Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 728: My Wife Would Have Killed Me Already

Vladimir looked at the dagger in Selene’s hand, then at the clone wearing his wife’s face.

The fake Selina still smiled at him with that soft, affectionate expression. Rain slid down her blonde hair, across her pale cheeks, and along the curve of her lips, making the imitation look far too alive beneath the blood-red moon.

Vladimir’s flame wavered for a moment.

Selene’s glare sharpened.

“Father.”

“I heard you the first time, my daughter.”

“Then stop looking at her like that.”

Vladimir exhaled through his nose, and the violet flames around his body rose again.

“You are correct. That thing is not your mother, but it does carry her perfect beauty!”

The fake Selina raised one hand.

Selene moved before the wind came.

Nothing happened.

That was the worst part.

There was no immediate blade, no visible pressure, no gust cutting through the rain. The fake Selina’s fingers simply opened, and the air remained still until she willed her explosive wind bombs to detonate.

Before Selene could reach her enemy, the spell activated.

A compressed burst of wind slammed into the ground where Selene had stood, carving a crescent-shaped scar through the concrete and hurling rainwater sideways in a violent spray.

Selene landed two steps away, boots skidding through blood and resin.

“Tch.”

Selene’s mother came from a clan similar to the Tepes, highly skilled in wind-elemental abilities.

Though due to their weak blood purity, she was merely a vassal.

The clan Selina came from did not use wind in the ordinary way. They delayed the activation of their spells, leaving the completed magic hanging for a breath, a heartbeat, or sometimes longer before it released. Even those who could sense aura struggled against it, because the danger was already cast before they realised.

For people without Báthory foresight, it was worse.

Vladimir and Selene could not see the future.

They could only read the body.

The subtle changes in their wrists, fingers and movements.

The fake Vladimir moved while Selene avoided the delayed spell. Purple flames coiled around his claws as he stepped in, forcing Vladimir to meet him directly. Their fire clashed in a violent burst, violet against violet, turning the rain between them into bitter steam.

Selene lifted her pistol.

The fake Selina’s hand shifted again.

Selene stopped herself from firing.

A thin ribbon of wind appeared beside her cheek a moment later, delayed from a motion the clone had made before she even raised the gun. It sliced through several strands of her wet hair and cut a red line across her skin.

“Annoying,” she muttered.

Vladimir’s mouth twitched despite the pressure.

“You sound like your mother.”

“You’re not helping Father!”

“….”

The fake Vladimir drove a flaming knee into his ribs.

Vladimir slid back half a step, his boots grinding through broken concrete.

Selene’s stare became flat.

“Father.”

Bang!

She fired her gun.

The bullet passed beneath Vladimir’s arm and struck the fake Vladimir’s shoulder. The clone flinched from the impact, but the fake Selina’s delayed wind activated behind him a breath later. A sharp spiral burst from empty air and struck Selene’s second bullet mid-flight, knocking it off course before it could dig deeper.

Selene narrowed her eyes, “Mother was always annoying…”

“Your mother can delay anything she completes properly,” Vladimir said, voice lower now. “Attack, defence, feint. Even a failed cast can become bait.”

“Wonderful.”

“Isn’t she?”

“Shut up, Dad! No one cares about your obsession with Mother!”

The fake Selina smiled again.

This time, Vladimir did not soften.

His purple flame compressed around his arms, burning closer to his skin instead of spreading wide. The clone wearing his face mirrored the motion, but a fraction slower and lacking the finesse of her Father’s movements.

‘Dad’s movements are a little strange…’

Selene had always admired her parents, the way her mother could masterfully avoid attacks and protect them from harm, while her Father appeared so confident, calm and elegant.

“His right shoulder is slower,” Selene said.

“I know.”

“Then break it.”

“With pleasure.”

Vladimir stepped forward, meeting his clone’s flame head-on. The impact shook the lane, scattering sparks across the rain as both men drove claws and fire against each other. Selene moved at his side, not behind him, keeping her pistol low and her dagger ready.

The fake Selina lifted two fingers.

Selene watched the rain.

A small patch to her left stopped falling naturally, bouncing strangely as if something was blocking their path.

‘!!!!’

She threw her dagger into it.

The blade struck nothing, then suddenly rang as delayed wind bloomed around it, twisting the weapon aside instead of catching Vladimir’s exposed flank.

Selene clicked her tongue.

“Good girl.”

“Don’t start.”

Vladimir laughed once, then drove his elbow into the fake Vladimir’s jaw. Purple flame burst against the clone’s face, forcing it back. Selene fired into the weakened shoulder at the same instant, and this time the bullet struck cleanly.

