Chapter 37
In the past, she wouldn’t even have realized it was a dream—she would have been too busy running away.
But now it was different.
Maybe thanks to Kinaz, her mind felt calm and clear. The moment she opened her eyes, she knew she was inside a dream.
“Hmm…”
There was a problem, though.
The weapon Meloni usually used to attack was a gun. Bullets could be made if she didn’t have any, but she still needed the gun itself.
A gun, or an umbrella.
Without either of those, she couldn’t fight.
“Kinaz, do you have a gun?”
Kinaz shook its head from side to side, as if saying no.
“Then it can’t be helped.”
She had to think while heading deeper into the forest. Otherwise, there was no point in deliberately crawling into a nightmare like this.
A way to fight without a gun.
‘I already know, don’t I?’
The reason people whispered that she would become the greatest Saint in history.
It was because she had been born with immense holy power—something not seen since Saint Regina.
“Haah…”
This was a headache. No matter that this was a dream, she didn’t want to use holy power.
The reason this nightmare had begun.
People saying she would become the greatest Saint since the revered Saint Regina. Those words had made a young girl’s heart flutter.
So she wandered outside late at night, unable to sleep, and ended up entering the Forest of Darkness—the very forest she had been warned never to enter, not even during the day, because no one knew what lived inside.
That was where she met the Vampire King.
Her parents, who tried to protect her, were drained of their blood and killed. Only afterward did she unleash that overwhelming holy power.
What use was power, when it was used after her parents were already dead?
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Kinaz lightly tapped her cheek with its head. Coming back to her senses, Meloni let out a small laugh.
After that day, she was never able to properly use her holy power again. At best, she could heal or create bullets—that was all.
Because if she had used her power properly that day, her parents might not have died.
That was why Meloni couldn’t remain a Saint for long and eventually quit.
“It can’t be helped.”
Why had the Forest of Darkness been sealed off?
‘That’s because…’
Sensing instinctively that something was there, young Meloni hadn’t stopped walking. She wanted to know what was hidden inside.
Perhaps that curiosity was her undoing.
When she reached deep into the forest, relying on moonlight despite the pitch-black surroundings—
“…Yes. This is the place.”
She found it.
Beyond the forest stood an ancient castle. And in front of it was an unidentified black mass, trapped inside transparent glass.
At first, the black mass didn’t move at all.
“Kinaz, you can tell what it is, right? You were made from Cain’s blood too.”
Kinaz didn’t react. Its body seemed to tremble slightly.
Glancing at Kinaz, Meloni stopped in front of the glass.
‘I broke the glass with my own will.’
Simply because she was curious.
“Damn this curiosity.”
She hadn’t known back then. But years later, she learned the truth.
Deep within this forest, the Vampire King—sealed away by Saint Regina during the Third Race War—had been sleeping.
After losing the war, his form had been so badly destroyed that it was unrecognizable.
“Hoo… so that means I have to awaken it again with my own hands?”
That day, young Meloni hadn’t known what it was. She had only felt a Saint’s power emanating from the glass barrier and touched it out of curiosity.
To undo the seal, the power of a Saint was required. Not knowing that, Meloni touched it.
And then…
“This is driving me crazy.”
But there was no more time to hesitate.
I’ll end this nightmare myself.
Closing her eyes and opening them again, Meloni reached out. She lightly tapped the glass barrier with her finger.
“…It’s cracking.”
The glass split in two.
From within the black mass, two crimson eyes appeared.
“H-human… you… are you a Saint…?”
The voice was so unpleasant it felt like it was tearing her ears apart. Meloni swallowed, then exhaled slowly.
The heavy weight on her shoulder kept her from running away.
“No.”
A dream was just a dream.
“I’m the hunter who will kill you someday.”
So this should end here.
The black mass slowly rose. It was large enough to completely swallow the small body of a girl.
Her body trembled with fear, instinctively trying to flee.
‘No. That thing is my prey.’
She couldn’t retreat anymore.
‘I’ll kill it someday.’
