Chapter 73: Mary's Resolve

*BOOM*

"Hyaaaahh!" Beta screamed as she was blown away out of the library along with her team. They fell around the hallways outside.

"Aghh… And here I thought I wouldn't have to fight another Delta." Beta remarks as she stood back up and beheld the monstrous form before her.

What was once a friendly faced beastkin is now a hulking grey werewolf, with strength almost equal to Delta's according to her estimation.

"Lady Beta!" 664 shouted at her.

"Now then. I suppose I should do what I usually do when I have to deal with an impatient and cranky Delta."

"What do you mean?" 664 said as she watched Beta turned towards other direction.

"RUUUNN!" Shouted Beta as she began running away.

"EEEEEEH!?" The three girls shouted confusedly as they too followed her.

"…." Adra was so flabbergasted by his opponent's decision that he reverted back to his original form.

"Hmm… smart girl. If she was a little dumber, I will be forced to kill her or capture her. Then Sara will lose a very precious friend…" Adra muttered, not giving chase to his enemies.

"Keeping them away from the rooftop should be enough contribution to keep Lord Necromancer happy for now. I wonder if I should stop those three upstairs too…? Hmm… Nah. Her scent is too similar to him… I won't do it. Or to be more precise… I can't. So I won't." Adra said as he began walking away from the library while whistling leisurely.


"You won't interfere with my master's plans." Carmilla said towards Mary, Claire and Van Helsing, who just arrived at the Crimson Tower's rooftop.

"You're that vampire bitch! Where's Cid!?" Claire shouted.

"You're… not Laura. Your name is Claire, isn't it? Still searching for your brother? Maybe this boy is the one you're looking for?" Carmilla said while pointing at the sacrifice, a black haired boy nailed to a cross.

"Who the heck is that?" Claire said, not recognizing the boy.

"Not him? That's a shame. For all the troubles you've caused me, I was looking forward to turning him into a sacrifice for the Blood Queen's reawakening right in front of your eyes."

"What do you mean reawakening?" Mary asked, noticing the emphasis on the word 'reawakening'.

"Because Elizabeth is not a true vampire like me. She is still alive. Barely. But alive." Carmilla said as she lifted Elizabeth's heart, which looked like a metal orb carved to look like a flower with red orb inside its petals.

"Th-That's!?" Mary exclaimed as she saw Elizabeth's heart in Carmilla's hand.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel how this heart still beats with life and magic despite the body wasting away after sleeping for centuries? This is still a living creature. And I will awaken her." Carmilla said.

"Carmilla! Did you forget what happened during the last Red Moon!?" Mary shouted.

"Of course not. But I could care less about what happens to poor kingdoms that will be destroyed in her rampage. That is… assuming we allowed her to go on a rampage in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Mary asked, not liking this development at all.

"My orders are to awaken the Blood Queen and capture her because Lord Necromancer wants to extract her blood for his research. Your poor Blood Queen will suffer a fate worse than death from now on. Trust me. I've experienced it." Carmilla taunts. Her words succeeded in getting Mary angry.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on Lady Elizabeth!" Mary shouted as she brandished her silver sword and slashed at Carmilla, who blocked the strike with a blood spear she created in her hand.

"Now, that's the reaction I wanted to see." Carmilla said while pushing Mary away with superior strength. "I'm no longer mad at you for killing that traitorous sister of mine. In fact, I'm kind of grateful that you did that. But you're just so cute that I can't help but tease you!" Carmilla makes a sadistic grin as she extends the blood spear in her hand to attack Mary. But her blood spear is intercepted by Claire's blood tentacle.

"Claire…!" Mary said as she saw Claire standing beside her.

"Don't give up. We can do this." Claire declared. Van Helsing also took position beside her.

"Ahh… I remember. You have a power similar to vampires. My master is also interested in you so I shall be taking you in, Claire." Carmilla said before her attention shifted towards Van Helsing.

"And you… I will never forgive you for scarring my body. The moon is red… And with it, my powers are supreme!" Carmilla shouted as she created hundreds of blood spears which quickly filled the entire rooftop like a dome, aiming them towards the three.

