Ch.134Chapter 134 – Vampire (5)

“Where are you, senior…”

In the thick fog where she could barely see an inch in front of her, Yu Jin was suppressing her fear as she continued walking. At some point, the footsteps of the hypnotized people had begun to accelerate. It seemed like the work of the devil who had bewitched them.

To avoid catching the devil’s eye, Yu Jin had to quicken her pace to match theirs. Anyone who fell behind due to exhaustion or tried to break away was immediately attacked by bats that appeared from nowhere, sucking their blood dry. Only corpses remained where the swarms of bats had departed.

Yu Jin’s heart pounded at the chilling thought that she would meet the same fate if they discovered she was conscious. Even the mandatory safety training conducted by the Hunter Association for awakened individuals hadn’t covered how to deal with such unexpected situations.

‘At least I’m an awakened one. I can still keep up with this pace…’

For now, her enhanced physical abilities as an awakened one helped her stay with the moving crowd, but she wasn’t sure how long her lungs, weakened by lack of exercise, would hold out. No matter how hard she tried to calmly assess the situation, her heart wouldn’t settle when she thought about the murderous bats lurking beyond the fog.

Tap.

Just then, something touched her shoulder. Yu Jin flinched, her body trembling slightly. The warmth characteristic of a living being made of flesh and blood. Normally, it would have been an unremarkable sensation, but not now.

‘Did they notice that I’m no longer hypnotized?!’

Though terrified, she didn’t dare turn her head. She lacked the courage to face the demonic bat that might be eyeing her as prey. As Yu Jin closed her eyes tightly, anticipating her end, a strong hand forcibly turned her head.

Through her barely open eyelids, she saw a familiar face.

“Sen—mmph!”

Shin Jaehyuk quickly covered Yu Jin’s mouth as she was about to shout. Then he showed her his phone screen with the brightness turned down.

-Quiet. The creature is sensitive to sound and might notice us. Fortunately, the fog blocks the light, so let’s communicate through text.

Yu Jin nodded quietly. Shin Jaehyuk released her mouth and continued typing.

-Sorry. On my way here, I met Zeus and got delayed gathering information about the boss monster suspected to be the source of the fog and assessing the situation.

-Zeus?! Wait, boss monster? Why is there a monster in the middle of the French capital? I triple-checked that it was safe before coming on this trip…

-Seems like a boss monster that escaped from the London Gate flew all the way here. You’ve heard about it in the news, right? Jack the Ripper.

-The London murderer…! The one that caused such a commotion when the British army took a week to notice its escape! But why would it kidnap civilians…

Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t readily answer as he too hadn’t figured out the creature’s intentions. Currently, he had just one guess: the creature’s destination. The place one would reach by following this underground passage in a straight line.

‘Zeus mentioned that the Eden Gate that opened in Paris is above this underground passage. This can’t possibly be a coincidence.’

He could guess that the creature planned to use the mass of civilians for something at the gate, but he couldn’t predict its specific actions. There were too many possibilities: terrorism, occupation, massacre, hostage situation. All were actions a Mein might take, making it impossible to predict the creature’s next move.

‘If it were an ordinary devil, it would slaughter people indiscriminately. The fact that it’s deliberately taking people to the gate is suspicious. Rather than waiting for them to reach the gate, it would be better to end this here and now!’

Shin Jaehyuk glanced at the ceiling. Beyond the fog, several shapes were flying overhead. Bats that had split from the vampire. If he didn’t eliminate them all at once, the remaining bats might endanger the hostages.

‘Attacking recklessly would be the worst option. To prevent the creature from easily countering my actions… I need to confuse it first.’

Shin Jaehyuk discreetly summoned his holy power. The combination of his extreme control over holy energy and countless hours of training allowed him to cast two spells simultaneously.

‘…Good. Let’s do this.’

When the first spell was complete, Shin Jaehyuk covered Yu Jin’s eyes with his hand and closed his own.

‘Light.’

Flash. A blinding light erupted. The dark underground passage was instantly filled with light, and a piercing noise reverberated off the walls.

———!

Bats are vulnerable to light. Vampires even more so. The bat’s hearing and vision, adapted to the darkness and silence of night, became a liability in the face of the flash spell. The vampire raged as it experienced the pain of burning retinas and the shock of what felt like an explosion in its ears.

