Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride - Chapter 285

Chapter 285: The Mysterious Door
The ghouls descended upon the group like starving beasts eager to feed. Nikolai’s steps were swift, measured, and silent. His right arm half transformed with claws that shimmered in the dark, he darted towards the creatures with a faint smile. A glint of silver shone in the pitch-black cave before the creature’s head hit the ground, rolling over to its brethren.

Nikolai’s claws severed his neck clean off. He twirled, ducked from sharp fangs eager for his flesh, and spun around with a supernatural grace.

“Hah!” Risa’s voice echoed through the caves, a sweet voice like a siren, as her blades cut into the ghouls’ backs. The creatures twisted their heads back but could not touch her.

The shadows slithered along Risa’s body; they curled along her limbs, binding up her torso and snaked down her legs, a sense of greed and victory in their pale yellow eyes.

Flash!

The air filled with streaks of silver, two articulate arcs slicing through their necks, as Risa’s actual body twirled behind them, stepping off the jagged walls when her clone smirked before vanishing into a puff of smoke.

“I’ve got your back.” She grinned at her partner with a serene chuckle, her emerald-green eyes flicking towards him in the dark.

“What a dependable partner.”

Nikolai’s hand was a flash of silver as his claws ripped through flesh like it were nothing. The creature staggered away with a desperate screech but collapsed onto the floor.

Nikolai sighed and turned towards the third ghoul.

Their bodies started to tremble, pulling back with clear hesitation and fear as Nikolai eyed it up and down.

“No need to worry.” He reassured, his hand glimmering, “This will be painless.”

Ryan’s gun flared, a flash of beautiful gold and amber in the dull, damp caves as he aimed his twin guns towards ghouls attempting to flee.

He missed more than he would like to admit. Though his mind and body were now accustomed to fighting enemies that could regenerate their body parts or possessed immense strength and abilities, his movements were still slower, less sharp, than a seasoned hunter or a supernatural like Nikolai.

What made him bite his lip in frustration was the blonde woman stood ahead of him with a cruel smile on her lips. It was obvious from her lack of technique with a blade—she was inexperienced in hand-to-hand combat. However, as her eyes locked on to the creature, a bright golden hue flickered across them.

The next moment, her curved blade had sliced through the ghoul’s flesh. Another spin and her left arm dismembered the creature entirely before Ryan could even move an inch.

Ryan watched in stunned amazement at how quickly the ghouls fell.

“Damn!”

Bang!

Once again, he shot another one who dared to approach.

“If you’re here, why do we even need him?” Risa huffed, pouting with envy and disapproval at seeing the poor skill of Ryan once gain, though she lifted her brows at the woman and gun he used.

“He’s my friend and our captain, don’t be so rude.”

Nikolai scolded Risa, his hand crushing another ghoul, as they changed their movements, becoming desperate as if to protect something ahead.

“Now,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Time for the last—”

He cut himself off and abruptly crouched down before Risa could react, forcing his face into her breast as his claws struck upward to a creature leaping down above them ripping its head clean from its neck.

“I told you I’ve got your back, right?”

He tilted his head, lifting it from Risa’s chest, who nodded her head wordlessly with wide eyes, before scoffing. “You didn’t have to pull away so quickly, fool.”

As they ventured deeper into the caves, the air was suffocating—the musky odour of mould mixed with the pungent smell of decomposing bodies was not a pleasant greeting.

Ryan’s breathing became deeper, slower and more controlled than when he first used the gun to fight vampires in the club; yet, he remained hesitant to fire against creatures as quick as ghouls. He took two shots, neither landing on the ghouls, whose blackened skin coated their taut muscles.

They darted towards him. His heart pounded, threatening to burst out of his chest when suddenly, one dropped dead, then another.

A dirty black blood sprayed through the air, coating the beautiful woman’s face, as her golden eyes glared at the monsters, almost shining enough to brighten the cave.

“You’re welcome.” She stated coldly, passing by the shocked man, spinning her blades, her breasts bouncing beneath the tight, dark leather.

“You can thank me later.”

“…”

Nikolai’s eyes flicked away from the pair, the strange atmosphere and scent of the woman becoming stronger as she fought and perspiration.

‘So she’s not human.’

Though he only noticed now, because of her thin, almost negligible blood. Nikolai wasn’t all that curious about what kind of creature she was—after all, he spent most of his time with the strongest and most pure-blooded women in the entire supernatural world.

