Magical Girl and the Werewolf 4
When I landed on the street amid the shattered window glass, the van had already begun to pull away. I needed to chase it down immediately, but this form made that impossible. Even as a werewolf, a human body couldn’t hope to catch a car. Transforming in front of all these people was equally out of the question. That left only one choice.
I spotted a delivery driver who had just finished his drop-off and was kicking his scooter to life. I sprinted straight at him and delivered a clean dropkick to his chest. Thump!
“Aargh!”
While the driver tumbled across the pavement, I vaulted onto the scooter. The engine was already running.
“Sorry! I’m borrowing this!”
I twisted the throttle and shot after the van.
“You motherfucker!” the driver screamed behind me, but I left his curses in the dust.
The kidnappers drove like they had nothing to lose, blowing through every red light. To keep up, I had to do the same. We weaved through traffic in a frantic chase, horns blaring and drivers hurling every insult imaginable. Some even dragged our parents into it. After roughly six parental deaths had been wished upon us, the van finally left the city streets and turned onto a quiet, deserted road.
With fewer cars around, the van accelerated. I matched their speed. The scooter screamed beneath me, engine howling.
Just a little more. Just a little—
The gap was closing when the passenger window slid down and something came hurtling toward me. Even with my superhuman reflexes, there was no dodging it in the middle of a high-speed pursuit.
Crack!
A dull impact exploded across my forehead. The world flashed white. I lost my grip on the handlebars and flew off the scooter.
The crash sent me tumbling across the asphalt. I rolled several times before skidding to a stop. Dazed but still functional, I pushed myself up. The first thing I saw was a bloody ashtray lying on the ground.
They’d thrown that at my head? If I’d been a normal human, I would have died on the spot.
Farther down the road, I spotted the overturned scooter and the spilled sweet-and-sour pork. I offered a silent apology to both the driver and the customer before lifting my gaze.
The van had stopped. A man was stepping out.
He was a blond Caucasian like the boss, though older and rougher-looking. When he saw me wiping blood from my forehead and standing up, genuine surprise flickered across his face.
“You’re still alive after that? You’re no ordinary bastard.”
His Korean was clumsy but understandable.
I staggered to my feet, pretending to be weaker than I was, and glared at him.
“Why did you take that woman? Don’t you know sexual crimes are punished more severely than murder in Korea? This isn’t America.”
“Do all Koreans assume every white person is American?”
“America basically is the West.”
A vein bulged on the man’s forehead. I wondered if vampires could even feel patriotism or nationalism. But he didn’t rise to the bait any further.
“Why her, specifically? A woman with tits like that can’t be hard to find in your own country. France, Germany… anywhere, really.”
I tried to provoke him more, but he refused to take the bait.
“The size of her chest is irrelevant, kid.”
He pulled out a cigarette and lit it while keeping me in front of him.
“Then what? You have a fetish for girls with glasses?”
“It’s about what she’s been doing.”
Just as I thought. So they hadn’t kidnapped her simply to drink her blood. If that was all they wanted, they could have picked up any woman at a club.
I glanced past him. Two more men were getting out of the van. By my earlier count, that left Go Yu-jin and one other inside. I hoped nothing unpleasant was happening in there.
The area was completely deserted—no passing cars, no pedestrians, no buildings in sight. It was the perfect environment for committing atrocities.
I subtly rolled my wrists and ankles, loosening up.
“That woman’s blood probably tastes terrible. I mean, look at her. She’s got more fat below the neck than a butcher’s scrap pile. If you don’t want your arteries clogging up, pick someone else. A vampire dying of arteriosclerosis would be pathetic.”
His eyes changed.
“…You knew?”
“Authentic Blood clan.”
“You little—!”
This time his eyes widened in real shock.
Authentic Blood. One of the vampire clans in Under the Blue Moon. Their name sounded like something an old grandmother would come up with, but they were nothing more than arrogant thugs who caused trouble everywhere they went. All they had was the smug belief that being vampires made them a superior species to humans. In other words, they were no different from racists who clung to prejudice without any real experience or evidence to back it up.
