Chapter 72: Miniboss
"As I thought. The vampires were a byproduct of Diablos cells. Perhaps a variant or failed product of the Cult? We did confirm that they were researching immortality using Diablos cells. But, in order to confirm this theory, we might need a sample from the Progenitor herself… But with the existence of vampires such as Carmilla and Alucard, adding the Blood Queen into the mix might be a bad idea. What to do…?" Beta murmured as she kept reading the old tomes in the Crimson Tower library.
The library used to be located underground but due to recent changes in management over the Lawless City, the underground rooms were converted into dungeons and the library was moved upstairs. That's why the library looks cleaner than what she expected from a centuries old archive. The room is clean, save for the pile ghoul corpses that she and her team just recently killed.
She sensed a presence lurking in the shadowy corner of the library but ignored him, waiting for him to approach.
"Hee hee hee." She heard a silent laughter. Like a whisper.
She sighed at how… amateurish the assassin is at hiding himself.
He even had the gall to laugh. Did he think these ears are just for show? Thought Beta.
"666. Take care of the intruder." Beta ordered.
"Yes!" 666 said as she brandished her blade and jumped towards the corner where the assassin is hiding. She slashed at him but he managed to dodge, exposing his form to the light.
"Well well well. It seems that you girls are quite sharp, ain't cha?" Said the black robed intruder.
"Who are you!?" Rose said.
"Heh heh heh. There was a time when I was known as Rex, the Riveting Rebel. But now I'm just a pawn of Lord Necromancer's." The intruder, Rex, said as he revealed his pale and grinning face, which Beta recognized from his dossier.
"What is a pawn of Necromancer doing here, I wonder?" Asked Beta calmly.
"I've been assigned to kill any Shadow Guardian members in this tower. Sorry girls! But you guys are dead!" Rex grinned menacingly as he charged towards 666 with a blade in hand. 666 parried his strike, only to find that he had another blade in his other hand.
"Huh?" 666 gasped as she noticed the other blade aiming at her neck too late before she was saved by 664, who parried the blade.
"Be careful, 666!" Exclaimed 664. Rex took that opportunity to jump back.
"T-Thank you, 664." 666 said as she turned back to face her opponent.
"Hee hee hee. I've been modified by Lord Necromancer to become more powerful! You weaklings have no cha-" Rex's words were cut off by 666's lunge that pierced his skull.
"Huh?" 666, who was expecting a tough fight, was flabbergasted at how easy the man had been disposed of.
"Well… that was… easy?" 664 muttered confusedly.
"He simply talked too much. It seems that Necromancer forgot to remove that flaw from him." Beta remarked amusedly as she continued reading the tome.
"My. Lord Necromancer sent that guy to support Carmilla but he was useless after all. No wonder why Lord Necromancer didn't have him replace Mundane Mann's position as the Third Seat the Seven Wraiths, a seat reserved for one of his elite undead minions." Said a male voice whose presence she did not sense.
"Who's there!?" Exclaimed 666 as she turned towards a male figure approaching. 664 and 665 followed suit.
"My. Did you forget about me already, Princess Rose? I'm hurt." Said the figure who revealed himself to be Adra, the beastkin member of the Seven Wraiths. His presence alone made Beta close the tome warily and turned her attention fully at him.
"You're…!?" 666 said as she recognized his face.
"666. Retreat. This is not an opponent that you can face." Ordered Beta.
666, who is desperate to contribute towards Shadow Garden's cause so they will reciprocate by helping her liberate her father and kingdom, understood that she could not do anything towards the man in front of her because she has fought him before.
"I wonder what you're doing here, Mr. Adra? Are you here on orders to eliminate us too?" Beta asked him warily, trying to pry as much information out of him as she can.
"Actually no. I am here out of my own initiative." Adra replied nonchalantly.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Well…" Adra scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. "I kind of blundered the last time I met with Princess Rose there and so Lord Necromancer was mad at me. So sorry, girls but I can't afford to blunder like that again. I need to get back into his good side after all." Adra said as he dropped his casual and friendly attitude and prepared his claws.
"Tch. And I was looking forward to chatting with you more since you seem to be a pleasant conversationalist." Beta said, her slime sword ready in her hand.
"Believe me. I'd love to keep chatting too but… duty calls." He said as he charged towards Beta and Beta followed suit. His claws clashed against her blade.
I continued up the stairs with Claire and Mary following close behind, dispatching ghouls and the occasional vampires who started appearing in the higher floors.
"Mary, you traitor!" Said a vampire while hissing before having being bisected by Mary's silver sword.
"UAAAGHHH! WHAT IS THIS!?" The vampire screamed in agony, his wound unable to regenerate even under the Red Moon. Mary put him out of his misery by stabbing his heart, killing him.
"Phew…" After dispatching the vampire, Mary sheathed her sword in her hips and we continued on our merry way.
It's cool that vampires started appearing but in my opinion the vampires are not much different from those super ghouls, save for some unique skills like mist form. And here I thought we'll have at least some miniboss fights when we meet actual vampires. Disappointing. Even the gargoyles were a greater threat than them.
"Shaaaa!" Another vampire screeches as he charged after me. I tried slashing him before he can reach me but he turned into mist, my blade passing through him harmlessly.
He rematerialized behind me and charged towards sister, intending to attack her from behind. But he underestimated my sister's new powers.
"What! How did you…?" The vampire grunted as his heart is pierced by sister's blood tentacle.
