Chapter 11 : A New Beginning

The patter of rain falling softly.

Because of the sound of rain hitting the ground and bouncing like spurting blood, I wondered if I had misheard.

Could I have possibly misheard such a grotesque statement so dramatically?

So I asked again, wanting to confirm.

“…Did I hear that wrong?”

When I said that, Erik turned to me with a deeply furrowed brow and spoke in a tone that implied there was no way I had misheard.

“You heard correctly. Vampires have especially good hearing, after all.”

“…”

“That’s an order. You know what it means to disobey an order from a superior during wartime, don’t you?”

To disobey an order not to die, and to be killed for it—

I wondered what that even meant, yet, since it was something I often said myself on the battlefield, I asked again.

“Are you saying you’ll kill me?”

“If necessary.”

I see the pistol at Erik’s waist as he speaks coldly.

But I’m not afraid.

“Why would you give such an order?”

“……”

Erik didn’t answer.

Instead, his cold, emotionless eyes stared at me.

‘…Don’t die.’

I never intended to die in the first place.

Even if I have to crawl through hell, I plan to survive miserably.

Even if I struggle pathetically,

In the end, I want to be able to laugh.

So I can feel, even more deeply, the pain of being alive.

So I won’t grow numb to the guilt and suffering.

I’ll survive to the end.

“…I won’t die by your hand, either.”

I said, glaring at Erik. Then, as he looked at me—

“No, you will die by my hand.”

“No matter how much you struggle, I’ll chase you down and kill you, so you can’t escape.”

“I’ve sworn my life to eradicating vampires.”

With those words, Erik put a high-end cigarette in his mouth.

“…I have enough leeway to let at least one live.”

……

“Well, if you squirm, I’ll enjoy that too.”

With a sneer, Erik left me.

Erik, who became abnormally cold after discovering I was a vampire.

But from the coat Erik gave me—

“…It smells good.”

It was so warm and kind-smelling that it made me feel uncomfortable.

“…It’s unsettling.”

Because of that, my stomach churned.

Rain falls.

It feels like the tears of comrades unjustly killed by my hand are falling into my palm.

I shelter my body in the safety of a nearby shadow.

My chilled body regains its warmth thanks to Erik’s coat.

That sensation—

That sense of relief—

It’s so hateful that something trickles down my cheek.

“…I’m sorry, everyone.”

Only then did I realize that what had been flowing down my face earlier wasn’t rain—it was tears.

I didn’t want to know.

The moment I became aware of it—

“Ugh..!!”

“Urghhh!!”

I was so disgusted with myself.

There’s red blood mixed in with the vomit.

Of course, it’s not mine.

It was the blood of the poor subordinates whose lives I took today.

“I shouldn’t have thrown it up… I’m sorry, Damien.”

Lying on the floor, I murmured.

By vomiting, I turned their deaths into something meaningless.

That guilt pressed heavily on my chest again today.

Erik entered his office and looked at himself in the mirror, asking a question.

‘…What the hell am I doing?’

He had shown kindness to a vampire.

To a member of the race that dragged his family into death.

“…Erik, have you forgotten?”

“Your father, who sacrificed himself so you could run?”

“Your mother, who was used as a plaything by vampires afterward?”

“…Your little sister, who screamed for mercy until the end?”

He asked himself repeatedly if he had forgotten them.

He hadn’t forgotten.

He didn’t want to forget.

Every time he saw Valentine—that disgusting woman—rage boiled from within, proving that.

But at the same time, a sense of sympathy and some unpleasant, unknown emotion confused Erik.

His unconscious asked whether he had forgotten his family—

While also asking:

What does that have to do with Valentine?

Valentine is not that vampire.

Valentine is a hero of the empire and a benefactor to the nation.

Every time Valentine drinks blood—

‘…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…………….’

‘Disgusting. I hate myself……………’

She is overcome with guilt and self-hatred.

And Erik had seen that with his own eyes.

“…She’s just another vampire…”

‘Is she really, though?’

“The nature of that race doesn’t disappear, does it? In the end, she’s just a parasite who can’t resist her thirst for blood.”

‘Can a starving human resist their hunger?’

His instincts deny it, but his subconscious refutes that denial.

