Wakan Tanka spoke.
《I told you something was getting in my way before, did I not? That little thing stirring inside this vessel.》
“Ah, yes. That is… another spirit that used to reside in my body.”
《It seems he will… open his eyes soon.》
Do-jun's eyes widened.
‘You mean… the White Tiger Spirit is waking up now?’
《No, he has not fully awakened yet. He is only stirring. For now… I suppose he has not had enough to eat. But it will be soon.》
The corners of Do-jun's mouth twitched upward.
The White Tiger Spirit had been with him his entire life…. He was practically Do-jun's only family, and Do-jun might soon see him again.
《Soon… you intend to strike those vampires, do you not?》
‘You heard all that?’
《You were talking so loudly that I could hardly avoid it. In any case, if I can devour more of their souls, this one too…. He should wake up soon.》
That suited him perfectly.
Sacrifices to revive his former partner were ready just when he needed them.
Do-jun smiled and picked up the tablet PC he had set beside him.
Underworld Shop.
He intended to buy everything he needed there for the coming vampire hunt.
***
Inside a vast castle reminiscent of Dracula's, deep in a misty Hudson Valley forest.
Shouting had echoed through the castle since morning.
“You useless bastards! After all the money I've spent on you, you could at least earn your keep!”
George Goldwyn sat on an antique sofa, fuming and shouting.
The guards and exorcists lined up before him could only hang their heads and tremble.
“Some yellow bastard whose name I don't even know shook me down! He threatened me to my face for more money, and you just stood there and watched? Are you bodyguards or decorative dolls?”
George's face burned red as he continued to seethe.
He was the youngest son of the illustrious Goldwyn family.
That he… had been beaten by some exorcist from the shadows and forced to hand over money was a humiliation he would carry for the rest of his life.
“W-we are sorry, Young Master. He was simply too strong….”
“Strong? Fuck, is that your excuse? Do you think I pay you those expensive salaries to get your asses kicked and make excuses?”
As he hurled curses and ranted, a maid knocked cautiously on the door.
“Young Master, an applicant has arrived for an interview after seeing the job posting.”
George ran a hand roughly through his hair and jerked his chin.
“Haaa…. Send him in. If this one's trash too, you're all fired.”
The Annabelle affair had taught him something painfully clear.
If he wanted to keep up his hobby of collecting occult objects, he needed overwhelming force.
He had been humiliated by an unknown Asian man and had needed to beg him to subdue Annabelle…. It was all because the people around him were a bunch of incompetents.
He intended to hire someone capable and replace every last one of the dregs already in his employ.
The heavy door opened, and a man walked in.
“Good morning.”
He was a Latino man with dark brown skin.
His unnaturally long nose and bloodshot eyes, so red they looked ready to drip blood, gave him an unsettling air.
With his hands in his pockets, he strode arrogantly up to George.
“Who are you?”
“Ah, my name is… Mateo. I do have a Grade C Exorcist license.”
George frowned.
“Grade C? You came here with only that much skill? Haaa, fuck. Another mediocre applicant.”
The exorcists standing nearby flinched and looked at Mateo.
Several of them were Grade C themselves…. George might as well have called everyone there trash.
Instead of answering, Mateo sniffed the air.
It was a bizarre movement, as if he were tasting the particles in it.
“Well, a grade is only a number. People often say I'm quite skilled for my grade. You won't regret hiring me.”
“Is that so? You talk a good game.”
With a mean smile, George pointed to the twenty or so exorcists lined up in the living room.
“Prove it. Beat every man here, and I'll hire you.”
The guards looked at him in disbelief.
Even for a Grade C Exorcist, fighting twenty against one was too much.
But Mateo tipped his head as though it were a bother.
“Very well. It isn't a big deal. You all… look like useless husks anyway.”
Step, step.
Mateo walked on with his hands still in his pockets.
“Grrr!”
Does this bastard think we're idiots?
One irritated exorcist charged first.
The instant he threw a punch,
“Huh?”
Mateo's figure seemed to blur. The charging man's jaw twisted at a grotesque angle, and he slammed into the floor.
Before anyone could grasp what had happened, Mateo plunged among them like a storm.
His fists and feet cut through the air too fast to see.
“Ggh!”
“Aaaagh!”
Screams and the sound of breaking bones filled the living room.
It was such a one-sided slaughter that the twenty-to-one odds meant nothing.
‘Wh-what? That bastard said he was Grade C….’
George had applauded at first, but as he watched, the color gradually drained from his face.
Mateo did not merely subdue his opponents.
He crushed the arms and legs of men already down and mercilessly ground his shoe heel into the faces of those who had lost consciousness.
He looked less like a man fighting than a starving hunting dog.
At last, Mateo was the only one left standing in the living room.
Twenty exorcists lay sprawled across the floor, beaten into bloody lumps.
Mateo flared his nostrils and approached George.