So—
“G-give me… your blood…”
As she stepped back, the black mass gradually took on a human shape. When it lunged at her, Meloni stretched out her hand.
“Ugh!”
Darkness swallowed her body. Her neck felt a little lighter.
It seemed Kinaz had gone somewhere.
Meloni closed her eyes. The black mass engulfed her completely.
‘So this thing tried to swallow me like this back then. Drink all my blood, then devour my body.’
Before that could happen, she would shatter it with her own hands.
‘But first, I have to get out of here.’
To do that…
‘Holy power.’
She had learned a great deal about handling that clumsy power after entering the temple.
Darkness like this was nothing.
She swung her hand, and the darkness turned into light. Seizing the moment, she pressed her palm forward and focused.
Paaat—
In an instant, the light spread as if igniting.
“Kraaaagh!”
The creature screamed in agony and fled into the forest. Meloni tried to chase after it, but something grabbed her ankle.
Looking down, she saw Kinaz, which had disappeared earlier, tightly coiled around her leg.
“Why? I can’t go?”
Kinaz blocked her path.
“If I go any further, I won’t be able to wake up from the dream?”
The snake nodded vigorously.
It couldn’t be helped. And since this was only a dream, she hadn’t truly killed the real Vampire King anyway.
“Alright. Then how do I wake up?”
Kinaz loosened its grip and slithered slowly along the ground, as if telling her to follow.
Without hesitation, Meloni followed it. After all, thanks to Kinaz, she hadn’t run away after seeing that black thing.
“Wait, Kinaz. This place is…”
The place Kinaz led her to was the edge of the forest. At the end of it stood Meloni’s house.
Now reduced to ruins.
“Why…”
Kinaz stopped in front of the front door and lightly tapped it with its head.
This time, Meloni couldn’t understand its intention at all. What was she supposed to do?
She stopped in front of the door.
“Do you want me to go in?”
Kinaz shook its head. Then it climbed back onto Meloni’s body.
She nearly lost her balance under the weight but managed to steady herself.
“Whew…”
The house looked exactly as it had when she was young.
Well, it was a dream, after all.
Meloni hesitated several times before opening the door. Inside, her parents would be sleeping. Seeing them would be too painful.
The people who had died because of her sin.
She didn’t want to see the traces of her guilt with her own eyes again.
But…
She also wanted to see them alive once more.
‘In a way, this really is a nightmare.’
With a bitter smile, Meloni opened the door. The old door creaked loudly.
She stepped inside slowly, looked around the familiar interior, then headed straight for her parents’ bedroom.
Her parents were asleep. Then her father woke at the sound, rubbed his eyes, and spotted Meloni.
“Well, well. My daughter. Can’t you sleep?”
He opened his arms to welcome her. Clutching her skirt tightly, Meloni nodded.
‘I guess they can’t see Kinaz.’
At her father’s invitation, Meloni climbed onto the bed.
Her mother woke up as well, but instead of complaining, she made space between them so Meloni could lie down.
“My dear, we have to leave early tomorrow, so go to sleep.”
Her mother gently patted Meloni’s chest. Meanwhile, Kinaz lay sprawled across her stomach.
Just like it had before she fell asleep.
“Mom. Dad.”
“Hm? What is it?”
She finally understood why Kinaz had led her into the house.
Her parents’ deaths were also part of the nightmare. She had resolved one of the two. Now she had to resolve the other.
“If we leave tomorrow… it’ll be hard to see you…”
Because she would never see them again.
“Today, I want to sleep here.”
“Of course.”
“Our daughter… we won’t be able to see you often anymore. What a shame.”
Her father’s warm smile. Her mother’s gentle, loving smile.
Between them, Meloni closed her eyes.
For a moment, she even thought—maybe a nightmare like this wouldn’t be so bad to have once in a while.
‘Let’s go back.’
Meloni placed her hand on Kinaz’s body.
Still, she was done with nightmares now.
She didn’t want to see her weak, pathetic self ever again.
