CHAPTER 5

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I

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The second the hand closed around the base of his neck, Twin knew whose it had to be. Before the attacker’s other hand could bring a weapon down on him, the young enforcer moved his right hand and jabbed at the foe behind him with his knife. It sliced thin air. And before Twin even had time to be surprised at not making contact with anything where his foe’s body would naturally be, his throat was crushed and gouts of blood spilled from his nose and mouth.

He fell across Su-In’s body as if shielding her, and didn’t move another muscle.

“Didn’t have enough time to turn yourself into a corpse,” a voice muttered in the living room, although there was no one left to hear it, as one of the two people there was unconscious and the other had been reduced to a cadaver. “I got kind of caught up in the festive atmosphere and took my time coming back here, and what do I find? He isn’t even here, but two people who shouldn’t be are. For a little village like this, things sure develop quickly.”

†

Feeling an oppressive weight on her back, Su-In opened her eyes. A bald head and wrinkled face had circled around in front of her with visible concern.

“Ban’gyoh . . . ,” she finally managed to say. Her memory returned in a flash, and sitting up, she looked all around.

Seeing that she’d noticed Twin’s corpse lying there, Ban’gyoh remarked, “He’s been strangled. And I take it you didn’t do it, did you? Which would mean . . .”

“So, you didn’t do it either?” Su-In said, looking down at the body as she got to her feet. “Then I wonder who could’ve rescued me.”

“I don’t know. Who is this character, anyway? One of the people after the bead?”

“How did you know about that?” Su-In asked, a dubious look in her eyes.

Not at all flustered, the priest explained, “I was asked to lead a prayer for a bountiful catch today, and the house that I called on ended up being the home of one of the village’s leading citizens. That’s where I heard about the situation. Realizing how serious this was, I came over to see how you were making out, only to find you like this.”

Su-In nodded. “A hell of a summer this has turned out to be.”

“That it has,” Ban’gyoh concurred. “But there’s nothing to be gained by moping about it. Let’s get rid of that body.”

“We can’t do that. We’ve gotta get it to the sheriff.”

“It wouldn’t do to stir things up any more during this precious summertime,” Ban’gyoh said gravely. “From what I heard at that house, everyone from the mayor to the town council has decided to cover up the present trouble. The finer details can wait until after summer is over.”

“That would be for the best,” Su-In conceded. It was the right way to handle things. Right now, the week-long summer festival was the most important thing for the village, and it was no time to have everyone trying to solve Su-In’s problems. “What’ll we do with this body?”

“I suppose it’d be best to bury it in the backyard. He may’ve been a villain, but in death he sins no more. I’ll give him the proper rites.”

Thirty minutes later, Su-In went and put her shovel back in the barn while Ban’gyoh wrapped up the service before rejoining her.

“What’ll you do next?” asked the holy man.

As they went back into the main house, Su-In explained her situation, then picked up her bag and returned to her truck.

“D must have the bead then, right?” Ban’gyoh said, wrapped in deliberation. Waving his hands to dismiss the subject, he then said, “I have an idea. What do you say to me seeing you safely back to your hiding place?”

“I’m sorry, but we’re keeping it a secret from everyone. Even priests, I’m afraid.”

“It grieves me to hear that.”

“I’m sorry,” Su-In said as she started the engine.

“I won’t force the issue, then. Could you kindly give me a ride part of the way?” And with these words, Ban’gyoh climbed in beside her without even waiting for her reply. Su-In made no complaint—she was a resolute woman. They pulled out onto the street. Darkness played across the roar of the sea.

“Going right,” said Su-In.

“Left for me,” replied Ban’gyoh.

“Then this is where you get out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the priest said as he jumped out of the front seat. His right hand was stuck in the breast of his cassock.

“Well, take care,” Su-In said curtly, and then she turned the steering wheel to the right.

There was the sound of metal on metal.

The truck started to pull away. To the left. Although Ban’gyoh had gotten back into the seat beside her at some point, Su-In didn’t even notice him. The vista that greeted her eyes must’ve been exactly the one she expected to see. Something glittered and shook in Ban’gyoh’s right hand—a pair of gold rings that’d been separate a second ago, but were now interlocked.

“It must be fate that these served me with both you and your sister,” he said in a voice so youthful it was inconceivable coming from someone with such an old and tattered appearance.

Ah, that voice and the golden rings in his hand—these were the trappings of none other than “Backwards Toto.” The fact that Ban’gyoh was actually the Frontier-roaming master thief was a secret not even D had penetrated when they’d traveled together to the village.

“After hearing D had declared he was heading out to take care of the sea monster, I thought there was a possibility the girl had been left alone. And I see I was right on the money. I’ll be able to question her at leisure and get the bead for myself. And what better hostage could I ask for?” Chortling in a low voice, Ban’gyoh/Toto stared straight ahead.

Though the truck had only gone about forty feet since turning left on the road, now the headlights picked out a black shape before them.

“D?!” Toto almost cried out in amazement, but he quickly noticed something. The figure wore no traveler’s hat on his damp blond hair, and the road soaked up the water dripping from the hem of his blue cape. “The thing from the tunnel . . . ,” he started to say, and then he chopped Su-In in the neck to knock her out and took her place behind the wheel. It was clear to him it was no coincidence this character had appeared before them twice.

Flooring the accelerator, Toto sped right at him with the truck. He wasn’t thinking about killing the strange figure. His ultimate goal was simply to see to it they had every possible opportunity to escape.

The truck barreled toward the Noble like a charging bull and ran him down! Or at least that was the way it looked to Toto until the caped figure suddenly disappeared.

Ignoring Toto’s grip, the steering wheel turned to the right. The thief didn’t even have time to scream. Taking a sharp turn, the truck was off the road in no time, cutting across the embankment and plowing into the beach nose first. The vehicle came down with such force it flipped forward and landed on its roof.

