[282] Testing the Waters

"Oh, Holy Church?" Alucard turned his head back, recovering his detached head, and smiled at the group of dozens dressed as priests, "What? Do you also want to join the Mage's Association and send all the magus here to their deaths?"

"Absolutely not!" Ambrose Conant, the leader, said sternly, "As long as we can kill you here!"

He then turned to Gilgamesh, "King of Heroes! The Holy Grail is yours! This vampire is ours, Iscariot!"

"Haha! Well, though it's hard to admit, this King, indeed can't do much against that monster!" Gilgamesh laughed and said, "Fine, he's yours! I still have other matters to attend to!"

"Yes, then, please go ahead, King of Heroes," Ambrose Conant said, looking at Alucard, "Don't forget our names... This might be fate!"

"Haha—" Alucard laughed, "Indeed, maybe it is... but you guys are too weak, much weaker than the one I've encountered before! How could a group of like you touch my heart?!"

Ambrose Conant furrowed his brows slightly. Something was off. They should be the stronger ones.

In the manga, the Iscariot, they only needed a few people on their side to wipe them out. Yet, Alucard claimed they were weaker?

"Take a look behind you—? Iscariot like these? How could they possibly reach me!"

Ambrose Conant turned back slightly and froze the next moment.

Originally serious, prepared to die, the expressions of the applicants stiffened, "You guys—!!!"

"Haha... sorry about that." Hansa, who was about to escape, said apologetically, "Well, isn't dying so valiantly a bit too much? Hmm, yes, we just need to delay him a bit... can't delay so many people, right?"

"Come back to me!" Ambrose Conant also understood Alucard's intention. Without firm conviction, no matter how strong, it was futile... How could these guys touch that vampire?!

But...

This was an unavoidable situation.

These guys were originally unfaithful to the teachings, and many of them had no belief in the main church at all.

Precisely because of this, he agreed to Hansa's suggestion, naming the organization "Iscariot"! But what happened? When it came to the critical moment, the one who proposed it ran away!

Where is your faith!?

"Well..." Hansa scratched his head, "Fighting monsters is not a big deal, been there, done that. But... a monster that can't be killed like this, let's forget it."

"HahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Alucard laughed heartily, "After all, you guys are just a bunch of pigs! Fantasizing that you've become humans? Want to run? To escape? Not fighting anymore? Recognized your identity, have you! You're just prey—want to escape? Did you ask the monster? Did you ask if the monster has had its fill tonight?"

Shadows appeared around, and figures crawled out from the blood-red shadows, surrounding the Holy Church members.

"Unfortunately, the monster is still hungry tonight, hasn't had a proper meal. So... stay here, all of you." Alucard narrowed his eyes and said, "None of you will escape, all of you will end up in my belly—!"

"What's that—?"

Seeing the figures emerging from the shadows, Ambrose Conant's face changed. Those surrounding them... each and every one of them was a magician!

Clone... Squad.

The magus of the Mage's Association had become Alucard's army that covered all around.

A member of the River of Death.

"So, what should we do?" Alucard held the head of a Holy Church representative he had grabbed at some point, squeezing it in his hand, blood splattering out.

With a crazed smile on his face, he said, "Facing such a monster, what can you guys do? Turn your backs and run? Or charge straight at me?"

"Charge—!" Ambrose Conant roared, "Seeing the current situation, you should understand... well, forget it, do as you please! But remember, we are believers in the God! We are against the traitors—"

"Uh, should we recite lines?" Hansa said somewhat awkwardly.

"Get lost—!"

Boom—

At that moment, Ambrose Conant said nothing more and charged directly at Alucard.

The powerful impact caused the ground to crack, but...

In front of him, one bounded field after another appeared.

Walls, flames, ice...

His clothes were torn, revealing the mechanical body underneath.

After the previous battle, the area of his body that had been mechanized increased further, except for the brain, there were not many good parts left.

Two black keys popped out of the mechanical arm.

He cut off the heads of the nearby magus, then roared and swung at Alucard!

Boom, boom, boom—

Bullets were fired.

Pits were formed on his body.

But he still charged forward—

Towards Alucard!

"Well... can't be helped." Hansa sighed slightly, two black keys appeared in his hands. Dodging to the side, he shot the black keys!

Boom—

"Ugh."

Almost at the same time, the magus who had crawled out of the ground started to move.

The magus who emerged from the ground kicked Hansa flying. A thunderbolt from above hit Hansa precisely as he was kicked.

This was the battle between the representatives and the magus under Alucard and the other side—

On the other side—

Gilgamesh once again activated his Noble Phantasm—the Gate of Babylon!

"First, let's take down this pyramid! Wake up, EA—!"

Gilgamesh said, raising his EA high, considering the force.

Yes...

He didn't plan to go all out. After all, Kirei Kotomine's target was the Holy Grail. It would be interesting to let the leyline destroy something in advance. So...

If he really went all out.

For him, he might end up destroying not only this pyramid but also the connection to the Holy Grail. So...

"First strike... let's test its durability! Awaken, EA—!"

---

If you're interested in reading more, feel free to visit my patreon which already contains 30 chapters: 

https://www.patreon.com/XElenea