CHAPTER 118: FACING DRACULA: PART-4

Rage twisted Dracula’s face, veins bulging on his forehead. He lunged at Leo, claws ready, and cut his throat.

"How dare you humiliate my kin!!" He shouted as if he had found a problem with Leo using his kin’s bones, but not him killing them with his own hands.

What the fucked up father he was!

Leo surely felt weird about this.

Leo braced, raising the bone... To his shock, the brittle weapon didn’t snap—it held, stopping Dracula’s deadly swipe.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Claw against bone, strike after strike... yet Leo blocked each one. His hands moved almost without thought, body reacting with instinctive precision, as though some hidden memory guided him.

His body... it was built for battle.

Leo grit his teeth. His parents said they had only taught him the basics of fighting, but this—this was far beyond training.

This was freaking survival.

What the heck are you teaching your son?

Dracula spun on his heel, his kick blurring through the air. Leo ducked, barely in time, raising the bone. The impact rattled his arms, pain spreading through his wrists.

Crack—

A jagged line split across the bone, deep but not enough to shatter. Seizing the opening, Dracula lunged, his claws tearing through the weapon, splintering it into pieces as he closed in. But before his strike could land on Leo—

"Don’t forget about me."

The cloaked figure’s voice cut through the clash, her blade flashing in from the side. The edge scraped across Dracula’s cheek, spilling blood.

He recoiled, snarl ripping from his throat.

They pressed him together... Leo’s jagged bones slamming into his face, and the cloaked figure’s curved blade carving across his flesh.

Thud!

Cluck!

Thud!

Cluck!

Dracula staggered back, unable to focus on either side. The bones struck like hammers, the blade sliced like fire. He couldn’t find an opening, couldn’t even breathe.

Leo shouted through clenched teeth, "How’s it feel, huh?! For once, you can’t just crush us!"

Dracula couldn’t even react in time, especially against the bones hammering his face... Leo didn’t even need a weapon.

He had unlimited bones here!!

But as they pushed back Dracula, Leo suddenly coughed harshly, his chest convulsing. His breath came ragged, his strength faltering. That single lapse was enough—

Dracula dropped low, sweeping their legs out from under them. Both stumbled, crashing into the ground as Dracula leapt back several meters.

Blood ran down his cheek, his arms riddled with cuts, his body bruised and battered. Worse, his wounds weren’t knitting back together... He touched his side and hissed.

’The ritual... It’s slowing my regeneration.’ He thought, touching his wounds that were slowly mending.

"I-I think... ha... ah... we could defeat him," Leo muttered, his voice breaking with pain but carrying a fragile hope. His chest burned as if fire had been planted inside. The cloaked figure looked at him; she knew that, but saw what he tried to hide—his body trembling from overusing the strange technique.

Blood dripping from his nose!

He was reaching his limit... what else could anyone expect of him?

He had only just learned the technique, only barely gained control of it in a single day... It was a miracle he had endured this long against Dracula.

Still... the cloaked figure couldn’t shake the truth. Together, they were forcing him back... which was something impossible.... Maybe.. Together, they might just win.

’The ritual must have caused a severe backlash,’ she thought, hope stirring faintly as its grip on the blade tightened.

Dracula glared at the two... he couldn’t deal with both of them at the same time so... He had to eliminate her first.

Just like before, his hand rose, and red shimmering particles flowed before his hand. A three-layered magic circle flared into existence—but this time, it responded sluggishly, its crimson glow delayed.

The cloaked figure’s eyes widened. She flinched. "Cover up!!" she shouted, hurling herself at Leo.

Leo barely managed to move as a storm of bloody spears erupted in every direction. The cloaked figure shielded him with her body, leaping, twisting, doing everything she could to keep him alive as the barrage struck like a rain of death.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!!...

When the storm finally ended, silence fell heavy.

The cloaked figure’s back was riddled with crimson spears. Blood streamed freely, staining the floor beneath her.

"Oh my god... are you alright?" Leo’s voice cracked, horrified. His eyes widened at the sight.

The cloaked figure gritted her teeth, pulling one spear free, then another, blood dripping steadily. "Y-Yeah, I am fin—"

But it wasn’t over.

Dracula soared into the air, his arms spreading wide.... as another red circle manifested behind him, Bloody axes shimmered into existence, dozens of them, whirling with murderous spin. He hurled them down, a storm of crimson raining toward the pair.

"He’s going all out!!" the cloaked figure shouted, her voice breaking.

Leo inhaled, his chest burning hotter than fire, lungs screaming for relief. Blood trailed from his nose, but he ignored it. He seized the cloaked figure’s hand, fingers tightening around her, and stomped the ground with all his strength.

BOOM!

The ground cracked beneath the force as Leo hovered in the air for a few seconds, the bloody axe stabbing deep into the stone where he stood.

But it wasn’t over. Not even close. Dracula kept conjuring and firing different weapons—each formed of his endless, writhing blood....

An unlimited blood!!

Leo, clutching the cloaked figure tightly, dashed across the underground chamber as fast as his body could bear.

His thighs screamed, veins bulging until they burst, leaking blood down his legs. Behind him, Dracula’s weapons rained down, barely missing his back and striking the ground with crushing force. Each impact thundered just a breath away from his heels. Still, Leo ran, darting like a hunted rabbit refusing to fall.

The cloaked figure’s back was slowly healing up... she couldn’t have Leo protect her!!

Dracula’s laughter cut through the chaos, "Haha... yes! Run like a rat. I like it! That’s exactly how you should crawl, Mongrel!" His sly smirk widened as his eyes gleamed with hunger.

Just then, Leo ducked behind the shattered altar.

Thud!

Thud!

Weapons pierced through the ancient stone, stabbing and cracking its surface.

"How long do you think you can hide from me?" Dracula sneered, wings spreading wide as he descended toward the altar.

"Come out," he said coldly, "and I’ll give you a painless death for amusing me this long." His voice carried the weight of finality, a twisted mercy.

In truth, these two had wounded him more than anyone else had managed in centuries. Perhaps... they deserved at least a merciful end, right?

Dracula at least have some heart, right?

Behind the broken Altar, Leo, still holding the cloaked figure close, coughed harshly. Blood streaked from his lips as he leaned against the altar, breathing heavily. He looked at her with pained eyes and whispered, "C-Can you... divert his attention for a few seconds?"

The cloaked figure nodded, "What are you planning?" she asked, her words laced with pain as her body trembled, reaching its limit.

Leo didn’t answer. Instead, he crouched low and crawled silently toward the rocks, his eyes flicking to her once—then a firm nod.

The cloaked figure raised her hand above the altar, drawing Dracula’s gaze. His crimson eyes narrowed in surprise as his attention locked onto her.

She rose slowly from behind the altar, arms lifted high, appearing as though she were surrendering.

Dracula smirked, his tone dripping with mockery. "You surrender... after all the trouble you caused me? Haha... how pathetic." His laugh echoed harshly as he lifted his hand.

Behind him, a massive, drilling spear of blood formed, whirling with deadly force. "This is my mercy..." he said, but then his brows furrowed. His gaze darted left and right. "...Where is that idiot?"

Flip~

A single card sliced through the air, spinning toward his face.

Dracula’s eyes widened the moment he noticed the faint glow. Attached to the card was a small, faintly burning orange stone.

Crack...

The stone split.

BOOM!