Chapter 475. Side By Side (2)
Rahmadat swallowed the meat and potatoes in his mouth before asking, "So, you’re saying that Chef is here?"
"Yeah." Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
He had obtained information about Chef—Roxan Imir—from the memories of the vampire apostles. The memories he had obtained from the man in the b.u.t.terfly mask were especially bountiful.
“He immediately established an alliance with the vampires as soon as he came up to the 6th Floor. This time, he finally managed to prove his worth.”
It was funny, but Seo Jun-Ho ended up helping Chef. Astaneca’s collapse meant that they would have to rely on Chef’s Wolf Wine.
"His value must have shot up.”
"That"s right. Actually, he’s due to move somewhere else."
"Is he moving to the center?"
"No, north."
Arnold stroked his beard and replied, "The north? He must be going to Paradox"s castle.”
"Yes..."
"But as far as I know, you can only go there by train.”
“Yes…”
There was an old castle situated in the middle of a steep mountain at the northernmost tip of Trium.
True Vampire Paradox had taken residence in that castle.
“Tomorrow night, seven o’clock… He will be on the first car of the train bound for the north.”
Chef would be in a luxurious train car only vampires could access.
Rahmadat was finally done eating. He tapped his full stomach and asked, "Will he move according to schedule? I"m sure he"s wary of you."
"…I"m worried about that, too."
"No, he will probably move as planned.” Arnold stared alternatingly between Seo Jun-Ho and Rahmadat before saying, "However, I expect some changes."
"What do you mean?"
"They’re probably going to use Chef as bait.”
Those prideful bats wouldn’t cancel an operation just because it would be dangerous, especially when they planned the operation long ago.
Arnold grinned and added, "This is great. Anyway, you should take the werewolves with you."
"But if they’re with us, the vampires will notice...”
"It should be fine as long as you scatter.” Arnold spread out a map on the table and pointed at a particular location. "The Twin Cliffs. The northbound train has to pa.s.s through here. It"s a perfect place for an ambush."
“…”
Seo Jun-Ho imagined it—the werewolves would ambush the train from above, and he would make his move on the train while disguised as a pa.s.senger.
"That"s a great idea."
It was much better than doing all this on their own.
Seo Jun-Ho nodded and said firmly, "Tomorrow, I shall subdue Chef beneath the Twin Cliffs."
"Ah, we should ask the other clans for reinforcements."
Dozens of werewolves should be enough to overcome anything by force. It didn’t matter what kind of trap the vampires had in mind against them nor how many vampires were on the train, ready to intercept their ambush.
"That sounds nice."
"It’s because of you guys that I feel great about all this." Arnold grinned, showing his teeth.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” said Arnold.
A werewolf opened the door and stammered, "C-Chief, I think you should come out for a moment."
"What"s going on?" asked Arnold with a frown.
The werewolf scratched his head and said, "A human woman suddenly appeared."
"A human?"
Arnold turned to Rahmadat and Seo Jun-Ho.
Rahmadat blinked and asked, "Is her hair sky blue?"
"T-that"s right!"
"So, she’s here...” Rahmadat smiled and stood up. "Jun-Ho, let"s go."
"Why do you look like you really want to meet her?" asked Seo Jun-Ho.
"Hehehe." Rahmadat thumped on his own chest and said, "You better not stop me. I’m going to let that nerd realize that I’m her senior.”
"Oh..." Seo Jun-Ho nodded. Rahmadat’s explanation convinced him because the two would always quarrel every time they talked to each other. Rahmadat was like a dog, while Skaya was like a cat, and they would always fight whenever it was possible.
However, there had never been a single match between them.
‘It’ll be a fight between an unstoppable spear and an impenetrable shield…’
However, Rahmadat had emanc.i.p.ation up his sleeves, so the odds were in his favor.
This was probably why Rahmadat was overjoyed to hear that Skaya had come here.
"Hurry up. Why are you so slow?"
"…I’m coming, coming."
Seo Jun-Ho shook his head and walked over to the vacant lot of the Twilight Claw Tribe along with Rahmadat and Arnold. As expected, a familiar woman was standing there. She was wearing sungla.s.ses, and she seemed calm under everyone’s gaze.
"Oh, my, you"re here?" Skaya smiled brightly and lowered her sungla.s.ses slightly.
She greeted Seo Jun-Ho with her eyes before staring at Rahmadat.
“As expected, you still look like a dumba.s.s.”
"Hohoho…" Rahmadat would have exploded at that remark, but he simply laughed and said, "You better look down on me as much as you can while you still can…”
"What are you talking about?” Skaya frowned and glanced at Seo Jun-Ho. “Did he eat something wrong?”
"No, he just ate well.” Seo Jun-Ho replied before asking, "I heard you went to the Magic Tower. How did it go?”
