The Van Helsing Legacy: Part 2

During his time in England meanwhile, Van Helsing fell under the tutorship of Professor Hieronymus Grost. An expert on vampires and ghosts.

The latter's expertise on souls had allowed him to study how vampirism was spread among the different breeds which proved vital in Van Helsing's own studies. Grost's research into the supernatural begun after his 11 year old son was killed in a swimming accident. He was so devastated by the loss he desperately searched for a way to prove there was life after death. This eventually led to him studying not only ghosts, but vampires too.

Together the two of them took on many threats in London, including most notably an entity known as the Darkness. This creature which is still a mystery to us, is believed to have come from another unknown realm of existence. There are some however who believe the darkness is another sentient, alternate afterlife to the great abyss. Whatever the truth, this monster is virtually indestructible and it devours souls. All ghosts are terrified of it, even more so than the vandals. The darkness had arrived in London in an attempt to devour the souls trapped within the tower of London itself, but Van Helsing and Grost cast it out, which gave Van Helsing the confidence he needed to go back to mainland Europe.

For the next year Van Helsing travelled around Europe, keeping a low profile whilst hunting vampires and other supernatural creatures. However unlike other hunters he approached it like a scientist and collected data, developed theories and genuinely tried to separate fact from fiction. Van Helsing's ultimate aim wasn't simply to slay Dracula, but rather to let the general population know the truth about vampires. Unlike either the Library or the Cushings, he would not horde the knowledge for himself, or only give it to those he deemed worthy. Everyone would know the ways of the beast thanks to Lawrence.

Among the other hunters Lawrence encountered on his journey's included Father Shandor. Having earned the nickname demon stalker. Shandor was a monk, who nevertheless studied the black arts. He did so not because he worshipped them, but to better understand his enemy. Whilst he had saved many lives, and slain several, powerful demons. Among the clergy, Shandor was viewed as a Satan worshipper and shunned by most priests. The locals meanwhile didn't think much better of him. To be fair whilst superstition ran rampant in the area Shandor lived, regardless of the actual demons and vampires. Shandor didn't exactly endear himself to the population either. He was arrogant, condescending, short tempered and often enjoyed winding people up. He was as different as could be imagined from the soft spoken, polite, gentlemanly Lawrence Van Helsing. Their approach to battling the supernatural also greatly differed as Shandor was a man of god who believed in everything the holy book taught him, whilst Van Helsing approached his study of demons in a purely scientific way.

Nevertheless the two of them proved to be an effective team in stopping a Nelapsi from overrunning the countryside. The Nelapsi were the most powerful and dangerous vampiric creatures. They were Kresnik's who had been bitten and turned into vampires. As Kresniks were merely humans, infused with the power of the book of Khastran (in order to create a race of supernatural warriors who could hunt vampires.) Then they could still be turned into vampires, but the extra amount of Khastran's power caused the transformation to spiral out of control, creating hideous abominations.

Nelapsi's are somewhat mysterious creatures even today, for the simple reason that hardly anybody who has encountered them lives to tell about it. After Van Helsing and Shandor's battle with this Nelapsi, there wouldn't be another on record for up to 100 years.

Physically the Nelapsi can vary in much the same way that vampires can. The creature that Van Helsing and Shandor encountered however had completely white skin, red eyes, elongated fangs and an emaciated frame. It never spoke, in fact it never made noises of any kind, and its movements were slight and graceful according to Van Helsing. If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't have believed it was the most ferocious and powerful creature ever encountered by either of them.

The Nelapsi's powers meanwhile not only included the standard super strength, speed and healing, all to a greater extent than any other vampire breed, as well as immortality and the ability to fly. They also possessed the ability to cause a person's soul to slowly burn from the inside with just their glare, and they could even control souls of their victims too. Finally they were also completely indestructible. At least at night when they were active. No force on this earth could pierce a Nelapsi's skin, and no magic could repel them either. The only way to stop a Nelapsi was to attack it during the daylight hours (when it rested) and perform a ritual that would seal the beast in its place of resting. Even then however it would not kill it, and if the spell were undone the beast would rise again, much stronger than ever before.

