Finale
Juk-yo stood atop the scaffolding raised beside the building, looking down at Chang-woon with a cold sneer.
"You idiot. Even a pureblood vampire, if he refuses human blood and only gulps down the filthy blood of low-ranking trash, finds the binding force weakened until assimilation, and his body's balance collapses. After thousands of years of life, you'd think you'd know at least that much!"
"Khrrrggh!"
Chang-woon could not manage a single word as he staggered. Juk-yo raised a hand and spun a spiral of blood into being. Mutation-type Jinma Juk-yo, whose binding force over his own blood was overwhelming. All this time he had deliberately kept his younger brother alive, expecting something. But that ended today.
"I'll put an end to that suffering of yours as well."
"Is that right? I don't think so! Hah!"
As Chang-woon cried out, four gales of wind burst forth. When Juk-yo slipped past them, the winds writhed like living dragons and veered away. That attack had been one of Chang-woon's jokers — had it connected, even a Jinma would not have walked away with a life. Juk-yo exhaled in relief and charged.
"Giving up is one thing, but to already burn Seonryong. First time I've seen someone drop their joker like that!"
Juk-yo stamped the place Chang-woon had stood with a spiral of blood. Scaffolding of zinc and iron snapped; steel pipes swayed. But Chang-woon had already vanished from the spot and leapt into open air.
"Kaah!"
Bats erupted from Juk-yo's body and raked across him. Their blade-like claws turned the defenseless Chang-woon — still reeling from the aftershock of a near-joker technique — into a bloody ruin. To finish it, Juk-yo lifted spiral droplets of blood high above his head.
Bang. Bang. Bang!
Three explosive reports cracked the night. Right in front of Chang-woon, Juk-yo's legs were sheared away, an arm shattered, and his torso blown clean off. Only three rounds — yet their force was enough to reduce a human to a handful of bloody pulp.
"Guh!"
Juk-yo instantly poured blood-binding into the wounds and sealed them. Even so, those three hits had been catastrophic. He had taken three rounds from a Barrett capable of turning military trucks into scrap.
"Damn it!"
His flesh swelled and bulged. Was he forcing his mutation-type blood into rampage, about to become a monster? More shots followed, but Juk-yo leapt like the wind and slipped every one.
"What the—!"
Atop a crane, a black-clad priest with long silver hair streaming in the night wind leveled a large-caliber rifle.
"Grrrrrrr!"
Juk-yo's arms lengthened; vicious claws no human hand could claim sprouted from them. Arms, legs, entire body kept swelling until he became a gigantic abomination. It was nothing less than a full vampire blood rampage. Those three rounds moments ago had been fatal even for a Jinma; this was the only way left to fill the damage.
"But……"
Before him, in a corner of the construction site still littered with dangling electrical wiring, Chang-woon stood with moonlight at his back.
"Let's finish this."
"Khrrgh. Damn it. This was only an unexpected interruption. Don't talk as if you've already won!"
"Ah. I know that."
Chang-woon expressionlessly lifted his Kevlar threads.
"Shall we begin, then?"
"Kh!"
Juk-yo charged, blood streaming. His steadily mutating monstrous body lashed out, yet Chang-woon slipped every blow with ease. He avoided scythe-like claws that could take a head in one stroke — yes, scythe was the right word — dodged teeth better called swords, and slipped past powerful curses and telekinesis. Somewhere in the exchange he had already uncoiled the Kevlar and wound it tight around his brother.
"Finale."
Chang-woon wrapped Juk-yo in a whirlwind, then pulled the threads. That alone sliced every part of Juk-yo's body with surgical precision; an ocean of blood poured out.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Give it up. That priest's gun is no ordinary weapon. From the moment you took three hits, brother, you had no path to victory."
Chang-woon clicked his tongue even as he spoke. He had won, yet the vampire hunter's next target would be him. Juk-yo or Chang-woon — the man would slaughter every last vampire, and he possessed the power to hunt even Jinma. The rifle he carried was so heavy ordinary hunters were permitted only the most limited use of it.
Yet that human had climbed a construction crane and fired the absurdly recoiling monster from up there.
"Heh heh heh. Give Jeong-ya…… my regards. Tell her I went on ahead."
"Juk-yo!"
Startled, Chang-woon reached for his brother's hand. Juk-yo swatted it away.
Paralyzed with terror, Jeong-ah held herself upright outside the construction site and watched the battle between Juk-yo and Chang-woon. Then, from the site entrance, Chang-woon staggered into view.
"Chang-woon!"
"Ha…… hahahaha. Y-you, Jeong-ah. Ugh!"
Strength drained from him and he crumpled forward. She rushed to support him, yet the instant she drew near the blood-soaked man the vampiric impulse sleeping inside her body woke and shook her mind. She clenched her teeth and forced concentration. In that same breath a single gunshot cracked; Chang-woon staggered and fell backward. Simultaneously Silvester appeared, backlit by the truck's headlights.
"Not too late. He must have drunk Juk-yo's blood — give him any more time and he becomes the absolute worst kind of vampire. I have no choice but to strike first."
He said it without any real tension on his face. Did he believe that whether Chang-woon fully absorbed Juk-yo's blood or not, the man would never become his enemy? Jeong-ah looked from the fallen Chang-woon to Silvester in rising panic. Now this man would kill them both. Because he was a vampire hunter.
"Ah! Y-you—!"
"Miss Lee Jeong-ah. Hello. Quite a fine night, isn't it?"
"……"
"Ah. Were we not on greeting terms?"
