Chapter 28 :

<28>

“Uh? Wh-what is that?”

“Is that… a dog?”

The high school students sitting in the playground in front of the senior center looked at ‘that thing’ with puzzled expressions. A few of them stood up and approached to check what it was.

“Danger!”

A sharp scream of warning rang out, but before anyone could react, ‘its’ claws shot out first.

Slash!

It was horrifying how easily a human could be cut apart. The head of the high school student who had approached out of mere curiosity was severed, and blood sprayed everywhere. Not wanting to waste even a drop, ‘it’ swiftly grabbed the falling neck and greedily brought it to its mouth.

Sluuurp… gulp!

At the gruesome sight and the sound of gluttonous drinking, the terrified students collapsed where they stood, unable to even move.

“Ugh!”

“What the hell is that?”

“Fuck! Hyuk!”

Ping!

At that moment, a wooden sword flew in between them and struck ‘it’, which was too absorbed in sucking blood to notice.

“Kwah!”

Rather than being thrown, it was more accurate to say the wooden sword had been fired. It shot forward like a bullet, pierced through ‘its’ body, and embedded itself in the tree behind it. Wood piercing wood! Not only that—it had skewered ‘it’ before lodging into the trunk.

“Run!”

Only then did the students come to their senses and begin fleeing.

“Damn it. You brutal bastard!”

“No matter if you’re a parentless wretch, this is going too far!”

The two figures who appeared before ‘it’ began by hurling accusations. The fact that they spoke of being “parentless” revealed they were vampires—and rather powerful ones at that. Even among the strong, few vampires could throw a wooden sword hard enough to embed it into a tree.

“Grrrrrr!”

‘It’ snapped the wooden sword lodged in its chest and assumed a fighting stance toward the vampires, raising its arms defensively. The vampires glanced sideways with troubled expressions. Unfortunately, this was a residential area, and they could not fight freely.

“Damn it. No choice! I’ll cut off its head!”

The vampire who had thrown the wooden sword stepped forward, then suddenly lowered himself as if throwing himself flat onto the ground. At that instant, the slender vampire standing behind him swung his arm without hesitation.

Piiing!

With a clear ringing sound, hardened fragments flew forward. ‘It’ desperately hurled its body aside to evade the attack, but at that very moment the crouching vampire kicked off the ground and leapt upward. In a single bound, he soared seven meters and closed in on ‘it’ in an instant.

“Kaaaah!”

“Hah!”

‘It’ flailed wildly, snapping a roadside tree in half and swinging the broken branch. The attack was so fast it could hardly be seen beneath the dim mercury streetlamp, but the vampire let out a shout and split his body into countless fragments.

Clang!

“Ghk!”

The sharp, ice-like shards instantly tore ‘it’ into pieces before reassembling into human form atop a tree across the street.

Thud!

With a heavy sound like a large earthen jar being set down, ‘it’ crashed to the ground.

“Kraaaah!”

“So noisy. You’ll wake everyone up.”

The slender male vampire muttered playfully as he picked up broken branches and flung them forward. The branches shot like arrows loosed from a bow, then abruptly changed direction ninety degrees midair and embedded themselves all over ‘its’ body on the ground.

“Kah!”

Now pinned to the earth, ‘it’ could no longer move at all. The vampire standing atop the tree leapt down.

“That was simple. This bastard made it harder than it needed to be.”

“Careful. In those typical comics, this is always when they get away.”

“Don’t jinx it.”

The vampires exchanged jokes and laughed. But then they saw ‘it’ reaching toward its ankle.

“Hm?”

Rat-tat-tat!

Gunfire erupted. The vampire in front transformed his body into fragments to minimize the damage from the bullets, but the slender vampire behind him failed to evade in time.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

“A submachine gun?”

Startled, the front vampire sprang onto a building, kicked off a wall once, and vaulted up to the rooftop of the second floor. Fortunately, no one had been inside the senior center building—otherwise it would have been disastrous. No—disaster had already struck.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Wh-what was that sound?”

As the gunshots rang out, screams and confused voices began rising from houses throughout the neighborhood. It was only a matter of time before the police arrived.

“Damn it! Yuho!”

The vampire screamed toward his comrade, but the slender vampire lying on the ground did not move—he had taken too many bullets. That meant the rounds had all been treated with silver.

“You fucking—!”

The vampire looked again at the gun now aimed at him. It had pulled the weapon from inside its own body. Moreover, the gun ‘it’ held was a Glock 18—9mm, with its distinctive square slide. With a long magazine attached, it could hold up to thirty-three rounds—a terrifying weapon.

“You bastard!”

Bang!

Though he longed to avenge Yuho, ‘it’ was firing with precise accuracy while pulling its body free from the ground. And from the main road, the wail of police sirens was already growing louder.

“Argh! I’ll kill you, no matter what!”

Vampire Gyeong left behind a furious shout and hurled himself from one building to another. No matter how enraged he was, the unspoken rules of vampires had to be upheld.

Waa-waa-waa!

“Grrrrrr!”

After confirming that the powerful vampire Gyeong had left, ‘it’ rose to its feet and looked at the fallen Yuho. Even after taking twelve 9mm rounds, the vampire was still alive—though unable to move.

“Grrrrrr!”

Ravaged by violent hunger, ‘it’ was no different from a vampire. Even if the prey were human—no, a vampire—there was no reason to refuse what lay fallen before it.

Crunch, tear…

On a bench beside the vine-covered playground, a black shadow crouched and tore into the writhing vampire.

