The Last Journey of the Vampire Killer
As the bats that had dominated the sky vanished, drones bearing the logos of various broadcasting stations took their place. Thanks to this, the interior of the stadium began to be broadcast live across the nation. Because it was a terror incident of unprecedented scale, people's attention was riveted, and the reactions were just as heated.
Cheon Yooshin, who had captured everyone's attention at once, was indeed looking up at the sky, just as they said. Countless souls were visible to his eyes, which had activated the Ghost Eye. Some souls emitted a pure white light and floated quietly. A sense of peace could be felt from their appearance. It must have been their final journey before leaving this world, as the 49 days had not yet passed.
On the other hand, some souls had a faint gray hue, and there were even souls of a completely dark shade. They were souls that were becoming evil spirits, or had already become them. Yooshin knew the fact that souls usually linger around the person they were most attached to while alive. If that weren't the case, Yooshin wouldn't have even tried. Even for Yooshin, it would have been impossible to find souls located elsewhere.
Yooshin heightened his concentration. Bae Seong-woo's breath would stop soon. He shouted, his voice imbued with Magi.
"Chae Yu-seon, Bae Jin-ah!"
However, the souls didn't budge. 'Are they not here?' He shouted once more.
"Chae Yu-seon, Bae Jin-ah!"
That was when it happened. A woman holding a child's hand flinched and turned back toward this place. Looking at the child, she had a face similar to Bae Seong-woo's at a glance.
"There they are."
Yooshin's fingers moved slowly toward the void. His Magi stretched out like invisible threads and wrapped around them. Then, they began to descend slowly from the air. They were in an intermediate stage, gradually darkening from a faint gray to black. They were accumulating Sagi.
'They'll turn into evil spirits soon.'
Souls that died unjustly couldn't leave this world and ended up becoming evil spirits like that. They were struggling to escape his Magi, but it was useless. His Magi would never be undone. Yooshin turned his gaze to Bae Seong-woo.
"You won't believe it, but your family is right in front of you."
At Yooshin's words, Bae Seong-woo's eyes widened. His eyes, which had been dying just a moment ago, found strength. It was the moment he gained his final strength before death. It was Hoegwangbanjo (the final flare of life).
"W-what!"
Of course, he wouldn't believe it. His family who died suddenly was in front of him. It wouldn't be strange to call him a con artist. However.
Yooshin infused Magi into their souls. Then, the souls began to become clearer. Now, it started to become visible not only to himself, who had activated the Ghost Eye, but also to the eyes of the people.
"Gasp!"
"G-ghosts?"
The vampires were surprised.
"Oh! My God! So souls really exist?"
Yoon Hye-won shouted in a voice filled with astonishment. Baek Woo-hyun, whose pupils were shaking, swallowed hard. The existence of souls had never been proven even once. People had only believed that souls existed. However, those things in front of Yooshin were clearly souls. If they were human, they couldn't have such a translucent form.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on Yooshin and the souls in front of him.
"I-is it really you? J-Jina!"
Bae Seong-woo's tear-filled voice rang through the air. His voice was mixed with the surprise of meeting his family again and a long-standing longing. It felt as if time had stopped. Even the vampires who had been making a fuss just a moment ago, and the Hunter Management Department members filled with astonishment, all held their breath.
「Honey...」
Chae Yu-seon's faint voice was heard. Her appearance was blurry, but her gaze was as warm as it had been while she was alive.
「Dad!」
Following that, the voice of his daughter, Bae Jin-ah, whom he loved dearly, continued. Ah... Tears poured down from Bae Seong-woo's eyes without restraint. He reached out with trembling hands to touch them, but his hands only cut through the air in vain.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I should have died instead."
Bae Seong-woo sobbed, his nose running like a child's. His crying filled the desolate space. Yooshin pretended not to see the scene, keeping his hands behind his back and looking at the sky.
'Geez. It's a hell of a red-letter day.'
「It's okay, honey.」
Chae Yu-seon's soft voice rang out. 「You did your best. We watched it all. Rather, we're sorry. Honey.」
「Hehehe. Dad! Why are you crying?! We're okay! I can even fly in the sky!」
Bae Seong-woo stopped sobbing and raised his head. "Why... why are you sorry? I... I couldn't protect you and Jina..."
