Vampire's Blood Ascension-Chapter 42: Kill Them Before They Kill Us.

A few hours later, they left the tower and walked towards the nearest ruins.

Rudy glanced at Sera and asked, "What if there are dreadborns in those ruins?"

"Then all we can do is kill them before they kill us," she responded as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

Rudy nodded and mumbled grimly under his breath, "Right."

After trudging for an hour, they reached a stone chamber and rested in it for some time before moving towards the next.

Hours passed, and as the sun neared the horizon, they finally reached the chamber nearest to the ruins.

They quickly entered the chamber, and Rudy slumped near a wall.

The heat and the depletion of his essence were taking a toll on him, and for some reason, it was affecting him more than Sera.

"I’m all spent," he groaned as he closed his eyes, but the next moment, Sera kicked his leg and muttered with a furious yet tired expression, "What are you doing?"

He looked at her with an annoyed expression and spat, "Can’t you see?! I am resting!"

"We can’t waste our time like this," she stated as she turned around and took out the water bottle that he had given to her.

’What’s wrong with her?’ Rudy thought and did the same. After taking a few sips, they put them back in their spatial rings.

"How much more water and food do you have?" Sera asked flatly as if the answer didn’t matter to her, but Rudy knew it was just an act to appear calm and unbothered.

"Not much, we barely have for the day," Rudy answered without hiding anything.

The syndicate had provided him with food and water enough for two weeks. Still, because of the strange desert, he had consumed more than he usually would have, and he had also given one bottle and one pack of energy bars to Seraphel because he, too, needed her to leave this place safely.

She nodded darkly and said, "We’ll leave in an hour."

"Alright," Rudy responded as he leaned back on the stone wall and thought, ’Things have become much calmer between us. Not that we trust one another.’

’The old realm is way different than what I had thought,’ he remarked inwardly. ’It’s much more fun.’

’I wonder why irregulars call this a hell when this is the only place where you can be what you truly are.’

As he pondered over his thoughts, an hour passed, and he stood up on his feet.

He looked at Sera and said, "Let’s ..."

"You were much more tired than I, huh?" Rudy mumbled as he looked at Sera, who had fallen asleep.

"Seraphel," he called out, but it was pointless because she was too deep in her sleep.

"No other choice then," he muttered as he walked closer and shook her by the shoulders.

Her golden-white hair flailed around, and much to his surprise, she didn’t wake up.

"What the hell? Are you a koala? Not like I know what a koala is. "He furrowed his brows and took out a water bottle from his spatial ring to splash some water on her face.

He sprinkled the water, but Sera didn’t move an inch.

A tired sigh escaped him. "Of course, nothing happened, she is a deviant, how would she wake up from just some water!"

He stored his bottle while shaking his head, and after a good minute of thought, he crouched before her, made her place her arms around his neck, and placed his arms beneath her as he carried her on his back.

"Alright, let’s go," he mumbled as he walked out of the stone chamber and made his way towards the ruins as the sun was about to go down. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

An hour later, the moon rose over the desert, turning it dark.

Bones rattled and echoed throughout the area, and at the same time, Rudy channeled blood essence into his feet and dashed towards the distant ruins.

As he ran, the dark sand replenished his essence and lessened his fatigue, making it easier for him to carry Sera without any problem, but at the same time, he had to make sure none of the dreadborns saw them.

After an hour of hiding and running, Rudy neared the ruins, and all of a sudden, Sera mumbled, "Remember to dive..."

Rudy furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about? Do you want me to drop you or something—"

"Remember to dive," she repeated.

Rudy kept running forward and thought while frowning, ’Is she having a prophetic dream?’

’Remember to dive, huh...’ he mumbled in his head, and a few minutes later, he reached the ruins.

His steps slowed down, and he looked to the front with narrowed eyes.

At the center of the ruins, there was a beetle-like dreadborn. He used [Scarlet Sight] on it and mumbled sombrely, "A deviant horror."

He wisely ignored the deviant horror that was beyond his current strength and turned towards the nearest construct.

He dashed inside it while staring at the dreadborn from the corner of his eye.

Once inside, he sat Sera by the wall and looked at her asleep face for a moment before he turned and mumbled under his breath, "She ain’t that beautiful... Maybe, just a little."

He slouched by the wall and closed his eyes while staring at the moon visible from the cracked ceiling.

A few minutes later, his eyes turned heavy, and he fell asleep.

On the other hand, Sera’s eyelids trembled as she opened her eyes, and upon seeing the moonlight, she shot to her feet and walked outside, her expression grave.

"Dammit! Did I fall asleep?" She muttered under her breath, and once she reached the exit, her steps froze, and her gaze landed on the ruined constructs around them.

The dark ruins gleamed under the calm moonlight, and as her gaze drifted throughout them, she mumbled, "How...?"

She slowly turned around, and as Rudy’s sleeping figure, basking in the moonlight, came into view, her eyes shone with a mix of emotions.

She shook her head and mumbled with clenched fists, "Focus, Sera. You aren’t some teenage girl."