The Clan of Darkness (3)
A man in a bowler hat and glasses took one last look around the back door of the blood bank.
His appearance matched exactly the description the gang leader had given—his name was Tempest.
Like the vampire that had attacked the Bark family, he was of the Almas class.
When Rian peered from the corner, the man didn't open the door—he simply passed through the wall.
'So he's definitely a vampire.'
After lingering for about a minute, Rian moved slowly and approached the back door.
'This is awkward.'
Rian didn't have a key.
He slipped his hand onto the steel doorknob and subtly increased the strength in his arm.
"Hup."
With a creak, the iron twisted and the door opened.
'Did he hear that?'
Rian eased the door open and checked inside, but there was no sign of anyone.
Relying on instinct honed by experience, he stepped in; the corridor stretched to the far end of the building.
Only some of the crystal lamps were lit, and following the dark hallway he saw a glow in the distance.
'Blood refrigerator.'
He read the sign and peered in: specially treated blood packs were stored there in orderly rows.
When the vampire turned toward the door, Rian hurriedly pressed his back to the wall.
'Don't get spotted.'
Speed alone is not the measure of strength.
'There was no presence.'
Rian's stalking was so slow it didn't even stir the air—an impressive degree of control.
'Not the best yet, though.'
He wasn't satisfied with his own level, but it would be enough to deceive an enemy.
Tempest opened the lid of a metal crate; the blood packs were neatly stacked inside.
After a quick glance, he set a bag beside him and began moving the packs into it one by one.
"What are you up to?"
At last Rian stepped into the doorway; Tempest froze mid-motion.
But he quickly regained his composure and continued without looking back.
"You were the one who interfered with Masquer."
So this was the vampire who had raided the Bark family—the conclusion was clear.
"You're Almas as well?"
"Call me Tempest. I've been around a long while. Of course, most of that time was spent in the dark."
"I don't intend to involve myself in vampire society."
Rian tightened his grip on the Daejikdo behind his back.
"But you can't harm humans. If you surrender peacefully, you won't be treated badly."
"Harm?"
Tempest smiled with his eyes.
"Just as humans eat to live, we crave blood. To put it disgustingly, we're like mosquitoes. Humans kill mosquitoes, and they don't feel guilty about it."
Rian had clashed with countless beliefs crossing the desert.
'Always like this.'
Cases where he could find the absolute answer were rare; the outcome always belonged to the victor.
"I don't want to complicate things. You killed a human, and you'll kill again. I'm arresting you."
"Oh?"
Having packed the blood packs into his bag, Tempest turned.
"I've heard about you. They say you fight like a hunter. But do you know where you are?"
"The blood bank."
"Exactly."
Tempest's pupils constricted vertically.
"How do you intend to capture me?"
He tossed a remaining blood pack at Rian and moved with a speed like teleportation.
Rian's sword sliced the pack and blood sprayed along the blade's arc.
'I won't miss.'
With no one to interfere, even an Almas-class vampire was a step below Rian.
The Daejikdo flashed like lightning and Tempest's left arm was cleanly severed with a slap.
"Uagh!"
Only then did Tempest realize how serious this was.
'What a strange sword.'
This vampire—half-divine, half-spirited—had fifty percent resistance to physical attacks.
But as Masquer had warned, the sword Rian wielded wasn't affected by spectral techniques.
"But—!"
Tempest bit into a blood pack and blood gushed, staining his lips red.
'Powerful regeneration!'
From the severed arm's wound a viscous flow bubbled and, in an instant, his body regenerated.
"I'm invincible here!"
Tempest charged boldly and the interior of the refrigerator room was thrown into chaos.
'Annoying.'
Rian cut Tempest multiple times, but the body that had drunk blood simply wouldn't be destroyed.
'Damn it! Is he even human?'
Conversely, Tempest also felt Masquer's words in his own body—that Rian wasn't entirely human.
'I should retreat for now.'
As Tempest's form dissolved into black smoke and was drawn toward the door, Rian seized the moment.
'Now!'
Using the power of Axing, Rian dashed forward and drove the Daejikdo into the chest of the lone remaining torso.
"Kraaa!"
Tempest's smoke reformed into a body and, pierced through the heart, was slammed into the wall.
"If you stop circulation, regeneration is impossible."
"Kukukuku."
Tempest grabbed the Daejikdo with both hands.
"Even so, you can't kill me. There's as much blood as I need—go ahead and try all night."
A voice came from the doorway.
"How about this?"
There was a click as something plunged into Tempest's neck.
"Ugh! This is… a small syringe."
"What—?"
Rian turned and a middle-aged gentleman with a long mustache and a medical bag walked in.
"Don't move. If you pull out the sword his heart will start again."
Saying this, the man cleared the table of blood packs and opened his bag.
While he mixed three drugs on the spot and drew them into a syringe, two people entered the storage room.
A large man and a silver-haired woman.
Rian noted the woman's silver hair.
"It's ready. Just inject it…"
As the middle-aged man removed air from the syringe and stepped closer, Tempest realized and shouted.
"A hunter?"
Then he thrashed violently.
"No! Not that! Anything but that!"
