"Vic! Control your pets! Watch it!"
Dracula's exasperated voice drifted down from mid-air. The usually elegant Vampire Count looked a bit worse for wear.
Vic looked up. Holy crap!
Uncle Drac was tightly wrapped in one of the Kraken's massive tentacles, bundled up like a burrito. He could only struggle futilely within his constraints.
Worse yet, he had to keep dodging the massive claws and tails of Vic's summoned beast "allies," which were swinging wildly around him.
These newly animated statues clearly hadn't learned the concepts of "precision strikes" or "friendly fire."
Meanwhile, Mavis, relying on her petite and agile bat form, was dangerously weaving through the forest of flailing tentacles, being chased all over the map.
"Damn! Uncle Drac! You're feeding the enemy kills right out of the gate?! And you dragged Mavis into this mess?"
Vic roasted him, but his massive fish tail was already moving, preparing to rush in for the save.
Team fights can be lost, but Uncle Drac must not be humiliated!
However, someone was faster than him!
A white figure, agile as a sea swallow, leaped from the wreckage of the high DJ booth!
It was Captain Ericka!
She landed precisely on a thrashing tentacle. Her feet seemed rooted to the surface as she sprinted up the slippery, inclined flesh!
At the apex of the tentacle's swing, she timed it perfectly and leaped again, landing squarely on the back of a flying gargoyle that was strafing the Kraken's head!
Borrowing the momentum, she launched herself again!
Like an Olympic athlete, Captain Ericka cut a beautiful arc through the air, diving straight for the Kraken's eye—which was the size of a small hill!
Then, under the stunned gaze of every human and monster present, she delivered a clean, ruthless flying kick, driving her heel deep into the Kraken's vulnerable eyeball!
SQUELCH!
A tooth-aching sound, like a water balloon bursting, echoed through the cavern.
The Kraken let out a deafening screech of agony. The tentacle holding Dracula instantly went limp from the pain!
Dracula was finally free. But gravity took over, and he plummeted toward a deep, seemingly bottomless abyss torn open by the battle below.
Vic, seeing this, actually relaxed, lazily swishing his tail.
"It's fine, it's fine. Uncle Drac can fly. He won't die from a fall."
He wasn't worried about the millennia-old vampire's safety in the slightest.
However, someone else disagreed!
Having just landed her epic kick and stabilized on a floating piece of debris, Captain Ericka saw Dracula falling toward the abyss.
Her face went pale. She didn't hesitate for a microsecond!
"Dracula!"
With a scream, Captain Ericka once again displayed her insane courage and drive. She threw herself off the rock, diving straight into the abyss after him!
By the look of it, she was trying to catch him!
Vic watched with his eye twitching, his internal monologue running wild:
"Holy hell! Is this the legendary 'Chase Him to the Grave' romance trope? No, wait, this is definitely 'Jump Off a Cliff for Love' territory!"
"Too bad my phone is dead. This would have made the front page of 'Monster Daily'—'SHOCKING! Human Captain Jumps Off Cliff for Vampire Lover: Twisted Humanity or Moral Decay?'"
Beside him, Jackie Chan watched Captain Ericka's seamless, daredevil sequence with his mouth wide open. He sighed from the bottom of his heart:
"She... she is Superwoman!"
Vic side-eyed Jackie.
Says the guy who once ran on top of a plummeting train and achieved relative stillness. You have the nerve to call someone else Superwoman?
---
Dracula was adjusting his posture in mid-air, preparing to stabilize himself.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted violently—
He saw the figure in the white captain's uniform falling straight toward him into the abyss, determination written all over her face!
Her silver hair danced wildly in the turbulent air. In those eyes—eyes he had once compared to "navigational compasses"—there was no hesitation.
Only pure, reckless worry and... something he thought had been extinguished in his long, undead life.
"Ericka! Are you insane?!"
Dracula's voice cracked with shock. His thousand years of elegance shattered in an instant.
Instinct took over. He twisted his body, accelerating his descent, and opened his arms to catch the figure hurtling toward him.
THUD!
Ericka crashed heavily into his cold embrace. The impact increased their falling speed.
Dracula subconsciously tightened his arms, locking her against his chest and wrapping his massive cape around her as a shield.
