Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Juni
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A thud echoed out.
Even at a force that would have sent a human's head flying if struck with such a blunt weapon, Tora merely staggered before planting her feet and standing firm.
"Tora!"
Jain's eyes widened as she cried out. She twisted her body, but with her hands bound, there was no escaping Luas.
A Legion member wielding a baseball bat grabbed Tora, kicked her in the back of the knee to force her down, and pinned her shoulders to keep her from rising.
Click-clack, click-clack....
The sound of high heels drew closer. Glossy black high heels stopped right in front of her eyes.
"Want me to let you in on a little secret?"
Rachel leaned in toward Tora.
"Three years ago... the Grand Duke didn't get caught."
Tora looked up with puzzled eyes.
The Grand Duke had clearly been captured. She'd even seen footage of his trial—what was this...?
Rachel chuckled as if reading her thoughts. She'd already dropped a hint once before, back when they'd caught Do-young.
A phoenix.
By "personally" setting himself ablaze.
"I've been waiting."
The low voice whispering in Tora's ear sounded utterly wicked.
"For him to let his guard down and come out on his own."
Him....
Tora felt a chill run down her spine.
Marty.
***
The historian lay dead by the riverbank. He'd been shot right in the center of his forehead, dying before he could even close his eyes.
"Doesn't look like he's been dead for more than about thirty minutes."
An armed team member checked the body and reported. Another beside him continued.
"Looks like they killed him to cover their tracks. Turns out he's a Neolite scholar with ties to the Eternal Church, a cult that worships vampires."
"A cult?"
The sergeant blinked at the sudden mention of a cult.
"Yeah. They believe a female vampire is an apostle who received the secret of immortality from God. That's probably why they kidnapped Gamal."
The sergeant furrowed his brow.
"Why didn't we screen out a guy like that from the start?"
"You can hide your leanings if you really try. And being Neolite-affiliated doesn't mean his scholarly achievements were lacking. The most frustrating part is how ideology doesn't scale with ability."
That hardly mattered now. Do-young, still armed, spoke up.
"We need to find Gamal."
Before he fell into the Grand Duke's hands.
The mere thought of Gamal meeting the Grand Duke made her feel the blood draining from her feet. Her stomach churned, and a shiver crawled up her spine.
A bad premonition hung in the air. Everything lined up too perfectly. The Grand Duke's escape, the cult worshipping female vampires bursting onto the scene, Gamal's kidnapping....
It didn't feel like coincidence at all. She wanted to hope it was just paranoia, but she knew that was naive.
"Let's go."
Do-young clamped her mouth shut and turned away. A blue glint flickered in her eyes.
***
A crack rang out.
The baseball bat slammed into Tora's gut, her legs and arms chained to the floor. It swung back to smack her face. Once more. Again.
Finally, the bat righted her lolling head.
The Legion's human member grinned.
"Even after all that, her face barely changes. Must be nice being a vampire."
Even in the Luas terrorist group, the scarcity of Luas meant not every member could be one. In fact, they made up only about thirty percent, with the rest being cooperative humans. That was why MCTC could form mixed teams of Luas and humans too.
The Legion member who'd struck Tora earlier now sat back smoking a cigarette, watching. Instead, the human members circled her like they'd snared a wild beast, taking turns beating her in a way that bordered on torture.
Jain lay discarded some distance away, arms bound behind her. With so many guards around, they hadn't bothered securing a mere human woman.
Even if it didn't show much outwardly, Tora's t-shirt was soaked with sweat, and faint bruises were starting to bloom here and there. She must have taken serious internal damage. Part of it was the special-made bat—diamond-embedded or something—and the relentless pounding from burly adult men would push even a vampire's body to its limits.
The next human took the bat and asked the Luas.
"How much does it take to kill a vampire?"
Luas exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Never beaten one to death, so no idea."
He flashed a grin.
"Give it a try."
The human gripped the bat tight, rearing back for a full swing—just as—
"Stop."
The human froze and turned to Jain.
She was a hostage in a terrorist camp, and the only somewhat reliable Tora was getting pummeled half to death. Yet Jain showed no fear.
One man licked his lips. Unlike typical women, Jain's toned, resilient look stirred the twisted conquest-lust in these men.
"Women have their uses."
