While everywhere everything was collapsing and moving toward the final end, Integra and Alessa reached the place in the airship where the Major was located. They had to walk through a decomposing corridor until they arrived at the iron sliding doors, which began to slowly part in different directions, opening the way forward. The iron doors continued to slowly separate so that Integra and Alessa could pass.
They began to step cautiously along the corridor, which was still relatively intact, but the mechanism of several sliding doors was already showing signs of malfunction: sparks started flying out from the cracks in the walls, and the already parted doors jammed in place with a screeching sound, refusing to open any wider.
Having reached the end of the corridor, Integra and Alessa entered a spacious room that served as an observation headquarters, from where the Major watched the entire world. When the Major started the war in London to sow chaos, his gaze had been fixed solely on London, and he had failed to notice the trick—that London was not real.
But now this room was practically destroyed: all the screens were shattered, their fragments lying on the floor; broken iron pipes jutted from the ceiling, dripping some kind of liquid straight onto the floor. At the far end, the Major himself sat in a white chair, looking exactly like the main villain from spy movies.
Looking at the Major, Integra's face remained impassive, and she slowly moved her eyes around to make sure there was no trap. Alessa, meanwhile, stared at the Major, who was pretending to be the final villain, and began to think that this ridiculous situation would soon end and she would no longer have to listen to all these dramatic villainous lines.
The Major slowly turned in his chair and looked at Integra and Alessa, clearly showing that everything around them—even their appearance in this place—was part of his plan, exactly as he had intended.
"Major!" Integra said, staring at him with a cold gaze.
"Oh, I am so delighted that you managed to reach me so quickly and honor me with your presence, Sir Hellsing," the Major said in a light tone, interlacing his fingers over his knee.
Hearing such a pompous tone from the Major and seeing his insolent smile, Integra clenched her teeth, drew her pistol from its holster, and began firing forward. But not a single bullet reached the Major; each one bounced off the armored glass right in front of him with a ringing sound.
Integra didn't care that the bullets were hitting armored glass: she quickly reloaded the pistol once the magazine was empty and immediately started shooting again. The Major watched with a calm smile as the bullets ricocheted off the armored glass, his expression unchanging.
Alessa, standing beside Integra, covered one ear with her palm to block out the pistol shots, meanwhile thinking that perhaps she should destroy this armored glass so her mother Integra could empty an entire magazine into the body of this fat idiot. But remembering Alex's words—that the Major must see with his own eyes how all his plans proved useless—Alessa merely sighed and didn't want to let her father down.
"Unfortunately, the pistol is useless, Fräulein. I simply decided to take precautions before you witness everything I have planned," the Major said with a slight smile, looking straight into Integra's eyes.
Hearing yet another dose of arrogant words from the Major, Integra tossed the empty pistol aside and seized the saber Alex had given her. At that moment she was completely filled with rage toward the Major, and his haughty words only fueled that rage, making it stronger.
Integra strode quickly toward the Major, saber in hand, and the Major even rose from his seat to continue mocking her, knowing her saber could not pierce the armored glass. The Major leaned forward as if inviting her strike. Integra raised the arm holding the saber and delivered a thrusting stab straight at the Major's head.
Just as the saber's tip was about to pierce the armored glass, the smug smile remained on the Major's face. But in that same instant he saw with his own eyes how the saber tip pierced straight through the armored glass, sliding through it like a knife through butter.
At the very last moment the Major jerked his head aside, and the blade only lightly grazed his cheek. For a moment the Major was shocked that the armored glass had been run clean through by what seemed an ordinary saber. Integra, however, gripped the saber's hilt with a cold expression, staring directly into the Major's eyes.
"Unexpected… truly unexpected. I did not expect the head of Hellsing to possess a weapon sharp enough to pierce special reinforced glass… Well, you almost got me, Sir Hellsing. But if you had killed me now, we would not be able to enjoy the conclusion of this play that I so carefully arranged," the Major said with a light smile, gently tapping the saber blade that had nearly impaled his face.
"Go to hell, you bastard!" Integra shouted, already preparing to slash sideways to behead the Major.
"You are so impatient, Fräulein. My end is already predetermined anyway. Aren't you curious what will happen in the final act of my play?" the Major said calmly, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning forward.
