Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Something felt strange.

"....."

From the moment Nikolai entered the strange laboratory, the peculiar feelings in his chest faded. It wasn't like he magically became calm and immune to all distractions or emotions, but rather like something suppressed them.

He watched Madoka's movements.

Her movements carried the feeling of both seduction and danger.

"Like a snake....!"

His eyes tracked the arc of Madoka's spear, the black bodysuit cutting her outline against the silver-white floor. The monsters that rushed her weren't the usual arena fodder. They were full-blooded, half-crazed things, eyes glazed in a feral haze, attacking her with claws and fangs ready to rip and tear.

I cannot let my guard down.

This woman wasn't a simple enemy.

The scene before him proved that clearly.

She dismantled them like she was brushing dust from her chest. A simple lung, sidestep, and her spear impaled a lycan's skull. A pivot and the shaft cracked another's jaw in two before it could finish snarling.

Her sweaty hair danced with each movement, black strands reflecting the cold light.

Yet she didn't spare Nikolai a second glance.

Only focused on the massacre.

Nikolai stepped closer to the glass, his hand pressed to it as if to push through. His breath fogged the surface. "You training for me?"

A hulking werebeast with patchy fur roared and came at Madoka from behind. Without looking, she reversed her grip and drove the spear through its throat, twisting until the roar stopped with a wet snap. She pulled it free in a smooth motion, blood spatter painting the floor in a curved arc.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon, you managed to track me here. Impressive." Her voice carried across the space, sharp as the weapon in her hand. "Well it's not like I was hiding."

"Good."

He stepped towards the sealed door at the far end of the observation deck and waved at her with a smirk.

"Then you won't mind if I—"

The lock clicked before he could finish, and the door slid aside without a sound.

Nikolai paused before entering the room.

He sniffed the air, despite the scent of death, blood and beasts... something else lingered.

The scent of her body, the delicious and tempting aroma.

Finally, he stepped inside.

The room was vast, but once inside, it felt smaller, the air dense between them. Madoka's gold-flecked and predatory eyes locked on his every move.

"....."

"What?"

He noticed her face twisted in displeasure as she sniffed the air.

"You stink like a bitch." Her gaze flicked to the marks on his neck from Leona's affectionate kisses and markings.

"You sound jealous."

Madoka laughed for a moment before a sharp sigh. "Not really. But it's quite interesting that you came here despite having another woman." She spun the spear once, planting its butt on the floor with a metallic ring. "Well, you came here to me, right?"

"To fight!"

"Really, not to fuck me?"

She tilted her head and pointed to his crotch.

The swollen tent usually might have distracted Nikolai, but he ignored it.

He rolled his shoulders, loosening the tight pull of muscle over bone. "I came here to finish what you started."

Her eyes narrowed as she showed a devilish smile.

"Then try me."

The first movement was hers.

Instantly, a blurred spear tip flashed like lightning as it cut the space where his throat had been a heartbeat earlier. He's shifted back to avoid the strike out of sheer instinct before the shaft whipped past his cheek with a hiss.

Ba-Dump Ba-Dump

He could feel the sting across his cheek, a bloody wound dripping after she missed.

The wolf inside him raged.

"I'm going to crush you."

"Aha~ then show me, if you don't, I'll kill you right here."

Madoka came again without a feint; she stopped testing him and attacked with violence. The spear hissed towards his cheek like a viper she thrust towards his chest to split him clean through.

Nikolai's foot slid, weight twisting as his palm snapped up to deflect the shaft an inch before it bit into his flesh. The impact cracked the air. His grip burned from the friction as she wrenched it free and spun with a follow-up strike towards his ribs.

"Shit."

He ducked under the block, closing the gap with claws forming at the tips of his fingers.

"Too close," he snarled.

Madoka's knee shot up into his gut.

The sudden impact jolted the breath from his chest, but his body didn't collapse; he countered with an elbow to her cheek.

