barada
For Ryo to call her out by that name— There was no doubt. This man was the Twelfth doll the Fourth Primogenitor.
Sure, he looked like a man instead of the expected woman, but that didn't matter. She was sure of it.
"No mistaking it now. This is the real deal," she whispered to herself.
"Well then… looks like Liana finally got her wish granted," Gajou muttered with a dry laugh, stepping backward.
"Since the job's done and the Fourth Primogenitor is awake… I think I'll just quietly take my kids and leave now."
He was already trying to sneak away.
But Ryo's gaze flicked toward him—and then to the two teens standing behind him.
'So that's Kojou Akatsuki, the original protagonist of this world.'
'And the girl beside him… that must be Nagisa.'
With Avrora now contracted to him, Ryo wondered—had he just stolen Kojou's destined role?
Before he could dwell on it, a voice like a giggling child rang out from the air around them.
"That short-haired girl... Cyrora wants to drink her blood!"
Kojou's face went white as a sheet.
"Oh no… oh hell no…"
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