Chapter 801 - 800: You Are a Progenitor Too?

"C-Could it be that you are the rumored Fourth Progenitor?!"

Eustach stammered in utter disbelief. Recently, whispers had spread across this island regarding a Fourth Progenitor, a newly manifested anomaly alongside the other three who ruled the world: the Lost Warlord who governed Europe, the Fall Gazer who dominated Western Asia, and the Chaos Bride who held sway over North and South America.

An ageless, deathless King of Vampires; an unimaginably powerful monster.

Connecting the dots, the crimson-clad man standing before him aligned flawlessly with those terrifying legends.

Yukina stared at Alucard with wide, disbelieving eyes, before mechanically turning her head toward the silver-haired boy who had just rushed to the scene.

As a Sword Shaman dispatched by the Lion King Agency to observe and monitor the Fourth Progenitor, she had spent the entire past day closely trailing this high school student, Kojo Akatsuki. Yet, not a single bone in his body resembled a true Progenitor.

If anything, he was just a perverted, completely incompetent slacker.

In stark contrast, the man in front of her tonight, who had utterly neutralized a giant Familiar capable of instantly slaughtering an Elder vampire using nothing but absolute, overwhelming gunmanship, exuded a suffocating, peerless dominance. This was what a Fourth Progenitor was supposed to look like!

At this thought, even Yukina began to wonder if the Three Saints of the Lion King Agency had somehow botched their intelligence.

Perhaps Kojo Akatsuki wasn’t the Fourth Progenitor at all, and this imposing figure before them, sporting a grand top hat and round, tinted glasses, was the genuine article.

Sensing Yukina’s deeply skeptical gaze boring into him, Kojo felt an overwhelming urge to cry. Granted, he didn’t have the slightest desire to be some grand Fourth Progenitor, but did she really have to start doubting his very existence right to his face?

"The Fourth Progenitor? So, there are other Vampire Progenitors in this world?" Alucard asked smoothly.

He was undeniably a True Ancestor Vampire by rank, but he was certainly not the specific "Fourth Progenitor" Eustach was rattling on about.

[Note: Progenitors (真祖) are lit. True Ancestor]

"How could a vampire of your caliber possibly be ignorant of the Three Progenitors?!"

Eustach’s voice dripped with suspicion, though he clearly had no intention of playing tour guide for Alucard. With a violent tear, he ripped away his outer priestly vestments, exposing a brilliant, gleaming suit of golden armor beneath.

"Oh ho... Now what do we have here?" Alucard noted, his interest slightly piqued.

"Vampire, behold the Vestment of the Fortress, forged through the pinnacle of Lotharingian technology for the sake of the Holy War! Let its divine radiance purge all obstacles in our path!"

Eustach began to chant a solemn incantation. True to his words, the sacred armor radiated an increasingly blinding, brilliant light.

Alucard frowned slightly, a touch of boredom creeping into his expression. "What is this? Do all of you in this world rely solely on external gimmicks to fight?"

After exchanging a few blows, Alucard had already diagnosed a fundamental flaw in the combat styles of this world. It seemed their inherent, personal physical capabilities were entirely mediocre, leaving them heavily reliant on external forces like Familiars and specialized gear.

The vampire from earlier became utterly defenseless the moment his Familiar was taken out, and this priest had no backup strategies of his own after losing the upper hand, forcing him to rely entirely on flashing his shiny equipment.

It was exactly like a swordsman who over-relied on a legendary blade rather than honing his own physical strength and blade mastery.

As his chant concluded, Eustach swung his massive battleaxe. Unlike the clean vertical bisection from before, he opted for a devastating diagonal cleave this time.

Eustach reasoned that even if this man truly was an immortal Vampire Progenitor, regenerating from a severed head would still buy him a significant window of time. He intended to use that opening to grab Astarte and make a swift tactical retreat to prepare for his grand master plan.

Thud!!

Unfortunately for Eustach, reality completely shattered his expectations.

A dull, heavy impact echoed through the harbor. A numbing shockwave jolted through both of his hands grasping the haft of the axe, making it feel as though he had struck an indestructible, divine lodestone.

Peering closer, he realized Alucard hadn’t even bothered to dodge or parry. He had used the bare skin of his neck to tank the heavy battleaxe straight-on. The flesh of his throat didn’t even show a microscopic scratch.

"W-What!?"

Eustach, Yukina, and Kojo all stared with wide, bugged-out eyes. How... How was this humanly possible?!

Eustach poured every ounce of his strength into the weapon. The sharp edge of the blade was firmly pressed against the vampire’s skin, yet it could not advance a single millimeter.

Wasn’t a vampire’s physical body supposed to be inherently fragile and brittle?

"Are you finished?" Alucard asked out of nowhere, his slightly narrowed eyes completely unreadable.

"Out of tricks?"

Alucard pressed again. Eustach desperately forced more weight into his axe, but the result remained stubbornly unchanged; he couldn’t even break Alucard’s skin.

"Then go to hell!"

Alucard’s irises snapped into sharp slits. Opening his jaws wide to reveal a terrifying row of razor fangs, he took a predatory stride forward. Before his opponent could even process a defensive reaction, Alucard bit down savagely into Eustach’s neck.

Squelch!

Instantly, a geyser of crimson blood sprayed, painting Alucard’s face. Like a vicious apex predator tearing into its prey, Alucard clamped his teeth deep into Eustach’s throat, refusing to let go.

"T-That is terrifying...!"

Kojo scrambled backward in sheer terror, earning a look of utter disdain from Yukina. Yet, even as a third-year middle school girl, she couldn’t help but feel a violent shiver run down her spine beneath her school uniform, her mind completely boggled by the sheer brutality.

Why is his combat style so primal? Aren’t vampires supposed to summon Familiars to fight for them?

With a savage wrench of his neck, Alucard flipped Eustach’s flailing body high into the air, his teeth locking with crushing force. A split second before Eustach’s torso could hit the asphalt, his severed head struck the ground first, followed closely by his lifeless, decapitated corpse.

"Hmph... What a pathetic ’Exorcist.’ Your combat prowess isn’t even on par with a Marine Vice Admiral."

Alucard wiped the gore from his face, his expression twisted into a predatory smirk as his gaze drifted over to the nearby Astarte. "Are you a Familiar? This is only the third time I’ve encountered a humanoid one."

Astarte stood completely frozen in place. Having lost her master, she was entirely devoid of direction, having no idea what her next directive should be.

"Senpai... Are you sure you’re the Fourth Progenitor? Because I think he looks way more like the real deal than you do," Yukina whispered, having slunk over to Kojo’s side.

"Please, just stop talking! Let’s get out of here while that monster is distracted!"

Kojo had absolutely no desire to trade quips with Yukina right now. His sole, desperate instinct was to flee this cursed place as fast as possible, putting as much distance as he could between himself and that horrifying entity.

"Progenitor?"

Alucard’s voice cut through the air like ice, freezing Kojo dead in his tracks just as he was about to bolt. Turning his head with mechanical stiffness, Kojo found Alucard’s piercing crimson eyes locked squarely onto him.

"You are a Progenitor too?"

For some inexplicable reason, standing before this man made Kojo feel like a helpless mouse cornered by an ancient predator. He nodded his head like a malfunctioning machine. "I... I only inherited this constitution a short while ago. I-It wasn’t by choice..."

Bang!

The words had barely left Kojo’s mouth when a heavy round tore clean through his heart, leaving a gaping, smoking cavity right in the center of his chest. His body collapsed limply to the ground.

Yukina’s beautiful eyes dilated in absolute shock. She stared at Kojo’s fallen body for several agonizing seconds before turning her head in disbelief.

There stood Alucard, holding his large black firearm aloft, a faint wisp of blue smoke still curling lazily from the barrel.