Chapter 54: Mission Accomplished

"Did you just call her Krul Tepes?!" Griselda looks surprisingly alarmed when hearing the vampire's name.

"Is there something wrong with her name?" Ray asked since the reaction of the exorcists team is too exaggerated to him. Shock and horror plastered their faces and Griselda even almost use Arondight to stab Krul while she was bound and weakened.

"Yes, Lord Ray. She is the third progenitor of the Tepes clan, the vampire princess and one of the strongest as the bearers of progenitor title." Griselda muttered and her eyes never left the vampire as if Krul might suddenly attack her when she isn't looking.

"Heh, I'm surprised there are still humans who recognize my title even after many years. A millennia? Two millennia?" Krul said with a hint of surprise and pride that her name lasted this long, though the emotions quickly replaced it with anger and despair as she gritted her teeth.

"The Church and the vampire had been fighting since almost the dawn of civilization. We kept records of all prominent vampires and the progenitors especially." Griselda then went to explain to Ray why progenitors are dangerous.

Vampire's strength and talent is always decided by the one who sired them. The closer their blood to the true progenitor, the stronger they are initially and their potential growth. The true progenitor said can even fight equally against a God King and his sired vampire, the progenitors, are as strong as gods. During their heyday, the vampires have hundreds of progenitors and they are feared by many which lead to a great conspiracy as other factions join hands to eliminate the true progenitor to stop him from creating more godlike vampires like sprouts.

With the true progenitor killed, the vampire lost their pillar and the progenitors are hunted to near extinction, the only surviving one after the Great War is the Tepes and Carmilla which became the current ruling clan of vampires. To find a progenitor here in the middle of nowhere is extremely odd to be a coincidence. She wondered how Krul ended up like this but she is more likely to kill Krul than starting a discussion due to the danger a Progenitor can pose to humanity.

Currently, the two progenitors of Carmilla and Tepes had long died to their civil war and there is no longer a Progenitor able to create a Mid Class strong vampire on the go which is why the discovery of Krul Tepes is very alarming.

"Lord Ray, please allow me to kill the progenitor before she could pose danger to humanity." Griselda stated firmly. She didn't just kill Krul yet because Ray seems to be hesitant to kill the vampire which she can notice from his body language.

Krul also lifted her head with difficulty to look at Ray but her starvation and exhaustion made even moving a muscle require great effort.

"What if I can control her from turning against humanity? Will you allow her to live?" Ray suddenly asks while kneeling on the floor to look at Krul who is too exhausted to even lift her head.

"That's… beyond my capability to decide, Lord Ray. I will believe in the decision you made. If Lord Ray can use his ability to subdue the progenitor then I will have no dissatisfaction with your decision." Griselda said as she bowed her head in respect.

What she said is genuine as Ray himself is like a highest in command of an army while Griselda is just a leader of a small platoon. Why would she defy the decision Ray made when he is indeed capable of subduing the progenitor with his ability.

Ray nodded while humming as he helped lift Krul's head to look at him.

"You, do you want to live?" Ray asked while looking at the crimson vampiric eyes of the progenitor.

The initially dulled eyes after seeing that Griselda would want to end her life, now burn brighter with desire. A very strong desire to live and seeking revenge.

"Yes." The word left the cracked and dried lips of the progenitor as she clung tightly on the hope given by Ray.

"Then submit yourself to me."

"Yes"

A notification pop which indicates Krul turned into his follower. He then tried to free her from the binding but failed despite how weakened they are from the erosion of time. Even the exorcists couldn't think of an idea since the magic used to bind the Progenitor is god level magic. Then Ray palmed his face and unsummoned Krul before summoning her again, now without the binding.

The exorcists team look speechlessly at Ray on how easily he freed the progenitor from the binding strong enough to bind even god level beings.

Ray then magically makes a blood bag appear in his hand and stuff it into Krul's mouth for her to feed on. He was speechless on how cheap a blood bag is compared to the cheapest food from Shokugeki no Souma world. Like the blood cost only 500 points a liter in the medical supplies category. At least feeding the progenitor will be cheap since he doubts a bag would be enough considering how she just guzzles a liter of blood in an eye blink.

The exorcists look in surprise as Ray takes out at least a dozen blood bags out of nowhere. Their question is why would Ray conveniently have that much blood in his hand but they didn't question him and keep it to themselves.

