Reborn with Steve Stand-Chapter 867: New Mod! Blood Magic!
Both sides’ attacks seemed to reach a tacit agreement in that moment: they all went for the kill.
A massive bullet pierced through the policewoman’s chest, shredding the vampire priest’s heart hidden behind her. But before he could even react, a howling scythe pinned them both to the ground. Such was the force of its impact that even the earth trembled, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
“N-no…”
The vampire priest’s eyes went wide with disbelief. His face twisted in refusal as he tried to fight back, but in mere seconds, his body crumbled into a cloud of black dust.
Seeing this unfold, Alucard slowly turned his head, gaze falling upon the shadows where Fang Mo stood.
“Not coming out?”
A chilling grin spread across Alucard’s face. He didn’t look surprised in the least—rather, he raised his gun in that direction, as if challenging whoever hid there. “Or are you another creature lurking in the dark?”
“Oh, come on, you damn Belmonts. What are you little brats up to this time?”
An irreverent, mocking voice answered from the darkness. Presently, a figure emerged at an unhurried pace. “Where on earth have you dragged me now…? Is this still my castle or something?”
Alucard ignored the other man’s odd complaint. Beneath his tinted glasses, the vampire’s crimson pupils flicked over to observe the newcomer: a young man roughly his own height, silver-white hair framing a delicate face that suggested mixed Eurasian ancestry, and deep black eyes. He wore a pristine white overcoat trimmed with fur around the collar over a black turtleneck.
Overall, he gave off a dignified impression—yet somehow his manner and bearing seemed almost playfully flippant, as though he cared about nothing at all. It evoked the same strange incongruity as Alucard himself, standing in a field of blood and corpses. Both dressed like gentlemen, yet radiating a disturbing sense of the absurd.
“You…”
Alucard hesitated, narrowing his eyes in doubt. “I’m guessing…you’re not human?”
“Excuse me?”
The silver-haired young man—Fang Mo—shot back. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you human yourself?”
“So you are a monster, after all.”
A vicious grin curled Alucard’s lips. “Heh… Excellent.”
Bang!
Alucard wasted no words, pulling the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
One shot wasn’t enough; smiling all the while, Alucard emptied his magazine. The bullets he fired were 13mm rounds—so large-caliber it was more like a handheld cannon than a conventional handgun. Only an anti-materiel sniper rifle typically used rounds that huge. Even vampires would normally be blasted apart by a single hit.
Yet somehow, these overwhelmingly powerful bullets merely struck Fang Mo with a series of ringing clangs.
“Hmm?”
Even Alucard looked surprised, momentarily slipping in a fresh magazine and firing two more rounds—this time aiming for the opponent’s forehead. But when they impacted the young man’s face, they only spat out a shower of sparks, the slugs bouncing off somewhere.
Though he hadn’t sustained any real injury, Fang Mo’s expression grew dark. An immense, oppressive aura erupted around him, as if all the moonlight had suddenly dimmed. Heavy clouds converged from every direction, and the air filled with a cold, killing intent.
“Ku ku ku…”
Rather than feeling fear, Alucard’s eyes shone with excitement. He lived for battles like this—showdowns against unbelievably strong foes. His very soul felt ablaze.
The once-clear night sky was now covered in swirling clouds. The moon above turned a crimson red, as though drenched in blood. A gust of night wind swept across. Almost simultaneously, they both struck.
Alucard opened fire again, while Fang Mo charged straight at him, unfazed by bullets. Before Alucard could switch tactics, Fang Mo drew a massive blade from behind his back and swung it down. Its shining steel edge sliced Alucard clean in two, top to bottom.
Splatter.
In an instant, guts and viscera spilled all over the ground. Any normal person would’ve died on the spot, but Alucard just cackled. Even with his body split apart, he swung his five fingers toward Fang Mo’s chest—only to have them bend unnaturally, failing to penetrate Fang Mo’s defense.
“Interesting… Very interesting!”
Alucard’s laughter grew ever more euphoric. “Seems tonight will be a real pleasure—!”
“Water Cannon.”
Before Alucard could finish, Fang Mo pointed a finger at his face. A powerful jet of water burst forth, blowing Alucard’s head to bits. Yet Fang Mo’s finger hadn’t even moved away when the scattered flesh and blood began to wriggle and squirm, reversing like time itself. Within fractions of a second, Alucard’s entire body had reconstituted. Even his neck pulsed unnervingly until it grew a new head.
“What the heck—”
Fang Mo couldn’t help muttering, “What kind of regeneration is that?”
“Strange, is it?”
Alucard bared a fanged grin. “I’m a monster, so a little ‘special ability’ is perfectly normal. Your body’s pretty tough itself—my 13mm rounds couldn’t even scratch you.”
“You’re seriously still going on about that?”
Fang Mo’s expression darkened again, raising his purple greatsword.
“Oho? What’s there to—”
Alucard’s mad grin persisted, but Fang Mo’s cold voice cut through the night air:
“…You actually dared to shoot me with your handgun?”
