Chapter 526: Bloody Requiem (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 526: Bloody Requiem (1)
It was another day like any other, helping the volunteer group run the relief center.
The tasks for me and the other members of the Raid Team, who had no healing abilities, were obvious.
“We’re going to need more disinfectant.”
“Yes, I’ll bring some right away.”
Things like finding and retrieving supplies we were short on.
“Aaargh! It hurts so much!”
“Brother! Please hold this patient down tight!”
“Ah, yes.”
Or things like holding down patients writhing in pain.
In short, we were responsible for all the manual labor.
However, there was one person who was proving to be more helpful than most of the priests in the volunteer group.
“Just wait a moment, dear. I’ll have you all better in a jiffy.”
And that person was Ju-yeon.
Though her talents were better suited for a buffer than a healer, her healing abilities were also outstanding.
To be precise, it felt more like she was overwhelming injuries with the sheer volume of mana an S-rank Hunter possesses.
“Are you perhaps the Saintess?”
“Oh my, no.”
Ju-yeon, who was working while receiving such high praise, couldn't keep the smile off her face.
“Ah… you’re so beautiful, I was sure you were the Saintess.”
“Hehe.”
But why did she keep glancing at me every time someone called her beautiful?
Her gaze seemed to say, ‘This is the kind of person I am, Brother-in-law,’ as if she were boasting.
“Ah.”
I get it.
She’s telling me to treat her well while I have her, because she’s such a catch.
“She’s really something.”
I already satisfy her day and night. What more does she want me to do?
I was shaking my head with a bitter smile when it happened.
“Hey, Mr. Kim. Stop spacing out and move the supplies.”
A sharp warning flew from Foreman Shin Yu-jeong.
Time to get back to work.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Evening came, and the sun set.
The people who had visited the relief center drained away like the tide, and we were in the middle of cleaning up.
“Excuse me.”
From across the dark street, a familiar face walked toward the relief center, announcing his presence.
The visitor was Viktor Vadim.
And he wore a deeply troubled expression.
The people around me hesitated at the sudden appearance of the president.
Left with no choice, I stepped forward.
“Welcome, Mr. President. What brings you here so late at night…?”
“My apologies for the late hour, Priest. I know this is an imposition, but may I see Commander Michael for a moment?”
His voice, though rushed, was perfectly clear as it echoed through the relief center.
Hearing this, Michael emerged from the back of the center.
“What brings you here at this hour? Is there an urgent patient?”
Viktor Vadim shook his head at the question.
“Not a patient, no. But something has come up that requires your urgent assistance, and I have come at this late hour, despite the discourtesy.”
“Assistance?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, his face grim.
“It seems a problem has arisen with the Blood Sanctuary.”
“……!”
A palpable shockwave swept through the relief center.
*
Early the next morning.
The volunteer group and the Raid Team boarded a bus, left Brasov, and sped down a rough road.
Viktor Vadim, who had visited last night, had explained that a problem had occurred at the Blood Sanctuary and asked for their help.
So, what was this problem they spoke of?
—“The soldiers patrolling the area around the Blood Sanctuary have all lost contact?”
—“That is correct.”
The red barrier surrounding the Blood Sanctuary is truly selfish.
It prevents entry from the outside, but allows free passage from the inside out.
In other words, the vampires in the Blood Sanctuary could leave whenever they pleased.
For this reason, Viktor Vadim had ordered his limited forces to continuously patrol the vicinity of the Blood Sanctuary.
Vampires were B+ to A-rank monsters.
The patrols were to prevent the horrific tragedy that would unfold the moment they emerged.
Whether due to these efforts or for some other reason, the vampires had not once stepped outside since secluding their territory with the red barrier.
But four days ago, a problem had arisen during their usually smooth patrols.
Contact with the dawn patrol was suddenly lost.
The problem didn't end there.
Other soldiers sent to find them also lost contact one after another.
The number of missing soldiers had reached twenty.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Viktor Vadim had immediately sought out the volunteer group, considering the worst-case scenario that the vampires had emerged.
This was because priests, who wielded divine power—the power of the gods—were the natural enemies of vampires.
That was why.
Why they were leaving the capital in the early dawn and heading for the Blood Sanctuary.
Inside the speeding bus, Kim Do-jin stared blankly out the window, lost in thought.
“Vampires…”
Having been a Hunter for over twenty years, he had, of course, faced vampires before.
Dungeons with vampires were rare in South Korea, so he’d only fought them a few times, but the memory was vivid.
“Haa… they were a real pain in the ass.”
They were monsters with extremely tricky abilities.
They could turn into bats, or even mist, becoming immune to physical attacks.
