After a few strong hits, the doors to the warehouse broke open, taking part of the frame with it. A group of cultists wearing blood red robes with black trim entered. Their heads shaved to skin, high collars help protect their necks from the night's chill, but do nothing to disguise the fact that most had old puncture wounds on them. A taller man with a sharp beard and thin mustache followed behind. He smiled, revealing pointed canine teeth.

"Spread out," he ordered. "Find the crucible."

The men did as they were told, clearing shelves and pulling apart storage bins. As one tried to pull opened another, he suddenly went down. His partner looked down as saw a blade sticking out of his head; it looked like a throwing knife with nothing wrapping the handle.

"I've been waiting for you, Lars," a voice came. A girl walked out of the shadows, dressed in a style that wouldn't be out of place at a goth club; black corset, over the knee boots, black leather pants, opened bottom trencher with only a single button set, and fingerless gloves. Another blade appeared in her left hand. Cobalt eyes stared down the cultists. Her right hand ran though her short brown hair as if this was just a Tuesday to her.

"Who the hell are you?" Lars, the vampire demanded as his men backed away from her and began to draw weapons.

"Mana Kirishima," she replied. "I was sent by the church to deal with you. Too bad you got here first, they'll probably take the door repair out of my allowance."

"The church sent a girl like you?" His cultist began to chuckle. "They must be desperate. You should run while you have the chance."

Mana smiled. "That's my line." With a flick of her wrist another cultist went down, the blade firmly lodged between his eyes.

The vampire backed up as his men moved in for the attack. Mana stepped back grabbing a weapon off of her right side with her right hand as she did a single clockwise spin. The sound of leather cutting the air preceded a cracking sound as another cultist was struck, this time his chest split opened and divine energy tore his organs apart. The other cultists hesitated as she brought her arm down, stepping back again to lash another cultist with a downward swipe of her whip. The tip cracking again just before impact as the tip accelerated to speeds exceeding Mach one. The hit tore into his face and the divine energy destroyed his brain.

The Vampire's face changed to one of terror as a single word left his lips… "Belmont…"

Now at close range, Mana leapt in a lateral spiral kicking another cultist to the ground, the backflipped away from another. A third tried to close with her only for Mana to put all of her power into her legs an delivered a jumping uppercut. Divine energy formed around her turning her aura in a blade of judgement, splitting the cultist in half from crotch to crown. At the height she pirouetted and lashed out again, catching two more cultists with her divine whip.

Having almost no men left to protect him, Lars made a break for the door only to have his Achillies tendons taken out by two more swiftly thrown blades. He fell on his face trying to crawl away as Mana landed in front of him. He looked back in time to see both remaining cultists were dead.

"Now… why don't you tell me what it is you're looking for?"

"Fuck you," Lars managed. Retrieving a bottle from her belt, she popped the top and tossed some of the liquid inside across his back. Lars shrieked as the liquid soaked though his shirt to touch his skin, burning into it as if it were battery acid. Mana got down to his level, grabbing his head by the hair on the back of it, and forcing him to look at her.

"Hey focus!" She slapped him. "Make no mistake, demon, you're going to die here. How fast that happens is entirely up to you, because I can do this all night. Other than messing up your plans, I have a clean itinerary."

"Okay! I'll talk! We… fuck it hurts! We were sent to retrieve the Crucible of Blood!"

Mana leaned in closer. "By who?"

"C… Count Rebus! He got his orders from Olrox directly!"

"And why does it want it?"

"I don't know." Mana called another blade and slammed it into Lar's shoulder, the wound burned from the silvery metal and she ripped it back out after a few seconds. "I swear to the Dark Lord, I don't know! They didn't tell me!"

Mana pulled an oak stake from her side and swiftly impaled his heart from the back, then stepped back as the body burst into flames and turned to ash.

"The Brotherhood of Blood…What in God's name are they planning?"


Archdruid Sephiroth Presents

The Ninth Chapter of the Symphony of Shadows Series

Last Heir


I: Last Survivor


Morning came too soon for Mana… She entered the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, which functions not only as a local church for the public, but also as a deployment center for Church Operatives working in this region of Japan. Nestled safely away from the major cities, it was as defensible as it was unassuming.

The inside of this part of the church served as the deployment office, though you would never know it from the inside as it looked like just another part of the church itself; stained glass windows, columns, sets of votive candles along with the occasional decorative plant, or plaque featuring religious carvings and quotes of scripture.

Mana sighed. Though she did believe, she wasn't a priest or nun by any stretch, mostly because she was usually called upon to do the work that normal church officials, sometimes even church witches, wouldn't or simply couldn't do. Breaking certain commandments, especially "thou shalt not kill" was a normal part of her job, and she would have to cleanse her conscience every week in the confessional. It was no wonder several of her predecessors were ex-communicated but still did their jobs.

