Chapter XII
The Ram-Headed Demon Lord
"So the door we were telling you about? It should be somewhere around here…" mused Stella. Since the incident in the gallery, Stella had led the group back to the catacombs where she and Loretta had found the locked door. There it was; the elegant medieval door stood out, incredibly conspicuous in the earthy, cavernous tunnels. Sure enough, the key that Alucard had torn out of Camilla's dress pocket fit the lock perfectly. A turn and a push and they were in. Inside there was a small antechamber. There were two other exits besides the one that they had come in through. One had a glass door, and it lead to a rather feminine-looking sanctuary. The other was a thick stone portcullis, beyond which lay a very dark room.
They decided it would be a good idea to rest and took the opportunity that the sanctuary presented them. However curiosity soon got the better of them and they decided to check out what was behind the stone gate. Several sturdy chains hung from the ceiling and Jonathan, Stella and Alucard immediately got to work raising the gate.
As the portcullis rose, Maria got chills and Loretta seemed to shiver; an unusual action considering her power over ice. She rarely got cold, if ever. Charlotte and Alucard felt the full blast of the assault head on. He staggered, only keeping his hold on the chain using sheer strength of will. She leaned on the stone wall to keep herself from collapsing. The power coming from the demonic aura alone was immense.
"Something bad's in there, Jonathan," Charlotte gasped, "We can't go in there. We aren't prepared."
"Whaddya mean? It's just a dark room. Nothing to be afraid of."
"Jonathan, I'm serious! We really shouldn't go in there! You can't feel it because you barely use magic at all, but the power of the demonic aura being emitted from that room is at least as powerful as Dracula himself!"
"Look, if anything's in there, whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it. After all, we thrashed Dracula, and thrashed 'im good."
"Barely! Not to mention that this is different: We don't know what we're up against. We can't just rush in there! We'll get ourselves killed!"
"I agree with Charlotte," Alucard grimaced, "You would be wise to follow our example."
"Alright, no problem. We'll just come back later when we're better equipped."
I think not!
"Wha—" Jonathan uttered before watching helplessly as Charlotte, Maria and Loretta seemed to be tossed through the open gate. If he dropped it he'd be more likely to kill them, either by crushing them underneath the spikes or just from the collision with the gate itself. He was unable to resist as he was swept off his feet and pulled low into the air along with Stella and Alucard. The gate began falling. He suddenly found himself in the other side of the gate, Stella and Alucard landing a few feet away from him. Behind him, he felt the gigantic, rumbling crash as the heavy portcullis slammed shut behind him more than heard it.
Come to me, my prey.
"What the—Who said that?" Maria cried out.
You dare ask my name, human filth! Well know this: I answer not for your sake, but because all humans must know the terror that my name brings. I am Adramelech! My name means King of Fire. Cower before my inconceivable might!
Alucard's eyes widened in the darkness, as did Charlotte's. She suddenly noticed that she could see perfectly, despite the fact that there was no source of light in the room. Judging by the expressions on her friends' faces, they could see fine as well. The room was gigantic. It was also littered with bones, especially skulls. Mostly animals' but there were a few that looked human enough to send chills down her spine. However, she saw no sign of their captor. She looked around wildly.
Look above you, wretched girl.
She obeyed and nearly wished she hadn't. It wasn't that the face of the demon was grotesque in any way—In fact, it was actually quite regal—It was that its power was now far too apparent for her comfort level. Adramelech's head was that of a gargantuan ram with dramatic curled horns, silvery black in color. His upper body was muscular, covered in thick emerald fir. And that was all she could see: The rest of his body was encased in a massive full-body manacle built in the shape of a box out of black rock. Once again, she marveled at how she could even see colors in the pitch darkness of the room. His hands, also emerald green, were also exposed on either side of him, level with his head, making him look like a prisoner in medieval shackles. They were human-like hands, but furrier and with sharp claws, black like obsidian. And even with all of his restrictions encasing him, his huge body was still covered in thick leather buckles that went around his waist and around his upper arms and shoulders, making sure that he couldn't wriggle out of his bindings or struggle out of them by heaving his shoulders up. The straps even went around his neck and over his face. Even his eyes were blocked from view. Each covered by several perfectly connected straps. There were silver buckles that were conspicuously placed over his eyes. She could feel that all of his bindings were enchanted with various powerful sealing spells beyond ever her comprehension. And if he was still as powerful as Dracula even with such restrictions, she was terrified of the very thought that he might ever escape.