Now upside-down in the driver’s seat, the first thing Toto did was to check on Su-In’s condition. The shock must’ve brought her around, because she was looking at him in a daze.

“We’ve got trouble. The Noble’s shown up!” Toto said in Ban’gyoh’s voice. He still wore the face of an old man, too.

A fearful shade flooded Su-In’s countenance.

“And it’s his fault we wound up like this,” Ban’gyoh/Toto continued. “He put some damnable spell on us!”

Of course, the man had no way of knowing that as the Noble stepped aside a split second before impact, he’d also stuck the tip of his right foot under one wheel and twisted it, taking control of both that wheel and the steering mechanism.

“Where is he? At any rate, we’ve gotta get out of here fast!” Su-In said, her appraisal and actions both coming quickly. Shoving the door open, she crawled out. Toto followed right after her. Pulling a harpoon from a rack in the truck, Su-In remained behind the cover of the vehicle as her eyes darted all around her.

A cold wind stroked the woman’s back. Turning, she found a figure in blue standing right there.

“But you’re . . . ,” she mumbled. Terrified as she was, she must’ve seen something in the Noble that inspired a feeling other than fear and loathing. “You . . . Who are you?”

Slowly shaking his head, the man replied, “I don’t know . . .” His words were sucked under the roar of the surf.

“You’re Baron Meinster, aren’t you?”

Emotion stirred on the man’s face.

“Mein . . . ster?” As the name trickled from his lips, it seemed like a question aimed at himself. A tinge of confusion flowed into his well-formed face, and in a heartbeat, a piercing light sparked in the depths of his eyes. “Meinster.” This time he said it clearly. “Yes, that is correct. I have returned . . .”

The expression he aimed down at Su-In instantly became that of a cruel and arrogant fiend.

“I have returned!” he declared. “But why do I stand before a miserable creature like yourself?”

“Sorry to be such a disappointment,” Su-In said sarcastically. She certainly didn’t lack courage. And she hadn’t even noticed the sound of people approaching from either side.

“Who goes there?” someone shouted.

“It’s him!” another man cried. “It’s the Noble!”

The beach was still under surveillance. These men had probably rushed over after seeing the truck have an accident.

The Noble—Meinster—turned around. And grinned. Two jagged fangs jutted from the corners of his thin lips.

“Hey, that’s Su-In’s truck!”

“Are you okay?!”

In response to their queries, Su-In replied, “I’m fine,” as she got up. More than a dozen people had raced over to her. “Are you okay, Ban’gyoh? You’ll be better off staying back there,” Su-In called out as she stood ready with her harpoon.

All the men were armed as well.

A dozen against one—although those were hardly fair odds for a fight, the villagers gathered around Su-In were all chilled to the marrow. Baron Meinster, the legendary fiend, stood right before them. It wasn’t easy to escape the psychological terror that’d been fostered in them over a millennium.

Suddenly Meinster went into action. Tugging at the harpoons held by the two men who stood to his right, Meinster took them away, tearing the men’s arms off in the process.

“Dear lord!” one of them cried in terror.

Even their pain was forgotten as the men simply tried to get away, but before they could, the heads of both burst like watermelons—the result of one effortless swing of Meinster’s right hand.

“Ki—kill ’im!” someone shouted, playing more to the men’s fear than their courage.

From two different directions there was the sound of compressed air being released. Though battered by their own fear, these men of the sea were still true in their aim. In no time at all, Meinster’s body was run through in a dozen places by iron harpoons. And there was definitely a black substance dribbling from his wounds to glisten in the moonlight.

A weird silence enveloped the darkness.

Rather than feeling delight at what they’d accomplished, the men seemed to think they’d just done something horribly wrong. They’d turned a Noble into a pincushion—and such a thing was almost inconceivable.

Meinster had his face turned to the ground. But then he smoothly looked up again.

Burning points of blood light froze the villagers in place.

“Well done,” said Meinster. “You’ve done an excellent job of killing a Noble who’s lived more than five millennia. But you cannot destroy me. You lowly worms will never have the power to accomplish that!”

The people saw his hands reach for the tip of a harpoon that pierced him. In a single action he tore it free and sent it howling through the air to impale the man who’d originally hurled it, as well as the person standing behind him. Even after they dropped to the ground, the rest of the crowd remained immobilized, and in due time they all fell victim to the harpoons they’d thrown.

Looking at Su-In as she stood there frozen in amazement, Meinster called out to her, “Woman! I’ve never seen you before—and yet, I have the strangest feeling I know you from somewhere. Do you have any such recollection?”

“No,” Su-In declared bravely. Her tone was so dignified, she even surprised herself. “It’s not my habit to have monsters as acquaintances.”

“Is that so? Then I needn’t show you any mercy. So here—”

When Meinster took a leisurely step forward, there wasn’t as much as a drop of blood trickling from his body any longer. As his hand slowly reached for the base of her throat, Su-In tried with all her might to knock it back. But the hand pulled away of its own accord.

Exhibiting a terribly human amount of uneasiness, Meinster looked at his hand and Su-In’s face time and again.

Something stirred in Su-In’s breast. Though a horrible fiend stood before her, she felt something that hovered somewhere between grief and nostalgia.

“Why . . . Why am I here?” Meinster asked her. Another face had taken shape behind the elegant visage of the Noble.

“Su-In?” the other face said.

“But you’re—?!” Su-In cried, although she didn’t even know what she was saying.

He knows me. Who could he be?

Perhaps due to the humid summer heat filling the air with the scent of the blood that’d spilled so profusely from the slain fishermen, the man’s double-exposure set of features quickly became those of the one who called himself Meinster.

