Dark Clan (4)
Genocide’s hideout was a small cabin in the forest beyond the castle wall.
It was a cozy place with firewood burning in the fireplace, but when we went down to the basement, we found a fortress equipped with elaborate machinery.
There was a passageway leading to a weapons warehouse, and on the other side was a machine room.
“Come on. “Did things work out well?” A woman with a grease stain on her face opened the door to the machine room and came out.
Her red hair was cut short like a man’s and she wore a dirty towel around her neck.
“Oh my, who is this person?”
Xenia didn’t believe anything she wasn’t sure about.
“I do not know yet. I met him on the way. “Where is Mr. Grain?”
“To the medical room. “It looks like they developed a new drug.”
When I entered the end of the hallway, I saw medical facilities lined up in a space larger than a cabin.
The doctor with a bushy white beard who was looking through a microscope turned his chair.
“Here we are, our assault leaders.”
Dr. Grain.
He was a Genocide doctor and clinical trial expert who knew everything about vampires.
“I see a new face. “You can’t believe it… it’s not a vampire, right?”
It was a common joke, but this time the reaction from the group was not so friendly.
“That’s why I brought him here. This man is called the Knight of Mach. Of course, it’s a self-proclaimed thing.”
“Hoo? If that’s the case, I’m even more suspicious. “Cutting down 10,000 demons is not the realm of living creatures.”
“Stop making trivial remarks and confirm. “Can a person whose heart has stopped come back to life?”
Grain looked at Lian as if seeking an explanation.
“What do you mean?”
“Actually…
I heard about a person named Grain on the way to the hideout, so Lian also expressed his curiosity.
“Hmm, if you hear an auditory hallucination called Smile, it means that the wound is regenerating. Even in death.”
“yes. “I think I’ve forgotten how to die now.”
Grain nodded.
“It’s an unusual thing. But it’s not a special phenomenon. “Eternal life is also a characteristic inherent to living things.”
“You mean you won’t die?”
“What is death? Just because a stone breaks does not mean it is dead. Living things also come from inorganic matter. “If you go back to the beginning of life, there is no concept of death.”
Lian was listening silently.
“But why didn’t it evolve into an eternal being? It’s because of the virus. “Small things in the middle between living and non-living things infect certain information.”
Grain hit his palm with his fist.
“Do you understand what I mean? If we don’t try to change information, we will become extinct due to the virus. There are limits to defense through mutation alone. So, living things adopted a unique method of combining information. “By combining cancer and water, we create new information and then discard the existing information.”
“That is death.”
“As long as viruses exist, old information must be discarded and new information must be produced endlessly. This is why animals hate incest. “Combining old information is not helpful in fighting the virus.”
Grain pointed at Lian.
“You said you heard Smile’s hallucinations, even your grandfather. But you don’t know who Smile is.”
“yes.”
“Maybe he knows. “Even if it’s not in your memory, it may be imprinted in your genes.”
“Genes?”
“The more I enter the world of particles, the more I realize that there is no analog in this world. Life is also nothing more than a minimum unit of information. “I think your intelligence may be very old genetic information that responds to certain stimuli.”
Xenia asked.
“If that information is activated, you won’t die?”
“It’s possible. As I said before, death is not a function that life originally had.”
Lian asked.
“Is it possible to retrieve the information recorded in those genes into one’s mind?”
I wanted to know.
Who was the owner of Idea and why did Ymir know about Ogent?
“I don’t think it’s impossible.” Grain stood up.
“Because the auditory hallucinations you are hearing are also memories at the genetic level infiltrating your mind. But going into more detail requires a complicated process.”
“What if it’s a complicated process?”
“Genetic information is not human text. But the brain is a perfect interpreter. “If a specific stimulus evokes a memory, you can try varying the direction and intensity of that stimulus.”
Grain was an expert.
“It’s probably not an area that living things can handle. No matter how much you regenerate, the pain is real. So, how much experience have you had?”
“well. “I have experienced the point where my heart stops.” As I said that, I looked back at Xenia and she shrugged as if she believed it now.
“Have you ever had your head cut off?”
“We have never been completely separated.” Grain purred and his lips trembled.
“If I were to experiment on you, I would first cut off your head. “Because I want to know the limit of recovery.”
“I’ve had my brain broken,” Grain shook his head.
“It’s completely different. The body is a combination of core functions, none of which is more important. That’s because anything that isn’t essential has already been eliminated. It’s a risky endeavor if you don’t have experience. “You probably don’t want that either.”
It’s true that I wanted to know about Smile’s hallucinations, but I couldn’t die in vain.
“I think there is still… work to be done.”
“Yes, it is a last resort. “Let’s stay here and try various things.”
Lian asked.
“So what is a vampire? “Did they also activate eternal life at the genetic level?”
“no. “In fact, it’s the opposite.” Grain looked back at Lian.
“Strictly speaking, they are not living things. It’s a virus. Controlling humans by injecting them with specific information or regenerating their bodies by absorbing their information. Everything follows the mechanism of the virus. “A half-body, half-soul being that is neither living nor inanimate.”
