Draconic Vampire: Curse of the Blood - Chapter 112

Whoosh!

Splash!

“Where the fuċk am I? I was hoping for a good harvest but ended up here. I hope I can get out of here before sunset.”

Keith found himself in a pool of water that glowed red. The cavern was covering the water and the hole that Keith came through was above his head.

‘How deep are we in?’ Keith asked.

[You fell for ten seconds in that tunnel, which means this place is over a thousand meters underground. And from the sounds, I’m hearing.]

Crack!  Crack!

Keith looked at the ceiling which cracked and he understood this entire place was going to be buried. He looked around but didn’t find any openings in the spherical cavern. He was in the middle of the pool swimming on the surface.

He looked below and thought of an idea. Quickly submerging himself in the water, he started swimming downwards. The light was getting brighter and brighter as he went deeper.

At the bottom, Kieth found a large illumination ball. He moved closer and what he saw greatly surprised him. Inside what appeared to be a membrane, a beating heart could be seen at the center.

From the frequent heartbeats, it was evident that it was a human heart but who would put a human heart a thousand meters below the surface.

He searched for a secret passageway around the membrane but there was not a single way out.

‘What are we going to do? If we can’t get out of here. This place will turn into an aquarium.’

Returning back to the membrane, he tried to puncture it, but his hand couldn’t break the membrane. He used his blood-qi this time to penetrate the membrane and it popped.

Swaaa!

The liquids inside flowed outwards and the membrane split in two. The heart that was beating slowed down but didn’t stop.

It floated on the water and the arteries started to suck the liquid and extended their size and shape. The arteries completely formed and flesh started to form around them. Soon, the heart was covered in spherical flesh.

Keith reached out and tried to grab the lump of flesh. As soon as he held it he heard a voice.

‘Who are you?’

‘Excuse me! Is the lump of flesh talking?’ Keith pinched it.

‘I’ve been hiding here for thousands of years, right underneath the vampire’s nose. This cave was made by me so that no one could find me. How could the runes have allowed you to fall.’ The lump of flesh spoke.

‘Did you make caves like this in other places?’ Keith asked carefully.

‘No, this is the only one I made.’ It replied.

Keith was relieved that it was not the same being that made the cave inside his territory. Or else they wouldn’t have started off on good terms.

‘Are you a vampire?’ Keith asked.

‘Vampire…You could say that, but we are much more powerful than them. The young ones tend to follow their bloodlust and hunger to fall into situations that destroy them, but some of us make it to the top and gain knowledge and wisdom. ‘

Keith’s hair stood on end as he heard this. He had a bad premonition when he first came here, but he guessed the identity of the lump of flesh.

‘Sir, are you a ghoul?’ Keith was extra careful this time with all his senses on high alert.

‘Ghoul? Is that what they are calling us now? I see.’

‘No boy. I am a demon. Ghoul is just a term they use to identify the weaker ones.’ The lump of flesh dropped the information casually.

Keith was trying to wrap his head around it.

‘Demons… What is this? Are the angels going to start to pop up too?’ Keith thought to himself.

‘I can see that you are a vampire. Don’t worry we have more in common than you think. I will tell you all the secrets of how vampires came to be if you take me to the sacrificial chamber.’ The lump of flesh said to Keith.

‘Sacrificial chamber. It sounds like a terrible place. What if you are tricking me and it’s all a trap?’ Keith said with a suspicious gaze.

‘I think my underlings gathered enough sacrifice in all these years, so you can rest ȧssured, I won’t be sacrificing you. Besides, you are the one that freed me. I can’t let you get harmed.’

Keith squinted his eyes trying to process all this.

‘Where are you? At this moment, you want to stay silent.’ Keith said to the system.

[He is weak, and I can bȧrėly register any life energy within it. I think we should kill it now before it gets more powerful. From the way he was speaking, he desperately wants to get out of here.]

‘So, I just pop the flesh and rip the heart out? We can use our blood-qi to try invading its mind.’ Keith started thinking of an idea.

[Are you seriously trying to try the blood summoning technique on it? What if he takes control of your body?]

‘Aren’t you here with me? We are bonded and together. We can take him down. He is not expecting two minds inside so it will be a surprise.’

Keith extended his hands and used his blood-qi to create thread wisps and injected inside the lump of flesh.

‘What are you doing? You were supposed to take me to the sacrificial chamber. You dare invade my mind.’ The demon shouted as Keith injected his thread inside the flesh and made its way to the heart.

Keith followed the instructions of the system and searched every nook and cranny of the heart. Because the life energy of the demon was so low, it couldn’t block those threats from scouring its insides.

But he waited patiently for the right opportunity when Keith would enter his mind. Then he could show his true power.

Everything stayed quiet and Keith kept on injecting the threads.

[I found it.]

The threads tried to penetrate to a unique mark carved inside the heart.

<You finally entered inside my mind. You think I am some lowly beast you can control with your blood summoning technique. The technique only works on those who have a weaker mind than you. You can take over the body but can’t erase me.

Well, now that you’re here, I will show you who you’re dealing with.>

[The runes are activating inside his heart… Be careful.]

Keith focused his mind not to get distracted and blocked the incoming pull from the demon’s mind. But he couldn’t hold on for long.

Seeing that Keith was on the verge of being suċkėd inside the demon’s mind, the system interfered and made its presence known.

<Another mind inside a vampire. How could I’ve missed that? >

[ Because you are not worthy of knowing my existence.]

The system expanded its consciousness and put the three of them inside a white room.

“Where am I ?” The demon shouted in anger.

Keith was also confused and looked around trying to figure it out.

[ This is a mind simulation I’ve created as a bridge among several minds. You can call it a mental plane.]

‘So you did this. What is this place exactly, I mean what can we do here?’

[ This is a rare situation where I could perform an artificial construct when two minds are in range. For this to happen, I need to make sure both sides are independent and giving enough mental energy to keep it stable.]

[ If we fought against him outside without the mental construct, he could use techniques we have no control over. Also, there is a chance  he could contact his minions when we are at a standstill.]

‘So he can’t get out of this mental construct.’ Keith rejoiced.

[That’s right. Whatever entered this place will stay as-is and won’t get any outside boost. Lucky for us, we both dominate this mental plane with the majority of the energy, so we can communicate with the outside.]

“You seem to have found a way to imprison my mind and separate it from my heart. But that doesn’t matter. I am an existence that can’t be defeated by the likes of you.”

Keith felt malevolent energy start pouring from the demon’s astral body and tried to cover the surroundings.

[I won’t let you do that.]

The system used its mind to repel the demonic energy and constrained the demon.

[ Use your blood summoning technique on him quickly.]

Keith focused his mind and the thread wisps penetrated the mark outside the mental plane.