He feels like he’s going mad.

“……”

He’s tired.

The stress building up, Erik stops thinking.

He can’t tell what he even wants to do anymore.

When he tries to kill Valentine, his body won’t obey.

Hesitation keeps creeping in, again and again.

Erik takes a cigarette out of his pocket.

The high-end cigarette that Valentine once took from him.

‘…I’ll be taking this. Consider it a token of our cursed connection.’

With a faint smile, as if handling something precious, Valentine had taken the cigarette from him.

Erik realized that even in this situation, he was thinking about Valentine.

He looks out at the rain falling outside.

The unit, now in ruins.

“…Valentine.”

“Why on earth…”

Erik trailed off.

The reason was clear.

The empress’s declaration of war echoed from the radio.

[Hear me, allied republics.]

[You dared to reach for the skies of this land.]

[You trampled on the people of the skies, and launched an attack against my empire, as vast as the heavens themselves.]

[You mistook the empire’s silence for weakness.]

[You took the empire’s mercy as a given right.]

[I declare that my empire will no longer tolerate this arrogance.]

[The empire will unsheath the sword of justice.]

[And vengeance will begin.]

[I will make you regret your blasphemy against the heavens, and make all people witness your downfall.]

[There will be no compromise, no mercy.]

[My empire will remain eternal and immortal, while you will vanish from this world.]

[The continent will be engulfed in the flames of battle.]

[History will remember Empress Serena Augusta as a great conquering ruler.]

[Cry out, struggle miserably, and beg for forgiveness.]

[But it will change nothing.]

Erik took a deep drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke slowly escape as he listened to the empress’s grand speech.

“…For the glory of the Empire.”

Dragging my tired body back to my quarters, I collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

[The holy war has begun!]

[Survive!]

The system left just that one mission behind before vanishing again.

It seems the cursed war is starting all over again.

This time, I know nothing of the story ahead.

Unlike the past, when I knew every twist and turn, I am now as blind as anyone else—a blank slate.

That terrifying uncertainty clouded my vision.

“I could really use a smoke.”

I muttered to myself, fumbling through my pockets.

A completely soaked cigarette tumbled to the floor beneath my bed.

“…Won’t even light.”

I grumbled, furrowing my brow as I let out a long sigh.

“…Might as well warm up.”

With that thought, I stripped off my damp clothes and stepped into the steaming shower.

From tomorrow, even this simple luxury of hot water will become a rare comfort on the front lines.

That grim realization crossed my mind.

As I washed, the thought that these small comforts might be my last lingered like a bitter aftertaste.

“…Refreshed, yet still uneasy.”

I muttered with a blank expression.

No matter how I tried, the thought of being thrown into the front lines tomorrow clung to my mind.

In fact, the anxiety only seemed to deepen.

I tossed my uniform into the washing machine and replaced the soaked bed sheets.

“Haa…”

I sank back into the soft bed.

Maybe it was the warmth, but my eyes slowly grew heavy.

“…Will I open my eyes again tomorrow?”

I pulled the blanket tighter, feeling the warmth of Erik and my fallen comrades’ blood.

It had been so long since my body felt this warm.

With that thought, I drifted into a deep sleep.

“Move! Move! Faster!!”

The next morning, I was barking orders at my subordinates from the break of dawn.

The war had begun.

I shoved them into the military trucks, shouting all the while.

They packed themselves in like mere consumables, bodies crammed together in the tight space.

No, that’s exactly what they are now—consumables.

Someone’s sons and daughters, now reduced to mere tools for the ambitions of the powerful.

They are nothing but means to advance a single meter further on the battlefield.

“Move out.”

I gave the order, fully aware of what it meant.

The trucks rumbled to life, carrying the soldiers off to the front lines.

Their chances of surviving this war are close to zero.

After all, we picked a fight with the allied nations.

“…At the very least, I must win to make their sacrifices count.”

I muttered, clenching my black blade tightly.

The more guilty I felt, the more I had to lose myself in the madness of battle.

Because that is my only way to atone for sending them into the jaws of death.

“…”

“May you die without pain.”

I whispered, watching the military trucks disappear into the distance.

I could only pray that their deaths would be swift and free of suffering.