The End of a Mad Night
“……Ugh!”
Even a single injection brought searing pain that made the world blur and spin. And after the pain came a pleasure so terrifying it coiled around his entire body. To have to live with his mind intact under the force of a drug like this… No—was it even all right to live at all?
A man who had survived solely on hatred for vampires… even after becoming one himself, should he keep living by that same hatred? Would the world allow such a thing?
“Am I… even allowed to live?”
Se-gun asked it through the haze clouding his consciousness. Kim Seong-hui smiled gently and drew Argent Harpesion free from where it had pinned his hand.
“Wondering whether you’re allowed to keep living after slaughtering so many people only means you lack conviction. If that was how you felt, you shouldn’t have killed them in the first place. Now that you’ve already sinned… won’t you see that sin through to its very end? The world is wide, and there are still so many monsters left that need killing. Plenty of things remain worth hating, so for today, let’s save that hatred. You can set aside the hatred you hold for yourself, just for a little while, can’t you?”
“…….”
The light of reason had left Se-gun’s eyes; he stared blankly into empty air like a corpse. And yet… perhaps she was right. That much, at least, he could sense. In truth, Se-gun had needed something—anything—to hate after his family was torn apart. He despised himself, yet he could never drive a blade into his own heart. Even when he killed the vampires who had been the direct cause, the rage and hatred still had nowhere to go and simply kept running. It was time to quiet that twisted hatred for a while. Time to sleep.
“What an absurd brat.”
Silvester took Argent Harpesion back with a look of pure exhaustion, sheathed it at his waist, and started toward the cathedral entrance. Kim Seong-hui pillowed Se-gun’s head on her lap and watched him.
“You’re leaving?”
“……Once the intelligence on Tetra Anax is fully decrypted, inform me. There are still plenty of vampires left in the world. No need for two Jinma hunters to be stuck in the same country!”
Silvester spoke stubbornly and walked out. Kim Seong-hui snapped her fingers.
“Heh. Come to think of it, the two of you are the only Jinma hunters in the entire world, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I’m thoroughly impressed by Se-gun’s sheer tenacity. It really drives home how terrifying human obsession can be. I’ll seal the blood of the dead Sarhyuk and the Messiah, then head back to the States.”
“You say that, but you look rather relieved. No need to worry—Se-gun will pull through the Psychedelic Moon just fine, won’t he?”
As she spoke, Kim Seong-hui brushed the fallen Se-gun’s hair back from his forehead. Seen like this, the still-youthful Se-gun had skin so clean not a single pore showed. That a young man like him could hate so many vampires and use that hatred as the very fuel of his life was something even she—who claimed few things in the world surprised her—found hard to grasp.
“They say holy hatred is more beautiful than love, don’t they? I can’t agree, but I suppose that’s the story here.”
When Kim Seong-hui turned toward the entrance, Silvester was already gone. She stroked Se-gun’s hair, settled onto the cathedral floor, and began humming softly to herself.
“There now. Just for today, I forgive you. God may never forgive you, but the devil loves you. Isn’t that enough? Human feelings are far too uncertain to be loved by both God and the devil at once. But because you can remain consistent in just one thing, you’re magnificent.”
Vampires fall in love with absurd things.
Is it because they have lived far too long? Through endless, emotionless ages they devour humans who are nothing more than livestock and fight other vampires and nightfolk who are nothing more than enemies. In that ceaseless repetition, the only things that truly move them are the cultures created by humans.
The passion born of burning one’s soul and consuming gods, the bright flame kindled by burning another’s life—only that can light a fire in those numb hearts. And among all of it, the most direct is the passion aimed straight at a vampire’s own heart.
Ah. That is why every Jinma will surely be unable to help loving that mad hunter. Is there any clearer illustration of the truth that hatred walks hand in hand with love?
Something floated upon the sea. A massive cruise liner bearing the crest of four serpents. Yet what rested on the helipad was not a passenger Airbus but an anti-submarine helicopter, and where a swimming pool should have been sat missile ports and anti-aircraft guns.
In the ship’s grand salon—once a splendid casino—a magnificent theater had taken shape.
“Haa…… haa…….”
