"Hello there… what is your name?"
Alucard asked, attempting to sound intimidating — though honestly, he didn't need to try. His very existence was intimidation incarnate.
Caster stiffened.
"I am Caster of the Han Li clan… may I also have your name?"
He tried to keep his voice steady, but that was nearly impossible when the person standing in front of him looked like he had just crawled out of a demon's nightmare and ate children for breakfast.
And to be fair… Alucard truly looked like an abomination someone had accidentally summoned and now deeply regretted.
For starters:
He was drenched in blood. Not speckled, not splattered — drenched. His armor, a monstrosity of obsidian plates, bled black liquid that dripped and slid along the cracks, healing the metal as if the suit itself was alive.
Then there was the man wearing it.
His skin was ghostly pale, unnaturally smooth, as if sculpted from marble. His eyes were crimson — but the left one was slit like a serpent's. His long hair fell past his shoulders in a cascade of pale silver streaked with abyssal black.
In short?
He looked like the final boss of a role-playing game designed by a fourteen-year-old who just discovered what "edge-lord aesthetic" meant.
The only reason Caster wasn't openly laughing at this wannabe demon lord was simple:
He had just witnessed him one-shot a small group of nightmare creatures. Not fight them. Not struggle. Not even break a sweat.
Just blink — and they were paste.
That meant Alucard was at least a Master. Maybe even something worse.
Which meant Caster had exactly one way to avoid dying here: get on his good side.
Alucard cleared his throat — a sound that somehow came out even more unsettling than his appearance.
"The what clan? Is that an important clan?"
Caster felt the sting instantly.
"Oh, it is a very strong clan. One of the strongest clans," he said, trying to salvage his pride.
Alucard scratched the back of his neck innocently.
"Listen… no offense, but I'm drawing a blank here. What's the name of your clan's Saint?"
Caster winced.
"My clan does not have a currently active Saint."
Alucard blinked.
"…Okay. So what's the name of your old Saint?"
Caster actually considered punching him.
"The Han Li clan never had a Saint."
Alucard stared in honest confusion.
"Then how are you one of the strongest clans?"
Caster's eye twitched. He was falling for the rage bait like a fish diving straight into a net.
"Fine!" he snapped. "We aren't one of the strongest — yet. But we will be once I return to the real world."
Alucard placed a hand on Caster's shoulder, expression full of exaggerated sympathy. Beast stood behind him, silently judging both of them.
"Well buddy… that'll be tough. The Gate here is in the Crimson Spire. And that thing is guarded by a Fallen Terror."
Caster blinked in alarm.
"…Alright but aren't you a Master? Can't you go back to the real world and ask for help?"
Alucard burst into quiet, strangled laughter.
"Oh, I guess I could… unfortunately I'm not a Master."
Caster froze.
"Huh? You're telling me a mere Awakened did all this?"
Alucard inhaled calmly.
"No. I'm saying a Sleeper did all that."
Caster looked at him the way a sane man looks at a collapsing building.
"A… Sleeper? You are a Sleeper?"
"Sure am. Been a Sleeper for about two years now."
Caster immediately decided never to tease this creature again. Ever. Not even in his mind. Because if a Sleeper could butcher a swarm of monsters like it was swatting flies… what would he become if he actually advanced?
Caster swallowed and forced himself to sound casual.
"Hey… if you don't mind… could you spare a few soul shards? You probably have a maxed-out core by now, right?"
Caster hated sounding pitiful — hated it more than anything — but if it got him even a handful of shards, it was worth it.
But instead of a handful…
Alucard slapped twenty soul shards into his palms.
"Oh— wow. Thanks."
Alucard waved dismissively.
"Oh, I'm not done."
He dropped his storage memory on the ground.
A literal mountain of soul shards cascaded out, shimmering like stars. It was easily over a thousand.
Caster's jaw dropped.
That was enough to max out his core multiple times.
But when he reached out—
SLAP.
Alucard smacked his hand away like he was disciplining a toddler trying to touch fire.
"Whoa there, buddy. Who said these were free?"
Caster stared at him, suddenly terrified to know the price.
"…Alright. What do you want?"
Alucard smiled the smile of a man who had done something very, very stupid but was too proud to admit it.
"Oh nothing much. Just a little contract."
Caster narrowed his eyes. "What kind of contract?"
"A soul contract," Alucard said, stretching out his hand.
"I give you all the shards and memories you need to reach your full potential. In exchange — you become my ally, and you never betray me."
Caster blinked.
That… actually sounded incredibly good. Suspiciously good. Unreasonably good.
Then Alucard's smile widened.
"Oh — and if you do betray me, I get to own your soul. Sound good? I'll even add a clause that I can't betray you either."
Alucard realized he had just made a colossal mistake in the contract — he'd put himself under the same binding terms. For a heartbeat his eye twitched, but he covered it instantly, lifting his chin as if the blunder had been a brilliant feature of his master plan.
Classic charlatan behavior.
Caster, meanwhile, mentally screamed.
This was both the best and the worst deal in history.
On one hand — guaranteed power. Guaranteed advancement. A literal monster as an ally. And a walking catastrophe to throw at Nephis when the time came.
On the other hand — he had basically just agreed to sell his soul to a Sleeper who should not logically exist.
He hesitated only for a heartbeat.
Then he grabbed Alucard's hand.
Red light flashed, swirling around them, burning into their very souls.
The deal sealed.
Caster exhaled shakily.
"So uh… I never caught your name?"
Alucard shrugged casually.
"I go by many names. My main name is Alucard you can just call me Al for short. The people here usually call me The Butcher because… well… I killed a lot of people. Like, a lot."
Caster smiled weakly.
Internally?
He was doomed.
So very, very doomed.
But first…
He had soul shards to absorb.
He could panic later.