Van Helsing and Shandor, were barely able to get that many people out of the village the monster attacked. Out of 400 people, only 30 survived. This Nelapsi had been created from a young Kresnik man that ironically Shandor had taken in years ago, after vampires killed his family. Shandor trained the Kresnik to be a hunter (against the clergy's orders who wanted to slay the Kresnik, believing them to be no better than the vampires they hunted.) Sadly when this Kresnik was bitten by a vampire, it also buried him alive. Vampires normally didn't like to create Nelapsi as the monsters were so unpredictable and dangerous even to them. This vampire however did it to torment the Kresnik that he had been fighting with for a long time, by damning him. Of course once the Kresnik was buried, the vampire fled.

In order to stop a Kresnik who has been bitten or infected from becoming a Nelapsi, their head must be removed, or the body burned before they rise. Simply killing the Kresnik after it has been infected, but before it has risen will not be enough.

Along with a few of the survivors. Shandor and Van Helsing made their way into the Nelapsi's cave which was protected by the ghosts of its former victims. Fighting their way through them (thanks to Van Helsing's knowledge of ghosts from Professor Grost.) They sadly did not reach the Nelapsi in time and were forced to resort to another option of burying the creature under tons of rocks using explosives. They had not wanted to risk this in case the Nelapsi was able to escape from the rubble during the night, though now they had no choice.

Fortunately however the rubble just about held the bloodsucker for the night and when the day rose again, Van Helsing and Shandor were able to find its body and perform the ritual.

The father and Van Helsing parted on amicable terms. (Well amicable by Shandors standards.) Sadly however whilst Van Helsing's reputation rose even if he didn't want it to, from having been one of the only people to survive a Nelapsi attack. Shandors back home reached new lows, with his fellow clergy men blaming him for the Kresnik becoming a Nelapsi.

Shandor was forced to leave town and travelled the countryside from this point on much like Van Helsing, fighting evil in his own way.

Over the course of his adventures, Van Helsing not only learned more about vampires in general, but he also learned more about what Dracula was planning. The vampire king had learned exactly where the book of Khastran had been taken to a few years back in Istanbul, and wanted to build an army of vampires to storm Istanbul, take the book and complete Khastran's plan.

Whilst Dracula's reputation had taken somewhat of a hit after losing Wallachia. His heinous actions in Klausenberg made many of the vampires and demons throughout Europe fear and respect him once again.

Van Helsing in response decided to gather his own team. Father Shandor, who gladly accepted, as well as his mentor Professor Grost and his new ally, Captain Kronos.

Grost had been somewhat inspired by Van Helsing taking the plunge to actually go out and fight evil in Europe, that he left his cosey little situation in London and investigated sightings of vampires which led to him encountering Captain Kronos. The Captain had been inspired to fight vampires after his boat had been sunk by Dragurs, an ocean dwelling breed of vampire, with Kronos being one of only three people who escaped the slaughter. From that day forward he devoted himself to hunting vampires wherever he could.

Sadly however, whilst being a skilled warrior from his years in the army. Kronos knowledge on vampires was lacking and to start with he very rarely was actually able to find one of them. The combination of Kronos skill and Grost's knowledge proved to be an effective combination, and the two hunted many vampires and demons in a short time, with their biggest success being the toppling of the vicious Count Karnstein.

The Karnstein family had risen to prominence after the fall of the vandals. At one point they were even tipped as the new rulers of the fledging vampire empire, but it never came to pass. They still however ruled over their local area, though in time the vampires came to fight among themselves.

The patriarch of the family, the vile Count Karnstein was the victor of their internal war and by this stage though he still ruled, he had become paranoid and unstable. Even Dracula did not ask him to be part of his army because he felt that Karnstein was too unpredictable.

