#246
Vampire Rise (6)
Fwoooosh—
Scarlet flames blazed fiercely.
Yun Jiyoon, who had been completely immersed in battle, fixed her sharp eyes upon them.
A sudden intrusion and ambush by an outsider in the midst of that intense situation.
Because that single act had severed the pulse of the fiercely raging battle in an instant, the fight that had been shaking the area ended with a simplicity almost too hollow to bear.
*‘No, it wasn’t a simple attack.’*
On the surface, all it looked like was him suddenly appearing behind Alpha, piercing his heart with a hand blade, and incinerating the body with flames that started from there.
But she could perceive the flow of causality within that sequence—infinitely complex, infinitely delicate, occurring dozens of times over.
A fatal strike that blocked all possibilities of resistance at the root.
Having already drained his strength in the fight with her and allowed a surprise attack on his vital point, it would have been impossible for Alpha to respond to it.
*‘The leader of the Korean vampires, Heinz.’*
That was why she was so tense upon facing ‘Heinz’ for the first time, a being she had only heard of until now.
*‘This is beyond what I had imagined.’*
No matter how moderate a stance the Blood Alliance had maintained recently, most of its members were vampires regarded with disdain by the world.
Naturally, even within a friendly relationship, constant vigilance was essential, and she had believed she had thoroughly investigated and perfectly prepared for them, but...
*‘The information about their leader was wrong from the start! At best, Level 8. No matter how generously I estimated, I thought he was upper rank among them at most...’*
She had been completely off the mark.
Even now, his overwhelming momentum made her instincts tingle with alarm.
No matter how conservatively she estimated, wasn’t this clearly Level 9?
Such beings were generally unknown; even as an Association branch chief, she had only heard there were a few of them in Europe. Yet here one was, in Korea...
*‘Besides, no matter how focused I was on the battle, I was in the state of Lightning Embodiment, yet I couldn’t sense his existence until he approached?’*
She already perceived the world from a different perspective than others through the magnetic fields flowing all around her.
But this was the first time a being had fooled her senses to this extent and approached her, so she couldn’t help but feel wary.
Of course, if she had been on high alert from the start, she might have noticed. But if such a being ambushed her without warning during daily life, could she truly stop it without harm?
*‘...No, now isn’t the time for such worries. I’ll think about that later.’*
Conversation came first.
She opened her mouth toward Heinz, who stood looking down at the gradually dying flames.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Are you the leader of Heterosis, the one called Heinz?”
“Hmm, the pleasure is mine. To meet the renowned Thunder Empress in such a place.”
Fortunately, he seemed willing to talk, responding readily and turning his gaze toward her.
They had implicitly maintained a friendly relationship until now, but this was their first formal interaction, so she had been a little worried.
“First of all, thank you for your assistance. Thanks to you, we were able to quickly resolve the incident.”
But before that.
There was an issue she absolutely had to address.
“But what you did just now—surely that wasn’t kin-devouring, was it?”
Yun Jiyoon narrowed her eyes as she observed him, tilting her head slightly.
It had been hidden by the burning blood flames, but a powerhouse of her level could hardly fail to notice the signs of bloodsucking.
Kin-devouring among vampires was a sensitive issue.
It was not merely a problem among them, but an act taboo worldwide.
Wasn’t even Alpha, the culprit of this commotion, a Mad Blood?
However, even to her sharp question, Heinz merely showed a composed expression, as if it were no big deal.
“I know what you’re thinking, but I merely extracted and stored the blood separately. That is the easiest way to stop his regeneration.”
Blood was the source of a vampire’s power, so in a way, it was only natural.
It was simply because wresting control of blood from a Level 9 vampire was nearly impossible.
Even Heinz couldn’t have dealt with him so easily without such an excellent opportunity.
“...I see. So you’re saying you have no intention of using that blood separately?”
“Ah, that’s not it. No matter how filthy the blood, if it’s of such high caliber, it is useful in many ways. It would be a waste to discard it.”
Yun Jiyoon quietly gazed into Heinz’s eyes as he responded indifferently to her pressing words.
She could feel an inhuman coldness befitting a predator vampire and the arrogance unique to the strong, but she couldn’t detect even a hint of the twisted madness that the Mad Blood had shown.
*He answers quite well, too. He doesn’t seem like someone completely lacking social skills.*
Indeed, he was the one who had transformed the Blood Alliance—once like a bomb that could go off at any moment—into a socially integrated organization like it was now.
Honestly, she wanted to make him dispose of Alpha’s blood immediately, but it was better to step back here rather than react hypersensitively and ruin their relationship.
“It seems I reacted sensitively because it is a delicate issue. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
“Do not mind it. It was a worry worth having.”
Somehow, his attitude exuded an old-fashioned air, like a king of a nation, but that wasn’t particularly strange.
She herself had been in a position in the other world where even an emperor couldn’t treat her carelessly.
Srrrrk—
Then, as if those outside had sensed that the fight had ended, the barrier surrounding the area began to slowly disappear.
Once personnel entered to clean up the interior, she would be too busy dealing with the aftermath to even blink.
“There is much to discuss, but the current situation is not ideal. Shall we arrange a schedule soon?”
“Very well. Now that things have come to this, it can’t be helped.”
Heterosis was also a victim, but having been entangled in such a major incident, they couldn’t completely extricate themselves.
It could be seen as quite troublesome, but Heinz thought it wasn’t a bad thing either.
*Well, I can leave the bothersome practical work to Jin Soran. Rather, I might be able to use this opportunity.*
Alpha was affiliated with the Buncheonhoe, and they were already a terrorist group on Korea’s blacklist.
In other words, if he used this incident well, didn’t that mean he could naturally forge an alliance with the nation of Korea!
