Chapter 75: Dracula vs Lunarian Round 2 (2)
***
In the meantime, Dalyon was facing Vlad, who looked to be different since they last saw each other two weeks ago.
Vlad was an equal fight against the powerful Lunarian, even showing signs of winning in their clashes, which made Titania get nervous and filled with all sorts of thoughts that were to be disadvantageous for Eleine, Bonney, and Count Reverscar.
Eleine and Count Reverscar used their high agility to dodge the attacks of King Taelar and then counter back on various weak points on the large man, creating all sort of marks on the Icy Armor.
When the moment where an opening was shown to Count Reverscar, he didn't capitalize on it, frustrating a certain someone.
"Reverscar! What are you doing?? There's no point in being sentimental about your King … if you are going to die under his club! What's the point in fighting then?" said Eleine, who noticed the missed opportunity to deal damage to the large man.
"My Lady … How can I deliver a killing blow to the old King? It would be a dishonour to my ancestral line."
"Hah, you men sure are stupid at times. Can you see that Icy Armor? Do you think your attack will manage to break it? No? Then shut up and fight. Fight as if your life's on the line without bothering about who this person in front of you was or is."
While Eleine was scolding the middle-aged man, the sound of something moving at high velocity was heard by her, and dropping to the ground immediately, she evaded a swing from the large man, later countered by attacking the legs of the man with piercing attacks.
The Ice Armor barely suffered some scarring, but it was plenty enough for her to see her attacks have effect. With a cold expression, she moved like an agile cat and backstabbed the large man on his back, creating a bigger crack on the icy. Still, the response of the King was to swing the club downward on Bonney who was approaching to land a strike of her own.
"Dodge, Bonney!"
Bonney, who watched this large man swing his club at her, froze in the face of this devastating pressure, only with the assistance of Count Reverscar did the pink-haired girl escape from the attack.
"Princess, you have to be strong. Don't allow the attacks of His Majesty to hit you, because no person can survive them. So powerful His Majesty was in his prime that no one dared to challenge Sorbet Kingdom.
Eleine didn't care about all the nonsense of the Count and slashed her sword again like she was a Banshee set on killing the enemy in front of her, and another chip of ice dropped from the body of the King, making her feel dissatisfied with herself as if she was so weak compared to everyone else in this place.
Then as she was pondering about her ineffective attacks, she got the idea of requesting some assistance from Dalyon with his flames, but she wrapped up such a plan when she heard and felt a large shockwave impact, strong enough that it sent hot winds enough to melt someone if getting too close.
When she turned her head to see what the clash between the white-haired Lunarian and the Black-Haired Swordsman looked like, she noticed various lights coming from the bodies of those two combatants fighting for supremacy and domination.
'I can't distract him, if I do, he will get killed, or I will get killed by those two freaks of nature.' thought Eleine who returned her attention to the fight at hand.
She wasn't far from the truth, and while continuing the fight against King Taelar, she was still pondering about how she could get assistance from Dalyon, and after some minutes an idea flashed up in her mind.
'Using the hot flames of the flame boy in an indirect form. If I take the fight closer to those monsters, I'll be able to get the effects of his flames and weaken the body of this Ogre.'
'Heh, aren't you smart, Eleine. Thinking of all of those plans while under heavy stress. Most of those girls would have collapsed on their asses, freaking out in the face of death.'
'Meanwhile, I don't even care. This is what I was hoping to receive. A TRILL … But unfortunately, I am a weakling compared to those crazy freaks.'
'However, I can't tell Reverscar, Bonney, or Titania because of that creepy Eye watching us from the ceiling who might eavesdrop. Let's play it safe… For now.'
Without telling anyone about her plans, for fear the creepy crimson-eye watching down on the arena would listen back, and change tactics, she took the initiative of attempting a head-on clash, something easily noticed by the abomination and interpreted in a suicidal wish.
The eye laughed in contentment at Eleine's attempt at a head-on fight, and as she moved along with one of Vlad's Sword Guards, having her sword positioned in the Plow Stance taking in a defensive and also offensive stance for what was to come.