When Krul finished feeding herself to compensate for the thousands of years of starvation, her extremely skinny body to the point of looking like a skeleton now regained its soft and supple flesh. The recovery is immediate as her body absorbs the nutrition in the blood she drank and rejuvenates her body.

Ray looked at Krul absentmindedly for a moment before he remembered the task he must accomplish. The findings of a person foreign to the DxD world distracted his mind. However the exorcists interpreted it wrongly and thought Ray was charmed by the progenitor since vampires innately have ability to charm the opposite sexes.

"We have been sidetracked, let's proceed with our task." Ray said after he broke off from his absentminded state. The exorcists team nodded but eyeing warily at Ray and Krul while Krul nodded and kept her question to herself for now as her saviour obviously is in the middle of something important.

———

When they reached one of the exits of the labyrinth, they entered a subterranean city that was as big as Romania above. The city is shrouded by perpetual darkness as a vampire naturally gifted with night vision. The buildings are all in medieval style like an actual medieval city.

From all corners of the city they can hear the sound of battle from the clashing of weapons to shouts and growls of ghouls and the vampires. Ray surveys the underground city and assesses the situation before he makes a decision.

The ongoing infighting between the current ruling party and the rebels is beneficial to Ray and his group because they can use the chaos to sneak into the city. However with ghouls flooding every corner of the streets, the ground path is inaccessible. Using the top of buildings isn't feasible either because they will immediately be detected.

Sensing the trouble, Krul who stayed silent since leaving her cell suddenly volunteers herself to help. "Let me take care of this, …Ray." Krul said while almost stuttering Ray's name because she is confused how she should address him.

She is leaning toward calling him Lord like the other exorcists since Ray is her benefactor, saviour and master. The latter one she feels conflicted as a proud vampire progenitor, the Princess of Tepes clan. In the end, Ray told her to just call him by his name since he admitted he didn't really care how she called him.

Krul then uses her bloodline suppression as a progenitor to force the vampires to stop and obey her. The vampires that heard her voice, all cease the battle and move like mindless drones to kneel before Krul Tepes like subjects before their king. These are the features of the vampire race. A vampire with higher blood purity of true progenitor blood can control the weaker vampire and force them to obey though the stronger one or mix breed like dhampir could resist to obey.

"Where is Valerie Tepes?" Krul asks with a smile that looks closer to a sadistic smirk than smile.

The vampire that Krul questioned at first is going to resist answering her but after looking at Krul's glowing eyes, the vampire becomes dazed and blushed like a lovesick person. It's obvious to Ray and the exorcists that Krul is using her charm to force the vampire to open his mouth. The vampire pointed at the large ancient castle at the heart of the city and said only Marius knows since he is the one imprisoning the half breed Valerie.

Obtained in their direction, Ray then led the team to the castle. Krul also ordered the vampires she is controlling to open up a path for them to the castle since around the castle is where the battle is the fiercest. The vampires they just encountered are the weaker one but around the castle, the vampires are almost all Mid Class or higher.

Krul ordered the vampires under her command to attack the one on the inner city which further increased the chaos and confusion as their former allies now under Krul's control, attacked their own side. The vampires can't even differentiate who is foe and who is allies.

Ray and his group slipped into the castle under the chaos and proceeded to the throne room which they assumed Marius would be at since Marius is trying to lead a coup against the current King Tepes.

"Halt! What is the Church doing deep in vampire territory." A vampire suddenly appeared when they entered the palace. "Another vampire? Hmn, a traitor perhaps."

Krul immediately repeated her previous tactic to try and control the vampire but the vampire realized something was wrong and quickly back stepped with his eyes open wide in surprise. Even Krul is surprised that her bloodline suppression failed which indicates this vampire is a fairly high ranked noble who possesses high bloodline purity to resist Krul.

"This… impossible, a progenitor! This familiar presence… a progenitor!" The vampire suddenly exclaimed with disbelief and excitement.

Krul also raised her guard after her attempt failed. Ray and the exorcists are ready to pounce on the lone vampire when the vampire suddenly pulls out a sword that looks familiar.

"Kuhahaha! Before I might fear a progenitor but with this! I will suck out your blood and raise my rank from a marquis to a prince! The progenitor! Hahaha!"

"Drink my blood, Oh blade!" The vampire shouted before spikes shot out of the sword handle to greedily suck on the vampire's blood and dyed the sword in glowing crimson red.

"Tch, First-Class weapon." Krul grumbled after seeing the sword drinking the vampire's blood.

