****
With a dry gunshot, a shell casing flew out. However, she dodged the bullet at that close distance by moving her head.
Of course, she hadn't dodged it completely, and the bullet that grazed past her shoulder collided with the floor, bounced once, and slammed into the utility pole beside her, but still, she had managed to evade the shot from such close range.
“Ah, damn. What a sorry state this is!”
The talkative male vampire said as he pushed himself up. Seeing that, the female vampire who had been watching him smiled brightly.
“Idiot. So vampire hunters specialize in surprise attacks, they say…kka!”
Before she even finished her words, she picked up and threw the RX-125. Se-geon, startled, threw himself off the motorcycle and fell to the ground.
Kwadeuk!
Who knows how long it had been since it came out of the repair shop, but the RX-125 once again crashed into the slope and tumbled down. Whether it was misfortune or a stroke of luck, Se-geon had slid down the slope and did not see the spectacle.
Kwal kwal kwal.
The place where Se-geon had fallen was a drainage ditch where rainwater from the hill was rushing in. Even as he slipped on the water, he immediately got back up and also drew his Type 54 pistol. However, the male vampire charged in and thrust his face right in front of Se-geon’s.
“You look delicious!”
That bastard shouted and swung his hand. Se-geon again threw his body backward, falling onto the slope while firing his dual pistols repeatedly. However, the male vampire had already leaped backward with astonishing agility and landed atop a utility pole.
Chwaaaaak!
Se-geon once again slipped on the rainwater and went down the slope. But it seemed this attack was not without effect, as there were minor gunshot wounds on the male vampire's arms and legs. In exchange for that, however, the front of Se-geon's helmet had been torn off and was completely shattered. If his reaction had been even slightly delayed, his head would have been blown right off.
“He’s quite a guy.”
“I know, right.”
The two vampires bantered, saying such things. That got on Se-geon’s nerves immensely. To be chatting away while fighting, to be looking away—were they not even seeing him as an enemy at all?
“Aah. Blood splattered.”
“See. I told you to be careful.”
The two vampires, a man and a woman in black clothes, made such a fuss as they stood between the streetlight on one side and the utility pole on the other. Se-geon looked at them and gritted his teeth.
He had quite a few bullets, but the rounds in the magazines were 3 for the Tokarev and 5 for the Type 54. He didn’t think he could win against those vampires even if he unloaded all of this.
“Anyway, shall we get replenished for what we spilled?”
As the male vampire said that, the female vampire was the first to leap down from the utility pole towards Se-geon and charge at him. They were like young siblings playing around with their food.
“You bastards!”
Se-geon gritted his teeth and raised his gun toward the vampire diving at him.
<><><>
On the top floor of the department store's outdoor parking structure, a priest in black robes stood. The Catholic priest's vestments and his contrasting silver hair suited him incredibly well.
“What kind of change of heart did the fellow who’s been avoiding me until now have, to even designate a place and show up?”
He shouted quietly toward the elevator. The thick, vehicle-use elevator had a tremendous soundproofing effect. No, in this place that was always a chaotic mess mixed with the sounds of rain, cars, and people, it was impossible to hear such a low voice.
But just then, the alloy doors of the elevator opened, and a white man dressed in a pure white suit appeared.
“You’re not asking because you don't know the reason, are you? Mr. Stalker? If you keep waiting out front like that, people will get the wrong idea.”
“No. I was just wondering since when you became such a weak-minded vampire who can't handle stress. Or perhaps you intend to protect even the lower-class vampires of your bloodline?”
The priest in black, Sylvester, sneered as he looked at the True Blood Phantom walking out of the elevator. However, the True Blood Phantom, with a calm expression, approached him casually as if treating an old friend.
“Instead of that, shall we talk for a moment? We have a nearly infinite amount of time, don't we?”
“For the lord of rats who steal the time of other humans to live to speak of infinity, how utterly laughable.”
“Well, now.”