“Are you saying the virus has evolved?”
“no. “At first it was a living thing.” Grain’s accident went back in time.
“A long time ago… there was a bat that realized incarnation and took on a human body.”
It was an old anecdote.
“Like any other human being, he was obsessed with eternal life and eventually obtained it. But I wasn’t satisfied there. No matter how infinite the lifespan, the extinction of an entity cannot be prevented. “That’s why I can’t cut off your head.”
Living things can be destroyed by some powerful force.
“He wanted to exist until the end of the world. “Then, I went back to the origins of living things and found the most efficient method.”
“It’s a virus.”
“okay. Half soul and half soul. “He could become a virus that never dies in exchange for giving up half of his substance.”
There was murderous intent in Grain’s eyes.
“That is the beginning of vampires. Jinma Faust is currently ranked 3rd in the Ten Presbyterian Church.”
“…You know about heaven.”
“I don’t know the details. All I know is information I gained while tracing vampire genealogy. Faust, who gained true eternal life, naturally lost his ability to reproduce. Instead, they are injected with special prions from the canines to make them obey.”
“Are you talking about pureblood?”
“When Jinma stayed in our world, there were three people who were injected. “They are the Lords who rule the vampire society.”
Grain drew a genealogy in the air with his finger.
“The Lord created scores of Almas, and Almas created thousands of Vesikas. The further down the lineage you go, the further away you become from the True Demon. But one day, someone from the Vesica class mutated.”
“What kind of mutation is it?”
“You have the ability to reproduce.” “That Vesika fell in love with a human woman, slept with her, and bore her a child. Surprisingly, even that child had vampire characteristics. We call them half-demon. But purebloods call it this.”
Grain raised his index finger.
“hybrid.”
Xenia’s face darkened.
“Numerous hybrids have spread throughout the world. The indescribable variety of crossbreeding gives rise to things like werewolves. Of course, breeding between half-horses was much more common.” Grain glanced at Xenia.
“In the process, a mutant was born with abilities that even pure-blooded vampires cannot.”
“which…?”
“Just as a virus has its own wavelength, vampires also have a special wavelength. “We now have the ability to accurately detect that wavelength and track its location.”
The biggest reason why vampires could not be eradicated was that they were difficult to distinguish from humans.
“That is an incredible ability.”
“that’s right. That’s how Vampire Hunter was born. His characteristic feature is that he has silver hair since he was born. That’s why we call them Silver Bones.”
Only then did Lian turn to Xenia.
“Hmph what?”
Grain said.
“that’s right. Xenia is Silver Bone. “Our skin burns from ultraviolet rays and our ability to detoxify silver is extremely poor, but our bodies regenerate through blood and we have physical abilities comparable to those of vampires.” At that time, Passette, a female engineer who had come from the engine room, entered the medical room.
“But instead of blood, they eat human food and have reproductive capabilities. “There is no incarnation of the bat.”
One of the vampire’s abilities, bat mimicry, was passed down from generation to generation through the incarnation of the demon Faust.
“Is the Facet thing over?”
“What does counting live ammunition mean? Anyway, this project brought in some money, so I increased the proportion of silver in the alloy. “The paralysis effect will increase by 10% compared to before.”
Fowler bumped his fist.
“Haha! I can’t wait to shoot it! “I’m dying to see the look on a vampire’s face when they get hit!”
Facet extended his hand to Ryan.
“nice to meet you. I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like the misunderstanding has been resolved. I’m Engineer Facet. “I’m working on modifying a fire power plant.”
“Firepower?”
said drug expert Cateine.
“There are three main ways to deal with vampires. Fire power, drug, metal. “Everyone digs into their weaknesses.”
Passet continued to explain.
“Use silver for firepower. Because it slows down the vampire’s recovery. Drug Ki uses a drug called Anticel, manufactured by Mr. Grain. And Xenia, the metal sword, pulled out a black metal rapier.
“Silence. “Made from an alloy with Obscura B added.”
“If it is an obscura…
it was a material used in a video recorder and was an item handled by the government due to its scarcity.
“Even vampires can’t penetrate Obscura B.”
Fassette said.
“It’s incredibly expensive. Because it is a mineral that only occurs in ultra-low temperature dark rooms, it cannot be made through alchemy. That’s why they can’t even think of using it as a fire engine, so they use it as a metal tool. “A good swordsman is much more efficient than a firearm.”
Xenia smiled a smile that is not often seen.
“What is the effect of Anticell?”
“It basically clots the blood and destroys the cells. “Even vampires are defenseless against cell-level attacks.”
Grain held up the syringe.
“Still, you need a lot of preparation to deal with them. If you use the power pack I developed, it will provide pain relief and increase muscle strength. “By strengthening the nervous system, agility increases.”
There would also be side effects.
“Are we all going to fight against that?”
“No, Xenia is an exception. “For a half-demon, there is something much more effective than a power pack.”
Xenia took out a thin mechanical device.
“Blood Q (menthol).”
It was a tool that heated blood and inhaled the steam.