Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 169: Interlude 2- THEIR Gambit
Unknown Location
Dead Zone
Zanerth Universe Forbidden Sector
February 8th
Year 2018 of the 51st General Calendar
"Apologies, My Lord.
My avatar...has been destroyed."
Those words escaped the lips of Dragon King Ikerth Xagem, coming out through gritted teeth as he bowed his head before the being seated in the dark ’place’ before him.
They wore a black collared shirt and a matching waistcoat with red buttons. A grey mask with a single eyehole on the left concealed their face.
From the single eyehole, their spiral eye was visible, each ring displaying a different colour.
Impractically long black hair spilt over their shoulders and onto the ground, while their nails were long, just a little bit short of being called claws.
[So, we’ve lost Zotov...is what you’re trying to say?]
They spoke with a calm androgynous voice, neither particularly deep nor high-pitched.
"Yes.
I do not believe the Hybrids would have difficulty dealing with the remaining forces I left there."
Ikerth had come to this conclusion based on what he garnered from fighting Jamie and Miranda. From the sensations he felt through his avatar, he was able to confirm that what he had fought were their real bodies.
He did not believe Zotov’s Realm Suppression could work well on them, so he had little doubt that they’d be able to exercise power surpassing Transcendence if they wished.
That would be enough to wipe out everything he left on Zotov.
[Hybrids, huh?
I wonder...what enmity do you have with them? Their presence on Zotov was very random.]
Hearing this question, Ikerth controlled his expression from twisting into a frown as he replied.
"My Lord, it’s not an issue of enmity.
Those two particular Hybrids are enigmas. They act however they please without regard for whatever consequences their actions have.
I have seen them crumble Galactic Empires as a means to pass time; Everything they did was just a game to them, and Zotov just happened to be the unfortunate game board."
From his words, it was clear that Ikerth understood Jamie and Miranda’s personalities very well.
[You make them sound to be irrational and insane people.]
"That’s an understatement."
The being before Ikerth looked at the Dragon silently for a few seconds before speaking.
[I have not met them, but I can agree with you.
No one lives as long as they do without having a few screws loose.]
They seemed to understand the reason why Jamie and Miranda acted the way they could, before placing a hand on their chin and asking.
[You said one of them could manipulate space.]
"Yes. His name is Jamie Westley."
[Westley, huh?]
’Whenever I think of that name, I feel fear coming from the depths of my soul.
Instinctive Fear.
My memories of the past are not complete, and neither are Master’s memories, so I can only make vague conjectures.
Is this ’Jamie Westley’ the one who can control the true ’Void’?’
They sunk into their thoughts, trying to pull up memories hidden behind obscuring clouds, but no matter how deep they dug, these memories still seemed so distant.
’My missing fragments. Maybe they have my memories.
But do these fragments even exist anymore?’
Due to not having their complete memories, they did not have as much information as they would like.
Attempts to gather information via their subordinates also did not turn out well since none of them were alive during the time the events they wanted information on happened.
The majority didn’t even know such a thing had happened before.
Information on it was erased from almost all records, and the only still remaining records were in the hands of beings like the Main Entities of the Universe, not the kinds of beings whose radar they wanted to get on.
’If they find out about me, then the Primogenials and Phantasmals behind them would also discover my existence. That cannot happen for now.’
Their thoughts drifted back to Jamie, and feeling their instincts telling them this was a lead, they asked Ikerth a question.
[He is a man of many names and titles, is he not? Mind telling me some of these titles, I want to confirm something.]
Ikerth obliged and listed some of Jamie’s titles that he knew, and once he called out ’Azure Void Paragon’—
[Stop right there.
Did you say ’Void’?]
"Yes."
[...]
Many people might not realise, but ’Void Manipulation’ and ’Space Manipulation’ are two very different things.
One was the ability to warp, bend, flip, crush, and control space. The other was the ability to manipulate a void: nothingness or non-existence.
However, most users of Void Manipulation were also Spatial Manipulators, so their void powers often got mixed up with one another.
Take Jamie for example. He usually snapped his fingers and said ’Void’ when generating wormholes to redirect attacks. Those were applications of his spatial manipulation.
But sometimes, Jamie’s ’portals’ did not redirect attacks, but simply absorbed them and that was it.
The attacks were gone completely.
In those cases, Jamie was sending them to the true Void. Using his Void Manipulation to convert whatever was absorbed to Nonexistence.
Basically, anything that came into contact with that Void was simply erased.
Since the Hybrid switched up between the two variations of his ’Void’ technique, one could never know which one he was going to use. And since everyone knew he was good at Space manipulation, they assumed his Void Manipulation was some higher tier of Spatial Control.
’Even on the scale of the Universe and its over 100 billion light years, Void Manipulation users are Extra-Rare...
What are the odds that it’s him?’
The masked being thought to himself, thinking about the person who he had wanted to see on Apex World Estea, wondering if they should have taken the risk then.
’No. It would not have been wise.
That dangerous woman was there. She may not possess Void powers but her flames...those purple flames are among the most destructive things I have ever set my eyes on.’
They thought about the overwhelming presence they had sensed on that day over 5000 years ago, heaving a silent sigh.