The display was a gorgeous PDP screen. What it showed was a man driven mad by a frenzy called hatred. The most beautiful creature in this moonlit night.
“Aaaah.”
She licked the display with her tongue. Stroking the monitor with her hands, she let out heated moans, so overcome by the passion of love filling her chest that she could barely keep her mind together.
“Magnificent…….”
“To think such a specimen existed in that little country in the East. Did Silvester raise him?”
Behind her sat human shadows in more refined postures. One of them was the old man in the wheelchair—R. Gordon.
“No. The boy was a jewel from the start. Silvester merely discovered him and took him in, but that one… he might even surpass Silvester someday.”
Gordon spoke while watching the woman with fond familiarity as she trembled with carnal excitement, licking the monitor. Clad in an elegant crimson suit, she paid no attention whatsoever to anyone else’s gaze, utterly absorbed in the screen.
“Still, separate from that, the information he took is troublesome.”
“……Shall we kill him? Then let me do it! He’s so beautiful I want to tear that pure white throat open myself. What sound will he make when he dies in my grasp? Will he scream cutely? Or will he hate me? Just thinking about it is delightful!”
A young man was equally excited by the footage. Entertainment beyond expectation. They had lost much because of it… yet this boy was a result far exceeding anything they had hoped for.
“No. The night is still long. Let us respect their night.”
Gordon spoke and leaned back in his chair.
“That is the work of us Four Serpents, after all.”
And so the night filled with madness came to an end. Flex Medical suffered a fatal blow. Major shareholder R. Gordon expressed his “deep regret” over the vicious terrorist attack and scaled back—then withdrew—Flex Medical’s Korean branch operations.
In other words, for the first time in Tetra Anax history, their expansion had been thwarted! Outwardly it was the setback of a global medical conglomerate; inwardly it was the decline of Tetra Anax and every vampire clan. This colossal incident had been carried out by a single human being.
A bounty of five hundred billion won—the highest in history—was placed on Han Se-gun, named the prime suspect in the terrorism. Never before had such a fortune been put on a single individual’s head. Yet not a single person bold enough to try capturing the Jinma hunter of such brilliant achievements stepped forward.
“Anyway, what’s the deal with this beach? Blocking daylight with a single tent—isn’t that impossible for Monty?”
Rat wandered among the crowds in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. When a young woman in a swimsuit passed by, he whistled and watched her go. The women glanced at Monty and snickered.
“Mmm. This body’s sexiness really does work on a global scale! Truly a handsome man of the global generation, if I do say so myself. Ah, God! Why did You make me so beautiful?”
“……Shut up. I can’t concentrate.”
Monty muttered and sniffed the air. Rat stared at him in shock.
“H-hey. E-even so, sniffing a young woman’s scent is… k-kinda sketchy even for a vampire.”
“Quiet.”
It was peak vacation season at night. Mangsang Beach, famous as a summer resort, thronged with people. The two vampires who had managed to accumulate capital through their usual “labor” had finally been able to travel to such an expensive getaway. Of course, they had not come for a simple vacation.
“My friend, I have a question.”
“Take that question to your grave.”
“No, listen, my friend. I heard that Korean ‘Vacation’ is the Chinese character for ‘Evade Heat' but with this many people, doesn’t it just get hotter?”
Monty listened to Rat’s chatter that clouded his mind and seethed. Just then a young man passed between them and bumped into the babbling Rat.
“Ah!”
A bag that looked like it held ice cream nearly slipped from the man’s hand. He casually reached out and caught it.
“Ah, sorry. Ex… ex… Excuse me? Or would ‘Pardon me’ work better here?”
Even on this summer night the young man wore a hat pulled low. When he looked up at Rat he startled. In that instant Rat shouted,
“Oh, my friend! It’s this friend! This is the Jinma Chang-young!”
“Even a sea anemone’s distant relative would figure that much out!”
“Oh, a sea anemone? What’s its taxonomic position?”
“Class Anthozoa, subclass Hexacorallia, order Actiniaria… wait, why am I explaining this?”
The two vampires bickered, then looked at Chang-young. Realizing his identity had been exposed, Chang-young immediately tried to slip away.
