Clocktower Ascent Part 1

  Stairs again - more and more stairs. They had been the hallmark of this damned night. My legs were already tired and aching, but stopping was not an option. We were in enemy territory, and in this castle, distraction came at a high price. Right now, we were trying to regroup with the others in this huge fortress, even though we had no idea where they were.

  This part of the castle was in sharp contrast to the lower parts of the cathedral. Now its majestic Gothic halls, solemn and oppressive, with their sharp spires, were at the same time filled with a delicate beauty-soft shades of blue and green light illuminating the room. But these halls gave way to machinery, gears, a tower built in haste, without order, yet intricately designed so that its delicate mechanisms would turn in perfect rhythm with each ticking second of a clock.

  Damn, I hadn't expected to have to take care of more people tonight. While I had no doubts about Lisa's or Tamamo's abilities, having Maria and Tifa here annoyed me. They were people who needed to be protected. My best bet was to find the main group - the fanatical werewolves wouldn't mind having to protect a few civilians on their journey. They'd probably see it as a divine mission or something.

  The real problem was figuring out how to finish the job tonight. We couldn't leave this place until we defeated Dracula, who would surely be waiting at the highest point of the castle like a proper final boss. That would take at least two more hours and a lot more stairs. But I was already tired and sick of this shit. I had more important things to think about - like how the hell an Atlantean cathedral ended up as a castle of some edgy vampire.

  By now, Sakura has probably already saved her sister Mitsuki. The question is whether she will realize that her sister is a natural prodigy magician - and whether she will turn green with envy. The werewolves must have made some progress as well, so it's just a matter of getting ahead and meeting them on our way to the castle's top.

  I stop for a moment and look back to check on the group. Tamamo follows just a few steps behind me, in pristine condition, as one would expect from a goddess. Then there's Lisa, hiding in her shadow - she seems to be hiding so that no one will notice her, ready to deliver a devastating surprise attack if necessary. Maria, on the other hand, has her hand pressed against the wall and is panting heavily with Tifa in her clothes. Her breathing is labored. I stop the group and go back to her.

  "Hey, are you okay?"

  "Ah, ah... yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired," she says a little annoyed.

  "It's nothing, everything's under control."

  "Hey, you don't have to push yourself so hard. If you're at your limit, just say so."

  "So stubborn... I already told you I'm fine."

  "I can handle it, thank you."

  "I'm just not used to climbing so many stairs, that's all."

  "Hey, I only mentioned it because after being bedridden in the hospital for so long, your body-"

  "Just drop it, okay?"

  "Yeah, my time in the hospital was horrible and all that, but you know what? It's time to put that behind us."

  "It's been almost a year. I should be normal by now. I can't always be the fragile one."

  "All right, but it's not like you've been working out in the meantime. Of course, climbing stairs is exhausting."

  "Just remember that you are surrounded by supernatural monsters."

  "Tamamo and Lisa must have more stamina than an average person."

  "Don't try to be a hero - you'll only put yourself and the rest of us in danger."

  "......"

  "Sorry."

  "We'll take a break on the next floor, regain our strength. Maybe, with a little luck, we'll meet an ally ahead."

  "Tamamo, you brought the canteen, right?"

  When we go up to the next floor and open the door, we find ourselves in a large room. But we would have to postpone our break for later - because inside we see a boy tied to a post. Surrounding him are several dead monsters, from Dark Knights to more Lizardmen and even a Minotaur. His body is covered in wounds and blood is slowly seeping out.

  We quickly rush to help him, but as soon as he sees three more supernatural beings approaching, he starts screaming for us to stay away and begins chanting a fire spell to attack us.

  Tamamo went to work quickly and managed to neutralize his magic in an instant. It seemed that he was quite a novice with magic, but he had done a good job of using it carefully to protect himself and not exhaust himself for a possible escape attempt later. The boy tried to attack us with all his might, kicking and screaming; I didn't blame him, after all, our group wasn't exactly the humans he was used to. But after a while of insisting that we had come to rescue him, and seeing Maria with us - who was also human, but trusted us without hesitation - it took a while to free him from the chains.

  "I apologize for my earlier behavior."

  "My name is Sebastian Belmont, as my name suggests, I'm a member and possibly the current leader of the Belmont Clan."

  "It is good to finally find an ally within these walls." He said as he took a battle axe from the ground.

  "My name is Elise, no affiliation," I simply introduced myself.

  "It may not look like it, but I'm working with the other hunters."

  "Those with me are Tamamo, a warrior and close friend, and the other is Maria; we grew up together, so we're family."

  "She was kidnapped just like you, so right now we're looking for a way to get her out of here and to a safe place."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Stay close and we'll get you out too. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

  "Sorry, the demon you just talked to is Lisa."

  "She's our friend, part of our group."

  "She may be a little rough around the edges, but she's on our side."

  "Otherwise you'd be cut in half right now; she's been doing that all night."

  "She's hiding to attack unexpectedly when we need help, a little trick up her sleeve, so to speak."

  "A demon helping?"

  "I've never heard such a thing in my life."

  "Having her around is a big risk. What if she betrays us?"

  "And what if she's not being manipulated for her own plans? After all, she is a succubus," the boy said, still determined to fight.

  "It would be easier to see the sky burst into flames and hell freeze over than to see Lisa betray anything in her life," Maria said, placing her full trust in the demon, just as I did.

