Not long after Lorelai vanished into shadow, the fierce clash between Freyja and Blade reached its final blows.
Though Blade was no ordinary vampire, a Daywalker immune to sunlight and silver, with strength rivaling legends, he was still only a man.
Freyja was a goddess of war, and when she called upon the natural magic of Asgard, the balance tipped irrevocably.
Blade swings slowed, his defense grew sloppy. Freyja pressed her advantage with elegant brutality, her golden sword striking like thunder.
Eventually, Blade fell to one knee, sword embedded in the stone floor for support, panting.
The surrounding vampires watched in stunned silence.
Their champion had fallen.
Even the reinforcements arriving from the cathedral's rear, those who had not yet seen Soren's silver massacre, paused when they beheld the aftermath.
The air was heavy with tension… and dread.
Still calm, Soren raised his hand and spoke with quiet finality.
"Stagnate."
A ripple of warped space shot from his palm. Instantly, Blade's body froze, suspended mid-breath, mid-thought, held in absolute stasis.
Freyja lowered her sword and let her aura dissipate. Her eyes still gleamed with excitement.
"I'll give him this." She said, brushing a strand of hair from her brow.
"He made me earn it. It's been centuries since a warrior lasted that long against me."
She turned to Soren. "What now?"
Soren offered a faint smile. "Now… we wake him up."
A soft shimmer surrounded his hands. In a flash, a pair of pristine white gloves appeared, etched with swirling runes.
He reached toward Blade, and with precise motion, he drew the enchanted charm from Blade's body like plucking a thread of shadow from his soul.
A flash of light. The spell shattered.
Blade gasped, stumbling backward free again.
His gaze shifted between the two, confusion turning to embarrassment as he remembered everything.
Freyja crossed her arms and raised a brow. "You good now?"
Blade nodded slowly, then looked at Soren, who stared at him with amused disappointment.
"We tried to warn tough guy." Soren said dryly.
Blade lowered his eyes for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah. You were right."
"That woman... She got inside my head."
The surrounding vampires stirred uneasily.
One elder whispered. "We're finished…"
Soren's silver orb shifted again, flowing between fingers like a serpent of liquid death.
The vampires recoiled, stumbling over each other to retreat into the shadows, too afraid to attack, even the proudest elders shrank back in fear.
"We don't have time for this," Freyja said sharply, her gaze turning toward the altar. "Lorelai's not done."
"She's buying time for something." Blade muttered, tightening his grip on his sword.
Soren's smile was thin and knowing. "Let her. I've dealt with worse."
Suddenly...
BOOM!
The ground trembled violently. Dust rained from the cracked ceiling.
"ROAAAAARRR!!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the cathedral, bestial, rage-filled, and hungry. It echoed through the sacred halls like a call from hell itself.
A wave of pressure surged outward, slamming into the room.
The roar was followed by a pulse of raw bloodlust. It poured from the depths beneath the church like a tsunami.
"What the hell was that?" Blade asked, instinctively stepping back.
Freyja raised her sword again. "That's no vampire."
The moment that unearthly roar echoed through the cathedral, the expressions on the faces of the vampire elders shifted from fear… to elation.
"That's him!" Eyes wide with fanatical joy.
"Faith has succeeded!" Another exclaimed, voice trembling with awe.
"He's done it! He's become the Blood God!"
The oppressive aura radiating from the church's depths surged again, a dark energy so ancient and potent it made even veteran vampires instinctively drop to one knee.
Soren, however, didn't look impressed. His sharp gaze pierced the veil of darkness toward the crypt below.
"…That's not normal vampire magic."
Freyja's hand moved instinctively to the hilt of her sword, and beside her, Blade's jaw clenched.
"It's him." Blade said. "Faith. I felt my blood leaving me while I was under Lorelai's spell. He used it to ascend."
"He's trying to become a Blood God!"
Soren glanced sideways. "Blood God?"
Freyja raised an eyebrow as well. "I've heard the term whispered in old realms. Elaborate."
Blade nodded grimly, voice low and fast. "According to vampire lore, the Blood God is a mythical warrior, born when a hybrid vampire absorbs enough pure blood, through a forbidden rite."
"He becomes something new. Something that can dominate even elder vampires."
"Hmph." Freyja scoffed, unimpressed. "Still just a vampire, no matter how polished."
Soren's silver sphere twirled in his palm.
"A+ class." He murmured to himself, reading Faith's energy through the system. "Nothing I haven't killed before."
Before they could make their move toward the crypt, the ground quaked again, and then, with a thunderous crash, the front wall of the church exploded outward, showering stone and dust across the sanctuary.
From the dust, a figure emerged.
Shirtless, veined with glowing crimson. His aura pulsed like a second heartbeat in the air.
Blade's eyes narrowed. "That's him… he did it."
The newly reborn vampire laughed, the sound manic and triumphant.
"Daywalker." Faith sneered.
"You should feel honored. Your blood, your cursed, hybrid blood, gave me the strength to become something divine. I'm no longer a half-breed."
"I am perfection!"
He turned his attention to Freyja, his smile twisting.
"And you…"
"You're the goddess who kept hunting my Lorelai like a dog." He raised his arms, letting the dark energy swirl around him.
"Now I'll rip you apart with my own hands and offer your head to my queen."
Freyja stepped forward, unfazed. "You talk a lot for someone who hasn't landed a single blow."
Faith's grin widened, madness spilling from his every movement. "Once I kill you… Lorelai will finally see. I was always the one. I'll be her king!"
He tensed to attack... but Soren was faster.
Without a word, his silver sphere fractured into three, each shard forming into a spinning, needle-shaped projectile. His eyes flashed silver.
"Let's see how godly you really are."
CRACK... CRACK~CRACK!
Three bullets of pure silver shot forward like comets, piercing through Faith's torso with surgical precision.
Splat—Splat—Splat!
Faith staggered backward, stunned. His eyes dropped to his chest, watching as the wounds tore open… and then, to his shock, began closing almost immediately.
In seconds, the damage was gone, as if nothing had ever touched him.