“???”
Alucard froze, genuinely at a loss. Even he couldn’t guess why the young man said something so out of left field.
Slash!
Hesitating during a fight is never wise. The next second, Fang Mo swung his weapon and decapitated Alucard. Thankfully, Alucard’s near-immortal nature allowed him to regenerate—even his head rolling on the ground didn’t stop him. After a second, he hopped backward, fully restored.
“You…”
Eyeing Fang Mo strangely, Alucard hesitated. Though he’d lived centuries, never had he encountered someone so…odd. That single random remark shattered the tension.
Taking a deep breath, Alucard finally spoke:
“…What are you, exactly?”
“Me?”
Resting the blade on his shoulder, the silver-haired youth answered solemnly:
“I’m the Vampire King.”
“…”
Alucard fell silent. If you’re the Vampire King, then what does that make me…?
“Heh, that’s…rather interesting.”
After another awkward pause, Alucard stared at Fang Mo with a bemused grin. “Someone calling himself the Vampire King—haven’t seen such a fun twist in a long time. So…what is your name?”
“Hmm…”
Fang Mo paused briefly and offered a made-up answer:
“Let’s say…Raikou Souma.”
His casual attitude practically gave him away, and Alucard saw through it at once, but couldn’t be bothered to call him out. He merely smiled.
In truth, Fang Mo himself had no idea what sort of role to play here. As he’d noted, he remembered few details of Hellsing’s plot, aside from a climactic three-way war in London among the Vatican, Nazi vampires, and others—a conflict involving essentially three factions.
He could pretend to be some twisted priest representing the Vatican, or pull a “Hitler 2.0” act with the Nazis—but none of that really appealed to him. The Church in this world was strict, hierarchical, and xenophobic; not much fun. The Nazi faction was irredeemably vile, murdering and rampaging for sheer pleasure. Fang Mo disliked that sort of mindless evil.
Hence, he was currently winging it. If it truly came down to any headaches, it’d be the bigshots of this world who’d have to worry, not him.
“So, Raikou Souma…”
Alucard snorted lightly. “Why show up here, of all places?”
“To save people.”
Fang Mo shrugged.
“…Save people?”
Alucard’s eyes drifted to the collapsed policewoman on the ground. A massive scythe was still embedded in her head—a mortal wound even a vampire might not survive. So apparently Fang Mo wasn’t even trying to make his story coherent?
“What, you don’t believe me?”
Fang Mo strode toward the police officer. “If you hadn’t messed around just now, I’d already have rescued her.”
“Heh…”
Alucard said nothing more, as though he were merely watching a show. Meanwhile, Fang Mo arrived at the policewoman’s side.
“This scythe is the Grim Reaper’s blade. It can sever even the concept of death itself.”
Hand on its handle, Fang Mo began spouting nonsense. “Don’t you believe if I just pull it out, she’ll be back to life?”
“Give it a try.”
Alucard wore an amused expression, arms folded.
“Sure.”
Fang Mo yanked out the scythe. With a wet schlurp, the blade came free, dripping red and white matter. Oddly, though the gash across the woman’s forehead closed up, she didn’t wake. Instead, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her face turned a sickly purplish hue, her breathing growing fainter.
“…Huh?”
Fang Mo froze.
“What’s wrong, ‘Vampire King?’” Alucard teased. “Could your blade simply not be sharp enough to cut through death?”
“Tsk, that’s not…”
Fang Mo was equal parts puzzled and annoyed. He swung his scythe a few more times for good measure. With each cut, the policewoman stirred in agony, finally snapping awake from the intense pain.
The moment she regained consciousness, she saw Fang Mo looming over her, repeatedly slashing away with the scythe. She even heard the chilling crunch of flesh and bone being carved.
“Uh…guh…”
Terrified to the core, she spat another mouthful of blood, as her life flashed before her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. In that delirium, she spotted a blurred silhouette standing under the moonlight, not too far away.
“Help…me…”
Desperate, she tried to raise a trembling hand, begging the figure to save her.
“Oh? You want me to save you?”
Alucard watched with interest, then casually glanced upward at the sky. “Tch, the moon is lovely tonight…”
When he finished musing, Alucard strolled over.
“Hey, wait!”
“No need.”
Ignoring Fang Mo, Alucard crouched, bit the woman’s wrist, then pushed two fingers into her chest—likely to extract a bullet fragment lodged near a major artery.
“Damn it—so it was ‘chip damage’ that kept resetting everything!”
Fang Mo cursed under his breath. It was too late now; once Alucard drank a bit of her blood, the woman’s aura changed on the spot. Her wounds began to heal rapidly.
And just as Fang Mo was about to say something else, an old, familiar system prompt echoed in his mind:
[System Notice: You have researched the concepts of “Blood and the Essence of Life” and “The Soul as Currency.” You have unlocked the right to download a new mod.]
[System Notice: “Blood Magic” mod is now downloading.]
