Chapter 29: Pride and Humility???

The golden doors groaned as they parted, their sheer weight making the air tremble. A slow, deliberate movement, as though they hesitated to reveal what lay beyond. A blinding light poured through the widening gap, swallowing the shadows at Alucard's feet.

He stepped forward, his sharp eyes narrowing against the overwhelming radiance. As the doors sealed shut behind him with a resounding finality, the brilliance settled, unveiling the chamber in its entirety.The room was vast, impossibly so, stretching far beyond what its entrance suggested. Every inch of the space screamed excess—gilded pillars stretched toward an unseen ceiling, their surfaces intricately carved with depictions of warriors, conquerors, and rulers. Walls of polished marble reflected the golden glow of countless chandeliers, each encrusted with gemstones that shimmered with unnatural intensity. It was opulence beyond measure, wealth beyond logic.But it was the floor that unsettled him most.A mirror—perfect, flawless.Every step he took was reflected with haunting clarity. No distortion, no imperfection, only himself staring back, as if the very ground demanded he confront his own existence.And then, the statues.Lining the chamber, each one bore his likeness, carved in impossible precision. They stood taller than life, exuding an almost divine presence. Here, he was depicted standing over the defeated, rapier raised in triumph. There, he was frozen mid-strike, cleaving through mountains with effortless grace. Every statue wore the same expression—a smirk of absolute confidence, of unwavering superiority.He despised them.At the far end of the chamber, a throne awaited. Not just any throne—his throne.Towering, monolithic, crafted entirely of gold and wreathed in ethereal flames that burned without heat. Above it, a plaque gleamed in bold, shimmering letters.PRIDE.A voice rumbled through the chamber, deep and commanding."Welcome, Alucard."It did not echo, did not carry through the room as sound should. Instead, it settled around him, inside him, an intrusive presence that coiled through his very thoughts."Behold what you are destined for. Behold your true self."Alucard's grip on his rapier tightened. He did not need to glance around to understand what was happening. The grandeur of the chamber was no display of admiration. It was suffocating, insidious—an attempt to manipulate, to mold.His voice was ice."Destined for what, exactly?"The voice chuckled, smooth and knowing."For greatness. For glory. You are not like the rest—weak, fleeting, forgettable. You were born to stand above. To rule. To be revered."The statues stirred.One by one, they stepped down from their pedestals, the golden glow of their forms casting long shadows as they surrounded him. They moved with unnatural fluidity, rapier-wielding reflections of himself."Look at them," the voice purred. "They are you. Every triumph, every conquest, every perfection of your craft—they are proof of your worth. You deny your pride, yet it is pride that has brought you this far."Alucard's expression remained unreadable, but his jaw tensed."Pride is for fools who seek validation." His voice did not waver. "I have no use for it."The voice laughed—low, mocking, amused."Then prove it. Face your pride and show me you can exist without it."The golden figures moved as one, their rapiers gleaming as they saluted.Then they attacked.Their speed was staggering.Alucard's rapier met the first strike with a sharp clang, his movements precise, controlled. Each golden reflection mirrored him perfectly—his footwork, his feints, his counters. They were not mere imitations. They were him.For every one he cut down, another took its place.He danced through the storm of blades, dismantling each doppelgänger with cold efficiency. Yet the effort was grueling. He knew their weaknesses because they were his own—but the reverse was also true.Then, the air shifted.The golden glow dimmed.The chamber was swallowed in black.The silence was suffocating.Not the silence of emptiness. Not the silence of stillness.A devouring silence. A presence.Something that should not be.And then—The buttons on its cloak gleamed.Seven.Alucard's gaze snapped to them. Each stone was unlike anything he had seen before, glowing with an unnatural vibrance.One burned crimson, pulsing like a beating heart. Bloodstone.Another shimmered like polished jade, rich and intoxicating. Serpent's Emerald.A third swirled with deep violet, its color shifting as if alive. Amethyst of the Abyss.The fourth was a sickly yellow, its surface almost slimy. Rotstone.The fifth was a dull gray, its luster muted yet unyielding. Titan's Ash.The sixth was pitch black, darker than the void itself. God's Obsidian.But the seventh—The seventh he could not name.A stone that should have been gold, yet its surface was corroding, unraveling under an eerie purple energy that slithered around it like sentient decay.He had the awful sensation that it was watching him.The figure beneath the cloak shifted, the fabric writhing like something alive.Then—It laughed.Deep. Mocking. Hungry.Alucard could feel it in his veins. The sound did not exist in the air—it existed inside him. Crawling. Digging.The breath that followed was worse.Heavy. Labored. Wrong.A sound that did not belong to anything human.The figure tilted its head, a slow, deliberate motion, as if considering something.And then—It spoke.The words were not words.They were a violation.A twisting, writhing mass of syllables that scraped against his skull, slithered into his veins, curled into the very marrow of his bones.And in that moment, he saw.The throne.The golden chamber.The endless reflections of himself.A lie.It shattered.The room collapsed into the void, the walls peeling away like paper, revealing an abyss that stretched forever.He was falling.No.He wasn't falling.He was being pulled.Dragged downward, deeper, toward something that waited in the darkness.A shape.An arm—no, too many arms. Fingers that shouldn't bend that way. A grin stretching too wide, splitting a face that had no skin, no flesh, only an abyss carved into the shape of a man.And those eyes.Those hungry, ravenous, knowing eyes.They locked onto his.And then, the whisper.So close it brushed against his ear."I see you."The void devoured him whole.Blackness.Silence.??? : "IXA'RIN! "IXA'RIN! "IXA'RIN!RESH'AK ZOR'VEN NIHIL. INN'VOTH KAL'RESH 436 THAR'IN. VA'KOTH... VA'KOTH... A distorted voice, dripping with malice, cut through the ####### words.Darkness : "Tsk… Varesh'tal kor vi'zan, heth'ir!"For the first time, the ####### hesitated. Then, in that same twisted tongue, it responded.??? : "RESH'AK VRIN'THAL NIHIL // VA'SHOR IXA'RIN // KOL'VAR ETH ZAKHAR'OTH."####### laughed, a sound that seemed to unravel reality itself.Darkness : "Vok'reth xal'nir dol, vresh'kan va'ziin."The ###### screeched, its voice breaking into overlapping, conflicting commands.??? : "IXA'RIN! IXA'RIN! THAR'IN NIHIL // KOL'VAR ER'ZOTH EL'SHAK!"The darkness shuddered.The entity whispered, almost amused. Darkness : "Dol'verash… zanir'keth vosh."And then—pain.Alucard's body lurched back into existence, slamming onto the mirrored floor, the impact shattering it beneath him. Blood filled his mouth. His lungs burned.He gasped, trembling.Above him, the golden doppelgänger stood over him, rapier pointed at his throat.The voice returned.Smiling.Amused.Triumphant."You cannot deny your pride."Alucard's eyes burned.And then—The rapier plunged down.The world went black