Chapter 31 Sacrifice

The hunter, who had previously looked like he had come straight out of a horror movie, finally glimpsed hope through Zach's words and was now willing to do anything to make things as they should be. He should have been the one lying on the ground and not the girl. He was determined to make it so by giving her his life.

But of course, his thoughts remained with himself. He didn't want to say anything that would undermine the sacrifice of their master, especially when she was in such a critical condition.

The servants on the other hand had only murmured amongst each other and the sound of their discussion had been so low that it never reached Zach. Therefore, he was entirely oblivious to the whole situation as he continued to take out items from the med kit that he had retrieved from his arsenal.

Zach used a needle to prick the finger of the girl who lay unconscious unaware of what was happening to her. He pressed her finger with his index finger and his thumb. The ruby red blood trickled down on to a glass slab that he had prepared beforehand.

Using the pipette he drew several drops of different chemicals and mixed them with the blood droplets. After careful analysis of the result, he was able to figure out the blood group of the comatose girl. Her blood type was O which was quite common. Thankfully, she didn't have some rare blood type or it would have been a real ordeal to find a match for her.

"Even though the blood in our bodies looks the same, it is not entirely so. Different people have different types of blood. In order to save your lady, we need to find someone with exactly the same blood as her. The men should come forward one by one and I will test your blood to see if matches that of your lady." explained Zach as simply as he could since he needed all of them to cooperate without making a fuss or interrupting him in between.

Most of them were thinking that they needed to transfer their own life to the girl in order to save her which could be considered to be common knowledge amongst those who knew how blood magic worked even remotely. Despite their resolve, all of them felt afraid to come forward. They felt like lambs being taken for slaughter and no matter how courageous they were, their resolve cracked under the pressure.

Zach saw them breaking down so he tried to breathe some courage and hope into them in order to set their minds at ease.

"Don't worry; this will not hurt any of you. All I need from you is three to four drops to test your compatibility with the young lady."

No one was going to believe a blood mage even if they proclaimed to be the saint of salvation. Zach looked towards them one by one hoping that at least one of them would take the initiative.

The old man was the first to come forward as he offered Zach his hand. Zach didn't stand on ceremony and after opening his closed fist with a gentle nudge directly pricked his middle finger with a new needle. Following right after him was the young man who had been saved by the girl. He kept asking if his blood was a match or not and Zach had to repeatedly ask him to calm down and wait.

He called on the other hunters one by one and then repeated the same process with each one of them. The servants next to the girl were the last to be tested amongst her entourage. Both of them looked terrified as Zach pierced their fingers but after they went through with it, every muscle in their body relaxed and caused them to lose their balance as if the burden of carrying the sky had suddenly been lifted from their shoulders.

After analysis, he came to the conclusion that not a single one of them turned out to have the same blood type as the girl.

"How can you be so lucky and unlucky at the same time?" Zach looked towards the unconscious girl as he thought to himself. Even though he had not found a single match amongst her entourage, Zach could be the donor since his blood type was O as well.

He refrained from testing Luna because she was an unknown to him at the moment. He needed to have a greater understanding of this world before he could even think of pulling off something like using succubus blood for transfusion in humans.

"Not a single one out of you is a perfect match for your young lady." Zach announced the result only to see the crestfallen faces of the group. This time, he had learned his lesson and didn't delay the rest of the announcement.

"But…you are in luck since I happen to have the same type of blood as this young lady." The hunters who had forgotten how to breathe finally took in a large amount of air to replenish the thirsty cells of their body with oxygen.

Even as he made the announcement, his hands didn't stop as he completed the basic requirements for the blood transfusion to the girl.

Zach pierced her arm with a cannula and pulled out the needle. After attaching an IV bag with the cannula in her arm, he called forth one of the hunters and asked him to keep it elevated as he inserted another cannula in his own arm.

The hunters watched in awe as they witnessed the greatest self sacrifice they had ever witnessed. The man was willing to give a portion of his own life to save the life of their young lady even though he was a blood mage who were considered to be cruel, savage and lacking in overall moral capacity.

Luna cursed all five generations of the hunters and the girl as she tried to drive out thoughts similar to what was going on in the minds of the hunters. But she barely held herself back.

She had vowed that she would support her master in everything he did without question. Moreover, she believed in the capability of her master and therefore decided to stay put in order to witness his brilliance with her own eyes.

As soon as Zach was about to start the transfusion, a familiar *ding* sound stopped his hand.

[Your blood can awaken the sleeping potential in the target.]

[The current state of the target is too weak and cannot handle the stimulation of your blood. You can dilute your blood to weaken the effect or there is a 58% chance that the body of the target may explode due to sudden influx of power.]

Zach wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead as he replaced the empty blood bag with one filled with artificial plasma and reinitiated the transfusion from his end.

The blood from his vessels entered the bag of plasma and then the diluted blood-plasma mixture entered the girl's bloodstream to decrease the danger to her life posed by his potent blood.

Zach lay down beside the comatose girl and kept an eye on the whole process in case the blood dosage became too high. He replaced the plasma bags from time to time until he started feeling light headed from the blood loss.

The complexion of the girl soon improved from the pale yellow to healthy reddish color. Only then did Zach remove the cannula from his arm and wiped the blood with a piece of cotton.

"She will be alright soon. Her injuries have already healed so she should be able to wake up any time now." Zach started packing up the medical equipment since he already done what he could. Now all they could do was wait until she woke up on her own.

Luna supported Zach as his legs weakened and he wobbled slightly when trying to get up.

The hunters all looked at Zach with pity as if he was some terminally ill patient with a few days left to live. They believed that he was some kind of saint who hadn't even refrained from paying with his life to save their lady.

Zach ignored them as he finally came to understand their ignorant thoughts.

"Did you really have to go this far for a stranger?" Luna said to him as she let him lean on her shoulder while they walked towards a tree with an especially wide trunk.