* * *

Se-gun parked the XR-250 in front of Arjuna. In the bleak autumn night, with most of the fallen leaves already gone, Arjuna still retained a certain atmosphere of its own.

“……”

If not for the signs at the entrance reading “Public Restaurant” and “No Minors After 10 PM”, Se-gun might have fully immersed himself in the autumn atmosphere. Those signs definitely hadn’t been there before. How could something like this be put up after just a few days of not coming? Had the shop been closed and handed over to someone else? With a bewildered expression, Se-gun reached out his hand.

Jingle, jingle.

As the door opened, a bell rang. Se-gun let out a sigh and stepped inside. The fragrant aroma of coffee greeted his nose first.

“……”

The floor, which had once seemed unnecessarily spacious for an occult shop, was now arranged with sofas and tables for seating, and one side of the counter was open. Over there, he saw a young woman in a suit and vest, like Kim Seong-hee, serving customers. Kim Seong-hee had been guarding the counter; when her eyes met Se-gun’s, she gave him a bright smile.

“Welcome.”

“Uh… the shop, this is…”

“I thought I’d run a coffee shop on the side. I expected the permit to be difficult, but it wasn’t that hard. As long as you don’t sell alcohol, it seems you can get approval easily.”

But wasn’t Arjuna also dealing in all sorts of illegal goods? Se-gun clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“Well, special customers are received upstairs.”

“Upstairs?”

“Yeah. Oh, right. Se-gun, won’t you have something to drink? I was thinking of showing off my skills.”

Kim Seong-hee beamed, apparently delighted by Se-gun’s stunned expression. The smile was so blissful that he couldn’t bring himself to argue. Perhaps she had secretly wanted to do something like this all along.

“What about Sylvester?”

“He seemed to be sleeping… though he might be awake by now.”

“Hmm. I had something to ask him.”

Murmuring that, Se-gun glanced up at the ceiling. Meditation music flowed from the speakers above. What did customers who came into a place like this even think? Yet the patrons were giggling and looking around as if appreciating the atmosphere; perhaps it did have its own unique charm.

“Can I wait upstairs?”

“Sure. What will you have?”

“If it’s free, an iced latte.”

“Even though it’s getting chilly?”

“Still. I can’t really handle hot drinks. Spicy food, yes—but not hot drinks.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Se-gun hurried upstairs.

Sylvester was in a room wallpapered with children’s wallpaper featuring characters from The Simpsons. Ridiculously enough, he was sleeping with his head resting on a large bone-shaped cushion. On the bedside table lay a thick Latin Bible, a rosary, and a ceramic statue of the Virgin Mary bowing her head toward them.

“……”

Click!

In a flash, Sylvester pulled a handgun from beneath the cushion and aimed it at Se-gun. Se-gun simply stood still and looked at him.

“What is it? Oh, it’s you? You should drop the habit of barging in where someone’s sleeping. You never know when you might get shot.”

“Ha… This is incredibly unbalanced, don’t you think? This room is…”

“Quiet. She decorated it like this.”

Sylvester sat up. Rubbing his face as he looked at Se-gun, he asked,

“Yawn… what is it? As if it weren’t enough that Row Gibson went back to the States and left me hanging like a dog that lost its chicken.”

“No. Haven’t you seen what the media’s been making a fuss about lately?”

At Se-gun’s sullen tone, Sylvester stepped down from the bed. He put on his priest’s robe and then a coat over it. Woven from spectra, synthetic polymer, and silver chains that protected only the vital points, it was the bare minimum armor he wore.

‘A man wearing something like that is called a vampire hunter who slaughtered countless vampires one-sidedly…’

Se-gun truly couldn’t understand him.

“The recent fuss? You mean that monster openly killing people in the park?”

“Yes. What do you think?”

“Corrupted. Leave it alone and it’ll die on its own.”

Sylvester replied casually as he tucked his weapon into his coat. Se-gun sighed at the sight.

“People are dying right now. And what exactly is that ‘cor…’ thing?”

“Corrupted.”

Sylvester answered curtly as he brushed past Se-gun.

“Don’t seek answers from me. I’m not your tutor. And whatever it is… what does it mean to you?”

“……”

Se-gun thought of Jin Yu-mi and Yoon Mi-hye and closed his mouth. Yes. Whether vampire or human, once vampirification progressed, they were killed. That alone was their salvation. Hadn’t he already killed such vampires before?

“It won’t make money, right?”

“Of course not. Corrupted blood has no value. But Corrupted draw in Executioners. High-ranking vampires who normally won’t budge will step out to protect their Clan. For hunters who work for money, it’s a splendid opportunity.”

Sylvester said so, yet inwardly he seemed displeased. Certainly, Korea was becoming the most significant land for vampires. It was connected to the fact that the two oldest True vampires, Jeokyo and Changun, had fought here—and both ultimately met their deaths in Korea at Sylvester’s hands.

As a result, the Clan of the True Vampire Jeokyo, Jeokyo-dang, remained entirely in Korea. If a True vampire was killed by a vampire, the one who inherited its blood would become the new True Vampire. But if a True Vampire was killed by a human and no successor emerged, that Clan became a target for other vampires. Since the easiest way to raise one’s VT was by drinking the blood of a powerful vampire, Jeokyo-dang—without a True Vampire to protect them—was a tempting prey.

The noble Phantom’s Clan might remain still, but the others would not. The secret struggles—or hunts—of vampires would unfold here, in Korea.

‘But a True Vampire wouldn’t reveal itself just to deal with a Corrupted.’