Alucard scratched the back of his head in annoyance, his fingers running through strands of silver hair as he let out a long, tired sigh. Honestly, he didn't feel like dealing with any of this right now. Between Seishan, the kidnappings, Gluttony's constant whining, and his own half-recovered body, he would've much preferred locking himself inside a room somewhere and sleeping for the next twelve hours straight.
Unfortunately, he also knew that avoiding the problem entirely would only make things worse later.
Which meant he had no choice but to drag himself over to meet his friends.
And, more importantly... Nephis.
That thought alone made him groan internally.
Without wasting any more time, Alucard stretched out a hand and summoned Beast before him.
A pool of dark blood immediately spread across the ground beneath his feet while white sparks crackled violently through the air. The blood bubbled and twisted unnaturally as a massive bestial form slowly began emerging from within it. Muscles, bone, claws, and fur formed piece by piece beneath the flickering white light until Beast fully materialized before him in all his monstrous gory glory.
The very moment Beast finished forming, he immediately lunged toward Alucard.
"Wait—"
Too late.
The massive creature practically crashed into him, nearly knocking him over before aggressively licking his face with overwhelming enthusiasm.
Being completely unprepared for the attack, Alucard could do little more than desperately try to shield himself from the unstoppable assault of affection.
"Hey—Beast—stop it! I love you too, you oversized mutt, but I need you to do something for me first, okay?"
Beast's tail somehow began wagging even faster at the praise, violently swaying behind him like a weapon capable of demolishing buildings.
"I'll let you play with me and Effie later," Alucard continued while trying to pry Beast's giant head away from his face. "Hell, I'll even make Sunny summon Saint so she can join in too."
That finally got Beast's attention.
The monstrous creature immediately sat upright, though his tail still wagged furiously while he tilted his head slightly to the side, patiently waiting for instructions like a giant bloodthirsty puppy.
Alucard grabbed Beast by the sides of his head and forced himself to maintain a serious expression.
"Can you gather some blood for me? I'm running low."
His expression darkened slightly.
"But remember—nothing above an Awakened Demon, understood?"
Beast responded by sticking his tongue out and making the absolute dumbest expression imaginable.
Alucard stared at him for several long seconds before sighing in defeat.
It was impossible to stay annoyed at him for long.
Especially when Beast looked so painfully proud of himself for understanding basic instructions.
After giving him one final pat on the head, Alucard waved Beast goodbye before quickly taking off toward the center of the Dark City.
Dinner time was approaching rapidly.
The moon was already beginning to rise higher into the sky, casting pale silver light across the ruined city. If he wanted to meet the cohort and somehow survive whatever conversation awaited him with Nephis before Seishan's dinner invitation, he needed to hurry.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he got close enough to the inhabited parts of the Dark City, he immediately realized the situation had gone to hell.
A massive battle was already underway.
The sounds of steel clashing against steel echoed throughout the streets while Awakened fought viciously across rooftops, alleyways, and shattered roads. People screamed orders, curses, and battle cries while Memories flashed with glowing light in every direction.
Chaos.
Pure chaos.
And to make matters even worse—his friends were participating in it.
Alucard let out another exhausted sigh.
"Damnit all why can't I have one day off."
Rather than rushing in recklessly, he crouched down and grabbed a sturdy stick lying near the rubble. He inspected it briefly before placing one end of it into his mouth.
Then he bit down hard on his own tongue.
Blood immediately filled his mouth as sharp pain spread through it, though Alucard barely reacted. Instead, he spat the blood directly onto the stick while channeling his blood through it. The crimson liquid spread rapidly across the wood before hardening unnaturally until the entire thing became as solid and durable as steel.
Behind the scenes, Gluttony groaned loudly while reluctantly healing Alucard's tongue.
"You are unbelievably infuriating," Gluttony muttered bitterly. "Do you know how much I hate fixing your stupid self-inflicted injuries?"
Alucard ignored him completely.
The next second, he launched himself directly into the battlefield.
The reinforced stick swung through the air with terrifying force as Alucard immediately knocked out the first unfortunate Awakened by slamming it into the side of his head. Another tried to attack from behind only for Alucard to pivot smoothly and strike them square in the jaw hard enough to send them collapsing unconscious to the ground.
His sudden appearance immediately threw the battlefield into confusion.
Using the chaos to his advantage, Alucard rapidly pushed deeper into the fighting until he finally spotted Effie surrounded on multiple sides.
Without hesitation, he charged straight toward her, knocking several people unconscious along the way.
He slid into position directly behind her, their backs pressing together naturally as he covered her blind spot without even needing to say anything.
Effie instantly recognized him.
A massive grin spread across her face as she let out an excited roar.
"Oh, so the bloodsucker finally decided to come back to life again?!"
She laughed loudly while smashing an enemy away with her shield.
"Well, you sure picked a good time to show up!"
Despite himself, Alucard couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face at hearing her voice again.
"Yeah," he replied casually while parrying a sword strike with the stick. "Death's a possessive bitch. She keeps trying to keep me all to herself."
Several Awakened rushed toward him at once, clearly hoping to overwhelm him through numbers alone.
It didn't work.
Alucard moved through their attacks effortlessly, reading their movements almost lazily as he deflected blades using nothing more than an oversized stick. Every strike they threw felt painfully slow in his eyes.
These people had spent years surviving inside a living hell surrounded by corrupted creature's and monstrous demons.
But Alucard?
Alucard had become something even worse.
To the Nightmare Creatures of the Forgotten Shore, he was the monster lurking in the dark and their own personal nightmare.
Gluttony groaned loudly inside his head.
"Alucard, for the love of every dead god, stop monologuing internally and finish this quickly already. I'm hungryyyyyy."
Alucard rolled his eye in annoyance.
Using the opening created by another unconscious enemy collapsing nearby, he quickly stole several weapons from fallen fighters and immediately began using them himself.
Swords flew from his hands like throwing knives.
Spears became little more than sharpened twigs launched with monstrous force.
Every throw knocked someone unconscious instantly.
The battlefield rapidly descended into even greater chaos as nobody could properly track what the hell he was doing anymore.
And then—
"STOP THIS BATTLE NOW!"
The voice exploded across the battlefield like divine judgment itself.
Everyone froze.
Alucard groaned loudly in immediate recognition before casually throwing his reinforced stick directly into the face of another nearby fighter, knocking the poor man unconscious mid-step.
Then he slowly turned his head.
Standing at the edge of the battlefield were the two faction leaders he had kidnapped earlier...
Alongside the holy flamethrower herself—
Nephis.