"A Belmont, here? How very amusing indeed."

Alucard had barely turned his head, looking directly at Aesen. The burning thirst flickered for a moment, then went away again, just a mild prickling lingering still. The dhampire stood with his side towards Aesen, who was looking the blond male up and down with a doubtful look.

That was Alucard? Adrian Tepes, the son of Dracula and ally of the Belmont Clan? He had heard so much about the halfblood, and yet, he had the feeling that something was off about the other. Simply from how he acted, from how distand and cold he was.

Okay, Alucard never had been described as the most sociable guy. But that here was something different. The cold coming from the other was of an other nature than the pure will to not get involved into the complicated throes of his human allies' problems, or rather not becoming a part of them.

This here was rightout aversion. Not to say hatred.

"I don't think that my presence here is a mere joke." Aesen stated firmly, letting the long coils of Vampire Killer drop to the stone ground. In presence of the holy whip, the Ghost Dancers scattered with high-pitched screeches. "Rather something deadly serious."

"Deadly serious? That's a quite interesting way to put it, Belmont. But do tell me, what gives you the right to just intrude my castle?"

'There. I knew it. Something was wrong all the whole damned time!'

"Well? No answer? That's rude now."

"I merely was wondering why this here should be your castle. Isn't your father in charge any longer?"

"My father still has to recover from his last defeat." Alucard stated coldly, something dangerous glinting into those moon-like eyes. "And don't you dare to mock him like this, human..."

"Better a human than a damned soul." Aesen sneered, that cocky edge coming to his tone. "I would prefer to die in honor than to die with the knowledge that there will be no salvation for me."

"Dying in honor? That's ridiculous. A human being can never have something like honor. You are too weak to even defend yourselves."

"But you have to admit that for a human clan, the Belmonts have had quite the easy time to fight you all off."

Alucard huffed, though couldn't avoid that a small smile came to his face. That was true indeed. A human being could develop incredible powers, if faith led them on the narrow and dangerous paths through life. Darkness was lurking in so many forms and everywhere, yet there were those who could withstand its temptations for all of their lives.

Slowly, the dhampired reached down to his side, drawing his blade and pointing it towards Aesen. He wanted to find out how this human would perform in a fight, how he would handle him as an opponent. And Aesen seemed to be pretty much ready.

"Are you sure that you already can defeat me?" Alucard snickered, shaking his head lightly. "Foolish human indeed."

"The sooner this nightmare is over, the better it is for all mankind." Aesen huffed, cracking the whip again. "And I fully intend to release the world the fastest possible."

"Very well. We'll see if you are truly a Belmont, and not just some weak child in a hunter's disguise."

Aesen huffed, narrowing his eyes. He knew that he had to keep his composure, if he wanted to be victorious in this fight. Alucard was an opponent not to be taken lightly. With his fighting skills, the dhampire matched any monster in this castle, and Aesen honestly wasn't sure any longer if it had been a too good idea to skip right ahead to the most difficult fight.

But it was too late to turn back. Alucard was ready for the deadly dance, and he would have to follow the pace the dhampire set. Else, there was only a little chance he would survive the eternal night having grasped the castle. And those prospects were nothing he liked at all.

The dhampire dashed forward, aiming for Aesen's fighting arm immediately. The hunter took a leap back and cracked the whip forward, barely missing Alucard. But he wasn't playing around, that much was for sure. Alucard hissed, having had to duck in order to not be hit. That would get interesting...

He summoned his sword familiar, which was looming like the Damocles Sword over Aesen, while Alucard continued his fight with sword and shield. They moved across the whole Ball Room in their fight, Aesen struggling to not get hit by either the familiar or the dhampire. But he still could keep up with the pace of this fight. And that already meant something.

The sword familiar was worrying Aesen more than Alucard, as the giant blade could dash forward and only barely be deflected by a well-aimed hit of the whip. Alucard, on the other hand, easily could be kept at whip's length with how it lashed about every time Aesen gave it a firm crack.

But at some point, Aesen made the rookie mistake to let himself be backed up towards a wall. He noticed his mistake soon enough, luckily, and managed to do a dive roll out of the sword familiar's way, which had attacked him in a manner which would have ended with him being pinned to the stone wall.

Panting, Aesen shook his head to himself, keeping both Alucard and the sword familiar off him for a while to recover a little. He had underestimated the dhampire, he had to admit that much. But there was no way he would let the other defeat him. As it would have meant his demise, most possibly, there was no way he could allow any defeat to happen.

Alucard snickered, bowing his head slightly and lifting his blade once more. "I have to give you that much, human, you are not too bad. You have proven to be obnoxious and thick-headed. Maybe that will save you. But I doubt it."

"You should talk less and fight more." Aesen snorted, the next moment regretting his words already. Why couldn't he just shut up?

The moment he had taunted Alucard like that, the dhampire changed the pace of their fight, decreasing the distance between them noticably and putting Aesen into a quite dangerous predicament. The young Belmont had to focus all of his remaining strength to keep Alucard away from his fighting arm, to avoid any injuries which would render his arm useless.

But the longer it went on with the insanely sped up fight, the more he felt tiredness creeping up into him. He was making mistakes by now, staggering and panting from how long he had been fighting off Alucard already. He wanted to block another attack, but ended up missing out on the sword familiar. And that was his mistake there.

