NAPE - 75

Ah. The Trainer... Claireval was not omnipotent. Like Choi Hae-jin, he was weak and insignificant. To have been manipulated by such a person...

“Why did you do it?” Bibi asked, looking straight into his eyes without fear. In the place where fear had vanished, a vivid rage settled and was fiercely expanding.

“Why did you do it? To me... and to my mother, no, your sister.”

“...”

“All the traumas I have, you inflicted them. You ruined me.”

The deep scars of fire and darkness, the fear of loneliness. The years of serving mixed-bloods... Who could compensate her for that? How could she possibly reclaim her broken self? Or rather, did a complete ‘me’ even exist?

“I, I just wanted to have my own family who wouldn’t betray me...” Claireval’s head said.

“Family...?” Bibi looked at him in disbelief at the absurd answer. Family. She was so dumbfounded, she couldn’t speak. If he just needed subordinates who would listen to him, fine, but how could he utter the word ‘family’?

Bibi’s shoulders shook, and she laughed as if sobbing. After a long moment, she suddenly stopped and became serious.

“Family?”

A chilling, vivid aura emanated from her red eyes. The Trainer was overwhelmed by that gaze and shut his mouth. He never dreamed of it. He couldn’t have imagined Bibi looking at him with such murderous intent, or a hound directly baring its fangs at its master.

Because he had taught her silence, cut off all her desires, and controlled both her emotions and cognitive abilities in his hands.

“Everything you created... I’m going to make it all futile,” Bibi said, gritting her teeth. “That’s my revenge. I’m going to find all those who claimed to be my masters. I’m going to find all your labs and hound armies and turn them into ash.”

“I... I intended to give you glory. I was going to place you in the greatest position, serving me someday. I loved you instead of your mother... Aaaargh!” A piercing scream echoed. It was the sound of Doyoon’s gleaming blade slicing off Claireval’s ear.

“Claireval, from now on, you are Bibi’s hound.” Doyoon sent a blazing smile towards Claireval’s bloodshot eyes. “You know the hound’s principle best, don’t you? Obedience.”

“Ugh... you...”

“Now, let’s go nicely to London and share some information. Let’s start with where your lab and hound army are.” Doyoon tossed Claireval’s ear to the side. He deliberately lightened the mood to prevent Bibi from emotionally breaking down here.

“Where’s Lee Namwon? Let’s go get some ropes. River’s unconscious right now.”

“Doyoon...” When Namwon was mentioned, a heavy lead settled in Bibi’s chest. She tugged on Doyoon’s sleeve.

“Hmm?”

“Namwon... can’t move right now.”

“Why?” Bibi bit her lip, unable to answer easily. Doyoon, sensing the serious atmosphere, tilted his head.

“He got impaled by an iron bar in the chest... so I had no choice but to inject venom. I haven’t confirmed if it worked well yet. I... I should have protected him... I didn’t think he’d be weak because he’s human...”

At the news, which was not quite an obituary, Doyoon’s composure drained away like an ebbing tide. He looked at Bibi with an expression of disbelief. He seemed to be hoping she would say it was a joke. Bibi bowed her head, looking as if she was about to cry.

“...Where... is he?” he asked after a long moment. Bibi pointed towards where Namwon was and led the way. Doyoon followed with quick steps. Discovering Namwon lying neatly under a pillar, Doyoon paused and inhaled sharply. He seemed speechless, rubbing his forehead and sighing for a moment.

“Damn it, I told him not to come because I was afraid he’d get caught up in this...”

Doyoon put Claireval’s head down on one side and approached Namwon. He examined his junior’s pallid face and carefully checked his breathing and the wound on his chest.

“He’s dead.” After checking everything, Doyoon finally made his diagnosis.

“...Ah...”

“Human Lee Namwon, that is.”

“...Then...”

“Yes, from today, Lee Namwon has become one of us. In exchange for being ruled by thirst and blood, he will belong to the domain of the night.”

Bibi gazed at Namwon with a somber expression. Ending a life as a human was a great blessing. Bibi had taken death away from him without permission, transforming him into a completely different creature.

She had transformed him into a blood-starved monster. It was a very selfish and cowardly act. Bringing the dead back to life was an act solely for the living.