The fake Vladimir’s arm dipped.

Vlad seized the wrist and twisted.

Bone cracked beneath burning skin.

The clone wearing Selina’s face moved.

Her hand opened fully, all five fingers spread.

Vladimir’s eyes widened.

“Selene, get down!”

She dropped without arguing.

A delayed gale of sharp spears of wine tore through the space above her, wide enough to cut across the entire lane. The wind struck the wall behind them and carved five deep grooves into the reinforced stone. If she had hesitated, it would have taken her head.

Selene rolled through the water and came up with her pistol raised with the dagger pressed beneath it. Her breathing had grown harsher, with streams of blood oozing from the gashes on her face and neck.

Yet her eyes remained calm.

“She is faster than Mother.”

“No,” Vladimir said. “You’ve never seen your mother get angry…”

The fake Vladimir tried to pull free, but Vlad crushed his damaged wrist harder and held him in place by the throat.

“This fake has nothing on your mother—she is just reckless and foolish.”

The real Selina laid complex, delayed traps while asking what you wanted for dinner; she would carefully prepare and adjust herself for battle even before the encounter started, ensuring she left an escape route for herself and her family.

It was clear the clone didn’t understand this notion.

The clone wasn’t permitted to escape or flee, leaving only death.

Selene understood it at the same time as her Father.

“Trap her.”

Vladimir smiled.

“Cruel girl.”

“You’re the one that raised me, Dad.”

“Heh… I’m starting to understand that damn ape Dimitri better…”

The fake Selina’s fingers shifted once again; this time, Selene matched her, firing several shots at the puddles around her feet.

Her shots created metre-high waves that splashed the clone, revealing her traps and forcing her to step back.

That single step ruined the timing of three delayed wind bombs.

They detonated too early.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Compressed wind tore apart the space between them, ripping chunks from the concrete and shredding the smoke into pale ribbons. Vladimir used the blasts as cover, dragging the fake Vladimir by the throat and hurling him straight into his wife’s imitation.

The fake Selina’s expression changed.

Vladimir’s violet flame surged through his arm and swallowed the fake Vladimir’s upper body. The clone tried to resist, raising its remaining hand, but Selene’s bullet pierced through the damaged shoulder.

“Don’t think about moving, freak.”

“Daughter…”

The words used by Selena caused Vladimir’s shoulders to shake before he closed his eyes and poured more aura into his violet flames.

The fake Selina lifted her hand to save him.

Selene had already thrown her dagger.

The blade spun through the rain and cut across the clone’s fingers before the spell finished forming. Blood sprayed from the fake Selina’s hand, and the delayed wind burst from the wrong angle, carving through the fake Vladimir’s back instead.

The clone wearing her Father’s face scrunched up as Vladimir dragged his closer.

“You are not worthy.”

Then he burned through the core.

The fake Vladimir collapsed into blackened pieces, his body falling apart beneath the violet fire. Selene did not look at the face as it vanished. She only watched the fake Selina behind him.

The clone’s smile had disappeared completely.

Selene reloaded her pistol with stiff fingers.

“You looked better when you were smiling.”

Vladimir glanced at her. “Selene.”

“What?”

“Don’t move, let me end this.”

“B-But…”

“Obey me this once, you rebellious girl!” Vlad snarled back, stepping towards the clone of his wife.

“Selina, even if you are a clone, it hurts me to attack you.”

The fake Selina’s smile returned, softer than before, almost tender as her fingers slowly opened.

Several places around Vladimir stopped receiving rain.

Selene noticed them at once, but her Father’s order kept her in place. Her pistol remained raised, trembling slightly beneath her fingers.

“Father…”

“I said, don’t move.”

Vladimir stepped forward.

The delayed wind bombs detonated around him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His coat tore apart, blood spraying from his shoulder, thigh and side as invisible blades carved through him. Yet Vladimir did not slow. Violet flames wrapped tighter around his body, burning through the pressure and sealing the worst of the wounds before they could tear him apart.

The fake Selina tilted her head.

For one moment, she looked confused.

Vladimir reached her.

His hand touched her cheek with strange gentleness.

“My wife would have killed me already.”

The fake’s eyes widened.

Vladimir’s other hand pierced her chest.

Violet fire erupted inside her body, burning through the foul core hidden beneath the copied flesh. The clone tried to lift her hand again, but Selene’s dagger struck through her wrist and pinned it down.

“Sorry, Father. I disobeyed.”

Vladimir smiled bitterly.

“Good girl.”

The fake Selina collapsed into ash and black blood beneath the rain.

Selene couldn’t help but watch her Father’s face, thinking about his words…

“Dad must love mother quite a lot…”