Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride-Chapter 656: Crossroad

Nikolai and Sarah managed to slay the surrounding Bone Saints before their group headed to one of the shadow guard safe houses. He checked his weapon; the remaining bullets weren’t an issue for him due to the thousand or so stored in his item rings.

The same was true for the maids, thralls and Sarah.

All they needed to do was summon them, and the magazine or bullets would appear ready to be loaded.

"Did Verda say anything else to you before splitting up?" He glanced at Sarah, then back to Yun’fa and the others. Although he could go for hours, fighting, running and wasting energy, some of the women beside him weren’t as free.

"Nothing, she said to find you if I wanted to survive."

"I see..."

Nikolai caught Tanya’s lips moving from a distance, but she didn’t speak and chose to hold back her words.

’It seems I need to increase the amount of time I spend with my thralls and maids... they trust me but not absolutely.’

He didn’t seek the same relationship other vampires had with their thralls, never seeing them as disposable forces but rather a powerful unit to be nurtured.

"Okay, then we have met a crossroad."

The women all paid attention to him, awaiting his next words and orders.

Nikolai also observed the women, his gaze lingering on Yun’fa, Brunhilde, Tanya and finally Sarah. He wondered where Lunaria had vanished to, but Sarah seemed confident of her safety and return.

So he took control.

He tapped the wall with his foot and clapped once.

The loud ringing of his actions gathered everyone’s attention to him.

"Okay, so there are a few plans I have and things we might need to do. First, we can wait here for Sarah to come back, preparing ourselves while the enemy continues their assault on the royal palace..."

Once he spoke, the thrall’s eyes appeared to loosen, and their shoulders relaxed; the once dark colours enveloping their bodies became a shade lighter in Nikolai’s view, with emotions like relief and calm growing while anxiety and fear shrank.

"Second, we can head out to the Royal District and meet Verda head on, helping deal with as many enemies as possible, while prioritising safety."

This time their colours darkened, but the maids and Sarah’s colours improved this time, with Yun’fa practically glowing with positivity.

"Finally, what if we just flee?"

Nikolai offered three choices, but in reality, the last choice was a test. If there existed people able to abandon Lunaria and Al’Qutar so easily, he would cut them from his close circle and send them away.

To his pleasant surprise, no one’s colours became positive upon hearing the last option.

Even the terrified thralls frowned at such a thing.

’Good.’

This didn’t mean much, but for Nikolai, he learned a little more about his Thralls, that they weren’t invincible superheroes and had fears and limits. While the maids were psychopathic warriors who would follow him into the depths of hell, and Yun’fa’s loyalty to the crown, Verda and likely Zara remained true.

"Phew, then... shall we take a vote?"

He didn’t plan to listen to the vote, but wanted to let the others know how each woman felt, creating a bright for them to speak.

Nikolai could see their emotions and cheat; the others couldn’t.

The process followed a simple hands-raised method, and just like what Nikolai saw, the majority of the thralls wished to remain here and wait for Lunaria, while the Maids and Yun’fa wanted to head into the Royal District.

"So, half want to leave, and half want to stay." Yun’fa huffed, glaring at the thralls who avoided her gaze.

"Don’t threaten them, Djinn." Sarah snapped back, stepping in front of the thralls. These women were like her little sisters.

Nikolai sat on a comfortable chair, arms around the back, and legs propped on a table as he considered lighting up a cigar to clear his mind.

His everwatching gaze fixed on the women.

The Maids didn’t assert their choice and walked towards Nikolai, sitting on the couch along the wall. With the decorations and pipes, he guessed this place was likely a restaurant or a hookah den.

"Master, what do you plan to do?" Brunhilde asked, her eyes shifting between the entrance and Nikolai, a rare shade of anxiety flashing around her figure.

"What do you think I should do? There’s a city overrun by undead, and we’re visitors?"

Brunhilde watched him quietly before she nodded as if stirring herself up to speak. "I want to help them, to save Verda at least... she helped us a great deal, and Lady Zara helped us to receive your blood in secret..."

"Oh? If you wanted blood, you could have come directly to me."

"N-No, we cannot do that!"

The maids nodded behind her, before Brunhilde spoke. "Leona made us promise not to pester you, because you work so hard and she wanted to avoid tiring you out with such small matters..."

Nikolai’s eyes opened wide.

’Leona did this for me?’

He’d read that when the maids and servants trusted their master, they would seek his or her blood instead of the provided blood packs. The servants believed that taking their master’s blood strengthened their bond and trust.

Pure folklore told by the maids.

"I see, you’ve struggled hard. I’ll make sure to send you blood in the future, but only to the two groups who have the best performance for the month."

"Ah?!" Brunhilde and the maids looked stunned by his words, before a fire burned in their eyes as if completely determined to win.

"Let’s wait for an hour. If Lunaria hasn’t returned by then, we will head for the Palace District. Is this alright with you girls?" He asked the nervous Thralls, who realised that only they voted for the first option, even though Sarah voted for number two. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Yes, Master." Tanya nodded, her long silver hair hiding her face.

"No, Tanya... I want to know if that’s alright with you girls. If you need one hour, two hours or more, let me know."

Nikolai didn’t think the Royal Guard would fall so easily, and from the strength of the bone saints earlier, he believed Verna and Verda would be able to hold on for a few hours if only those two women remained.

Let alone Zara’s cousin.

He waited a short while before the thralls stood before him and bowed.

"P-Please wait a little longer, one, no two hours..."

A smile grew on his lips as he reached out and stroked the silvery-white hair of Tanya.

"That’s it, never seal your desires or thoughts just because you’re a thrall. To me, you are just as important as the maids, understood?"

"Ah?!"

"Eh...!?"

His words shocked not just Tanya, but even Brunhilde.

"Hm? Is there something wrong, Brunhilde?"

"N-No... I was just a little shocked, that’s all. It’s rare for the master to be so amicable with his thralls, is all." Being the daughter of a retired Maid from his grandfather’s protective maid unit, Brunhilde carried an old-fashioned and complete view of her tasks, unlike some of the newer maids who hadn’t settled yet.

To Nikolai, it was fine as long as they never betrayed him.

"Let’s wait two hours, prepare your weapons, maintain them and keep your senses expanded to search for any movement in the surroundings. The one who performs best will get to drink my blood directly later."

He flicked the cigar, catching it between his finger and thumb, with an extended claw glistening in the air.

The tip slipped from the end as he snapped his fingers, producing flame.

"Well..."

A sweet, yet sickly burst of heat spread across his lips the moment he sucked the tip, a mass of smoke building in his chest, heavy and filled with an acidic flavour.

It wasn’t disgusting.

Nikolai exhaled a cloud of black smog before blowing it away, almost choking.

"Phew, it kind of cleared my head..."

With a cigar pinched between his lips, smoke billowing from the tip, he began to maintain his Desert Eagle, taking the second out along with his toolkit.

.

.

.

Time passed more slowly than he imagined.

After cleaning, refilling magazines and holstering both guns, only a single hour passed.

He glanced around the room to find the colour of anxiety and worry growing around each woman, no matter who they were.

’This is probably the limit for these women.’

Despite wanting to wait a little longer to avoid missing Lunaria, he also worried about that stubborn woman who would stand and fight if the enemy insulted him or her sisters.

Crack!

Nikolai rolled his stiff neck before standing.

"I know I said two hours, but since I can’t help but worry, I plan to leave in about ten minutes."

Each woman glanced up at him; some took a nap and started waking themselves, while the initially nervous and worried thralls became eager. Their desire changed after experiencing how agonising it was to wait in such a situation.

"If you come across a bone saint like earlier, work in groups of four to fight. Do not play the hero, or try to fight alone, understood?"

He knew the power difference, and even though he wanted to train elites, his thralls could barely defeat a well-trained human if caught on the outside.

Thus, he would use Nosferatu as live training.

"Let’s go, I’ll lead with Brunhild and the Maids covering our rear."

With a Desert Eagle in hand, Nikolai opened the wooden door with a brutal kick, his eyes scanning the desolate area, which used to be a lively bazaar where he met Zara for the first time. He could only wonder how many people died in this sudden attack.

"I can’t break my promise to her now."