That said none of the villagers dared challenge him, and more than a few hunters still fell to Karnstein even in this state. Grost and Kronos however managed to slay Karnstein by burning his castle down, after which they were hailed as heroes.

Grost also gladly accepted Van Helsing's request, though Kronos was perhaps a bit too enthusiastic.

The foursome's final ally however surprisingly was Lawrence's old friend, Valerie.

She still wanted Dracula's head too, and had begun to experience visions of Dracula. This was as a result of the numerous magics that she had stolen from the Library. The visions were fleeting, but once Van Helsing and Grost analysed them, they soon realised what they meant.

All vampires have connections to those they sire. In some breeds it is so strong that if one vampire dies, then those it has sired will die. In the case of Dracula's breed however the link was virtually minute, but when Valerie began to absorb magics to increase her vampiric powers like strength and healing, she also strengthened her link to the point where she could now see inside Dracula's head. Had the Count been aware, he could have easily blocked her, but the fact that he regarded Valerie as nothing more than a loose end, and had almost forgotten about her. Allowed Valerie the element of surprise.

With Van Helsing and the others, particularly Father Shandor who had his own supply of magics help. Valerie's link with Dracula was strengthened to the point where she was able to read his mind, allowing Van Helsing and his hunters to find a secret passage into Dracula's castle in Klausenberg.

They attacked whilst the vampire was holding a meeting with other alpha vampires. In the ensuing fight, all of the alpha's were killed, whilst Van Helsing faced his arch enemy Count Dracula alone.

In spite of everything he had been through in the past year, Van Helsing was still utterly helpless against Count Dracula, who beat the vampire hunter effortlessly.

However Van Helsing and his friends had wisely attacked in the morning, and as Dracula thought he had Van Helsing cornered. Lawrence ran down the Count's dining table, jumped onto and pulled down the curtains.

Sunlight flooded the entire room and began to make Dracula literally melt before Lawrence. However even in the rays of the sun, Dracula did not give up and nearly crawled, as his body was decaying, to safety. Van Helsing however, thinking quickly jumped ahead and created a make shift cross from two candle sticks on the dining table, forcing the king of the vampires back into the suns rays where he finally crumbled into a pile of ash on the floor.

Dracula was finally dead, though the people of Klausenberg were so traumatised they didn't believe it for years afterwards and still lived in terror.

Valerie meanwhile fled, having learned from Dracula's memories about a secret passage she could hide in from Dracula that she didn't share with the others, who would have surely slain her in spite of their truce.

After the death of Dracula Valerie fled across Europe and slowly began to build up her power, becoming a Master vampire in her own right.

Van Helsing and the others meanwhile headed to Istanbul to find and destroy the book of Khastran. It had been sealed for many centuries beneath a vault, but a recent renegade wizard named Baris had stolen it and transformed himself into the first of a new breed of vampire that became known as the Hortdan.

The leaders of the Ottoman empire used magic wherever they could, and even had a council of wizards, but they still covered it up to the population at large. It was felt it was easier to control the masses and followed the vandals party line as the Ottoman empire did overlap with the vandals. That said however its official wizards and paranormal experts operated independently of the vandals in its territories in south eastern Europe. (Ironically this was why the vampires who brought the book of Khastran to Transylvania in the first place had arrived there, as the Ottoman cared less about vampires than the vandals who they saw as a bigger threat. They even employed some.)

Baris meanwhile felt that the supernatural could not be controlled. Having seen how so many empires had fallen in the past from Rome to the vandals to the Mali empire, to Gupta due to their attempts to suppress and control the paranormal. Baris knowing that the paranormal could never be destroyed as magic was part of the fabric of the earth itself. Instead believed that the only way this empire could survive is if it embraced the supernatural. At that stage the Ottoman empire was nearing its end any way, due to numerous wars with European states. It did eventually collapse less than a decade after Van Helsing and the others visit. Baris however pinned all the blame on its attempts to conquer the paranormal, and truly believed that it was humanities destiny to merge with the supernatural completely. He tried to fuse the subjects of the empire with magic, but his attempts to do so had been met with failure, and his experiments forced him to go on the run. With no other choice Baris felt the book of Khastran was the only way for humanity to become part of the supernatural. Sadly he had no idea of what it's true power or even purpose was, other than that it had come from the demon prince Vlad. The Hortdan that he created soon claimed a small city outside of Istanbul from which they attempted to spread out throughout the Ottoman empire and its enemies.

