Prologue: What is a man...

1547 A.D

Upon his dark throne, sat Dracul, The Prince of Darkness. The Dragon. The Lord of Shadow. Dracula.

He calmly sipped his silver-plated goblet, filled with the life blood of some hapless Brotherhood knight. The goblet was well-made, a gift from some snivel human lord, embodied with golden, scarlet, and emerald green snakes. This particular knight was a member of an advance scouting force sent by the Brotherhood of Light, his most hated foe. For his own entertainment, Dracul had ordered his many legions to let the knights pass relatively unhindered through Wygnol Castle, and finally, enter into it's throne room. What awaited them was Dracul, who showed little mercy, and the ones that remained alive now inhabited his torture chamber, not doubt keeping Lady Fumeki and Lady Shouko entertained. Both Vampire's came from the Far East, and now acted as the Dragon's head torturers. Dracul could only imagine what they were putting the surviving soldiers through; death would be a greater mercy.

Where is your god now knight…where is the salvation promised by your church? Now do you realize the lies they told you?

Not that they got many visitors, Dracul only maintained the torture chamber for appearances sake, to scare the peasants and for the occasional Brotherhood knight that wandered in. Lady Fumeki and Lady Akemi didn't mind, since they were content with torturing each other in the meantime, and the sanctuary that Dracul provided them.

The dark, crimson liquid felt cool down the Vampire lord's throat, and was very refreshing. Placing his left hand on the over-sized chair's ebony side, he moved his long, bony pale, fingers up and down in annoyance. To his right, and his left, the large blazer's flames shown an eerie blue, that caused light to shine through the abundant cobwebs. Above the throne itself was a large mural depicting the fallen angel, Lucifer, surrounded by two Dragon heads, with a spear piercing the angel from his head, all the way down to his rear. A mockery of the King of Hell, and to the son of god, as Lucifer was pinned to a reverse cross, with snakes coiling around the Prince of Lies entire body.

The large black pillars that filled the Throne room were covered in blasphemous, horrendous imagery, depicting dark, damnable whispers of creatures that haunted the dreams of man,

At the forefront of those nightmares, was Dracul himself.

His long, black hair fell down his shoulders, like an ocean of darkness. His blood red, glowing eyes, shone, and his irises dilated, giving the impression of some nameless terror. The vampire lord wore an ornate, crimson longcoat, which was actually made of his own hardened blood taken form. Dracul's chest was exposed, showing his muscular, but very sickly pale skin. In the area's around his mouth and chin was dark stubble in abundance, giving Dracul a weathered look. Some would call him handsome, others would say he looked inhuman. Around his neck, was the symbol of his power, The Talisman of the Dragon. Silver in color, besides the red gemstones that adorned its eyes, it depicted the monstrous dragon of myth. Across his waist was a large, silver skull adorned belt, which was connected to his red long coat. On his fingers, were two large rings, on his right and left index finger. The first one, which bore a blue sapphire, was inscribed in Latin, Gratia autem Dei. The second, which had a black topaz, was inscribed in an ancient language, Enochian. Roughly translated it read, "By Lucifer's pride."

Tap

Again, Dracul moved his fingers impatiently up and down his throne's side, his expression filled with cool melancholy,

Tap

BOOM

The entire throne room shook, and the dust on the floor floated above. Dracul sat, with his freehand now supporting his head. He let out a tired chuckle,

They never learn do they? Roland de Ronceval don't you know your leading you're soldiers to their deaths?

It had been six months since the Brotherhood had begun their siege of Dracula's castle. Six months of battering the outer wall with rams and catapult fire, or attempting to scale it using siege towers and ladders. A grand host of five hundred thousand sat outside, using Wyngol village as a staging point for their attack. Dracul's army itself had once numbered beyond a million having consisted of six legions under his thrall, each having Vampires, Lycantropes, Trolls, the odd Demon, and countless more creatures of the night among in its ranks. But the Brotherhood was nothing but dedicated in wiping Dracul from the face of the earth, and had united Europe against him; the result was Dracul's forces being pushed back into the frozen north, and being greatly diminished in number due to constant skirmishes. Dracul's declaration of war against all of gods creations hadn't sit well with most humans, as did all of Dracul's many massacres in the past.