“You’re a spirited woman,” the Noble said. “Your blood may be lowly, but it should prove delectable enough. Now, show me your throat.”

Once again the pale hand reached toward the chest of the paralyzed Su-In. The nails were perfectly manicured, and on the back of the hand was a single tuft of hair.

There was a clear, metallic ching!

And then what did the Noble do? He changed direction, and with the same leisurely gait he began to walk toward the beach.

“Now’s our chance. Run for it!”

As Ban’gyoh’s words echoed in her ear, Su-In voiced her agreement without a thought. “My bag,” the woman then cried. She was still incredibly focused.

“It’s right here,” said Ban’gyoh, seeming very organized for a simple priest. But then, “Backwards Toto” would’ve been sure to take care of every detail.

Meinster only noticed the pair running for dear life toward the embankment when the coldness of the seawater that soaked him to the knees broke Toto’s spell over him. The blazing blood light tinged not only his eyes, but his entire countenance, coloring him with hatred. For a Noble, nothing could be more humiliating than being duped by a human being.

However, Meinster didn’t go after them, but instead calmly extended his right hand toward the figures that were melting into the darkness.

The pair was just climbing the embankment. A flash of blue light split the darkness, connecting Meinster’s ring and Toto’s right shoulder. Giving a small cry, Toto fell backward onto the beach.

“Ban’gyoh!” Su-In shouted. Vacillating for a second, she then jumped down too. She wasn’t the sort of woman who could just leave an injured person there.

“I’m okay,” Toto said in his false voice. “Don’t worry about me. You’d better hurry up and go. He’s coming!”

“You’re the one that’s hurt—you go! I’ll buy you some time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous—hurry up and go now!” he said in a tone that almost shoved Su-In away as he picked himself up.

Meinster was coming toward them in no particular hurry. He’d passed the shoreline. Taking a few steps up the beach, he then turned.

Though Su-In and Toto couldn’t see anything with their own eyes, they could hear a sound—the engine of a power boat.

Meinster alone saw it. He could make out the little boat chopping across the waves as it drew nearer, and the figure in black that stood at its prow. The night and the very darkness were cold and clear, as if they existed solely for that young man’s purposes.

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II

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Once the vessel had closed to within fifteen feet of shore, D gave the order to stop in a low voice. As Dwight gripped the wheel, his eyes went wide. He’d just realized that the reason D had made him turn off their lights on the way back was because the Hunter had noticed the Noble on the beach—but in the darkness, and from a distance of more than six hundred feet. His latest command had come when they were fifteen feet from shore, just about to hit the beach.

So, I guess that’s what it means to have Noble blood, he thought.

Leaping easily into the air, D landed on the sand right across from the Noble. Ten feet lay between them.

“So, we meet again,” said the Noble.

“You really are Meinster, aren’t you. I saw your coffin.”

“My coffin?” the Noble said, his face twisting into a dubious expression.

“You don’t know about it, do you?” asked D, though the way he said it made it seem like he’d expected just such a response. “At any rate, there’s no place for you here. Go back to the darkness.”

Dodging a flash of silver that whooshed through the air, the Noble sprang. Not back, but rather to the side. Into the sea.

D seemed to hesitate for an instant.

“As I expected, you have a problem with water, don’t you?” the Noble laughed in a low voice. “Such is our fate. However, there have been those who’ve endeavored to change all of that. Like myself.”

The Noble backed away, and the waves lapped around his waist.

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked. “If your skills as a bodyguard are of use solely on dry land, I suppose you’ll need to refund your fee. I shall come again. Only next time, it’ll be from somewhere where no one will see me.”

Before his foe had finished speaking, D stepped into the sea.

“Well done,” the Noble laughed. “I will favor you with a fight now. You shall have a good taste of Baron Meinster’s power before you are sent to your death.”

From his right hand, a sharp black point flew at D.

Not bothering to lower the blade he used to parry the blow effortlessly, D closed the gap between them. From the upper right-hand side, he made a diagonal slash at the neck of the motionless Noble. The blade met no resistance—the Noble had sunk straight down into the depths. Changing his grip on the sword, the Hunter made a downward thrust, but it pierced only water.

“Take a good look around yourself,” said a voice from underwater. Even with his ultra-keen senses, D couldn’t discern from exactly where it had originated. Worse yet, there was something even D hadn’t noticed up until now. The water that’d only been up to his waist had risen to his chest.

According to various legends that’d been propagated since ancient times, discovering a scientific basis for their own weaknesses was an endeavor that’d garnered every possible effort from the Nobility. To be precise, they sought to explain the destructive power of sunlight, their innate fear of the scent of garlic, and the way they burned from the touch of holy water—and some of the legends also mentioned running water.

Nobles couldn’t swim, but water itself wasn’t enough to destroy their immortal flesh. Even with lungs full of water, a Noble would have their heart kept beating by their accursed life force. The vampire wouldn’t drown, but would rather fall into a sort of coma. However, even for a Noble, being left in such a defenseless state out on the Frontier was sure to prove fatal. If a water dragon were to chew one to bits, regeneration would be impossible. Worse yet was what would happen if humans should find the comatose vampire . . .

Because of this weakness, Nobles feared and cursed the water, and they hid themselves in mountain strongholds far from the shore. The Nobles who’d ruled this village were among the notable exceptions. And it seemed that of all of them, Meinster alone through his frantic efforts had achieved the results he desired and overcome this defect.

D felt the water around him leisurely forming a circle. While he realized it was due to Meinster’s superhuman abilities, there was nothing the Hunter could do while his foe remained out of sight.

“Very well—here we go!” Meinster cried.

The normal movements of the sea were disrupted as a high wave assailed the Hunter from behind. A mass of water came down over D’s head to swallow him. Or so it appeared for a second, and then he was leaping toward dry land with watery spray trailing behind him.

