Chapter 591 Old Debt
Dickson slowly turned around, the faint crackle of electricity still dancing across his shoulders as the battlefield behind him continued to burn. The endless tide of crazed vampires had finally been broken, their corpses scattered across the ruined plain while smoke rose endlessly into the grey sky.
Behind him, two monstrous figures stepped forward.
Sergei.
Mikhail.
The two werewolves no longer resembled men. Their bodies had expanded into towering beasts of muscle and thick silver-grey fur, each standing well over twelve feet tall. Their shoulders were broad enough to block the sunlight while every breath escaping their jaws came out as white mist despite the heat surrounding Lana’s battlefield. Their claws dug effortlessly into the shattered earth, leaving trenches with every slow step they took.
Neither of them growled.
Neither of them rushed.
They simply stared ahead.
Waiting.
Because they could feel it too.
The battlefield had gone strangely quiet.
The first wave had numbered in the thousands. They had rushed forward without fear, without tactics, without any regard for survival. They had thrown themselves against humanity like rabid beasts, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm everything before them.
This group...
Was different.
Only a hundred figures emerged from the smoke.
A hundred.
Compared to the thousands before them, the number almost looked laughable.
Yet not a single person present laughed.
Every soldier standing atop the defensive line unconsciously tightened their grip around their weapons. The werewolves that had been chasing down the remaining stragglers gradually slowed to a halt, their ears flattening as instinct warned them something dangerous had just arrived.
The newcomers walked.
No rushing.
No screaming.
No mindless hissing.
They advanced in perfect silence, every step measured, every movement disciplined. Their eyes remained sharp, calmly sweeping across the battlefield as though they were evaluating the damage rather than reacting to it.
These vampires still possessed their minds.
And somehow...
That made them far more terrifying.
The pressure rolling off them was unlike anything the ordinary soldiers had experienced since the battle began. It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t explosive.
It was heavy.
The kind of presence that settled over the battlefield until breathing itself became uncomfortable.
Dickson’s lips slowly curled upward.
Not in nervousness.
In excitement.
Finally...
His fingers flexed as tiny bolts of lightning danced between them.
"I’ve been waiting for you bastards..."
His eyes remained locked on the figure walking at the very front of the formation.
Even after three months...
He still remembered that face.
That calm smile.
Those cold eyes.
The man who had nearly beaten him to death.
The memory returned so vividly that Dickson could almost feel his broken ribs all over again. Back then he had stood alone against an entire elite vampire squad, refusing to retreat even when every instinct screamed at him to run.
He had lost.
Badly.
If Lana and Lilith hadn’t arrived when they did...
He already knew how that fight would have ended.
But things were different now.
This time he wasn’t standing alone.
He had Lana.
He had Lilith.
He had Vanessa.
Sergei.
Mikhail.
Hundreds of Alpha werewolves.
His thoughts paused.
"...Wait."
Dickson blinked.
His eyes swept across the battlefield.
He frowned.
"Where the hell is Ann?"
He turned farther, scanning every section of the battlefield.
Nothing.
No sign of her.
His brows knitted together.
"...Kelly?"
Still nothing.
"...Seo Yeon?"
Silence.
Dickson’s face twitched.
"I swear..."
His jaw tightened.
"I swear those three are going to be the death of me."
Even now.
Even during the biggest battle humanity had fought in decades.
They had somehow disappeared.
A vein bulged against his forehead.
"What the hell are they doing?"
He let out an irritated breath before forcing himself to calm down.
Not now.
There would be time to yell at them later.
His attention slowly returned to the enemy.
Specifically...
To the man leading them.
Dickson rolled his shoulders once before taking a single step forward.
Then another.
Then another.
Each footstep echoed across the suddenly silent battlefield.
He stopped several metres ahead of everyone else.
Without turning around, he casually lifted one hand.
"This one’s mine."
His voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
Everyone heard it.
Nobody objected.
Unlike the first wave, these vampires weren’t flooding the battlefield in overwhelming numbers anymore. With barely a hundred enemies remaining, the werewolves actually outnumbered them. Every fighter could choose an opponent without worrying about being surrounded.
Dickson never looked away from the leader.
Neither did the vampire.
The distance between them slowly shrank until only a few dozen metres remained.
Finally...
The vampire smiled.
"I remember you."
His voice carried effortlessly across the battlefield.
"The loud one."