The thought of the self-righteous paladins caused Dracul to laugh grimly,

Bah. The Brotherhood is no match for my power. Come then, face thy darkest nightmare.

Suddenly the doors to the throne room slammed opened, and entered three armored vampire knights. The two flanking the middle one, donned thick black armor to hide their hideous malformed bodies, along with a full-faced helmet, which had six spikes around its edge. Armed with a rusted tower shield, and twisted bastard swords, you could see jagged long bones sticking from their backs, remnants of the wings they willingly tore off from their bodies .

The one in the middle was far more appealing appearance-wise. Pale blonde hair fell shoulder length, similar to Dracul's, and soulless red eyes glowed in the darkness of the Throne room. Like the other two, he wore black armor, but unlike them, his black feathered wings remained intact, and were neatly folded behind him. On his back was a curved dark sword, which was jagged among the edges. Under his right arm, he held a dark helmet, which had smaller ebony wings coming from the side, and unlike his companion's, didn't cover his entire face. As they approached the throne room, the trio fell onto one knee, the one in the middle spoke in a calm, collected, mild-mannered voice,

"My prince…"

Dracul still sat on his throne, looking very bored.

"General Venererith. You have something to report?"

The vampire noble cleared his throat, putting his left hand behind his back, and standing back up. His companions followed suit,

"Yes my prince. The Brotherhood is about to breach the main gate. I've positioned five hundred of my Nosfertu Knights, along with what's left of the…werewolves…" He practically spat the name, "…to defend the courtyard."

Dracul let out an indifferent grunt, as he took another sip from his goblet. He made an odd motion with his hand,

"What about General Asmodan's men on the outer wall?"

General Venererith shook his head,

"Overwhelmed. The Gorgan sisters are barely holding it with their harpies. General Asmodan…ummm…"

Verenrith paused, he looked uneasy. Dracul impatiently waved his hand, he angrily shouted,

"Speak."

The general nodded his head, placing his left hand on his chest, "Forgive me my prince. General Asmodan was rallying his spearmen and archers when…" He hesitated again, "A stray bolt separated his head from his body." Dracul straightened his back, and looked more attentive, eyeing the general with his blazing eyes

"What-"

A massive crashing sound shocked and sent tremors into the throne room, causing one of the Nosfertu knights to temporarily loose his balance and fall to the ground, also interrupting Dracul. The vampire lord stood up, cursing under his breath. This time, the loud sound was very close, in fact it sounded like it was coming from just outside the Throne room. Like a ram was trying to batter down the gate. The sounds of steel clashing with steel could be heard as well as magic being unleashed just beyond the gate. Dracul annoying placed his hand to his head, taking another deep sip from his goblet,

Why can't they just leave me alone…I haven't attacked them in a century, I haven't attacked anyone in a century.

The two Nosfertu Knights with helmets rushed to the gate, trying to bar it. General Venererith turned around, putting on his helmet, and drawing his sword. His black feathered wings extended from his back, covering at least a feet per wing.

"They've found a way to breach the inner sanctuary!" He cried out,

The siege engine, presumably a battering ram, was thrown against the gate once again, causing the loud crashing sound to be heard. Despite their enhanced strength, the Nosfertu Knights wouldn't be able to hold the door for long, and Dracul's personal honor guard wouldn't be able to hold whatever sized force was attacking going by the sounds coming from outside the gate.

"You told me the gate hasn't been breached yet…"

"It hadn't." Answered the Vampire noble, he made a move to join his comrades, but Dracul stopped him with his clawed hand.

"My Prince?"

