Lying on the destroyed ship, Lenny and Ichiro are watching the night sky and its many stars.
When Lenny tries to observe the stone once more, he notices that he isn't in its possession anymore.
Lenny: "Oh no…"
Ichiro: "What is it?"
Lenny: "I think I lost the stone."
…
Henry: "I am not a big fan of art, you know?"
Adelin: "You don't have to be a fan of art to recognize true beauty."
Henry: "Let me guess, they are all you?"
Adelin blushes.
Adelin: "Is it that obvious?"
Henry: "Quit fooling around; remove our bounties."
Adelin gets up from his throne; step by step he walks closer to Henry.
Adelin: "I knew you would come to Transylvania."
Henry: "What do you mean?"
Adelin: "I was watching you the moment your young friend stole the stone."
Adelin then walks around the castle, observing his sculptures and statues.
Adelin: "To be honest, I thought it would be way easier to obtain the stone and kill you all so that I won't have any witnesses of losing the stone, but your group had quickly become…unpredictable."
Henry: "What are you trying to tell me?"
Adelin: "Your little friend made a stunt that revealed not only its existence but also that it is currently in the hands of a human boy, so it won't take long for the Count to find out about it."
Henry: "I don't care about your problems; remove those bounties."
Adelin: "I can't, or better, I won't."
Henry: "What?"
Adelin: "Why should I? I have no reason to."
Henry: "Then I must beat some reasons into you."
Adelin laughs; he removes his military uniform and cape, revealing his pale and scarred but trained body.
Adelin: "I would like to see you try."
Henry uses shooting star to get in front of Adelin, but then a dark red aura holds him still, holding him up in the air.
Adelin: "Blood magic, I call it Scarled Grasps, an ability of my Sanguis Rex."
He throws Henry into a pole, breaking it completely.
Henry gets up slowly but is quickly hit with a fist directly into his face.
Adelin doesn't stop or show any remorse; he hits Henry with one punch after another, laughing while he mercilessly beats up Henry.
Adelin: "Do you know why I hid the stone from the Count? I wanted it for myself; with the stone I could have been the one in control, not that piece of shit that thinks he can come in and become the Count of Transylvania and take control over everything."
He then kicks Henry in his face, raising him up again with his Scarlet Grasps.
Then a servant comes in, telling him news.
Adelin: "Is this true? Great, what a great day."
He says sarcastically.
Henry, full of anger, tries to free himself from the blood magic. His eyes and body shine again in bright blue light.
Adelin then turns his attention back to Henry, seeing the scenery and what's happening in front of him.
Adelin: "So it is true…"
He says before the overcharged body of Henry releases all the energy, breaking the blood magic and sending Adelin and the servant back.
Henry then walks slowly in Adeline's direction. Adelin stands up, his wounds dissolve in steam, and his bones crack back into their normal form.
Adelin: "Interesting trick you have there, truly fascinating."
Adelin then licks his own blood off his thumb.
Adelin then raises rubble with his Scarlet Grasp, throwing it in Henry's direction, but Henry punches through it with his fist covered in blue energy.
With Shooting Star, he moves to Adelin, but Henry is smashed into the ground by another big piece of rubble.
Adelin laughs even more.
Adelin: "This is good; it has been a long time since I enjoyed myself like this."
…
Emilia flies through the sky, dodging and evading the energy beams shot at her by the turrets; the same goes for Jack, who had just arrived at the action.
Jack: "Where is Manu!?"
He shouts in Emilia's direction.
Emilia: "I don't know; I can't see what's happening down there. The turrets make it impossible to land."
Jack: "Let me handle them."
Jack flies downwards, directly into a turret. He then makes a wind-clap, pushing another turret away, making it collide with another turret.
Emilia: "Thanks, those are enough to pass by."
…
For a while Manu has been running inside of the labyrinth, but not even once has he come close to the exit.
Then, what seemed to be an explosion had created a little gap in the roof above him.
Manu quickly jumps from one wall to another, back to the next; with his super speed, he is able to wall jump up to the roof before punching through it.
In front of him, Adelin holds Henry in the air with Scarlet Grasp; Adelin then walks closer to Henry.
Adelin: "Your power, your awakening, is so beautiful, so pure, but this isn't just some childish adventure; this is the real world."
He slowly crushes Henry with his telekinetic power. Henry screams loudly in pain.
Manu runs at Adelin but is stopped again by his Scarlet Grasp; Adelin then breaks Manu's leg.
Adelin: "Watch."
He speaks to Manu, while Manu shouts in pain while further crushing Henry.
Emilia and Jack, who see this from the roof, jump down into Adelin. Emilia elongates her giant fog fist while Jack shoots purple lightning out of his mouth.
Adelin lets go of Manu and Henry to create a barrier, blocking both attacks before pushing both of them into a wall.
Adelin: "Did you really think you guys could beat me? You come to my country and think you could effectively do something? I should end this here and now."
???: "Stop it, Adelin," a voice says from the roof.
Two figures step out of the shadow, revealing their young faces; each of them has a number engraved in a button attached to them.
One wears the number 6; he has hair that raises up a little, and the other is a quite handsome young man, wearing the number 4; both are around 20 to 23.