Entering the main office section did change the décor a lot. Here looked like a normal office, albeit with the occasional crucifix, religious calendar, or painting on the walls. In Father Matsudo's office, the priest that often gave her orders, she found a VIP she wasn't expecting.

"Archbishop Claudius," she greeted with a smile and a respectful bow. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"When I heard the report you sent last night, I knew I had to be here," he explained, straightening his absurdly complicated wardrobe. "Anything regarding the Brotherhood of Blood must always be taken seriously; lately they've been incredibly active in this part of the world."

"I need to brief you on your next assignment," Father Matsudo noted. The man's hair had gone white ages ago, but his face still held a bit of youthful vigor. He was fairly stern and forthright but knew compassion as well as any priest.

"We appear to be alone for the most part," Mana offered, noting only this office was even occupied at the moment.

"You may as well, we need her dispatched as soon as possible," Claudius noted to the priest.

"Indeed," Father Matsudo agreed. "We have a lead on a possible location for the Crucible, but until we can confirm it, we need you to assist in curtailing cult activities, specifically in the city of Utsunomiya. This is a seek and destroy mission specifically. Members of the Order of Infernus are attempting to destroy infrastructure, targeting water and power grid elements in the city."

"Sound serious," Mana agreed. I'll go immediately."

"If you hear any information regarding the Crucible, you must report it immediately," the archbishop added. "We believe it is critical to their current plans, as they have been searching for it virtually non-stop for months."

Mana considered a moment. "Do we know what it does?"

"Not precisely," Father Matsudo replied. "We know it is required for many high-level rituals created by ancient vampires, but what they need it for precisely still eludes us. As a secondary objective, I need you to find out any information about their current goals, but don't jeopardize innocent lives in your hunt."

"I understand."

"One more thing," Claudius added. "We received reports of a group of individuals operating in the area that may be involved as well. They aren't involved in the cults directly but may be supporting them in other ways. Almost the entire group is female, with the exception of one young man. We have it on good authority that this individual may be a Candidate for the Dark Lord."

That got Mana's attention. "How powerful?"

"Extremely. We know he possesses the power of Dominus, and that alone makes him a threat. But we have reason to believe he has killed many other candidates."

"Killing Dracula is the reason the Belmont Clan has existed… I cannot back down from such a fight."

"Perhaps not… but without Vampire Killer, you may not be able to win. A simple sanctified leather whip is not likely to be enough against such a foe. Be cautious, warrior."

"I will, Archbishop. Don't worry."


Mana reached the city in under an hour using her motorcycle. Leaving the over-tuned Honda behind she entered the waterworks of Utsunomiya, a huge roughly square-shaped building with a massive reverse osmosis tank outside.

She ran in only to immediately get fired upon by cultists. Her senses suddenly active she dodged several bullets before launching several blades towards her attackers. Three cultists when down simultaneously with blades in them. As she ran, she summoned more to her waiting left hand. Then slid under an attempted attack by a werewolf. She turned to throw the daggers but another wolf sideswiped her with a devastating kick. She slid several meters before pushing off the ground and side flipping to her feet.

"Why does lycanthrope turn people into kung fu wolves?" She questioned before dismissing her daggers and instead forming a silver edged axe in her hand. Both ran at her at full speed, mouths drooling and displaying their fangs. She chucked an axe as hard as she could while unleashing her whip with her right hand. The wolf wasn't able to get out of the way in time and was taken down by a lethal strike to the chest from the axe, the other managed to dodge the whip strike then took off past some filtration tanks.

She heard the locking of several crossbows behind her and swiftly pirouetted to face them. Seeing bolts already in the air, she deflected them with precise strikes from her whip as she continued to spin, changing to a low stance, then going airborne on the last couple. A white aura blinked around her while she was still in air and she suddenly launched herself forward, residual energy become like a set of blades around her though she lost moment before she reached her targets. This still put her in whip range, and long before they were able to reload their crossbows. Several strikes in quick succession later, and all five were dead and bleeding out on the ground.

"This place is infested," Mana noted. "They are hellbent on wrecking this city, but why?" She ran deeper into the facility as her mind continued to try to rationalize this attack. "They could be using the confusion as a cover… maybe the Crucible is here in Utsunomiya after all."

The sounds of a nearby confrontation caught her attention and she ran into what appeared to be a larger chamber with more pipes and tanks but a wide opened space in the middle. She scarcely believed what she saw.

A pair of Sword Lords were busy slaughtering a group of cultists attempting to take control of the filtration system. An Alura Une, a creature she only saw once in a book was using its vines to strangle the life out of a werewolf, likely the one that got away from Mana herself, while also using her vines to impale several cultists trying to escape. Towards the back, a summoned Flame Demon was being assailed by a twin sickle wielding warrior in red armor that exposed her entire back; glyphic magic tattoos were visible. One of the lead cultists was currently being throttled by a black trencher clad vampire that looked around 18 years old.

