Hollows Eve

Eve of the Blood Moon

.: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 18 :.

The blood moon prophecy is nigh. The red glow of nighttime sky inside of the afterlife is shining down on the 2nd circle of hell with a brilliant radiance that communicates something dire….something dark…..something deadly.

With the moon itself beginning to be completely affected by the current situation, changing from its normal grey shade, to that of a pink shade, the world soon folds underneath it as the atmosphere continually gets worse and worse. The piled up bodies that lead to our location……the apparent rise in demonic activity…….and even the black castle itself where our heroes are trapped…..what exactly does it all lead too?

Well…they say that death is in the eye of the beholder, now it's finally time to see just what the blood prophecy truly means for our heroes…..but first they must fight a very difficult battle if they wish to stay alive long enough to see it through to the end…..

"That phase of my plan is already complete, but what about the hollow blood you ask? Why would I need to utilize the power of several different hollow types in order to create an army of nightmarish soldiers? It's simple…the 3rd phase of my plan involves me obtaining a power that not even you can stop. It's something that Dracula has been working on for a while now….bless his soul. He proved to be easy to manipulate….a wannabe vampire lord, lusting after power. Hmhmhmhmmhahhahaah…" She tauntingly laughed, causing Jack to grip his fists with the same intensity as Amuki now.

"With all the blood from each and every hollow, I can create an astral body capable of keeping me here so that I can finally carry out my one true destiny! The destruction of Purgatory and the rise of demons around the entirety of the afterlife!" Amuki gasped sharply upon hearing this.

"At this point, the plan doesn't need any more words spoken upon it….too much information will be given. Luckily Dracula had this planned out from the beginning; it was a shoe-in the moment you stepped into this castle. That is why I say….Lord Death truly is an i***t. Hmhmmhmhmh…..hmhmhmahahhahahahaha….HAHAHAHAHAH!" That was Princess Blood Rose, sitting in her throne and taunting both Jack & Amuki as they glared malicious glares at the condescending princess and her evil laugh. Amuki couldn't take it anymore either, as she gripped her fists tightly and then released one of them to use shokanju…..calling her crystalline sword to her hands.

"No love! What're ya' doin'?!" Jack said to the angry witchling. Amuki didn't listen to Jack, and instead made a mad dash towards Blood Rose… "HAAAAAH!" She swung her sword with all her might, but her attack was blocked as Blood Rose brought her hand up and summoned her bloody rose vines to protect herself..

"Well well well…..looks like the battle has just begun hasn't it?" The demon princess said. She then threw Amuki backwards as a rose vine came out by surprise and hit Amuki in the stomach, causing her to slide backwards while holding her chest.

"Dammit…..looks like there's no other choice. Hmph. I've neva' met this bloody b***h….but fightin' 'er looks like it might be fun." Jack's encompassing smile returned to him, as he used shokanju to make his swords appear right in front of him, holding them in a fighting position. He was prepared and ready to take on the Demon princess. As was Amuki….who used her other hand to summon her magic wand to her left while wielding her crystalline snake sword in her right.

“You two are going to take me on? Well….” The princess looked up at the sky, it was still a wash with a blood red glow….but the moon was getting closer and closer to matching the color of the sky. “I guess I have time…..”

Princess Blood Rose raised her arms and suddenly a garden of blood red roses started to bloom and grow all around her. The roses were laced with evil magic, and as they grew the stalks and plants varied in size. Some of them were extremely large, and the vines were quite thick with large thorns protruding out of them, while others were smaller and managed to cover the field around the room. The vines continued to spread all around very slowly, as Blood Rose had begun to use her signature form of magic…..

“This is my Rozen magic….It spreads like wild fire…..it'll certainly spread to you two. Now let's play my children….” She used her finger to motion them to come to her, as if she was saying “Come on”, knowing how confident she is that she can easily take both of them.

“Tch. Ya' sure are cocky for a bloody witch….let's see what you can do.” Jack brought his swords forward and struck a pose. “Y'ready fo' this love?” ……there was slight silence. Jack didn't hear a response from Amuki.

“I SAID…are ya' ready fo' this love?” Jack repeated again. Instead of an answer, he once again got total silence. “Amuki wha' in the bloody 'ell are ya' doin’-“ Jack looked over to his left, but only saw a dotted silhouette of where Amuki was right next to him.

“What the?!” Jack said, looks like the battle has just begun.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” Amuki let out a sharp war cry, as she charged right at Princess Blood Rose. “MAGIC SPELL #1: CRYSTALLINE TRAP!!!” Amuki jumped right over the demon princess and shot her snake sword forward.

Princess Blood Rose simply lifted her hand from one of the arms on her throne and brought up a shield of rose vines. The sword impacted them and froze them solid with crystal spikes running through them. Amuki sword was stuck in there for the time being as she landed whilst holding her sword in place.

“Hmmm. How predictable. Is that all the control over your magic that you possess? I figured if you want to get the so-called “Vengeance” that you want, then you'd have to know that I didn't slaughter the entire witchling stronghold without knowing what I was doing?” Blood Rose said with her arm still holding up her cheek.

“Hmph.” Amuki smirked and then snapped her fingers, as the crystalline parts of her snake sword split into pieces and then came down on Blood Rose like meteors causing explosions of icy mist that emitted a slight gust of wind.

Blood Rose's eyes slightly elevated in surprise, but she was still prepared as a field of rose vines protected her throne. “Clever trick young witchling….you have improved in your magic I assume?”

“Let me show you just how much…..” Amuki then raised her magic wand forward, as the star on top of the wand started to glow an icy blue. It emitted magic power from it as her aura started to surface…

“Hmmm…..?” Jack looked at Amuki wondering what she was going to do. “Magic Spell #2….Crystalline FREEZE!!!” She then swiped the magic wand horizontally and in an instant, all of the vines that took the brunt of Amuki's crystalline assault were frozen, trapping Blood Rose inside.

