Chapter 482

Keugh!

The Vampire Queen coughed up blood.

Her blood vessels and organs could not withstand the crushing weight of the gravity now pressing down on herdozens of times stronger than before.

Then her gaze shifted toward the newcomers who had entered the underground chamber

Zeon and Tesserina.

The instant her eyes fell on Zeon, they gleamed with a sudden, predatory light.

Instinct told her at once that the human before her carried fresh, powerful blood.

If she could drink all of Zeons blood, she could easily free herself from this unbearable gravity crushing her.

Her eyes turned crimson.

Look at me, child!

Her will reached directly into Zeons mind.

It was one of the powers of a vampirethe ability to stimulate and dominate anothers brain.

And among all vampires, the Queen excelled at it.

Most beings would fall under her thrall the moment they heard her voice.

Zeons eyes met hersproof that he had heard her call.

A faint smile touched her lips.

Now that their gazes had met, controlling him would be effortless.

She issued her command.

Attack that man. Destroy him, and I shall grant you a great reward.

But even as her words echoed in his head, Zeon didnt move.

Irritated, the Vampire Queen gave another order.

Why do you hesitate? Obey me at once!

I have no reason to obey you.

Zeon met her burning gaze without flinching as he replied.

What?

Im neither your child nor a vampire. Why should I follow you?

How dare you defy me Youve lost your senses. Come now, obey me. I will grant you all the pleasures this world can offer.

Pleasure, huh.

All you need to do is break the Graviturges focus. Shake his mind, and I shall give you every pleasure imaginableand immortality besides.

It was a tempting offer.

Immortalitysomething every living being desired.

But Zeon found it meaningless.

Living forever by drinking the blood of others was not what he wished for.

If he were to live, he would live as a human. And if he were to die, he wanted to die with his humanity intact.

I refuse.

You wretch!

Fury exploded within the Vampire Queen as she tried to move toward Zeon

but she never got close.

Haaap!

Grain was concentrating every ounce of his strength, pouring the full force of gravity down upon her.

Crack!

Unable to endure the immense pressure, her bones shattered and her muscles tore apart.

How dare a mere human

Be silentand become fuel for humanity, vampire!

Thud!

The weakest part of her bodyher eyesburst open in an instant.

Kuaaaagh!

The Queen screamed as her vision vanished.

Ordinarily, such wounds would have regenerated immediately. But not now.

Her body was too drained.

Grains brow was slick with sweat as he focused, the strain of his power immense.

Zeon called out to him.

Need a hand?

Dont interfere. Shes mine.

Well, if you insist.

At Grains firm tone, Zeon simply raised both hands and stepped back.

Crack! Crack!

Even then, the Queens entire body continued to rupture.

Her organs were being crushed, her joints pulverized.

Muscles tore apart, leaving her body shriveled and twisted.

Like every other vampire who had been crushed by Grains gravity, the Queen was following the same path to destruction.

Impossible To die so meaninglessly

Psssh!

Blood erupted from every pore of her body, gushing out like juice squeezed from fruit in a press.

Grain didnt miss his chance.

He drew a glass vial from his coat and hurled it beneath her collapsing form.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary bottlebut it was a specially crafted device prepared for this mission alone.

Its purpose was singular: to collect the Vampire Queens blood.

Whooosh!

All of her blood was sucked into the vial in an instant.

No NO!

The Vampire Queen screamed.

She struggled to reclaim the blood, but it was useless.

Crack!

Her body shriveled rapidly.

Drained of blood, her flesh turned brittle, her vitality fading fast.

Without even the faintest spark of life, she lost the ability to resist the gravity crushing her.

Like a tin can collapsing under pressure, her body shrank until it was no larger than a childs fist.

The terrifying thing was that even thenshe wasnt dead.

Between the mangled bits of flesh, her lips still twitched faintly.

What incredible vitality.

Grain sighed and pulled another object from his pocketa small cylindrical device.

He tossed it toward the shrunken Queen.

Farewell, monster.

Fwoooosh!

The device struck her body and exploded, unleashing an inferno of searing flames.

The fire swallowed the Vampire Queen whole.

Kraaaagh!

Her final scream echoed through the underground chamber.

For you, I brought a special toyan incendiary bomb developed in Neo Seoul. No matter how powerful your regeneration, you wont be coming back from this.

Every drop of bloodthe source of her regenerationhad already been extracted.

Even a being greater than the Vampire Queen could not survive such destruction.

Grain calmly retrieved the vial containing her bloodhis true objective all along.

