The volcanic abyss still vibrated with the heat of the lava.
Dracula, in his colossal shadow form, advanced with steps that made the ground tremble, each movement an announcement of imminent slaughter.
Lucy, panting, staggered again.
Her transformation had almost entirely faded.
"Still breathing?" Dracula mocked, his voice echoing as several at once.
"Let's play a little more."
Lucy growled and drew her twin pistols, spinning them quickly.
She fired a storm of silver projectiles, each bullet infused with her vampiric energy.
The bullets struck Dracula — and simply dissolved into the black smoke surrounding him.
"Childish weapons."
He snapped his fingers.
A vortex of black flames erupted beneath her feet, forcing Lucy to leap.
Dracula summoned spears of shadow, all aimed at her heart.
Lucy dodged by inches and fell to her knees.
"Damn… this won't…"
Dracula extended his hands.
Something like a massive organ made of shadows appeared behind him, and from its invisible keys erupted waves of demonic sound, slicing through the air.
Lucy was hurled against a rock, coughing blood.
The world slowed.
The heat muffled everything.
The sound of the waves… vanished…
And then, in absolute silence, a memory sparked to life.
[FLASHBACK — YEARS EARLIER]
Young Lucy stared at her father, Ulisses, struggling to hold a wooden sword.
"Dad… Can I really learn this technique? It seems impossible for me."
Ulisses smiled with pride.
"Nothing is impossible for my daughter."
He knelt and touched her forehead.
"Listen carefully, Lucy. This is the Karamazov's supreme defense…"
He positioned himself, striking a strange yet elegant stance.
"The ShadowGuard.
It blocks the inevitable. Nullifies the unbreakable. Protects even the undefendable."
He lifted her hand.
"But it only works… when your heart knows what it needs to protect."
Lucy smiled.
"And what do you protect, Dad?"
Ulisses replied, firm and warm:
"You. It has always been you."
Lucy opened her eyes back in the present — and the red in them shone brighter than ever.
She rose… despite her weakened body.
She assumed the perfect stance her father taught her.
Hands steady.
Center of gravity flawless.
Breathing… precise.
Dracula let out a deep laugh.
"What is this? Posing for a portrait before dying?"
Lucy didn't answer.
"Let's see how long that arrogance lasts."
He charged with absurd speed, shadow claws aiming straight for her chest.
Lucy moved like water.
Every strike that would have killed her before…
was now dodged, blocked, deflected, with supernatural precision.
Dracula frowned.
"That's impossible…"
Lucy gave a defiant smile.
The shadow of Dracula attacked again, multiplied, monstrous.
Lucy spun — and landed a punch directly on the main shadow, dispersing part of his energy.
The vampire recoiled, surprised.
"How dare —"
"I'd dare a thousand times."
She grabbed Lycanos.
The blade, in its true form, began pulsing with living energy.
Lucy charged.
A thrust.
Then another.
Then another.
A fierce, almost tribal rhythm.
Each strike piercing, ripping, tearing through Dracula's shadowy body.
He began to lose mass.
His form dissolving like smoke blown apart.
"Enough!" Dracula roared.
Lucy ignored him.
She drove Lycanos through his chest —
felt the resistance of shadow-flesh.
Dracula's red eyes widened.
With a vampiric roar, Lucy seized the convergent amulet attached to the sword
and tore it free, separating it from LYCANOS.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
Lucy raised the amulet.
Energy converged into it.
She pressed the amulet to Dracula's forehead.
"It's OVER!"
Dracula convulsed as though burning alive.
The entire domain trembled.
Lava walls extinguished.
The ground began to collapse.
His shadow ripped apart, screaming like a thousand voices dying at once.
And then…
Everything vanished.
Lucy collapsed to her knees on the cold floor of the silver palace.
Dracula's statue was cracked.
The air was quiet — no domain, no living shadows.
She turned.
Drayven still lay motionless on the ground.
Lucy's expression shattered.
She rushed to her, kneeling and gently lifting her head, resting it on her lap.
Drayven's dark hair spilled through Lucy's fingers.
Lucy looked at her face…
and saw her mother.
The expression, the stillness, the features…
It was like seeing her again.
Her voice broke.
"My mother risked her life for me… and now you too."
Her throat tightened.
Her breath faltered.
"I should've saved you…"
Her voice trembled.
"I should've brought light to you… taken that darkness out of your heart…"
Tears fell before she could stop them.
A few landed on Drayven's face.
Lucy wiped them with her thumb, but more came — unstoppable.
Finally, she took a deep breath…
and removed the convergent amulet, now hanging from a delicate silver chain.
She placed it gently over Drayven's chest.
"This belonged to my mother. Now… it's yours. Carry her light with you. Even in the darkness."
Lucy stayed still for several seconds.
Then she drew Lycanos.
The blade returned to its normal form, as if understanding the moment.
Lucy planted the sword in the ground beside her body, like a monument of honor.
"And this belonged to my father…"
She breathed deeply.
"A legacy of war… and love. I'll leave it with you too. Rest in peace, Drayven."
She remained standing there, looking at the vampire's body…
until she felt she could no longer endure another second.
Lucy rose slowly.
Her expression somber, yet serene.
Marked by loss, but fortified by courage.
She turned away.
And walked toward the portal leading back to the sanctuary…
carrying the weight of two tragedies on her shoulders,
but the strength of two bloodlines in her heart.