Chapter 152: Battling Black Death
After feeling the earthquake caused by Nius' earth-shattering sword strike and instructing Yanosh and Argash, Vlad moved toward the throne room using the [Blood Steps], getting to the second floor in only some seconds.
Barging inside, he saw Lacilet staring coldly at him while two unconscious, naked girls lay at his feet.
Before Lacilet could do something, Vlad used his blood powers to create two long snakes that he enveloped those naked girls that still had life in them, throwing them outside of this throne room.
Lacilet didn't even react as he watched Vlad with sharp eyes that released some dark green mist before he rose to his feet, looking down at Vlad as he said to him something that Yanosh, Argash, and the other knights caught.
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"YOU FINALLY ARRIVED, CURSED SPAWN! I WAS AWAITING YOU ON THIS THRONE OF MINE FOR SO LONG THAT YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND MY BOREDOM. YOU EVEN MADE MY LIFE EASIER BY KILLING THOSE INCOMPETENT NOBLES. ALL THEIR ARMIES AND TERRITORY WILL BE UNDER MY COMMAND, THE KING OF KAYSANG, I, LACILET VESTIOS."
Lacilet declared with a lot of confidence, arrogance, and proudness while looking down at Vlad.
Meanwhile, Vlad, who closed the blood cage he spread out after letting the naked women pass by the door, gave Lacilet a disdainful smile, asking him calmly while pointing at the collapsed people wearing noble clothes, void of any life signs.
"Heh, you had the power to cure their poison, but you never even bothered to help them?"
Hearing Vlad's question, Lacilet waved his hand in annoyance, chuckling a bit while arranging his noble clothes.
"Why should I? I noticed your presence from the moment you began fighting those traitorous knights. However, I choose to enjoy those lowly whores for a while. I see no problem with this."
"Impressive. You are ruthless and decisive with your actions. Greedy to extremes in matters of interest. It makes me remember a brother of mine saying something along the lines. "With such traits, you could be the perfect general." replied Vlad while calmly walking toward Lacilet and along the way starting to increase willpower that he was vibrating outside.
Step by step, Vlad saw Lacilet's face turning offended, and with Nemesis pointing at him, he continued saying, adding more fuel to a starting fire.
"Doesn't this fit the description, Betrayer? However, it seems you bit more than you could chew."
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Lacilet also brought his sword from his sheath when he saw Vlad approach and said coldly to him.
"Are you done with your insignificant words, bastard?"
"Sadly." said Vlad while quickly drawing Nemesis to himself and unleashing a quick [Blood Slicer] that menacingly moved toward Lacilet.
"I said enough. Now I shall only focus on fighting you."
Lacilet's golden hair started being fluttered by the winds of Vlad's strike, but with an arrogant expression that turned serious, he had his sword covered in a dark green aura, and using it, he slashed apart the [Blood Slicer].
Later he dashed toward Vlad and did a thrusted strike to Vlad's confusion, who never expected such a lowly person like Lacilet Vestios to attack him headfirst.
Bringing Nemesis to block the strike, he later observed that Lacilet, apart from covering his sword in the dark green aura, it also turned black.
'Interesting. So this is why you are so confident to fight me head-on. You also got your haki awakened. It would be disappointing if you didn't have any sort of power after scheming in the shadows for so many years and also having Dark Union support.' thought Vlad as he covered his sword in Armament and parried Lacilet's attack.
Lacilet was shocked by Vlad blocking his attack, and his arrogant expression shifted even more, stepping back immediately after sensing that Vlad, whose feet were armored, moved to kick his midsection.
"Not so fast, bastard. You think these cheap attacks work on someone like me, who experienced everything?"
Vlad shrugged his shoulders, and using his [Blood World] ability to manipulate the surrounding blood, he started to morph spikes on the floor that moved to impale Lacilet, who was retreating.
Yet as he retreated, he also spread out a dark green miasma around his retreating path that started boiling and decaying the spikes targeting him.
This initial contact that Vlad felt with the green miasma perplexed him. He found the connection he had with the [Blood World] being assaulted by an unknown force.
'Khorne, have you felt it?'
*** Yes, Lord, this person's green miasma holds something that keeps attacking me and your blood. ***
'Is this bacteria?'
*** No idea, Lord. It still hasn't hit you directly where I hold most of my power *** replied the childish voice in his head.
[Master, stop talking in your head and focus on the fight!]
'Shut up, Moth, I need to elucidate what this stuff cutting my connection with the blood is.'
Then Vlad stopped sending his blood spikes at Lacilet, charging at him at a fast speed, unleashing a combination of sword strikes that tested the blonde Duke and his sword skills.
Lacilet saw Vlad's sudden approach, which confirmed something in his mind, and so made him block Vlad's strikes with a focused mind.
This measurement between them created a strong shockwave that felt like a quake for the rest of the people in the palace, but those two only cared about finding the enemy's weaknesses in front of them.
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With the measurement of their sword techniques and power taking about 5 minutes, Vlad and Vestios began understanding something. They couldn't underestimate the enemy.
