Chapter 1943: Blood Remembers: Part-2

Alucard Xal’thren’s POV/Aether’s POV

Splash~

The sea of blood swallowed me once again, and as my vision gradually cleared...

A gorgeous woman with pure crimson hair stood before me, her slender figure drenched in blood from head to toe.

Her crimson locks flowed down her shoulders, swaying gently in the wind that swept across the blood-filled landscape. Yet, despite the blood staining her body, she appeared almost untouched by the carnage surrounding her.

And the world around us...

It was nothing but blood and flesh.

Countless corpses littered the shattered ground, their lifeless bodies piled upon one another as far as my eyes could see.

Mountains had been reduced to broken fragments, rivers had turned into streams of blood, and the heavens themselves seemed to have lost their colours beneath the suffocating crimson haze.

The stench of death permeated the air.

It was as though millions had perished beneath its merciless destruction.

And among that endless sea of corpses, only the two of us remained standing.

But what truly caught my attention was the condition of my own body.

My limbs felt unbearably heavy, and every movement sent waves of agony coursing through me. Cracks spread across my skin like fractures in shattered glass, while the strength that had once flowed through my veins had dwindled to almost nothing.

H-How had this happened?

I was a Primordial!

How could I have been brought to such a miserable state by a mere, lowly Vampire?

No... This was impossible!

What in the name of the Origin was happening here?

Was it because I had been severed from the Source? Had losing that connection truly reduced me to such a pathetic state?

N-No! That couldn’t be the end of me!

I had come too far for this.

I had sacrificed more than any of those wretched beings could ever comprehend.

And now, after everything I had accomplished, was I truly supposed to perish on this blood-soaked battlefield?

Absolutely not!

I-I couldn’t die!

I REFUSE TO DIE!!

The crimson-haired woman tilted her head, watching my desperate struggle with an expression of pure amusement.

A twisted grin slowly spread across her face.

She showed no excitement, no rage, and no satisfaction that I could recognise. Her eyes were simply empty, as though my impending death were nothing more than an insignificant matter to her.

Then, in a voice devoid of warmth, she spoke.

"It’s time to die, Hussy~" / "It’s time to die, Daddy~"

I froze.

W-What?

My eyes widened as I stared at her parted lips.

I had heard two distinct voices.

One was laced with cruel mockery, while the other carried a strangely playful tone.

What kind of abomination was she?

Was this why Arcane chose her?

Before I could comprehend the horror unfolding before me, the woman leaned closer.

"N-No! Stay back!" I roared, desperately attempting to retreat.

"I am Alucard Xal’thren, Primordial—"

Chuck!

Her fangs sank into my neck.

A sharp, searing sensation pierced my flesh, and before I could utter another word, an overwhelming force began dragging everything out of me.

My blood.

I clawed desperately at her shoulders, attempting to push her away, but my fingers barely moved. The woman held me effortlessly, her expression unchanged as she continued draining the very essence of my being.

"H-How... could you...?"

My voice emerged as little more than a broken whisper.

I had once stood above countless beings, looking down upon their struggles as though they were insignificant insects crawling beneath my feet.

"You... will... regret..."

Even those final words failed to leave my mouth completely.

My vision darkened, my consciousness dissolved, and my body began to crumble into countless particles of dust. The fragments of my existence scattered into the bloodstained wind.

And just like that, Alucard Xal’thren ceased to exist.

Splash~

The sea of blood swallowed me once again.

This time, I, Aether, was overwhelmed by the incomprehensible scene I had just witnessed.

"Who... is that woman?"

I had never seen her before.

According to Grace and Xara, shouldn’t Mary have been the one to kill Alucard?

And what was that strange phenomenon I had witnessed?

I had already seen Mary in Alucard’s memories.

But that woman...

She was different.

Even more disturbing was the fact that Alucard, despite being reduced to such a miserable state, had seemed genuinely terrified of her.

I glanced toward the seemingly endless depths beneath me, where the darkness grew thicker with every passing moment.

If this sea of blood contained memories, I might finally find Lia’s Memories.

