Darkness. Silence.
Alucard's eyes snapped open.
The rapier was descending, a golden blur streaking toward his heart. Instinct roared before thought could form—his body reacted on its own. Power surged through him, raw and unrelenting. A pulse of energy exploded outward, and in the next instant, his body had transformed.
Both of his wings—now black as the abyss—flared wide. His golden hair deepened into a striking white. Time slowed as his body shifted ever so slightly. The rapier, once poised to pierce his heart, instead sank into his shoulder.
Pain. White-hot and immediate.
Alucard winced, but his mind was already ahead of the sensation. He snapped his wings together with immense force, sending a concussive blast of wind surging through the chamber. The golden doppelgängers staggered back under the force—until something unnatural happened.
Their forms twisted. Their bodies changed.
Dark wings sprouted from their backs, mirroring his own. Their golden glow darkened, their auras warping. Nephalem mode.
Alucard's eyes widened. They can transform too?
Then—four of them exploded.
The chamber trembled as the sheer magical energy overwhelmed their forms, unable to be contained. The remaining three stood their ground, but even they wavered. Though their expressions were void of emotion, their bodies betrayed them—unsteady, struggling.
They're exact copies of me, but their bodies can't handle this power.
Alucard clenched his jaw. Even he struggled to control this form. It wasn't just power—it was destruction condensed into a body that barely held itself together. If he pushed them far enough, they would collapse.
With a burst of speed, he lunged forward. His rapier gleamed, ready to cut them down—
"I see you."
The voice. That same voice. That thing from before.
It wasn't the chamber speaking anymore. It wasn't some illusion. It was here.
Alucard froze.
A cold, unnatural fear crawled up his spine.
And in that moment of hesitation—
A fist, brimming with his own power, slammed into his face.
The impact sent him flying. His body crashed into the chamber wall with a deafening BAM, the stone shattering beneath him. Pain flared through his skull as rubble rained around him.
He groaned, pressing a hand to his aching jaw. What the fuck… do I really punch that hard?
Through the haze of pain, he saw one of the clones convulse—then explode into golden fragments.
Spitting blood onto the cracked floor, Alucard dragged himself out of the rubble. His wings twitched, his muscles burned, but he forced himself to stand.
"I shouldn't freeze," he muttered, shaking his head clear. I don't even know if that… that thing was real.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips. Focus on the fight, Alucard.
The remaining two clones exchanged glances—then attacked in unison.
One gathered all its mana into its fist. The other did the same with its leg.
Alucard tensed, shifting into position. His rapier met the first strike—CLANG!—but the force rattled his bones. Then came the second blow.
A devastating punch to his stomach.
The wind left his lungs.
Before he could even stagger back, a kick crashed into his forehead.
His vision blurred. His body twisted through the air, and he slammed back into the same cratered wall, deepening the destruction.
Another explosion. The last clone had reached its limit.
Alucard coughed, blood dripping from his lips. His wings flickered, then vanished. His hair faded from white to blond. Nephalem mode had burned out. His body screamed in exhaustion.
"Son of a bitch…" he groaned, pressing a hand to his stomach. "How can a clone of me hit that hard?"
Silence.
Then—
"Do you truly wish to be strong enough to kill them?"
The voice. Still lingering. Still watching.
Alucard exhaled sharply, then raised his middle finger toward the empty air. "Open the door to the trial of humility, you dickwad. I've had enough of creepy and weird shit. Just send me somewhere normal."
A chuckle, deep and knowing.
"Very well."
With a faint shimmer, a simple wooden door materialized before him.
Alucard stared at it.
Then, shaking his head, he muttered, "Fuck you."
Gripping his aching ribs, he staggered forward.