The day dawned on an unrecognizable Seoul. The streets, so often animated by a hectic life, bore the silent stigmata of the moonless night battle. Here, a dark spot on the asphalt where a vampire had disintegrated. Further on, the energy impacts had cut into the stone of the buildings. A smell of soot and ozone, the residue of raging powers, was still floating in the fresh morning air.
Do-hyun stood in the middle of this improvised battlefield, his arms dangling, his body vibrating with fatigue so deep that it was almost metallic. The Aura of the Phoenix had dissipated, leaving it feeling empty, as if part of its vital organs had been torn off. The return to normal was a dull pain.
[System in recovery phase]
[Blood Energy: 8/100]
[PV: 42/80]
[STATUS: Extreme fatigue, Energy deployment]
[RECOMPENDATION: IMMEDIATE SLEEP AND NUTRITION]
The System's recommendations flashed faintly in his mind, like a low-battery lamp. He ignored them. His eyes were fixed on Kael, or rather, on what was left of him.
The bounty hunter lay on his knees, framed by Soo-ah who maintained a falcon vigilance. The pride and power that emanated from him were but a distant memory. His body was intact, but his eyes, once so bright red, were now a dull, human brown. A newfound humanity that seemed to be the worst torture. He stared at his hands with fascinated horror, as if he saw foreign appendages at the end of his arms.
"What have you done?" he whispered, his voice ragged, deprived of the supernatural resonance that made her so menacing. It was the voice of a man. A broken man.
"I gave you a second chance," Do-hyun replied, his own voice quieter than he would have thought. The anger that had overwhelmed him at the truth about his parents had turned into a cold, heavy determination. "A chance you never offered anyone."
Kael looked up at him with hate, but a helpless, almost pathetic hatred. Reduce me to... to that?"
"To a human?" Soo-ah sneered, without any compassion. "The tragedy must be unsustainable. Now you know fear. The real one."
Do-hyun nodded to Soo-ah. The next question had been burning his lips ever since the Secret Archives opened. "Where are they?"
Kael blinked. "Who?"
"My parents. Kim Jong-hoon and Lee Mi-young. Their bodies. You said they were dead. Where did you leave them?"
A twisted smile distorted Kael's lips. "The Clan leaves no trace. They are ashes, mixed with those of other waste."
The phrase struck Do-hyun in the chest, more painfully than a vampire's claw. He had always hoped, deep down, for a tomb to visit, a place to gather. That hope had just shrunk to dust.
[DETECTION: PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS PICS]
[Adrenaline production: +300%]
[Aura control: INSTABLE]
Soo-ah put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Don't give him that satisfaction, Do-hyun. He's trying to hurt you."
Do-hyun took a deep breath, forcing his body to relax. She was right. The revenge had passed. Now he had to build.
"The Purple Dawn Clan," he said, changing the subject. Their names. Their locations."
Kael burst out with a dry laugh, a hollow sound. "Do you think I was beaten by a child and I'm going to give you everything on a platter? You're even more naive than I thought. The Clan will reform. A new Master will take the place of the old. And they're going to chase you and everyone you love. You won a battle, Phoenix. Not war."
[Behavioural analysis: 2% cooperative subject]
[Probability of extracting reliable information: negligible]
[RECOMPENDATION: DEtention AND LANTY INTERROGATORY IN LONG TERM]
The System confirmed what Do-hyun instinctively felt. Kael wouldn't speak. Maybe never.
"We can't keep it here," Soo-ah whispered, reading his mind. "My network has secure cells, designed to hold Bloodline users. They should work for... that." She pointed to Kael with a chin movement.
Do-hyun nodded. "Let's do that."
Kael's transport was a discreet operation. Soo-ah had brought in an unmarked van, driven by a silent man whom she presented simply as "a contact." Do-hyun felt a faint blue aura around the driver - a minor Bloodline user, probably. Soo-ah's world was larger than he had imagined.
As they pushed Kael inside the vehicle, the ex-vampire turned one last time toward Do-hyun.
"You think you're different," he whispered. "You think you're noble. But to kill them, you used a power far more monstrous than ours. That light... it doesn't come from you. It will consume you from the inside. I'll be there to see that."
The door closed, cutting short his words. But the echo of his prophecy remained, sneaking into Do-hyun's mind like venom.
