NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2027: Finding Ruby...
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With the help of the machines and their combined efforts, Hector, Kraxka, Larzak, Benladra, Kate, and Miranda managed to get through the army of Wild Vampiric Demons that had appeared, and without wasting any more time, they approached the crimson dome, immediately feeling a massive pressure coming from it.
"T-This dome is where she must be, I think…!" Miranda said. "But what the hell happened for this to even appear here?"
"And those Vampiric Demons… They were weird as well, why would they ever become Vampires to begin with?" Hector asked. "Did Ruby do that? Was she controlling them or something?"
"We don't really know anything for sure at the moment, Hector, let's not make assumptions until we get to the root of all of this," Kraxka said. "This is the mission Lord Drake has assigned to us."
"Indeed," Larzak nodded. "Now, what… Huh?!"
However, at that moment, everyone stopped walking, noticing something in the distance, right next to the dome.
No.
Not something.
But someone…
"Ruby… Please… Answer me, Ruby…! Ruby!"
They saw a person, an enormous, muscular old man, with blue skin, long red hair, and a weakened divine aura, he seemed covered on cursed wounds, which weren't healing easily.
Naturally, everyone recognized the man.
"R-Rakasha?!"
Miranda was the first to reach him, alongside Benladra's Machine Avatar, which also carried Kate's consciousness.
"Rakasha! What happened to you?!" Miranda asked in shock.
"His body is covered on deep slashing wounds… They have a potent curse in them! A Blood Curse… Vampiric!" Benladra analyzed Rakasha's wounds. "Please let me heal you!"
"No, wait, healing using holy light won't work, Benladra!" Miranda stopped the girl before ending up hurting Rakasha even more. "He's also a Vampire now, watch it!"
"A-Ah! I'm so sorry…!" Benladra panicked a little. "But how do we…?!"
"Leave it to me…!"
While Hector and the rest made their way there, Miranda spread her slimy body over Rakasha, literally devouring his wounds and the curses within them.
"Uuggh…! Agh!"
As he groaned in pain and agony, Miranda quickly moved away from him, his wounds slowly began to regenerate once they were disifected, but very slowly.
"He needs to drink some fresh blood, demon blood won't cut it, it's too nasty…! Hector, you're perfect! Can you donate us some blood?"
"W-What?!" Hector was surprised. "For Rakasha?"
"Yeah!" Miranda nodded. "We don't got much time, please? Drake will repay your help later, don't worry."
"I-I don't need a payment, I'll do it for a friend," Hector used his spear, creating a deep cut on his hand.
Benladra materialized a metallic cup with Kate's help, as it was filled with he blood of a human tht had reached godhood, glowing brightly.
"Here, drink it!"
Miranda chugged down the cup onto Rakasha's mouth, forcing him to drink the fresh, sweet blood of a young human god.
Naturally, the effects were instant!
"Gulp, gulp… Aaah…! Haah…!"
Rakasha gasped in surprise, as vitality finally came back to his old, withered body, he regained his muscles at full strength and suddenly became bulkier.
Benladra, meanwhile, healed Hector's wound until it was perfectly closed.
"Rakasha! Are you alright?!" Hector asked.
"What happened to you?" Kraxka asked.
"Where's the girl at?" Larzak wondered.
"T-This is…! You guys are finally here… Cough…" Rakasha coughed some of his blood clots he had accumulated inside his lungs. "R-Ruby is…! When we landed here…! We were attacked by a bunch of demons! We couldn't win with just her and her mother…! Her mother was… wounded, terribly wounded and…! Ruby… she… she lost her mind."
"W-What?" Miranda muttered. "Is her mom fine?! But why did she…?!"
"She panicked… I tried to help her, but it was too late… her wrath, her worry, her frustration as she saw her mother falling unconscious with a massive lethal wound made her go insane…!" Rakasha muttered. "Something within her, a monster awakened… That bastard! The Vampire Progenitor isn't dead yet! As long as his power remains within her, Ruby cannot truly free himself from his influence! He took advantage of her emotional weakness again…! She became… a gigantic thing…! She turned all the demons into Vampires that obeyed her orders instantly, and when I tried to help her, she attacked me, almost killing me…!"
"Shit…" Hector gasped. "Don't mess with me! We beat down all those Vampires a while ago! And I am fairly sure Drake destroyed that bastard's soul! How is he back?!"
"Like hell I know, Hector!" Rakasha cried. "Ruby is unstable, we can't… we can't stop her! She has awakened the power of the Vampire Venerable…! She's unstopable! Only Drake can…! Stop her…!"
"But that's…!" As Benladra was about to speak, suddenly…
RUMBLE!
The entire ground trembled, as the dome started shaking, breaking apart.
It turns out that it wasn't a dome, but something else.
An egg.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
As the dome shattered into pieces, a gigantic silhouette could be seen from within.
A monstrous shadow that was over three hundred meters of height.
"GRYYAAAAAHHHH!"
A monstrous, ear-piercing scream echoed through the night sky, as everyone's eyes widened as they saw the monstrosity that emerged.
That…
It wasn't Ruby anymore.
With gigantic wings, an enormous, skeletal-like body, black and red fur, gigantic, sharp fangs to pierce through all, and big crimson eyes, alongside even longer, pointy ears.
"A-A bat…?" Miranda asked.
"A giant bat…" Benladra said.
"I-It's her…! Ruby! RUBY!" Rakasha cried, standing up and running towards her.
"Rakasha, wait!" Hector, Kraxka, and Larzak chased him.
"GRRRRHHHH…!"
The monstrous titan glared down at Rakasha and the rest, opening its massive jaws, and suddenly beginning to generate crimson blood flames from within.
"GROOOAAAARRRR!"
The monstrous bat entity unleashed a gigantic, blazing breath attack of Crimson Blood Flames, made by combusting Blood Energy.
BOOOMMM!!!
Rakasha was able to pull out his shield at the last moment, as the rainbow-colored scale shield of Tiamat protected him and those behind him from the deadly blast, barely.
"W-Where is her mother? What happened?!" Miranda asked.
"I-I can feel another life signal inside of Ruby, in her chest…!" Benladra muttered. "She… she fused with her mom?!"
"WHAT?!"
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