*Trigger Warnings*
"This chapter contains torture, gore, blood and rape. This may be triggering to some readers."
***
[U]nlike her previous encounter with 'Bloodlust', Lee Ju-hee exhibited no noticeable reactions to it this time.
With the exception of the slight quiver in her body, she discovered she'd developed a newfound resistance to the suffocating crimson mist that surrounded her.
As the eerie atmosphere thickened, she stood firm, her unwavering gaze penetrating the shroud of redness. The once formidable skill of "BloodLust" held no sway over her anymore. However, a new challenge had emerged.
"Well, well, well... Looks like you're not affected by Bloodlust, huh?" Vortex's voice echoed through the dense mist, his elusive figure concealed within its swirling tendrils. "Tell me, how did you achieve such rapid evolution? How did you become immune so quickly?"
Lee Ju-hee clenched her teeth and focused her senses, straining to detect any hint of his location. His voice seemed to echo from all directions, making it difficult to pinpoint him.
"Fucking hell, can't you say something that make sense for once?" She snapped, masking her inner unease with bitterness.
But deep down, she knew the situation had become more perilous. Unlike Ri Chul-moo, Vortex wasn't a reckless brawler; he was cunning and calculated in his approach.
A hand briskly sliced through the mist, seizing her face in a tight grip. As the smoke cleared slightly, the silhouette of Vortex emerged, his presence becoming more tangible.
"You're quite an intriguing one," he mused, his words seemingly directed at himself. "I've never encountered someone who could resist bloodlust. Once I'm done with you, you'll make the perfect test subject. After all, Ri wants the girl."
His words sent a chill down her spine, but she refused to succumb to fear. With both hands, she swiftly reached for his wet grip, using her momentum to deliver a powerful kick to his abdomen.
His grasp weakened, allowing her to break free and roll away, creating some distance between them. Just as she was about to regain her footing, an unfamiliar pulsation coursed through her entire body, causing her legs to give away.
'W-What's going on?' she thought to herself, her mind suddenly ladened with heaviness.
Had he drugged her somehow? But how? The answers eluded her.
Pressing her back against the wall for support, she dropped her weapon, the dagger slipping from her grip. Her trembling hand reached up to her face, feeling the stickiness of blood. It was too much to be her own.
"Could it be?" she whispered, a sinking feeling gripping her.
"You've noticed, I see," Vortex's voice resonated once more, tinged with smug satisfaction. "Oneiric Slumber, that's my ability."
The dissipating smoke unveiled Lee Ju-hee, now seated on the ground, her body heavy and a sensation of intoxication clouding her senses. Through her drowsy, unfocused gaze, she made out the hazy figure of Vortex, his hands casually tucked into his pockets as he leisurely approached her.
His stern gaze locked with hers, his brown eyes piercing and filled with grim determination.
"My blood works like an anesthetic, but it's even worse," he said, leaning closer and tracing a finger along the cut on her right cheek.
Realization dawned upon her. He had smeared his blood on her wound, causing the drowsiness she felt. But even in this state, she knew she could still fight.
"You want to know something?" he taunted, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Drowsiness is just one of the side effects."
Lee Ju-hee took a deep breath and launched a punch toward him, but her movements were sluggish, easily blocked by Vortex.
"You bastard! I'll kill you!"
Ignoring her protests, he forcefully pinned her punching hand against the wall above her head, his face inching closer as he whispered into her ear, "But the real fun begins with the hallucinations."
His words reverberated through her, causing a shudder to rake down her spine.
"What's your worst fears, huh?" he taunted, and in that moment, a flood of haunting memories from that fateful night engulfed her mind.
As Lee Ju-hee's eyes lost focus, she was transported back in time, reliving that grim experience etched deep within her subconscious.
In the unsettling flashback, a young woman with black hair cascading over her shoulders, piercing blue eyes, and a distinctive mole beneath her lips was trapped in a nightmarish ordeal.