Dracul quickly said, slouching back into his chair,

"Enough. This siege has gone on for too long. At first, it was mildly entertaining; it's now just crossed the line into annoyance. I won't tolerate them slaughtering my servants. General, take your men, and retreat into the catacombs. Tell Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale, to fall back to the necropolis."

The general gave his prince a questioning look,

"And you, my lord?"

"I'll deal with the Brotherhood. Go. Now."

General Venererith looked at his prince with concern, quite visibly not wanting to follow that order. He was loyal the vampire lord to the end, and wanted to stay to protect his liege lord. His loyalty to the Dragon, came through in the end, as he got onto his knee, placed his blade downward, and bowed his head,

"Yes my prince."

The two Nosfertu knights left their positions, quickly after the retreating general, who disappeared down a corridor to the left of the Throne. He would organise the retreat, and save as many of his men as he could.

The sounds of battle from outside the throne room dimmed to near silence, except for the occasion loud noise coming from the ram battering down the gate. Dracul prepared himself, reciting lines in his head to appear in his usual dramatized persona. It was all an act, a play you could say. Dracul was the main actor, the Brotherhood soldiers, the audience. Dracul disliked disappointing the audience. Taking one last gulp from his goblet, Dracul stood up, and walked down the steps leading to the floor of the throne room. He glanced back at the large chair, it was big in size, and was adorned with decorations, including human skulls, small statues of Dragons, and reverses crosses. The perfect throne for a god of evil.

He walked down the red carpet, occasionally glancing around the massive room. The large golden ornate gate was about to fall. Dracula readied himself.

They shall come to fear me.

With a large crash, the metal doors swung open, revealing the siege engines head. The face of the battering ram was a large lions head, gold in color, but seemingly made of steel due to its durability. Maybe enchanted with some damnable holy incantation prepared by the Brotherhood priests. Plate-mail armored knights rushed inside the Throne room, all carrying hand-and-a-half swords. Each was wearing full-face helmets, with the lead one-in front having a red plumage on his helmet.

They surrounded the prince of darkness, circling around him, in total ten knights. They all whispered among themselves, their sword hands shaking with pure fear. The knight with the red plumage on his helmet said out loud,

"Steady lads. We can take him." They were all whimpering, so Dracul didn't think the leaders little pep talk had done the group of knights any good. One of the Knights, on the leaders right made the sign of the cross, saying "God is with us." Giving a dark, sinister, smile Dracul, said in the most polite voice possible,

"What a timely coincidence…" He turned his silver goblet upside down, staring at the knights with his hungry eyes,

"I'm dying for a little drop of blood…" He threw his goblet down on the ground, and before any of the armored soldiers could respond, Dracul conjured a swarm of vampire bats using his left and right hands, which flew in all directions, some slashing at the armored knights exposed parts with their claws, while others sunk there fangs into their neck area. Blinding them all for a precious few seconds, Dracul conjured a miasma of darkness, cloaking the entire throne room in a shroud of shadow. The knights who recovered from the vampire bats assault, now stared in disbelief as there surrounded disappeared, with only darkness greeting there vision. One of the knights put his back on one of the many pillars around the room, taking a combat stance; he brought his sword in a two-handed grip, and looked around for the vampire lord.

What he did see was a massive two handed sword coming towards him at lightning speeds, and before he had a chance to react, impale him through the stomach, showering his bright armor in his own blood and guts.

The knight stared down in horror, only having seconds of life left to let out a gasp. The blade in its splendid was covered in glowing blue runes, made from what appeared to be mixture of some dark, and white steel. The hilt was ornate black, having a large grip below it, and three spikes, two left and right from the hilt, while one on the bottom of the grip. The sword was giving off an aura of cold, with frost lingering on its edge, and when the blade moved, the aura took a glowing blue appearance.

