Lortell was sent flying outside by Alucard's kick. She still had her expressionless face as she assessed the situation, her mind working quickly.
"Did they shake hands with him? I don't think so. It feels more like an unlucky coincidence!" Lortell thought to herself, crashing through several houses along the way. The sound of wood and stone breaking filled the air.
Despite that, she stood up without a single scratch on her, as if it was nothing to her.
But Alucard had already caught up. He flapped his wings once more, extending his front leg to kick Lortell again.
Lortell immediately made an 'X' with her arms and directly blocked his kick without any issue.
Before she could respond, Alucard immediately retreated back a few steps away, a confident smirk on his face.
"Do you think you can defeat me? A progenitor? You must have lost your mind since last time. This time, you don't even have hostages!" Lortell spat, feeling a bit disappointed by his reckless actions. Yet, she remained careful, just in case he had any hidden trump cards.
Alucard chuckled immediately. "I wouldn't know unless I try. One way or another, I'll kill you and take the Blood Authority!" he said in a high tone and rushed at Lortell in a blur of motion.
They just immediately collided with each other like two balls of light crashing against each other. Kicks, punches, and even blood attacks—they clashed with everything. They even reached high into the sky, crashing towards each other like two planets having a violent collision.
BAM!
With another heavy clash, Alucard directly fell towards the ground, covered in multiple injuries. He crashed into an arena ground used for fighting, while Lortell lightly descended without any injuries at all.
"Only been a minute and you are already like this. How disappointing," Lortell mocked, looking at the bloodied figure of Alucard laying in the crater he had created.
His injuries healed immediately as his vampire body regenerated. He stood up again with a laugh. "We still have all night to decide the winner!"
"Blood Manipulation!" Lortell whispered, and several long spears made of blood shot towards him.
Alucard immediately started running around the arena ground to avoid them, but the spears were still following him, chasing him like deadly missiles. In the middle of running, he jumped into the air and pointed his index fingers at Lortell. Several arrows shot towards her at rapid speed.
But Lortell didn't even take a step back. She easily dodged them, while breaking a few of them with her arms like they were made of sugar.
"Tch!" He sighed in frustration.
He stopped running and took out his sword. In one swift motion, he severed one of his own arms.
Blood oozed out like a fountain from the stump.
"Blood Wave!" He shouted. The next moment, the amount of blood immediately multiplied every second, turning into a wave like a river, but made of blood, not water.
Before it could manifest into hundreds of blood weapons, Lortell pointed her finger.
"Absorb!" She whispered.
WHOOSH!
The whole blood wave was immediately sucked in, like a black hole had devoured it and turned it into a condensed ball of blood floating in front of her.
Alucard definitely had a look of dissatisfaction on his face, but he didn't say anything.
"Hya!" He shouted out loud. He didn't use any magic or his Essence stone. He just directly rushed at Lortell without any guard, his body a blur of motion.
"Huh?" Even Lortell was slightly confused by his reckless charge.
Alucard extended his right hand, going for a solid punch.
"Idiot!" Lortell sighed in disappointment.
She casually drew a sharp arc of blood in front of her.
Despite seeing it, Alucard didn't stop.
He directly punched at Lortell. And just as expected, the sharp arc of blood peeled off his skin, then his muscle tissues, and carved his bone structure, directly splitting his hand into two parts.
But despite it, his punch didn't stop.
KACHA!
His hand regenerated mid-punch, as good as new. Lortell's eyes slightly widened in surprise, but it was too late.
BAAM!
The punch directly landed in her stomach. She was directly sent flying and crashed into the arena wall, the impact shaking the very foundations of the arena.
"Hahaha... It seems you have lived with humans for too long. Magic? Strategy? Essence stones? What's the point of them? We, vampires, can just overwhelm enemies with our regeneration alone!" Alucard laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the arena. He was clearly prideful of being a vampire.
"You are so proud of your regeneration, huh?" Lortell's voice came from inside the smoke and dust, cold and sharp.
And then—BAM!...
The moment Alucard blinked, Lortell's punch was directly in his stomach. This time, she didn't hold back at all.
PTCHAK!...
Instead of being sent flying, his entire body popped like a balloon. His organs and bones splattered around like trash, a gruesome sight that would have made anyone else sick.
But despite that, his body started healing up again. His muscle tissues began to take shape, weaving themselves back together. Although his body had literally blasted apart, since Lortell had only used her physical strength, it didn't damage his core essence much.
But this was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to torture Alucard, to break his spirit until he couldn't stand regenerating anymore.
BAM!
Before he could fully regenerate, Lortell literally ripped his upper body apart once again.
Meanwhile, Alucard's lower body immediately started running around in a circle without any stomach, chest, or head, a bizarre and horrifying sight.
If anyone could see this, they would certainly faint on the spot.
While running, his upper body started regenerating, but then again, Lortell appeared in front of him with a crazed smile on her face.
BAM!
The punch was directly in the face. The moment it landed, his neck twisted around in a full circle with a sickening crack.
CLAW!
Lortell slashed her nails, directly slicing his body cleanly in two parts. Lortell's speed was just too much. At one blink she was there, and then another blink she disappeared without a clue.
"Hmm... Lower half or upper half, which one are you regenerating from?" she questioned with a psychopathic smirk, enjoying his confusion and pain.
Alucard was in a dilemma as well. His lower body was running on two legs without a clue, while his upper body was running using his hands on the dirty ground.