Integra was already prepared to behead the Major, but Alessa approached and gently tugged Integra's sleeve, drawing her attention. Integra turned her head toward Alessa, who shook her head, indicating that she should not do it. Integra gripped the saber hilt tighter and let out a heavy sigh, realizing that rage had taken over and she had lost control of her emotions.
Quickly regaining composure, Integra returned to her cold demeanor and withdrew the saber from the armored glass. Seeing this, the Major smiled even wider and, as if nothing had happened, returned to his chair, picked up the remote lying on the armrest, extended his arm, and turned on the only screen in the entire room that had survived.
"How wonderful that such a young Fräulein wishes to witness the end of my play… It warms my black heart. So let us together enjoy the conclusion of this drama that has lasted for many hundreds of years… and the prelude to the beginning of a new, far grander play. Let us watch it all together as the last audience of this final act," the Major said in an ecstatic tone.
When the Major turned on the screen, Integra and Alessa shifted their gazes behind him to see what he wanted to show them. At that moment the screen displayed a crimson cocoon, beside which stood Alex, Alucard, Anderson, and Walter—all waiting for something.
Integra raised an eyebrow, not understanding what the Major had planned. The Major himself was extremely surprised that the monster he wanted to create had already entered its second phase. But he quickly hid his astonishment behind a smile as the cocoon began to crack.
Integra and Alessa watched as a naked man emerged from the crimson cocoon—only to be immediately attacked by Alucard, Anderson, and Walter, who killed the appearing man in an instant. Integra looked at the Major with contempt; he kept smiling.
"If this is what you wanted to show before your death, then it disappoints me even more than realizing your pathetic life will last only a few more seconds," Integra said, not hiding her disgust toward the Major.
"You rejoice too soon, Fräulein. It's only just beginning. For today is the very day when the vampire Alucard, the Vatican's chained dog Father Alexander Anderson, the god of death Walter C. Dornez, and your beloved monster summoner Alexander Voldigoad will perish at the hands of my creation. Born from millions of souls, the blood of a being that is everywhere and nowhere, and a power that has existed since the birth of this world," the Major said, lightly wagging his finger back and forth, not even looking at Integra.
"What have you planned…" Integra said, narrowing her eyes at the Major.
"Planned?... Indeed, I have planned something. The world is approaching its end. And I thought that instead of waiting for the world to meet its end, I would personally push the entire world into that abyss… Earlier I was obsessed with the idea of killing a being like Alucard. She… that woman—is the embodiment of everything I hate about her. But after learning the truth about the world… I revised my plans… Even knowing the world would end, Alucard… she would simply sit and wait for the end without lifting a finger. And so I decided to create a monster myself—one that would destroy this world and bring even more war and chaos into it. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it beautiful? Humans will fight against monsters, and monsters will try to exterminate all humans. And none of them will even suspect that a single, inevitable finale awaits them all!" the Major began to speak, and with each sentence his voice grew more manic.
When the Major finished laying out his plan, Integra and Alessa saw the man he called his monster already regenerating and attacking—during the assault he hurled Alex backward with such force that he flew. Seeing that his monster had managed to throw Alex back, the Major burst into loud laughter and began applauding himself.
Alessa, watching this, merely shook her head, understanding that Alex being thrown back was also part of his plan. Integra frowned even more deeply, observing how shadows began to gather around the man after he struck Alex. The shadow enveloped the man's body, and in the next instant he was dressed in Victorian-era clothing.
Now the man looked like an aristocrat with light curly hair, a pale face, and yellow eyes, clad in elegant attire with a black cloak. Seeing the man's appearance, Integra narrowed her eyes, noticing certain similarities to Alucard—if she had been male.
"Here comes the end together with his birth. A monster that will be stronger, more dangerous, and even more cruel than Alucard. Now it is too late for everything. You can no longer win this battle, Sir Hellsing. You have forever missed the chance that was so close. The chance I gave you. I was always so near, yet you never noticed. Now my death will change nothing," the Major said with a sarcastic smile, turning toward Integra and Alessa.
"You're quite stupid, just as my daddy said. If you thought this creature had even the slightest chance of harming my daddy, then—as my daddy said—you're a boring and predictable pig. And instead of celebrating prematurely, you foolish idiot, you should have watched the screen more carefully instead of trying to enrage my mother Integra even further," Alessa said, looking at the Major with eyes full of contempt in her childish black gaze.