“It’s okay.” Doyoon’s arm wrapped around Bibi’s shoulder. He sighed and stood up. It was then. A dark object, like lightning, lunged at Doyoon’s back while he was distracted by Namwon.

“Cough!” Something that had approached plunged a sharp syringe into Doyoon’s unguarded arm. Doyoon belatedly dodged and kicked the dark object away. The attacker was none other than Claireval’s headless body.

“Doyoon! Are you okay?” Bibi gasped in horror and hastily checked Doyoon’s complexion. Doyoon examined the syringe with an unusual expression. In the meantime, Claireval’s body crawled over and frantically tried to reattach his head to his neck.

“What... did you inject into me?” Doyoon asked with a disgusted look. Claireval let out a chilling laugh.

“Do you think I know nothing about the Executioner? I put as much effort into my research as you did.” As he spoke, a hissing sound of air escaped from the gaps between his neck and body. “Jack said that Bibi seems to be your ‘type.’ Haha... Hahaha! What a wonderful coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

“Shut up.” Doyoon’s Adam’s apple bobbed. This was the first time he had been flustered since arriving here.

“Bibi has a right to know too. Otherwise, you’ll be the same as me. Don’t you want to know why vampires fear the Tudor family, why they live quietly in Longmelford, and why they’re called ‘Executioners’?”

“I told you to shut up.” Doyoon, clutching the knife tightly, took a step towards Claireval, then suddenly stumbled. Whatever drug had been injected into his arm seemed to be already affecting his body. Would it be okay if he sucked it out quickly? Bibi hastily tried to approach him.

But Doyoon held up his palm, stopping her from coming closer. Claireval smiled even more sinisterly. He looked at Bibi and opened his mouth again.

“Listen closely, Bibi. The Executioner... is a devil. The Tudor family literally possesses the blood of the apex predator. They are so remarkably superior that they view all others as prey. So they don’t hesitate to commit cannibalism among their own kind. Not only do they drink blood, but they chew and devour a vampire’s entire body. That, you see, is an instinct etched in their blood; no matter how much they try to suppress it, they never can. Especially when it’s their ‘type.’“

Cannibalism among their own kind. It was the first she’d heard of it. Especially feeling hunger for a specific ‘type’... If so, Doyoon... had he perhaps been suppressing a different desire, not just thirst, all this time?

“...That’s not true.” Doyoon denied it with difficulty.

“Not for now, perhaps. But... how long can you endure? You must feel it deep in your bones that blood packs and iron supplements aren’t enough, aren’t you? Shall I tell you what I just injected? It’s a special appetite stimulant. Its effect won’t end until you consume what you desire. You’ll feel a burning thirst throughout your body, and the pain will only get worse. Isn’t that wonderful?”

With every word Claireval uttered, Doyoon panted heavily, as if trying to suppress a seizure.

“Now. Drink. Look at those innocent eyes. Just chew her up. What are you waiting for?” Claireval urged Doyoon to eat Bibi. “Drink, drink! You like pleasure, don’t you? She’s a hound I tamed. Quality guaranteed.”

Doyoon gritted his teeth and cursed, wishing he could cover his ears instead. The knife in his hand clattered to the floor. Claireval’s crazed laughter filled the basement.

“Come on. Don’t hold back. Hurry! Chew her up, bones and all!” Claireval shrieked with malice, like a snake tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit. In the renewed chaos, Bibi alternated her gaze between Doyoon and the knife he had dropped.

She found herself holding his knife. The tool that ended vampires instead of silver bullets. Bibi slowly realized what she had to do. She twisted her body in an instant. Then, faster and more swiftly than ever, she rushed to Claireval and plunged the knife into his healing windpipe.

“Ugh, gack!” Claireval, whose neck was stabbed by the very hound he had raised, wore an expression of disbelief. As she pushed his wobbling body backward, he fell limply like a scarecrow. Bibi straddled his body and, like a priest offering a sacrifice, reverently raised both arms.

Vampires, excluding their astonishing regenerative abilities, possessed the same bodily structure as humans. Bibi knew 60 ways to kill a human. All of them taught by the Trainer. She truly never thought she would put that learning into practice now.