Ch.69EP 2 Gorgon

# The Shadow’s Triumph

The widely spread shadow successfully accomplished my purpose.

White girls erupted like an explosion, breaking through the human ranks.

A chaotic battle that began without warning.

Though I worried about the children, right now I needed to deal with that guy Thief who had been pushed back.

I pulled on Hwang-gu’s collar and swung my sword toward Thief.

The guy who had been hit by Hwang-gu’s charge desperately got to his feet and swung his sniper rifle.

When that massive barrel collided with my pure white blade, a tremendous shockwave erupted.

Hwang-gu’s charge would have been difficult to withstand with human defenses.

That is, if he hadn’t been wearing high-grade armor.

His clothes didn’t look special. At most, he appeared to be wearing store-bought underwear armor.

I studied Thief’s expression with a curious look.

His complexion hadn’t changed much from before.

Rather, it was Hwang-gu who seemed shocked.

Hwang-gu’s speed hadn’t decreased, but her steps faltered.

Because of this, my sword path wavered as well.

Screech-!

Just as the long sniper rifle touching my sword seemed to shake, Thief rolled backward and released his rifle.

Immediately after, a pure white flash rose up.

Clang!

I hurriedly swung my sword to block the attack.

The bastard had drawn a sword from his back and swung it at me.

I wasn’t overpowered, but I couldn’t push him back either.

I frowned. Conversely, a smile appeared on Thief’s lips.

He’s someone who can obtain cash items. Seems he used other doping potions besides the berserk potion.

If I had summoned my subordinates to overwhelm him at once, the battle would have ended quickly.

But right now my children were facing humans in a berserk state.

Fellow vampires were rushing in to help, but the situation wasn’t resolving quickly.

If anything, we were being pushed back.

There’s no time. I jumped off Hwang-gu’s back and swung my sword at him.

At that moment, Hwang-gu’s body began to shrink, transforming into a girl’s form.

Thief grimaced at the sight.

With Hwang-gu joining the attack, he began to be pushed back significantly.

No matter how strong Thief had become, he was alone.

While blocking my attacks, he couldn’t simultaneously block Hwang-gu’s.

The moment he began a power struggle with our swords locked, Hwang-gu’s fist pounded his back.

Due to the special doping potion he’d used, Hwang-gu’s attacks weren’t fully effective, but when she persistently targeted one spot, a chilling sound came from that area.

Crack-!

“Argh!”

As if his left thigh had broken, Thief’s stance collapsed and he began to limp.

The faint smile that had lingered on his face disappeared.

Only then did he seem to realize the gravity of the situation, rolling his eyes.

I continued to press him.

He might not be able to escape with all the humans, but he could certainly flee alone.

I couldn’t give him a chance to escape.

I had to capture him and make him my subordinate.

“Become my child obediently!”

“Y-you crazy bitch!”

Thief kept retreating with a pale expression at my roar.

He desperately pulled out a pistol from his waist, but when Hwang-gu rushed over and clung to his arm, the drawn pistol fell to the ground.

A brief exchange of blows followed.

Unlike before, Thief seemed to struggle just to endure, barely parrying my sword with a contorted expression.

He still had no room to counter Hwang-gu’s attacks.

The special potion’s effects were protecting his body, but as Hwang-gu’s fists continued to rain down, his right arm twisted in a strange direction.

Crack!

“Urgh!”

He was right-handed. With his hand broken by Hwang-gu’s attack, Thief could no longer wield his sword threateningly.

Naturally, his defense couldn’t be the same as before. He failed to block my attack and allowed it through.

Thief’s stance collapsed. He let out an agonized scream as if unable to endure the pain.

My quickly swung sword cut off his right arm, while Hwang-gu’s sharp claws severed his left arm.

Slash-!

Red blood burst out instantly.

At that moment, a beeping sound came from Thief’s severed left arm.

A strange sound. Beep- beep- beep- the sound continued without stopping.

It was like an electronic alarm clock.

Suddenly I sensed an ominous feeling.

Looking up at the sky, I noticed the darkness had lifted considerably.

The moon that had been high in the sky was also hiding.

The twinkling stars had already disappeared.

This foreboding was an instinct engraved in my cells.

The sun was approaching. That hateful morning would brighten and illuminate everything in the world.

It was strange. Morning was coming earlier than usual.

The speed at which the sun was rising was also faster.

As Thief’s furrowed gaze reached the sky, a smile returned to his lips.

Whatever it was, it seemed Thief was the cause of the unusually early morning.

Whoosh-!

The darkness began to disappear from the distance.

I grabbed Thief by the hair and called my subordinates.

Just as the darkness of night was vanishing, the pure white girls were sucked into my shadow.

