Just as the palm was less than five centimeters from Alucard's back, a flash of light suddenly erupted from in front of him, striking the arm of the handlebar-mustached Gorosei and parrying his attack away.
The Gorosei's attention had been entirely fixed on Alucard; he never expected such a sudden intervention. Caught off guard, he stumbled back several steps, his eyes narrowing as he glared forward.
Alessia stood between Alucard's back and the Gorosei. Her pupils had turned a deep crimson, and the single ponytail that had been bound by a simple hemp rope had come undone, her hair now draped wildly across her face.
"W-What happened?"
"Vice Admiral Shirokitsune was on the verge of death just moments ago, but now..."
Involuntarily, everyone's eyes went to Alessia's abdomen, where she had been stabbed. Through the tattered remnants of her uniform, they could see the skin, completely flawless, without a single scar.
"How... how can this be..." Momousagi stared, her face a mask of disbelief.
Alessia was over thirty years old, and though her face remained beautiful, faint lines around the corners of her eyes had begun to mark the passage of time. But after being turned into a vampire by Alucard, she looked as though she had returned to her early twenties.
In the next second, Alessia dropped to all fours, completely abandoning any sense of "decorum." She extended her tongue and began to lick the blood that Momousagi had spilled on the ground moments before.
"Oho~"
Alucard turned around, watching the scene with genuine interest. "To have the courage to drink blood immediately after turning... you're not simple at all."
"A vampire? Has she become one of your kind?" the Gorosei asked with a frown.
"You don't have time to worry about that."
As soon as Alucard spoke, Alessia's body began to emit a faint red glow. A flame-like pool of blood rose around her, and her elementalized clouds merged with it, turning from white to a sinister crimson.
"Your flesh... your blood... shall I devour every last drop of it?"
Alessia suddenly snapped her head up. The sheer, unbridled tyranny in her eyes sent a chill through the hearts of many. Before anyone could blink, she vanished, reappearing directly in front of the Gorosei with a high-arcing whip kick.
"Her physical capabilities have improved?"
The Gorosei was startled, but he quickly followed with a cold sneer. "Even so, it amounts to nothing."
He raised both hands, and golden spiral vortices erupted from his palms, looking like golden black holes, which he swung toward Alessia. "Disappear into another dimension!"
Seeing this, Alucard let out a sharp laugh. "A space-type? What a rare ability."
Alessia had not been blinded by her newfound power. The moment the Gorosei made his move, she sensed the mortal threat.
Stepping onto the clouds merged with her blood pool, she retreated rapidly, putting a hundred meters of distance between them in a single breath. She could still feel the powerful suction emanating from those golden black holes.
If I get caught by that thing, there's no telling what will happen.
Alessia thought to herself. She raised a hand and waved it, deciding to test him with a long-range attack first.
In an instant, the sky was blanketed by dark clouds. In less than five seconds, the power of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit had manifested far more strongly than before she became a vampire.
"Black Cloud Torrent!"
As Alessia unleashed her technique, the dark clouds in the sky spun violently into a massive tornado. Multiple streams of cloud-matter descended at once, attacking the Gorosei from every direction.
Admiral level! Absolutely Admiral level!
Seeing this weather-altering capability, one that was not at all inferior to Kuzan's, everyone realized that Alessia had evolved from an elite Vice Admiral to a true Admiral-class powerhouse.
"Not only did you heal her near-fatal wounds, but you even pushed Shirokitsune's power through several bottlenecks at once... Just who are you..." Momousagi's eyes were wide, her gaze toward Alucard filled with wonder and disbelief.
"Do you think I'm only capable of close-range combat?"
The Gorosei's mustache twitched. Behind him, a golden vortex resembling a portal suddenly manifested.
His slightly bloated body was sucked in, and as the golden vortex vanished, Alessia's attack crashed down. The ground shook violently, and the gale-force winds generated by the cloud streams pulverized the earth into dust, forcing everyone nearby to shield their eyes.
A space-time teleportation ability...
Alessia thought. Sure enough, a golden vortex portal snapped open behind her in the next second. A black-suited arm reached out, aiming to seize her by the throat.
Alessia dodged frantically, but she was a split-second too late. He managed to grab her arm.
"Bear the divine wrath of the Government, traitor!"
The Gorosei roared, his immense strength literally ripping Alessia's arm from her body.
Splurt!!
Blood sprayed everywhere as Alessia flashed backward. The Gorosei began to laugh coldly, but a second later, his laughter turned to shock.
The severed arm in his right hand dissolved into shadow-like bats and flew back to Alessia's left shoulder. Within seconds, it reformed into a complete arm. Simultaneously, the blood that had sprayed out flowed backward through the air, returning entirely to her body.
"..."
Alessia raised her left hand as if to show off the feat to her opponent.
The cloud layers in the sky formed the silhouettes of black foxes, which lunged toward the Gorosei with bared teeth.
For the first time, the Gorosei's movements became frantic. He slammed both hands onto the ground, and the surrounding space began to warp, tearing the cloud foxes to shreds and dragging them into the other side of the dimension.
"Self-regeneration just like the Immortal... In other words, only a strike to the heart can damage you, right?" the Gorosei said as he stood up.
"I am going to kill you..."
Alessia repeated only this one phrase.
The pool of blood rose sharply, and a fox stepped out from within it. It was only a rough silhouette with indistinct features, but Alucard recognized it instantly: it was Alessia's Familiar.
"Having just become a vampire, she can already use blood consumption, the blood pool, regeneration, and Familiars... Her aptitude is very high."
After offering his praise, Alucard's tone returned to its usual indifference. "But this level is still not enough."