100화
Chapter 100
'I need to be careful not to let them get close.'
Thinking that, Phantom walked forward anyway. He shouldn't be too confident just because he was a True Demon, but if he could use his own body as bait to provoke a reaction from them, that wouldn't be bad either.
"Well then... you won't step aside?"
Phantom spoke first to Sahyeok. This was unusual for a True Demon who valued pride. Most of them paid no attention to humans whatsoever. For a True Demon among the noble 24, and a powerful one at that, to ask humans to step aside first was not ordinary.
'Impressive, Phantom.'
Sahyeok honestly admired Phantom. Phantom lowering his posture and attempting to negotiate was a display of flexible thinking unseen in other True Demons. Flexible spirit, flexible thinking, and powerful magic and strength. One who possessed all of these—the True Demon Phantom—was clearly on a different level from those amateurs behind him. It gave the feeling of a true vampire lord.
"Ah, stepping aside isn't a problem, but..."
Sahyeok deliberately drew out his words to test Phantom. After all, he was the one dragging around all those people. While refusing or cutting off people could solve the profitability issue, that wasn't something to do now. Rather than harboring ill will toward vampire hunters, it was better to use them as expendable pawns to be discarded in an unnecessary fight.
"Are you suggesting a deal?"
"Why not? We've been struggling with poor profitability lately... so you'll need to resolve that."
"......"
This was a demand for money. Of course, Phantom had no reason to comply with such an unfair demand. In this place, vampires were actually at an advantage over hunters who couldn't use firearms.
"I have no intention of agreeing to such a deal."
"That's troublesome, Phantom. What would Tetra Anax say if they saw you like this?"
Sahyeok said that and tried to walk past Phantom. Phantom had treated him with goodwill, but Sahyeok had completely ignored it. However, Sahyeok had his reasons to be confident. A man of Phantom's caliber would never acknowledge Tetra Anax's hegemony and settle under them.
'And I...'
Sahyeok passed by Phantom. He, who would even sell blood to vampires if necessary, was also connected to Tetra Anax. What if he informed them that the vampire lord Phantom harbored different thoughts about Tetra Anax? Of course, seeing what Phantom was doing now, Tetra Anax surely knew about his wavering loyalty. Telling them now would be nothing more than petty blackmail! It would only scratch Phantom's pride.
At that moment, from behind, he heard his subordinates gasp. They were so startled they couldn't even control their breathing... and at the same time, an intense pressure began to be felt from behind.
"What?!"
"You two... should probably step aside. I'll buy you some time."
True Demon Phantom said that and glared at the hunters. In this place where firearms couldn't be used, if Phantom wasn't afraid of being recorded, all these people would die in an instant.
"I'll buy you some time!"
He said that and closed his eyes.
A crimson mist rose from beneath his feet and swirled toward Sahyeok and the others.
"Tch! I almost got excited. Bullshit..."
The moment Sahyeok stepped back in surprise, a cool breeze and Changhyun's roundhouse kick flew in. Sahyeok immediately raised one arm to block, but in that instant, Changhyun's elbow, thrown like a spear, struck his abdomen. Changhyun, who had used the same technique on Segeon against Sahyeok, immediately charged forward with Jungah. The two rushed frantically into the crimson mist created by Phantom.
"This is insane!"
Amazingly, Sahyeok staggered back a few times even after taking a True Demon's physical attack, then got back up. That also meant Changhyun hadn't attacked with full force. For Sahyeok, it was quite humiliating, but before that, it was doubtful whether he even had any pride to begin with. He was just grateful to be alive.
"Tch!"
The vampire hunters didn't draw their weapons even in this chaos. Attacking recklessly was too dangerous, and the opponent was no ordinary enemy.
A red flash passed through the crimson mist.
At that moment, Sahyeok felt he could finally understand a little why he was called Phantom. Like a specter, he weaved through the vampire hunters. If weaving means passing through fabric with a needle, then this was truly a fast 'weaving' worthy of the word.
