Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 731: Obsidian Tide

Gunfire crackled through the outpost.

Nikolai’s ears hummed with the sound of bullets hitting stone and metal.

Fragments burst near his shoulder, sharp chips cutting across his cheek as Nikita threw herself against him. Her warmth pressed into his chest. Her claws hooked through his shirt, dragging him down before his knees could find any strength.

“Nikita—!”

“Shut up! Stay down, don’t move…”

A second volley tore through the cold night.

The world became nothing but the golden flash of muzzle flares, screaming shouts from both sides as the bitter stench of gunpowder filled the air.

His head throbbed with each shot, the back of his skull aching from the pain as if stuffed with broken glass; each time he blinked, the various colours smeared into shapes which distorted reality.

‘Fuck…’

Nikolai felt Nikita’s warmth smother him as he pushed her aside.

His movements lagged as if he weighed a tonne.

Alucard’s voice slipped through the constant barrage of bullets and shouts.

“Do not kill him, I still have needs for him!”

The vampires clashed in a brutal melee, with Dimitri, Ivan and Vladimir pushing back the Nosferatu forces with all their might while Nikita and Selene kept him safe.

The world remained distorted as his vision spun.

A vampire mutant lunged past the first wall of bodies, its jaw splitting in half, revealing dozens of sharp, curved teeth. The filthy beast rushed at Nikolai, with extended claws ready to tear his throat out.

“Back off!” Nikita snarled.

Her hips twisted with a light pop.

Shhhk!

Two sets of sharp claws ripped across its chest, tearing from shoulder to hip. A wave of cold, rotten blood splashed over the wet stone, but the thing didn’t fall. It staggered back before groaning and lashing out.

“Persistent bastard!”

Nikita kicked its knee sideways, then drove her claws through its throat.

Nikolai’s eyes widened as he watched his wife brutally dismember and destroy an enemy trying to kill him. A violent heat spread from his chest, ‘why am I so useless!?’ He couldn’t stand being unable to fight back, quickly gathering the black blood within his body as if to rapidly spur himself on.

“Damn, this isn’t how I pictured it…”

He placed his palm on the stone pillar, trying to force himself up as his ribs screamed painfully with each attempt to stand. His vision shook, as if the floodlights flashed directly into his eyes.

A hand gripped his shoulder, tightening before Selene’s face appeared in his view.

“Don’t force it.”

“But I can move, don’t stop me…!”

“Honey, you’re struggling to move.”

Selene’s pretty red eyes stared down at him as she pressed her lips together; before he could complain, she clung to him, hot breath blowing down his neck. “This isn’t the time to rush—focus on recovering properly.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, even if it hurt him.

The stabbing pain meant nothing when he could enjoy Selene’s soft body and warmth.

“I get it… then I will focus on restoring my health.”

Selene didn’t relax.

Her fingers remained tight around his shoulder while Nikita stood before them, white hair soaked against her back, claws dripping with rotten blood. She was like a vicious guard dog, stopping any vampire or zombie that stood before her.

Nikolai hated it.

The situation forced him to watch his wife do all the work.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father clashing with various Great Elders, his movements calm yet dangerous. The way Ivan would lure in the enemy to the last moment, before he could counter with a devastating blow.

‘Move, damn it.’

He dragged in a breath through clenched teeth.

The stench of blood filled his lungs.

His blood churned through his veins, hotter than before, each heartbeat sending another painful pulse across his battered body. Every muscle screamed at him to stay down, yet something deeper refused to listen.

‘Come on…’

His fingers dug into the wet stone until his nails scraped against it.

Nearby, Dimitri tore through another vampire with a savage roar, while Vladimir slipped between two Great Elders, his blade flashing beneath the floodlights before one of them collapsed with half his throat missing.

Ivan remained in the centre.

His father moved with frightening precision, leading them with perfect movements. Even when bullets whistled past his face, he crushed a mutant’s skull beneath his fist before driving his elbow into another’s jaw.

‘Old man’s still ridiculous…’

A smile almost reached Nikolai’s lips before another wave of pain crashed through his ribs.

After a few minutes, the wounds across his abdomen, shoulders and body started to heal rapidly as he stood from the stone pillar.

Selene’s fingers tightened around his arm.

“Nikolai…”

“It’s fine.”

This time, his voice didn’t waver.

Though a faint pain lingered, it wasn’t enough to debilitate him.