The True Blood Phantom brushed aside Sylvester’s thorny words and, leaning his upper body on the rooftop railing, gazed down at the rainy city. Looking down on the gray city together with a True Blood hunter felt somewhat refreshing.
“Surely you’re not suggesting we fight right away so uncoolly? I was under the impression that both you and I were the types who are quite obsessed with aesthetics, no?”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lump me into the same category as you in that way. Aesthetics or whatever, this place is not suitable for fighting.”
If he were going to fight without a care in a place with this many people, he would have sniped him back when he was at the hotel in the first place. At that, Phantom burst out laughing and climbed onto the railing.
Outside the railing, there was, of course, a safety net, but still, a dizzying scene unfolded below his feet. The True Blood Phantom spoke as he strolled upon it.
“I’m sorry to say this now, but I… don't think I can be the kind of vampire who sheds tears, so why don't you go bother some other True Bloods? From traditionalists like Arcadia or Hecate to the likes of Ireland’s Astarte…”
“For something you call words, that’s remarkably close to bullshit. Are you tired of learning human speech and now trying to learn bullshit too?”
This True Blood hunter, who acted as cold as he looked, was in some ways much more vampire-like than a vampire. He took a knife from within his clothes and looked at Phantom.
“In any case, it seems our talk is over… so let’s get started. Surely you didn’t call me here just to talk, did you?”
“And why not?”
Phantom said that and raised his hand. Soon after, a helicopter descended from the sky.
Dududududududududu.
The sound of the rotor tearing through the air, and with it, a strong wind blew down from above. Sylvester clutched his coat to shield himself and looked up.
“……”
Sylvester glared at it with a hardened expression. The helicopter was loaded with various kinds of broadcasting equipment, and a cameraman in a raincoat was holding a heavy camera, filming Sylvester and Phantom.
If it came to this… there was no way he could fight. Surely he couldn't attack Lowe, who was in the form of a human, with a knife while being filmed by a camera, could he?
He was so dumbfounded that he shook his head from side to side.
“For someone who is a True Blood, what is this disgraceful behavior? Did you not defeat me before!”
Though his age may be young, Phantom was a being strong enough to be counted among the top True Bloods. He was even said to be stronger than Jeok-yo and Chang-woon, who were among the oldest of the True Bloods… So why would he go through such a troublesome act to avoid a fight with an opponent he had already defeated once?
But that was also what was terrifying about the True Blood Phantom. If he were merely a beast that sucked blood, there would be nothing to fear, no matter how ferocious his fangs and claws were.
Even if he used evil arts to perform wicked tricks, they were nothing more than tools of violence. Whether the tool of violence was a firearm, magic, or fingernails… what difference would that make in the end?
Rather, what was truly terrifying was the power of money and authority. With money, one could even buy a human soul, and with authority, one could even buy the kind of humans that money could not. To humans in a civilized society, the power of man was the most frightening thing, rather than unrealistic violence.
“I am the king of vampires and the king of humans. For someone like me to deal with you barbarically goes against my aesthetics. My position is quite different from the past, when barbarism itself was the rule.”
The True Blood Phantom said that and raised his hand, pointing to the sky. His rich blond hair scattered in the wind and rain, and his pure white coat fluttered. His appearance certainly had the aspect of an emperor. Sylvester could not help but admit that he had been too hasty.
Unlike other True Bloods, this Phantom possessed that much power and authority. To the point where he felt anew the despair he had befriended for so many long years…
But if Phantom was a king, Sylvester was the one who hunted that king. Even if he felt despair, he did not lose his dignity in his retreat.
“Fine. In consideration of the king’s authority, I shall withdraw from this place. I will also acknowledge that you will choose the battlefield and the time.”
Sylvester said that and, with his black coat fluttering, walked into the elevator.
“If that's the case… then I have no choice but to make you feel like fighting.”
As Sylvester’s form disappeared into the elevator, the sound of the motor turning could be heard. As the sound grew distant, so did the True Blood hunter. Watching him leave, Phantom covered his face with his hand.
