Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride-Chapter 657: The Desert Blade

A confident voice echoed through the picturesque golden halls of the Royal Palace.

"To think you would be this strong, even after your accident, Verda."

The source of the voice was a tall, dark-skinned Djinn resembling Marduke with a more sculpted and condensed muscular body. His black hair was folded over like a mohawk, with the sides of his head shaved.

His fiery eyes locked on the valiant woman standing opposite him, several bodies lying around the room, both shadow guard and Balthazar warriors.

"Malachite!"

Verda grunted his name through tightly closed teeth, biting down with a sour expression as if dealing with the most foul scent in the world.

"I see you still hold a grudge, wife!"

The man with purple skin laughed, holding a massive broadsword at her face, "Surrender! Come to my side and rule this land with me. Wife."

"You should have died on that day!" Her chest tightened, the man she believed to have passed on, sacrificing himself to save her life... the long scar trailing from her abdomen to her right breast burned from the moment he appeared.

As if reminding her of the sin she hid.

"What of our daughter, will you let her fight until exhausted, then die, for some weak and worthless false king?!" Malchite stopped his violent attacks.

Verda could tell he wasn't lying, nor trying to buy time; this was her husband, a man she believed to have died years before.

"How could that be?! You are supposed to be dead..."

His eyes watched her, quietly observing Verda, before he lowered his sword.

"Is it so far-fetched that I managed to survive?"

She shook her head, raising her curved blade. "The man I loved would never side with the Balthazarians! He would know how dear Zara and Al'Qutar were to me."

"..."

Malachite's eyes shifted, the strange glow fading with each shout from her lips. His shoulders quivered as he tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"What?! Cat got your tongue suddenly?"

Clang!

Verda rushed at him, her blade cut across his chest from left shoulder to right hip, arcing beautifully. He lifted his huge blade, blocking it at his stomach with two hands, pressing against the flat of the blade to absorb the force of Verda's attack.

"Ngh!"

"Verda, why are you so angry?" He spoke with such a calm tone that it drove her mad. The raging pressure caused blood to flood her muscles, dulling her clear thoughts.

"Shut up!"

Enraged, she threw four fists at his face, unable to calm herself when thinking of how much she and her daughter suffered. "Zana will never forgive you!"

His eyes dulled again, the surface turning pale yellow as he matched her punches with open palms. As a couple who trained together for decades, they knew each other better than they knew themselves.

However, Verda didn't have the same leeway to enjoy their reunion.

"Ahh~ what a wonderful sight, if only that beautiful fairy were here." A twisted, yet well-spoken voice came from the doorway.

"Eh?!"

The shock struck Verda like a bolt of lightning; she'd reported to Verna, Zara and even Nikolai that this man had left the planet.

Doctor Franz stood with unkempt black hair tied in a loose, lazy ponytail, his pale skin covered in scars, with two different shades of red eyes. He glanced at Verda, but scoffed and quickly turned back to the sealed doors at the end of the hall.

Stood around him were strange warriors...

Djinn with unnaturally pale skin, bodies covered in stitches and parts that didn't match.

'What the hell?!'

The obviously deceased warriors remained idle, swaying and shambling around the doctor like a makeshift wall of flesh.

They didn't breathe.

They didn't speak.

Their mouths sewn shut, like feral beasts.

From the moment Franz appeared, Malachite opposite her began moving more slowly, his eyes constantly switching between a dull, murky yellow and a vibrant green.

Doctor Franz noticed Malachite, his lips curling into a mocking smile. "So you managed to reunite with your beloved wife? Congratulations, Number Five!"

'Number Five?'

Verda didn't understand the concept, but she could feel the violent aura leaking from the doctor. After Nikolai claimed his strength could match his, she doubted whether the young werewolf had lost it...

But the sharp blades of wind cutting into her flesh, just standing here, revealed just how much danger she faced.

"M-Mas... Doctor Franz!" Malachite clearly struggled to speak, forcing himself to change the name he spoke, as if reluctant to call him master.

'What's going on...?'

"Oho~ still able to resist the transformation! What a lovely little subject you are, Number Five, hohohoho~ now then... I have a king to slaughter. If you'll excuse me. Enjoy your husband and wife reunion."

Doctor Franz didn't linger, guided by the undead Djinn, he swept across the room, then suddenly he paused, and turned to Malachite. "Oh, Number Five."

"!!!"

Verda watched Malachite's brows furrow as he physically trembled as if shocked by electricity, the moment Franz spoke to him in a lower tone.

'What's going on?!'

