This is it… the final battle between Victor and Draco. The fight that will decide humanity's fate… of life… or extinction.
Chapter 49: Fight for Humanity
The group left their belongings in the clearing to keep themselves light and quiet to sneak into Castle Vladimir. They made their way around the edge of the crater using the lack of light as cover. The night was disturbingly quiet with all of the Grimm at the center of the crater, possibly sleeping. The small trek took a good amount of time, they arrived with the sun just barely breaking over the mountains. They made it to the side of the castle and Victor spotted the opening Grey told him about.
Victor motioned towards the opening and pointed at Grey, Sun and Trevor. They nodded and silently moved through the hole, basically being bait for anything that awaited them on the other side. After a few minutes, Sun emerged and gave a thumbs up. The group moved into the castle, finding it strangely colder than the night air outside. There were torches lit, signaling that these halls were used and not left abandoned.
Victor took the lead with his axe in his hands, ready for anything that would attack them. The halls seemed unpopulated since the only sound was the light steps of their feet. The group made it to a T- intersection and Victor peered around the corner to see darkness. "Why would this hallway be lit up and the other not?" Victor thought. "Unless…" His eyes widened as he heard footsteps start to grow louder.
He spun around and shouted "IT'S A TRAP!" He converted his weapon into LMG form as he saw Beowolves charge in from the hole they entered in. He shouted "Follow the lit path! It will lead us straight to Draco!" He pulled the trigger and started firing at the Grimm that charged them. He laid down suppressive fire as his friends moved down the hallway.
He started to move down the hall as the other end was getting congested with Beowolf corpses. He turned and bolted after his friends, who were moving down the lit halls like he ordered. The halls twisted and turned with Grimm down each dark corridor. "He planned for this." Victor thought as he fired on the Grimm chasing him and his friends. "He knew that we would find the hole. He knew what we would do." Victor turned another corner to find his team in a massive hall.
The group stood at the center and faced a massive door big enough to fit Draco. Victor noticed the Grimm had stopped at the edge of the hall, barking and snapping at him. Victor reloaded his weapon and mumbled "This is the place. This is where the final fight will go down." He approached the door and the two giant statues came to life. The both grabbed one door and pulled it open to reveal pure darkness. Victor heard Weiss gasp "Guardian Knights."
He looked back at her to see a look of pure terror on her face. She shakily reached up and traced the scar on her face. Victor was going to say something when Draco's voice filled the hall. "Come Victor." He called. "Come with your pet and face your end." Victor turned towards the darkness and his hand tightened into a fist.
He felt Blake put a hand on his shoulder and questioned "Are you ready to do this? We are all right behind you." Victor responded "No. It's just me, you and the Draco." He turned to everyone and ordered "Everyone else stay here. We'll be back soon." He started towards the dark with Blake at his side. Almost as soon as they walked through the threshold, the door began to close.
Victor turned to see one of the Guardian Knights closing the door while the other drew a massive sword and approached his friends. Victor charged the closing door and shouted "No!" The doors closed, immersing him and Blake into darkness. "Your friends hold no value to me." Draco's voice grumbled. "They do not hold humanity's fate like you and your pet." Victor punched the door and bellowed "Hang on guys! We'll be back with the Draco's head! Just… just stay alive!"
Light illuminated the darkness to reveal a cave like tunnel that travelled into the mountain. A long channel ran the length of the cave to guide their path. Victor looked at Blake, who seemed incredibly scared. "Can we really beat him?" She questioned in a panicked tone. "He seems to know every move we make, every turn we go. What else does he have in store?" Victor walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Don't worry Blake. We'll stop Draco. Everyone will make it out alive." He comforted. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head. "We'll get married after everything." He finished. She smiled and exclaimed "Then let's finish this guy off." The two ran down the tunnel until they saw a light at the end of it.
They ran through the end and found themselves in a large hall like the previous one, only this one was massive. There were stained glass windows along both sides and a large chandelier hung on the ceiling. Draco sat at the far end, head resting on the ground with a large, razor toothy grin. "So here we are." Draco proclaimed as he picked his head off the ground. "Here… at the final battle to decide humanity's fate. The one who removed my left hand and the pet who took out my left eye. The two that wounded me and have travelled across the continent just to face me… one… final… time." Victor growled "First of all, her name is Blake. She is my love, not my pet. Second of all, this will be your final fight… not mine or hers."
"If we can hurt you," Blake proclaimed, "then we can kill you." Draco rose to his feet and growled "Then let us not delay the outcome!" Draco reared his head back and spat a column of flames at the two. Victor shot to the right while Blake jumped to the left, both narrowly dodging the blast. Victor charged his weapon and began firing at the beast, causing him to real back.
"How do you bullets pierce my hide?" Draco growled as Victor reloaded. "Armor piercing rounds!" Victor answered as he closed the cover. "Can break through just about anything!" Draco shot another column of flames at Victor, who promptly dodged the blast. Victor saw Blake run under the Draco undetected and then jump at his head, directly in his blind spot. Draco must have smelled her or something because he threw his head towards her and knocked her out of the air.
She landed on her feet and jumped back as Draco tried to crush her with his right hand. Victor saw his opportunity and charged Draco with his LMG firing wildly. Draco recoiled from the rounds just as Victor had planned, giving Victor his moment to end it all. Victor quickly switched his weapon into its axe form and jumped towards Draco, aiming for the back of his exposed neck. Time seemed to slow as Victor approached his target he thought "This is it. This is the end of everything."
