WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 36: Vampire Hunt (3)

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After receiving the briefing, Park Minhong, an evangelist of the Great Unification Church, contacted the Great Unification Church Leader at once.

"Great Unification Church Leader, the hunt has begun."

[Is that so? Which of the other Five Great Lineages are taking part?]

"Gangnam Holy Temple Church is tracking independently, and I spotted armed monks from the Black Lotus Society and the Diamond Sect."

[Just as expected. Evangelist Park, I have high hopes for you.]

"Yes! I'll definitely hunt the vampire and contribute to the advance of Great Unification!"

Park Minhong looked over the believers gathered in the parking lot.

"It's time to hunt vampires! Let's go!"

"Yes!!"

Every one of them was part of a mobile unit armed with vehicles and heavy weapons.

"Evangelist!"

"Deacon Kim, did you bring enough explosives and silver rounds?"

"Yes! We bought up everything that was on the market for this hunt!"

There were no fewer than one hundred and eighty Great Unification Church hunters taking part.

Lord-class vampire blood was valuable, but considering the cost of silver weapons and wages for over a hundred people, failure would mean devastating losses.

Still, money was not the only result the Great Unification Church Leader wanted.

The Church's three million believers around the world would bring in money on their own.

What the Great Unification Church Leader wanted was the track record they would gain by hunting the vampire.

A foothold as an exorcist organization that could replace Gangnam Holy Temple Church on this land of Korea.

"Those unbelievers who deny the Messiah have failed spectacularly. We can't let this chance slip away."

The vampire who had stolen lord-class blood had made a huge mess.

It was probably trying to hide from the trackers and avoid the hunters' eyes.

Idiot.

Getting caught was only a matter of time.

Of course, they would be the ones to find it first.

The Great Unification Church had the largest number of exorcists in the country.

In the end, numbers were power.

With one hundred and eighty hunters, they would find the vampire faster than anyone else.

Coo coo coo coo!!

"What is that?"

"Evangelist? What's wrong?"

When Evangelist Park stared into the distance, a believer beside him asked.

"Those pigeons over there. Why are there so many flying around in the middle of the night?"

"Pigeons?"

"???"

The looks they gave him made it seem like they had no idea what he was talking about, so Evangelist Park pointed into the sky.

"The flock of pigeons up there. There are some crows and owls too... Can't you see them?"

"Uh..."

"Wouldn't owls be the only birds moving around at night? We can't see anything."

"...!"

Only then did Evangelist Park realize he was wearing the bronze monocle.

"No way... No, that's impossible."

A flock of birds visible only to him through the bronze monocle.

If all those birds were spirit bodies... If they were flying in unison despite being different species...

That meant they were carrying out someone's orders.

In other words, every bird in that flock was a familiar.

Were all of those nearly several hundred birds familiars?

* * *

The vampire activity covered a wider area than I'd expected.

It seemed they went down into the underground passages at dawn, but even the places where they descended were all different.

It was clearly a diversion to avoid pursuit, but from a searcher's perspective, we had no choice but to check all of them.

Their numbers were probably still growing even now.

We had to deal with them as quickly as possible for this situation to end.

"Jjaekjjaeki, head west. Gugu, go south. Owl, scout as far as the mountain ridge to the east."

The areas where vampires had appeared were around Geumcheon District and Gwanak District.

They had to suck people's blood, so they wouldn't be climbing wooded hills.

That let me remove Gwanak Mountain from the search area.

The bastard was focused on increasing his numbers.

Still, it hadn't openly shown itself in crowded places.

"Focus on alleys and secluded spots. You remember when we caught that raccoon dog yokai, right?"

Jjaekjjaeki, Gugu, and the owl fluttered as if they understood.

For the record, the owl was actually a scops owl, a bird from the owl family.

"Owl, you guys search the sewers. I showed you what manhole covers look like, right? Find places like that and go inside. You're spirit bodies, so you should be able to pass through without opening doors."

Hoot!

Once I gave orders to the battalion commanders, the commands were passed on to the other battalion members.

Making this battalion commander system really had been a good idea.

The familiars were connected by mental waves, but if I gave every order myself, some of them would inevitably fail to understand.

At times like this, I could just tell them to follow their commander, and they would handle it well on their own.

There were over three hundred of them now, so giving orders to each one individually was impossible anyway.

"I should find a house once this is over."

Click click!

【Devour~】

The two of them reacted right away when I mentioned getting a house.

Well, our current place had to be too cramped for them.

After giving orders to the bird legion, I looked around Boramae Park.

The hunters were moving busily.

Those who had formed teams beforehand got in their cars and left, while the solo hunters searched for groups to work with on the spot.

A few even approached me.

"Hey, buddy. You're an exorcist, right?"

"Uh... Yeah, I guess?"

I recited prayers and fought alongside an angel, so I was probably closer to an exorcist than anything else.

"How about working with us? Looks like you don't even have a car."

The hunters who approached me were heavily armed.

They even seemed to have an SUV similar to Gagaram's, but I shook my head.

"It's okay. I'll be going solo."

"You must not know because you're young, but vampires are vampires. They're not something you can hunt alone."

"Yeah, I figured."

Unlike what the hunter was worried about, I wasn't actually alone.

"Hah! He'll die a gruesome death. Ptooey!"

When it became clear I had no intention of joining them, the older hunter cursed for no reason and walked away.

Judging by how many people tried talking to me, exorcists must have some advantage when it came to hunting vampires.

Team Leader Kang Gihan, who had been watching, approached me.

"Gari Bodhisattva, aren't you looking for teammates?"

"Um, are vampires really that strong?"

