Capítulo 11: Chapter 11

Timeskip 2 months later

Shiro currently trudged through a large, and really wide snowy forest area alone. Unlike before, Jinako was not with him this time, it was just a simple old Shiro. The reason why she was not with him this time, was because she had to, as a daughter of Ganesha, partake in the festival of Diwali, an important day for almost all of the hindu gods. Apparently, it was a Hindu festival of lights, usually lasting five days or so, and since he hadn't really much interest in such matters Shiro had decided to just not participate. They say that its victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, though to him that was just bullshit for Shiro, since he didn't believe in that garbage.

Whilst he wandered through the forest, idly hoping that he would find something interesting to occupy his attention, the male found himself thinking once more about the last month, where another person had joined this little group which had been forming with him at the centre. 'More people will make hunting Apostles easier, but still... to think that it would turn out like this…'

Flashback

"Ushi, go with them."

True to Jinako's word, both her and Shiro DID come back after meeting with the shinto trinity. They now know what was plaguing their territory, an Apostle was messing with their territory and not just him but the Gods Hand was behind it, spreading their influence. With this knowledge, it had been decided that they were to ally with the Hindu pantheon to stop them from destroying the world.

By the time that this had been decided, the two Hindu natives came back to the village to see it one last time before their journey back to their own territory… and back to the war with the many Apostles. Of course, that turned out to be something that made Ushi glad to meet with them again, but sadly they couldn't stay for long. Mostly due to their mission being over and thus, them being needed back at their own pantheon. Odds were that they wouldn't see each other for a long time, and even then there was no guarantee that they both would remain alive for that long, considering the scale of their opponents.

Of course, being the knowing father that he was, Oishi had seen this saddened expression on his daughter's face before making a decision which stunned her, Jinako and Shiro. Hence why he had said what he did.

After a moment of silence, it turned out that Ushi would manage to regain her voice first, although when she spoke she couldn't help the stutter in her voice. "M-my lord what do you mean?" she questioned dumbly, blinking several times at her father figure whilst also wondering if he was simply toying with her.

Judging by the look on his face though, it didn't seem that way. In fact, it almost seemed like this whole ordeal had transformed her father, as if the knowledge that his future would be as it would be intended after his eventual death had filled him with such confidence and contentment that he didn't feel threatened by anything at all. "I want you to go with Jinako and Shiro." He repeated seriously, holding his sheathe at his side.

"B-but why my lord?" she questioned further… oh, and just for the record, thanks to her being accepted as the daughter of two royal lines, as well as her part to play in stopping Kira from marrying someone whom she considered a sister, Ushi managed to get herself her own set of samurai armour. One with a rather dark theme behind it to signify the darkness which she had grown up in as well as weaponized to adhere to the greater code of honor that Samurai held. (Hunter: essentially she wears her outfit from her stage 3 in Fate Grand Order)

"The reason is simple, I know that you would miss them as your first few friends, so I cannot bear to see you being sad. Then there's the fact that with them, you can also hunt down those infernal Apostles that are spreading around the world." the man explained, frowning at the thought of monsters like Kira roaming around freely. He didn't think that his daughter's talents should be just kept here, and thus if she went with the Hindu diplomats she'd be able to fight on the front lines against the source of the problem at its home territory.

Though, Ushi still felt a bit uncertain about this idea despite her growing desire to go with her new friends to fight the enemy, bringing glory to her line as well as to her father. "Wh-what about you father, I-I can't leave you!" She exclaimed, Shiro and Jinako standing back to let this play out.

Seeing this, Oishi gave a small but affectionate smile as he kneeled down to his daughter's level, the girl having lost feeling in her legs thanks to this situation taking her completely off guard. "It's alright daughter, it's time for you to make your journey and your story."

"I-I-I don't know what to do."

"Ushiwakamaru I'm ordering you to hunt those Apostles from destroying many lives, this is an order from lord Asano's principal counselor and samurai!"

When she heard that tone, flashbacks triggered to when she would hear her father discipline his fellow Samurai in combat, so she shot straight up like a tree trunk and promptly bowed her head in respect with her arms at her side. "?!..... yes my lord I will honor it."

Now that his daughter had been convinced, Oishi nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Then go and be safe Ushi…. I'm proud of you despite not being your blood related father for being my loyal retainer all these years. I pray to the gods that you will be safe, I'm sure of it."

"I will... father."

Flashback end

Since then, Jinako quickly bonded with her and got to know each other(Girl talk), something which surprised the white haired male since even his childhood friend had been capable of behaviour similar to this. When he'd questioned Karna about it, his ancestor told him to never question about a woman or else he would get something FAR worse than death, something which Karna had seen before.

Seeing the look on his ancestor's face had convinced Shiro to agree to this, because one time while he was at Mount Meru he was going to check on Brihanna to see if she's getting better, he heard someone talking so when curiosity got to him and he regretted it ever since. He saw... he couldn't even describe it since it would even make a God Hand shiver. He never again wished to question a woman, not after what he saw (SHIVER).

Anyways, in order to prepare herself for the conflicts against the Apostles that she'd be taking part in, Ushi had begun training with one of Shiva's consorts: Kali, the Goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power. It was her that she gained an interest in Ushi as seeing her conviction and loyalty resulted in the Goddess wanting to train her. Her skills were impressive that she inherited some of her ancestors power, This dexterity of combat arts performed to the extremes. Prevents the degradation of fighting skills no matter the kind of circumstances, even if she loses her armaments, Mana Burst (Lightning) Because Gozu Tennou is the incarnation of Taishakuten she possesses the power of the Kitano Tenjin (Raijin) similar to her ancestor. And finally her blade which she was given by her father the Juuchi Yosamu that cut through everything that passed its way, cause that's what a blade is MEANT to do, cutting what lays before it. One time, Kali remarked on how it shared a similar nature to Shiro's Rashomon in that it cuts anything in its path, be it living or dead whilst Rashomon just devours everything, even space. Whilst one time he had managed to see Kali sparring with Ushi. Shiro managed to conclude that her talents were indeed impressive, and that she could be an ideal force of destruction if she continued to grow stronger.

Fortunately for the usually composed and stern avenger, Shiro had luckily been assigned by Vishnu to hunt down an Apostle that they sensed somewhere in transylvania, where he had sensed a flow of casualty there that was impossible to ignore. Therefore, he designed it necessary to send their resident Apostle hating Karna descendent just in time before he could be asked to participate in the festival. Of course, Shiro had quickly accepted and escaped as soon as Paravati wrath appeared before Vishnu, the man soon regretting what he had said.

The boy had been entering the Magic Circle when he had heard Vishnu's screams of pain, making him wonder if even a GOD could survive a woman's wrath.

Women could be scary...

So here he was, walking down the forest alone while trying to find where this flow of casualty was located. He then sees an old styled village there which means that they too still live in the old ways, kinda makes sense if God Hand can spread their influence at a remote area where they can't be sensed by the other gods.

When he entered the place, Shiro found that people simply ignored him at first, going on their way before they saw him walking through the area. The boy didn't care much and ignored them, even as they began to follow him since they hadn't posed any threat just yet. If anything, he felt that they were pathetically weak. However, during the journey Shiro felt like things could turn ugly for him real fast when he spotted them gathering weapons out of the corner of his eye, before he finally arrived at… some sort of fountain place, one which had a person standing before it. Shiro then stopped his stride which signalled that person to speak to him. "Welcome to Transyilvania."

He stood still before he turned around and saw a man with long white hair, wearing old fashion clothes, a badge and a top hat. "What is this a warm welcome?" Shiro questioned, not liking the look of the man from the moment he saw him. The guy just SCREAMED like he would do some shady shit behind the scenes if one were to ask him,

"We don't trust strangers, strangers that won't last longer here."

"I can see that."

"So if you would be so kind, disarm yourself?"

"What makes you think I would let you take my weapons?"

Shiro glares at other people as they step back at the blindfolded person seeing he is a dangerous person. "So you would refuse to obey our laws?"

"Your law means nothing to me."

"Oooohohohoho a feisty one alright... kill him." As the man said when people were getting close to him before Shiro pulled out a massive Spear that anyone has ever seen before. Though, the sight of it quickly compelled them to take a huge step back from him, its form gleaming menacingly in the sunlight. Meanwhile, its user Shiro glared at them with the intent to summon Rashomon in its full beast form, then show them what TRUE terror really was. However before he could do anything, his eyes widened when his senses picked something up, something which was approaching this Village WAY too fast for his liking. He didn't waste time and promptly pinpointed the direction that it came from. 'Above!' the boy thought as he looked up. In contrast to his surprised thoughts, his verbal tone remained laced with nonchalance like his previous anger hadn't been there in the first place. "Well... looks like someone's coming." he said.

