Chapter 51- Aftermath

Transylvania, Romania

Bodies covered the now seemingly empty battlefield, as far as the eye could see not an intact body could be seen. Most bodies seemed to be sliced in half by sword, something not typically found in these kinds of battles, but not unheard of.

What was strange, was that arms and legs, sometimes heads, could be found meters away from their original owners. But, what was stranger were the bite marks that seem to cover some of these bodies. It was as if someone was fighting with their nails and teeth.

If one could get closer they would notice that the Ottomans side had gruesome casualties, most of the torn bodies seem to originate from them. While on the other side, most wounds came from those of enemy arrows and sword wounds. It was towards the back of the formation one would see almost intact corpses.

The ones in the rear, neither wore armor or had weapons on them but they reeked of blood and were covered in blood most likely not their own, so, cause of death?... sword stab through the heart.

Perfect, precise… any person that knew just a little of sword arts would be able to tell that from those wounds, whoever these unlucky bastards were, they stood no chance in front of whoever wielded that sword.

*Clink* *Clank*

Sounds of swords clashing could be heard coming further away from the battlefield.

"Vlad! Stop! You need to get a hold of yourself!! Take back control! Regain reason!" Acheron exclaimed.

"RAAHG!!"

The battle had consumed the mind all of Vlad's men, including Vlad himself. Acheron had killed the others when he realized that they didn't want to stop killing, they just wanted to feast on the bodies of both enemy and ally.

He didn't want to kill Vlad; he was his future brother-in-law but for the last half hour no changes appeared in Vlad. No matter how much he yelled and pleaded to Vlad, Acheron only saw nothing but a beast in front of him wanting nothing but to kill him.

Acheron needed to hurry up, the Church would be arriving any minute now, if they see what Vlad has become they would undoubtedly hunt down Thalia, in fear that she too would to turn into this mindless beast that hungers only for blood.

"I'm so sorry Vlad, but I can't let your sister be taken, or worse, killed by the church" Acheron said as resolute look appeared on his face,

Vlad swiped at Acheron with his claws sharp enough to cut through men like butter. Acheron parried this attack with his sword and in the blink of an eye, Acheron attacked twice. For half an hour Acheron had simply blocked or parried Vlad's attacks, to him it wasn't anything special.

Vlad didn't even see how he died, not even with his status as the Originator and strongest of his species, was he able to see how Acheron stabbed his heart and beheaded him in that moment.

As the body fell to the ground, Acheron caught it, he opened his mouth wide and inhaled. A bloody red wisp came out from Vlad's chest and headed for Acheron.

Acheron swallowed the red wisp, leaving only the faint taste of blood on his tongue. Acheron closed his eyes as the wisp was slowly dissolved into his body.

When Acheron opened his eyes, they were no longer those abysmal black eyes with a tinge of purple, now they glowed red. His perfectly bronzed skin quickly turned white like porcelain, and noticeable softness appeared.

His long black hair turned even darker, a black that could only be seen when you look up at the night sky. His nails grew sharp, sharper than the sword he himself had forged. His canines grew four times its normal length, they appeared to be sharp enough to penetrate even the strongest of armors.

Acheron stood up after carefully putting Vlad's body on the ground, his head carefully put on top of his chest. He looked upon the corpse of his once friend and future bother-in-law.

"As my atonement to you I will leave your race alone, I will leave it all in the hands of Thalia, I have warned her of the dangers of your path and has vowed to not let it happen to her people, if it does, I'll be there…. Farewell, my friend" Acheron said before walking away.

The enhanced senses this form had given him already made him aware of the 400 hundred troops that were currently walking through the battlefield just north of him, over the hill.

He slowly walked up the hill, and soon saw the clearing in which was used as a battlefield. Men and women in black robes appeared to be scouting the battlefield, while knights in white armor guarded them, mostly likely paladins of the church, while the later were probably exorcists.

As Acheron came over the hill he was spotted by one of the knights. The knight shouted in warning and everyone pulled out a weapon, be it sword, spear, knife, a bow, they all quickly got ready to fight.

"Impressive.." Acheron said,

His voice was soft, but the wind carried his words to all those that wearily looked upon him.

The knights immediately moved to the front, having the exorcists move behind them. While the exorcists were highly trained warriors, paladins carried heavy shield and weapons, made them perfect tankers.

"Identify yourself!"

A knight exclaimed at Acheron, this knight was different than the others, his armored was laced with red instead of the pure white armor most of the knights behind him seem to wear.

Acheron said nothing as he looked upon the knights in the front, it seemed the 3 Paladins in front were commanders of some kind since they were the only one wearing a color other than white. One wore red, the other blue, while the last one wore yellow.

"Nice to meet you, people of the Church, my name is Acheron Belau" Acheron said in Italian,

His use of Italian had caught the knights off guard, they weren't expecting someone to speak their language in these backwater lands.

"You speak Italian?" The yellow knight said,

"Oh! A lady Knight! How unexpected! To think the Church would let women become Knights now! Oh, how times have changed! Its wonderful! Good for you!" Acheron rejoiced,

"And to answer your question.. Yes, I do, though I'm speaking in Latin now, I can speak every language"

The Blue Knight, interrupted their conversation,

"Do you know the monster that did this atrocity?"

Acheron smiled revealing his long, sharp fangs,

"Of course!... It was me!"

Seeing his teeth, all knight got battle ready, they were briefed already on how powerful vampires were rumored to be and were taking no chances.

"You will die here abomination!" The Red knight said as fire appeared and covered his hands.

Acheron laughed, and shook his head as if berating them,

"The Church is hypocritical as ever! any one with powers outside of the Church is an abomination, the scourge of the world!... But you still believe that you also speak of yourself"

"These powers were given to us by God! Anyone with them that don't belong to the Church got theirs from Satan, making the Devil worshipers and need to be eradicated!" The Red Knight shouted.

"THERE IS NO GOD!" Acheron roared, making the knights take two steps back,

"It doesn't matter anyways, you are all corrupted by the Church, its too late for you all"

"Prepare for battle!!" The Three Knights exclaimed,

Acheron smiled and lunged, his fangs on full display.

…

"You won't get away with this… cough… the Church will hunt you down!" one of the exorcists said as blood trickled down the side of his mouth,

Acheron had killed all of them except one, the commanders stood no chance, their magic was powerless in front of this monster. Acheron torn them in half seconds after the battle started.

Acheron raised the exorcist by the throat, and pulled his face closer,

"I'm hoping for it! Tell them of me, inform them of my powers and how weak your elite were in front of me! HAHAHA! I'll be waiting!!.... Acheron Belau, Remember My Name!"

Acheron tossed the sole survivor to the side like a rag doll and disappeared from the battlefield.