Chapter 19 : Mask Of The Red Death – (5)

“I am a member of the Jingjo faction. And, my younger sister, Lily, is the next Vampire Queen.”

The undertaker slowly opened his mouth after hearing my words.

He furrowed his brows, struggling to understand what I had said.

After a moment, he spoke.

“Vampire Queen? A member of Jingjo’s faction?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for keeping it a secret. It was the Guild Leader’s orders.”

“Did the Guild Leader know?”

“Yes. Both the priest and senior Camilla knew as well.”

The undertaker slightly moved his scythe.

I continued my explanation.

Since I had already explained the events at Stormgate on the way to Barrington, all I needed to do was add the details related to the faction.

I told him that I had encountered the Vampire Queen, followed her orders to enter a hut, and was bitten by Lily, who had awakened as a vampire.

The undertaker squinted his eyes in disbelief.

“The Vampire Queen, found interest in you, of all people?”

“Is that strange?”

“Clearly, yes. The Vampire Queen I know is meticulous. She never leaves any loose ends. Yet, you’re telling me she kept you alive to create a faction for the heir?”

The undertaker looked confused.

“Furthermore, if your sister is a Jingjo, why aren’t you one?”

“I don’t know. I can’t say for sure right now, but Lily might not even be my real sister.”

“Are you saying you have different parents?”

It was one of the plausible theories.

That Lily and I didn’t share the same blood.

But that didn’t matter to me at all.

Lily was my precious family, and the only purpose left for me was to reunite with her.

“Ah, now it makes sense. That’s why that priest recommended a kid like you. Why the Guild Leader brought along his adopted brat to the test.”

The undertaker frowned as he gripped his scythe tighter.

“And why he had a headsman like me stick by your side.”

“Headsman?”

I blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar term, and the undertaker sighed deeply.

“There’s such a thing. You can ask the Guild Leader about it later.”

The undertaker slowly pulled back his scythe.

But before he did, he glared at me and asked.

“Hey, Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“Do you hate vampires? If you met your sister, now a Jingjo, would you be able to draw your sword without hesitation?”

“….”

It was one of my greatest dilemmas.

I was a vampire hunter.

And Lily, my sister, was a vampire, the very peak of one — a Jingjo.

What should I do if I meet her?

“I don’t know. But… I’ll find a way to turn Lily back into a human.”

“Do you have a method?”

“I will.”

“…You’re foolish. Did you really choose to become a hunter with that kind of mindset? You won’t last a year like that.”

“Of course not.”

I quickly denied it.

My primary goal was to meet Lily.

And my second goal was…

“I will kill as many vampires as I can.”

“…Hmm?”

“I can’t forgive the Vampire Queen who took my life. I will tear that vile woman apart and slaughter every vampire under her command.”

I don’t know what my expression looked like when I said those words.

However, I was probably wearing a similar smile to the one I had when I killed the vampire wizard Jursak.

Just by looking at the undertaker’s face, I could tell.

He was staring at my face with a satisfied expression.

“Hmph. Big dreams, huh?”

The undertaker scoffed.

“Not bad, though.”

By now, the scythe was strapped to his back.

He pushed the fallen faction members’ bodies beneath the platform and broke the lock on the chapel’s side door.

“Let’s go, time is of the essence.”

“Yes, yes.”

It seemed like I had passed the undertaker’s test.

The undertaker’s steps as he left the chapel were firm. He was retracing the path we had come from.

“Do you know where that guy went, Undertaker?”

“I do.”

The undertaker twisted his lips into a grin and explained.

“He asked us if we had companions. Do you remember?”

“I clearly do.”

“Where do you think the vampire noble would choose to go next, assuming he thought we were cornered?”

“…The guild branch.”

“Right.”

The undertaker nodded.

“He probably went to the place where the witch’s disciple and Rose are. Just in case there’s any backup, he’d want to cut that off beforehand.”

As soon as we left the old town, I felt an intense heat.

The streets were already burning.

I wasn’t sure if the fire had spread from the flames used to cremate the bodies, or if the vampire noble had set it himself.

But there was no time to worry about that.

We pushed through the flames and headed toward the Hunter Guild branch.

A person lay dead at the entrance inside the building.

“He was quick with his work, but it’s a shame.”

It was the hunchback.