At his question, Chae Yu-seon's pupils shook. Yooshin sighed and interrupted their conversation.
"Your family is currently turning into evil spirits."
At Yooshin's words, his eyes trembled violently as if he had been shocked. "W-why, why!"
"Can't you tell? It's all because of you."
"Because of me?"
"Look at what you've done. You killed hunters and turned innocent people into vampires. Just because of your desire for revenge. So, could your family leave this world with peace of mind?"
"Ah..."
Tears flowed down from Bae Seong-woo's eyes again. This time, tears of self-reproach and regret. Then, suddenly, Bae Seong-woo began to struggle to lift his body.
"Stay lying down. You'll really die if you do that."
His breath was barely being sustained by Magi. That was how serious his physical state was. If it broke down even a little more, it couldn't be extended even with Magi. However, Bae Seong-woo struggled as if he couldn't feel the pain and finally lifted his body. Then, he knelt not toward his family, but toward Yooshin.
"...What are you doing?"
Yooshin's expression twisted violently.
"I-I was wrong about everything. I will do anything I can. So please... please help my family go to the afterlife."
Bae Seong-woo was begging Yooshin, rubbing his two hands together. His hands were in a grotesque shape due to broken fingers, and blood was flowing from them. But he didn't care. Because pain was the last thing on his mind right now.
"How pitiful..."
At that sight, dew gathered in Yoon Hye-won's eyes. Baek Woo-hyun squeezed his eyes shut.
"B-brother..."
Joo Jowoon looked at the scene with a pitiful expression. Bae Seong-woo's appearance was truly miserable. His powerful image with thousands of vampires under him was nowhere to be found, and now only the image of a man burning his last breath for his family remained.
"..."
Cheon Yooshin, who was looking down at Bae Seong-woo with a strange gaze, muttered.
"Can you really do anything?"
Bae Seong-woo nodded his head violently.
"W-well, there is a way."
"W-what is it?"
"You take on all their karma. Then they can go to the afterlife again. But you will become an evil spirit one hundred percent. If you become an evil spirit, I will kill you. Then you will never be able to reincarnate again. However, if you pretend not to know, you might be able to be reborn. Anyway, your soul would still be a pure white soul that hasn't been tainted. But they are already too late. If time goes on like this, they will become evil spirits. Now. What will you do? Will you take on all their karma?"
Yooshin's whisper was like a devil's whisper. Looking down at him, who was silent for a moment, Yooshin laughed inwardly. As expected, his prediction wasn't wrong. It was the same in the Abyss. People who would do anything to protect what is precious. But when he made the proposal, they...
'They quietly shut their mouths.'
It was always like that. It was the same this time too. Look. That tightly shut mouth.
Laughing with a scoff, as he was about to retrieve the Magi connected to the souls.
"I will do it. I have to take it all on. Of course."
"...What?"
"The karma of my family that arose because of me, I will take it all on. So please, I beg you."
Yooshin looked straight into his eyes.
"Think carefully. You'll become an evil spirit then. You'll wander forever, having lost all the memories you've had until now."
"I don't care. As long as my family can be safe."
"..."
Silence crossed between the two.
"Don't regret it."
Yooshin pulled up his Magi. For a moment, the surrounding air became heavy, and it seemed as if everything had stopped. The black light emitted from the Magi wrapped around Bae Seong-woo's family. Yooshin's eyes flashed.
Then, the black light of the Magi began to extract the gray light that was in the souls of Chae Yu-seon and her daughter.
「Aaaaaah! Dad! It hurts!」
Daughter Bae Jin-ah struggling in pain. Chae Yu-seon was embracing her daughter and enduring the pain. As the gray light was completely extracted, the souls of Bae Jin-ah and Chae Yu-seon began to emit a pure white light. On the other hand, a groan leaked from the mouth of Bae Seong-woo, who had absorbed the gray light as it was. The veins on his face bulged out prominently. His eyes began to darken gradually. Yooshin said to him, who was struggling in pain, in an emotionless voice.
"Since the soul of a living person is being contaminated, the shock will be very great. It will probably be the pain of the soul being split. And you are currently undergoing transformation into an evil spirit."