With that thought in mind, I began swimming deeper into the sea of blood.

Deeper.

And deeper.

The further I descended, the more oppressive the surroundings became.

The crimson liquid grew unnaturally dense, pressing against my body from every direction.

My eyelids grew heavy, and an excruciating pain began spreading through my head. It felt as though an invisible hand had reached inside my skull and was attempting to crush my consciousness between its fingers.

My body trembled violently.

The pressure pushed against my chest, my limbs, and even my thoughts, trying to force me back toward the surface. With every passing moment, the darkness became more suffocating, while the faint remnants of my awareness threatened to dissolve beneath its weight.

Yet I refused to retreat.

I had already come this far. I couldn’t turn back now!

"Just a little farther..." I muttered through clenched teeth, forcing my trembling arms to move.

My vision blurred, and my mind felt as though it were being torn apart by countless invisible blades.

But,

I HAD TO KNOW!

With that thought, I kept pushing...

And then, as the darkness finally swallowed the last traces of crimson around me, something changed.

Clang... Clang...

The sound of rattling chains echoed in my ears.

I slowly opened my eyes.

And in the next instant...

I, Alucard Xal’thren, knelt upon an enormous stone platform, my body bound by thick chains that coiled around my wrists, ankles, and torso.

The platform itself appeared to have been carved from a single slab of stone, its surface covered in intricate inscriptions that glowed faintly.

Strange symbols stretched across the ground, forming elaborate circles and patterns that seemed to converge beneath my knees.

A dense, frigid mist enveloped the entire area, obscuring everything beyond the platform.

Yet, even through the thick fog, I could make out several colossal pillars rising from the platform’s distant edges.

They stretched toward the heavens.

"Alucard Xal’thren."

A voice descended from the heights above.

It was cold, solemn, and utterly devoid of emotion.

"@#@! you @#!# of the transgressions you have @#!@?"

I, Aether, frowned... as I realised this language was, ’Forbidden Language? What’s going on here?’ I wondered.

I, Alucard, attempted to raise my head, but the chains around my neck tightened immediately, forcing me to remain bowed before the unseen figures above.

Despite my predicament, a mocking smile crept across my face.

"Transgressions?" I repeated, releasing a derisive chuckle.

"How laughable! Haha... If anything, I merely accomplished what all of you wanted me to do in the first place. And now you dare summon me here to—"

"SILENCE!"

Then another voice thundered from among the towering pillars.

The command reverberated through the entire domain, causing the inscriptions beneath my knees to flare with light. The surrounding mist surged outward, and the chains binding my body rattled violently as an immense force pressed down upon me.

My jaw tightened.

I despised this.

I despised being forced to kneel, despised being spoken to as though I were some insignificant criminal.

The figures above began murmuring among themselves.

Finally, one of them spoke again.

"Hand over the Stolen Blood, and we shall let you off this time, Brother."

"Alucard Xal’thren, we shall offer !#$@ one final @#@! to redeem !@# transgression. Surrender the Stolen Blood, and this @!@! shall refrain from passing #@$@ ultimate judgment !@# #@#!@ ."

A brief silence followed.

Then, with a familiarity that seemed almost insulting beneath the circumstances, the figure added,

"Hand over the Stolen Blood, Brother, and we shall overlook this transgression... this once."

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Look at them!

Hand over?

"Fuck off! I sacrificed everything to get this far, and now you expect me to hand it over to you? Over my fucking dead body!"

My voice reverberated across the vast domain, carrying every ounce of my contempt.

For a moment, the voices among the pillars fell silent.

Then, a voice of absolute authority boomed from above.

"By my decree, Alucard Xal’thren has committed a grave sin. His Primordial Blood shall be stripped from him, and his vessel shall be erased from existence! Those who agree with this judgment, raise your hands!"

"By the authority vested in this @#@@, I hereby declare Alucard Xal’thren guilty of committing a grave sin against the laws of our kind!"

The declaration reverberated through the domain, causing the surrounding mist to surge violently.