As he said this, the man before him blinked his eyes in confusion about his words, as well as the sudden change of moods, before he looked the same way as Shiro did. This resulted in him seeing three figures rapidly closing in on the village from the sunlight, which resulted in him becoming pale with terror as he promptly yelled out to the rest of the villagers. "THEY'RE HERE! EVERYBODY INSIDE!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Frantic screams filled the air as the villagers started fleeing to their homes, resembling somewhat headless chickens. Whilst the people scrambled about like some disorganized rabble, Shiro narrowed his eyes allowing him to see the silhouettes until they came into proper focus. They took on the form of three pale figures, looked like females from what he could tell, with pale wings attached to their figures. Looked like they had some sharp claws and fangs too, possibly some commonality with Vampires Shiro figured. It wasn't long before they reached the village and began to fly around it's airspace, scaring and swiping at other people.

'They don't look all that strong… meh, I guess I can take them out.' Shiro thought in boredom, his lack of interest being to do with him not fighting any Apostles. Thus, with this intent in mind, no matter how small and feeble it was, Shiro pulled his Nightingale back while aiming at them, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take one down. Just when one of them latched onto a man and scooped him up into the air, his opportunity finally arrived as Shiro then aimed at her before he shot her shoulder.

"GRAAH!"

A shrill shriek escaped her lipstick-covered mouth as the winged woman dropped the man, holding her wounded shoulder with one clawed hand whilst she looked down at him before scrambling through the air in a similar manner to the Villagers before. She eventually grouped up with one of her companions, the two of them flying to the sky and looming over the village like the monsters that they were. Their collective gazes burned down with fiery anger and hunger as they glared at Shiro who simply looked up at them.

"Marishka, kill the stranger."

"Love to!"

One of them, a black haired woman, snarled at the other who had a more ginger hair colour. Afterwards, they flew around the village, doing pretty much the thing anyone would have expected them to do, which was to cause massive mayhem and madness. All the while they kept on dodging and avoiding his energy arrows, the duo having learned to NOT get hit by them or risk being torn to pieces by their strength. It didn't take long before Shiro grew increasingly annoyed at this though, especially whilst they kept on dodging his attacks like they were some kind of performers at a play. Eventually, out of frustration he shifted his gaze to the right and saw one of the pale women screeching as she flew to him with her claws bared towards him. Instead of running with his tail between his legs or dodging her attack however, Shiro growled. "Enough of this. RASHOMON!"

With a roar that mirrored the Sacred Gear's temperament, Shiro summoned from his coat one of Rashomon's threads, something which caught the pale woman by surprise as she tried to halt herself with a look similar to one of revulsion on her face… as if she had figured out something bad was going to happen. That would soon prove true as the Thread lunged forwards like a living Tentacle, latching around her neck before she could get away in time. Loud shrieks escaped her as she clawed at the thread to try and break it for her getaway, however Shiro wouldn't let that happen nor would Rashomon either. With a quick yank, the woman found herself being pulled by it close to its wielder. Said wielder being Shiro, who had swapped his Bow out for his Kurogane, which he then reared backwards before he stabbed it straight forwards which resulted in it's blade piercing her through her torso.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"MARISHKA!"

Several cries came from the other two pale women up above as they saw their companion receive such a mortal blow without being able to fight back. Ignoring them for the moment however, Shiro grabbed onto his prey's neck with his free hand in place of Rashomon's thread, which then proceeded to help his right arm push Kurogane further into his opponent. Yet, all the while he kept their gazes at eye level as he held her neck tightly, tight enough to cut off her airflow until the Spear pushed it's blade out through her back. Another wail escaped the woman he'd restrained as Shiro began to see that the pale woman was starting to turn back to her human self. However, this was soon followed by him seeing her clothes being like an entertainer for other people... before the process continued. She kept on gasping for air, as she looked into Shiro's dark, cold eyes, proceeding with screaming near the end as she began turning into sludge before all that was left was her skeleton.

They looked at him with fear before they flew away, one of them almost mournfully wailing a name out which he would identify as the name of the woman he'd killed later.

"MARIshkaaaaaa!"

They screamed as Shiro saw them before he looked at the skeleton which was like a human to him before he saw two long fangs in the front of its teeth which means that they were vampires which Shiro groaned about. "Aaahhh great vampires Vishnu was wrong this time..." he muttered under his breath in annoyance. There wasn't much that could interest him outside of Apostles, nothing else in the supernatural world mattered to him, so seeing this to be the case really brought down the boy's mood and desire to continue this mission.

Whilst Shiro pondered this, he then saw his hat was on the ground, likely having been flung down there when one of those women had flown over his head. Whilst he made to grab it, then put it on his head, civilians began gathering around him as he heard people speak in frantic voices.

"He killed the bride!"

"He killed Marishka!"

They repeatedly chanted this like some kind of forbidden spell's incantation or something, all the while they gathered around the male as Shiro he looked at them around in confusion, an eyebrow arched at their behaviour. "Hey, I just did all of you a favor by killing that vampire." he stated.

However, he would have preferred that the answer came from someone else other than the same man from before, the one who responded to this statement with a sleazy smirk. "Vampires only kill what they need to survive, one or two people a month. Now... they will kill for revenge."

"YYEEEAAHHHH! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

They kept on repeating those two words, which really infiltrated Shiro. He growled under his breath as he remembered the last time he felt this furious. That time being back when he had been amongst those of the Band of the Hawk… and ANYTHING which reminded him of those times would not bode well.

Seeing this all around them, the sleazy man smirked deviously, his eyes glazing with malice as he eyed the irritated boy. "So what name, my good sir, do I carve in your gravestone?" he questioned.

Though, in hindsight he should have seen Shiro's response coming, since any normal person would have said something similar if they had the balls to. "Why should I even tell you? Why are you so scared of some measly vampire?" Shiro responded, scoffing derisively. It was safe to assume that he looked down on things that weren't apostles or humans… with Gods being an exception.

"You don't get it do you?" The Sleazy man questioned sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the lack of 'intelligence' that Shiro displayed and looking down on him for it. He should count himself lucky that the boy wasn't in too bad a mood as otherwise that stunt would have earned him a Kurogane to the stomach. "They belong to a vampire lord. They are the second highest to a king in the Tepes Faction of the entire Vampire species, boy. Sooner or later, they will have noticed that you killed one of his brides. When they do, not if, WHEN, they will send in more vampires than you can take on, so count your days boy it will be your la-"

"RRROOOOAAAARRRRR!"

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Shiro had enough of this, so he once more summoned Rashomon in it's full beast form which then roared out at the man, it's glowing red eyes COMMANDING him to shut his trap. THIS got the reaction he wanted, for the man and the others screamed in fear whilst backing away with some of them even falling to the ground. A few moments later, Rashomon stopped roaring as it returned to Shiro's side, growling at the civilians. "Listen, and you listen well. I don't give a shit about what happens to you, this village or anyone, got it?.... So Shut the fuck up and tell me where do these... brides come from.....? Anyone? Fine, I'll look for it myself."

"I-I can help you." As the teen made to go on his little errand (and likely rip out a few hearts in the process), one man came out of the crowd wearing what looked like a hood on some robes. He reminded him of a few scholars that he'd seen a few times back in his Village, Shiro mentally mused as he walked on over to the teen.

Though, his movements didn't look like they were too favoured by the rest of the populace as they looked at him like he was a suicidal idiot. One of them even yelled out. "Carl! What do you think you're doing?!"

However, it didn't seem like he would let that stop him as he instead yelled back. "M-Making the right choice, Eric! We've been terrorized by those vampires for so long now! You say that we can pray for divine intervention, but now not even the church will respond to our plea! No matter how many times we had asked them for help! A-At this point, we should do what the s-saying says: y-you want something done r-right, d-do it yourself!"

That same person who'd yelled before gritted his teeth at this response, a growl escaping his lips that carried no small amount of frustration with this scenario. "Gggrrrrhhhhh, fine! Go get yourself killed Carl, We won't miss you then!"

"G-gladly, I've been meaning to get out of this place for so long, anyways!"

