Chapter 482

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 her—dozens 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 Zeon’s 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 Zeon’s mind.

It was one of the powers of a vampire—the ability to stimulate and dominate another’s brain.

And among all vampires, the Queen excelled at it.

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

Zeon’s eyes met hers—proof 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 didn’t 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?

“I’m neither your child nor a vampire. Why should I follow you?”

―How dare you defy me… You’ve 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 Graviturge’s focus. Shake his mind, and I shall give you every pleasure imaginable—and immortality besides.

It was a tempting offer.

Immortality—something 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 silent—and become fuel for humanity, vampire!”

Thud!

The weakest part of her body—her eyes—burst 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.

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

Zeon called out to him.

“Need a hand?”

“Don’t interfere. She’s mine.”

“Well, if you insist.”

At Grain’s firm tone, Zeon simply raised both hands and stepped back.

Crack! Crack!

Even then, the Queen’s 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 Grain’s 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 didn’t 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 bottle—but it was a specially crafted device prepared for this mission alone.

Its purpose was singular: to collect the Vampire Queen’s 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 child’s fist.

The terrifying thing was that even then—she wasn’t dead.

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

“What incredible vitality.”

Grain sighed and pulled another object from his pocket—a 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 toy—an incendiary bomb developed in Neo Seoul. No matter how powerful your regeneration, you won’t be coming back from this.”

Every drop of blood—the source of her regeneration—had already been extracted.

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

Grain calmly retrieved the vial containing her blood—his 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 Queen’s offspring faster than I expected. Honestly, I thought you’d take much longer.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“I don’t need apologies. Everything I did was for Neo Seoul.”

“So your real goal was the Queen’s blood from the start.”

“That’s right.”

“You knew she was here in the dungeon?”

“I hoped she would be. Didn’t think it’d actually turn out true, though.”

“Then you’ve achieved your goal. What do you plan to do with her blood?”

Even as Zeon pressed him, Grain’s expression didn’t change.

“That’s classified. Without the Mayor’s approval, I can’t tell you.”

“……”

“Don’t take it personally. In time, you’ll 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 Geumho—something he wasn’t ready for.

So he let it go.

Just then—

“Are all three of you safe?”

A massive Werebear burst through the wall—Katrak.

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.

“We’re all safe.”

“Thank the gods. You’ve 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 vampires—blood-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 hadn’t 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 Queen’s chamber, heaps of treasure lay piled high.

Katrak and his troops couldn’t 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 deeply—but 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.

“There’s no time to sort things. Just throw everything into your subspace bags!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Don’t worry—we’ll grab every last piece!”

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

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

Though many had fallen, the vampire threat was gone—and 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 Queen’s throne, a portal leading outside shimmered into view.

Grain turned to Zeon and Tesserina with a grin.

“I’ll be going first. Let’s hope we work together again sometime.”

“I’ll pass. I’d rather not get stabbed in the back again.”

“Heh. Whether you like it or not, our paths will keep crossing—as 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.”

“He’s 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 gravity—and 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 dragon’s perspective, it might seem trivial—but from a human’s, it was an extraordinary achievement.

And yet he’s not even Number One among the Numbers…

The leader of that elite group had yet to appear.

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

Jin Geumho’s 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 foundation—but he raised the pillars.

A man who had bound the Numbers together—each one as wild and untamable as grains of sand—through 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 Geumho’s will.

Just as Grain had today.

Zeon spoke to Tesserina.

“Let’s 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 Zeon’s lips.

“Perfect.”

The desert—just as he liked it best.