Blackjack

Blackjack Fortuna is a vampire knight of the Ninth Family, an undercover five-star Altered Hunter, and the principal intermediary between Gary Dem's Howlers and the vampire Settlement. Years of imprisonment follow his failed attempt to compel the wrong person, but meeting Gary gives him both an escape route and a werewolf ally. Their cooperation expands from a prison break into the defense of Slough, the Ruin City campaign, and finally the formal peace offered by the Vampire King.

Biography

Imprisonment and an alliance across species

Blackjack is imprisoned after relying too confidently on vampire persuasion. His target resists or exposes the attempt, and the resulting fight reveals strength incompatible with an ordinary human, leading White Rose to place him among Altered prisoners. He later attempts to escape and becomes famous inside the facility as the only inmate to push the Warden onto the back foot, but loses and spends years refusing both the North and South factions. He instead passes time with cards and chance games, insisting that he does not cheat even when outcomes favor him. (Chapters 812–815 and 1207–1208)

Gary's arrival changes Blackjack's position because each recognizes the other's supernatural nature. Blackjack identifies Gary as a werewolf and understands that a werewolf bite can temporarily suppress an Altered transformation. He, Gary, and Ice combine that effect with their own powers against the unicorn-form Warden, whose transformation otherwise provides lightning and repeated healing. The escape succeeds because they attack the condition supporting her regeneration rather than simply trying to overpower it. Although vampires and werewolves are traditional enemies, Blackjack accepts Gary's request to help Slough in return for a future favor from an Alpha. That bargain draws him directly into the Phoenix war: Blackjack and Ice confront Raven's Hydra form, using speed, blood-aura strikes, and ranged attacks to damage the central body and pressure the regenerative heads. They cannot claim a clean kill, but they drive Raven away and prevent the mythical Altered from freely finishing the city's defenders. The choice gives practical substance to Blackjack's alliance before either side has reason to trust the other's species. (Chapters 815–923)

Altered Hunter cover and the Ruin City campaign

After cleaning up his prison-worn appearance, Blackjack formally introduces himself as a Ninth Family knight. The Settlement assigns him to the operation against Lupus because his prior cooperation with Gary makes him the safest handler for the Howlers. He disguises Gary, Kai, and Austin as his Altered Hunter apprentices and presents his own longstanding cover as a five-star hunter. When Saiber rejects Gary for the mission, Blackjack first argues the merits of Gary's performance, then privately compels Saiber to reverse the decision and supplies a plausible memory of their reconciliation. (Chapters 1207–1218)

Inside Ruin City, Blackjack fights beside the hunters while guiding people who do not know their leaders serve the Settlement. Against the Ironfang Luzen, he destroys summoned wolf constructs, attacks with cards and blood aura, and depends on the Ninth Family's uncertain luck to keep fatal shots from landing. The power produces openings rather than control: falling debris reveals a silent arrow and other hunters happen to interrupt Luzen, but Blackjack admits that the effect is too weak to overcome the difference between them. Luzen's claws inflict werewolf wounds that stop Blackjack's normal healing, and Cooper sacrifices himself to prevent a killing bite. Edvard's arrival saves the survivors and provides a blood flask that begins Blackjack's delayed recovery. Blackjack remains beside Edvard through the failed campaign and its aftermath. When Edvard disbands the Altered Hunters and prepares to enter slumber, he designates Blackjack as the official contact between the Howlers and vampires. Blackjack later delivers Edvard's stored equipment to Blake and carries Edvard's favorable account of Gary back to the Settlement, helping prevent the Ruin City alliance from ending as another temporary convenience. (Chapters 1292–1333, 1393, and 1759)

Messenger of a negotiated peace

When Glutton Werewolves begin attacking across the country, the Howlers try to reach Blackjack because he represents the cooperative side of vampire politics. Settlement leaders initially confront Gary over the crisis but accept that his pack is not responsible, a judgment supported by the trust Blackjack and Edvard previously built. Blackjack does not personally resolve the final battle, but his continued position makes communication possible while vampires suppress supernatural evidence and fight the wider threat. (Chapters 1748–1759 and 1777–1825)

After Unzoku's defeat, Blackjack waits two days at the Howlers' manor for Gary to wake and personally delivers the Vampire King's message. The King credits the Howlers with ending the crisis, notes the unprecedented cooperation of two Alphas with humans and Altereds, and offers an official fresh start between vampires and werewolves. Blackjack tells Gary that he believes the offer is sincere and frames the King's willingness to approach a pack as a major concession of vampire pride. Gary accepts peace while forbidding the creation of new werewolves, and Blackjack leaves the encounter alive as the recognized diplomatic channel between the two groups. (Chapters 1840–1843)

Appearance and personality

In prison, Blackjack appears middle-aged, heavily covered in body hair, and deliberately unkempt. After his release he shaves and dresses in an expensive suit, changing enough that Gary initially struggles to recognize him. His eyes glow red when he exerts vampiric control, while his speed can leave human observers seeing an afterimage. (Chapters 814–815, 1207, and 1841)