"You want a head-on confrontation? You can take it, since it would not exhaust me with too much energy."
From nowhere, even the large man swinging his club at Eleine dodged acting annoying, like a fly, doing another strike that couldn't be defended, and instead of being constant in her mobility, she stood her ground confusing everyone.
"Come at me, old man. Let's see how much you got in those old bones of yours."
*Laugh* "So be it. If you, cockroaches, want a fight. I will give you a fight."
The androgynous laugh of the abomination was heard by Eleine, and noticing how King Taelar advanced towards her, she started backtracking in the direction Dalyon and Vlad were having their intense fight with no party yet to have the full advantage.
Once she got closer to them, she was overwhelmed by the heavy pressure released by both monsters, and keeping herself straight in the face of this sinister atmosphere, she called out to Dalyon, who ignored her like a bug, entering into another exchange of blows with Vlad.
"Fire boy, don't bother with me. But can you get angrier? Burn this entire Arena in your flames. I want you to go all-out using your flames."
- "... All-out? You aren't afraid I will burn you to ash?"
"Ohh please, cut with the arrogance, flame boy. If you hold back, Vlad will kill you for sure. In fact, you are lucky the Eye is controlling him or you would be dead by now. His sword skills are far inferior to what the actual Vlad can do."
Frowning, while blocking Vlad's black sword with his flaming spear, he started doing a hoarse growl, before roaring with flames shooting up in all directions from his back.
"WOMAN! YOU MANAGED TO ANGER ME! FINE! You better know what you wish for. I was holding back thinking I might kill all of you, but since you don't care. I will show you the might of the Lunarian Race!"
Dalyon's wings swiftly extended as if in preparation to fly, and Vlad was a step ahead and jumped in the air awaiting his enemy, yet instead of taking off the white-haired guy covered his entire wings in flames, from which they started spreading in the entire Arena, transforming it into a Hellscape.
"Burning Abyss!!"
In an instant, Eleine could feel her body heating up with the abrupt raise in temperature, and the other members weren't far from what she was having to deal with.
'Gosh, what a freak. So, I was right … He was holding back a lot even in the fight with Count Reverscar.'
"Titania, watch my back. I'll do my final preparations for the plan." whispered Eleine to Titania who was analyzing the large man, before getting her confirmation.
"The next fight will be hard for us…" commented Titania who peaked at the fight between Vlad and Dalyon which entered its second stage.
"You are worrying too much. If Vlad managed to survive that creepy Eye, then with Bonney's powers will be able to turn him back to normal."
"Hopefully it will work, otherwise I don't know what method to use to rescue him."
Eleine began the fight against the large man inside this Hellfire of the Lunarian, which affected her performance, but she assumed such risks when coming up with the strategy.
Dodging at clutch moments, her counters turned out to be far more effective, with larger chunks of the Icy Armor cracking, something that was noticed by Reverscar and Bonney, who also advanced to help the black-haired woman who showed insane courage and reckless abandon in exchange for more damage on her enemy.
Then in the minutes of fighting in this Hellfire, the glass-like cracks on the Icy Armor finally happened, and in swift coordination from Titania who flew to Bonney who later on noticed Eleine tagging Recerscar in dealing with King Taelar, before she rushed to grab hold of her, telling her with an encouraging tone.
"Don't be scared and trust your powers, Bonney. You are a special person, otherwise, why would Vlad take notice of you. Listen, carefully. When I throw you in the air, begin channelling your devil powers and place your hand in the crack I created at his stomach area."
There was some doubt in her eyes, thinking that it might fail since she was facing her Legendary Grandfather, who she only heard breathtaking stories about him and his might, and Eleine noticing this doubt in her eyes, took her by her cheeks with all hands, and stared deeply into her purple eyes.
"I will be there to save you if the plan fails. Trust me, little Bonney."
Nodding, she took some deep breaths of air just like how Vlad taught her, and being on stand-by, she saw Reverscar fight against King Taelar, beginning to struggle, and worry caught up to her.
