Chapter 246

Chapter 246
## Chapter 246

Vampire Rise (6)

Swoosh—

A deep crimson blaze flared intensely.

Staring at the conflagration with a piercing gaze was Lightning Empress Yoon Ji-yoon, who had been locked in the thick of combat just moments prior.

The sudden intrusion and ambush by an uninvited party had occurred right in the middle of a brutal struggle.

The violent shockwaves that had been rattling the entire vicinity came to an abrupt, almost anticlimactic halt because of that single interference, which instantly shattered the rhythm of the conflict.

‘No, that was by no means a simple strike.’

To an outside observer, it merely appeared as though he had materialized behind Alpha out of thin air, ran a hand blade cleanly through his heart, and incinerated his physical form with mystical fire…

Yet her heightened awareness picked up on the dozens of intricate, highly sophisticated threads of causality that intertwined during that split second.

It was a devastating, definitive blow that completely choked out any potential for a counterattack.

An assault executed so flawlessly that Alpha, thoroughly drained from his duel with her and entirely caught off guard, never stood a chance of defending against it.

‘The sovereign of the South Korean vampires, Heinz.’

This realization was precisely why she felt a sharp wave of tension wash over her, facing the figure known as ‘Heinz’ for the first time in person.

‘He far exceeds the reports.’

Even though the Blood Alliance had recently adopted a much more cooperative and moderate stance, its ranks were still overwhelmingly comprised of vampires, a species largely pushed to the fringes of human society.

Even while maintaining an active partnership, absolute vigilance was a non-negotiable requirement. She had believed their preparations were flawless, having conducted exhaustive background checks and put comprehensive contingency plans in place…

‘But the intelligence regarding their commander was utterly fabricated! Supposedly a tier 8 at the absolute peak… and yet…’

She had completely miscalculated his capabilities.

Even now, the heavy, suffocating aura radiating from his figure sent an involuntary shiver straight down her spine.

This strength belonged indisputably to tier 9.

A rank of power so extreme that it lacked official classification in domestic records, an existence she, in her role as regional director, had only ever heard rumors of existing within Europe. To think that such a monster was hiding right here in Korea…

‘And even if my attention was divided by the duel… I am the Lightning Empress! How could someone draw so close to my position without me registering a single sign?’

Her perception of her surroundings was fundamentally different from ordinary people, relying on a continuous magnetic field that radiated from her body.

Never before had an individual successfully bypassed this sensory web to approach her so effortlessly.

Granted, had she been entirely focused and anticipating an ambush, she might have caught his approach, but what if a being of this caliber chose to launch a surprise strike during her ordinary daily routine?

‘…No, dwelling on those hypotheticals won’t help right now. I can analyze that later.’

Opening lines of communication took precedence.

Shifting her focus toward Heinz, who was calmly observing the dying embers of the fire, she spoke aloud.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance. You are the supreme leader of Heterosis, Heinz, correct?”

“Mhm, the feeling is mutual. I didn’t expect to cross paths with the celebrated Lightning Empress in a place like this.”

Showing a willingness to engage, he smoothly acknowledged her greeting and shifted his attention squarely toward her.

She had harbored minor anxieties, given that this marked their first official face-to-face dialogue despite their tacit mutual understanding…

“I appreciate the intervention. Your actions allowed us to bring this volatile situation to a swift conclusion.”

However, there was an urgent matter she needed to confront immediately.

“Though… was that action just now… the consumption of your own kin?”

Yoon Ji-yoon narrowed her eyelids, scrutinizing Heinz intently as she tilted her head to the side.

A defender of her caliber could easily identify the distinct markers of blood harvesting, even in the middle of a chaotic warzone.

Cannibalistic acts among vampires were an incredibly volatile subject.

It wasn’t merely a crime within their own circles; it was a universally reviled taboo condemned across the globe.

The perpetrator behind this very catastrophe, Alpha, served as the ultimate proof of that danger—a frenzied, blood-drunk fiend.

Yet, despite her sharp, accusatory inquiry, Heinz maintained an entirely unruffled demeanor.

“You are mistaken. I merely siphoned his life force and contained it independently. It proved to be the most efficient method to halt his regenerative factors.”

The justification held weight. Blood served as the core foundation of a vampire’s might.

The real dilemma lay in the fact that dominating the blood of a tier 9 entity was a feat that should be mathematically impossible.

Even an individual like Heinz would have found it impossible to suppress him so cleanly had the circumstances not been perfectly aligned.

