Chapter 178 : Victor Laznik (2)
Ssssh─! Ssssh─!
From the man’s mouth came a peculiar sound, like a beast wildly excited after a hunt.
Transparent breath escaped between his teeth, wavering like a summer heat haze, and white steam rose from his entire body, as if he were clad in pure white garments.
This was the phenomenon of sweat evaporating from his overheated body.
At such a high body temperature, an ordinary person should have already been dead.
Yet, except for a slight look of fatigue, the man was perfectly fine.
Because he was no ordinary man.
Victor Laznik was the underboss of Shadowfang’s enforcers.
Naturally, he was a werebeast—a beastman carrying the genes of a wild animal.
“Aaaargh!”
Crack!
A massive foot crushed the head of a fallen man, and blood burst out like an overripe tomato.
Though only a few had died outright, it was as if all were effectively dead.
Some had deep gashes in their abdomens, exposing entrails; others had flesh torn as if bitten off.
The underbosses deployed by the Blood Alliance were no different.
Not vampires, but high-ranking sorcerers trained in blood magic under their tutelage.
He was coughing up blood repeatedly.
A sign that even his own blood was beyond his control—an indication of how dire the situation was.
‘This is a complete mess.’
When I was watching earlier, it hadn’t been this bad.
Once the balance broke, the long standoff was rendered meaningless as they were wiped out.
“I heard underbosses don’t differ much in skill.”
As I revealed my presence, all eyes turned toward me.
“Leading your men in a surprise attack only to suffer such a one-sided defeat—isn’t that a bit pathetic?”
“You… mercenary…”
The underboss recognized me.
I was indeed a mercenary, but since I communicated directly with the Blood Alliance’s leader—his superior—he couldn’t not know.
“You were truly threatening.”
However, the one who answered me was Victor Laznik himself, an underboss who had one foot in the river Styx.
“I never expected such resistance from the Blood Alliance. No, honestly, we didn’t even care at first since it was outside our interests.”
“That figures. Even as the lower branches were being crushed, they kept silent. Of course, that’s the mindset they’d have.”
“Hmph. The losses of the lower branches mean nothing. They’re just parts. There are so many rotten to overflow; who cares how many die?”
The contempt in his voice wasn’t feigned—it was the verbalization of thoughts he’d long harbored.
With such a mindset, it was no wonder the Blood Alliance’s threats had no effect.
Werebeasts generally had that kind of attitude.
A kind of superiority complex toward anyone who wasn’t a fellow beastman.
I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, as if I were looking at the Blood Alliance’s vampires.
They say you become like those you love, and even more like those you hate—these two were cut from the same cloth.
“From someone who’s been in the thick of it, that’s a rather disappointing assessment.”
“I know your name. Contractor Allen, the Blood Alliance’s greatest asset, they say. Seeing you in person, you look all right, but I wonder if you’re really that good.”
A sharpness like a predator sizing up its prey flickered in his gaze, but soon vanished.
“Don’t get involved in a fight you can’t win. Just wash your hands of this and leave quietly. These outdated bats, still drunk on past glories after all these years, will never stop us.”
“Cough!”
The underboss of the vampires bristled at the insult.
But sadly, all that came out was blackened, dead blood.
Victor smirked, nodding mockingly at him.
“I hear this wasn’t done to spite the vampires.”
“Ha ha ha. Sure. Watching those arrogant bats squirm is satisfying, but that’s just a byproduct of our cause.”
“Hmph.”
“...What are you laughing at?”
Victor frowned at the out-of-place laughter breaking the serious mood.
“A beast talking about a cause—makes me wonder if you even know what that word means.”
“...”
Suddenly, a fierce killing intent washed over me.
It was savage and impulsive, as if he might bite my neck at any moment.
“...I’ll let it slide this once. There won’t be a second time.”
‘He’s holding back.’
This was unusual.
I’d fought werebeasts before.
Like Cole Camish, the leader of the Quadruple.
My taunts calling him a beast had worked well.
Non-pureblood werebeasts couldn’t fully control their beast genes.
Once transformed, they were more driven by instinct than reason.
Victor had already activated his beast genes through battle.
That he restrained himself even once was impressive.
“Fine, I told you to give up the contract. If the conditions are right, I’m not opposed.”
“Are you really negotiating terms after advising me to take care of my own life?”
“Giving up a contract halfway isn’t as easy as it sounds. Especially for someone like me, whose selling point is a 100% success rate. It would be a huge loss.”
“...”
“Besides, as you said, I’m an external force hired directly by the Blood Alliance. It’s not just about pride—I don’t want to earn their enmity. The point is, I need a justification.”
“Like if we tried to hire you in reverse?”
“Something like that.”
“Enough with the fuss.”
Victor seemed to ponder briefly, then nodded.
“Speak. But if I hear nonsense, I’ll refuse.”
“It won’t be hard to satisfy. Just answer my question.”
I asked.
“What exactly does Shadowfang hope to achieve by provoking the city government?”
“...Is that all?”
“Yes.”
Victor looked incredulous.
“You’re a rare breed. I thought you’d mention money or artifacts. Do you often get called crazy?”
“I don’t fully understand how this game works yet. When something this big happens, you need to know the inside story. So you can seek advantage no matter how the world changes.”