"Shit... shit... shit, she has gone completely insane," Alucard thought in a panic, a cold fear gripping him for the first time.
His upper body fainted and lost its life, while his lower body started regenerating its upper body.
"Upper one, huh?" Lortell saw it and directly appeared in front of him.
She grabbed his leg and directly smashed it several times on the ground, the sound of bone crunching echoing, and then threw it off the arena.
His body rubbed against the ground, bouncing several times like a rag doll. But then, he somehow maintained his balance and successfully regenerated his full body.
"Finally, a full body!" He exhaled while still running, but then he saw that his vision was quite different.
And then he looked down, and his eyes widened.
"I regenerated opposite way!"
His lower body was fine, but his upper body had regenerated the other way around. It meant his face was at his back while his back was in the place of his stomach. He was a walking, twisted nightmare.
"Hahahaha... Can't even regenerate right and you call yourself a vampire?" Lortell mocked him with a loud, cruel chuckle.
"It seems I have to use my trump card!" Alucard thought, his pride wounded beyond repair. He stopped running, his disfigured body standing defiantly.
"A new trick? Show it to me!" Lortell didn't even try to stop him. She was only interested in killing his pride today.
Alucard's body was still a mess as he closed his eyes and activated hundreds of different Essence Stones in one go.
"Battlefield Killer Move—Fake Sun!"
"Fake sun?" Lortell repeated in confusion, her brow furrowing slightly.
But her question was immediately answered as daylight poured into the arena. All the darkness of the night was gone in an instant. Instead of the moon, there was now a bright yellow sun hanging in the sky.
"Hehehe... I always thought, how am I supposed to defeat a progenitor? And the answer was this!" Alucard laughed in amusement, his voice echoing with pride.
The fake sun's sunlight illuminated the whole arena. The second the sunlight poured onto Lortell, her skin immediately started emitting smoke, and it began to burn rapidly. Although her regeneration healed the burns quickly, the burning was intensifying with every passing moment, causing her immense pain.
"Since even the real sun can't burn noble bloodlines like us, I prepared this battlefield killer move to make a fake sun that can actually burn strong vampires!" he added proudly, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Nice... nice, it sure is fascinating. But I wonder, between me burning to ash or you running out of mana, which one will happen first?" Lortell chuckled crazily. She wasn't the least bit panicked about the situation; instead, she seemed excited by the challenge.
The flames immediately grew more intense and enveloped more than half of her body, burning in bright yellow and orange flames.
She wasn't just burning; she even felt a deep weakness and intense pain, just like how a normal vampire feels under the sun. But this didn't mean she was powerless. Lortell didn't just stand there and do nothing.
She took a step forward to attack Alucard once again, but then—
CRACK!
Cracks appeared in the sky, as if the very fabric of reality was breaking. The fake sun dimmed down and then—BAM!
The entire battlefield killer move broke in an instant. The morning light faded away, replaced by the moonlight and darkness of the night.
"What the—?" Alucard was clearly baffled by what had just happened, his prideful expression turning to one of shock.
But then it all made sense. In front of them stood a giant fox, a purple-furred, nine-tailed fox.
"HOWWWWWLLLL..."
It howled, swinging its nine tails, shaking the ground beneath them with its raw power. Its giant body felt very phantom-like, as if it was more of a spiritual being than a physical one.
The expression on the nine-tailed fox's face was clearly angry. In its forehead, Alice's upper half was sticking out. Her eyes were closed, and she was clearly unconscious.
"Shit, why do I always have the bad luck?" Alucard sighed in frustration. Being up against her and Lortell at the same time was clearly out of his league.
"It's that girl!" Lortell immediately recognized her.
For a second, she thought that Alice had come here to fight her, but then, the fox turned its massive head towards Alucard. It opened its huge mouth and let out a massive beam that shot towards Alucard.
The beam was so massive that it completely obliterated the entire arena and the surrounding area in one go. The power was so overwhelming that even Lortell had to defend herself, even though the attack wasn't directed at her.
"Why was she hiding this level of power?" Lortell thought to herself in confusion, a sense of awe mixing with her own pride.
Although the attack had a direct hit on Alucard, he was still alive.
SLASH!
The nine-tailed fox moved its claw and slashed in the air. Dozens of houses were slashed in one go, cut cleanly as if by a giant razor.
"Blood Shield—" Lortell started to casually defend herself, but the slash directly sliced her body cleanly in three parts.
A huge amount of blood spat from her mouth, but she regenerated immediately. If she, a mere bystander, got cleanly sliced in three parts, then what happened to Alucard?
She immediately looked towards him. His body was in pieces, laying still on the floor, completely devoid of life.
"He's dead? In just two attacks?" Lortell muttered in surprise.
She couldn't help but marvel at Alice's terrifying power.
But then, when she looked closely, she realized that it wasn't the case. He wasn't dead.
"He just switched bodies with some other vampire. He's still alive!" She sighed in disappointment. Alucard was as cunning as always. Seeing his plan fail, he used this chaotic situation to run away and hide from Lortell and any other threat.
"Well, I can't stay here either. I need to go back as quickly as possible," she thought to herself. She looked over at Alice. Since Alucard wasn't there anymore, the fox started rampaging around, destroying everything in its path.
"It's not like you are my responsibility. Rampage all you want till someone comes to stop you!" Lortell scoffed, turning her back on the chaos and disappearing into the night.