Shiro looked at the man Carl before he titled his head to follow him as they made a leave from the village as they made a path for him before they left the village.

Later

Looked like, for all of his annoying as all hell stuttering, this Carl person seemed to have his own level of competence, since he was guiding Shiro through the forest quite confidently. Shiro had to wonder if that stuttering was simply a habit of his since, well, the guy had the balls to leave that pathetic village full to the brim with cowards. Shiro HATED Cowards with a passion, there were few things he hated more than Apostles and Griffith, but cowardice was one of them. "Thank you so much for coming, you have no idea how long since we received help."

Being shaken out of his thoughts by the man professing his gratitude for coming, Shiro waved him off since he didn't give a shit about this place's problems. He only came here to get away from that damn festival… though even he had some curiosity towards this situation, mostly brought about by the combined influences of Jinako and Ushi who had repeatedly told him to broaden his horizons, saying that it'd increase his combat effectiveness if he kept the bigger picture in the back of his mind. Might as well ask him now, then whilst things were just the two of them. "...Why did you say that stuff about the church? Not like I care, but this sounds like something they would handle.You said that you've been sending requests for help to them?"

Glancing behind him, Carl nodded his head as he looked down at the ground, somehow avoiding slamming into a nearby tree whilst he spoke with a low, bitter tone of voice. "We have... for the last 50 years. Yet, none of those requests were answered, and then the only time someone DID come they turned out to be just a low ranking Exorcist that didn't even last a second against them! They don't even respond to us so we had no choice but to let them take one of our people to feed upon!" he raged at the end, and judging by that rage he heard, Shiro felt like there was even more bad blood between this man and the Church than he was letting on.

Still, he knew a desire for vengeance when he'd seen it, and thus simply gave a nod and an "I see….. "... now that he thought about it, sometimes Jinako would compare him to this fantasy guy who spent all his time in armour slaying a bunch of green men. She'd say that they had similar speaking habits, though he didn't see it.

Nothing else was said after this, resulting in the silence taking hold of the atmosphere around them. Whilst the two men continued to walk in silence through the forest, Carl then broke it when he spoke. "You know I'm an inventor, I make stuff like…" Carl then stopped as Shiro looked back at him, the latter having been up in front this whole time, as he began to get something from his bag. This fortunately only lasted a couple seconds, before he pulled out a long cylinder before he pushed a button which then a blade came out."A silver stake. A crucifix." He took out a cross before he put it back in his bag. Looking back at Shiro who regarded him with a neutral stare, a thought occurred to the robe-wearing man. "You know, I get the feeling you have never gone after a vampire, have you?" he questioned.

This prompted Shiro to roll his eyes at his words, a derisive scoff escaping his lips. "They're all the same to me: yokais, devils, monsters are all the same thing." he stated, and he wasn't lying. In his eyes, all his opponents would be seen as prey for his Rashomon, since it was an omnivorous creature which ate pretty much anything. This got further compounded when he heard an agreeing growl in the back of his mind from his Sacred Gear, as if it were a natural thing instead of a fact to reinstate.

Apparently Carl didn't seem to think this was anything good, proof being how he vehemently shook his head like a bull trying to shake off an uninvited passenger. "No no….. Well some are, but not this type of vampire." He began to say, noticing the annoyed look flash into Shiro's eyes. This made him quickly begin to explain, not wanting to have what happened to that Vampire Marishka happen to him too. "A high ranking vampire, also known as a Vampire Lord, is when a vampire reaches an ultimate level by drinking special supernatural blood. Some records have stated that Vampire Lords got their powers by drinking the blood from a mythical beast." he explained.

Though, Shiro didn't see what this had to do with his apparently limited knowledge on 'why' he should care about having never fought a Vampire. "..... what makes them so special? They are not that different from other vampires." He questioned slowly, Rashomon growling once again but in irritation this time.

Something which Carl sensed by instinct, if his quivering and faintly flustered expression was anything to go by. "Y-Y-Yes but you see, those brides of his are not like those types of normal vampires. Somewhat inspired by the Norse, they were coined as 'Blood Maidens', and they're the result of a special transformation that any Vampire would LOVE to get in order to rank up as an overlord or a King. In contrast, a Bloodmaiden can only be formed out of female Vampires, and Vampire Lords can only be male." he explained further.

Okay, now Shiro felt SOMEWHAT interested, but less in the fact that apparently these Vampires have something like a Godly Trigger but works differently depending on Genders, and more along the fact of how this guy had even come into possession of such information. From what little he knew of them from his ancestor's teachings, Shiro had found that Vampires were somewhat of a prideful race, more so than even Devils and that said something, so a human with this knowledge would likely have been hunted down till their last breath he would imagine. "How do you even know about this?" he asked the man.

"I read and study them…. Ah this should surprise you." He took out a vial of what Shiro looks like clear water before he carefully made a drop to his finger before he flicked it towards a nearby tree as it exploded. Like what Carl said, Shiro was impressed but only a little bit since it was made by him with no magical power.

"Impressive but I don't need any of them."

"Of course you won't, with your sacred gear Rashomon and your equipment you would definitely kill that vampire in no time….. (GASP) we're here!"

Looking towards the direction Carl pointed, Shiro discovered that they were indeed at their destination, proof being that they were currently approaching a stone keep castle. Shiro could immediately tell this to be a hideout for a Vampire due to the dark, bleak appearance of the place, plus Karna had said that they were an old fashioned lot, sticking to trends from a mix between the victorian and middle ages. Still,he couldn't help but notice something atop one of the keep's towers, causing him to arch a brow. "Why does that tower look so different from the rest? Looks like it had been hastily rebuilt after some kind of explosion…" he questioned the man.

Something which Carl had been more than willing to answer for him, his facial expression that of wonder yet caution mixed together. "They say that a year ago, a resident had been living here, researching something that can revive the dead. But, that didn't last for he had then been discovered by the Vampire Lord and killed him, the man having taken refuge there for these years. Though ever since then, this Vampire Lord never comes out." he explained, generating a bunch of confusion inside Shiro's chest.

"Why is that?"

Carl shook his head, showing that even he didn't know the answer to that question. "I don't know that one, but I have a hunch: Either this vampire wants to revive the dead to do his bidding or wants to get rid of some kind of weakness he has."

"I see…. Alright let's see this….. So called 'Vampire Lord'."

Later

The two men soon reached the entrance into the keep, so when they entered it they walked throughout the various halls in search of clues. As much as Shiro wanted to just go on a rampage and rip apart everything that came into his line of sight, Carl wouldn't have let it happen, reasoning that it would just be an unnecessary hindrance to him. Not like Shiro couldn't have just killed him, the boy felt confident he could kill his 'guide�� many times over if he wanted to, but considering that he had been helping him so far, Shiro had decided against the idea for the time being.

Along the way, they came across several small figures walking with electric wires. Something which drew out Shiro's curiosity a little more which prompted him to move on forwards to take a look… something which did not sit well with Carl, the man having grabbed the white haired male then pushed Shiro to the wall. "What are you-?!"

"Dwergi!"

"Dwergi?"

Carl shushed him as he leaned out to see if the coast was clear yet. "The Vampire Lords' servants, spawned by his powers. Industrious, but viscous. If you get the chance to kill a Dwergi, then do so because a Dwergi can do worse to their foes." he explained in a hushed whisper.

So in reality Carl didn't need to do anything, since Shiro would have just killed them at the first sight of aggression they had shown. Perfect. "Uh huh." Shiro drawled, not bothering to hide his voice since he wasn't afraid of these guys.

Whilst in their hiding place, both men heard the dwergi's chattering on in an incoherent language that Shiro couldn't translate for the life of him... before he then decided it wasn't that important. Once the Dwergi were gone, he and Carl continued on their journey, wandering along the path.

Along the way though, Carl bumped into something slimy much to the robed man's chagrin. "Ugh what in the hell did I….bumped…." Carl looked in front of him as he saw a giant green drop with what looks like the outer layer has eggs on it as Shiro also looked in front of him seeing multiple of them with wires attached to them.

Shiro also didn't look too happy to see them, since they reminded him somewhat of the things he'd seen during the Eclipse. "What the fuck are these?" he questioned the man.

Carl however, shook his head negatively whilst leaning closer to the green thing. "I-I don't know... do you?" he questioned back, glancing behind him at his companion.

