The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 60: There is No God

The rescue team finally managed to finish off all the zombies and after a quick inspection, they started to walk towards the group, going to check if they were infected or not.

In the meantime, while all of this was happening, Luciel stayed on the ground, taking in and breathing out deep breaths, struggling to spread his Qi around his body evenly so he could stay in control for just a little bit longer.

His vision cleared up, but it still felt like looking through a mist. He carefully observed, as much as he could, each hunter that would approach an individual member of his group while ignoring the one that came closer to him. Hearing the commotion, he glanced behind his shoulder where he could see a head hunter pointing his spear at his wife.

"Guys!" The hunter who couldn’t take his eyes off Luciel shouted. "This vampire, it’s Lu-" Before the hunter could finish, Luciel already pushed him onto the ground and ran towards the guy who posed a threat to his wife.

He had no strength left inside his body. He was dizzy and unstable on his legs, making him almost stumble, but he was protective of his loved one more than a guardian angel would be.

The head hunter raised his spear, ready to punish the one before him, but before he was able to deliver a final strike, Luciel got behind him, extending his sharp, black claws and pressing them against the taller man’s neck, making a small cut in the process.

The moment the sweet smell of blood reached Luciel’s nose, he started to feel drawn to it, wanting to take the bite and he would, but he doesn’t have the luxury to let go with Helen in danger, again.

"Put. That. Down." Luciel let out a low, inhuman growl and while his body seemed still, there was a fire raging inside him.

The head hunter turned his head slightly, meeting his gaze with Luciel’s intense, vibrant red eyes.

"Well... Would you look at that," the head hunter scoffed at the irony when seeing the vampire’s face as he lowered his spear, "Isn’t that Luciel Ashford? The Vampire’s Bane or whatever."

The hunter turned around to face Luciel, scanning him from head to toe. ’A vampire huh, not a bloodhound.’ He thought, but suddenly, everything started to make sense.

He knew that this group was close to Luciel, so the female vampire that they were feeding must mean something to them.

"So what?" Luciel asked, moving away his hand once the man put away his spear and raised his hands in front of his chest to show he meant no harm, for now.

"Nothing, I just can’t believe that a hero could fall so low." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"If I hadn’t stopped Alukah’s advancement, Paradise would be no more." Luciel narrowed his eyebrows in fury, clenching his fist.

"That is indeed true." The head hunter nodded his head before taking out the hunter dagger that he had hidden beneath his jacket, "but what is also true is that after that battle, you are no longer human and according to the Church orders, you are to be put down on sight."

The hunter cut his wrist and brought it closer to Luciel, letting the blood slowly drip down toward the ground. Seeing Luciel twitch at the sight of blood and licking his lips brought an evil smirk on the hunter’s face as he proved his point when it looked like Luciel was about to lose it.

The moment Luciel’s eyes locked onto the sight of blood, he felt his body urging him to go forward, to leap onto the prey in front of him.

"The Church that we..." Luciel stopped for a moment, "that you are following might be even worse than the bloodthirsty beasts that we are fighting against."

Luciel knocked away the hunter’s wrist before going to pinch his nose. The sweet smell of blood was agitating him and some moments felt empty as he started to slip bit by bit.

’The Church?’ Scarlet glanced at Luciel after hearing what he had said, making her wonder what was it that he knew about them that he still hadn’t shared.

’Come to think about it, he did say something about not using those divine arts that we got taught by them.’ She tapped her chin, wondering if Luciel gave them that warning with a reason.

She hated vampires because they proved themselves over and over again that they only saw humans as a food source. Scarlet had read multiple reports of when a person would get killed by a vampire they believed to be their partner. There were also attempts to integrate some vampires into the society, but that always ended up in tragedy.

"The Church? Those are some words from someone who can’t even keep his fangs in check!" The hunter snarled, swinging with his hand that he had cut previously.

Seeing the droplets of human blood flying in his direction, Luciel’s pupils shrunk as he opened his mouth, but before he could do anything, Helen grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Just wait for a little bit longer..." Helen whispered to her husband, not being able to imagine just what he might be going through now. Even if they might look like them, vampires weren’t humans, and the difference? They acted on their primitive urges and instincts above everything else to the point they would lose their reason.

As Helen’s voice reached him, Luciel felt himself snap back into reality. He could feel her heartbeat racing as her hands trembled.

"Sorry..." He whispered back to her, taking a step back and gently putting his hand on her back.

Luciel slowly raised his head to look around him. Every hunter, except Alex, had raised their weapons, pointing them toward him after his small outburst.

