Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 580: Viktor

In a dark dungeon buried deep beneath the Nosferatu island manor, a withered old man dangles from the walls. His face was worn, with sallow cheeks a far cry from the previous Patriarch of the Volkov Clan, Viktor.

And yet despite this situation, his eyes burned with fire.

“Y…you won’t win.” His dry, scratchy voice barely made a sound as the man standing across from the fire, holding a branding iron and something else, slowly turned to face him.

Silver hair, pure red eyes and a calm, inhuman gaze.

“Do you truly believe that, old friend?” Alucard chuckled to himself, poking the flames, stoking the fire with more coal, which seared the glowing, bright orange metal. With a twisted smirk on his lips, he lifted the second object and shook it.

“W-What!? How do you have that?”

Viktor’s eyes widened, his toothless mouth opening wide in shock at the black slate in Alucard’s hand.

The vampire king shook it with a smile. “Hm~ it seems you know what this is, old friend, how interesting.”

The item was a black slate with a strange pentagram and twisted sigil on the surface that glows slightly red. Alucard hooked the branding iron and held his palm above the slate, his lips twisting more and more as he sliced across his palm.

Slash!

Droplets of sticky black blood oozed onto the bizarre symbol. Viktor’s lips quivered as the red light grew stronger and the slate appeared to guzzle down the blood.

“Do you know what this is, friend?”

“S-Should I? It’s clearly an evil, filthy artefact!”

“Hohoho~ old man, you’re so amusing.”

Alucard’s eyes narrowed into thin slits, like the deceitful fox he was. “This little thing opens the cursed gates and spreads a blessing upon the land.” He continued to slice his palm repeatedly while speaking. Each time the slate drank a certain amount of blood, a small red star in the shape of a pentagram formed above the sigil.

‘Why are there fifteen stars? What does it mean?’

Viktor wanted to learn as much as possible, although it was unlikely. Suppose he could get this information to his son or grandson. Then they could discover the truth of what this insane man was plotting in the depths of this island.

However, successive days of being drained of almost half his blood weakened Viktor’s mind and his resilience and ability to focus.

A moment later, his mind became empty.

‘What is that strange slate?’

And their conversation started once again.

“W-Why do you have something that filthy!?”

Alucard’s eyes widened, his pupils dilating as the corners of his lips lifted more than ever before. “Oh, old friend, have you finally become insane?” The look of glee was almost sickening as he stepped closer to Viktor and showed the slate.

“This is an heirloom from the fallen tower, the one you and your filthy ancestors helped destroy! A legacy of our Nosferatu clan, which the ancient patriarchs found and protected, all for the sake of immortality and HIS blessing!”

Viktor’s broken mind tried to piece together the words, but like a dress ravaged by countless moths, he could only focus on a few points before it slipped through his fingertips.

“Who…?”

He asked because the only thing he could remember, the only constant, was the low, twisted voice coming from the black slate. As if speaking through a cloth, muffled and inhuman. Yet, Viktor’s heart raced in pure fear each time it spoke.

“Kekeke!”

To Viktor’s question, the vampire named Alucard only broke into a crazed laughter, his hand clutched the slate like a fanatic or zealot, hugging it to his chest while reaching out for the blazing branding iron.

Bright orange from the immense heat, he flicked the embers and ash from the pointed tip before turning to face Viktor.

“Your use has come to an end, Old man. The inferior blood running through your veins can barely last a few hours now, but your grandson and his children!”

‘Nikolai!’

Suddenly, the old man’s eyes regained their beautiful silver hue, no longer pallid and faint. He pressed his gums together, as if grinding his teeth. A look of anger spread across his tired face as his muscles burned with excess energy.

Ba-Dum

Ba-Dum

Ba-Dum

The heart in Viktor’s chest raced, beating harder than ever.

Almost as if he returned to being in his early twenties, a sense of fight and overwhelming power seeped through his bones as he calmly watched the branding iron falling towards his face.

“You.”

“Hm?”

“You will leave my family alone!”

Clang!

With one last burst of energy, the old man’s arms swelled and grew long silver hairs, his figure abnormal. The shape of his monstrous claws resembled Nikolai’s twisted and deformed shape when he first transformed using his evil god’s blood.

“Foolish old man, are you going to sacrifice everything, even your bloodline!?”

Shatter!

The black iron chains with silver bolts and cuffs exploded into shards.

Alucard’s head flung back before he reached up to his cheeks, then, with a look of shock, he glared at the swaying silver werewolf one head taller than him. Two thick lacerations oozed blood on either side of his face.

“You foolish bastard, if you want to die, then die!” Alucard shouted in pure fury.

However, the werewolf didn’t roar or howl; its huge figure just flung both arms at the vampire, without caring. “Nikolai…” A deep, affectionate voice leaked as Viktor rushed towards the bars.

Alucard’s figure flew back, smashing through the bars and brick walls, while dropping the black slate, his head leaning to the side.

A sudden blow knocked him unconscious.

