# Under the Split Night Sky
Under the split night sky, sunlight pours down. Citizens cautiously emerge from their homes, kneeling and weeping as they gaze at the dawning eastern sky.
The darkness is retreating. From the Krasilov castle situated on high ground, the broad sections of the lower city were finally becoming visible.
The undead that had appeared throughout the city were dissolving like ash in the sunlight.
The nightmare is ending. The nightmare that had covered Pritzenkaya for days.
"..."
In the darkness not yet touched by sunlight, they stood.
Ivan looked at them with dry eyes, slowly moving forward. His steps were heavy. But less so than his heart.
There was much he wanted to say, but he had never thought about which words to speak first.
An apology for being the sole survivor?
Or perhaps satisfaction at completing his revenge?
Or maybe...
*Clack.*
The skull at the front made a loud noise as its jaw clicked. Ivan stopped in front of it and swallowed dryly.
There's a certain atmosphere that can be felt even without facial muscles. From the skeleton soldier's bare skull, a small smile somehow seemed to emanate.
He already knew that head shape and height. Ivan barely opened his mouth.
"Sasha."
*Clack!*
The skeleton tapped the ground a few times as if chuckling and looked up at Ivan. Ash was scattering. Sunlight spread wider, reaching the skeletons' position.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Ivan forced his constricted throat to speak, lamenting that he didn't know how to say anything else.
He wasn't sure what this awkward apology meant. Sorry for surviving? Or sorry for disturbing their eternal rest? Or perhaps, sorry for not dying in their place that day?
A dry hand rested on Ivan's shoulder. Looking up, he saw the skeleton looking down at him.
*Clack.*
What nonsense are you talking?
The voice from that day echoed faintly. Ivan looked around with trembling eyes. Skeletons scattering ash surrounded him.
Tap, tap, tap. They stepped in the same rhythm. Dry bones and broken boots tapped the stone floor, creating a melody.
There were no lyrics. This was humming. A funeral song expressed by those without vocal cords.
The humming they used to sing at the funerals of the fallen Annihilation Squad, for agents who died nameless, and therefore without lyrics. It contained not sorrow, nor solemnity or tragedy, but blessing.
The Annihilation Squad could never die in bed. They were certain their end would always come on roads and battlefields, or in remote forests and dark alleys.
So.
Since they could never find peace while alive.
Only in death could they finally enjoy peaceful eternity.
They could only bless them. With envy, and with resolve.
*I will continue your duty. Rest in peace, comrade now free from duty.*
*Do not mourn those who have departed first, comrades.*
*Are we not in the same ranks as them?*
Toward the peace that will surely come at the end of this road, that will come fairly to everyone, march through the mud and fulfill your purpose.
Ivan looked at Sasha's face. Sasha, already more than half turned to ash, no longer had a jaw left to click in laughter.
It was at that moment.
"Ah."
Was it because the sunlight was so bright?
What other reason could there be?
In the ash scattering under the sunlight. Sasha from those days was smiling at him.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
"Sasha."
"Don't envy me. I should be sorry for going to a good place first."
"..."
"But you know? We've planted many friends in heaven or hell. Wherever you go, Lieutenant Colonel, it'll be crowded."
This was a joke he used to make when he was alive.
If we arrive in heaven, we'll slap the cheeks of our departed comrades and the Lord.
If we arrive in hell, we'll conquer it together with the comrades who arrive with us.
So, for a trained agent, there's no difference between heaven and hell. We do similar things wherever we go.
The hand resting on his right shoulder scattered. Sasha clicked his tongue and nodded toward him.
"Go quickly. There's one more person waiting for you, Lieutenant Colonel."
"..."
Kim Seon-woo turned his head following Sasha's gaze. The skeletons hastily made way. Between the narrow path they opened, one person stood with their back turned.
Small shoulders and short stature. A body so small he could embrace it with one arm.
Someone so familiar that he could recall them perfectly even in dreams.
*Step.*
Ivan carefully moved forward. He forcibly dragged his legs that felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, taking one step.