Another knight to the left of the previous one had only time to quiver and shake in pure terror, as the glowing runeblade buried itself into his chest, again and again. Dracul thrusted his blade over and over into the knights chest, spraying blood all over the vampire's body. Dracul threw the body aside, rushing up to it, he ripped it apart with his clawed hands, tearing chain mail and metal plate like how a glutton would devour food, gorging on both flesh and blood with his fangs. After eating his fill from the knight Dracul wiped the chunks of flesh on his face, and disappeared in a cloud of crimson, using his mist form to teleport right behind the leader.

The rest of the group was scattered, wandering aimlessly in the miasma. The head knight was well trained, he carefully backed away trying his best to spot the glowing Blue Sword, and listened to the screams of his dying men. He found what he was looking for, when the blue sword entered from behind, and through his body. Blood formed in his mouth, as he himself let out of scream.

His spine was severed, and the knight lost all of his bodies function. He simply fell to the floor, dropping his sword. Dracul dragged him into a corner; he tore off his helmet, and bit down on his neck, draining him of all his blood while he was still alive until his body became shriveled and husky.

By then, the miasma had dissipated, leaving the remaining knights to stare in shock and fear at the grisly carnage before them. Approaching them with an affable smile was the dark prince, his Void Sword drawn. The remaining seven charged. Dracul laughed, summoning away his Voidsword in a flash of white light, a red spectral gauntlet materlized on his left hand, he span his hand over his head, and a dark red whip came roaring forth, sending the knights sprawling onto the ground as it span in a one hundred degree arc across half the throne room. Trailing behind the wipe was shadow, and crimson colors. Dracul leaped into the air, bringing the red whip down on the group of knights, one managed to leap to the side dodging on time, and bring up his sword, but the other six were not as lucky, and were once again thrown to the side.

The one who remained upright ran forward, and slashed downward at the vampire with two hands, Dracula sidestepped the attack in a flash of red, appearing right beside the knight in his new position. Dracul counterattacked, using his Shadow Whip, he severed the knights top half from its lower half, spraying the vampire in even more blood. Dracul licked the blood around his lips. What was left of the holy soldiers got up, Dracul conjured his Void Sword as he slowly got closer to them, and without wasting any more time, stabbed it into the ground. The entire room filled with snow, and ice began to form around the Brotherhood knights, eventually freezing them solid. Dispelling his void sword, Dracul summoned his Shadow whip, and span it around in an arc shattering the knights in little fragments. The battle was ended.

Pathetic.

A flash of green light entered Dracul's vision, as did a glowing bolt of energy come whizzing into the room straight towards Dracul. The vampire lord conjured his Void Sword in an instant, deflecting the bolt with his blade. Dracul eyebrows raised, as the caster of the bolt entered into the throne room. The sight caused the Prince of Darkness to fall onto the floor, laughing hysterically, in between his dark laughter, he spoke,

"The brotherhood sends…little girls after me? Is this some kind of jest?!" He flashed his fangs, standing back up. The "little girl" as he called her, was wearing similar plate armor, to the now dead knights, besides her tabard, which wass…very light red in color. In fact…now that Dracul had stopped laughing he noticed, the girls hair was the same…unusual color. To be honest, in Dracul's centuries of life, he had never seen any shades of red or white look so strange. On her back, was a cape which had the same weird color of the girls tabard and hair. In her hands, was a silver straight sword, and a silver tower shield, which he didn't even know how she carried with such ease, let alone how heavy the plate armor must have been. She must have access to magic, or her armor and weapons was enchanted.

Dracul eyed the girl strangely. His curiosity increased as another girl entered the battle zone. His stare intensified, and…his face had visible discomfort. The girl who looked like she could be no older then twelve, was wearing… extremely short pants, with her thighs being visibly exposed, with her leather tunic…not hiding much of her small cleavages and other…body parts. Her hair was…orange, and on her head sat a weird-looking hat that he had seen Brotherhood archers wear, with a plump orange feather sticking above it. Holding across her chest, was a massive crossbow, that even one of his Nosfertu Knights would have trouble carrying.