“Nonsense…”
“If you can’t understand, it might sound like nonsense. Well, it’s a complicated logic for a beast to grasp.”
Gnash!
Maybe because he was half-beast already, the sound of his teeth grinding was loud.
“...Damn it, did you forget I said I’d only let it slide once?”
“So after all this talk, you just want to fight?”
“...”
Victor held back again.
Instead, he glared at me as if to kill.
“For the glory of the clan. Beyond that, you can figure it out yourself.”
“The glory of the clan.”
The clan meant the werebeasts.
It was a predictable story.
The Blood Alliance wanted to make the Brotherhood a haven where vampires could live in hiding.
Thus, vampires successfully blended into the city under the Brotherhood’s shadow.
Meanwhile, Shadowfang aimed to use the Brotherhood as a foothold to restore the werebeasts’ former glory.
That was why they endured the humiliation of sharing a roof with their mortal enemies, the vampires.
‘A story as distant as the stars.’
For us, it was an unattainable goal.
Werebeasts were commonly said to have declined after losing the war against vampires.
But that was only an event that accelerated their fall, not the direct cause.
‘The absence of pureblood lineage.’
Almost all werebeasts in this world were hybrids, no exaggeration.
Lowly breeds unable to control their bodily changes or instinctual urges.
The lack of purebloods was the direct cause of the werebeasts’ decline.
In other words...
“The city government must be protecting pureblood werebeasts, right?”
“Talk as you please. I’ve said all I need.”
“Or... maybe they found a way to restore the pureblood lineage. And the city government possesses something to achieve that.”
“...”
“Why suddenly go silent? That’s practically admitting you’re right.”
So it was them.
Though he showed no outward sign, it was astonishing.
If they’d found a way to restore pureblood lineage, it made sense why Shadowfang ignored internal opposition and recklessly confronted the city government.
Not because it was a high-stakes gamble.
Because there was no alternative.
This wasn’t a chicken race from the start.
If one side was ready to die crashing into the other, could it be called a chicken race?
“Thanks for the valuable information.”
Now I had a rough grasp of how this game was played.
“Now get lost. Damn, judging by your attitude, I should slaughter you... consider yourself lucky.”
“But I still can’t give up the contract.”
“What?”
I tore my gaze away from Victor.
The blood on the ground formed words.
‘Not an ordinary werebeast.’
That was obvious.
Turning the tables despite being ambushed and outnumbered meant he had a hidden trump card.
Considering the battle’s outcome I’d glimpsed and the purpose of Shadowfang he revealed, I had a good guess what it was.
“So you really were playing with me, you bastard!”
Victor wrinkled his nose, snarling with a face full of creases.
“Now you get it?”
The payment for the Blood Alliance’s contract was what I demanded.
Even if there was no chance of winning, I had to force a chance.
Giving up the contract was out of the question.
“Don’t be too disappointed. You were probably just stalling for time, just in case.”
An underboss who didn’t even care about his own men, an arrogant werebeast, would really let me go out of respect? And kindly explain the current situation?
Ridiculous.
When a werebeast chooses dialogue over violence, it’s basically admitting the situation is unfavorable.
Even if he looked fine on the outside, he must have been injured or overexerted.
“Yeah, it’s my fault for hesitating when I should have just acted like myself!”
Grrr!
A human voice and a beast’s howl echoed simultaneously.
That was extraordinary too.
The main weakness of hybrid bloodlines was their imbalance.
Yet he maintained both beast and human traits with ease.
“You’ll regret refusing my mercy.”
He said that, but his expression was one of relief.
Just because he had some patience didn’t mean the beast’s instincts had vanished.
He probably wanted to tear me apart.
Having learned what I needed, I didn’t want to drag this out.
“Enough chatter. Need more time to recover?”
“I’ll kill you right now, just as you wish!”
Victor kicked off the ground and charged.
Fwoosh!
Every step of his fur-covered foot overturned the earth, shockwaves parting clouds of dust.
He reached me faster than the blink of an eye.
Lightning-fast was an understatement.
Crackle!
Blue sparks flickered irregularly from his limbs.
The power of electricity.
“Diiiiieeee!”
He slammed his clasped hands down.
Lightning struck.
Rumble!
A brilliant white streak connected sky and earth.
A natural phenomenon summoned by a human body.
For a moment, it felt like all senses were lost.
Colors drained from my sight, leaving only black silhouettes; ears rang with a high-pitched ringing.
Crack! Crackle!
The scorched earth was all that remained where the lightning struck.
Bodies scattered nearby melted from the heat or turned to black ash.
A wondrously destructive technique.
Victor himself trembled, his limbs shaking as he muttered.
“Ha ha ha, this brat keeps acting tough. Should’ve just left when I offered mercy, huh?”
Just then, the charred lump he held began to wail.
Screeeech!
“...?”
The surface of the coal-like mass dispersed like smoke, transforming into a wolf with tearful eyes.
“What the...!”
Bang!
“Cough! Hack!”
At the same time, thick pollen burst out, covering his entire body.
“Pretending to be special, but you’re still just a beast.”
I, who had set up a fake wolf decoy, revealed my true presence.
Victor coughed repeatedly, bloodshot eyes glaring at me.
(End of Chapter)