Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 344: Volume 3 Teaser: A Billion-Year Secret

The planetoid floated in the void of space, shrouded in an eerie silence.

Devastation blanketed the terrain, not a single patch of land spared from the destructive powers unleashed by dozens of Witches and Rulers from various races.

Now, all of those beings who had torn the land asunder were suspended in the void of space, their bodies completely immobilised by an unseen, imperceptible force.

Groans of pain escaped them as the pressure intensified around their bodies, while countless eyes across the universe watched the scene unfold in silence.

Even those who were much further away, yet still present in person, could do nothing but observe in anxious dread, for all means of spatial movement had been rendered useless.

No, more accurately, the aspect of the Concept of Space that permitted traversal through its fabric had ceased to exist in this region.

They could do nothing but silently watch the surface of the planetoid in the distance, where two beings silently faced each other.

One of them stood, a man wearing a light grey shirt beneath a brown waistcoat, paired with brown trousers and black sneakers.

His silver hair caught the glow of the countless fires burning around him, and a deep frown was etched onto his handsome face.

Reflected in his azure blue eyes was the figure of a woman lying on the ground.

Her back rested against a slanted rock slab, propping up her heavily wounded body.

The clothes she wore were riddled with burns and tears, left by blades and an array of piercing weapons.

Her black hair was dishevelled and unevenly cut, with loose strands falling to the ground. Her face was streaked with blood, and her eyelids struggled to stay open over her amber eyes, which met the gaze of the man standing before her.

The silence between them was broken by the woman’s dry, raspy laugh.

"...hello...Jamie... long time no see," she said. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Has it?"

"It has... at least since the last time we spoke face to face."

After her reply, silence returned, broken only by the soft crackle of the flames that danced through the air. Then, Jamie finally spoke.

"I told you to use it in moderation."

At that, the woman chuckled again.

"For the past few months, I’ve been hunted by millions across the universe. Moderation was a luxury I couldn’t afford."

Her words reminded Jamie of the series of events that had led to this moment, and his frown deepened. A moment later, he sighed and pressed his fingers to his temple as he nodded lightly.

"Fair enough. Considering your situation, moderation was indeed an expensive luxury."

She gave a wry smile, and Jamie crouched down to meet her eyes.

"Still, it’s been a billion years, huh?" he said.

She nodded, her wry smile lingering as she replied,

"Yeah. I still remember the day we placed the seal. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought you were trying to get yourself killed."

"Oh please. Did you forget that I’m immortal?" Jamie replied with a light chuckle.

"And did you forget that you’d only been a Hybrid for, what, nine million years at the time? You’d never faced something on that level before, so how was I supposed to trust your immortality would ho—cough!!"

She coughed up blood, drawing in laboured breaths while Jamie watched in silence.

"In the end, I turned out to be the best man for the situation," he finally said after a moment.

"True. Who would’ve guessed you’d become an Envoy too? And of some strange Cosmic Force that I still can’t wrap my head around, even after a billion years."

Her words pulled up Jamie’s memories of the day he attained the Status they were now speaking of, and he responded.

"Maybe everything was all for that day. This thing called Fate is quite the bitch, after all."

The woman scoffed at his words.

"Oh please, as if something like fate even affects you."

"It doesn’t now, but it sure did back then," Jamie said, then sighed, lips pressing together.

"After all this while, the anger should have simmered down by now, right?"

At Jamie’s question, the woman blinked before lowering her gaze to her chest and replying,

"It simmered down long ago. Simply just refused to awaken."

"But that changed. You took my power precisely because of that, didn’t you? Because the seal had started to weaken, and an awakening was drawing near."

Jamie’s words made the woman nod slowly, her fingers digging into the ground as she replied,

"Yes. That’s why I took your power. To maintain the seal, even if only for a second longer."

Lifting her bloodied, sand-covered palms, she continued,

"In the end, I managed to maintain it for three thousand years."

She then looked at him, her amber eyes meeting his as she asked,

"I tried, didn’t I?"

"Yes," Jamie replied. "You really did."

There was little context to their exchange, and as such, no one, not even the other two Hybrids nearby, could make sense of what they were discussing.

Then again, anyone who could have possibly understood had long since died.

Not just dead, but completely erased from existence, with no trace left behind in anyone’s memory or record, save for the two of them.

Jamie held many secrets, but among them, there were three that stood out as his most significant at present.

The first was his full True Name, known only to Miranda.

The second was the context of their conversation.

The third was the fact that his power had been stolen.

The fact that Jamie would rather let the loss of his power become public than allow anyone to find out about this showed just how seriously he regarded it.

Unfortunately, because of the actions of the Race Rulers and Witches whose bodies were now restrained by Miranda’s cosmic energy, that secret was about to become public knowledge.

Jamie was pissed.

Furious, even.

A billion years of effort, both on his part, and that of the woman before him, all reduced to nothing by the greed, arrogance, and stupidity of others.

Speaking with her was his way of reining in the fury he felt over what was inevitably about to happen in just a few minutes.

"I suppose it’s partly my fault. If I hadn’t been slacking and had reached Ultimate, then the upper limit of what you could use would’ve been higher."

At his quiet mutter, the woman’s eyes widened before she burst into strained laughter.

"Are you insane? I barely died trying to take just this much. If you had reached Ultimate, I wouldn’t have even dared to lay a finger on your power."

Jamie chuckled at her response, then sighed as he rose to his feet before speaking.

"There’s no point anymore..."

To this, she replied,

"Take it... you have no idea how difficult it is to keep all of that contained in this weak body of mine."

She took a deep breath as she spoke, and Jamie shook his head in response.

"In terms of Existence Realm, sure, you’re certainly weak. But someone who managed to maintain this seal for over a billion years without using a trace of Cosmic Energy as you have, is by no means, weak."

He extended his hand toward her, his voice carrying nothing but genuine respect as he said,

"Thank you, Daniella."

"You’re welcome. I’d be counting on you for damage control."

Jamie chuckled, cosmic energy flowing into his tongue as he gave his command.

|Return|

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Beyond the Bloodline Volume 3: Last Witches of Mercury!