Chapter 36 — The Being That Would Not Die
The moment the Vampire Prince moved, the difference between them became clear as day—not in strength alone, but in presence. Every step he took carried a certainty that none of them could match. Not arrogance, not overconfidence, just… certainty. And that made him terrifying.
Aken moved first, not because he believed he could win—but because standing still meant death.
"Now!"
They didn't need further instruction. The moment his voice cut through the air, the others followed. Jin Wong shifted to the right flank, blade angled low, eyes locked onto the Prince's center. Soo-ah raised her hand, frost gathering instantly, the temperature around them dropping as her mana surged. Jae-Min hesitated—just for a fraction of a second—then forced himself forward, gripping his weapon like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.
Their coordination wasn't perfect, but it was enough to start. The Vampire Prince didn't rush, he watched. Aken felt it—the weight of that gaze tracking him specifically, like everything else in the room was just… background noise.
Fine, then he would make him look. Cursed energy surged through his legs, not all at once, controlled but measured. He leaned forward—and vanished.
"Sprint."
The world snapped, repositioning him instantly to the Prince's blind side. He didn't pause, didn't hesitate. The moment his feet touched the ground, he pushed again—this time forcing cursed energy into his muscles, amplifying speed beyond what his body naturally allowed.
Too much would tear him apart.
Too little wouldn't matter.
So he balanced it on instinct.
Soo-ah moved with him.
"Ice Spread."
The ground froze beneath Aken's path, a thin, frictionless layer forming instantly. His momentum doubled. No—tripled. The shift was immediate, his body carried forward faster than before, his steps no longer constrained by resistance. Then—
She changed it.
"Ice Construct."
Sharp platforms formed mid-air, one after another, just ahead of his trajectory. Not large—just enough, enough for him. Aken didn't question it, he adapted. One step—he launched upward.
Second step—mid-air.
Third—higher. The Vampire Prince's gaze followed him, still calm, still unreadable. That annoyed him. Aken twisted his body mid-air, drawing Miokuo back as cursed energy surged again—this time not for movement, but for impact.
"Curse Slash."
Everything compressed into that single motion, speed, force and killing intent. The blade cut through the air and landed, clean and decisive. For a brief moment—
Time seemed to stop. Then—
The head fell. It hit the ground with a dull, hollow sound, rolling slightly before coming to a stop. The body remained upright for a second longer, then it collapsed.
Silence followed, heavy and uncertain.
Jae-Min blinked first. "…That's… it?"
Jin Wong didn't lower his guard, but even he hesitated. "…That was too easy."
Soo-ah exhaled slowly, frost dissipating around her hands. For the first time since the fight began, something close to relief crossed her expression.
"…We did it."
She even let out a small, disbelieving laugh. And for a moment—
They believed it, that it was over, that they had won. They had believed the wicked lie. Then—
Something moved. It wasn't the body, it wasn't the head. It was—
Something else entirely.
An impact came out of nowhere, no warning, no visible source. Soo-ah's body jerked violently as she was thrown backward, slamming into the stone wall with a force that cracked it on impact.
The sound echoed, sharp and final. She hit the ground hard, coughing, her breath catching as something dark stained the front of her clothes.
"Soo-ah!" Jae-Min shouted, panic breaking through instantly. Aken's eyes snapped back to the corpse, and froze. The body—
Was moving, slowly, casually. It bent down, one hand reaching toward the fallen head, lifting it with deliberate ease. Then—
It spoke.
"…Did you really think killing me would be that easy?"
The voice was the same, calm, amused. The head's lips curved slightly as it was held loosely in place, as though the separation meant nothing.
"I mean… come on."
A soft chuckle followed.
"Use your head a little."
Before Aken could react—the body moved.
No—it appeared.
Right in front of him. Aken barely had time to move before a hand grabbed his face—and slammed it into the ground. The impact shattered the stone beneath him, pain exploded through his skull, his vision fracturing instantly.
"…Is that the best you've got?"
The Vampire Prince's voice came from above him, casual, almost bored.
"I can't believe they sent me for this."
Another pause.
"You didn't even make it interesting."
Jin Wong moved, fast and desperate. His blade cut through the air in a clean arc aimed at the Prince's side. It should have landed but sadly it didn't. The Prince shifted slightly, just enough. The strike missed and then—
Something else moved, a blade, not Jin's, not anyone's. It appeared out of nowhere.
And struck his head. The sound that followed was grotesque. Not loud, not dramatic. Just—final, final in all its might. Soo-ah's voice broke.
"Jin—!"
She tried to move, but her body didn't respond fast enough. The Vampire Prince didn't even look at the fallen swordsman, he had already lost interest. Instead, he turned—and kicked. Aken's body flew. The impact against the wall knocked what little breath he had left out of him. Something cracked—his bones where obliterated. He slid down slowly, his body refusing to obey him.
Everything hurt, warmth spread across his face, his vision blurred on one side, blood covering the eye. He tasted it, felt it, but couldn't stop it from gushing out of him. Through the haze—
He saw the Prince walking calmly toward Soo-ah. She tried to rise but failed mercilessly. A hand closed around her neck, lifting her slightly off the ground effortless. Jae-Min stood frozen, his hands trembled. his mind—
Blank.
He looked at his weapon, then at the Prince. Then back again, nothing made sense, nothing worked. Aken tried to move, his body didn't respond. Not his arms, not his legs, nothing.
Miokuo's voice cut through the fog.
"Master—get up."
He couldn't.
"Master, you need to move."
He tried, still nothing.
"Master—!"
The voice broke. Something Aken had never heard before, desperation. Jae-Min stepped forward once, then stopped. His lips trembled.
"…I…"
His eyes found Aken. And something inside him shattered completely.
"I'm sorry…"
The words came out barely above a whisper.
"I can't do anything."
A tear fell, he didn't wipe it away, didn't even notice it. The Vampire Prince released Soo-ah, tossing her aside like worthless garbage. She hit the ground like she weighed nothing. Then—
He looked at Aken.
"…Is this what you were trying to protect?"
His voice held no anger, no hatred. Just… disappointment.
A faint laugh followed.
"…What a waste."
Aken's vision dimmed. The world narrowed again, not to a point—but to fragments.
Memories, unwanted, uncontrolled.
A plane, fire and screams. His mother's warmth, his fathers voice.
Then silence. The weight of it hit him again, just like before, just like always. He couldn't save them, he had been too weak, too slow, too nothing. And now—
Even after everything—
Even after gaining power—
Nothing had changed. He still couldn't protect anyone, not them, not now, not ever. His eyes began to close. Not by choice, his body was shutting down.
The system flickered weakly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[HP: 8]
[HP: 7]
[HP: 6
[HP: 5]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Miokuo screamed.
"MASTER!"
But the sound felt distant, like it was coming from somewhere far away. Aken's breathing slowed, his body went still.
The weight—
Finally—
Lifted.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[HP: 3]
[HP: 2]
[HP: 1]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Darkness took him, no pain, no sound, no thought. Just—
Nothing.
And in that moment, Aken Ezomo was dead.
END OF CHAPTER 36