"Yes, I admit I underestimated your father, who so easily unraveled all my plans… But so what? How can one kill a being whose existence is even more contradictory than that of a being like Alucard? Can you answer my question, little Fräulein?" the Major said calmly, looking into Alessa's eyes.
"If you don't believe me, then just watch for yourself. As my mother Wednesday said, those who celebrate victory too early when their enemy is my daddy are truly idiots," Alessa said, extending her finger and pointing at the screen.
The Major narrowed his eyes and turned his head back to look at the screen again. And the moment he turned, he saw the monster—created thanks to his insane plan—fighting against Alucard, Anderson, and Walter. The Major's smile only grew wider, noticing that even though Alucard, Anderson, and Walter were surprisingly coordinated against his monster, the entire battle still seemed meaningless.
After all, his monster regenerated far faster than Alucard ever had. And just as the Major was about to voice his next opinion, his smile faltered when his monster literally exploded in a fountain of blood—and right beside it Alex appeared out of nowhere, holding the Doctor by the leg.
Seeing the frozen look of surprise on the Major's face, Alessa merely rolled her eyes in disdain. Integra had been silently watching the screen the whole time, not interfering in the conversation between Alessa and the Major. She saw no reason to waste any more energy talking to the Major; all that interested her was how Alex and the others would manage to kill this creature that, by its very nature, should not exist.
After a moment's thought, Integra once again decided to trust Alex, while she herself would finish what she had to do—show the Major the play specially staged for him. Integra wanted to see the Major's face with her own eyes when he realized that all his plans had been nothing but a soap bubble ready to burst at any moment.
And to do that, Integra needed to drag the Major out of the shell he had built around himself to prolong his life. Integra was already prepared to cleave the armored glass protecting the Major—when suddenly behind her came the sounds of explosions and destruction. Removing her hand from the saber hilt, Integra turned her head and looked at the metal sliding doors.
At that moment a dent appeared in the massive sliding door. And in the next instant black-gloved hands thrust through the gap and began forcing the doors apart. When the massive iron sliding doors were opened, Integra saw Seras, who was completely unharmed, without a single wound on her body.
"You're right on time, Seras. Drag this bastard out of his shell. He's hidden from his fate long enough," Integra said, looking at Seras.
"It will be done, Lady Integra… I'll pull this bastard out right now," Seras said, nodding with a serious expression.
Seras strode broadly toward the armored glass and carefully pushed Alessa back, shielding her just in case for safety. Hearing the conversation behind him, the Major turned in his chair with a calm smile, spreading his arms wide as if welcoming everyone who wanted to kill him. Seeing the Major's expression, Seras clenched her teeth in irritation and took a deep breath.
She needed to control her strength so as not to accidentally kill the Major. Exhaling, Seras clenched her fist, and her hand became covered in a black metallic glove. Seras swung and struck the armored glass with enough force to shatter it.
But she slightly misjudged her power, and the shockwave from her blow sent the Major flying backward with such force that the chair he sat in was destroyed and he himself was hurled back. The Major crashed back-first into the already ruined monitors, smashing the last surviving screen in the process. Because of the destruction caused by Seras's strike, a fierce fire broke out in the room, and at the same moment black smoke began to fill the space, blocking visibility.
Once the glass was shattered, Integra calmly stepped over the debris, saber in hand. She walked forward, ignoring the growing fire and the black smoke that obstructed her view. Moving toward where the Major was, Integra suddenly jerked her head to the side—and at that instant the sound of a gunshot rang out.
A bullet flew past Integra's head, lightly grazing her cheek. But Integra kept walking forward. From the thick black smoke came more gunshots, bullets flying toward Integra. Yet not one struck her body—only grazing her cheek and neck a couple of times. When Integra drew close to the Major, she looked down at him as though gazing at a repulsive parasite.
The Major, sitting on the floor and bleeding from his head, held a pistol aimed at Integra. Clicking sounds came each time he pulled the trigger, but no more bullets emerged from the barrel. Looking at the Major so closely, Integra gripped her saber hilt even tighter.
"Come on then, kill me. In the end, the winner of this war is already decided," the Major said with a faint smile on his bloodied face.