Selene’s hand remained on his shoulder, but this time she didn’t push him back down. Her red eyes widened as the torn flesh across his ribs knitted together beneath the shredded fabric of his shirt.

“Nikolai…?”

He rolled his neck, feeling the bones pop as the distorted world slowly returned to normal.

“That’s better.”

Nikita glanced back, her lips parting as the blood dripping from her claws fell onto the ground.

“Darling?”

“Everything will be fine, Selene.”

Nikolai stepped beside her, brushing his hand against her cheek before smiling.

A vampire mutant rushed through the rain with its rifle raised, blood arts crawling around the barrel like twisting veins.

Bang!

It took a shot directly at the back of his head.

Nikolai spread his claws, slashing behind him in an instant.

Clang!

The bullet struck the black claws and flattened against it before dropping powerlessly to the floor. Selene watched him silently, her lips parting as she nodded. “Okay, if you’re alright, then nothing else matters…”

“Heh, that’s sweet, but don’t lower your guard.”

Nikolai’s eyes sharpened as the vampire mutant tried to rush him after firing the shot. Its twisted face contorted, blood arts bursting from its shoulders while the rifle in its hands broke apart, forming two long black blades.

The creature blurred through the rain.

‘It’s quite fast…’

Nikolai didn’t move, focusing his senses on the mutant.

His claws extended, dragging against his flesh as the black blades curved into deadly claws. The mutant thrust the blades toward his throat, but he tilted his head aside, letting the weapon skim past his cheek before clamping his hand around its wrist.

Crunch!

The bones snapped beneath his grip.

The vampire howled.

“Don’t scream after attacking someone.”

Nikolai stabbed his other hand through its chest.

Shhhk!

His claws pierced flesh and bone, pushing out of its back as cold blood ran down his forearm. The mutant twitched violently, still trying to bite him, but Nikolai’s claws sliced through something hard inside its chest.

A twisted lump of blood and flesh pulsed against his palm.

‘This thing is what keeps them alive?’

He tightened his grip.

Pop!

The lump burst between his fingers.

The vampire mutant lost all strength at once, its body sagging before collapsing to the floor in a filthy heap. Black smoke leaked from the hole in its chest, mixing with the rain as if the creature’s existence itself rejected death until the very end.

‘Similar to the clones… it seems they’re trying to master this technology.’

Nikolai pulled his hand free and stared at the remains clinging to his claws.

“Disgusting.”

Nikita stepped beside him, golden eyes bright beneath the floodlights. “Darling…”

“What?”

“You really are alright?”

Nikolai glanced at her bloodstained face, then leaned close and kissed her cheek.

“I’m perfectly fine, haha.”

“Move!”

Selene grabbed Nikita’s shoulder and pulled her aside as bullets ripped through the space behind them. Nikolai spun, raising his arm as black blood burst from beneath his skin and spread across his forearm in a jagged shield.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three bullets struck the shield and flattened.

The fourth curved around it, aimed at Selene’s chest.

Nikolai’s pupils narrowed.

His other hand snapped out, catching the bullet between two claws before it reached her.

Selene froze.

The bullet steamed between his fingers.

Nikolai crushed it and let the pieces fall, before glaring towards the enemy.

“Don’t aim at my wives.”

The vampire rifleman across the battlefield stiffened.

Nikolai stepped into the chaos, as black blood deformed and stretched across his arm, creating a long blade of Obsidian Tide.

Shhhing!

The blade sliced through the air, creating a flash of red before the riflemen could retreat.

Several Nosferatu soldiers stopped moving, dropping to the ground without life.

Even the Great Elders clashing with Ivan glanced in his direction.

Nikolai felt their attention gather on him; their disgustingly heavy and rotten gazes no longer affected him. He let them stare as he stepped forward, approaching the true battlefield while exhuding a dense aura.

“Nikita, Selene… remain where you are and support the troops.”

“Understood.”

“Okay, Darling!”

There was no hesitation in their voices.

Nikolai raised both hands as his blood arts crawled across his arms, covering them from wrist to elbow in hardened blood, forming two curved blades resembling longswords. The shape rough and unstable at first, but sharp enough to cut through stone and flesh with ease.

Two mutants rushed him together.

Their bodies were close to three metres tall, with bulging muscles and massive stone deformations on their hands.

He cracked his shoulders, rolling them backwards before glancing up with a sharp smirk on his lips. The lingering pain vanished, and now he was fully ready to fight Alucard and his disgusting minions.

“Let’s get this party started.”