"Oh, you want to hear about what happened?” Skaya smiled. She took off her sungla.s.ses and looked at Rahmadat. "Well, what do you think? Aren’t you curious about what happened, Lump?”
"Why should I know that? You probably only read a few books with your fellow nerds.”
“Hoho…” Skaya chuckled.
The two walked slowly toward each other. The vacant lot was a huge open s.p.a.ce, but the two looked like they were walking on a narrow bridge.
"Your noona here is the strongest among us right now, so you better speak nicely if you don’t want to get spanked,” Skaya warned.
"Pffft! If you"re the strongest, then I guess I’m stronger than the strongest."
What a childish argument… Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t bear to keep watching it.
He sighed deeply and walked between them.
"Guys, wait a minute."
"Don"t stop me today."
"Yeah, I"m sorry, but Jun-Ho, you better stay out of this today.”
Seo Jun-Ho shrugged at Rahmadat and Skaya’s sharp response.
"I’m not going to stop you guys. It"s not like that."
Arguments between Rahmadat and Skaya had always been fun to watch, so why would he stop them? Rahmadat and Skaya made a sidelong glance at him. They were obviously curious about what he was trying to do here.
“Then, what’s going on?”
“Why did you step in?”
"I want to show your fight to Frost, so wait.”
Seo Jun-Ho snapped his fingers.
Whooo!
A harsh cold breeze blew across the vacant lot as the Frost Queen manifested with an arrogant look.
“Boom, I’m here.”
It was clear that she had learned something weird from somewhere again.
"Kyaaa! She’s so cute! Did she just say that?”
"Eeek! Go away!"
It seemed that the Frost Queen was still a lethal temptation to Skaya because she immediately captured the former. Upon being captured by her natural enemy, the Frost Queen cried out. “Contractor! Help me!”
"Oh, sorry."
For the sake of witnessing the battle of the century, Seo Jun-Ho had to make sure that the condition of the people involved was at its peak.
"Be a sacrifice, Frost..."
Skaya had rubbed the Frost Queen’s cheeks so many times by now that Seo Jun-Ho was sure that the Frost Queen had long gotten used to it.
"I hate you, Contractor."
The Frost Queen trembled from the sense of betrayal welling up in her heart.
Before she became more upset, Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly summarized what was going on.
“They’re going to fight?”
"Yeah, that"s why I called you."
“Oh, so you knew I was curious?”
Skaya and Rahmadat—Rahmadat and Skaya.
Who was stronger between the two had always been a mystery.
The Frost Queen’s eyes twinkled like stars.
"Shall we move somewhere else? I don"t want to damage this place."
"Sure,” Skaya said confidently.
"Wait a minute." Arnold interrupted with a grave look before Skaya could use Teleport. He stepped between the two and spoke while looking at Rahmadat, "I think it’s better if you take a rain check."
"What are you talking about?" Rahmadat frowned.
Arnold explained, "It hasn’t been that long since you learned to emanc.i.p.ate. Your stamina isn’t that great with it, right? In addition, I can see that you can only use it once a day in the meantime.”
“What?” Rahmadat’s expression turned grim. He closed his eyes and abandoned everything once again to enter the realm of Turiya.
"d.a.m.n it." He quickly emerged from Turiya not even two seconds later. Rahmadat stared at Arnold, seemingly dissatisfied. "What"s the issue?"
"Your soul had just faced the emptiness of the other side, so it’s currently in shock."
Only those whose souls and flesh were strong enough could emanc.i.p.ate freely.
Arnold suggested, "For the time being, I’ll teach you how to use emanc.i.p.ation efficiently."
“…” Rahmadat went silent. Eventually, he made a sidelong glance at Skaya and said, “I guess we should do that. I really wanted to instill manners in this nerd, but I don’t feel like doing that anymore.”
"What? It’s over just like that?" Skaya also lost the will to fight. She smacked her lips and said, "Come at me when you"re ready. Your noona here is always ready."
"Hmph, I’ll let you brag for a few days more.”
How childish…
Seo Jun-Ho sighed deeply when he saw the werewolves in the area.
These two were dragging the 5 Heroes’ reputation through the mud.
‘I miss Gilbe…’
Wait, that son-loving fool wasn"t normal as well.
Once again, Seo Jun-Ho thought he was the only normal person in their party.
***
It had only been a day since Skaya arrived at Trium, but she had already expressed her intentions of joining them in this operation.
‘I don’t know what she got from the Magic Tower, but…’
It had been a long time since Skaya showed this level of confidence. If Rahmadat hadn’t spoken first, then Seo Jun-Ho would have sparred with her. He was that curious about her growth.
"Here, drink it all." Skaya handed over a gla.s.s bottle.
The green liquid in the gla.s.s bottle was familiar to Seo Jun-Ho.
‘Transformation Potion...’
He was the one who asked Skaya to make a transformation potion for him because Seo Jun-Ho was convinced that the vampires already knew his face from the previous attacks.
