Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 67: The Growing Ambition - Arena

Nikolai and Selene began walking away from Mistress Zara. The pair of them headed towards the Nexus zone before Selene asked him a question.

”What did she whisper to you?” Her eyes were quite sharp—it seemed once they left the sight of the public, Selene became a little more arrogant and her usual self but with a slight tinge of curiosity.

ʼHmm... it seems thereʼs no need to hide it right?ʼ

He didnʼt particularly dislike Selene, but unlike Nikita, his feelings were not as clear. Yet hiding this seemed pointless because of their relationship for the next year. ”Well...”

”She told me that in order to completely learn the basics of her ability, I would need to ingest lot of Jhin blood. It seems that she could sense the strange auraʼs inside my body and realised the issue straight away and thus for me to keep this pendant safe. She mentioned something called the Blood Arena.”

”!!!”

Seleneʼs body stopped, her hand tugging on his before she looked back at Mistress Zara. Neither of the two noticed that the people who seemed to be customers and random people were all, in fact, the people who followed Mistress Zara—in fact, they were her subordinates.

”Are you a fool, a newly awakened wants to enter that death trap?!” Selene didnʼt know why she felt so angry. The whole reason for her using Nikolai was so he could fight against the vampire clans that kept proposing to her, which made her frustrated.

ʼWhy am I so angry...ʼ

”Calm down Selene, there has to be levels to the arena otherwise how could they make money if everything just fought in one division.”

”Youʼre right, however!” Seleneʼs eyes were shimmering like jewels as Nikolai noticed her face wasnʼt angry. The slight tremble of her lips, the drooping of her eyebrows and how soft her eyes looked at him along with her voice changing tone. ”What if you die... wouldnʼt I need to get another person to help me?!”

ʼNo... thatʼs not what I want to say, but speaking to him something makes me angry, my chest feels stuffy and I want to lash out!ʼ

”Hmph...! Whatever.... go to the arena and die, see if I care!” Selene didnʼt wait for his words.

She remembered the scene of him half dying against Sebastian and the first fight he almost died for her. Though she paid him right now, the money didnʼt matter and only the strange feelings she began to feel since learning about Nikita and meeting her. ʼHe even saved Anya...ʼ

Nikolai didnʼt understand her—he wasnʼt a Casanova but knew she felt bad, so he took her hand, the soft, delicate skin smooth like fresh snow. ”Donʼt be angry, letʼs go explore more places...”

”Who said I am angry... How could what you do make me mad?!”

***

Mistress Zara watched the two leaving the area, her soft eyes narrowing into sharp crescents like a predatory creature gazing down at its prey. The way her eyes changed showed her normal state, a fierce and powerful female princess of the Jhin clan.

ʼTo think the princess of Tepes is falling for a hybrid... How interesting.ʼ Zara gave a dark smile as she watched them holding hands like an awkward couple.

”ValʼShen, come to me!” Her voice was sharp and filled with a commanding presence, expected from a princess.

A moment later, a male with blue-coloured skin appeared, bowing to her on his knees while never looking at her body as a sign of pure respect. ”ValʼShen of the Shen branch greets her majesty!”

”Such a good man, thank you for choosing to serve me over my brother.”

”It is my honour!”

”What do you think, about those two being together? Do you not think itʼs amusing? The uptight and arrogant princess of a fallen royal clan holding hands with a boy who will bring a fresh breeze, changing the monster world and itʼs future forever.”

Her words caused the people who now knelt around her to shudder.

They were stunned because in the Jhin clan—the princess was known as the fallen prophet. Named Fallen because she left the family to grow independently after two hundred years, and she dominated another world and made it hers entirely completely.

However, the prophet was because of her clear and agile mind. Some thought her predictions, thoughts and abilities were because she could see the future. Yet none of them realised it was all because of her intelligence and the people she collected.

ʼWithout my talented information network and these knights who would die for me, would I have already died in a ditch?ʼ Zara wondered, her eyes still watching Nikolaiʼs fading back.

ʼHe makes me interested... a man with no Jhin blood. Can he really steal our techniques and surpass us? To think that the spirit in the necklace was lady Báthory. The woman who helped me five hundred years ago when I was but a stupid young girl lost in the the Nexus!ʼ

Yes, there were countless reasons for her to help or forsake Nikolai. However, the main two were his unique energy and the fact that he was the first person to show her care and save her as if they could see the future in the past.

ʼNo, Queen Báthory did save me, and she told the future... I never thought I would meet a dead person, so I always doubted her words, but now...ʼ

”A new dawn shall come after we next meet, little princess.... Hahahaha! ValʼShen and fellow members of the Shen clan, my beloved followers. I believe it might be finally time for this princess to return to the main palace.”