"Forget the Four Riders and an Anti-Christ. This guy could bring the apocalypse all by himself," she whispered.
"Well then, we know exactly what we have to do," she jumped in apprehension as a voice came from behind her, despite its familiarity, "Nice and straightforward," Jonathan said back. She was astonished that he didn't seem concerned.
It is time. Time for you rags to die.
Charlotte noticed that there was actually a gag placed in his mouth. He was speaking by transmitting his thoughts directly into reality using some form of magic she had never heard of.
"Sorry, but I've got other plans," said Jonathan cockily.
Really? The demon drawled, amused by his prey's foolish attitude.
"Yep. Oh yeah, so do they," He pointed to the rest of his companions.
Very well: You shall not make it to your insignificant human convergence. Perhaps you will be missed.
"Pathetic human what?" Jonathan actually understood that word, and was now just trying to see if he could just bother Adramelech into submission. It had worked before on a lesser demon. Even an archdemon couldn't possibly be that different.
You should not disrespect the only thing standing between you and annihilation. Or perhaps you have a poor sense of self-preservation.
"No, I'm just getting a kick out of bothering you. What are you gonna do to me you giant goat? Eat my jacket?"
Your insolence will be your undoing. Now, perish!
"Not a chance," Jonathan grinned and dived out of the way as every skull in the room rose into the air and converged on him, swooping at him from all directions.
He pulled out his Undead Killer and the Nebula and jumped, lashing out at the demon's face with both of them. Adramelech roared not out of pain, but out of pure rage.
You have sealed your fate! Die!
The skulls in the room flew around everywhere, attacking anything that they passed. Stella tried hacking the skulls to pieces. Kaladbolg bounced off of one of them like it was made of titanium. She may as well have been trying to cut a steel girder with a butterknife. She was thrown into the air by a swarm of skulls and fell to the floor in a heap, unconscious.
Loretta didn't even have time to run to her sister's aid, before she found herself surrounded by toxic-looking bubbles. She made an effort to avoid them but was knocked into one of them. She realized a moment later that she couldn't feel her magic abilities when she called upon them.
Across the room Maria seemed to be having the same problem. She was trying to summon her dragon but like Loretta, she had been cursed as well.
Charlotte seemed to be dodging skulls and poisoned bubbles like an expert. She opened the Book of Binding to a particular page and put her finger inside to hold her place before closing it again.
"Jonathan, give me a boost!" She began muttering an incantation.
"Be right there!" he backflipped over the swarm of skulls and dashed towards her. He allowed her to hop into his shoulders and jump off and upwards to the height of Adramelech's head. She finished her incantation at that moment and praying she hadn't gotten the spell wrong, she completed the spell:
"Piercing Beam!"
A brilliant ray of light burst forth from Charlotte's book and enveloped the demon's head. He bellowed in pain.
"Nice shot!"
"Thanks for the lift."
Alucard was dashing about the room evading skulls and bubbles alike. Finally he saw an opportunity: he leaped acrobatically into the air and slashed furiously at the goat-headed demon's face.
His strikes broke the skin, causing several small rivers of blood to flow down the demon's face.
Suddenly a wave of skulls assailed him in mid-blow and he was knocked toward Adramelech's body. The blow slashed through one of the leather seals binding him to his shackles. There was a low rumble as the room began to shake. One by one, the buckles restraining Adramelech snapped off and fell uselessly to the floor.