"We need to help Uncle Reverscar … he will die like this."
"Hold. Not yet."
The strikes of the large man managed to break the guard of the blonde middle-aged man who dropped on the ground, and with a swift swing of the spiked club, he rolled from harm way like a desperate man, with a big chunk of his leg's flesh being removed by the spike.
"Eleine! We got to help him."
"Not yet."
It was in those moments that the traits of a leader began showing up for Eleine who didn't mind if Reverscar was dead as long she managed to defeat the Crimson-Eye and King Taelar, and while the middle-aged man continued to struggle to survive, Titania grabbed tightly on her black hair, so hard that some strands were plucked out.
"THIS IS IT! FOCUS BONNEY!"
Bonney was grabbed hard by Eleine who did a spinning movement to get momentum, and she threw the pink-haired girl with her full strength toward King Taelar, who exposed his back to the girls, something the Crimson-Eye who was mainly focused on the fight against Dalyon missed, and abandoning his killing blow on Reverscar, he turned the large man to meet the girl.
"Little girl, you are just like a fly who got too close to an Elephant. I still don't understand what your intent is, but you can only DIE NOW!"
The murderous aura coming from the Crimson-Eye on the ceiling and then from the body of King Taelar almost made Bonney to black out under this pressure, but using her will to rescue her grandfather, awakened by Titania who was with her, she pushed ahead.
"Remember why we are fighting for. To rescue him from this evil."
When she landed on the ground not far from him, there was a devastating swing of the spiked club to meet her, stopping her responses for a second since she had never experienced such a close encounter with death in her entire sheltered life.
"JUMP!" screamed Titania into the girl's ear, since she joined with her to keep her alert.
Like a small puppet controlled by Titania, she jumped up while her heart rate was increasing at a maddening pace, and thinking she had an open route to her grandfather's body, she was miserly mistaken.
From nowhere, a stomp of his gigantic feet created a shockwave that unbalanced Bonney to drop on the ground, only to be pushed by another force on her feet.
"Miss Titania!"
"Go, little girl. Finish the job." called out Titania who landed on the ground, almost getting herself crushed by the Club she dropped next by.
Bonney, who received all the boosts an inexperienced amateur could receive, continued on stepping forward until she touched the stomach of the large man from the opening created by Eleine.
She placed most of her power inside her hand, but there was no change in the body of the elder, and noticing her mistake she placed all her devil powers changing her appearance into a pale girl while her pink hair turned into a whiter color.
"My link with the puppet! I AM LOSING CONNECTION! WHAT IS GOING ON? Little bug, what have you done?" shouted the Crimson-Eye clearly being angered by what just happened in regard to King Taelar who turned immobile.
"Wait, those powers. Impossible, that power should only be theoretical! I only heard them from the Master's journals." continued the abomination, while sounding rather confused, before awareness reached him, and Vlad who was fighting against Dalyon pushed the Lunarian away from the melee range, shifting his attention on Bonney.
Using his Phantom like movement, he rushed toward Bonney and with a cleaving motion of the black sword, it was the Crimson-Eye who called out with an angry tone "DIE"
Nonetheless, something large blocked the black sword, it was a large spiked club held in both hands by some gigantic hands.
"Move away from my daughter, you demon!"
With a hoarse roar from the large man with white hair, Vlad got pushed aside and while he was sent in the air, he started kicking the air returning to the throne made of corpses watching with emotionless eyes everything happening around him.
It was a success, but not without sacrifices. The young girl lost her sparkle and vitality.
She lost consciousness, inclining herself on the large body of the white-haired Elder.
"My daughter Runa! What happened to you? Wait … this place? This isn't the Summit of Yehimal as I dreamed about. Where is the Temple?"
Confusion and pain could be read on the large man's expression as he placed a hand on the little girl with a lot of care before looking around himself, noticing only one particular face that looked familiar.
"Your face feels familiar … Little Sandur? Who did this to you?"
"Yes, your Majesty, it's me, Sandur, son of Handur of Reverscar. Don't worry about my wounds. They are nothing compared to what you might have suffered inside this prison."