With his heart stopped, he couldn't exert much force.
"This is a vampire-specific blood coagulant. It takes five minutes to detox, but in his state that will be sufficient."
"You bastards! Let me go! I'll kill you! I'll drain every last drop of your blood!"
"Easy, easy. Stay still. This will hurt like hell."
The doctor jabbed the syringe into Tempest's collarbone with a rough hand and Tempest screamed.
"Kraaa!"
A visible change followed the injection.
'He's disintegrating.'
Violet veins webbed across Tempest's pale skin; the skin dried and flaked off like dead scales.
"Kraa—"
Then his body crisped as if roasted, turned to ash, and fell to the floor.
The large man who had followed the doctor in looked at Rian with a massive gun slung over his shoulder.
"By the way, who are you? How did you even find this place?"
Before Rian could answer, the silver-haired woman raised her sword and charged.
"Move. Kill him."
Rian activated Axing and hurriedly stepped back; his companions narrowed their eyes and watched.
"What the—why is his movement like that?"
The silver-haired woman leveled her blade.
"He's a vampire. Kill him."
Rian pieced together the situation.
'This is getting messy.'
Indeed, the Axing motion resembled a vampire's movement, and above all she was someone who'd confirmed Rian's death.
"It's a misunderstanding. I'm human."
"Nonsense!"
As the silver-haired woman ran along the wall, the big man leveled his gun.
"Is that so?"
A thunderous volley rang out; at the same instant Rian raised his arm to block.
With a series of thuds, pellets embedded into his flesh.
"Ugh!"
"You took it with your body?"
At that sight the big man lowered his gun, and the woman running along the wall landed mid-route.
"Hruuu!"
Listening to Smille's auditory hallucination and forcing strength into his arm, the pellets fell to the floor with soft plinks.
They were made of silver.
"What? Are you seriously holding out?"
Even an Almas-class powerful regen couldn't recover for several minutes after being hit by silver shot.
"It doesn't work on me. I'm human."
The big man shook his head.
"No—if he were human he'd already be dead." The middle-aged doctor who had gone outside looked back and motioned to his companions.
"Let's withdraw for now. The Shinjang are coming."
Rian frowned.
"Shinjang? The Palace Guard?"
He'd heard it took time to mobilize a unit.
'There's something I don't know.'
The big man pointed at Rian with his thumb.
"What about this one?"
The silver-haired woman stepped close to Rian.
"You're not a vampire?"
"As you can see… I can't prove it, but I hate drinking blood."
To her eyes, Rian's complexion was livelier than when his heart had stopped yesterday.
"Jenia, aren't you mistaken? If he were a vampire you'd sense the resonance."
The silver-haired woman, Jenia, bit her lip.
"If I don't feel it, that's the problem."
The middle-aged doctor drew a conclusion.
"Then he's human. Do we take him with us or not? If this involves the Palace, it'll get complicated."
Although they were vampire hunters, they didn't always operate within the law.
Jenia turned to Rian.
"If you're truly innocent, come with us. Headquarters can investigate and find out."
"Fine."
Rian hadn't intended to stay.
"However, if it turns out you're a vampire…"
Crossing the threshold, Jenia said coldly,
"I will kill you myself."
The Palace Guard had surrounded the blood bank.
"The door's been smashed!"
"Go in! Wipe out the vampires!"
Ten minutes later, a unit that had inspected the interior reported to the Shinjang's third unit commander.
"We found traces of vampires. But… they had already been reduced to ash."
"Damn it! Another hunter?"
"How did they know and arrive first? This operation was supposed to be completely classified."
"We don't know. There are rumors of another vampire. Either way, withdraw. Close the blood bank for now."
"Yes!"
From the rooftop of a building a hundred meters away, Rian watched the blood bank.
'So it was a secret operation.'
He could already picture Benof raging tomorrow morning.
The middle-aged doctor asked,
"You don't seem to be someone from the Palace. Where did you get intel on the blood bank?"
"Just here and there."
There was no need to explain.
"We're hunters. We're called the Genocide Team. Think of us as the last vampire hunters left in Rodenin."
'Genocide, huh.'
The team name was ominous.
"I'm Catein, a drug specialist. This big guy is Gunner Pfauer. And the leader of Genocide, swordmaster Jenia."
Jenia had her silver hair cut into a short bob; she had a sharp chin and thin, prim brows.
"Ah, introductions—we haven't even done them properly," Catein interrupted.
"Your name?"
"Rian. Ozent Rian."
Jenia turned to Rian in surprise.
"The Knight of Maha?"
It was convenient that his name was known in a case like this.
"It seems some call me that."
Ever since demons appeared in the world, stories had spread about a single swordsman crossing the desert and slaying demons—like a myth.
'This man…'
He was much younger than she had imagined.
"But!"
Jenia's voice trembled.
"You were struck in the chest! Your heart shouldn't have held! No—you clearly wasn't breathing…"
"That's a long story." It wasn't something to discuss before dawn.
"Let's head back for now. Leave him to Doctor Grain."
If anyone could provide answers, it would be the man who studied biological anomalies.
Jenia huffed and turned.
"Follow me. I'll show you our hideout."