Chapter 198: The Hunt
Serafall’s military office occupied the highest floor of the eastern wing of the Imperial Fortress, a structure surrounded by watchtowers, training courtyards, and walls reinforced with ancient runes. Even within the Capital, the building operated as though it could be attacked at any moment. Soldiers crossed the corridors carrying reports, messengers entered and left through the stairways, and updated maps of the borders covered nearly every available wall.
Serafall sat behind a wide desk made of black wood, surrounded by documents that had arrived during the night. She had already read reports about attacks along the borders, missing patrols, sabotage along trade routes, and suspicious movements among small werewolf clans, but the file sent by Natasha was different. The document described the operation in Bramford in detail, the clones of Ghideon, the underground laboratory, the hybrids, and the number of bodies used in the experiments.
Serafall turned another page.
Then released a loud sigh.
Yuka jumped from the chair near the wall and nearly dropped the inkwell she was holding. The young secretary had short bobbed hair, a shade of purple so dark it looked black under low light, and she had worked with the general long enough to understand certain signs. Serafall shouting meant anger. Serafall threatening someone meant she was still thinking. Serafall sighing like that meant something much worse was about to happen.
"Is s-something wrong, miss?" Yuka asked, holding the inkwell with both hands.
Serafall did not answer immediately. She continued looking at a section of the report where Natasha described Victor using his own leg as fuel for an electrical kick, exploding the limb during impact and regenerating it immediately afterward.
She slowly raised her eyes.
"Do you have children?"
Yuka blinked.
"No, miss."
"Do not have any. They cause too many problems."
Yuka looked at the report, then at the general’s exhausted expression.
"Is your son all right?"
"Physically? Perfectly." Serafall turned another page. "The problem is everything else."
She silently read several lines. Victor had ignored withdrawal orders, defended the complete extermination of the facility, used techniques on a scale sufficient to destroy part of Bramford’s underground, and directly participated in Ghideon’s elimination. Under normal circumstances, that would have produced a long list of official reprimands.
Unfortunately, every one of his decisions had worked.
That made Serafall even more irritated.
"He exploded his own leg."
Yuka opened her mouth slightly.
"How?"
"With electricity."
"Why?"
"To kick someone."
Yuka tried to imagine an appropriate response.
She found none.
Serafall moved to the next page and released another sigh.
"Then he carried a capsule weighing more than a ton on his shoulder because he did not want to wait for the soldiers to prepare the transport."
"Perhaps he was trying to help."
"Victor is never merely trying to help. He is trying to finish quickly so he can do something even more problematic."
Yuka agreed with a discreet movement, although she had never spoken directly with the general’s son. Everything she knew came from reports, rumors, and conversations among soldiers. None of those sources described Victor as someone particularly concerned with avoiding problems.
Three firm knocks interrupted the reading.
Yuka placed the inkwell on the side table and walked toward the door. When she opened it, she found a woman with rigid posture, long hair, and a presence heavy enough to instantly change the atmosphere around her.
Yuka opened the door completely and stood at attention.
"Marshal."
Chysis gave her a brief look.
"Stop that. We are inside an office, not standing before a legion."
"Yes, Marshal."
"And stop calling me Marshal every time you breathe."
"Yes, ma—"
Yuka closed her mouth before finishing.
Chysis entered without waiting for another announcement and walked toward the chair in front of the desk. She did not ask permission to sit. She simply moved part of the reports aside, settled into the chair, and crossed one leg over the other as though the office belonged to her as well.
Serafall did not complain.
Mother and daughter looked at each other for several seconds.
Chysis pointed toward the file in Serafall’s hands.
"Have you reached the part about the hybrids?"
Serafall released another sigh.
"I reached the part where they found one hundred and forty-three recorded attempts."
Yuka, who had begun closing the door, stopped.
Chysis showed no surprise.
"Continue."
"Vampires used as the structural base. Werewolves used as a source of organs, muscles, and channels of natural energy. Shadow used to join incompatible systems." Serafall turned several pages with more force than necessary. "Memory removal, destruction of parts of the brain, and bodies prepared to receive transferred consciousnesses."
Chysis rested her elbow against the arm of the chair.
"How many survived?"
"We do not know. Four stable units were removed from the facility before the operation. Their destination was erased."
"And the rest?"
"Dead."
"Because of Ghideon?"
"Some. The others were killed by the squads after the capsules began opening."
