Chapter 20 "Separation of Powers"
Alucard is undead, his body does not know the limits of a living human. He made that apparent time and time again in other battles but it still didn't prepare me for when I have to fight him now. I should have paid more attention to how he killed people by impaling them with his bare hands before I decided to be nice for once and to fight a monster. I expected Alucard would be difficult to face but when he was at full power, armored and armed, he was almost unstoppable. I was at my limit when I entered this battle after using so much of my own chakra and maintaining sage mode for an extended period of time. But to be honest, I think even at my full power I wouldn't be able to end this fight...quickly or otherwise. I had managed to keep almost every enemy at bay with ease since I got to this place. Hell, even back home I had pretty easy the past couple of years. As soon as I got a grasp on my chakra control everything became a breeze...except when I faced Shimura, Daisuke or...Mom. Mom...heh...I haven't thought about her for a while... Alucard took advantage of my wandering mind and parried one of my chakra appendages and got a bit closer to the weakness of this technique, me. I thought over what I'd been doing here, acting all buddy-buddy with a bunch of humans. I used the anger that simmered under my frustration to improve my cloak control. As Alucard thrust his blade into the ribs of my shroud and nearly hit me, I focused some of my chakra into that section of the cloak and compacted the abdomen of my cloak until it went into Version 2 mode. The chest of the fox shroud became red, from my blood, and black from Yin-Yang Chakra and took on a more skeletal, slender form. This hardened chakra cloak trapped his blade, I let out a grunt as I had one of my shroud tail's swipe madly at Alucard to give me some breathing room.
Alucard leapt back out of the reach, I realized this wasn't going to end well or soon. "Alucard...I know you are nothing more than a damned spirit this point, no offense." I said as I let out a smooth, heated breath to attempt to remain cool headed. Alucard stopped and looked at me puzzled, "I take no offense but now you wish to talk? After you came at me with the intent to kill? You're an awfully wish washy boy aren't you?" I grumbled as I rubbed my temple to hold my tongue and not talk more shit. "I can't help that, you are far stronger than I previously believed. I know I'm only human but you are...far stronger than most opponents I've faced." Alucard frowned, "you are not going to attempt to back away and apologize like a coward now are you?" I grit my teeth. "Even though you're dead, you're mind is still as simple as any human. I want to act high and mighty and knock some sense into you before we tear shit up. But I can tell that isn't going to happen so I have an idea. For the good of the Engloids." I said with a cocky grin. "English! Are you deaf or just stupid, Uzumaki! I never have to tell you anything twice so why are you so thick skulled all of a sudden! You're just like your gran-" Kurama, the nine-tailed fox, yelled at me through my subconscious. I visibly flinched in surprise and sighed heavily. "English, whatever!" I yelled angrily. "You want me to stop killing these men of God do you…?" Alucard started to say, spitting out the divinity's name with disgust. I interrupted him curtly, "No. I have an issue with you killing them but the main issue at the moment is Millennium. So...I want you to send Seras and Integra to go end this at the source, the Major, I'll send Katsuye and Miso with them to help." I sensed Kurama click his tongue in his seal. "This thing in front of you doesn't understand you, Uzumaki. He relinquished his humanity long ago and all that's left is weakness." I listened to Kurama and my eyes softened, knowing what would have to happen.
"You're not going to listen to me, are you Alucard?" I said with a small sigh. Alucard's stern face remained resilient and I knew that if I looked at Integra or Seras they would look the same. "I serve my Master, not you, Uzumaki." I tightened my grip and released my shroud down to a tailless form of red chakra and drew my blade. Some Vampires came up behind me and tried to fire but I just moved out of the way and swung my blade hard towards them even though they were meters away. A wave of chakra slammed into them and knocked their bodies apart from the force. "If you won't listen to me now then perhaps I should bash your skull in so you can hear me better through the cracks." I said as I charge forward at Alucard. He blocked my first two-handed slash at his chest with an angled block on his longsword's cross-guard. I heard the sound of hooves behind me and sneered at Alucard, baring my canines before I used my left foot to kick off the inside of Alucard's leg. I pushed off out of the way seconds before one of Alucard's undead horsemen impaled Alucard with a halberd. Alucard let out a throaty laugh as he wrenched the polearm from his chest and shoved the horsemen aside. "Good...you're doing good. Don't slow down now, Uzumaki. Fight me, slash me, burn me. Kill me!" He said with a laugh as he charged forward, I parried his strikes with grunts. I caught his gauntlet-covered fist and let out a hiss as his punch crushed my palm to the point that my wrist almost broke. "Don't tempt me, teme…" I grumbled before pulling my hand free and going back in close for another heated exchange of strikes.