The man who was the administrator of the Barrington branch had died horrifically.

“What… what happened?”

“Don’t be discouraged. Once you join the Hunter Guild, everyone expects to die in such a manner.”

The undertaker glanced inside the building, where the fire had already spread.

Thick smoke was rising, and there were traces of a fierce battle.

“Rose must’ve fought the vampire noble.”

“Is… is Senior Camilla alright?!”

I asked urgently. Seeing the hunchback’s body made my heart race.

If something happened to Camilla…

“Are you an idiot?”

The undertaker furrowed his brow as if I was saying something ridiculous.

“Do you really think Rose could’ve been killed by a vampire noble?”

“…What?”

“I’m sorry, but that woman you’re worried about graduated top of her class from the breeding grounds, and even the priest acknowledges her skills and hunts alongside her. She’s one of the elite of the elite.”

“Oh.”

“In other words, she’s not someone you need to worry about.”

I then recalled something Camilla had said.

“I’m the odd one out. I was the top of my graduating class.”

She always showed such a gentle demeanor that I didn’t realize…

“Hm. Most of the blood spilled here is from the vampire noble. He probably rushed in confidently but was caught off guard by unexpected strength. He fled, and Camilla chased him down.”

Camilla herself was nearly a veteran hunter.

“We should chase after them, too.”

“Yes, yes.”

The vampire noble, Hoover, was clearly shaken.

“Damn it.”

How did it come to this?

The plan had been perfect.

He had spread the blood plague and paralyzed the city.

He had accumulated countless amounts of blood.

For a vampire blood mage, having such a large supply of blood meant temporary invincibility.

With his current state, he thought he could have a good fight with even a vampire count.

At least, that’s what he believed.

Before the vampire hunters arrived.

“I thought they were a bunch of misfits.”

When he saw a kid with them, he naturally thought they would be easy to deal with.

But the hunter with the scythe had a considerably high level of skill.

He was thoroughly prepared.

He had stacked the faction members in the chapel, and Hoover himself had worn a plague doctor mask.

There were hunters with keen senses, so he stuffed the incense heavily and approached them.

At first glance, the two hunters didn’t seem suspicious at all.

Hoover, overjoyed, led them to the chapel.

He intended to implant blood magic in the two humans’ backs there.

“Ugh!”

But for some reason, the two hunters had already seen through Hoover’s identity and were stronger than he had expected.

In the end, he had to retreat using vaporization.

Generally, fleeing the city would’ve been the rational choice.

But Hoover didn’t want to waste all the effort he had put in so far.

He also had a deep hatred for the hunters who had ruined his plans.

So, he set the city on fire and attacked the Hunter Guild branch.

He had heard that there were companions there.

“Cough!”

After killing the hunchback, Hoover came face to face with two female hunters inside.

Both of them were quite attractive.

Rather than killing them, it seemed more appealing to turn them into his subordinates and enjoy them at his leisure.

It would be even better if he could take them as spoils before leaving the city.

But Hoover soon realized just how arrogant his thoughts were.

The black-haired hunter skillfully moved her sword, pressing Hoover, while the gray-haired one even used magic.

‘No way.’

Magic.

There was only one vampire hunter who used magic.

Her name alone was terrifying—the witch.

In other words, the young girl was undoubtedly a monster created by the witch herself.

‘I can’t win.’

Realizing this, Hoover immediately fled again using vaporization.

He lost an arm, but as long as he absorbed blood, it would regenerate.

With the large amount of blood he had stored, using blood magic wasn’t a problem.

He would leave the city and settle somewhere else.

No matter how skilled the hunters were, it was impossible to chase him down given his ability to move so unpredictably…

‘Huh?’

As Hoover used vaporization, his eyes met a man standing in the street.

It was the hunter who had attacked him first in the chapel.

His eyes were clearly fixed on Hoover.

‘How?’

How could he see through him using vaporization, amidst the chaos and thick smoke? Was that even possible?

While Hoover was thinking this, the man slowly raised his hand.

He held a serrated sword and sliced his palm open.

Blood drops formed, and then, the blood rose and transformed into arrows.

‘Ah.’

Hoover, the vampire blood mage, knew exactly what that was.

Blood magic.

Before he could finish his thought, the blood arrows pierced through Hoover’s body.