Chapter 61: The True Bloodkin’s Power

Nikola’s eyes turned a matching crimson. She erupted into maniacal laughter, her lips stretching so wide they nearly reached her ears.

“Allow me to properly teach you what a true Bloodkin truly is!”

The blood that had previously stained the city walls, painting the ground and railings crimson, began to stir. It moved as if imbued with a life of its own.

Rachel felt innumerable eyes sprouting within the sanguine liquid. Countless gazes, ravenous and predatory, fixed upon her from the scarlet hue.

“Ah…”

A pang of dread seized Rachel under the weight of those gazes. She opened her mouth, but no sound escaped her throat, utterly convinced that something truly terrifying lurked within the blood.

A wet tearing sound echoed.

Sure enough, in the very next second, a massive, scarlet wolf’s head burst from the flowing blood. It opened its gaping maw and lunged at Rachel with such blinding speed that even her Bloodkin’s heightened vision couldn’t react in time.

Gleaming, razor-sharp fangs sank deeply into Rachel’s shoulder. The powerful impact pinned her against the city wall’s railing.

Excruciating, tearing pain assaulted Rachel’s mind. She struggled in a futile attempt to retaliate, her claws digging into the wolf’s lower jaw, desperate to rip its head apart.

However, such resistance was doomed to be fruitless. Her magic had been utterly depleted during the previous battle, and even with the strength of the Bloodkin, she could no longer sustain herself in combat.

“Come now, didn’t you claim to be Bloodkin?”

Nikola’s body had now fully regenerated. She strolled leisurely towards Rachel, who remained pinned against the railing by the wolf’s head. Crimson blood welled from Rachel’s wound, yet she couldn’t heal herself, nor could she weaponize her own blood.

“If you truly are Bloodkin, then heal your wound and attack me.”

“Can’t you do it? Heh, you’re nothing more than a simple ghoul, merely devouring human blood.”

“Sh-shut… up…”

Rachel forced out two words, a faint whisper of a breath escaping her lips. She knew she likely wouldn’t escape this predicament. The wolf’s head had crushed her bones. Even if Nikola spared her, without the ability to self-heal, she would forever be half a cripple.

Once again, she was acutely aware of her own weakness. This was the chasm separating her from true Bloodkin.

“Despicable… Bloodkin… why did you infiltrate here… what is your purpose…?”

“Oh ho?”

Nikola raised an eyebrow. “Are you claiming to be human now? As for my purpose… heh.”

Nikola chuckled softly, pausing for a moment before continuing.

“I can tell you, and I won’t kill you, but I have one condition. Tell me, where did your power come from?”

Having reverted to her Bloodkin form, Nikola could more distinctly sense that familiar feeling. This power was intimately known to her.

It was, in fact, her own power!

A long time ago, Liliana had stripped most of Nikola’s power from her to restrict her. This power could not be destroyed, only banished.

Nikola had never known where Liliana had cast her strength, to which corner of the world. Now, however, she sensed a faint trace of that very power emanating from Rachel.

This was why Nikola had called Rachel a thief; she had stolen Nikola’s own power.

Nevertheless, the power within Rachel was exceedingly faint, merely a byproduct of Nikola’s overflowing strength, not its primordial source. Even if Nikola reclaimed it, the boost to her abilities would be negligible.

Therefore, it was better to keep Rachel alive, as she might reveal the true origin of this power.

“Pah…”

To Nikola’s surprise, upon hearing her proposition, Rachel rejected it without hesitation. She even mustered her last reserves of strength to spit at Nikola.

“Once we master this power… we will no longer fear the Fantasy Creatures! We will become a new humanity! The masters of a new world! I won’t tell you who they are… I curse you!!”

“Very well… then die.”

Without another wasted word, Nikola spoke. The scarlet wolf’s head immediately opened wide, swallowing Rachel’s screams along with her flesh and blood in a single gulp.

Blood dripped steadily from its jaw, and then all fell silent. The colossal wolf’s head receded back into the swirling blood.

****

Nikola held not a shred of mercy for such a creature. She gazed at the remnants of Rachel’s flesh and blood clinging to the railing, falling into deep contemplation.

Nikola couldn’t fathom Rachel’s true intentions. From her final words, Nikola discerned Rachel’s profound abhorrence for Fantasy Creatures, yet she also harbored a disdainful attitude towards humanity itself.

Rachel even believed her current form represented a new kind of human, intending to use this power to launch a counter-attack against the Fantasy Creatures.

Before her transmigration, Nikola had learned that adopting the enemy’s methods to defeat them was, in itself, a foolish endeavor.

However, there was no need for Nikola to try and comprehend the thoughts of a madwoman such as Rachel.

Nikola was more concerned with how Rachel and the “they” she spoke of had managed to steal her power. Rachel’s current state was strikingly similar to the Fallen Nun’s appearance back in Savini Village.

Both possessed the physical prowess of Bloodkin and subsisted on human blood. While they lacked self-healing and certain unique Bloodkin abilities, they seemed to have gained enhancements in other areas.

The Fallen Nun hadn’t used any magic, making it impossible for Nikola to judge her capabilities. Rachel, however, was different.

The magic Rachel wielded far exceeded the strain her rank should have been able to withstand. Logically, her magical circuits should have exploded on the spot. Yet, even at the very end, Rachel’s eyes merely bled, and Nikola hadn’t sensed any depletion of her magic.

This might be the only aspect where Rachel surpassed true Bloodkin. In this world, Bloodkin could only employ blood-related magic, as their elemental affinity was exceptionally low, preventing them from using any elemental spells.

Rachel, however, had just utilized both earth and dark elemental magic.

If the potent magical circuits of the Bloodkin could wield any type of magic, even abilities unique to other races, it would undoubtedly unleash a catastrophe.

Nikola surmised that the individuals behind Rachel were conducting dangerous experiments using her primordial power. While this was largely inconsequential to Nikola, it was still her strength being exploited.

To ensure an extra layer of assurance in her future confrontation with Liliana, Nikola knew she had to reclaim it.

Suddenly, Nikola felt a faint surge of magic flow into her body. It seemed Rachel had been completely absorbed. It was time to return.

A swarm of bats once more took flight and swept past. Nikola had already transformed back into Lovelenica, dressed in her nun’s habit. She leapt down from the city wall, vanishing into the night.

If Lovelenica had known Rachel’s true aspirations, she would likely have scoffed.

In the original story’s ending, humanity, empowered by Lucia, had already annihilated all Fantasy Creatures in the world.