"Let his Primordial Blood be stripped from his possession, and let the vessel that bears his existence be erased from the annals of creation! Those who consent to this judgment, raise thy hands!"

As the final words echoed across the platform.

For almost a minute there was nothing but dead silence.

Finally, the authoritative voice spoke again... this time carrying a trace of disbelief.

"...A tie?"

I stared upward before bursting into wicked laughter.

"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA!"

I burst into wicked laughter, my shoulders trembling as I struggled to contain my amusement.

"I knew it! Hahaha... A tie? Look at that, my esteemed Brothers and Sisters! Just look at the truth before your very eyes! So much for your precious laws!"

My laughter echoed throughout the vast expanse, bouncing between the colossal pillars as a sinister smile spread across my face.

"Come now, do not hide behind the silence! We all know what you all desire! Every last one of us wanted the same thing!"

My lips curled into a vicious grin.

"The Blood of Ether... Hahahaha!"

My wicked laughter continued to reverberate through the mist-shrouded chamber, filling the surrounding silence with an unsettling sense of mockery.

I had been condemned for my supposed sins, yet not even they could agree on whether I deserved to be destroyed.

How utterly pathetic.

The same authoritative voice thundered once more, its tone returning to its former coldness.

"According to our laws, when the votes of this !@#@ are divided equally.

Therefore, let Alucard Xal’thren be stripped of his standing, severed from his Star, and... exiled!"

The moment those words echoed across the platform, an overwhelming force descended upon me.

The surrounding mist exploded outward, and the stone beneath my knees fractured under the pressure.

Then...

Snap!

My eyes widened.

I felt it.

Something fundamental within my existence had been severed.

My True Energy Source... had suddenly been cut off.

"No..."

My voice trembled.

"No! NO! NOOOOOOO—"

Splash~

In the next instant, I, Aether, was violently expelled from the sea of blood and crashed onto a hard surface.

For several moments, I remained sprawled on the ground, utterly bewildered by what had just happened. My mind struggled to process the fragmented memories I had witnessed, each revelation raising more questions than it answered.

What the hell had I just seen?

Wasn’t I supposed to be witnessing Lia’s memories?

Then why had I ended up seeing Alucard’s past instead?

"Cough, cough!"

I coughed violently, my throat burning as though I had accidentally swallowed some of the blood. After coughing a few more times, I finally managed to steady my breathing and slowly lifted my head.

Above me stretched the endless sea of blood.

It hung suspended overhead, its vast crimson surface remaining perfectly still, as though gravity had no meaning in this strange place. Not a single ripple disturbed its surface, and the countless layers of blood appeared to extend into infinity, creating the unsettling illusion that I was staring into an endless ocean suspended upside down.

Just looking at it sent a faint shiver down my spine.

If someone were to become lost in that thing, they would be well and truly fucked.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before revisiting the final moments of the memories I had witnessed.

’Again... the Blood of Ether.’

I furrowed my brows.

’Just what the hell is it? And why is everyone so obsessed with it?’

From the memories I had witnessed, it was clear that Alucard had somehow stolen it.

What made that blood so valuable?

Was it merely a source of power, or was there something far more significant hidden within it?

"Fuck... This is getting confusing."

I muttered under my breath, rubbing my forehead as I tried to organise my thoughts.

But then my expression gradually turned stern as another detail resurfaced in my mind.

’Were those... other Primordials?’

I narrowed my eyes, recalling the immense pressure that had accompanied their voices.

And then there was the Star.

’What exactly did they mean when they said they would sever him from his Star? Was that the same as his True Energy Source?’

I remembered Grace mentioning something about it before. If the Star was connected to a Primordial’s power, then being severed from it might explain why Alucard had become so vulnerable and got killed by Mary.

With that thought in mind, I turned my gaze toward the seemingly endless sea of blood hanging above me.

"Come on... Reveal yourself."

I muttered in a cold, composed tone.

A moment later, a majestic voice echoed throughout the space.

"Oh? Thou art capable of sensing my presence?"

I paused.

"..."

Then I shrugged.

"Nah, I just thought it sounded cool."