Blake struggled to his feet and threw a dozen crescent darts.
Dracula turned to mist to dodge them, then flashed directly in front of Blake and kicked him hard.
The sheer force of the blow sent Blake crashing through the church wall like a cannonball, rolling nearly a hundred meters across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
The Ankh and a variety of weapons hidden on Blake’s person scattered all over the ground.
Seeing the Ankh on the ground, Dracula laughed aloud.
He turned into mist and materialized right next to it, crouching down and reaching out to grab it.
Just then, a crescent-shaped staff thrust straight down toward Dracula’s reaching hand.
Dracula raised his sword to parry, his face darkening instantly as he saw the newcomer.
“Khonshu!”
*Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!*
Several silver crescent darts tore through the air.
Dracula turned to mist, putting some distance between himself and Khonshu.
Looking behind him, he saw yet another Moon Knight.
Khonshu had restored power to Mark, whose abilities had been stolen by Blake that day at the Empire State Building.
Seeing Mark, now transformed into Moon Knight, temporarily keeping Dracula occupied, Khonshu looked down at Blake, who was sprawling on the ground.
“You’ve grown weak, Blake.”
With that, Khonshu turned and bent down to pick up the Ankh.
The very moment he made contact with it, he immediately realized something was wrong.
His power was being absorbed by the Ankh at an extremely rapid pace.
Realizing what was happening, Khonshu turned back in shock toward Blake, only to see Blake’s entire body covered in a silver glow.
Lines of magic spread from beneath Blake’s feet, quickly forming a magic array.
The moon, which had been obscured by dark clouds, had emerged at some point, bathing the earth in moonlight.
Dracula and Mark had just noticed Blake’s movements.
They wanted to react, but to their shock, they found themselves completely unable to move.
Standing up, Blake lightly stretched his limbs, walked over to Khonshu—who was now down on one knee from weakness—and reached out to take the Ankh from his grasp.
“Old friend, I understand you well, but you don’t seem to understand me.
I didn’t expect you to fall for this so easily.
You know, I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.
But I still have to thank you.
Without you, I really wouldn’t have been able to deal with Dracula.”
Snatching Khonshu’s staff away, Blake raised a foot and kicked the weakened deity, sending him flying.
Blake turned to the paralyzed Dracula.
Glancing at the Sword of Dracula in the vampire’s hand, Blake decisively stepped forward and snatched it.
“What a fine sword.
Thanks.”
Seeing Blake holding his weapon, Dracula felt like his lungs were going to burst with rage.
By now, how could he not understand what had happened?
Khonshu, that despicable bastard, had tried to backstab him, only to end up getting backstabbed alongside him.
What an idiot!
Putting away the Sword of Dracula, Blake faced the church, raised the staff high, and thrust it down hard, activating the magic array Khonshu had set up in advance.
Instantly, a magic array with a diameter of a thousand meters rippled outward with the church as its center, echoing Blake’s own array and emitting a dazzling, luminescent blue glow.
“Goodnight, Dracula.”
As he spoke, Blake channeled Khonshu’s lunar authority.
In an instant, the moonlight flared as bright as the sun.
A massive pit opened in the center of the church, releasing an immense gravitational pull that dragged the vampires inside.
Even Dracula could not escape the powerful pull.
At the final moment before being sealed, Dracula used telepathy to issue a prophecy:
“Just you wait!
When the blood moon descends, I shall return to this world!”
Soil mixed with silver powder automatically refilled the pit.
Seeing Dracula successfully sealed, Blake stood up and put away Khonshu’s staff.
He took out the Ankh and walked over to Mark.
After absorbing Mark’s Knight power once more, he knocked him out with a single punch.
The familiar scene unfolded yet again.
Khonshu, struggling to maintain his physical form, looked at Blake with surprisingly calm eyes.
“I lost again.”
Blake walked over and sat down in front of Khonshu.
“Collaborating with Dracula doesn’t exactly make you a good god.”