He tilted his head slightly.
"The last time we met..."
His gaze drifted briefly toward Lana and Lilith standing behind Dickson.
"...those two women had to save your life."
A faint chuckle escaped him.
"If they hadn’t arrived..."
His eyes settled back on Dickson.
"...you would already be dead."
Several soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.
The words had been spoken calmly.
Almost politely.
Which somehow made them sting even more.
Dickson’s smile disappeared.
His jaw flexed once.
Then he spat onto the broken ground.
"Shut your bitch-ass up."
The words came out without the slightest hesitation.
"You talking like you actually beat me fair and square."
He jabbed a finger toward the vampire.
"The last time we fought, your cowardly ass had your whole damn squad backing you up."
His voice grew louder.
"You could’ve stepped up and fought me one-on-one..."
"But instead every one of you jumped me."
He spread both arms dramatically.
"And now you’re standing there acting proud?"
Dickson laughed once.
"You shameless clown."
Several werewolves behind him couldn’t help letting out amused snorts.
Even Sergei’s massive wolf-like mouth seemed to twitch upward.
The vampire leader merely smiled.
"What use would there have been in fighting you alone..."
He shrugged.
"...when I had an army standing behind me?"
His tone remained infuriatingly calm.
"A commander uses every advantage available."
Dickson stared at him for several long seconds.
Then shook his head.
"Have you no dignity?"
The vampire’s smile widened.
"Dignity?"
He took another slow step forward.
"You..."
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"...should be the very last person lecturing anyone about dignity."
The vampire leader disappeared.
The ground beneath his feet exploded as his body shot forward with terrifying speed, leaving nothing but a blur cutting through the smoke-filled battlefield. His crimson eyes locked onto Dickson’s throat, his lips curling into a vicious smile as razor-sharp claws extended from his fingertips.
His intention was simple.
End it in one strike.
The distance between them vanished in an instant.
His claws sliced through the air with enough force to whistle, aiming directly for Dickson’s neck.
Clang!
Instead of flesh, the claws met empty air.
Dickson had already moved.
"So damn slow!"
The words reached the vampire leader a heartbeat before pain did.
A powerful hand clamped around his wrist like a steel vice.
"What—"
Before he could react, Dickson twisted violently, lifting the vampire completely off the ground as though he weighed nothing at all.
The world spun.
Then—
BOOOOOM!!
The vampire leader’s body slammed into the earth with tremendous force.
The impact blasted dust and broken stone in every direction, leaving a crater beneath him as cracks raced across the battlefield like spiderwebs.
"Eat that, fucker!"
Dickson roared.
He never gave his opponent a chance to recover.
His right leg shot upward before crashing downward toward the vampire’s skull with enough force to shatter the ground.
BOOM!!
The earth erupted again.
But the vampire had already rolled away.
Dickson’s heel buried itself into the crater instead, pulverizing rock beneath his foot.
The vampire leader flipped backward twice before landing several metres away in a crouch.
His expression changed.
Surprise.
His wrist still throbbed from Dickson’s grip, and even through his regeneration he could feel the lingering ache spreading up his arm.
"...You’ve gotten faster."
Dickson rolled his shoulders.
"You’ve gotten softer."
The vampire’s eyes narrowed.
Without another word, he slowly lifted one hand and pointed beyond Dickson.
Straight toward Lana.
Toward Lilith.
Toward Vanessa.
Toward the gathered werewolves.
His voice echoed across the battlefield.
"KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"
The order exploded through the battlefield.
The remaining vampires answered instantly.
BOOM!
Nearly a hundred figures burst forward at once, each moving with frightening coordination instead of reckless bloodlust. They split into smaller groups while charging, each formation selecting a different target.
Some rushed toward the werewolves.
Others darted toward Vanessa.
Several headed directly for Lana and Lilith.
The battlefield erupted once more.
The vampire leader smiled.
"Now..."
His eyes returned to Dickson.
"...we can finish what we started."
Dickson cracked his neck.
"I’ve been waiting three damn months."
Both of them moved.
Neither waited.
Their fists collided in the middle of the battlefield.
BOOOOOOM!!
A violent shockwave erupted outward, throwing loose debris into the air as nearby soldiers instinctively stumbled backward.
Dickson’s fist crackled with lightning.
The vampire’s claw burned with crimson energy.
For one brief moment...
Neither gave an inch.
Then both were blown apart.