Alucard let Sunny and Effie continue their little discussion about star-forged spears and fallen shards.
In the meantime, he decided to ask about the plan going forward.
He walked toward Nephis.
Then immediately veered to the right.
It wasn't that he hated Nephis.
Not at all.
It was just that their connection was… bland.
There was a subtle tension between them. Something quiet and unspoken that made both of them wary. They cooperated well enough, but conversations between them were stiff, measured, almost clinical.
It didn't affect Alucard much.
He did what he was told.
Unless he didn't want to.
Still, talking to Nephis usually ended in awkward silences and intense staring contests.
So Cassie was the safer option.
Alucard approached Cassie, who was currently being carried by Beast.
"Hey, Cas. If you don't mind telling me… what are we doing now?"
Cassie sighed.
"Not again. You were in the room when we discussed this."
Alucard looked down in embarrassment.
"Meetings are boring, okay? All those numbers. Distances. Timelines."
Another sigh.
"Well," Cassie said patiently, "first Kai will carry us across the canyon. Then we clear the entire nest of Nightmare Creatures. After that, we climb the statue before sundown."
As she finished speaking, she made a small gesture with her hands.
"Ah. Okay."
Alucard blinked.
Cassie was still holding her arms out awkwardly as blood rushed to her face.
"…Help me down already," she muttered, clearly embarrassed at having to ask.
"Ah—sorry."
Alucard quickly unsummoned Beast.
Cassie dropped slightly, and he caught her before she could stumble, gently setting her down. Without thinking, he patted her on the head once she steadied herself.
She swatted his hand away.
Soon after, Kai carried Cassie across the canyon.
Then he came back.
And carried Alucard.
Al chose not to comment on that.
—
Once on the other side, they approached the nest.
Sunny started the fight.
Not with a sword.
Not with a shout.
But with the ringing of an incredibly loud bell.
The sound echoed violently through the cavernous opening.
And then—
They came.
Iron spiders flooded out of the narrow entrance in a horrifying tide of chitin and clicking limbs.
They were immediately met by two towering, muscular women at the front line.
Well.
One muscular woman.
And one terrifying shadow of a woman.
Effie and Saint held the entrance like immovable walls.
They weren't alone.
Beast stood beside them—now significantly larger after a week of constant feeding. Alucard had poured absurd amounts of blood into him, and it showed.
In one swift motion, Beast sprouted four writhing tentacles from his torso and skewered four Nightmare Creatures in a single devastating strike.
When more advanced, he ripped a spider's head clean off with his jaws.
Effie laughed.
Saint moved with cold precision.
The spiders died in droves.
Alucard and Cassie remained in the backline.
But not for long.
Alucard donned the Starlight Cloak and leapt onto a nearby rock, gaining the high ground.
Then he began firing Piercing Blood.
One shot.
Two.
Three.
His aim was… questionable.
However, given the sheer number of spiders pouring out, he was practically guaranteed to hit something.
All he had to do—
Was not hit his allies.
Which was harder than it sounded.
Still, this was his ideal scenario.
Hundreds of Nightmare Creatures.
All clustered together.
All full of blood.
And best of all—
He could practice his aim without wasting resources.
Every successful hit returned more blood to him then he spent.
He fired shot after shot, each one punching through chitin and rupturing bodies.
After a few seconds, he ran out of blood.
For a brief moment—
He was completely exposed.
Or he would have been.
The Starlight Cloak shimmered, concealing him the instant he stopped attacking.
During those few seconds of recovery, he maneuvered carefully—moving closer to the incoming blood while shifting away from where the spiders thought he was.
Then the blood returned.
And he fired again.
Repeat.
Again.
And again.
With each cycle, the slaughter became more one-sided.
Eventually, the Nightmare Creatures began focusing on him.
That led to several close calls.
At one point, he ran dry at the worst possible moment.
A spider lunged from behind.
He barely reacted in time, shoving his blood-formed arm into its open maw and flooding its insides, drowning it from within before its fangs could pierce anything vital.
After that, Caster and Beast repositioned themselves around him, cutting down anything that got too close.
Unfortunately for the spiders—
That was exactly what the cohort wanted.
With most of the swarm distracted by Alucard's relentless barrage, the rest of the team methodically eliminated the remaining creatures.
Either way, the nest was doomed.
In less than ten minutes, an entire nest of Awakened Nightmare Creatures was slaughtered.
—
When the fighting stopped, Alucard dropped down and began gathering all the blood that was scattered around the nest.
It flowed back to him in streams.
By the time he finished, he had more than he started with.
Roughly the equivalent of ten fully formed blood spears.
(I'm curious about something would you guys like for me to show how much blood has by measuring them in blood spears since one blood spear is the equivalent of 10 piercing bloods or would you just like me to give a vague number? I won't do liter's tho because that's way too much math)
Satisfied, Alucard followed the others deeper into the nest.
That turned out to be a mistake.
Inside were cocoons.
Some contained partially formed Nightmare Creatures.
One contained a human.
It didn't hit Alucard the same way it hit the others.
It wasn't apathy.
Not exactly.
He was disgusted more than anything else.
But then he noticed Caster.
The proud Legacy who always kept his emotions locked behind polished composure—
Was unraveling.
His eyes were wide.
Filled with something chaotic.
Sadness.
Anger.
Hatred.
Dread.
Even Alucard couldn't fully read it.
And he doubted Caster could either.
Alucard stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay? Did you know him?"
After a long silence, Caster nodded.
"Yes. His name is… his name was Stephen. The youngest heir of the Pandavar Clan."
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Everyone drifted into their own thoughts.
Mortality.
Fragility.
The randomness of survival.
After a while, Nephis clenched her jaw and turned away.
"We need to leave. The sun is setting."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Caster hesitated.
"Aren't we… going to bury him?"
Nephis shook her head.
"There's not enough time. And I don't want anyone touching bodies infected with those eggs. It's too dangerous."
No one argued.
But it felt wrong.
Finally, Nephis sighed.
"…Alright. Go. I'll catch up."
They exited the nest one by one.
Then—
A beam of pure radiance erupted from the entrance.
Blinding.
Followed by a wave of scorching heat.
Nephis's purifying fire consumed everything.
The human remains.
The cocoons.
The spiders inside them.
Even the corpse of the Spider Matriarch.
It was absolute.
Merciless.
Necessary.
Alucard felt a shiver crawl down his spine at the sight of her flames.
His hand began to twitch instinctively.
He grabbed it tightly.
Held it still.
Only once the flames faded did the tremor in his hand stop.
He stared at his hand.
"…Weird."