Was Aviditas's curse not over yet? His heart creaked. The deterioration of bodily functions was evident.
His vision narrowed, his breathing became rough. His fingertips trembled slightly.
How much had he longed for this?
"Chere, Novika."
"Don't come."
To hear that one phrase.
"I thought I'd see you neat and tidy when we met again, since souls are clean. What a surprise."
The grumbling voice gently pushed him away. She still had her back turned.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Everything, all of it."
"Then don't do things you need to apologize for."
Her voice, tinged with laughter, lightly scolded him. Ivan stopped in his tracks and hesitated.
Light footsteps approached. When he reflexively tried to raise his head, her voice was heard.
"Don't look up. I'll really die if you do."
"Raella."
"Yes, Major Raella Cherenovika. I've come to report mission completion."
The silhouette that stopped before Ivan's eyes was certainly not that of a skeleton.
The thin body slowly scattering in the sunlight clearly had the appearance from those days.
"Don't look up."
"I understand, I understand."
"Really, it's ridiculous. I was waiting, all nicely prepared, and suddenly when I open my eyes, what is all this?"
"..."
"Tsk."
Clicking her tongue, Cherenovika's voice continued.
"Look up. Let me see your face."
"..."
Carefully, slowly, he raised his head. Even if he were to face an empty skull, his feelings wouldn't change, but she might feel ashamed.
Kim Seon-woo momentarily forgot to breathe.
Raella was smiling brightly at him. Bathed in sunlight behind her brilliant golden hair, she was looking at him with that day's smile.
His trembling hand rose unconsciously. He brushed her hair back behind her ear. Raella giggled as if ticklish.
"You used to be cute, but now you're not cute. Yes, you're handsome. Our Lieutenant Colonel."
"Raella."
"Live. As long as possible. You promised, right?"
"Yes."
"And we promised to live well too. Remember?"
"I remember."
"You look somewhat better than before. My little Ivan. I don't mind if you add a few more, but don't forget me."
"..."
Kim Seon-woo couldn't answer. Her body was scattering, flying into the sky.
He frantically tried to catch her, flailing. But the ash too easily slipped through his fingers and scattered.
"No. Not like this. Raella, please. Just a little, stay just a little longer."
"We have too little time to mourn those who have already departed."
"Raella Cherenovika...!"
"So, until you join our ranks. Enjoy, be happy. Don't live alone gloomily and die of old age like before. Raise a few children who look like you."
Something bumped against his forehead. With her last remaining fingertip, Raella gently stroked his forehead.
"Seon-woo."
"When...?"
"For someone who always whined about wanting to go back when sleeping, do you know how many night watches I took?"
"..."
"Hehe, what a strange name indeed. Seon-woo. Seon-woo... Yes. Seon-woo. I loved you. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this till the end."
Really, truly, don't forget me.
Raella's last words scattered in the wind.
Kim Seon-woo stood for a moment, then opened his hand.
The small ring he had buried with her remained in his hand. He remembered. It was a crude ring made by hammering gold they had captured during an operation with an axe handle.
A small gold band with no pattern or decoration.
He rolled the warm metal between his fingers for a long time, then clenched his fist.
Seasons pass. How many times since you left.
Summer goes, autumn goes, winter comes, and spring returns. I still couldn't forget you.
Could I forget even after a thousand more seasons pass?
We met in spring, parted in spring,
Yes, if I were to name it, it was spring. A season that always returns.
*Thud.*
Footsteps echoed. The scattering skeletons all knelt on their right knee and looked up at him.
Annihilation Squad, returned after completing the mission.
"Rest, rest... easy."
*Thud.*
The final mission report was complete.
Sunlight covered Pritzenkaya. Darkness retreated, and vitality returned to the streets.
It was a dream as long as the long night.
Kim Seon-woo put the ring in his hand into his chest pocket and turned around.
"Any wounded?"
"None!"
Ivan nodded as he checked the condition of his companions.
"Good work. Let's rest for today."
