Chapter 45
Federica rose again with her eyes shining brightly and her fangs elongated. Her fingernails grew along with snake scales, and a fox tail appeared. The girl went crazy, attacking the forest guards, tearing and biting so greedily. Even when she was attacked, Federica quickly brushed it off. She laughed, trying to escape, until a silver knife covered in vervain rained down on her heart.
Matthias screamed reflexively when he managed to enter the sacred lake area after paralyzing the werewolf and Hawthorn. He squeezed his left chest, feeling what Federica felt. Matthias regained control of the half-blood's mind by pulling out the knife and destroying Hawthorn's head blindly.
Federica screamed, trying to control her uncontrollable self. However, she returned when Matthias took control of her and attacked the enemy mercilessly. Even if he showered vervain with daggers or arrows, there was no effect on his body. Instead, they died horribly at Federica's hands. The girl sucked the blood of her victims until there was nothing left.
"You are dead!" exclaimed Federica, saying the same sentence Matthias said.
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Ethan and the forest guard moved away from the moonlight reflected in the lake water. This was the third time Ethan had tried to dip his front paw into the lake water without moonlight. Nothing happened. But it was the opposite when he tried to dip some of his wolf fur; it evaporated like it had been burned.
"How could that be?" Hawthorn asked in awe. “You're smart, too.”
"I'm smart," Liam praised to himself. "Now I understand. The light of the blood moon and the peak of its vampire power made this lake untouchable for hundreds of years. The problem is, the tree is right under the light of the blood moon, one of we have to die."
Suddenly, Hawthorn's green eyes looked at Ethan sharply. "We're not going to die today, Ethan."
"Okay, let's try it."
Finally, the dwarf human jumped onto Ethan's back, holding his feathers tightly, doubting if they would succeed. Ethan swallowed his saliva briefly, then slowly entered the lake water pool. He moved his hind legs, trying to catch his breath for fear of drowning. He thought that swimming in wolf form was like exercising on a bicycle. Meanwhile, the wood-skinned man continued to focus on the oak tree trunk, hoping that God would allow him to take a piece.
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Vampires came from all directions to help Matthias control the forests of the Blue Lake area. Meanwhile, the werewolves and the lake guards continued to fight despite their numbers getting smaller. Not to mention that Federica came out to attack her allies due to being fully controlled by Matthias, adding to the bloodshed in that place.
Other clans also came to fight the vampires, but all were easily defeated. The blood moon does affect their energy; vampires are more agile, faster, and more violent. The vampires' instincts became sharper, especially those who were followers of Matthias.
One of the vampires sees Ethan and the dwarf human approaching the oak tree. They ran and threw themselves to prevent the two creatures from taking the trunk. But suddenly, the oak tree sank more and more, and Ethan had to use extra energy to swim closer before it disappeared. This lake was too wide for him.
"Why did the tree sink?" Ethan shouted breathlessly.
"God protect him, Ethan. I told you, right?"
Ethan chuckled irritably. "It wasn't God, but the vampire's power that made the Oak tree shrink!"
"No, it's because of God!"
The horde of vampires managed to grab Ethan's wolf by the tail and crawl up to drown him. Finally, Hawthorn was forced into the lake with great difficulty because he couldn't swim. Ethan tried to fight when the vampire kept pulling Ethan's tail deeper into the bottom of the lake. Unfortunately, Ethan was having trouble; he almost ran out of breath. Water is not a good fighting place. Not to mention, he had to avoid the reflection of moonlight, which could burn him.
Ethan transforms himself into a human and stabs the vampire in the chest to forcefully remove his heart. At the same time, a large black snake appeared, coiling the vampire in the water until he died. The giant snake wrapped around the vampire's body until it crushed until the lake was reddish.
Then, the tree guard, asleep for hundreds of years, caught Ethan, who was now swimming with the dwarf human. He chased after him indiscriminately there was Hawthorn with him. Ethan didn't have much time because the distance was so close.
The other vampires caught up with Ethan, and the big snake was finally distracted. He preferred to attack the bloodsucker who had entered without permission. Ethan felt a little helped; he turned back into a wolf and grabbed the trunk with his claws.
“You're great!” praised the dwarf human. “We have to go; the snake will be furious!”
A vampire bit Ethan on the neck and a stab in the heart of the greedy human by Hawthorn retaliated. The wolf screamed in pain, his consciousness suddenly dropping. Not to mention, the big snake was starting to approach them.
“Ethan!” Hawthorn exclaimed.
Ethan shook his head, trying to come to his senses, and gave the wood to the dwarf human. Suddenly, the snake wrapped around Ethan's body; the dwarf hit the snake's head and said they were not enemies. However, the snake did not understand; he was only tasked with guarding the tree from attacks. Ethan drowns himself and bites the snake to death. Blood immediately came out to pool in the lake, which became increasingly darker in color.
The coils on the snake's body were weakening; Ethan let go and moved toward the water's surface but accidentally hit his front foot in the moonlight. Ethan screamed incoherently as his skin felt like it was burning all the way down to the nerve cells. He moved away from the light, but the unsteady current of the lake due to the fight in the water made him unable to dodge.
The dwarf human pulled Ethan's body away from the reflection of the moonlight, carrying a piece of oak wood the size of an adult human's arm. They managed to carry the weapon before the Oak tree finally sank in the lake water for who knows how long.