Chapter 3 – True Integrity
Alucard and Silvia renter the castle only to exit it in the morning sun. The castle is destroyed, and the Church’s army is screaming in victory. Silvia has her human appearance again and Alucard is fully human for the first time in his life. Before they have the time to properly react to anything, a crowd of soldiers goes to the couple and hoist them on top of their shoulders.
“Hail to our heroes! May they forever be remembered in the books of history,” they chant.
The couple is then taken to a church in no time to be given glory and honor by everyone in the nearest town. Even angels come down to kneel to them. Another big surprise happens when God Himself, comes down to bless them.
He says, “You are blessed among all on Earth and Heaven.”
Something about this situation is wrong. Alucard struggles his mind out of this cloud of illusion and says, “This isn’t right. We don’t deserve this kind of reward when we didn’t even accomplish our quest.”
“Are you telling God what’s right and what isn’t?”
“No, I’m telling you.”
Alucard slashes the throat of the supposed god and cuts its head off. The illusion of the room fades away and the couple are back inside the castle now. The room is littered with runes and markings that enhanced the power of the illusion. The god in this room was actually a puppet composed of three other puppets that control multiple other blank puppets in the room that were used to make their illusions feel more alive. Despite these things, the rosary that have with them helped Alucard break free from the illusion.
“We can always count on Our Lady to help us,” Alucard says as he kisses the rosary.
Silvia holds back her jealousy of another woman taking a higher place in Alucard’s heart because Our Lady is more deserving. The next room they enter isn’t even subtle about its occupants’ intentions to kill the couple. It’s full of vampires, the undead, and demons in battle formation with Silvia’s mother, Verona, on a balcony commanding the small battalion. Verona is wearing an armored battle dress. She’s carrying a black and red sword infused with the sufferings of her victims along with a crossbow with arrows made from their bones.
“Mother, step aside! You’re no match for us.”
“You doubt the strength of your mother dear Silvia? You have no idea the kind of power Satan has given us since we’re the strongest and the most loyal servants to him. Even though you’ve made a mockery of us, we can still regain what we have lost. If you join me, both of you can become even stronger than Dracula himself.”
“We already are, so you can just take your power and shove it!”
“Slaves! Execute their ignorance!”
As the couple fight the battalion of the damned, they realize their minds start to waver as they begin to think about giving up as fatigue from the previous battles sets in. They retreat to the back of the room then begin to see that a gas is being pumped into the room. The damned soldiers also appear to have a strange substance on them.
“I think your mother is forcefully trying to make us submit to her through this gas. I don’t trust what’s on the blades of our enemies either, so try not to get hit.”
“I won’t. Throw me up there. I’ll deal with her.”
Alucard throws Silvia up to the balcony so she can fight her own mother. The two cross swords as Alucard swings his bastard sword without having to worry about hitting anyone important. The two women fight to a standstill on the balcony as they are almost equally matched.
“There’s no way you can defeat me, Silvia. Trust me, mother knows best.”
“No, you know nothing.”
Silvia tries one more move and uses a combination of holy water, prayers, and a cross through the heart to exorcize the demonic power from her mother. The monsters below dissolve into nothing and the gas is turned off in the room. Verona turns back into a normal woman but is slowly dying. Silvia holds the hand of her dying mother as Alucard watches.
Verona says, “Thank you for freeing me from that prison, Silvia. I thought my soul would’ve completely disappeared if I stayed that way any longer.”
“Dracula made you that way?”
“I wanted it to begin with, so I got what I deserved, but it’s a prison that Dracula shares too…”
After Verona dies, Silvia lays her down and closes her eyes.
“Your mother seemed like a good person deep down. The power of Satan just corrupted her.”
“She said that Dracula shared the same prison as her. I don’t recall your father being anything either than evil.”
“He did have his moments when I was younger.”
“Being nice to us and our kind doesn’t count.”
“That’s true, but still. He’s only gotten worse as time goes on. We have to free whatever speck of light that remains in him.”
“I trust that you see it better than I do because I’ve never seen it.”
“Then trust me completely. We’re going to exorcize whatever evil is controlling him.”
“This is how you saved me when I was a selfish human. You always see the good in people even if it’s just the smallest speck.”
Alucard and Silvia embrace then kiss because they know Alucard’s father is in the next room. His ominous cold presence bleeds out from the room, which chills them to their soul. They still walk through the door and enter the throne room despite their fears and imminent deaths.
Dracula stands up from his throne with open arms, and says, “You’ve finally arrived my son. I know your intentions and that you are strong in your resolve. Good. I expected nothing less from my son.”
He then drops his wine glass and goes on the attack. It’s a struggle to exorcism Dracula because he’s extremely fast but trapping Dracula in a circle of holy water gives Alucard the chance to put a cross in his father’s chest to complete the exorcism. Alucard’s father becomes a shrilled-up corpse as his demonic energy leaves his body. The energy then begins to manifest itself on the throne.
Dracula takes Alucard’s hand then says, “I’m sorry my son. I was a pawn of the devil before I became a vampire. As a young exorcist, I thought I could destroy himself, but I was wrong. He entered my body and took most of my control away from me. Now it’s up to you to send him back to Hell.”
“We will, father.”
“I have faith in you. I love you, my son.”
Dracula’s body decomposes into nothing as Satan himself is given form on his throne. He wastes no time in fighting the couple who stand no chance against his strength and attacks. His flaming sword and shield block all of their attacks and hit incredibly hard to the point where a couple slashes put them down, even though they have the durability of the undead. With no other option, they pray for the help of the archangels and the Queen of Heaven. This reinvigorates their bodies to the point where both Alucard and Silvia lose the vampire state of their body and become completely human. They can now keep up with Satan’s attacks and even take direct blows without even being scratched. The battle ends with Satan being cut in half and both halves of him being sent to Hell.
Dracula’s castle then begins to collapse as the demonic energy leaves it. Alucard and Silvia make their way through the various rooms until they escape as everything collapses around them. They then watch the rest of the castle fall from a distance as they hold each other.
“We’re human now, but I thought we would die,” Silvia says.
“It looks like we’ve been granted an extended life because of our actions,” Alucard says, “How about we live together away from all this? I’ve had enough time in the castle.”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Some of the people in Church’s army notice them and some even recognize them as the vampires from before, but they can’t catch them before they leave. Legends are told about the vampires who helped the Church save humanity or rather how the Church helped the vampires. Some legends talk about how they became human after or that their souls were redeemed then sent to Heaven. No matter the story, life is renewed in the land along with faith in God, so that evil will no longer threaten the land, but humanity does have a habit of forgetting the lessons of the past and taking things for granted. A hero, or heroes, will always rise to the occasion to save humanity. Even if it may cost them their life.
THE END
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