The room turned deathly silent, the weight of Ash's bold kiss lingering in the air like a challenge thrown at the heart of an ancient empire.
The chamber's timeless power pressed heavier—crimson moonlight filtering through the domed ceiling of living shadow-crystal cast bloody hues across the black jade floors, etched with runes that pulsed faintly like veins under skin.
The thrones of blood-throne wood seemed to breathe, the air thick with the iron scent of old blood and the subtle hum of suppressed auras.
Five Late Stellar Sovereign elders sat like statues of judgment, their presences ancient graves stirring. The Patriarch and Matriarch at the head exuded Early Void Emperor might—abysses that could swallow stars.
Liam's scarred face twisted in fury, Ninth Calamity aura flickering like a caged storm. Liora, Second Princess, Early Stellar Sovereign, watched with cold calculation, her beauty a blade unsheathed.
No one spoke at first.
But it wasn't the kiss, nor the snarky comment, that held them frozen.
It was the bloodline.
The elders—ages spanning eras, powers that had seen galaxies rise and fall—felt it radiating from Ash like a silent thunderclap.
A bloodline more pure, more powerful than theirs.
The Patriarch's voice broke the silence first, deep as rumbling void, eyes like bottomless wells narrowing on Ash.
"Who—what—are you?" His aura probed subtly, brushing Ash's essence, confirming the impossible.
"Your bloodline… it's vampire, yet… elder. Purer than our Nocturne line. How?"
Side chatter erupted from the elders—murmurs low and urgent, laced with greed and fear.
One elder, face etched with millennia's scars, leaned forward.
"Drain him. His blood could evolve us all!"
Another, voice hushed. "Careful. If it's superior, capturing him alive… we could breed a new line."
Liam snarled, aura flaring crimson. "Tsk, He humiliated me! I'll take his blood myself!"
Liora remained silent, but her eyes gleamed—calculating alliances, potentials.
The Matriarch's voice cut through like winter wind, calm but absolute. "Silence." The murmurs died. She leaned forward, beauty eternal and cold, Early Void Emperor presence wrapping the room like chains.
"Your race, intruder. Speak truthfully. And explain how a Calamity whelp dares enter our hall uninvited."
Ash's smile never faded, wings half-spread as he stood unbowed beneath the crushing auras that pressed like the weight of dying stars. The chamber's ancient power seemed to coil tighter—runes on the walls pulsing faster, crimson moonlight dimming as if the moons themselves held their breath.
He tilted his head, blood-drop eyes gleaming with lazy amusement.
"Hmm," Ash said, voice light and teasing, "is it rude to continue without introductions? Here I am, guest in your lovely home, and no one's even offered a drink."
A ripple of tension—Liam's scarred face twisted further, knuckles white on his throne. An elder hissed under his breath, "Insolence."
The Patriarch's abyssal gaze narrowed. "Answer."
Ash chuckled softly, unfazed. "My race? That's not really what you want to know now, is it?"
He let the words hang, smile sharpening.
Eyes shifted—wary, calculating.
"What you really want," he continued, voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur, "is the Orb of Origin."
The room turned to ice.
Tension spiked like a drawn blade—auras flaring subtly, the air thickening until it felt solid. Eyes darted between Ash and Raven—accusation, suspicion, fury.
Liam shot to his feet, aura exploding in crimson-black waves that cracked the jade floor beneath him.
"Raven!" he roared, voice raw with rage and betrayal. "Did you seriously tell him about our private clan matters?"
Raven stiffened beside Ash, bloody eyes flashing, but she held her ground.
The Patriarch's presence pressed heavier—Early Void Emperor might making the chamber groan.
The Matriarch leaned forward, beauty cold as winter void, her Early Void Emperor aura pressing like an invisible blade against Ash's throat.
"Explain. Now."
Ash's smile widened, utterly calm—wings half-spread, posture relaxed as if he stood in his own garden rather than the heart of an Eternal Clan's judgment hall.
'Well, this can only go one way...' he thought, even though he'd been acting arrogant and calm, he knew just how dangerous this situation was.
[Master, just get along with it,] Elysia grumbled in his mind.
As mentioned before, Ash had used his Eyes of First Dawn before coming here—not once, but three times. After many evolutions and upgrades, he could now use the power every 6 hours. And the things he saw... well, they weren't nice in the slightest.
He knew coming here could indeed lead to his death or, at worst, Raven would take the brunt of it all if he didn't come at all. Now, for Ash, he wouldn't allow his women to solely take the fall for anything, especially if he was the cause of it.
So, as he smiled and activated his, Eternal Origin Nexus talent, a thought crossed his mind.
