Alucard noticed the golden rope leading up into the sky, clearly connected to the statue above.
He let Effie go first and decided to stay down there a little longer after everyone had left.
Effie was a little unwilling at first, but eventually she caved.
"Gluttony, do you think I'm the problem?"
Alucard asked out loud, as if talking to himself—but he knew Gluttony was always there to respond.
It was strange how attached he had grown to Gluttony's presence. He truly was a good companion… well, sometimes.
Other times, he was completely unbearable.
"Depends on what you're talking about."
Alucard rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"You know what I'm talking about. Stop playing dumb with me."
A raspy chuckle echoed in Alucard's head.
"Ah, and how am I supposed to know that? Am I supposed to just consume your thoughts?"
Alucard rolled his eyes.
"Ah yes, I apologize, Gluttony. You clearly aren't doing that as we speak, right?"
Gluttony let out a huff in a tsundere fashion at being called out.
"Oh Al, why ye of little faith? Why can't you just believe me when I say I'm an innocent symbiote?"
Alucard chuckled.
"Oh, because you aren't?"
Gluttony summoned some blood, shaped it into a hand, and lightly slapped Al in the face.
"Oh, and now you disrespect me?"
As much as Al wanted to embrace this distraction, he knew he couldn't.
"Hey, stop dodging the question… do you think I'm the reason everyone I care about keeps dying?"
Gluttony listened silently as Alucard spoke.
"Am I the reason Yuki died? Should I have protected her better? Am I the reason Dracula died? Should I have never joined him in that damned city? Am I the reason Sara died? Should I have not let her sorrow blind her? How hypocritical of me to say someone else is blinded by sorrow when I'm the one blinded by hatred."
Gluttony finally spoke.
"Well, if you look at it that way, you could say you're the problem. But how about I give you a different answer? Was it you who burned your girlfriend at the stake, or was it Alexie? Was it you who let Dracula's castle fall, or was it Dracula himself who chose that fate? Or was it your fault Sara died when she led herself to her own demise? No. To all of them."
Alucard slumped forward.
"But it was my responsibility to protect them."
Gluttony reshaped the blood from a hand into an eyeball, which promptly rolled its eye.
"Sure, but you're only a mortal. Even the gods died—so why are you burdening yourself with the weight of the world?"
Alucard thought for a while before landing on the answer he wanted.
"Yes, I am just a mortal—for now. Which means if I truly want to protect the people I choose to protect, I need to forsake my mortality, just like how I forsook my morality."
"Bars."
"Gluttony, stop going through my memories from when I was 13, please."
"Ight bruh, but ts lowkenuinely fire."
And just like that, Gluttony ruined the mood.
Still, this conversation hammered in what Alucard was already thinking.
He had to get stronger.
Way stronger.
If he wanted any chance of protecting anyone.
If fate was cruel—
He'd have to become crueler.
Alucard began to climb the rope, but less than a meter off the ground, he gave up and decided to cheat.
By rubbing his hands until they bled, he created a layer of blood around them. Then he used the blood Gluttony had summoned earlier to coat his feet as well.
He created a spinning motion between the blood and the rope, like the tires of a PTV. Using the friction, he managed to climb the rope in less than five minutes—something that was practically impossible.
Once he reached the top, everyone looked at him oddly.
He noticed Kai wasn't with the group.
"Huh, where is Kai?"
Effie pointed toward the statue's hands, where Kai was flying up to meet them, clearly annoyed at having to waste his time.
At least, that's what Al thought.
In reality, Kai was less annoyed and more impressed by Alucard's speed.
"Okay, why the hell was Kai waiting there?"
Nephis answered:
"Because there's no way any normal person could climb that whole rope, so we let Kai wait to grab you."
"That's a stupid idea."
Nephis shrugged.
"It was Effie's idea, not mine."
Effie glared at her.
"Why are you throwing me under the bus?"
Soon, everyone began arguing and chatting.
Al walked over to where Sunny was sitting.
"Hey, so what's up, man?"
Sunny looked at him.
"The sky."
Technically true—the best kind of true.
"Oh okay, I never noticed that. Thanks for telling me."
Alucard said it with complete seriousness.
Silence followed, then they both started laughing.
"So what have you been doing while living in my old place? Did you meet your roommate yet?"
Sunny did a double take.
"You don't mean the cathedral, do you?"
Alucard nodded, smiling.
"Yup. So how was your roommate?"
Sunny chuckled.
"Pretty good. But it depends on whether you mean Effie or the fallen devil."
Al looked confused.
"Wait—you were roommates with Effie?"
Sunny stared back.
"Yeah, for like a week. You were in the meeting when we talked about it. Wait—did you seriously not notice Effie was gone for a week?"
Alucard shrugged.
"Nope. Not at all."
Eventually, their conversation drifted to random topics about the Dark City, annoying Nightmare creatures, and past experiences. Kai joined in, giving Sunny the chance to bring up selling his blood arrow.
Sunny thought both of them—especially Alucard, who was filthy rich—could make better use of it and he definitely wasn't planning on scamming his dear friend Al... Definitely.
"So we are friends, right? Well, some might say it's your lucky day, guys. Because today—and only today, probably!—Sunny's Gorgeous Emporium offers customers an exclusive friendship deal. Just for friends of the establishment. Aren't you lucky?"
Kai coughed.
"...Wasn't it Sunny's Brilliant Emporium last time?"
Sunny blinked.
"Was it? Well, doesn't matter. The deal still stands. Are you interested or not?"
Alucard shrugged, already pulling out his storage memory—until Kai stopped him.
The archer hesitated, then said carefully:
"But Sunny… you still haven't told us what this deal actually is. Are you offering a deal for customers you consider friends? Or are you trying to sell us your friendship? Or buy ours? Or both? I'm confused."
As if waiting for that, Sunny nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! I'm glad you asked. In fact, I have an incredible item I want to sell. It's so incredible that I'm even reluctant to part with it. But since you guys are my friends, I'm willing to give it away—practically for free. Full friendship discount. No need to thank me."
Alucard didn't care and was about to hand Sunny fifty soul shards—maybe even a hundred—
But Kai, being the only reasonable one, stopped him.
"Can you at least show us this memory?"
Sunny nodded and summoned it.
After a few seconds, an arrow made of blood appeared in his hand.
"So… are you interested now?"