Vampire's Blood Ascension-Chapter 49: The Dark Tunnel

Rudy and Kalien stared into the dark tunnel as dust and debris fell from the ceiling.

Sounds of metallic clinks of armor and something scraping the ground reached them, and they turned to look at Sera.

Sera wore white armor with yellow and black embroidery across the chestplate and limbs, its pauldrons sharp with golden rims — a perfect blend of speed and defense.

In place of a helmet, it had a dark hood with golden borders that cast her face in shadow.

The armor looked as if it belonged to some saint, and on Sera, it appeared no less than that.

Sera, still leaning on the bone, pointed at the cave and muttered, "Let’s go."

Rudy and Kalien nodded, and all three of them stepped inside the dark tunnel.

The shadows danced wildly as they walked, and something strange caused them to stop as they realized they were no longer blessed or cursed by the desert.

Upon this realisation, they looked at each other from the corner of their eye and Rudy spoke as he continued forward, "Why are you standing there? You had told me you would take me to the return beacon. Keep your words, Seraphel Thessyne."

Sera looked at his wide back and nodded silently as she continued on her steps. "Right."

Kalien watched her with a faint smile, and as they walked, the world behind them trembled.

The ground shook, dust and sand fell, but the circle continued in their steps.

’We no longer have any food or water,’ Rudy remarked inwardly as he gripped his shoulder. ’How long do I have to act as if it’s broken?’

Rudy, being the paranoid person he was, had assumed that once all of this was over, either Sera or Kalien would attack him, so he had decided to feed that desire by acting injured, but, surprisingly, they didn’t do anything.

’Why did they not attack me?’

He couldn’t understand it, and his actions were reasonable after all, for the past six years, he had seen betrayal, slaughter, human greed, and much more.

His way of thinking wasn’t of irregulars; it was of regulars that had seen too much, and many times he had seen humans commit acts that could endanger their survival just for a moment’s greed.

’I have to change my approach towards irregulars,’ Rudy concluded as he trudged forward.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, but the tunnel didn’t end; it felt endless.

’How long is this tunnel?’ He thought as drops of sweat mixed with blood and sand dripped down his tired body.

Sera and Kalien were the same; Sera’s face had turned pale. It was because of her injuries.

Rudy had the body of a vampire, and the skill that had killed the beetle had protected Kalien, so the explosion was much more serious for her.

They could rest, but that would do nothing, as they had no water or food on them. Even if they consumed their essence, it would take too much time for Sera and Kalien to fill their cores.

Because Rudy had an Apex attribute, his essence generation was much faster. Absorbing essence shards helped them increase the generation speed and quality of their essence, but even that wasn’t possible at the moment.

The thirst reached such a level that, without intending to, he began searching for water in his spatial ring, and unexpectedly, he did have something to drink.

His face turned dark, and he mumbled, ’I still have some of the drink that the master asked Dr. Quad to make for me.’

Suppressing his reluctance, he took out the bottle and began drinking from it with a disgusted look on his face.

At the same time, Sera and Kalien were drinking from the last bottle that Kalien had.

After drinking it, he threw the bottle and spat, "It still tastes like piss... Not like I know what piss tastes like, but still."

Their steps didn’t stop for even a moment, and a few minutes later, Sera’s vision began to turn dizzy.

She slowed down and placed a hand on her head as she tried to walk.

"My lady, are you well?" Kalien asked as his hands hovered beside her in case she needed any support.

Sera shook her head and spoke in her usual but dry voice, "I am fi—"

Before she could even finish those words, her world spun, her eyes rolled backwards, and she fell face-first to the ground.

A metallic clang echoed throughout the tunnel, and Rudy immediately turned towards them.

"LADY SERAPHEL!" Kalien shouted as he knelt beside her and tried to pick her off the ground, but she was too heavy – because of the armor, of course.

"Ugh!" He groaned as he tried to lift her, and Rudy, who was watching him, shook his head and walked over.

Seeing him coming, Kalien’s face turned furious, and he spat, "You bru—"

"Shut the fuck up," Rudy muttered flatly.

Kalien froze, his lips trembled, as he looked at Rudy’s bloody face and thought, ’W-What was that?’

Rudy picked Sera by the waist belt and lifted her on his shoulders as he sighed, "All that, and we still ended up with two cripples."

He glanced at Kalien and said, "Let’s go."

Kalien nodded and followed behind him. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As he stared at Rudy’s back, he once again thought about what had just happened, ’What was that? Why did the [Seventh Lunar Sense] warn me about him? It never did before. Is it because I am injured? It has to be otherwise there’s no way this dumb bastard can be a danger to me.’

’Why did he act like that? Does he have some threat perception skill?’ Rudy wondered as he glanced at Sera’s face and mumbled, "This is the second time, you know? How long do you wish to treat my body as some ride? Tch."

A few minutes later, Rudy stopped in his tracks, and Kalien asked in a scornful tone, "What’s wrong?"

"I hear water..." Rudy whispered.

Kalien furrowed his brows and said, "I don’t hear anything."

"Get your ears checked then," Rudy commented as he followed the faint sound of dripping water.