CHAPTER 122: Hell in Berlin-15

CHAPTER 122: Hell in Berlin-15

Alucard's blow was so brutal that Alex was sent flying like a projectile, his body crashing into one of the subway columns with a roar that shook the rusty rails. The concrete cracked, dust and stone fragments raining down around him. Alex fell to his knees, growling through blood-stained laughter, but his eyes still burned with that playful madness that never faded.

It was then that, a few meters away, a staggering figure emerged from the gloom. The black suit was torn in several places, the fabric soaked in both dried and fresh blood. His face bore an improvised scar in the shape of an "X", a grotesque gash running from his eyebrow to his cheek. His hair, soaked with sweat and dust, fell over his forehead. His eyes, despite the exhaustion and pain, shone with the contained fury of someone not yet ready to fall.

Phoenix was on his feet.

Alucard looked at him with a twisted smile, his fangs barely visible in the dim light.
"Well, well…" he said with a tone mixing sarcasm and satisfaction. "It seems our pup has awakened."

Phoenix breathed raggedly, each breath a knife in his chest, but he didn't look away from either Alucard or Alex.
"Don't call me pup…" he growled, his voice rough. "I'm not finished yet."

Alucard let out a laugh that rumbled through the tunnels, dark and powerful.
"I like hearing that. Then listen well, Phoenix: together we will eradicate this damned abomination." He pointed a bloodied thumb at Alex, who was still laughing on the floor, ready to get up again. "We'll crush him, until not a trace of his madness remains."

Phoenix glanced at him sideways, clenching his fists with the little strength he had left. Silently, within his mind, a thought burned like an oath:

*This time it won't be the same… I won't repeat it. I won't let my master die in front of me again. No matter what it costs me… this time, we fight to the end.*

His breathing steadied, and though every muscle screamed in pain, he took a step forward, shoulder to shoulder with Alucard, ready to face the chaos.

Alucard said nothing aloud. He fixed his gaze on Phoenix and, like a cold, precise wave, filled his mind with images and soundless words: telepathy, quick, unadorned.

*Listen,* he transmitted. *The pillars in this area have been cracking for hours from the fire and vibrations. If we generate enough force—enough concentrated impact—they'll give way. A ton of stone falling on a body isn't something even a lab-made vampire can withstand. It's not elegant, but it will work.*

Phoenix nodded with a dry mouth, feeling the plan taking shape like sharpening a weapon in his mind. The strategy was brutal and simple: fight until they broke the structure holding up the theater.

Without further words, they launched. First Alucard, with feline, precise movements, unleashing a rain of blows that forced Alex to cover up. Then Phoenix, with fury contained by pain, letting loose tight combinations: elbows breaking ribs of air, knee strikes to the stomach, uppercuts growing in power with each breath.

Blow after blow, they hammered him. Alex tried to regain the advantage, he jumped, bit, threw improvised claw strikes, but his attacks became increasingly disordered. Alucard's technique and Phoenix's strength intertwined: one opened the guard, the other exploited it. It was a choreography of precision and violence.

*Now,* Alucard murmured in Phoenix's mind. *Get ready.*

Phoenix felt his pulse rise; he knew exactly what was coming. Alucard drew Alex's attention with a series of feints, forcing him back towards the cracked columns. When Alex attempted a final blow, Phoenix received it with a hook that left him staggering. Alucard then followed with a spinning kick; Phoenix finished with a sharp elbow strike that left him unconscious on the ground.

Alex's body collapsed, and the impact was the spark they needed. The old column, already cracked, resonated with the blow. First it shuddered; then a rain of dust fell from its crown. Deep cracks raced through the concrete with a hiss like splitting steel.

*Get out of here!* Alucard ordered wordlessly, pushing Phoenix towards a safe edge.

Both moved away just in time. The entire section gave way with a dull roar: columns, beams, and slabs collapsed onto where Alex lay. Block after block crashed down with the sound of shattering rock, choking the air in a cloud of dust and debris. When the dust settled, where Alex had been minutes before, there was only a mound of gravity and silence.

Alucard didn't smile. He walked calmly to the mouth of the collapse, searched through dust and rubble until he found Phoenix. He grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out forcefully, extracting him from the edge like someone pulling a plant from dry soil. Phoenix fell to the ground, coughing, covered in dust and blood, but alive.

They stood for a moment, facing each other: master and apprentice, shaken by the fight, breathing the harsh air left by the destruction. Alucard placed a hand on Phoenix's shoulder, a rough gesture that, without words, said more than any praise.

"Good," Alucard finally said, quietly. "You learned not to die spectacularly. That counts for something."

Phoenix closed his eyes for a second, his jaw tight, feeling the heat of pride and the weight of loss mixing together.

"That's enough for today," said Alucard, brushing the dust from his shoulder and looking towards the tunnel exit. "It's time to go back to the others."

Phoenix, still breathing raggedly, watched him in silence.

"Fine by me," he asked with a hint of tired irony.

"Enid must be chewing her nails from nerves," Alucard replied with a lopsided half-smile. "And if we leave her alone any longer, she'll end up tearing her own hands off."

Phoenix let out a dry, brief, but genuine laugh.

"Then we'd better not keep her waiting."