She might look like she fully recovered but she is far from her full strength. Her internal isn't fully recovered yet as her starvation force her body to cannibalized her own body to allocate the nutrition to sustain her survival, making her body literally broken beyond repair. She need either exponentially more blood or simply higher being blood that contain immense vitality.

"Your blood are mine!" The vampire said before vanished from his spot and appeared infront of Krul in a stabbing motion using the sword.

"Reload On Fire!" Krul hear Ray shouted and she suddenly found herself pushed to the side and Ray shootted the vampire with Holy power i fused bullets with his gatling gun. It was as if Ray suddenly move faster than time.

"Ahhhgh! Holy energy in gun?!" The vampire growled in confusion with animalistic rage.

"Agh!"

The vampire growled again in pain when he didn't realize that Griselda is behind him and tried to stab his heard with Arondight but missed. However this weakened the vampire significantly enough for Ray to finished it when his gatling gun already aimed at the vampire's left chest at point blank range, intended to destroy the heart which is one of the vampire weaknesses.

With a press on the trigger, Ray finished the vampire with visible exhaustion from using Reload On Fire. His light panting and accelerated heartbeat is audible to Krul that posses enhanced sense and Griselda who are standing beside him, making sure the vampire's corpse is properly disintegrated.

"Lord Ray! More vampires arrived!" The exorcist named Joseph notified the group when seeing a large group of vampires along with their ghoul, swarming the hall behind them.

"From the front too!" Another exorcist said with a heavy tone. "We are surrounded."

Krul is about to use her bloodline suppression again to turn the enemies against each other but suddenly two dozen operators appear by Ray's summon. No order needed to be given as the operators opened fire against the ghoul hordes. The operators also unleashed their skills to increase their efficiency to grind the close cousin of the infected they used to fight against.

The exorcists and Krul were shocked and awed at the efficiency of the firearms at killing the ghoul hordes that were visibly decreasing in number.

The vampires are forced to take the field as their ghoul horde isn't working against the intruders. However it was a mistake on their part as they also tear apart by the bullets although not as effortlessly as the ghoul but still die and turn into ashes when their weaknesses are exploited. The operators might not be able to use special bullets or upgrade their firearms but they are still lethal especially in groups.

When Ray joined the fray, he effortlessly tore the horde apart since this is another cannon fodder like the one they meet on the outer edge of the city unlike the previous vampire that wields the weird sword Krul calls First-class weapon.

"Rush after I clear a path." Ray told them before switching from the Holy energy bullet to the explosive variant. Ray activates Hold The Line to give his attack an extra kick before he starts unloading the whole magazine.

In the perpetual dark city, the light flashes from the explosive variant bullet blinded anyone that dared to look at the explosion of intense Light/Holy energy and disintegrate all nearby ghouls and vampires.

When the path is cleared, the exorcists team immediately run, followed by Ray after he unsummoned his operators and Krul Tepes.

Ray becomes more determined to capture Marius or he will be pinned with the crime of killing this many vampires without justified reason. He is sure the bullet spray just now went beyond the castle since a portion of it went beyond the wall, through the window and probably hit the vampires outside. But again, he can probably shrug it off by blaming the vampire's death as a casualty caused by the coup led by Marius. He still needed to capture Marius Tepes though, to blame him for the coup.

———

"Lord Marius! The enemies broke through all the men we sent to stop them." A vampire informed Marius who just slain King Tepes and claimed the crown before throwing the headless corpse away to sit on the throne.

"Bring in the enhanced vampires and equip them with the artefacts. I am lucky to have found capable and willing participants to test the upgrades Rizevim did." Marius didn't look alarmed at all and instead looked very relaxed as he put great confidence in the new tools Rizevim created for him.

Vampires with all their weaknesses removed and various powers up to create a superior vampire race that have no need to rely on their bloodline purity to excel. Though Marius still didn't realize yet that the power all came at a price and in fact just a side benefit from the real thing.

Marius patiently waited as 200 vampires walked in and kneeled to pay their respects to the new King Tepes. Then he waited again for the intruders to arrive which didn't take much longer as they arrived a few minutes after.

There isn't any greeting or pleasantries exchanged as Ray barged in with guns blazing and raining artillery fire that appeared from a cloud of holographic void at the ceiling.

The augmented vampires are quick on their feet to draw their weapons and defend Marius who looks relaxed and satisfied after seeing the holy energy indeed no longer pose danger to the augmented vampires.

