Rivik's voice burst out first, loud despite how broken his body was. The weak, pale elder pushed himself up inside his coffin as if a surge of life had come from within bursts!
"Ivina… Ivina, you are breaking through!" he shouted, his voice shaking and echoing through the chamber. "From the Seventh Stage of the Blood Infusion Realm… into the Eighth Stage! You—my daughter—you are advancing!"
His voice grew louder. Stronger. Wilder.
"This… this is a sign! A sign from the Blood Ancestors themselves! This is a sign that the Moonshade Family shall not fall! The heavens have opened a path for us!"
Rivik began laughing with tears streaming down his aged face.
"This is salvation! This is the omen we have prayed for! In our darkest moment, you break through! Ivina, my daughter, my pride, this is divine will! This is the Blood God's judgment! We shall be given more time! His Majesty will surely grant us time! He must! We now have hope to face the calamity!"
He kept crying. He kept praising. He kept talking as if every breath held the last of his strength.
"For years, for five long years, you were stuck. No movement of mana in your blood. No signs of change in your blood aura. No resonance in your blood spell. But now—now this eruption of mana, this rising bloodline, this awakening—this is no small event! The Eighth Stage! The Eighth Stage at such a young age! My daughter… this is fate! This is destiny! The Moonshade name shall survive! The Blood King shall spare us! He must! He must!"
His voice broke several times. But he still continued, almost delirious with joy.
"Oh my… the ancestors must have watch us being blessed by the Blood God himself! The omen is clear! Just were on the brink of calamity, Ivina, my child, you made a breakthrough! So my choke! Don't stop, do not fear! You were chosen! You are a beacon in this storm! You are our spear! You are our chance!"
The old vampire Rivik managed to get himself, "why am I being like this, we need to focus in your breakthrough my daughter…" he lifted his shaking hand and cried out, "Bring offerings! Bring nourishment! Quickly! Quickly! Do not waste a single heartbeat—her realm must stabilize!"
The blood slaves and maids scrambled at once, tripping over themselves as they rushed to obey. They vanished down the corridors like frightened animals.
Ivina was still breathing hard, her body blazing with bright crimson aura. She touched her chest in shock. Her heartbeat was sharp. Her mana roared like a river.
"I… I am breaking through…" she whispered.
She had struggled for five years, stuck without any hint of progress. And now—without meditation, without ritual, without blood—her realm was rising on its own.
It felt impossible.
Her gaze slowly drifted toward Cain.
Cain, who lay on his knees. Cain, whose eyes burned with rage and unwillingness. Cain, who kept cursing under his breath.
She swallowed. Her voice fell to a whisper only she could hear.
"Could it be… what you said was true? Overgod… time travel… is that how I broke through?"
Cain's thoughts were still loud in his mind.
Damn it. Damn it. There it goes. Someone benefited from my Overgod blood! I refuse this! I cannot allow this to continue! I must break this damned blood pact binding me to the Moonshade Family! I will be free. I will rise higher. Above all gods. This time, I must hurry and severe this blood pact. No one shall take this Overgod's fortune. Before the Moonshade family was wipe out, he must leave.
Ivina's breath caught.
The Moonshade Family… wiped out?
Her blood ran cold.
"How… how does he know that…?" she whispered to herself.
She had not sensed him earlier. There was no presence outside. No spies. No informants. No letters. They were alone. Only her father, the blood slaves, the maids… and no one.
So how?
She's sure he came too late.
So. How?
Is he… truly from the future? Truly an Overgod?
Before she could process more, the maids and slaves returned, panting, dragging three figures across the floor in chains.
A young elf with silver hair.
A young human with wide terrified eyes.
A female goblin, trembling and tiny.
Rivik's voice thundered again, louder than before.
"Hurry! Hurry! Ivina must drink! She must stabilize the Eighth Stage immediately! Do not waste a second!"
Ivina slowly nodded, though her eyes still flickered toward Cain.
Then she opened her mouth.
And sank her fangs into the elf's neck.
Warm, pure elven blood gushed into her mouth. Sweet. Soft. Filled with natural mana, it ran down her throat like liquid gold. Her aura surged higher with every swallow. Her fingers trembled. Her eyes glowed. Her breath deepened. She pulled away only when the elf's body went limp.
Rivik cried out, overwhelmed.
"Ivina! I feel it! Your bloodline is thickening! The resonance is incredible! In all my years… I have never seen a breakthrough like this!"
Ivina moved to the human next.
She bit into his neck. Human blood tasted heavier. Rich. Warm. It pulsed against her lips. The surge of raw vitality was like hot fire flowing down her chest. Her aura roared again, shaking the hall. Her white hair floated like pale moonlight. Her fangs gleamed with blood.
Rivik almost collapsed from joy.
"Magnificent! Beautiful! My daughter! You have surpassed every expectation! You are shining like the moon itself! A young vampire reaching the Eighth Stage at your age—it is unheard of! Never in the history of the Moonshade family has such talent appeared!"
Ivina gasped as she let go of the human and moved to the female goblin.
Goblin blood was sharp. Wild. Untamed. It burned her throat but filled her limbs with a raw ferocity that no other blood had. Her aura spiked until the torch flames flickered violently.
The moment she pulled away, Rivik slapped the side of his coffin in ecstasy.
"This is impossible! This is divine! Ivina, my child, you are a miracle! You are the future of Moonshade! You… you will save us! I knew it! I knew the Moonshade bloodline was blessed! With your breakthrough, His Majesty will surely grant us time—months, not days! Perhaps even a year!"
Cain lifted his head at those words.
His eyes narrowed.
And his thoughts dripped with mocking contempt.
Heh… old fool. Praising her like she's some prodigy. You are clueless. Completely clueless.
A single drop of Overgod blood is worth more than your entire lineage. With my blood touching her veins, she could kill a normal king within a month. A Demon Emperor? An Emperor Vampire? Give her a year. No, just nine months.
Ivina heard every word.
She froze.
Kill a king? Kill a Demon Emperor?
Her hands trembled.
Her lips parted in disbelief.
Her heart pounded faster.
I can grow that strong… without doing anything? Just by being near him? Just by absorbing the overflow?
If that was true…
If even half of it was true…
She could protect her family.
She could save her sisters.
She could defy the Blood King.
But this was too much.
Too insane.
Too impossible.
She can't just believe all this.
Ivina shook her head slowly.
"No. Not yet. I… I need proof… yes… more proof…"
Her voice trembled. She held her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.
Rivik was wiping tears from his face as he laughed breathlessly.
"This… this is salvation… this is our dawn…"
Then his expression changed.
His laughter died.
His eyes finally drifted to the kneeling man on the floor.
Cain.
Meanwhile, Rivik's brows drew together in irritation and confusion.
"You," he said slowly. "You. Why are you here again?"
His voice grew sharp.
"I remember clearly… you have no permission to enter this hall."
The room fell silent.
Cain slowly lifted his head.
And the air froze with him.