But look. Wasn’t that fresh blood gushing from his abdomen like a stream? It was a wound from a short spear that’d shot up from underwater.

Attempting to stand up straight again, D thrust his blade into the sea to support his weight.

“That was actually aimed at your heart—but you’re as good as I expected,” the voice said again. “But not this time—”

When the last syllable came out with a faint tremble, a black shape zipped through the same spot where the Noble had disappeared. Its propeller churning water and sand, the boat was turned sideways to shield D from the waves, but its hull rolled almost immediately. Just before it did, Dwight jumped off.

“You okay?” the fisherman stammered, the color draining from his face as he rushed over.

“Get up there,” D said with a toss of his chin toward land as he turned his eyes toward the sea’s black surface. A dozen seconds passed. Breaking his stance, D returned to the beach.

Dwight was grimacing. He’d found the bodies of those who’d been slaughtered. But one look at D’s abdomen left him pale, and he said, “Hey—you need a doctor!”

“It’s not as bad as all that.”

Grabbing the spear tip where it protruded from him, D pulled it forward. There was the sound of flesh tearing. Dwight alone grimaced, while the Hunter only crinkled his brow ever so slightly.

“I’ll be damned if everyone around me’s not some sort of freak,” Dwight spat, his shock swinging a tad toward hatred. Turning to the sea, he said, “That bastard—he ran off!” His words carried the implication that slamming his whole boat into the Noble had proved effective.

D didn’t reply. It would’ve taken more than that to make this foe forgo a chance to slay D. The way he’d sounded shaken with the last thing he’d said probably held the answer to that question. Some sort of change had taken place within the Noble—the last word he’d uttered had been in someone else’s voice. “Su-In,” he’d said.

D looked over at the embankment and said, “Su-In and Ban’gyoh were here.”

“What?!” Dwight shouted as he jumped up. He turned toward the embankment with great haste. “They’re not here now,” he said. He seemed relieved, and the tension drained from his shoulders.

“She was headed the wrong way,” D muttered.

Su-In would never go toward the village instead of her own house.

.

From quite some distance offshore, icy eyes watched as the two men went from the edge of the surf to the embankment.

With the demure laugh of a woman, a man’s voice then said, “I’ve found his weakness! And the sea, of all places, is my home. I eagerly await our next meeting.”

.

Samon entered the hut. It was a little building used for storing nets and fishing tackle. As the Nobles’ road ran into the village, a narrow strip of shore continued along the edge of it. This was one of three such huts that stood by the edge of the beach.

Closing a wooden door with a broken lock, she heard a low voice from the floor of the fairly spacious room ask, “Did you see him?”

“No,” Samon replied, shaking her head as she approached the shadowy figure who lay there. “How are you doing?”

“I don’t have much longer.”

Crinkling her brow at his self-deprecating tone, Samon pulled bandages and a jar of medicine from the paper bag she was clutching and set them down on the floor. “I’ll change your dressings,” she said.

“What’s the point? Just leave them be.” The voice was that of Glen.

Caught in Egbert’s spell, the swordsman had fallen from the cliff to where the man-eating fish waited below, but he seemed to have barely escaped with his life. Barely—because while he’d said he didn’t approve of what Samon was doing now, he didn’t seem able to push her hands away as she reached for him, either.

“Try anything funny, and things could get ugly, you know,” Glen told her. “It was one of your colleagues that did this to me.”

“We’ll settle with Egbert sooner or later,” Samon said in an eerie tone as she unwrapped the discolored bandages around the man’s upper body.

After parting company with Glen in the afternoon up on the cliff, she’d gone back to the hideout to wait for Shin and Egbert, but when neither of them came back, she’d paid a visit to Glen’s room. Realizing that he hadn’t been back, she was plagued by an ominous feeling as she searched the area around the cliffs where she’d left him, finally finding Glen laid out on the beach. She’d heard all about what’d transpired from the barely breathing swordsman.

What a sight he was. Not only did he have wounds from Egbert, but he’d also been attacked by the monstrous fish below the cliff. His body could be seen beneath the bandages, where his shoulders and chest were chewed up and bare bone was exposed. By the time Samon found him, he’d already lost nearly two-thirds of the blood in his body. After that, it was a miracle he was still alive at all. The only things that’d kept Glen going this long were Samon’s careful nursing and the almost vindictive way he clung to life. Nonetheless, death was drawing ever closer.

“ . . . see him . . . ?” Glen asked once again. He was slipping in and out of consciousness.

“I’ll find him. You just have to hang on a little longer,” Samon said.

As she changed his dressings, her hands were heavy. Yellow pus seeped from his wounds.

The person she was promising to find was the Noble. Rumors were already spreading through the village that he had appeared the previous night. And only the man who came from the sea could grant Glen’s two wishes—life without end, and the power of the Nobility. In her search for him, Samon had been walking the beaches.

Come to think of it, there couldn’t be any more absurd hope than this. When would she find him? Even if she did encounter the Noble, how exactly was she supposed to make him grant Glen’s wishes? Still, Samon was determined. She wasn’t sure she could even get the Noble to listen to her, let alone convince him to do what she asked. And she didn’t even know whether or not her own power could affect the Nobility. Yet she continued to look for the Noble on behalf of the tortured young seeker of knowledge before her.

This was the same hateful man who’d saved her, violated her, and then continued to seek her out for carnal pursuits as he would a common whore—and yet Samon, fearsome sorceress though she was, felt a fascination for Glen she couldn’t explain, almost as if anything she could do for him would give her life meaning.