’No one in this Universe realises it. That woman is far more dangerous than she appears to be.
Despite only possessing partial Cosmic Superiority, she may actually be able to kill me...even if I’m careful about it.’
[Purple flames...]
Those words escaped their lips, and this prompted Ikerth to raise his head with a questioning expression.
[Do you know anything about them?]
"...Know anything? When you say ’Purple Flames’, the first person who comes to mind is Miranda Scott.
She’s the second Vampire-Werewolf Hybrid and the lover of Jamie Westley."
[She’s part of the Scott werewolves? Then that unruly lot giving us a hard time in Sector 49...?]
"Her elder siblings."
Ikerth could not see their face behind the mask, but he was sure that his liege’s brows were twitching with annoyance at this very moment.
[Great. The elder ones are a nuisance, and the younger one is dangerous.]
Rolling their spiral eyes behind the mask, the being propped their chin up on their palm and thought. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
’Monarchy, Primogenial, Phantasmal...Firmaments. Those Cathedral Hybrids show Firmament Level power, but I doubt that’s all there is to them.
That woman is definitely a Peak Quasi-Supreme. While the strengths of the other two Hybrids remain unknown.
Jamie Westley, and that Nephalem.’
The being raised their palm and gathered cosmic energy in it. They then absorbed the energy into their body before sighing.
’I have no choice but to hide here and grow my power until I am confident that I can take them on. I also need to be wary of whoever is it that defeated Master.’
[You are dismissed for now, Ikerth.
Do not return to the Vela Galaxy. Let the heat die down.]
"Yes, My Lord."
Ikerth nodded before getting to his feet and turning around to leave, leaving this being alone in this ’space’.
After Ikerth departed, they raised their hand and, with a touch of cosmic energy, conjured projections of various scenes from across the Universe.
One projection depicted an interstellar war.
Another showed a star being consumed by a black hole.
The third revealed a galaxy’s core losing all its energy, causing the stars to be flung out of orbit.
Additional scenes included a supernova explosion obliterating a nearby star system, a rogue planet colliding with a densely populated world, and an entire constellation being torn apart by a colossal gravitational wave.
Many different scenes, with one glaring similarity.
They all involved ’Mass Destruction’.
[He travelled to the ends of the Universe and saw all Sentient life in the Universe as ’dirt’, leeches that drain the Universe’s resources for reasons and causes that eventually all come to an end.
He tried to ’clean up’ the Universe but he was defeated.]
Their eyes flashed behind their mask, seemingly showing a hint of sadness as they shook their head with slight disappointment.
[Oh, well.
I shall fulfil the goal he failed to achieve. I shall fulfil the reason for my creation.]
◇ ◇ ◇
Penthouse Apartment
Whitemere City
Zotov
February 18th
Year 2018
"🎶You might be divine, but you’d find you’re no~-Mira?"
Jamie’s little sing-along was cut short abruptly when Miranda who had finally discovered where she tossed her hairbrush, walked into the room while running it through her hair.
"Lady Miranda, May I?"
Denise materialized out of thin air and spoke, but before Miranda could even answer, the werewolf had already taken the brush and was properly dealing with the Hybrid’s hair.
"Thanks, Denise."
"You’re Welcome.
I suggest you keep the brush in your subspace so you don’t lose track of it again."
"Mhmm..."
Miranda just hummed as reply as she jumped over to where Jamie was and threw her arms around him, inhaling a deep breath of air before letting go.
"I’d be heading to deal with the rest of Ikerth’s Outposts in Vela, then I’d head to Argent. I’d be back very soon so don’t go disappearing anywhere."
"Pfft...I’m not disappearing. I’d just be heading to a Time Accelerated Danger Zone so I can level up, a bit."
Jamie chuckled a reply and Miranda narrowed her eyes at him, a look of clear distrust within them.
The last time Jamie and Miranda separated, she didn’t see him for 12,000 years. As such, the woman could not be blamed for being suspicious, but even Jamie wasn’t gonna do that twice in a row.
’She might not speak to me for a million years if I do that, and in the end, I’d be the one to suffer.’
He kept those thoughts to himself and reassured her that he was only heading to a Danger Zone where crystal space beasts with Deity Levels less than 100 roamed so he could regain more power.
Finally, she seemed to believe him, taking a step back as she conjured a spatial gate.
"I’d be done as fast as possible."
"Don’t rush yourself, Mira. We have all the time in the Universe."
In response to Jamie’s words, Miranda turned towards him with an expression that asked why he was stating the obvious.
"Yeah, sure. I also want to spend all that time with you, duh?"
The woman rolled her eyes as she spoke, turning around to enter the spatial gate right after.
"..."
Jamie silently watched the Spatial Gate close up before looking towards Denise who had a stoic expression on her face and asked.
"Did Mira conquer her shyness?"
"Unfortunately, no, Lord Jamie. There’s a 99% chance that she’s currently a blushing mess on the floor right now."
Denise made a frighteningly accurate guess of Miranda’s current state and Jamie laughed before telling her to take him over to the Danger Zone.
One Spatial Gate later, the Hybrid and his adopted daughter departed from planet Zotov, allowing it to finally have a much-needed sigh of relief.