Behind him, the fire continued to rage, consuming what was left of her body.

Hissss!

The acrid stench of burning flesh spread through the cavern.

Zeon stood silently, watching it all.

Then Grain turned to him.

You dealt with the Queens offspring faster than I expected. Honestly, I thought youd take much longer.

Sorry to disappoint you.

I dont need apologies. Everything I did was for Neo Seoul.

So your real goal was the Queens blood from the start.

Thats right.

You knew she was here in the dungeon?

I hoped she would be. Didnt think itd actually turn out true, though.

Then youve achieved your goal. What do you plan to do with her blood?

Even as Zeon pressed him, Grains expression didnt change.

Thats classified. Without the Mayors approval, I cant tell you.

Dont take it personally. In time, youll understand.

Haa.

Zeon sighed.

Part of him wanted to subdue Grain and force the truth out of him. But doing that would mean turning against Jin Geumhosomething he wasnt ready for.

So he let it go.

Just then

Are all three of you safe?

A massive Werebear burst through the wallKatrak.

Behind him came beastmen and elves, their bodies stained with blood, bearing the marks of a hard-fought battle.

Zeon turned from Grain to answer.

Were all safe.

Thank the gods. Youve no idea how worried I was after we got separated.

Katrak let out a deep sigh of relief.

Many had been lost.

Several of his subordinates had been bitten and turned into vampiresblood-crazed thralls.

Katrak and the survivors had been forced to kill them with their own hands.

The mental strain of it all was immense.

Fortunately, his subordinates had been weaker than him, making it possible to put them down.

If either Zeon or Grain had been turned instead it would have been impossible.

They would all have perished.

Grateful that such a nightmare hadnt come to pass, Katrak bowed his head for a moment.

Then Grain spoke.

As agreed, all the items found in this dungeon belong to the North District.

In one corner of the Queens chamber, heaps of treasure lay piled high.

Katrak and his troops couldnt hide their delight.

Jackpot!

His triumphant shout echoed through the cavern.

Many Awakened had fallen in the assault on the Vampire Dungeon.

Their deaths pained Katrak and his men deeplybut for now, they pushed the grief aside and focused on gathering loot.

With the Queen dead, the dungeon would soon collapse.

They had to take whatever they could before it vanished.

Theres no time to sort things. Just throw everything into your subspace bags!

Yes, Captain!

Dont worrywell grab every last piece!

Smiles spread across the faces of the Awakened as they packed the spoils away.

The loot from the Vampire Queens lair was staggering, and each of them would surely receive a generous share.

Though many had fallen, the vampire threat was goneand with this haul, they could finally rest for a while.

Then

Rumble!

The dungeon shook violently, as though struck by an earthquake.

A sure sign of its impending collapse.

Above the Queens throne, a portal leading outside shimmered into view.

Grain turned to Zeon and Tesserina with a grin.

Ill be going first. Lets hope we work together again sometime.

Ill pass. Id rather not get stabbed in the back again.

Heh. Whether you like it or not, our paths will keep crossingas long as we both live in Neo Seoul.

With that, Grain stepped into the portal and vanished.

What an unpleasant man. All that arrogance just because he can play with gravity.

Hes earned the right to be arrogant.

The same weapon can differ vastly depending on who wields it.

Grain was a man who had devoted his entire life to mastering gravityand had reached its pinnacle.

Even the remnants of his power told the story of how freely he could bend that force to his will.

From a dragons perspective, it might seem trivialbut from a humans, it was an extraordinary achievement.

And yet hes not even Number One among the Numbers

The leader of that elite group had yet to appear.

The one who commanded the fiercely individualistic Numbersthe strongest Awakened in all Neo Seoul.

Jin Geumhos greatest weapon.

Old Man Klexi had once said:

Without him, Jin Geumho could never have built Neo Seoul as it is today. Dyoden and Geumho laid the foundationbut he raised the pillars.

A man who had bound the Numbers togethereach one as wild and untamable as grains of sandthrough sheer charisma and power.

He had not shown himself in over a decade.

Yet no one believed he was dead.

Even now, he was somewhere out there, carrying out Jin Geumhos will.

Just as Grain had today.

Zeon spoke to Tesserina.

Lets go.

Mm!

She nodded, not sparing even a glance at the treasure pile the Katrak squad was gathering, and followed behind him.

The moment they stepped through the portal, the scene changed.

An endless desert of orange sand stretched before them.

A smile curved Zeons lips.

Perfect.

The desertjust as he liked it best.