Glen was already half-dead. His body was nearly drained of blood, and the flame of life that sheer tenacity alone would not allow to go out was now guttering in the wind. When Samon looked at him, there was certainly a cruel and satisfied spark in her eyes. But despite that gleam, her actions weren’t prompted by some desire to see Glen’s suffering prolonged, but rather because the woman wanted him to live, and wanted to help keep him alive.

Suddenly, Glen turned around. Samon looked down at the floor. Was that really the face of the handsome young seeker of knowledge? Surely he must’ve hit something as he fell from the cliff, because the left side of his face was caved in, and his eye remained sealed beneath a swollen eyelid. His cruelly swollen upper lip revealed his teeth and gums, although half of the former were now missing, leaving him looking like some hideous old man. A chance meeting with him in the middle of the night would’ve undoubtedly made even a fairly bold man faint dead away, let alone a woman.

“Again . . . ,” Glen groaned in a voice as thin as a thread. It was the tone of a dead man, and even Samon’s keen hearing barely managed to catch it. “Go . . . look for him . . . again . . .”

Samon nodded. “Understood. I won’t be long. Just hold on until I get back.”

“Go . . . ,” Glen said, the word slipping from him like a brief gasp before he turned his face toward the floor.

Checking to make sure he hadn’t breathed his last, Samon then got back up and left the hut. If anyone had been there to see her as she did so, they would’ve been utterly paralyzed. A lurid aura welled from every inch of the woman.

Apparently unable to break her attachment to the swordsman, Samon headed off without hesitation toward the sea from which the Noble was rumored to come. Roughly twenty minutes had passed since D and the Noble’s deadly battle on the beach had ended. Once Samon was in up to her waist, she drew her dagger. And what she did next would make anyone wonder what manner of woman she was. Putting the keen blade against her own pale neck, the beautiful warrior woman slashed through the carotid artery with one firm stroke. Something inky spread through the water.

“That should do it. If I die, he dies. The rest is up to fate . . .” Laughing, she added, “A life in hell with him will prove interesting.”

And with that disturbing remark, the woman’s pale figure slowly toppled over into the darkening water. Her now completely motionless body seemed to spread out and dissolve into the sea, while the trail of fresh blood that gushed from her swayed with the approaching waves like a length of cloth.

.

Glen heard the footsteps of approaching death. The footsteps of a shadowy figure.

His strength was pushed to the limit now as his consciousness threatened to fade away. With all his might, he tried to recall a certain face—the face of a young man far more handsome than himself. Doing so had been the only thing that’d allowed him to survive these last few hours. Hatred roused his consciousness, and curses brought his senses back to life. He couldn’t lose. He couldn’t let himself die without winning. If anyone was going to die, it would be his opponent in battle, as always.

The gorgeous features didn’t appear before him. The footsteps of the shadowy figure didn’t fade away in the distance. They were steadily approaching. And they stopped right by his ear.

Something cool touched Glen’s neck, but he couldn’t even feel the chill anymore.

This is the end, he thought.

Someone called out, “Glen.”

By some miracle, this stimulated his cerebrum, setting his nerves trembling and giving him back his sight.

“Glen.”

He opened his eyes. The face of a woman he recognized was looking down at him from above. For some reason, she had one hand pressed against the nape of her neck.

“You’re . . .”

“You’re going to get your wish,” Samon said, her voice like frost as it rained down on his shattered beauty.

He was going to get his wish? Then she must’ve found the Noble. But how had she ever convinced him to come here? No, that wasn’t it.

“Just as I was about to expire . . . I met him,” said Samon. As she bent over Glen, her eyes were strangely red, and her skin was unusually pale. “I couldn’t get him to bite you. But drinking my blood was another matter . . .”

Samon opened her mouth. Two teeth jutted from those pearly white rows like beastly fangs.

“And now,” she said. “I can drink your blood . . .”

Glen’s eyes sparkled. They shone not with fear or loathing, but with immeasurable delight.

What manner of man was this? And what manner of woman?

Before Samon’s hands even touched him, Glen had pulled his own collar aside to expose his throat.

Fangs as white as snow sank into his pallid flesh.

.

III

.

Having been struck lightly on the cheek, Su-In woke up. A shudder ran down her spine. From an oddly high place, a monstrous visage was peering down at her. She soon realized it was only a picture. Suddenly, she knew where she had to be. It was a deserted temple on the southern fringe of the village. The monster on the ceiling was an illustration of a guardian of Hell she’d seen more times than she could count as a child. It was devouring people.

“Pretty disturbing picture, isn’t it?” said a voice above her head.

Su-In tried to get up, but her body wouldn’t move. Although she was completely consciousness, her nerves remained fast asleep.

“Sorry, but I had to dope you. This stuff doesn’t have any side effects, but you’re not gonna be able to move again until tomorrow night.”

The face of a man she’d never seen before was looking down at her from above. He was smiling. And although Su-In knew she should hate him, she actually felt the waves of turbulence fading within herself.

“Are you Ban’gyoh?” Even the way she asked this was composed.

“You could say that. My real name is Toto. Nice to meet you. As you can see, I’m a complete gentleman. If you don’t try anything funny, I’ll deliver you home safe and sound.”

“And a gentleman kicks a woman in the gut out of the blue while she’s seeing to his wounds?! Don’t make me laugh!”

That was precisely what he’d done in order to bring Su-In there from the embankment. The woman’s voice held a tinge of rage.

Grinning sheepishly, Toto said, “In my line of work, you can’t exactly lay all your cards on the table. You just accept that sometimes you have to get a little rough. Of course, I had a hell of a time after I knocked you out. You ever consider going on a diet?”

“No one asked for your opinion!” Su-In snarled, turning her eyes away indignantly. She then pondered her predicament and an escape route. This was the main building of the temple. Judging by the height and width of the ceiling and the illustrations on it, she was certain that’s where she was. Off to the right side, there should be a row of statues sculpted to match the images on the ceiling. And at the end of that row was a door. From there, it was a straight shot to the front door.