“…Understood. Then I assume you have no intention of utilizing that harvested blood?”

“I did not imply that. Even tainted essence possesses immense value when derived from a being of that caliber. Letting it go to waste would be foolish.”

Yoon Ji-yoon locked eyes with Heinz as he delivered his detached counter-argument.

Within his gaze, she detected the chilling, remorseless focus of an apex predator alongside the profound pride of a supreme power, yet she found no trace of the fractured insanity that had consumed Alpha.

‘He is surprisingly reasonable… He shows no signs of being a feral threat to society.’

After all, he was the mastermind who had successfully reorganized the volatile, lawless Blood Alliance into the structured, socially integrated entity known as Heterosis.

While she felt compelled to demand the immediate destruction of Alpha’s remains, escalating a confrontation right now and fracturing their fragile accord was a poor strategic move.

“Forgive me if my questioning seemed overly severe. This topic is simply a matter of extreme gravity.”

“Think nothing of it. Your skepticism is entirely justified.”

He carried himself with the natural, commanding grace of a monarch, though that wasn’t entirely alien to her. In another realm entirely, she herself had occupied a seat of power that even absolute sovereigns could not dare to disregard.

Fwip—

Right at that second, the localized defensive barrier that had sealed off the battlefield began to dissolve into nothingness.

The support details stationed outside had clearly registered that the fighting had ceased.

She would imminently be overwhelmed with managing the fallout as the forensic teams and cleanup squads arrived on the scene.

“We have an abundance of matters to sort through, but current circumstances prevent a full dialogue. Perhaps we can arrange an official consultation in the near future?”

“Very well. It appears to be an essential step.”

Heterosis had technically suffered damages as well, yet their direct involvement in an incident of this magnitude meant they couldn’t simply vanish from the record.

It was an exhausting administrative headache, but Heinz appeared entirely unfazed by the prospect.

‘He will undoubtedly delegate the tedious bureaucratic management to Jin So-ran. And he might even leverage this catastrophe to his advantage…’

Alpha was a confirmed operative of the Heaven’s Turn Society, an international syndicate designated as a high-tier terrorist threat.

This reality meant he could utilize the crisis to forge a concrete, official partnership with the South Korean administration!

‘They are a covert international network pulled into the shadows… I have been contemplating the creation of a dedicated coalition against the Heaven’s Turn Society, and securing South Korea’s active participation would be a monumental advantage.’

Regardless of his ultimate designs, he was not an individual who would simply follow her directives.

Heinz dissolved into the background once more, leaving behind the obliterated fragments of Alpha to evade the gathering response teams.

With quiet precision, he gathered the rewards of his victory, fully absorbing the core remnants of Alpha’s vitality.

—

Following the conclusion of the Alpha crisis.

The South Korean press corps was in a state of absolute frenzy, broadcasting non-stop coverage of the unprecedented domestic assault.

The sheer volume of casualties left the populace reeling, but specific details of the confrontation captured public fascination even more intensely.

-Wow, this is insane; even with the swift mobilization from the Association, hundreds of people lost their lives in a matter of minutes because of a single monster ㄷㄷ

-Has anyone checked the security feeds? He was literally just taking a stroll, and concrete high-rises were bursting into pieces like they got struck by artillery.

-Thank goodness the Lightning Empress brought him down lmao. Didn’t take a single point of damage lmao.

The sheer, terrifying scale of the antagonist’s strength became a primary point of discussion.

The general populace understood the concept of awakened individuals through digital media, but experiencing the raw reality through a catastrophic local event was a completely different story.

The regional director who successfully neutralized the threat became an overnight sensation as well.

Expressions of grief for the departed, intense hatred for the criminal, deep-seated prejudice against the vampire race, and scathing rebukes of governmental and Association negligence saturated every online platform.

Yet, amidst the chaos, a bizarre secondary sentiment began to trend—.

-Man, what is Hahoe Mask even doing right now? The moment you vanish, our home turf gets absolutely demolished;;

-No lies detected lol. Look at the absolute chaos the second he takes a break lol.

-Is the rumor about his death real? Didn’t he abruptly halt all operations over in Japan?

└Cut it out, Hahoe Mask is definitely still breathing.

└If someone actually took him off the board, they’d be shouting it from the rooftops. It wouldn’t be this dead silent.

-He 100% went into hiding because this terrorist was way out of his league lmao.

└Educate yourself, go rewatch Hahoe Mask’s actual battle records and media clips.

The digital space was hyper-focused on Hahoe Mask.