*They are a global secret organization hiding in the darkness of the world. I was thinking it was time to build an anti-Buncheonhoe force to oppose them; if Korea is included, it would carry even more weight.*
How he handled matters was up to him.
He had no intention of simply following the other party’s lead.
And so, having hidden his form once more, Heinz quietly left the scene, avoiding the people flocking to the incident.
While calmly organizing what he had gained from draining Alpha this time.
***
Immediately after the Alpha incident.
The Korean media began to burn with activity over the large-scale terrorism that had occurred after a long time.
Not only was the scale of the damage significant, but various sensational elements captured many people’s attention as well.
-Wow, crazy; the Association responded pretty quickly, but because of just one guy, hundreds died in minutes, damn.
-Did you see the CCTV footage taken from afar? He moved so leisurely, yet buildings flew like they’d been hit by bombs.
-But then the Thunder Empress caught him lol, and without any serious injuries, lol.
One of those elements was the villain’s overwhelming power.
People had known about the strength of Returnees through various media, but experiencing it in an actual incident felt completely different.
The same went for the Association branch chief known to have caught him.
Besides that, condolences for the victims, anger toward the villain, hatred for vampires, and denunciations of the nation and the Association’s incompetence sprouted endlessly.
However, there was one unexpected public opinion amid all this—
-Ah; what’s Hahoe Mask doing? Your main base gets raided when you’re not around;;
-Real talk lol, the country goes to ruins just because he stepped away for a bit lol
-But did he really die? Didn’t he suddenly stop his activities in Japan too?
└Bullshit, no. Hahoe Mask didn’t die.
└If someone had caught him, they’d be bragging about it loudly. Would it be this quiet?
-Seems he got scared and ran because the terrorist looked strong, lol.
└You go look at Hahoe Mask’s achievements and recorded videos first.
It was talk regarding Hahoe Mask.
“Ah, I suppose such talk is to be expected. This is the first major incident of this scale since Hahoe Mask appeared.”
I perused the reactions related to him roughly, stroking my chin and nodding.
When Hans’s vigilante activities were in full swing, numerous violent criminals were executed daily, and criminals were naturally intimidated, so no significant incidents of note had occurred.
There had also been quite a few cases where he had quietly prevented terror plots that would have escalated into disasters no less than this one if left alone.
*Hmm, Hans is still engrossed in his research, and using “Avatar Projection” is a bit risky.*
It hadn’t even been a week in Earth time since Hans had clashed with the Buncheonhoe leader and fled.
Back then, he had escaped using Summon Release, but if he went outside using “Avatar Projection” and ended up in the same situation again, there would truly be nothing he could do, so he was controlling himself as much as possible.
*The research on crossing over to the other world is gradually reaching its final stages... Once that’s done, I should resume activities from time to time. I need to wrap up matters in Japan as well.*
Judging by the current progress, that wouldn’t take too long either.
And since it had come to this, during that period, Heinz—who had made substantial gains this time—could act in his stead.
“Well, as expected, it wasn’t enough to cross the wall yet.”
I smacked my lips lightly and shook my head.
Alpha’s blood had certainly been of considerable help, but he too was an incomplete being who had forcibly crossed the wall by patching together factors from multiple dimensions, so his overall completeness was quite shoddy.
*If only he had been someone who grew up in a single dimension and properly captured its essence, he would have been much more helpful.*
For example, a being who achieved 100 in one thing.
Strictly speaking, Alpha was at 30 in one thing and had seven 10s, so when considering the additional loss during bloodsucking, it went without saying which was more efficient.
*Of course, I know it’s greedy.*
I checked the message that had appeared after completely draining Alpha’s blood once more.
《You have collected a new vampiric factor. Under the influence of the Special Skill 「Hybrid Evolution」, the individual’s physical abilities, magic resistance, and regeneration are enhanced.》
《Under the influence of the Special Skill 「Hybrid Evolution」, you have gained enlightenment. You acquire the skill 「Allure」.》
As expected, there were still many vampiric factors on Earth that Heinz hadn’t collected, and his body, encountering a new factor, evolved to be even closer to perfection.
He had even awakened the potential contained within the blood, which had a very low probability of manifesting, so it could be said he had obtained everything there was to gain.
*A mental ability that bewitches the opponent. Quite a fitting ability for a vampire.*
And that wasn’t all Heinz had obtained.
《The individual has met the conditions and gained enlightenment. Acquires the Special Skill 「Thirst of Bloodline」.》
「Thirst of Bloodline」 could be said to be the skill he needed most right now.
It was a type of guidance ability that led him to complete the incomplete factors remaining in his body.
And that ability was telling him right now to leave this land and head elsewhere.
Far away, beyond Korea.
*Go to Europe.*
*It’s an extremely timely ability, but.*
The problem was that a subtle emotion had been transmitted through 「Mind Hub」.
It wasn’t simply guiding; it felt subtly coercive.
As its name, “Thirst,” suggested, she felt it was stirring desire.
*But I can’t just follow it blindly. Well, there’s no need to rush. I wasn’t planning to go there right away anyway, so I’ll think it over more carefully.*
For the time being, the priority was maintaining public order in the night, which would grow chaotic in the aftermath of the large-scale terror.
While having the Blood Alliance members recuperate and weeding out troublemakers who had been hiding.
*Since he’s acting in Hans’s stead, maybe I should get Heinz a mask too while I’m at it?*
The reason Hans wore a mask was to hide his skull, and Heinz’s face was completely different from the main body, so there wasn’t really a need to cover it, but...
At this point, such things didn’t matter at all.
It was simply because I wanted to.
And so, after much deliberation, what was chosen was a white opera mask.
It was the moment that ‘Phantom,’ following the Hahoe Mask, would properly reveal himself to the world.