“You’ve grown up a lot, Sylvester.”
He muttered as such and, while standing on the railing, looked down at the city. The gray rain was gradually weakening.
<><><>
Dogs began to bark from all over the residential area. Was it because of the gunshots and explosions? The sound of startled dogs crying out pierced through the sound of the rain and could be heard from quite far away.
But not a single person poked their head out. No one wouldわざわざ poke their head out a window when firearms were being discharged, but this was strange. To the point where one might wonder if it wasn't a set for a movie shoot…
“You bastards!”
Se-geon pulled the trigger and turned his body to the side, but the female vampire flew at him at high speed, not even minding being hit by the bullet. Was this the limit of the Tokarev round's weak stopping power? No matter how much it was a silver-treated hollow-point bullet, it seemed to be insufficient to stop a vampire with a high VT with a single shot.
“Got~cha! One!”
She spoke innocently like a child playing tag, then grabbed Se-geon’s arm and swung him around in a large arc. In that moment, Se-geon’s surroundings spun. With astonishing brute strength, she had thrown Se-geon just like that.
“Two!”
The male vampire, who had been waiting on top of the utility pole, caught Se-geon in mid-air, then spun his body and threw him upwards.
It was a splendid pass, like one you would see in a ball game. The problem was that the thing being thrown was not a ball but a person… and being thrown by a vampire and flying through the air at a height of about 14 meters, it was better to assume he was a goner.
“Three!”
But as if that wasn't enough, a third attack? Se-geon was startled and took a defensive stance. Indeed, something crimson red pierced through the air and slammed into both of Se-geon's arms. It was the keratinized flesh that the bird had been continuously shooting as it flew over earlier.
Though they were projectiles of a small size… their speed and force were comparable to a bullet, so not only were Se-geon’s arms that blocked them broken, but his entire torso itself was thrown back.
Kwadeudeuk!
Se-geon’s body slammed into the magnolia tree of a rather large private residence. The magnolia, which must have been raised for quite a long time to have become a respectable mature tree, broke as it received the body of the falling Se-geon.
Like a doll with a broken neck, Se-geon collided with the tree several times before falling onto the grass of the front yard garden. Blood splattered and stained the tree, as if something had broken somewhere.
“……”
When pain is too severe, even a scream won't come out. Se-geon, sprawled out like a broken doll, couldn't even breathe properly.
“Ahahahat.”
The male and female vampires in black clothes descended from the sky as if dancing. In the pouring gray rain, the two vampires dressed in black looked like a scene from a black-and-white movie.
“Didn’t you swing him a little too hard?”
“I know. At this rate, there won’t be much left to eat.”
They said as they looked down at the blood-soaked Se-geon. Even in that situation, Se-geon was struggling with all his might to get up.
But having fallen from that height and with his entire body broken, there was no way he could move. Still, what was fortunate was that he had collided with the tree on the way down, and the racer suit Se-geon was wearing was clothing that offered a decent amount of protection.
Wiiiiing.
The sound of the rain wavered. At least, that's how Se-geon felt. His sense of balance was broken… and his five senses were twisted. There was no way he could face the vampires in this state and win.
“Well then, shall we eat?”
The female vampire said that and raised her hand. At that, her hand began to bubble as if it were boiling water, and sharp teeth began to sprout. The male vampire likewise transformed his arm in the same way and approached Se-geon.
“Keuk! Ugh…”
Se-geon tried to get up but collapsed forward. It was a blow that could not be endured with adrenaline alone. The impact, which felt like it was ripping his entire body to shreds, robbed his physique of its strength. It was not something that could be overcome with things like guts, tenacity, or grit.
A fall might not easily kill a person from a moderate height, but in terms of stopping power, it was superior to anything else. The vampires looked at the struggling Se-geon and, as if finding him cute, chuckled and swung their arms.
Pik! Pik!
