The moment the words left his lips, the world itself seemed to respond.

The Grand Blood Spell did not form like the others.

It did not gather in neat circles or structured glyphs.

It did not descend in layers or bind in chains.

It consumed.

The blood in the air, the blood soaked into the shattered ground, the lingering essence from every vampire present, all of it surged toward a single point above GrandLord Dreath’s palm, collapsing inward as if drawn by an irresistible force, compressing into something so dense that the space around it trembled, the air bending slightly under the pressure of its existence.

It pulsed.

Once.

A deep crimson heartbeat.

Then again.

Heavier.

Darker.

The reddened members of the Moonshade family were already mid-air, already lunging toward him with everything they had, their bodies pushing forward with a strength that had grown beyond reason, their blood roaring within them like a storm that refused to be silenced.

And then—

Dreath released it.

The sphere did not explode outward immediately.

Instead, it expanded.

Silently.

Terrifyingly.

A wave of blood energy spread out like a living ocean, swallowing everything in its path, the deep crimson stretching across the battlefield in an instant, rising upward, outward, forming a massive dome that engulfed the charging Moonshade family members completely before they could even react.

It wrapped around them.

Sealed them in.

The moment it closed—

The pressure inside multiplied.

Not gradually.

Not step by step.

But all at once.

An overwhelming force crushed inward from every direction, compressing space itself, crushing the air, the blood, the bodies within it, forcing everything toward the center with a weight that defied resistance. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Inside that crimson prison—

Their roars were cut off.

Their movements halted.

Their bodies forced still.

The energy thickened further.

Layer upon layer.

Compression upon compression.

Until the entire structure seemed to tremble on the verge of collapse.

And then—

It detonated.

Boom.

The explosion did not roar like a normal blast.

It tore.

The crimson dome collapsed inward violently, imploding upon itself, dragging everything within toward a singular point before releasing it all at once in a devastating burst of blood energy that ripped through the air, shattered the ground beneath, and sent a shockwave across the entire arena that cracked stone, bent space, and silenced everything in its wake.

For a moment—

Nothing remained.

No movement.

No sound.

Only the aftermath of the explosion, the lingering crimson mist slowly dispersing, the shattered ground smoking under the residual energy.

Dreath stood where he was.

Unmoving.

Unshaken.

His gaze fixed on the center of the blast.

"...It’s done."

The words formed in his mind, calm, certain.

Because that spell—

Was not something that could be endured.

Not by beings at their level.

Not by beings at any level below him.

It was absolute.

It was final.

Even if their bloodline was strange.

Even if their adaptation was unnatural.

That—

Should have ended it.

But then—

He felt it.

A sharp sensation.

Not external.

Internal.

A pain.

It struck through his chest like a needle of heat, brief but undeniable, causing his expression to change ever so slightly.

"...What...?"

His eyes narrowed.

That feeling—

Was not from the spell.

It was something else.

Something connected.

"...A reaction...?"

He recognized it almost instantly.

A recoil.

A feedback.

A response from something that had been triggered.

"...Their lifesaving abilities..."

The realization settled.

The spell had activated something within them.

A final defense.

A last measure.

"...So they had that much at least..."

He exhaled slowly.

"...But even so..."

He continued, his gaze still fixed ahead.

"...It wouldn’t be enough."

Because even lifesaving abilities had limits.

Even the strongest defensive mechanisms would collapse under that level of force.

And yet—

The pain lingered.

Faint.

But real.

And then—

He heard it.

A sound.

Low.

Rough.

Familiar.

A growl.

"...No..."

Dreath’s eyes widened.

Not in fear.

But in disbelief.

Because that sound—

Should not exist anymore.

The crimson mist began to part.

Not blown away.

Not dispersed by wind.

But pushed.

From within.

Shapes moved.

Dark.

Shifting.

Rising.

And then—

They appeared.

The reddened members of the Moonshade family.

Standing.

Breathing.

Their bodies damaged.

Their forms cracked in places.

Blood dripping from wounds that had not fully closed.

But alive.

Alive.

And their eyes—

Burned brighter than ever.

"...Impossible..."

Dreath whispered.

His voice carried something new.

Not anger.

Not curiosity.

But genuine shock.

Because he knew that spell.

He understood it better than anyone.

He had spent centuries mastering it.

Hundreds upon hundreds of years refining every detail, every layer, every variation, perfecting it until it became something that could not be resisted, something that represented the peak of his understanding of blood magic.

"...I spent centuries..."

"...perfecting that..."

His gaze locked onto them.

"...And you..."

"...survived it...?"

His mind flashed back.

To the time he first encountered it.

A dungeon.

Ancient.

Forgotten.

A place filled with remnants of a past era, where knowledge of blood magic had reached heights that modern practitioners could barely comprehend.

He had found the remnants of the spell there.

Incomplete.

Broken.

Fragments of something far greater.

And he had taken it.

Studied it.

Rebuilt it.

Piece by piece.

Line by line.

Deciphering its structure, understanding its nature, pushing himself to master it completely, to make it his own.

It had taken him centuries.

Time that most beings would never have.

Effort that few could endure.

And in the end—

He had succeeded.

He had created a version of it that was his.

Something absolute.

Something final.

And now—

These beings—

From another plane—

Had endured it.

"...This is..."

"...absurd..."

The words came out quietly.

Because even he—

Could not immediately explain it.

And then—

They moved.

Not slowly.

Not hesitantly.

But all at once.

The ground cracked beneath their feet as they pushed forward, their bodies launching toward him again, their movements faster than before, their presence heavier, their blood roaring louder, their growth not halted by the spell—

But fueled by it.

"...You’re stronger..."

Dreath whispered.

Because they were.

Without question.

The explosion had not weakened them.

It had forced them further.

Pushed them past another threshold.

And now—

They were coming.

All of them.

At once.

A storm of red.

A wave of fury.

Charging directly toward him.

And for the first time—

GrandLord Dreath did not immediately move.

He watched.

And they—

Rushed him.