Righteous Theft (4)
“N…… Ugh!”
Ju Kang-rim tried to complete his third Lion's Soul Revival, but he couldn't withstand Muska's mad thrashing and tumbled away. The wounds and fatigue piling up on his body were far from minor.
As he fell, Netty's phone slipped from Ju Kang-rim's body. Berjnak's eyes sharpened.
Judging that the phone was up to some trick, Berjnak immediately raised his gun and unloaded a barrage at it.
“No!”
Bang bang bang.
Ju Kang-rim's cry rang out in vain as Netty's sole backup phone shattered and vanished.
Gritting his teeth, Ju Kang-rim charged at Berjnak. Berjnak tossed aside his empty gun and braced for close combat.
But only then did he remember he'd left his old standby weapon from his active days—the Blood Stiletto—with Shira Vito.
“Damn it.”
Berjnak hastily raised his hand to block the Saingeom.
Slash.
His arm was sliced open long, and blood spurted out. The enhanced Saingeom sent low-voltage electricity coursing through, stimulating Berjnak's nervous system.
Clenching his teeth, Berjnak swung his remaining fist at Ju Kang-rim.
Even without a special weapon, Berjnak was a taster of the Vito family immortals. Retired or not, his combat prowess hadn't dulled noticeably.
Thud, thud thud.
Berjnak quickly conjured a military dagger in his hand and unleashed a flurry of attacks on Ju Kang-rim.
Ju Kang-rim couldn't afford to let his guard down against Berjnak's relentless assault, which feared no wounds.
But fearing no wounds also meant vulnerability to Lion's Soul Revival.
“Jama……”
The moment Ju Kang-rim attempted Lion's Soul Revival, Berjnak—already sensing it—swung his fist.
Ju Kang-rim sliced Berjnak's arm with the Saingeom, but Berjnak ignored it, shoving his severed wrist into Ju Kang-rim's mouth and striking him.
Caught off guard with blood filling his mouth, Ju Kang-rim staggered. Berjnak moved nimbly.
He rushed straight to Muska, who still stood dazed.
Crunch.
His hand sharpened as it pierced the gap between Muska's cervical vertebrae and skull with surgical precision.
Berjnak rummaged inside the skull like a surgeon, extracting the writhing red mass.
With it removed, Muska stopped moving entirely.
Ju Kang-rim realized what the red mass was. The same as what had remained in Murjick.
The Vito family's essence.
“You bastard! Trying to run?!”
Berjnak glared coldly at Ju Kang-rim and turned to flee.
Now Ju Kang-rim was the desperate one.
“You dog! Come at me! Don't run—fight me!”
Letting them escape after all this would mean three sleepless nights.
But Berjnak ignored him and leaped out the window.
Flap. His body transformed into a massive bat, clutching Muska's essence as it took flight.
“You son of a……”
Ju Kang-rim charged in rage but clutched his side and staggered, collapsing.
One of Berjnak's bullets must have hit a bad spot.
Grim reapers weren't fatally wounded by ordinary weapons, but Ju Kang-rim was a living human. A hit to a complex organ would paralyze it for a while.
Something like the liver or spleen could sideline him for hours.
“Hey! Don't go! You cowardly shits! You think I'm weak just 'cause I'm hurt?!”
Berjnak saw even that as a feint and kept fleeing.
Ju Kang-rim reached for the blunderbuss, then remembered he'd dropped it after Berjnak shot him.
“Jama el Mahomet!”
Ju Kang-rim tried Lion's Soul Revival once more. They were at a decent distance now, but the bat's sensitive ears still caught his voice.
Berjnak felt agony ripping through his body.
It wasn't enough for full success, but the dizzying pain kept him from flying further.
Is this the pain you endured, Muska? No, probably worse.
Berjnak gritted his teeth and flapped his wings hard.
Just before crashing, he tore into the air again, jamming his talons into his own ears.
With his eardrums ruptured, his senses reeled, but Ju Kang-rim's voice no longer reached him.
Convinced of success, Berjnak poured more power into his wings. Getting back with Muska came first.
Recovery would take time, but he could consult Shira. He had to warn everyone that this opponent was unlike any before.
I need to tell Shira Vito. Only Shira can deal with him……
Then, a sharp thunk and a piercing sensation tore through his back.
Ttakkachi's dagger-like talons were ripping into Berjnak's back. A sharp beak soon pierced his eye.
***
After the tasters left, Shira Vito's mind wouldn't settle.
No matter how he thought about it, this crisis erupting so soon after meeting Ju Kang-rim felt off.
Why? I only warned him.
Shira had been frank about the Arlberg Hotel's defenses. Of course, he hadn't revealed vulnerabilities.
It was just to scare him off from reckless moves. No army short of an invasion force could breach the Arlberg.
Ju Kang-rim hadn't been stupid, but that very day, disaster struck.
Why no word from Berjnak? He was supposed to contact me right after moving the tasters to Anga.
Dawn was nearing. But unease kept Shira pacing by the window.