“What did you plan on doing to me?” asked Su-In.

“Nothing. Relax. It’s not you that I was after.”

“It’s the bead, isn’t it?”

“Right you are,” said the man. “Where is it?”

“You think I’d tell you even if I knew?” Su-In retorted, thrusting her tongue out at him.

“No, I figured you wouldn’t. Which is why I’d have to get him to tell me.”

“By ‘him,’ do you mean D?”

“Who else? See, I’ll trade you for it. As soon as day breaks, I’ll write up my demands and go deliver them.”

Su-In let out a sigh. This was exactly the thing that concerned D when he took her to hide deep in the ruins. However, there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. Moving only her eyes as she scanned her surroundings, Su-In noticed a bag sitting about a foot and a half from her head. The clasp was undone—he must’ve already gone through it. Noticing something else, Su-In said, “Excuse me.”

“What is it? You hungry or something?”

“That’s my bag, right?”

“Yep,” Toto replied.

“And you’ve already rifled through the contents, haven’t you?” said Su-In.

“You bet I have.”

“How come you put everything back neatly?”

“Huh?” Toto exclaimed, knitting his brow.

“An ordinary thief would just dump everything out and check it that way. After all, it’s a lot less trouble that way. And a thief with a bit more manners might pull things out one by one, but then they’d obviously just leave them there.” With amusement in her eyes, Su-In gazed at the Frontier’s greatest thief. “When you were dressed like a priest,” she continued, “I didn’t have the faintest idea you were one of the bad guys. You’re not connected to the group D’s fighting now, right?”

“No, not really.”

“Did it look to you like that bag was really valuable to me?”

Toto didn’t reply.

“What would you do if I told you I knew where the bead was?”

“Do you really know?”

“Are you seriously gonna take everything everyone tells you at face value? You have to be the dumbest thief ever.”

“No doubt,” Toto said with a grin. It was a manly smile, the kind that might’ve drawn a coquettish cry from most girls. It brimmed with self-confidence. Though Su-In didn’t know it, “Backwards Toto” was one of the Frontier’s most prominent thieves. “But dumb as I am,” he added, “I like to think I read people pretty well. Now, I don’t know whether or not you know where the bead is, but it’s clear to me you’d die before you’d ever tell me. Which is why I’ve got no choice but to leave a note with my demands.”

“Why don’t you try torturing me to death?”

“As a rule, I don’t like to waste time or energy. You know, torture’s a pretty tiring business for the person doling it out, too.” Toto paused, his expression becoming so frightening he looked like someone else entirely as he said, “If you keep needling me like that, though—”

Shrugging her shoulders, Su-In redirected her gaze to the bag. “Huh?!” she cried.

Toto turned, too. He’d noticed the look on Su-In’s face. “What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that what looked like a big rat came out from behind one of the pillars and ran off. Maybe I was just seeing things.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. There’s no danger here in this temple,” Toto said. Yawning once, he laid down right where he was. “Get some rest already,” he told the woman. “We don’t want to be cutting into your beauty sleep.”

“While you were disguised as a priest and had the run of my house, didn’t you ever think of trying to grab me?”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Toto said, shaking his head fearfully. His expression was hardened by genuine horror. “I couldn’t pull anything with a bodyguard like that around. If I’d even thought about it, he’d probably have seen right through me. I was honestly just trying to be friends with all of you.”

It must’ve been a kind of mind control. An outstanding con man was supposed to be able to understand the people he was swindling and pretend to be on their side up until the very last second of the con, and Toto could do that far more easily and skillfully than anyone else. Up until the very end, the people he stole from never even suspected him.

“Then why don’t you just leave things that way?” said Su-In, a sober expression on her face.

“Huh?”

“Just keep on being our friend. Or if you feel awkward being friends, then just be one of us. Make up some fake letter of introduction or something—I’m sure you’re good at stuff like that—and get a job in the village office.”

“Spare me,” Toto said, sounding like he was ready to retch. And then he looked at Su-In with amazement on his face. Was she an imbecile or something?

“No one’s ever suggested anything like that to you, have they?”

“Go to sleep already,” he told her.

“Hey, don’t dodge the issue.”

“Shut up!”

“If you stay in your present line of work, what are you supposed to do when you get old?” asked Su-In. “I can’t help wondering if you’ve got enough money socked away somewhere.”

“Don’t worry yourself about it, you damned dope,” Toto replied. His voice held anger—and agitation. The words of this sea woman had carried a strange weight. You might even call them persuasive.

“So, you know something about the bead?” she asked.

Toto said nothing.

“You mean to tell me you’re going after it without knowing anything about it at all?”

“I’ve got a feeling about it.”

“You met my sister, didn’t you?”

Toto fell silent at this sudden change of topic.

“It’s all right. I don’t think you’re working for the one who killed her or anything. But I want to ask you about something. Tell me how my sister was when you saw her. When she left the village, I never would’ve dreamed I’d never see her again.”

For a while, Toto remained silent.

Without warning, his right hand stabbed into the darkness. Su-In managed to catch a glimpse of the silver flash that shot from it. There was a bizarre squeal, and then it was completely silent.

“What was that all about?”

“I took care of your rat,” Toto replied, still facing the other way. And then he agreed to tell the woman what she wished to hear.

Su-In’s eyes were twinkling, as if she were a little girl listening to a fairy tale coaxed from her stubborn but kindly father.

.

“Has Samon come back?” Egbert asked. More than the volume of his voice, it was the urgency of it that made the other figures in the murky chamber stiffen.

“What are you doing back so soon?” Twin could be heard to say from behind a white lace curtain riddled by the moonlight.