That was their flavor text. In terms of gameplay, they were an absolute pain depending on the situation. Their superiority complex came from the belief that they were better than humans in every way, which led them to obsess over physical ability—the one area they shared with humans. They were basically a combat-oriented clan with high base stats. If you didn’t have the control or the diverse skill set to overcome that raw power gap, they could make you suffer.
A vampire’s physical abilities were far beyond what most humans or doppelgangers could handle.
“You’re not human either,” the man muttered, sniffing the air. “But you’re not one of us. How did you recognize us?”
Because I can see you naked. The band-aids you use to keep your nipples from showing. The chest hair growing wild between them like weeds. That massive sea cucumber you’ve been trying not to stare at since I got here.
“You smell. Vampires smell like used pads stuck at the bottom of a trash can.”
I stuck my tongue out and made a gagging motion. While I did, the vampires who had exited the van circled me.
“We’re not asking how you knew what we are. How did you know our clan?”
I listened carefully. No sound of approaching cars. Even if someone had reported the kidnapping and the police were coming, it would take them a while to reach this isolated spot. And that was more than enough time for me.
“Because the only idiots who would interfere with something the Bloodycore clan’s master is involved in are you Authentic Blood rejects.”
With that, I looked up at the sky. The moon hanging there was a brilliant, icy blue full moon. I unleashed the wildness inside me.
The true form trapped within this fragile shell burst free.
Compressed muscles expanded back to their proper size. My mouth, which had seemed rather small for an Asian face, stretched forward into a snout. Neat teeth became jagged saw blades, with canines like stalactites. Coarse black fur—far too thick to be called mere body hair—sprouted across my entire body. My spine curved slightly, yet my height increased. Soon I was looking down at the now-smaller vampires.
“Werewolf…!”
All three vampires looked stunned. I didn’t waste the opening. I charged the nearest one, driving my claws between his ribs.
Shunk!
I grabbed his ribcage and tore it open.
Crunch!
Before his scream could finish, I sank my teeth into the pulsing heart between his exposed ribs.
Crack!
The scream cut off. I chewed and swallowed the heart. Then I turned to the remaining two.
Vampires were certainly stronger than humans. But no matter how strong a vampire’s body was, it couldn’t match a werewolf. Even the combat-focused Authentic Blood couldn’t change that fundamental truth. They might be dangerous to humans or doppelgangers, but to a werewolf they were easy prey—especially since they didn’t bother with any unnecessary techniques.
More importantly, these vampires weren’t particularly strong. I could sense their weakness in their scent, their presence, their every movement. All of it told me they were inferior.
I hurled the corpse of the heartless vampire at them. While the one I’d spoken with caught it, I charged the last remaining vampire.
“H-hiiik…!”
Completely unlike a vampire supremacist, he stumbled backward in terror and fell on his ass. His trembling eyes traveled down my body and stopped at the intercontinental ballistic missile I had jokingly enlarged during character creation. His face turned deathly pale.
Don’t worry. I have no intention of using this thing on a man.
I grabbed both his legs.
“No!” he screamed as I stepped between them to pin him down, then ripped both legs off.
Crunch!
I felt something burst through the soles of my feet. I shoved one of the torn legs into his screaming mouth, then turned to the final vampire.
He hadn’t fallen, but his face was filled with terror. He backed away from me.
“B-Bloodycore clan working with werewolves…!”
“How outdated. Such discriminatory language. These days minorities receive better treatment.”
I seized his trembling shoulders to hold him still, then tore out his throat.
Crack!
I separated his head from his body and tossed it aside. The moment it hit the ground, I heard an engine start inside the van.
I rushed over, drove my claws into the vehicle’s body, and held on tight.
The tires spun wildly as the van tried to accelerate. I refused to let go.
