Resurrection Chapter 96 - There’s a Strange Scent

Because the transcendent being I served was a Gold Dragon, and the Black King I sought to defeat was also a Black Dragon, I knew a lot about dragons. Dragons had not yet been witnessed by humans, but wyverns, which were classified as the same species, had appeared a few times.

The most representative among them is Leviathan.

Even though it was a wyvern, the one who defeated Leviathan was Shin Lion, so he must have become a Dragon Slayer at the same time as he leveled up.

Becoming a Dragon Slayer grants you a defense comparable to that of a dragon. This meant that it was impossible to inflict even a scratch on Shin Lion’s body, let alone a wound, by any ordinary means. This must have been the best way for Yaksha, whose physical abilities were lacking as a necromancer, to compensate for his weakness.

I didn’t know the exact skill, but Yaksha must have acquired a skill that allowed him to transfer his own soul to another person’s body while he was lying low. Mr. Min Gongchan knew this and had come to destroy Shin Lion’s body.

No matter how nerfed Yaksha was, as long as he was in Shin Lion’s body, this was a dangerous situation.

As if he had the same thought, Heesoo hyung kicked off the ground and jumped in between Yaksha and Yoon Younghyun. His Kladenets shot out, emitting a radiance that could be mistaken for flames.

“Destruction!”

The blow struck down on Yaksha. Yaksha blocked the attack with the pipe he was holding, but it wasn’t enough. The pipe snapped in two like a reed, and Yaksha’s head was split in half.

It should have split in half.

But the benefits of the Dragon Slayer title were excessively powerful. Even after taking Heesoo hyung’s skill-infused blow head-on, Yaksha was fine, shedding only a thin stream of blood.

I gasped in surprise. Heesoo hyung must have been surprised too, but instead of faltering, he pressed Yaksha fiercely.

Yoon Younghyun also seemed surprised and belatedly moved behind Yaksha to resume his attack. Mr. Min Gongchan, too, gritted his teeth and fired his railgun repeatedly, further enhancing the power of his Blood Line.

Surrounded by a closing net, Yaksha at first glance seemed to be on the defensive.

As if it wasn’t just a misconception, Yaksha committed a crazy act.

“Oblation!”

As he uttered the activation word, a tremendous light began to spread from his body. Realizing it was the secret technique Shin Lion had used to self-destruct along with Leviathan, I hastily began casting. The moment I finished casting and recited the activation word was almost simultaneous with the explosion of Shin Lion’s mutual destruction technique.

KABOOM!

👑

“……Hey! ……Yitae!”

Whoooosh—

The sounds of reality faded and then grew closer.

“Yitae, hey, Yitae! Kim Yitae!”

At the sound of someone calling my name while lightly slapping my cheeks, I faintly lifted my eyelids.

I seemed to have fainted for a moment, and I saw an unfamiliar face. No, to be honest, it wasn’t that unfamiliar, but the atmosphere had changed so drastically that it looked unfamiliar.

The person looking down at me with a pathologically ravaged beauty was none other than Mr. Min Gongchan.

I blinked slowly and spat out the dust that filled my mouth. As I did so, pursing my lips, Mr. Min Gongchan’s bluish eyes narrowed and flickered.

Noticing that his gaze had taken on an air similar to that of a predator stalking its prey, I sighed and spoke.

“It’s not like you’re wearing makeup, I can’t stand to look at that pale face.”

“……”

“What on earth were you thinking, becoming a vampire?”

Mr. Min Gongchan slyly averted his gaze and helped me up. I grabbed his hand and stood up.

As my whole body ached, I could see the area of the Iicheong Training Center, which had been completely turned into ruins. The underground space where we had been was fully exposed, and all the structures that had covered us from above were blown away. Through the gaps in the exploded building, I could see the bluish sky where the dawn was just beginning to creep in.

“We would have been in big trouble if we were a little late.”

If I hadn’t set up the wide-area defensive barrier in time, not just me, but everyone would have been beaten to a pulp. Shin Lion’s mutual destruction technique, Oblation, which had defeated the colossal beast Leviathan, was powerful enough to wipe a city off the map without a trace if used properly.

Thanks to Mr. Min Gongchan’s Blood Line, it seemed to have fortunately not reached that level of power. Or perhaps the power was weakened because the user of the skill was Yaksha, not Shin Lion.

In any case, the damage was less severe than expected. To be honest, I thought I was going to die.

As concrete dust fell from my whole body, I looked around. Yoon Younghyun seemed to have gone into shock, as he had turned back into a human and was passed out.

Heesoo hyung and Yaksha were nowhere to be seen. I urgently asked Mr. Min Gongchan.

“Where’s Heesoo hyung?”

Mr. Min Gongchan raised his finger and pointed up. I could see Heesoo hyung standing tall on a half-collapsed steel frame structure.

I wondered what he was looking at so intently when Mr. Min Gongchan sprouted long bat-like wings from his back. Seeing him even transform his body, it seemed he could use the powers of a vampire freely.

From Blood Line to Makeover, he was no ordinary vampire. He was at least Noble-class or higher.

Mr. Min Gongchan lightly held me and climbed from the crater, the epicenter of the explosion, to the surface. The scene on the ground was horrific; not only the Iicheong Training Center building but the entire area behind it was completely gone. Even the places that had been safe during the clash between Kim Piljoong and Yaksha last time had all collapsed.