"Rizevim out did himself as holy energy is the bane of the vampire race since the dawn of our creation." Marius commented with a satisfied nod.

The enemy seems to realize the holy energy didn't work and switches his method immediately as the next volley of bullets isn't laced with concentrated holy energy but instead is nothing?

Marius was confused when the bullet did nothing other than pierce the vampires which is just a minor inconvenience since their healing factor should fix it immediately but didn't… He assumes the enemy used a curse to prevent the wound from healing but it isn't possible since there is no sign of curse magic or anything which clicked to Marius's mind as precisely there is nothing. The sign of magical energy is vanishing.

Marius himself is a great researcher although not to the level like Azazel but he spends a great portion of his life researching sacred gear belonging to his sister, Valerie, to pursue his dream of one day alleviating the vampire race to the next level. A noble goal but pursued with the wrong method. But his pursuit made him a man with a great mind to understand what happened to the vampires.

Anti-magic property, the attack contains anti-magic effects that actively prevent the healing factor, a process where magical energy in a vampire is used to heal their wound, from happening. Such methods are rarely used in the supernatural world due to various factors which made it an obscure method which he didn't consider when augmenting the vampires.

No matter how strong a being is, their might is caused by magical energy that comes in many forms like mana, prana, ki, chi, chakra, etc. Depriving it will reduce any being, even the gods into helpless mortals like humans.

(Note: Evident is when a portion of Ophis's power is stolen, she becomes weakened because her normal power level is reduced which in theory if ophis is deprived of all her magic etc, she will be a dragon with just physical strength a few levels above normal human.)

Marius' researcher instinct flared at the method used by his opponent since existing anti-magic weapons existed but their capabilities are just a fraction of what was used on the vampires. His opponent's anti-magic weapon is his answer to his goal. One didn't need to think far on how useful is anti-magic weapon on supernatural world when there is basically no counter to this method as all being used magic power.

He desperately wanted to obtain the weapon and start experimenting on it. Marius eyes the enemy that slowly walks through the door with unrestrained desire which gives the one on the receiving end the wrong impression.

———

When Ray and the exorcists team broke through the enemy encirclement, Ray ordered the exorcists to split up with him to save Valerie Tepes to complete their main objective while he handled the side one on his own.

Griselda wanted to object but Fay didn't give her an opportunity to and sent them off sternly along with Krul and half of his available operators as extra protection. In emergency situations, his operators can be used as disposable to protect themselves.

After that, Ray removes the cosmetic on his armor since being stealthy is no longer needed when his enemies know he is here. He prefers the imposing presence his armor possesses.

Ray then contemplates for a moment if he should use his best anti-dark creature bullet which is the bullet that contained the strongest attack from Azazel. He quickly discarded the idea since he needed Marius alive. So, he used the usual holy energy infused bullet.

He did a last check on himself and when satisfied with his preparation, he used his exoskeleton enhanced strength to kick open the massive double door like he is about to enter a boss fight from souls game. Though he isn't wrong considering some vampire is now a ticking time bomb waiting to spawn an evil dragon if Rizevim did the upgrades on the vampires like in canon DxD.

He went in, gun blazing and released a rain of artillery fire using Aerial Bombardment to kill as much as he could before he fully entered the den of tiger or evil dragons in this case. However, an unforeseen situation happened where his holy energy infused bullet didn't work on the vampires but not totally unexpected since he remembered the upgrade Marius and Rizevim did is to remove the vampire's weaknesses and enhance their strength and holy energy being one of their most severe weaknesses.

Ray then activates Reload On Fire, he only has one chance to subdue Marius. If he fails, there is no retry since the skill drains his stamina and Arondight isn't with him to rejuvenate his lost stamina. He turned the time acceleration to x10, the maximum and replaced his gatling gun to a BLACK Gigavolt. An assault rifle he obtained some time ago that never left his inventory until now. It shoots bullets that are charged with tens to hundreds million volts, designed to disable or at least stun opponents like bosses. Though Ray plans to use it on Marius since disabling him with bullets is impossible as anti-magic bullets take too long to have effect, holy energy will kill him and physical bullets Ray doubts will pierce the vampire's body. The electric shock is a better option since Marius will not die as the vampire is very durable amongst the supernatural race as their vampire physique grants immense durability.

The time slowed to halt with only Ray able to move and moved at ten times faster speed as he moved past the augmented vampires that blocked his line of fire. Ray moved around the vampires then got to a position with clear sight on Marius before he emptied the entire magazine just to be sure then replace his firearm back to Proposition before he shoot at the augmented vampires, trying to take down as much as he could by bursting their skull with anti-magic bullets to prevent regeneration.