"AH!" Aesen dropped the whip the moment the sword familiar had swiped at his right arm, leaving a deep gash and the Belmont trembling in pain. He had backed against a wall and no longer been able to move around properly, and now was barely able to hold himself up on his feet any longer.

Alucard was chuckling, stepping closer slowly while the Belmont was panting and leaning back against the stone wall. "Disappointing indeed. I would have hoped that you had more fight in you."

Aesen glared at the dhampire, but most of all, his pride was hurt. It was unbelievable, he had really lost to the dhampire. And still, the feeling of something being wrong didn't waver. It rather got more prominent with every second ticking away.

'Why... why do I have this horrible feeling that he has changed over the years? That something happened to him?'

It was strange that he would be worried about his opponent. But that here was Alucard, the one having helped humans so often – and now, he was fighting a Belmont with such coldblooded moves? Even to the point of backing him against a wall and still not dismissing his sword familiar?

He would have done that long ago, had he not a certain intention. Of that, Aesen now was convinced. And it had about the same effect as a bucket of ice being poured right into his stomach.

"Alucard, please stop..." he whispered helplessly, still exhausted and panting past the burning pain of the gash the sword familiar had given him. "You're... you're not planning on killing me, are you?"

The dhampire chuckled, finally waving away his sword familiar, but setting the tip of his blade on the underbelly of Aesen's chin. The pressure increased lightly, until there was a thin trail of blood trickling down along the vulnerable throat. Just a little more, and Aesen would be dead. Of that, the Belmont was shockingly aware.

"Why should I miss out on such a chance?" Alucard trailed the tip of the blade along Aesen's throat, without leaving even a shallow cut above the frantically pulsing vein. "There would be so much better use for you still... and that's only the begin of what I will do to you."

"O-Only the begin?" Aesen swallowed heavily, his chest twitching with how strongly his heart was pounding against his ribcage. "Alucard, what do you mean with that?"

"I mean to say..." the dhampire whispered with a gleeful, yet venomous voice, sheathing his blade and stepping closer slowly. "...that I will strip you of any humanity and pride. You will belong to me, as nothing more than a slave I can deal with however I see fit to it."

Aesen was stunned for a moment. That definitely wasn't Alucard standing there in front of him. The dhampire had changed dramatically, and now, he was feeling how dramatical this change was. Alucard radiated the vile, disgustingly dark energy of the castle. He had become the true lord of Castlevania.

"A-Alucard..." Aesen then caught himself, the old cocky and defiant behavior sparking up again. "Like Hell I will submit to you. I won't ever be broken down. And even if you kill me now, and end the bloodline of Belmont, you will never be the victorious one."

Laughing lowly, Alucard trapped Aesen against the wall. The young Belmont didn't put up any resistance, though. He was ready to die standing here, and join his parents in Heaven. At least, his soul would be forgiven and welcomed into the warm embrace of God.

"You are really thinking I will just finish you off and then leave it like that? That would be a much too easy victory for me. No, I was thinking of something much worse than Death could be for a Belmont."

"What?" Aesen hissed, but still didn't make a move. What in all of Heaven could Alucard have up his sleeve this time?

"I will crush your humanity, bit by bit..." Alucard whispered, having leaned close to Aesen, his breath washing over the shuddering human's neck. "I will crush every last bit of free will inside of you, and make you one of my servants. Maybe even the one lowest in the food chain, or a privileged one...? I will decide that later on. It will depend on how... cooperative you are."

Aesen suppressed the urge to shove Alucard away from him. In the end, he would just have hurt himself. His arms hadn't got the necessary strength to do it anyway, and by how close Alucard was, it was impossible to tell if those fangs wouldn't simply sink into his neck before Alucard would stagger away far enough.

The Belmont's skin crawled as Alucard trailed his sharp fangs along the vulnerable neck, without leaving a cut or anything comparable yet, though. He was merely playing around, extending the suspension to a point it would get plainly torturous. Aesen had to hold himself back with all might, to not do anything inconsiderate.

Alucard trailed one hand down Aesen's chest, making the young Belmont's breath hitch lightly. Wherever this was going, he didn't like the thought of it at all. No matter what Alucard would do to him, it would be something the Belmont would hate without doubt.

Aesen tried hard to keep himself in reign, to not shove Alucard off him, even if every fibre of his body was screaming to get away from the dhampire as far as somehow possible. Aesen's breath came in nervous gasps, and especially as Alucard nipped shortly on his neck, he almost lost it and would have attacked the dhampire barehanded.

"W-What kind of sick game is this anyway?" he finally huffed out, glaring at Alucard as if he wanted to stake the dhampire with looks alone. "Just get it over with already! What your father already swore to do! Snuff out the last member of the Belmont family and make him proud!"

Alucard shook his head slightly, a broad sneer coming to his face. "But that would be such a great waste of something so unique and tasty..."

He leaned forward, nipping sharply on the neck once more, but merely aiming for a mild imprint of his teeth. Still no sign he would really bite Aesen. "No, there is something different I want to do first."

Aesen knew what Alucard meant the moment the dhampire was touching him in that one place.