But at that moment, a small, barely audible gunshot was heard, and the female vampire’s head was instantly shattered as she collapsed.
“Keuk! Was there another one?”
The male vampire, who had thrown his body back to escape the crisis, was startled and turned his head in the direction the bullet came from. There, crouched on top of a wall, was Song Deok-yeon with a silencer attached to a Colt Government .45.
Unlike Se-geon, who had rushed over almost unarmed after finishing his part-time job, Deok-yeon was fully armed with everything from a sword to a Spectra bulletproof vest.
“Hey, you fucking bastard. Were you trying to go head-to-head with a vampire without even using Psychedelic Moon? Is that how I taught you?”
He said that and, holding the Colt in his mouth, he picked up the shotgun slung diagonally across his back. The vampire in black clothes rushed at him at high speed, leaving behind a shadow, but when the shotgun was fired, the vampire was blown away with a deafening roar.
No matter how useful a shotgun is at close range, to be able to accurately hit a target moving that fast. One could only call it amazing.
The vampire was thrown back with a bizarre scream. The power of the pump-action shotgun was tremendous, to the point that just one hit left the vampire’s entire body tattered.
“Keuaak!”
But the vampire still did not die; he gathered himself, leaped over the wall, and escaped into the alley. At that, Deok-yeon threw the sword he had on his hip to Se-geon and shouted.
“I’ll chase that bastard, so you suck that bitch’s blood and hurry up and go guard the goalpost!”
Deok-yeon shouted that and also jumped down from the wall. Se-geon looked at Deok-yeon and… rather than feeling glad, a strange thought came to his mind.
‘If he was going to use a shotgun anyway, there was no need to attach a silencer to his pistol, was there?’
Se-geon carefully put a hand into his pocket, trying his best not to move his broken arm. Se-geon's suit had a cargo pocket on the thigh area, and when he put his hand in there, a pain shot up from his waist.
He didn't know if his pelvic bone was fractured or if a rib was broken and the pain was traveling down from there. He overcame the pain and, with a struggle, took out the blood collection kit, sucked the blood from the vampire’s corpse, and injected it into his own body.
Piiiing.
His head rang. Just by having the vampire's blood injected into his body, he could feel most of the pain disappearing. But clearly… perhaps because it was the bloodline of a True Blood, the feel of the blood was different from other cheap vampires.
‘Is that why they were so strong?’
Se-geon looked down at the female body whose head had been blown off. He didn't realize it when she was an enemy, but looking at her like this, she had a small and pretty body. Except for the pale skin, the transformed arm, and the blown-off head…
“Uweeegh!”
Se-geon suppressed the urge to vomit that was rising up. Was it because he was short on blood? He once again stuck the blood collection kit in, drew blood, and then stuck it into his own forearm.
The wounds slowly heal. Broken bones mend again, and the cuts from being scraped by the tree also heal in an instant. Once he was able to move his body, he immediately stood up. Just as Deok-yeon had said…
A goalkeeper must guard the goal.
Se-geon picked up the sword that had fallen on the ground. The one Deok-yeon had thrown him was a 60-centimeter, blackened sword with an anti-glare treatment, sheathed in a nylon sword holder. When Se-geon drew the sword, a blade made of 420 stainless steel revealed itself.
The so-called ‘Ninja-to’ made of 420 stainless steel was a peculiar sword that fully embodied the Yanks’ over-the-top sense about ninjas, but it was extremely practical.
Se-geon slung it over his shoulder, ejected the magazine from the Tokarev, and loaded bullets into it while running. When he took them from the thugs, there was only one magazine each… so no matter how many bullets he had, it was inconvenient to use. At times like this, he had to reload in advance.
“Huk… huk…”
Se-geon sprinted up the hill and stood at the entrance of Jin Yu-mi’s house. Blood and bits of flesh were already mixed with the rainwater and spread thickly from the entrance, as if a vampire had already broken in. Should he say it looked like a slaughterhouse where they had haphazardly finished cleaning by spraying it with a hose?
