Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 655: Sarah’s Special Ability!

Nikolai stood beneath the sewage access ladder beneath the bazaar, one hand on the cold steel, the other clenched at his side. "Don’t prioritise anything other than your own life, if someone gets hit... as heartless as it sounds. We cannot afford to stop. The first goal is to reach Verda and the Shadow Guard."

’Without them, the gateway won’t open...’

Brunhilde, Tanya, Sarah and the thralls watched him with quiet stares; some nodded, others lowered their heads.

He wasn’t a stranger to this look, seeking his guidance, borrowing his confidence while they judged and sought answers within everything he did.

"Phew." Taking a moment, he closed his eyes, gathering himself.

The low rumble of explosions and ring of gunfire still reverberated through the steel lid above, "I’m going."

Psyching himself up, he began his ascent.

The foul stench of the sewer decreased the further he climbed, replaced by the harsh scent of ash, gunpowder and sickly heat.

He couldn’t explain the flavours, but with each breath, a sour, earthy taste filled his mouth through his nose that burned the back of his throat slightly.

Deng!

Deng!

All that he focused on was the sound of his hands and feet gripping and stepping on the ladder’s rusty bars.

Step by Step, he finally reached the surface.

He placed his hand on the dark metal manhole, and a prick of heat lanced through his palm after pressing against it. The intense desert sun likely baking this large metal lid for hours now, he grit his teeth and pushed.

The muscles on his back tightened and bulged, his waist and thighs clenching as the heavy steel almost refused to budge.

Creak~

Finally, the lid roared and shifted free as it rose, revealing the true heat which engulfed Nikolai’s face like a flamethrower the moment he peeked.

Nikolai couldn’t see any of the royal warriors or the Nosferatu bone saints when he climbed out, but the distant conflict came from the direction he planned to head. "Is it a mistake to head to the palace?" He slammed the metal lid aside with a side kick, the heavy steel creating a thunderous bang.

"..."

Maybe a mistake, but there was no going back as he drew his Desert Eagle, and focused his blood aura into his eyes, ears and nose.

Then gave the signal by tapping the ladder.

He needed to hold the position until the others climbed up.

A prickly heat bit at his skin, while the harsh, sandy winds lashed his cheeks.

Moments passed without anything happening until his nose twitched. He could smell a foul odour from the western passage reminiscent of sewage or food waste left in the sun for too long.

’Are they here?’

His body shifted, using the broken carts and wooden tables as cover, eyes fixed on the only entrance as the disgusting smell grew stronger.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

A series of uniform footsteps trudged through the sands, before a group of figures appeared walking in a line. Bone white with flecks of dry, plastery white skin and empty skulls with blue flames in the socket.

Long white blades made of bone grew from their forearms, a signature of their kind.

’So many bone saints...’

They would soon be upon his position; the girls climbing the ladder would surface in the next few moments.

’What to do...’

He could hold back, wait and let them pass, hoping the women would be slower.

But the open lid was fully visible right now.

Shaking his head, he gripped the customised Desert Eagle tight, shifting the safety off, and sliding the magazine free to check it.

Clack!

When he reloaded the magazine, his eyes changed.

One of the bone saints paused, and a second later the ones around it stopped, glancing in Nikolai’s direction. Each of them carried a simple H&K UMP submachinegun, something you wouldn’t find in Al’Qutar, which banned such weapons.

His eyes narrowed, focused on the chamber, recognising the model, and the likelihood of them using custom silver .45 ACP bullets.

A shot or two, and his thralls and the maids would die.

"Phew..." Exhaling, he grabbed a piece of debris, waiting for the bone saints to turn away, and tossed it across the bazaar.

Blood pumped through his veins like a surging tide. He jumped into the air, using his foot to boost himself almost six metres above them and opened fire.

Deng!

Deng!

Deng!

Deadly bullets rained from above.

The first bullet hit a saint’s chest, shattering its collarbone and upper ribcage, sending it to the ground. His second shot blew the central lobe apart, shattering the bone saints’ dried husk of a brain into dust.

