World of Darkness usually acted on monsters who shouldn't have gotten their names. That's exactly what happened to Kraken, but Alucard didn't let that stop him, and he continued forward until he destroyed the most powerful defense barrier.
It was only one barrier, but he had to get serious to do it, almost like when he saved Nitra and the Tree of the Construct World.
The chains were broken, and Kraken was free, so now Alucard only had to say the same phrase again that started it all.
However, before he could finish, new chains appeared, only now they were aimed at Alucard.
"What's going on..." Nila muttered in disbelief, "Is this possible? Why are the chains heading towards Alucard? Is he a monster?"
Liang frowned, "I don't know... I doubt anyone realizes why this is happening. Alucard is definitely one of the Pillars..."
Nitra narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the chains, and then she spoke, "These chains are different, or rather the runes on them. They're a bit different. Most likely World of Darkness has realized that as long as Alucard is here this will continue indefinitely."
Gael and Ereg were also puzzled as they glanced over.
"Well... It looks like the fighting is stopping for a while, right?" Ereg asked, pointing at Alucard and Kraken.
Gael nodded, "Yeah... My dear friend was at the center of things as usual, because of his crazy ideas. This time he managed to piss off the entity that fills our world."
Gael directed his gaze forward, "I think now we should just see what happens next. I doubt it will happen again in the next hundred years. Such an event should not be missed. Moreover, we have a chance to see what World of Darkness is capable of."
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
A multitude of chains twisted around Alucard's arms and legs. He tried to get out of them and destroy them, but the chains were strong enough to withstand his power.
Kraken's eyes went wide as he stretched his tentacles forward, going to help Alucard somehow.
"Stop!" Alucard exclaimed with a great frown, "Don't you dare do that. Those chains might grab you again and there's no telling what will happen then. What's more, do you think I need anyone's help?! This fight is between me and the World of Darkness!"
Kraken flinched at Alucard's stare and after a brief pause, stepped back to a safe distance.
The reasons were unimportant since everyone realized that Alucard had to deal with this himself. Just him and no one else.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Gradually the chains twisted tighter and tighter, tearing Alucard's flesh and breaking his bones. It wasn't a problem for Alucard, his body wasn't as strong as Liang's, but healing a broken bone was a matter of seconds for him.
World of Darkness understood this too, as the main purpose of the chains was not to kill or harm Alucard in any way, but to make him weaken.
In a heartbeat, sharp spikes appeared on the chains, digging into Alucard's body. At the same moment, the runes on the chains shone brightly, absorbing all of Alucard's energy.
"Oh... I see... Not a bad plan." Liang said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Alucard can't move, so World of Darkness is trying to drain him completely, draining him of the very last drop of energy."
"That might work...?" Nila asked with a worried expression.
Nitra bit her lip. She didn't want to show it but she was worried about Alucard too. She couldn't get the scene where he had kissed her out of her mind, nor could she forget his immense gratitude for saving her and the Tree.
Liang paused for a moment, looking at Alucard. His snow-white, smooth skin, not even the most beautiful girl possessed was beginning to wrinkle and age rapidly.
Alucard's blonde hair, strong and thick, was slowly falling out and falling apart, turning into nothing like that of an old man who was near death. Even his fingernails, capable of wounding a Dragon, and fangs perhaps the strongest in the world began to crack and fall out, disappearing into the darkness of open space.
Eventually, his gaze ceased to be menacing and alive, trailing completely empty like someone who was very close to death.
Crackle.
The chains clamped down harder, completely breaking Alucard's body in all places as all light disappeared from his eyes and his breathing stopped.
After a while, the chains released their victim, allowing Alucard's lifeless body to fall into the darkness.
At this moment, Liang turned to Nila and said, "Of course not. If he could be defeated by simply draining all the energy from him, then he wouldn't be The Immortal one, and only one."
Then, scarlet streams of energy emerged from Alucard's body, powerful and aggressive, obviously annoyed at what the chains had done to the body.
"Argh... That wasn't pleasant..." Alucard wheezed, barely moving his lips, "Well... From World of Darkness, I expected nothing less."
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Space shuddered as the red streams intensified. In a heartbeat, Alucard had fully recovered, and even his tattered coat had returned to normal.
"Is this really all you can do?" Alucard uttered, keeping his hands in his pockets and staring into the void.
Obviously, World of Darkness could not give a direct answer, as it was not a living being but a simple entity. However, besides words, there were other ways to communicate with its opponent.
Whooooooosh.
The chains collapsed on Alucard, once again curling around his legs and arms. Then, Alucard's body completely dried up like a mummy. Everything happened again.
However, when Alucard recovered after a few seconds, World of Darkness did not attempt to go through with the plan again. It realized that no matter how much the chains drained Alucard's body, it wouldn't change the result.
So, this time the chains became much more numerous. From each chain, a few more appeared, and so on until their number increased to several thousand.
The entire space in front of Alucard was covered with chains. There were so many of them that through the dense layer of chains, he could not see Kraken, who stood in the distance.
Alucard frowned slightly but did not take any action. He just waited for the next action from World of Darkness.
Whooooooooooooooooooosh.
Thousands of chains simultaneously headed towards Alucard, completely covering him from all sides.
"Looks like World of Darkness has decided to switch to a new tactic." Liang uttered with a serious expression.
"Is something wrong?" Nitra asked, noticing his uneasiness.
"Not really. World of Darkness realizes that it's impossible to kill Alucard, however, just because Alucard is immortal doesn't mean he can't be defeated. You don't have to kill your opponent to lose, whether it's a duel or a simple training fight." Liang uttered while intently watching the movements of the chains.
First, the dark chains completely immobilized Alucard, and then they began to cover him from all sides, overlapping each other.
Soon, the last chain closed in front of Alucard's eyes, plunging him completely into darkness.
However, the chains were not going to stop there, as it only took a hundred chains to completely cover Alucard. There were several thousand more here.
Whoooooooooooooosh.
The chains continued to cover Alucard, gradually turning into a huge sphere completely composed of dark chains.
When all of the chains were used up, purple runes shone brightly on them and sharp spikes appeared, providing extra strength.
Because of the spikes, it was now impossible to untangle this sphere like a ball of thread, the only option to get out of the sphere was to destroy it.
"Damn... This already looks like a real problem." Liang frowned.
"Agh...?" Nitra and Nila gave him a questioning look.
"Previously, Alucard couldn't destroy the circuits that bound him, even though there were only a few. However, now he needs to destroy thousands to get out. With many layers of chains pressing down on him, it might actually be difficult." Liang uttered with a serious expression.
"We have to help him!" Nila exclaimed.
Liang cast a stern look at her, "Don't even think about it. If World of Darkness decides that you are its target, then no one will save you."
"I realize that... But, there are many people much stronger and more powerful than me! Alucard is one of you, shouldn't you help him?" Nila shouted, clenching her fists tightly.
Liang shook his head as he pointed at Gael, "Until his best and longest friend takes action, no one will budge. Otherwise, it will be the greatest insult and humiliation to Alucard. I'm not going to do that to my new friend."
Nila turned toward Gael, and her eyes went wide. Even though the situation was dangerous, Gael didn't look alarmed.
On the contrary, there was a slight smile on Gael's face and a confident look on his face. It seemed that he did not doubt at all that Alucard would be able to get out of this realm, and it would happen very soon.