Meeting an old friend [chapter 24]

On a luxurious boat in the Mediterranean Sea, specifically off the coast of Sicily, Alucard, dressed in his summer captain attire, could be seen on the ship's dock, enjoying the night breeze. Suddenly, his phone rang, displaying the caller ID "Annoying Super Clone." Alucard sighed and answered, "So, what now?" 01 had interrupted his alone time.

"You were right," 01 said, and Alucard knew exactly what he was referring to. Still wanting to annoy the clone, Alucard replied, "And what am I right about exactly?" 01 explained himself, saying, "I should have had some patience, but you can't blame me. I just didn't want to see a child die in front of me." Alucard sighed again, agreeing, "Neither do I, but these heroes... It's like they have invincible armor protecting them. Unless the universe wants them dead, they will live," the clone affirmed.

"Anyways, how much?" Alucard asked with a smile. "500, but there are some abilities that I'm not sure I should dismantle," 01 answered, and Alucard nodded. "Well, that is a rank ability there. Anyways, gather more. I have to go now; I'm about to watch a royal spar," Alucard said before hanging up, leaving a confused clone on the other side.

After ending the call, a large ship emerged from the water, followed by a smaller one. Alucard had already made the ship invisible and floated above the water, intending to witness the impending fight. Another figure, dressed in silver-scaled armor, jumped through the water with a dolphin, illuminated by the moonlight as lightning crackled in the background.

The scene was complete when four giant tentacles surrounded the ship. Alucard raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Extract," causing a floating screen to appear.

[ Successfully extracted Karathen ]

[+ Superhuman condition (A: 0/500), longevity (A: 0/500), precognition (C: 0/400) ]

"It's like a kraken," Alucard thought as he watched the fight begin. It didn't amount to much of a fight, as Arthur possessed the trident of Atlan, which Alucard had managed to extract, sacrificing each duplicate except for hydrokinesis, an element he lacked, and precognition, which he kept. This action yielded 1,087 essences.

[NAME: ALUCARD]

[ENERGY: 60,400/60,400]

[Essence: 1,087]

[EXTRACTED:

[healing: 10B] [paralyzing poison: 1,000,000] [cyanide poison: 50M] [mustard poison: 10,000] [money: 734B]

[heavenly brain: the heavenly is an amalgamation of many mental skills such as solar radiation absorption (A: 0/500), wish-granting (F: 0/5,000), invisibility (D: 0/150), teleportation (B: 0/450), telekinesis (B: 0/450), telepathy (B: 0/450), dimensional-travel (B: 0/450), time-travel (A: 0/500), precognition (D: 0/150), (active/passive: off)]

[heavenly body: the heavenly is an amalgamation of many physical skills such as true-duplication (F: 0/1,000), superhuman-condition (A: 0/500), self-repair (B: 0/450), regenerative-evolution (S: 0/4,000), (active/passive: off)]

[elemental shard: elemental shard is a collection of different types of elemental skills such as illusion casting (D: 0/150), weather manipulation (C: 0/400), pyrokinesis (B: 0/450), electric manipulation (A: 0/500), wind manipulation (C: 0/400), hydrokinesis (D: 0/150), thermokinesis (C: 0/400), energy-transference (A: 0/500), (active/passive: off)]]

Alucard watched as the family drama unfolded, with the Atlantean in silver-scaled armor losing the fight and demanding that Arthur kill him. "No," a voice sounded, a voice that Alucard recognized, albeit a bit changed. This voice caused Alucard to smile a bit as he let the mother reunite with her sons—Orm, the soon-to-be dethroned king of Atlantis, and Arthur.

Seeing the family embracing and putting an end to the war on the surface, which wouldn't have ended well for the Atlanteans, Alucard decided to reveal his presence by undoing his invisibility. This greatly shocked the Atlanteans, who immediately pointed their weapons at Alucard, who was slowly floating down with his signature red hair fluttering—perhaps he was utilizing his telekinesis.

"Alucard!" "Alucard!" both mother and son yelled as they saw him. Arthur quickly stopped the Atlanteans from making a mistake and turned towards Alucard. "What are you doing here?" Arthur asked as Alucard touched down.

"I am here to ensure there isn't much bloodshed. After all, I've heard that Atlantis City is a beautiful place, and obviously, I wanted to greet an old friend," he said, turning towards Atlanna. The last sentence caused the man with red hair, wearing green-scaled armor, to scoff.

"You knew," Arthur said as Alucard smiled. "Of course, I am a man of my word, unless something or someone changed my mind," Alucard replied with a slight chuckle. "You're still the same, Alucard?" Atlanna finally spoke as she walked towards Alucard, but before Alucard could respond, he did a slight bow. "It has been a while, Atlanta. How is the Hollow Earth treating you?" Alucard joked, earning a smile from the queen of Atlantis.

"You are still the same, not aging a day," Atlanta remarked, her smile fading as she reminisced about how she used to be young and beautiful. "Now you are just beautiful," Alucard replied sincerely, earning glares from both sons and a small chuckle from the queen herself. The atmosphere grew awkward as the three of them exchanged looks.

"Yes, I just remembered," Alucard said, reaching into his jacket as if retrieving something. The Atlanteans immediately pointed their weapons at him, but he reassured them, "Hahaha, please, that won't do you any good. I mean you no harm." Alucard pulled out a silver trident, eliciting a surprised reaction from Arthur.

"How did you get that?" Arthur asked, genuinely confused. "Well, you could say that I like to keep a record," Alucard replied, handing the trident back to its former original owner. "Thank you, Alucard," Atlanta said as she accepted the trident.

"Well, this is goodbye, I guess. I am glad you found love, Atlanta," Alucard said before hugging the queen of Atlantis one more time. He then started to float away, his voice growing more distant as he ascended. "What about you?" Atlanta asked, prompting Alucard to stop in midair and turn back towards her.

"Ah, you know me. Still looking for the one," Alucard said with a smile as he continued to ascend. "Well, don't wait too long. Not every girl can continue to be young," Atlanta said bitterly. Alucard smiled, "I don't mind either way!" he yelled, his voice fading further before disappearing from their view.

"Was he going to destroy the city?" Arthur muttered to himself, but then a woman's voice echoed in his heart, "There is something about him, King. Beware, he is the biggest threat I have seen in a long time." The voice belonged to another Krakkan, the guardian of the Trident of the Atlas.

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you know what goes in there |__| that is right, stone.