Then something entered his view: a shadow flying unsteadily, precariously.
Spotting it, Shira recognized it and flung open the window, leaping out.
Whoosh. A tendril of darkness stretched, aiding his glide.
Shira closed in on the faltering shadow and snatched it midair.
“Berjnak!”
It couldn't even hold a proper bat form—total ruin—but it was definitely Berjnak. He'd barely escaped a brutal beating.
Shira landed on the grass, cradling Berjnak.
“Berjnak! What happened?! Who did this?!”
Berjnak struggled to revert from bat form. But blood loss kept his body from materializing properly.
Frustrated, Shira moved to bite his own wrist and share blood—when Berjnak seized it.
“……The grid…… knows……”
His voice was a fading rasp. But his words kept breaking off.
“Other tasters…… help…… Shar, too…… Renashu.”
“I'll get blood. Talk after you recover.”
“No…… memory damage…… any later……”
Berjnak feared delayed response from blood loss-induced memory impairment and slowed regeneration. The other tasters might be in danger too—help them.
Shira's gut twisted as he replied.
“You need to recover. What then?”
Berjnak barely moved a finger, pointing to Muska and himself.
Pondering, Shira's face paled in shock.
“……Eat us?”
Berjnak was telling Shira to consume him and Muska.
Essence wasn't self-made; it formed only from blood directly given by the Vito siblings.
Devouring it didn't just boost power—it assimilated the target's experience and knowledge.
Thus, rapid strengthening and status elevation.
Drinking blood was forgivable, but consuming immortality's proof—essence—was utterly taboo.
Only the granters of immortality, the Vito siblings, could harvest it.
A common clansman doing so faced instant execution.
The Vito family's long history had rare exceptions, but maybe once or twice a century.
The Vito siblings could detect a single drop's origin by scent alone—no lies possible.
“What are you saying? This is the Arlberg Hotel! Just take blood and heal……”
“This foe…… different from before…… You must help, Shira……”
Absorbing veteran Berjnak and elite taster Muska's power would skyrocket Shira's strength—beyond his assassin prime.
As Basha Vito's direct blood heir, the effect would be amplified.
Berjnak hoped Shira would protect the tasters. In this emergency with unknown assailants, a wounded pair in the hotel was worse than Basha Vito's formidable foster daughter leading them.
“I……”
“……Contact…… Master.”
As Shira hesitated, Berjnak extended a frail arm, stroking his face.
Leaving a long blood trail, the hand reached Shira's mouth.
Berjnak wedged his finger between Shira's front teeth and whispered.
“Avenge.”
Shira bit down. Blood gushed.
He buried his face in the fallen Berjnak's neck.
Like a beast devouring forbidden red fruit, Shira chewed and swallowed every scrap of Berjnak and Muska's essence.
By dawn, nothing remained but crimson stains.
Bloody and dazed, Shira stared at his hands.
His short hair had grown to the floor; his stature had surged.
But growth wasn't just physical. His eyes darted wildly, then fixed.
Berjnak's memory etched one man deep: black ironclad helm, lightning-crackling sword at his side.
“It's you, my nemesis.”
Shira whispered hoarsely.
***
Dragging his weary body back to the Samdo Renaissance Hotel, Ju Kang-rim got treatment immediately.
Yoo Wol-ryeong, en route to Yongsan, turned back.
Thanks to Han Min-ah's healing, his wounds mended slowly—but the delay itself grated.
After sending Han Min-ah away to talk with Yoo Wol-ryeong, Ju Kang-rim griped.
“Was that bullet blessed by a holy destroyer or some shit? An AK-47 from God himself?”
“Not quite. The warhead's special. Zombie plague residue. Simple fix, but it gnaws at the soul—slows healing.”
Yoo Wol-ryeong muttered, eyeing the bullet Han Min-ah extracted.
“Processing like this? Vito family sure handles zombies well. Shine Sand started with them, and these special rounds too.”
“Did they induce the gates on purpose?”
“Not impossible.”
Ju Kang-rim pondered the Vito siblings and Gerald.
Gerald was immortal but fought zombies desperately for humanity.
The Vitos? Using them for personal gain now.
Incompatible.
But in my past life, the Vitos ended up with Gerald. Even sacrificing their families to side with humans. Why?
He needed to check what changed their hearts midstream.
But first, something else.
“This the cyber phantom thief?”
“Gave it the name Netty.”
Ju Kang-rim recounted Yongsan: Kangryeong Daegun's digital market crypto mine, the ghost possessing it, the boy's corpse.
All for naught—Netty's backup smashed, Vito tasters escaped.
Ttakkachi struck their rear, but Berjnak desperately detached his body with scant blood, fleeing as a bat.
“All that for a busted phone.”
Ju Kang-rim muttered dejectedly.
But Yoo Wol-ryeong shook her head.
“No. The cyber phantom thief didn't die. Not sure 'die' even applies……”
“Huh?”
“It's not a ghost, human, or immortal. A dokkaebi. Kangryeong Daegun wanted to make one.”