At this, Shiro snarled, Rashomon growling in warning. "How should I know I never encountered one like these before. What kind of vampire even keeps these here?" he hissed, although he mentally noted how agitated his Sacred Gear grew in such close proximity to these things. That just proved that these things were bad news, and he preferred to listen to his Sacred Gear as well as his instincts on this one.

Turning back to the green… sacs, that was as best as he could describe them now that he looked more closely, Carl examined them thoroughly by looking them up and down. His mouth remained slightly open whilst doing this as the cogs in his brain began to turn, a look of comprehension soon forming on his face. "To keep these trapped in here, connected to all these wires and cables….. Of course now I know! These are the offspring!" he exclaimed, a look of shock and horror filling his being.

A sensation which Shiro began to feel which mixed in with the disgust he felt inside too, Rashomon's trepidation making a whole new LEAGUE of sense as he looked at the thing before him. "..... what... offspring?" he questioned slowly. He did NOT like the sound of that.

"Yes, for you see there is a reason some Vampires won't turn into a Vampire Lord despite wanting to get a better rank in their society. It is very rare, so rare for one of them to have children that are born alive due to these guys being closer to the saying 'living dead'. It's only natural that their children were born dead. Normal vampires are able to have children, but for Vampire Lords, it's almost impossible. Therefore, I'm guessing that he is trying to find a way to revive them, because if he does..."

"Then we would have bigger problems here than I'd expected. Check that out..." Shiro declared as he pointed in a certain direction. Carl looked up and saw so many of these offspring that there could be thousands of them causing him to turn pale. He could understand the sentiment, even he himself felt like he had lost a little skin color at this. Shiro could only IMAGINE the level of shit that would happen if they were to be revived, especially if by using the powers of common sense, a Vampire Lord's children would be MUCH stronger than the average Vampire. It COULD be possible that a Vampire Lord's children would also be as such but from birth, something which would only add to their already massive egos. Seeing all this shit, Shiro seriously started considering using the Brahmastra to blow this entire keep to kingdom come, but had to hold it in. Mostly because after seeing the results back in that castle, he had to only use it for his trump card or if he had no choice.

Whilst they stood there, both men gulped when they heard a heartbeat bump nearby them as they looked at the one that is bumping a heart. A small bead of sweat formed on his forehead as Shiro went on over to it, digging into the sack to see what lay inside... a mutant baby bat that almost looked like a human. Eyeing it for a moment, Shiro hummed in thought whilst a tense silence filled the air. "Huh.... this what you get for having sex with that type of Vampire..."

A short moment passed before suddenly, the 'bat's eyes shot wide open, electing startled sounds from Shiro and Carl whilst they stepped back as it screeched.

SSSSCCRRREEEEEE!

Shiro promptly stabbed through its face with a claw from Rashomon, retracting it into his Coat afterwards. However, their problems didn't end there, for it was then that electricity began to go to each offspring's sack through the many cables, resulting in many of them starting to thump like they were living hearts. 'Oh fuck, that's not good! Looks like a bunch of these fuckers are going to wake up!' Shiro thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he glanced behind him at his human escort. "Alright you, get the hell out of here!" he yelled.

Much to the man's shock of course as he quickly asked in worry for Shiro's wellbeing. "W-what about you?!"

Shiro however, didn't need such things right now, he found himself too busy pondering on which weapon to use against the incoming threat. "I'll live, this is nothing! Now, go or else you would be nothing but a husk!" he yelled further, as if there was one thing which he knew for certain it would be that he couldn't fight AND protect the lone human at the same time. Thus, if he stayed here then he would likely become these guys' human blood bank or something… if it were anyone else other than his comrades, then Shiro wouldn't have given a flying fuck. But despite his habits, the guy hadn't done any harm to him and had been civil enough, so this would be the extent of his mercy to him.

Good thing this guy had the sense to understand his point there, proof being how he shakingly nodded his head in response to his words. "G-good luck then, find me at the broken lighthouse if you survive!" He yelled, quickly running off before Shiro could give his response.

He wouldn't have heard it anyways though, cause the boy simply chuckled darkly as he grinned in a similar manner, his eyes shining with building bloodlust as this trip, to him, started to get a BIT more entertaining. "Oh, I always will survive no matter what." he mused under a whisper.

Once he had confirmed that he was alone, Shiro promptly began to spring into action. He did so by taking out his Nightingale before he repeatedly pulled back the Bowstring and pretty much launched a rainstorm of Energy Arrows all over the place, JUST as each of the 'sacks' burst open with the baby bats coming out to play. As result, they began to explode into gory chunks thanks to the divine essence behind his Arrows, as well as those who survived the first hit exploding like human bombs from the leftover energies in their systems. 'Ugh, that looks just fucking disgusting…' Shiro couldn't help but think as he beheld this spectacle… though he just wished he didn't.

Whilst he did so, he managed to shoot about 40 of them before his senses registered another presence nearby. One which DWARFED the previous Vampires he had fought (Bloodmaidens, he remembered them being called according to Carl) in terms of scale and presence. Turning to the source and indirectly allowing the bats to escape into the outside (likely going to terrorize that damn Village), Shiro then saw someone up atop a ledge before it snarled at him. Shiro remained calm however, swapping out his Nightingale for Kurogane in preparation. "So you must be the so-called 'Vampire Lord'... pft, you don't look too tough to me." he stated with a derisive scoff, twirling his Spear around in one hand.

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

In response, the Vampire Lord hissed like a snake down at him. He then jumped off the rail before he began to turn into… what could best be described as a hideous monster with teeth as long as a human middle finger, wings as big as two persons with bat hooks on them, and ears that were long. Furthermore, it had a slight pinkish red radiant to it's skin, though the teen didn't care as the vampire began to swoop down low at him like a falcon.

To combat the imminent threat, Shiro reared Kurogane back and dodged the first swipe to his head launched by the Vampire Lord's right claw, before he then swung upwards and carved a gash through him. Not deep enough to kill, but enough to get the thing's attention. However, it also succeeded in lowering his foe's altitude, as he fell down to the ground before him. The Vampire Lord started to up, glaring heatedly at Shiro with a fury only a parent could make before the vampire sped up to him, grabbing onto Shiro's neck before he could react. A sharp gasp escaped him as Shiro got slammed into a wall, pinned there whilst being held by his neck. In order to finish him off, the Vampire Lord tried to get close to Shiro by leaning towards his neck, not like the teen made it easy for him though as he gripped the hand on his neck with his free one, putting his Spear's shaft in between the Vampire Lord's lunges for his jugular.

Finally, Shiro had enough and decided to take things up a notch. After blocking one particularly close lunge to his neck, Shiro summoned some of his Divine Energy and put it into his free hand. He then grabbed onto the wrist of the hand holding his neck and dug his nails deep into the hand's pressure points, causing the enemy to hiss in irritation and forcing them to let go of his jugular. Throwing him back and landing on his two feet once more, Shiro wasted no time in relishing being on solid floor and instead lunged forwards, calling out the name of quite possibly his favourite weapon in his Arsenal. "RASHOMON!"

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"AAAAAARRGGGHHHHHH!"

Once he called upon his Sacred Gear, it answered with a furious roar. Rashomon manifested in full Beast form, opening its jaws and biting down onto the vampire's neck as a form of retribution, digging its jaws deep into its flesh with relentless tenacity and almost fiendish fervor. Worked like a charm, it seemed, for the Vampire Lord howled in extreme pain when he tried to get Rashomon out of him by grabbing onto its snout. However, that didn't work out at all since Rashomon wasn't letting go, not one bit. Eventually, Shiro sent it a mental command telling it to let go of the vampire, resulting in Rashomon tossing the creature onto his back. This action also had the secondary effect of ripping a good chunk of flesh, muscle and bone from the creature's shoulder

Holding his neck in pain, the Vampire Lord promptly riveted his transformation back to his human self. In his human form, Shiro found that the Vampire Lord looked like a man in his mid twenties, with black hair that was tied back into a short ponytail as well as two strands going down each side of his face, one for each side. He also had brownish green eyes, eyes which currently glowed bright enough that he could see their fox-like slits.His clothing seemed to consist of that which had been prevalent during the 1400's, if Shiro had to guess, with a long black coat and pants, with matching boots. Underneath the coat, he could see some form of shirt, though Shiro wasn't completely sure which.

