Kaida's first words after their agreement were practical.
"I need blood."
Kura tensed slightly. "Human blood?"
"Any blood with sufficient mana will do. Monster blood is actually preferable—higher magical content." She looked at the pile of monster corpses Kura had been harvesting. "Those will be perfect."
She approached the nearest corpse—a stone bear Kura had killed two days ago—and placed her hand on it. Her eyes glowed red, and the corpse began to... deflate. Its blood flowed upward through the air like living liquid, streams of red that spiraled toward Kaida and were absorbed through her skin.
Within seconds, the corpse was a dried husk.
Kaida sighed in satisfaction, her pale skin gaining a slight flush of color. "Much better. Ten thousand years is a very long time to go without feeding." She turned to Kura. "Don't look so nervous. I'm not going to drink from you."
"I wasn't—"
"You were. It's fine. Most people are afraid when they learn what I am." She moved to another corpse, repeating the process. "Vampires have a... reputation. Not entirely unearned, unfortunately."
"Are you going to kill me?" Kura asked bluntly.
Kaida paused, looking genuinely surprised. "No. Why would I? You freed me. You're the first person to actually help me in ten millennia." She finished draining the second corpse. "Besides, even if I wanted to, you're a Creator now. You could probably fight me to a standstill."
"Could I?"
"Maybe. I'm significantly weakened from the seal. It'll take time to recover my full strength." She smiled. "But I'd rather not find out through combat. I like you, Kura Tomohiro. You're... interesting."
"Interesting?"
"You murdered twenty-three monsters, ate their flesh to gain power, systematically modified your own body through self-transmutation, and broke a god-level seal to free an imprisoned vampire princess." Her eyes glinted with amusement. "Most people would call that insane. I call it resourceful."
Kura found himself almost smiling. "When you put it that way..."
"You're a survivor. Like me." Kaida moved to a third corpse. "We both do what's necessary. We both refuse to accept imprisonment. We're kindred spirits."
She finished feeding and looked around the chamber with interest. "So. Tell me about this world. How long has it been since the Age of Gods ended? What happened to the kingdoms? Are the other sealed beings still imprisoned?"
"I don't know most of that. I'm not from this world originally."
"Right, you're a summoned hero. I remember from the dreams." Kaida sat on the edge of the platform where her coffin had been, looking remarkably casual for someone who'd just woken from a ten-thousand-year sleep. "Tell me your story. All of it. I want to know how you ended up here."
So Kura told her.
About the summoning. About being given the weakest class while others became powerful warriors. About being invisible, worthless, relegated to support. About Shirayuki's kindness. About Daisuke's jealousy and growing hatred.
About the betrayal.
Kaida's expression darkened as he described the moment Daisuke pushed him. "So this Daisuke—he murdered you because you received attention from a girl he wanted?"
"Yes."
"And everyone thinks it was an accident?"
"I assume so. I'm sure they had a memorial. Said nice things. Moved on."
"While you were down here fighting for your life." Kaida's eyes flashed red. "That's... infuriating. And this Shirayuki—do you have feelings for her?"
The question caught Kura off guard. "I... I don't know. Maybe? She was kind to me when no one else was. She actually saw me."
"But?"
"But she's up there. I'm down here. And I'm not the same person she knew." Kura looked at his hands—hands that could reshape reality, that had killed dozens of monsters, that were barely human anymore. "I don't know if I can go back to being that invisible boy she smiled at."
"Do you want to?"
"No." The answer came immediately. "That person was weak. Was a victim. I'm never going back to that."
Kaida nodded approvingly. "Good. Weakness is a choice. You've chosen strength." She stood and walked over to him. "When we get out of here—when you return to the surface—what will you do?"
"Find Daisuke."
"And?"
"Make him regret what he did."
"Will you kill him?"
Kura was quiet for a long moment. "I don't know. Part of me wants to. Part of me thinks killing him would be too quick. Too easy."
