Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Juni
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Luas threw a hook with the stance of a pro. But Tora caught that fist all too easily.
Luas immediately swung his other hand, but Tora kicked him straight in the gut. Luas flew back as if struck by a giant's fist, slamming into the wall. The wall split open with a crack, nearly burying Luas inside it.
Without even giving him cooldown time, Tora was suddenly at his side, grabbing his throat and hoisting him up. Luas was built just as big as Tora, but his feet dangled in the air.
He aimed a kick at the opening, but Tora caught it midair and twisted it sideways.
“Urgh...!”
Luas couldn’t even finish his scream amid the excruciating pain.
Jain was now 100% convinced why Tora had come all the way here alone. For starters, his raw power outclassed any vampire she’d ever seen.
Just then, the human men sensed something was off and tried to radio for backup. But for some reason, it wasn’t working properly.
“What the hell? Why’s it dead?”
Next, a few men bolted for the door. Jain quickly grabbed a chair, spun around, and hurled it using the momentum. The men scattered in panic to dodge the flying chair.
“What the fuck!”
The men charged at her. Jain timed it perfectly, kicking one in the gut as he lunged. Using the recoil, she kicked off the wall, launching herself into the air to slam another.
Another man frantically drew his gun to shoot, but Jain was faster and shot him instead. The man screamed and went down.
At any rate, with the radio conveniently out, she couldn’t let them escape this room.
“Grab her!”
The men finally grasped the gravity of the situation and rushed her all at once to subdue her. If her hands hadn’t been bound, she could’ve held out longer, but soon one grabbed her from behind in a bear hug.
Meanwhile, Luas—still gripped by Tora—let out a chuckle as Tora’s fingers dug into the flesh of his throat.
“You’re not seriously going to snap my neck... like this.”
“Didn’t I ask you earlier?”
Tora glanced up.
“Whether it was the confidence of a named bloodline?”
A red glow exploded in his eyes.
“You should’ve been careful if you knew.”
Luas realized his mistake, but it was too late. An unnatural sound rang out.
Even Jain, watching with her own eyes, could hardly believe it. How could mere grip strength snap Luas’s neck, said to be tougher than steel of the same size...?
The men were the same, staring dumbfounded before they knew it.
Tora tossed the limp body aside. It rolled with a thunderous rumble, like a boulder tumbling down.
Then Tora looked at Jain—or rather, the man holding her. The man flinched visibly.
When gripped by overwhelming terror, people often forgot even to flee.
The other men stood right by the door but couldn’t bring themselves to open it and run.
Suddenly, Tora bent down and picked up the bat from the floor.
“Jain’s right.”
Clang...
The bat dragged across the floor with a metallic scrape before lifting into the air.
“Nothing’s really going to change.”
Tora cracked his neck. His lightly glowing red eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
“The fact that all of you are fucked.”
***
Tora ripped off the handcuffs for her. Jain glanced at the chains discarded where he’d been bound earlier.
“You could’ve undone those chains?”
“Took some time.”
Tora started to stand but groaned, clutching his chest.
“You okay?”
Jain asked quickly. He hadn’t seemed injured when swinging the bat, but his face was even more bruised now.
“Can’t even breathe. Don’t remember the last time I took hits like this.”
“Has it ever happened?”
Tora gave a wry smile.
“Matty wasn’t worshipped as a god from the start.”
“What do you mean...?”
Tora changed the subject.
“The lieutenant was impressive too. Could’ve gotten worse, but you didn’t give up.”
“When it’s time to die, might as well make at least one more bastard suffer.”
That was so very Jain that Tora let out a short laugh.
“Let’s go for now.”
Jain supported Tora. But he was too heavy, and she staggered. Tora managed to stand properly and apologized.
“Sorry. No strength left.”
“It’s fine. But I can’t drag the captain along, so hang in there.”
At her words, Tora forced himself upright.
“Wait a sec.”
Jain picked up the bat from the floor.
It was caked in blood and not something she wanted to touch, but the terrorists had panicked and emptied their clips wildly at Tora, leaving this as the only usable weapon.
The two left the room and headed down the corridor. The building wasn’t quite a prison, but cells lined the hall.
That was when it happened. She sensed movement behind them.
Boom!
By the time she snapped to, Tora had already turned and blocked an attack from a hulking vampire.
“Jain!”
Tora shouted. Realizing it meant run, Jain bolted without hesitation. But enemies appeared from the direction she was fleeing too.
Jain swung the bat immediately. One went down clutching his shoulder. She stabbed the second like a sword, then smashed his face. The next, she brought down overhead like an axe.
Crack!
