The Siege of Arjuna
Was he doubling down? Se-gun had nothing to say when the man suddenly approached him on the street like some cult recruiter peddling a new religion. He let out a long sigh, but Kim Seong-hui kept her focus on breaking the curse. Bit by bit the chill seeping from the wound faded. For all her talk, her skill was the real deal.
“Argon’s freeze curse can be lifted with a standard dispelling. Learn it properly, Se-gun. Don’t just sit there like a half-boiled radish in scalding water until you’re cooked through.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Se-gun’s answer was half-hearted, yet the idea that Argon’s freeze curse could be broken by magic was genuinely appealing. The pity was that it was useless in the middle of a fight. Even his own master needed a fair amount of time to dispel it, so if he ever faced Argon head-on he simply could not afford to get hit. Not taking a single blow from an opponent who held the overall advantage… that was going to be brutal.
Just then Seo Rin came over wearing an apron.
“It’s ready. Eat up.”
He set a plate on the table as he spoke. A perfectly seared tenderloin steak sat on top. They had chosen the menu because Se-gun’s regeneration required massive amounts of protein. Se-gun, who already had a small appetite, looked at it with open reluctance.
“Any more excess protein is bad for the liver. I’m not a polar bear.”
“Your wrist got chopped off and you’re fretting about your liver?”
“That’s not… Fine. I’ll eat.”
Muttering, Se-gun sat down at the table. Kim Seong-hui gave a soft little snort of laughter and drifted toward the window. Outside, the presence of enemies was still thick in the air.
“Yesterday it was only three. Today it’s up to about twenty? Sa Jun must be getting pretty worked up.”
She smirked. Walking up to a window with snipers outside was risky business, but every pane of glass in the building was special ballistic glass. Even rifle rounds would not punch through.
“That guy… we should just consider him dead already.”
Se-gun grumbled as he demolished the steak with ruthless efficiency. Then he slowly released his regenerative power. His heartbeat spiked; an alien force raced through his veins. Vitality flooded the body that had nearly become fully vampiric, and blood began to seep again from the already-closed wound.
“Nngh…”
“Are you all right?”
Seeing Se-gun break into a cold sweat, Seo Rin flung the apron aside. For Seo Rin himself a severed wrist was nothing, but even this level of regeneration seemed to weigh heavily on Se-gun.
“I’m fine. Leave it.”
Se-gun cut the regeneration short and sucked in ragged breaths. The blood leaking from the wound stopped once more.
“That bastard Agni, though… If we don’t deal with him somehow we’re in real trouble.”
Agni’s Oxidative Ignition had burned Se-gun’s weapons to ash, costing him the chance to send Argon to the afterlife and leaving him open to the counterattack instead. After tasting that once, any future clash with Argon would mean facing an even more cautious opponent. That problem could wait for some distant day; Agni was the immediate issue.
His Oxidative Ignition weakened the fire effect in exchange for making it broad and omnidirectional—precisely why it was nearly impossible to dodge. Any ammunition containing oxidizers was rendered useless on the spot, and explosives risked cooking off. Forced disarmament. That was serious.
Of course a power that strong exacted a matching toll from Agni, and human flesh itself resisted the flames of ignition, so ordinary items on a person did not burn instantly. That was why the oxidizer-laced bullets had not detonated first. There were also hard limits on its use. Unleash it anywhere and the place became a sea of fire; even Agni’s reckless temperament would keep him from throwing it around casually. But if it meant killing Se-gun, he might gladly shoulder the burden… Did that mean Se-gun needed to start carrying a crossbow the way Giovanni did?
“Heh-heh-heh. That’s what happens when you charge out without a plan just because Sa Jun got under your skin.”
Seo Rin was getting tall enough to sneer at him now. He wasn’t wrong. Sa Jun had sent those photos of Seo Rin’s “date” precisely to provoke Se-gun and separate him from the boy. Se-gun had walked straight into it.
“It would have been fine if Agni hadn’t barged in. Sure, I rose to the bait, but that doesn’t give you the right to strut around clucking like you’re so superior.”
