Chapter 67: To the Crimson Tower!

After calming my sister down, Beta explained the plan.

In summary, tonight is the night when the actual Red Moon will start. Vampires and ghouls will get power boost from it and it will start a frenzy all over town. We will sneak into the Tower of Babel looking Crimson Tower when it begins.

Beta's group have a mission of raiding their library. She's probably looking for some old vampire novels to plagiarize. The familiar blonde haired Shadow Garden member from earlier is on her group along with two elves.

Epsilon's group would exterminate every vampire she could find in the tower. The wolf beastkin is on her group along with another pair of elves. There are other squad who will take care of ghouls in the city.

And then there's me, sister and Mary, whose duty is to prevent the Blood Queen's resurrection, which according to Mary, will happen tomorrow at 12 PM (Yes, in the middle of the day, which will remain night thanks to the Red Moon). That means we have more than 18 hours to accomplish our mission.

For some reason my sister thought I was kidnapped by the vampires and would've been sacrificed on the tower to resurrect the Blood Queen. That's why she is here now.

How do I do this? Honestly, letting the final boss resurrect sounds like the most interesting option for me but my Van Helsing persona wouldn't be the kind of guy to just let such a dangerous sounding vampire be revived just like that. Not to mention my sister is here.

I pray that there will be strong opponents who will delay us so I can face the Blood Queen. Or maybe that Dracula guy will be fine. Hope he comes here.

"Mr. Van Helsing. There something I wanted you to see." Beta said as she called out to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This." She handed over a folder filled with photos of some ancient ruins in Oriana I have no idea about. It's full of demonic looking gargoyles. But these writings… definitely English.

"Do you know anything about these ruins?" She asked. Mary seemed to be interested as she listened closely.

"Welcome to the Temple of the Damned. Offer your blood and surrender your souls so that you may taste the darkness of eternity." I read the edgy writings on the sacrificial altar.

"So you're familiar with it then!?" Beta exclaimed. I'm not actually familiar with it but… I should start bullshitting.

"This is… an altar worshipping a blood god. Ancient vampire societies used to… do human sacrifices upon this altar to appease the blood god. Their practices have long since died out thanks to… my ancestors. And uhh… It's nothing but a death trap now."

"I see. Indeed Zeta encountered traps there, including these statues that comes to life." Murmured Beta.

"Thank you for all the information you've shared with us, Mr. Van Helsing. May you prevail in your war against the night." Beta said some cool lines while bowing her head.

"You too, Shadow Garden. I wish you luck on your war against the darkness that has long since ruled this world." I returned with some cool lines, which made her gasp. I always know you like playing this game, Beta.

Our groups then parted ways to fulfil each of our own missions.

I was assigned together with Mr. Van Helsing the vampire hunter and Miss Claire.

I met Miss Claire by chance in Midgar after the encounter with the dragon. She was searching for her missing brother and I… carelessly muttered the possibility of him being captured by vampires due to Crimson needing a boy with high magical power as a sacrifice to resurrect Lady Elizabeth.

She seems to be an important person to Shadow Garden, not to mention that special power that sleeps inside her… so I am compelled to protect her. I never said anything about Crimson needing a pure boy though… This whole affair is just a big misunderstanding.

As for Van Helsing… The man scares me. He knows things that I do not, hunts vampires far more powerful and far more dangerous than any vampires I've ever encountered save for Lady Elizabeth. Even his weapon is specially tailored towards fighting vampires, something that I shamefully lacked as a vampire hunter because I mainly relied on my knowledge and my own powers to kill vampires.

I listened to every word he said and devoured all the knowledge he has… but I kept my distance… because I, Mary the vampire hunter, am a vampire myself. And I'm sure he knows it already.

Normally a fellow vampire hunter would turn on me once they learned of my true nature but he ignored me. Perhaps he didn't view me as a threat? He even lent me one of his swords, which is deadly even against a vampire of Carmilla's calibre.

I kept blood consumption to bare minimum so as to keep myself strong enough to hunt other vampires while not letting myself succumb to their level… But… just like what Carmilla said… I'm no different from her. I'm still a bloodsucker.

Perhaps it's only a matter of time before he decided to turn on me and… I suppose that's fine. As long as we can prevent another Red Moon tragedy… and as long as I can correct my mistake and put Lady Elizabeth to eternal rest… I can leave this world knowing there is a better vampire hunter than me out there.

My only regret is that I was unable to fulfil my lady's wish… of creating a Haven for both mortals and vampires to live together in harmony. Perhaps such a fate… is not for us.

"Mary. You've been awfully quiet since we meet up with this guy. Did he do something to you?" Miss Claire asked me with a concerned face. I see that her mind isn't only occupied by thoughts of her brother.

"I'm fine. And no, he didn't do anything to me yet."

"Yet? You mean he's threatening to do something to you!?" She said with a disgusted face.

"N-No, that's not what I meant!"

"Don't worry. I'll talk to him for you!" Miss Claire declared as she immediately walked to confront the man.

"Miss Claire! Don't!" I shouted whilst being horrified.

"Hey you! Van Helsing, right?" Oh noooo! Don't provoke him!

"Y-Yes. What do you… want?"

"Whatever you did… or planning to do to Mary, cut it out! Can't you see that she's uncomfortable of your presence!?"

"Uhh…"

"Mary won't say anything but I understand her concerns! You must be a pervert who threatens her purity! I'll have you know that as her friend, you're not gonna touch her while I'm around!"

