The air outside was heavy, thick, saturated with a blue cold that seemed to crawl up from the ground. The mystical circle glowed among the ruins — ancient runes and spiraling lines pulsing with energy.
Winds carried black leaves, and the pale moonlight reflected off stone streaked with dried blood.
Kalina laughed — a sharp, twisted sound that echoed through the ruins.
The ground trembled when both of them rushed forward at the same time.
Their fists collided, the shockwave cracking the air.
Kalina spun, slashing with her claws in rapid succession.
Lucy dodged, countering with a spinning kick that knocked the vampire back.
Their fight turned into a brutal dance — close-quarters, relentless.
Kalina moved with feral speed, her attacks almost liquid, snaking around Lucy with predatory precision.
Lucy answered with raw technique — steady fists, sharp knees, every strike the product of hard training.
A punch to Kalina's gut.
A claw across Lucy's shoulder.
Blood.
Heavy breathing.
A rising storm of fury.
"Come on, kitty… show me what you're made of!" Kalina mocked, dragging her claws across the floor, sparks flying.
Lucy drew Lycanos.
The wolfblade expanded with a metallic howl, the air shimmering around it.
Kalina answered with her claws wrapped in purple energy, and the two clashed in a duel of light and shadow.
Blue flames.
Crimson sparks.
Their strikes boomed like thunder.
Each blow cracked the ground more.
Lucy spun the blade in precise arcs, mixing horizontal and vertical slashes, while Kalina blocked with forearms hardened by magic.
Lucy leapt, crossing her blade and slashing down, carving open Kalina's chest.
Dark blood sprayed out, but the vampire only laughed, licking the wound.
"Ohh… that hurts," she whispered, shivering with pleasure.
"But it makes me feel alive."
Lucy switched Lycanos for the Chiron Gauntlets.
The living metal fused to her arms in a golden glow.
With a roar, she rushed forward and hammered Kalina's stomach with a devastating combo.
Each punch detonated with raw energy —BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! — hurling the vampire backwards.
But Kalina smiled, delirious, and snapped her fingers.
The illusion began.
The sky spun.
Colors inverted.
Lucy blinked — Kalina vanished.
A sudden pain in her neck.
A warm whisper.
A cold touch sliding along her skin.
"So strong… but so innocent," Kalina breathed against her ear.
"You should learn to use your power differently… pain and pleasure are the same thing."
Lucy tried to move, but her body wouldn't obey.
Kalina's venom burned through her veins, paralyzing her.
The vampire straddled her, dragging her claws over Lucy's face, licking the blood.
Soft kisses on her neck.
Breathy, lustful whispers.
Lucy's heart pounded, but her eyes filled with hatred.
"…Get… off me," she muttered.
Kalina laughed. "Mmm… or what?"
A crack.
A crimson spark.
Lucy's hands transformed — demonic claws wrapped in red flames.
Her partial Monster Awaken.
The venom burned away instantly.
Her eyes turned wild and crimson.
Lucy rose violently, throwing Kalina back.
The ground shook under her roar.
Kalina, thrilled by the surge of power, spread her arms.
"YES! THAT'S IT! Show me, heir! Show me what's inside you!"
Lucy charged.
Every attack now was a wall of sheer power.
Kalina tried to react, but each hit shoved her back.
A block.
A dodge.
A kick.
Lucy grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.
Kalina gasped, face flushed with twisted delight.
"Harder… please…"
Lucy tightened her grip.
"You're disgusting."
And hurled her into a boulder.
The impact shattered the ground.
Kalina tried to stand, but Lucy was already on her.
A brutal flurry to the stomach, each punch heavier than the last.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Kalina spat blood, her eyes rolling.
Lucy gathered energy into her right gauntlet — one final strike, straight to the face.
The hit launched Kalina meters back, her body sliding to the center of the blue circle.
Panting, the vampire let out a broken laugh.
"Heh… amazing… You really are strong…"
She crawled toward the glowing center.
"Now I understand why Dracula fears you…"
Lucy's breath caught for a second.
"What did you say?"
Kalina stared at the wolf armor covering part of Lucy's body, seeing her reflection.
Her eyes widened.
"Ulisses… he's your father…"
She laughed, choking on blood.
"You have his power… no… maybe even more."
Lucy stepped forward.
"Enough. You already lost."
Kalina lifted her face toward the darkening sky.
"But I… can't let you live… I serve my master— Dracula!"
"You can't even stand," Lucy said with a tired sigh. "You don't have to do this."
Kalina smiled, delirious, almost blissful.
"Great is the power of Dracula! Master! Grant me one last surge of power… enough to kill her!"
The sky split into black spirals.
Winds howled, lifting stone and dust.
Dracula's shadow formed among the clouds — red eyes glowing like blood-moons.
Kalina fell to her knees, relieved.
"Master… Dracula…"
His voice echoed, deep and calm:
"Kalina… you have failed. You are no longer worthy."
The blue circle corrupted into purple.
Black flames crawled over Kalina's body, burning her skin.
She screamed, twisting, her face dissolving into ash.
"MASTER! MASTER, NO!"
Her agony broke into one last desperate laugh.
Kalina looked at Lucy, smiling weakly.
"Heh… See you soon, redhead…"
And she turned to dust, carried away by the wind.
Lucy didn't move.
The silence after the screams was suffocating.
She looked up at the sky, where Dracula's silhouette vanished in a crimson flash.
"That bastard…" she muttered.
Behind her, the flutter of bats filled the air.
Drayven emerged from the shadows, dark and silent.
"You defeated her," he said, voice cold.
"Maybe it was… too easy for you."
Lucy held the red pendant on her chest — the only thing left from her mother.
Her expression hardened.
"Dracula… the way he treats people sickens me. Killing even his own followers like they're nothing."
Drayven watched her, unmoving.
Lucy lifted her gaze, firm, unshaken.
"I'm almost sure he's the one who killed my mother and my sister."
Her voice sharpened with resolve.
"My mother used to say my father fought for the weak. That he had courage… and a just heart."
She clenched her fist.
"In his name… I'm going to kill Dracula."
For a moment, something flickered in Drayven's eyes — guilt, maybe?
He didn't answer.
He simply turned away and pointed toward a black doorway open among the ruins — the entrance back to the sanctuary.
Then he dissolved into bats.
Lucy remained alone before the circle, the wind tugging at her silver hair.
She stared at the horizon for a few seconds and then, without hesitation, walked toward the door.
The moon shone over her.
The pendant on her chest pulsed one last time.