NAPE - 65

The Executioner silently approached the criminal. The criminal gasped when he saw the Executioner approaching him. He began to tremble in terror.

“P-please save me, I won’t do it again. Please save me... I’m a pathetic man. My father drank and beat me since I was young. My mother left home, and all I could do was steal. I-I just wanted to be loved... so I went to the children. Because children don’t push me away...”

The criminal changed his stance and pleaded, clasping his hands together. The Executioner stared blankly at the criminal kneeling before him. The cold, glassy eyes gave no clue as to his psychological state. The criminal, unsure what to do, fidgeted nervously.

“We shall proceed with the ritual.”

Humans bound the criminal’s feet, who was to be the sacrifice, and connected them to a pulley. When the handle was pulled, the man was hoisted upside down. A loud, pig-like squeal echoed. The Executioner slowly made the sign of the cross. Simultaneously, the staff he held quickly shot upward. The sharp blade glinted in the torchlight.

“Gasp...!”

A guttural gasp escaped the criminal. At the same time, the staff swiftly and cleanly pierced his crown vertically.

Splatter!

When the staff was pulled out, blood splattered everywhere. Dark red blood clung to the Executioner’s black mask and cloak like shrapnel. The altar was instantly drenched in blood. Dark red blood streamed down the wings of the wailing angels. The metallic smell of blood wildly stimulated her nostrils.

“Blood, fresh blood...!”

The vampires in the front row, unable to control their thirst, rushed forward and began to greedily lick the altar with their tongues. Bibi looked at the humans standing nearby. The man who was supposedly a prime minister of a country was marveling at the Blood Ritual. He was enjoying the Blood Ritual more than the vampires.

Did they... did they have absolute confidence that they wouldn’t become sacrifices? Where did this belief come from, that they wouldn’t be devoured in this Blood Ritual?

Bibi, tilting her head in confusion, looked up at the altar again and gasped in shock. The crow mask was facing her. Its cold, glassy gaze pierced through her. Doyoon’s warning flashed through her mind.

“Don’t go to the basement. There are crows there.”

Where could Doyoon be now?

While she pondered, another cart arrived from somewhere. A new living sacrifice was dragged onto the blood-soaked altar. Perhaps having smelled the blood, this one resisted more fiercely. But no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t avoid the Executioner’s staff. The number of vampires licking the altar increased.

“Remember, the hand of the Executioner shall be upon those who disrupt order!” shouted a vampire, intoxicated by blood.

“What does ‘disrupting order’ mean...?”

“Hmm, for example, gravely breaking a rule set by the Elders, or starting a rebellion to become king.” Isabel spoke in a dreamy, hazy voice. “Those who bring chaos to the vampire world are sought out by the Executioner and immediately annihilated. Even their entire bloodline.”

“...Without a chance to explain? What about those born under bad luck?”

“It’s not the Executioner’s job to consider such things. Originally, the Enforcer was supposed to do that, but that position is currently vacant.”

“Can’t they just elect another Enforcer?”

“We are immortals. Our system is different from humans. If someone disappears, their vacancy isn’t replaced. If they disappear, that’s the end of it.”

Why hadn’t she known? In this den of beasts, the most dangerous one wasn’t the humans, but herself. As a descendant of the Servant family, she was the one bearing the inverted cross. Bibi wanted to escape from this place immediately.

Bibi slowly backed away, then noticed something carved on the handle of the Executioner’s staff. A rose crest. That was...

“That’s the Tudor family crest.”

“Yes. It also symbolizes me, the head of the family.”

Bibi stared blankly at Isabel.

“So the Executioner... is you?”

Isabel slowly nodded, gazing at the man on the altar with proud eyes.

“Originally, performing the Blood Ritual was my role. But this time, I entrusted it to him. Now no one will be able to object to the succession. My son will inherit everything.”

Bibi could barely breathe. Through the glassy eyes of the crow mask, she caught a glimpse of transparent pupils. Ah... she understood. She knew who was standing up there.

Her vision blurred. The man in the crow mask, the one who had perfectly seized authority, who had received the succession of the Executioner. The sole being who oversaw the register of immortals and could bestow death. The one obligated to sever the bloodline of the rebellious Servant family. That person... was Doyoon.