"Prison? But … I don't remember anything since that heavy blizzard … only some black roots with spikes on them coming from the mountain. You've grown big … How long has it been?"
"It's been 20 years since your disappearance, your Majesty."
"... Who is she?"
"As you might have noticed, she is one of your blood. She is your granddaughter, your Majesty. Runa's daughter, Anne."
"Anne …I see. What about the Kingdom? Is the Kingdom still standing on its foundations?"
*Ahem* "Mind sharing stories about the past later? This is no time for such nonsense. Also, let me take a look at little Bonney." said Eleine while picking Titania up from the ground.
Later on, she arrived at Bonney and Taelar's side, mainly worrying about the health condition of the young girl who had her hair whitened.
"Give her the medicine. It has a lot of nutrients inside." added Titania who placed her hands on the girl's face and later on the neck area to check her pulse.
"How is she?" asked Eleine, who took out a vial from her bosom kept in a warm condition which she poured inside the girl's mouth, immediately showing signs of effectiveness as some of her pink color in the hair began recovering.
"She will be fine, but just like what Vlad concluded concerning her Devil Powers … to activate her powers, she consumes a lot of energy. It's a reason why she requires a lot of food."
"I'll see it done … Hey, mister King, you don't seem to have been wounded heavily on your stomach area by me, so there's no need to waste precious medicine on you."
"Yes?"
"Also, go help the flaming boy against the black-haired man. He is in the same condition as yours, being controlled by that shit watching over us on the ceiling." remarked Eleine while pointing in the ceiling where the large crimson-eye with its pupils dilated in anger, before taking Bonney toward the location she left her backpack filled with supplies.
"I see no reason to decline. While I am still confused, the desire for revenge runs already deep in my bones. Twenty years? TWENTY YEARS HAVE BEEN CLEAVED FROM MY LIFE, MY KINGDOM'S STABILITY AND FUTURE?!"
The roaring voice of King Taelar spread around the entire Arena, but another sinister voice countered back.
"You call for your wasted years? What about my efforts of keeping you in the same form as when I first found you? Instead of being worshipped like a GOD for keeping you unageing for 20 years, you want revenge? RIDICULOUS!"
"A PUNNY HUMAN AGAINST THE GREAT ATLAS?! BLASPHEMY!"
"MY CHAMPION! SEE THOSE BLASPHEMERS PUNISHED!"
Vlad, who was seated on the throne of dead bodies remained unmoving as if he was contemplating the orders of this Crimson-Eye, but why there was a lag in his responsiveness was because there was a deeper conversation happening inside another dimension that most people weren't even aware existed.
'It seems that annoying bug is calling me again to perform in the circus arena.'
{You shouldn't break your appearance against Nihiloor. While he is a megalomaniac, an utterly arrogant creation of that person, his powers aren't to be taken lightly. That person imparted a portion of his Will and Desires when creating Nihiloor, which is why he doesn't seem to run out of Haki.}
'How long do you say it will take me to take all of his Mana ... Haki, away, weakening him enough to do the final blow?'
{Don't bother with how you name it since it is something interchangeable from different cultures.}
{As for your question ...}
{No idea, but is there a point in complaining, human? This was a blessing in disguise by meeting Nihiloor first, compared to the other Key Holders created by that person. Nihiloor is the only one capable of solving your medical issues.}
'Hah, sure. But letting that creature control me is annoying. He doesn't even know how to fight properly and only keeps on attacking with telegraphed attacks. I could have killed that brat so easily, with pure swordsmanship instead of that fighting display.'
{From what I can understand, Nihiloor wasn't conceived to be a fighter … instead, a Hivemind Weapon capable of working from long distances, having imbued the abilities of the psionic snails for transmitting information on long distances. Also, its main function was to be used to enhance puppets and increase their powers to assist him in his masterplan.}
'I see … Aren't you talkative since I got myself in this situation, scrap metal?'
