NAPE - 110

Side Story 21

It seemed someone had taken Claireval’s place after he disappeared. From the current description, it didn’t seem to be Lord Schauer. A middle-aged man... Could he be someone who became a vampire late in life?

“Then...”

Just as Bibi was about to ask another question, she heard a commotion from the stairs. Turning her head, she saw the hounds dragging a small, bloodied boy upstairs.

“Lau Yuan!”

Bibi’s eyes widened in surprise. She had hidden him in the ceiling, how did he get here...? Wait, the ones holding that child... weren’t they the same hounds she had faced in the pit yesterday and today? Did they perhaps hold a grudge against her and bring him as a hostage?

Proudly reaching the second floor, they handed Lau Yuan over to the managers and then hurried back downstairs.

“So, you’re concerned about that little brat, huh?”

The general manager chuckled from below Bibi.

“You...”

“Don’t worry. If you just behave, I’ll let both of you live. Oh, and get off me for now. Right now!”

“Don’t believe him, Sister. He’ll kill you even if you kneel. My mom died that way, you have to live, Sister!”

Lau Yuan shouted, his face swollen from being beaten.

Bang!

With the sound of a gunshot, the boy’s body crumpled forward. Blood spurted from his chest like a fountain, drenching the floor. Bibi gasped in surprise and leaped towards Lau Yuan.

“Lau Yuan!”

Fortunately, he hadn’t turned to ash. It seemed to have been fired from a regular gun, not a silver bullet. Still, it was lethal for his small body. Hybrids and regular vampires were different from purebloods. Relatively, their regenerative abilities were weaker. At this rate... he would suffer permanent damage. What should she do? She needed to stop the bleeding, but she had no tools!

“Should I just kill that hybrid brat? I’m in a bad mood, so I should. What are you doing? Bring the developed medicine! Let’s test it all out right now!”

The enraged general manager yelled at the vampires who were standing there dumbfounded. Only then did the vampires start to move erratically, as if waking from a trance.

Having been overwhelmed by witnessing a pureblood vampire, they were now seized with the excitement of hunting a precious and beautiful being. They felt exhilarated by the act of destroying, rather than overcoming, a lifelong insurmountable barrier.

As countless gun muzzles and hypodermic needles were aimed at her, Bibi bit her wrist for the dying Lau Yuan. This time, she intended to give him much more blood. The gasping boy clutched Bibi’s wrist like a nursing pup and began to frantically suck.

“Ahhh...!”

Lau Yuan, who was dying, let out an ecstatic gasp. The surrounding vampires smacked their lips in response. The sweet yet intoxicating scent of pureblood. It was a chemical that broke down the ego’s defenses and caused instincts to overflow. Not only on the second floor, but the hounds on the first floor also began to gather stealthily, entranced by the smell of blood. The experimental subjects trapped in iron cages woke up and clamored for blood too.

“Yes, eat! Eat them! Everyone, devour that woman and the brat!”

When the general manager shouted loudly, the vampires charged as if cheering. Countless hands overlapped on Bibi’s skin. Some pleaded for blood, some maliciously tore at flesh, some tried to steal, some wanted to destroy. Their desires were all different.

An immeasurably deep pit shimmered before her eyes. Bibi’s body was too small to satisfy all their desires. In front of vampires unable to control their bloodlust, it was her turn to become a killer.

Grrrrr.

A beastly sound flowed from her throat. Bibi placed Lau Yuan on the floor and opened her fangs, ready to bite the closest one first.

Honestly, she wasn’t confident. Fighting while prioritizing Lau Yuan’s life meant fighting with a large chain tied to her ankle... She wondered if this child could truly endure that time.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

It was then. A dull roar echoed from the empty night sky. The deafening sound filled Bibi’s eardrums, and even the swarming vampires looked up.

“What, is that a helicopter?”

The general manager hurried, startled. Since the building unfortunately had no windows, he couldn’t check outside, so he pointed at a few managers and sent them out.

Boom!

“Aargh!”

A violent explosion and a tearing scream were heard. As the helicopter sound grew louder, the acrid smell of gunpowder filled her nose. What was happening? She couldn’t feel anyone else’s presence or scent.

The vampires, sensing the anomaly, stopped their attempts to bite Bibi and exchanged uneasy glances. An intruder. An uninvited guest had entered the hound factory. But since there were no new presences or smells, no one dared to move recklessly.