With the help of one of the last survivors of the city the Hortdan had claimed, a former soldier named Aylin. Van Helsing, Shandor, Kronos and Grost were able to make their way into the city and steal the book of Khastran. Van Helsing also destroyed the magical defenses of the city from within (due to the Ottoman empire's recent troubles their magics were somewhat crude anyway) and the city was soon overwhelmed by troops. Baris however escaped and swore revenge on Van Helsing, becoming another major enemy of Lawrence and his allies.

Van Helsing later handed the book over to the Library after he found he couldn't harm it. Despite his troubles with them, he believed they would be more likely to find a way to destroy it. Whilst even they failed, for the next decade at least, the Library did keep it safe.

Van Helsing, Shandor, Kronos and Grost meanwhile continued to travel throughout Europe hunting vampires and other monsters for the next ten years. Despite Van Helsing's desire to keep a low profile, he and the others became renowned throughout Europe by other hunters, and naturally despised by vampires.

Among the notable vampires Van Helsing and his allies faced against during this decade included old enemies Valerie and Baris, as well as the vampiric Count Mitterhouse, Baron Meinster, and Lord Courtly.

Perhaps their most relentless enemy during this decade however was Count Karnstein. His breed, who were rare in Europe could only be killed permanently through either decapitation or a wooden stake through the heart. Whilst their bodies could be destroyed through fire, their spirits were not sent to Khastran's dimension if any method other than staking or beheading was used. Instead they would exist as vampiric spirits who had the power to possess other people, though they also had the power to permanently take over a body. If they chose to do so however then that was their new body until it was destroyed.

Karnstein in contrast to his previous status took control of a peasant in order to lay low. At first he was shaken at having been defeated by a mere mortal, but soon he sought revenge and spent ages learning as much as he could about Captain Kronos. Rather than simply kill him however, the legendary vampire turned Kronos' mother and sister into vampires, who subsequently ravaged their home town, before Kronos was forced to put them down.

Kronos and Karnstein faced each other many times afterwards, with the two becoming bitterest enemies.

At certain points Kronos' hatred of Karnstein eclipsed that of his loyalty to his team mates and he even once abandoned them so as not to give up a golden opportunity to kill the vampire. All four of them had closed in on Karnstein and his new bride, the equally vile Mircalla, both of whom had been greatly weakened after a run in with an angry mob. Every single member of the mob had been slaughtered, but the vampires needed time to recover. The two vampires however captured one of Van Helsing's former students, Jonathan who wanting to prove himself. Had foolishly gone on ahead. The Karnstein's promised to release Jonathan if Van Helsing and the others backed off. Whilst Van Helsing didn't want to let them go, he needed time to try and find a way to rescue his student. Kronos however, having waited almost a decade, refused to give up what seemed like his only opportunity, and charged ahead. Karnstein even held Jonathan up in front of Kronos, but the latter did not back down and so Karnstein infected Jonathan, before Kronos finally staked Karnstein once and for all. Van Helsing and Shandor severed all ties with Kronos afterwards, though Grost feeling he owed him too much, stuck by his friend to try and help him. Sadly this led to a rift between Van Helsing and Shandor and Grost too. Van Helsing and Shandor for a short while travelled together, but their different methods and personalities eventually caused them to split.

Whilst it may have ended in tragedy. These ten years were in many respects the most lucrative of Van Helsing's career. Not just in the vampires he killed, but the knowledge he gained of them, which he spread to as many corners of Europe as he could. He wrote books and essays, which saw widespread publication in certain areas. Whilst mainstream scientists regarded Van Helsing as a kook, to those who knew the truth it was invaluable. His work not only shed light on the ways of the vampire to hunters all over the world, but became the basis from which most independent hunters and even some organisations would work from for centuries to come.

