Chapter 176: "Ohh thy Strongest Rango"...

Minerva spilled the beans. "I can help them, but doing so has a small issue..."

?Rango, Vance, and the Vampires became excited when they heard this.

?A Vampire asked subconsciously, "How? And what issue?" It was only after he spoke that he realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly shut up.

?Minerva looked at him with her silver eyes, making him feel like he was in front of a starving beast, before turning her gaze back to Night.

?Just because they were in the same situation didn’t make her forget that, in their eyes, she was nothing but an abomination. And if it were up to her, she would have refined all of them except Night.

?Night was her partner now, and besides, he was not bad company. Also, she had eaten him, or at least a part of him, already. It was not like she needed to refine the whole person to get a bloodline.

?From what she had refined, she already knew Night didn’t have a bloodline, or rather, he didn’t have one yet. She could tell Night was missing something when he ate, and if he fixed it, he would be able to take others’ bloodlines too.

?Minerva said, "They will become natives once I use my method on them."

?As soon as she said it, all the excitement died on the faces of Rango, Vance, Victor, and the others.

?Night asked, "How is that a problem?"

?Rango said, "If we become natives, then we will not be able to return to our planet...". It was such an obvious conclusion, he didn’t understand why Night failed to understand.

?Night asked, "How is that an issue? Did you leave one of your wives back there?"

?Rango scoffed, "How could I do such a stupid thing like leaving one behind?"

?Night asked, "Then do you have a very important friend or a soon-to-be wife back there?"

?Rango replied, "No, this majestic wolf is a Free and Unfettered Immortal! I have no such pathetic mortal bonds, and no, no soon-to-be wife either." He shivered when he said the last part.

?’I am already at my wits’ end managing the ones I have... Any more, and my back might not survive the next morning....’

?Night asked, "So why do you care which planet’s native you are?"

?Rango was stumped at that... ’Really, why the fuck do I care where I stay? That planet was too bland for my tastes anyway... At least here, there are no old coot wolves annoying me day and night...’

?Rango nodded. "You are right... There is nothing to miss on that shit planet."

He turned to Minerva and said respectfully, "Madam, sign me up."

This was Night’s woman, after all, and he had always been a steadfast believer in the bro code...

?Minerva looked at Rango with a peculiar expression. The respect in the wolf’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed, and to her, it meant a lot.

?Minerva had always known she would be hunted down the moment people found out about her true nature; hence, she had expected scorn and such from everyone the moment they knew about her.

?But here was this wolf who didn’t follow the norm and looked at her with respect. She knew most of it was because of Night, which she didn’t mind. At least like this, she knew it was not faked.

?Seeing her not say anything, Night was about to put in some words for them, but Minerva spoke up. "Sure, it’s just that..."

?Rango and Night asked at the exact same time, "Just.... what?..."

?Minerva smiled sweetly. "You might feel a little pain."

For some reason Rango subconsciously took a step back.

?....

?"Aaaahhhhhhhhh mfffffffffffffffffff!"

"Fuckkkkkk!"

"Ahhhh, just killlll meeeeee!"

"Nooooo, whyyyyyy....."

"Is that bloodd?? Bloodddd, bloodddd, I am bleeeedingggggg..."

"No wait this is not my blood... my blood can never be this ugly...."

But it didn’t stop there... once the pain cross the realm of what could be defined as pain, he threw away his dignity and begged for help... ℯℓ.

"Nigggght.... heeellppppppp meeeee!"

"Saveeee meeeeee, sniff, snifff!"

"Sorry, sorry, I lied, I liedd! My first name is not pain!"

"Let me goooo youuu sadistic woman...!"

?Night closed his eyes, unwilling to look at Rango, and the others did the same.

?What had happened was, just after Minerva said it might hurt, Rango had bravely declared, "Pain is my first name..."

?Seeing this, Minerva, with an evil gleam in her eyes, immediately summoned the Blood Tower.

?As soon as the artifact appeared, it released a dreadful aura that made Night and the others feel like they were in front of a bloodsucking beast. The aura it gave off was otherworldly, weird, and bizarre.

?The surroundings turned a little red as soon as it appeared.

The artifact was not doing it on purpose; it was just that the artifact was not something this world was capable of holding, and hence reality was being superimposed by it.

?Everyone felt chills as they realized this fact. Rango felt it the worst, as the Blood Tower had locked onto him.

?The Vampires, including Vance, had colorful expressions on their faces when they saw how well and at ease Minerva was using the artifact that was supposed to be the heirloom of an ancient Vampire clan.