Duke Lacilet was the first to break off the measurement contest of sword skills, finding Vlad's sword techniques to be unorthodox and too cheap for his own style of swordplay.
"I don't know who taught you those rubbish skills with the sword, but you should start collapsing under my sword." commented Lacilet while glaring coldly at Vlad, who looked with a serious face at him.
He scoffed at him, choosing to keep his silence and slowly spread his blood around his body, forming an exoskeleton pulsating with blood energy and dark energy to protect him. This exoskeleton that remained hidden from Lacilet eyes was the improved version of the medieval armour that he discarded because it proved to be a weakness in serious fights.
It was a weakness showing your enemy the powers you held right in front of their face.
'Thanks for giving me time to construct the exoskeleton, but you really shouldn't. The skills I showed you are just the basic techniques of the Dragon Order, nothing that would jeopardize me and my true skills.'
After Vlad finished his exoskeleton, he activated [Enhancement] to increase his strength to his body limit, a point where Lacilet sensed something going with Vlad, who just gazed at him with a calm, yet cold expression.
"Bastard, if you think the reason I stopped from following up and decimating your sword skills is to give you some rest, you are mistaken."
Saying that he began unleashing a lot of dark green miasma around himself that floated around him like a veil, which quickly started to boil and decay Vlad's blood surrounding him, and in doing so make Vlad frown in slight pain.
"Haha, so my thought was right. Your Devil Powers are weak against mines. Would you look at that, little prince? It seems you will die just like your father."
Following that, Lacilet pushed more of his green miasma around the [Blood World], later beginning the corroding process of this entire world.
Lacilet gave an arrogant laugh when he heard Vlad give a grunt of pain when all this boiling and decaying of his [Blood World] commenced.
'I still don't understand what is happening with my powers. KHORNE, did you know what is going on?'
*** I am oblivious, Lord. ***
'Tsk, it seems I will have to solve this mystery on my own.' snorted Vlad in his mental world, glaring at the red wisp and black moth and later at the bloody world in his mind that was boiling at quick succession.
With that thought ended, he extended his hand and started recalling the [Blood World] in his body, something that Lacilet didn't even lift a finger to stop. He just looked with a wicked smile at Vlad, who only focused on withdrawing the cage he spread on the throne room.
Nevertheless, when he finished recalling the ability, he felt a jolt in his body and a boiling sensation in all his veins that later made him release a groan of pain.
"Magnificent. How could you be so stupid to take back your infested blood? Now you are just going to die because of your foolishness." declared Duke Lacilet Vestios with a victorious voice, later charging at Vlad, who was grabbing his chest in pain.
Still, Vlad, while suffering the pain of this unknown enemy, he prepared to meet Lacilet's sword with Nemesis barely managing to block the first strike.
Lacilet, with the win of the first clash, slowly starting to cover himself in a green miasma that morphed into armour.
As he was doing that, his dark green sword covered in Armament Haki kept on putting a strain on Vlad's defenses, and after one minute of rapid sword clashes, he used a sword strike holding a lot of power.
Vlad blocked that strike with Nemesis that only had the Armament covering because his blood slowly entered into a process he couldn't comprehend.
Inside his body, one could say Ragnarok arrived before hitting mankind. His heart was pumping blood at a rate he never knew it could later make him feel such pain and boiling temperature that even his breathing was disturbed.
'Arghh, this feeling. It is familiar to me. Could it be? Black Death?!
Finding the strength to parry some attacks from Lacilet, he later felt a nauseated feeling that made him vomit blood the moment he blocked a sword attack.
"Finally, the effects started appearing. Your clock is ticking, little prince. Bit by bit, you will start losing yourself to my powers."
Vlad, with red eyes, turned to look at Lacilet, who commented that with a disdainful tone, he tried to enquire what his powers were, but as he was gazing at him, he felt his nose bleeding a lot of blood for no reason.
*** Lord, the situation inside the circulatory system is something I never felt it before. The cells are killing one another like they have been possessed by a demon! *** reported Khorne, the red wisp with a childish panicked voice.
Before Vlad even had the change to inquire, the red wisp reported back with the following message.
*** AHHH, SHIT, another row of cells arrived! Wait, this time, they started attacking those monstrous beasts who flowed inside your body, Lord. ***
'How do they look? They are green colored in the shape of a rod with some small tentacles around themselves?'
*** That is right, Lord, they are all over the place, but it seems those new cells started killing them. No wait, those green monsters started targeting the cells which were winning! ***
The moment Khorne said that, Vlad puked once again a mouthful of black blood to Lacilet's delight, who stopped from attacking Vlad just to watch his agonizing end.
'Cursed bastard, you think I will die because of the bacteria you infected me with? This is something the grandmaster has talked about in his masterpiece. Khorne, listen, I will unleash all my blood powers, so you better guide the cells to the fight they keep losing. Also, whenever you see a victorious cell that devoured one of the bacteria, take him away and guide him to the body response part.'