Integra looked at the Major with an empty expression, feeling neither anger nor irritation—nor any emotion at all toward him. Clutching the saber, Integra swung it toward the Major. The Major saw the approaching blade and closed his eyes with a smile.
But instead of the death he had already experienced once, the Major did not feel his head separate from his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he saw that Integra had severed the hand holding the pistol. And before the Major could say anything or react to the severed wrist, Integra stepped on his face with her foot. Pressing the Major to the floor, Integra began grinding his face into the small glass shards scattered across the ground.
Integra slowly moved the Major's face across the glass fragments, all with the same cold expression. The Major's face became more and more covered in wounds as tiny shards tore into his flesh. Blood flowed from the cuts, staining the glass shards red.
Stopping pressing her foot on the Major's face, Integra bent down and grabbed him by the hair to lift him. She looked at the Major's mutilated, blood-soaked face. Yet even in that state the Major kept smiling—for in Hell he had endured far worse tortures before the robot that inherited his will summoned his soul thanks to the Fragment of Darkness.
"Wanted to die so easily? Without pain? Without fear? No! A completely different end awaits you—one unlike the one you prepared for yourself. This way you won't be able to see the true conclusion of your play. Soon you will understand that all your efforts were in vain," Integra said in a cold tone, still holding the Major by the hair.
The Major narrowed his eyes at Integra's words, and the smile vanished from his face as he began to sense something wrong. Integra noticed the change in his expression and released his hair. The Major's face hit the metal floor with a dull thud. Before he could even open his mouth, Integra kicked him squarely in the mouth, knocking out his front teeth.
Integra no longer wanted to hear a single word the Major might utter. And to make sure he would never have the strength to speak again, Integra raised her foot and stomped on his face, shattering his lower jaw so he could never again utter a single damn word.
"Seras, if you're done standing there with your mouth open, tie up this trash. We need to leave this airship before it explodes completely," Integra said, sheathing her saber.
"Yes, ma'am, Lady Integra… I'll just find something to bind him with," Seras said, quickly saluting, slightly unnerved by Integra's methods.
"Mama Seras, no need to look for anything. I'll handle it," Alessa said, grabbing Seras by the skirt.
"Um… Are you going to pull rope out of your magic bag?" Seras asked, tilting her head and pointing at the small child's bag hanging from Alessa's shoulder.
"No. Mama Wednesday said that to make sure an abduction victim doesn't escape, you need to bind them with something strong. For example, chains," Alessa said, looking calmly into Seras's eyes.
Once again Seras wondered who this Mama Wednesday was who taught Alessa such things. Integra might have been curious about the women Alessa called mothers, but now was neither the time nor the place for such conversations. At that moment rusty iron chains emerged from the shadow behind Alessa and began tightly wrapping around the Major's body so he could not possibly escape.
Seeing that the Major was now securely bound and could not flee, Integra stepped forward and gently ran her hand through Alessa's hair in silent approval. Seras approached the Major, grabbed the end of the chain, and began dragging him along.
Coming up to Alessa, Seras took the girl by the hand, and they followed Integra. Unfortunately, they could not return the same way—the passage leading to the airship's exit was already blocked, and the fire was growing stronger. Looking around, Integra spotted an arrow with a plush bear attached to it and a note.
Grabbing the bear and the note, Integra narrowed her eyes slightly as she read the message. It was short: "Our husband made an exit with his back. You can thank him properly later, Integra. And the plush bear is a gift for Alessa."
Integra did not know who left the message—considering there was a clear red lipstick mark instead of a name. But she had no trouble guessing it was one of the women Alex had mentioned in passing. Integra realized there was no point wondering how that woman had gotten here. Flipping the paper over, she saw a map leading to a hole in the airship's hull mentioned in the note.
"We go this way. There's the exit," Integra said, starting in the other direction.
"How do you know, Lady Integra? We don't have a map of this airship," Seras said, expressing doubt.
"We do now. Someone kindly left us a map pointing to the exit… This is for you, Alessa," Integra said, turning her head toward Seras and handing the plush bear to Alessa.
Seras tilted her head at Integra's answer, still unable to figure out where the plush bear had come from. Alessa gave a small smile, taking the plush bear that her mama Ada had left for her.