Ever since she met him, everything became complicated.

Malachite grit his teeth and clenched his fists so tight that green blood dripped from the torn skin. His bright green eyes pulsing with light as he struggled desperately, until Doctor Franze said two words.

"Kill her."

Almost instantly, his bright green eyes faded and turned murky yellow, and all sense of life faded. His arms dangled, and his body leaned forward while looking at the floor.

"M...Malachite?" Verda asked, but received no response or reaction. "H-Hey! Stop, wait there!" She accosted Doctor Franz, who walked towards the Royal wing of the palace, where she left Verna and Vladik with a few shadow guards.

However, the doctor just shrugged his shoulders and then, while looking back into her eyes, he snapped his fingers.

"Go, Number Five."

"W-Wai—!"

Deng!

Before she could call out to Doctor Franz, the huge blade of Malachite cleaved the air, almost ripping off her head as she desperately blocked the strike with the broad side of her sword, holding the blade with all six hands.

Now trapped in some sort of strange trance, his movements became stiff, but the power and reluctance vanished.

Their blades clashed multiple times, the sheer force pushing Verda back across the marble flooring.

"Haa... what is this... Haa...."

Exhausted from the hours of fighting, running and combat, Verda's hands throbbed with a sharp, stinging ache. She held her blade low, pointing to the ground at an angle, with two secondary blades in her extra right and left shoulder arms.

"..."

Malachite, or rather Number Five, remained silent despite the countless small wounds growing across his body. He observed Verda with those disgusting, murky eyes, before striking at her weak spot as if able to see through her like an open book.

The pair danced across the throne room, blades cleaving and carving the beautiful marble walls and floor, as green and blue blood stained the beautiful red carpet. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Unable to control his destructive desire, Malachite kicked Verda's abdomen, tearing her wound further and raised his blade high.

"Ugh!"

A tearing pain ripped through Verda's stomach as she staggered, unable to raise her blade as she looked up at the man she'd loved, the only man she'd loved.

"Ah... if it's you, then..." She closed her eyes, tired and spent, letting her blade drop to the side, while the zombie emotionlessly swung the blade.

The blade cut through the air, seeking to cleave Verda in two.

Thunk!

Silence remained in the room for several seconds. Verda's heart raced, pounding against her chest as if trying to escape... but she was alive.

When she opened her eyes, that's when she saw those familiar, beautiful green eyes... now dripping with green blood. "Ah... My Deset Blade..." His soft, husky voice sent tingles down her spine, small bumps growing on her skin as she shuddered.

"W-Why...?"

"Haha, how could I hurt my wife like that?" Malachite made a joke while vomiting blood.

Verda couldn't help but reach out to him, his six arms now four as two of them lay on the ground, sliced off at the root and irreparable.

"Y-You fool!? Look at those arms... did you think I married you for anything else?!" She joked through her trembling voice... to lose a husband once might be world-shattering, but to face that feeling twice, she couldn't take advantage of this moment...

She stepped forward, her blades dropping with a soft jingle.

"Idiot."

"H-Hey, I'm not..."

"Do you think I care if you're a little dead? How long do you think it's been..." She embraced his body, the blood smearing between them as she closed her eyes. "If you kill me now, I can forget everything and die as your wife."

"Verda, that's impossible... You have to live for Zana."

Malachite's eyes flickered again, the orders from Doctor Franz ravaging his mind, melting his rationality, while the feeling of his wife's body... equally effective.

"You... must run.... and leave this place... Ver....Verda..."

Despite his words, Verda shook her head and confidently looked into his eyes. "If you are willing to live once more, to fight this control... I know someone who can save you, who can bring you back for good!"

Malachite's eyes shone once more.

"T-Truly? But... how could that be?"

His expression was completely bewildered as he gazed down at the desert blade.

"Mhm, it's someone you would never expect..." She then glanced at the doorway with a tired smile. "Took you long enough... kid."

Nikolai glanced at the two, his expression strange as he watched Verda hugging an undead Djinn, but then he sighed with a nod.

"Well, there were things to do... By chance, is this man my uncle?"

Malachite watched his wife's jubilant expression before glaring at Nikolai with a look that might kill a weak-hearted person.

"Wife, who is this bastard?!"

A similar height, similar build... both men looked at each other, one jealous, the other amused at the situation. Verda noticed her husband's jealousy and remained quiet, enjoying the way he hugged her tight.

'If I didn't sense your aura... I might have given up.'

She looked at Nikolai with a soft, affectionate gaze while thanking him in her mind.

"He's Zara's little husband and the one who can help you."