By the third shot, the saints spread out, their blue flaming eyes locked on Nikolai’s descending figure.

A foul smirk on their lips as they raised their submachine guns.

"I hate this..."

With the crackle of lightning, Nikolai’s back grew two tails, similar to Rika’s ghostly tails. His ears became larger, covered in more fur similar to a fox, and faint blue scales covered his exposed chest and cheeks.

Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

The saints opened fire, ushering a storm of bullets upon his figure.

Hssss~

Nikolai vanished into a swirl of pink mist.

Kumiko’s ability.

Then, like a clap of thunder, he struck the ground and appeared behind their group, one hand aiming and unloading his Desert Eagle without looking. De-Deng! De-Deng! Double shots, blowing their skulls apart. His right hand cracked and transformed, growing massive claws from each finger, which burned with a blue and red flame.

Anya, Selene and Lunaria’s powers.

Two silver bullets ricocheted and lanced past his cheek.

Blue sparks flew into the air as Amphitrite’s scales protected his skin, the surface slightly blackened from the heat.

Nikolai didn’t stop for a second, using his thumb to slip the magazine from his Desert Eagle, before grabbing another from his waist using his long tail. It snapped the magazine back into place with a flick, and he continued his attack.

Blood oozed from his chest, right arm and upper neck where bullets nicked and penetrated him, but unlike the past, when the silver bullets rendered him useless. Ten of the seventeen bone saints lay on the ground with snuffed flames.

"..."

The remaining undead tossed their guns and raised both arms across their chests, two broad, white blades extended in a cross shape.

"So you want to take it into melee? Sure!"

Deng!

However, his first action was to blow the leading saint’s head off. "As if I would give up my advantage, you dumb corpses!"

"!!!!"

Woosh!

Although dead, they seemed angry.

The bone saints rushed at him, while from the opening a few metres away, the first women started climbing out.

Clang!

He blocked one blade with his claws, then pointed the eagle under its chin and fired. Deng! Immediately hopping back as two stabbed the air, he stood a moment before. "Damn, these guys are relentless."

"Nikolai?!" A voice called out for him, distracting three of the remaining bone saints, who glanced towards Sarah with blazing blue eyes.

He swore their bone lips curled into a smile as they rushed at the unaware thralls.

"SHOOT, The enemy is here, Sarah!"

Forced back by the sudden reckless assault of the remaining bone saints as if determined to die if it could hold him here for even a moment.

.

.

.

"Hm?"

Sarah’s eyes snapped towards Nikolai the moment he shouted. Upon seeing the enemies, her hands grasped her revolvers, and with a skilled flick, the guns rolled across her palms until she gripped them with practised ease.

"Bone Saints, huh?"

Unlike in the past, she no longer showed fear or nerves when facing combat.

Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!

A series of shots lanced through the sky as she unleashed her six chambers without moving anything but her arms. Her eyes darted through the air, examining and matching the bone saint’s movements.

Unlike his other wives, Sarah never displayed a unique ability.

If she gained one, it would be this...

Her brain burned with a fierce heat, calculating and adjusting her aim in less than 0.02 seconds, faster than even Nikolai.

She didn’t shift a step, even when the leading bone saint’s blade lunged at her throat.

Beads of sweat dripped down her cheeks as she shifted the revolvers ever so slightly before firing until the last click. Her hands crossed against her chest as she used a customised speed loader to fill the chambers with the flick of her wrists.

Wooosh!

When the blade reached her, she tilted her head ever so slightly and placed her gun to the bone saint’s face.

"Nice try."

Bang!

With that, the last bone saint dropped to the floor, as a thin cut extended across her cheek, and she staggered, gasping for air after using her newly found power for so long drained her like a battery powering an entire house.

It felt like someone squeezed her brain like a wet washcloth.

"Ngh, this headache is damned annoying."

However, she’d stood toe to toe with the bone saints. The thralls and maids stood behind her, watching with awe. At the same time, she watched the man, who could destroy them without such a difficult drawback.

Sarah had changed...

And it was all thanks to him.