Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride-Chapter 368: Like Rats in a Sack

Nikolai decided to join Lunaria and Amphitrite for no other reason than he wanted to ensure their safety, as for Selene and Kumiko, he knew their strength. He also assigned more people to join them for additional protection.

"Well, tonight will be enjoyable."

He stood beside the window, looking out at the stirring weather, like the quiet before a storm. The clouds became grey, distant crackles of thunder and the soft pitter-patter of rain echoed from the windowframe.

The person who would have betrayed them might just be someone unexpected.

Leona, Amphitrite and Lunaria would leave soon.

At first, Leona's reactions and atmosphere remained strained due to their incident. However, like the talented and experienced woman she was, Leona soon adjusted and from Nikolai's point of view... it seemed she put it behind her.

At least, for now.

"My dear leader, we should leave soon."

"Hm?"

A low click sounded from the door as he noticed Amphitrite, her alluring pink hair tied into a tight bun, with curled bangs framing her face. She wore a tight, black combat outfit, and what appeared to be a maid's skirt and white stockings.

"You look sexy, is that the best thing to wear for a secret mission?" He couldn't help but let his gaze linger on her succulent form. From the moment he met the mermaid, Nikolai stood no chance of letting her go. Seductive. Mysterious and interesting.

"Hmph~ did you really enjoy sleeping with me that much?" Amphitrite twirled around, the long blades in her thighs, seven of them to be precise, shimmered, as her skirt danced in the air, revealing her black, laced undergarments. "Aha! Your eyes are filled with lust, Nikolai."

"What did you expect?"

Nikolai shrugged, pushing off the wall and standing beside her, his eyes narrowed, before he reached out and pulled her into his embrace.

"Kya~ so forceful... Mmm?"

"Be quiet, I know you are nervous."

His deep voice echoed through the dark room. How could he not notice that Amphitrite always tried to appeal to him, her uses, her abilities and other reasons to keep her around. "You are now my wife, no matter how strange a black thread of fate might seem."

"N-Nikolai?"

Amphitrite's voice stuttered as she looked up at him like a sheep in headlights.

"Don't worry, it's okay to relax..." Nikolai's iron will wasn't something he gained overnight, and he couldn't come close to understanding the feelings and emotions of a woman left stranded in a tower like a ghost for centuries after seeing her race slaughtered. "I won't abandon you."

These were his honest feelings.

Nikolai didn't care when it came to his women, as long as they didn't betray him. He would do what he could. To make them happy, to save them from any darkness in their hearts, and Amphitrite earned that when they slept together, she became his Luna.

Her constant attempts to please him, avoiding conflict while advertising her uses... everything a sign of her inner turmoil.

'Thanks to this bond, I could understand it sooner...'

Otherwise, he might never have known the worries in his women's hearts, no matter how small.

From the moment they became his Luna, he could sense the darkness within them, fears, worries and trauma that lingered from the distant past, or recent events. That's why he tried to remain close to them since returning from the island.

Their biggest fear... his death.

Amphitrite didn't speak after that.

Her breath slowed against his chest, body warm through the combat gear, heartbeat ticking just under her skin. Nikolai didn't pull away. He didn't have to say anything else.

She needed to feel it, not hear it.

Only after she finally relaxed in his arms did he release her, letting his hands slide down her waist before stepping back.

"You ready?" he asked.

She gave a single nod.

"As I'll ever be."

"Good. Let's get Lunaria."

The rain outside had grown heavier. A fine mist drifted past the open windows as they moved through the upper corridor, the scent of damp stone and steel riding on the breeze. Nikolai walked ahead, silent, his mind calm in the way it always was before things got violent.

He could feel it in the air now.

Something would happen tonight.

The traitor would make a move.

He just didn't know who yet.

They found Lunaria already waiting in the side courtyard, standing beneath one of the open arches. Her white hair was damp at the ends, clinging to her neck, with a trench coat buttoned tight at the collar.

She looked like she hadn't moved in hours.

"You're early," Amphitrite called out.

"I don't like being unfocused during a mission," Lunaria said. "That only happens when I'm late."

Her voice was flat as always, but her tail flicked once at the end of the sentence — just enough to make Nikolai notice.

He stepped into the archway, looking at both of them.