Blackjack is irreverent, fond of cards and wagers, and unwilling to participate in prison status games. Beneath that ease, he is observant and pragmatic: he recognizes Gary's bite as the counter needed against the Warden, retreats from opponents his regeneration cannot sustain him against, and fills Saiber's false memory carefully enough to avoid immediate suspicion. His loyalty is reciprocal rather than idealized. He openly acknowledges the hostility between their species, yet repays Gary's help and trusts Edvard enough to wait for a seemingly impossible rescue in Ruin City. (Chapters 814–898, 913, 1215–1218, and 1299–1302)

Powers and abilities

Vampire physiology and blood aura

As a vampire knight, Blackjack possesses strength, speed, agility, senses, and durability beyond ordinary humans and most prisoners. He moves quickly enough to produce apparent afterimages, redirects an Altered's punches with little effort, and manifests elongated nails or claws for close combat. His recovery is powered by vampire energy and can be accelerated with stored blood in a flask. Werewolf-inflicted wounds are a direct counter: Luzen's claws prevent the normal healing process, leaving Blackjack unable to continue until Edvard supplies blood and time. (Chapters 815–898 and 1299–1302)

Blackjack can shape red blood aura into claw-like swipes, reinforce fists, coat thrown cards, and fire a concentrated Blood Cannon. The aura gives him both ranged pressure and a way to destroy energy constructs without physical contact. His playing cards become blade-like projectiles through speed and aura reinforcement, cutting skin, embedding in Altereds, and striking multiple targets, but they remain ammunition rather than a supernatural item. Stronger foes can evade or withstand these attacks, and Blackjack's output is substantially below Edvard's; against Luzen, even varied cards, swipes, and fists cannot reverse the overall mismatch. (Chapters 815, 857, 922–923, and 1292–1302)

Compulsion and memory shaping

Direct eye contact with Blackjack's glowing red eyes allows him to press commands into a target's mind. He forces Stinger to answer a question in prison and later grips Saiber by the shoulders, commands him to accept Gary, and gives him a false explanation of how the decision changed. The target's mind can fill gaps in the supplied memory, allowing a concise command to appear internally coherent. (Chapters 815 and 1217–1218)

The ability is not automatic or universally reliable. Blackjack's imprisonment begins when his persuasion fails against the wrong individual, and he specifically notes relief that Saiber's mind is not strong enough to resist. He therefore approaches, establishes eye contact, and controls the circumstances instead of attempting mass influence in open combat. The corpus does not define an exact duration, range beyond direct proximity, or a numerical threshold for resistance. (Chapters 1208 and 1217–1218)

Ninth Family luck

The Ninth Family's inherited ability bends circumstances toward favorable outcomes, but neither Blackjack nor observers can measure its strength or predict its exact effect. In Ruin City it manifests through coincidences around him: an obstruction reveals the path of silent arrows, allied shots interrupt Luzen at critical moments, and Edvard arrives just as Blackjack's position becomes fatal. Blackjack cannot select each event or guarantee victory; he waits for a “miracle,” recognizes when the effect is only working slightly, and concludes that luck has reached its limit when Luzen overwhelms him. (Chapters 1299–1301)

This uncertainty is the power's central limitation rather than an unexplained tactical mastery. Blackjack still has to dodge, attack, and cooperate with experienced hunters, and Cooper dies despite the luck surrounding the group. The latest corpus does not show Blackjack developing a more direct version or learning to activate a specific outcome on demand. (Chapters 1299–1302 and 1840–1843)

Altered Hunter experience

Blackjack's five-star cover is supported by real combat and operational competence. He understands Altered Hunter organization, can present other fighters as apprentices, evaluates supernatural counters quickly, and coordinates with hunters without exposing his nature. The title does not remove the species hierarchy in direct combat: an elite Ironfang can still outmatch him, and his survival depends on teamwork, luck, and retreat. (Chapters 1207–1219 and 1292–1302)

Power progression

Relationships

• Gary Dem: Their cooperation begins as a prison escape built on complementary knowledge and becomes a reciprocal alliance. Gary's help frees Blackjack; Blackjack defends Slough, brings him into Ruin City, advocates for him at the Settlement, and ultimately conveys peace from the King. (Chapters 815–923, 1207–1333, and 1840–1843)
• Edvard: Blackjack treats Edvard as a leader worthy of complete trust. Edvard rescues him from Luzen, tends his wounds, and appoints him the Howlers' contact before entering slumber; Blackjack preserves that policy through later deliveries and diplomacy. (Chapters 1299–1333, 1393, and 1759)
• Ice: The two powerful outsiders resist prison faction politics and join Gary against the Warden. They later work together against Raven in Slough, combining Ice's freezing area control with Blackjack's speed and blood-aura offense. (Chapters 813–923)
• Kai and Austin: Blackjack brings both Howlers into the Altered Hunter mission as apprentices. He values their strength, keeps their supernatural identities hidden, and uses his authority and compulsion to preserve the team when the hunters' assessment threatens the plan. (Chapters 1207–1219)

Items

Blackjack has no finalized configured inventory item. He commonly carries playing cards and blood flasks, but neither is assigned to him in the finalized inventory manifest.