The skill expired when he just took down 4 of the hundreds augmented vampires. Ray immediately assaulted with exhaustion like his energy suddenly sucked by a blackhole that made his body feel heavy. He persists and uses the exoskeleton to assist his movement as he runs out of the throne room. His objective was achieved when he saw the notification and promptly unsummon Marius.

Marius is left in a sorry state after the electric shock because Ray shoots him when time is slowed to halt, the electric shock didn't happen immediately and only applied after the time resumed as usual. In short, Marius is experiencing each individual million volts charged bullets, all at once which cause his entire body to spasm so much that even his bladder loses control. Though, could a vampire pee? Considering they function differently, biologically from humans.

———

They climbed floor after floor up the tower until they arrived in a room which was locked and without guards. Griselda asks Krul to forcefully break into the room when they find it was locked. However, what they found inside is a very strong and ancient devil according to the aura he exudes.

"Now is not the time yet but we shall meet again one day, ladies and gentlemen from the alliance." Rizevim said with a smirk while purposely flexing a golden cup before he was immediately engulfed by teleportation magic.

Only when the old devil vanished, then Griselda realized the cup in his hand is Sephiroth Graal. They failed to retrieve the sacred gear, or so they thought when one of the exorcists found Valerie laid weakly on a device surrounded by a ritual magic circle.

Valerie is definitely injured from forceful extraction of her sacred gear considering the devil just now flaunted one the grail in his hand before he teleported.

"Hmn, her soul is damaged like a fragment is removed and leaves her soul in an incomplete state." Krul stated after simply giving a glance at Valerie to understand her present condition and explained it to the exorcists.

"We must leave now and return. She wouldn't last much longer at this rate as her vitality is weakening as we speak. She needs immediate medical attention." Griselda informed gravely and the others nodded without disagreement.

"How about Lord Ray?" Another exorcist asks while they are sprinting down the hall, to the exit with Krul help divert the vampire away and open up a path.

Griselda then looked at the operators, busy carrying Valerie using a makeshift stretcher and a blue one giving first aid by shoving a holographic blue box into Valerie while also monitoring her vitals.

"Can one of you contact, Lord Ray, that we are heading toward the exit?" Griselda asked and a yellow one closest to her nodded and replied. "We are maintaining a constant flow of information to High Commander Ray. He is constantly aware of our location."

The Heavy class operator basically means that their location is constantly showing in his minimap that is created as Ray and his operators move through many places. The AI in the satellite will constantly receive information from them and use it to display live minimap that Ray is using.

After knowing Ray knows they are leaving, Griselda doesn't hesitate anymore and leads her team of exorcists, the operators and Krul out from the underground city.

Then suddenly a strong earthquake washed over the city which was followed by a loud draconic roar which paralyzed the weaker people with fear. Those with stronger will can recover immediately but Valerie isn't and her state worses almost instantly. As her vital sign dropped instantly and the medics are doing their best to stabilize her.

Krul was looking indecisively as she weighing her options and wasn't missed by Griselda who paid extra attention to the progenitor despite how cooperative she is.

"Is there something you can do to help?" Griselda asked and Krul nodded but slowly and with hesitation.

"Yes, my blood essence can heal her but will in turn weaken myself." Krul replied and Griselda nodded as she understood Krul's hesitation. She is already not in the best state and condensing her blood essence will affect her strength as her blood essence is like her soul.

Vampire's everything is inside their blood. Their blood is equivalent to the soul of a human or other race. However, to Griselda's and the other exorcists' surprise, Krul did it and condense a small tear shaped, blood red gemstone that she fed Valerie.

"I did it to repay my debt to him… she is important to you and his mission right?" Krul asked the surprised exorcists, to which all four nodded in reply. "Hmn, her condition should stabilize now. Let's go quick before I become a liability, myself." Krul said with a commanding tone.

The others can notice Krul is visibly start to panting and droplets of sweat appear when even an intense battle with the vampire with a weird sword couldn't force her to produce even a drop of it.

"Yes, we must leave before whatever that just caused the earthquake came and interrupted us." Griselda said solemnly as she and the other exorcists can feel the extreme evil aura coming from the direction of the castle.

—————

Almost 5k words, chapters with battle scene is always long this one is double the size of normal chapters.