“Now Magic Spell #5: TENRA HANGEKI!!!” She raised her crystalline snake sword high into the air and then jumped and released a massive wave of cold frost that covered a decent amount of ground between her and Blood Rose, freezing the ground below her.

The freezing spell made its way over to Blood Rose, but suddenly from her frozen prison a gigantic burst of flames emerged with a loud *BOOM*! “Aaaggh!” Amuki screamed as she covered herself while Jack looked on with the same disdainful sneer on his face at the blazing inferno in front of him.

“Did you really think that would stop me…..?” The demon princess was covered in the intense flames, holding her hands out as she controlled them from her throne. The attack essentially had no effect on her!

Amuki landed back on the ground and growled lowly. “Urrggh….you've got to be kidding me….she can use pyro magic?” Amuki said.

“Not pyro magic….HELL FIRE.” Jack's eyes expanded upon him hearing this, as he too could control hellfire. But then a smile struck his face….

“Do tell m'lady……” Jack said, curiously wondering how she's able to use such magic.

“If you haven't noticed by now…..” Blood Rose's powerful, frightening magic aura came out in the form of an intense, demonic, evil darkness. It was so overwhelmingly powerful, it caused Amuki to take a few steps back in slight fear of the powerful demon witch. “I'm half demon, half hollow….so your magic attacks won’t have any effect on me. I'm fire, you're ice. It's obvious who wins…..though it's not like you had a chance in the first place…..hmhmhmhmh…..It's not like any of them had a chance in the first place.” She said, once again taunting Amuki.

“GRRRRRHHHH!!!” Amuki scowled at Blood Rose's annoying words… “I mean honestly it's gotten to the point where I've practically won. Is this truly ALL the ten commandments can bring me? One little witch who is supposed to be the heiress to the throne?! ….ha…..That's not what your mother said.”

“YOU b***h!!!! DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK OF MY f*****g MOTHER!!!!!!!” Amuki made another mad dash at Blood Rose, charging directly at her at full speed. But suddenly a shadow moves right past her, and then comes up to form a single person. Jack stopped right in front of her as she continued to run by using Sakido Ugoki….

“Stop it love! She's baitin' ya'! Calm down-“ Amuki ignored Jack's words and then jumped right over him. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!! MAGIC SPELL #6: CRYSTALLINE WINGS!!!” Amuki used magic to make her signature crystalline wings appear on her back and then flew at Blood Rose at full speed, her anger and pain fueling her desire to tear her apart.

“NO! Ya' bloody i***t you'll get ya' self-killed!” Jack rang out. But Amuki was too blinded by rage to listen…. “HAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Amuki let out another war cry as she swung her blade with great intensity, creating a *CLANG* sound upon impacting what seemed like an invisible spirit barrier that Blood Rose put up to defend herself.

“I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…..like I said…..It's IRONIC.” Suddenly, a bunch of rose vines burst from behind Blood Rose's throne! Amuki looked up and narrowly avoided being skewered by jumping backward, but the vines kept on coming after her! She used her crystalline wings to fly and avoid them with quick precision and blazing speed.

“Magic Spell #9: Hyōga Senran!!!” Amuki raised her magic wand in the air and a large magic circle appeared underneath Blood Rose's throne. “Have fun freezing to death in Hell! WHERE YOU BELONG!!!” Amuki rang out.

“Tch. Don't make me laugh. *Snaps fingers*” The demon princess snapped her fingers. Amuki's magic circle turned a dark red, and then suddenly started to fade away… “Wh…What?! My magic…..” Amuki was stunned. She couldn't believe that her magic was somehow just…..negated! Just like that!

“Surprise…..I have the power to negate ALL magic. So I re-iterate, your powers are useless against me.” She then raised her hands and flicked one of her fingers down.

“AAAGH!!! GGGGH!!” Amuki's body was moving on its own! Her body crashed into the ground with a hard *THUD*, bearing smoke everywhere. Regardless, Amuki was back on her feet within seconds. But it didn't matter because, through the smoke, Princess Blood Rose's vines came flying right at Amuki!

Amuki was breathing heavily and couldn't figure out what to do….but luckily just in the nick of time… *s***h s***h s***h* Jack had sliced the rose vines to pieces with his dual pumpkin swords lit aflame.

“JACKNIFE……” Jack sounded pissed. Even more pissed than usual….

“About time you came to the little damsel in distress's rescue…..” Princess Blood Rose cleared the smoke, as Jack was finally getting into the fight right by Amuki's side.

“What're ya' doin' ya bloody moron?!” He was talking to Amuki, whose yellow eyes of anger had faded back into her signature baby blues after blinking and shaking her head. “The bloody demon b***h could've killed ya' if I hadn't interrupted…..Don't you remember what I told you?!?!” Jack said looking back at her. Amuki remembers what Jack initially told her a long, LONG time ago……..it was something similar to what he told Kaila during her training as the grim reaper.

This caused her to look down at the floor, and then look back up at Jack. “You're right Jack…..I'm sorry. I promise I'll be more careful.” Amuki said whilst walking towards Jack's side.

“Just don't do anythin' I wouldn't do love.” Jack said while staring down Blood Rose. “How precious….the little princess has a knight in shining armor that has come to save her.” Princess Blood Rose continued to taunt. “Try as you might, there's no escaping my-“

“OI!!! ….” Jack brought his swords forward, pointing them directly at Blood Rose. “Why Dontcha ya' shut your bloody mouth, ya' two-bit, period-red fanny slag….? And pick on someone your own size?” Jack said with a slight smile, not at all afraid of Blood Rose.

“You're a lot stronger I thought. Though to be honest I probably underestimated you out of habit.” Jack said confidently to his adversary.

“Oh, so the little pumpkin patch thinks he can beat me? Well then, let us see what the fat-headed little vegetable can do….” A malevolent smile struck Blood Rose's face, as she waved her arms in the air and released a large amount of magic amongst the ever-growing fauna in front of her from her last magic spell. “DEMON'S CURSE……..”