“Wait just a second! We didn’t come with any malice—we just—!”
Rat shouted and gave chase. Chang-young was shocked by the speed. As a Jinma and a former athlete he possessed superior speed compared to other vampires, yet this vampire called Rat was keeping up.
“Damn it!”
Chang-young and Jeong-ya had originally lived hidden in the mountains. When vacation season brought throngs of people into the hills, they had finally abandoned continuous camping life. With Tetra Anax seemingly withdrawn, they had simply come down into the world—only to run into these bizarre vampires!
“Tch! If I keep running any farther I’ll only lead them to the hideout!”
Having made that decision, Chang-young stopped and glared at Rat. Fortunately they were atop a breakwater; aside from a few couples setting a mood down by the shore, there were few people around.
“……Ha. You stopped, my friend! I’ve got one question—answer me!”
Rat chattered as he approached. Chang-young startled and immediately raised his guard, ready to fight.
“So what I want to ask is, um… a young man and woman hiding in the mountains for months—nothing happened? Some wonderful romance or….”
“…….”
In that instant Chang-young’s fighting stance went limp like an octopus dunked in water.
“W-what kind of question is that, you bastard?!”
Monty immediately ran up, scolded Rat, and looked at Chang-young.
“I apologize. This idiot is a fool, so please pretend that question never happened. I am Catlan Monty, Korean branch head of the Vampire Free Alliance Esprit, also known as Karen Monty.”
“……Free Alliance? Esprit?”
Chang-young stared at Monty, dumbfounded. The absurd question earlier had been bad enough, but what this guy was saying now was equally ridiculous.
“We have no interest in your blood or anything of the sort. How about it? Won’t you join forces with us? Ah, and by the way—where is Jinma Jeong-ya?”
“……!”
The moment Jeong-ya’s name was mentioned, the killing intent that had gone slack in Chang-young snapped back into focus. These guys might be putting on a clumsy act while actually trying to drag the hidden Jeong-ya out.
“Sorry, but I can’t trust that.”
“Hmm. Hey hey. Sure, my beauty is universal, but I don’t go around stealing other people’s women. So trust me and—”
Rat stepped closer, but in that instant Chang-young’s front kick flashed out. Rat casually leaned back and avoided it.
Shiiing!
Yet the blood of Chang-woon that Chang-young had inherited stirred the wind and coiled around Rat.
“Whoa, hey~ Time out, time out!”
Startled, Rat stamped the ground. And what happened next? The asphalt melted wholesale, and black smoke billowed up with terrifying force.
“Ugh!”
The force was so intense it felt like an explosion. Instantly the surrounding temperature plummeted. Cold enough that even a vampire would shiver.
“Mmm. Cooled off a bit? Look, we’re not trying to steal your girlfriend. Of course if she ends up liking me that would be unfortunate, but heh… I never turn away a woman who comes to me. A truly capable man, however, never clings to women.”
At that moment Monty kicked off his sports sandals and smashed them across Rat’s skull.
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting?! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of important persuasion?! Don’t you know priorities?! Does your brain even have a circuit for value judgment?!”
“What? Is there anything in the world more important than man-woman business? Weird, my friend! Are you permanently impotent or something?!”
The two vampires bickered right in front of Chang-young. The atmosphere was so thoroughly unsuited to fighting that he could only stare awkwardly. Then Jeong-ya stepped out from behind him. She must have been bothered by the commotion outside. Wearing a pure white dress as she emerged from the guesthouse, she looked a little pale but still pure and delicate.
“Um, what’s going on?”
“Ah, well, that is… you see….”
“……Oh, holy shit, beautiful! Hahaha! Hello. I’m Rat Gunip. Meeting like this must mean a truly deep connection, so….”
Rat had apparently forgotten every word he had just spoken and leered openly. Monty once again smashed a sandal into the back of his head.
“Huff…… huff…… huff…….”
A young man in a black tuxedo sprinted through an alley lined with buildings. Vaulting billboards and leaping trash heaps, he looked as if something were chasing him.
“Hu… uh!”
He tumbled forward. The bag he had been clutching fell into a puddle of water collected at a construction site. Yellow paper talismans drawn with needles and even more black pouches spilled out.
