My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 37: Overgod’s hunger

While watching the two strongest creatures of both planes, Cain was irritated.

Suddenly, he heard and felt it.

A low, dull sound rolled through his abdomen, subtle but impossible to ignore, like distant thunder beneath calm skies. Hunger pressed against him, no longer patient, no longer content to wait. It curled inside his body, sharp and demanding, reminding him that time was no longer something he could waste.

"Troublesome," he muttered under his breath as his gaze drifted toward the battlefield below.

He could feel it, the change already beginning. Cornelia had tasted blood. Not enough to satisfy her, not enough to steady her mind, but enough to awaken the deeper parts he had sealed away so carefully.

Once she began feeding in earnest, once her instincts took over completely, there would be no stopping the transformation. Her awakening would accelerate, and when that happened, she would need guidance, control, and blood far purer than what scattered soldiers could offer.

Cain exhaled slowly.

"As expected," he said quietly, his lips curling. "Everything moves when it’s hungry."

As an Overgod, his needs were simple in a cruel way. Quantity meant nothing to him anymore. Entire armies were little more than warm water compared to what he truly craved.

Only the finest blood carried weight, only blood steeped in authority, belief, and absolute will could fill the hollow inside him even for a moment.

His eyes sharpened.

And floating before him, tearing the sky apart with their mere presence, were the perfect meals.

The Human Emperor stood wrapped in blazing holy light, his form radiant and untouchable, every breath he took releasing waves of pure mana that bent the air.

Across from him hovered the Chimera Ant Blood Emperor, his body surrounded by a churning infestation of yellow-green energy that crawled and twisted like living thought, carrying the weight of countless devoured lives.

They were locked in a standstill.

Not out of mercy, not out of hesitation, but because both understood that the first to overextend would be the first to fall.

Cain watched them for a heartbeat longer.

Then his stomach growled again, louder this time.

That was enough.

The tension between the two Emperors suddenly warped, as if the space between them had been grabbed by an invisible hand and squeezed. The air screamed, collapsing inward with a sickening pressure.

Cain raised a single finger.

"Blood Mind Barrier."

The world obeyed.

A massive orb of deep crimson bloomed into existence without warning, swallowing both Emperors whole.

It formed not from light or mana, but from condensed will, blood essence folding in on itself layer by layer until it became something closer to a sealed thought than a physical object.

The clash stopped instantly.

Inside the orb, the holy radiance of the Human Emperor flickered violently, his eyes widening as his senses slammed into an invisible wall.

Across from him, the infestation around the Chimera Ant Emperor shrieked, recoiling as if burned, his mandibles clenching in reflexive rage.

"What is this?" the Human Emperor barked, his voice echoing unnaturally within the orb as he slammed his hand, immediately a holy light erupted from his hand and slammed against the barrier.

But... the attack did not even cause a ripple to the barrier made of blood. Nor it did not crack.

It simply absorbed the impact as if it had never happened.

The Chimera Ant Emperor snarled, his many-layered aura surging outward. "This presence," he hissed, his compound gaze darting around the enclosed space, "it’s the same feeling I felt to my two subordinates..."

A voice drifted through the orb, smooth and amused, carrying with it an unmistakable sense of mockery.

"Oh, you remember that, do you?"

The blood surface shimmered, and Cain’s silhouette appeared just beyond it, his red eyes glowing faintly as he leaned casually against nothing at all.

"The two of you," he continued, his tone light, almost playful, "if you manage to amuse me, I might consider sparing the blood of your comrades back in your respective worlds."

His smile widened.

"Consider it a performance."

The Human Emperor’s face hardened immediately. "Show yourself," he commanded, holy light flaring brighter as he straightened. "I do not negotiate with cowards hiding behind tricks."

The Chimera Ant Emperor clicked sharply, his aura spiking. "Release us now," he growled. "Or I will tear your existence apart, no matter the cost."

Cain laughed softly, the sound echoing like velvet wrapped around steel.

"Oh, that’s adorable," he said. "You still think this is a negotiation."

The two Emperors exchanged a brief glance, centuries of battle instinct passing silently between them. Pride burned in their eyes, but beneath it was something colder, sharper.

Fear.

Without another word, they moved at the same time.

The Human Emperor raised both hands, chanting as layers of holy sigils formed around him, spinning faster and faster until the space inside the orb glowed white. The Chimera Ant Emperor roared, his infestation surging outward, compressing into a dense core of annihilating mana.

"Implode," the Human Emperor commanded.

The mana detonated.

A shockwave of pure authority slammed outward from both Emperors, colliding with the blood barrier in a deafening burst. Space warped. Light bent. Even distant observers would have sworn the sky itself cracked under the force.

Inside the orb, both Emperors braced themselves.

Then the force vanished.

The blood barrier remained unchanged.

No cracks. No ripples.

Nothing.

The Human Emperor staggered back half a step, his eyes widening despite himself. "Impossible," he muttered, breathing hard. "That should have shattered—"

"Again," the Chimera Ant Emperor snarled, fury overriding caution.

They tried again.

More power this time. Less restraint.

Holy light blazed brighter than the sun, while the infestation condensed into something thick and suffocating, a living mass of devouring intent. The second implosion struck the barrier with even greater force, sending shockwaves rippling outward into the surrounding sky.

And again, nothing happened.

Instead, the mana rebounded inward.

Both Emperors gasped as the backlash slammed into their own bodies, their auras flickering violently. The Human Emperor coughed, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The Chimera Ant Emperor reeled, his infestation shuddering as several segments disintegrated under the strain.

"What kind of construct is this?" the Human Emperor demanded, his voice tight now, the certainty in it cracking. "This isn’t mana. It isn’t law." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Chimera Ant Emperor stared at the barrier in disbelief, his rage giving way to something far uglier. "It didn’t resist," he said slowly. "It ignored us."

Cain’s laughter drifted through the orb again, richer now, more satisfied.

"Oh, now you’re starting to understand," he said. "You keep throwing mana at it because that’s all you know how to do."

He tilted his head slightly, studying them like interesting insects.

"If you used your bodies," he added casually, "if you were willing to actually struggle instead of hiding behind titles and power, you might have had a chance."

His eyes narrowed.

"But pride makes creatures stupid."

The silence inside the orb grew heavy.

The two Emperors locked eyes once more, this time without arrogance. Their expressions were grim, calculating, and beneath it all, shaken.

"This being," the Human Emperor said slowly, his voice low, "is not bound by our systems."

"No," the Chimera Ant Emperor agreed, his mandibles clicking softly. "But nothing is without weakness."

They turned inward, both drawing upon something deeper, something older than mana, older than technique. Bloodlines stirred. Thrones answered. Their very identities as Emperors began to manifest, power drawn not from spells but from existence itself.

Cain felt it instantly.

A faint crease formed between his brows.

"Tch," he muttered. "Annoying."

He straightened, the playful air around him evaporating, replaced by a sharp, dangerous calm. The blood orb pulsed once, reacting to his irritation.

Cain’s voice cut through the space, no longer amused, no longer teasing.

"Don’t try what you’re planning."