Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 699: The Broken Status Quo

After the sudden assault, everything seemed different to Nikolai, who walked through the hurried atmosphere. The pale faces and slight tremble in the hands of the non-combat staff sent warning bells through his mind.

"Ensure you bury him with the Volkov Kinsmen," Nikolai asked the butler. "Though he has sinned, that cannot destroy all his hard work over the several years he served my grandfather."

The butler lowered his head.

This revealed his tightly clenched hands behind his back, clearly showing he was one of the older staff who knew Alaric in his earlier days.

"Understood, Patriarch, and thank you."

’I see...’

There were still things he needed to consider seeing this. Many of the people in the mansion had served their clan for generations, and a simple act of grace could make all the difference to their emotions.

"You may go."

Nikolai waved the butler away with a faint smile.

As he hurriedly strode towards the damaged eastern wall, Nikolai noticed that, although they didn’t say it aloud, fear was spreading throughout the mansion much faster than he’d anticipated.

"Let’s go, Selene."

’It seems the attack shocked too many people, damn Nosferatu!’

Maids who pranced and skipped through the halls a few hours ago now carried ammunition crates and various combat supplies while rolling stiff shoulders the moment they set them down in the main hall.

Even the guards stationed near the inner halls avoided looking directly outside toward the eastern courtyard.

Because the estate still shook from time to time.

"Will this ever end?" He sighed, exhaling through his nose.

Selene gently grasped his arm and leaned against him affectionately.

"I’m sure it will, you’ll... no, we’ll bring an end to it."

Though she appeared a little shaken upon meeting the mutated werewolf, he couldn’t help but smile at her figure in the courtyard, holding a rifle and shooting him like a goddess of victory.

Thick scents like wet concrete, blood, and burnt fur flooded his senses, so intensely that it irritated him.

The once calm mansion was nowhere to be seen.

"We should go see the kids, Selene... but are you alright?"

Selene peered into his eyes, blinking slowly at his question, her long lashes shining in the bloody light.

Her usual confident mask was nowhere to be seen.

The beautiful vampire lowered her gaze as she walked beside him, her eyes reflecting the flickering emergency lights along the corridor walls, and her grip around his arm tightened unconsciously.

"Do you want me to be honest, or...?"

He frowned as the estate shook once again.

Dust drifted from the ceiling, while downstairs a servant shouted orders to reinforce the eastern halls, sending more combat maids and hounds to guard the entrance.

"Honesty would be best, dear."

Selene pressed against his chest, clinging closer to him before continuing.

"I’m worried, for the future and our children..." Her brows furrowed faintly. "I’ve seen monsters before, Nikolai. But that thing wasn’t normal, using the corpse of someone we once knew and twisting it in such a profane manner..."

"Mhm."

He remained silent because he knew what she meant and agreed.

All he could do was gently stroke her golden hair while they walked down the seemingly endless hallway to where Nikita and their children waited.

Nikolai also thought of the hospital, worried that these events might affect Rika or Kumiko, who were about to give birth.

"It’ll be alright, I will make sure nothing goes wrong."

Though he didn’t fully believe his own words, this was all he could do to comfort her in the moment. When facing Alaric, he realised that Alucard would stop at no limit to end this conflict in a bloody clash.

’But if all he needs is my blood...’

There was a momentary pause in his thoughts as he closed his eyes.

Maybe she sensed his unease, or the dreadful weight draped on his shoulders in the form of the title Patriarch. He wasn’t someone trained for this role, and the seat was likely meant for his father.

Unable to offer anything other than her own body to soothe him, Selene leaned her head briefly against his shoulder.

"But..." A faint smile appeared on her lips. "You were cool."

Nikolai snorted quietly.

"Cool?"

"Mhm."

She glanced upward toward him.

"Very cool."

Despite the alarms, the blood, and the suffocating tension lingering throughout the mansion, Nikolai still laughed softly under his breath.

It was a moment of amusement that helped him recover from his melancholy.

He quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged her close.

"...Let’s go see the children,"

The warmth of her body lingered against his side as they continued through the mansion halls together. Compared to the previous chaos, the estate finally started to recover and stabilise.

Though the initial attack ended, the atmosphere remained heavy.