"What about the cleanup?"
"Rest today."
The group nodded and dispersed.
"You worked hard, my disciple."
Enrique stretched out long in her hideout where she had returned and smiled. Lucia hesitantly approached her.
The atmosphere had changed. How to put it, she had always been playful, but today she seemed more subdued.
With a somewhat detached expression, Enrique reached out her hand to her and beckoned.
"Come closer."
"Yes, Master."
Lucia carefully approached Enrique. Soon a hand rested on her hair. After stroking her for a while, Enrique embraced her deeply and whispered.
"You've really grown up now."
"I still have much to learn."
"There's nothing left to teach. I guarantee it. From now on, all you need to learn is experience."
It was a somewhat unsettling statement. As Lucia trembled slightly with inexplicable anxiety, Enrique, who was holding her and sighing, spoke.
"Um, Master...?"
A small breath was heard near her ear. As if trying to say something but hesitating. At Lucia's words, Enrique laughed and replied.
"As I age, my greed only grows. Unlike me, beyond my place."
"Master, what do you mean...?"
"Many people died, my disciple. While I was afraid, so many people. People I should have protected died under my neglect."
"That's, that's not your fault...."
"It is my fault."
A high-ranking vampire appeared and she hid. Yes, it was the right decision. If she had been captured, Pritzenkaya would have fallen that very day.
If she had been subjugated by the vampire's blood mark and made a servant, she would have devoured this country regardless of her will.
So she hid. Quietly holding her breath while ignoring the deaths and screams of countless people.
Like frightened prey.
But wasn't she always the hunter? Wasn't she always the predator? The only reason vampires dared not violate the United Kingdom, the ruler of the night, the lord of dusk.
The Shadow Sword.
Wasn't that her name?
"My time is over. Now only lingering attachment remains, causing trouble like this. I should have done this earlier."
"Master. Wait, Master. Please, please release this."
Sensing something wrong, Lucia shook her body but was tightly entangled in Enrique's arms and couldn't move.
Enrique's mouth approached her nape.
"Now you are the Elder."
"Master!"
*Crunch.*
With a numbing pain, a wound formed on her neck. Fangs pierced and tore blood vessels. But blood did not flow out.
The blood bound by powerful blood mark ability refused to leave the vessels.
Enrique's mouth touched over it.
Crunch, another tearing sound was heard. This time not from her neck, but from inside Enrique's mouth.
And the blood bound to the blood mark seeps into her nape.
Not vampirism but transfusion.
"Master!!"
Without stopping, the blood penetrated her neck. For them, blood is the currency of lifespan. It's the power that grants permanence equal to the years and life accumulated so far.
She was transferring it all. Endless power surged through her body exhausted from battle. Is this the power of an Elder?
Darkness retreated and all surrounding objects became clear. All types of living beings with bodily fluids and breath within a 200-meter radius were detected by her awareness.
Insects, rats, bats, snakes. All unholy things willingly bowed to her in reverence, and humans walking above these underground waterways unconsciously shrank.
Like prey before the apex predator.
She could clearly see, hear, and feel their hearts beating. The shape of each blood vessel, the movement of blood flowing through them was so clearly visible.
That is the power of an Elder. The sensory organs of the greatest vampire.
"It will take some time to adapt."
"Master...."
Finally, the strength was released. Arms that could no longer restrain her went limp. Enrique, with a haggard face, was smiling at her.
"I'm retiring now, my disciple."
"Master, you didn't, you didn't need to do this."
How much lifespan did Enrique have left now?
If she fed on blood, it could continue forever. But her natural lifespan...? It wouldn't exceed a hundred years at most.
Now she had become no different from a human.
"More difficult times have come, so it's right to pass it on to someone better."
"Master...."
"Having inherited my power, you are now like me. Lucia. Continue the duty of the Hero Party in place of this unworthy master."
"Yes, Master. I, I will... gladly do so."
Enrique looked down at the deeply bowing Lucia and smiled warmly.
EP42. Succession.