But the next instant, the enemy blocked the bat with his hand. It was Luas.
Luas raised his gun. The barrel aimed dead at Jain.
‘Damn it.’
She was hit.
Jain realized it.
Bang!
“Tora!”
Jain cried out instinctively. Tora had appeared and taken the bullet for her.
Clink!
“I’m fine.”
Tora said, then punched Luas square, sending him rolling like a ball.
A flattened bullet dropped from Tora’s body. Luckily, she’d heard that strong bloodlines could shrug off bullets with their skin.
But...
That was when it happened. Right behind them—behind Tora—a massive vampire appeared. Soundlessly, despite his huge frame.
With her top-tier human dynamic vision, Jain spotted the vampire and widened her eyes. But spotting him was all she could do.
Tora couldn’t dodge because of Jain.
Stab.
Tora gritted his teeth. Reading the skin’s grain from earlier, the blade sliced deep into his side along it.
The hulking vampire shoved Tora. With immense force, both were hurled into a cell, crashing down off-balance with a racket.
Scraaaape. Thud!
At the same time, iron bars shot out from the side wall, slamming shut.
Jain snapped out of it and rushed to Tora, still down.
“Tora!”
“Vampires and humans living together is a delusion.”
The hulking vampire said in a deep voice from beyond the bars.
“Sorry, but this is for the humans’ sake. Wolf and rabbit in the same pen? Only one outcome.”
Through his disheveled hair, a glint flashed in Tora’s eyes. Jain flinched instinctively. In that moment, the hulking vampire left them behind.
The next instant, Tora clicked his tongue and muttered a curse.
“Got careless.”
But Jain knew full well it wasn’t carelessness—Tora just couldn’t move freely because of her. Without her, he could’ve fought more freely for sure.
“Let me check the wound.”
Tora rolled onto his side with effort. There was a knife buried so deep in his flank that only the handle protruded.
Jain examined the wound with serious eyes. Tora waited, breathing raggedly.
She didn’t seem like she’d cry or panic, and her calm made the situation feel less dire.
Jain helped him sit up properly and said,
“You didn’t have to.”
“Had to?”
“Worry about me and you couldn’t fight properly. I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
That was all Tora said. No boasting or dismissing her as a woman, but Jain knew enough and lowered her eyes to tend the wound.
“There are no women in Ituha, after all.”
“Human women can’t fight vampires. That’s unavoidable. Can’t let you die pointlessly.”
His tone was a bit rough. Apparently, quite a few female tribe members had wanted to join Ituha.
At any rate, not the time for debate.
Jain shrugged off her jacket, gripped her T-shirt on both sides, and pulled it up over her head. Then she bit and tore it into strips with practiced ease, like she’d done it a hundred times.
Tora watched silently, his eyes losing color as blood drained away.
Jain gripped the knife handle and said,
“Pulling it out.”
Tora clutched a protruding iron support on the wall.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t tense your abs. Luas said that makes it impossible to pull.”
Then, like a doctor seeing a hundred laceration patients a day, Jain yanked the knife out with cold, clinical precision. She followed up by binding it so tight he could barely breathe.
When she finished, her stomach, hands—not to mention her chest in just a sports bra—were soaked in blood.
As she tied the knot, Jain said,
“Lucky Luas doesn’t need antibiotics.”
Immunity to every pathogen on Earth was convenient no matter how you sliced it. But Tora saw it differently.
“Vampire infection sources are a different story. Sometimes I think that X Virus from outer space was just too weak and ran. Lucky it picked this planet right—no bugs here that could kill them...”
He was rambling, fever rising. Jain cut him off.
“Can you move?”
“Yeah.”
Tora stood and gripped the bars, straining to rip them out. Jain stopped him.
“Tora, you’re bleeding.”
“Damn it.”
Tora cursed and slumped down. Then, as if struck by a thought, he laughed. Jain was floored.
“You’re laughing in this situation?”
Tora turned to sit.
“You called Matty a monster living in the forest.”
For a moment, Jain didn’t get what he meant. But Tora didn’t seem to care.
“Matty went through a lot, so he got real standoffish. Holed up in the forest, no contact with the tribe. He wasn’t human-like to begin with. So people called him a monster that lived in the woods and ate kids.”
Then she realized it was an old story.
“Matty, who bore Rato and me, abandoned us in the forest. As tribute to the monster. We were about five, I think. Still remember that day clear as anything. Dark woods, bird cries, damp smell...”
Young Rato and Tora could only cling to each other. They thought if they cried, the monster would hear and come eat them.
But then came rustling, and something poked its head from the brush. Short life or not, ‘it’ was the most beautiful being Tora had ever seen.