Ending his examination, the male noticed how the Vampire Lord looked at Shiro with a gaze filled with NOTHING but anger... and a little bit of fear mixed in. "How can this be?!" He yelled in a rage, gripping his shoulder which had a hole in it. Looked like it was rapidly healing though, but judging by the look on the man's face, he didn't seem too focused on that right now. "Nothing could hurt me! What type of sacred gear do you use, human?!"

"Nothing could hurt you, vampire?" Shiro questioned, before a mocking scoff left his lips as he pocketed his free hand in his Tailcoat, twirling Kurogane around like a wheel with his weapon hand. "Hah! that's a laugh. If you are so invincible how come you're wounded? If you ask me, I'd say it's obvious that you have never been dealt with in this way." Shiro snarled, stepping towards him. When he was close enough, Shiro raised his right leg and stomped viciously onto the Vampire Lord's chest. He almost revealed in the sounds of pain and discomfort that the Vampire Lord made whilst grabbing onto his foot to try and remove it. Though, the foot merely pressed tighter, threatening to smash right through the Vampire Lord's ribcage which caused him to constantly gasp for breath.

This obviously didn't go down too well with the Vampire Lord before him, for he screeched at him with a voice that sounded like it belonged to a dead man walking, pun not intended. "You! Do you know who I am?! I am Vladislaus Dragulia, a descendent of the original vampire Dracula. You will show me respect human!" he yelled at the end.

Though, the white haired male looked like he just didn't give a shit, which was the correct assumption. Part of him felt annoyed at how this guy had been built up by Carl to be a badass, only to be foiled so easily by his own arsenal, but he guessed that either this guy had underestimated him as a lot of arrogant asses tended to do, or he could possibly only have become his current self recently. He'd be willing to bet on the arrogance side though. "Oh, you will be shown respect when you turn into dust, vampire." Shiro snarled agan, raising his Kurogane for the finishing blow.

Just when he was about to impale Dracula's descendent however, Shiro's gaze sharply turned to the side when he suddenly sensed something coming his way. 'Ambush!' that sole thought raced through his mind as Shiro quickly acted against this new phenomenon, blocking it with his Kurogane.

As such, the male known as Shiro looked to see what he had defended himself after lowering his weapon, and to his surprise, he saw that it was an undead zombie-like motherfucker, he could tell it's true nature because of its rotten skin as it used it's teeth to try and bite down, chew through his weapon in order to get at his jugular. However, this didn't work out too well for it, so Shiro slashed it's head off after lightly throwing it back via a jerk of his Kurogane's shaft.

However, this allowed Shiro to look up and see more of them nearby, a full hoard's worth with each of them looking like they were one step away from going on a bloody rampage… somewhat like what he felt inside all the damn time. Whilst this happened, the Vampire Lord managed to escape Shiro's foot, stumble to his feet before running to the side, yelling out the following words. "Davernoch! What was taking you so long?!"

Afterwards, a figure came from the shadows as he hid his appearance behind a red robe that covered his body but Shiro can see that his face looks undead to him. "If you didn't notice I have been almost successful with the experiment, I was close but had to stop it before you could die. if you do, then the whole thing would be ruined."

The way that the figure seemed to gaze at the Vampire Lord known as Vladislaus, really rubbed his pride the wrong way… though, considering that he had just had the stuffing beaten out of him as well as how his wound was still healing, that was pretty understandable. Vladislaus looked like he even wanted to kill the guy who had just saved his skin just to form some form of pride, but he wisely chose against it since he still needed him for his plans. As a result he let out another sound that sounded like a mix between a grunt and a hiss. "Ggrrhhh fine, but get rid of this pest!" he declared venomously, pointing his clawed left hand at him.

Looking at Shiro, the figure's gaze seemed to rise in it's intensity, and the said boy could have SWORN that an eager hum escaped the figure's lips whilst Shiro got the sensation of REALLY wanting to get away from this figure. He believed him to be some kind of Necromancer given how he controlled all these undead seemingly, a fact he'd concluded based on how these things reacted to him, so perhaps THAT could be it. Shiro wanted to rip this guy apart himself, though. "Gladly, Vladislaus."

That said, Davernoch then waved his skeleton hand at Shiro, who then got into stance as the undead began to run at him. 'Alright, a round of fodder enemies it is, then…' the boy mentall drawled, not feeling much of a threat from these creatures whilst Rashomon retracted into himself, then came back out in the form of many long threads, their tips sharp enough for stabbing. The boy planned on having his Sacred Gear launch it's offensive first, take out the first wave of these guys before he'd use the brief opening to throw Kurogane at the Necromancer. It'd go into it's Jaw Mode in mid travel, then bite the guy's head clean off if he couldn't react in time, and if he did then Shiro would tackle him to the ground before impaling his vitals to finish him off that way.

However, the moment he made his move, Shiro noticed something behind the wave of undead… an even BIGGER wave of them, mixed in with those Dwergi that his human Guide had told him would be dangerous. This caused him to snarl, since he began to suspect their true aim to be something else instead of outright killing him.

But, before he could think of that and after killing the first wave of undead with Rashomon's threads, a female voice got heard in the distance. "OVER HERE!" The two men plus Shiro turned left in order to see who it was, and when they did each of them bore witness to a young-looking woman who looked somewhat like a female buddha monk. Her apparel consisted of a strange hat, her robes covering her except a portion of her breasts, large beads on her neck and was holding a shakujō. When Shiro didn't respond, she yelled again in a more urgent voice. "HURRY!"

At this, Shiro looked at her for a moment, turning back to the approaching undead horde which had SWELLED in numbers... before deciding to heed the woman's advice. He did so by using his Rashomon Threads to impale the ground around him, launching himself up into the air before landing beside her in a crouching position. Seeing this and knowing what the two intended to do next, the Vampire Lord pointed at them and yelled the following words. "GET HIM, HE MUST NOT LIIIIIVVVVVEEEEEE!"

Thus, the undead armies quickly moved to chase the two as they ran throughout the Keep in their goal of escaping this place. This turn of events proved to annoy Shiro though, to the point where he then gritted his teeth in frustration. Behind them, he sensed several undead closing in on their asses so he summoned several Rashomon threads to hack away pieces of dirt and tall structures, knocking them down to the ground and blocking their way a bit. It didn't stop them, but it indeed slowed the undead down a bit, so whilst this happened he turned his head to the right and spoke to the unknown woman. "What was the deal back there? I could've handled it all of them." he questioned, scowling.

Something which the woman returned tenfold whilst her eyes showed an intense annoyance which fared quite well against his own. "First of all, a thank you is needed…" she began, making Shiro mentally roll his eyes… as well as physically. "...and second, even if you did kill all those undead, that Vampire Lord and that Necromancer would have just used the opportunity to get away so they could have put some kind of finishing blow on you, since you in your hot-headedness would have chased them down whilst still being exhausted from the battle." she explained while going up some stairs.

Shiro narrowed his eyes into slits, a dark grrowl escaping his lips afterwards. As much as he wanted to refute that claim she'd made, he couldn't. She wasn't wrong after all since he could very well imagine that happening, though he REALLY wanted to know how the hell she had known that about him. Though, considering that now wasn't the time for questions, he couldn't really satisfy the inner frustration he felt inside. "Gggrrrhhhh I hate it when your right, woman." he said through his growls.

A while of running followed the end of this conversation, until the duo finally arrived at the roof where the equipment for lighting was located. Both of them searched around for an exit, before their gaze fell upon the sight of a hill opposite the keep. Behind them, they could hear the undead army nearing their position in their large numbers, causing the woman to bite her lower lip in frustration. "Crap we're trapped." she muttered under her breath as she shifted her head from side to side to see if there was an alternative solution. After all, she had ZERO intentions of dying today.

On the other hand, her companion had the complete opposite reaction to this dilemma… although he didn't really see it as much of a dilemma in the first place. "Maybe in your case, but not for mine." Shiro responded, prompting her to look at him with a heated gaze whilst her eyes pretty much asked the unasked question of his meaning. However, instead of answering, the male then put his middle and index fingers into his mouth, before proceeding to whistle in a loud tone. He then followed it up with running to the ledge before the woman could stop him.

"WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

When he heard her words, Shiro heard her just before he could jump, the boy looked behind him at her with a slightly knowing glint in his eye. "You'll see." was all he said, being as vague as he possibly could just so he could vent some frustration. Shiro then jumped from the ledge before the woman yelled.

"NO!"