In the yard, which was the source of that pool of blood… a man and a woman were mixed together, torn to shreds. To borrow a poetic expression, something like ‘they finally became one body’ would be fitting, but intuitively, ‘minced meat’ was a better fit.
“Damn it!”
Se-geon kicked open the door to the basement and aimed his gun inside. It was dark, so he couldn't see anything. But the smell of blood sharply pierced his nose. Se-geon threw his body forward, following the layout of the basement and room that he remembered.
Jjik… Jjiiiik…
A grotesque sound could be heard. They were probably killing people and drinking their blood. Se-geon thought so and held back the rising nausea.
The horrific sights and sounds that reminded him of the day his family was annihilated, all of it was being reconstructed right here in this place.
‘Stay calm… if I get worked up here, I’ll just die.’
Was it because the vampire's blood was circulating? His heart kept pounding, and his emotions wouldn't calm down at all. He cracked open a capsule of Psychedelic Moon and placed it on the back of his hand. The skin, wet from the rain, dissolved the powder, but Se-geon forcibly inhaled it into his nose.
He felt like he was about to sneeze, but then even that sensation disappeared. The effect of Psychedelic Moon appeared so quickly it was frightening.
‘Ah!’
Even in the darkness, the outlines of objects slowly emerged. It was a truly strange feeling. As his senses sharpened, the surrounding sounds were analyzed. Should he say it felt like synthesizing separately heard sounds in his mind's eye?
Each and every raindrop falling on the roof seemed to touch his skin, and the outlines that stood out in the darkness provided a field of vision superior to any night-vision goggles.
Se-geon walked into the room.
On the wide wooden floor that could be called the kitchen and living room, numerous children had already been mangled. The bodies, so easily torn apart, felt unrealistic. Did it remind him of the synthetic resin zombies torn apart by a chainsaw in a cheap slasher film? Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, but Jin Yu-mi was not in sight.
Jin Yu-mi… she would probably be in the room, and there was no way she would be alive. With a calm heart, Se-geon opened the door to the room.
“Ah.”
There was a girl there. The girl, wearing a blood-stained blue two-piece suit, looked very gaunt but also appeared incredibly pitiful. He didn’t think she was a great beauty but… yes. Should he say she was similar to Jin Yu-mi? For some reason, she resembled Jin Yu-mi.
Isn't that strange? She was the victim, and Jin Yu-mi must have been the perpetrator. That’s why she tried to get revenge on Jin Yu-mi, and now she must have achieved it, so why did the two of them look alike?
In front of her lay Jin Yu-mi, torn in two. The two women, who were look-alikes, had produced a result where one had killed the other.
Jin Yu-mi, who had been floating above this massive city, Seoul, due to a lack of reality.
And Yun Mi-hye, who was also trapped in a hospital, endlessly sinking into herself.
The perpetrator and the victim had now switched places, and the story was over. The deceased Jin Yu-mi must have taken the Psychedelic Moon that Se-geon had handed over, as she wore a drugged-looking expression even while being killed in this bizarre manner.
The two look-alike women… Se-geon looked at her and raised his gun without a word.
There were no words.
There was no resistance.
Several gunshots rang out in the heavy rain. The Tokarev rounds that pierced through her ricocheted around the room several times, and one of them grazed Se-geon’s cheek, leaving a long trail of blood.
Se-geon lowered his gun, raised the Ninja-to, and struck Yun Mi-hye’s neck. He kicked her face with his combat boot and plunged the sword into her convulsing heart.
“……”
Was it too dry and emotionless? He was even feeling a sense of boredom. He had thought some kind of emotion would rush in all at once, but it seemed that was a pointless expectation.
Se-geon used the blood collection kit to suck out as much blood as he could from her… and then left the house behind.
“Oh, right.”