I looked at the fight with worry, "Integra...should I intervene? Master could hurt Kiri." I asked before looking back at the battle, Kiri was doing pretty well actually. I knew that he fought often with swords back wherever he was from but at the moment it looked like a choreographed dance. Kirisuto and my Master traded blows at an insane rate. My Master was often very quick and powerful but it seemed that Kirisuto was quicker than my Master but not as strong, they were evenly matched. Integra's sighed, "no, Seras. I would like those two to quit bickering and do as I told so we could end this but they are both too stubborn in their ways. Uzumaki may not be as monstrous as Alucard but he may be more tenacious." Integra looked at Kirisuto as he used another of his strange abilities to cause Alucard to be blown back about a meter to give him time to shift his grip on his blade. "Don't worry, though, Seras. They have a sort of agreement between them. Alucard is fair, if that boy can impress him then he will give in and if the boy is injured first then we intervene." I swallowed as I saw Alucard smack Kirisuto when their blades were locked once more. "He is getting hit a lot but I know that's won't do much to a guy like him," I admitted before looking over as I saw Katsuye start to stir and reawaken. I walked over to help her.
High in the sky was another observer of the battle in the square. An obese man with short pale hair, unnaturally white skin and dead green eyes looked down at the carnage he orchestrated with a spyglass. "Magnificent, isn't it, Doctor?" The man said with a sickening wide smile as he viewed his Reich's symbol of tyranny etched into London with napalm. The Doctor that approached from behind nodded. "Yes, my Major. It is an exquisite sight to behold. I wanted to let you know that our final project has been put into motion. All the "pieces" have been put in their proper place, these pigs are readily trotting along to the slaughterhouse." The Major nodded with glee as he was focused on the event occurring in the square. "Take a look, Doctor. It seems that Youth we have been watching has turned against the hand that fed him. He's fighting the Count." The Major said, the Doctor seemed surprised at the Major's words and altering his goggles so the magnification was greater so he could observe the battle. "That young man is quite the swordsman but he won't need to be factored into our plan. Like those Iscariot dogs, he is but a small obstacle in the path to our final victory." The Major's smile grew larger and mad when he turned to look at the Doctor directly. "Actually, he assisted Ms. Victoria as she killed Zorin and the Children seem to have taken an interest in him! They are trapped in the Estate thanks to the Vatican's blessings." The Major spoke with an ecstatic tone but, strangely, his voice didn't increase in volume to the point that he was shouting. The other looked, even more, surprised, "I'll send a small group to free them. I'll ensure that the Youth won't put a stop to our conquest, Major." The Major's smile disappeared and a look of annoyance filled his eyes before he abruptly turned back to the carnage with excitement. "Carry on then, Doctor. Hurry so that the players of our macabre band don't run out of breath before the crescendo." He said with a diminutive wave of the hand to rush the man off, the Doctor hurried back into the zeppelin. The Major ignored the majority of the battlefield, he had seen the carnage created by blades and gunfire for long enough. He orchestrated this performance for the primitive melodies, tooth and claw, his eye dilated in pleasure as he watched the Count battle the Youth. "Yes..." He said with a perverted, foul gasp.