Integra said nothing more and headed toward the Doctor's laboratory, where the hole in the wall leading directly outside was located. Seras asked no further questions and simply dragged the unconscious Major behind her.
Reaching the Doctor's laboratory, Integra, Seras, and Alessa saw the hole in the wall that opened straight onto the street. Integra stepped through first without pausing for a moment. Soon they reached the edge, and before them lay the sight of ruined buildings and the devastated streets of London.
Seras approached the edge and looked down to gauge the height. Confirming that the drop posed no danger even if a person fell, Seras yanked the chain in her hand and simply dropped the Major straight down onto the stones. Integra, Seras, and Alessa watched as the Major landed squarely on his back onto a protruding piece of building debris.
With her sharp hearing Seras heard the Major's spine snap. Seras gave an awkward cough—since she hadn't intended that—and simply pretended it was an accident. Seras picked Alessa up in her arms and wrapped her other arm around Integra's waist to descend.
The moment they jumped down, they heard the sounds of gunfire, destruction, and a mixture of voices coming from afar. Without words it was clear that a fierce battle was raging in that direction. Integra wanted to head that way; with a brief glance at Alessa and Seras, she set off toward the sound of combat. Seras quickly pulled the Major to the ground and dragged him along.
At the same time, Alex, Alucard, Anderson, and Walter continued fighting the monster created according to the Major's design and born through the Doctor's insane experiments. None of them kept count of how many times they had killed the monster, but they kept killing it.
In this battle Alex acted as support, blocking the monster's strikes while the others dealt fatal wounds, taking away one of the monster's lives after another. And during this fight Alex recalled whose appearance the monster reminded him of— Trevor Belmont. The man who, in another universe, was the son of Dracula and took the name Alucard to kill his own father, thereby proving he would not become a monster like his parent.
The monster resembling Trevor Belmont could be said to have been partially born from Alucard—or rather from the souls that had been inside her body before she removed all the seals and released millions of souls from herself.
And in addition to more than three million souls, Trevor's body contained the essence of Schrödinger and a Fragment of Darkness, making him a truly powerful monster that would be difficult to kill. That would have been the case—if not for Alex, who immediately nullified all the effects of Schrödinger's uncertainty and the Fragment of Darkness, leaving Trevor with only Nosferatu powers.
Alex continued blocking Trevor's strikes, as he mentally named the monster, using the Doctor's body as both living shield and weapon. No one had any problem with how Alex used the Doctor. On the contrary, even members of Iscariot felt that such a death suited someone like the Doctor perfectly.
Fighting, Trevor wielded a long rapier, delivering extremely fast thrusts that were hard to dodge. But Alex calmly blocked every strike using his living weapon—the Doctor. And during Trevor's next attack, Alex used the Doctor's body, which had already been resurrected more than a hundred times.
Trevor's rapier once again pierced the Doctor's body, and he died again. Before Alex could grab Trevor's rapier, Trevor yanked the blade sideways, bisecting the Doctor's body and leaving only the upper half in Alex's hands.
"Eh, and there he goes breaking my living shield again. It's really hard to find a replacement at a time like this," Alex said, blocking Trevor's thrust by clamping the rapier blade between his knee and elbow.
"Instead of talking, monster, you'd better fight," Anderson said, hurling silver bayonets at Trevor.
"But I am fighting. I'm making sure this bastard doesn't hurt any of you. That's called proper role distribution in a team," Alex said, continuing to hold Trevor's rapier blade.
In response to Alex's words Anderson only clenched his teeth and grabbed two more silver bayonets, severing Trevor's arms. When Trevor lost his arms he stepped back, but they quickly regenerated. Yet the moment his arms restored, Alex appeared in front of him, gripping Trevor's own rapier.
Alex drew back the arm holding the rapier and began delivering rapid thrusting stabs into Trevor's body. In one instant dozens of bleeding holes appeared across Trevor's torso. Frozen in place from the wounds, Trevor left himself open to the next attack. Iscariot members supporting from a distance immediately opened fire, turning Trevor's body into a sieve.
Walter used his iron wires to seize a large chunk of a destroyed building and hurled it at Trevor. In the same second Trevor's body was crushed beneath the enormous stone. Even seeing Trevor literally reduced to a red smear under the rock, everyone was certain he was still not dead. Blood quickly seeped out from beneath the stone, writhing and covered with hundreds of red eyes staring at everyone present.