"Haha, I wasn't doubting Gari Bodhisattva's abilities."

That wasn't what I meant either, but I appreciated the concern.

"It's just that their range is so broad, I thought it would be difficult to find them alone. The Association will share information, but the hunt is first come, first served."

Well, he wasn't wrong.

Finding vampires hiding in back alleys and sewers across a city as large as Seoul wouldn't be easy.

Normally, anyway.

Hoot!

One had been found.

* * *

The trace the owl found was near a food alley in Geumcheon District.

With its sharp eyes, the owl had gone down into the sewer and discovered a ghoul.

"Here?"

Hoot!

Owl... More precisely, it was a scops owl, wasn't it?

I'd found its skeleton in the mountains after it had been dead for quite some time, and raising it had taken a fair amount of spiritual energy. It was good to see it paying off.

The owl had already gone in and come back out, confirming that there was a ghoul inside.

I grabbed the manhole cover to enter immediately, but...

"...Eight-Foot Sister, can you lift this?"

This thing was heavy.

【Devour~】

In the end, Eight-Foot Sister grabbed the manhole cover.

It looked like it weighed at least a hundred kilograms, but she lifted it easily.

Reliable. Very reliable.

There was a ladder beneath the open manhole cover.

I carefully climbed down, but then the light disappeared.

"What? Gari?"

The reason the light vanished was Gari.

Its huge body had blocked the entrance completely, leaving no gap for light to seep through.

"No, Gari, can't you fit in? Should I oil you up?"

Click click!

It looked like the entrance would collapse if Gari forced its way in, so I took out the holy oil and rubbed it around Gari first.

I had oiled it up, so I wondered if it could get in now, but...

"Not a chance."

Click...

If Gari forced its way in, it could probably break through the entrance somehow.

The problem was that it would have to destroy the whole vertical passage, from the manhole frame all the way down ten meters.

Not only was that impossible, it would destroy public facilities.

The Mystic Association had stressed that remaining hidden was essential, so I wanted to avoid making too much of a scene.

"This won't work. You wait outside. Only Eight-Foot Sister can come in."

Click...

Gari looked dejected, but it couldn't be helped.

After taking only my gear from Gari's mouth, I climbed down first.

"It's dark."

I turned on my lantern first.

It was a high-performance lantern with a full three thousand lumens.

The other side would be able to see me too, but they would notice me once the fight started anyway, so I chose being able to see clearly.

"Man, money really is nice."

The sewer became nearly as bright as daytime.

Bringing it along in case I had to enter a sewer had been a stroke of genius.

"Eight-Foot Sister, why are you so late..."

I looked up, then quickly turned my head away.

Hm, she was stuck.

Well, she was big enough to get stuck.

【Devour~! Devour~!】

"Eight-Foot Sister! Put some strength into it!"

It didn't look like she would get down here anytime soon.

That meant I had to hold out alone, and it seemed the other side had already noticed my approach.

Slap, slap!

The sound of damp flesh dragging over the floor.

Beyond the darkness pushed back by the lantern, a human-shaped figure was approaching.

Pale skin.

A torn mouth.

Jaws opened all the way to its throat.

That was a ghoul.

I raised my Remington 870 shotgun and aimed at the approaching ghoul.

Grrrraaa...

"...Tch."

It was clearly a monster.

But it wore ordinary clothes, like an ordinary person who had gone out for a meal just a little while ago.

Not long ago, it must have been human.

"Whew..."

My heart felt heavy.

It was different from hunting monsters or sorcerers.

Of course, I wasn't hesitating.

I just felt sorry for them.

"Lord, care for their pitiful souls."

Click!

I aimed at the approaching ghoul.

When I pulled the trigger, the barrel of the Remington 870 flashed, scattering twelve-gauge silver buckshot.

Bang!

The ghoul was shredded in a single hit.

The impact of the twelve-gauge round was probably part of it, but the flesh struck by silver buckshot sizzled and burned.

The effect was incredible.

The ghoul's corpse visibly burned away, then collapsed before long.

"That makes one hundred fifty thousand won per shell feel worth it..."

Well, if a shotgun blew off someone's head at this range, anything would die.

Grrrraaa!

The sound of the gunshot drew the other ghouls in.

There had been around ten when the owl scouted, but it looked like there were more than that.

There had to be close to twenty.

Gripping the Remington 870 tightly, I suddenly remembered that I could bless silver rounds.

The store manager of Galilee Exorcism Society had said the silver ammunition he sold would be more effective if a renowned priest blessed it.

Then... should I try?

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Darkness shall not overcome the light."

I sprinkled holy water into the chamber loaded with silver buckshot.

They said this shotgun was reliable enough to work even after being buried in mud, so I didn't hesitate.

"For the word of the Lord is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. Minions of darkness, in Christ's name, I declare that you will yield before pure silver light."

Grrrraaaaaack!

The ghouls rushed closer with horrible cries.

They seemed desperate.

Those were not growls. They sounded like screams.

As if they had come face-to-face with something they feared.

I braced the stock against my shoulder and aimed.

Just before I pulled the Remington's trigger at the leader in the middle...

"Amen."

Boom!

The Remington roared.

What burst from its muzzle was not flame.

It was like white light.

A deafening peal like church bells.

Dozens of silver pellets became streams of light and scattered outward.

One.

It burst with a pop.

Three.

They were pierced through and burned away.

Seven.

Their bones cracked, and black blood evaporated.

Crack crack crack!

The streams of light spread out in a fan, stopping only after striking the sewer walls. At the end, they turned into flames and burned the corpses.

"..."

What the hell was that?

Footnotes:

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