Van Helsing was not the first to discover many of the things that were later attributed to him, such as vampires being the children of Khastran. He was however since the rise of the vandals, the first to make that knowledge widespread, as most others such as the Cushings had kept it to gain power, whilst others had concealed it out of fear that humanity could not handle the truth.

That said however Van Helsing sadly still wasn't able to break the vandals lie as he had hoped. Nevertheless he did inspire thousands more people to become hunters.

He even took on many protege's during his time with Father Shandor, Kronos and Grost, such as the ill fated Jonathan. (Who Van Helsing killed without a seconds hesitation after he had been turned.)

After the group disbanded however, for the first time in over a decade Van Helsing began to slow down somewhat. He began to think of a life outside of his duties, and even fell in love with a young woman named, Sarah. Sadly however this period of peace wasn't to last as soon Van Helsing's archenemy, Count Dracula returned from the grave.

Even in Khastran's dimension, Dracula had managed to take control of a large group of lesser vampires, who served and protected him. Whilst it may have taken him ten years, Dracula, using his vastly powerful mind control abilities, influenced the mind of one of his vilest followers. The loathsome Klove, who had willingly followed Dracula in the hopes of becoming a vampire, but since then had been forced to go on the run from Klausenberg. Now living as a mere shadow of his former self. Klove was thrilled to hear the voice of his master once again, and followed his instructions on how to bring Dracula back. Even Dracula had not known the full extent of his resurrection powers when alive, but on the other side he could feel that human blood spilled on his remains would restore him to life, by literally anchoring him to the world of the living.

Dracula guided Klove back to his old castle, where the remains of his body were. (Which Dracula could sense.) Klove then murdered someone from the village and used their blood to revive Dracula for the first time in over a decade.

By that point Father Shandor had settled in Klausenberg as its local priest, so that he could guard over Dracula's castle. Klove however had successfully avoided the father, as from the other side Dracula could monitor Shandor and help his servant stay hidden.

Now back in the world of the living, Dracula instantly set about not only building his army again, but getting his revenge on Van Helsing and the others.

He summoned up an army of bats and used them to decimate the town of Klausenberg. Dracula felt he had spent too long indulging in his sick desires in this town during his last stay on earth and wanted to eliminated any distractions so to speak.

However even then, his slaughter of the village wasn't just mindless cruelty. The few who survived the Count turned into the first of his new army of vampires.

Father Shandor barely made it out of the village himself, along with a handful of survivors. He instantly tried to find Van Helsing, whilst Dracula soon set about trying to find the book of Khastran. Having monitored his enemies lives from the other side. (This was not something that most vampires could do in Khastran's dimension. It was only Dracula's greater mental powers that allowed him to do it, which eventually over the decade had become strong enough to allow him to reconnect with the world via Klove.)

Dracula not only knew that the book of Khastran was in the Library, but he knew how to break down its defenses too again from monitoring it from the other side. Using a new army of vampires he built up, the king of the vampires slaughtered his way into the Library, killing most of its staff, with the only survivor being Lasenka. Using some of the library's magics Lasenka allowed himself to escape without being sucked into hell for a short time, and fled with the book of Khastran. He eventually summoned Van Helsing, Father Shandor Captain Kronos and Grost. Despite Van Helsing's dislike and distrust of Kronos and Grost, they all agreed to band back together in order to slay Dracula. Even Valerie, briefly formed an alliance with her former enemies again.

The Count however now had the secrets of the Library which he unleashed on the town of Janssen. Killing much of its population before Van Helsing and the others were able to undo its effects.

