Chapter 69: Creatures in the Tunnel

"Haaah… No rest for the wicked, I guess." Sighed Alexia as she finished her paperwork for the day and starts drinking coffee in her office room.

"Good work, Princess." Said Marco, who is assigned to guard and accompany her.

"How's my sister doing?"

"She's been doing well. She put herself into her court duties more seriously than she did in the past. She's starting to-"

"That doesn't sound good at all. At this rate she's gonna overwork herself like Claude did!" Alexia exclaimed while cutting off Marco's words. She then stood up and walked towards the door.

"P-Princess?"

"I'm going to check on my sister. Let's go." She said as she left the room with Marco following close behind.

As she walked through the halls of the castle, her distracted mind led her to gaze at the view outside the window. Marco also gazed outside the window. The view of the Red Moon does not escape their notice this time as it had previous nights before.

"Huh… The moon is redder than ever tonight." Marco remarked. His words reminded her of the legendary Red Moon.

"The Red Moon….! All these court business and… we didn't realize…!" Alexia exclaimed as she started running towards Iris' room.

"P-Princess!" Marco shouted as he followed close behind.

As she ran in the halls, she stumbled upon the person she was looking for in the hallways.

"Alexia!" Iris shouted with concerned face matching Alexia's own.

"Sister! Tonight… it's… the Red Moon!"

"What!? Is that why he…?" Iris said, finally noticing the Red Moon outside the window.

"Sister? What's going on?"

"Claude! He's been missing! He's neither in his room nor in his office!"

"What!?"

"I heard from his sister that he has a habit of taking matters into his own hands and often put himself in danger without relying on anyone! If he disappeared at this time, it might be because he…" Iris explained with a horrified face.

"He's… going to…" Alexia murmured as the realization kicked in.

"Assemble a party of knights and prepare to move out to Lawless City immediately." Iris ordered.

"But Princess! If we dispatch a party of knights to Lawless City, we'll leave the capital defenceless against the ghouls!" Marco said.

"I agree. That'd be a reckless move." Claude said behind him.

"But if we do nothing, Claude will…! Huh?" Iris said before realizing Claude's presence.

"Uwaaah! Si-Since when!?" Marco screamed, started by Claude standing behind him without him noticing.

"Claude! Where have you been!?" Shouted Alexia angrily.

"Toilet." He said nonchalantly.

"But… but… we thought you…" Alexia muttered incoherently.

"Haaahh… Don't scare us like that, Claude!" Iris said while sighing and clutching her forehead with one hand.

"What? What did I do?" Claude said confusedly.

"Nothing… It's just that…" Iris muttered.

"The Red Moon isn't it? We need to make sure our forces are vigilant. The Red Moon will last for full three days and nights and during that time period, the vampire and ghoul attacks will intensify." Claude suggested.

"Yes indeed. We should hold an emergency meeting." Iris said.


"Heh heh heh… Soon… the bloodbath will begin." Muttered the guard dog of the Crimson Tower, a mass murderer whose infamy earned him the name "White Demon" who is reduced to a mere gate guard of the Crimson Tower after losing his right arm when he was defeated by Crimson. Now he waits for fools who walks the same path as he did in the past.

"I bet there will be plenty of aspiring vampire hunters who would try to challenge this tower's ruler. Hee hee hee. Hurry up. Hurry up and fight m-" His monologue was cut off by the head of a dead vampire falling to his side from atop the tower.

"Huh… Since when…?" He stared at the vampire's head, expecting it to say something. When he confirmed that the vampire is dead, he decided to just ignore it.

"Well… anyone who can sneak past me is not my problem. Especially ones who are already killing vampires up there. Yup. Not my problem at all." He said as he turned his gaze back to the city where hordes of ghouls are attacking the residents.

"Come on! Come on! Come to me so I can cut you all off!" He returned to what he was doing previously. Waiting for his prey to come.

Whilst waiting, he saw a giant bat… no, a woman with the wings of a bat flying towards the Crimson Tower.


"How long is this tunnel!?" Complained Claire impatiently as she walked through the tunnel dug by Mary together with Mary and Van Helsing. Mary, who leads the way, carries a lantern.

"Just a bit more. And we'll reach a loose wall that I-"

"There seems to be a problem." Van Helsing cut Mary off when he sensed new presences in the tunnel.

"What do you mean, old man?" Asked Claire.

"We've got company." He said. As if to confirm his words, an unholy screech is heard throughout the tunnel.

"What…!?" Mary was startled as she activated her night vision and saw a group of ghouls approaching them. However, these ghouls are different from the ghouls that she knows. They have elongated hands, bigger and sharper claws and fangs and behaved more bestial than regular ghouls, walking and running on all fours like beasts.

"What are… those…?" Mary muttered as she brandished the silver blade she received from Van Helsing.

"Those are no ordinary ghouls. They are minions of a nosferatu." Van Helsing said as he too brandished his own weapon. Claire following suit.

"GRAAAAHH!" Roared a ghoul as it charged against Mary, who blocked its claws with her blade.

