Ch.553Chapter 21. Blood Pack (13)

At that moment, somewhere in Hungary.

“…….”

A blue-haired woman wearing a hat was backpacking through the area.

What made her distinctive was the golden bridge woven through her blue hair as she walked along a forest path with a local guide.

“You seem very interested in castles?”

The middle-aged female guide addressed the blue-haired woman in a gentle voice.

Her words were clearly in Korean, spoken so fluently that even a native Korean speaker would find it completely natural.

“Yes. I’m very interested in castles.”

“Hohoho, well, there aren’t many castles that have been preserved until now. Look, you can see it over there.”

The guide pointed to a black castle stretching across the cliff beyond the forest.

“There’s no other castle like this one. It’s been maintained since the old Romanian era, and because it was in such a remote location, it remained completely intact even during the World Wars. Hohoho.”

“This castle would be perfect for filming a movie.”

“Absolutely!”

The local guide raised her voice.

“Hohoho, to be honest, I’m really looking forward to it. Since Studio ‘Blue Dragon’ has sent you here. I truly hope this place becomes the filming location for your crime thriller movie. Hohoho.”

Her eyes were filled with greed, and she was clearly trying to figure out how to get confirmation from the blue-haired woman.

“Yes. I’d like to use this place as our filming location. But…”

The blue-haired woman lightly tapped her Taeguk Watch.

“The signal doesn’t seem to be working well here?”

“…….”

“Is there any reason why the Taeguk Watch signal doesn’t reach here?”

“Oh, hohoho, well… It’s probably because the frequency specifications don’t match. Our smartwatches work just fine here….”

“Hmm.”

The signal frequency on the Taeguk Watch was showing an ‘X’, but the guide just kept smiling and emphasizing that the signal on her own smartwatch was fine.

“I understand. I can bring a Wi-Fi hotspot, so it’s not a big problem.”

Step.

“But there is another big problem.”

Upon arriving at the castle entrance, the blue-haired woman openly frowned at the guide.

“Don’t you smell blood?”

“…….”

“It’s quite strong. Don’t you smell it?”

“Hmm, hmm….”

The middle-aged guide narrowed her eyes and stepped back.

“Honey. Haven’t you heard that women shouldn’t backpack alone?”

“…….”

“We’ve been having fun thanks to that. Women who travel to remote places, especially those who mistakenly think they can protect themselves with abilities or whatever, are the easiest to handle. Especially….”

The woman took something out of the money pouch at her waist.

“Women who carry things like these.”

What the woman pulled out wasn’t something a middle-aged woman would typically carry, like pepper spray or a stun gun.

“I don’t know if you’re an ability user or not, but if you have things like these, just give up and put them down. If you cooperate quietly, we won’t kill you.”

“Hmm.”

“Why are you acting so calm, huh? Come out, everyone!!”

Clap.

When the middle-aged woman clapped her hands, men with intimidating looks, including some with shaved heads, appeared carrying weapons.

“Isn’t this a bit excessive just to deal with one woman?”

“Whether E-rank or D-rank, Korean ability users are monsters. And if we can get their blood and bones…hehehe….”

“Do I seem like an E-rank to you?”

The blue-haired woman touched the golden strands of hair at her sideburns and smiled faintly.

“Wow, this is nice. It seems even better at hiding mana than during my active duty days.”

“……What?”

“Ah. Here….”

The blue-haired woman removed her hat and tapped her Taeguk Watch with her finger.

“This is Taotie. Bathory’s stronghold secured.”

“!!”

“I’ll enter the interior once the outside is cleared, so tell them to handle things on their end. Though I’m sure they’re already doing well.”

“Kuk…! Y-you deceived me!”

“The one who gets fooled is the fool.”

The blue-haired woman, Taotie, covered her Syndicate Watch—not a Taeguk Watch—and placed her hand near her solar plexus.

“Besides, you were planning to lure me here, torture me, drain my blood until I died, and then turn my bones into powder, weren’t you?”

“…….”

“Too bad for you, Madam Hungarian Ambassador. Your days of caring for Bathory while kidnapping women are over.”

“You, you all….”

The middle-aged woman, pale with fear, gritted her teeth and stretched her hand forward.

“A-attack! She came with her mana hidden, so it will take time for her to release it again-“

“Not at all?”

The moment Taotie placed her hand over her dress shirt.

“Well, this is something. It was quite a struggle to seal it.”

BOOM!!

As the buttons on her shirt burst open, her chest armor revealed itself and released magical power.

“You should have realized when I said I was Taotie.”

“……C-could it be?”

“Too late, lady.”

“L-lady!!”

Whoosh.

“If you thought I was just an ordinary hero who came here with a sense of justice, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I am.”

Behind Taotie, a massive blue cross of water began to rise.