All of the sudden, the rose vines and growing roots and flowers started to emit demonic energy. They started to transform into grotesque, deformed creatures. Some even looked like piranha plants, others looked like one-eyed monsters that took the shapes of trees, flowers, ghouls, venus fly traps and many other monstrous things. On top of that, the devilish garden of hellish abominations kept growing at a much faster pace!

“Alright….looks like she's upin' the anti. We'll do this together, so when I say go, you use your magic to freeze this garden from hell. Got it?” Jack said while looking at her.

“Got it!” Amuki said and nodded. “Alright…….GO!” Jack ran forward and Amuki jumped high into the air flying right above the hellish garden below.

“And just where do YOU think you're going?” One of the demonic plants made a grab for Amuki and opened its mouth wide, containing massive rows of frightening, sharp teeth and several slimy jawlines. But before it could grab Amuki, Jack sliced it in half and continued running towards the demon princess. He changed his swords and combined them together to form his pumpkin death scythe.

“Zetsu Arameshii….” Jack brought his death scythe back and swung it forward with enough force to cause a massive gust of wind. The pumpkin death scythe released a powerful version of the reaper claw technique with the giant head of an orange-reishii laced pumpkin devouring all in front of him and clearing a path.

“NOW!” Jack called out to Amuki to issue her magic spell as soon as possible, eliciting a growl from Blood Rose. “Not yet…..Hell Circle.” Blood Rose traced her fingers across the atmosphere and summoned an alchemy circle with a pentagram star in the middle.

Before she could do anything with it though, Jack swung with great force at it, though it provided her with great protection from his attack. “Not on my watch ya' bloomin' ratbag….” Blood Rose glared up at Jack and was stuck in a mild clash with him.

Meanwhile up above….. Amuki raised her magic wand high up in the air and emitted a very cold icy blue aura, putting most of her magic into this next spell. “Magic Spell #7 ……. Kagayaku kōri…..” She brought the magic wand down to the ground and fired a huge beam of her cryogenic reishii at the ground! “Buresuretto!!!!” Amuki's beam of cold energy spread outward and began to form a large ring around the area, sort of like a giant….bracelet!

Princess Blood Rose grunted and swatted Jack backward, but Jack came running right back seemingly instantly and then swiped upwards with his pumpkin death scythe, intending to hold Blood Rose off. “Crescent Scythe….” Blood Rose's head was nearly split in half, but she managed to dodge by tilting her head. However she did receive a gash on her shoulder….

“Hmmmm….looks like you're the real deal.” Blood Rose tightened her fists and then manipulated her own blood to send large blood drops all throughout Jack's body at mach speed, sending him crashing to the floor.

“I told you, my magic is nothing to be played with…..” She snapped her fingers again and the icy bracelet that Amuki made was melted into water by her hellish black & red flames. “NO!!! My ice bracelet- AAAAAGGHH!!!” Amuki was instantly grabbed by the neck and impaled into the wall. She coughed up a massive amount of blood and kept coughing as the vines spread like roots all over and trapped her on the wall.

“There we go….now that you're out of my way I think I'll enjoy making you suffer ONE last time……Let's see if I can kill your prince….PRINCESS.” Blood Rose started to laugh malevolently at Amuki's situation.

Amuki could do nothing but glare and grimace, as her yellow eyes of rage returned to her. But that was quickly interrupted, as a plethora of pumpkin vines burst through the foggy mist made from Amuki's ice and impaled Blood Rose in several spots on her body!

“GGGH!!!......Tch…Hmhmhmhm……” Blood Rose's head was hanging down slightly, but she looked up and looked out ahead. Vine-like tentacles had sprung from Jack's back, as he walked forward, radiating an extremely dark, almost-evil like aura. NOW he was really pissed….

“Let's get one thing straight 'ere you shanky she-demon b***h……You don't know who I am…..Hell I don't even know who you are…..but I can assure you….the only one that's gonna suffer for touchin' that there witchling Sheila…….IS GONNA BE YOU.” Jack's pumpkin-head was shadowed over on one side. He brought his head up and revealed the terrifying look in his now red eyes.

“Hmph…..come to me Pumpkin King…..show me what kind of powers you possess….” She motioned him to come to her, as Jack's aura spiked immensely and he created a monstrous pumpkin aura that took the form of a boogeyman on his back. The monstrous aura seemed to be made out of nothing but Nezā…..

“Heheheheheh………This is goin' to be fun.” Jack smirked and chuckled, as he was excited to finally give the evil demon princess her dues….

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere, the fight continued on the upper level of the castle as well. Steinman & Wolfie were wrapped up in their fight with Ronove, and it seems like the tables have been turned on them too.

"SO green skin, furry butt?! What shall you do now? Die by my hand….Or die by your own hand!? YOUR CHOICE….." The little imp demon said, as he had backed Wolfie & Steinman into a corner. The entire tower was covered with his chains, as they were stuck in the walls. One wrong move could take the entire tower down, as well as Steinman and Wolfie with it.

Steinman gripped his fists in anger and glared at the little imp demon as he continued to laugh heartily, yet at the same time belligerently at the two of them. “HAHAHAHAHAHHAA!!! You are stuck! Are you not green skin?! Why not take a shot?! I am right here! Practically giving you a free shot! OHHHH but waaaaiitt….YOU CANNOT!!! For the chains of fate have struck yet again!” Ronove's chains radiated a demonic burgundy red glow……

“These chains are connected to fate, and will decide whether or not you will live or die! I cannot die, the king made me that way! But YOOOOUUUU….you and furry butt can die easily! So…..what will be your choice? Will you choose to die fighting? Or will you submit and suffer a crushing defeat?” The imp demon continued to prattle on.

“Doesn't this little demon ever stop talking?....” Wolfie said out loud.

“You damn pest…… *Damn! How am I going to stop him without breaking down this entire tower? There has to be a way…..think Stein…..you're a mad genius…..so THINK DAMN YOU!!!*” Steinman continued to think to himself on how to get out of his current situation.