With a huge crash, Adramelech tore his right hand out of the stone shackles binding him and with it he tore off the last remaining belt buckles: the ones over his eyes an around his horns. The eyes were awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time. They burned with a deep red light, the color of hellfire. He smashed the other stone shackle binding his left hand, reducing it to rubble, and with a jerk of his head, his entire upper body was free. There was another crash and Adramelech finally stood up for the first time in centuries. He was exactly as they expected him to look: Like a goat, complete with colossal hooves. The one thing that they didn't expect was the fact that instead of having a goat's tail, he had that of a peacock. He shook himself to wake up his sleeping limbs.
"Damnit!" Alucard roared.
I really must thank you young dhampir. I haven't felt so powerful in centuries! I shall finally take all that this world owes me!
"Don't count on it!" Jonathan snarled.
What was that? I heard a buzzing noise. Perhaps an insect? the demon said, feigning curiosity.
"I said don't count on it you massive…monstrosity of…mold colored mutton!"
Charlotte gawked, staring dumbstruck at Jonathan. Adramelech's glare could kill. In fact, really did kill: It caused a rat on the floor next to Jonathan to spontaneously combust.
I shall no longer forgive your transgressions against me. Prepare to die!
"That's…what, like the third time you've made that kind of threat. If you're going to kill me, do it already!"
The skulls swarmed towards him again. He managed to jump above most of them and dodge the rest. The demon's head was far above him now, at least three-quarters of the way to the ceiling now, but the rubble of his stone prison gave Jonathan a decent boost. Making his way to the highest point in the rubble, he made a jump towards the demonlord and threw a pair of cross boomerangs at his face, before falling back down to the floor. Repeating this process, he then repeatedly whipped the Undead Killer across his eye, earning a roar of pain. Adramelech's sheer size was formidable, but it left him with very little room to move around. Despite the fact that virtually all of the attacks against him were aimed at his face, there were only a few placed where it had broken Adramelech's skin. However, oddly enough, cuts seemed to be opening up all over his body, blood changing the color of his fir from green to mottled shades of red and black. His movements were slowing down as well.
"You're not looking too good, peacock-butt! Maybe you should go lie down?"
He wasn't graced with an angry retort, but Adramelech's smoldering eyes flared at Jonathan's insult.
Alucard had transformed into a bat to get closer to the demon's head and was shooting fireballs out of his mouth, leaving scorch marks on Adramelech's face and body. Being a much smaller target as a bat, he was easily able to maneuver through the swarm of skulls whenever they came around.
Suddenly fire shot from the floor where Jonathan stood. He screamed and leaped out of the way too late, ending up completely singed. He rolled on the floor to put out some fires still burning on his clothes and wearily picked himself up.
Up in the air above them, Alucard was now dodging waves of fire that Adamelech was shooting from his eyes. A blast hit him and he fell to the ground in a leathery heap.
"Alucard!" Maria tried to make her way towards the unconscious bat but was stopped in her tracks as a wall of fire erupted from the ground between her and the rest of the combatants.
Jonathan was getting fed up with this fight. While they had made some progress, this demon seemed utterly unstoppable. Charlotte ran over to Jonathan.
"What have you been doing this whole time?" Jonathan shouted, "We kinda needed you!"
"Sorry I was just getting a particular spell ready. We do this one together," she showed him the spell she was using and closed the book again. "Now, on three:"
"One," they said in unison.
"Two…"
"Three!"
"Grand Cross!"
As they shouted this, four gigantic ethereal holy crosses rose out of the floor and circled around them, rising to the ceiling and emitting holy energy all around the surrounding area. As the light hit Adramelech's face, he howled in agony, falling to his knees. The pain lasted a whole twenty seconds before he was able to regain his bearings. He tried to burn them where they stood, but his spell only caused the stones they stood on to blacken. His flaming eyes widened, but then narrowed again. His strength was overwhelming on its own.
With a roar, he slid his hand along the ground and slammed Jonathan into a wall hard enough to make it collapse on top of him. With his other hand, he grabbed Charlotte before she could even scream. This one had caused him a great deal of pain, and for that she would suffer. He clenched his fist around her body, listening to the music of her bones straining themselves not to break. He squeezed tighter, and bones began snapping.
You caused me much agony girl. Your time is at hand, and because I am the one to kill you, you shall be doomed to eternal torture in the deepest circle of Hell! Now, suffer and die!
