LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 2037: Awakening
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"SEE?! IT'S FUTILE! WE CANNOT STOP! THIS WORLD IS TOO DANGEROUS! EVERYONE WE LOVE COULD DIE! WE'LL PROTECT MOTHER LIKE THIS! AND YOU SIMPLY NEED TO-"
"No!"
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath Ruby shattered, as she rushed like a crimson meteor towards her other self, punching her in the face.
BAAAAM!
"GAAAGGH?!"
As she vomited blood, her other self glared at Ruby with utter fury.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT BACK?! I POSSESS YOUR TRUE POWER, AND…! AH?!"
And at that moment, Ruby's other self suddenly realized that there was someone else by Ruby's side.
The figure of a tall, beautiful vampire lady, overflowing with unseen powers.
"M-Mother…?!"
Ruby's other self suddenly froze, as she noticed that it was indeed her mother.
The place where she was resting before was gone, as she appeared right there now.
"Ruby, this is not like you…"
Her mother spoke with a calm demeanor, her phantasmal, spiritual form constantly mixing with the ring, complementing it, healing it into a more uniform, complete form.
"W-What's happening…?!"
"This is…! Mother?!"
Both Rubies were left speechless they didn't understand what was happening anymore.
"Thank you for saving my life, dear… But you need to wake up already."
"W-Wait, what happened to you?! Are you okay? But this…!"
"The moment you embraced me and made yourself one with me, I suddenly found myself in a strange land of darkness… it took me hundreds of years, but perhaps to you, they were only minutes. When I finally woke up, I was here… and this ring with you, I can feel like I am one with it."
"The ring… an Ascendancy Law Ring…! Wait, isn't this… the Vampire Venerable's inheritance?!"
"The dark world I visited must have been his inheritance. As I walked for hundreds of years and fought countless vampiric and blood beats, I reached the end of it all."
The mindscape suddenly transformed, revealing a giant black pyramid, with a red ring above it.
"This is the place I reached, the Root of the Vampire Venerable's Inheritance, a power you never got to truly inherit completely yet."
"…!"
"I don't know how this truly happened, but perhaps there was an error in his security when two souls possessing access to his bloodline became one…"
The demonic powers that Ruby had also absorbed, and the hundreds of demon souls might have helped them break the seal the Venerable had zealously left behind, even when he died.
His pride and selfishness was so much he didn't even allow Ruby to get his full power, even when he had died and left only his power within her…
But now, such seal was broken.
"It is incomplete, however…" Ruby's mother said. "But what you have is indeed an Ascendacny Law Fragment. Temporarily, it seems I can mend it together by wielding the power of our Bloodline, and of the millions of vampires' souls within them."
"Wait… Like a Draconic Record?!" Ruby asked in disbelief.
"Yes, our ancestor was fascinated by this and created one of his own within his own Bloodline, an incomplete one. But now, I've gained access to it, and I can use it to "mend together" the Ascendancy Ring. It's only temporary, but it should be capable of bring your strength to new heights."
"T-This is…! But wait… mom! If this is the true then… Y-You're dead?"
"Not exactly… I am in a state of limbo between life and death, living within the inheritance itself, and you. Ruby, this time…"
She hugged her daughter, caressing her head, as Ruby's other self slowly began to turn to black and red light, fusing with Ruby's body.
"There's a world that needs your help. You must wield the power that our ancestor once used for evil, for good."
"But…!"
"Don't worry about mama, I'll be fine."
Her mother smiled gently at her.
"In fact, we'll do this together, right?"
Ruby nodded slowly while crying.
"Yeah!"
As she hugged her mother and cried over her chest, Ruby finally opened her eyes.
FLAAASH!
The wounds around her body quickly healed, the miasma infecting her was simply nullified by a powerful curse running within her system.
"R-Ruby?! She's healing!" Rakasha said.
"Looks like we made it somehow!" Miranda's second body said.
"R-Ruby! Are you ok?!" Benladra's mechanical avatar asked.
"Girl!" Hector called for her.
"Is it you or the other one?!" Larzak asked.
"Please answer us!" Kraxka said.
"It's me…"
Her voice echoed through her bat-like form, which hadn't changed at all, actually.
"This body is sure not what I expected as my "ultimate form" but… I guess I'll have to deal with it. Thank you for helping me out, everyone."
"R-Ruby!"
As Ruby grabbed everyone with her hands, she quickly placed them over her shoulders, while Rakasha hugged her fluffy neck while crying.
"I'm so sorry Ruby…! It's my fault, it's all my fault-"
"It's not…"
And then, a second voice echoed, as a beautiful spiritual and phantasmal form of Ruby's mother manifested from her Ascendancy Ring, which had temporarily healed itself to almost 100% its former power.
"It was never your fault, dear. It was just a misunderstanding; it wasn't something you could control. We were all at death's door."
"C-Carmilla… I'm so sorry, even then…"
"It's alright, I've talked with Ruby now, things are fine. For now, we can't waste more time, Rakasha. We'll need your strength."
"Yeah, uncle… I'm sorry for what I did…"
Even Ruby apologized!
"Hah… I-I… well, I suppose there's indeed no time to talk. We have to get back to battle…! I'll help however I can."
"Me too!" Hector roared.
"Maybe our power might be little, but we also want to help," Kraxka said.
"Yeah! These new nanomachines you placed in our bodies have made us stronger, Kate, perhaps we can do more now," Larzak said.
"Actually, yes." Kate spoke through the mechanical avatar. "The effect of my nanomachines could have a greater effect if everyone here take some as well. Ruby and Rakasha as well. I have a plan so Ruby can be powered up even more."
As she said that, the avatar's mechanical arms transformed into syringes, full of nanomachines ready to assimilate with living cells and harmonize with them.
"Ruby, do you want more power?"
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