‘You dare ignore my warning!’

A mental wave filled with fury issued commands to the humans in the area. Seize that holy knight immediately, tear out his entrails, and rip him limb from limb. Just as the people turned toward Shin Jaehyuk with murderous expressions, his second spell took effect.

‘Do not be deceived by what you see, nor dwell on what you cannot see.’

The Blessing of Dispelling.

Holy light that breaks curses poured down like a fountain. As fragments of light shaped like falling feathers touched the crowns of people’s heads, their dull eyes temporarily regained clarity.

“Huh? Why am I here…”

“Ugh… What happened? I think I lost consciousness…”

People staggered, clutching their heads. Watching the hostages break free from hypnosis, Yu Jin exclaimed in amazement.

“The people have regained consciousness! Ah— S-senior! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Ugh…”

It wasn’t just the tourists freed from brainwashing who were clutching their heads. Shin Jaehyuk frowned and groaned in pain. The moment he completed the spell, a sudden, intense headache like an awl piercing his brain struck him. The intensity was difficult to bear even for Shin Jaehyuk, who was well-accustomed to pain. It wasn’t a physical sensation but a mental, even spiritual, agony.

‘Argh… What is this? I’ve never heard of such a side effect from the Blessing of Dispelling…!’

A strange headache surged as if something was colliding inside his head. While Shin Jaehyuk suffered from this unknown side effect, the vampire, having returned to human form from bat form, was panicking exactly as Shin Jaehyuk had intended.

“Damn it, why aren’t they obeying my commands-!”

The humans in the area were no longer under control. The vampire noticed that the nearby humans had broken free from the brainwashing and became visibly anxious.

Shin Jaehyuk’s spell was just a temporary measure to prevent the vampire from making people commit suicide, and the people would fall back into a hypnotic state if they continued to inhale the fog. But from the vampire’s perspective, it meant losing the means to control that powerful holy knight.

Though panicked, the vampire tried to calmly weigh the priorities and make a decision.

‘Tch, should I call the remaining humans to capture him? …No. Taking down one holy knight isn’t the priority. I must swiftly deliver the Four Heavenly Kings’ will to Lord…’

That holy power. It was more overwhelming than any cleric the vampire had encountered in its lifetime. The vampire decided it was better to avoid directly confronting Shin Jaehyuk and focus on the original plan.

Ignore the holy knight and head to the gate. Now was the opportunity, with the holy knight seemingly faltering.

Fortunately, there were still humans it could use—those who had run ahead and weren’t affected by the spell. It couldn’t afford to lose them too. The vampire gave Shin Jaehyuk and Yu Jin a fierce glare before turning away and disappearing into the crowd.

“The boss is escaping! Senior, senior? Are you okay? Oh no! Your forehead is burning…!”

As the vampire vanished from sight, Yu Jin supported Shin Jaehyuk, who could barely stand. His forehead was as hot as a boiling kettle. Enduring the pain that felt like an awl digging into his brain, Shin Jaehyuk managed to hand his phone to Yu Jin.

“I… I’m fine. More importantly, quickly contact Zeus. Tell him the creature is heading to the surface…”

***

“Civilian evacuation complete!”

“Set up barricades in all directions! We don’t know where this elusive creature might appear!”

The gate checkpoint was filled with soldiers on high alert. Following Zeus’s warning that Jack the Ripper was likely headed here, the commander had raised the alert level to prepare for an attack. They were deploying every resource, including thermal cameras and auto-tracking turrets that had already proven ineffective.

Just then, a soldier with his ear to the ground shouted.

“I feel vibrations! Everyone, prepare!”

The harbinger of an attack. The vibrations, like a herd of beasts charging, grew increasingly distinct. Soldiers surrounding the gate aimed at manhole covers in various locations. As the vibrations intensified and the soldiers’ tension peaked, the ground on one side exploded as if a landmine had been triggered.

BOOM-!!

“Explosion! Be careful!”

“Get down!”

Concrete fragments scattered and a cloud of dust rose. The ground caved in circularly, creating a hole connecting the sewer to the surface.