Stopping for a moment at the entrance of the house, he fired his gun toward the hallway. The bullet struck the butane gas canisters piled up at the entrance, causing an explosion, but he, having taken Psychedelic Moon, was able to throw his body backward to avoid the shrapnel and impact.
“Ha…”
Se-geon picked out a shopping bag, put the blood inside it, and walked out, leaving the house, now burning from the explosion, behind him. Was it because the storm was moving north? A fierce downpour was falling. This fire will probably be put out soon, right? Se-geon thought that and went down the hill.
<><><>
Deok-yeon, covered in blood, was leaning against a utility pole and looked up at Se-geon.
“Hey!”
“……”
Se-geon silently threw the used Ninja-to to Deok-yeon and righted the fallen RX-125. As expected, this thing with its bent handlebars was in no condition to be ridden.
Se-geon, looking like a drenched rat, put down the RX-125. It was his older brother's keepsake, so he had tried to keep it with him somehow, but it seemed that too had now reached its limit.
“Are you okay?”
Deok-yeon asked, genuinely worried. At that, Se-geon turned to look back at Deok-yeon with an expressionless face. The rainwater running down his face and dripping from his jawline was like a waterfall.
“You have the Pride, right?”
“I do.”
“Can you give me a ride?”
“Sure. Let’s get out of here fast.”
Deok-yeon put the expressionless Se-geon in the Pride and drove out of the alley where the heavy rain was pouring down.
<><><>
Police cars and fire trucks blocked the alley. An explosive sound presumed to be a gunshot, and the gas explosion that followed… no matter how indifferent a society it was, it was only natural for a report to be filed.
But when the police arrived and looked around, neither bullets nor shell casings could be found, and the only things that remained were the semi-basement building shattered by the explosion and the shattered corpses inside it.
However, no matter how much the police of the Republic of Korea tended to downplay cases due to being overworked… there were many strange things about this case. The projectiles themselves could not be found, but what could be called bullet marks remained in various places in the building, and the coroner’s report concluded that the bodies had not died from the explosion but were already dead before being damaged by it.
But if that was the case, then what on earth could have torn humans to shreds like that?
In a park near the residential area where the police investigation was still in full swing, a pitch-black Corvette Coupe was parked. On a bench next to that Corvette Coupe, a silver-haired priest and a young man with green-bleached hair sat, watching the pigeons pecking at feed.
“Are they pigeons or chickens…”
The young man with the green-bleached hair looked at the pigeons and let out a sigh. At that, the silver-haired priest brought a hand to his lips, signaling him to be quiet.
“Spit it out…”
At that, several of the pigeons started hacking and then regurgitated dented copper alloy. They had swallowed and retrieved the projectiles that had passed through the vampire’s body.
“I attached Deok-yeon to him because I was worried… how pathetic. What in the world am I supposed to do if he doesn't even retrieve the shell casings?”
The silver-haired priest, Sylvester, chided as he concentrated on his magic. He, who had retrieved the casings and projectiles using rats, stray cats, dogs, and pigeons, put on latex gloves and placed them into a plastic bag. Se-geon watched the scene without a word, leaning his body against the bench.
“Even though she’s dead, not a single tear falls. Perhaps it’s not only vampires who cannot cry, is it?”
“……”
Hearing Se-geon’s words, Sylvester rose to his feet. The pigeons, released from the magic, finally came to their senses but… perhaps because of the feed, they showed no sign of flying elsewhere.
Sylvester opened the Corvette’s door. Fallen leaves that had landed on the Corvette in that short time were pushed into the car by the wind.
Just then, Se-geon called out to stop Sylvester.
“Oh, right… Sylvester.”
“?”
“Do I… look like Kurt Cobain?”
“Your head must be hurting. Judging by the bullshit you’re spouting.”
At that, Se-geon burst out laughing and buried his face in his knees. But soon, the sound of laughter stopped, and Se-geon’s shoulders began to tremble. As if he had been under a magic spell and was only now released, tears poured from his dried-up eyes.
“……”