*** Wait, slower, Lord. Too many commands at once. ***
'INSOLENT! DO AS I SAY! THE CELLS KNOW WHAT TO DO BY INSTINCT. YOU ARE JUST GIVING THEM A BOOST WITH MY POWERS!' roared Vlad in his mind, scarring the red wisp, making it suddenly disappear from his mind world, only leaving the black moth who kept its quiet for a long time.
Then from outside, Vlad closed his eyes, dropping on his knees as his body began dripping in sweat, with his breathing turning forced, grasping for every single breath of air.
Lacilet, who saw all these symptoms from Vlad, just walked back to his throne and looked down at Vlad with a disdainful expression, saying coldly to himself, as if he targeted Vlad.
"Just like your pathetic father. How can you beat Death itself?"
Yet Vlad who was pushing all his blood powers and boosted his metabolism to his maximum capabilities, with a heart that was beating like the drums of Mars.
A minute later, his body kept on fighting against the Black Death itself. His hands started turning black, which caused Lacilet to laugh like a sadistic maniac pleased seeing every single symptom in Vlad's body.
"Yes, yes. It is just like how he died. Can you see it, Lucius? Your son is kneeling in front of me, dying the same death as you did."
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'Khorne, REPORT!' roared out Vlad in his mental world, while the outside self was struggling to breathe and had his nose, eyes, and even ears bleeding.
*** MASTER, THE CELL THAT KILLED ONE OF THOSE MONSTERS JUST GOT TO THE LYMPH NODE AND IS NOW USING ITS TENTACLES TO TOUCH ON MANY CELLS! ***
'HELP IT! I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WAIT FOR THAT PROCESS. LUCKILY MY ENEMY IS A INCOMPETENT FOOL WHO THINKS I WILL DIE.'
*** I understand, master. I shall use all the blood powers to increase the speed of the process. ***
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Meanwhile, inside Vlad's lymph node, the red wisp who was looking at a large cell covered in the destroyed body of the bacteria invading Vlad's body like a decorated soldier coming from the battlefield, shined with bright crimson light and said to the cell while touching it.
"Let's move you stupid thing. You already touched 10.000 T cells, and you still didn't find the right one. Come faster, or the Lord will die."
"Administrator, give me a break. I am following the primordial setting of life."
"Fuck off and do what I tell you if you still want to exist." cried out Khorne, annoyed by how slow the dendritic cell could be in finding the right T cell.
Feeling the boost from Khorne, the dendritic cell also started shining with crimson light, and not long after, he began moving at a swift rhythm.
Cell after cell, it began touching all sort of T cell who cursed it, calling it stupid for trying them. Until 2 minutes or so, that luck stumbled on Khorne and that dendritic cell that linked himself with a T cell, which began activating itself.
After that, the dendritic cell gives it a push, but the T cell didn't even begin moving. It was until Khrone got in its face and yelled at it as it was activating.
"Faster, we are going overclock here, you little shit. We don't have time to wait for you to move."
"Ahh, wait, Administrator. I need to sort out the data for the attack and defense response."
However, Khrone could feel that every single minute was precious for Vlad, whose elbows started turning black. He used the blood energy to empower that T cell, which immediately reacted by splitting itself into many pairs.
When it got to 100.000 numbers, a vast majority went back to fight the bacteria, while another smaller part went to look for the B cell in an alerted manner. Then just like when the dendritic cell had to find the T cell, those smaller ones started their search for the suitable B cell.
Yet again, in about one minute, they found the perfect match, which had Khrone give his last order before losing in its energy.
"You better start producing enough antibodies to keep the Lord alive in all this fight against the enemy."
Saying that it shared the blood powers from Vlad, having the B cell give off a crimson light, later starting multiplying to a large number similar to the T cell and not long after beginning the process of forming antibodies.
Vlad B cells were like a roaring forge blazing with incredible heat, pumping about 10.000 antibodies in his system in only one second.
"Excellent, now I finally can breath at ease because I didn't mess up the mission."
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In Vlad's mind, he could hear Khorne's voice telling him the most pressing news in his life.
*** Lord, the cells have been set to war! You should start feeling better in one minute or so." ***
'Good job Khrone, now let's see what this bastard will be able to do when his parasites can't work on me.'
*** Hehe, he would be easy prey ***
[Quiet, little red. Even without his devil powers, this person we are facing is someone who can face us on level ground. Do you understand it fool, once your body starts feeling better, mask it and take advantage, don't run at him like how you usually intend to do when your hot head starts kicking in]
'Hah, maybe you are right. Better give Lacilet a nasty strike so he can remember for his entire life.' thought Vlad, who felt the intense fight of the cells inside his body.
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A/N: Who would have thought that filling your head with all sorts of information would come in handy in this chapter.
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Can you guess what devil fruit Lacilet has got after this first chapter of them fighting?
P.S: This will come more like a fun fact, but did you know our body has a response for every single bacteria/virus? The reason people die of those bacterial/viruses in the world is that their immune system is just too slow and is overtaken by the heavy number of bacterial invading the body.
It is something in theme these years and last year with the covid. I thought it might be interesting knowing this.
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