Yuka tightened her fingers around the doorknob, trying not to show any reaction. The number of experiments was already disturbing. Knowing some of those creatures might be moving freely within the Empire made everything worse.
Chysis remained calm.
"Did Natasha agree with the decision?"
"She did. Dahlia said there was no safe way to sedate them, and Victor claimed they were ticking time bombs."
"Victor was right."
Serafall looked toward her mother.
"Do not encourage him."
"I am not encouraging him. I am acknowledging that he possesses some common sense when there is someone to kill."
"That is exactly the problem."
Chysis ignored the complaint and pulled one of the pages across the desk.
"The attacks along the borders began months ago. Then came the missing patrols, the infiltrated routes, and now this inside a port city. It no longer looks like a series of isolated actions."
"It is not." Serafall closed the file. "Ghideon was cooperating with werewolves. Mirella and Natasha were delayed by a trap prepared inside the tunnels, and at least twenty of them were protecting the facility."
"Any clan symbols?"
"Some wore unknown marks. Others erased all identification before the mission."
Chysis looked toward the border map attached to the wall. Small red markers indicated the locations where attacks had been recorded. Individually, they seemed scattered and unrelated. Viewed together, they formed an irregular line advancing toward the Empire’s interior.
"They are testing our responses," she concluded. "They attack one outpost, observe how long we take to react, then change regions. Bramford was probably supposed to remain hidden for several more months."
"Until they had enough hybrids."
"Or suitable bodies for infiltration."
Serafall stood.
The chair slid backward and struck the wall. Yuka immediately straightened, while Chysis remained seated, watching her daughter walk toward the map.
Serafall tore three red markers away and placed them on the desk.
"Western border. Nargoth Forest. Bramford. All three had confirmed werewolf presence, experiments, or the collection of bodies." She pointed toward other marked regions. "And we are still waiting for definitive proof before acting."
"Because a war against the werewolf clans will not be small."
"They already started the war."
Chysis did not answer.
Serafall looked back toward Natasha’s file. She read the section describing the tank with the werewolf corpse, the heart grafted into Ghideon, and the hybrids prepared as vessels. Then she closed the document with such force that the impact echoed throughout the office.
"I think we have been passive long enough." Her voice remained low, but the vampiric energy around her made the windows tremble. "It is time to exterminate this fucking race of goddamn filthy dogs."
Yuka became completely still.
Chysis stared at her daughter for several seconds.
Then smiled.
"Finally."
Serafall turned toward her.
"Do not start."
"I did not say anything."
"You made that expression."
"I am merely pleased that you have stopped pretending diplomacy works with people who stitch our citizens inside monsters."
Serafall placed both hands against the desk.
"I am not talking about attacking random villages or killing every werewolf who appears. I want the clans involved, the laboratories, the supply routes, and everyone who financed this operation."
"That remains a declaration of war."
"Good."
Chysis tilted her head slightly.
"Are you prepared to convince the Emperor?"
Serafall pulled out a fresh document and began writing.
"I do not need to convince him that there is a threat. I only need to show him how many hybrids could enter the Capital wearing vampiric faces."
Yuka finally closed the door.
"Miss, should I summon the military council?"
Serafall continued writing.
"Summon the legion commanders, the heads of Intelligence, and the leaders of the families controlling the borders. I want everyone in the war room within one hour."
"One hour?"
Serafall raised her eyes.
Yuka immediately corrected her posture.
"One hour. Understood."
"Also send an order for the six carriages coming from Bramford to be taken directly to the military complex. No body, sample, or document passes through civilian facilities."
"Yes, miss."
"And send someone to retrieve Victor before he disappears inside the mansion."
Chysis laughed quietly.
"Good luck."
Serafall narrowed her eyes.
"Why?"
"Those two have been waiting for him for more than two weeks. Do you think they will manage to wait any longer?"
Serafall remained silent.
Then looked at Yuka.
"Send at least ten soldiers."
Chysis shook her head.
"Send twenty."
Yuka wrote down the order without questioning it.
Serafall returned her attention to the map, now with a decision far clearer than when she had begun reading the report. The red points no longer looked like separate incidents.
They were targets.
"I want names before nightfall," she said. "Clans, leaders, allies, and every vampire who negotiated with them."
Chysis rose from the chair.
"And when we have them?"
Serafall picked up Natasha’s file and walked toward the door.
"Then we stop waiting for the dogs to enter our territory."
The energy around her increased.
"We hunt them in their own forest."