Lunaria's mysterious life interested Nikolai; he only learned small parts by talking to her the night of the ritual, about how she performed many dangerous and dark missions. All for the Nosferatu family, to keep Selene and Vladimir safe. If it could protect her family, she would even kill the leader of a country.

So he understood why she took this mission so seriously and stopped himself from complaining or saying anything untoward.

"Leona and the fox clone already left to secure the route and prepare our vehicle."

"You trust her?" Lunaria asked.

He didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Lunaria accepted it without question.

Amphitrite stretched her arms above her head and let out a long breath.

"We leaving now?" Amphitrite asked.

Nikolai nodded once. "The moment we step outside, we're ghosts. No names. No titles."

Lunaria pulled a hood from her coat and tugged it over her head. "Good."

The rain thickened as they moved out from under the archway and toward the vehicles waiting at the edge of the estate walls. Low-profile, matte black, rune-less. Stripped of all markings, just like he ordered.

A sleek military-style van waited near the gate, engine silent, a low hum of aura shielding masking its presence. Leona was already seated in the front, damp hair tied back tight, eyes forward. Professional. Detached.

Kumiko's fox clone sat beside her in the passenger seat, hands folded in her lap. She didn't turn around, but gave a slight nod when Nikolai approached.

They didn't speak.

Nikolai opened the side door and gestured for the others to enter. Amphitrite hopped in first, tail swaying as she ducked inside, followed by Lunaria, who moved like a shadow. Quiet. Measured. She sat near the back, gaze fixed on the rain-blurred window.

He climbed in last.

The door slid shut behind him with a soft click.

Inside, the world went still.

Only the rain remained, tapping lightly against the roof.

They drove in silence.

Ten minutes out, no one said a word. Amphitrite sat with her eyes closed, leaning back like she wasn't heading toward a possible trap. Lunaria stared down at her knees, tail curled neatly around her boots. Nikolai sat by the door, hand resting on the grip of the short sword at his waist.

He closed his eyes.

Not to sleep.

Just to breathe.

It was always like this before a mission. Everything settled. The noise in Nikolai's head cut away. His heartbeat slowed. Thoughts lined up.

But tonight still felt different.

The rain, the silence, the scent of steel and old blood in the van.

Something was coming.

They reached the checkpoint near sector line thirty-two, where the outer district split off into abandoned factory blocks and old train tunnels. The kind of place where gunshots didn't echo far, and corpses vanished without question.

The vehicle rolled to a stop.

No movement. No signals. Just the storm.

Leona turned her head slightly. "We're here."

Nikolai opened his eyes.

"Good."

He stepped out first.

And the rain welcomed them like an omen.

Ashvale, a dark and seedy land with a small forest to the west, this place survived a planning project to create a new set of hotels in the northeast district of S-city. Though at times like these, it only resembled a dark, haunted forest like in many horror movies.

The rain thickened the deeper they went.

No more roads. Only dirt, stone, and broken pavement, full of dirty moss. Nikolai moved ahead of the group, with Lunaria watching the trees, and Amphitrite trailing just behind—close enough to strike if needed, far enough to move without tripping over each other.

Leona and the fox clone stayed with the vehicle, monitoring the perimeter.

So far, nothing.

No sound. No light.

Only the wind pushing through the trees and the occasional creak of wet branches bending under their own weight.

They passed a rusted gate that once led to a service tunnel. Nikolai raised a hand.

They stopped.

He stared into the dark mouth of the tunnel ahead, covered in vines and collapsed fencing.

It was supposed to be empty. That was the whole point.

No heat signatures. No movement.

But he could smell it.

Smoke.

Someone had been here.

Amphitrite stepped forward, sniffed once. "Recently. Within the hour."

Lunaria knelt, pressed two fingers to the ground. "Three people. One heavy. Two light."

Nikolai didn't speak.

A sound echoed from the tunnel.

Not loud.

Just... deliberate.

A footstep.

Followed by another.

Amphitrite's hand went to her hip.

Lunaria's tail snapped tight.

From the shadows inside the tunnel, a figure stepped forward.

Wearing a black hood, face shadowed, soaked through with rain.

Then the voice came.

"You weren't supposed to come yourself, Nikolai."