The Flames of Vengeance (Part 1) — 3
Until one hour before our arrival.
Seo Hyejin’s guild had performed superbly. The great zombie march had dwindled to little more than a casual outing, and despite the grueling labor, the guild members of Hope’s Wings looked at one another with genuine pride, ready to celebrate their hard-won victory.
The problem was the black cloud of bats that had been approaching Yeouido. By now it had swollen so thick it blotted out even the sunlight, wrapping the entire island in darkness. Overlooking that fact proved to be a catastrophic mistake.
“B-bats! A swarm of bats is coming!”
A few survivors with keen-eyed classes spotted the mass of creatures streaming in from Gangbuk. They were flying straight for Seo Hyejin’s guild. Instantly sensing the scale of the crisis, Hyejin ordered a rapid retreat from the bridge.
“Lights! Turn on every light! All of them—leave nothing dark!”
She barked the command to her guild members and the territory’s residents. Even the butler, who normally obeyed only his own lord’s orders with stubborn rigidity, recognized the danger and silently allowed it.
Countless lights flared to life. The massive floodlights that had once belonged to the National Assembly Building—powerful enough to pierce the clouds—blazed at full strength.
The bats’ advance faltered; some even turned back. The residents of the territory cheered. So that was why they had kept Gangbuk shrouded in darkness—because the creatures were weak against light.
“How pitiful, these little tricks of yours, blood bags.”
A low, sinister voice slid into the ears of the people who had just begun to relax. In an instant many bodies locked up. A single bat landed among them.
In the blink of an eye the bat transformed into a human figure clad in luxurious attire. Pale skin, a face that was almost human yet unmistakably alien—the Vampire Lord had descended upon Yeouido.
“I will praise you for discovering our weakness. But something so trivial will never stop us. I declare it here and now: no matter what you blood bags attempt, there exists no means of wounding this body. No magic, no weapon will—”
Seo Hyejin had no intention of listening to any more of that nonsense.
She discreetly extended a hand to the nearest alchemist-class guild member, who slipped her a small explosive potion. Without the slightest hesitation she hurled it at the Vampire Lord.
BOOM! Flames roared upward.
Success… she thought for a split second—then her eyes flew wide. Neither the explosion nor the fire had so much as touched the hem of the Vampire Lord’s coat.
“I was about to teach you that such petty tricks cannot harm me… yet you remain insolent. You little wench over there…!”
Whoosh!
At terrifying speed the Vampire Lord closed the distance to Seo Hyejin.
CRUNCH!
“Ugh, ah…!”
“Nngh…!?”
There was no time even to scream. His fangs did not sink into her neck.
Seo Hyejin’s survival instinct flared in that instant. Knowing a bite to the throat would be fatal, she flung her left arm up to shield her own neck. The Vampire Lord simply sank his fangs into her slender wrist instead.
She groaned in pain, yet she could endure it. The real problem was something else entirely: it did not feel as though blood was being drained. Something was seeping into her body through the bite wound.
“Ah… aah…!”
While Seo Hyejin froze in agony and shock, no one else even tried to react. The Vampire Lord’s otherworldly speed had left them rooted to the spot—her own guild members included.
“Y-you bastard! Get off her right now!!”
Amazingly, the one who stepped forward was a woman who had already suffered once at the Vampire Lord’s hands. Jung Yun appeared, both arms full of something.
Garlic. Peeled garlic cloves she had stockpiled from a department store. Screaming, she flung the entire armful at the Vampire Lord. It was a counterattack born of every vampire-repelling substance she could recall—crosses, garlic, silver, running water, sunlight.
“Ghk…! That blasphemous filth… I thought I recognized you. So you are the bitch who dared flee my favor!”
To everyone’s surprise, the garlic worked remarkably well. The Vampire Lord tore his fangs free of Seo Hyejin and retreated, leaving one final warning.
“I shall withdraw for now. You blood bags will be able to do nothing but watch helplessly as your comrade transforms. When that man returns, deliver this message: if you continue to resist, I will make you thrash about in powerless despair…!”
For a declaration of war, it was a rather pathetic exit.
Of course, the aftermath he left behind was anything but pathetic.
“Ugh… uwaaaagh…!”
“Hyejin unnie! What’s wrong?!”
“Hurry, move her!”
Seo Hyejin writhed and moaned, unable to support herself; the others had no choice but to half-carry her away. Even then she clung to consciousness long enough to order her own isolation before finally collapsing.
And now…
“You placed her under isolation in this room?”
“Y-yes, Lord Jeong Hoon!”