"Guh!"
Quite a few vampire hunters fell in an instant. The sight of human shadows collapsing one after another within the crimson mist was quite a spectacle. In such a narrow place, especially where weapons couldn't be drawn, if a vampire could attack so boldly... Sahyeok had only one option left.
"Damn it! I don't care anymore!"
Sahyeok pulled out his revolver and aimed at the cameras. He shot and destroyed the cameras that weren't recording him first, then ran through the blind spots created and destroyed the next ones.
Bang!
Perhaps because it was fired underground, the gunshot was incredibly loud and booming. But this COEX Mall had thorough soundproofing, so such noise was quickly absorbed.
"Instead of buying time, are you trying to annihilate us?"
All the other vampire hunters were already down. And without any threat to their lives. As expected of Phantom, a True Demon who didn't particularly like blood. Why did this guy not kill? Did he find humans that pathetic?
"Guh!"
Sahyeok rolled across the ground and dove into the red mist. Just then, the sprinklers activated in response to the mist, and a massive amount of water began pouring from the ceiling. Since it was past closing time for most stores, the water pressure must not have been properly adjusted, as the water quickly dispersed the mist.
"Kuaaa!"
Sahyeok raised his Colt Python and fired at Phantom. Even Phantom couldn't avoid this attack, taking several hits. Even to the heart!
"Tch. You strut around as a True Demon, but you're nothing special!"
But something was wrong. Although magnum rounds dealt considerable damage even to True Demons, the one who had been shot stood perfectly still like a mannequin.
"Please don't provoke me just because you landed a few hits. It's not easy for me to avoid killing you either. Or do you want to die?"
Despite being shot in the heart, he scoffed calmly. At the same time, his body began to crumble like dust. No, dust was the right word.
"What?!"
Phantom had completely vanished. And in his place lay the hunters, all unconscious with no threat to their lives, scattered across the COEX Mall floor.
Wheeeee!
As expected, fire alarms went off and fire shutters came down. The local police station would have been notified. Since this arcade always paid attention to fire safety, even at this late hour, it wouldn't take long for firefighters to arrive.
"Heh... hahahahaha."
Completely outplayed. Sahyeok thought that and let out a hearty laugh. In this situation, it wasn't about winning or losing—he should just be grateful to be alive. Fortunately, Phantom was a very soft-hearted vampire; if he had decided to kill them, they would all be dead. Dying without even drawing a gun—that meant this COEX Mall was practically a fortress for vampires.
"Damn idiot... I've been had!"
* * *
"Ah! Where are we!?"
The COEX Mall wasn't that complicated in structure, but it was still complex enough for first-timers to lose their way. And on top of that, gunshots were coming from behind. One shot, two shots, three shots... After hearing several gunshots, Jungah flinched.
"It's okay. I'm here!"
Changhyun comforted her. But Changhyun himself had tasted the bitter experience of guns, so he wasn't confident about fighting humans. He didn't know about that man earlier, but Han Segeon—he felt a terrible fear toward him. If Sahyeok found out about this, he would be furious. Segeon, who was considered inferior to Sahyeok, was imprinted on the two as an incomparably terrifying enemy.
Thud, thud...
Then footsteps came from the 'Path of the Sea.' Someone was approaching the two who were trapped in front of COEX Mall's Asem Plaza. To protect Jungah, Changhyun pushed her toward the wall and hid himself as well. Meanwhile, the owner of the footsteps walked into Asem Plaza and looked at the fountain with temporary advertising boards.
"Hmm..."
Having just used his unique ability, Crimson Glow, his ferocity had stirred somewhat, but Phantom was the type with strong rationality. When spreading Crimson Glow, it was actually harder to knock people unconscious than to kill them.
'Ah!'