Unfortunately however Lasenka's magics didn't last long and he was soon pulled into Quortoth with the book of Khastran,

For the first and only time Dracula and Van Helsing were forced into an alliance as both parties would have to travel to the demon dimension to get the book back. Whilst it may have sounded like a good idea to leave the book to rot in that dimension, as it was made from the flesh of Khastran, the most powerful demon of all. There is no telling what the demons could have created from it. Whilst traces of the portal that had pulled Lasenka in were still there. Dracula, and Van Helsing used magic from the library to widen it, allowing themselves to travel into this hellish place. The magics also kept them hidden for a time being, as they searched through the pits. Father Shandor was the one who found the book, being forced to wrestle it from a seemingly low level demon that had stumbled on the book when it noticed Lasenka's arrival. Sadly they were unable to rescue Lasenka, whose soul was destroyed helping them escape. Whether it was his mortal enemies magics compelling him, or Lasenka had genuinely changed. We will never know, but regardless his last actions were an incredible act of heroism.

Aside from the loss of Lasenka. The retrieval of the book came at a price for Shandor, as the low level demon infected him.

Once they all escaped, Dracula attempted to double cross the hunters, and easily overpowered both the hunters and Valerie. However Shandors demonic infection had granted him incredible powers which he used to slay several of Dracula's underlings. Whilst these powers were still no match for the king of the vampires himself, they distracted him long enough for Van Helsing to catch Dracula off guard and impale him with a silver cross. The vampire was greatly weakened by the injury and forced to retreat.

Shandor meanwhile was horrified at what he had become. He tried to stop the demonic infection from growing using all the magics he could, and whilst it did work for a short while, slowly but surely Shandor began to transform into something other than human.

At the very least however, Van Helsing, Shandor, Kronos and Grost now had the book of Khastran and tried to keep it hidden from Dracula for the time being, but the vampire had other plans.

Dracula didn't want to waste time looking for the hunters. Instead he decided to draw them out. In order to do that however, he would have to do something huge.

The vampire king headed for Paris to chase an old legend, ironically one he had only learned about from watching Van Helsing on the other side.

Under Paris there was an army of over 1000 vampires. These creatures were created in the final days of the vampire/vandal war in Europe, a few years before King Richard was turned into a vampire. They very nearly swung the war in the vampires favour such was their power.

What made this breed so dangerous was the fact that whilst they could die, they would always no matter what method was used, revive the next day even stronger. Though they were incapable of killing themselves.

These vampires could also fly, as they resembled large, green skinned bats with a humanoid body and arms as well as wings.

The vandals only defeated them with the aid of several coven of witches, who though normally despising the vandals did not want to let the vampires win.

The spell did not destroy the vampires so as not to give them a chance to become stronger. It simply put them into a comatose state after which the vandals buried the bloodsuckers under Paris. There they would be guarded by a line of people chosen by the vandals. Usually they were criminals that were forced to do so via magic by the vandals. Even after their empire had collapsed however, the Parisian authorities still ensured that someone was chosen for this task.

Van Helsing learned about the army of vampires when the Parisian's were trying to force someone, a convicted thief named Leo to guard the vampires. The prisoners were chosen at random, and once one had been chosen, he or she could not be substituted. One of Leo's robberies had led to the death of someone. He hadn't intended it. In fact it was one of his gang, who had escaped. Granted we only have Leo's word for this.

Still Van Helsing felt that there had to be another way as the magics that were used to keep the guards down there, slowly ate their souls away, turning them into a burnt out husk whose only purpose was to guard it, though eventually the magic ate their body away to nothing, hence why they needed to be replaced. Van Helsing felt this was a vile punishment, even for criminals, though the others especially Shandor were less willing to protect Leo.

In the end however Leo himself surprisingly gave himself up. The longer the prison went without a replacement, then the more the magics that were used to imprison the vampires began to seep out over Paris causing magical mutations. In order to save his family, who he genuinely felt guilty about letting down. Leo allowed himself to be imprisoned.

The count had contemplated freeing this army of vampires when he first returned, but ultimately he felt that it would be better to find the book first, as something as big as this army unleashed on Paris would reveal the supernatural to the world, which might work against the vampires if humanity became united against them. The vampire horde needed to be strong when that happened, and needed more alpha's and more breeds. Now however with Van Helsing who had already bested him once before having the book. Dracula even if he didn't want to admit it, was scared he may fail again.

