Chapter 558: An overwhelming presence.
Alucard's abrupt arrival on the battlefield paralyzed both armies and their commanders. His presence alone stopped the war and made both sides focus on him.
Wrong. They had no choice but to focus on him.
His presence alone demanded attention like royalty entering his kingdom.
Nobody could ignore him. Nobody dared ignore him.
A tall man wearing armor that looked more like a paladin, he had short red hair and blue eyes, a man with a stern expression.
'He got stronger again... That monster! Just how long has it been since we met? A few months ago? How is this possible!?' General Leonardo looked at his hand and squeezed it to take away the sense of fear radiating from the man's body.
'He looks completely different than he did in Japan.' He clenched his fists.
He could feel it clearly, that killing intent, that heaviness, that pressure.
His whole body screamed 'danger'.
The monster became much stronger than before, and if General Leonardo had confidence in dealing with Alucard before…
Now, he's afraid that maybe he alone won't be enough.
And this was ridiculous; this monster was crazy!
'Why can't humans be like him?' He bit his lip in frustration at this feeling of weakness and helplessness.
… What General Leonardo didn't understand, or perhaps ignored, is that even by vampire standards, Alucard was considered a monster.
'As expected, this man is too dangerous to be left alive. He should have been killed a long time ago! If only Mizuki had done her job well back then!''
General Leonardo looked to the side, specifically at a woman who was floating nearby. She had six white wings, long white hair with golden tones that exuded sanctity, green eyes, and white skin. She was wearing something that looked like a suit of armor colored white and gold.
The woman was 190 cm tall, and even with the armor, Leonardo could see that her body was 'perfect' and not too sensual.
Seraphim, Ariel. One of the current seven virtues that represented Generosity.
"Lady Ariel, if that monster meddles in the war and helps the demons, we will lose… We don't have the supplies and strength to fight that monster right now."
Leonardo refused to use that man's name, and in some corner of his heart, he thought that if he called that man's name out loud, that man's attention would come to him.
And there was also another reason.
A being that managed to get to that level of strength and rise even higher in a period of months cannot be called with any adjective other than a monster.
Even now, he could feel his body shaking.
'Just how did he get so strong in such a short time?'
The Seraphim just looked at the man.
Green eyes and blood-red eyes met, and even though they were at a considerable distance from each other, they could see each other as if they were next to each other.
They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but not even a few seconds passed in the real world.
The Seraph closed their green eyes, as an angel, and a seraph at that, she had the ability to discern someone's true intentions, as long as that 'intent' aligned with the concept of 'generosity'.
But she didn't use that power on the man. Instead, she looked at him as someone who had interacted several times with other beings over the millennia. She looked at him with her experience.
And at that moment, the man who was making everyone breathless and tense with his presence, who had single-handedly stopped the conflict with just his presence, was emitting a simple feeling towards the angels and the hunters.
Indifference.
She opened her eyes again, and a decision formed in her mind.
"Ignore him. He is not against us." The melodious, angelic voice that carried a tone of 'gentleness' and sternness echoed around them.
'Not Yet.' She thought to her heart as she saw the man take a step forward and fall down the hill towards the ground.
His sudden movement made all beings unconsciously go on guard.
For a moment, Alucard's eyes were covered by his long black hair, and the whole environment around him became pure darkness, and he seemed to blend into that darkness.
And suddenly... Eyes.
Thousands of red eyes began to appear in that darkness.
That sight sent shivers through everyone present.
"Huh?"
"Tell your hunters outside the walls created by me to come back."
"Eh...?"
"What are you waiting for? Do as I commanded."
"Y-Yes!" In front of a Seraphim, even a human general was just a subordinate.
As soon as the general left, Ariel spoke:
"Zaniel, Daniel."
Two white lights revealing a six-winged man and woman appeared behind Ariel.
The two beings were twins with blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. They were identical, and if not for the long hair of the woman [Zaniel] and the short hair of the man [Daniel] to differentiate, no one could tell that they were a man and a woman.
Something which was normal, considering that all angels have an androgynous appearance.
Just like Ariel, their status was that of Seraphim, but in front of one of the 'seven' virtues, they were her subordinates.
Each Virtue had the right to have 2 Seraphim as subordinates, which was an obligation to ensure the safety of the 'virtues'.
Like the gods with a concept, the angels who represent the virtues were beings closer to being gods than an ordinary Seraphim, and by consequence of having a 'concept', they were superior to the other seraphim in the hierarchy.
Only the original Seraphim, like Michael and Gabriel, had greater authority than the seven virtues because, just like the virtues, they also had a concept that represented them.
"Call the angels back."
The two twins just lowered their heads, understanding her order, and disappeared.
The wings behind Ariel flapped, and she took to the skies; stopping at a reasonable height, she looked down at that man.
His entire body was covered in darkness with shades of red, and 'eyes' were seen throughout his being, while only his head was unaffected by this darkness.
Those eyes looked at everyone present, and when an individual was looked at by those eyes, they could feel death on the back of their neck as if it was ready to snap them out of existence.
The man seemed to mutter something, and reading his lips, she saw him say:
"Helheim"
Suddenly the darkness of the man's body spread across the floor of the entire battlefield, stopping only at the wall that Uriel created to protect the Vatican.
Everyone's feelings were running high. They had no idea what to do, and even if their commanders ordered them to do something, they wouldn't listen to their orders.
The reason? They couldn't ignore that man.
Even though Duke Sitri was screaming loud enough for the demons to hear, the demons couldn't ignore that man!
Wrong, that monster!
Slowly, the man's serious face started to crack as a sadistic smile that showed all his sharp teeth was revealed, and the feeling of blood and death went up a few more steps, along with the pressure emitting from his body. It was as if the gravity was increasing a few hundred times all of a sudden.