When a minute had passed, Bae Seong-woo, who had suppressed the pain, looked at his family. Unlike before, the souls of his wife and daughter were clean without a single spot of contamination. Bae Seong-woo smiled faintly at that sight. However, Yooshin's sharp eyes didn't miss the twitching of his lips.
'He's forcing a smile.'
Even in the pain of his soul being torn apart, he was forcing a final smile for his family. Would he be able to do it himself? Yooshin admired it without realizing it. But there was no time.
"Now you have to send the souls away. 49 days have long passed. If they stay longer, they will be contaminated again."
At that moment, a pillar of pure white light descended from between the bright red sky. Bae Seong-woo looked at it with sad eyes for a moment, then turned his gaze to his wife and daughter.
「Honey...」
Chae Yu-seon's eyes were also filled with sadness. "Thank you, and I'm sorry."
「Sorry for what...」
"Please take good care of our daughter. Okay?"
「H-honey...」
「Dad, where are you going?」
Bae Jin-ah, who hadn't fully grasped the situation yet, blinked her eyes. Bae Seong-woo couldn't help but smile at his daughter's bright face.
"Yeah. Dad has some work to do before I go. If you go first, Dad will follow you. Okay?"
「Okay! You have to buy me snacks when you come, Dad! Okay?」
"Of course, of course. Naturally."
The pillar of light slowly wrapped around the souls of Chae Yu-seon and Bae Jin-ah. Soon, the souls of Chae Yu-seon and Bae Jin-ah began to rise slowly into the sky, guided by the pillar of light. Tears flowed down from Bae Seong-woo's eyes as he looked up at them. He reached out desperately to touch them, but his hands only cut through the air in vain. The tears flowing down Chae Yu-seon's face became shining droplets in the air and fell. Daughter Jina noticed something was wrong and called out to her dad desperately.
「Dad! Dad, come with us! I'm scared! Come with us!」
At his daughter's wailing, Bae Seong-woo felt a pain as if his heart was being torn to shreds. But he forced a smile. Because that's what a dad is.
"It's okay. Our Jina. Dad will always be by your and Mom's side. We will definitely meet again."
He squeezed out his last strength and smiled. "I love you, forever."
Like that, the figures of Chae Yu-seon and Bae Jin-ah drifted further and further away. At that moment, Yooshin sighed deeply.
"Damn it, this is why I... haah..."
Then he radiated Magi toward Bae Seong-woo. Magi connected to Bae Seong-woo's entire body like an electric current. Soon, the contaminated Sagi was sucked into Yooshin's body along the Magi. Yooshin twisted his expression violently.
"Follow them quickly."
"...Yes?"
He pointed at his family with a gesture as if he were annoyed.
"Follow your family."
"But I..."
"I've absorbed all the Sagi, so you can go too."
Bae Seong-woo's pupils shook as if there were an earthquake.
"R-really? W-why...!"
"Because if I leave you like this, I'll end up being the bad guy. Look at those people."
Where he pointed, there were people from the Hunter Management Department. And vampires too. All of them were shedding tears one by one.
"So go up quickly. If that pillar disappears, the time zone might get out of sync. Then you might not be able to meet them again."
Actually, I don't know either. I haven't died before. But if you're in the same passage, wouldn't something work out? Bae Seong-woo looked at Yooshin for a moment and bowed his head.
"T-thank you. And I'm sorry."
Yooshin waved his hand dismissively.
"Ah! Geez, I told you to go up quickly."
"I understand. And they will return to normal within a few days once my power is cut off."
"Is that so? That's good to hear."
"Please tell them I'm sorry too..."
Yooshin twisted his expression violently.
"This guy, he's crossing the line. We'll take care of that, so you just worry about your family."
At his blunt words, Bae Seong-woo smiled faintly, and his eyelids slowly closed. The moment his last breath burst out from his lips. Like mist rising, a pure white figure began to separate from his body. Not the scarred Bae Seong-woo, but a clean-looking Bae Seong-woo. It was his soul. At that moment, the pillar of light that had descended from the sky wrapped around Bae Seong-woo's soul, and his body also began to rise slowly into the sky. A peaceful smile spread across his face. His mouth moved, but it couldn't be heard. But Yooshin knew. What he was trying to say. It was, Thank you.