Using his advanced mind control powers, Dracula forced Leo (who could not be slain by an outside force) to murder himself after which the count and his cabal of vampires guarded the entrance to the vampires prison, preventing any successor from being chosen, until the spell came undone and the vampires awoke.

Dracula was only able to control a small amount of the vampires from underneath Paris, but it was enough for him to establish a base in the city that could strike against Van Helsing. The rest of the vampires meanwhile ravaged Paris. They butchered people in the streets, and even they threw them off the tops of the highest buildings including Notre Dame for their own amusement.

Sure enough Van Helsing and the others were drawn in, doing all they could to help the people of Paris. Notre Dame, though originally killing grounds for the vampires, became a sanctuary, with its guardian, Quasimodo helping to protect the people.

Dracula tricked Van Helsing, telling him that he had control of the vampire army, and threatened to slaughter a large group of prisoners unless Van Helsing handed the book over to him. With no choice, Van Helsing regrettably handed it over and for once Dracula kept his word and didn't just order the vampires to kill the prisoners, though only because he did not want to lose his advantage over Van Helsing.

Not long after he left however, Dracula's control over the vampires faded and they attacked Van Helsing and the prisoners he had given the book to Dracula for, most of whom were slaughtered anyway.

Whilst Dracula was free to use the book, Van Helsing and the others had to stay and protect Paris. They soon learned from one of the surviving elite who helped choose the prisoners to be the guardian of the vampires prison, that if a new guardian was chosen the vampires would be forced to return to their prison.

It wasn't easy having to fight their way through the city, and many good Parisians were lost, but eventually Van Helsing and the others made their way to the vampires former prison. Whilst Van Helsing was perfectly willing to sacrifice himself, Quasimodo who had accompanied them took Van Helsing's place. The poor man felt he had nothing to live for, having always been judged by the backward and ignorant villagers due to his deformities. Whilst Van Helsing had promised to let him come with them, believing Quasimodo to be a good, brave man, and his actions had even won him the respect of the people. Sadly the life time of abuse and rejection was not fixed by a few acts of kindness at the end. Though some have argued that it's possible that Quasimodo may have been convinced that the city was finally worth saving after seeing how its people reacted in their darkest hour.

Either way Quasimodo's sacrifice sent the vampires back into their prison and saved the city. The elites had a hard time covering up the event afterwards, where in over 3000 people lost their lives. The population was more or less forced into an official agreement for the peace of the world, and to the rest of Europe, the deaths were said to be the result of a plague afterwards for centuries.

Dracula meanwhile used the book to create several more alpha vampires, whose breeds continue to endure to this day. However the Count also soon discovered that he had more than just Van Helsing chasing him. The vampire plague of Paris, had alerted many people, not only to his resurrection, but to the threat Dracula posed. Even many vampires who did not want their existence exposed turned on their former savior.

The count fled to main land China to rebuild his army, hoping to use its legendary Jiang Shi, among the most powerful vampires on earth as his new foot soldiers. (Dracula also knew how to control this particular breed through the magic he learned at Scholomance.)

Van Helsing and the others however followed the vampire there. They found him once again with the help of Valerie. Dracula was aware of how she had read his mind and tried to block it with magics, and whilst Valerie's attempt to read Dracula's mind a second time, almost killed her, she was still able to get a vague idea of where he was, even if she couldn't see any images.

In China Dracula not only surrounded himself with the Jiang Shi, he transformed 7 of China's greatest warriors into new alphas. The book could only create two new alpha's every month and so the last of the golden warriors was imprisoned and forced to watch as the men he loved like brothers were corrupted over several months. One by one.

