A second after Alexia's senses picked up the approach, multiple vampires draped in gold and black cloaks, complete with masks just like the eight from earlier, arrived.

"Please, stand aside, Ladies," one of them said in a voice rich in noble flair,

"This is our fight, not yours."

"Like hell it is—" Alexia said with gritted teeth but the cloaked Vampires didn't wait for her response and already charged at Brogan's vampires to clash weapons.

Alexia started to move, while still holding her battle stance when Arlette grabbed her arm.

"What?" She asked.

"Look," Arlette said, indicating below.

From the hills that surrounded the location of the Manor, a force was pouring in. They all wore similar attire with gold and black stitching, complete with hoods and masks. By their aura and their smell, Alexia knew they were all vampires. Numbering in hundreds, these gold-black vampires ignored the Hellsingers and focused their attacks solely on Brogan's minions.

The cloaked vampires—the earlier eight and the ones now flying in the air—as well as the hooded/masked ones on the ground in black and gold stitching clothes were so clearly members of the same Coven with a clear vendetta against Brogan's Coven.

Alexia's frown deepened by the second. She was smart enough to recognize that the Gold-black vampires were on her side but just the thought of fighting alongside vampires left a bad taste in her mouth.

She wasn't naive enough to think it was impossible to have the same goals/enemies as a Vampire. However, once that goal is accomplished and that enemy is vanquished, there can be no coexistence between Vampires and humans. That parasitic monster race would still have to die.

So as she watched the Gold-black Vampires taking on Brogan's vampires, she didn't see allies. She saw her enemy pool just getting larger.

The Hellsingers on the ground were actually of the same mind. Many swung their weapon at the Gold-black vampires before and after learning they were clearly allies, out of sheer instinct.

Arlette watched it all with more amazement. Even besides the fact that she was a member/Leader of 'Ophiuchus' and readily colluded with the Leopolds, she had never had a thing against vampires in particular. She saw them as she saw humans; As creatures with the potential to be allies as well as enemies.

Still, she could understand Alexia's plight enough to just say nothing and let her work through her thoughts herself. That was until she saw Alexia's fingers twitching like she was about to retrieve something from her storage ring.

Arlette had learned of Alexia's hunting tools from Caius and the thought of the devastation that would ensue if they were let loose here. If only Brogan's minions would suffer, that would all be fine but the Leopolds would not be spared.

"Alexia," Arlette called and grabbed her arm.

"What?" Alexia asked.

"Brogan," Arlette said.

It was a single word but really all she needed to say. All of this, the entire assault had been to fight and kill Brogan, and as much as she might hate these impromptu allies/reinforcements, that needed to remain her goal.

Her fingers stopped twitching and she clenched her fists instead.

"I… wasn't thinking straight," she mumbled.

Her hunting tools were a finite resource. There were far too many vampires here—especially with the arrival of the Gold-black ones—that nothing she had would have much of an effect. She was better off saving it for the toughest enemy.

With a look in her face to show the struggle of turning away, Alexia began to descend. She had only just begun to move when her reflexes were signaled to an oncoming attack. She raised her sword, already employing defensive measures. But then the attack was intercepted by a Gold-black vampire while another stabbed the Brogan Vampire who had unleashed the attack in the first place.

A cry cut through the air then but it was cut off when the Brogan Vampire's head was detached from her shoulders and fell to the ground with a bloody impact.

Alexia didn't feel gratitude for the help. She just glowered at the Gold-black vampires still. To their credit, they didn't wait or even indicate an interest in her gratitude and simply went after even more of Brogan's minions.

Alexia and Arlette descended into the hole in the ground. With her senses trained, Alexia noted that every Vampire that hadn't yet risen to the surface was down at the deepest recesses of the underground hideout. She could detect Brogan's aura quite clearly. They had clashed enough last night for her to have gotten familiar with it.

There were many paths to take but Alexia almost instantly made a choice. All paths would lead to the deepest recess eventually so in a way it didn't matter. However, the path Alexia picked was a deliberate and conscious choice because she could sense the aura of the Gold-black vampires from earlier going down this path.

Even though Alexia didn't explain her reasoning to her, Arlette already knew.

Arlette was linked to Caius through the Arcane Circle in her head and being so close to each other, she could feel that link enough to follow it. When she realized Alexia was following that same path, she knew what was going on in the Vampire Hunter's head.

The situation made Arlette frown. It just seemed like this was all heading to a disaster. She had decided to come with Alexia and the Hellsingers because she believed Brogan was a much tougher opponent than Caius was giving him credit for and believed he'd need her help.

Yes, Kerwin was a powerful Vampire at the Tenth Circle but Caius knew better than anyone how Magic Circles meant very little against a Vampire Noble. And take away Caius's strong allies and it's just going to be him against Brogan.

Could he win that fight?

Arlette could understand why Caius wouldn't want humans, i.e her, in the fight. She knew how easily a human could be out for the count if they were to get turned. But to counter that disadvantage, humans are free of Vampire Noble authority until turned so really… should she be exempt?

As she and Alexia walked, they ran into dead vampires, slumped against the walls on each side. The blood splatter made it appear as though there hadn't even been a struggle and the vampires had been killed and pushed aside just to clear the path.

Alexia frowned at that. Remembering how that order to fall had made the killing of those vampires so easy, she could just tell how all these deaths had happened and thus began to wonder;

Among those seeking Brogan's life, was she even the most fearsome?

•••

The path of least resistance hadn't been completely devoid of resistance for Caius and the Leopold Council members. But with his authority to make all enemies useless, the kills were easy.

"They're running," Kyre sneered. He detected Vampires up ahead scrambling to return to the deepest recesses of the hideout.

"Brogan is calling them back," Caius corrected.

It was clear that Brogan had realized he was just feeding his men to Caius's assault team. They were too far to be shielded by his Noble Authority so he might as well call them back to create a defensive wall.

No other words were said then as Caius and the others just walked in silence, meeting no more Vampires on their path as they descended stairway after stairway before finally arriving at massive, heavy, and ornate double doors.

"He's in there," Kerwin said.

Of all the scents he had caught so far and all the aura he had sensed, the ones behind that door were undoubtedly the strongest. And among them was one oozing an aura Kerwin had only ever sensed from Caius. A weaker signature to Caius's but an impactful one nonetheless;

The aura of Vampiric Nobility.