“Nikolai, Nikolai…” As if a mantra, the werewolf grabbed the black slate, dragging his right leg, which remained human even though the rest of him transformed into a wolf. His fur slowly fluttered in the air as Viktor, with a pained whine, stepped onto the cold stone bricks, heading up the stairs.

Your kin will die!

Suffer the curse for betraying me!

I am your creator!

Obey me.

All the while he held the black stone shard, it sent deep, distorted voices that were more like intentions and pure emotions than words into Viktor’s head.

Yet the elderly werewolf remained focused.

His right eye became milky white and rapidly faded, and his left ear dripped with blood. The moment he reached the top of the stairs, seven bone saints holding silver spears all faced him, blocking the exit.

“N-Nikolai…”

He pushed on, whispering to keep his mind awake.

“Ivan!”

“Stop him!” Vampires standing between the bone saints held pistols and weapons all made of silver, while Viktor just rushed at them.

With each step, his hair became matted, thinner and fell.

His muscles atrophied, his movements slowed, but he grit his newly grown teeth so hard, blood oozed from his gums and nose. Determination welled up as he saw a distant image, a ginger flutter of hair, a cheeky smile and a regretful expression.

“Giselle! Oh, Giselle! You finally came back to me!”

A look of pure delight, his body exploded with the true force of an ancestor werewolf, his feet sank into the stone, creating deep craters and shattering the entire mansion’s surface. With a low growl, his mouth opened wide.

The vampires began to fire and tossed their weapons.

Blood spurted from Viktor’s body as his shoulders flung back, but they couldn’t stop his rage, his sudden burst of power!

“AWOOO!”

The force of his howl, filled with his emotions that burned his life at both ends, exploded with a massive shockwave, sending disintegrating the bone saints, while crushing the vampires into blood mist.

“I must…”

“…must….” His limbs locked up, the human leg now completely useless. His right arm drooped low, yet he clenched his hand as if holding something. “Help me, one last time, my dear?” He asked an illusory figure holding his hand.

A wolfish smile on his old lips, as he closed his pale eyes, and took in a fresh, delicious breath of air, one last time, he turned back and howled at the archway.

BOOM!

The explosion caused most of the island to shake.

“Let’s go, Giselle, our grandson is waiting.”

With his right hand holding an illusory palm, he trudged forward, leaving the mansion with a body covered in bloody wounds, his

RA-Ta-Ta-Ta!

Gunshots rained down from the distant towers, the flash of golden light tearing through his silver fur, but he continued, with the black slate in hand. Viktor began to run, or instead hop, with a single leg. He jumped, bounced and dragged himself forward with his arms.

He failed to notice, but as time went on, the fifteen pentagram stars started to fade. After he reached the pier and glanced across the beautiful black ocean and the distant lights of the city, he spent half his life.

“How is it? Beautiful, right?”

“Haa…..haa…ugh…!” Viktor leaned against a stone wall, the cold surface comforting as three thick trails of blood oozed down with his movements. “I remember, you wanted to see this city become beautiful again.” He glanced at the smiling illusion, his eyes barely able to see anything but the faint light reflecting from the moonlight.

To him, she smiled.

That was enough to push him further.

It hurt; his lungs burned, and his muscles screamed with each slight movement.

But they were waiting—his family.

His pride and joy.

Splash!

Viktor dove into the calm ocean, his body shrinking, the powerful muscles shrinking, his skin becoming loose and filled with marks. Still, he kept going… one arm, another, one kick, another… desperate to reach the distant Volkov compound.

How long did he swim?

When did he last call her name?

His mind was blank, like a fresh book with a few lines.

Nikolai, Giselle and Ivan, all he could remember, those three names and the city lights ahead.

Finally, he reached the shore.

A body barely alive, or even human, riddled with holes.

Swish!

The waves crashed against the pier, creating a cold splash of water that awoke him from his momentary rest. Lying on the ground, he glanced up at the massive moon that covered the entire sky. His lips quivered, forming a faint smile as he reached his limit.

.

.

.

Sarah didn’t know what to do with the rest of her life….

Nikolai told her that she could take the girls from their company and start a venture on her own, and that he would even release her from his service if she wished for it. At first, she was happy; this was her dream.

But suddenly, as she was preparing to leave, she felt empty inside.

“Would he accept it if I wanted to stay here and support him in the future?”

Unlike the other women around him, who were strong, glamorous, Sarah was happy just meeting from time to time and making jokes in the office.

As she reminisced, she touched her chest and felt the rapid beating of her heart.

She knew he might never look at her.

At first, she thought about trying to forget him. For an entire year, she put distance between them, but memories of their first meeting, and how he came from nowhere like a knight in shining armour and asked for nothing in return.

Could she pretend that never happened and look for another guy?

‘It seems I just can’t do it.’

“Eh?”

Standing close to the pier, she tossed her can of beer and made a choice. That’s when the young woman with blonde hair noticed the familiar elderly man lying on the ground, and her eyes widened.

“Old man! Wait. Stay with me!”