He sauntered toward her. The others just shook their heads, faces saying, *Here he goes again.*
Jain swallowed a curse as the man unbuckled his belt in front of her.
Tora sneered at the sight.
"That's it?"
It was to draw attention back to her, but once hooked elsewhere, he'd lost interest here.
"Wait your turn. I'll get to you."
The man threw himself atop Jain. She just grimaced—no real resistance. He seemed surprised.
"No fight?"
Tora had expected Jain to foam at the mouth, but she only winced slightly, unnaturally calm.
"Doesn't seem like it'd change much."
The man grinned sleazily.
"Good situational awareness."
Tora scoffed.
"Got to stand out even here?"
But he ignored the peanut gallery and got to work. The other men, eager to finish up, turned back to Tora.
Pinned under the man, Jain looked more fragile than ever.
Tora gritted her teeth.
*What a mess.* Arrogance had led to this.
"Hey."
Her voice was so eerie, even the lust-blinded man paused. Tora lifted her head slightly.
"Get off him. Now. Before I snap your spine while you're still breathing."
Murderous intent rippled in her red eyes.
The man's face paled, but he glanced at Luas—his safety net.
Luas stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette and stood.
"Is this the confidence of a named bloodline...?"
He stomped over and kicked Tora mercilessly. The impact sounded worlds apart from the humans'. Tora's body folded in an instant.
Yet she looked up, taunting.
"Got a complex about named bloodlines?"
Luas ground his heel into Tora's kneeling leg and snorted.
"You endure all that pain to become a vampire, and now it's all about names. Like humans obsessing over family or money. That vulgar urge to stratify—can't seem to overcome it."
"So you joined a terrorist group for some proletarian revolution?"
Luas stared at Tora.
"Heard you piss people off a lot?"
Tora grinned.
"Everyone snaps when you hit a sore spot."
Beyond Luas, the human shoved between Jain's legs. Tora opened her mouth to intervene somehow.
That's when she saw it clearly. Jain, frowning in disgust, lifted her gaze—and blue killing intent flared in her eyes.
If that look had been aimed here, Tora might've choked in shock.
Suddenly, Jain locked her legs around the man, flipping him over. She yanked her bound arms back as far as possible, trapping his head in the space.
Then she rolled her body with a whoosh, using the falling momentum to choke him.
Lucky his neck didn't snap outright, but it happened so fast he was helpless.
Luas watched, startled, then burst out laughing.
"Wow!"
He even clapped as his guy got owned. The other humans exchanged uneasy glances, unsure whether to stop it.
"Grk... hngh...."
The man clawed at Jain's arms, eyes rolling back. But she didn't relent—her muscles bulged visibly as she poured on the strength.
Finally, his eyes bulged as his body went limp. Jain yanked her arm free and flung his head away like filth.
"Come at me as many times as you want. Won't change a thing."
Prejudice could be deadly. Knowing she was special forces, they'd still charged in blinded by "a woman's just a woman"—and paid with his life.
Jain sprang up. Only then did the men creep in to grab her. She scanned all sides, instantly shifting into stance.
But suddenly, her head yanked back as if ripped off.
"Ngk!"
Luas had appeared behind her, clutching her hair.
"Nice show. Better than I thought?"
Jain endured the scalp-tearing pain and glanced back.
"Even women don't grab hair in fights anymore, asshole."
Jain rarely swore, but she was doing it on purpose now.
Tora found it pretty sexy.
"You two got spicy mouths."
Killing intent masked as amusement gleamed in Luas's eyes.
"Time to show your fearless traps what happens."
Whoosh—
Air whooshed as his fist rocketed skyward. It'd take a human's face clean off.
But suddenly, Luas's nape prickled.
He whipped around.
Tora was still chained there. He frowned. She was right there—why...? And no vampire could break those chains. Even the strongest couldn't defy the impossible....
Clank-clank-clank—
The chains binding Tora suddenly loosened and fell.
Thud!
They hit the floor like rebar dropping. Luas's eyes widened.
"Grab—!"
But Tora was gone. He snapped forward. There she stood. Instinctively, he raised his guard.
Boom.
The clash thundered like splitting heaven and earth.
Screech—
Shoes scraped across the floor.
They halted, facing off.
Luas dropped into a pro stance and threw a hook.