I can only watch in horror as Miss Claire scolded the man, accusing him of being a pervert who threatens me or something… and the man didn't even say anything except "Yes" in response.

For some reason I get the feeling that I'm watching a mother or an older sister scolding a naughty child… even though Mr. Van Helsing is supposed to be older than her.

Also… she called me a friend… and stood up for me… for some reason that makes me happy.

Uwaaahhh…! My sis is as scary as ever! Even though I look like an intimidating old man that even Mary is wary about… She still…

I almost thought that she found out who I am for a second there!

Anyway, it's good that the sun has already set and the ghoul attacks finally started so she finally stopped scolding me.

"It is time. The frenzy has begun." I muttered mysteriously, making the two of them wary.

"GWAAAAA!" The screams has started. The ghouls have come out of hiding and started attacking the poor residents of the Lawless City.

"The others will take care of the ghouls. I know of a secret passage into the Crimson Tower. Follow me." Mary said as she began to lead us to a hole she dug up on the other side of the tower.

"You dug this up by yourself?" My sis asked.

"Yes. I couldn't possibly rely on hired hands on this city. This took me years to dig." Mary answered. So she is well prepared. How dedicated she is to this mission. This Blood Queen fella must've been very dangerous if a famous vampire hunter like her would go through such lengths to do this.

"Let's go." She said and we followed her to the tunnel.

"So it has begun." Yukime muttered as she watched the ghouls becoming active and started attacking the residents of Lawless City from atop the White Tower's balcony.

"It has indeed." Said Adra, who's sitting on the balcony's railing.

"L-Lady Yukime…" Natsu and Kana, her attendants, called out to her whilst trembling.

"I know. I'll talk to her." Yukime said as she turned towards Carmilla, who's standing behind them.

"I hope you can keep your bloodlust in check so you can fulfil your mission, Carmilla." Yukime said, addressing the vampire woman whose make up is ruined by tear marks on her cheeks. Her aura becomes more terrifying than usual due to the effects of the Red Moon.

"Laura… I'll bring you back… Laura… Laura… Laura…" Carmilla muttered, ignoring Yukime's words.

"Carmilla! Remember why you're here! Remember the mission Lord Necromancer gave you!" Yukime shouted. The dreadful name escaping her lips is the only thing that Carmilla heard.

"L-Lord Necromancer! Yes…! I shall fulfill my mission! I shall bring the Blood Queen and Laura to you! I swear!" Carmilla shouted as she gazed at the Red Moon hanging above.

"Haah… Even at your most pitiful state, you're still so troublesome." Murmured Yukime after sighing.

"Yeah…" Adra said in agreement.

"What will you be doing now?"

"I'm not even assigned for this mission so I suppose I'll just keep watch I guess. If stuff happens, I may get to have some fun though."

"I see. Then I wish you luck, Adra."

"You too, Yukime."

"Natsu. Kana. You two shall lead the others to kill all the ghouls you can find."

""Yes, Lady Yukime.""

The Yukime and Adra then parted ways as Yukime started heading down the White Tower with Carmilla following behind her, ignoring the presence of vampires who stalked them since they left the tower.

Beta infiltrated the Crimson Tower from a separate location with her team. Their purpose is reconnaissance and information gathering so they sneaked in without fighting the vampires. That's Epsilon's job. As they headed towards the Crimson Tower's library, she sensed how uneasy 666 is.

"666. What troubles you?" She asked 666, formerly known as Rose Oriana.

"N-No… Lady Beta… It's just that…"

"The sacrifice will be fine. We shall leave that up to Mr. Van Helsing's team." Beta said while reassuring her, though she remained unconvinced. Even Beta didn't know why Claire would assume that her brother is captured but she wouldn't want to refute that claim as even she didn't know where her master currently is. For all she knows he could've intentionally allowed himself to be captured by the vampires. Even so she is not too worried as she has faith in her master's powers.

"But if he dies… I…"

"You heard Miss Mary's words. The ritual won't start until tomorrow. They have plenty of time. Our job is to head for the library."

"Y-Yes, Lady Beta. Forgive my impertinence." 666 Said.

As always… Babysitting is job too, Beta. Beta thought while sighing.

Author's Note:

The Moon is Red. The Frenzy has begun. There is no time left.

lanceron2Writes: Yes... YES! The Blood Moon is finally near, I'll be waiting for the next chapters i love em.

Merry Christmas by the way.

Answer: *In Shang Tsung voice* IT HAS BEGUN!

Glad to see you here, btw. I love your Blood Princess from the Shadows fanfic.

Merry Christmas!

Imboredlmao11: This chapter has the (hard to read/watch) vibes you get from the original if I'm being honest

Answer: How so? Is it the classic misunderstandings?

King0fP0wers: The scene I mentioned was Big Mom and Kaido burying the proverbial hatched. And NOT in each other's throats. Not that it matters anymore.

Merry Christmas! If it's not too much, could we have some sort of christmas or new year omake? Where Claude spends a pleasant day with the women close to him (his sister, Sherry, Iris and maybe Alexia)?

Answer: I don't follow One Piece that far so I don't really know.

I don't exactly plan any Christmas omake sadly. Too focused on the Red Moon scenario so I didn't come up with any scenario for omake.

Wholesome07: Well somebody's snitchin, i smell it *sniff* *sniff.* Anyways, we gettin some re-enactment of Van Helsing Vs Alucard hope it's an epic fight.

Answer: :thinkingemoji:

I hope I'll do it justice.