A massive surge of souls flooded into Oseinofica's body, rapidly filling his wounds and knitting his flesh back together until it was restored to its original state.
"So, the Mantra of the National Treasure has a use like this? Truly impressive."
Alucard vanished once more, only to reappear instantly before Nedseo, who had just rescued Oseinofica.
"You bastard!"
Behind him, the long-bearded Gorosei struck out ruthlessly. A hand-blade strike cleaved through Alucard's body, yet it didn't result in the expected spray of blood.
The severed halves of Alucard's torso dissolved into a thick black mist that billowed upward. In that moment, the five Gorosei and the three Celestial Dragon patriarchs were simultaneously pulled into a chaotic void, their own respective consciousness spaces, manifested as the Three-Dimensional Space.
Normally, a person cannot "see" themselves, but Alucard's intrusion allowed them to perceive their own internal worlds.
"It's just a National Treasure; take it if you want. Go on, open it. I won't stop you."
Upon hearing this, Oseinofica ignored everything else. His blood-soaked left hand slammed onto the wheel. After countless failures, the National Treasure finally activated successfully.
The wheel began to spin clockwise with violent speed. Seconds later, it split in two, and the great doors ground open.
In an instant, from within a massive cluster of glacial blue spirit-fire, countless souls erupted forth. It looked like a blue version of Alucard's fully released River of Death.
The strength of the eight men surged to their absolute limits, reaching a level far more terrifying than during the battle at Spring Queen Island a year ago.
"This power... this feeling..."
Guarding the exterior of the Holy Land's palace, the Government forces led by Kong watched the blue, gaseous substance roiling amidst the clouds above the Holy Land. Then, they felt eight distinct, overwhelming presences, powers so dense they felt almost physical.
It was exactly like that day a year ago, but this time, there were eight of them!
While Kong lacked the authority to wield the Mantra, his long tenure as Fleet Admiral gave him a deep understanding of the inner workings of Mariejois. The Gorosei were the public face of the world's highest authority, but the world remained ignorant of the three Celestial Dragon patriarchs who stood on equal footing with them behind the scenes.
These eight presences were, at minimum, on the level of a Yonko. It was undoubtedly them.
But what kind of enemy could force all eight of them to deploy the National Treasure simultaneously?
"Alucard! Get out here!"
Oseinofica's roar thundered across the entirety of Mariejois. The shockwave accompanying his outburst reduced several buildings surrounding the palace to rubble.
Kong, Chaton, and the others were jolted by shock. Alucard? He was alive? Was he the intruder?
"Show yourself!"
Oseinofica's roar came again, forcing many soldiers to cover their ears in pain.
"Is Alucard hiding somewhere?" Chaton speculated.
Chaton's guess was both right and wrong. Alucard wasn't exactly "hiding," yet the Gorosei and the three patriarchs knew exactly where he was: inside the consciousness of all eight of them.
Currently, Alucard stood calmly within that chaotic mental space, hands in his pockets, his lips curled into a mocking, playful smirk.
"Get out!"
Oseinofica roared once more, but that was the extent of his capability. He could see Alucard, but he was utterly powerless to touch him.
"Is such rage necessary? You don't look like a holder of the world's highest authority at all," Alucard taunted.
"What should we do? Even with the Mantra active, we can't deal substantial damage. Should we retreat for now?" the curly-haired Gorosei with the cane suggested.
Entering the Mantra state by activating the National Treasure pushed their power to the limit, but it wasn't infinite. If it were, they would have wiped out the Yonko long ago. The longer they maintained this state, the more they depleted the National Treasure's stored Mantra reserves.
"No," Meinfini, one of the Celestial Dragon patriarchs, immediately objected. "Alucard might be waiting for the exact moment we deactivate the Mantra and our strength wanes to strike. If we deactivate now, aren't we just falling into his trap?"
"Oh? So there's a strategy like that?"
As Alucard spoke, he caused his coffin to rise within their collective consciousness. He sat upon it, one hand draped over the side. "In that case, I'll just wait here until your National Treasure runs dry. How long can you keep it up? A few hours? A few days? A few years? Decades? It doesn't matter to me. Time is the one thing I have in abundance."
Alucard was, of course, talking nonsense. He didn't have the patience to sit there for decades, not even for a few minutes. This mental space was a desolate wasteland of nothingness; he was only saying it to spite them.
Clearly, his goal was achieved. Hearing this, the faces of the eight men, who had been radiating an aura of absolute confidence, turned as sour as if they had just swallowed filth.
What were they supposed to do now?
Maintaining the Mantra power without engaging in combat was a literal waste of their most precious resource. But if they deactivated and grew weak, Alucard would undoubtedly choose that split second to finish them off.
The Gorosei and the Celestial Dragons were now caught in a perfect dilemma.
"If it's a mental-type attack, can we hit him?" the long-bearded Gorosei suddenly mused. If Alucard was truly hidden within their consciousness, then an attack targeted at the mind should be effective.
"Wait... since he has the ability to enter our minds but hasn't made a move, perhaps he's just projecting an illusion. It might not be a true mental intrusion, but a hallucination designed to deceive our five senses. Don't panic."
The words of the crescent-mustached Gorosei calmed the other seven. It made sense. The idea of entering another's consciousness was a fantasy; if he could actually do it, why wait? It was far more likely to be a visual and sensory deception.
A bunch of idiots. I haven't made a move because I'm currently in a pure conscious state, Alucard thought privately, curiously watching the old men to see how they planned to deal with him next.