Arca didn't have to wait for the answer. As soon as he turned off Peaceful Sleep, he knew… But he still refused to believe it until he kneeled next to Romeo's body.
There was no breathing, no pulse, and no glow of mana. The younger priest's body was sheet-white and unmoving. As someone who had seen a lot of corpses in the past, Arca could immediately determine one.
"I knew it…" Arca whispered, feeling a sting in his eyes. He gently reached out to lower Romeo's eyelids. Then his hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist. "Right after that devil sucked his blood for the second time, I knew it. But I still hoped… DAMN! Burn it all in Hell!"
Irmilla kneeled next to Arca. Her face was a stiff mask of calmness, and her eyes looked like a reflection of the blue sky.
Distant. Detached from things that were going on.
The life strikes at me. An unplanned move to another apartment AND a cold. Just peachy.