Then Hanako looked at Dracula and was like "Really??" Her voice came out higher than usual, her high ponytail swaying as she turned her head sharply toward the tall, elegant man.

Her eyes widened with a mix of surprise and skepticism, her arms still loosely wrapped around Rin’s left arm as she stared at Dracula.

The revealing black singlet she wore shifted with the movement, her chest rising and falling quickly as the question hung in the air.

The park lights cast soft shadows across her face, highlighting the way her brows furrowed slightly, her expression a blend of disbelief and reluctant acceptance.

Then Dracula replied, his rich, aristocratic voice calm and effortless, carrying the weight of centuries as he stood with perfect posture, his long black coat billowing gently in the night breeze.

"Yeah, it was fast.

I caught it running out the building at the back, then I killed it."

He said it with a faint, elegant smile, his silver-streaked hair catching the moonlight, his tone casual as if discussing something trivial.

The vampire lord’s presence filled the space around them, his refined features showing mild amusement at the group’s reaction. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Then Nagumo said, his muscular frame still tense from the earlier fight, his black hoodie shifting as he stepped forward,

"Could it be the monster we were fighting?"

Then Dracula replied, his voice smooth and unconcerned,

"Well, I don’t know... I wasn’t there when you guys were fighting it, so I don’t know how it looked."

He shrugged lightly, his long coat moving with the motion, making it clear he had not been part of the hallway battle and therefore couldn’t confirm the identity based on appearance alone.

Then Shiki said, his voice quiet and detached behind his black face mask,

"Let’s go check out the body and see."

The group moved together toward the backyard, their footsteps echoing softly on the school grounds as they followed Shiki’s lead, flashlights sweeping across the dark paths.

The night air was cool, carrying the faint scent of grass and distant flowers, the school buildings casting long shadows under the moonlight as they walked in a tight, vigilant group.

Reaching the backyard, they saw a creature lying dead on the floor, looking like a spider-like monster and also like a bat.

The body was sprawled awkwardly on the grass, its form a grotesque hybrid — multiple thin, jointed spider legs curled unnaturally, some broken and twitching faintly even in death, while bat-like wings were crumpled beneath it, leathery and torn.

The upper body had a vaguely humanoid shape, but the head was distorted with sharp, bat-like features and mandibles, the whole thing covered in dark, glistening chitin that reflected the moonlight.

The creature looked unnatural and disturbing, its limbs twisted in unnatural angles, a pool of dark ichor spreading slowly beneath it on the grass.

Then Dracula said, gesturing casually with one hand, "Here it is."

But the others were looking a little bit confused.

Hanako tilted her head, her high ponytail swaying as she stared at the body, her brows furrowed in uncertainty. Nagumo stepped closer, his muscular arms crossed as he examined the creature, his black hoodie shifting with the movement.

The group exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of doubt and hesitation, the night breeze rustling the grass around the corpse as they tried to match it to the monster they had fought earlier.

Then Hanako said, "Is this the monster we just fought?" She tilted her head confused, her voice carrying clear uncertainty as she looked at the bat-like wings and spider legs, her revealing outfit shifting as she leaned forward slightly.

Then Nagumo, who also was close to the monster in their fight, also said,

"Hmm, it looks a bit different from the one we fought." His voice was low and thoughtful, his eyes narrowing as he studied the body, remembering the speed and agility of the creature they had chased through the hallways.

Then Naoya was like, "But isn’t this a bat wing?"

He pointed at the leathery wing, his black hoodie sleeves sliding up his arms as he crouched closer, his expression puzzled.

Then Dracula said, his voice smooth and convincing, "A bat wing? how can a bat wing shoot out webs?"

He gestured toward the body with an elegant hand, his long black coat billowing slightly as he spoke, trying to convince them that the dead creature matched the one they had encountered.

He pointed out details — the thin, jointed legs, the way the wings were attached, the dark ichor — making it seem like a logical match, his aristocratic tone carrying authority that made the group pause and reconsider.

Then they were starting to believe it but still not fully. The group murmured among themselves, their flashlights sweeping over the body as they debated quietly, the night air cool against their skin as doubt lingered in their expressions.

Then Shiki asked, his voice quiet behind his black face mask,

"How do you kill it?"

Then Dracula said, his voice casual but detailed,

"I was standing here, then it ran with a high speed as it stumbled across me.

Then it tried shooting its webs at me, but then I dodged them, and that was when I killed it by using this wooden bat to hit its head multiple times."

He gestured toward a broken bat-like limb on the ground, claiming he had used it as a weapon, his long coat moving with the motion as he demonstrated the strikes with elegant, precise gestures.

In reality, the dead monster lying on the floor was one of Dracula’s own summoned vampires — he had called it forth and killed it to create the perfect lie, using it as a scapegoat to fool the group and get them out of the school.

As the king of vampires, he could summon and control vampires at any time, making the deception effortless for him.

The group stood around the body, the night breeze rustling the grass as they processed Dracula’s story, the tension slowly easing as they began to accept the explanation, the operation seeming to come to a close under the moonlight.