Jungah recognized him as Phantom and tried to step forward, but Changhyun stopped her. He acknowledged that Phantom had helped them, but he still couldn't trust him. Since everyone else was targeting them, being overly cautious wouldn't hurt.
"Oh my... you're reflected in the fountain on the other side. It's good to be so cautious, but with that attitude, you won't become a proper knight."
"Ugh!"
Only then did Changhyun realize how foolish he'd been. Their reflections were clearly visible in the stainless steel cylindrical fountain sculpture beside them.
"Hmm."
Reluctantly revealing himself, Changhyun finally began to believe that the man had no ill intentions toward them. However, that didn't form a logic that vampires were allies and everything else was enemies. Jungah had clearly said that conflicts continued even among vampires. His approach now could be false kindness to drag them into that conflict, or he might actually drink their blood to increase his power.
"Right. Why did you help us?"
Changhyun asked on Jungah's behalf. It was quite a direct question, and his voice was sharp with wariness. Even if he wore a sign saying he was wary of Phantom, it wouldn't be this obvious. But Phantom didn't get angry.
"I helped because I wanted to, so please don't be so cold-hearted."
"...You don't expect me to take that at face value, do you?"
"Why not? Is there something unreasonable about it?"
"Th-there's plenty that's unreasonable, but."
"Either way, let's get out of here before people gather. The fire alarm going off has made things troublesome. Ah, right. Do you two have anywhere to go?"
"Oh, no, we don't?"
Jungah answered thoughtlessly and then caught Changhyun's disapproving look. Changhyun was worried that he was trying to pin down their location.
"Hmm... Well, I roughly guessed when I saw you picking up laundry from the hotel sauna earlier."
"Ugh..."
"Ah, I'm not criticizing. It was quite an impressive scene in its own way."
He said that with a smile, then as if suddenly remembering, looked around and moved into a blind spot of the security cameras, reaching into his sleeve. With a brief metallic sound, a mini .22 caliber revolver that was normally concealed in his sleeve appeared.
"I'll take care of Beast Double, so this is all I can give you."
"Excuse me?"
"Use this to protect yourself and Miss Jungah. It won't be much help, but... Ah, I should have taken some of the hunters' weapons earlier."
"Ah, no, this is..."
Changhyun looked at Phantom, who was suddenly being so kind, with an expression that said he couldn't understand it at all. Why was this man even giving him a weapon? But Phantom smiled and patted Changhyun's shoulder.
"Now then, protect her. I have high expectations for you as well."
"In what sense?"
"Well, I wonder. Either way, for the chess champion, there need to be many variables, don't you think? And I'm a romanticist. Killing and feeding on other vampires and humans to increase power goes against my principles."
Phantom maintained a logic that even he himself found hard to accept, while Changhyun looked puzzled. Phantom knew that well too, but he had no intention of gleefully spilling important facts now. For now, he just wanted them both to live as innocent young men and women. It might seem like he was making a big deal out of handing over a .22 caliber revolver, but for Phantom, it was unbearable to see such innocent True Demons hunted down by others. To shake the very foundations of Tetra Anax and the suffocating vampire society fixed in the frame of the 24 True Demons, that much revolution was necessary. Yes. Even though it was an odd metaphor for a vampire, young blood transfusion was needed.
"Hmm..."
True Demon Phantom rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a coin, and tossed it into the fountain. Even though the fountain wasn't operating and no water was spraying, the coin made a clear splash and was swallowed by the water's surface.
"Then I'll be going now. Ah, by the way, what is this gentleman's name?"
"...Changhyun. Kim Changhyun."
"I'm Law Gibson. Here's my card, and this number is my direct line, so if anything happens, please contact me! Well then!"
Phantom handed his business card to the two and walked away with a cheerful heart. Jungah and Changhyun could only stare blankly as they watched Phantom leave.
"...I guess not all vampires are bad?"
"Y-yeah, I suppose?"
Changhyun unconsciously agreed with Jungah's words.