"What a horrible feeling… Just how many beings have you killed for your entire existence to be bathed in blood?" Even without using her authority as a Seraphim, she could tell that the being's soul was stained with sin.
Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of sins were concentrated in a single being.
Are you sure Alucard wasn't the demon here?
'Truly abominable, progenitor of vampires.' She couldn't help but think about it.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?" Someone's demonic scream was heard.
Ariel, as well as everyone except Victor, looked at the demon, who had his forehead creasing with rage.
Demon Duke, Sitri, the current commander of this invasion, was furious at being ignored.
Even though he had been shouting orders for a while now, everyone seemed to have forgotten about him.
Duke Sitri was desperate. This was supposed to be a simple invasion.
He would appear here, use his famous 'Cocytus' technique, flood the entire Vatican, and kill his sworn enemy.
But who would've expected one of the seven fucking virtues to show up?
That seraph single-handedly forced him into a defensive war, and she was clearly biding her time.
Duke Sitri may not be privy to his king's plans, but he knew that other battles between angels and demons were raging across the globe, and his demonic spies had reported information to him.
While he was wasting time here, the other demons were gaining honors and climbing the ranks!
He couldn't waste time here, so he had to finish this fast.
And he needs to eliminate that annoyance. Alucard was clearly on the side of the angels.
"Listen to my order! Kill that monster!" Sitri's eyes flashed in a vicious tone.
And suddenly, it seemed like all the demons woke up from their stupor, the demons started to be covered in a light red aura, and their strength began to increase.
ROAAAAAAR!
Driven by the duke, everyone rushed towards Alucard.
"Simple creatures... Don't you value strength? How can you not see the strength of that abomination?" Ariel just shook her head when she realized that all humans and angels had returned to the walls.
Ariel's wings spread wide as her body's feeling of sanctity began to glow brighter, and the shield that was protecting the church strengthened even more.
"Tsk, annoying woman." War clicked his tongue when he saw this move. He couldn't make a move until now for the single and simple reason that he couldn't enter that place.
The aura of sanctity was extremely lethal to demons.
"We cannot fail our king." Hearing the voice that seemed to come from the depths of hell from his brother Death.
War grunted and said:
"We need to get that pesky seraph away."
"Should we call the sin of gluttony? He'll enjoy skinning that seraph."
"The deadly sins are busy in the other hells, so we need to take care of that ourselves." War would never expect the angels to send someone as important as one of the seven virtues.
Yes, they expected a Seraphim, but not one of the seven virtues.
"What an honor." A being's disdainful voice spread across the entire battlefield.
Death and War quickly looked at Alucard.
"Thousands of demons wanting my head. This is splendid."
"…But, I'm afraid that's not enough." Another wave of dark power shot out of Victor's body.
FUSHHHHHHH.
UGH!
All the demons that were close to Victor fell to the ground, and a face of pure fear was seen in the eyes of these bloodthirsty demons.
A being that could put fear into literal demons was in front of them.
Victor looked at the horde of demons that counted in the millions of beings.
"Your numbers are far from enough."
Suddenly, thousands of eyes began to appear on the ground, which was covered with darkness.
"I said, KILL HIM!"
The smarter demons glared at the duke angrily.
'How are we going to kill this monster if we can't even get close to him!? Are you fucking blind!?'
But they couldn't complain, the hierarchy was absolute, and when a duke used his words and authority, these demons only had a choice to obey.
Alucard took a deep breath.
[Can you do it, Kaguya?]
[Yes, as long as Master exists, I can maintain this state, I'm using his existence as a conduit, it all depends on how much stamina Master has.] Within the darkness, Kaguya's hair grew to the ground, and her entire body became pure darkness.
Literally, she was merging with Victor's shadow, and they were becoming one. Kaguya couldn't be happier, thinking that she would find someone to use her clan's secret technique. She could literally jump with happiness right now if it weren't for the moment.
'So that's the feeling of using shadow incarnation...? It's splendid! Haaah, I wanted to stay like this forever!' Kaguya seemed to be having an existential orgasm.
Alucard's smile grew, stamina? That was something he had in spades, but he wanted to add something more.
[Are you going to use that?]
[Yes.]
Not wanting to argue with Victor, the being inside him spoke:
[... Remember, you only have 30 seconds. You have better mastered your progenitor power, and your body has become much stronger, but the burden is still too great for your body. More than 30 seconds, and your soul will start to be damaged.] The voice of the being inside Victor spoke.
[30 seconds is enough, I just intend to eliminate these hordes.]
[Mizuki, I will expel you, or you will die.] Kaguya expelled Mizuki from the shadow, and the former general appeared in front of the gates of The Inquisition.
"...Eh?..." Mizuki looked around, "How rude, kicking me out just like that." She pouted, then she glanced at the gates.
'Does the passage I made still exist?' Mizuki's job here was to seek information, and she would do that. After all, she was the only human who could cross this 'holy' territory.
When she was about to start walking, she heard:
"A noble and brave warrior asked, are you an honorable fighter or a monster cursed by god?" Victor looked into the Seraphim's eyes.
"Hearing the question of the noble warrior, Do you know what I answered?" Victor's face started to lose shape, not just Victor's face, but his whole body began to lose shape and started to become something dark, something evil.
Uriel swallowed hard. She felt that this was a question that was asked of her, and therefore, she couldn't help but mumble:
"What did you answer?" Even though her voice was low, the voice seemed to resonate throughout the entire battlefield.
The former Alucard, who was now a being whose eyes and mouth full of sharp teeth were the only thing visible, spoke:
"I am a monster created by god."
FUSHHHHHHHHH!
.....