"They're not supporting the cult?"

That Vampire drew her attention more than the Glyph Mage or the Alura Une, she could feel it in her soul… she was looking at the reincarnation of the Dark Lord… but why was he acting against his own cults?

Several cultists attacked Mana at that moment, forcing her into the room. Shinji turned to see Mana backflip a few times before lashing out with her whip to attack the cultists. A feeling grabbed his heart instantly, and an ancient fear hit him for just a moment. He knew instantly what she was, and what she represented… and then he realized he knew exactly who she was… "The T-RIDEN-T program… it can't be…"

In a few short moments, the cultists were dead. She turned towards Shinji as Asuka moved closer to him. Hikari stepped down from her flower and circled around Mana towards her left, staying out of whip range.

"Mana," Shinji whispered.

"How do you…" then it hit her… "Oh my God… Shinji?"

"You?!" Asuka nearly yelled. "What the hell are you doing back?!"

Shinji looked at Asuka. "You couldn't remember my birthday, but HER you remember?"

"I always remember the people that piss me off," Asuka retorted.

"Oh… hi, Asuka," Mana started in a taunting voice. "I didn't even recognize you without that look of superiority on your face."

"Too bad for you, I can still smell Bitch a mile away."

Shinji growled. "Can we fucking NOT right now?! This isn't the time!"

"Hey," Mana interjected. "Tell me something… when did you become Dracula incarnate?"

The sudden brazenness in which she stated her accusation caused Shinji to hesitate in his response. That hesitation told Mana all she needed to know; her feeling was correct, and he was indeed the dark lord reincarnated. She loved him once, but she knew she couldn't shirk her destiny; brandishing her whip, she rushed forward to attack.

Expecting this Asuka resummoned her sickles and intercepted. Shinji tried to yell to her to stop, that she was no match for a Belmont, but Asuka didn't listen and went full tilt against this girl who held her hatred. Mana dodged the series of attacks headed her way, including the overhead scythe attack when Asuka combined her sickle glyphs into an overhead strike. Mana easily slid away lashing out with her whip, but missing. She then dodged the array of rose darts Hikari threw at her.

"Wait… THAT's Hikari?! This is regular school reunion. I'm surprised Rei isn't here…"

Asuka rushed in with a sashing attack intending to finish Mana quickly, but she didn't expect Mana to be as fast as she was. She ducked under the attack, catching Asuka with her Right arm, throwing her hard away, then quickly doing a half spin to lash with her whip. The timing was flawless and before Asuka could correct her orientation to land, her world turned to pain.

The lash struck her straight down her exposed back. Asuka hit the ground hard, crying out in pain when she stopped rolling as her back bled profusely and divine energy nearly paralyzed her.

"No!" Shinji yelled. "Stop this!"

Mana quickly dodged more rose darts and then chucked a crystal flask in Hikari's direction. It hit the ground just in front of her sending a wave of blue fire over the flower girl who immediately started screaming from exposure to the blessed flames. She rolled quickly pulling water from the ground to extinguish herself and saw Mana preparing the finishing lash. Hikari was in too much pain to move and braced herself.

A beam of moonlight interceded and Mana's whip hit the shield of Final Guard, protecting Hikari. Shinji stood before her, now very upset. His normally beautiful cobalt eyes now crimson red and glowing.

"Enough!" he yelled, his voice carrying an unnatural echo. "I don't want to hurt you, but I won't let you harm my girls anymore!"

"Your girls?! What are you a Mormon or something?"

Shinji ignored her quip. "I don't know how you managed to revive the legacy of the Belmont Clan, but it doesn't matter. I am not your enemy."

"Oh, but you are," Mana retorted. "You have ever been my enemy, Dracula. My linage has hunted you and your kind for centuries. In the name of my ancestors, I'm going to send you back to Hell!"

Shinji remained silent for a moment. "I am not Count Dracula… I am but a candidate for the Dark Lord, albeit one who has a strong claim to the title… but it is a title I neither asked for, nor desired. I cannot help what I have become, any more than you can deny your birthright. But I swear to you Mana, I am not your enemy."

"So sayeth the Prince of Lies."

"Mana… I have literally… never lied… but I can see I can't convince you." Shinji drew the flaming sword Laevatain and pointed it at Mana. "Let's get this over with."


I spoke to God today,

And she said that she's ashamed,

"What have I become?

"What have I done?"

I heard from the Devil today,

And he swears he's not to blame,

And I understood,

Cause I feel the same…

-Five Finger Death Punch, "Wrong Side of Heaven"


"How can he not be evil… I can sense the Dark Lord in him… This battle will reveal the truth of it… but can I really bring myself to kill my former crush?"

Next Chapter: To Kill a Vampire