“Urgh!”

Thief twisted his body despite having no arms, but that was all the resistance he could muster.

I threw myself into a gap between buildings where sunlight couldn’t reach.

Sizzle-!

“Ugh…”

Perhaps because the sun’s movement was too fast.

As my body slid into the shadow, the hot sunlight grazed my right hand.

Sizzle-!

Despite my sun resistance, my skin instantly burned.

The bubbling skin began to scatter as black ash.

Slip-!

The moment my right hand disappeared in the sunlight, Thief’s body, which had been held in that hand, fell outside the building.

He lay on the ground with both arms severed, smiling at me.

His face showed confidence that the sun illuminating the world would protect him.

But there was something he overlooked.

Only vampires couldn’t move under sunlight. Even then, vampires who had invested in the Daywalker skill could move freely under sunlight.

Thud-!

“Gah!”

Hwang-gu struck the head of the annoyingly smiling Thief.

Hwang-gu was a werewolf. It meant she faced no restrictions on movement even with the sun up.

Of course, she couldn’t use moon-powered body enhancement skills, but that didn’t mean Hwang-gu’s physical abilities completely disappeared.

Thump-!

Hwang-gu strongly stomped on Thief’s head as he lay on the ground, then kicked him toward the building where I was.

At that moment, Hwang-gu’s eyes met mine.

I understood Hwang-gu’s intention and nodded.

Immediately, Hwang-gu turned and started running.

She launched attacks at the remaining humans.

I looked down at Thief, who was sprawled on the floor.

He appeared motionless, seemingly unconscious from Hwang-gu’s attack.

Judging by his steady breathing, he wasn’t dead yet.

I looked at my severed right arm.

If left alone, it would eventually regenerate, but I had no intention of waiting.

I’ll absorb just enough to not kill him.

I extended my intact left hand and grabbed Thief’s neck.

Still, he showed no reaction.

Originally, vampires’ blood-sucking skill could only be used by biting the target.

But I was different.

Recently, through a necklace obtained from defeating an Underground Ruins boss, my blood-sucking skill had been changed to Life Drain.

As I bulged my eyes and applied pressure to his neck, Thief’s blood began to be sucked in through our touching skin.

Slurp-

Life Drain wasn’t just a technique that absorbed health.

It absorbed all buffs the target currently possessed.

That was the true ability of Life Drain.

As Thief’s body instantly began to shrink, my health rapidly filled up.

My blackened right hand also began to regenerate.

It didn’t take long to restore its original form.

I clenched my now-perfect right hand.

I felt power incomparably stronger than before.

This wasn’t due to the awakening effect from blood-sucking. It was because all the effects of Thief’s cash items had transferred to me.

“Keh…”

Thief, who had turned into a mummy due to Life Drain.

Only then did he seem to regain consciousness, mumbling with his mouth, but his movements were too weak.

He was on the verge of death. I pulled up my shadow and stuffed him inside.

The shadow that swallowed Thief spat out a large egg, just as it had done before.

Only then did I take a deep breath and stroke the smooth egg.

I turned my head to look outside the building.

Although I had dealt with the most dangerous one, the gunfire outside hadn’t stopped.

The same went for the thundering footsteps of the Gorgon.

It’s frustrating. If the sun weren’t up, I would have rushed out right now to resolve the situation…

There are more vampires who can’t move in sunlight than those who can.

The situation outside was probably turning favorable for the humans.

Crack-

At that moment, I heard the sound of cracking.

Turning my head, I saw the large egg breaking, and a small girl rolled out from inside.

A girl with a pale expression.

Thief sat on the floor, wiggling his fingers.

He seemed dazed, checking his transformed appearance.

“T-this…”

A quiet moan escaped from Thief’s mouth.

Right after, Thief awkwardly stood up and fumbled through his clothes.

But what could he possibly find? Currently, Thief was naked, and all his possessions were inside my shadow.

“What are you looking for so desperately?”

“M-my item… Race Change Ticket…!”

Thief answered slowly while feeling his soft body.

I reached into my shadow and pulled out a small card.

“T-that…!”

“This?”

“T-that’s mine!”

Thief roared, seeing the card.

He jumped up in place, reaching for the card as if demanding his property back.

But one can’t immediately get used to a changed body.

Thief lost balance and fell to the floor with a thud.

“Huh…”

[Thief]

Level: 18

Race: Vampire (Charlotte’s Subordinate)

Health 100%

Mana 100%

Emotional state: Confusion, Fear, Anger

Thief had definitely become my subordinate.

Therefore, he had to absolutely obey my commands.

“From now on, you are Smooch.”

[Thief]

↓

[Smooch]

The moment my command ended, Thief’s name changed.