'Payback is always the best dish...'
The air in the chamber shimmered with rose-pink light, reality bending as a pool manifested at the center of the obsidian dais—no larger than a small bath but filled with swirling crimson liquid that radiated an aura of pure, transformative power.
The pool hummed softly, its surface rippling like living blood, promising to raise the Nocturne bloodline by one full rank for any who immersed themselves in it. The scent of ancient iron and forbidden evolution filled the room, making fangs ache and veins pulse with instinctive hunger.
The moment the pool manifested, the Patriarch stopped playing games.
HUMMMM!
His aura exploded outward—a star-system-dwarfing presence that crushed the air itself, the entire chamber groaning as jade floors cracked and shadows writhed. It all pressed onto Ash and Raven with the weight of collapsing worlds, forcing them to the ground on one knee, blood trickling from their noses, ears, and eyes as vessels burst under the strain.
Arrays hidden in the walls activated with a low, ominous hum—crimson runes flaring to life, sealing all space travel in an unbreakable web.
The power of the Patriarch was enough to dwarf star systems, and it all bore down on them like the void's unyielding hand.
The slight affection gained in the room meant nothing now. In front of them, they saw a mysterious man who, one, knew about their Orb of Origin. Two, had just manifested something insane that allowed their blood level to rise a rank. And three, had disrespected their clan by nearly killing Liam.
The Patriarch's voice thundered like graves opening. "Raven, I am disappointed— your treachery in protecting the ant that harmed your brother and revealing classified mission details to an outsider violates our blood oaths."
Raven gasped, blood dripping from her lips, but she struggled to look up, bloody eyes defiant even as her body trembled.
Liam's scarred face twisted in glee, his Ninth Calamity aura flickering as he rose. "Finally," he snarled, striding forward to Ash, who knelt with a smile still etched on his face despite the blood flowing from his orifices.
Liam's boot slammed into Ash's side—CRACK!—ribs fracturing under the force.
"Smiling now, whelp?" Another kick to the gut, blood spraying. "You think you can touch what's mine?"
Ash coughed blood, but his smile never faltered, rage boiling beneath the calm facade. 'My bloody princess...' he thought, eyes flicking to Raven, fury like rose-pink fire in his veins.
The Patriarch loomed, aura unyielding.
"Raven—your ultimatum: Kill this intruder. Sever your ties to him. You will be sent to our Home Galaxy for 500 years under lockdown, stripped of rank until proven loyal."
"Refuse," the Matriarch added, voice like freezing void, "and you are an enemy. Your blood will feed the clan."
Raven's fists clenched, blood pooling beneath her knees. She stood shakily, defying the aura—her Second Calamity strength buckling but holding.
"Father… Mother… please. He's not an enemy. His power could elevate us all. The Orb—"
Liam laughed psychotically. "See? She's corrupted!"
Raven's eyes flashed. "No. I stand with him."
She struggled as she moved to Ash's side, hand on his shoulder.
The Patriarch's eyes darkened to abysses. "So be it."
His aura intensified—targeting Raven alone.
She gasped, her body shuddering as blood vessels ruptured, crimson streams of essence flowing toward the Patriarch, her figure shriveling into a husk before Ash's eyes.
Raven collapsed, eyes dimming, breath stopping.
Dead.
Ash's rage boiled over, but his smile held—Elysia's plan in motion.
The Patriarch gestured coldly.
"Liam. Kill him."
Liam grinned madly, scythes manifesting.
"With pleasure."
He lunged—blade descending.
Ash met his gaze, smile widening.
The scythe pierced his chest—SHK!—blood spraying.
Ash's body went limp.
Dead.
[Master… prepare yourself now and focus!] Elysia exclaimed in his mind.
The moment death claimed him, Nirvana kicked in.
Flames of Rebirth erupted—rose-pink inferno exploding outward, devouring the arrays, dimming the runes, shattering the spatial seals in a silent, beautiful blaze.
The chamber shook, elders staggering as the flames consumed all light.
Ash's form dissolved into fire—teleporting worlds away in an instant.
He reappeared in a distant dead world—flames reforming his body, rebirth commencing.
Face full of rage, blood-drop eyes burning.
He was pissed—allowing himself into chaos again.
He couldn't leave Raven to face it alone, and thankfully, not all hope was gone.
In the depths of his inner universe, her soul drifted—wrapped in protective mana, awaiting the cultivation that would bring her rebirth.
Once in her lifetime. His Eternal Bonds would see her return.
But the Nocturne… they'd pay dearly.
His rage hardened into icy resolve.