Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Vampiric World #2
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In the end, nothing happened.
The Vampire Angel didn't disappear, and word came that the situation inside was spiraling even worse.
"Why...?"
Spandal muttered in disbelief.
"That's a demon that erases things. We offered a sacrifice—there's no way it should've failed like this..."
Hearing that made guilt and sin pierce my chest like a stab. It was too hard to look at Spandal's face right now.
But this was only temporary.
In the end, I'd regress, and I'd fix this. Then the Management Bureau agents wouldn't have to die. Jinseop could live too.
It was all for that... I hadn't done anything weird. This a betrayal? Betrayal would be having the power to regress and letting Jamtree, Quras, and everyone die!
It hurt now, but everyone dying was far more horrific.
This was just a choice to make things better...
"Isn't that religious anomaly stronger than the demon? Or maybe it had the upper hand in compatibility and won?"
"How could that be... According to Management Bureau records, including this time, it's only been used three times."
Three times?
"What happened the previous two times?"
"I don't know. It was before I became an agent. But they said it erased two religious anomalies back then too. I never imagined it'd fail this time..."
Spandal looked utterly shocked.
In a case like this, should I hug her...? But it'd be too much, considering I was the one who caused this mess.
Torn by conflict, I couldn't do anything.
"Anyway, Senior Spandal. Things have gone completely south. Doesn't the Management Bureau have any other options?"
"Let's head back to the Management Bureau first. We need to find another way."
"Yes."
The Management Bureau was still intact.
That meant there might be other solutions. It was horrific, but we couldn't resolve it like this. It would just pile one worst-case on top of another.
Maybe it was a good thing I was inside the Management Bureau right now. I was in a position to block solutions.
"..."
I moved with Spandal.
Each step felt like sinking into mud.
The Management Bureau building was gone.
Gone in the physical sense, and in another sense too.
As if it had never been there to begin with.
"What is this...?"
Spandal staggered in shock.
"Senior Spandal!"
I immediately wrapped my arm around her waist to keep her from falling.
"This... It's impossible. What happened? How could the Management Bureau... What about the containment facilities? What happened to everything?"
If the Management Bureau was gone, what happened to the anomalies locked in containment? Did they vanish too? Or did they all escape?
No way to know.
Why had the Management Bureau disappeared?
Did the Vampire Angel attack it?
No, that couldn't be. It was still there.
What reason then?
The only thing we'd done this time was summon the demon, offer the sacrifice, and make a wish.
Not making a wish back then had been the obvious call.
Wishing to erase the angel would've fixed the regression point for sure, and I couldn't predict what variables other wishes might bring.
Above all, I had no confidence the demon's wish would even work normally.
Spandal said it was a demon that erases things, and it'd never been used for anything else. Other uses were strictly forbidden. It wasn't a demon that granted wishes.
...Wait.
Could it be?
Since I didn't make a wish, did the demon, empowered by the sacrifice, erase the Management Bureau that had imprisoned it?
It should've expended power erasing the angel, but without that expenditure, it erased the Management Bureau holding it instead...?
Chills ran down my spine.
Please don't tell me the regression point got fixed here?
—Thump thump.
My heart pounded like it would burst. Anxiety that my mistake might've caused a catastrophe beyond the worst wrapped around me.
No.
I couldn't think about that now.
"Haa. Can't even afford to panic like this. What a troublesome junior. Thanks to you, I've calmed down."
"Yes?"
"Grong. Pull yourself together. Don't waver."
Spandal, who had looked so shocked just moments ago, was now encouraging me instead as she saw my anxiety.
"I don't know what happened, but as agents, we have to find a way. Otherwise, we'll just die. And not just us—lots more people will die too."
"Yes... You're right."
"An unprecedented emergency has hit. With the Management Bureau gone... we can't stop the anomalies from rampaging. But we're agents. Do you get what that means?"
I did.
"Don't give up. Find a solution somehow."
"That's right. Grong, you're still a rookie... but that doesn't matter now. Let's do this together, just the two of us."
Spandal held out her hand.
"Yes."
I took it.
The warmth from her hand was unmistakably real.
The Management Bureau was suspicious, and so was Spandal.
But I'd seen her weak side, her strong side, her troubled side—all of it.
This Spandal couldn't be fake.
Just like she said... I'd definitely resolve this. I didn't want to see her looking weak again.
The sky was red.
I stared blankly at the sky, fiddling with Spandal's long hair.
The Vampire Angel had turned countless people into ghouls and become something like the sun. This red sky was its power.
That power was probably affecting the whole world by now.
How many survivors were left?