This must be Satan's work. She looks no older then twelve, and yet her garments would embarrass a brothel whore,

Dracula's puzzlement only grew as another girl walked in. This one was wearing the simple robes of a clergy nun. Dracul couldn't help but let out a an amused sigh,

Good. Something normal...as normal as a nun is accompanying two strange little girls, who are armed with weapons, have strange hair and clothing that a whore would feel embarrassed wearing in public.

The nun at least, looked like she was over seventeen, and was carrying a wooden staff in her hand. She had long brown hair, and deep blue eyes. In a way she reminded Dracul of someone he once knew.

At the thought of her, Dracul snarled. Lifting up the Void sword, he pointed it at the trio,

"If the Brotherhood thinks three children can stand against the Dragons might...I don't really know what to think in response." He felt his dark brown stubble, and began to scratch his chin. "Not that, I will hold back regardless of your age. I give you this one chance, flee. And i'll spare your life." Dracula was the god of evil, the Prince of Darkness. The thorn inside gods side. If they didn't accept his offer of mercy, he wouldn't show any remorse. The nun stepped forward, drawing her wooden staff, and used it to stomp on the Throne Rooms floor, sending pulses of white energy across the room,

"We do not fear you, Prince of Darkness. Or should I say...Gabriel Belmont."

Dracul immediately rolled his fist into a ball, putting enough pressure into his nails that he drew his own blood. The prince of Darkness face contorted with anger, his inhuman eyes flared as if on fire, glowing a deep red. He screamed at the top of his lungs in pure hatred,

"DONT YOU DARE CALL ME THAT. EN SUNT DRACUL!"(I am the Dragon, or I am the Devil in Romanian)

The one wearing the revealing clothing gave a girly laugh, pointing her finger at him,

"What's wrong with us calling you Gabriel? Hey can I call you Gabe? Yeah, from now on i'm going to call you Gabe." Instead of anger, all Dracul felt towards the bratty twelve year old was...annoyance. Her voice was way too obnoxious to take seriously. His anger was solely aimed at the nun, who had dared speak his former name in his presence. Drawing the void sword, he pointed it at the older looking female,

"Are you a member of the Brotherhood? Who told you that name-" He shook his head, "No. It doesn't matter." Gabriel went closer to the trio, readying his mist form, "I have no time to play with children."

The one to the left of the nun, the armored knight, who unlike the other two had a commanding, masculine voice, shouted angrily, bringing up her sword and shield

"Dont you dare underestimate us." Dracul chuckled, pointing one of his bony fingers at the group, "And why should I take you seriously? Your children. I am the Prince of Darkness. I have slaughtered thousands,I am the one who killed the Lords Of Shadow, and threw Satan back into hell. I am Dracul, the Dragon." He continued his rant, "What are you compared to me. Nothing" He snarled, "Null and Void." He let out an insane sound laughing, "If I find any of you upon my return, I will kill you. You better leave." And with that, before any of the strange looking girls could raise protest, Dracul turned himself into a blood red mist, passing through them, and making its way to the balcony. Reappearing just before the huge golden door that lead to the outside, Dracula made his way too it, using both of his arms to slam the door open. The sight that awaited him was...grand if, expected.

The pale moon casted its rays of white light across the massive castle, which spread across Dracula's entire vision. Thousands of torches could be seen blazing under the stars across the castle courtyard, spires, towers, and beyond the castle itself. The screams of dying men, monstrous roars, battle cries and hand-to-hand combat, could be heard plain as daylight all over the grounds. Beyond the castle, large balls of flame came crashing against the walls, spires, and towers of the grand keep. Massive siege engines were attempting to scale the walls, with soldiers thundering across the battlefield like ants. Dracul could spot the occasion flash of vibrant reds, blues, green, oranges, yellows, and other bright colors around the desolate track of land. The sky, cloudless, was filled with arrows ranging against the outer walls of the keep. Dracul filled with intense disgust, glancing at his palm, which was covered in his own blood, he muttered, his voice tinged with rage and fury,

"What is a man..."