She screamed in horrific throes pain as she felt the bones in her arms break, followed by several ribs. She couldn't even struggle anymore and it hurt just to breathe. She was going to die here—she knew it. Crushed to death by a gigantic demon.
"…Jonathan…"
It was barely a whimper, but even beneath the rubble of the wall, a pair of blue eyes snapped open. It didn't matter how inaudible the words may have been, he would have heard her from the other side of the world. Bursting forth from the debris, he hefted Balmung over his head from its place on his back. He felt three broken ribs but for some reason the pain wasn't bothering him. His mind was on a single track and it wasn't going to stray from that path for anything. Making a prodigious leap, he landed at the top of the wreckage from the stone shackles and jumped high into the air until he was level with Adramelech's head. He seemed to strike from multiple directions at once. Adramelech would have screamed but his vocal chords and trachea had been severed. Gashes burst open across the demonlord's body as Jonathan struck his head over and over again. Suddenly, all of Jonathan's energy left him in an instant. He fell unconscious in midair and dropped to the floor in front of Charlotte. With a crash, the crimson-stained body of the demon fell backwards and behind Jonathan's unconscious form, the severed head of Adramelech fell to the floor with a damp thud.
The flames separating the group members subsided and the portcullis separating the room from the antechamber crumbled to fine sand. And that was all Charlotte knew before she lost consciousness herself.
She didn't know how long she was unconscious for, but she had woken up feeling fantastic. She also knew who had saved her: Looking to her side she found him sleeping a bed over from her. Ignoring the dizziness, she stood up and stumbled her way over to Jonathan's bed, carefully lowering her body into a kneeling position on the floor next to the bed so that she could get a good look at his face. She noticed that his clothes were cleaned and folded up on the end-table next to him, which prompted her to look down at what she was wearing: She wasn't in her corset, skirt and half-cape anymore, apparently having been changed into a loose-fitting white gown while she was unconscious. Jonathan's breathing was steady and he didn't seem to have any bruises left on his face. She tried applying pressure to the places on her body where she had been injured, but didn't feel anything. They'd obviously both been given potions and had healed up nicely. Which meant that Jonathan would be waking up any time now. After a couple more minutes of waiting, his eyes fluttered open drowsily.
"Charlotte?"
"Yeah," she smiled back at him.
"That good natured smile of yours is making me worry."
"Sorry. I can't help it."
"Why not? I keep thinking that you're about to do something really bad to me."
"Why would I? I just realized something very important."
"And what would that be?"
"Well back there when we fought Adramelech, you did something, and…well…it just struck me. I should have realized it ages ago, but…well…I don't know what stopped me from figuring it out. I…I…" she struggled fervently to say what she was feeling, her breathing growing irregular and her face turning beet red. Finally "I think…that I'm in love with you!" she rushed to get the words out of her mouth.
"Really? I don't see it… What did I do exactly that was so special?"
"Well, like I said when we were fighting Adramelech, you said something…"
"Said? You mean it's not because I saved your life?"
"You do that on a regular basis."
"So what did I say? I don't remember saying anything particularly special."
"You…you used alliteration!"
"What! You're kidding! You're suddenly crazy about me because I said he was a…what was it…a…uhh…oh yeah, 'a massive monstrosity of mold colored mutton?'"
"Oh! You did it again!" she giggled.
"Why do I suddenly feel so inadequate?"
"Inadequate? You just proved to me that you're not a total idiot! …Don't you realize how much that means to me?"
"Well, I don't really see myself that way, so most of what you've said since I woke up has been kind of detrimental to my ego."
Charlotte's face went from being a picture of bliss to an image of regret.
"S'cuse me, I'm, uh, gonna go clean up," she went around to the other side of her bed to her own end-table and picked up her clothes, carrying them with her into the sanctuary's washroom and closing the door behind her.
"Ugh…how did I destroy that opportunity so completely?" she splashed water over her face from the sink.
"Do I even like him like that, or was his apparent spark of intellect messing with my head? That's gotta be it. He can't really be smart. It's definitely just a one-time thing."