Ba-dump

The low and heavy beat pounded in his ears.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

His vision tunnelled, gold bleeding into black, pupils swallowing the light until his eyes were nothing but pits rimmed in silver flame.

The wolf tore the leash free.

Fur erupted over his arms and jaw in a rush, black as pitch, swallowing his human outline in shadow. The sound of his bones shifting cracked through the chamber like splitting ice. Claws burst fully from his fingers, thick and curved.

"Ahh... is this your true form? You beast of a man."

Madoka's eyes shone with a bizarre mixture of pure hatred and desire.

The air crackled with a dense atmosphere.

Black aura rolled off him in a wave, warping the light, sucking warmth from the space.

Madoka's smirk twitched, not in fear but in recognition.

"Finally."

He moved before the echo of her voice died.

One instant, he was crouched; the next, he was behind her, a streak of black cutting the distance like a blink. His claws raked down her spine. She twisted, the spear haft catching his forearm just enough to deflect it, but the sheer force flung her three meters sideways.

Madoka landed with a light step, sliding back as her body lowered, ass lifted in the air as she glared at Nikolai.

"You're quite fast," she admitted. "But... so am I!"

Woosh

Like a gust of wind, she flew towards him, spear stabbing at his legs.

He jumped, twisting mid-air, coming down with a heel kick aimed for her temple. She raised the shaft to block... crack! The sound of the collision resonated with a dull shockwave that broke the stone flooring.

"Tch..."

The blow still grazed her, sending her head snapping sideways. She didn't fall, but blood dripped from her nose when she grinned back at him.

"Haaaaa...."

Nikolai didn't wait, no pause or mercy. He rushed forward, aura spreading through the air, claws digging into her guard in a relentless barrage. Each strike shook her arms to her shoulders. Her weapon blurred to keep up, but his vision was superior, as if each movement was laid out before him like a mathematical equation.

Madoka broke the pattern, letting the spear drop. She stepped inside his reach, palm snapping to his jaw—then the other hand struck his ribs, a pulse of raw energy flashing black-red.

"Hahahahaha!"

She cackled, wrapping around his back as she grabbed the spear once again.

The wolf ignored her slaps and struck back in the same heartbeat.

He caught her by the waist, lifted and slammed her into the floor hard enough to spiderweb the polished surface.

The sound rattled the glass above them.

"Yes… that's it."

His claws pinned her shoulder, the tip of one tracing the line of her throat. Breath steamed between his teeth, and his eyes filled with a bottomless energy. She felt it too. "How long… little wolf… before that black fire eats you alive?"

His only answer was the tightening of his grip as the wolf readied to finish the pounce.

Madoka rolled under him like water slipping from a cupped hand. Her legs scissored, catching his ankle and yanking hard. He twisted with the pull, landing on all fours, claws gouging the floor.

She'd already reclaimed her spear—no, remade it. The shattered haft reformed in her grip, black metal sliding into place as if poured from shadow itself.

"You're burning yourself far too quickly," she said while circling him. "That form is a little familiar."

"Silence."

He didn't want to speak; instead, he focused on her.

Her lunge was clean, perfect. Spearpoint aimed for his eye. He caught it between two claws, twisted, and yanked her forward into his elbow. The strike cracked against her jaw, but she didn't drop.

Instead, she laughed, blood trailing from the corner of her mouth.

"Much better."

They broke apart, only to crash together again—black aura and dark steel tangling in a storm of movement. Each impact was a gunshot in the enclosed space, each near-miss a whisper of death.

Then her spear swept lower than he expected, forcing him to leap when he realised too late it had been bait.

She was already inside his guard, hand flat to his chest. The world tilted. His vision warped, walls stretching and bending.

"What—" The black wolf staggered, his claws scraping air.

Madoka's smirk was the last thing he remembered before flying across the room.

"Tsk..."

Nikolai pulled himself from the broken rocks and dungeon wall, and with a deep sigh, he cracked his neck.

"Let's Fight!"