Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 327: Response Strategies

As for the ones whom he had used their blood to control and make them snap their necks, he simply removed the magic power that was inside their blood, reabsorbing it, allowing their blood to return to being their own, as well as releasing the command that made their bodies hold their necks at odd angles even while they were unconscious.

Snapping the neck of a vampire, while not enough to kill them, could incapacitate them for a while.

Jamie had done that by making these Vampire Kings snap their necks and commanding their unconscious bodies to hold their broken necks at odd angles so they didn’t snap back in place and heal.

Now, the moment they let go, their necks snapped back in place, and within seconds, all of those Vampire Kings began jerking back to consciousness.

When they awakened, all of them reacted with varying levels of shock at the devastated area around them that showed clear signs of a battle.

They quickly go to their feet, their heads snapping in the direction of the threatening presence that had knocked them unconscious in the first place.

Just as they instinctively went on guard, a familiar voice commanded them.

"Stand down."

All eyes turned towards the source—a black-haired teenage vampire, the same one their associates had kidnapped.

But the voice coming from her mouth did not belong to that body’s owner, but their master.

""Your Majesty!?""

Many of them echoed those words, their voices filled with confusion and concern. Some even rushed over to her in a flash to help her stand.

Seeing this, Jamie narrowed his eyes and spoke, his voice carrying a threatening edge.

"Look up at the sky and get your damn priorities straight."

Lapis, finally getting to her feet, added, "The Amorphous Space Beast has been resurrected."

Well, the Vampire Kings were not blind and imperceptive enough to miss the giant corpse in space with lines of glowing light lining its body and the purple inferno sights in its hollow eye sockets.

But while they understood the threat, Lapis’ wellbeing was their higher priority.

"Space beast activity has surely increased immensely," Lapis continued, taking a slow breath.

"Get to your emergency positions. Formation E. Half of you reinforce the outer sectors—we’ve already lost too many planets."

The Vampire Kings hesitated to obey her orders, their concern for her evident. Lapis looked drained, just like when the curse threatened to kill her and she had to switch bodies.

They could also see the glowing curse mark on her torso.

But Lapis narrowed her eyes at them and commanded.

"Move. Now.|

The Authority in her voice cut through their hesitation. They gritted their teeth, pushing aside their worries as they responded,

"""Yes, Your Majesty!"""

Without delay, the Vampire Kings dispersed. Some shot into space, while others opened spatial gates and used various transportation methods to assume their positions.

As one of them prepared to leave, Lapis reached out to them and spoke.

"Wait. Give me your communicator—put Christoph on the line."

The Vampire King complied, handing her the device, and after grabbing it, Lapis immediately issued a list of orders.

"Christoph, it’s me.

Activate Formation E. Lock down the Amphitheatre. Seal off all primary dimensions.

I’m giving you full permission to activate the Galactic Engines—kill those damn things already."

Christoph couldn’t let out a word due to the sudden barrage of orders, but when Lapis finished speaking, he immediately voiced his concern.

[Your Majesty, where are you? What’s your condition?]

"Forget that and execute the damn orders already!!"

[...!]

Christophe froze over the line, clearly dumbfounded.

Lapis almost never lost her composure, not even when angered.

Less than ten minutes ago, she had a sword impaled through her chest, damaging her soul continuously. Most people would’ve been writhing in agony, but she had still spoken calmly.

That was the level of composure she normally maintained. So, for someone who knew her, hearing her suddenly raise her voice in anger was naturally shocking.

However, this situation was different.

The ASB had taken the form of her deceased husband—an insult to his memory that had haunted her for 450 million years. And now, someone had resurrected it, forcing her to face it once again.

To make matters worse, the Blood Transference ritual she relied on to switch bodies had been interrupted, leaving her at less than full strength. That was not taking into account the soul damage she suffered in her fight with Jamie.

Lapis was NOT in a good mood.

Sensing this, Christoph pushed aside his concerns and moved to execute her orders immediately.

Immediately after giving her orders, Lapis handed the communicator back to the Vampire King, who snapped out of his own daze and immediately rushed away.

Then, she turned toward Jamie, who was silently tapping the blade of his sword while staring at the undead ASB in the void above them.

"Sir Jamie."

At her call, he responded without looking at her.

"Give me a moment, Lapis. I’m trying to think."

Jamie was considering the most efficient way to handle the situation.

How would he deal with the Amorphous Space Beast at his current level? How would he resolve the crisis with the other Hybrids? And what about the larger situation in the Pinecone Galaxy?

Given his usual thought speed, the fact that nearly ten seconds passed in silence showed just how seriously he was taking the situation.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"Good. I know exactly what I’m going to do."

Turning toward Lapis, he activated his telepathy, connecting her with Rowena, who was in the outer regions of the galaxy and issued his orders to both of them.

◇　◇　◇

"Sir Jamie, you really are a slave driver."

Rowena Striqane muttered this under her breath, moments after the telepathic link cut off.

She let out a light chuckle, her short green hair bouncing slightly as she tilted her head. "Seriously, why go through all this hassle?"

A moment later, she shook her head, thinking it through and muttering to herself, Oh well, it’s Sir Jamie after all. Who knows what’s cooking in that crazy mind of his?"

She then turned to the group of five vampires hovering in the vacuum of space behind her and asked.

"I’m assuming that idiot who’s been reading my mind has already relayed Sir Jamie’s orders to you all, hasn’t he?"

Rowena’s focused on one of them, and feeling her gaze, he raised a brow in confusion, feigning an expression of innocence.

"Excuse me? Reading your mind? Why would I ever—ACK!!"

Before he could finish, Rowena flicked her finger, and a bolt of black energy shot out like lightning. It slammed into his forehead with a crackling burst, making him yelp and clutch his head in pain.

Ignoring his dramatic scream, Rowena turned to the other four. "You guys know what to do, right? Handle things here. I’ll go deal with the ones in the Amphitheatre."

She didn’t wait for a reply, but before she could leave, a deafening roar rang out, shaking the space around them.

Emerging from one of the millions of spatial rifts appearing all around Pinecone was a ginormous creature with the body of a lion that stretched for hundreds of metres. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

It had three roaring heads, each one rimmed with purple fur that glowed with spatial runes.

The Deity Realm Space Beast King roared once more, arcs of purple lightning crackling around its claws as it streaked towards Rowena’s group.

The sight would have made even experienced Race Kings cower in fear, but not this group. Two were even playing light-speed ’Rock, Paper Scissors’ to decide who got to handle the space beast.

But before their game could reach a conclusion, Rowena raised her hand, index finger extended, and a black, root-like tree branch emerged from her fingertip.

It curved through space and pierced the forehead of the space beast’s middle head, immediately paralyzing the beast mid-charge. In the same breath, the branch split at the centre, two more branches shooting outward to stab into the remaining two skulls.

Then, streams of dark red blood surged through the branches, flowing out of the space beast’s body and towards Rowena’s outstretched hand.

Its magic power and law energies were drained along with its blood, and in mere seconds, the beast became a hollow husk.

Rowena then snapped her fingers, and the three branches withdrew from its body, merging into one before reshaping into a long, curved blade. With one clean swing, she bisected the space beast from crown to tail.

The blade retracted, dissolving back into her skin along with the remnants of the absorbed blood.

"Blegh! Disgusting," she muttered, already turning away.