“A very powerful hero.”

CRASH!!

The cross engulfed the middle-aged woman and the men.

“Ugh, huk…!”

Those trapped in the cross clutched their throats, unable to move, while Taotie, who had captured the ability users, was about to leisurely enter the castle when she was startled.

“Oh my.”

“Kuhak, huk…!”

Taotie approached the middle-aged woman who had barely managed to poke her head out of the cross and scrutinized her with a serious expression.

“…What? How old are you?”

“Kuk…!”

“How can someone with that face have mana? How can an old lady…?”

Taotie stretched her hand forward, sending a stream of water that began to thoroughly search the middle-aged woman’s body.

“Does Bathory have the ability to awaken pre-Great Cataclysm people as ability users using Korean blood? Or does continuously drinking Korean blood turn non-ability users into ability users? If so, that would create a serious problem…oh, damn.”

Taotie looked at the middle-aged woman with an indescribable expression.

“……You’re younger than me with that face?”

“T-this…!”

A strand of water pulled out the middle-aged woman’s wallet, revealing her ability user registration card showing her age as merely—

“Well, I’d feel bad calling you ‘unnie,’ so let’s just say you’re the old lady here.”

“Kuhak!”

The water stream struck the middle-aged woman’s abdomen.

The middle-aged woman bowed her head down, and Taotie, still maintaining the cross-shaped water flow, smiled as she noticed something red flowing out.

“Hmm, nice. This is good.”

Thud, thump.

With each breaking sound, Taotie opened and closed her hand, smiling broadly.

“To be able to kill most certainly without actually killing.”

Inside the water cross.

The number of ability users was steadily decreasing.

“First, I’ll kill the ability users with Zenros.”

Taotie froze her smiling expression, then turned and headed into the castle.

“Whether to actually kill them or not, I’ll decide after seeing how much evil they’ve committed.”

* * *

[Confirmed.]

“Huk, huk, huk…!”

I stepped on Bathory’s abdomen as she lay sprawled on the blood-soaked floor, pressed my Goblin Club against her neck, and received information through my Syndicate Watch.

[Your main base has been raided. Our agents have completed the verification.]

“This….”

[You didn’t just kill Koreans, you killed ability users too. I thought you were just boiling blood soup, but did you sprinkle bone powder instead of perilla powder on it?]

“……Hm.”

Bathory twisted her lips with a pale face.

“What’s wrong with that?”

[…….]

“Blood is constantly being produced anyway. As for bone powder, burying dead bodies has no meaning.”

There’s no communication possible.

No, she’s not someone with whom communication is possible.

“Hair, nails, blood—they all grow back over time. What’s wrong with using them economically and efficiently?”

[The fact that you forcibly extracted them?]

“Oh my, I paid good money for them!”

Bathory grabbed my club with her blood-covered hands.

“I, after moving to Hungary, kahak, earned money by saving Hungarian citizens and defeating villains…! If you want to complain, go complain to Haeguneul who sells Korean blood…!”

[I certainly will. But suppliers only exist because there’s demand.]

I lightly stomped on the area I had been pressing with my club.

“Ka, haak…!”

[Buying blood from Haeguneul is one thing, but kidnapping travelers because you want to get stronger and continuously draining their blood is another problem.]

“Kh, khehe…. Do you, know how, kahak, important my position is in Hungary…?”

As my club moved toward her abdomen, Bathory continued to resist by grabbing and twisting my ankle.

“Do you know what percentage increase there is in the probability of pregnant women giving birth to ability users when they immerse themselves in blood that I’ve infused with magical power, hurgh!!”

[…….]

“17%!! There’s practically no new ability user in Hungary who wasn’t born after receiving my ‘baptism’! Do you understand?!”

Indeed, the statistics from that ability are astonishing.

[So you can mass-produce ability users.]

“That’s right…! You may think of me as a villain, but I’m a hero there! To be humiliated like this-“

[That’s unfortunate.]

I infused magical power into the tip of my Goblin Club.

[Whether you made some kind of contract with Hungary, or received money from corrupt Hungarian politicians, the actions you’ve committed are clearly crimes.]

Kidnapping, imprisonment, bloodletting.

[Villains always try to save themselves when cornered, never mentioning the evil they’ve done.]

Like any human, she doesn’t reveal her weaknesses when at a disadvantage.

[Where are the people who escaped from underground after being kidnapped?]

“…….”

[That’s why you deserve to die.]

I aimed my Goblin Club at Bathory’s abdomen.

[If you feel any remorse, die quietly now.]

I brought down my club.

[Villains are to be executed.]

Quickly, three times.

[If nothing else.]

Drawing a triangle, I shattered Bathory’s cradle.

[Diverting donated blood is unforgivable.]