CHAPTER 108: FIGHT AT THE ABANDONED FACTORY

«Die, bastard!»

Tony charges at Hakuto, his fist pulled back and ready to strike.

Lucrezia can’t take it—she closes her eyes and lowers her head, bracing for the worst. But...

a moment later, she opens them again when a scream of pain hits her ears.

It doesn’t come from Hakuto, like she feared. It comes from Tony.

Right in front of her, Hakuto stands firmly in the exact same spot, arm extended forward, effortlessly blocking Tony’s punch with the palm of his hand.

But she can’t believe her eyes when she sees white, radiant flames burning around Hakuto’s open hand.

Tony’s face is twisted in pain.

He immediately jumps back several meters, and his right hand—the one he tried to strike Hakuto with—is severely burned.

Tony stares in terror at his scorched hand, the skin peeling slowly as it struggles to regenerate.

«What the fuck is this... who the fuck are you?!» Tony snaps, voice trembling with rage and pain.

«Just as I thought...» Hakuto murmurs. «You were turned recently. Both your strength and regeneration are still in their infancy.»

Then, he fixes his gaze on Tony, dead serious.

«Who am I...? I’m one of those who protects the world from monsters like you. When I came here, I wanted to resolve this with minimal bloodshed—killing humans, even ones like you, goes against my principles. But now you’re no longer human, and you’ll never be again. Tell me who turned you, and I promise your death will be quick and painless,» Hakuto states firmly, his muscles tense, ready to react at the slightest movement.

The fear on Lucrezia’s face fades little by little.

She’s still visibly shaken by the surreal situation unfolding before her, but now her gaze rises toward Hakuto, filled with wonder and admiration.

«I always knew you were special... but not this special! I have no idea what’s going on, but damn, you’re hot!» she exclaims.

Tony slowly backs away, one step at a time.

«No... no, this makes no sense... I’m a fucking vampire! I’m supposed to be invincible! So why the hell can’t I kill you?!»

Driven by rage, Tony launches into another assault—this time, he’s holding nothing back.

He now knows Hakuto has mysterious powers, and he has no intention of restraining himself.

Tony’s strength and speed are noticeably greater than before, but the result is exactly the same.

Hakuto blocks his kick—aimed at his neck—by simply lifting his forearm.

Tony hears his foot bones creak. He hit Hakuto with everything he had, but it’s like kicking a lead wall.

And the moment his foot connects, he feels the skin burn beneath his shoes—just like with his hand—when white flames flash from Hakuto’s arm at the point of impact.

And then...

—SBAM!

Hakuto bursts forward at a speed Tony’s still-untrained vampire eyes can’t even perceive, slamming a brutal elbow straight into his gut.

A scream of agony and a torrent of blood erupt from Tony’s mouth as he’s hurled into the wall of the abandoned building, cracking it on impact.

More blood and more screams burst from Tony as he crashes into the wall, then falls forward, face-first, into a spreading pool of blood.

«Y-You... bastard...» Tony growls, voice mangled by pain as he tries to push himself up.

But Hakuto is already in front of him—he doesn’t even give him the chance to lift his head.

He places his foot on the back of Tony’s skull...

—SBAM!

...and slams his face into the floor with brutal force, fracturing his nose and jaw as blood gushes out and deepens the crimson pool beneath him.

Hakuto looks down at him, eyes burning with contempt and hatred, while Tony lies helpless at his feet.

That contempt quickly turns into uncontainable rage as Hakuto recalls what Tony did to Lucrezia—the bruises and cuts on her face.

~This bastard... doesn’t deserve to live another second!~

«S-Sorry...»

A weak, pained whisper reaches Hakuto’s ears—almost a sob.

Tony’s voice, trembling with pain and tears, as they mingle with the blood on the ground.

«I’m sorry... please let me go... I swear I won’t hurt you, or Lucrezia, or your friends ever again... I’m begging you, Hakuto...»

His words, his tone, sound sincere—and once, Hakuto might have felt a shred of compassion.

He wouldn’t have set Tony free, of course, but he would have handed him over to HESPARC.

Once... but not now.

Too many times this past year, the people he loves have nearly died because of monsters like this.

He can’t afford to let someone as dangerous and twisted as Tony—who just minutes ago tried to kill both him and Lucrezia—get away with a simple ’sorry.’

