Chapter 495: Can You Defeat the Nosferatu?
Nikolai’s jaw crushed Big Bear’s neck, his teeth sinking into the leather-like flesh, breaking his collarbone with immense force. "Peh!" He spat the wounded bear to the ground and stomped on its face, pressing it against the gravel while glaring at the old lord.
"Do you want to fight too?" He smirked. Able to see the colour of fear and hesitation using his unique blood art, Nikolai pushed the Lord further.
The old man’s eyes narrowed at the scene. His strength, like a giant tree swaying in the gentle breeze. A completely different league of power compared to Black Bear. He glared at the fallen bear and grunted as his muscles bulged.
"Young wolf, don’t misunderstand your current power for the apex."
With a simple threat, the aura of the old man transformed from a gentle breeze into a violent and heavy storm. Nikolai gazed at the man, pupils dilating. His aura fell like drops of rain crashing upon the garden, so dense they almost held substance like real raindrops.
He’s more powerful than I expected.
But he didn’t pull back or waver; his foot upon Black Bear pressed further.
"Even if I lack power, I will fight until my last claw breaks."
The old man scoffed, but his lips curved into a wide grin. "Just like your damn father." He really didn’t seem that dangerous. Rather, Nikolai’s skin lost the tingle of danger from the moment he showed his power.
It made no sense.
"What do you know of my Father?"
The old man didn’t answer. His silver eyes studied Nikolai the way hunters watch a young beast. Two parts caution, one part curiosity. Then he shifted his weight, his aura twisting once more, denser and heavier, but strangely without killing intent.
Behind Nikolai, the other Elders hesitated.
Their eyes flicked between their kneeling champion and the black-flamed wolf standing over him. Emotions of rage and fear tangled in the air.
"Enough games!" one Mature wolf barked, breaking first. He lunged, claws outstretched.
Nikolai didn’t even look back. His free hand shot out like a serpent, catching the wolf by the throat mid-air. The moment he slammed him against the floor, his bones snapped and shattered the floor. Black flames flared from his claws, spreading like ink through the Elder’s veins. The wolf’s scream ended abruptly as its body withered, strength siphoned into Nikolai’s blood.
However, before killing him, he tossed the wolf into the distance.
A second Elder roared, leaping from the left, but Nikolai twisted, tail lashing out like a whip. The blow caved the Elder’s ribs, sending him tumbling. Nikolai followed with a vicious stomp, claws piercing the man’s chest and draining essence straight into himself.
After this, the garden became silent, with the great elder watching in silence, his aura stirring like the calm before a storm.
"Monster..." someone whispered.
The last of the elders lay on the ground, with Black Bear defeated or rather, holding back the last remaining fighter didn’t attack Nikolai.
Black Bear groaned beneath his boot, trying to rise. Nikolai pressed harder, cracking bone, forcing the towering bear to the ground once more.
"Stay down," he growled, voice low, vibrating the air like a drum.
Black Bear’s body trembled with rage. He slammed a massive fist into the floor, trying to push himself upright, only for Nikolai to wrench his arm aside and drive a knee into the beast’s back, pinning him with humiliating ease.
The watching Elders froze. The bear they trusted, their towering Great Elder, forced to kneel beneath a wolf barely past his first awakening.
Nikolai tilted his head, eyes sweeping the room with cold amusement. "Who’s next?"
"Young wolf, why do you fight with such rage, and violence?" Asked Loric
Nikolai’s spine tingled the instant Loric spoke, even the surface of his skin prickling as if he would die should he make the wrong choice here. He couldn’t help but kick Black Bear to the side and focus on the tall figure, completely different from the meeting earlier.
"I don’t know why you’ve changed, but I fight the only way I know how to."
"I see."
Loric nodded. He watched Nikolai for several breaths before he suddenly vanished!
"What!?"
There wasn’t even a sound.
Instantly after the muscular werewolf appeared beside Nikolai, his foot was already halfway to hitting him.
His Instinct screamed.
Nikolai pushed himself back, claws scraping against the stone as he dragged himself out of range. The blurry silver kick tore through the air where his face had been a moment earlier. A gust alone flattened the nearest trees and sent tiles ripping free from the garden roof.
Bang!
The impact of his blow created a cratered path behind him, stone exploding into shrapnel. Nikolai slid back on all fours, fangs bared, black fire snaking across his shoulders in jagged pulses.
Fast!
This old bastard is far too fast.