"But with this, I don’t have to worry anymore."
Tonight, he would become someone else. In addition, he had already confirmed the effectiveness of lowering his body temperature using Frost to masquerade as a vampire. He had verified it with the many vampire apostles that day. Even the man in the b.u.t.terfly mask didn’t suspect him despite making physical contact with him.
“How long will it last?”
"I made it in a hurry, but it should last for at least a day.”
"You"ve improved a lot," said Seo Jun-Ho. Back then, Skaya could only extend the duration for up to six hours.
Seo Jun-Ho drank the potion without even an ounce of hesitation.
Crack, crack!
"Let"s move,” Seo Jun-Ho said as his bones and muscles twisted.
Eventually, his appearance completely changed.
***
St. Cross station, south of Trium…
As usual, the station was crowded today as well.
- Jun-Ho, can you hear me?
"Yeah…" Seo Jun-Ho whispered quietly.
They were in a private communication channel in Community. With this, they wouldn’t have any issues communicating with each other, even if they were in different train cars.
- The target?
"Well, I don’t see him yet—” Seo Jun-Ho abruptly stopped mid-way through his sentence upon finding their target today. "Found him."
He finally saw Chef, and the latter walked into the first train car while carrying a small briefcase.
‘Are there about ten escorts?’
No, there was no way that there would only be ten escorts. Seo Jun-Ho surrept.i.tiously looked around. There was a man who kept glancing around, a man with a steady stride, and a man with a deep gaze.
‘If I include the escorts pretending to be ordinary citizens, he has forty vampires escorting him.’
There were probably a few vampire apostles among them. Upon confirming his target, Seo Jun-Ho also stood up and wore a fedora.
"Let"s go."
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen walked over to the first car of the train.
An inspector blocked them and reached out.
“Show me your boarding ticket.
“…”
After confirming Seo Jun-Ho"s ticket, the inspector smiled brightly. "Enjoy the ride."
Upon getting on the first car of the train, Seo Jun-Ho saw a gold-rimmed chair and wall, as well as a carper that looked as soft as a cloud. The luxurious first car of this train could only be accessed by vampires.
‘If only Skaya had been able to lower her body temperature, she would have come in together.’
Unfortunately, Skaya couldn’t tolerate the cold for a long time, and they had to make sure that their body temperature was low enough for at least a few hours straight today.
"Cough."
Seo Jun-Ho, who took on the appearance of a middle-aged man, sat in his seat and opened the newspaper with an indifferent look. He could see the back of Chef"s head behind his newspaper.
He really wanted to catch Chef right now, but he couldn"t afford to do that because of a certain someone.
‘The guy sitting next to Chef is an apostle..."
His name was Dryer. He could teleport everything as long as there was physical contact. He couldn’t teleport things far—just about three kilometers away.
Therefore, Dryer couldn’t send Chef directly to Paradox’s castle, but if he sent Chef somewhere else, it would be troublesome.
"And the enemy"s reinforcements will appear while I’m chasing the missing Chef...’
Once the werewolves’ ambush at the Twin Cliffs started, Seo Jun-Ho had to cut Dryer down before anyone else. He would then subdue Chef and leave the scene as soon as possible.
— Bzzt, bzzt.
Shortly after Seo Jun-Ho started pretending that he was reading the newspaper, an announcement rang throughout the entire train.
— The train will depart soon. All pa.s.sengers, please take your seats...
After the usual greeting, the train started moving.
At this rate, the operation should be a success.
"Chef, I’m sure there are lots of scenes I can pull out of your memories...’
Seo Jun-Ho tried his best not to look at Chef.
— Ah, ah, mic check, mic check. This is an announcement for the pa.s.sengers of the first compartment.
An announcement rang once more.
Seo Jun-Ho felt that something was wrong, so he immediately asked Skaya.
- Hey, Skaya, are you listening to the announcement?
- Huh? Announcement? I don’t hear any announcements, though?
It seemed that the announcement could only be heard in this first compartment.
Seo Jun-Ho felt a sense of foreboding as he listened intently.
— We have received a report that someone who isn’t a vampire is in the first compartment. Therefore, all pa.s.sengers in the first compartment must wound their own arms to prove that blood isn’t flowing through their veins.
‘What?’
The Frost Queen and Seo Jun-Ho looked at each other upon hearing the sudden request.
However, before the two could even start thinking about what they should do, the vampires started proving their innocence by wounding their arms with a dagger
Slice! Slice! Slice!
"Hmm, did we receive the wrong report?" muttered the vampire apostle. He was moving around and checking everyone’s wounds.
He eventually arrived in front of Seo Jun-Ho and handed over a dagger.
“It"s your turn.”
“…” Seo Jun-Ho received the sharp dagger, but instead of immediately wounding his arm, he stared at it without saying anything.