CONNECT: Rise Of The Undead King

Uche was already getting up when Elion made the blood bullet attack, which hit him from all sides. The blood bullet pierced through his chest and his whole body, sending him flying back to the edge of the ring.

For a couple of seconds, the whole training room was enveloped with total silence, but then all the students gasped at the same time, all staring at Elion with disbelief.

"Did he kill him?"

"Is he dead?"

"What's going to happen now?"

"Elion has gone against the rule."

The training room was filled with the voices of the students, toned with disbelief.

Elion had used both of his hands for the blood bullet attack; a whole ten bullets had left his fingers and hit Uche right in the body. Although that couldn't outrightly kill a vampire, for someone who just evolved into a pure-blooded one, his survival was doubtful.

In a swift motion, Mr. Richard moved face to face with Elion on the ring. He stared at him for a couple of seconds and said,

"Elion, you have gone against the rule of no blood skills,"

Mr. Richard said, his gaze intensely fixed on Elion, who shivered under his gaze, his legs shaking.

"I'm sorry, sir, I just wanted to qualify. I didn't mean to kill him,"

Elion responded as Mr. Richard slowly moved closer to him.

"And you think the only way to qualify is to break the rules?"

Mr. Richard asked.

"No, I..."

Elion was cut short of words by the strange churning sound that came from the edge of the ring. The sound immediately drew everyone's attention, and for a second there was total silence before someone from the crowd broke it.

"What... what is that?"

A boy asked, pointing at Uche's body lying on the ring. Now red bloody tendrils could be seen stretching out of the ten holes Elion's bullets had created in his body. The tendrils moved to stitch the holes together one by one.

"It seems I'm seeing things, what the hell is that on his body?"

"What is it? You guys tell me, I can't see it well."

Everyone quickly moved closer to the ring to get a proper look, and now they all confirmed it.

"Those... those things... are stitching his body... healing him."

"What in the Arcane World is this?"

"He's a monster, get him out of here!"

"Kill him, we have to kill him, he's no vampire!"

Fear gripped the hearts of a few of them, while some of them were impressed by it; they found it cool.

As Uche slowly rose up after his body had completely healed, some of the students quickly reeled back in fear while a few of them stayed and protested that he should be killed.

"We can't let something like this exist among us!"

"Kill him, he's a monster!"

"He might be a spy from another world!"

"Arrest him now!"

The students protested; Mr. Richard just remained in the same position, staring at every one of them one after the other. Elion had collapsed behind him, sweat rolling down his face as he breathed hard.

'Now that it has come to this, what am I supposed to do here?'

Uche thought, staying at one side of the ring as he analyzed the situation. Fighting is totally out of the picture. Even without Mr. Richard in the room, he couldn't face all these students — they'd crush him in less than a minute. And giving up is not an option too; he couldn't just let them kill or arrest him — he had to do something.

'What to do.'

He even considered the idea of running, but he knew they'd get him in a second — these are vampires, not humans — he can't escape.

"Guys, what are you waiting for? Let's get rid of this monster now!"

A boy shouted, and everyone immediately prepared, a few of them already climbing up the ring while some prepared their hands for a blood attack.

But just as the first person got into the ring, he was sent flying back immediately with a strong kick to his chest, and coming into view was Eric, who stood right in front of Uche, his hands all prepared as he stood right in front of him, protecting him from everyone else, including Mr. Richard and Elion, who were on the ring.

"You need to get rid of me first before you can get close to him,"

Eric said in a low, threatening voice, prompting everyone to go into a silence of disbelief.

"What are you up to?"

Uche asked, completely surprised like everyone else. Why would he come to his defense in a situation like this? Or does the boy think they're playing here? This is exactly what he had done during their first match in the weekly martial arts duel, and now he's doing the same thing. Does he not care about his life?

Uche could not at all understand the boy. Why would he defend him? They're not even friends or close in any way, so Uche thought something must be wrong. Uche didn't want to lose his guard — what if the boy was trying to be the one to kill him? After all, Uche had taken him to hell and back.

"I also don't know what I'm doing. I just feel like... I need to stop them. I feel like I need to protect you at all costs. My body just moved on its own, and I can't even control it now. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Eric asked Uche, as if he was also surprised by what was going on, not believing what he was doing.

'Puzzle.'

Should Uche believe him? But how is that even possible? How can he say he doesn't know what's going on? His body just moved on its own? And the need to protect him?

Uche couldn't believe any of that — it was just hard for him to believe. He knew how much the boy feared him and how much he hated him, and this was the best opportunity for him to get his revenge on him, so why would he be the one to protect him?

'The boy is being compelled. But how is that possible?'

Mr. Richard thought, also not believing what was going on.