Zero’s mana barrier began to crack as Yaldabaoth’s light breath attack slammed into it. The cracks spread and Zero added another layer inside before the 1st layer shattered. Knowing that at this rate he would be vaporized. Desperate Zero attempted the same trick he used on the shadow door to the chaos realm. He activated his mana nullification ability creating a large dome while simultaneously using his photokinesis to try to bend the light to avoid him.
As Zero focused entirely on bending the light he failed to notice his mana barrier shattering. Although Zero managed to bend the attack he was unable to fully bend it. The beam shattered his barrier and vaporized Zero’s left arm and a part of his chest containing his heart leading to a quarter of his heart being disintegrated. The attack ended leaving a badly damaged Zero and the 5 undamaged archons.
Zero collapsed on his knees grasping his chest as he bled on the floor. Zero wasted no time and shifted to his shadow form and summoned the darkness around him and used it to rebuild his arm. The archon shifted from black to back to their normal blue-green shade. Zero retreated and re-summoned Death and 50 shadow knights behind him.
‘Damn so Yaldabaoth attacks don’t harm anyone or anything except me and my shadows. That’s a really annoying ability and it ruins half my plans.’
Zero shifted back into his vampire form fully healed but at the cost of quite a bit of mana. His mana reserves were already down to 60%. The archon rushed at him wasting no time and Death leading the shadow knights responded in kind. Zero stood back refraining from joining the battle as he observed the areas that his forces stuck on the archons.
As Zero watched the one-sided battle where his forces were being decimated he noticed that one of the archons avoided an attack to its chest where the heart would be. Wasting no time Zero turned into mist and speed behind the archon and with his clawed hand pierced through its chest. The archon screeched as Zero pulled out a mass of flesh and saw a gem embedded within. Zero crushed it immediately and the archon howled and flailed around as it withered and died. The remaining 4 archons howled in rage like animals as they turned crimson red.
The archon furiously attacked defeating the shadow knights easily until there only remained Zero and the shadow of Death. Surrounded on all sides Zero stood back to back with Death as the archon drew closer. Zero shifted to his shadow form and created a blade and readied himself.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
(***Soma POV***)
Soma exited the castle and appeared in the Hakuba Shrine along with Mina. They looked around and saw Alucard standing nearby. Soma walked over and asked, “Where is Hammer?” but before he could answer Mina ran up and hugged Alucard while sobbing.
“What’s going on?” asked Alucard as he looked at Soma.
Soma sighed and answered, “Zero awoke her past memories.”
The revelation shocked Alucard who looked at the girl hugging him. She now had long following blonde hair so it must have reminded him of Lisa’s. Alucard hugged her back and started to cry alongside Mina. Soma looked at the weird mother-son combo and asked, “Are you guys done now?”
Mina turned to glare at Soma and said, “We haven’t seen Alucard in hundreds of years. So, what’s wrong with taking time to cherish this moment?”
“Well, we have bigger issues to worry about at this moment. The main problem is that we’ve been out of the castle for a while now but Zero hasn’t emerged.” said Soma as he looked up to the moon.
Listening to Soma’s words the 2 stopped their display and they all looked up to the full moon. As they looked at the moon it suddenly changed to a red moon.
“What happened to the moon?” asked Mina
“It looks like my castle has been sealed off. I don’t think Zero can come out. I can’t even access it through my power so it’s been completely sealed off.” said Soma
“So, what are we going to do about Zero?” asked Alucard
“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to have faith that this is a part of his plan and go along with it. The only thing to do is make sure Mina will be ready to defend herself if anything goes wrong.” answered Soma
“No, we have to break that seal and rescue Zero. We don’t have time to waste!” said an anxious Mina
Soma walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder as he said gently, “We can’t undo that seal. It was made with a level of power that we can’t override. This means that Yaldabaoth is inside the castle. We can’t match his power and the Zero I know would do anything stupid enough to get himself killed.”
“Yes, you’re right father I’ve seen Zero overcome odds I thought impossible so I’m sure this time will be no different.” said Alucard
“But…” Mina started to say when Soma hugged her and said, “Don’t worry I promise everything will be fine so let do what we can for now.”
At Soma’s word Mina nodded her head and had a determined look on her face. Soma turned towards Alucard and said, “Teach Mina the basics of combat and help her get used to the new body.”
“Alright but would you be a better choice.” said Alucard
“She’s not used to her new body so it’ll be too intense to start off with me so you’ll do until she adjusts.” said Soma
“I understand. Father I…” said Alucard but he was cut off by Soma who said, “Now’s not the time to talk of the past focus on the present and we’ll deal with the past afterward.”
Soma walked off but was stopped by Mina who asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to the nearby hospital to procure some blood bags. I need to drink and regain my strength and Zero might need some when he comes out.” said Soma before he turned and continued to walk away.