Chapter 174: After a Long Separation

Ivan stood from his seat with a ferocious gaze. His fists pounded the protective barrier. He transformed himself fully into a werewolf. His fists caused the entire field to tremble, and a shockwave destroyed his surroundings.

"You, filthy cunt! How dare you do this to my son!"

"GRRRRR!"

The roar of the fully recovered Silver Beast that caused havoc over thirty years ago. A memory many of the noble vampires and other races remembered. The moment his wife passed, he vanished. Yet what happened almost twenty years ago led to a bloodbath of thousands of vampires and the destruction of a royal bloodline.

Nikolai didn't know, and neither did most families below the Tepes clan, but there were once four royal bloodlines.

They now told a lie, saying the fourth family perished fighting against humans...

However, it was this silver wolf and his family that eradicated the fourth family in the past.

All out of revenge and retribution.

"You let me inside now, or I will destroy this fucking arena!"

He watched the strange female pummelling Nikolai until he noticed her face... those eyes and his rage exploded further.

'It cannot be...'

'You cannot be at their side!'

"Tell me it isn't so..."

"Anastasia!"

With his low growl, dozens of vampire nobles recognised the name he called out. The previous heir to the Volkov family is said to be the strongest werewolf in their bloodline, which was born in several generations.

Anastasia Volkov, the princess, was the future hope of their family.

Yet then she vanished...

Nobody knew what happened—it was supposed to be a routine mission in one of the abandoned worlds of the Nexus, where corruption became uncontrollable.

It was supposed to be a simple mission, but the princess never returned. The news devastated the whole family, and it became the catalyst that led to Ivan's wrath. After these two events, the monster world feared the Volkov clan.

So they destroyed them... and hid the truth.

They never found the body, but everyone thought that survival was impossible after the report the Nosferatu and Faust families claimed and spoke about their losses and the situation.

'No... you, have you been suffering for more than fifty years... sister?' Ivan thought to himself as his eyes began to well up. 'Why... why didn't you contact us?'

"Why do you want to kill my son!"

***

"You know who this is, Ivan?"

Vladimir's cold voice echoed from above, his eyes staring at the Silver Wolf, and his red eyes flashed. Not that Vladimir didn't know. He knew very well that this woman was his first love and the woman he might have married if not for her disappearance.

Because she died, Ivan became the one engaged to the silver clan, yet he chose the heiress of Báthory...

The image of Nikolai on the ground with Anastasia mounting him appeared in Ivan's sharp gaze, anger and spite growing further.

"Vlad, you know it's her. Those filthy bastards lied and kept her hidden for so long!"

Ivan roared, his fist smashing into the protective barrier once more. A crack began to form.

The other nobles looked at Vladimir, wondering what would happen next. They never expected Ivan, the Silver Wolf, to be present at the arena. After all, the rumours stated he lost all his power over fifteen years ago.

"I see... though it is late, forgive me. I have failed you my friend... to think you were right, after all this ti,me how could I stop you now."

"Thank you, old friend..."

"We will not interfere. If you can, bring her back."

"I will. And I will protect her from them, too!"

Ivan roared and slammed his fists again into the protective barrier. The barrier cracked further, and the moment he saw Alistair shooting hundreds of blood spears at Nikolai, he was about to interrupt them before he heard Nikolai's howl...

A deep and commanding howl caused the first row of spears to shatter into dust.

'My son... you've grown so far, in such a short time... Are you telling this old man to just take her and let you fight?'

He noticed Nikolai's sharp black eyes looking at him with shimmering blue pupils and an aggressive snarl.

"Understood... do not lose, Nikolai!"

'I am proud of you.'

Thus, he ignored the current clash and screaming crowd. Ivan landed on the ground with a thud and grabbed his older sister by the nape the moment before she attacked Nikolai. He then lifted her in the air and tightened his grip.

"Sister, you cannot attack your nephew so violently!"

He pulled her away and threw her against a pillar. He felt a slight pain in his heart, but the moment he watched her attacking Nikolai with a strange expression and the desire to kill. He knew he had to stop her, even if it meant hurting her in the process.

"You?!" The female wolf snarled before Ivan kicked her abdomen, causing her to vomit blood and quickly followed up, elbowing her face, snapping her cheek and nose.

