A few months had passed since I made my contract with Caster.
Unfortunately, that also meant a few months of him constantly pestering me for soul shards.
Honestly, it was getting annoying.
Not that I could refuse. The contract made that painfully clear—no matter how much I complained, I had to supply him. So, after a bit of thought, I decided the best way to preserve my sanity was to give him an allowance.
Two soul shards a day.
Take it or leave it.
(He didn't have a choice.)
On the bright side, I had somehow convinced him to sell all the monster parts I owned at the castle. That alone earned me some extra money on the side. Caster sold them cheap—he had a strict don't ask questions policy—but hey, it was still better than letting corpses rot away uselessly.
So overall?
Annoying, but profitable.
Right now, though, I had bigger problems.
Namely, I was trying to learn a new contract from Feltan.
And it was going about as well as you'd expect.
---
"Wait—wait," I said, staring at the sigil etched before me. "Did I hear you right? You're saying that if I make this edge even a little narrower, the contract completely changes? Instead of creating a barrier, it locks me in place?"
Feltan nodded.
At least, I assumed he nodded. I couldn't actually see him—only hear his voice echoing in my head.
"Yup. And if you make the third circle slightly larger," he added casually, "you'd sacrifice… ugh… your manhood instead of just a finger."
I instinctively reached down in pure horror.
"God damnit," I groaned. "And you said this was a simple contract?"
Feltan sighed, the sound heavy with long-suffering patience.
"It is," he said. "About as simple as a self-bound contract gets. Relax, kid. You're doing great. You've memorized over a dozen symbols and formed your first contract in what—two months?"
I stayed silent.
"It took me two decades to do that." Feltan added
That… actually helped. A little.
I let out a tired sigh and stood up, stretching my aching back.
"Well," I muttered, "thanks for the lesson, I guess."
My spine cracked loudly. Being hunched over sigils for a week straight was doing wonders for my posture. At this rate, I was going to develop scoliosis before I understand even a small bit of sacrificial sorcery.
"I'll see you in a month," I said. "Same time. I'll keep working on this sigil in the meantime."
With that, I made my way back through the Dark City, stretching as I walked, until the distant glow of the castle's light's finally came into view.
---
I entered the abandoned building I'd repurposed as a drop point—where I exchanged information with Caster and delivered his allowance.
Come to think of it…
I hadn't checked his letters in a while.
I flipped through the stack.
"Alright," I muttered. "Begging for soul shards. Begging for soul shards. Oh—this one's also begging for soul shards."
Then I paused.
"Huh. Why is this one labeled important?"
That caught my attention.
I opened the letter and began reading.
'Alucard, remember Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan? The girl I mentioned before—the sleeper with a true name?'
"…Do I?" I muttered.
I rummaged through the clutter until I found a soggy note shoved into a corner. I had used it earlier to wipe up some unidentified liquid that had dripped from the ceiling—something I very intentionally refused to touch directly.
I unfolded it.
Yep.
That was the one.
Caster had gone on at length about how talented she was. How strong. How beautiful.
Honestly, he described her like a banshee trying to convince you not to kill her.
"Alright, buddy," I muttered. "Whatever you say."
The only part that actually interested me was the true name. Getting one in her first nightmare put her in the same rare category as me.
Strong? Definitely.
Stronger than me?
Ha. No.
I returned to the new letter.
'She's currently in the Forgotten Shore, on the outskirts. Do not harm her yet. She's a valuable asset—possibly the key to escaping this hell. She killed a Pathfinder instantly.'
That made me pause.
"…Instantly?"
Now that was interesting.
I could probably do the same—but it would take a considerable amount of blood. Or… if I somehow triggered that [Fail-Safe] function again.
Strange. It hadn't activated since my meeting with Feltan. I had been caught in illusions recently—especially in the past few weeks—but all that happened was my eyes burning before I broke free.
I shook my head.
Focus.
'She's staying with Sunless and a blind girl named Cassie, near the edge of the outskirts.'
I folded the letter.
"Well then," I said softly. "Let's go pay this Nephis girl a visit."
---
One Week Earlier
When Nephis, Cassie, and Sunny first arrived at the Forgotten Shore, things went mostly as they had in the original timeline.
Mostly.
Until Sunny sat down to eat the food Effie had offered.
Effie stared at him for a long moment.
"You know," she said slowly, "you remind me of someone."
Sunny raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who would that be?"
Effie shrugged. "A friend of mine. He's creepy. Has a weird name. Kinda like you."
Sunny frowned. "That's it? That's why I remind you of him?"
Effie sniffed the air.
"Nope. You also smell weird. Same way he does."
Sunny bristled. Sure, he hadn't showered in months—but that didn't give her the right to say it to his face.
"Oh really?" he said dryly.
Before he could respond further, Effie turned toward Nephis.
"And you," she added, "should stay far away from Al. Trust me. Your existence alone is basically a challenge."
Nephis tilted her head. "Why?"
"Well," Effie said, counting on her fingers, "long white hair, pale skin, white eyes. Let me guess—white fire too?"
Nephis nodded.
Effie grimaced. "Related to the Sun God?"
After a pause, Nephis nodded again.
"Yeah," Effie said flatly. "Stay away from him. I watched that man kill himself just to take down an enemy—then crawl back from the grave. Three times."
Nephis quietly committed the name Alucard to memory.
A being like that…
could be very useful.
---
Back to the Present
I was walking through the outskirts when a familiar group came into view.
The first person I saw nearly made my heart stop.
He looked exactly like Rain.
For a moment, instinct almost made me rush forward and hug the bastard—until I sensed his blood.
No.
Rejected wasn't even the right word.
His blood denied me completely. I couldn't sense a single drop of it. The only reason I knew he had blood at all was because the Sin of Envy let me glimpse his inner workings.
Even then, it was difficult.
His blood reacted to my gaze—hiding itself.
Unholy.
Golden.
Utterly unique.
Then my attention snapped to the woman beside him.
(Cassie was also there Alucard just didn't notice her)
Long white hair.
Pale skin.
White eyes.
Hatred bloomed instantly.
And worse—she carried the same presence I sensed whenever I looked at Anderson.
Sun God.
Another one.
A bitch that needed to die.
I leapt into the air, Gluttony flooding my veins as blood formed beneath my feet. I hurled a crimson spear toward her—
—and she reacted instantly.
White flames erupted around her sword, in a Swift motion she sliced my blood spear in half and burning it to ash. The fragments spiraled around her as she pointed her sword in my direction.
And so, the battle began.
Alucard vs Nephis
Monarch of Crimson vs Changing Star
The Devil Born of Sin vs the Angel Born of Longing