I stood with my companions before the door of the room where Seo Hyejin had been quarantined. It was one of the unused chambers in my castle. With so many rooms, quite a few had never been assigned a purpose and simply sat empty—this one would have made a perfect lounge.
“Butler.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“What is Seo Hyejin’s condition? What exactly did the Vampire Lord do to her?”
“…My apologies, Your Excellency. It would be better to ask someone else.”
“You do not know?”
“No.”
Haa… this is driving me insane.
Judging by the last words that bat bastard left behind, this was no ordinary disease. “Transform,” “watch helplessly”—none of that sounded good.
Fucking piece of shit. Of all times, he had to strike while I was gone! A coward who only dares ambush when I’m not around…! He strutted in so full of himself and then ran off after getting pelted with garlic…!
And of all people, he had to go after Seo Hyejin…!
My fists clenched so hard they trembled. Rage flooded every vein in my body—rage so fierce that even Lawful Good could not suppress it.
No… this fury was something Lawful Good itself seemed to share down to the bone.
“Jeong Hoon-ssi…”
Kim Seyeon called my name from beside me, voice thick with worry. A glance around showed every face equally grim. Han Sora and Park Seeun, who had known Seo Hyejin since Gyeonggi-do, looked especially dark.
Hoo… right. Calm down. This is not the time to vent my rage at that filthy bat. I have to find a way—any way—to save her. No, to cure her. But…
‘Once you leave this dungeon, something will happen to someone precious to you. I guarantee it.’
Why the hell did that damn merchant’s words have to surface in my mind right now?
“Butler, you said earlier it would be better to ask someone else. Is there anyone in our territory who might know such information?”
“….”
The butler fell silent. No—he looked as though he were weighing something carefully.
“…If my guess is correct, Hermit should know.”
“Hermit?”
The one who runs the Thief Guild?
“Yes. Because Hermit’s original role is accepting various quests… she therefore possesses a certain amount of knowledge regarding monsters and methods of curing incurable diseases. I cannot guarantee it, but… it would be best to ask her directly.”
“Understood. I shall go.”
I did not hesitate. After telling the others to wait, I descended alone into the castle basement.
Creeeak…!
I stormed into the Thief Guild like a tempest. Hermit was seated in her usual place, as always.
“Hermit.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
She showed not the slightest surprise at my sudden entrance. Instead her expression was unusually hard. I could even sense a trace of tension.
“The butler recommended you. He said you would possess knowledge of monsters and methods of curing incurable diseases.”
“….”
“My comrade, Seo Hyejin, who led the Hope’s Wings guild, was bitten by the Vampire Lord and now lies between life and death. She requested isolation, but… do you know what affliction this is? And if you do, what is the cure…?”
“….”
Oh, for fuck’s sake! Why is she clamming up too?!
Don’t just sit there making people nervous—say something already!
“Answer me, Hermit.”
“…A Vampire Lord sinks his fangs into another for two usual reasons. The first is bloodsucking—to restore stamina and replenish depleted blood. The second… is to turn the bitten person into his thrall.”
“Thrall…?”
Something cold settled in my gut. Thrall… does that mean…
He intends to transform Seo Hyejin into a vampire of his own kind?
“Yes, a thrall. However… the chance of someone bitten by a vampire actually becoming a vampire is almost miraculous—vanishingly rare. In most cases, the bitten person becomes… neither living nor dead, their reason erased, existing only to obey the Vampire Lord’s commands. Some call such beings ghouls.”
Ghouls…?
That means she would become something no different from a zombie!
“And the cure…?”
But… there might still be hope.
She has not fully transformed yet! Her reason remains; she is only suffering!
Above all, this is not some absurd apocalyptic phenomenon that turns ninety percent of the world’s population into zombies. It is a status ailment created by the Vampire Lord. And she was bitten on the wrist, not the neck. That alone should have slowed the progression.
Therefore a cure must exist, and we still have some time left.
So…!
“….”
“Answer me, Hermit!”
Why is she being so tight-lipped today of all days?! I’m in a fucking hurry here! I need the treatment method as soon as possible!
We have clerics and plenty of alchemists in the territory—if I just learn the method, we can figure something out—
“Your Excellency…”
Still without giving a proper answer, Hermit looked at me with pitying eyes.
What the hell is that look for?! Just spit out the information already!
“Your Excellency… that woman, Seo Hyejin—”
…
……
………………
I… simply could not…
accept that cruel truth as it was.
Bang!
Creeeak…!
“Haa… haa… W-who… is it…?”
“….”
“It’s me. Jeong Hoon.”
