116 Chapter 115

[Third Person's PoV]

Cid watched with an amused expression as Mary made sure he was alright before jumping back into fighting the ghouls and zombies.

He leaped towards the top of one of the buildings before donning his Shadow outfit. Slowly, he made his way towards the Crimson Tower, rendering some of the ghouls and zombies unconscious instead of killing them, knowing they would likely revive.

As he passed through a red-light district, he heard the sound of a woman screaming from one of the buildings.

Shadow disappeared and reappeared inside the room, where a fat, unclothed zombified man leapt towards an unclothed woman bearing marks of abuse. Shadow's slime suit covered his hands as it turned sharp, forming a sword. With a swing of his arm, Shadow decapitated the man without hesitation.

'And here I was hoping to keep my hands clean of blood for a bit until my daughter is born'

"W-Who are you?" she asked before a catwoman beastman appeared with worry.

"Marie! Are you okay?"

"The name is Shadow," he replied, answering Marie's earlier inquiry, and he healed her with a wave of his arm, taking them by surprise.

"It's dangerous to stay here. If you want to survive, then run away," Shadow advised before disappearing once again.

They heard the sound of metal hitting the ground. Where Shadow once stood, they found a small leather brown bag with a few golden coins sticking out the top.

'Shadow,' Marie reiterated, promising herself to remember that.

As Shadow reappeared outside, Claire emerged from the shadows to his side. Immediately, Shadow gave her his orders, "I have a mission for you, Adelphi."

Hearing him call her by her Shadow Garden name, Claire's outfit changed to that of what everyone from Shadow usually wears, with an eye mask and her hair tied into a ponytail. Her usual relaxed and teasing expression was gone, replaced by a serious look as she awaited his instructions.

"I need you to go and find the vampire hunter known as Mary. She is currently in this town. Bring her towards the Crimson Tower. Beware, as she's a vampire herself, but she is one of the good ones," Shadow explained.

Claire, taught by Alpha, knew not to question Cid when he was in his Shadow persona. She nodded silently, keeping her curiosity in check, before surrounding herself in lightning. She turned into a blur as she jumped and ran from building to building in pursuit of Mary.

Meanwhile, Shadow walked towards the Crimson Tower with steady steps.

…

"So, are you the one known as 'Mary the Vampire Hunter'?" Adelphi asked, appearing on top of a building with a graceful pose, her hand resting leisurely on her sword handle as she looked down at Mary.

Mary, surrounded by ghouls and zombie corpses, looked at Claire suspiciously. "And if I am? What would you like to do with that information?"

Adelphi nodded. "I have been given the task of guiding you towards the Crimson Tower."

Mary drew her sword and pointed it towards Adelphi, her expression serious. "Were those orders given to you by Crimson?"

Mary's eyes widened in shock as she felt Claire's sword pressing against her neck and another one against her back, right towards her chest.

'I didn't even see her move! What is that speed!' Mary thought with worry.

Adelphi scoffed. "I follow no such man. If I wanted you dead, you would have already been disposed of without your knowing. I serve a different master. He told me to guide you, mentioning that you are a vampire, but one of the good kind."

"The good kind, huh? I don't think I've ever heard someone refer to me as such in a long time," Mary said, surprised to see no animosity or hostility in Adelphi's eyes.

Adelphi backed away, seeing no need to threaten Mary any further.

"Do you know why your master wants you to guide me towards the Tower?" Mary inquired, still feeling suspicious.

"It's not my job to know. It's my job to follow orders and do as I'm told."

'She mentioned her master calling me one of the good ones, and she doesn't seem to bear any hostility. She wants to guide me to the place I was going to go anyways… might as well have all the help I can get. After all, she's strong, so she wouldn't be a burden,' Mary thought as she nodded.

"Very well, I'll follow along. The Crimson Tower was my destination all along."

As they ran towards the Crimson Tower, Mary asked, "Tell me, what do you truly know about me?"

Adelphi raised three fingers. "Three things: your name is Mary, you're a vampire hunter, and you are a vampire yourself."

'She doesn't know anything else, does she?' Mary inwardly sighed.

"Do you at least know about the current predicaments?" Mary asked with an awkward expression.

"All I know is that this is caused by the blood moon," Adelphi said with a serious expression.

Mary outwardly sighed before explaining, "Since we're about to enter the tower together, I might as well start informing you. This is all a ploy for the revival of our queen Elisabeth. They're using this chance to gather human sacrifices to nourish her revival."

Mary then transitioned into telling Claire her backstory and how everything else came to be…

Meanwhile, Shadow saw members of the Spellsword Association having difficulty against the ghouls. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they weren't just ghouls—they were literal vampires. Without hesitation, he called one of his shadows.

"Tusk, take care of them," Shadow calmly called out.

Tusk appeared, holding his red orb with a wicked grin. He conjured 'Hymn of Protection,' creating a barrier around the Spellsword Association, which took them by surprise. Their surprise grew upon seeing Tusk walking behind Shadow as he walked past them.

Tusk then used 'Hymn of the Blazing Fire,' conjuring a wave of fireballs that flew towards the vampires, causing them to scream out in complete agony as they turned to dust.

As Shadow walked ahead, he slowly said, "Arise," which brought forth the vampires as shadowy beings who sunk into the ground before each joining Shadow's shadows.

And with that, he disappeared from their view alongside Tusk, causing the barrier that was protecting them to disappear as well.

Leaving all of them with their mouths hanging wide open in shock, one of them stuttered, "W-Who was even that?"

"I-I think that's Shadow… the one that attacked the God of War Festival, the one that almost killed every single person in the city," the leader of their ragtag group informed them.

After Tusk was done, he sunk back onto Shadow, who continued making his way towards the tower.

As he approached, he saw two different people fighting with their weapons out. One was a nine-tailed fox with snow-white hair and blue markings on the tips of her tail, wielding a metal fan as a weapon—Yukime. The other was a tall, tanned skin man with dreadlocks wielding a heavy sword—Juggernaut.

Shadow appeared in between them as they both swung their weapons towards each other, stopping them both with just a finger.

Shadow turned towards Yukime and smiled. "It's been a while… you sure have grown."

Yukime's eyes widened as she remembered the man who saved her life and helped bury his mother.

"Azrael…" Yukime muttered, her eyes widening in surprise and excitement at finally meeting her savior.

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A/N: does someone want to name the baby and send images of how they image how she will look like. And also what type of powers she would develop and become the Monarch of?