When Se-gun glared, Seo Rin suddenly found the ceiling fascinating. Kim Seong-hui asked in surprise,
“What on earth did you two do? Did you actually fight?”
“What did we do? Let me use the computer a second.”
Se-gun switched on Kim Seong-hui’s machine, found the uploaded photos of Seo Rin, and turned the screen toward her. Seo Rin also studied the pictures carefully.
“Wow. She’s adorable.”
Kim Seong-hui spoke with frank honesty at the sight of Maria. She knew the girl was a vampire— a Jinma, no less—yet that seemed to matter not at all to her. Mages, after all, were neutral by nature; vampires or hunters, it was none of their concern.
Seo Rin began scrolling through the comments one by one. Other people’s opinions still bothered him, apparently. Having the leisure to care about that in their current situation made Se-gun both envious and exasperated; he growled under his breath.
“So that’s why? You argued with Seo Rin over that, charged out alone, and got wrecked? Heh-heh-heh. Sounds a lot like jealousy to me.”
Kim Seong-hui’s knowing smile left Se-gun speechless.
“Jealousy? Are you saying I have feelings for some vampire girl? Maria the Jinma and I are mortal enemies! Even from you, Master, that kind of talk is hard to swallow.”
“No… that’s not the side I meant. Never mind. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.”
Kim Seong-hui threw both hands up in surrender. She had treated it as a joke, but she understood Se-gun’s heart perfectly well. A hunter who got along with vampires was unheard of. Put another way, only those who ground their teeth at the mere mention of vampires abandoned the human path to become hunters.
“But Se-gun, you refused Sarhyuk’s partnership offer, didn’t you? Honestly, as a vampire hunter his mindset was professional enough.”
She was referring to Sa Jun’s older brother—Sarhyuk—who currently had them surrounded. A man faithful only to his own desires, he had not merely killed vampires; he had bred them, fed them humans, and wrung them dry for blood in the most vicious ways imaginable. When that man had proposed a partnership, Se-gun had rejected him out of hand.
Kim Seong-hui was asking what was different now. Wasn’t Se-gun angry at Seo Rin precisely because they lacked a shared hunter’s consensus and because Se-gun insisted on his own principles? In that case he was no different from the Se-gun who had once refused Sarhyuk.
“You’re seriously overthinking it. Hyung’s a real piece of work sometimes.”
Seo Rin shrugged at Se-gun. With Kim Seong-hui right there, Se-gun was not about to resort to violence.
“What was that?”
“Whoa!”
The moment Se-gun glared, Seo Rin ducked behind Kim Seong-hui. She snorted a quiet laugh.
“Enough. So what now?”
“I need to teach Sa Jun that too much mischief earns a serious beating. It’ll be a valuable learning experience—for him.”
Se-gun tried regenerating the wound again. From Seo Rin’s perspective, where even a completely severed limb knitted itself in an instant, the process was agonizingly slow. Once the wound was fully healed he would go after Sa Jun. Se-gun said it as calmly as if discussing the weather.
“Well, that’s why they want to finish you before you’re completely recovered, right?”
“Probably. If they have any brains.”
As Se-gun muttered, something in his pocket suddenly vibrated. He pulled out his phone.
“This bastard?”
The number on the screen was Sa Jun’s. The sheer shamelessness of it. Was he actually calling in person? Se-gun stared at the phone in disbelief, but curiosity won. He wanted to know what the man was thinking, so he answered.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“Dirty thoughts.”
Even now Sa Jun spoke in that same playful tone. Se-gun’s face twisted.
“You son of a— Ah, damn it. Why am I even talking to this guy? I’m hanging up.”
Sa Jun’s voice changed in a hurry.
“Hey! Wait! Joke, just a joke. Let’s get to the point.”
“The point?”
Se-gun’s hand paused. He glanced toward the window, half-expecting an attack under cover of the call. Outside, nothing moved.