I growled loudly as I felt Alucard's longsword sliced up my back, he hit me so hard that I felt the metal sickly click against bone. I grit my teeth and responded with a harsh, powerful jab to Alucard's chin. I wanted him to stop, at least long enough to end the battle. "You're may be acting like a warrior, Alucard-" I started before Alucard came at me with a duo of two-handed hard slices that I avoided by dodging the first chop and ended the other by parrying it with the side of his blade. "...but you're also failing your master. She ordered you to kill everything but she obviously wants to end this conflict as well. We need to finish this and I don't want Seras to get hurt trying to do everything herself!" I said angrily as I slapped his blade aside with a hard flick left with my sword and seized Alucard's throat. He immediately punched me hard in the side, penetrating my flesh, but I ignored the pain, keeping a serious expression. Alucard watched interested as he twisted his fingers in my side, I saw none of the usual hunger in his gaze. He was looking for something in my eyes for a moment and apparent saw something he liked since he pulled his hand out of my side and took a neutral stance, lowering his sword. "Very well...I will deal with these fools and let Seras go with your friend, however, I will kill any dog that crosses me." He said with a stanch tone as I panted, holding my wound closed, before my eyes narrowed and I started to speak up. Alucard interrupted, "you don't have time to argue, I feel that something dark is approaching and you will deal with that." I felt my blood run cold as I remembered that those...beings in the dark were still in the Hellsing Estate. At least, I knew about their weakness to sage Jutsu but still...they were inhuman, too alien...even for me. "I can handle them." I said with a firm nod as I created a shadow clone and had him use a small healing Jutsu to just seal off the wound, I couldn't afford to waste chakra to heal it completely. "I'll tell Kat and Miso what's up then I'll deal with those things. I'd say don't die but I doubt I could kill you easily so…try not to have too much fun?" I said with a half-hearted tone before I used chakra to jump back up to the building.
Kirisuto and my Master stopped fighting after a very intense exchange of blows that ended with the younger man get injured. After talking for a few moments, Alucard turned on his heel and began working his way through the crowd of foot soldiers to the general vicinity of where Anderson was last seen. I felt movement coming behind me and turned with a toothy grin instinctually growing on my face as I did so, only to see it was Kiri. "Cute smile." He mumbled as he rubbed his side, which was now healed, I was used to seeing him just appear out of nowhere but after becoming a full-fledged vampire I could see he wasn't teleporting but instantaneously moving at incredible speed from place to place. My smile dropped with a groan in response to Kiri's remarkably unsurprising quip. I was surprised, however, how his face gained a serious look as he checked his friend for injuries. He lifted her arm to check her ribs before carefully checking her neck, he also used his forehead to check her temperature. "How are you feeling? I found you knocked out…" He asked before he scoffed at himself and asked the question in Japanese. Katsuye eye's lost any daze that was in them when she noticed how worried Kiri was and she answered quietly. Kiri nodded after he pulled his forehead away and Katsuye gingerly rubbed the area they touched. Kiri spoke slowly and seemed to give her an order before he called his fox over and spoke to him as well. He then stood and looked at me. "Alucard and I decided that he'd deal with the grunts, I'd finish off those freaks back in the Estate and that you four would go bash in the skull of the snake in that weird flying machine. Except that he didn't put it as elegantly as yours truly." Kiri said as he reloaded his pistol, "I freaking totally forgot about this thing when I was running around. You still got my gun?" He asked and I let out a sigh before shaking my head no. "I dropped it in the hallway with that woman's body." Kiri shrugged his shoulders, "I can get it while I'm over there." Integra stepped forward, "I am grateful for your friends' help but I need to be able to communicate with them to be effective." Kirisuto taught Integra some basic hand gestures to direct Miso and the words for "catch", "kill" and "stop" so that she could direct Katsuye.
I told Katsuye and Miso to stay safe and Katsuye's eyes softened, I could tell that she wasn't feeling well. "I'd let you rest if I can but people are depending on us…I won't die so you just focus on staying alive okay? I'll be right behind you." I said as I patted her head, she gave a humble smile. "You better be." She said simply and I nodded before I turned and ran towards the side of the building before I leapt to the next. I couldn't afford to waste chakra so I decided to jump until I was close to the Estate and there I would get ready to kill the Black Eyed Kids. Nobody is going to die for me again tonight.
Chapter End