“HAHAHAHAH! Can you not see?! There is no escape for Green Skin & Furry Butt!!! Green Skin & Furry Butt will DIE here, with fleas infested in their hair, and the demon rats gnawing on their lifeless, decaying corpses!!! AHAHAHAHAH!!! Time is ticking, you'd better hurry before the tower collapses from top to bottom!” Ronove said….that….gave Steinman an idea!

“Wait a second…. Top…..to bottom….THAT'S IT!!!” Steinman smirked as he formulated a plan to stop Ronove from destroying the tower completely. “I've got an idea Wolfie, keep this little punk busy while I work my magic. And when I give the signal…..hit him with everything you've got.” Wolfie nodded and growled, as he got on all fours and his tail wagged back and forth.

“ We work better together when you have a plan….I just hope it doesn't doom us to eternal damnation.” Wolfie said back to Steinman.

“Have I ever steered you wrong you insolent fleabag?” Steinman said as several red markings began appearing all over his arms and legs.

“Tch…..Shut up.” Wolfie then made a high jump towards Ronove, bearing his large, sharp, yellow claws. “RRRRRRRAAAAAGGHH!!!!”

“OH SO FURRY BUTT CHOOSES TO DIE BY HIS OWN HANDS HUH?!?! FAIR ENOUGH!!!” Wolfie approached Ronove and laid down a constant flurry of strong jabs and punches into the stomach of the little demon, making his eyes pop out with every shot.

Steinman immediately charged a decent amount of reishii into his feet and jumped high into the air, soaring above both Ronove & Wolfie, as he was taking a massive beating. He landed on a support beam holding up the tower near the roof and then looked around to find one of the chains on the support beam lodged inside.

“I guess now's as good a time as any to defy logic…..” Steinman grasped the support beam and his reishii began to flow through it. “Undead Tome: Deadly Plague!” Steinman said, as his energy began to spread throughout the entire tower. It covered the tower from top to bottom and slowly began to spread the same markings from his arms onto Ronove's chains.

“YAAAGH!!!” Ronove tail-swatted Wolfie sending him flying backward. His tail is much stronger than you think it is. Wolfie crashed but got right back up like nothing happened. “Rrrrrggh!!! HEY! What are you doing up there mad scientist?!?!” Wolfie called out to Steinman.

Ronove simply smiled an evil smile, as the moon's luminescent, but evil blood-red glow began to shadow his visage. “Don't you see furry butt? …… This is a game you cannot win! You have pummeled me to a bloody pulp of goo, and yet I still live! There is no escape for you….Why don't you just admit that I've won? If you do I promise not to make your death as agonizing! HAHAHAHAHAHHA!!” Ronove simply continued to cackle at Wolfie, as the claw marks and punch imprints from Wolfie's hands began to heal themselves easily.

“HEY YOU LITTLE DEMON TWERP!!!!” Steinman called out to Ronove, causing him to look up. “HOW'S THIS FOR A GAME?!” Steinman created a tombstone made out of his reishii and smashed it against the support beam causing it to topple and break. The entire tower however, surprisingly didn't go down with it…..in fact, it was holding steady!

“NOW WOLFIE!!!” Wolfie growled ……then smirked slightly. “Hmhmhm…..how about that? One of your crazy plans actually worked….. RRRAGH!!!!” Wolfie let out a mighty, tower-shaking roar and dashed at Ronove. *RRRRRRRRRAAAAAGGHHHH!!!!!* Wolfie raised his fist high into the air and summoned his dark navy blue spiritual pressure into it. “LYCAN'S FIST!!!” He slammed it right into Ronove's chest, breaking apart all of the chains and tearing apart certain places in the wall.

Ronove, however, was sent flying outside and crashing into a nearby bridge, leaving a giant hole of broken tower in front of his opponent. “Good job mutt……Now… *pant* …I need to keep this tower up for as long as I can…..the others are counting on us…..so defeat that little imp demon and get rid of him would you?!” Steinman said, struggling to keep the tower afloat.

“I'll have his head……” Wolfie walked forward and out of the hole, into the smoke. He arrived right where Ronove was and observed him getting up from his rubble-filled crash site.

“Time for judgment you little s**t…..” Wolfie said while bearing his claws, ready to fight.

“NOW…..YOU'VE MADE RONOVE MAD.” Ronove had a look of intensity on his face, as he too was prepared to throw down with Wolfie. It seems Steinman's been tagged out, and now it's Wolfie's turn to take the wheel as he's the last one left to fight off Ronove!

All the while however, the moon continued to darken its glow, as it drew closer and closer to becoming fully blood red…. What will happen when the moon reaches its peak….?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

However……there's another fight below that needs to be immediately addressed. As Kaila and Tomomi are at the mercy of the vampire king….or rather…they WERE.

*CLANG CLANG*

Dracula slashed at Tomomi several times, with Tomomi responding by clashing his Zakurein sword with Dracula's sharp claws several times in rapid succession. Dracula used enough force to bash Tomomi backwards, but Tomomi once again blocked with his red dragon-like arm.

Dracula brought his hand up and caught him off guard with a storm of bats. “What?! NYGH!!!” Tomomi covered himself as the bats all stormed him at once.

“*Hmph….let's see how long this human lasts once I'm done with him. Who knows he might provide some decent entertainment. How about that….? Dinner AND a movie…..*” Dracula said as he began to lick his lips. “Blood spines!” Dracula cut his left palm open with one of his claws and blasted Tomomi with a barrage of bloody spines.

“RRRRHHGGH!!! GET OUT OF MY FACE!!!” Tomomi used his sword to gather a ton of flames to his blade and summon a mini-twister of spiritual red-orange flames to burn away all the bats. This surprised Dracula immensely. “My…MY BATS…..” Dracula's eyes were slightly dilated in shock.

Tomomi rapidly swung the Zakurein sword as the blood spines came racing right at him, cutting them up all at once. He then glared at Dracula with his dragon-like red eyes….