Khonshu let out a soft chuckle, stumbled, and sat down on the ground, offering Blake an invitation:
“Return to my side, Blake.
I can grant you even greater power.”
Blake shook his head.
“I prefer freedom over being bound.”
Khonshu nodded in agreement.
“That does fit your personality.”
With those final words, Khonshu turned into photons and dissipated into the moonlight.
“Hey, warrior of the moon.”
Blake stood up and looked toward the voice.
Blade, leading the Howling Commandos, was standing beside the church waiting for him.
Frankenstein was holding the unconscious Mark Spector in his arms.
Blake said nothing.
He simply nodded, transformed into a wisp of silver light, and flew off along the moonbeams.
“Oh, I feel like he’s even harder to get along with than you, Eric.”
Werewolf by Night looked at where Blake had been standing, nudging Blade next to him with his hand.
Blade looked up at the moon, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
“Excellent warriors never waste their breath.
Let’s go and get this guy back to the city.”
Blade turned and walked toward the monster spaceship.
Frankenstein stared blankly at Blade’s retreating back and said in a shocked tone:
“Hey guys, did you see that?
Blade smiled again!
My god!
Blade, who almost never smiles, actually smiled twice in a single day!
He must have been cursed by Dracula!”
***
The next morning, Gaia got out of bed and stretched his body.
“Oh, damn.
Why do I feel like I was in a boxing ring last night?”
It wasn’t discomfort, but rather a sensation of loose muscles and active blood circulation.
Checking the calendar after getting out of bed, Gaia was about to call the Parkers to give his daily urge for them to hurry back.
Just then, he heard the front door open.
Hmm…
judging by the footsteps, there were two people.
And from the rhythm, the Parkers were back.
Excellent!
Gaia walked downstairs and indeed saw the Parkers standing at the door with their suitcases, dressed in classic Hawaiian vacation outfits.
“Hey, baby, Mom’s home!
Why have you lost so much weight?”
May stepped forward and gave Gaia a hug.
Gaia made up a quick excuse: “I was too fat before.
This build is much more agile.”
May didn’t press further, nodding and craning her neck to look around.
“Where’s Peter, Gaia?
Where did Peter go?”
Gaia answered truthfully:
“He’s at Harry’s place.
These past few days have been their honeymoon phase.”
May shrugged.
“Well, alright then.”
Ben stepped forward and wrapped an arm around May’s shoulders:
“How have things been lately, son?”
Gaia thought about his recent life and replied:
“Without you nagging in my ear, it’s been pretty great.
If the world hadn’t been so chaotic lately with all sorts of supervillains flying around, I definitely would have booked you a ticket to Africa so you could play a bit longer before coming back.”
Ben and May exchanged a look.
Instead of arguing, they changed the subject:
“Your mother told me there’s a young lady who asked you to help stretch her legs.
How’s that going, son?”
Gaia shook his head with a smile:
“Just letting nature take its course.”
In truth, Gaia had thought about experiencing the true American lifestyle, but his Golden Finger required him to work out to grow stronger.
A wild love life could easily affect his training progress.
So before reaching his limit state, Gaia didn’t plan on doing anything distracting.
He would hold out as long as he could.
But now, just as he was about to reach that limit state, he had been bitten by a spider, which raised his ceiling significantly.
So what was there left to say?
Becoming stronger was the absolute priority.
Nothing could stop him from feeling his ever-increasing power.
Little Gaia rarely agreed with him, but chimed in:
“Too true, buddy.
Getting stronger is the most important thing.
You have to be alive to enjoy anything.
Once you’re dead, you’ve got nothing.”
Seeing Gaia’s expression, Ben and May understood what he meant.
They let out a collective sigh.
Gaia was already twenty-three.
At this rate, they felt it was highly unlikely they would become grandparents before he turned thirty.
As for after thirty…
well…
sigh…
Oh well, as long as the kid is happy.