"Then make him suffer." Kaida's voice was matter-of-fact. "Destroy everything he values. Take everything he wants. Make him watch as you become everything he tried to prevent you from being." She smiled coldly. "Death is mercy. Living with complete defeat is true punishment."
It was harsh. Cruel, even.
But Kura found himself agreeing.
"What about you?" he asked. "What will you do when we escape?"
Kaida's expression became distant. "Find out what happened to my people. Learn if any other vampires survived. Figure out what world I've woken up to." She looked at Kura. "And stay with you, if you'll have me."
"Why?"
"Because you're the first person in ten thousand years to treat me like a person instead of a monster. Because we understand each other. Because..." She hesitated, showing vulnerability for the first time. "Because I don't want to be alone anymore."
Kura understood that feeling intimately.
"Then stay," he said. "We'll figure this out together."
Kaida's smile was genuine and warm. "Partners?"
"Partners."
* * *
Over the following days, they settled into a routine.
Kaida was still weakened from her imprisonment, so Kura continued hunting while she recovered. But she was far from helpless—even weakened, she was level 50 minimum, with vampiric abilities that made her a terrifying combatant.
She could control blood as a weapon, shaping it into blades or projectiles. Could move at speeds Kura's enhanced eyes could barely track. Could drain life force from a distance. Could manipulate shadows like living things.
When they fought together—which they did against a pack of deep-dwelling predators that had attacked their camp—it was devastatingly effective. Kura's Creator abilities complemented Kaida's vampiric powers perfectly. He could create barriers and weapons from mana while she controlled the battlefield through blood and shadow.
They won in minutes.
"We work well together," Kaida observed afterward.
"We do."
They also talked. About everything. Kaida told him about the Age of Gods, about vampire society, about her life before the sealing. Kura told her about Earth, about high school, about the novels he used to read.
"So you were lonely even before coming here," Kaida said one evening as they sat in the ancient guard quarters.
"Yes."
"No real friends. No family connection. Just existing in the background of other people's lives."
"That's a depressing way to put it."
"But accurate?" She looked at him knowingly. "You and I are more alike than you realize, Kura. Both isolated. Both invisible to those around us. Both treated as things to be used or imprisoned rather than people with our own desires."
"Were you lonely? Before the sealing?"
"Terribly." Kaida's expression turned sad. "Vampire society is... complicated. We're immortal, powerful, but we're also few in number and suspicious of each other. I was a princess, but that meant isolation. Responsibility without companionship. Fear without friendship."
"And now?"
"Now I have you." She smiled. "One person who understands. That's more than I had before."
They fell into comfortable silence, the kind that only exists between people who truly understand each other.
"When we get out," Kura said eventually, "things are going to be complicated. You're a vampire. The church that summoned me probably has rules about that."
"Let them try to seal me again." Kaida's eyes flashed red. "I'm not going back in a cage. Ever."
"I won't let them," Kura said firmly. "You're with me. Anyone who wants to imprison you goes through me first."
Kaida looked at him with surprise, then something softer. "You'd fight for me? We've only known each other a few days."
"You're the only person who's actually understood what I've been through. The only one who doesn't judge what I've become." Kura met her eyes. "Yes, I'd fight for you."
Kaida was quiet for a long moment, then leaned her head on his shoulder. The gesture was simple but intimate, trust and affection in physical form.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For freeing me. For accepting me. For not being afraid."
Kura tentatively put his arm around her shoulders. She was cool to the touch but solid, real, present.
Not a dream anymore.
They sat like that for a long time, two broken souls finding comfort in each other, while the abyss stretched endlessly around them.
Tomorrow they would begin searching for a way out.
Tomorrow they would start the journey back to a world that had tried to destroy them both.
But tonight, for the first time since falling into darkness, Kura felt something other than rage or determination.
He felt hope.
And maybe, just maybe, the beginning of something more.