“GRGH!!!” Dracula grunted. “The hell is this?! He's no ordinary human….something's wrong with him! Why….?! …..What in the hell is this human?! Is he…..A DRAGON?!?!?!?” Dracula said to himself in his mind.

Tomomi hopped off of one foot and surrounded himself in the Zakurein sword's flames, cross-slashing Dracula. Dracula dodged and then continued to trade sharp, powerful blows with Tomomi, but this time his claws started to burn.

Dracula & Tomomi swung back and forth, but Tomomi made such a mighty swing that he cut Dracula's hand clean off. “HAAAAHH!!!” *SLICE* “AAAGHHH!!!! YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!” Dracula angrily said as he brought his remaining hand forward and unleashed a mass amount of demonic shadows from it. These shadows were actually made of Bajang darkness and took the form of swarming vampires, and these vampires didn't want Tomomi's blood…..they wanted his spirit energy!

“GGGH!” Tomomi blocked one of their attacks and sword-fought several more that came his way in order to block their attacks. He then jumped back and slid.

“You little wretched meatbag…..” Dracula said as his hand grew back in seconds. “You think you can outmatch me?.....THE KING?!?!?” Dracula roared at Tomomi.

Tomomi responded by raising his sword in the air and gathering an intense amount of flames on it. “I don't care about out-matching you! All I care about….is that girl lying on the ground.” Tomomi was referring to Kaila, who was unfortunately out of it at the moment while lying on the ground unconscious. “That same girl you almost drove to madness!!!” The massive flames swirled immensely around his blade… Dracula was in trouble, for if Tomomi were to initiate that attack, his throne room would go down in an instant! Along with most of the black castle….

“Anyone who touches her is gonna answer to me! Like I said before, I don't give a damn if your king of the vampires or god himself!!!! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH MY BEST FRIEND!!!!”

“Silence human! This doesn't even concern you….however since your so adamant on defending this worthless reaper girl…..SO BE IT!!!” Dracula gathered a massive amount of blood on his hands and prepared to initiate an attack of his own. “I only have but so much blood left in me….I'll need to get some of that human's blood if I'm going to take him out quickly…..” Dracula said, despite taking some of Kaila's blood from earlier.

“NOW KRESNIK BLOOD!!!”

“ZAKUREIN!!!!”

Both combatants attacked at the same time! Tomomi swung his sword with a very powerful wave of spreading dragon-flames unleashing itself after, and Dracula used his blood energy to scrape through the floor and release a pure red energy wave that split the attack in two!

Tomomi grunted and jumped into the air in order to avoid getting hit, as the attack completely destroyed and sliced up the floor, leaving a trail of broken stones and skid-marks as well as a somewhat deep chasm.

“GOT YOU! BLOOD VENOM!!!” Dracula shot his signature blood venom technique into Tomomi's chest with a successful hit, impaling him through the chest with his cursed blood.

“GAAAAAAHH!!!!” Tomomi landed feeling sick and disoriented. He could hardly see Dracula walking towards him, as he felt like he was going blind from the effects of the cursed blood. Images of Dracula began to fade in and out, as Tomomi began to lose himself from the venom that coursed through his blood veins.

“BBBLLAGGH!!!” Tomomi threw up and coughed up blood from the effects of the poison, as Dracula made his way over to Tomomi and grabbed his cheek. “Ohhhh….you humans were always so much fun to toy with. To think your bravado would defeat me? …..The king of Transylvania……the king of the Bajang demons? Not a chance human wretch……”

Dracula then smacked Tomomi across the face. Tomomi was on his elbows and knees steady coughing up blood, as Dracula then kicked him in the ribs while he was down. “AAAGGH!!!” Tomomi screeched out. “You'll make a good meal when I'm done tenderizing the meat!!!!” Dracula kept kicking Tomomi while he was down in order to “Tenderize the meat”.

After several minutes of painful kicking, Dracula stopped and watched Tomomi on his knees…. “That's right…..you're exactly where you belong…..on your knees….bowing to me….HUMAN WRETCH. Now it is time to pay tithes to the king.” Dracula brought out his claws and bared his vampire fangs, as he prepared to devour Tomomi piece by piece. “I'm going to enjoy eating your flesh and drinking your succulent human blood…..Honestly, I think human blood tastes the best…..” Dracula raised his claw high in the air and said with a malevolent chuckle…. “Wouldn't you agree?! ….Hahah…HAHAHAHA….”

“Shut up…..” Tomomi said, interrupting him. The look on Dracula's face changed from malevolent joy to abrupt confusion. “What?” Tomomi gripped the edge of the hilt of his sword. “I SAID SHUT UP!!!” Tomomi quickly sliced Dracula's throat wide open as a surprise attack!!!!

“GGGGGGGGAAAAHHHH!!!!! YOU DAMN, DIRTY HUMAN!!!!!” Blood spewed from Dracula's throat, as Tomomi got up on his feet and was once again covered with spiritual dragon fire from the Zakurein's blade. Tomomi then used his dragonized arm and covered his wounds with it, somehow burning the poison away….

Dracula's throat healed and he managed to look up in time to witness the real monstrosity lying dormant inside of Tomomi's sword… “WHAT……WHAT IS THAT?!?!?”

*RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!* The spirit of the sword itself came out and roared a loud and powerful roar at Dracula. Then Tomomi's eyes came up and glared at him with the same intensity from before, he wasn't done yet. In fact….he was just getting started.

“Alright you annoying little pest…..” Dracula said while grimacing. “LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE THIS!!!! KRESNIK BLOOD!!!!” Dracula raised his hands forward and then unleashed another creation via his Kresnik blood technique, a gigantic blood like vampire dragon that came right at Tomomi!

“Zakurein Nakkuru Shōgekiha!!!” Tomomi brought both his fists back and then pounded them together to create a massive shockwave that split the entire dragon apart and reduced it to nothing but puddles of blood on the floor.

Tomomi then made a mad dash towards the vampire king, passing Kaila along the way. “Wh…What the?! How can a human be so powerful?!?!?!” Dracula was confused, everything he tries fails against this human! “HAAAAAAAGGGHH!!!!” Tomomi gathered an intense amount of the Zakurein sword's flames on his right dragonized fist and jumped high into the air.

“JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?!?! YOU LOWLY HUMAN?!?!?” Dracula shouted out.

“RRRRRRAAAAGGGHH!!!!” The dragon spirit came down on Dracula and plowed him through the floor, completely destroying it and reducing Dracula's throne room to charred rubble. Tomomi's attack knocked Dracula through the 2nd floor and 1st floor, taking Kaila with both of them…..now the fight continues, in the basement. Where Jack continues his fight with the demon princess Blood Rose….

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Sword Stream…..” Jack continued fighting Princess Blood Rose by releasing a powerful sword stream technique. But the demon princess blocked it using a spirit barrier. Jack took this opportunity to use Sakido to appear right above her and blast her with dark energy spewing from his mouth. The energy took the form of several little pumpkin zombies with large jaws that chomped on the demon princess.

She simply snapped her fingers and made them vanish, as she too can control dark energy similar to that of Jack's own. Jack pulled out an orange pumpkin bomb and then threw it at Blood Rose, with her plants springing forth to protect her and eat the bomb by swallowing it whole….which is exactly what Jack wanted.

Jack transformed his pumpkin scythe into his trademark pumpkin pistols and fired several rounds all over at the plants, causing them to burn away and explode all around. He made sure not to get Amuki or the innocent hollows trapped in pods.

“He's stronger than I took him for…..i'll have to eliminate him right now…..” She then raised her hand and called forth several blood-red rose petals and gathered them all in the sky. “Beautiful Blood Petals!” She then sent them flying like a drill at Jack…. Jack didn't even turn around to pay attention to the attack. He simply expanded his body and it formed into a massive monstrous jaw that roared and chomped down on the petals, getting trapped inside his astral body.

“Ggggh…..how annoying….” The demon princess had a look of annoyance on her face, as it seemed she GREATLY underestimated her opponent. So much, that they might be at a stalemate.

Jack's head cracked and made slimy sounds as he turned his head around suddenly to face Blood Rose. “How about that? Outta magic tricks ya' ratbag? Hehehehehhe……” Jack malevolently laughed at Blood Rose.

“On the contrary, I'm just getting started! You have yet to see the fullest extent of my power…..” Blood Rose said, with her malevolent aura springing forth and highlighting her entire body.

“Then let's see what you've got She-devil…….” Jack said, his own aura illuminating his body as well, giving him a rather fearsome look.

However, there was screaming heard nearby… “Hmmm? What in the bloody 'ell?” Jack said, as he looked up and wondered what he was hearing…..it sounded like a bunch of crashes and yelling. Then all of the sudden….

*CRASH* Tomomi & Dracula burst through the ceiling, still fighting hard. “YOU DAMN, DIRTY HUMAN PIG!!!!!” Dracula screamed as Tomomi had broken his arms upon punching him through the ground. The two of them landed into The real throne room's floor and caused a slight explosion upon landing, but Dracula flipped back and slid past Jack, not even focused on him for the moment.

“Wait a bloody second, what the hell's goin' on here?!” Jack questioned.

“I'LL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF THE VAMPIRE KING!!!!” Dracula split his arm open where the vein was using his claws and then the blood inside of him covered his entire arm. “BLOOD CRYSTAL!!!” The blood froze into a solid crystal and he came running at Tomomi.

Tomomi did the same thing with his dragonized arm and the two of them punched each other in the face, with Tomomi bleeding at the forehead upon the blood crystal breaking on his face.

Tomomi slid back and Dracula closed his eyes. “NELAPSI BLOOD….” Dracula re-opened them and they turned completely solid black! He then roared and snarled like a feral monster and dashed at Tomomi, striking him in the chest with his claws.

“AAAGGGHH!!! GGGRRRHH!!!” Tomomi pushed harder and socked Dracula in the face, Dracula responded back with a left swipe from his claws and spewed out a plethora of Bloody needles from his mouth. Tomomi dodged the needles and cut through his arm in one swing, but it did him no good as his arm grew back seemingly faster than before.

Dracula swiped upwards with his claws and the force of his attack was enough to nearly break Tomomi's dragonized arm! But Tomomi stood his ground and traded extremely fast blows with the feral king, who at this point has lost his mind in order to feed on one human.

Tomomi had to end this quick, otherwise he'd end up becoming vampire food for the king. So Tomomi blocked an overhead swing from Dracula and then punched him in the gut with his dragonized arm, causing him to cough up a massive amount of blood.

“GGGGGWWAAAHH!!!!” Tomomi then grabbed his arm and judo threw Dracula to the ground. In order to issue the knock-out blow, Tomomi stabbed Dracula in the head and unleashed his final attack on him. “ZAKUREIN….FUNKA!!!!” Tomomi punched into Dracula's head and issued the knockout blow, causing a massive explosion that blew through the roof of the top tower of the castle and nearly barbequed Steinman.

“AAAAGGHH!!! Dammit what's going on down there?! I have to keep this up as much as I can…..I don't know how much I can keep this up though…..let's hope whatever they are going through…..they get through it quickly…..” Steinman said as he had begun to sweat from using all of his energy to hold up the tower.

After the massive explosion from Tomomi's attack had happened, Dracula's brain was fried and Tomomi had prevailed. It seems Tomomi's might was greater than everyone thought. Tomomi took extremely heavy breaths and was almost out of spiritual energy, as he panted with his fist still on Dracula's face, and his blade still in his head. He took it out afterwards and immediately stumbled to his knees. “*pant* ……. *pant* ….. *pant* ….. *pant* …..” Tomomi could suddenly hear footsteps walking over towards him, he looked behind himself slightly and readied his sword to attack, but the next thing he felt was a hand on his shoulder.

“I gotta say boy…..you've got guts goin' up against ol' bats there.” Tomomi relented, as it was only Jack giving him congratulations for defeating Dracula. “Next time, leave the batty bloke to me alright?” Jack said as he had a slight frown on his face that changed into a smile.