“How about we bury the hatchet? One mistake is a soldier’s virtue, right? Yesterday was just a little… incident…”
“That’s not even words. Is your mouth a Morse-code machine? Nothing but noise I can’t understand.”
“Don’t you want Agni?”
Sa Jun dangled the Jinma as bait. Agni’s ignition ability was, without question, Se-gun’s natural counter. Better to eliminate him as soon as possible. Otherwise he would keep teaming up with other vampires for more attacks. But Sa Jun… was he already planning to betray Agni? Dealing with a creature like this left nothing but residue. And after setting a trap only yesterday, dangling this lure as if Se-gun would swallow it whole—only a goldfish would take that bait.
Se-gun shuddered with pure distaste.
“Agni’s one thing, but right now I’d rather take your head first. And the vampires aren’t stupid; they’re not falling for your sweet-talk anymore.”
“I’m offering to play nice because I think there’s plenty of benefit for your side too. But if that’s how you want it, fine.”
Sa Jun still sounded leisurely even now. Granted, the subordinates they had already spotted numbered more than thirty, and Sa Jun’s own power remained an unknown quantity. Still, Se-gun had never hesitated to make an enemy of even the strongest vampire.
No matter how strong Sa Jun was, the same rule applied. If Se-gun failed to make an example of his enemies and keep his reputation sharp, every worthless bottom-feeder would come sniffing after everything he protected. Sa Jun would make an excellent object lesson.
“Then good-bye.”
“Huh?”
Se-gun froze. What had Sa Jun just said?
“Master! Seo Rin!”
He kicked the table over, propping it against the window. Something streaked in at that exact moment.
KRA-KOOM!
An RPG-7 smashed through the glass and detonated. Seo Rin scooped Kim Seong-hui into his arms and hurled them both toward the stairs, escaping the shockwave and blast wind. Se-gun unleashed his Blood Seal power, erecting a barrier of darkness that blunted the worst of the impact.
“In the middle of the city, these bastards!”
Coming from the man who had once leveled a building downtown it was a bit rich, but Sa Jun’s crew was being excessive even by those standards. Were they that desperate?
THOOM!
Another explosion, this time from above. Mortars. The enemy had set up tubes on a neighboring rooftop and was shelling Arjuna. An artillery duel in the heart of the city!
Infantry moved in fast. They had woven anti-magic wards to keep Kim Seong-hui from blinding them with illusion and escaping, while grenade launchers hammered Arjuna’s outer walls. Building-breaching rounds chewed through concrete; tear gas and flashbangs poured into the gaps. Fragmentation grenades followed. In seconds the city center had become a war zone.
“Breach!”
They poured inside. Already wearing gas masks and thermal imaging gear, they charged through the smoke-choked interior without hesitation.
Whirrrrrrr!
Then, from the first floor of Arjuna, the sound of a motor spinning up. The point men saw the electric Gatling gun rise from behind the counter, barrels already rotating toward the entrance.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Men who fired rockets downtown had no right to complain, yet Arjuna still had a motorized Gatling gun aimed straight at the door. It opened up without mercy.
BRRRRRRRRT!
The lead point man was shredded into rags. One lucky survivor who had avoided the storm of bullets lunged forward and jammed a military bayonet into the spinning barrels, locking them. Another ripped the feed belt free with practiced hands. That was when it happened.
WHUMP!
The ammo can exploded. The man stripping the belt lost his arm in a spray of blood and steel. A booby trap had just gone off.
“Gyaaah!”
“Crazy sons of bitches!”
It was absurd. A teahouse counter in the middle of a city storing a remote Gatling turret, complete with an anti-personnel mine as a secondary trap. The reason vampires had never simply stormed Arjuna despite Se-gun’s constant provocations was clearly more than just the old vampire-mage nonaggression pact.
“Please tell me there isn’t a self-destruct…”
Everyone who had entered froze. The entrance stairs led both up and down. Pre-raid surveillance had placed the targets on the second floor, but after the bombardment no one knew if they were still there. The basement, however, would be a rat trap. There would be no emergency exits like in old buildings; once inside they would never get out again. They headed upstairs.