The ground beneath her feet swayed. Blood drained from her, and despair filled her body.

“Are you okay? Do you want to lick the altar too?” Isabel, misunderstanding Bibi’s gasping as thirst, gently offered.

“...No. I’m fine.”

“Indeed. Doesn’t it look unappetizing? In the past, we could kidnap innocent youths and take their blood to our heart’s content, but now we mostly have to feed on disgusting rapists and murderers... It’s a bit sad.”

Another cart entered from somewhere. This time, it contained dozens of humans in an iron cage. On their necks, their crimes were meticulously listed: rape, murder, human trafficking...

“The Blood Ritual is over. Let’s enjoy the festival!”

At someone’s shout, the vampires swarmed the criminals like hungry demons. They revealed their sharp fangs, declaring themselves instruments of divine punishment.

“Help me, ugh, ahh!”

Screams, the hot smell of blood, and the sound of skin being torn mingled together.

“The festival starts now. Vampires love alcohol, drugs, sex, and blood very much. Even more so when they’re in a group like this. What are you doing? You should enjoy it too.”

The atmosphere in the underground palace had subtly changed. Everyone had cast off their masks and cloaks and were completely naked. The concentric circles scattered like ripples. The vampires, excited like children, gathered before the torches, doing drugs or engaging in group orgies, drinking each other’s blood.

Amidst this chaos, the human hunt continued. Even though they were full from drinking so much blood, it seemed they were chasing them for fun, like a rabbit hunt.

In the midst of the turmoil, Bibi stood alone and isolated. She was still reeling from the shock of Doyoon being the Executioner and didn’t know what to do. Isabel led Bibi away.

“Bibi, let’s go over there. I need to find Richard. He’s introverted, so he’s probably just doing drugs by himself in a corner. Oh, should I find you a plaything too?” Isabel asked, pulling Bibi by the hand and turning back to her. Bibi just blinked and didn’t answer. Isabel seemed to take that as an affirmative. She strode over to a vampire in a corner who was simultaneously consuming human blood and drugs, and abruptly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

“How about this one? I tried him before, and he has very tasty blood.”

To lift a man of such a large build with delicate hands. Isabel was considerably stronger than she looked. After all, what could be more foolish than judging a vampire by their appearance? Bibi herself was quite strong.

Moreover, her opponent was the Executioner. Of course, she could easily toy with a drug-addled vampire.

“Here, take him quickly.”

At Isabel’s urging, Bibi, taken aback, accepted the vampire she had never seen before.

“Mmm, good... Bite me. Drink my blood...” As if instinctively offering her breast to her young, the man roughly unbuttoned his shirt and pushed his neck towards Bibi’s mouth. As Bibi opened her mouth in surprise, a large hand suddenly appeared before her.

“Don’t drink.”

A familiar voice. Bibi looked up at Doyoon, who had stepped in front of her. His staff, crow mask, and cloak were gone; he was simply in a shirt. Even in this den of vampires, where the average beauty was high, his face stood out.

“Oh, you arrived quickly.”

“Why on earth did you bring Bibi?”

Bibi froze slightly at his angry tone. Isabel smiled shamelessly.

“Isn’t this what you wanted? To introduce a new pureblood vampire and incorporate her into our society. To increase our allies.”

“Not anymore. The timing isn’t right either.”

“The milk has already been spilled. Everyone recognized Bibi during the Blood Ritual.”

“Ha... You’re impossible to reason with.”

Doyoon irritably ran a hand through his hair. Isabel enjoyed raising innocent young girls she picked up. Why hadn’t he expected her to salivate over a pureblood vampire like Bibi?

“Why don’t you enjoy yourself, since it’s already like this?”

“Enjoy what? I’m going right back upstairs.”

“If you just go upstairs, what will the Council think of you? You came after a long time; you should show your strength.”

As the two engaged in a small argument, a female vampire who had been licking the altar crawled to Doyoon’s feet, begging him to drink her blood. She took off her clothes, revealing her alluringly large breasts, and tempted him to enjoy the festival.

Doyoon didn’t even glance at her, coldly pushing her away. A disgruntled outcry erupted, but he paid it no mind and splayed his fingers before Isabel.