“That... first... first, gather the research data. Kill all the test subjects, and burn all the ledgers there! Hounds, go to the first floor and secure the emergency escape route. I’m telling you to cause a distraction!”

The general manager, sensing something amiss, hastily gave orders. The guards scurried around, brought petroleum barrels from the corner, and spread them all over the second-floor entrance. The hounds hesitated, unsure of what to do.

“Release those in the iron cages too!”

While the documents were blazing, the general manager woke up the experimental subjects in the iron cages and dragged them outside. Although they were scrawny, their muscles were quite pronounced. They had bodies specialized for combat.

Bibi was flustered by the sudden situation but also thought it was for the best. She had obtained the necessary information, and she should quickly carry Lau Yuan and escape amidst the chaos.

“Where are you going? You’re coming with me. Even if you’re a pureblood, you can’t move properly if you’re hit by a silver bullet, you know that, right? Besides, I have powerful toxins.”

As the flames spread wider and the screams from the first floor grew louder, the general manager, disgustingly, still hadn’t given up on Bibi. He aimed his gun at Bibi’s back with eyes burning with desire.

“Shoot.”

Bibi said calmly.

“What?”

“Let’s test which is faster: your weapons running out, or me recovering.”

“N-no way, you’re joking, right?”

At his question, Bibi blinked innocently. The general manager, realizing she wasn’t joking, let out a stunned gasp.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

It was the moment he pressed the trigger. Suddenly, something flew between them in a parabola. Bibi immediately recognized what it was. A flare. Vampire eyes were excellent at navigating darkness but vulnerable to bright light. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut and blocked her vision with her palms.

A small explosion and a bright flash of light were felt. Bibi waited with her head bowed until she judged it was okay. The helicopter sound that had filled her eardrums was no longer heard. Instead, only the screams of the remaining managers on the second floor grew louder.

What happened?

Bibi slightly raised her head and was startled. People in special forces uniforms, wearing black masks, were swiftly and accurately subduing the factory’s vampires. Even without prominent weapons, the places they passed were filled with blood. Movements like afterimages... They were individuals who had thoroughly mastered the art of killing. She didn’t feel confident she could win against them.

Most surprising was the appearance of the general manager who had been aiming his gun at her. She didn’t know what had happened in the short time the flare went off, but he was in a dire state. His jaw was crushed and his eyeballs popped out, lying on the floor as if hit by a truck.

And the one stepping on him... was the familiar back of a man. The moment she saw him, the tension melted away from the bloody scene. A strong sense of relief washed over her.

“Do, Doyoon...?”

At Bibi’s call, Doyoon, who was stepping on the general manager, turned around. His eyes distorted sharply as he saw Bibi. He bit his lip upon seeing her state. Inexpressible emotions surged like a tidal wave.

“Ha...”

He cursed, then swiftly took off his t-shirt and strode towards Bibi, wrapping it around her. Then he spread his arms and embraced her tightly.

“Bibi...”

“......”

“I searched every island in this area looking for you. I came as soon as I checked your message and GPS... I came too late. I’m sorry.”

Though it had only been a few days, Doyoon’s broad embrace was incredibly welcome. It felt like a long time since she had experienced it. Bibi spread her arms, hugged him back, and inhaled his familiar scent deeply. Ah, after smelling only fishy odors, feeling Doyoon’s scent was intoxicating, like being in heaven. Bibi was truly happy and glad. So much so that she wished she could be forever preserved in this moment.

“I shouldn’t have brought you here, I swear I shouldn’t have tried to teach you...”

Seeing him blame himself, Bibi frantically shook her head.

“No, Doyoon. Doyoon isn’t at fault. I’m okay. I was fine after being swept away by the current. Staying here was my choice. I deliberately stayed because I wanted to find out about the hound factory.”

While trying to cheer him up, Bibi also wanted to boast about the achievements she had made here. She wanted praise for having done her part without relying on Doyoon. She wanted to hear him acknowledge her as a hunter and say she was useful.

“I did well, didn’t I? You were looking for the factory’s location too. I purposefully held back from charging my phone right away yesterday.”

Doyoon’s face hardened as he listened to Bibi’s words. Did she deliberately stay in a place like this when she could have escaped? In this state... Before he could revel in the joy of finding Bibi, he was so dumbfounded that for the first time in his life, he was speechless.