Loric straightened himself, dusting off the dirt from his body with the faintest smile lingering on his lips. "You react well. But your father would have attacked, not avoided that blow."
Nikolai’s lips curled, breath ragged but steady. "I’m not my father."
"Yes, maybe that’s why this is so interesting."
Loric vanished once again.
One blink, and the world lurched sideways.
Loric’s silver-lined claws were almost raking for Nikolai’s ribs.
Clang!
Ack!?
Nikolai met them with a cross-block, claws locked. The collision rang like struck steel, a thunderclap of pressure hurling debris in every direction. The ground buckled beneath their feet.
His aura is like Dad’s...
Heat seared through Nikolai’s veins as his blood bubbled. He didn’t fear the powerful man, nor did he seek to retreat from certain defeat. The power churning inside his abdomen from the great elders and multiple elders was constantly being tempered and refined into his own power.
Each breath stoked the black fire higher.
But Loric’s weight was different. His power didn’t drain as easily; it bit back, resisting the hungry tide. Their locked claws trembled, neither yielding like two arrogant and stubborn wolves.
Then Loric wrenched free and slammed a knee up.
Crunch!
Dense pain ripped through Nikolai’s chest as his bones almost gave way. He left the ground, floating back before staggering two steps, snarling at Loric, before planting his feet and lunging forward with a savage backhand.
Bang!
The strike grazed Loric’s jaw, snapping his head to the side. A ribbon of blood trailed through the air before vanishing into steam.
However, Loric just chuckled with a sharp edge. "That’s it, hahaha. That’s more like it."
He vanished again.
Nikolai pivoted on instinct, tail whipping out. Too slow as Loric’s fist buried into his gut, forcing bile and black blood up his throat.
Hrrgh!
He barely kept his footing, one knee dipping before he forced himself upright, black flames shuddering across his shoulders. His eyes burned, golden rings gleaming brighter inside the darkness.
Every hit hurt, but every hit made him faster, sharper. His blood devoured the pain, wove it into strength. The drain on Loric was slow, but it was there. Nikolai could feel it like cracks forming in an unbreakable wall.
Loric’s smile faltered, just slightly.
"Naughty little pup, are you trying to devour my power?" He slapped Nikolai back while humming to himself. "Such a dangerous little wolf."
Nikolai wiped blood from his lips with the back of his hand, grinning while ignoring the pain from his broken ribs. "Isn’t dangerous the best for a werewolf?"
"Foolish!"
Loric’s next rush came like a storm. Silver claws slashed in a dozen feints, each heavier than the last. Nikolai ducked, swayed, and still took the brunt of more than one, black fur, tearing, blood spraying across the garden stones. Pain burned bright in every nerve, but the heat inside him only swelled.
Each time Loric struck, a thread of his strength bled away, stolen into the black tide boiling in Nikolai’s veins. It wasn’t enough to cripple the old lord, but enough to make every second grow more dangerous as Nikolai’s speed and power increased.
In the past, he held himself back from using his black blood in this manner.
However, after coming to Londis, Nikolai realised the gap between himself and Alucard.
He needed to use everything he could to win.
They crashed together again, claws locking, grinding. Loric twisted for another knee, but this time Nikolai met it with his own, bone on bone with a brutal crack.
"Good," Loric muttered, low and approving, even as surprise flickered across his sharp features.
Nikolai roared, forcing the older wolf back a half-step. His tail whipped out, gouging the gravel; then he surged forward, fist wrapped in black fire.
Bang!
The punch sank into Loric’s chest like a sledgehammer. The air warped with the shockwave, tearing up the ground around them in a ring of splintered stone and dust. Loric slid back, boots carving deep ruts, his breath catching just once before he steadied.
A hushed silence settled.
Even the wounded Elders shrank back, wide-eyed.
Nikolai stayed crouched in his fighting stance, panting, chest heaving, but eyes burning with hunger and excitement. "Still think I’m a pup?" he huffed, black flame cracking along his arms.
Loric’s hand hovered over the scorched spot on his chest. For the first time, his smirk faded, and his mood became strange. His emotional colours blended to stop Nikolai’s abilities from working.
He exhaled slowly, his aura shifting, thinning just enough to let the words carry.
"Tell me something, Nikolai Volkov." His voice cut through the ruined garden like a blade. "Can you win..." his silver eyes sharpened, steadily probing the young wolf, "...can you defeat the Nosferatu?"
"What?" The question was out of the blue and stunned Nikolai completely.