She ran to the ledge and saw that Shiro was not there before she was confused before a majestic horse appeared in front of her as Shiro was riding it. "What are you waiting for? Grab on." he told her, glancing behind them at the path they had travelled. Looked like they had about 20 seconds before the undead caught up to and overran this area, so they needed to move NOW. This in mind, Shiro put out a hand to the woman, who looked at it for a couple seconds before reaching out and grabbing it. She then used it to vault herself up into the air and then land behind him. This done, Shiro commanded his horse, Blackjack, to ride away from the castle…

Leaving behind both an undead army AND a furious, humiliated and damaged Vampire Lord.

Later

Up in the dark skies above, Shiro and the woman rode the flying horse above the forest below them,immersed in the silent atmosphere that had taken over the hectic one they had been in previously. For a while, nothing had been spoken between the two, since they'd just escaped a rather risky situation so they wanted to use the silence to take their minds off things.

That is, until the woman raised her head then tilted it as she looked forwards towards her riding companion. "What's your name, by the way? It can't possibly be 'suicidal idiot' cause something tells me you're not that type of person." she questioned him, frowning.

For a moment, Shiro debated on whether or not he should answer her, since she DID stop him from ripping that undead army to pieces and all. However, on the plus side she had also stopped those two from dealing a significant blow to him that he would have had to take a while to recover from, and in that scenario he didn't know if he could have escaped that undead army. Therefore, he felt a little bit of gratitude towards this woman, since because of her actions Shiro had not only evaded that scenario, but he also had gotten out of it with minimal injuries meaning that he could go back whenever he so chose… and unlike what he had been bragging about, Shiro wanted more information about what was going on here, mostly because if this situation escalated as it could potentially do, then his companions would have his hide as well as the Hindu Pantheon. Ugh, he hated politics and factions.".... Shiro Ravi. You?" he eventually responded with, glancing behind him at her with only his left eye.

"My name is Xuanzang Sanzang, descendent of the original teacher of Sun Wukong." The woman introduced herself after a couple seconds, having nodded her head in acknowledgement of his name earlier. When she introduced herself she also placed her left hand on her chest as well, though the descendent of Karna didn't put very much attention, if any at all, on that matter.. Something which she noticed.

On the other hand, as he mused over her introduction, Shiro's eye widened slightly as he turned his head a bit more so he could look at her better. He then spoke with a surprised and confused tone of voice, obviously not having expected this. "Sun Wukong?... you mean the short monkey that was with Indra?" he questioned, remembering a few times when he'd seen a monkey like creature with the Hindu God. They looked like they had known each other for a while, but he hadn't really paid that much attention at those times since he'd been mostly focused on his training to fight the many Apostles in the world. However, Sun Wukong belonged to the Chinese pantheon, didn't he? So why would someone from that faction be in transylvania? That was something that he had indeed realized and had been promptly confused about. Shiro may be a simple man, but that didn't mean he was a stupid idiot.

"Yes..." Xuangzang replied, nodding her head once more before something about his earlier intro clicked in her mind as well. She then leaned forwards slightly whilst keeping her gaze locked with his, a curious glimmer being visible within them. "Wait, are you what they call Karna's descendent? The berserker?" she questioned curiously.

At this, Shiro arched a brow. Berserker? He had that kind of title? He didn't know that, but considering what he liked to do and how he tended to fight, the male actually found that title to be quite fitting for him. He didn't mind it, in fact he kind of liked it. "Yes you can say that Xuanzang, what is your relation with the monkey?" he questioned back.

Fortunately, Xuangzang looked to be in the divulgatory mood, since she soon answered his question whilst contemplating this information in her head. "He is my mentor, and a while ago he spoke about how apparently Indra is trying to have his son's descendent be awakened by any means. According to him, you did indeed rescue Ganesha's daughter, Indra wanted to use the same solution but was stopped by his son, the original Arjuna. He told him that her trauma might be so great due to the Eclipse that it's risky so they can't take any action as of right now." she explained grimly.

Her words came onto him like huge, merciless weights onto Shiro's shoulders, making his eyes go wide and his skin color to pale slightly. His mouth fell open as the words fully registered themselves to him before he finally broke their deadlock and looked down, gritting his teeth in deep frustration. "I see...…. Dammit." He mumbled, furious at this information. Essentially what this meant was that he was back to square one revolving around waking up Brihanna. Worse still, it sounded like things were even worse than what he had initially realized for her… which only served to make him hate the God Hand all the more for denying his childhood friend the chance at happiness she could have had achieving her and Jamal's dream. However, a moment made him realize something else which caused him to turn his head completely towards her. "Wait, you know about the Eclipse?!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper, before something clicked in his mind. "Then, does that mean…?" he began to say, before trailing off at the end.

Though, he didn't really need to finish himself since Xuangzang nodded her head, already knowing what he had wanted to say. Her eyes flashed with a sinister darkness to them as she responded. "Yes, I know of the Apostles Shiro... I am hunting one pasific Apostle..." she began to explain, trailing off and looking towards the side in a diagonal manner. The way she bit her lip hard enough that it began drawing blood combined with the gaze she had on her, it told Shiro all he needed to know about her.

"...Avenger."

"Huh?"

"You're an Avenger… just like me." Shiro explained, elaborating on what he said before. "Like me, these Apostles took something from you too, it seems… then that makes you all the more trustworthy in my books." Shiro finally stated as a sigh escaped his lips. "I respect the desire for vengeance, to me it shows that people place value in getting back at those who take away from them…" he explained, frowning before he shook his head. "In any case, once we get to safety and kill that vampire and that Necromancer, let's go find that Apostle. Vishnu assigned me to this area so I could hunt down an Apostle that was causing a flow of casualty, but I ended up at the wrong place. Anyways, since that Vampire Lord will likely be unleashing his Spawn onto the world, it'd be way too annoying to deal with that so we have no choice but to kill him and his spawn before they escape into the world."

"Right, and you have any idea where we can start?"

"... I have an idea, yes. Just hope you can handle some stuttering."

Later

After landing and dismissing Blackjack, Shiro and Xuanzang walked through the rest of the forest (as well as amidst the rain that began pouring down during the journey which had been the reason for the landing). Their destination: a destroyed lighthouse which Shiro had remembered Carl saying he would be meeting him.

Upon reaching there, both of them walked up and spotted Carl sitting on the destroyed wood. The sounds of their footsteps caused him to raise his head, allowing him to notice the approaching Shiro and Xuanzang. Seeing their forms, or rather Shiro's and the lack of true injuries, his gaze perked up whilst he ran up to them. "Thank god you're still alive, have you killed the vampire?" he questioned hopefully.

Shiro however, knew he had to dash the man's hopes since the alternative left a bitter taste in his mouth. "... I almost did, but then a damn fucking necromancer showed up. Not only did he stop me from killing that damn abomination, but summoned a damn undead army onto my ass. We…" He paused, gesturing to himself and their newest companion Xuanzang before continuing. "...had to escape before they could overwhelm and kill us, or worse." Not like he would have made it easy for them, but yeah.

Carl however, looked exactly like what Shiro had suspected he would when telling him this news: like someone whose crush had rejected them for another who had more wealth and physical appeal than he did. "Oh…. that's not good, not good at all." He muttered, cupping his chin as he began to stutter out various scenarios. Something which Xuanzang and Shiro shared a look between each other since the latter had already told her about the man's habit. Eventually, he raised his head to look back up to the two kids. "If they are working together then that means he's responsible for making his children live!" he shouted.

Xuanzang's eyes widened, this being the first time she had heard about this whilst she turned her head to her fellow supernaturally empowered companion. "Children?" she questioned, although Shiro wasn't the one who answered her.

Nope, THAT honor went to the stuttering man as he proceeded to tell her everything they'd seen when they'd gone to the keep. "Oh haven't noticed you there miss, you see we discovered the vampire's hideout…"

"Damn that boy, if he wasn't here then my children would've feast their blood!"

"Give it a rest Vlad, what can one boy make you fear him?"

Back at the Keep, the Vampire Lord Vladislaus and the Necromancer Davernoch stood in the Vampire's main resting quarters, which looked mostly like a dark stone room with a lack of light. A perfect home for a Vampire Lord such as himself… although, the Necromancer looked like he wasn't too bothered by the lack of light either. Still however, all wasn't 100% well right now thanks to the fact that the wounds caused by Shiro's Rashomon had yet to be healed completely by the Vampire Lord's healing capabilities.