One problem was the blood moon appearing in the middle of the day; for some reason, the sun wasn’t visible in the sky, and each hour the moon seemed to grow, as if looming ever closer to the planet.

For a few seconds, the suffocating pressure surrounding the Blood Moon eased slightly between them.

Then Nikolai glanced toward one of the shattered corridor windows overlooking the distant city.

Smoke still rose beyond the compound walls.

"I never thought he would launch an assault on both the SSS and our compound, though. It doesn’t match his usual self."

Selene followed his gaze toward the distant skyline.

The red glow of burning districts stained the storm clouds above S-City, while military helicopters circled endlessly through the heavens. Occasionally, flashes erupted somewhere between the skyscrapers, followed seconds later by the dull echo of explosions.

Her brows furrowed faintly.

"...Maybe he finally lost patience."

Nikolai slowly shook his head.

"I don’t think so... how could a vampire like him change so suddenly?"

Someone who lived for thousands of years, why would they grow impatient all of a sudden?

That was the thing Nikolai wanted to find out most.

"There must be something we’re missing... ah! Madoka?"

He’d almost forgotten the one who brought the mutant to their compound as she fled, his eyes traced the hallways, before finding her standing up ahead, leaning against the wall with her wounds now wrapped in bandages.

"Where did you vanish to?" He asked with a smile.

He felt Selene’s grip tighten the moment he spoke to her, but that was a sort of perk to the situation.

Madoka snapped her gaze towards him, her lips curling for a moment before they settled into a frown. "Hmph, it seems you finally remember my existence... I was taken to the medical room by a pushy maid."

Madoka folded her arms beneath her chest, the bandages wrapped around her shoulders stained faintly pink where blood still seeped through.

Even exhausted, she looked irritated more than injured.

Nikolai exhaled through his nose.

"Pushy maid? Let me guess, Sofia?"

"...That terrifying woman threatened to sedate me if I tried leaving the bed again."

Selene let out a small laugh beside him before snorting through her nose, "Why not listen to her advice then, you mangy cat?"

Madoka clicked her tongue.

"Dear husband, I struggled to bring information back to you at the cost of nearly dying... how is it that you’re treating me like some troublesome plague. Don’t forget whose child rests inside my stomach, leech."

"You are troublesome," Selene replied flatly.

The Tigeress narrowed her eyes immediately as the tension between them returned so naturally that Nikolai almost forgot the earlier fight and destruction of the compound, which had happened moments ago.

However, the distant cries echoed through the city, terror from the blood moon spreading.

It brought a strange sort of lunacy.

Madoka’s ears twitched faintly before her expression darkened again.

"...It’s getting worse outside."

Nikolai’s smile faded.

"Tell me everything."

The playful atmosphere vanished instantly.

Madoka pushed herself off the wall slowly, wincing once before walking toward the shattered window overlooking S-City.

The crimson moonlight painted her figure wine-red.

She glanced back at him with a bitter grin. "When I escaped from the central district, the SSS had already lost several of their defensive lines." Her voice softened as she showed a rare sense of helplessness. "Though they managed to recover, it won’t be long before this phenomenon completely overruns them."

"Overrun by what?" Nikolai couldn’t quite understand.

Though he could feel a subtle pulse each moment he stood beneath the moonlight, nothing happened within the Volkov estate.

"Haha, well... I don’t know if it’s by luck or something to do with what you guys eat or drink. But other smaller clans have gone completely berserk. Werewolves, Ghouls, Vampires, Dhampir, Kelpie and all sorts of monsters have become brainless beasts."

"How can that be?!" Selene exclaimed.

Madoka didn’t mock her or act sarcastically like before; instead, she just shook her head. "I don’t know, but that moon seems to affect monsters. While it might affect humans, I have no way of knowing."

Nikolai tapped his muscular forearms before shaking his head.

"It’s a bit too much to rush a decision, let’s see the children and ensure everyone is alright... after that, we can visit my Aunt and the science team to organise a team to leave the compound to understand what’s happening."

Though he had a nagging feeling this was something his father knew about, Nikolai couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t tell him directly.

As if this were a test for him.

There was no other choice for him but to search and discover the truth himself.

"Come on, there’s no time to waste."