---

The members of the Order of the Holy Knights kept a lookout outside the elevator.

Francesca held a rune sword, covered with cloth to prevent any blue light from leaking, and confirmed the path she had taken. A faint breeze led to a corridor that opened up to the surface. She stared at the only entrance and exit for a while.

“…It’s really dark.”

I could hear Camila’s mumbling as she peered out slightly. The darkness, deep and unfathomable like an abyss, seemed to send chills through her body.

I absentmindedly stroked the silver tip embedded in the tip of the shell casing and glanced at the shivering Camila.

“Are you scared?”

“Of course I’m scared! A vampire, really? Why on earth were we kept in the dark about such an important event?”

“Things happened that made it necessary.”

“I… well, I guess that makes sense. But isn’t Frederick scared?”

“Not so much scared as worried.”

“Isn’t worry and fear more or less the same thing…?”

I shrugged my shoulders and nonchalantly added.

“If I say I’m scared, it makes me look weak.”

A soft chuckle followed. There were two of them—Camila and Francesca. It seemed that the playful banter had eased their worries.

– Thud…!

The descending elevator made a heavy noise as it began to slow down. I braced myself against the structure, waiting for the impact to stop.

Only after the shaking ceased and the jolt faded away did my trembling body find some stability.

However, despite regaining physical stability, my mind was far from at ease.

“……”

An unfathomable darkness welcomed us.

—

Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

It was a darkness resembling lacquer.

We couldn’t even make out each other’s faces. Even when I held my palm close enough to feel my breath on it, I couldn’t see the shape of my hand.

As I waved my hand, now bare of gloves, I quietly remarked.

“This level makes any night gear useless.”

Night gear that had proven its worth could provide clear visuals in dark forests provided there was even a hint of moonlight or starlight.

But now, having descended underground, the night gear was utterly useless. Even the slightest reflection was rendered moot since it relied on light bouncing off objects.

Though I figured there would at least be emergency lights on, my search of the surroundings yielded nothing resembling illumination.

“I can’t identify any objects. Check your emergency lights, everyone.”

Upon Ibrahim’s command, the members of the Order of the Holy Knights began to rummage in the pitch-black darkness.

Camila and Francesca were no different. We all scanned our surroundings for even the smallest glimmer of light.

“I think there’s a light that looks like an emergency light over here… but it seems to be broken.”

“This one is completely fried. No response at all.”

Voices clearly heard from a corner were the conversations of the Order members. The vast room was engulfed in darkness, making it hard to distinguish direction, but despite our hushed tones, the sound carried widely, confirming that those speaking were indeed in a corner.

After over three minutes of searching, we found no source of light, only a plethora of presumably broken emergency lights.

Ibrahim spoke up.

“I’ll switch to light mode.”

“Is that really okay?”

Francesca, who had been quietly listening, posed that question.

“Using lights in this pitch-black darkness will only serve to announce our position.”

A rather reasonable concern. But we had no other options.

“It’s better than fighting a vampire while our eyes are covered.”

Staying stagnant would only lead to becoming a meal for a vampire and getting sucked dry. The thought of why the Order of the Holy Knights had to flee instead of fight against these unnatural beings made it even more pressing.

In the end, we all decided to put our night gear aside and turn on our lights.

This was akin to abandoning stealth and declaring our intent to fight a vampire.

“Ah—”

Like releasing a held breath, Camila sighed as she switched on her flashlight.

“Now I feel like I can breathe a little.”

“Are you scared of the darkness, Hero?”

At Francesca’s question, Camila shook her head.

“Not really; it’s just that being loud suits my temperament better than stealth.”

“…?”

Francesca tilted her head in confusion, not quite understanding, and as we were scolding her to stop the nonsense, the members of the Order who had turned their lights on froze in place. Ibrahim too, and we were no different.

Many bodies were sprawled out around the elevator entrance.

Just like a graveyard.

—

Quickly scanning the surroundings with the light.

Water pooled on the floor. Luggage scattered about, personal belongings, pencils, papers. Someone’s shoes rolling under a bench. A phone ringing with a meaningless alarm and a crystal globe.

A bizarre scene passed before my eyes, and the sight of the people lying around was all too vivid.

People were sprawled out in the hallway. The number was roughly around 30 to 40.

“…Does this mean they’re all dead?”

One of the Order members muttered, his voice pleading for a response, but no one dared to answer.

Except for one person.

“They’re alive.”

Camila replied.

“There are no visible injuries.”

Strolling forward, she soon squatted next to a fallen researcher.

She flashed the light here and there, checking clothing and hair for injuries, even placing a finger below the nose or pressing her ear against a chest.

“No noticeable injuries, and they’re breathing fine. I think these people are not dead; they just fainted.”

“Yes, they appear to be alive,” I agreed after confirming that the guard was breathing. The members of the Order quickly dispersed to check the life status of the civilians sprawled about.

Thus, we found 27 civilians who were still breathing in the hallway. No one was dead. All were found alive.

Ibrahim, who had been checking the scholar’s pulse, bore an expression of disbelief.

“This is strange. To have so many people faint at once….”

“Is it a suspicious situation?”

“If civilians are isolated in a place where undead roam, you’d expect eight out of ten to be dead. Of the remaining two, one would likely be injured or mentally impaired, and the majority barely hanging onto life.”

I asked what would happen to the last one. The commander of the Order spoke in a calm tone.

“They become one of them.”

He proceeded to explain the end for civilians caught by the undead.

“Those bitten by werewolves, those whose souls have been siphoned by evil spirits… unlike naturally occurring undead like ghouls or banshees, victims captured by these beings…”

“It could change.”