“Damn.”
The second floor was empty. The shelling and grenades had reduced the interior to pure wreckage.
“Situation as follows. Police will be here any second.”
The lead man spoke into his mic. Sa Jun’s voice crackled back through the earpiece.
“There’s a police box nearby so they’ll respond fast, but the main station’s farther out. Reinforcements will take a while, and the local cops won’t be able to do a thing. Finish it clean!”
“Copy.”
Right on cue a police car arrived. The box was so close the officers had no choice but to respond, yet their position was hopeless. The attackers were a fully militarized force packing mortars, rockets, and grenade launchers; the police had .38 revolvers with three blank rounds each. Against the numbers and firepower arrayed against them, they had zero deterrence.
“These insane bastards…”
Looking at the sheer violence that had already flattened a building, this was pure madness. One lonely police car sat in front with its lights flashing weakly while the attackers ignored it completely and went about their business.
BRRRRT!
Assault-rifle fire crackled from inside the half-collapsed structure.
“Ah… everyone, drop your weapons and surrender!”
A hesitant voice came over the police car’s loudspeaker. The answer was a storm of bullets hammering the vehicle. Officers screamed and ducked behind the doors.
Had the public authority of the Republic of Korea ever faced a challenge this brazen since the nation’s founding?
The police, thoroughly rattled, reversed the car and fled.
“We really did it this time. Damn.”
Sa Jun watched the feed on his monitors and let out a dry laugh. Poking Han Se-gun on impulse had been the mistake. The man had killed Sa Jun’s brother Sarhyuk, so by ordinary standards they were mortal enemies, yet Sa Jun himself held no particular grudge. Setting the trap had been pure impulse—an irresistible perfect opportunity that he had taken more out of form than necessity. But a target who has once fallen into a trap never sees it that way, and Se-gun showed zero signs of forgiveness.
Once Se-gun recovered and came after him, there would be no countermeasures left. Sa Jun did not consider himself weak, but if Se-gun attacked in earnest there was no stopping him. The rage of a wounded beast was pure fire; the only way to avoid being burned was to cut its throat while it was still bleeding.
Still… had they gone too far? Now the police would be out for blood. Yet without throwing that much force at the problem they risked being the ones who got wiped. When you committed resources you committed everything at once; drip-feeding them only invited defeat in detail.
“If we had never hit him in the first place none of this would be happening, you know.”
Sang Wi-cheong, standing at his side, shook his head slowly. This was pure insanity. They had sprung a trap with no contingency plan, shoved Se-gun into it, and now faced catastrophic fallout. Even if they succeeded in killing him here, what then of the enraged police? Avoiding a massive crackdown would mean going underground for a long time—and that would shake the entire foundation they had worked so hard to build in Korea. All the time, money, and manpower invested would vanish into thin air. Sa Jun remained perfectly calm.
“Sorry about that. But… who could have seen this coming?”
If Argon and Agni had attacked together, even Se-gun would have died. Argon, however, had refused to be used and peeled off midway, leaving Se-gun alive. They had only wounded the beast halfway.
“Second floor is empty. The basement has a heavy fire shutter installed!”
“Blow it with explosives!”
Everything was already past the point of no return. No reason to hold back now. Sa Jun issued the ruthless order and stood.
“I should get ready myself.”
“You’re really going in, sir?”
His subordinates looked appalled. If Sa Jun died here, the Swiss accounts only he could access, the networks, the distribution channels—all of it would freeze, and the organization that had worked so hard to infiltrate Korea would be forced to pull out. Even the big boss would not want that. Sa Jun was firm.
“What choice do I have? I made this mess, so I clean it up. We’ve already caused this much chaos. Headquarters won’t leave me alone either, so I might as well roll around and earn some sympathy points in advance. And if by some chance Se-gun kills me, at least I won’t have to face the debriefing, right?”
“If you die, everything ends.”
Sa Jun only snorted and opened the door.