"I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Lore said before dropping from the darkness above. He landed feet-first on Adam's chest, slamming him to the ground.
Adam hit the floor hard but rolled onto one knee, steadying himself. When he looked up, a man stood before him—long blonde beard, half his face covered in bold, assertive tattoos.
"Lore?" Adam muttered as he rose to his feet. This time, he didn't glitch.
Adam lunged, but before he could make contact, Lore vanished in a swirl of black smoke. A cold whisper of air brushed past Adam's ear—Lore had reappeared behind him.
Adam spun just in time to see a flash of movement. He threw a punch, but Lore swatted it aside like an afterthought. Before Adam could react, Lore seized him with inhuman strength and sank his teeth into his neck.
A sharp, searing pain shot through Adam's body. His breath hitched as he felt something being taken from him—his strength, his warmth. Then, just as suddenly, Lore shoved him away like discarded prey.
Adam hit the ground hard. Dazed, he looked up and saw Lore grinning down at him, blood dripping from both corners of his mouth. His teeth had changed—elongated, razor-sharp.
Fangs.
Adam's stomach churned. His limbs trembled as he tried to rise, but his body wouldn't obey. A deep, sinking dread crept into his bones.
Lore only smiled wider.
Out of desperation, Adam thought: Vampire.
Nothing changed. No revelation, no surge of power. Just pain and exhaustion. But then another thought struck him—How do you kill a vampire?
The moment stake crossed his mind, one appeared in his hand.
Lore's grin vanished. His eyes darkened with something Adam had yet to see in him—fear.
Adam forced himself to his feet, but his body felt sluggish, heavier than it should have been. He wasn't just drained; he'd been weak even before Lore bit him. Why?
Before he could dwell on it, Lore exploded into a swarm of bats, his body dissolving into a flurry of screeching wings. They rushed Adam in a chaotic storm, slashing at his skin with razor-sharp claws. He swung wildly with the stake, but they scattered, reforming into a black cloud on the other side of the room. Shallow cuts and scratches covered Adam's arms and face, stinging with each breath.
The bats came again. More slashes. More pain. It was relentless.
Adam clenched his jaw, gripping the stake tighter. I need something better. A katana—that would cut through them. He focused, willing it into existence.
Nothing.
Lore's voice slithered through the dark. "Let's finish this."
The bats swirled back together, reshaping into his human form. Before Adam could react, Lore lunged, slamming him onto the ground. His cold hands pinned Adam down, and his voice turned into a desperate snarl.
"Set me free."
Adam's mind raced. Free? From what? The hunger? The curse? The need?
His fingers found the stake.
"You can't bully me into releasing you," Adam growled.
With a last surge of strength, he twisted, flipping Lore onto his back. The stake hovered over Lore's chest. Lore grabbed it, both of them straining, muscles shaking, the wooden tip trembling between them.
Then, inch by inch, Adam forced it downward.
Lore let out a guttural cry, his strength wavering. His grip faltered.
And then—
The stake plunged into his heart.
The moment the stake pierced Lore's heart, his body withered. Flesh shriveled, peeling away like burned paper. His limbs collapsed inward, cracking and crumbling until there was nothing left.
Adam staggered back, breathing hard. His hands trembled, his body aching from the fight. He needed to get out.
His eyes dropped to the glowing Bekanna sigil on his chest. He touched it.
A message flared into existence before him, words scrawling across the air in sharp, luminous strokes:
Mission: Find the mole.
Target: Lore.
Adam's stomach tightened. Find the mole? Hadn't he just killed him?
Before he could think, the message vanished. He tapped the sigil again, and in an instant, the dark, suffocating space around him dissolved.
He was back in Bekanna.
Right in Sern's office.
The realization hit him like a punch to the gut—he had never truly left.
Minutes later, Sern walked in, a relieved look on his face. "Thank goodness. I was worried for a second."
Adam's glare was sharp. "You just threw me in there without warning?"
"That mission wasn't meant for you," Sern admitted. "There was… a mix-up." His voice was calm, almost dismissive, but he offered a brief nod of apology.
Adam exhaled sharply. His muscles ached, his mind still tangled in the fight. "Lore… what happened to him?"
Sern's eyes flickered with something unreadable. "You tell me."
"I killed him." Adam said flatly.
A chuckle escaped Sern's lips. "No, you didn't."
Adam stiffened.
"You can't kill Lore."