The four of them headed out as Shanoa proved that she was still as much of a threat as always to the forces of darkness as her movements were so fluid that they were like wielding multiple blades at once in a open-back dress, leather gloves and boots, and coat as she took it upon herself to be a second user of the Magic Seal, having done prior experience with Glyphs and their making while Mist was wily when she wasn't clinging to her 'parents' as she conjured monsters on the fly with swift movement and destruction and rasp berried at the monsters like they were not right in the slightest before they continued, taking out Student Witches, Bats, and Dust Devils. before entering a chamber with a lever, Soma pulling it for all of them to hear draining water and the way open with water dripping from it and continued.

They looked up to the bridge above before Alex spoke. "Strange... why would the cult set such a system up in the Lost Village instead of the Castle, do they actually want to keep us out or are they inviting us in?"

"Whatever the case may be, Alex." Shanoa answered as she dealt out another Dust Devil. "We would not be of the right pursuit to ignore their calling, they have brought this upon themselves."

"True, I guess we should give them a fond greet for making us come all this way." Soma nodded as they headed in and entered the Wizardry Labs to fight more monsters in their path. "Let's greet them just the same." They pressed on through the Bomb Armors, the number of Creatures, and even Manticores and some sort of boar creature before Soma found his target as he exclaimed.

"You!" Standing there was the woman known as Celia, Shanoa keeping a rapier ready for a fight as she was accompanied by a dapper-looking man and an utter thug as she spoke.

"Ah... you're come. Just as I predicted."

"Celia Fortner..." The thug spoke up as he scowled.

"You're kiddin', right? You tellin' me this punk's the lord of darkness? Ha!" The other spoke a different tone as he lectured.

"Judging matters merely on appearance?" He 'tsked' with his tongue as he pushed it. "Simpletons are so vexing." The thug growled and Alex took the moment to analyze the two, the thug radiated with the presence of flames while the dapper fool hummed with a magical presence, likely to take magic attacks and use them as he sees fit.

"What'd ya call me, Dmitrii?!" Dmitrii huffed to the matter-of-fact.

"I merely stated a fact."

"Dario, Dmitrii. Both of you, enough." Celia called for order and Dario shut down to Dmitrii's quiet gaze before Celia spoke. "Excuse their behavior. Welcome to our House, home of our Church."

"You talk as if you were expecting me..." Soma answered back as Celia spoke.

"You fear that will imperil innocents for who you are and can become. Am I not correct?"

"...Yes." Soma breathed as he continued to the point. "I fell for your ruse." He straightened up as he asked. "Why would you want to resurrect the dark lord?"

"W do not desire the dark lord, per se." Shanoa and Alex exchanged glances and Alex rubbed his jaw at the idea as Celia continued. "For God to be perfectly good, there must be a being of perfect darkness."

"That has nothing to do with me." Soma answered, but the undertone was there, Celia lured him out for something and it was clear that he fell for the ruse, despite the added strength behind him. "If this world does need a perfect dark being, one should emerge. Isn't that how it works?"

"Perhaps that is so. And perhaps it is not."

'Backward routine much...' Alex thought to himself

"What is true, however, is that the power of darkness steadily grows faint. The lord of darkness must be enthroned without fail. And not a moment too soon."

"But that doesn't mean..." Clearly speech was not a suitable topic for the thug as he stepped forward with rage.

"I heard enough already. Let's rip this punk apart right here and now!"

"Have patience." Celia answered to Dario's attempt. "He will try to stop me using whatever means. There is no need for haste." Dario turned back as he questioned.

"Hunh? What are you saying?"

"He is in our hands now. We can destroy him whenever, however we wish." Dmitrii answered as Celia nodded to the wording as well.

"Correct. This will also serve as a test for the both of you."

"I see."

"Wait a second! Test? What test? I didn't hear about that!"

'More brawn than brain, that one...' Shanoa thought to herself about Dario's behavior as Dmitrii spoke.

"Are you incapable of thinking even a little?" Dmitrii continued with a smirk. "There is but one dark lord, yet there are two candidates - you and I."

"Duh! I know that!"

Then get this through your hollow skull. Whoever defeats this boy becomes chosen as the lord of darkness."

"Oh, I get it now..." The group were not sure if the thug actually did get it in the first place. "Yeah, okay!" He turned back to the party as he continued. "This'll make it fun!" He thrusted a hand forward with a burst of flames. "Next time I see you, punk, I'll burn you to ashes!" He headed off as Dmitrii mused the same.

"I shall depart, also. I see no significance in my presence here at this time." He headed off as well as Soma mused to the depart, still having a small force before them to fight or not.

"So those two are the dark lord's candidates..."

"Correct. They were born at the same time as Dracula's demise." Didn't that mean that they had the same ill chances as Graham as Celia continued. "They are inheritors of Dracula's dark powers."

"But that's no guarantee that they can become the dark lord."

"They can. By shattering Dracula's soul." So she was leaving the candidates to kill Soma in the effort of getting Soma's soul destroyed and obtaining all that power for themselves. "If you wish to stop me, I shall be waiting for you at the top. I may even change my mind if you survive my traps." With that, she warped away with a laugh before Alex spoke.

"Credit is due, she pulled you into this mess, my young pupil." Soma turned with an exclaim.

"You're only a few years older than me!"

"And yet, my role as your mentor was put on hold and now has been refined for this day." Soma huffed as he folded his arms.

"Still... do they even have the chance?"

"Dracula is many things, but when you broke the cycle, you are the sole heir to all of the power that Dracula had, it is only up to you to decide where it is the most needed to be used." Shanoa nodded as she joined in.

"We will guide you, just as much as we guide Mist with her powers, and we can even teach you on how to empower others with some of that power to both give them a fighting chance and allow you to connect to others as easily." Soma gazed at them before he spoke.

"You two do the married couple thing a bit too easily here."

"Trust us, we know." Both spoke before turning and kissing, Mist squealing while Soma blinked before they divided and spoke. "What's your excuse with Mina?" Soma blushed red as he stammered.

"I-It's nothing!" The three smiled before Soma stammered with heading on. "Let's just get going." They headed through to the dead-end, except the chamber that was sealed with the Fish Seal before entering and were faced with a utter ice wall before the space started to warp and Alex spoke.

"GET DOWN!" They ducked just as the ice was shattered to a powerful beam before it cooled down and they rushed through before the ice wall collapses shut and they encountered the monster, a titan covering a part of its face and wearing a steel mesh over his head as they moved to take it down, evading its punches and eyebeam before killing it and sealing its power and Soma getting the soul of Balore as he asked in confusion.

"Wasn't Balore suppose to be a destructive punch, not the ability to shatter ice blocks blocking the path?"

"Perhaps, in the reanimation process, Balore's soul had suffered a metamorphosis and has become weak as a result, I can reconstruct Aria Balore, but that will take time, time of which we have little need of in following the trail of the cult and stopping their insane wishes of creating the next dark lord to be the equal to God."

They headed back and found another way through as Alex took a moment to think about it, With Light's goal was not actually to worship or praise the dark lord, they were zealots who revered God, but knew that they could do that without a being of dark power to counter and actually know the dark lord with fear in their hearts, so it was up to them to decide Soma's fate, they knew the darkness far more than anyone in these days.

They knew the price of giving everything away, just to keep power in check as his shadow surged once more with a gentle hand on one shoulder and a gauntlet on the other as they headed into the short passage to a place of utter overgrowth...