"Do you think that we are to believe the words of a vampire?" The head hunter leaned forward, now with his spear in his hands again.

"No, but maybe you should believe the person who used to fight for you instead of blindly following the Church."

"Jack," Scarlet interrupted the tension, approaching the two as her red hair swayed behind her as she walked, "Maybe you should listen to him, vampire or not, he still fought for us, saved me and the children."

The head hunter looked at Scarlet, another respectable figure in the world of vampire hunters.

"Even if he did, he’s still dangerous!" The head hunter’s voice changed slightly to sound more respectful than when talking to Luciel.

Unlike Luciel’s, her words meant something, especially since everyone knew that she always plays by the rules.

"Yes, but the female vampire and he came here for a reason. The zombie infection is affecting vampires as well." Scarlet pointed out, straightening her back.

She was debating whether to help the vampires or not, but those two were reasonable unlike most. Vampires they might be, but Luciel seemed different, enough to let him prove himself.

"Is that true?" Jack, the head hunter looked at each member of the party before looking back at Luciel. Scarlet was strong-minded, so there was no way the vampire’s mind control worked on her, but could he trust her when she had been surrounded by those vampire lovers?

"What Scarlet is saying is true!" Alex raised his voice, finally finding someplace to voice his opinion so he could defend his friend.

"There’s a rumor going around. Before the infection was known, they were the ones who saved a woman from becoming a zombie and sent a warning. The woman is alive, but lost her arm unfortunately due to the bite." Alex explained, getting closer to Luciel and placing his hand on his shoulder.

’Wait... Wasn’t that when he...’ Scarlet widened her eyes in realization. That was the night when she chased after Luciel and was bitten by that vampire.

"And you believe that rumor?" Jack raised his eyebrow, staring at Alex who decided to join with Luciel.

"I don’t know about the rumors, but I engaged in battle against Luciel. There was an incident and not only did he save me, he protected me until the vampire venom wore. He also warned me about the zombies." Scarlet interrupted, walking behind the vampire, "It was because of that that we saved so many people. There was no gods miracle this time."

"This does not mean I’m done with you." She whispered into Luciel’s ear, she still couldn’t trust him and believed that killing him would be a better option, but the way things were going, vampires might be their only bet.

Observing the situation, Melisa sighed and got right behind Luciel as well, placing her hand on his other shoulder, "You might not believe me because of my species, but we came here searching for a way to save my brother, the first vampire who got infected, not only does he want to find a cure alongside me, he also found the children in distress and helped them. If you don’t believe me, ask them." She pointed toward the children who started to get closer to Luciel.

All thirteen of them stood in front of him, spreading their arms to keep the bad guy away.

"He did not only dispose of the vampire who kept us locked, he found a shelter and took care of us. Not even once asking for blood." Marta added, speaking in the name of the kids since she was the oldest.

"He also fought for us and kept our backs, gave everything he had, and saved my life." Helen was the last one to speak, gently intertwining her fingers with Luciel’s and rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.

George and Dash stayed behind, they had nothing to say since after Luciel became a vampire, he hadn’t done something special for them, and there was no need, but they knew one thing.

All those people that currently stood by Luciel’s side cared deeply about him and for the things he had done and now, they were finally returning the favor.

No matter how they looked at it, Luciel had already done a lot and not standing by their side just seemed wrong.

The head hunter observed the people who decided to defend Luciel. ’Had they all gone mad?’ He thought, not knowing what to do after seeing this scene.

The protocol they had to follow from the Church was simple, kill every vampire, no matter if they were once their allies, but there was no protocol for this.

Luciel looked at Helen and then behind himself, observing the people who came to his side despite their differences. It made him feel at ease because the small things he had done weren’t in vain and he still had humans who saw them as one of them, giving him a sense of belonging.

"You don’t have to trust me, but then trust all those humans, and a vampire, who decided to speak in my name." He looked back at Helen, leaning forward a little to rub her nose with his before staring back right at the head hunter with a cold stare.

"Fine. The vampires can come, but if they were to do something, we would turn you all into bloodhounds." Jack pointed with his finger at the group, giving them a sharp glare before crossing his arms. Not happy about this decision, but everything they said was genuine and some parts even overlapped with the rumors.

One thing was true unfortunately, there was no word from the Church after the first wave of zombie attacks and it was unknown for how long they could last.

As hard as it was to admit, vampires really might be their only option and there was nothing much to lose from this anyways.

If they do not perish from the vampires, then they will perish from the zombies, illness, and/or food shortages.

Besides, Luciel used to be a human, so even while unheard of, there might still be some human heart beneath this vampire skin.