“Yeah….i'll do that…..Heheh….” Tomomi said.

“WOW….THAT WAS AMAZING!!!! YOU'RE SWORD IS SO COOL TOMOMI!!! I WISH I HAD A POWERFUL SWORD LIKE THAT!!! WHERE'D YOU GET IT-“ Amuki, who was still stuck to the wall by the way, ended up fangirling over Tomomi's powerful sword. Something which made him chuckle….The somewhat light-hearted moment was interrupted all of the sudden when….

*BAM* “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!!!” A split screen had shown Jack & Amuki's shocked reactions, as Tomomi had been impaled through the shoulder holding his dragonized arm together.

“I am impressed…..you managed to defeat the lord of Transylvania…….And yet you are a normal human….how interesting……I am very, VERY impressed…..BUT I'M ALSO ENRAGED…..” The princess did not look happy that her accomplice was down. She glared an immensely horrid glare, as Jack used this opportunity to free Amuki from her bindings.

“Can ya' stand?” Jack said to Tomomi. “Yeah….. I'll be alright…..” Tomomi held his wounded shoulder in pain, as he stood on his feet to face Blood Rose.

“You keep 'er busy, I'm gonna go free the princess. The REAL one.” Jack said out loud.

“You keep telling yourself that…….” Jack's eyes expanded as Blood Rose began to speak…..

“But we all know who the TRUE rightful heir to the throne is….and it isn't that little pink-haired brat.” Blood Rose said as Amuki grimaced from her perch inside of the wall.

Suddenly, Blood Rose looked down and saw Kaila, laying there incapacitated in the rubble. “*gasp* My goodness……HAHAHAHAHHA!!! Yes…..you've brought her right to me……this saves me the trouble of going to look for her after I kill you all….The reaper girl.” Blood Rose licked her lips and raised her hands, as her rose vines made an immediate break for Kaila.

*s***h* *s***h* The vines were stopped and cut into pieces by Jack and Tomomi, who did all he could do as his arm slowly, but surely, healed from his shoulder injury. “Ya' takin' care of that there nasty injury?” Jack said while turning his attention to Tomomi. “Yeah….I can still fight, go free the witch girl.” Tomomi said.

“You sure about that mate? That injury looks like you could lose a bloody arm.” Jack said. “I said I'm fine! I'll take care of her….Go free the witchling girl!” Tomomi raised Zakurein forward with one arm and gathered the remaining spiritual flames he had on his blade, and then went charging at Blood Rose.

“Alright….suit ya' self. It's your funeral mate.” Jack then disappeared and reappeared right next to Amuki, slicing off all of her vines in order to free her.

“HAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” Tomomi blindly charged in, sword ablaze. “I can't believe I'm about to waste my time on human trash……Let's get this over with.” Blood Rose raised her arms summoned a plethora of rose vines to block Tomomi's path.

“HYEAH!!!” He swung his Zakurein sword with an under-swing and released a ton of dragon-spirit flames, burning all of the plants away.

“Hell spikes.” Princess Blood Rose brought her hands together in a cross formation and several giant hell spikes pierced through the ground in order to try and impale Tomomi. Tomomi jumped into the air and raised his sword up high, he then unleashed a sword beam with a red-orange glow at Blood Rose who blocked and dispelled it with a Demon seal to protect her from the explosion that followed.

“TYAAH!!!!” The spirit of Zakurein continued to bash on the demon seal, as Tomomi swung his sword multiple times in order to try and break through. But Princess Blood Rose had other plans….. “Blood Curse…..” the demon princess uttered out of her lips.

Suddenly, Tomomi was hurt in multiple places, as blood splattered out of his joints. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!!!” Tomomi screamed out, as the moon's glow began to grow even darker and darker until it was a malevolent blood red.

Tomomi fell down crashing and was holding his arm as if it was broken, he screamed out as if he was feeling intense pain. “What the hell…is….going on?!.....I …..Can't move!!!” Tomomi said while grimacing in pain.

“You're under the influence of my blood curse….. It's funny though. You humans are the most susceptible to this kind of curse…..How convenient. And look at that! The moon is beginning to set in, and the blood prophecy is coming! This is truly a glorious day-“

Before she could finish her sentence… “Magic Spell #5: TENRA HANGEKI!!!” Amuki as back, and she unleashed a massive wave of her signature crystalline magic on Blood Rose, freezing a large stalk of thorn vines that sprang into action to defend her.

“Hmmph….You again….I guess you never will stop. Or rather…..you'll never know when to stop.” Amuki growled as purple eye-liner was around her eyes in the form of a slight wave, and her eyes had turned yellow. Her nails had turned to pure ice and the temperature in the room dropped down to blistering cold.

Amuki waved her hands and made several giant crystals appear from the ground. They turned black, as Jack's dark power managed to make them shatter into tiny pieces covered in blistering darkness. There were so many pieces, Blood Rose could hardly keep up, as she managed to pull out rose vines left and right to defend against the incoming dark crystals.

“NOW!!!” Amuki called out to Tomomi. Tomomi stood on his feet with his wound only half healed, as he managed to pump out the last of his flames into his dragonized arm in order to take Blood Rose out with his best attack. “Zakurein….Kyōryokuna ken!!!!!” Tomomi ran at Blood Rose with his left fist gripped and his right hand holding his sword.

Blood Rose swished her hands and made a ton of rose petals appear as the flowers sprouted all around her, giving off poison pollen that slowly overtook the air and began to wither away at everyone's life force. Except Jack's…..

Tomomi stopped in his tracks for a quick second and grimaced. “Rose blood petal storm.” The demon princess brought down the petals from the sky as they rained on everyone, causing massive damage to Amuki & Tomomi. Both of them screamed in agony as they were at the mercy of the malevolent princess….

The moon drew ever closer, as the clouds began to turn black, whatever light was left has faded from the clouds and sky, and has sunk into the midnight moon's luminescent glow…… “It's almost time….” Princess Blood Rose said.