“Ah, I suppose that reaction is entirely logical. This marks the premier catastrophe to strike since Hahoe Mask first went public.”

I gave a slow nod, scrolling through the various internet forums.

Ever since Hans had initiated his campaign of street-level retribution, a multitude of active predators were purged on a daily basis, effectively wiping out large-scale criminal conspiracies before they could manifest.

There were numerous instances where he had covertly intercepted extremist plots that could have easily triggered devastation on par with this Seoul attack.

‘Hans remains deep in his theoretical development, and utilizing “Individual Projection” carries too much vulnerability under current parameters.’

Scarcely a single week had passed since Hans had crossed paths with the Grandmaster of the Heaven’s Turn Society and narrowly made his escape.

He had successfully executed a retreat via ‘Dismiss’, but if he deployed “Individual Projection” and found himself trapped in an identical predicament, he would lack an escape route. Caution was paramount.

‘The experimental work regarding Ganghwange is on the verge of fruition… The moment that baseline is secured, I can restart field operations. And settle the accounts left open in Japan.’

Evaluating the current timeline, completion was right around the corner.

Furthermore, given the current vacuum of power, Heinz—who had amassed a massive windfall of Karma from this latest event—could easily fill the void for the time being.

“Well, just as I suspected, his baseline quality wasn’t refined enough to achieve true ascension.”

I clicked my tongue, a faint wave of dissatisfaction washing over me.

While Alpha’s life force provided a notable boost, he remained a deeply flawed, synthetic entity who had forced a breakthrough by stitching together fractured lines of heritage.

‘The gains would have been exponentially greater had he legitimately mastered the pure inheritance of a singular line.’

Similar to a combatant who reached level 100 by pouring every resource into a unified specialization.

Alpha functioned more like a level 30 character cobbled together from seven disparate level 10 paths. Factoring in the natural degradation that occurs during blood absorption, the superior option was glaringly obvious.

‘Then again, I am simply being greedy.’

I brought up the interface notification that had generated immediately following the consumption of Alpha’s essence.

《Uncharted blood profile integrated. Physical attributes, occult resistance, and tissue mending factors have received substantial amplification under the governing parameters of the unique trait “Hybrid Evolution”.》

《Conceptual realization achieved through the governing parameters of the unique trait “Hybrid Evolution”. You have successfully unlocked the active ability “Charm”.》

It appeared clear that the mortal realm still held an abundance of diverse blood profiles for Heinz to harvest. His physical vessel had undergone an additional phase of refinement, moving significantly closer to an idealized state after integrating this unfamiliar profile.

He had even managed to draw out the latent capabilities buried deep within the genetic structure against standard probabilities. He had essentially extracted every single drop of utility available from that battle.

‘A psychological mechanism designed to subvert an adversary’s free will. A classic, highly functional tool for a vampire.’

And that wasn’t the limits of Heinz’s acquisitions.

《The entity has fulfilled all hidden criteria and achieved enlightenment. You have successfully unlocked the unique trait “Bloodline Craving”.》

“Bloodline Craving” represented the absolute perfect tool for his current progression arc.

It operated as an internal radar system, navigating his development toward perfecting the fragmented genetic sequences currently housed within his frame.

And that radar was currently broadcasting a distinct impulse, urging him to vacate his current coordinates and migrate elsewhere.

To a destination worlds away from the Korean peninsula.

To the European continent.

‘An incredibly opportune acquisition.’

The collective network of “Mind Hub” was vibrating in sympathy with the impulse, producing a peculiar sensation of psychological friction.

It wasn’t a standard, passive directional pointer; it felt far more akin to a compelling, instinctual command.

He could actively sense his internal impulses multiplying, an insatiable ‘hunger’ targeting a specific objective.

‘I cannot allow myself to be dictated by it blindly. Then again, there is no rationale for rushing into things. I had zero plans to make that journey immediately regardless.’

For the immediate future, restoring structural stability to society in the wake of this massive extremist strike remained the core objective.

He could simultaneously capitalize on this transition period to empower the loyalist factions of the Blood Alliance while purging any lingering rebellious elements.

‘Since I am acting as the substitute for Hans, perhaps I should provide Heinz with a facial concealment of his own?’

Hans required a disguise primarily to mask his skeletal visage, whereas Heinz possessed a physical appearance entirely disconnected from his primary origin, making concealment technically optional…

Yet the practical necessity didn’t truly matter anymore.

He simply desired to do it.

Following a brief period of consideration, he selected a porcelain-white opera mask.

The Phantom was poised to make his grand entrance.