Especially not after what he did to her before even turning into a vampire.

Hakuto doesn’t reply.

His cold gaze says everything—he has no intention of sparing him.

He lifts his foot slightly, ready to crush Tony’s skull with a single stomp.

Then he lets it drop toward Tony’s head—but just before impact...

«Hakuto, stop! Hakuto!»

Lucrezia’s desperate screams make Hakuto freeze, the stomp halting just a hair’s breadth from Tony’s head.

His merciless, frozen gaze shifts toward Lucrezia.

«Hakuto... don’t kill him, please...» she murmurs, barely audible.

«You’ve got to be kidding me! How can you say that after what he did to you?! That bastard’s a vampire now—letting him live would put who knows how many innocent people at risk!» Hakuto snaps.

«I know, but... you’re not like him! You’re not a killer, and I don’t want you to become one! Your eyes... they scare me more than Tony ever did, believe me... the Hakuto I know would never hurt someone who’s completely defenseless! There has to be some kind of monster police, right? Call them! But please, don’t hurt him... I’m sure he’s learned his lesson!»

Hakuto glances back down at Tony while still talking to her.

«You’re just a human who learned about creatures like these a few minutes ago. I don’t expect you to understand how little our lives mean to them. You kill them before they kill you—that’s the rule when it comes to monsters like him!»

Lucrezia keeps begging him, but her words don’t even reach Hakuto anymore.

He lifts his foot again, aiming for Tony’s skull.

The stomp crashes down... and the floor beneath them cracks deeply, just inches from Tony’s head.

He missed.

At the last second, Hakuto had redirected the stomp, smashing the tiles instead of Tony’s skull.

Not because of Lucrezia’s words, but from a sudden wave of pity.

Tony is curled up in a pool of blood, crying, hands covering the back of his head.

His breathing is shallow, and his wide, trembling eyes are locked on Hakuto’s foot, now embedded in the floor just inches from his face.

«Hakuto...» Lucrezia whispers, tears streaming down her cheeks as she smiles at him with admiration.

«Move even a centimeter from here and I swear next time I won’t miss,» Hakuto warns.

Tony barely nods, still trembling violently after his brush with death.

Then Hakuto immediately turns to Lucrezia and crushes the lock on her chains between his fingers, setting her free.

«So now... what happens?» Lucrezia asks with a trembling voice, fear creeping in—only now is her mind starting to process everything she’s witnessed.

«I’ll call the monster police...» he murmurs with a soft, reassuring smile, mimicking the funny way Lucrezia had described HESPARC earlier.

Hakuto pulls out his phone—he has no contacts in HESPARC Italy, so he has no choice but to call the U.S. branch and ask them to inform the proper authorities.

Instinctively, he looks for Alexia Kendrow’s number.

His expression darkens a moment later.

She’s no longer in this world—a memory that had briefly slipped his mind resurfaces.

He recalls the image of her torn body, sacrificed for the mission’s success.

Then his thoughts shift to his father, but Kagura had recently told him she’d be leaving for America to assist Shin, who still hasn’t woken up.

That leaves only Chris—Hakuto feared he didn’t have his direct contact, but to his relief, he finds it saved in his phone.

Just as he’s about to make the call, Hakuto’s phone shuts off abruptly, a surge of purple electricity running through it.

He hurls it away just in time—right before it explodes in his hand.

And then...

—BOOM!

A powerful explosion tears a huge hole in the ceiling right above his head.

Hakuto barely has time to grab Lucrezia and pull her aside before the debris crashes down.

When he looks up through the gaping hole...

...he freezes.

Two figures with massive purple demonic wings stand on the building’s flat rooftop, visible through the opening.

Ana Garroza—Hakuto recognizes her instantly, and a smile of relief lights up his face.

But it vanishes the moment he sees the man beside her—Raelos.

~Ana...? It’s her, I’m sure of it. But... she’s nothing like the Ana I said goodbye to in Ashiya... and that guy—he’s definitely an Incubus... what the hell are they doing here?~

Hakuto has never seen or heard of him before, but judging by their violent entrance and the hatred burning in Raelos’s eyes as he glares at him, it’s obvious—they’re not here as allies.