The explosion seemed intended to create a passage rather than cause damage, as there were few casualties among the soldiers. Hidden behind cover, the soldiers imagined the monster that would emerge from the sewer. Given the vibrations strong enough to shake the ground, it must be a beast the size of a house.

Snipers peered through their scopes, waiting for the dust to settle, fingers on triggers, ready to unleash concentrated fire to neutralize the monster as soon as it appeared. They waited for a long time.

“…Why isn’t anything coming out?”

Just as someone muttered this, thick fog suddenly billowed out of the hole. And simultaneously, something else emerged—not the house-sized beast the soldiers had expected, but civilians whom they had assumed would have been killed long ago and thus hadn’t anticipated encountering.

“W-what’s going on? Why are civilians here?!”

“They appear to be the tourists who went missing from the Eiffel Tower park. But why are they coming out from underground…?”

Like a swarm of cockroaches, the crowd that emerged from the hole charged toward the gate as if possessed. The fog spread across the ground faster than a running pace, making it impossible to identify individuals. Only shadows in the fog could be seen, all rushing toward the gate.

“Stop! You are trespassing in a French military zone! Disperse immediately! Damn it, I said disperse! Can’t you hear me?!”

Despite the blaring megaphone, the people didn’t stop running. To those whose consciousness was controlled by the vampire, the soldier’s warning was merely an annoying buzz like a mosquito’s wings. They ignored the soldiers and continued their frenzied charge toward the gate, following the vampire’s implanted command.

“Uh, they’re coming this way! What do we do?”

“Should we shoot? But they’re people, right? Where’s the monster?”

The soldiers couldn’t hide their confusion as the zombie-like crowd rushed toward them. They had only been told that a monster was headed their way, not that they would face a crazed mob. These were just guards accustomed to checking the belongings of people crossing to the Empire, with no experience handling riots.

The commander was equally perplexed. He floundered in the face of the sudden riot, unable to issue orders. His deputy finally managed to speak.

“Should we open fire?”

“Are you crazy? They’re foreigners! Do you know what kind of diplomatic incident this could cause?”

“But we can’t just stand here doing nothing, especially when we haven’t even located the monster.”

The deputy was right. In a situation where the fog made it impossible to distinguish friend from foe, it was equally impossible to differentiate between monsters and humans. Firing indiscriminately would likely cause more civilian casualties than monster damage.

While they hesitated, the fog and crowd had already reached close proximity. The people charging with fierce momentum showed no signs of stopping. The commander, with a “to hell with it” attitude, issued orders.

“First, clear these people out! Deploy troops and subdue them all! Make sure no one gets hurt! Be careful!”

The soldiers emerged from behind cover and hurried into the fog. Like defenders trying to block a rugby player going for a touchdown, they desperately grabbed the tourists. The resistance was so intense that it took two or three soldiers to subdue each person.

“Got one here! Tie him up quick!”

“Stay still… Hey, that one’s getting away! Catch him!”

“One’s heading for the gate! Grab him too!”

It was chaos. Shouts echoed from all directions, and physical struggles broke out everywhere. The fog made it impossible to distinguish between individuals, leading to absurd situations where soldiers mistakenly grabbed each other, only realizing their error after tying someone up and then having to release them.

As the fog and its mind-altering properties accelerated the confusion, one shadow observed the commotion. It was the vampire, disguised as an ordinary tourist, blending into the crowd.

‘The attention is diverted. The snipers are neutralized too.’

The vampire quietly smiled. Everything was going according to plan. Who would have thought that the humans hastily kidnapped to neutralize the strict security would prove so useful…

“You! Stop right there—gack, guh…”

Taking advantage of the distraction created by the tourists, the vampire was able to approach the gate naturally. Some soldiers tried to catch him, but they only clutched their throats, choking as his sharp nails slit them, before perishing. In the chaos, the deaths of a few soldiers went unnoticed.

The vampire knew the stealth techniques passed down from Lord to other members of his kind, and thanks to this, no one noticed his presence as he passed the soldiers and reached the gate.

‘At last, my pilgrimage comes to an end!’

Just as the vampire, filled with joy, was about to throw himself into the blue gate, having nearly achieved his goal…

…RUMBLE.

The clouds flashed, and for an instant, the world was illuminated by lightning. A bolt from the sky struck down, burning the vampire’s legs.