Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 554: An Old Friend? Foe? Strange…!

A short time before the ghost array activated, Nikolai stood in the centre of the top floor, glancing around at the elegant and expensive artwork, fancy golden trinkets and huge screen opposite the desk.

He noticed a figure sitting in the darkness and narrowed his eyes.

Creak!

The person shifted in their seat before pressing a button on the desk.

Boop!

Beside Nikolai, the screen turned on and images of the city, specifically each tower that Nikolai and his wives and allies attacked.

“You’ve moved in quite the careless fashion, Volkov.”

‘Eh, I know that voice! But where from?’

“Who?!”

Nikolai lowered his hips, prepared for an ambush after fighting dozens of monsters, mutants and humans on his way to this floor. He knew this wouldn’t end with a pleasant chat and this person leaving with a smile.

“Oh my, Nikolai. Have you already forgotten me? When did we last meet each other…” He tapped his chin before taking something from the desk slowly. Yet his eyes never left Nikolai’s body. “Ah, yes. My clan’s island, where you fled like a cowardly little dog.”

‘What?’

A sudden rage popped in Nikolai’s chest, creating a tight and sharp pain.

“Who are you calling dog?” He sniffed the air. “Filthy corpse!”

There was a sense of familiarity from the filthy blood, which carried a sour and rancid taste that someone Nikolai knew well but yet not quite. He went over the words and slowly narrowed his eyes into slits… fire and ice elemental aura seeping out of each fist.

“Yes~ That’s it! That anger, that rage is what I wanted to see!”

Vwooom!

Nikolai’s muscles tightened, his teeth clenched tight, while the rage which only trickled a moment before now overwhelmingly surged through his entire body. The explosion of his aura created an aura of darkness that billowed around his body like a giant flame.

“Ah… I should have fucking known.” The tone of Nikolai’s voice twisted and lowered into a growl like that of a demon. He didn’t lunge or attack, but gathered his power, letting the searing flames and glacial frost of his beloved wives grow stronger. “I thought you would have killed yourself in embarrassment.”

Crack, Fwooosh!

“Cunt.”

The marble flooring shattered, spider-like fissures spread from Nikolai’s feet to the four corners of the room, behind the man at the desk, and each window cracked, leaving a beautiful visage as if frozen.

“Now now, don’t be so crass, little Nikolai.”

Despite his calm tone, a disgusting aura of undeath gathered around the male’s body as she stepped from the desk. With a sudden swipe, it smashed into the wall. The lamp exploded into brilliant light, revealing the pale white body covered in scars, stitches and missing an eye and hair like moonlight.

“Valan Nosferatu!” Nikolai spat, his aura growing further with his rage. “Where is my Grandfather!”

“Hahahaha~ ah, you filthy mutts. Always shouting, creating issues. Why don’t you be a good little boy, and…”

Valan exploded forward and threw a fist at Nikolai’s face. “SIT!”

Bang!

Nikolai didn’t dodge and punched back with a twisted grin. The two auras clashed, pure undeath versus the fires of Tepes, mixed with his evil god’s blood. Their impact shook the very room, drowning it in darkness as both men slid back across the broken marble.

“Hmph!”

“Tsk!”

Valan brushed his lips, smearing black blood across them before licking it with a smirk.

“Well, it seems you’ve been working hard to improve. Great Elder, huh?”

“…”

“It seems you’re not in the mood to talk, how barbaric. Very well then, have it your way. Mutt.”

Without another word, Valen’s aura condensed, and the darkness filling the room rapidly vanished into his lips and nose as he sucked it all in. His muscles and body grew larger as the electricity crackled from his fists.

‘This freak, what has he done to himself!?’

He followed Valan, clenching his stomach and pouring all the excess aura in his blood and heart into his limbs. The flames around his arms shrank, blue and red mixed with black, becoming darker.

Both men stood ready to fight.

“I’ll kill you for real this time. Bastard.”

“Hmph, do your best. Mutt.”

There was a strangely regal aura wrapped around Valan, likely since he lost his future to the new patriarch Alucard, he should have stopped receiving such training. Yet Nikolai could sense the faint hints of pride, and even an unfamiliar darkness in his aura.

Valan vanished.

Bang!

Nikolai’s head snapped sideways as Valan’s elbow dug into his cheekbone. His bones cracked and split. Yet Nikolai didn’t blink. He thrust his arm forward and smashed his knuckles into Valen’s ribs with enough force to bend steel.

Crack!

Valan staggered back a step, then, like a serpent, twisted and jumped. His knee shot up, wrapped in dense undeath aura, so refined it sliced through Nikolai’s black flames like a knife.

Thud!

Nikolai blocked with his crossed arms, the force tearing his flesh as frost and fire burst outward in a violent ring.

“Your technique’s sloppy,” Valan taunted, spinning around to avoid Nikolai’s outbursts and kicking Nikolai’s inner thigh. “Crawling around with emotions like an inferior beast.”