“Let’s head deeper in, there’s something inside these bastards are protecting.”

The group continued their trek into the deep unknown until, at last, they came across an open clearing where multiple tunnels intertwined and connected.

A foul odour permeated the area, emanating from hundreds, if not thousands, of human bones scattered across the rocky surface. As they inspected closer, many had visible marks left behind by ghouls feasting upon them, teeth marks clearly imprinted into pale skulls.

The sound of dragging feet, the sound of bone crunching, was the only thing audible in the silent pitch-black night. But their silence, this darkness, didn’t last long as dozens, maybe a hundred, eerie pale eyes appeared, opening one by one, with a low grunt of hunger.

“Well,” Risa glanced around with a faint frown marring her usually relaxed and cheery expression. Her hand tightening around the daggers in both hands. “This might be trouble.”

“Don’t be so sceptical.” Nikolai scoffed, his own eyes turning a vivid crimson red. “I haven’t had such fun in so long.”

Risa shook her head, turning towards Ryan and his companion with an apologetic smile. “This is the reason I refused to work underground in the past.”

A blur wrapped her body as she split into two identical figures.

Each wore a similar outfit to one another. They carried matching weapons, but one looked a little pale while the other kept her vibrant colours.

In the darkness, they were indistinguishable.

“Then, shall we?” The twin figures echoed as she smirked back at Nikolai.

‘I wonder if those things can be used for other things.’ Nikolai wondered, watching as Risa dived into battle and her clone evaporating after every hit like smoke before reforming.

Four tails fluttered behind her as she moved, slashing into ghouls left and right, slicing them clean into pieces that flopped onto the ground, squirming and struggling to pull themselves together.

However, Nikolai would not allow this.

He didn’t want to lose their bet, and flicked his wrist and extended the length of his claws and leapt into the group of ghouls.

He used brute strength, ripping and tearing through the ghouls. While the rest struggled, especially the two humans, Nikolai and Risa ripped through ghouls as easily as paper.

However, unlike Risa who took each ghoul methodically and carefully with grace. Nikolai went through them with little finesse and care for their environment, ripping off limbs and leaving them in pools of their own blood. He also used their body parts as weapons.

“Damn it, there are too many!” Ryan’s gun flash, the tip dark red from the residual heat of rapidly firing bullets into ghouls.

“These things keep coming back.” He muttered, shooting the legs and arms off a couple and flinching as they still crawled forward like slugs.

“Watch this,” A blonde woman’s voice echoed beside him.

Shling!

A curved blade whistled through the air before colliding with the ghoul’s neck, slicing it clean off in a beautiful curve. Then another, followed by another.

“Aim for their brain, or neck, and keep your calm. Panther 1.”

Her soft yet scolding tone sent shivers down Ryan’s spine as he stared at the woman with admiration. Ryan couldn’t help but keep watching her as their team endured the battle in the darkness.

After an hour, the battle soon ended.

The deeper they travelled, the more thick the corruption along the walls, much worse than the wraith nest, causing Nikolai’s spine to tingle with a sense of dread he hadn’t felt since facing off with Alucard.

“W-What is this place…?”

Risa pulled away from him, wiping sweat off her forehead as she shook her head. “No clue, but it makes me feel strange, my skin is covered in goose bumps.”

“This isn’t good,” Nikolai muttered.

Nikolai led them through the labyrinth-like system of tunnels after they crushed the ghouls, with half of them fleeing.

He didn’t understand how he knew the path, but following his instinct, they moved through the cavern. They did not encounter any additional supernatural creatures, besides the occasional ghoul stumbling toward them.

“Careful, Wolf.” Ryan became more cautious with every step. “Something terrible is lurking here.”

There was something in the atmosphere. Perhaps it was just their intuition and fear making it seem more terrifying than it needed to be.

‘A human can be useful, since they are so weak.’

Nikolai took heed, slowing his pace while observing the entire cave, able to see without the special goggles that Ryan prepared.

The dark, gooey corruption undulated on the walls as if alive.

‘It’s a spell?’ Nikolai realised.

The further they travelled into the cavern, the greater his apprehension grew. Finally, they reached the end, a gigantic archway… and a door stood before them.

A black door with etchings on the surface, but what made Nikolai most confused was how it resembled the doors at the end of each floor in the Tower.

“Where does this lead?” Risa muttered, while Ryan and Maria stood quite far away.