”Your Highness?!”

”My Lady!”

”Ah~ Finally My Queen!”

The many people who seemed to visit the city were all her people; in fact, Selene and Nikolai walked into a barrier the moment they left the plaza, which brought them to this secret miniature pocket in the world.

A meeting that seemed to be random but seemed destined from the very beginning.

ʼI have served my ladyship for four hundred years, and this is the first time I have seen her so energetic. It was not Princess Tepes but the man beside her. Who is he? I must meet him one day and thank him. Thank him for making the princess look so happy.ʼ ValʼShenʼs eyes watched Nikolai, a small smile forming on his purple lips before he gave a bow to the fading back.

Mistress Zara and her entourage began to move with each step. They seemed to vanish and appear closer to the gigantic palace in the centre of the world.

However, she looked back one last time and gave a smile. ”It seems that the beautiful princess of Tepes has found a spouse, not out of need for bloodline purity, but because of affection... How lovely.”

”This is the least I can do to protect you, Young Hybrid named Kai... I will be watching you, hoping that you succeed in completing your dream.” Zaraʼs words faded into the air as their bodies vanished like magic.

The moment they did, anyone who saw her, Selene or Nikolai lost all memories of meeting or seeing them together.

”Huh? Why are we standing here...”

”Ah?! I have to meet my wife!”

All people who observed the event of her speaking to Nikolai now forgot his existence completely.

***

”So, you were tracking that brat and my future wife together but you suddenly lost them?” An arrogant voice sounded from a dark room, the sound of flesh and bone colliding with metal and stone echoing from below.

”F-Forgive me sire, but... we donʼt have memories of the last three hours!”

Alister Faust wore a bloody white science coat. He held several tubes of blood with various tags and races labelled on them. In the background, the bubbling vials and cauldrons seemed to be part of an experiment. In fact, this was the modern version of alchemy.

”Why should a noble like myself about to become the prince of all vampires forgive a pathetic insect like you?”

”Your grace! Please I beg you!” The thrall was one member of the crowd back in the Jhin world watching Selene and Nikolai before Mistress Zara erased his mind and thoughts. However, it wasnʼt just the Faust family out to get Nikolai now.

ʼThat stupid mutt, he challenged our family~ does he think he will survive the month until our next fight? I have already arranged for several families to challenge him to duels! Several a week until our fight, hahaha!ʼ Alister laughed like a maniac, his eyes glazed with a strange red and black liquid, making him seem like a devil.

”Let me go... please, your grace!”

”No, you are a useless and failed experiment, not worthy of my attention—wait! Drink this potion and I will forgive you.” A sinister smile formed on his face, causing the kneeling thrall to feel fear, but he didnʼt have a choice.

He felt his body rising from the ground before a hand grabbed his throat, and a small vial was placed against his lips. The taste was bitter, his eyes squinting and trying to refuse before his mouth was pried open. The stench burned his throat, while the feeling of his veins bursting from within made him want to scream.

”If you drink and follow my orders, you will live, but if you disobey me, then you will suffer the worse death imaginable! Do you understand!”

”Y-Yes, your grace...!”

ʼW-What did I just drink... my body feels hot, like the blood in me is burning, but I canʼt feel the pain! I... I...!ʼ

”Excellent, now tell me. Why did I send you to track that human, and where were you going?!”

Before the male could speak, his mind felt like something erupted and set it on fire, and his muscles began to convulse while his body started to deform. The manʼs body swelled, bloated and grew misshapen like a blimp about to explode.

”N-No... M-Master, help me!”

”Stupid! This is what I warned you about!” Alisterʼs evil cackle caused the thrall to lose control of his own body as the potion finally took hold, and his body began to melt.

His screams were silent as a bloated figure covered in tumours and bruises began to change; a few moments later, the once normal male became a monster.

ʼT-This is my fault...ʼ

In the last moments of his awareness, a single image appeared in his mind that had been removed: the sight of Nikolai and Selene heading towards the arena...

”A....re....an...arena...” The monster groaned... causing Alister Faustʼs eyes to open wide.

”Hahaha! Really?! He went to that place... Ah~ shall we have him enjoy a reunion with that doll I created... hahaha~ to think the same experiment would become the first hurdle of my nemesis... what would he think looking at her now?

Neither a human or a monster... My first masterpiece... the first homunculus I created that didnʼt dissolve into a puddle of mush!”

The two monsters below continued to destroy the place while Alisterʼs insanity seemed to peak further. A horrific reality awaited him, and the truth of the past that still haunted him would soon unfold.

”Since you helped, why donʼt you also fight in the arena for me?”

”A....re....na?”