“I-impossible! How could he handle so many malevolent spirits—?!”
Panicking, he snatched up a water-soaked talisman. From the shadows of the construction site a young man walked out.
“Well now. Enjoy the jog?”
The youth’s shadow stretched toward the man regardless of the light’s direction, and pitch-black spiritual energy billowed thickly from his entire body. Even at a glance he was no ordinary person. He swept back his black hair and fixed the man with a stare. His eyes, making no attempt to hide contempt, burned with blue ghostly fire. The overall atmosphere was so murderous one could believe he had just crawled out of hell. He wore a sleek black racing suit that hugged his bodyline; over it he had strapped belts like a military X-band for weapons and ammunition, and a backpack rode his shoulders.
“Y-you monster!”
The man flung a talisman at the youth. The youth merely snorted and turned his head. From the leather scabbard at his back a massive black sword sprang free. The blade swam through the air as if alive and casually sliced the incoming talisman to pieces.
“Hiiieeek!”
The man let out a eunuch-like shrill scream and fled backward. The youth grinned and raised a hand to the sky.
“Black Shadow Strike!”
The jet-black blade flew, scattering darkness, and buried itself in the ground. Ripples spread from the sword and washed over the man; astonishingly, he froze like a stop-motion puppet.
“Uwaaah…… uwaaaah!”
“Well then, you two-bit shaman. You went and inconvenienced me, so I assume you’re prepared?”
The youth murmured and raised his hand to recall the sword. The blade embedded in the ground flew back like a living creature and sheathed itself.
“S-somebody help! I-if it’s money I’ll give you as much as you want—just please spare me!”
“……Hmm.”
The youth looked up at the palm-sized patch of moon visible above the construction site and walked forward slowly, as if the man were of no interest whatsoever.
“If you knew who I was, you’d realize how foolish the very act of trying to buy me is.”
Stepping from the shadowed alley into the construction lighting, he brought a hand to his face.
“Ectoplasm Mask, release.”
In an instant the youth’s face changed. Looking younger, with green-dyed hair, he was unmistakably the most wanted man in the entire country—the world’s highest-bounty fugitive.
“Ugh…… y-you’re…?”
“Was it fun? Thanks to you I had to put in a lot of extra work. I wonder if your life will be enough to repay the favor?”
He murmured and looped a black cord around the man’s neck. The scent of gunpowder rising from the line drained the color from the shaman’s face.
“W-wait! Even so, this is going too far!”
“……You still don’t understand your position, do you?”
But then an electronic tone suddenly rang out. A cell phone playing the classic computer game Ys theme song popped from the murderous youth’s chest.
“…For crying out loud. What is it, Master?”
“Ah, Se-gun. It might already be too late, but don’t kill him.”
“Do you have any idea how many people this bastard has killed, and you’re saying that?!”
The youth called Se-gun shouted into the phone, but the woman’s voice on the other end remained completely carefree.
“Se-gun. Ah, and on your way back stop by the bakery at the intersection and pick up a chocolate chiffon cake. Got it? Before they sell out. Thanks. Okay!”
“…….”
The youth folded the phone and glared at the shaman staring at him with a look of pure pity. Still frozen in his tuxedo, the shaman cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Fortunate. Whoever she is, I should thank that young lady—”
“……You son of a bitch. You think you’re in a position to feel relieved right now?!”
The youth slammed a powerful kick straight into the shaman’s crotch. The man let out a horrible scream and collapsed forward.
“As long as I don’t kill you, right?”
“W-wait! My h-heart’s not good—if you torture me I might die!”
“Hmph.”
The youth thoroughly stomped the shaman into the ground until it was almost sickening, then recovered the black envelopes from the bag.
“…For crying out loud.”
He sighed and looked up at the moon. To him the moon appeared as a melting, flowing image; its eerie form always left him uneasy. Reflexively he fished a photograph from his inner pocket. An utterly ordinary family photo.
The youth gave a bitter smile at the picture and slipped it back into his pocket.
“Ah, right. Almost forgot.”
He cuffed the shaman’s arms.