I still didn't know if that thing was the same entity as me or what. No way to analyze it, and the only ones left in the Management Bureau were me and Spandal.
Today too, I had to survive with Spandal, dodging the immortal ghouls.
"Stop fiddling with my hair..."
"I'm gonna keep doing it. What can you do about it, Senior Spandal?"
"Hmm, nothing, huh."
"So just stay still."
"Okay."
Rest time was short.
So when resting, rest properly.
"I always think this, but Senior Spandal looks pretty with short hair too, but long hair suits you even better."
"Maybe I should cut it..."
"If you do, I'll bolt up screaming."
"Ah, I won't cut it, so don't suddenly jump up! Lie back down right now!"
"Yes."
"You take good care of your hair anyway..."
Like this, during rest, it was better to just lie down than get up and do something.
"..."
I might not be alive tomorrow.
I'd survived until today, but hadn't found any promising leads. With lives worth 2,000 points each, I'd planned to gather as many clues as possible.
Still, I'd learned a bit about the vampires and ghouls. And the Vampire Angel. Not super useful, though.
If that Vampire Angel's power grew stronger.
Something even more horrific was inevitable.
And it felt like it was coming soon.
The world was getting redder by the day.
Not certain, but... the end of this life was approaching.
"Vibrations. Time to move."
"Got it."
Spandal and I got up. Prepared to move, then set off right away.
"Ghoul ahead. Detour's tricky, so let's take it out quietly."
"Got it. I'll handle it."
Spandal slipped into the shadows. She merged with them, then emerged from the shadows behind the ghouls.
—Pshk!
Black thorns shot from Spandal's arm. They pierced the ghouls' brains. Minimal wounds to the head to neutralize them. That way, the ghouls wouldn't even realize they were dead.
Immortal anyway—they'd regenerate soon. We'd slip away quietly in the meantime. Perfect, no detection.
"Impressive superpower every time I see it."
"Heh, this is your senior's superior power."
Such a smug smile.
"Definitely superior. Making thorns and spikes from anywhere on your body. Amazing."
"Shh, quiet! Just a bit!"
"Eek!"
Spandal's face flushed as she made a vibrating spinning spike from her fingertip and jabbed my side. Then she grinned and headed to an area clear of ghouls.
This should do it.
"Haa. Tired. Rub my shoulders."
"Yes."
I sat behind Spandal and massaged her shoulders.
Naturally, I fiddled with her ears too.
"Feels good..."
I kept gently massaging her shoulders and ears.
Maybe because I sensed doom approaching.
I brought up a question I'd buried for a long time.
"But... Senior Spandal."
"Yeah?"
"Bit late to ask, but when did you become an agent? What made you decide to?"
"..."
A brief silence.
"Well..."
"Yes."
"I don't remember anymore."
"Yes?"
Don't remember?
"No idea. I've lived as an agent ever since getting the code name Spandal. Maybe because of that, my past feels so hazy."
"What does that...?"
"I remember experiencing some anomaly or phenomenon and deciding to become an agent. But beyond that..."
"Did they erase your memories?"
"Not fully erased. Probably a Management Bureau measure to blur past memories. Defense against anomalies that dig into agents' histories or something. I just realized it now."
That so.
Long-term agent life makes past memories fade. Useful info.
"But... I can't even see other anomalies now. Kinda regret it. If I'd remembered, I'd have told you, Grong."
"Kkh! Senior Spandal!"
At those heartfelt words, I couldn't help pulling Spandal into a tight hug.
"Enough hugging already..."
She said that, but placed her hand on my head. Hard to imagine this was the scary person from our first meeting.
So I asked.
"Then, Senior Spandal. Do you know what a Reality Recognition Device is?"
"Huh? Reality... what? Reality perception disruptor?"
From her natural reaction, I realized.
Spandal didn't know about the Reality Recognition Device.
—Shaaa.
Suddenly, my senses sharpened.
Something was coming.
"Something's coming."
"I felt it too."
Spandal stood, extending long black thorns from her fingertips. Ten of them looked seriously threatening. But the incoming presence was powerful too.
And then.
—Fwoosh.
From the red sky, something fell.
A woman I could never forget.
"Vampire...!"
That vampire bitch!
How long had it been since I last saw her? Seeing the vampire surged murderous rage in me. Then or now, I hated vampires. I wanted to kill this monster right now.
"Grong. Get behind me. That's the vampire? The one that hurt you."
"Yes."
"I'll make her feel the exact pain you went through..."
Her low voice was terrifying.
The vampire approached slowly.
"...I'm not here to fight."
"What?"
"Help me."
Help?