“How about Gyohki?”

“I’m here,” replied a voice from the door to an adjoining room. “At present, I’m nursing my wounds. I was nearly killed, you see.”

“Shin’s been taken out.”

“What?!” he exclaimed, his reaction brought on by Twin’s words.

Gyohki fell silent.

Today, Egbert had spent his time searching for Shin—it was a day earlier that he’d witnessed D killing him. However, when he’d returned to the scene that evening in hopes of at least retrieving his colleague’s corpse, what he found there was nothing more than a doll that resembled a dead body. He was stunned. If that corpse was just another puppet, Shin should’ve long since rejoined the rest of them, whether he’d defeated D or not. But since Shin hadn’t done so, they had no choice but to suspect that he’d taken the bead and run off. It was this very night that the man’s corpse had been discovered off in the distant woods—only an hour earlier.

“A fitting end for a traitor—but who did the deed?” Gyohki asked in a weighty tone.

“I don’t know. But I did find this next to his body.”

What fell to the floor without a sound was a tiny rubber doll in the shape of a spider.

“Okay, this is just my interpretation, but I think Shin was using this thing to threaten someone. And whoever it was killed him when he tried to run off with the bead. Who do you suppose would do that?”

“Someone who knows the secret of the bead,” Twin muttered.

“That’s what I think, too.”

At Gyohki’s words, Egbert’s shadowy form gave a nod at the center of the room and said, “You remember what Gilligan told us? It’s Professor Krolock!”

“Him?!” Twin cried at the top of his lungs. “Well, they say Professor Krolock’s a walking warehouse of information. I guess it wouldn’t be all that strange for him to know about the bead.”

“Where is he?”

“At an inn, I’d imagine. He’s probably being a lot more brazen than you’d expect.”

“Why’s he here? You think Gilligan sent him up here? If that’s the case, he should at least stop by and pay his respects.”

“An old man put some strange spell on Samon, too,” said Gyohki.

“That’s right,” Egbert concurred. “And I’d bet you anything that was him. With a power like that, he’d be able to get Shin’s poison spider off, and maybe even kill the old puppet master.”

“Does he have the bead?” Twin asked in an intense tone.

“I don’t know. But I don’t think he could’ve taken it after that.”

“Is it still inside the Vampire Hunter’s hand, then?” Gyohki practically moaned. “Very well. Leave him to me.”

“You have a plan?”

“Actually, I saw something interesting this evening,” Gyohki replied.

“Which was?”

“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. Once we have the bead, we can finish him at our leisure. The rest of you will have to give me a hand.”

“Fine with me,” Twin replied loudly, sounding quite satisfied. “But I think there’s one more person who should be here to help us reach a consensus.”

“Samon’s still not back yet?” Egbert asked in a somewhat disappointed tone. “Well, I guess that’s okay. She won’t be making any more of those odd little trips out, at any rate. So, Gyohki—how exactly is this gonna go?”

As the giant leaned forward, the main door suddenly creaked open and a gorgeous woman in a white dress came in.

“Speak of the devil,” Twin said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh? And what were you saying about me?” asked Samon. With silent footsteps she walked to the center of the room and stood right in front of Egbert.

“Just this—” the giant began to say, and although the impression he got from the familiar face of the lovely woman was somehow different from before, he went on to explain what had been discussed at the meeting that day.

Once she’d heard everything, Samon said, “I see,” and nodded meaningfully. “It was definitely Professor Krolock that made a mockery of me. Not that I know where he is. At any rate, Gyohki, exactly when and how did you intend to do away with D?”

“Tomorrow—in someplace he’s not too comfortable.”

“I heard D’s a dhampir,” the woman said. “So he wouldn’t be comfortable—in the water.”

“Exactly.”

“And yet you think he’ll just stroll out into someplace like that? He’s not stupid, you know. Even if he did, how would you finish him off? At any rate, from what Twin says, it seems he’s hidden the woman somewhere. Do you have some way to lure him out?”

Apparently, the rest of the group didn’t know about the other Twin or what had happened to him.

“I know,” said Gyohki. “We can’t simply invite him to step into Egbert’s kingdom. But he’ll have no choice but to come, you see.”

“How?” Twin asked in a tone of boundless curiosity.

“I have something lined up. Come tomorrow, you’ll see,” said Gyohki, putting on airs to the very end.

“But more importantly—Samon, what’s your boyfriend up to?”

Although Samon made an indescribable expression there in the murky darkness at Twin’s question, it faded quickly enough, and she replied disappointedly, “He’s not around.”

“Not around?”

“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since noontime. I wonder if maybe he didn’t go off somewhere . . .”

“You’ve been dumped?” Egbert asked, his face turned to one side.

“Perhaps,” Samon said without argument as she turned and walked toward a door in the back of the room. “I’m tired. I’m going to turn in early.”

“Whatever you do, don’t waste your time looking for the man who ran out on you,” said Gyohki. “Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. You’ll have to find out where Professor Krolock is and bring him back here. We’ll dispose of D.”

“Since when do you give the orders?” asked Samon.

“Oh, do you have a problem with that?”

“No—it doesn’t matter to me either way,” the woman replied. “At least, not now.”

“Looks to me like you’re taking this dumping business pretty hard.”

“Say what you will. Good night,” said Samon. And then her silhouette, which suddenly seemed all the more alluring, slipped through the doorway and vanished into the darkness.

.

And this is what happened an hour later.

Sensing someone sneaking over to the old-fashioned bed where he slept, Egbert awoke. Had he not been a warrior, Egbert never would’ve heard the footsteps of the person coming closer, then bending over by the side of his head. As he turned to face the intruder, he asked, “What do you want?”

Upon seeing the person who’d just pulled back by the light of the moon, Egbert blinked despite himself.

