The car rolled slowly through the night, its engine purring softly as the city blurred past the tinted windows. The interior was bathed in a dim glow, a stark contrast to the turmoil raging in Ben's mind. Sitting in the passenger seat, he stared at his trembling hands, still stained with dried blood. His breathing was ragged.
Beside him, Sabrina stole quick glances in his direction, trying to gauge his state. She was familiar with this moment—the phase when a new vampire fully realized what they had become.
"I killed her..." His voice trembled, barely above a whisper.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow, bringing the car to a stop.
"It's not that big a deal to kill cattle."
Ben's head snapped toward her. She seemed hesitant, as if unsure how he would react.
A heavy silence settled between them. Then, slowly, a smile spread across Ben's lips—first faint, almost uncertain, then wider, revealing his fangs.
"But it was fucking exhilarating!"
Sabrina blinked, surprised by the sudden shift.
Ben leaned closer, his warm breath brushing against her skin. Without warning, he sank his fangs into the curve of her neck, driving them deep with voracious hunger.
"Oh—O-Okay~" she moaned, a shiver running down her spine. An amused smile curled her lips as she wrapped her arms around him, returning the bite. Her own fangs pierced his flesh in a bloody exchange of pleasure.
Ben pulled back slightly, wiping the corner of his mouth.
"We should do that again!"
Sabrina chuckled softly, but her amusement faded when she saw the obsessive glint in his eyes.
"Yeah, but that was way too dangerous. Maybe we should wait a few months—"
"No! Tomorrow!"
His hand clamped around Sabrina's wrist, his grip iron-tight.
She felt a shiver run through her.
"But we'll draw attention," she tried to reason with him.
"That woman's taste was nothing like yours. Now, I want to explore other flavors. My taste buds are craving more."
Sabrina's pupils trembled.
In satisfying her own selfish desires, she had turned a kind boy into a monster.
She hadn't anticipated this. She hadn't foreseen how easily the human mind could be corrupted by desire—nor how violently someone who repressed their urges could spiral once that door was opened.
After Ragnarök, the gods decided to no longer interfere in the mortal world. But the same could not be said for their descendants.
Centuries passed, marked by endless wars. In the end, only two races survived Armageddon: angels and demons. The other bloodlines, once mighty, had blended into human society, gradually losing their divinity. Their blood diluted over generations, leaving behind only faint traces of their former glory.
Thus began the Forgotten Era.
In this bygone age, the descendants of the gods were no longer so different from humans. They called themselves Wunders —mortals who retained a fraction of their ancestors' divine power. Yet among them, some learned to manipulate the scant remnants of Aether still lingering in the world. These rare individuals, known as sorcerers, sought to understand and exploit these forgotten forces.
But not all shared the same vision for their destiny.
The Mysterienkult , an enigmatic and fanatical group, pursued a single goal: to bring the gods back into the mortal world. They were willing to do anything to restore divine power, even if it meant plunging humanity into chaos.
It was in this world, teetering on the brink of apocalypse, that Yuki and his friend Carter found themselves facing a growing threat.
A cannibalistic Wunder was prowling the city.
The evidence piled up: mangled corpses, stripped to the bone. Officially, the police blamed a wild animal on the loose. But Yuki knew it wasn't that simple.
At first, he had suspected werewolves. Those creatures hunted under the full moon and were capable of extreme brutality. But one detail didn't fit—werewolves killed, but they didn't feed on their victims.
This monster, however, had an insatiable hunger.
And so, a month passed.
In the dimly lit room of their headquarters, Yuki flipped through the yellowed pages of an old grimoire. The paper crackled under his fingers, the engraved letters and ink diagrams almost seeming to vibrate under his intense gaze.
He even wondered if it wasn't hunger—if he was reacting this way because of his Zodiac nature.
Sitting beside him, Carter read over his shoulder, brow furrowed. His finger absently traced the lines of text as he tried piecing the puzzle together.
"So, we've got a Wunder that devours its victims down to the bone…" he murmured.
Hassan, meanwhile, was completely disinterested. Slouched in a chair, he tapped away on his phone, only half-listening to the conversation.
"I'm kinda listening, guys," he said without looking up.
Yuki sighed, then read aloud:
"The Wunder in question is likely a ghoul. They're solitary and don't attack unless provoked. They prefer the scent of death and have unusually thick skin, making them hard to injure. But their weakness is fire."
Carter nodded.
"That matches the bodies we've found. But there's still something bugging me… If ghouls only attack when threatened, then who killed all these victims?"
He set the grimoire down and straightened up.
"Look at the police reports. Five of the victims were men, all killed the same day. But the others—women—were killed over several weeks. That doesn't fit a ghoul's M.O."
Yuki crossed his arms, thinking.
"Maybe there's another Wunter involved."
Carter cracked his knuckles and turned to Hassan.
"What if we capture it instead of killing it? We could hand it over to the police, right?"
Yuki shook his head.
"And how would we prove it's guilty? The authorities don't even acknowledge Wunders exist. To them, it's just wild animals or serial killers with questionable methods."
Hassan set his phone down and eyed them skeptically.
"Wait, are you guys seriously planning a murder here? I mean, it's a human… well, partly. Are you sure you wanna do this?"
Silence fell.
Yuki held his gaze before answering, his voice low.
"It's not human, Hassan. It's a monster that can take human form. A danger to this city. If we let it roam free, it'll keep killing."