"Open fire!!!"
Sergeant Kim shouted as the figures clad in black emerged from the shadows, charging toward them with great precision.
Inspector Ray threw a quick glance at the third van, where several injured officers had come out, all taking cover and joining the assault.
"They're here for him. We should burn down the van with him,"
He said.
"I already told the officers to keep an eye on him. Even if we're not surviving this, they're not taking him anywhere. We'll all die here."
Sergeant Kim reassured, firing bullets through the side of the van.
"I never knew Snowflake had people working with him—a whole gang like this,"
Inspector Ray said, waiting for the right time to fire.
"If they're all the same as him, I'm afraid we are doomed,"
Sergeant Kim replied. His voice was then drowned out by the cacophony of bullets going off everywhere as the cops engaged with them.
---
Far away at the edge of the street, dressed in black clothing, Kante watched as the chaos unfolded.
---
Back in the reinforced cell in the third van,
Slowly, Uche started opening his eyes. His chest rose and fell as his burnt body slowly repaired itself and life returned to him.
A couple of seconds later, his eyes fully opened, staring at his surroundings with a bleak expression, trying to piece together what had happened.
But his vision was blurred. He could hear the sound of the chains he was strapped in swinging against each other as he moved his body around. He could barely make out the structure of the cell, and in the distance, faint ringing bullets pierced the air.
"What's going on?"
What he remembered was firing bullets at the cops before he was consumed by a sudden explosion. And now, he woke up to the sound of battle. He didn't even know how he had survived the explosion—he had struggled against the fire as it consumed him before finally passing out.
"Did Mira come to save me?"
He couldn't even process his thoughts well. Something was disturbing him—his stomach was rumbling, crying, and biting itself, as if his internal organs were trying to devour themselves.
"Arghh, this hunger again!"
He screamed. He was familiar with this pain—it always came whenever he sustained a severe injury. But this felt far more deadly than any hunger he had ever experienced. This was killing him.
"Arghh, no! I knew I shouldn't have survived the explosion."
It seemed the healing had taken all his energy just to come back to life. Now he was haunted by a wild hunger.
He shook the chains violently, trying to break free, but they didn't even budge or show any sign of giving way.
Then he suddenly sensed movement behind him—several people emerging from the already dying raging inferno. He couldn't see them yet, but he could feel them.
The steady beat of their hearts and the circulation of their blood—he felt it all. And it was driving him crazy. The movement of their blood especially triggered him, drawing the attention of something that dwelled within his soul. Before he knew it, Uche had suddenly lost his senses.
He couldn't think anymore. He couldn't see or hear. He couldn't feel anything except the heartbeat of the people behind him and the movement of their blood. He was even drawn to the scent of burnt flesh still lingering in the fire. All of this—because of the intense hunger devouring him.
"Arghh!"
He screamed, shaking the van violently.
"Snowflake is waking up!"
One of the people coming from behind shouted, calling the attention of the others—the squad from the last two vans that had been blasted away in the first attack.
"Open fire!"
They started shooting at the van he was strapped in, and that was where they made a grave mistake. Because while their bullets pierced his body, weakening and killing him slowly, they were also breaking the chains restraining him.
A minute later, Uche burst out of the cell, blood dripping from his body. Several bullet holes could be seen on him—not healing, not even attempting to heal—but his speed had doubled.
"He's dying! He's not healing anymore! Continue shooting!"
One of the officers shouted as they saw Uche in his worst state.
He lunged at the nearest officer. Despite the man firing at him nervously, Uche never stopped. He grabbed his shoulder, pinned him down, and sank his teeth into his neck, drawing blood.
Several seconds later, the man shriveled into a mummy. Uche rose in one swift motion, lunged at another officer, and did the same.
"Everybody run! We can't kill him—he's a monster!"
A terrified officer yelled, sweat rolling down his forehead. Everyone fled as Uche lunged at another officer, drained him the same way, and finally collapsed.
But just as he lay on his chest, unconscious, the van he had come out from—standing only a few meters away—suddenly exploded. And once again, he was consumed by fire.