The 7 golden warriors were an ancient sect founded initially by the Jade Emperor, one of the few gods who sided with the dragons and ruled in an area of China for centuries during that time. He created them to battle evil across the world in he and the dragons and other gods absence. The knowledge and magic of the original 7 golden warriors was passed down from over the centuries to each of their successors. The reason there was only 7 warriors was because the spell that granted them unique abilities, was able to grant them greater power if chanelled through 7 beings. 7 retained a greater significance in magic than any other number. Some believe it is because our universe is placed in the 7 position within the natural realm.

Sadly whilst the latest 7 golden warriors were worthy successors. Dracula caught them off guard due to the fact that he was unlike any vampire breed they had faced before. Though created to protect the world, the 7 golden warriors had mostly stuck to mainland China.

The seven golden vampires as they were to become known subsequently helped Dracula slaughter many villages of people alongside his Jiang Shi followers.

None of the Taoist priests, the Zhenghi Nanren whose job was to protect the people of China from the paranormal, were able to deal with Dracula or the new golden vampires he had created, for similar reasons to the golden warriors. They were completely new breeds to them.

Ironically when Van Helsing and his allies arrived in China, they ran into the same problem with its local vampire breeds such as the Jiang Shi. It was only through teaming with arguably the most renowned of the Zhenghi Nanren, Master Kau, that together they were able to overcome each others weaknesses and lack of knowledge and push back against Dracula and his Jiang Shi minions. (Though they all still struggled with the golden vampires.)

In the end however, before he could create any more breeds, Van Helsing slew Dracula a second time with aid from Master Kau. Together they fought the king of the vampires in an old Taoist Monastery. It was a brutal fight with Kau stabbing his sword through Dracula's eyes, whilst Van Helsing threw holy water in his face. They finally bested the vampire by setting fire to the Monastery and trapping him inside. Whilst Dracula was still able to tear through it, even after his body was on fire, the flames consumed him before he could reach out and strangle his arch foe.

Sadly however Van Helsing's victory came at a great cost, not just from the literally hundreds of villagers he and the others had to rally as an army who were slaughtered fighting back against Dracula's vampires, but even among his own team. Both Captain Kronos and Professor Grost were slain by the Count.

Dracula drained Grost dry and threw an axe in Captain Kronos' back, whilst the latter was getting a young girl named Daiyu, who the golden vampires had been torturing for hours for their own sick amusement to safety. Thankfully, with his last actions, Kronos was at least able to save her. Daiyu would later join Master Kau, becoming his greatest protege. Together they in turn became among the most renowned vampire, demon killers in all of China.

Van Helsing was so devastated at the lost of Kronos and Grost that he temporarily gave up his life as a hunter. Despite their difficulties, he still respected them both after everything they had been through, and upon hearing of how Kronos' final actions were to rescue Daiyu above all else. He felt that he had perhaps misjudged his former friend.

Above all else however Van Helsing also felt that he had simply made things worse in his quest to rid the world of vampires. After all he had allowed Dracula to learn about the secret army under Paris, which in turn allowed him to get the book. Indeed to this day there are some who wouldn't disagree with Van Helsing's assessment of himself, given how dangerous the new breeds Dracula created during this time in Europe and China have proven to been.

Whilst Van Helsing retired, Father Shandor continued to travel the world battling evil, as well as trying to control the demon within. His main nemesis during this period of his life was the demon queen, Jaremsheela, who had been inadvertently freed by Shandor, Van Helsing and the others journey to Quortoth.

Sadly however whilst the Father always retained his morality, the demonic poison he was infected with in the end overwhelmed his body to the point where one touch of skin killed any natural creature.

As a result of this, the Father who was also given immortality by his powers shunned all human contact. He never encountered Van Helsing again and it's not known what became of him, other than that he was finally able to slay Jaremsheela. There are some who believe he still walks the earth in secret battling evil, and many have even come forward claiming to be Shandor, though all have ultimately been proven to be frauds.

Van Helsing's retirement meanwhile didn't last long. After about two years of seclusion he was called back into battle against the paranormal once again.

In the next chapter we will explore this period of his life as well as the impact his descendants would have on the world as well.