"Hmph. I'm getting used to this whole thing." My sister said with a scary grin. Why do I get the feeling that she's gonna use those tentacles to chase after me in the future?
As I contemplate that, I finally sensed a powerful presence. Finally a miniboss!
"Be wary. Someone is waiting for us." I said to them. Their face becomes wary.
We eventually reached the powerful presence I sensed, a nine tailed fox beastkin wearing white kimono.
"I'm afraid I can't let you pass." She said.
"Yukime of the White Tower!? Why are you here?" Mary asked, not expecting the fox lady being here.
"Let's just say that… my master have an interest with what's going on upstairs" She said as she brandished a metal fan and began charging at us… well more specifically towards Mary and Claire.
"Tch!" Mary grinted as she blocked Yukime's fan and felt the heavy pressure from it, recognizing how strong the ruler of the White Tower is.
"Why are you doing this!? Didn't Crimson betray your master, Don Jon!?" Mary asked whilst her blade is still locked with Yukime's.
"As I said before… he's interested with what's going on upstairs."
"Crimson is about to resurrect the Blood Queen! If he succeeds, not only the Lawless City but the nearby kingdoms too will be destroyed!"
"That's none of my concern. My master's orders are absolute." Yukime replied while pushing Mary away.
"Hiaaa!" Claire charged at Yukime with her sword. Her downward slash was parried easily by the fox lady with her fan but Claire sent her blood tentacles after her, causing the fox lady to jump back.
"How surprising. You don't look like a vampire but you manipulate blood like them." Yukime remarked curiously.
"Huh!?" She gasped as she immediately sensed my presence behind her. She immediately turned and parried my attack. My blade now licked with her fan.
"As I thought… you're the most dangerous one. May I have your name, mister?"
"I am Van Helsing. Slayer of vampires and hunter of the night."
"Mr. Van Helsing, eh? I see that you're a vampire hunter. But can I convince you to leave this matter alone?" She said while winking at me and pushing her breasts forward to expose her cleavage. I see that she employs seduction just like Kyuubi no Kitsune from old folktales of my old world. Funny coincidence.
"Hmph. Why would I leave this matter alone?" I said while grinning, ignoring her seduction attempts. Why would I leave when there's a fun boss fight waiting for me in this tower? And when there's a miniboss right in front of me? The only reason I would leave is to raid this tower's treasury! Oh yeah right! I have to do that soon!
"Hmm.. How disappointing. But I suppose you leave me no choice." She said as she unleashed her magic power, which enveloped her nine tails with golden light and making them seem longer than they are. Good. Come at me!
She charged and sent several more strikes with her fan which I parried. Her movements looked like a dance, as quick and deadly as it is beautiful. But it took me no time at all to read and adapt to her rhythm.
"Hmm… You're stronger than I thought, Mr. Van Helsing." She said while frowning. "Then how about this!?" She shouted as she began a new dance, her golden magical energy gathering around her while following the movements of her fan which she spun around.
It's definitely her ultimate technique. I grinned as I watched her dance.
"Mr. Van Helsing! Look out!" Shouted Mary warning me. But it's too late. The fox lady unleashed a whirlwind from her fan. Hidden within the whirlwind are several golden colored magic slashes.
I'm going to dub this attack the "Golden Whirlwind Dance".
I grinned as I didn't even move to dodge the attack. I allowed the whirlwind to reach me and…
I blocked all the magic slashes hidden within the whirlwind at high speed with my blade without moving a single step. "Huh!?" The fox lady can only stand there in complete shock as I effortlessly block her attacks. The wind passed by me harmlessly and dispersed.
"Hmph. 'Twas a good dance, milady." I wasn't kidding. Her magic control is almost like Epsilon's level with how she's able to unleash a long ranged attack like that. Though with a weapon like a fan, she definitely would really need the range.
"Why, thank you. It seems that I cannot defeat you, Mr. Van Helsing. Very well. I concede." Yukime said as she dropped her stance and began walking away.
"You're just gonna let us go? I thought your master's order is absolute." Claire said with suspicion.
"I value my life after all. Mr. Van Helsing is just too strong for me. And I may fear Lord Don Jon more but I know he cannot kill me that easily. Not while I still have value to him." Yukime replied. Sounds like this fox lady is a close aide of Don Jon's. Interesting.
"But before I go, know that you will not find the enemy upstairs an easy fight." With those last words, she left the floor.
"Let's keep going. I need to save my brother immediately!" Claire said as she impatiently ran towards the stairs, Mary and I followed closely behind.
When we finally reached the rooftop, we saw a coffin, a poor black haired boy nailed to a cross, and the vampire woman named Carmilla waiting for us.
Author's Note:
First chapter in 2024!
Rex came back but without much hype and went away abruptly as befits a mob villain. Also Yukime short fight scene. Hope I depicted her unique fighting style nicely since she rarely fights on screen in canon.
lanceron2Writes: Everyone's just being dramatic XD, Happy New Years!
Can't want for Elizabeth to appear in this fic, i wonder what will happen to her now that there's two powerful beings who are both stronger than her present this time around(Excluding Aurora)
That said...
Looks at one of my fic's main characters, Remilya*
Kid, I think don't ya mom ain't surviving this timeline.
"I THINK you should stop slacking around and continue my story."
Ah, right. I forgot about that, sorry.
Answer: Happy New year!
Elizabeth may appear in the next 2 chapters. She might not die because I sort of have a plan for her.
Don't worry, Remilya… She won't die. Or maybe you should worry because I'm kind of a sadistic author.