"Strong…!" She said as she felt how heavy its strike is, which matched some of the vampires she fought in the past. The ghoul tried to claw her with its other hand before said hand was cut off by Claire.

"Hiaaaa!" Claire followed up with a slash on its torso.

But the ghoul ignored the large gash it suffered and continued its attack. This time targeting Claire.

"Graaahh!" The ghouls roared as it tries to bite Claire. "What!?" Claire was startled and was unable to react. But…

"Be careful, young lady." Van Helsing said as he bisected the ghoul before it could bite Claire. "These ghouls are more resilient than you think." He continued.

"Old man…" Claire muttered with wide eyes.

As Claire was still stunned, Van Helsing continued slicing the rest of the ghouls apart with speed that she has only seen from one other man only.

"Amazing…" Even Mary was stunned by the display of skill and speed. In no time at all the horde of ghouls were disposed of.

Van Helsing adjusted his fedora hat before turning back to them.

Heh. Nailed it. Now they're stunned by my performance. Thought Van Helsing.

"Now then. Where is the entrance to the tower? Lead the way, Mary." Van Helsing said.

"Y-Yes! But we must be careful! I have a feeling that the ghouls being here is not a coincidence!" Mary said as she began taking the lead.

"Old man." Claire called out to Van Helsing while they're walking.

"Y-Yes? Young lady?" Van Helsing said. A hint of nervousness in his voice went unnoticed by the two girls.

"Your technique was excellent. It seems I've misjudged you. And I'm thankful for saving my life." She said as she smiled.

"But… When we get there, don't get in my way. I'll save Cid by myself! Got it?" She quickly changed her expression and tone as she made her demands known while pointing a finger at him.

"O-Okay. I understand." A bewildered Van Helsing said.

After that clarification, they went on their merry way. When they found the loose wall that Mary mentioned though, they found that it's already broken. They saw a huge hole in the wall leading to the Crimson Tower.

"It seems that this entrance has been found. As I feared. That's why they sent those ghouls here." Mary said.

"How could they find out?" Claire asked.

"I don't know. This tunnel is supposed to be a secret that only I know of." Mary said.

"They're coming." Van Helsing said. His words made the two girls tense up as they heard footsteps made by… something made of stone approaching from the other side of the broken wall.

"What the…" Claire murmured.

"That's… one of the gargoyles from Lady Beta's briefings!" Mary said as she recognized the living statue shaped like a demonic bat creature which stood in their way from reading Zeta's report.

"Do not use the silver sword against them! It will do no good against their stone bodies! You would more likely break the sword instead!" Van Helsing warned as he unsheathed his own silver sword and brandished his spare sword which is made of steel.

"Very well!" Mary said as she unsheathes her own silver sword and summoned her blood sword.

The gargoyle screeches as it charged towards them preparing to claw them with both hands. Mary and Claire blocked its claws together with their blades as Van Helsing moved to cut both its arms off.

The creature screeched as it opens its mouth and starts shooting poisonous darts from a tube inside its mouth.

"Careful!" Claire shouted as she created a blood tentacle to block the darts.

Mary charged in and managed to stab the creature's throat. But due to its hardened body, the stab didn't go deep enough, which allowed the creature to kick her away.

"Ughh!" Mary grunted as she fell to the ground.

Van Helsing moved to decapitate the creature. That finally put an end to its movements.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked Mary as she held a out hand, offering to help her get up.

"I'm alright, Miss Claire. But…" Mary said as she accepted Claire's hand and stood back up.

"Can you tell me how did you do that?" Mary said as she glanced at the blood tentacle behind Claire.

"Umm… this is…" Claire was unable to answer.

"I'm not accusing you of being a vampire. I have no right to do that as I'm a vampire myself. Mr. Van Helsing also confirmed that no trace of vampiric blood is left in you. I'm just… curious." Mary clarified.

"I know. I don't know how I did this myself. It just sort of… come to me. After that woman appeared in my dreams." Claire said. Van Helsing listened to her words intently.

"Woman? Was it Carmilla?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure it wasn't the vampire whore who attacked me though." Claire answered.

"Hmm… Perhaps she… granted you this power?" Mary said as she remembered what Claire said when she was possessed by a mysterious entity back in Carmilla's house.

"I suppose so. Her words are vague and I can't understand them." Claire said. "Wait. You said you're a vampire!?" Claire exclaimed when she realized what Mary said.

"Yes… I am a vampire…" She answered with a subdued voice.

"Why did you… become a vampire hunter then?" Claire asked.

"I suppose… Before I meet my end… I shall tell you everything. You deserve to know… Especially you, Mr. Van Helsing." Mary said with a sad face.

"What do you mean before you meet your end?" Claire asked. Mary does not answer.

Mary said as she took a breath and began telling her tale. Her two companions listened intently.


Author's Note:

And Mary will now start telling her backstory.

Guest: "The hideout she brought me to was filled with generic bandits and because their leader was talking smack to me while having only small amount of money for me to rob, I decided to just blow the entire place away"... very much what shadow will say. It's really incredible how you portray the Canon characters so well.

Answer: I'm glad you think so. I tried my best to capture his train of thought.