"Because of his unnatural sacred gear that I had never seen before, it managed to stop my regeneration. I can still feel the pain from it!" Vladislaus retorted hotly, hissing whilst gritting his teeth, a clawed hand over his wound. He didn't understand what was happening here, ever since he had been a boy he had heard tales of the power this state had, and one of the first EVER Vampire Lord's, his ancestor Vlad the Impaler, had so much power that everyone in the supernatural world feared him. He had thought that this state which he managed to get himself into about 300 years ago was supposed to be the pinnacle for Vampires, like the true forms of those damn bats had the capability to awaken.

However, this situation showed him something that he had never even CONSIDERED before: A possible WEAKNESS to the Vampire Lord state.

This also seemed to somewhat cause a confused hum to escape the Necromancer's lips as he pondered on why this was happening. From what Vladislaus had told him, it seemed as though this Sacred Gear manifested as a black beast similar to a canine, one which could attack and defend in equal measure. 'Hmmm… canine… there might be a possible explanation, and if my hunch is right…' Daversnoch thought to himself, before he opened his mouth to speak once more. "What's stopping you from unleashing your children into the world? You know that you can rule the world since you're immune to all vampires' weaknesses except sunlight?�� he questioned.

This question drew another irritated hiss out from the Vampire Lord as Vladislaus turned on his companion. "Because that boy wounded me, you dolt! You linked my life to the children so that they could live. Therefore, if he managed to kill me then this whole thing will be nothing but rot!" he yelled at the end, before hissing once more when the pain from his wound acted up.

Daversnoch snorted at his words, crossing his arms under his chest. So, it was parental concern, then? For a Vampire Lord whose race was known for their almost insatiable ego that it surpassed that of Devils, that sounded almost heretical if he were to use something those blind idiots at the Church liked to throw around without understanding what it really meant. "Maybe you were too arrogant? In your confidence that you could finish him without using all of your powers, that is..."

"... your right my friend, I was indeed too arrogant…" Vladislaus eventually admitted, grimacing as the truth forced itself into his thoughts. Looking back on it, he had to force himself to acknowledge the strength that this human possessed. When he had been attacking him, he had sensed but ignored the signs of divinity coming from him since they were quite minor. But now, he began to believe that they were the signs of that human being a long term descendent of a God or something. Whilst nothing compared to Demigods, a Descendent of one still had more power than any human could ever hope to have. One more hiss escaped his lips as Vladislaus finally started to compose himself again, straightening out his coat and resuming a regal posture. "But that doesn't mean that boy will stop me from achieving my ambitions. The next time I see him, I will unleash all of my power."

"When you kill him, be sure to keep his corpse. I suspect that he would make a fine soldier for my ranks. Now if you'll excuse me I will continue with the experiment, it will only take a day before we finally succeed."

Later

"This is something we have to do, that vampire cannot live."

Still outside the lighthouse, Shiro, Xuanzang and Carl walked together away from it, discussing possible ways to track down and kill the Vampire Lord Vladislaus and his Necromancer companion, Daversnoch. From what she had been told by the two with Shiro confirming the lone pure human's words, she figured this to be way more dangerous than she had initially thought. If this wasn't stopped soon, she could only imagine the kind of horrors that would befall this region, what had been going on at that village would only have been a mere glimpse at what would have happened.

Carl nodded his head in grim agreement, walking behind the two since he was the sole member of their little trio who didn't possess any powers. If he were to come with them, and they knew he would and both believed that he wouldn't back down no matter what they would say, then he would need to stay behind them in order to not get absolutely mauled. "Yes if only the church was able to heed our request instead of just ignoring it. I'm beginning to think that they're corrupted and we need to hurry before he unleashes those things to the world." he remarked, a scathing tone in his voice.

Shiro however, had been of the mind to just immediately head back to the cave and perform an, as ironic as it sounded, purging of the whole place. If worse came to worse he even felt like smashing the whole place to nothingness with a Brahamastra might be the ideal option, since the destruction it would cause would ensure that it would destroy the keep. "Then we must go back there, we are wasting time," he urged.

However, their female companion had other ideas as she reached out and grasped onto the white haired male's shoulder. "Hold on Shiro, first we need a plan on how we can deal with the necromancer and his undead." She firmly told him.

Gritting his teeth at this, Shiro huffed whilst shrugging his shoulder free. He then turned to face her once again, hissing out the following words. "Then what should we do about this, woman? That Vampire Lord, from my understanding of his mannerisms, will not waste any time unleashing his Spawn." he exclaimed, and he wasn't wrong. Just through fighting him, Shiro had managed to get a good idea as to what his personality was like… and it wasn't good.

Just as frustrated as her companion however, Xuanzang shook her head whilst internally trying to come up with a plan. "I know that Shiro, but we can't take any chances if they have somethi-"

It was then that, before she could finish her sentence, cracks got heard beneath them, prompting the trio to look down towards the ground they stood on. Not a second later however, did the ground collapse in on itself, revealing a large hole as they fell down into it.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"GGGAAAAHHHHH OOOF!"

As the only one who had managed to avoid this little scenario, Carl ran to the hole as he kneeled beside it's edge, looking down into its depths whilst using the moonlight to try and see where the two had fallen. "Hey, you two okay there?" he exclaimed, hoping that they could hear him.

The first one to answer him, much to his relief since it confirmed that they were still alive, turned out to be Xuanzang. "Uuuhhhh yeah I'm fine Carl but where is Shiro?" the girl groaned as her head spun around. By the time she regained her clarity and movement however, she looked around and noticed to her surprise that she could find no sign of her impulsive, almost bloodthirsty comrade in this endeavor.

"I don't know-wait….. maybe you should look down."

"Look down? What do you mean-"

"Hhhhmmmmmm!"

A low humming sound, similar to a vibrating sound, echoed beneath her as she felt something try to move under her. Curious and mildly surprised, Xuanzang looked down and saw that she was sitting on top of Shiro's head, his face buried in the ground as she quickly got off of him and he gasped for air. "(GASP) what….. the fuck was holding me down?! it's like a ton of bricks was on me!"

"Hmm? What was that Shiro?"

All of a sudden, a BUNCH of bloodlust erupted from the lone woman of the group as Shiro looked up, finding Xuanzang to be pleasantly smiling at him… with shadows darkening her eyes and a bunch of veins appearing over her face. He swore he saw the image of the grim reaper floating behind her as well, causing him to gulp and release a bead of sweat. Memories of what he had heard from Vishnu before coming here played themselves through his mind, causing him to quickly think up and say something that would stop the impending destruction that would follow. "... nothing I didn't say anything." he stated… and he would never admit it, but perhaps he had almost meeped at the sheer anger that the woman had displayed.

"That's what I thought." The said woman declared, looking around and dispersing pretty much all signs of her being angry like they had never been there in the first place. Shiro, as he got up, heaved a sigh of relief, feeling for the first time like he had MUCH more understanding of why some people in the Hindu pantheon called the men with wives 'whipped'. If they could do stuff without being given those looks, then he had NO doubt they'd do it. "Anyways, where are we?" Xuanzang then asked.

"I don't know but whatever it is, doesn't seem like we're alone down here." Shiro said as he looked at the pile of bones near their position. Judging from their state, it looked like they were the remains of what seemed to have been some Animals… as well as a couple humans, but that didn't really affect him. As someone who had seen the Eclipse, little could truly surprise him.

To make sure they couldn't be taken off guard, Shiro pulled out his Kurogane while Xuanzang took out her weapon: a staff topped with metal rings. Upon noticing her weapon, Shiro assumed that she had been versed in Magic of some sort, which meant that she would likely be a ranged fighter instead of close quarters combat like himself, Jinako and Ushi. 'Hmmm… well, I guess I can reinforce her with Rashomon's versatility, and if anyone tries to get past I can stab them or something with Kurogane. Also, for a full on ranged offensive, my Nightingale Bow will more than suffice whilst Rashomon can act as our defence.' The male thought to himself, mind whirring with possibilities about their potential options on the battlefield.

Up on the surface, Carl yelled down to them. "Can you two find a way up the place?"

Xuanzang yelled back up whilst not taking her gaze off their surroundings, the same being said for Shiro too. Said male's Rashomon currently growling out in warning that there was danger near them. "Yes, but hold on Carl, there is something here so stay put and we'll be there!"

"Alright, be safe!"