Jack teleported and immediately stomped on Princess Blood Rose using his Jackknife ability in order to cause an explosion of hellfire. But the demon princess had an ace up her sleeve for that too.

“I can feel it……I'm almost there….” She waved her fingers as she had somehow managed to stop Jack's blade from reaching her. The hellfire also didn't affect her whatsoever. Princess Blood Rose began to spew darkness from her eyes and mouth, as it formed into another grotesque plant creature that blew a hole through Jack's body, sending him flying backward and crashing into the ground.

“THIS IS IT….THE BLOOD PROPHECY IS NIGH! All I need is one sacrifice…..one of purity…..one that is a virgin….and one that is enough to sustain the destroyer's will forever to come…..” Princess Blood Rose began to speak with her arms up.

“YOU b***h!!” “WE'LL SHOW YOU!!!” Tomomi & Amuki got back up and ran towards Blood Rose with their weapons drawn.

“That's why I need…..The REAPER GIRL….” She simply waved her hands and caused the area around them to explode, sending them flying back and crashing right where Jack was.

“AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!! CAN'T YOU SEE?!?! It's over…..With my full proof plan, I was destined to win from the beginning…..NOW I can finally take back what's rightfully mine……” Her magic continued to overflow, as darkness spread across the entire area….or what's left of it. Her army of malicious, evil demon plants re-formed itself, a plethora of rose petals began to dance all around her, and her evil, demonic aura surfaced once again, striking fear into the hearts of Tomomi & Amuki.

Tomomi had several wounds, bruises, and was bleeding from the head quite a lot. Amuki had a bunch of burns and bruises, as well as scratches all over her body. Jack was the only one who was not affected…..so it seemed like he was the only one who could stop her.

“Alright…..time to get serious…..I'm goin' THERE.” Whatever “THERE” was, it suddenly had Amuki spooked. “*gasp* NO JACKY NO!!! DON'T DO THAT!!! PLEASE!!!! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!!!” Amuki cried out, as the malevolent princess laughed in their faces.

“AHAHAHAHAHHAAH!!!! WHY NOT?! IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN DEFEAT ME ISN'T IT?! DO YOU EXPECT THAT PATHETIC REAPER GIRL TO HELP YOU?! …..OH WAIT! If you let me take her blood…..then I'll spare all of you…..Well actually no I won't. But…..” Her rose vines immediately went after Kaila, who was all the way in the back of the room, laying on her back while still unconscious.

“NOO!!!!” Amuki cried out.

“KAILAAAAAAAA!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!” Tomomi's cries for his friend to wake up echoed, as the shadows over Kaila's face made from her hat were taken away once she opened her yellow eyes. “*Mmmmm……? …..Ughhh…….*” As the vines slowly made their way to her, setting up for impalement……Kaila looked straight up at the moon. It glowed completely blood red…..the blood prophecy was finally here.

Blood Rose stopped for a second……and looked up at the sky.

“It's here….UHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH!!!!! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! NOW…ALL I NEED IS A SACRIFICE!!!” Blood Rose created a massive circle in the ground that looked similar to a magic circle….

“With that girl's blood, I can re-create the perfect world for demons!!! And evil will reign over this world! AS it should have in the beginning!!! There is no fault-line! There is no in-between! There is only good and evil, and as far as I am concerned…..EVIL SHALL ONCE AGAIN TRIUMPH!!!!” She said as the bright magic circle glistened in the middle of the room.

Kaila looked up at the moon herself….and simply stared at it for a bit. She didn't even notice that the magic circle was right underneath her, or that her friends were calling out to her to get away from the magic circle….

“Kaila……” She heard a voice…..

“My dearest daughter…….it's time……..I told you……I would never let anything happen to you…..now it's time for you to step up and do the same…….Do you remember what death is…..? Why I marked you……..?” The voice echoed in her head, as she simply looked up at the moon without even blinking…..

“DEATH IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER…….NOW TAKE HOLD OF IT……IT IS TIME TO FULFILL YOUR DESTINY…..”

“……Yes…….” Everything went silent, as Kaila closed her eyes and then re-opened them….. Her eyes had changed completely, transforming from yellow to a deep shade of magenta-red. The shape of her pupils also changed to mirror that of a demon's eyes……

She immediately rose from the floor as if she was rising from the grave…….sitting there without moving an inch. Blood Rose took notice of this and smiled. “Ahhhhh…..you're awake. Now I can extract the blood just as easily! It's been fun reaper girl…..but don't worry! You can join your friends in the afterlife NOW!!! HAHAHAHHA!!!” Blood Rose continued to laugh malevolently as her rose vines began to storm on Kaila….. but suddenly once they got within 10 feet of her…..They disintegrated into nothing!!!

This surprised everyone present……Even Blood Rose was taken aback as the split screen showed the shocked reactions on everyone's faces. Kaila slowly turned to Blood Rose with her new eyes, got up on her feet…..and simply uttered these words.

“PREPARE TO FACE JUDGMENT……” Suddenly she was surrounded by Neza, the Neza began to overflow all around the room and combine with her hollow aura. It exploded inside of the room and released such tremendous power inside of her that it nearly blew everyone away!

Blood Rose didn't expect this…..But she knew what had happened…… as the blood red moon actually started to drip blood…..Kaila had unleashed the true power of the reaper claw. She gained fangs, lost her hat, but her hair had turned Jet black, her dress was longer and torn up in several places at the bottom, and she had monstrous claws that stretched across her arms as well as her legs. She had also gained a long black tail, what looked to be reaper wings on her back, and a malevolent looking eye right in the middle of her chest.

But the biggest upgrade was the reaper claw….which now had two shining silver blades with deep curves protruding from two devilish looking skulls with horns on them that spiral and twist. The scythe also had a jagged handle and a large orb stuck at the bottom. She held it in her hands and stood with a fearsome aura that made Princess Blood Rose grimace with shock……..

“So much for the blood prophecy……..”

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.