Ivan was cruel, but he also remembered his sister's violent upbringing and how she taught him.

"WAKE UP ANASTASIA!"

The sudden shout caused her to tremble, her eyes filled with fear, dilated pupils and trembling arms.

"It's not me... I am not a lady.... the lady is not me...."

"Then who are you?!"

Ivan roared back at the female wolf, who seemed to struggle with her words, and he didn't hold back his punch to her face once again. He could feel his heart aching, the desire to hurt his sister and make her feel like this didn't exist.

Yet he HAD to save her.

'Please forgive me, beat me, hate me all you like... if it brings you back to your senses, I will commit any sin!'

"ANSWER ME, ANASTASIA! WHO ARE YOU!"

The original reason he married Elizabeth Báthory wasn't love, but to approach her for their family's blood art... to find his sister and the truth. Ivan wanted closure, but he ended up falling for Elizabeth before he knew it and never asked her to find Anastasia due to his guilt.

An ironic ending.

He found his sister, but he also lost his wife. He didn't want to lose anyone else, so he had to do it, no matter how much he despised himself.

"ANSWER ME! WHO ARE YOU! TELL ME!"

The female wolf's eyes dilated and shrank as she looked around the room. Her gaze became fixated on his figure, and for a moment, she showed clarity while the arena behind them exploded, with two blood arts colliding. seaʀᴄh thё nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"I...Ivan? Is that you... Ivan?"

Tears fell down Anastasia's cheeks as she saw her brother, a grown man in his forties. Time seemed to have passed more than she realised. She felt her body tremble, yet she couldn't move. It was as if her body wasn't hers, and she couldn't move.

"I can't move... something is inside my chest... Ivan...."

"Haha... my sister, you... you didn't die.... you didn't leave me."

Suddenly, Ivan's face became younger. He was no longer an older male with grey hair but a man in his early thirties or late twenties with brilliant silver hair down to his shoulders.

"After all it's Ivan... my cute Ivan!"

A soft hand touched his cheek, and the words she spoke about something being in her chest made Ivan feel a sense of worry. He knew something was wrong and looked at her chest. There, he could see the faint outline of something buried under her flesh.

'It can't be...'

'Anastasia, I am sorry, but I will have to hurt you a bit more.'

"Yea... I can bear it."

Ivan's fingers slowly morphed into clawed fingers, his fur becoming more pronounced. His claws dug into her skin as she looked at him with confusion and a smile. There was a pain in his heart when she showed no outward pain.

Despite his claws tearing her chest open and pulling a strange device from her chest. A device connected to her heart, designed to create immense pain, used to train monsters... with an electric charge.

'Damn those filthy alchemists!' Enjoy new adventures from m-v l'e|-NovelFire.net

It was a trigger... but because the owner seemed busy—he cut the connection and link between the device and Anastasia's heart.

"Ugh... it hurt...."

"Don't whine, let's leave and allow your nephew to fight without worries."

"Nnn... Ivan, you had a child?! That unpopular and moody Ivan..."

Although he wanted to tell her more, the exhaustion of her body seemed to catch up as she collapsed in his arms.

"Sleep well... Anna."

Ivan looked back at his son, then jumped back into the crowd and saw Vladimir's softened gaze. A passage to his VIP box opened up for Ivan to escape.

'I guess this guy still held affection for her, what a soft guy... how did he become king of all vampires?'

No, Ivan knew the truth—he became king after 'that' event.

'I should probably fix our friendship, since we will be related to me soon enough.'

***

The moment Ivan saved his sister, Nikolai was facing off against Alistair—despite his wounds and exhaustion, he began to use the Tepes blood arts, like second nature.

Rapid conjuration of blood spears, arrows and shields was nothing that Alistair could compete with, even though his pure force surpassed Nikolai's. He lacked the physical ability and endurance as their wounds increased.

"Haa... you.... freak...."

"I am no freak. Call me the Apex, of both races."

Nikolai's eyes glowed golden for a moment, the Fenrir's ability to increase their physical capabilities explosively for a few moments.

It was the first time he realised this was something he could do...

"You... how can you use the Fenrir ability?! You are a Volkov!"