knight in full, gleaming armor, a hulking figure that towered over

him with a huge broadsword clutched in one hand and a shield in

the other. A blinding white light came from the narrow slit in his

steel visor. For a moment Fugisawa thought the armored giant

would attack, him, but he brushed past him and waded into the

throng of animated corpses that were closing in on them, swinging

his broadsword like a scythe. He cut them down like wheat,

severing their bodies in two with powerful strokes, mowing them

down relentlessly. They fell without a sound, pieces of their

dismembered bodies twitching on the floor like dying snakes.

Fugisawa watched the carnage slack-jawed. The huge knight

didn’t make a sound as he sliced his way through the walking dead

like a terrible juggernaut. He backed away and then felt a hand

grasping his upper arm. He flinched and glanced around. Modred

was standing beside him.

“What… who…?”

“Gorlois, ” said Modred.

In moments it was over. There was nothing but dismembered

bodies on the floor, jerking spasmodically and then lying still. The

huge knight turned and his blade, miraculously unbloodied, scraped

back into its scabbard. Then the light coming from behind his visor

flared like a supernova and Fugisawa threw his arm up to cover his

eyes. When he looked again, blinking from the afterimage, colored

pinpricks dancing before his eyes, he saw Billy standing there amid

the chopped-up corpses, breathing heavily.

“Gor‘ blimey, ” he said softly.

Fugisawa’s knees buckled.

“Steady, ” Modred said, holding him up.

The dizziness passed quickly and Fugisawa gulped in a deep

breath of air. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never

have believed it, ” he said a in a shaky voice. He was staring at

Billy with astonishment.

“The corpses must have been part of the spell protecting this

place, ” Wyrdrune said. “Leila’s victims. ” He glanced at Fugisawa.

“The Ginza murders that you didn’t know about.