The eyes of the dragon talisman across his neck blazed red,

"But a miserable pile of secrets..."

In a bright flash of red, the entire battlefield fell silent, as a blood curdling scream could be heard across the castle and into the valley beyond were most of the Brotherhood forces marched. A black cloud, approached the host of light, leaving behind a trail of dark crimson. The cloud circled around the army, as the soldiers could only stare up in terror as it fell down before them. As it did, Dracul manifested himself onto the ground, letting loose a massive shock-wave as he did, sending the thousands of soldiers around him flying in all directions, which included hundreds of horses. Dracul conjured his Shadow Whip, this time unleashing its full power by spinning it in an arc across a massive track of land, hitting everyone in the area, and turning them into gibbous bits of meat and blood, with its darkness trailing behind its path of destruction. The God of Evil telaported into another group, repeating the same process over and over, conjuring his Shadow whip, and sweeping it across the battlefield, reducing fully armored knights into hunks of scrap metal and mounds of flesh.

Dracul stopped when he was near of the edge of the cliff that lead down to Wygnol Village, staring back at the destruction he just wrought. Behind him, soldiers dragged themselves away from the Dark prince as fast as they could, some, carrying their own severed limbs, others, holding in their guts. The ones still intact rallied, Dracul had only put a dent in the host, as thousands of soldiers half-surrounded the vampire lord from the side of the castle and the valley, forming a massive shield wall.

Dracul glanced in front of him, a lone brotherhood soldier approached him from the edge of the cliff. He was not like the rest of the Brotherhood army, instead clad in gold-plated armor, which had golden wings coming from the back. Beside him walked a girl who was wearing black chain mail, without a helmet, her hair was long, silky and black. The brotherhood soldier was a Golden Paladin, one of the Brotherhoods elite army Commanders. Dracul knew from his ages past days in the Brotherhood, that paladins were given special armor made from Angel bones. He duel-wielded two curved long-swords, which glowed with Holy energy. His companion, the girl held a two handed bastard sword, black in color, around its edge it radiated white though. Dracul could only laugh to himself,

So this is the legendary Roland de Ronceval. They dare face me alone? After I caused so much destruction? Fools...your brotherhood has sent you to die.

Dracul walked up slowly to meet them, all the time with a cold mocking grin. The Golden Paladin put a hand to his companions shoulder, which caused her to swear under he breath. As he walked closer to the Prince of Darkness, she stayed behind, watching the two of them. Dracul conjured his void sword, and prepared to summon his own demonic wings. The Golden Paladin flourished his two curved longswords, and declared in a pompous tone,

"God is with me, monster."

Dracul smugly responded with, showing off his fangs,

"That will be your ruin."

In an instant, the Golden paladin unleashed a torrent of Holy fire by crossing his blades like a crucifix, and slashed forward with the first blade wielded in his right hand. Dracul side-stepped away from the burst of fire, and went in closer, using his forward momentum, he brought down his Void sword across the Paladin's helmet. The knight, before the blade connected let loose a bright flash all around him, which pushed Dracul slightly backwards. The vampire lord glanced around the environment, the remains of catapults, tents, and other fortifications were spread across the area, all collateral damage from Dracul's previous rampage. Among the shards of wood, human corpses were in abundance, many of them horribly mangled beyond recognition.

The paladin charged forward, propelled by his golden wings. He connected his two curved longswords together, and in a flash of light they formed a large twinblade. He jumped slightly into the air, and brought down his weapon upon the dark prince. Dracul backed away from the attack, countering with a slash to the Golden paladin's face. The void sword, leaving behind a trail of Lapis Lazuli blue, made contact with Roland's visor causing sparks to fly across the paladin's face. He flied backwards, away from the Vampire using his enchanted golden wings he soared through the air, a spectral bowstring appeared on the twinblade, turning it into a bow. Roland launched several arrows made of pure energy at Dracul, who had already taken the initiative and was already charging forward as Roland went backward. Dracul easily deflected the incoming arrows of golden energy with the Void Sword, using it as a makeshift shield by spinning the blade very fast. Roland landed finally, bringing up his twin blade , shouting,

"Tonight will be your last, Prince of Darkness."