Unlike before, Silvester was being flippant. Watching him laugh only with his voice while his face remained utterly still was horrifying. This man must possess no emotions at all. How else could he be so cold-blooded? At least Juk-yo had vented his rage like a wounded man. She could not even begin to grasp why Silvester hated vampires.
"What kind of person are you?!"
Jeong-ah covered her mouth as she spoke. The scent of blood was rolling off Silvester's body. Most of it belonged to Juk-yo's subordinates rather than his own wounds, yet the blood-scent was overwhelmingly seductive. An intense, irresistible fragrance tempted her.
"Hmm. Craving blood, as expected?"
Silvester aimed a pistol at her. Not the Desert Eagle he usually carried, but a Glock 9mm. Jeong-ah froze solid with sudden terror. She did not believe she could fight the way Chang-woon or the others did. How could anyone fight an enemy when they were this afraid……? Yes. Perhaps dying would be better. She was a vampire anyway. She resigned herself and closed her eyes. Silvester tilted his head as though puzzled.
"You're not calling for Chang-woon? He'd gladly die for you, you know."
"You took him down! You villain! Chang-woon isn't a bad vampire!"
"Is that so? Then try crying, you slut."
"Huh?"
Jeong-ah rubbed her eyes. Normally she cried so easily her nickname had been crybaby, yet now no tears came at all. She had never known that vampires could not shed tears.
"A good vampire, is it. There are surely good vampires alive right now. But sparing a creature that might go berserk and eat humans at any moment simply because it is 'good' is no different from being asked to release a tamed tiger onto the street."
"Unlike a tiger, Chang-woon can talk!"
Even she knew the argument was thin, yet no better defense for him would come. Silvester laughed — a soft huhuh that did not match his cold face at all — and flipped the pistol, offering it to her hilt-first.
"Then kill yourself. Kill yourself and prove a tiger can discard its instincts for reason and die, little tiger."
"……"
"Hurry and take the pistol. Then either put it to your temple and fire, or……"
He shaped his fingers into a gun, aimed it at her, and spoke again with that same freezing expression.
"Or bang — shoot me. If you can kill another to live, you'll be taking a fine first step as a predator, Miss Prospective Vampire."
Jeong-ah lost to the provocation and took the pistol. In that same instant Chang-woon groaned and forced his body upright; Jeong-ah raised the gun, aimed at Silvester, and squeezed the trigger.
Click.
The hammer fell on an empty chamber. The thought oh no flashed through her, but it was already too late. Silvester had only been testing her.
"As expected…… you've decided to become a predator. No complaints even if you die, I trust?"
"You bastard! Keep annoying me and I'll kill you!"
Chang-woon rose. His body was still in tatters, yet drinking Juk-yo's blood had improved his condition dramatically. He looked ready to stand and fight again soon. There was no chance the vampire hunter would simply wait for that moment.
"Oh? With that body? Me? By all means, try."
Silvester drew Muramasa. Silver hair swayed without wind; his eyes were merciless. Chang-woon wrung out the last of his strength, formed a blade of wind, and launched it. Silvester slipped past it with impossible agility and severed Chang-woon's left arm in a single lightning stroke. The instant the blade swung for his neck, Jeong-ah flung herself forward and locked both arms around Silvester's legs.
"Stop it!"
"……"
Instead of answering, Muramasa spun in Silvester's grip until the edge faced downward, then dropped toward the crown of Jeong-ah's head. In that same heartbeat Chang-woon threw every remaining scrap of power into a desperate dive and took the blade in her place.
"Guh!"
Silvester kicked him aside. Chang-woon rose again and lunged; Silvester simply stepped clear and finished him with a roundhouse that sent him sliding across the ground into a pile of lumber. The kick carried superhuman force; Chang-woon crashed hard into the timber.
Then Jeong-ah steeled herself and shoved Silvester with both hands. Like a plane hurled from a carrier catapult he flew a considerable distance, kicked off a length of rebar, and lightly scrambled up to second-floor height. Jeong-ah raced to free Chang-woon from the lumber pile.
"Ah — Chang-woon! Are you okay?"
She flung the heavy beams aside in a single motion and suddenly realized the inhuman strength she had just used. What was this? Had she already become a vampire?
"W-what is this?"
Chang-woon's hand brushed her cheek. Buried under timber, he managed a difficult smile. They had known each other only two days. She barely knew the man; there had been almost no human exchange between them. Still she could not bear to leave him to die.
"You're a fool. If you were alone you could have escaped easily! Past lives, Jeong-ya — what use is any of that! If you'd just run away with that woman earlier there wouldn't have been any problem!"
"Do I…… look like someone who's good at living in this world?"
Chang-woon asked while gently stroking Jeong-ya's cheek. She shook her head hard from side to side.
"No! You look like a child left by the water's edge! So next time let's go play together. My wish is to freeload off a man with a platinum credit card!"
Chang-woon laughed — a bright, sudden puhahahat — and forced himself upright. Amid the cold ranks of construction materials and the corpses, he suddenly pulled her into an embrace. Just as he had the first time they met, he crushed her against him as if passion alone could hold her, and closed his eyes.
"Heh heh! It would be an honor, Princess. I hope the day comes when I get thoroughly freeloaded off of."
Still holding her, he wrote runic characters on the back of her neck with his own blood. Fehu, Thurisaz, Jera, Mannaz, Gebo — the runes bloomed in an instant. Then he rose.
"The fellow is coming. Princess, flee."
"W-wait — what did you just do?"
Chang-woon gave no answer. A sound like rolling thunder announced Silvester's approach. Chang-woon hurled a stone at him and dove into the factory beside the construction site.