[ALERT: NEGATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUGGESTION DETECTED]
[MINTAL CONTROL: STABLE]
[TIP: DO NOT give credit to the statements of a defeated enemy]
The System was doing its job, rational, logical. Yet doubt was sown.
Letting Soo-ah handle the transfer, Do-hyun finally returned to his apartment. The contrast was brutal. The miserable, unchanged little room seemed to belong to another life, that of another Do-hyun. The student with no future, the sufferer. That boy no longer existed.
He dropped on his bed, but sleep did not come. The events of the night were looping through his head, mixed with new information from the Secret Archives.
"System, displays the full Phoenix Project folder."
[FULL ACCESS TO SECRET ARCHIVES - PHENIX PROJECT]
[INitiators: Dr. Kim JONG-HOON, Dr. LEE MI-YOUNG]
[OBJECTIVE: Develop a symbolic system capable of harmonizing human DNA with fragments of purified vampire energy to create an ultimate hunter.]
Hypothesis: Vampire superiority is not absolute; it can be replicated and exceeded by increased human biology.
[Principal Test Subject: KIM DO-HYUN (NATURAL GENETIC COMPATIBILITY: 99.8%) ]
[Status: Success.] IMPLANTED AND FUNCULATIONAL SYSTEM.
Do-hyun read and reread the lines. "Fragments of purified vampiric energy..." he whispered. So that was the secret of his power. The System did not just give it capabilities; it used the very essence of the transformed enemy to make it stronger. Was Kael right? Did he use a form of vampiric power?
[CLARIFICATION: BASIC ENERGY IS NEUTR.] The system uses an energetic signature similar to that of vampires but purified from any negative influence or parasitic consciousness. It is as far removed from vampire energy as drinking water from seawater.
[ANALOGY: A vaccine uses a weakened version of a virus to fight disease.]
The analogy of the system was telling. He felt a little better. Her parents were not crazy; they were visionaries. They hadn't copied the power of vampires, they had hacked it, hijacked it to serve humanity.
"Show me their personal notes. The last ones."
[ACCESS TO THE JOURNAL OF Dr. Kim JONG-HOON - FINAL ENTER]
The compatibility of Do-hyun is remarkable. The system is adapting to it faster than our models had predicted. Mi-young and I are both proud and terrified. We've created a key to lock the vampire threat, but a key can also open other doors. What will happen if the system evolves beyond our expectations? What if he develops his own consciousness? We have to hide the central core before the Purple Dawn Clan finds us. We entrust our inheritance, and our son, to the future. May the ashes of the Phoenix give birth to a better world.
His father's words pierced him. Their pride, their fear, their love... it was all there. And this sentence: "hide the core central." So the system he was using wasn't complete?
[Confirmation.] The current unit is an autonomous operational module. The Central Core (CODE: PHENIX HEART) contains advanced functionality, comprehensive research data and administrator protocols. Its location is unknown.
Do-hyun got up and walked to the window. The sun was now high in the sky, flooding the city with a harsh light that seemed to want to drive out the last remnants of the night. The Purple Dawn Clan was wounded, but not wiped out. Kael was right: a new leader would emerge. And he had to find the Heart of the Phoenix before them.
A new quest had just been born. More personal, more dangerous than any previous one.
[NEW QUEST: The Legacy of the Phoenix]
[OBJECTIVE: LOCATION AND AUTHENTIFIC TO THE HEART OF THE PHENIX]
[SUB-OBJECTIVE: Reconstitute the Order of the Phoenix]
INFORMATION: Your PARENTS' NOTES contain encrypted INDUS. Start there.
[REWARD: ACCESS TO THE FULL PROTECT OF THE SYSTEM]
His phone vibrated. A message from Soo-ah.
[Soo-ah]: Kael is safe. I contacted two former contacts of my family, Bloodline users who might be interested in joining our... cause. Are we talking about it tonight? You have to structure all of this.
Do-hyun looked at the message, then the city through the window. He was no longer alone. He had an ally, a goal, and a legacy to honor.
"System," he says, "analyzes all of my parents' data. Search for patterns, geographical references, anything that might indicate a place of storage."
[Beginning of in-depth analysis...]
[ESTIMATION: 12 hours]
He had 12 hours to rest, restructure, and prepare for the next stage. The battle for the new moon was over, but the war for her parents' inheritance had just begun. And he would wage this war not as a mere hunter, but as the Phoenix rising from the ashes.