Dracul smiled once again, entertained by Roland's threats,

"Prove it to me then, Paladin."

Roland slashed to Dracul's right, which The Dragon easily blocked with the Void Sword, and then he slashed to Dracul's left, which again, took Dracul little effort to defend himself against. The golden paladin pushed forward, delivering attack after attack with his twinblade, trying in vain to breach the Prince of Darkness's defenses. Dracul continued to mock the paladin with a grin and the occasional smug laughter.

It's time to end this little game.

The golden Paladin did a heavy downward strike, putting all of his weight and strength into it. Dracul turned into mist form, letting the attack go through him, causing Roland to stumble. In the paladins moment of weakness, Dracul conjured his Chaos claws. Two large sized flaming, clawed, gauntlets appeared on Dracul's fists, as he launched a series of punches aimed at Roland, that knocked him backwards, and sent him flying into a ruined wooden beam. The chaos claws were powerful enough to knock off the Paladins golden wings and helmet.

Smirking, Dracul made his way to the downed paladin. Roland stood up, drawing his blade, he screamed,

"Floretia now!" The vampire turned around to see the girl from earlier standing before him, holding a strange looking black gem in the palm of her hand. It was adorned with a golden outer frame. She held it out, and whispered something. Then it happened.

A massive wave of energy hit the assembled army, Roland, and Dracul, throwing everyone backwards, besides the Prince of Darkness. The girl had disappeared, from sight, and her in-place was the stuff of nightmare…whatever that thing was, Dracul did not know. It would be an insult to his servants, calling it a creature of the night. It was vaguely bug-like, but something was off about. As if it kept phasing in an out of existence. It was hideously massive, at least one hundred feet high in the sky. Clad head to toe in loathsome eyeballs and human arms, even Satan himself would quiver in fear.

Quite impressive

Luckily for Dracul, he wasn't Satan, but the dragon.

Look upon me Daemon. For I am darker and more terrible then thou.

Showing no emotion the Prince of Darknes, faced the incoming horror. Grabbing the Talisman of the Dragon, and tearing it off his neck, Dracul lifted it above his head, and crushed it underneath his fists. The silver dragon's eye shone bright red, as did Dracula's. Red lighting, swirls of darkness and shadow, surrounded Dracul, tearing up the ground around him. Letting out a cry of rage, Dracul's body contorted, and exploded in blood red flames. An ear shattering roar echoed across the battlefield. Emerging from the red fire was Dracul's true form, a massive Black Dragon, adorned with silver ridges. It flew upwards, snarling and letting out roars of unbridled hatred, occasionally letting loose it's black fire from its gapping jaw.

The bug-like horror hissed in defiance, but if it had any sense, it would know it was no match for The Dragon. Grappling onto the beast with it's sinister claws, Dracul's dragon-form struggled against the bug-like monster, who in vain tried to loosen itself from the Black dragons grip, whose huge silver wings wrapped around, and began to crush it underneath its weight. The bug creature continued to thrash around in pain. Letting loose an inferno of dark fire, the Dragon began to burn the creature into submission, also slashing at the creatures body with the Black Dragons talon like claws. The struggle between the two calamities caused large gusts of wings, throwing surviving knights on the ground around like rag dolls.

Dracul's dragon form let go of the beast, flying backwards, it circled around it. Preparing for one final attack, it let loose another bellowing howl of rage, and charged forward, beating it's huge wings, it crashed into the Bug-like monster, pushing it down the slope, and across the mountain. The monster was felled, while it gave when final death groan. Vaporizing in a cloud of ash, and quite unknown to the victorious Dragon, the cloud of ash materialized into a small circular object, which soon disappeared from view, and into the snow.