"Wha…!?" Mary was flabbergasted as she never saw anyone besides her Lady Elizabeth creating that much blood spears in such a short time.

"Dammit… Cid..!" Claire muttered as she too fell to despair.

Hmm… She's almost as skilled as Violet-san in creating the blood spears. Thought Van Helsing.

"My offer still stands you know. Join me and become a true vampire, Mary!" Carmilla said towards Mary.

"Never!" Mary shouted, refusing Carmilla's offer once again.

"THEN DIEEE!" Shouted Carmilla as she sent all the blood spears towards them…

*CRAAAASH*

A very loud sound of glass breaking… no, multiple of such sounds stacked on top of each other, rang loudly in the air. Mary, Claire and Carmilla had to cover their ears to protect them from the loud sounds.

Then they realized that all the blood spears are now merely shards flying in the air, dispersing to red mist.

"What… just happened?" Claire asked.

"I… have no idea. But the spears…" Mary muttered in disbelief.

"Impossible! How did you…!?" Carmilla shouted, being the only one to notice that in an instant Van Helsing had moved so fast and destroyed all her blood spears with his sword, though even she was unable to track his movements and only noticed due to noticing him vanishing for a second followed by the crashing sound before reappearing in his original position.

"You mean…" Mary then realized what Van Helsing had done, reinforcing her fear of him once again.

Hmph. Perfect. Now they all stare at me in awe. Thought Van Helsing while grinning.

"How did you do that!? How did you move so fast!? What Artifact did you use!?" Carmilla angrily shouts in disbelief whilst Van Helsing ignored her.

Though… I think this act is too similar to how I did Shadow or Mundane Mann… I should behave more like Professor Abraham Van Helsing and starts showing off my knowledge even more! With a monologue! Though Van Helsing.

"Hmph. It was a simple trick to move at the speed of sound and cut those spears one by one in less than a second. All I did was focusing magic to my fee-" Van Helsing began monologuing before he was interrupted by Carmilla's shout.

"AAAARGHHH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU THE MOST, VAN HELSING!" Carmilla shouted with pure hatred. Her beautiful face started stretching and becomes warped as her mouth opens wider than normal, exposing shark-like teeth. The sight intimidates both Mary and Claire whereas Van Helsing just smiled while frowning for a second due to his monologue being interrupted.

"Dear me. Such a naughty youngster you are." Van Helsing said as he brandished his silver sword and prepared himself for a boss fight.

"Let me handle this." Mary said.

"Mary?" Claire said while looking at Mary's determined face.

"I made her suffer. Not to mention, I must atone for my sins… Please let me do this, Mr. Van Helsing." Mary said while looking at Van Helsing's direction.

Ehhh!? But I was looking forward to this boss battle too! But Van Helsing is not a battle junkie like Shadow. I must restrain myself and let my student prove herself! Yeah, being a mysterious mentor character for a main character isn't a bad thing. In fact, it certainly sounds like an Eminence in Shadow thing to do! Thought Van Helsing.

"Very well. Don't disappoint me, student." Van Helsing said while looking at Mary in the eyes.

"Huh?" Mary was startled at his words. All this time she thought he would turn on her once the Blood Queen is taken care of... just like her past companions had done once they found out that she is a vampire.

To think that he… thought of me as a student… That's right. He gave me this sword… and happily shared all his knowledge of vampire hunting with me…

"Thank you… teacher." Mary thanked Van Helsing while smiling.

Van Helsing only smiled in response as he stepped away from the scene, allowing Mary to face Carmilla.

"I'm your opponent, Carmilla!" Mary said as she pointed her silver sword at Carmilla's direction.

"Grrr…. You've grown arrogant just because you've got a nice new sword. But…" Carmilla's form began to transform, adopting a human bat-like creature with huge sharp claws and monstrous fangs.

"You are no match for me, fake vampire!" Carmilla roared and began clawing at her.

"Focusing my magic to my feet, eh?" Mary said as she tried to replicate Van Helsing's technique and found that instead of focusing her magic throughout her entire body, she could increase her speed even more by merely focusing it on her feet.