While I was on alert and listening to the explanations, I managed to read Ibrahim’s thoughts.

“You’re worried that people are turning into vampires, huh?”

“Yes.”

The commander of the Order of the Holy Knights lowered his hand, which was gripping the trembling scholar’s wrist. As he slowly stood up, the weapon slung over his shoulder stopped just above the scholar’s head.

Considering that Ibrahim hadn’t touched his gun yet, it was indeed a precarious position.

I kept a watchful eye on the fallen individuals as I checked the condition of Camila and Francesca.

“Let’s start with an examination.”

“I’m already doing that.”

The Order of the Holy Knights walked among the civilians lying as still as a corpse, either asleep or unconscious.

An agent with a pistol held a thermometer to the forehead of an employee lying straight.

“36.1 degrees. Normal temperature. No signs of infectious disease. No bleeding or wounds around the neck.”

Click. Another team member took a picture of the employee’s face. After checking the photo, he raised his wrist, the silver cross jingling.

“The holy relic isn’t reacting. Seems fine.”

“The abrasions on the knees and hands appear to be from a fall.”

“Good. Let’s report via radio. Are we able to contact the surface yet?”

The communications officer, working hard to send a radio signal to the surface, crossed his hands to form an X.

Just then, the medical officer let out a deep sigh before speaking to his colleague while grasping a civilian’s leg.

“Sigh…Let’s move him to the side for now.”

Two members gently lifted the employee to relocate him. The civilians were divided into those who had been examined and those who had not.

Fortunately, it was determined that 27 civilians were normal. The Order meticulously checked the condition of the civilians but found nothing unusual.

Other examined civilians were similarly okay. While searching nearby, they found groups of people collapsed in a few rooms. Team members received Francesca’s report about the new civilians and went there directly to check them, but again, there were no issues.

“But can we really determine if someone is a vampire just from these examinations?”

I asked out of pure curiosity, but Ibrahim shook his head with a troubled expression.

“We’re not certain either. A blood test, like with werewolves, seems the most reliable way, but… honestly, it’s uncertain whether we can identify victims who have turned into vampires through blood testing.”

“Well, they are creatures that went extinct centuries ago.”

I glanced uneasily at the fallen civilians. The fearless Camila was still diligently moving someone whose identity as a vampire or human was uncertain.

While others were distracted, I cautiously approached the fallen individuals and shone a light on them. It was a hopeful gesture; maybe something would appear if I did this.

The result was predictable.

Clicking my tongue as I moved the light around, I turned it off.

“Everyone, focus.”

Ibrahim gathered the attention of the team members. The Order, engrossed in their tasks, turned to look at their commander simultaneously.

“We’re going to catch a vampire now.”

*

We had multiple reasons for descending into the underground facility. The Order of the Holy Knights came to seal a vampire, while we came to rescue the isolated Veronica and the survivors.

Yet, upon reflection, both our goals and the Order’s seemed quite similar.

There may be a difference in priorities, but rescuing survivors (especially the Saint Veronica, who was the top priority) and killing the vampire was a unanimous agreement.

That meant there was only one thing we had to do now.

“We split into teams.”

Ibrahim divided us into two groups before we set off.

One was Team 1, led by him. The other was Team 2, led by the sub-team leader.

“The mission of Team 1 is to locate and neutralize the vampire. In the meantime, Team 2 will head to the power facility to reboot the magic and power systems.”

We couldn’t fight in the pitch darkness, so we needed to illuminate the area first.

The sub-team leader took the members toward the power facility. Since he was already familiar with the layout of the facility, the movement was swift.

“Let’s go, to catch the vampire.”

The three of us followed Team 1, led by Ibrahim. It wasn’t just a confidence stemming from having fought demons that made me decide to tag along; it was also the thrill of the chase.

“Do you think you know where Saint Veronica is?”

“Yes. She likely went to the research facility.”

Ibrahim predicted Veronica’s location in his usual tone.

“Didn’t she go to face the vampire?”

“If Saint Veronica went to kill it, there should have been at least one moment captured on camera. But there hasn’t been any sight of her. This means she must have moved only through blind spots in the monitoring equipment, which realistically is very difficult to do without getting caught by the facility’s surveillance systems—unless she was in an area where the surveillance equipment was shut down.”

“What do you mean by that?”

As we crossed the silent corridor, he lowered his voice and added to his explanation. His tone was different from just moments ago when he had been so emotionless.

“Do you remember when you visited the facility last time, and the video surveillance equipment was damaged?”

“Ah, yes. I remember.”

“I haven’t fully restored the old documents, but new reports suggest that vampires can use darkness to conceal their appearance. It might be more accurate to say they blind the observer instead of just hiding.”

This implied that the earlier damage to the video equipment could very well have been the work of a vampire.

Now, I nodded as if everything was finally making sense.

“Then it makes sense that Saint Veronica wasn’t captured on camera. The equipment must have been damaged.”

“Yes. And after confirming once we escaped…”

As we turned a corner, a heavy iron door appeared.

The Holy Knights member in the lead hurriedly typed on the keypad. To my surprise, the door opened quietly, making no sound at all.

“Right here, the surveillance equipment in the research facility was the first to be destroyed.”

As he pressed the button, light sprang forth. The light swept across the room and eventually stopped at a certain point.

The cedar coffin.

Cold sweat trickled down my brow, and I swallowed hard. As a piece of fabric was pulled away, the blue runes illuminated the darkness, and a spark ignited at my fingertips, flickering in the air.

“Be careful, you two.”

“You too, Colonel.”

“Don’t worry.”

Fixing my gaze on the coffin, I stepped into the darkness with the Order of the Holy Knights.

 

---