Victor was almost on top of the Draco when he noticed his right hand start to fly towards him. Draco's hand struck Victor and slammed him against the wall. Victor crashed to the ground as he heard Blake scream in rage "I'm going to KILL YOU!" Victor looked up to see Blake putting rounds into the Draco's head and dodging each of his swings. Victor forced himself to his feet and picked his axe up.
He looked up to see Blake jump for the Draco's throat, but Draco saw it coming. He slid to the side and hit her with his wing. Blake flew through the air, but she thought fast and threw her blade, attaching it to one of Draco's horns. Victor tried to distract Draco by shooting at him, but Draco was focused on Blake who was flying towards him. He threw his head and struck Blake again.
She swung to the ground and detached the rope of her blade, allowing her more movement. Draco took his chance and slammed his hand down on top of her. Draco picked his hand up and laughed "One bug down." Victor flew into a rage and charged Draco with his axe ready. Draco laughed with his twisted pride "What hopes do you have? You pet has fallen and you shall be next!"
Draco shot towards Victor, but Victor jumped around the monster's maw and ran straight to the small crater Blake occupied. Victor could here Draco laugh, but he just needed to see if Blake was okay… if she was still alive. She was laying in the crater, not moving and Victor couldn't even tell if she was breathing. Victor knelt down next to her as Draco laughed "A moment with your dying love? How sweet." Victor picked up his unmoving love and practically cried "Please be okay Blake. Please be okay."
Her eyes opened weakly and she groaned "I'm sorry Victor." A small trickle of blood ran out of the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry that I can't help you anymore." She coughed, more blood coming out. "No! No! This isn't how it's supposed to go!" Victor cried, unaware that Draco was slithering his way towards the two. "This is your end Victor." Draco grumbled. "This is how you die. Just like your family… you will burn."
Draco reared his head back, building up his strongest fire blast yet. "This is it!" Draco cheered in his head. "I will incinerate the only ones that stand in my way of domination!" Draco unleashed his fire blast, bathing the area in flames that no one could have survived. The area he torched remained lit as he walked away and chuckled "Now for the rest of the world to burn." He was almost to the entrance to the tunnel when Victor's voice proclaimed "I'm not through with you yet!"
"Impossible!" Draco barked. "Inconceivable!" Draco turned to see Victor rise from the flames with his pet in his arms, both coated in a red aura. Victor walked to the wall to his right and set the body down, releasing her from the red aura that still covered Victor's body. "I finally figured it out." Victor proclaimed without looking away from his pet. "I figured out how I survived you the first time."
"How? Tell me."
"The very thing I feared more than you… more than anything."
Victor turned towards Draco and practically hissed "My anger. The rage that I held within me for years… building up for this very moment." Victor started walking towards Draco, who immediately spat another column of flames at him. Victor simply walked through the blast, his rage fueled aura protecting him. "The anger that I feared would get lose will now be your end." Victor growled as he stomped the ground, tossing rocks into the air. Victor started to punch the rocks, launching them at Draco.
The rocks pelted the beast, causing him to recoil and bellow in pain. "You had so many other chances to kill me!" Victor shouted as he shot towards Draco. "You should have killed me when you had the chance!" Victor's fist connected with the Draco's skull, driving him into the ground. Draco rolled to the left wall and Victor charged again. Draco threw his wing and threw Victor back, who promptly landed on his feet. Draco shot towards Victor and Victor returned the charge.
Draco threw his claws at Victor, but the swing was caught and Victor laughed "You really should have killed me yesterday." Victor twisted Draco's wrist, hearing the bones snap. Draco bellowed in pain as Victor ran to his axe. Draco shot a column of flames at him but it was too late since Victor had grabbed his axe and jumped out of the way. Victor charged with his axe ready for blood as Draco spat more flames at him.
Victor ran through the blast and jumped at Draco, who was surprised to still see Victor alive. His axe connected with Draco's neck, slicing it open. Draco collapsed to the ground as he gripped his torn throat. Victor stood up and proclaimed "How does it feel that this will be your final fight?" Draco laughed "DO you really think this is the end of our plan?"
"Or plan?"
"My race was not hunted to extinction. There are more of us! We will burn your world to cinders!"
Victor walked towards the dying Grimm and exclaimed "Then I will hunt each of you down. I will kill each Drake until your race is wiped out. But now… now I put all of my anger… all of my rage into this one final strike!" Victor put almost everything into his swing and threw his axe, connecting it with Draco's neck. Draco choked for a bit, then went still as blood covered the floor. Victor completely forgot about the corpse of his fallen foe and ran straight to Blake, who was very pale. He put his hands on the side of her face and called "Blake! Blake! Please be okay!"
She was unresponsive and Victor started to panic. He wrapped his arms around her and focused on transferring his remaining strength into Blake. He practically drained himself and quietly cried "Please be okay. Please… just be okay." He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he looked up to see Blake with a weak smile and her eyes half open. "Hey there." She weakly proclaimed. Victor couldn't even find the words, he just wrapped her in a hug and repeated "I love you Blake. I love you."
"Is it done? Is it all over?"
"It is… it's done. He's dead. We can go home."
"Then let's go home."
Victor picked Blake up in his arms and walked out of the hall… and returning home.