With that knowledge, she dodged Carmilla's claw and even had time to slice her wrist.

"HYAAAAAAGHHHH!" Carmilla roared in pain as she once again tasted the silver blade's burning edge.

"But it's useless!" Carmilla screeched as the wound on her wrist healed itself, although slower than it usually did.

"Wha…?" Mary was surprised that she could do that because all the other vampires she slashed with the silver blade were unable to heal themselves even under the Red Moon.

"Don't lump me together with the other weak fake vampires!" Carmilla roared again as she clawed at her again, which Mary dodged.

"Tch! Sneaky little rat!" Carmilla kept clawing and Mary kept dodging, occasionally slicing Carmilla's hands or blocking her claws. The more she moved, the more skilled she is at maintaining magic usage on her feet. In time, she did not have to block Carmilla's claws at all and just effortlessly dodged them whilst dealing more and more damage to Carmilla's hands.

"GRAAAAHHHH!" Carmilla kept roaring as she furiously kept trying to claw her adversary, who kept getting closer and closer until her sword almost reached Carmilla's throat.

"Nice try! But you've fallen to my trap!" Carmilla said blood spears started appearing at her feet, forcing Mary to retreat. But Mary managed to cut off one of Carmilla's arms in her retreat.

"GRAAAAHHH! MAAAARYYYY!" Carmilla roared again as she spreads her large bat-like wings and blew a wave of wind at Mary, who dodged the wind.

"Don't forget that you're not the only one who received power boost from the Red Moon tonight." Mary said as she puts more magic on her feet and jumped towards Carmilla in high speed, her sword finding its way deep into Carmilla's heart.

"GWAAAARGHHHH!" Carmilla roared in pain as Mary twisted the blade to ensure her heart won't be healed easily. Mary jumped away before Carmilla could catch her with her remaining hand.

"DAAMMIIIIT!" Carmilla once again roared as she tried to create a hail of blood spears but Mary quickly jumped back in, trying to slice her head off. "Heh." The monstrous Carmilla grins as her form turns into mist, allowing Mary's attack to pass through her harmlessly.

Carmilla rematerialized and once again tried to create a hail of blood spears aiming for Mary. The spears surrounds Mary, not allowing a single space for her to dodge.

"Die!" Carmilla shouted as she sent the spears towards Mary, only to find out that Mary had turned into mist. The spears passed through her mist form harmlessly.

"Don't forget that you're not the only vampire here, Carmilla." Mary said as she rematerialized away from the blood spears, which are now embedded on the stone floor.

"But that must've took a toll on you, eh, Mary?" Carmilla said as she noticed how Mary is breathing heavily, showing signs of exhaustion.

Carmilla finally reattached her missing hand and prepared to attack again before she noticed that the moon is shining brighter than before.

"What!? Impossible! The Red Moon's peak is still hours away!" Mary shouted in disbelief.

Whilst Mary stared at the moon dumbfoundedly, Carmilla took Elizabeth's heart from her dress pocket and forcefully inserted it into the crucified boy's chest.

"No!" Mary shouted as she failed to prevent that because she was taken aback by the strange phenomenon in the moon.

"Now… wakey wakey, Blood Queen~!" Carmilla said as the four of them saw a flesh-colored flower emerged from the boy's chest, greedily absorbing all the blood he has in his body until he is nothing but a dried corpse.

The fleshy flower grows bigger until it becomes man sized and from inside its blooming petals emerged a red haired young woman.

"Lady Elizabeth!" Mary shouted as she recognized the sight of her queen.


Author's Note:

Mary's design and intro in canon was so badass but she barely had much action during Elizabeth fight so I wrote an action scene for her so she can be badass here too, not just Van Helsing.

Also Beta did the NIGERUNDAYO because I want to focus on Carmilla fight, although werewolf Adra is now revealed as well.

Also didn't realize that the whole vampire arc has extended to become longer than 20 chapters, though it was separated into Carmilla arc, Alucard arc and Red Moon arc.