  Upon hearing my sister's words, Sebastian was suddenly shocked. He seemed surprised to hear someone much weaker than himself, a truly innocent person, speak so clearly about such unlikely allies. Maybe that's why, a little confused, he stopped trying and looked away.

  "We're in Dracula's castle, aren't we?"

  "What else could it be? My whole family is cursed by this place."

  "Fighting again and again, endlessly, to keep this place away from the good people."

  "My father tried to prepare me for the night of life, but neither he nor I expected the call to come so early, given my young age."

  "But I will not run from my destiny."

  "I can't call myself a true Belmont if I haven't killed Dracula at least once in my life, just like my grandfather or his ancestors."

  "Relax, kid, you're not the only one cursed to this fucking place," I said with a bit of sarcasm and resignation.

  It was interesting to talk to the boy. Despite his young age of only thirteen, his way of speaking was quite intelligent and well-articulated. It was like talking to a fully functioning adult. It was clear that I was looking at a pure-blooded hunter who had been trained in a single art since birth. Every part of his daily life had been dedicated to surviving this night, to overcoming this challenge. The numerous wounds and corpses around him spoke clearly of the strength with which he had fought to this point. Despite the wounds on his body that Tamamo tended to, his face showed his determination to continue. He wouldn't lower himself to be rescued.

  Now that he had also been involved in his kidnapping, he would see this battle through to the end, with the same stubbornness with which the Dragon Slayers were wiped out in the War of Atlantis. The best plan was to just go along with him, bring him to someone who could handle him, and pray that he wouldn't cause trouble by doing something as stupid as Sakura often did. Now that I think about it, were the Belmonts in the Battle of Atlantis? In theory, it would make sense; they were strong, and I remember seeing other hunters, like Alejandro del Toro, among the dragon slayers, but I don't remember any Belmonts. How old would Sebastian or his father have been during the war?

  No, I’m getting distracted. We shouldn’t stay in one place too long.

  "My family has a special whip, always inherited by the head of the family. With it, our family..." say the boy

  "Yes, yes, I already know the story."

  "No, I don't have it with me. Do you think they would give me something so important? To them, I'm nothing more than a mercenary who's had a few encounters with the supernatural."

  "I think Alejandro del Toro had it with him. He was a friend of your father, right?"

  "So he's here too? He was trained in combat by my father, he taught him well." "However, the whip only shows its full strength to members of the Belmont Clan."

  "He wouldn't be able to use its full potential."

  "Well, that's not my problem. I can try to take you to him, but I make no promises, boy."

  The boy looked at his crude weapon, stolen from a dead enemy, and then at my side, where I was resting in Avalon to catch my breath.

  "That sword you carry has a very special magic, powerful, on the level of the legend of the whip of my family."

  "Do you think you could give it to me? My family and I will make good use of it in the fight against the dark beings."

  As soon as the boy finished speaking, I clenched my fist and punched him in the stomach with all my might. The boy immediately fell to the ground. Then I drew my pistol and put the barrel in his mouth.

  "Just mention the sword in a single sentence again, and I’ll empty the whole magazine into that thing you call a head, how does that deal sound?"

  The boy looked me in the eyes, and I could see a terrible beast reflected in his gaze. For a moment, his expression seemed to say, "Seriously? I didn't ask for anything weird," but after connecting what he said with the punishment he received, it quickly changed to, "Oh shit, I screwed up, don't let him kill me!" I decided to give him space to respond to the ultimatum and choose his fate with the next sentence.

  "Please, we have to meet him as soon as possible; we have to prepare better if we want to defeat Dracula!" the boy said, abruptly shifting his gaze to the door.

  I stood up again, holstered my weapon, and gave him room to get back on his feet, offering him this space as my only tribute to the peace in our temporary alliance. As he recovered from the pain and my sister took a short break, I called for us to continue our journey, as the march to the castle would not happen by itself - we still had to regroup with our allies later.

  We returned to the stairs and started climbing them again, as I already disliked this.

  "What's his problem? It's just another weapon, right?"

  "I just said that if I used it, it would have more fighting potential than them," I heard the boy in the middle of our formation say.

  "Kid, you couldn't have picked a worse way to introduce yourself to my sister."

  "Of all the things I've seen her get really mad about, you went for the one that hurts the most," my sister said, trying to comfort the idiot.

  "Did I step on a land mine?"

  "A landmine? Kid, you almost set fire to an entire army's war arsenal."

  "Trust me, literally, you were lucky he's in a good mood."

  "I've seen angels attacked far worse for far less."

  "......."

  "Shit, now I'm the one who's starting to sound like my brother, too."

  "It's just a weapon; I've trained my whole life to be proficient with all of them."

  "It's not just a weapon, it's what it represents."

  "Elise is a thousand times better than you at everything."

  "Would you give her your family's whip if she appeared out of nowhere and asked for it?"

  "Of course not! It's a family heirloom!"

  "Only the Belmonts have the right to possess it!"

  "First of all, I would have to be dead..."

  "Then you just answered your own question about why she beat you up earlier, kid."

  The view from the windows began to rise, taking in distant forests and still soldiers fighting in the great gardens of the castle, torches and lights pushing their way toward the interior of the great cathedral. Soon we heard the sounds of battle. From the angry cries inside, it sounded like someone needed help. I looked at Tamamo, and she responded with a simple nod of acknowledgment. Sebastian did the same, gripping his weapon even tighter in preparation for even more action tonight.