Following those words, the duo walked through the cave they looked left and right before Rashomon growled a bit louder, alerting Shiro as he sensed something before he turned to the right. Upon doing so, his eyes widened and his mouth fell slightly open… when he saw a pair of glowing crimson eyes bearing down on him through the darkness, eyes which resembled more like the pits of hell themselves whilst blazing like two burning flames. They belonged to a creature that looked to be wearing darkness as if it were a cloak: sporting black scales, black fur and, giving it the look and style of a predatory black panther. Its dark, feral appearance suggested, it may have mainly been a nocturnal predator, although this didn't distract Shiro from the bat-like wings which protruded from its arms, or the Spikes covering it's long tail that had a sharpened tip for stabbing.

As it slowly approached them, Shiro whispered to his companion Xuanzang under his breath. "Well, I think we just found what's living here."

She turned her head in his direction, not having spotted the creature yet as it started to move slightly faster. "Wait how do you know?" she questioned.

Shiro however, noticed that the creature had begun to prepare for a pounce, his teeth gnashing together knowing that they only had a couple seconds left. "Because it's standing right behind you, move!"

His yell signalled the beginning of a flurry of following events, as the beast jumped over towards Xuanzang, it's eyes almost creating trails that followed it's movements whilst it intended to pin her down and then chow down on her flesh. That is, before Shiro pulled her out of its way to which she almost fell onto her backside but she managed to balance herself in time.

Over on his side of things, Shiro managed to hold his Kurogane out with his hand, an action which resulted in it getting caught by the beast's teeth. Grunting, Shiro tried to push it back which didn't work, showcasing the level of strength this creature had, before he pushed it to the side instead. The creature fell to that side first, rolling across the ground before it got up again. However, when it did so, it's right eye twitched as a low grunt escaped it, prompting Shiro and Xuanzang to look at it for a few seconds, before they realized it was in pain.

"It's….. in pain."

"Looks like it. Whatever this thing is, almost looks like a vampire."

It was then it screamed loud at them when Shiro said vampire seemingly with almost hatred as Shiro can see in it before he went towards it.

Not something which Xuanzang approved of as she made to reach out for him with her free hand. "Wait Shiro!"

However, she failed to stop him before he was right before the beast. He kneeled on one leg so that they were of a better eye level, before examining the fiery gaze that it had. "So….. you hate the word Vampire, huh? Which would mean….. You hate the Descendent of dracula." he remarked thoughtfully.

Something which he confirmed moments later when the beast growled at him, but slowly nodded its head. Looking into it's blazing eyes for a while and seeing something that he had been searching for, Shiro then thought of something for a moment. After a short few instances, he clicked his index and thumb when he got an idea. "Well then, I just got an idea that would benefit all of us, if you agree to it. You can help us kill that damn Vampire Lord, and in exchange that you will not attack us, got it?"

Upon hearing these words, the beast's eyes widened at the offer that Shiro had given it, the boy having rightly assumed this thing to be an intelligent creature to the point of understanding him just from body language. After it pondered a bit, the beast eventually nodded its head with both acceptance and caution, something which the boy respected just as much as he did revenge. He knew those eyes, he saw them in the mirror every day, so he believed that he had earned it's trust for the time being, but not it's COMPLETE trust. Avengers like him, Jinako, Ushi although she may as well be a former Avenger at this point, and now this one before him, they didn't trust too easily since they had been betrayed, and lost everything as a result.

To that end though, it would seem like the injuries this beast had needed to be addressed first, so they could get their revenge together. Therefore, Shiro then put his hand on the Beast's forehead before it glowed in a bright white light, its wounds closing up thanks to the healing energy being applied, before it stood up and looked at the wounds that were no longer there. It then started looking back at Shiro with less predatory stare, and more of one which implied that it was ready to go into a full-on warzone.

Shiro then walked back to Xuanzang as she gawked at Shiro as she talks. "Wha…. how?"

"Simple, I can see in its eyes that it hates the vampire, and wants to get its revenge on that abomination. Since you said we need to have a plan to stop them, well I just thought of one. I and the Beast will go against the Vampire while you go after the Necromancer." the white haired male stated, like he had solved all their problems whilst the Beast in black strolled up to his side like a warrior's mount.

"Well I..... that's not a bad plan, actually."

"Good, now let's get out of here."

With that done, Shiro walked to the hole before he squatted down on his knee and jumped up to the surface, having Rashomon thrust him higher by stabbing multiple Threads into the ground to use as a propelling force.

Seeing this, the Beast then made a show of its abilities as well, jumping onto the walls before it used them as springboards after a brief running period to leap on out of the hole with him.

Finally, Xuanzang did the same as Shiro did but without the threads, resulting in them getting out of the hole and landing in front of Carl who looked at them. "Did you find anything that was down there?"

"Yes we did look."

Shiro pointed behind him as the beast looked at Carl as he was with fear before it changed to shock.

"Oh my god…. Is that….. A Nargacuga?!

"The what now?"

"The Nargacuga are a type of species that belongs to the wyvern race. They have the ability to attack with almost every part of its body, mainly its bladed wings and its spiked tail. Its head can be used for biting, similar to some other species. Its bladed wings are used almost for the entire battle and deal high damage. Its tail tip, which can be with a Tail that can launch sharp spikes, it's an extremely dangerous being. I read that when it's enraged, the tail spikes will protrude until it calms down. The Nargacuga also has extremely strong muscles that let it jump long distances and tall heights at high speed. These creatures are almost impossible to even tame that not even a satan or some gods can tame them!" Carl explained.

This prompted Shiro to look down at the now named Nargacuga, before looking back to the human. "Huh... neat." he stated simply, not really giving much of a shit about it.

Something which did NOT sit too well with Carl. "Neat?! Is that all you have to say, you basically tamed a top wanted beast that everyone wants!" the human exclaimed, wondering just HOW Shiro could see the feat that he had just casually done like its no big deal.

Shiro then sought to clarify something for the robed man, holding an index finger up to his eye level at the side of his vision. "I didn't tame it, Carl. I'm just borrowing him so that we can get all the help we can, once we're done, it can leave to do whatever it wants." he explained, getting a grunt of acknowledgement from the Nargacuga, which then proceeded to gaze at Carl as if to say 'you want to try that again, punk?'

On the side, Xuanzang had to facepalm herself, noticing multiple distinct similarities between the two. 'Oh my god, now there's two of them…' she thought in lementation. She would have to work with two emos now...

"Oh…. ok, I was just surprised to see this Beast in person."

Nodding his head in understanding, Shiro then turned towards the keeper's direction once again. "Well now you do, if you'll excuse us we have a vampire and the undead guy waiting for us." he stated, starting his trek back to the Keep. All the while, the Nargacuga did the same, grunting as it's tail swished behind it in eager bloodlust, it's desire to rip apart it's prey starting to seep out of it just like how Shiro's body did.

Carl could only sweat drop, noticing the same similarities that Xuanzang had. "Alright, but be safe, you two are our last hope in killing that vampire." He called out to them, with Shiro glancing idly behind him at the human.

"Don't worry Carl we will stop them, I promise." he said.

At this, Carl nodded his head, knowing just how determined that this man could be when he set his sights on something. He hadn't known the kid for long, but just from what he'd seen he already felt like he'd seen enough to gauge how his character was. "Ok, I need to find a place to live now since those idiots won't let me be with them."

"..... you know you can join the hindu faction."

Now THAT caught Carl's attention, bringing him out of his trance as he looked to Shiro with shock. Also, on the side Xuanzang had joined up with the dark duo in their trek. "The Hindu faction? But they were isolated for so long that even everyone starts to think they don't exist!" he shouted in confusion.

"They do exist, you think that those beings would be gone forever?"

"Well….. No, but how will I even join them? I doubt that they would accept me."

"Go to India and use this."

Shiro projected a small magic circle on his hand as he sometimes used magic to only enter the hindu heaven once he was back there. Carl was still before he touched the magic circle as it appeared on the back of his hand. "Find a temple and pray at it. Show my magic circle to it and say that the descendent of Karna has sent you, they will definitely allow you to join them."

"I-I see... thank you so much Shiro... I promise that I will repay you this."

"Just do it by joining the Hindu faction, Carl."

"Ok and….. Good luck Shiro. I have faith that you will succeed."

Carl then turned his back and walked through the rain, leaving Shiro, Xuanzang and the Nargacuga alone before they resumed their walk to the castle, preparing to finish off Vladislaus and Daversnoch once and for all.

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Capítulo 11: Chapter 11

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