Chapter 48 - Belpel shows himself

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While Vlad was slowly disposing of all the guards that Anastas was throwing at him. Besides, the blond guy was having a hard time thinking of what was going on on the other side. The inside of his head was a mash of ideas that each conflicted at the end. Time passed since he sent those men of his to search for the missing guys, and it's already been 15 minutes since then. Right now, even units 3 and 5, who got sent to look for unit 8, began showing signs of no return.

As he thought about that, the fact that he sent people to their death made his handsome face crumbled. He finally concluded from all the possible reasons for his missing men that Vlad was out for an escape. To be sure that he didn't miss out on Vlad. He went quite quickly to inform Belpel about the entire situation since it already went out of control since he was far stronger than he was.

Doing this made sense because even himself didn't know how strong Vlad actually become in the two years, he remained silent.

After 3 minutes of rushing towards the control house, he entered Belpel's office to find the middle-aged man on top of a young woman ravaging her senseless. Hearing his door opening and seeing the handsome Anastas, who looked too rushed while reaching him, and his face showed signs of breaking. Made Belpel continue on his initial business as if it didn't matter his visit.

He slowly asked Anastas while he was doing some rounds to the girl without being affected by the intrusion. "What happened this time, Anastas? Can't you see I'm busy at this hour? I'll listen to you next time."

Anastas felt his emotions getting out of control and placed his hand on his sword, almost ready to cut Belpel neck. Yet after taking a series of deep breaths, he said while gritting his teeth.

"Three of my good units went missing. The cause for their disappearance and killing? I 98% believe that Zagreus, the Blood Devil  is on the run for good. So here I'm as a sub-officer of this group of yours, placed by Mayer to help you, ask you to prepare for the next fight that is not far from here. Also, do you authorize me to put on watch every guard stationed in this zone?"

"Wait, wait a minute. What are you even talking about? Is that crazy kid really out for the run? Hoho, interesting, finally I can have a good fight with that weird kid since I know he wants to kill me for good after messing him up so many times.

Do as you wish, Anastas, warm up that kid for me. But before that, let me finish this girl." said Belpel while continuing his business with the young woman, as if the news Anastas brought were useless to him.

"Good, at least your head can think.  A kind reminder, you should finish this "business" of yours before more good men are slayed by that freak. Go  stay by the gate just in case everyone fails to stop that Zagreus." reminded Anastas, still a bit pissed by the entire situation.

"Sure, sure. I'll go prepare my spear just in case. Now go deal with that kid in whatever way you can."

Anastas walked away from the office with a tightened fist as if he was prepared to hit Belpel in the face. Keeping himself calm, not long after that conversation, he sounded the alarm inside the zone. Every guard got assembled except the units sent on patrol, that were oblivious to what was happening in the shadows.

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On the other side of the zone, Vlad and his group were slowly moving towards the gates. They heard on the alley the footsteps of another patrolling unit. There were three people in this unit. While it was indeed true that they got outnumbered when taking into account all the guards, it was something easy for Vlad to achieve.

He could easily kill them piece by piece, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, being enclosed all alone in this hellhole. This time he signalled for Kipset, Inorra, and Robert to fight this out. To let them experience for themselves how it is to draw out the blood of your enemy.

The boys could only comply with Vlad. Slowly they waited for the guards to approach.

Aerius, who was by Robert's shoulder, said to him. "You see those guys, the same strategy that we followed again the other guy. Now it will be far easier with a sword. I've seen Vlad do it a lot. That stance Ox, you remember that right. You move with that, and when those guys appear you thrust it in their throat or heart."

"Damn, Aerius. You start sounding like Vlad." replied Robert back, but still taking the stance he memorized from seeing Vlad doing it.

When they did, Inorra also took a middle-stance and prepared his sword for a diagonal strike, while Robert listened to Aerius. They jumped to ambush them from the side. Inorra failed in his attack, getting blocked almost right before being able to cut the guard body. Meanwhile, Robert surprisingly stabbed his sword in the throat of the guard he targeted.

Vlad nodded his head towards Robert and Aerius, a bit surprised to see Robert do so well in the fights so far.

'That gryphon is really a sneaky bastard, he actually also learned my swordplay while I placed him to stay with me while I trained. Heh, good for Robert, It's not a bad choice to let the little guy with that kid Robert. They will grow together while I'll enjoy a bit of life with some ladies.'

'As for that Inorra, he had a good idea in his head, but was a step later to finish the blow.'

Thinking that Vlad now turns to look at Kipset, expecting something out of him. His initial engagement plan looked different. Instead of just simply rushing for a lucky strike, he initiated the fight with a feigned strike.

He went from a High Guard and feinted to do a vertical strike to one of the guards. Still, as he was fastly moving to slash downwards, he switched how he handled the sword into a stance holding his sword inside right. Stabbing his sword to the unexpected guard straight to his heart.

"Ohh, so he still remembers to feint and not only dumbly clash his swords with his enemy, a good start, I guess." Said Vlad coldly from a distance while preparing a condensed ball of blood just in case something unexpected happened.

One of the guards died, the other one was only meat left on the chopping board. This time Robert and Inorra dealt with the remaining guard. With a series of clashes, the guard's stance finally crumbled down. With an opened body, he only closed his eyes, expecting a sudden death. Indeed so it happened. Inorra was the one to end the guard's life.

The three didn't get any time for celebrations or stops. Vlad told them to move onward towards the gate.

Yet Aerius tapped Robert's head while saying. "Good job buddy, you managed yourself well there."

"Thanks for the help Aerius."

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As they walked on the narrow alley, they finally stopped at a large passage leading towards the control building and the gate right beside it.

"Prepare for the worst situation ahead. I'll try to breach the gates so you can run for your dear life. Inor, Kip, once you go out, don't bother with me, just run, and once you get to the crossroads, go for the marines, start a new life there. Robert, Aerius, you will run side by side with the other two. Once you're at the crossroad, you go toward the opposite side and try to hide by the forest. I'll try and get there as soon as I can. I hope you don't get yourself killed too early kids."

With everything said, Vlad took some deep breaths to calm himself and enter an emotionless state, while his eyes turned colder, but without signs that he was affected by the dark energy inside him.

The mark on his chest pulsed for a bit without hurting Vlad, grew a bit larger without even being noticed by him.  Right now, all his focus was on the upcoming fight. He felt that he should care less about the kids right now. If he does, everyone would die. He tried his best to change the kids' future in the right way, something that fate wasn't so kind to do for him.

With the crimson sword in hand, he walked slowly towards the gates, followed by the other three young men and the black cat-like creature on Robert's shoulder. Each of them held their swords tightly in hand, whereas their faces were as serious as possible, clearly prepared for the fight brewing since they started killing the guards.

Inside the protruding darkness, the tension brewing in the air without a doubt could be discerned by naked eyes. As Vlad was approaching, he could hear from the distance guards talking with each other, questioning why they had to gather around the gate.

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All the commotion lasted until Vlad heard the voice of a young guard.

"Attention, guys. The reason why I gathered you all here is that we have an escapee on the run. Quite the dangerous one, I should say, worse than a bunch of rebelling guys. I think you guys know about him. It is that Blood Devil Zagreus. The kid who butchered alone six guards like it was nothing. You don't have to worry, guys. I informed sir Belpel he will come to assist us as soon as the fight starts."

Vlad could hear the blonde guard loud and clear from where he was since he was still under the influence of his Blood Powers « Enhancement » that multiplied his overall abilities. As he approached the control house and slowly went to pass it to reach the gates, he was met by the number of 32 guards, who seemed to be well prepared to welcome him.

In the front of all the guards was Anastas, the blonde guard, who was a bit taller than Vlad, being around 1,89 meters. Seeing as Vlad was approaching, followed by Kipset, Inorra, and Robert, Aerius at his back, and looking at his cold face and crimson swords in hand. He frowned for a short time and shouted at Vlad in resentment and injustice.

"Blood Devil, did you really had to kill those poor men? Wasn't it enough to incapacitate them and let them taste the beauty of life?"

As Vlad was approaching slowly like how he did two years ago with the incident that concerned Glim's death. This time, Anastas could see Vlad's features from where he was in the dark. Cold-looking eyes that didn't reflect any emotions on them, only darkness, like what he asked him, just passed by without affecting his mood. His face also didn't show any emotions. Only his mouth looked to give a small smile in response to what he just said.

"Hmph, your silence tells everything, you monster. Only a monster would take so coldly the life of one another. Just look at you. There's not even a piece of remorse to be seen on your face. What about you kids? Are you pleased with what you did? Following the steps of this monster was your worst mistake ever made in life. But hear me out. I will give you a chance to live if you surrender. What you say, life or death? What's your choice?" continued Anastas to pressure the group of young men while also thinking of all sorts of plans in his head to deal with Vlad if he went crazy here. Until Belpel comes, if he comes, he's in charge here. Any life lost was on his head, not Belpel's.

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Vlad was slowly approaching, not bothered by what the blonde guard just said, he stopped suddenly in place. When looking at the opposite sides, he could see the blonde guard and the 32 guards holding their swords prepared to fight. Staring coldly at the guard's faces, he later heard Kipset and Inorra laugh sarcastically at the blond guy.

"You think we're stupid not to know what you're trying to do here, to demoralize us into believing that Vlad is in the wrong here. Do you think that we want to be slaves here? Hmph, at least you have something to call home, while us here can't even think of that. So what were you saying again, you arrogant fuck? Surrender? I'll surrender on top of your grave, you arrogant fuck." retorted Inorra while staring with full hatred at the guards.

Kipset also prepared himself, walking close to where Vlad was, saying to him: "Vlad, I will try to take on as many I can and give you some space to push forward a path for us to escape. Stay strong."

Following Kipset's example, Inorra also joined the line with a grin on his face, followed by Robert, who was assisted by Aerius, who was by Vlad's left side prepared to help with whatever he could.

Aerius, the little gryphon, turned to look at Vlad's tall back, which had his long jet-black hair flowing down like a cascade. He seemed like a tall mountain in the face of a storm, looking particularly lonely at this time. He wanted to cheer him up but give up on this idea in fear he would disturb his mentality.

His claws pierced a bit of Robert's skin, making the young man turn his head to look at Aerius, who had a worrying face.

"Hey Aerius, what's going on? There's any problem?"

"I fear Vlad will once again be consumed by that wicked energy and this time it will be much worse than what happened with Nius."

"Sigh, I know that form of his when that happened against Nius was quite scary. Let's hope nothing like that happen. Aerius you better be prepared, don't get me killed." tried Robert to cheer Aerius a bit.

"Don't worry buddy, I got your back and front."

Sensing the kids prepared for the fight of their life, Vlad also prepared himself. His heart started pumping blood in his system. After some intense stares between the guards and rebelling madman, Vlad finally made his move.

His steps turned out to be so fast that the guards could barely focus their eyes on his tall body. However, Anastas could keep up with Vlad's speed as he went to engage with him. Drawing his rapier that looked more like a longsword, he also rushed to clash swords with Vlad.

Then as they disengaged from the sword clash, Anastas called out the name of an attack making Vlad surprised by this weird fighting style.

"[Star Splash]!"

While Vlad already rushed to fight with the guards, Kipset, Inorra, and Robert were left there. The one who took charge of them was Kipset, who ordered.

"Stay close to one another. We'll keep our backs safe as we approach the gates. Believe in Vlad. He'll, for sure, make way for us to exit the camp."

And so the boys started to slowly approach around the gate while fighting the guards who charged at them in order to cull them for good. Kipset took the lead and blocked most of the strikes, while Inorra was careful to block the blows coming from the rear. Robert, too, played a part in this fight with Aerius' help, he started assisting Inorra with some blocks and well timed attacks, but most of the time he  was pushed back by the guard's blows.

Fearing of not breaking the others' concentration, he went back to hold the line, while Kipset was the one dealing the most damage around the three.

The guards were frustrated by the formation of those boys because they couldn't flood them with numbers. To not waste any time, a part of the guards decided to attack Vlad in order to be of some help to Anastas while letting the rest deal with the boys approaching the gates.

Meanwhile, Anastas roared his rapier attack «Star Splash»

The attack began with three high-speed short thrusts at Vlad's chest, which all were blocked by Vlad's crimson sword, but in this way, this sword of attacks made him raise his guard up.

'You've taken the bait you Devil. Now let's see how you survive the rest of the combo.'

When Anastasius thought of that in his mind, he followed with another series of thrusts and strikes which placed Vlad in a defensive position.

Afterward, after digging a hole for Vlad with those high-speed attacks, he followed with two strikes at Vlad's legs. Even this strike was blocked by Vlad claymore, not to say that Vlad tried something very smart when he blocked the first strike going towards his legs.

Using the claymore, which had a better advantage than the rapier of Anastas, he pushed down the strikes. While raising his leg, he quickly tried to step on the sword and pin the young blonde guard on the ground.

Yet, at the last second, before his leg touched the tip of the blade, Anastas quickly draws his sword back and turned to look at Vlad with a surprised face.

'This guy is really a freak. He thought of a way to counter even that part of the combo. Then let's see how you handle this.'

When Anastas drew back his rapier, still having some momentum left from his combo-skill, he performed two strong jabs high and low, which were blocked by Vlad. Yet they managed to push Vlad and even deal some marks on the blood reinforcement on the crimson sword.

With Vlad pushed back, he tightened his grip on the rapier and also tensed his main arm muscles before sending a final strong stab towards Vlad's chest, which blew Vlad's long hair a bit from the force it held.

Seeing the stab coming, he used his crimson sword to block the stab. As the rapier made contact with the claymore, it instantly made the crimson sword crack and shattered each blood layer.

In no time, all of Vlad's blood reinforcing layers got shattered by Anastas, yet the momentum of the stab didn't end. The young blonde guard still pushed Vlad making a small dent in Vlad's sword.

Finishing the stab, Anastas sent Vlad some more steps back.

'Damn, to think that master signature strike could be blocked in such manner. The guy is not even harmed, aside from his crimson sword turning back to the normal metal sword.'

"That's all you can do Blood Devil? Only kill innocent people, and when the strong come you're turning weak? Then if it's so, I'll just kill you and have my men death actually hold a meaning. Come fight me monster, you're clearly not done with only this skill of mine."

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Vlad only smiled coldly at what Anastas ranted about, keeping in mind to fill back his sword and reinforce it back with blood. As blood filled the iron sword in his hand, and in no time solidifying and repeating the same process again, he only said to the young blonde guard.

"You talk to much on the battlefield."

Then Anastas saw as Vlad's now crimson sword started being filled with fresh blood from his hand again. In no time yet, another layer got placed on the iron sword.

'Ohh shit. This guy is a devil fruit user. I need to not give him any time.'

Anastas taking his rapier in a high-stance, he rushed to Vlad, who was filling his sword for another layer of blood.

Seeing the young guard not giving him time to place more layers of blood on the crimson sword, he began using another trick in his sleeves, and as they fought, he would solidify the layers of blood in the disengaged moments.

Like this, Vlad, in about one minute, placed another three layers of blood, surpassing the amount he did in his training last day. The sword in Vlad's hand looked more menacing after being reinforced by five layers of blood.

The sword's sharpness was no joke. That was felt by Anastas, who in some exchanges with Vlad felt as his hand was slashed off completely.

Minutes passed quickly for the two when they fought. Anastas had a stable fight so far with Vlad. He was pushed a bit back by Vlad's powerful strikes but was collected all this time. Trying to keep up with Vlad's increasing speed and power, he later heard the guards who decided to help him approach. When seeing this, his face paled and roared in their direction.

"You idiots don't approach us. Go deal with those brats." This moment of not being focused with all his mind resulted in him getting slashed on his shoulder down to his arm.

Pain assaulted Anastas' body. Looking at the cut on his arm, he gladly sighed that his arm was still there. The only unfortunate part was the deep cut on his shoulder down to his arm oozing with blood.

Shaking his head a bit dissatisfied that the young blonde guard still had his arm in place, he later gave a sinister smile when he saw the blood ooze from him like crazy. Simultaneously Anastas could see between his pained state that aside from a devilish smile, Vlad's eyes also turned a bit darker and colder.

Finally, after managing to slow down the blonde guard, he turned his head towards the guards approaching him. He rushed to them and at a fast speed.

Seconds passed, and he was already in front of them in a swinging posture. From a high stance, his sword slashed vertically, cutting open the body of a guard who was at the most front. After that, he switched targets before blocking some thrusts thrown by the rushing guards with ease. Deflecting their blows and throwing them off-guard, he started killing the ones losing balance.

Anastas only watched with an angry face as Vlad was killing his guards like preparing some chicken broth. Vlad's killings lasted for quite a short while, not even sparing more time for those guards. However, some managed to save themselves while stopping at Anastas's shout and now could only be seen trembling.

Vlad's face had on the entire time he killed the guards left and right a sinister smile on his face as if he was having the time of his life in those exact moments.

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The entire situation looked favorable for Vlad and his roommates until a burst of loud laughter started coming in his direction from the control building. Vlad could hear the man say.

"Anastas, what's this all about? Look what mess you made. So many guards were killed for the enjoyment of this mad kid. How I'm supposed to explain all of this to Mayer? Should I also let this kid kill you since you're already with a step on that door?"

"Sigh, Belpel, can you shut up and help us here? You might be the only one to stop this unleashed demon. Not even my best attack could stop this guy. Also be aware of him he has devil powers."

"What demon are you talking about, Anastas? I'm only seeing a twisted and hurt kid, who's barely holding himself up, by what miracle I don't know, but fine. Keep your head on your shoulder, blonde fuck."

"To think that he's even a devil fruit user, by how batshit luck did you get that devil fruit in this hellhole boy?" ended Belpel asking that while sprinting fast towards Vlad with a spear in his hand.

Not long, Belpel appeared right beside Vlad, and with a grinning face, he thrusted his spear towards Vlad's throat. This appearance and blow that Vlad received from Belpel shocked him, stopping that sinister smile on his face. He gave light laughter after getting his balance back, only thinking in his mind.

'To think that the man could fight this well' He barely managed to block that thrust coming towards his throat just in time.

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"Fuck, you actually managed to block that blow of mine? But it went so well that even I got surprised." Said Belpel, pensively, holding his spear to his body and looking at Vlad, who was pushed to the ground when blocking the blow's impact.

He was only met by a cold snort that was heard loud and clear by Belpel coming from Vlad. Getting up from where he got pushed, and with a Fools Guard stance, he looked right and left to see the battlefield's situation. Everything went in the right direction so far, but for how long Vlad couldn't possibly estimate now that he felt Belpel powers and skill.

"Ohh, you seem fine, than crimson sword is your ability? Hmm, fighting devil users is always risky because you can get backstabbed instantly by a logia type person. If's this is the case let's use my haki on you kid." (A/N: Is not full haki if that's what you want to think. Think of Belphel as someone at the same level as the Kuja Women who possess Armament Haki that they use to strengthen their arrows.)

When Vlad heard that coming from Belpel, he frowned hard instantly. At the same time, gripping his hold tightly on the crimson sword. With this said, the plans in Vlad's head also changed. His cold eyes that seemed to have darkened a bit started to lose their focus for a bit as if something happened inside him.

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