Soon the blood transformed into a gigantic black Baskerville hound with a wide maw full of sharp teeth and hundreds of eyes across its body. The Baskerville hound lunged at Alex, intending to swallow him whole. Just before its jaws closed around him, Alex thrust both hands forward, stopping the hound and preventing its mouth from shutting.
"Step aside, my love. I don't like it when cheap imitations use my own abilities," Alucard's voice sounded from behind Alex.
Alucard appeared behind Alex and, without waiting for his reaction, pushed off his shoulder and leaped onto the Baskerville hound's head. With a wide smile baring sharp fangs, Alucard drove her palm straight into the hound's head. Having plunged her hand in, Alucard immediately clenched her fist and yanked it out, holding a red orb resembling a heart.
Alucard crushed it, and the pulsating heart in her hand burst, splattering blood in all directions—including across her own face. When the Baskerville hound's heart was destroyed, its body began to dissolve, turning into an ordinary puddle of blood.
Once the hound's body vanished, Alucard landed gracefully beside Alex, lightly licking the blood from her fingertips with the tip of her tongue. But the moment the blood touched her tongue she tasted something vile and immediately spat it out. Alex looked at Alucard with a blank expression, seeing disgust on her face.
"You actually did that, Carmilla?" Alex asked, looking at Alucard with a tired gaze.
"I was curious what the blood of this pathetic copy would taste like. The Major praised this fake so highly. And in the end this imitation can't even use vampiric powers properly. Pathetic mediocrity," Alucard said in a contemptuous tone.
"Lord Alexander, Lady Alucard, please do not get distracted. We have not yet killed this creature," Walter said, using his iron wires to slice apart Trevor's regenerating body.
Alex merely lit a cigarette, glanced at Walter, and gave a slight shrug. Alucard also shot Walter a mocking look, showing she didn't care and would do whatever she wanted. The only one who never stopped and kept fighting was Anderson, who continued stabbing silver bayonets into Trevor's body even as it regenerated.
Exhaling smoke, Alex flicked his finger, and Anderson flew backward. Just as Anderson was about to curse at Alex, he saw that where he had stood moments earlier, a gigantic toothy maw covered with dozens of red eyes had risen from the ground, clamping shut and beginning to chew the stones.
"No need to thank me, Anderson. Be more careful—this monster has started adapting to its abilities," Alex said, pointing his cigarette at Trevor, who had already fully regenerated.
"Are we going to keep killing this thing forever? We need to find its weakness," Anderson said, cracking his neck.
"You learn fast, priest. Inside that thing is a Fragment of Darkness; essentially it binds all the souls into one whole. Rip out the fragment—the monster dies," Alex said, stroking his chin.
"Any ideas, Lord Alexander?" Walter asked, using his wires to fling Trevor farther away.
"Turn its body into mush and watch carefully for a black crystal. Its entire body is essentially blood. And that fragment can float anywhere inside it. If anyone has explosives, that would make it easier," Alex said, firing Blue Rose into Trevor's head.
"We have explosives. But it takes time to prepare them! About five minutes!" Heinkel shouted from nearby.
Alex nodded, indicating that five minutes was not long. Of course Alex could have killed Trevor instantly, but that would have been too boring—and no one would earn team points fighting the final boss.
Even Anderson, who had learned the true extent of Alex's power, never said a word during all this time to point that fact out to Alex himself. Alex took a step forward, appeared behind Trevor, and struck him in the temple with a fist, slamming him into the ground.
At the same moment Anderson appeared beside him, driving silver bayonets into Trevor's back and pinning him to the asphalt. And finally Alucard appeared next to Trevor and fired the Jackal pistol straight into the back of his head. Once again Trevor's body was destroyed—but he still refused to die.
To be continued...
(At first, I thought about finishing it all in one chapter, but then I realized there was no point. And I'll say right away, I'm not going to drag out this pathetic battle against Alucard's pathetic creation. It's time to wrap this up and move on to other things. Next up, the creation dies, the major discovers that the London he ordered destroyed was a fake, and he himself screwed up big time. And then Alex will be stuck in London for another week because of a few things. That's about it, I think. Peace, love, and let me sleep.)
Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter