chsdbacks Chapter 735: We Lost This Fight
Chapter 735: We Lost This Fight
Nikolai’s blades tore through another ghoul, but the moment its body collapsed into ashes, the blood wall in front of him shuddered.A heavy impact struck the other side.
Boom!
Several veins across the barrier burst apart, spraying warm blood over Nikolai’s face and chest. He stepped backwards and raised his black blades, watching the damaged flesh close within seconds.
"What the hell are they doing in there...?"
Another group of revived Nosferatu rushed him.
Nikolai turned and swept both arms across their bodies.
Shhhing!
The Obsidian Tide split the first two apart, but the remaining ghouls threw themselves over the pieces without slowing down. One caught his shoulder, another grabbed his waist, while a third tried to bite through the hardened blood covering his forearm.
"Get off!"
His black aura erupted.
The ghouls flew away, crashing into the walls surrounding him. Nikolai sprang after them and drove both blades through the closest blood cores before they could recover.
Pop!
Two bodies collapsed into ash.
The third crawled towards him with its lower body missing.
Nikolai crushed its chest beneath his boot.
The constant stream of corpses had started thinning, but each one wasted more time while his father remained trapped with Alucard.
Another crash shook the wall.
Silver light flashed through several narrow cracks.
Nikolai stopped.
’Father’s aura.’
The light grew stronger, spreading across the barrier in thin lines while the sounds of fighting became clearer. A deep roar followed, then several rapid impacts which made the ground tremble beneath Nikolai’s boots.
Intense heat spread with each blow; the familiar sensation brushed his skin with an argent glow, sending tingles down his spine.
"That’s it dad, give the bastard hell."
The wall bulged towards him.
Nikolai jumped away as a large section exploded outwards.
Bang!
Blood and pieces of hardened flesh scattered across the enclosed path. A narrow opening remained for less than a second, yet Nikolai saw the battlefield beyond it.
Ivan stood near the centre, his transformed body covered by a silver veil while dozens of Alucard’s blood clones surrounded him. Spears filled the air above them, firing from different directions while his father tore through clone after clone with his claws.
’Dad!?’
Alucard remained somewhere inside the formation, watching and controlling the situation as if he were playing a game.
Then the wall closed.
Nikolai’s smile disappeared.
’That bastard is wearing him down.’
He drove both black blades into the barrier.
The Obsidian Tide spread from his arms and entered the wall, burning through several layers before Alucard’s blood arts started forcing it back.
Nikolai clenched his fists.
"Open!"
The blades expanded as the two blades began to vibrate and shimmer with the Tepes clan’s blood arts. One wrapped in flames, the other frozen in permafrost.
A long wound tore across the wall, allowing the silver light from the other side to pour through. The barrier immediately began sealing itself, but Nikolai thrust both arms deeper and dragged them apart.
The wound widened.
Blood gathered around his elbows, trying to crush his arms or trap them inside, but the Obsidian Tide continued eating through it.
"Nikolai!"
Nikita’s voice boomed from across the wall, scattered between countless walls and battles.
"I’m fine!"
"Tsk, you better be!"
Several gunshots followed her response, mixed with Selene shouting at the remaining Fenrir troops to hold their positions.
Nikolai pushed harder.
His muscles tightened as the wall slowly separated.
Then three sharp whistles passed through the opening.
Shhhk!
Shhhk!
Shhhk!
Nikolai froze at the sight.
Three crimson spears struck Ivan from behind.
The first pierced through his chest.
The second passed beneath his shoulder.
The third emerged beside his heart.
"Father!"
Ivan staggered forward as the silver veil flickered around his body, and blood poured from his mouth. His massive claws struck the ground, keeping him upright while the weapons expanded inside his chest.
Mikaela stood upon the blood wall behind him.
Several more spears hovered around her pale body.
Her hand remained raised, but her expression didn’t match the attack. Her eyes shook as she watched Ivan struggling to breathe.
"There is no other way..." she whispered.
Alucard appeared in front of him. His palm struck the ends of the spears, driving all three deeper, forcing Ivan to one knee.
Nikolai’s vision turned dark around the edges.
"Alucard!"
He tore another section from the wall and forced his upper body through the opening. Blood wrapped around his waist and shoulders, trying to drag him back, but he continued clawing forward.
Alucard glanced towards him.
Their eyes met through the damaged barrier.
A faint smile returned to the old vampire’s lips.
"Watch closely, young wolf."
Nikolai roared.
The Obsidian Tide exploded from both arms, tearing the opening wider as he forced himself through.
Before his feet touched the other side, Ivan’s aura changed.
A deep pulse spread across the battlefield.
Thump!
The blood walls shook.
Nikolai felt the pressure strike his chest, stronger and denser than the silver veil from before. The light surrounding Ivan stopped fading and sank beneath his fur, gathering around the wounds and the three spears.
Alucard stepped away.
Mikaela’s eyes widened.
"It cannot be...!?"
Ivan’s claws, which sank into the ground, almost looked ethereal, like silver beams of light. The crimson weapons began to shudder and crack.
The first spear shattered.
The second broke apart inside his chest.
The final spear collapsed into silver fragments as Ivan raised his head.
His eyes burned with silver light.
Boom!
The aura erupted from his body.
Nikolai crossed his arms as the wave struck him, throwing the remaining ghouls against the walls. Mikaela formed a blood shield, but its brittle surface shattered immediately, launching her off the top of the barrier.
Alucard slid backwards.
His feet carved two lines through the concrete before he stopped.
Nikolai landed inside the central battlefield.
"Father!"
Ivan rose.
The wounds in his chest began to close, while his transformed body changed beneath the silver light. The excessive muscles tightened, his aura condensed against his fur, and each claw gained a smooth silver edge.
The pressure surrounding him felt different.
’Did Dad break through?!’
Ivan glanced towards Nikolai, flashing a sly grin at his son.
"You sure took your time, son."
"Heh, well, you were a bit busy yourself, right?"
"Haha, true... but stay back."
"Not happening."
Alucard straightened what remained of his coat. "Are you sure, Nikolai?" He cocked his head with a loud pop, as the bones and muscles in his shoulders seemed to widen visibly.
His wounds continued healing, although the silver cuts across his body closed more slowly than the rest. Several blood clones formed around him again, but their bodies lacked the density they possessed earlier.
Ivan stepped forward with Nikolai right beside him, and for the first time, Alucard’s calm expression faltered. However, it lasted only a moment before his gaze shifted beyond them and towards the other blood walls.
"Very well."
He raised both hands.
Every barrier surrounding the battlefield contracted.
Nikolai felt the blood beneath his boots moving.
"Father!"
"I know."
Ivan grabbed Nikolai’s shoulder and threw him backwards.
The walls collapsed.
"You snake bastard!" Ivan growled at Alucard, who vanished into a red mist.
Thousands of hardened spikes erupted from every direction as the stored blood compressed around the separated battlefields.
Nikolai twisted in the air and covered his body with the Obsidian Tide.
The first wave struck his arms and chest, throwing him through the wall’s remains. He crashed into the open outpost and rolled across the wet ground, tearing through several corpses before stopping.
A silver explosion erupted behind him.
Ivan tore through the blood spikes surrounding his body, but Alucard appeared above him, his attention still divided.
The old vampire’s leg struck the side of Ivan’s head.
Thud!
Ivan stumbled.
A thick blood lance formed above Alucard’s shoulder.
It fired at point-blank range.
Shhhk!
The weapon pierced Ivan’s chest and carried his massive body into the ground.
"Father!"
Nikolai rushed forward.
Another wall burst between them, forcing him to cut through it.
Alucard didn’t wait.
He moved across the broken battlefield in a dark blur, appearing near Dimitri as the Fenrir tore free of its enclosure.
Dimitri turned.
"What the—"
Alucard’s palm struck his abdomen.
A crimson circle expanded beneath his shirt.
Boom!
Dimitri launched through the remains of a watchtower, disappearing beneath collapsing stone and steel.
"Dimitri!"
Vladimir emerged from another section, his blade cutting apart the last Ascended Elder. Blood covered half his face while several wounds remained open across his chest.
Alucard appeared beside him.
Vlad’s blade flashed.
The old vampire caught his wrist.
His knee struck Vlad’s stomach, followed by a blood spear which pierced through his shoulder and pinned him against the damaged outer wall.
Vladimir coughed up blood while Alucard leaned close to his ear, a mocking smile on his ugly face. "You’ve grown careless."
Nikolai broke through the final barrier, his black blades extended, as he rushed towards Alucard.
"Get away from them!"
Alucard turned to face him, dozens of blood spears forming between them.
Nikolai slashed through the first wave, but every shattered weapon exploded into smaller shards. The fragments cut across his shoulders and thighs, slowing him enough for Alucard to retreat towards Mikaela.
The remaining Nosferatu soldiers began pulling away from the outpost.
Several carried wounded elders. Others abandoned their rifles and dragged the surviving mutants behind them while the last revived corpses threw themselves against the Fenrir troops.
’They’re retreating?’
Nikolai cut through another ghoul and rushed forward.
Alucard raised one hand.
A thick wall of blood erupted across the outpost entrance, dividing the two armies.
Nikolai’s blades struck it.
Shhhk!
The surface split, but dozens of blood spikes burst through the wound and forced him backwards.
"Coward!" Nikolai shouted.
Alucard stood upon the opposite side, supporting Mikaela with one arm. His coat hung in torn pieces, blood covered his mouth, and several silver wounds remained visible across his body.
Yet he still smiled.
"Coward? I have already achieved my purpose, foolish Volkov. If you are to survive, you should understand the difference."
"You achieved nothing."
"And that’s why you’re a foolish child!" Alucard’s gaze moved past him.
Nikolai followed it.
Ivan remained impaled against the ground, the thick lance still buried through his chest. His silver aura flickered around him as he tried to push himself upright.
Dimitri lay beneath the ruined watchtower.
Vladimir hung from the outer wall, blood running from the spear through his shoulder.
The central outpost had collapsed.
Several buildings burned around the courtyard, while the wounded Fenrir struggled to regroup among the dead.
Alucard’s remaining forces disappeared into the rain behind him.
"I learned what I needed," he said. "Nikolai Volkov is NOT a threat I need to worry about anymore. Kekekekeke!"
Alucard placed his hand against the wall.
The remaining blood collapsed into a violent wave.
Nikolai crossed both arms.
The wave struck the outpost, carrying corpses, broken weapons and pieces of stone through the courtyard. Fenrir warriors were thrown from their feet as the flood swept across the ground.
When it finally passed, the blood wall was gone.
So were Alucard and the surviving Nosferatu.
Nikolai dismissed the blades around his arms and rushed towards Ivan.
His father tore the lance from his chest with both hands.
Blood poured across his fur.
"Don’t pull that out!" Nikolai snapped.
"Bit late."
Ivan threw the weapon aside and tried to stand, his leg folded, almost collapsing until Nikolai caught him beneath the arm.
The silver veil disappeared as Ivan’s body slowly returned to its human form. Deep wounds covered his chest and abdomen, while one side of his face had already swollen beneath the blood.
Ivan looked towards the destroyed outpost.
Then towards Dimitri and Vladimir.
"Nikolai..."
Ivan’s voice lacked the power from earlier, almost a whisper or grunt at best.
"Yes, dad...?"
Nikolai turned away, avoiding his father’s piercing silver eyes.
"We lost this fight..."