?Then, with a command from Minerva, a wave of blood that felt awfully had the Earth Spirit Clan scent left the Blood Tower and engulfed Rango before he could say anything.

?And it was then that his piercing screams came...

?He screamed like he was being gutted, sewn, broken, skinned, and torn apart all at the same time.

The only solas was they couldn’t see what was happening to him because of the blood.

?Each scream from him made the others back away a little. Some of the Vampires who had thoughts of accepting becoming a native soon realized their stupidity.

?Night also felt this was too much; Rango’s screams brought back some unpleasant memories.

?Even inside his Soul Space, the clones that had been training all this time stopped in silence in memory of Rango for two minutes, and then returned to what they were doing.

?[Dream] saw this and didn’t know whether to laugh or punish him for taking a break without asking.

?...

?After a short time that was agonizingly long, the blood that engulfed Rango returned to the Blood Tower.

?Throughout the whole process, Minerva watched without a change in expression, though Night felt she was somehow having the time of her life.

?They could see Rango lying on the ground. He would have looked like a corpse if not for the small movements of his chest.

?Suddenly, a terrifying aura spread from Rango, pushing them away. Minerva, who was closest to him, ran and hid behind Night, though his small size didn’t help in hiding her at all.

?Vance, Victor, Argus, and the others were unlucky... Unlike Minerva, they couldn’t run in time and were pressed flat on the ground like pancakes.

The aura was not something a mortal was supposed to handle.

?Rango’s body twitched as he got up like a drunkard, looking around disoriented.

?He looked at them groggily, and then his gaze settled on Night.

?He asked Night in a slurred, drunken voice, "Wwah, Nig... Night, you died too?"

?He walked up to Night and said pitifully, "Died so young.... At least I got to experience the pleasures of a man..."

?Each step he took was like a boulder pressing down on the others; they felt like the sky itself had come crashing down on them.

?Even Minerva, who was behind Night, started to feel the heavy pressure....

?Night, however, didn’t feel a thing. To him, the dreadful aura was no different from a gentle breeze.

?He flicked the drunk wolf’s horn and said, "Rein in your aura. I think they might die at this rate."

?Rango immediately shook his head.

It was only then that he saw the Vampires and Argus writhing like snakes in hot water near him. He understood this was not some afterlife, but that he was alive and had regained his strength.

?He immediately contained his aura, making the others sigh in relief. Though they struggled to get up.

The wolf’s aura was terrifying; the Vampires thought it was even worse than their Prince Vance...

?Argus was the most shaken out of all of them the aura was not something he expected from the cocky wolf of all people, but then he immediately felt like his luck had taken a turn for the better.

?With a powerhouse like Rango here, their safety was almost guaranteed.

?Also, he felt some sense of kinship with the wolf, the exact feeling he got from his own clansmen.

?Night praised, "You feel strong."

?Night thought, ’He is stronger than Alze-Beus’s clone, and I think he can even fight his main body for some time.’

’I should definitely bring him with me when i fight the devil’

?’If I assist him properly, maybe he can also escape the influence of the Void God if needed.’

?Rango scoffed. "Of course I am the strongest... Now that I have recovered my strength, watch me as I make this world’s beings kowtow to me in surrender..."

?Then he glared at Minerva, who did a poor job of hiding behind Night’s back, though he didn’t say anything.

He wanted to give her a piece of his mind for all the pain he had to go though just now but right now he felt it was better to use his recovered strength to reclaim some of the dignity he had lost so his chose to ignore her.

?Night facepalmed when he saw his delusional state.

?Night understood he needed to give this wolf another reality check. "Rango, can I say something?"

?Rango said haughtily, "Yes, my little friend, what is it?"

?The others around them had already regained their bearings, and seeing how Rango acted, they felt like giving him a beating.

?Night deadpanned, "You know, in the Death Zone, there are so many monsters that can smack you into meat paste in one hit that it’s not even funny."

Rango’s haughty expression froze for a second.

Night continued, "And if for some reason they find a way to leave the said Death Zone, I hope you will protect and shield us with your mighty body when the time comes... Oh, thy Strongest Rango..."

Rango tried to laugh it off,"Ha Ha... Didn’t you say that monsters in the Death Zone stay there?"

Night looked at him meaningfully, "There is always exceptions, One of my friend was from a Death Zone you see.... and I met her she outside the death zone...."

Rango gave another awkward chuckle and said "Ofcourse that must happen once in like decades or soo..."

He paused for a moment, then just to be sure he asked nervously "correct?"

...

{ ABW notes: Please Vote :) }