"Why did you jump?! I can fly! I won't die!"
Dracula roared at the woman in his arms, his voice filled with anxiety, anger, and a lingering terror he didn't even recognize.
Ericka looked up. Her face was pale, but her eyes were incredibly bright, staring straight into his crimson depths. "I don't know!"
Her voice was muffled by the rushing wind but struck Dracula's ancient soul with crystal clarity.
"I saw you falling... and my body just moved on its own!"
That sentence—illogical, purely instinctual—held more destructive power than any carefully crafted sonnet.
Dracula felt as if his heart had been squeezed by an invisible hand.
A strange, surging emotion washed away the anger of betrayal and the walls he had built over a millennium.
"Idiot."
He cursed softly, his voice hoarse, but his arms held her tighter.
SWISH!
His black cape snapped open behind him like massive bat wings, negating their downward momentum.
He looked down at the shaken but stubborn captain in his arms. The vampire heart that had been frozen for a thousand years cracked open.
Meanwhile, above the trench—
"Ooh~"
Vic shaded his eyes with a scaled claw, mimicking a telescope. His scarlet eyes gleamed with the light of pure gossip as he took in the "Hero Saves Beauty"—or rather, "Beauty Saves Hero"—scene below.
"They hugged! They hugged! Uncle Drac is winning big! He might have folded in the opening round, but he traded it for a suicide-dive rescue! Not even soap operas have this kind of budget!"
"Ericka! What are you doing?!"
Abraham Van Helsing's roar was like thunder.
He stood on the precarious remnants of the DJ tower, staring death at the couple embracing over the abyss.
Ericka lifted her head from Dracula's chest. She looked up at the great-grandfather who had taught her to hunt monsters since childhood, the man who viewed genocide as a holy mission. Her eyes were complicated but incredibly firm.
"Great-grandfather! Stop this! We can't do this anymore!"
Her voice cut through the sound of crashing waves, carrying a plea but also a newfound resolve.
"Humans and monsters can coexist peacefully! Look around you! Look at Vic, look at Enid, look at Wednesday! They are with monsters, and it hasn't brought disaster!"
She gripped Dracula's cold hand tightly, drawing strength from him, her voice growing louder.
"What?!"
Abraham looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He swayed, shock written all over his face.
Ericka turned to Dracula. A faint blush rose on her pale cheeks, but her gaze was honest and clear, relieved to finally drop the act.
"Dracula... I'm sorry. This trip... it was a trap from the very beginning."
"I approached you... originally to find a chance to kill you."
Dracula's arm around Ericka stiffened for a second.
Even though he had suspected it, hearing her admit it out loud still stung his ancient heart.
Ericka felt the change. She gripped his hand tighter, rushing to continue:
"But... I was wrong! Everything was wrong!"
"In the short time I spent with you... your elegance, your loneliness, your gentleness... and the way you just caught me without hesitation..."
Her voice trembled slightly, but her sincerity was undeniable.
"I realized that without knowing it... I fell for you. I can't lie to you anymore, and I can't go through with this cruel plan."
This candid, brave confession acted like warm sunlight, instantly dispelling the last shadows and chill in Dracula's heart.
His heart, cold for a century, seemed to be injected with boiling blood, beating violently once more.
He squeezed Ericka's hand back. His low voice was hoarse with relief and uncontrollable excitement: "Ericka..."
"Fine... Fine..."
On the high platform, Abraham's eyes went cold.
"It seems... the Van Helsing family legacy of hunting monsters ends with me. What an embarrassing finale."
He suddenly raised both hands, his fingers dancing madly across the DJ console!
A musical score, faster, sharper, and filled with an ominous aura of destruction, erupted like a death knell! The powerful magical fluctuations even caused the surrounding air to warp!
WOOOO—!!!
The Kraken seemed to receive the ultimate command. It let out a roar of pain and fury that shook the deep sea!
Its mountain-like body trembled violently. Ignoring the annoying "bugs" swarming it, all of its massive tentacles rose up, carrying the will to crush everything. They blotted out the "sky," descending toward the area where Dracula and Ericka hovered!
The real kill shot had been activated!