They first heard the sound of impact. The crystalised blood met with a replica of a divine instrument bathed in light and darkness. The sound it made was like that of a catastrophic volcanic eruption.
Then came the storm of mana that nearly ripped apart the bodies of the S-rankers. The only ones who were safe besides the two who caused it were Erta and the woman in the cage.
Caelum and Vlad were both pushed back, but there was a clear winner in that first engagement.
"Divinity… I see you are not called an Angel for nothing."
"How bad are your senses that you didn't realise until now."
Rather than retorting, Vlad lunged toward him again. His lance gleaming a dangerous red as he thrust it out. Caelum dodged it with minimal movements, but the moment the lance passed through his side, it erupted with crimson thorns that struck him through his armour.
His Wing of Serenity immediately lunged forward, coiling and wrapping around the thorn to shatter and devour it. And Caelum retreated to inspect his wound.
It did not seem to be cursed or poisoned which was a relief. However, he noticed Vlad had regained some of his composure. Some of the burns he got from clashing with divinity had been healed slightly.
"Did you just suck my blood?"
"How bad are your senses that you didn't realise until now. I am a vampire!"
Vlad rushed in again. Caelum was wary of the lance, but he could not afford to drag the fight for too long, or else his opponent would only grow stronger.
He rushed forward as well. This time, it was Vlad who evaded the oncoming spear. And the moment he sidestepped, he thrust out with his crimson lance.
Caelum did not bother evading as glass shards merged to form a shield, blocking the lance. Vlad was shocked, but Caelum was not done just yet.
His black wing, which remained unnoticed since the start of the fight, suddenly appeared swinging down at Vlad. Perpetual Night had hidden it perfectly to the point that even Caelum himself would not have known where his wing was if it was not his power hiding it.
Vlad tried to evade, but he noticed it too late. The black mass, now looking as dark as the void, pinned Vlad to the ground. And then, the colourless wing thrust toward his heart.
"You dare!"
With an angry roar, Vlad vanished in a swarm of bats allowing him to be free of the black wing.
Caelum, having missed the opportunity to destroy his heart, did not hesitate in culling as many bats as possible. His colourless and black wings erupted into tendrils and blades while his glass wing shredded most of the bats near his body.
What remained of the swarm merged a ways away from Caelum, revealing Vlad's bloody body.
His face was deformed, emaciated to the point of looking more like a skull than a normal face. His hair had become a mess with locks and patches missing. His body was more like a ghoul's, thin and boney as though lacking in nourishment.
But the thing that caught Caelum's attention was the fact that Vlad had been shocked, not by Caelum's use of his wings, but by his own reflection on the glass wing.
"You… you're not a vampire. You're a dhampir."
"Silence! You dare mock this Count Dracula… I shall feast on your flesh!"
He turned around and lunged at one of the impaled S-rankers. Caelum recognised him as Carl Langdon, master of the Evonian guild called Hunters, and a member of the GA.
He remembered seeing his profile among the people who participated in the raids. He also knew that Carl Langdon's ability to cause vibrations down to a molecular level was one of the most powerful abilities out there.
Which was why he soon realised how grave a mistake it was to not have been able to stop Vlad from drinking his blood.
"This power is now mine!"
The dhampir Vlad Tepes no longer had his crimson lance. Instead his black claws extended like razor blades.
He no longer kept his former elegant appearance, instead letting loose his feral and manic visage. The sharp horrifying fangs peeked through his bloody lips as he snarled at Caelum.
"Now die!"
Those words marked the start of round two. Vlad kicked off the ground, and with his new ability, reached Caelum in an instant.
Caelum barely managed to protect himself with his wings, but he was still greatly injured as Vlad slashed down with his claws.
Alone, the claws would not have been able to harm him much, however the vibrations tore apart at Caelum's wings. He had to retake the initiative from the enemy, but Vlad would not let him as he continued pouring out flurry after flurry of slashes.
Then Vlad's claws hit something else which shattered like fragile glass. Caelum found himself free from his assault if only for a mere moment, but that was enough.
"Twilight!"
He erupted in a storm of mana and divinity as his wings regenerated.
Gungnir returned to his wing as his hands and arms began glowing in silver light. His hair blazed golden then silver and his eyes shone like a prism.
His divinity was flowing much stronger than before. Vlad could hardly stand in his presence. Caelum was amazed at the strength of his newfound power.
Had he not gained the power of darkness and merged it with his Eternal Flame, he would not have the power to even push back Vlad in his current form. Again, he was grateful to the darkness, and the darkness responded.
The entire room was engulfed in the blackest of nights, yet at its heart shone the brightest of lights. Facing he who ruled over light and darkness, Vlad trembled and his body crumbled to ash. In the first place, he had no way of resisting divinity. He was fated to lose.