“H-hiiik!”
A terrified voice came from inside.
Thud! Thud!
I slammed my forehead against the tinted rear window several times. The glass shattered. I shoved my face through the opening.
The driver was panicking, stomping on the accelerator. It wouldn’t help him escape this situation. I shifted my gaze to the back seat, where Go Yu-jin lay bound and unconscious.
Her head was slumped forward, hiding her face. The nude patch was incredibly inconvenient at times like this. Since I couldn’t see what she was wearing, I had no way of knowing what they might have done to her. From the scent and lack of obvious traces, it didn’t seem like they had touched her during the drive… but I couldn’t be sure.
“What did you do to her?” I snarled at the vampire in the driver’s seat. “If you did anything even close to what I’m imagining, you’d better prepare yourself.”
If Go Yu-jin couldn’t work as Double Melon, I would lose my job. That meant losing money, but more importantly, losing the protective fence she provided. The thought made my grip tighten.
Crunch!
The metal body of the van crumpled.
“U-uaaaah!”
Startled by the sound, the vampire scrambled into the back seat and grabbed Go Yu-jin. His trembling hands wrapped around her throat.
“D-don’t come any closer! I’ll snap her neck!”
“If you do that, you’ll—”
I couldn’t finish. Flames had erupted across the vampire’s face.
Whoosh!
The moment fire burst from his face, he yanked his hands away from Go Yu-jin’s neck and tried to pat out the flames. I tore off the section of the van I was holding, reached through the gap, and hurled him onto the road.
He tumbled across the pavement, still desperately trying to extinguish the fire on his face. It wouldn’t go out anytime soon.
I released my transformation. Surprisingly, when I returned from werewolf form to human, the clothes that should have disappeared were restored. I couldn’t see them, but I knew it was one of the few game conveniences applied to me.
Back in human form, I climbed through the broken opening into the van.
“Are you okay?”
I snapped the cable ties binding her arms and legs, then placed a hand on her shoulder.
Slap!
Go Yu-jin’s hand shot out with surprising force and knocked mine away.
“Why were you so late?!”
Seeing her glare and growl at me, it seemed she hadn’t suffered anything too terrible.
“Here.”
I took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, then thought better of it and simply handed it to her. The way her eye makeup was running suggested that touching her right now would only earn me a tirade.
“Hmph!”
She snatched the handkerchief with a snort.
I pointed at the vampire still rolling on the road.
“I’m going to contact the boss. He’ll handle the cleanup and interrogation. So could you put out the fire? If you leave it like that, he’ll turn into charcoal.”
The flames on the vampire’s face were indeed her doing. The company where the boss worked had created the magical girl project to advertise their products. There was no way the central figure of that project was just an ordinary college girl. She was a real magician. If every woman who used magic could be called a magical girl, then she was the real thing.
“At least break his arms and legs. It’d be annoying if he ran away,” she said in a low voice, tears already drying.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Though I said that, I knew she really wanted me to make them suffer for what they’d done. I stepped outside again, shattered both the vampire’s knees and elbows now that the fire had finally gone out, and returned to the van.
After sending a message to the boss, I looked at Go Yu-jin.
“It’s done. Let’s go. I’m starving. Transforming burns a ridiculous amount of calories.”
But Go Yu-jin didn’t stand up. Instead, she spread her arms toward me.
“What are you doing?”
“Carry me. I can’t walk.”
For a moment I wondered if she had lost her mind.
“…Did they give you some weird drug?”
“Hey!”
“Okay, okay. Fine.”
I turned my back to her. She crawled over and climbed on.
“I’m going to run, so hold on tight.”
“Go slowly. I’ll get motion sickness.”
“Hey. It’s already this late.”
“Want me to throw up in your hair?”
“Understood, ma’am.”
After the fight, the heat that had risen to the top of my head had cooled somewhat. Go Yu-jin seemed to feel the same. We could talk more properly over a meal.