And that wasn't all.
Being vampires, they were naturally good at sucking blood, and they used that blood to cast all sorts of bizarre magic.
What’s more, while it varied by individual, some of them were skilled in martial arts or swordsmanship.
Because of this, dungeons with vampires were always unpopular.
The rewards were decent, but the dungeons were so notoriously difficult to clear that people avoided them anyway.
‘This could be a tough fight.’
As he was calmly steeling himself with that thought, someone shouted.
“L-look! Up ahead!”
One of the priests sitting at the front pointed forward with an urgent voice.
I quickly shifted my gaze and saw a red barrier soaring endlessly into the sky.
And vampires, flapping their massive bat wings as they flew through the air.
*
The red barrier reeked of thick blood.
Vampires flew from beyond it, chasing after soldiers.
Into this scene of pandemonium, the volunteer group and the Raid Team charged forward.
“This way!”
The priests immediately cast a Divine Shield, pulling the soldiers inside.
Meanwhile, the members of the Raid Team, who had already shot ahead, clashed with the vampires.
“You bat bastards!”
“How dare you, you lowly blood bags…!”
“Shut up, you mosquito bastard!”
Anyone listening would think it was a fight between humans.
That’s one of the reasons vampires are so tricky to fight.
They can talk.
I have no idea why their words are automatically translated, but it’s incredibly annoying.
“Ugh… w-wait a minute!”
“W-what is it?”
“I-I was wrong. I’ll go back inside the Sanctuary, so please just spare my life!”
“Huh? What are you suddenly…?”
Look at that.
A monster, on its knees, begging for its life.
And one of the Raid Team members, flustered by it, is about to lose the upper hand he’d already secured.
It seems he’s never fought a vampire before.
As he hesitated for a moment, the vampire bared its fangs and lunged.
“It’s a feint, you moron!”
“Kugh…?!”
I knew it.
I immediately fired a fireball, striking the vampire square in the back as it bit into the team member’s neck.
BOOM!
“Kiaaaak!”
The creature shrieked in pain and shot up into the sky.
I approached the team member who had narrowly escaped becoming a blood bag and gave him a warning.
“Never hesitate. If you get bitten again, you’ll really die.”
“Ugh… thank you.”
Hesitate and you die.
It’s common sense when fighting monsters… no, it’s something even more basic than common sense.
Even knowing that, about twenty to thirty percent of those who face vampires for the first time find themselves faltering at their pleas.
Is it because they’re stupid?
Well, I can’t say that’s completely untrue, but… the biggest reason is their appearance.
Aside from the sharp fangs perfect for sucking blood and their pale skin, they look no different from humans.
Very handsome ones, at that.
You know what they say.
A pretty face is a plot device in itself.
In fact, male Hunters were often taken down by female vampires, and female Hunters by male vampires.
And one more thing.
“Ugh… please, spare me! I’ll go back inside the Sanctuary and never show myself again!”
Their acting skills are no joke.
You’d think they all graduated from the Department of Theater and Film at Vampire Castle University.
A handsome, human-like appearance combined with superb acting skills.
These two things momentarily disrupt the minds of those who see them for the first time.
And vampires are cunning enough to never miss that timing.
But that’s only for beginners.
“Are you really sorry?”
“Y-yes, I am.”
“If you’re sorry, then you should die.”
BOOM!
“Keok…!”
It doesn’t work on a veteran like me.
“You heartless…!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I nodded at the creature dying as it spouted nonsense.
It wasn’t wrong.
My blood and tears had dried up a long time ago.
After making one vampire a good boy, I looked up at the sky.
“Whew… there are more of them than I thought.”
I haven’t counted properly, so it’s not exact, but there are about fifty of them left.
Considering each one is at least B to A-rank in power, that’s quite a formidable force.
But there was no chance of defeat.
The people gathered here were the elite of the elite.
“Kuaargh!”
“Damn it…!”
“How does a mere blood bag have such power!”
In fact, the tide of battle was turning heavily in our favor.
Just as I thought it would all be cleaned up soon and was about to move, a voice rang out.
“Everyone, stop.”
From behind the battlefield, a polite yet chilling voice stopped my movement, and everyone else’s.
I turned around to a truly astonishing scene.
The very soldiers who had been chased by vampires and barely survived by entering the shield were now holding knives to the necks of the priests who had saved their lives.
The one at the very front threw off his rusty military helmet and continued.
“Move one step, and all the priests die.”
A familiar face.
The man, staring straight at me out of all the people here, twisted his lips into a smirk.
“This time, it’s your turn to be buried.”
…I hate that. It’s too stuffy.