{... You left me no option, so I had to reach out to you and stop you from self-destroying yourself by clashing with Nihiloor's will. It's not in my interest to have you die, not at all.}
'Then what do you want? It's clear you will not help me for free.'
{You will understand what I want from you when the long circle is nearly complete. Now, wake up, and let Nihiloor's connection activate.}
.
Meanwhile, outside of Vlad's conversation with a peculiar voice whispering in his mind, Dalyon and King Taelar moved toward the throne chair, where the young Lunarian told the Elder with an annoyed tone.
"There's no need for you to get involved in this fight. I got this."
"Young man, I understand your heart … but there's no reason to harm yourself and risking getting heavily wounded like you did. Unlike me, an old man who should be dead by now … you got a future ahead of you." added the Elder, who even dwarfed over Dalyon while holding his massive spiked club in one hand.
Still, it didn't sit well with Dalyon who wanted to continue fighting alone against Vlad, and to make sure the Elder understood his desire, he ignited himself again, creating an inferno around himself.
"Step back, or I will hurt you. This isn't your fight to take, but mine and only mine. That person and myself have unfinished business."
"You youngsters sure are full of energy. Understood, you can continue your fight, but know that I will intervene if I see it going dire for you."
And before Dalyon could even say something back, his arrogance was cut short by Vlad's punch which connected perfectly on his stomach as he appeared like a ghost, continuing while swinging his black sword at King Taelar who used his spiked club to defend, being pushed steps away from the black-haired man.
It was clear that Nihiloor, no longer left any window for his enemies, beginning to pour more energy into Vlad's body, turning his strikes heavier as the fight progressed.
Dalyon who bounced back returned at the center of the fight making Vlad give in stepping back from his assault on the large Elder, and starting to do some fast steps toward the two, once again his movement gave the impression he was a Ghost appearing close to King Taelar with a swinging motion.
Nonetheless, his attack got stopped by Dalyon who used his Observation Haki to decipher what Vlad might pull out from his vast arsenal of attacks.
His Flaming Spear covered into a black coat of Armament Haki was facing the black sword which was too covered in Armament Haki, but apart from this there were no lights or any responses, having the appearance of a common sword. It was an equal clash of strengths, but Vlad was making progress pushing the youngster back, and when he was about to strike using his legs, it was Taelar who swung his club sending Vlad flying while a small crack on his Icy Armor appeared.
"This is bullshit. His Armament Haki is far stronger than mine? His strength is greater than mine? Even his attacks hurt so much that it makes me want to rip his head off. Such nonsense."
"Young man, calm. We should approach this fight while combining our strengths." suggested to Dalyon who was cursing at the situation, mentioning how it was so easy to pummel Vlad, and now in a ridiculous turnaround it was him tasting some bitter pills.
He wanted to decline the suggestion but then felt something land on his hair, and a slap echoed in the Arena.
"Stop being stupid and use your brain. Otherwise, you'll get hurt and everyone would die because of your failure. Accept the offer, and I will try to coordinate your attacks against Vlad since I am the only one who knows him the best."
"Fairy, piss off. I don't want to listen to any of your bullcrap."
*Smack*
"No, brat. You are wrong. You'll listen to everything I say to you like a good boy. Why? It's because you owe me a big favour. Now quit complaining and get focused, Vlad is coming in your way, with a sword attack."
"Arghh, I hate you, noisy women. I can kill all of you so easily, yet you still act bossy around me."
Dalyon saying that, formed a flaming spear which he enveloped in Armament Haki and attacked Vlad who swung his black sword like a possessed man.
When the shockwave was kicked in motion Titania started hanging on Dalyon's white hair with all her power, while the young Lunarian who was watching Vlad's emotionless state, told the Fairy.
"Listen, Fairy. You better don't fuck up, or I will pluck your wings like I would do a fly."
*Smack*
Another slap came from Titania on Dalyon's brown forehead, before she replied to his comment in kind. "Learn some manners brat. That's not how you speak with a lady. I'll scold you further after we get Vlad back to normal."
"... Bitch, you…"
*Smack*
"Focus, you little asshole. He is coming at you again. Focus."