The darkness receded and the light died down. What was left was Caelum who stood over the remains of the dhampir. He felt a little sad that he could not drain Vlad with his Serenity.
That was until he found a crimson gem made from Vlad's blood containing his powers. Serenity quickly devoured it as Caelum sighed in relief.
"It is done."
"No…not yet. There is one more."
The woman in the cage said as she looked at him. Their eyes once again met and Caelum realised what she meant. He walked over to her while mulling over the words that Vlad had uttered. Upon reaching the cage, he tried to destroy it, but was stopped by her voice.
"Don't! You mustn't free me…her!"
"Why?"
"If you knew him, then you must know of me. I am Elizabeth Bathory, the true lord of this castle. He tried to release her to force me to create this castle. But I trapped myself in this cage instead."
And finally, everything clicked into place. The sweet scent and the fact that Vlad Tepes was a dhampir rather than a true vampire pointed only to one answer. Elizabeth Bathory was the true vampire and the true lord of the dungeon all along.
However, she did not wish for it. In fact, she looked terrified of everything, especially of herself.
Something else troubled Caelum about this revelation, however. Very much like the Avalon dungeon, it was not the dungeon that was created first, but the dungeon's master creating it. What was happening on Earth that would cause such a peculiar change in the creation of dungeons?
Furthermore, the divine darkness that he had obtained, Perpetual Night, was not something that should have been created in the dungeon to begin with. Something with divinity should not have even come from Earth.
The only possibility he could think of was that the Imaginary Tree had something to do with all this.
Then with a desperate voice, Elizabeth pleaded to him.
"Please, kill me! Even now I hear her voice! I don't want to lose myself to her! Please!"
[I cannot help it. As I draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love…. Darling, I live in you, and you would die for me. I love you so.]
In her desperation, Elizabeth Bathory had crawled toward him. The fear in her scarlet eyes muddled the beauty that drew Caelum to her. Her hand reached out and he grasped it. And in that touch, he heard the venomous voice of the woman whispering in her mind.
The mad obsession leaking from every word told Caelum of what had influenced Vlad Tepes so. The madness did not come solely from him, but was a sweet corruption from whispers he could not even hear.
How fortunate was he to be free of these drunken ramblings, drunken by love and desire.
"I wish we'd met under different circumstances. Now, rest. Be at peace in the knowledge that the I shall remember you, not for the monster you fought to deny, but for the person that you are, the one who dreamed only of love."
He knew it was wrong, but his heart ached for her all the same. The smile she showed him nearly made him waver.
In each they saw a reflection of themselves. A lonely soul trapped in a prison of their own making. Their souls called out to each other, yet they were fated to never be one… at least, not in this life.
Serenity slithered into the cage and stabbed her in the heart. Elizabeth reached out her hand and caressed Caelum's face. It was the one thing she wanted to do before embracing death.
"Carmilla…you must come with me, loving me, to death. Or else hate me, and still come with me."
And her body fell limp. Caelum caught her before she fell to the ground. His wings ripped apart the cage as he embraced her cold body.
A tear trickled down his face.
He was no longer under her charm, but he realised that it was not her charm that was at fault. She may have been a being created by mana in the likeness of someone else, but she was her own being. And she meant more to him than a simple monster.
The soul that he had felt call out to his own was so deeply familiar that he felt so wretched in watching her sacrifice herself yet again…. Again?
He could not understand.
Despite it being their first time meeting, he felt like he knew her all his life.
The soul of a long lost partner that he could only force to sacrifice just as he sacrificed himself. A life tied to memories yet unknown..., yet unwilling to surface.
The pain and the sorrow of watching her leave was the only memento he had. Suddenly, he felt a gentle cold embrace that seemed to warm his heart.
[You have obtained the soul of Elizabeth Bathory.]
[Resuming awakening process. Current progress: 14%]
[You have gained a new aspect: 'Dead Apostle']
[You have gained a new aspect: 'Lust']
['Dead Apostle' and 'Troll's Vitality' are being influenced by 'Gluttony'.]
['Dead Apostle' and 'Troll's Vitality' have combined to become 'Ancestor of Blood'.]
[Your divinity has greatly risen.]
Caelum smiled. It seemed even in death, they found their way to each other. Elizabeth now lay asleep within the depths of his being. One day, he hoped to wake her again.
And as Elizabeth's body vanished into motes of light, he finally stood up and rushed to Erta who had fainted.
She used the last of her strength to create a barrier to stop Vlad's unending attacks which allowed Caelum to win. He felt guilty for yearning for another woman in the presence of Erta, but in the end, he knew that he would always return to her.
And he loved her more than all of creation.