Utility poles were toppled here and there, and tangled electrical wires sparked. Flames and smoke rose from various spots. In the distance, the loud weee-wooo of fire trucks rushed in, and amidst it all, I witnessed an unexpected sight.

Where Heesoo hyung was staring intently, there was Yaksha, who had become a wreck after using the mutual destruction technique. But he was not alone. Someone was helping him up.

To my surprise, the person hoisting Yaksha over his shoulder was wearing a Special Task Force uniform. His face wasn’t fully visible as he wore goggles instead of glasses, but his epaulets and badge made his identity easy to guess.

“Isn’t that the Special Task Force’s Mugunghwa Team Leader? Why on earth is Hwang Chihong……”

Muttering in bewilderment, I thought he was mistaken about something. Thinking he was trying to retrieve Shin Lion without knowing it was Yaksha, I shouted loudly.

“Get back, that’s not Shin Lion! It’s Yaksha!”

I was about to run over and pull Hwang Chihong away, but Mr. Min Gongchan stopped me. Come to think of it, something was strange. Why was Heesoo hyung just watching that scene?

Only then did I realize that Hwang Chihong wasn’t the only one at the scene.

Several Awakened were surrounding us.

They had clearly come with Hwang Chihong, but they weren’t from the Special Task Force. I didn’t know their identities, but seeing them all preparing activation words, I realized we were surrounded.

I tried to shout again and step forward, but Mr. Min Gongchan’s restraining hand was firm. I looked at him as if asking why he was doing this, and Mr. Min Gongchan said with a bitter tone.

“It’s no use trying to stop him. He’s not doing it because he doesn’t know.”

“If he’s not doing it because he doesn’t know, then what? That’s Hwang Chihong, the Special Task Force’s Mugunghwa Team Leader!”

“He looks like Hwang Chihong on the outside, but not on the inside. He’s been possessed.”

At Mr. Min Gongchan’s words, I felt like I had been doused with cold water. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I was dumbfounded at the sight of a guess I had hoped wasn’t true manifesting as reality.

Yaksha had certainly become able to control not only dead spirits but living spirits as well. It seemed he had inserted another vengeful spirit in place of Hwang Chihong’s soul and was using him as a pawn.

I was horrified by his dreadful ability.

“What on earth kind of skill did Yaksha get?”

“Soul-Transfer Technique.”

If he could use living people as he pleased, we were in big trouble. Not only could he plant spies anywhere, like with Hwang Chihong, but he could also transfer his own soul into another person’s body. Even if it was a different class from Resurrection, it was as if he had already reached a state of near-immortality.

Heesoo hyung also seemed to have realized what I had. He stood amidst the hostility that was completely focused on him, creating a taut tension.

His fist was gripping Kladenets tightly, but he couldn’t rashly attack Yaksha. If he did, the guys surrounding them would unleash their attacks all at once. My skin was already tingling from the killing intent they were emitting.

I gritted my teeth and said.

“We have to finish him now. If we let him escape here, we’ll never get another chance to kill him!”

Mr. Min Gongchan nodded his head slightly, as if in agreement. As he did so, he looked at me, and his gaze was somehow strange.

“So, about that, let me ask you a favor.”

“What favor?”

I asked back subconsciously, my eyes widening.

Instead of answering, Mr. Min Gongchan’s eyes glowed with a ghastly blue light, and baring his fangs, he bit my neck hard. I was startled and shuddered, screaming.

“Aaargh!”

The chilling fangs of a vampire dug into my flesh. Before sucking my blood, it injected a poison into my body that was endlessly close to an aphrodisiac.

This was a very unusual occurrence. Since I had the protection of a dragon, most poisons didn’t work on me. Even if they did, it would end with a slight fever or flu-like symptoms, but this was severe.

I tried to resist fiercely, but I was instantly intoxicated by the poison circulating through my bloodstream and went limp. Holding my body, Mr. Min Gongchan greedily sucked my blood.

Due to the vampire’s poison, it was more ecstatic than scary and painful. In a dizzying state, instead of pushing Mr. Min Gongchan away, I clung to his arm.

“Hngh……”

A thread of reason told me that Mr. Min Gongchan was drinking my blood not for pleasure, but to gain the strength to fight Yaksha. But whatever the reason, if he couldn’t control himself, I would surely die from excessive blood loss.

An alarm bell rang in my head, but it was for a fleeting moment. The pleasure that overflowed like a river swept away all my thoughts. With the feeling that I wouldn’t mind dying like this, I tilted my head all the way back and let out a moan.

Mr. Min Gongchan, who was gripping my waist and the nape of my neck, made a purring sound. He clearly wanted to drink every last drop of my blood, and I wanted that too, but Mr. Min Gongchan pulled his lips away from my neck with surprising self-control.

In my hazy vision, I saw the sight of his lips and chin, drenched red with my blood. I looked at his eyes, which glowed pale like the moon, and felt a sense of regret that was close to desperation.

Drunk on the hallucination induced by the poison, his appearance seemed devastatingly beautiful. As I spread my arms to pull him back, Mr. Min Gongchan made a pained expression. He turned away from me and reached out, gently stroking my forehead.

“Go to sleep.”

Drowsiness washed over me, and my vision went black. I could feel Mr. Min Gongchan catching my falling body and laying me on the ground. As soon as the back of my head touched the ground, my consciousness flew into darkness.