The black dragon landed were it had taken off, roaring in victory, the dragons form dissipated in a cloud of darkness, and a circular waves of fire came forth from the disappearing Dragons form, scorching any knight who dared to approach him. A smug grin held on Dracul's face, as the assembled knights cowered in fear, barely managing to form rank. Roland was still struggling with his many wounds, looking at Dracul in pure disbelief,

"How...how did you...how did you slay her...it's just not possible..."

"I'm immortal warrior. I cannot be defeated." The Golden paladin shook his head, drawing an ornate silver crucifix. He began to chant Latin prayers, and as he did, white light glowed around his Cross,

"Christus vivit. Christus regnat. Christus ab omni malo te defendat." (Christ lives. Christ reigns. Christ will protect you from all evil.) Dracul placed his hand across the paladin's face, gently saying,

"I was like you once." His features hardened, as he withdrew the hand, "But your god showed me another path."

The paladin continued his prayer, and as he did, the white light grew in brightness,

"Maledicti et Excommunicati daemones." (Demons, cursed and excommunicated for dishonouring God by your wretched deeds and names!)

Dracul smiled, as he grabbed the Crucifix from it's top, to the shock of Roland and every knight around them. The vampire edged his face closer to the knight pulling him towards his face using the cross, unaffected by the holy incantation and object,

"That is why the power of your god cannot harm me...because I am his chosen one!"

Dracul said the prayer word for word mockingly along with Roland, pushing the cross closer to himself, while Roland struggled to hold it back,

"In virtute ritorum sanctorum Dei nominum, Messias, Emmanuel, Sother, Sabaoth, Agios, Ischyros, Athanatos, Jehova, Adonai et Tetragrammaton, vos constringuimus et separamus a creatura, vita, et ab omni loco et domo Ubi fuerint haec nomina et signa dei; et" (Mesias, Emmanuel, Sohter Sabahot, Agios, Inchiros Athanatos, Jehova, Adonai Wherever these names and those loyal to God will be, we will be able to siege the initiative from you!)

Roland's voice became more feeble and weak, while Dracul's grew stronger. The Holy light began to burn Roland, as his hand withdrew from the cross ever so slightly. Finally, Dracul uttered,

"Praecipimus vobis, atque ligamus vos, ut non habeatis potestatem, per pestem nec per aliquod quodcumque maleficium, nocere ei neque in anima neque in corpore." (And we will bind you so you may never have power through calamity. Nor will you, using some form of witchcraft or spell, ever bring harm to Him. You won't hurt his spirit nor his body.)

A luminous glow filled everyone's field of vision, and the entire area exploded in a flash of white light, all across the continent of Europe. The explosion could be seen from space, and the holy energy burned everyone in the area to ashes. The once mighty Wygnol castle was reduced to ruins. The only thing that remained of Roland was his ruined armor, and the now burning crucifix, which was held in Dracul's unharmed hand. He gazed at the destruction around him. Unbeknownst to him, four fingers stood a good distance behind him, hidden by the dissipating smoke. He turned around to see the same three girls from the Throne Room, along with a tall man. He was wearing a similar armored longcoat to the Vampire lord, with his chest also exposed. His hands held dark steel gauntlets, which ended in razor sharp claws, on his legs, he wore black greeves. His hair was white as fresh snow, and his gold eyes glowed unnaturally,

Surprise was the only thing to describe what Dracul felt, as he muttered,

"Son?"

2057 A.D, present day

With a scream, a shriveled, haggard figure emerged from the stone coffin. The man looked around, his golden eyes filled with fear and confusion. The dim candles provided no comfort to him, burning his eyes and limiting his vision. Shivering, he was breathing very hard and it look like a small gust of wind could completely flatten him . He didn't know where he was...he didn't remember anything. Getting out of the coffin, he noticed the only thing he worse were gray rags that covered his lower half, but his top half was exposed. The haggard mans skin was a sickly white, and he had very long, ragged, grey hair.

"So weak now...must find blood...must feed..."