In the night sky hung a great full moon; on the ground walked the demon who had inherited its blood. In the city, people who knew nothing. In the metropolis of Seoul where the residents of the moonlit night and the humans of the present world crossed paths, the night pulsed, cradling a darkness as deep as the city’s vastness.
“Well then—welcome to the world of the mad moon!”
Moonlit Night Fantasia: Night of the Gathering Moon — Complete
See You Next Moon
First Night: Downtown Legend
A distorted electric guitar’s howl came screaming out of the headphones. The young man perched on the motorcycle seat kicked the ground with one foot and checked his watch.
The Timex chronograph showed two in the morning.
“Hooooooo.”
He let out a deep sigh. White breath drifted from his lips. It was early autumn, not that cold, yet vapor condensed in his breath. The surrounding temperature was dropping rapidly, far too fast for early autumn weather.
Ooooooooooooh!
In an age when humans had walked on the moon, who would believe in evil spirits? Yet in the city’s darkness those spirits writhed and drew near. The man astride the bike merely glared once into the dark and ignored them.
“Here it comes.”
He drew a pistol from his coat and looked ahead. A five-ton Titan truck was charging with its headlights blazing.
“Shit! That bastard!”
“Run him over!”
The men aboard kept their feet on the accelerator and came at him with terrifying force. The man with headphones over his ears merely snorted and raised his Glock 18.
Tuk-tuk-tuk!
A light three-round burst spiderwebbed the windshield. Having poured bullets impartially into both driver and passenger seats, he pointed the Glock’s muzzle skyward and swung onto the bike.
Vrrroooom!
The instant the engine caught, the bike spun at explosive speed and veered to the roadside. The driverless truck barreled straight on until it finally stopped after slamming into construction panels.
“Good.”
Gripping an Ingram in one hand and the Glock 18 in the other, muzzles forward, the man approached the rear of the halted truck. A large openable container was attached to the back; something enormous was pounding against the container door from inside.
The alloy container dented inward and a claw-like thing poked out. Then, like a can opener prying open a tin, it tore the container door free.
Drrrrrrrk!
In that instant both the Glock 18 and the Ingram spat fire together.
Gwoooooooar!
The huge monster writhing inside the container began to scream. It was a grotesque fusion of human spine and flesh into a gigantic gelatinous form—only the outer layer gelatin, through which transparent muscle and organs showed. The absolute pinnacle of the grotesque.
A hail of bullets tore the gelatinous outer layer and buried themselves in the internal muscle, yet the stopping power of an Ingram and Glock 18 was nowhere near enough to halt the creature.
“Hmph!”
Kwaak!
The monster swung a foreleg, flashing razor-hooked claws. The youth spun his body backward, thumbed the magazine releases, dropped both magazines, and slotted fresh ones from the angled pouches on his belt. Crossing his arms to rack the slides, he finished the spin at the same time—the entire sequence as polished as a dance.
The moon peeked through the gaps in the construction scaffolding and scattered its light. An age when humans went to the moon. Yet the city still cradled legends in the darkness of that civilization.
“Heh heh… fine moonlit night, isn’t it?!”
With those words the youth’s face changed abruptly. The ectoplasm mask covering his features peeled away; his hair shifted and fully revealed itself dyed green.
Drrrrrrrrrk!
Like the sixteen-beat of a passionate rock band, groovy gunfire erupted in rapid succession.
“Hm?”
He had thought he was already asleep. Curled up like a shrimp in a room so narrow he could barely fit a few palms across, he suddenly woke to find cool moonlight pouring through the window. Curtains would have been nice. The newspaper he had tacked up kept coming loose in the wind.
“…….”
From somewhere far away, a sound reached him. A sound of the dark that no ordinary human should be able to hear. Yet the boy opened his eyes. His left eye glowed red in contrast to the brown of the right. Slowly he rose and leaned his upper body toward the window.
“Aaaah.”
He needed more sleep. The boy’s body held fatigue the way a sponge held water; if he pressed with a finger, exhaustion might simply pour out.
But the moon was so blue it made his eyes ache.
The city’s noise was so distant it reminded him of ocean waves he had never actually heard. A lonely moon floating above a sea of concrete.
He did not know why he had woken, but savoring the quiet of this night for a little while would not be so bad.