“Technique?” Nikolai’s lips twisted, his eyes searing with red and blue fire. “I can just crush you like garbage!”

Boom!

He stomped and punched.

The entire top floor dropped several inches. Valan flew backwards, smashing into one of the still-flickering tower screens. Sparks rained as he tore himself free, lips peeled back in a crooked smile.

“Well, I’ll give you credit.” Valan rolled his neck, with loud cracking bones and a shit-eating grin on his lips. “You’re quite strong, but that power is wasted on a filthy bitch like you!”

Valan curled his fingers and took a fighting stance.

The darkness around him turned purple, then green as his nails lengthened into dark, rugged blades made of bone, which hummed with an unnatural vibration. His aura tightened into a sharp, razor-like wire.

‘What!?’

Nikolai watched in awe at the sheer technological skill of a pureblood Elder. He could tell that if that wire met his flesh, he’d suffer significant damage.

“It looks like I can’t just call you trash anymore.”

He stepped forward and tried to imitate Valan, condensing and tightening his raging aura, from a huge raging ocean to another shape. Inside his mind, he pictured a form that suited him best while condensing his aura further.

‘This is tough.’

“Hrk…!”

Blood oozed from his nose as Nikolai tried to focus his form. First, he condensed the aura and mixed frost, fire and his darkness until it perfectly mixed… then, with a low grunt. His aura exploded, swelling like a collapsing sun. Flames flickered with black edges around his arms, while black frost spiralled around his shoulders like spectral wings.

“You think your stale tricks scare me?” Valan’s figure blurred again.

“Hm?”

Nikolai’s eyes widened. He leaned back and twisted his hips, letting his right shoulder avoid the sharp blades of Valan. This time, he could track the movement at least… part of it.

Slash!

Three cuts opened across Nikolai’s chest before he could react. Valan had transformed his stab into a spinning slash.

Drip, drip, drip!

Blood poured from the wounds, hissing with a black smoke as the flesh bubbled and attempted to heal. ‘Shit… he’s able to stop my regeneration.’ Even the blood which fell hissed on the ground, melting the surface of the marble.

Nikolai’s lips twisted into a deformed, yet wolfish grin.

‘I love this!’

Valan’s eyes widened for a moment, but he also couldn’t help but smile and lower himself.

“Strange…” He muttered.

“Shut up and fight!”

This time, Nikolai, like a bull, charged at the delicate Valan, his hands pulled back as if to throw a reckless double fist.

“You fool!”

However, ignoring Valan’s mockery, Nikolai watched the movement of his rival and twisted his back foot. The moment Valan lunged, his fire and ice aura flashed, creating two identical clones of Nikolai….

“Wha!?”

Bang, thud, crash!

The fire Nikolai elbowed the blades out of the way, followed by the ice Nikolai, who jumped up and kneed Valan in the face, giving the real Nikolai a moment to attack from the side, his leg whirling in a devastating roundhouse to his abdomen.

Bang, Crack!

Valan’s body bent around the kick, ribs snapping like brittle branches. Yet he twisted mid-air, grabbed Nikolai’s ankle, and yanked. Nikolai slammed into the shattered marble, the floor collapsing another layer beneath him.

“Pooh! Damn it! I am the future ruler of the Nosferatu! A royal vampire!”

He staggered, spitting out blood and a broken fang before lunging at the downed Nikolai with dual blades, stabbing out like spears.

“Die, Nikolai!”

Nikolai’s eyes widened, pushing himself off the ground and rolled away with fire and ice erupting from his back. Valan’s blades easily pierced the stone like tofu, but missed as Nikolai jumped off the ground and headbutted Valan hard enough to distort his jaw.

“Gh—!”

Nikolai seized his collar and hurled him through a support pillar. Dust burst outward, masking Valan’s silhouette until twin wires of condensed necrotic aura sliced the cloud apart like a professional chef chopping carrots.

Slash, slash!

Fresh wounds tore across Nikolai’s arms, carving into muscle despite the raging aura. Valan blurred forward, technique sharp, efficient, merciless. Every movement threaded through the gaps in Nikolai’s defence.

“Tsk… annoying!” Nikolai crushed one wire with brute force, fingers cracking under the impact. He grit his teeth and accepted a slash to the ribs and drove his shoulder into Valan’s gut.

Boom!

Both men skidded back, panting, blood dripping, auras flickering so violently the room vibrated.

Valan grinned. “Still standing? Impressive.”

Nikolai spat blood and stepped forward, aura burning hotter. “Shut up!”

‘Why is fighting this guy so damn fun!?’

The two men were sworn enemies, yet both of them looked strange, smiling, laughing and fighting blow for blow like retards.

And yet… somehow, Nikolai didn’t want to stop this.

“Come on!”

“Here I come, Nikolai!”