It was a scene of utter chaos on the battlefield. Despoiled land, broken timber and the blackened holes of craters extended to the horizon in every direction, the remains of the titanic struggle. Alucard's battered form surged forward with a fury and resolve born of desperation, his wings a roiling tempest of divine and infernal energy. Lazarus, resolute and disturbingly unfazed, walked through the wreckage like a living death, his scythe scraping the earth, the blade glistening with the sloth of erasure.
Coughing blood but unwilling to relent, Alucard pushed forward on a furious beat of his wings. His rapier hummed with light and shadow, the energies mixing together in a discordant harmony. He sliced upward, the blade drawing a sibilant arc of flame through the air. Lazarus wove aside with what felt like maddening ease, his motions quick and sure, and with a broad stroke of his scythe he cut a swath of force through the ground like a tsunami. Alucard hardly had time to twist aside, the blade-thin end grazing his side with a searing cut.
"You're too slow," Lazarus said coldly, his voice flat.
The pain sharpened Alucard's focus, and he ignored him. With a growling roar, he plunged back into the fight, his rapier flashing in an endless series of thrusts and slashings. Each time I hit, I was greeted by the ghostly whistle of Lazarus's scythe as it struck mine, the two weapons meeting in a shower of sparks and an almost resounding clang. Lazarus countered each of Alucard's-frenzied attacks with chilling precision, Alucard pressed harder.
Lazarus suddenly crouched low and swept Alucard's feet out from under him. When Alucard fell, Lazarus changed his angle, his scythe arcing downward in a potentially lethal strike. Alucard was barely able to roll to the side in the nick of time; the blade embedded itself in the earth inches away from his head. Without breaking his move, he spun on the pavement and kicked up, heel connecting with Lazarus's jaw in a sickening blow that sent the elder twin stumbling back.
Seizing the moment, Alucard sprang to his feet and thrust his rapier forward into Lazarus's heart. Lazarus turned his body just enough to avoid the death blow, but the edge of the blade cut a long gash across his chest, piercing flesh and leaving a deep wound that gushed blood. His ruby eyes narrowing as he glanced down at the wound.
"Impressive", he said, with faint mockery in his tone. "But you're still weak."
At blinding velocity, Lazarus shortens the span between them, his scythe a storm of death. Alucard barely succeeded in warding off the barrage, his rapier shaking violently against the unyielding pressure. With each blow shockwaves radiated through his arms, threatening to crack the vertebrae in my spine. Lazarus's strikes were unyielding, the violent motion coming together as a menacing, harmonious marriage of power and precision.
In a last ditch effort to put the distance between them his arms shot out, wings unfurling as the pairing of light and dark magic erupted outward at the same time. Lazarus had to duck back, the raw power of the explosion digging deep grooves in the ground. Alucard took advantage of the respite to rest his lungs, his chest rising and falling rapidly as blood leaked from his countless injuries.
However, Lazarus had not even come close to being done. Bursting free from the cloud of dust like a predator tracking its prey, he lifted his scythe and aimed it towards Alucard. Its inhuman light penetrated the darkness, the air around it warped like a mirage as if Lazarus were bending reality to his design.
"You're outmatched," Lazarus said, his voice as cold and final as a tombstone. "Give up."
Alucard's empty gaze flickered at her defiant tone, his shuttered eyes burning with a potent storm of vengeance and resolve. "Never," he spat, his voice hoarse but resolute.
Alucard blasted forward with a roar, wings moving him at stunning speed. And Lazarus greeted him, their weapons crashing in a blaze of light. The blast knocked dirt upward, and as they stood they saw the ground around them cracking.
The fighting dissolved into a grim melee, the brothers raining blow after blow on the other with wild ferocity. Alucard moved wildly, erratically, driven by will alone, while Lazarus was cool and methodical, every blow an attempt to end him. Their weapons tore through flesh, blood spraying everywhere, proof of the brutality of their fight.
Alucard was caught unprepared as Lazarus switched direction on a dime. With a quick upward swing of his scythe, he disarmed his younger brother, a rapier flying from Alucard's hands and plunging into a nearby tree. Before Alucard could respond, Lazarus kneed him in the gut, enough to lift him off the ground from the severity of the hit. Alucard fell to his knees and coughed up blood, gasping in agony.
Lazarus hung above him, his scythe raised for the final blow. "This stops now," he said flatly.
But Alucard wasn't finished. With a cry of defiance, he threw up a desperate scramble of power that stung through him in explosive force and sent Lazarus of the Well staggering back. Alucard pushed himself up, shaking his wings, summoning his rapier to his hand. He was panting, with his body barely intact, but his determination was unbowed.
"I am not going to quit," he growled, an adamant fierceness in his voice. "Not until I see you fall."
Lazarus cocked his head, his face inscrutable. "You're a fool."
Soon, their weapons locked again with a thunderous clang that floated across the battlefield. Alucard tried to fight back with every remnant of energy, his movements becoming more erratic and chaotic. He feinted left before attacking from the right, his rapier cutting across Lazarus's arm and drawing blood. But Lazarus countered with a deadly strike from his scythe, the blade slicing a deep incision across Alucard's chest.
Alucard wavered, blood gushing from the wound, but he would not go down. With a wild scream, he lunged forward and snapped his rapier through the air as if it were a bolt of lightning. Lazarus intercepted the blow with his scythe, the two weapons clattering together as both struggled forward. Their faces inches apart, they pressed against each other, their breath coming heavy with effort.
"You can't win," Lazarus said, his voice low and menacing. "You're not strong enough."
Alucard's teeth clenched, his eyes turned to fierce embers. "I don't need to be strong. You just need to drag you down with me."
Alucard broke the deadlock and slashed at Lazarus with full power. The rapier bit true, opening a deep gash over Lazarus's chest. The elder twin hardly reacted, and the look on his face remained the same as he responded to Alucard's attack by swinging his scythe cruelly and sending Alucard crumpling to the ground.
Lazarus loomed above Alucard as he struggled to stand, his body shaking with fatigue, his scythe hoisted high. It was the high point of the war, and even the world held its breath to see who would win.
However, there was something more out there, something far away that was getting closer to the battlefield, a faint figure glowing with radiant light. It was holy presence, serene but menacing, and it spoke of finality.
The Saintess was coming