She thrashed and fought against the firm grip of several men who held her down, their intentions malicious and vile. Her anguished screams pierced the air, her desperate struggle a futile attempt to escape their clutches.
Amidst the chaos, a man concealed behind a black mask approached her, a coldness emanating from his very presence. With the assistance of his accomplices, they forced an injection into her trembling form. The sheer horror and betrayal etched on her tear-streaked face were undeniable as she tried to fight back.
The scene abruptly shifted again, revealing a grim aftermath that unfolded several hours later.
The effects of the injection was devastating, but it wasn't the drug's potent effect that left the deepest impact.
Amidst the blur of incompressible images, she saw her body shaking as the man above her kept on shoving something in and out of her lower body. He finished, releasing a warm, unpleasant liquid deep into her womb, but her body and mind was in a state of dissociation.
Another man came and drove himself brutally inside her. He did the same and this continued on for hours, ravaging her body one after the other.
Her mind echoed with a haunting mantra, a plea for release from this unbearably vicious cycle: "Please kill me... please kill me... just end it all..."
'The fuck is that idiot hallucinating, huh? Why is he crying like a wimp?' Intrusive thoughts from an unfamiliar source penetrated her mind, interrupting the haunting images.
With those thoughts, the horrifying flashback receded, leaving Lee Ju-hee gasping for air, her heart racing in her chest. The burden of her past pressed heavily upon her, but she summoned the strength to reclaim her shattered identity.
In the face of looming danger and sinister forces, Lee Ju-hee grasped the discarded dagger and drove it into Vortex's heart, thrusting and twisting it there.
"You deserve every bit of this, you bastard!" She hissed, her words dripping with venom as she spat in his face.
Vortex staggered back, his face drained of color at the sight before him.
A glimmer of blue flickered in her eyes, a harbinger of the hell about to be unleashed. But what stunned him even more was the question: How?
How had she managed to break free from his Oneiric Slumber?
It was practically impossible! It shouldn't have been possible.
"You! How did you do that? Who the hell are you?" He bellowed in anger, his control slipping through his fingers.
"I thought he told you!" she retorted, rising to her feet with a newfound resilience, shrugging off the effects of his power. "My side-effect is mind reading! The moment you touched me, you sealed your own death!"
With a swift motion, Lee Ju-hee retrieved the second dagger from her pocket, her fingers curling tightly around the hilt. The cool metal provided a comforting reassurance in her grip.
"Now that you've managed to piss me off," she declared, her eyes gleaming with a deadly azure hue.
"Apex Zone?" Vortex muttered to himself, his confusion evident.
Disregarding his words, Lee Ju-hee pressed forward, her voice laced with determination. "I'll tear you to shreds for reminding me of 'that' past!"
Vortex's instincts screamed at him, sensing the potent killing intent emanating from Lee Ju-hee. Though she wasn't relying on Bloodlust, a shudder coursed through him, warning of the impending danger that loomed before him.
"No! No! No..." he muttered, his voice tinged with madness. "Stay away from me—"
Before he could finish his desperate plea, Lee Ju-hee vanished from his sight, her form materializing behind him in an instant. With a fierce glare fixed upon him, she struck, her blow landing with such precision that it left him frozen in place, unable to move or defend himself.
***
A shrill ring pierced through the air, cutting through the silence. The sound of a phone ringing echoed, its tone relentless and persistent. It disrupted the tranquility, its presence demanding attention in the darkness.
With a groan and the sound of shuffling, a man's hand fumbled to find the device.
He picked up the call, annoyance lacing his voice, ready to unleash his wrath upon the late-night caller. "If I ever catch you fucker for calling me this late, you're dead meat—"
"Han Si-hyun," the unmistakable voice of Ri Chul-moo cut through his irritated rants, abruptly silencing him. "I'm calling to inform you! It's Vortex, he was found dead near Elysium this morning!"