“E-excellent! I'll hire you at once! Name your price….”
“I don't need any of that.”
Mateo seized George by the collar and hoisted him up.
His red eyes flashed over George's face as George dangled in the air.
“Urgh! Wh-what are you…?!”
CRACK—!
A merciless fist drove into George's abdomen.
George retched without even managing to scream.
Mateo flung him to the floor like a doll, mounted him, and seized his hair roughly.
“I have a few questions. Someone recently sealed a cursed doll you owned, did they not?”
“H-how do you know that?”
“Shut up and answer. If you don't want to die, tell me who sealed it and hand over the doll.”
“B-but….”
“Do not make me say it twice. I will kill you.”
H-he means it.
Feeling the terror of death, George could no longer cling to his pride.
With trembling hands, he took Annabelle from the safe and handed her over, then spoke in a rush.
“We only hired an organization called ‘Alice’! An Asian exorcist showed up, and…. I don't know anything more about them!”
Mateo took the Annabelle doll from the safe. He pressed his nose close to the red talisman attached to it and drew a deep breath.
Sniff, sniff sniff.
Faint traces of spiritual energy remained on the doll's surface and the talisman.
The moment he caught that metallic, cold scent, a cruel smile spread across Mateo's face.
It matched exactly the unpleasant smell of blood from the one who had slaughtered his kind at the abandoned factory in New Jersey.
“Found you.”
CRACK—!
George Goldwyn's body rolled, rolled, rolled backward from Mateo's kick before coming to rest sprawled on the floor.
***
In the hall of the closed club ‘Alice in Wonderland.’
Cold tension hung where there should have been dazzling lights and music.
On the stage, boxes of silver weapons and enhanced holy water freshly delivered from the Underworld Shop lay piled haphazardly.
“All right, everyone, pay attention.”
Kang Do-jun nudged one of the boxes with his foot and began.
The dozen or so exorcists gathered in the hall turned toward him at once, among them members with codenames such as ‘Cheshire Cat’ and ‘Queen of Hearts.’
“The weapons you'll be issued are for fighting vampires. The bullets are ninety percent silver, and the melee weapons have a special coating. Use them well. The rule is simple: they'll get back up unless you pierce their hearts or take off their heads. Make sure they're dead.”
He went straight to work after speaking.
“Here. Put this over there.”
He affixed enchanted trap talismans in every blind spot around the club and set traps of some kind in the vents, drains, and even the sprinklers.
‘What on earth is this?’
‘What is this yellow paper… supposed to do?’
But the members watching him looked deeply doubtful.
“What should we call you?”
“Just call me Asian, or something.”
“Haaa…. Asian, then. Let me ask you one thing.”
The man in the cat mask, ‘Cheshire Cat,’ folded his arms and sneered.
“How exactly are the vampires supposed to find us? Our ‘Alice’ is famous for its tight information security even in New York's underworld. We left no traces, and you think they'll storm this place? Honestly, aren't you overreacting?”
The Queen of Hearts beside him joined in.
“That's right. I know the Master thinks highly of you, but…. Isn't it a bit much to waste the staff's time on this without any evidence? Closing the club will cost us a lot of revenue, too. It's not as if the vampires are gods.”
They were helping Do-jun on the orders of their Master, ‘Clock Rabbit.’
But to those who had not seen what Kang Do-jun could do, his preparations looked excessively paranoid.
Besides, no evil spirit or organization had ever tracked Alice down…. And even if anyone came, they were confident they could smash them to pieces.
‘No, the Asian man… he's probably right.’
‘I'd better keep quiet.’
The Tea Party members, who had witnessed Kang Do-jun's abilities time and again, kept their mouths shut.
Then Do-jun finished setting the traps and spoke.
“Well, I doubt it'll take long. I'd be more surprised if they couldn't find us.”
“Hah! What makes you so sure? Why does the Master trust everything this man says? This is driving me crazy….”
Cheshire Cat never got to finish his outburst.
Do-jun shrugged.
“They're here.”
“What?”
“Right outside the door.”
Click.
The club's tightly closed front door opened with a casual ease, as though the person entering owned the place.
In an instant, the air in the hall was tainted with the metallic smell of blood.
Step, step.
Slow footsteps came down the dark corridor.
The man who emerged beneath the hall lights had dark brown skin. It was Mateo. He sniffed with his long nose, then twisted his lips into a grotesque smile at the people gathered there.
“So all you little rats… were gathered here.”
His eyes were already burning red.
In one hand, he held the bloodstained Annabelle doll he had taken from George Goldwyn's castle.
The exorcists froze, then hurriedly raised their weapons.
“Wh-what? Who are you?!”
Cheshire Cat stammered in shock and stepped back, while the other exorcists gripped their weapons.
Anyone could see… that there was something deeply suspicious about him.
Do-jun rubbed his chin.
“You got here sooner than I thought.”
Tension stretched taut throughout the club.