“Ah… aah…”
“So it was you… Lord Jeong Hoon… no…”
“There are no other eyes watching… haa… so… hup…! Just… call me Jeong Hoon-ssi… is that all right? Hoo….”
“….”
“I’ll take silence… haa… as agreement… haa… haa…”
“…I have heard the circumstances.”
“Of course… you would have… haa… haa… haha…”
“….”
“Haha… hahaha… hahahaha…! Haa, haa… I’m sorry. Haa… I must have seemed… strange, right? Suddenly… haa… bursting into laughter like that… haa… Ever since that damn bat… haa… bit me, I’ve been… feeling off… haa… haa…!”
“….”
“I know… haa… I know perfectly well how reckless… haa… I was, charging in so confidently only to end up… haa… on the brink of death… haa… I know exactly how foolish that resolve was… haa…”
“….”
“But… but you know…! I really… feel like I’m going crazy. It’s so unfair… Why… why do we… why do we have to suffer… haa… like this? Why all of a sudden… haa…! Overnight… like a bolt from the blue, forced to face… monsters that make no sense…! Forced to live every single day… haa… in terror… haa…!”
“….”
“Haa… haa… Sorry. I got… a little too heated… haa… Whatever that fucking… vampire did… haa… it seems to have an effect that… intensifies my emotions… haa…”
“Miss Seo Hyejin… that is…”
“…Don’t… haa… say it…!”
“….”
“I know. I… I know too. Because… I can see it. My own… haa… skin… haa… changing…! The urge… hng… rising up…! That urge… that surging emotion…! The urge to tear, to kill, to rip everything apart…!”
“I’m sorry. Earlier… haa…! I actually lied. When I asked why we… had to suffer like this… right? That was… haa… a lie. The truth is… the truth is…!”
“Why… why… why only me… why only I have to… haa… suffer this… why only I have been forced into… haa…! this horrible fate…! Haa… That’s what I really wanted to… complain about. Haa… haa… hahaha… hahahahaha… hahahahaha… cough…! Haa…!”
“…I am sorry, Miss Seo Hyejin.”
“Hoo… hoo… It’s all right. Because you… haa… because you came… haa… So… what did they say? Haa… those… haa… rude creatures who claim to follow only their own master… haa…!”
“….”
“….”
“……I am sorry, Miss Seo Hyejin.”
“…Haa…!”
“I see. Haa… haa… hahaha…!”
“So in the end… this is my fate… haa… isn’t it… hahaha… cough…!”
“I struggled… and struggled again… haa… but in the end… in the end…!”
“To become a hideous monster… haa… and die by my comrades’ hands… that is… haa… my fate… haa…!”
“Haa… haa… hng… khhk…!”
“….”
“If only… hup…! Back then… haa…!”
“When the orcs had captured me… and I was one step from being gang-raped… haa… back then… haa…!”
“If I had been violated… haa… and killed by their hands… haa… would I have felt less… resentment?”
“Haa… On the school rooftop… surrounded by skeletons… haa… if my flesh had been carved away… haa… would I have felt less resentment? Or…”
“Or… haa…!”
“If I had never met you… haa… would I have felt less… resentment, Jeong Hoon-ssi? Haa…!”
“….”
“There is nothing I can do for you… I am sorry, Miss Seo Hyejin.”
“…Hoo… hoo…!”
“Don’t… apologize… never… hoo…!”
“You… you of all people… because of my greed… hng…!”
“Because of my greed… you must never… khup… apologize to me…!”
“Even if… even if I get heated… khhk! Even if I resent everything… feel wronged and sad… and hate the whole world… haa…!”
“You… haa… under the pretext of doing it for my sake… haa…!”
“Must never… apologize to me…!”
“Because… hoo… hoo… hng…!”
“You… khup! Are the only person…!”
“Who can… save… the world…! Haa… haa… haak… kahak!”
“…Miss Seo Hyejin…!”
“Kahak…! Hng! Haa… haa… End it. Haa… haa… Jeong Hoon-ssi…!”
“What…?”
“With your own hands… hng! This life you once saved… with your own hands… haa… haat…! End it… kahak…!”
“Before I… before I turn into… a hideous monster that is no longer me… khak! Please…!”
“I’m begging you… haa… haa…!”
“….”
“…I am sorry, Miss Seo Hyejin.”
“That I forced you to say such words… I am truly, deeply sorry.”
“Khh! Haa… On the way…”
“Please… krup…! Kahat…! Call me gently…”
“….”
“Rest easy, Hyejin.”
“Krup! Haa… Thank… you…!”
…
Thud!
'Jeong Hoon' has slain 'Seo Hyejin' by stabbing her with a sword in Yeouido, former Republic of Korea!