Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 715: Mikaela’s Doubt

Meanwhile, Nikolai was enjoying a delightful moment with Nikita, a few hundred miles from the port, where the elusive floating island of the Nosferatu clan sat. Created to help stem raging tides and the threat of tsunamis reaching the mainland, it was now a heavily armed fortress territory.

With fifteen-metre reinforced tide defences on the outside, spanning the entire island facing the Atlantian Sea. The inner layers stood with entrenched gun batteries, hidden turrets and dozens of soldiers on constant guard.

Stood in the centre of that was a single woman.

She wore a long, black-and-gold trench coat with a red velvet inner lining, dancing in the sea breeze just below her knees, revealing a perfectly refined black-and-white French maid outfit underneath.

Her hair was neck-length in a messy bob style, with chopped bangs hiding her sharp, thin slit eyes, which scanned the docks and harbour with a sharp glare.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as some static sounded from her earpiece. In that moment, Mikaela smiled, revealing two rows of sharp, almost sharkish teeth.

”I see, those filthy things have failed.”

Two guards in dark green and khaki military uniforms walked closer, both wielding the modern battle rifles used by humans.

A handy weapon created by Dungeon Tech and given the name of a dangerous adversary.

The WVYRN. (Based on the Desert Tech WLVRN ”Wolverine”)

”M-Ma’am!?” The two men quickly stood to attention, stopping their little jokes and saluted the maid.

Mikaela nodded to the pair with a faint smile on her lips. The two men swallowed as the wind parted her silver hair, revealing her ethereal beauty.

”Mhm. How is the perimeter doing?

”No issues, Ma’am!”

”Nothing to report, Ma’am!”

The two men seemed utterly enthralled the moment she spoke.

Her deep, smoky voice carried the sensual tone of a top-class courtesan while retaining the domineering atmosphere of a queen.

”I see, that’s good. But have there been any signs of movement across the sea?”

She watched the two men tremble when she spoke, smirking to herself as she enjoyed the situation more than usual.

’If only Alucard could be this cute, like back in the old days...’

But that’s when her expression faltered.

The sudden changes in the Nosferatu base happened as a direct result of losing a battle against the Moonlight alliance. No. It would be more prudent to say they lost to the new patriarch and his brutal force.

”There is no movement, Ma’am!”

”Understood. Well, don’t overwork yourselves when you continue your rounds and ensure you take proper breaks.”

She turned away from the two men and stepped closer to the dark sea, her figure reflected in the water at the edge of the pier.

”Wow... the mistress is to kind...”

”Mhm, if the mistress asked, I would jump into a fiery pit!”

”Aha...” Mikaela laughed to herself, amused at the innocent nature of the outer clan members. These people weren’t treated well by most of the elders and nobility, nothing more than pawns beneath the mutants and zombies. ”I hope you survive...”

As someone who was once the same as those cheerful men, she couldn’t help but wish them good luck.

”The atmosphere hasn’t been good as of late.”

Mikaela stood silently, the distant sound of boats and the looming lighthouse rotating its lights echoing in her supersensitive ears. She loved the dark of night. It gave her time to think without needless distractions.

’Ever since that strange man appeared, Alucard has become reckless... he’s rushing and adding too many strange things to the plan.’

Doctor Franz.

He wasn’t someone that Mikaela knew well, but during her husband’s attempts to find a cure for her ailing body, one of the council members mentioned him. A strange, eccentric elder from an earlier generation, before even Alucard.

”But how did he remain so hidden, for the past thousand or so years... nobody knew his name or even mentioned him. Yet when the war, when that boy appeared with the blood needed... He suddenly appears?”

She couldn’t trust him.

There was a churning pain in her gut that told her this man wasn’t on her side.

Alas, when she confronted Alucard...

He rejected her concerns. Instead spouting about saving her from torment... bringing her back from the depths of hell.

’I’m sure that boy would’ve helped earnestly if we didn’t trick him in the first place.’

Mikaela pressed two fingers against the earpiece and exhaled through her nose.

She then took a packet of M-Reds from her chest pocket before placing one in her mouth. The scent of smoke and cigarettes made her gag in the past. But after living for almost a millennium, her dislike and rejection of things vanished.

”Phwooo....”

A screen of mist spread from her plump lips as the orange glow lit her face.

The island always smelled of blood these days. Even the sea breeze couldn’t cover it anymore. Beneath those beautiful dark waves crashing against the reinforced tide walls lay countless failed experimental bodies and poorly concealed death.

The floating island groaned softly under her feet.

Huge stabilising anchors buried themselves deep beneath the sea, keeping the fortress steady despite the dark waves rolling in from the Atlantian Sea. Searchlights swept over the water in slow arcs, crossing one another above the tide defences like pale blades. Every few seconds, the beam of the lighthouse passed across the harbour, turning the wet concrete silver before darkness swallowed it again.