Elion: "Your boss, Dracula, wants to see you; he found out about the stone."
Adelin: "Number 4, haven't seen you in a while; doing the dirty work for Dracula?"
Elion: "I am not working for Dracula; I am solely working for the Soul Reapers."
Adelin then turns to Henry.
Adelin: "Excuse me, boy, we have to continue our little fight at another time."
Adelin then flies up to the two men, entering a hover-jet that is parked on the roof.
Jack quickly gets up; he flies upwards as quickly as he can. The other man jumps in front of Jack, punching him and releasing an explosion with his punch, sending Jack really quickly back into the castle, making him hit the ground hard.
Elion: "Joren, quit fooling around; we have to go."
Joren enters the hoverjet together with Elion and Adelin, flying away at high speed.
…
Inside the castle, Henry stares at the broken roof he had come in from, which was the same one in which the others had left with Adelin.
Through the hole the moon shines brightly.
Henry: "Soul reapers… Who are you people?"
He asks silently.
Emilia: "Our mast is destroyed; I have seen hoverjets parked outside that we could steal."
But Henry doesn't answer; he is angered and broken by his incompetence in defeating Adelin, which made him fall into a deep inner hole.
Henry: "So this is the real world, huh?"
He silently says to himself again.
Henry: "I have to get stronger."
…
The hoverjet that they had stolen flew over the dark and infinitely looking ocean.
On their way they had found and picked up Ichiro and Lenny, but everyone had something in common today; all were frustrated by today's events. They had imagined something else; today they had seen a glimpse of the real world, that recklessness won't help them every time, but they still had one thing: each other.
…
Inside another hoverjet… Adelin Dravencourt sat with one leg crossed over the other.
To his left, Elion Vaydrin, Soul Reaper No. 4, stared wordlessly out the viewport, his face calm but his thoughts clearly not.
Across from them sat Joren Malvek, Soul Reaper No. 6, lazily peeling an apple with a finger ignited in a slow-burning flame.
Joren (grinning): "Gotta hand it to you, Adelin. Beaten-up castle, beaten-up kids, self-portraits everywhere… You sure know how to stage a final act."
Adelin didn't respond right away. He tilted his head back, as if he could see the moon through the jet's roof.
Adelin (quietly): "I sure hoped it would last longer. The boy was raw, but… that light inside him… it was annoyingly real."
Elion (flatly): "You could have killed him. Why didn't you?"
Adelin (turns, calm smile): "Because I am not like you Soul Reaper guys. I like to see everything worth watching before killing someone."
Joren casually tossed the apple core against the cabin wall. It evaporated in a quiet fwoosh of fire.
Joren (darkly): "Dracula isn't happy; he found out that you lied about the stone."
Adelin (dryly): "I heard that he already retrieved it, and you'd tell him you're doing favors for me, Joren? That you killed Weyland? We all keep secrets. That's what makes us… valuable."
Joren (silent): "I didn't…"
A beat of silence followed.
Adelin: "I have seen it… the boy has it, the Heavenly Awakening."
Joren (Serious): "You're certain?"
Adelin: "I felt it. Just a spark… but if it grows, He might remember."
He didn't say who he meant. None of them had to.
Elion (thinking loud): "Then the Zero will move. One way or another."
Adelin: "That's why I played it safe."
He rose slowly, the shadows at his back shifting with elegant menace.
Adelin: "We need to decide… Will we follow the current—or split the ocean in half?"
Joren lets out a short laugh.
Joren: "Typical vampire. Always poetry."
But even he grew still.
Elion (quietly): "The boy is like us… and that's exactly why he'll stand against us."
Adelin (turning back to the window): "Then better be ready when he returns. And he won't be alone next time."
The hoverjet vanishes into the clouds above the ocean's curse.
…
The sun has risen over the horizon. The group had landed the hoverjet somewhere in the land of the great Empire.
Manu slowly walks out of the jet with his leg nearly fully healed.
Manu (calmly): "So this is how our work together ends."
Jack (cool): "Could have worked out better; expected better results."
Manu shakes it off.
Manu (smiling): "At least I have the things I wanted."
Silence falls over them.
Manu (worried): "And the kid? Is he okay?"
Jack (quietly): "Henry? He will go through it. He's a strong kid; what about your leg?"
Manu (calm): "Oh, this? My awakening will heal it in no time; I can already run again."
Jack (interrupting): "I had a good feeling about you; that's why I trusted you. I never felt that before, only when I first met Henry. Can't do anything wrong, or so I thought to myself."
Manu (flattered): "I was about to ask; now I know. Thanks for helping me out."
Manu waves one last time before running along the pathwalk at super speed.
Jack walks into the hoverjet, checking how everyone is doing, but frustration has affected everyone.
Henry (quiet): "Stronger."
Jack (turns to Henry, confused): "What did you say?"
Henry (turns to Jack, loud): "I have to get stronger."
Jack looks at Henry confused.
Jack (confused): "Where will we do that?"
Ichiro (turns to Jack, calm): "I know where we could do that."
Frustration and anger have affected the young group for a while now.
Ready to start his quest to become stronger and learn the secret of his abilities, the young Henry Dreherg and his friends are ready to start another chapter in their adventure.
Act 1 – end.