Chapter 112: A New Family
[Would you like to activate the blood ritual?]
It didn’t matter if Layla wanted to take back her desire to become a vampire, if there was even a small sliver of hope to ensure that Layla lived, then Erin was going to take it.
[Yes]
"What’s going on with your eyes?" Peter asked.
Unbeknownst to her, as soon as Erin had started the blood ritual, her eyes started glowing red.
[Please proceed by inserting the host’s blood into the mouth of the target]
Using the blade of her rapier, Erin cut her palm on the side of it, and opened Layla’s mouth, squeezing her blood to drip inside.
’Is she doing what I think she is?’ Fex thought, seeing Erin perform a blood ritual.
He knew that this was something he was not allowed to do according to the vampire laws back home, but instead of stopping Erin, he decided to just stand and watch. For saving his life, he was going to look away this once.
As the blood started to get absorbed by Layla, her fingers started to twitch, energy slowly returning to her. Her body was slowly gaining warmth, vampiric blood cells changing the human ones within her blood.
Layla’s eyes shot open wide, red rings forming around them, and somehow, Erin could feel a connection forming between the two. It was like the connection she had with Quinn, but stronger.
"Is it working?" Quinn asked, feeling some sort of connection as well.
That was when Layla’s limbs started shaking, twitching and moving violently.
"Quick! Grab her!" Erin commanded, and the others held her hands down.
"Erin, she needs human blood, the transformation has only just begun, but she now needs the blood of the others to live," the system instructed.
"Quinn, and Peter, feed her your blood!" Erin shouted.
Layla’s body jerked violently, and she squirmed in pain, her head smacking the ground.
"H—How!?" Peter said, trying hard to keep Layla still.
"Fex, keep her mouth open!"
Fex ran behind Layla, and he held her mouth to remain open. Since Peter’s hands were already bloodied, he was the first to squeeze them over Layla’s mouth, and blood dripped inside. Quinn quickly cut his own hand and did the same thing.
"W—what’s going on?" Peter nervously asked.
The wounds on Layla’s body was beginning to heal, cuts closed, and stitched themselves together without so much of a scar. All except for the sword still in her body.
"I think—" Quinn began to say, "I think she’s becoming something else."
"Something else?!"
Then, Layla’s body began to stop moving, calming down, and going still. Her eyes closed, and they began to fear the worse, holding their breath, Erin especially.
Then, a notification ding.
[The ritual was a success!]
[The human has successfully been blooded 1/2]
[A vampire ghoul has been created]
[A new family has been created]
[What would you like to name your family?]
"... Family?" Erin accidentally whispered out loud.
Ever since she had been soul linked to Quinn, the idea of having new people join her family lingered in her mind. If Layla was now part of her family, was that considered a betrayal of the family bond she had with her parents?
"Now that you’ve turned someone, she falls under your rank. She has your blood, so she is part of your family. Every vampire that turns someone has the responsibility to look after their family," The system explained.
It made sense, Erin ultimately decided, this was a connection made with vampire blood. While she still had the memories of her parents, she could make new ones with Layla.
Not sure what to name the new family, she recalled a moment not that long ago. There was something Layla had mentioned about vampires.
"Anyways, as I was saying, after our experiments with testing Erin’s weaknesses, I found out that sometimes vampires get called—"
[Family name: Night Demons]
In Erin’s mind, it made sense. If vampires really were demons of the night, then the name of the new family she was making would match that very idea.
Soon after Erin selected enter, a loud thud was heard outside, and the group jumped at the sound. That was when they looked outside to see multiple mechs that had managed to knock down the dalki. They were all covered in green blood, with one missing an arm, and another a leg.
Seeing the sight, the group had a collective sigh of relief. They were safe now.
"Well, well, looks like we lucked out. The dalki was defeated before I even arrived," A voice said, just right behind the students, causing them to all flinch again.
Leo had arrived, but this time wearing light red and black beast armor instead of his usual military uniform. His chest piece had the design of a Japanese demon, an Oni with horns.
"... You guys must’ve experienced a major fright as to be scared of a blind old man," Leo lightly joked, but they were too scared to laugh.
Sensing the nearby dalki on the floor, Leo took in a deep breath, before taking out his katana, "There will be no need to call the others, or use my soul weapon for something like this."
"Men, fall back!" Leo shouted, and the two mechs did as asked.
He walked up to the dalki, katana drawn. Despite the dalki being on its last legs, Leo wasn’t fooled one bit. He knew from his ability that there was still a strong aura within the dalki. It hadn’t given up just yet.
"Another human?" The dalki spoke, watching Leo closely, "You really are germs to the whole universe, look how many of you there are on this planet already."
"Why do you fight us?" Leo asked coldly.
The dalki smiled, "Why do beasts attack humans? To survive."
Leo wasn’t buying it. The dalki were the ones that had invaded earth first, and it was only because of them that they had to hunt beasts to harvest their crystals. Either way, he sensed the dalki’s energy shift, right before he jumped at Leo.
Leo, however, was fast, and sliced at the dalki’s head, then sheathing his sword, all in an instant. Not a moment after, the dalki’s head slid off, and its body fell with a thud.
Then, Leo turned his head towards the students, "Was that the only one you saw?"
They were all amazed seeing a human perform such an amazing feat, even Fex.
’That was the power of the war hero himself,’ Erin thought.
"Uh... Yeah?" Peter awkwardly replied.
That was when the mechs ran over to Leo, and kneeled in his presence, "Thank you for protecting us, Sergeant Leo."
"Don’t thank me," Leo spoke, "Thankfully, the dalki was already on its last legs. You two must have done an excellent job injuring the dalki before I got here."
The two soldiers glanced at each other, a little confused. They were skilled, but not skilled enough to take on a two spike. Most of the damage had been done before they even arrived, which made them think... could it have been the students?
As Leo and the two mechs were inspecting the dalki’s corpse, trying to discern why he had gone to this planet, the students were looking over Layla.
Her wounds were nearly all fully healed, save for her lower chest where Erin’s rapier was, but that was when Layla got up, not even opening her eyes. Immediately, the others took a step back. The sword in her body was slowly ejecting itself, the wound closing as it did.
The metal sword clanged onto the floor, and she patted the area where she was skewered.
"Am I... Alive...?" Layla whispered, her eyes fluttering open.
Seeing Layla standing up, just like new, caused Erin’s heart to thump. She was alive.