Mikaela liked standing here to think, watching it for several moments.

Then her earpiece crackled, and she frowned.

Crushing her cigarette with a deep sigh, creating a tide of smoke.

”Lady Mikaela, Lord Alucard requests your presence in the central command hall.”

”Does he request it, or does he order it?”

The officer on the other side went silent.

Mikaela’s sharp teeth showed again.

”Relax. I’m on my way.”

The two of them adored each other; their love had evolved into something as simple as the oxygen in the air. Their intense, passionate love seemed cooled on the outside, but in reality, nothing could damage their bond.

A love of a thousand years was aged beyond any fine wine.

The taste a mixture of bittersweet nostalgia and the comforting flavours she’d grown to adore.

She lowered her hand and turned from the pier.

Behind her, the two guards straightened so violently their boots scraped against the ground.

”Ma’am!”

”Keep watching the sea,” Mikaela said. ”If anything strange appears... please report before shooting.”

Somehow, she thought of that cute boy’s face.

Nikolai Volkov.

He reminded her of something she regretted greatly, the betrayal of her best friend. Mikaela couldn’t shake those feelings and thus always tried to go easy on the boy. From the moment Alucard targeted him, to the moment they became true enemies...

She tried to create a bridge to avoid this ending.

”Yes, Ma’am!”

”Of course, Ma’am!”

She passed between them, the hem of her coat snapping in the wind. The outer harbour was full of movement despite the late hour. Soldiers hauled crates beneath canvas covers. Engineers checked the large coastal guns mounted on the inner wall. Zombies with Vampire attendants in black uniforms moved with stiff backs and hollow eyes, carrying orders from the noble districts to the military line.

The entire fortress lacked emotions and laughter.

This was the current state of the Nosferatu.

The cheerful mood of the lower docks died the closer one walked toward the island’s heart. The clean stone roads became darker, lacking the warmth of people.

She entered the command hall through a pair of enormous iron doors guarded by four armoured Nosferatu knights. They bowed deeply as she passed, though two of them avoided looking directly at her face.

Inside, the air felt heavy and humid.

Maps covered the central table.

The coastline, port routes, deep channels, old submarine paths, and the projected range of the island batteries had all been marked in red, white, and black. Officers stood around the room in silence, creating an irritating atmosphere.

Some wore noble uniforms with gold pins, as if to show off.

While others looked like field commanders pulled from their posts without warning.

And at the far end of the hall stood Alucard.

’My Love!’

Almost immediately, the dead heart of Mikaela began to thump, beating only when near her beloved husband. The bond between the two was so strong that his eyes ultimately peeled away from the board without a word as he stared at her.

The corner of his lips slowly raised into a faint smile.

”My Dear.”

Her husband faced the great window overlooking the sea, hands clasped behind his back. His long crimson coat hung from his shoulders, motionless despite the draft crawling through the chamber. Even from behind, Mikaela could feel the strain in him.

He looked powerful.

He looked exhausted.

He looked further away from her than he ever had.

As if sensing something strange, his eyes narrowed when she didn’t return the smile. He shook his head and swept one arm across the air.

”Leave us,” Alucard said.

The officers bowed and withdrew at once, not even asking a question.

This was normal.

Mikaela waited for the heavy iron doors to shut before walking towards Alucard, then gently leaning against his chest, she wrapped both arms around his waist.

”Husband, I heard Franz’s little experiments failed.”

Alucard’s shoulders tightened slightly.

”They served their purpose... it is a mere setback.”

Her eyes widened, hidden as she rested her forehead against his chest; she just couldn’t understand his faith in that crazy man.

’Are you going to cover for that man once again?!’

He suddenly grasped her chin, lifting her to face him.

His face remained beautiful in the old Nosferatu way, pale and severe, with eyes like fresh blood beneath the moonlight. Yet there were shadows beneath them now. Faint cracks in the perfect image.

All because of her.

”Mikaela.”

”Alucard.”

”I know you are worried about Franz, but please... can you trust me this once?”

His gaze softened whenever he looked at her, and for one brief moment, she saw the man who once brushed ash from her hair after carrying her away from a horrible life.

Yet that softness faded almost seconds later as he cleared his throat.

”We must trust him, for our grand goal cannot be achieved without him.”

Nevertheless...

’What about Nikolai?’

She swallowed her thoughts, knowing that Alucard was too proud, too petty to accept he’d suffered constant defeats to a young pup barely half a century old.

”Can we really trust him... his methods are so extreme...”

Hiss~

The doors quietly opened as the pair hugged each other.

Neither is seemingly aware.

Before Mikaela could answer, a voice came from above them.

”How touching... but Lord Alucard already gave me permission.”

Doctor Franz leaned against the railing above them, thin hands folded over the head of his cane, his smile filled with enough venom to poison the room.