“You’re not a very perceptive man, are you, Egbert?” Samon said reproachfully, having already regained her composure. “When a woman creeps into a man’s bedroom, he should keep his questions to himself and just accept her kisses.”

“What are you up to, Samon?” Egbert asked, his voice carrying more than its share of expectation.

As he sat up in bed, Samon approached him seductively. Egbert had already noticed that the warrior woman wore nothing but a flimsy negligee. Her gossamer gown melted in the moonlight, tracing in black a form so voluptuous it took his breath away. But Egbert’s eyes could also make out her full breasts, her pale pink nipples, and all the tempting contours of her crotch and derriere.

“So, am I supposed to take the place of your boyfriend who ran off? Well, I don’t have a problem with that,” Egbert chuckled. But his voice was a bit indistinct.

“I knew how you felt about me.”

Standing by the side of the bed, Samon said no more, but reached for the front of the negligee with her hand. The fabric slid down her like a fog, catching on her breasts for a moment, and then quickly landing in a pile on the floor.

“I’m terribly hungry, you see,” the woman confessed. “I want you. So just hold your tongue and take me.”

No sooner had Samon made that request of him than she straddled Egbert’s groin and wrapped her pale, silky arms around the man’s strapping neck.

“Hey,” Egbert said, but before he could stop her, his lips were covered with something that tugged at them like a leech, yet delivered the sweetest sensation imaginable. A hot tongue slid into Egbert’s mouth, and he didn’t hesitate to suck on it.

Having given him an appreciable taste of her lips and tongue, Samon pulled her face away from his. While her features were twisted with lust, her eyes alone held a cold spark that seemed to mock the man.

Egbert’s hand brushed one of her breasts. “Your tits are like ice,” he said.

“But they burn all the more with my feelings,” Samon replied, pressing her lips to his once more.

Egbert was entranced.

From the first time he’d seen the woman’s face, the stouthearted warrior had been drawn by her surpassing sensuality. Perhaps Samon realized as much, because even on the way to the village, her words and deeds had further stimulated him to such a degree she almost seemed to be provoking him. Twin had probably teased Egbert because he’d noticed that as well. Egbert had loved Samon so much that he’d killed the young seeker of knowledge who’d been her lover—not that he thought that would make Samon his. He’d gone after Glen because the man seemed to be a warped individual intent on tearing Samon apart both mentally and physically. The way things had been going, the giant probably never would’ve confessed his own feelings to her in the end. But now Samon had pushed everything else aside to fulfill the feelings his eyes had always betrayed.

Egbert’s integrity oozed away like mud. But who could really blame him? His powerful arms wrapped around her lithe torso, and his parched lips sucked at the woman’s moist, full ones so hard it seemed he’d twist them right off.

Turning her face away as if to escape him, Samon then bit down on the man’s earlobe.

“You’re incredible. I love you, Egbert,” she said, her feverish tone and moist puffs of breath slowly sliding down to the nape of his neck, then stopping. “I love you best, after him.”

Samon’s mouth snapped open viciously. A pair of fangs glittered there like solidified moonlight.

“Samon, what happened to you?!” Egbert shouted in amazement.

Just as Samon’s despicable lips were about to clamp onto the man’s throat, she began to gag and choke. A scream spilling from her, Samon clutched at her own throat.

“When did you decide to serve the Nobility?” Egbert said as he brought one hand up to his unscathed throat. His voice brimmed with sadness. “And is that why you forgot all about my power? This whole room is Egbert’s kingdom! Of course, this is the first time I’ve actually had garlic mixed in the atmosphere. That was just a step I’d taken to guard against D and the Noble. I never would’ve thought you’d wind up one first, though.”

“You bastard!” Samon cursed as she fell to the floor. “Damn you to hell, Egbert!”

“I really did care for you. I suppose the least I can do is release you from the curse of the Nobility myself.” Taking up the iron staff that leaned against the side of his bed, Egbert stood behind the writhing Samon. Raising the weapon high over his head, he cried, “Die, Samon. Rest in peace.”

As he turned his face down to the contorted Samon with that holy pronouncement, he met her gaze. A blazing pair of crimson eyes. In that instant, sparks of the very same hue exploded in Egbert’s brain.

His staff slid down. When it had fallen to waist level, Egbert shook his head fiercely, and then raised his weapon once again. He had both eyes shut.

“Could you really kill me, Egbert?” Samon managed to utter in a hoarse voice. The stink of garlic still eddied in the night air. The mere act of speaking was pure torture for her. “Were you lying when you said you cared for me? If you weren’t, you’d allow me to follow the path I choose, no matter how far it means I may fall. That’s what I did. All for him—”

Even in the midst of agony, Samon still sounded proud.

“I need you,” the woman said. “I need you if I’m to help grant his wish. We mustn’t let Gyohki and the others go after D. The Hunter’s life belongs to my man.”

Were these not words of chilling love?

As the woman told Egbert how she’d given her own blood to a Noble and become his servant in order to save the dying Glen, her words certainly hit home. Though his iron staff was still poised in the air, he sounded quite moved as he said, “Oh, how I envied him—he’s still alive then, is he?”

“I kept him alive. Though I had to subject myself to this curse to do so.”

“What’ll you do if I give you what you want?” the giant asked her.

Despite all the pain Samon was in, her eyes glittered. Just then, the smell of the accursed plant abruptly vanished from the air.

“I shall love you,” she replied. “Just as I do him. In any way you please.”

For a second, a hue of distress that beggared description drifted into Egbert’s face. However, he quickly made his decision.

“I’ve always thought it might be nice to be a Noble!”

The naked female form arose, brushing by the tip of the iron staff as it slowly sank to the floor.

FIGHTING IN THE DARKNESS