Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Werewolf
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I was carrying Aria on my back as I walked through the alley.
It had been about a dozen minutes since I'd hoisted her up when she started to collapse. Then, a rustling sound came from behind me.
"You're awake?"
There was no reply. I continued speaking.
"Where's your hideout? If it's hard for you to move, I can take you there right now."
Silence stretched on. Seeing Aria's attitude, like she had no will to talk, I let out a quiet sigh.
"If you don't have a suitable place, I can take you to mine."
Just as I started turning toward my basement, Aria finally spoke.
"......Dracula."
"Yes."
"Did you orchestrate this situation?"
I didn't think I'd done anything beforehand that would leave traces.
Was it because I'd shown up at just the right moment during her clash with Lee Gyeo-ul?
Rather than respond to her question about whether I was a traitor, I countered with one of my own.
"Why do you think that?"
"Unlike the other monsters, you grieved when a human died."
"Me...?"
"The day we crossed paths in the alley, it felt like the rain pouring from the sky mirrored your emotions."
I walked on without a word. This time, silence came from my side.
Aria muttered softly, her voice weary.
"Why did you save me......?"
Fatigue laced her weakened voice.
"If you've chosen to betray the Society, then I'm your enemy. I have a duty to report everything to Zero One."
As long as Zero One had eyes that could discern truth from lies.
As long as he held the leash choking her throat, she could never defy him.
I knew that all too well.
"Someday, I'll have to kill you myself for betraying the Society. So my advice is to kill me right here while it's to your advantage. I don't even have the strength to lift a finger now......"
Aria finished with a tone of resignation.
After that, a long silence fell. In the concrete labyrinth tangled like a spider's web, only the sound of my footsteps and the occasional whisper of wind echoed quietly.
The reason I'd saved Aria... the reason I'd saved Aria...
Even now, it felt far removed from logic or reason.
I'd had to risk my life in front of Lee Gyeo-ul, the world's strongest.
Luckily, I'd smoothed things over with Experimental Awake, but with my mask shattered, my identity was already exposed to her. I'd made the worst enemy with my own hands.
I'd probably face her again soon. And next time, I wouldn't escape with luck like this.
Besides, as she said, Aria was Zero One's puppet.
As long as that curse of shackles bound her body, she couldn't defy his orders. And with his truth-seeing demonic eyes, she'd have to spill every truth before him.
If Zero One learned my identity through her, it would truly be game over.
An unimaginably horrific future awaited me.
Aria had the merit of her trait, but it couldn't compare to the nuclear bomb-level risks.
Becoming Noble Blood had made me even more cold-hearted than before.
Whether from the trait's influence, when I looked at others, calculations of gain and loss came before emotions, and hesitation in action had vanished.
Even someone like me, who'd never killed before, had ended the Satyr brothers—two personalities—and felt nothing. That was probably why.
But the human heart hadn't completely vanished.
For this cold vampire, the reason I'd saved Aria despite the irrationality was simple.
I broke the long silence and opened my mouth.
Words are like frozen eyes.
They melt away before reaching the other person, but even so, to let this meaning reach Aria...
I poured my sincerity into it and let it flow to her.
"I don't want that."
"Why?"
"Because I want to protect my heart."
Aria muttered softly, "I don't get the meaning......"
I readjusted her on my back and walked on as I replied.
"If I'd let you die, Aria, I feel like I'd end up standing by and watching even my own death."
"Why?"
I felt Aria's puzzled gaze from behind me.
"Because there aren't many monsters like us—you and me—who look upon human deaths with sad eyes."
"I'm not the good person you think I am......"
I knew Aria wasn't a good person.
I'd witnessed her kill Kim Si-hu with her own hands.
Even so, the reason I viewed her positively was...
"You're the perfect villain, Aria."
And also.
"So am I."
I thought Aria and I resembled each other.
We were desperately struggling in an unavoidable situation, just like reflections.
Even the ruthlessness to devour those around us if cornered.
Vampire and werebeast might not get along, but I felt a sense of kinship with Aria.
"Once I betray the Society too, necessity will force me to end countless lives with my own hands."
The Society was no pushover.
I never thought I could win without spilling blood.
I might commit murders out of necessity like the original protagonist, endlessly agonizing and despairing over it.
I might lose much of what fills me in the fight against them, or perhaps bear the contradiction of mourning deaths with the hands that caused them, just like Aria.
That resolve to bend the story meant accepting such sacrifices.
I spoke bitterly.
"If even as a villain, I accepted your death, I think I'd end up indifferently accepting my own later."
"......"
"Even we half-hearted, contradictory villains like me and you."
I tilted my head back slightly to gaze at the sky.
Unlike the crumbling vista from Experimental Awake, a black canvas swirled with clouds, stars, and a curved moon met my eyes.
"I wanted to affirm for myself that even a monster like me deserves a helping hand when in crisis."
So, saving you was to protect myself.
A defense mechanism to safeguard the heart that will be worn down bending this story ahead.
It seems my blood isn't cold enough yet to live solely on logic and reason.
"I have a way."
I told her what I'd meant to say in that rainy alley.
"A way to break the binding. But it'll be quite dangerous. If Zero One finds out midway, it'll be summary execution for both of us."
"Drac......"
I cut Aria off mid-sentence.
"I'm not saying I'll do it for free. I'll take proper compensation for freeing you from the binding."
"......"
"Of course, the choice is yours, Aria. Right, how about you take a week to think it over slowly?"
I slowly eased Aria off my back. She slid down like a loosened backpack.
Her eyes met mine.
We both held the same red gems.
But Aria's red gem glistened moistly, as if touched by water.
"What if I refuse and side with Zero One...?"
"A famous French painter, Henri Matisse, once said..."
A young painter.
"One must not fear mistakes."
For painting is.
"Life's most absurd adventure and ceaseless exploration, isn't it?"
What's wrong with wandering?
"Every time you wander once, you grow that much!"
I smiled, replying with a refreshing expression. Aria smoothly averted her gaze.
I wonder if my sincerity got through.
If Aria, who harbors resentment toward Zero One, joins in bending the story, she'd be the perfect steadfast ally.
Aria turned her back to me, just like our first meeting.
But her departing footsteps seemed light, as if she'd sprouted wings.
As I turned to head to my basement, my phone buzzed.
I stared at it.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Second evolution condition for trait 'Heat Generation' has been achieved. ──────────────◆ ⚔ STATUS ⚔ Level.1 - Heat Generation (Superpower) A superpower that generates heat. C-Rank, equivalent to a normal Psyker. Output. The barrier field protecting the body also falls under this ability. Evolution Condition: 100 Evolution Points ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Evolution points remaining until trait evolution: 100. Aria's change of heart, 'Fate Bend' - 50 Evolution Points granted. Haena Rolling's survival, 'Fate Bend' - 25 Evolution Points granted. Cheryl Bloomingrose's monster recognition, 'Fate Bend' - 25 Evolution Points granted. Kang Chang-su's monster recognition, 'Fate Bend' - 25 Evolution Points granted. Antonio del Piero's capture, 'Fate Bend' - 25 Evolution Points granted. 50 Evolution Points granted based on survival days. Evolution points for traits 'Hypnotic Eyes' and 'Heat Generation' have been fulfilled. And from now on...... Gazing at the countless system messages, I smirked.
It meant Chapter 1, 'Dimensional Beast Awakening,' had been safely bent.