Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 186: The Price of Denial (Miranda’s POV)

Sure, I lost the nigh-immunities that came with being a Hybrid but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t have gained them if my life went normal anyway.

Besides, acquiring items that Werewolves were weak to wasn’t as easy as it was to acquire Vampire weaknesses.

I had my dad to thank for that.

So, I was fine just being a Werewolf.

When Jamie and I came to Gnocyl Prime, I made sure to use my Werewolf Bloodline abilities, doing so in public to make sure everyone knew that ’Miranda Scott’ was a ’Werewolf’.

It was a desperate attempt to delude myself into believing that those Hybrid abilities didn’t lurk deep within me.

Jay knew this as well. How could he not when we spent virtually all our time together?

But he said nothing even though he knew. Was it out of concern? Or was he scared of forcing me out of my self-denial?

There were gaps in my memory of my time in Angela’s Dimensional Realm in Thornes.

Jay clearly knew what happened during those gaps, and perhaps, it was because of this that he said nothing.

◇　◇　◇

We had just finished dealing with the monsters from that contaminated magic swamp, and I had just disabled the shield on Tiris’ car when she suddenly screamed out Jay’s name.

Upon turning around, I was greeted with the sight of Jay collapsing to the ground with four silver swords protruding from his back.

My mind went blank.

I heard them shouting something about light magic and saw someone trying to use a Tier 6 Spell on Jay.

My first instinct was to kill that person.

A single strike with all my strength was enough to eliminate them.

As an Ancient-Breed, my stat multipliers were higher than normal. I was also a Nonstandard, capable of defeating Deity Levels 10-15 existences despite being Level 990.

My Base power was high, and my skills enhanced it even further.

So, If I held nothing back, killing a Superior Stage Transcendent in a single perfectly controlled strike was not an impossibility for me.

My next target was one of those who stabbed Jay. Another punch to his face and I pulverized his head.

But the resultant shockwaves and bursts of power told me that my attacks weren’t as ’perfectly controlled’ as I wanted them to be. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

This was expected, I was the furthest thing from calm at that time.

I was angry.

Enraged.

How dare these imbeciles harm Jay?

MY Jamiathane!

Unforgivable!

My mind was clouded with rage, but I still tried to force myself to maintain my rationality. My opponents were Transcendents, after all.

Even if I was stronger, they had the numerical advantage, so I couldn’t be careless.

But perhaps I wasn’t as careful as I thought.

I should have figured something was wrong from the time I caught that guy’s sword and something burned my hand.

My assumption was that it was some sort of poison so I ignored it and didn’t check the wound.

I should have realised something was wrong when the ’poison’ was able to penetrate the thin, invisible colourless multilayer barrier covering my body with so much ease.

I should have been wary of teleportation since I had figured that someone had teleported monsters to attack us earlier.

Unfortunately, I didn’t as I was filled with anger. As such, I was caught from a blind spot, mid-attack.

The blade piercing through my chest brought a burning pain, reminiscent of the day I first stepped into the Sun.

It felt as though millions of tiny needles pricked every blood vessel and bone in my body.

As the wolfsbane seeped into my bloodstream, I felt my limbs slowly stiffen and blood run up my throat as the poisons mixed with it took action on my weakened body.

When that god showed up, I was barely listening to what they were saying.

All I was concerned about was why Jay hadn’t gotten up yet. Silver didn’t affect him, so the attacks he was hit with were things he could heal from in a second.

But, when that drifter appeared, everything finally made sense.

’I see...it was all his plan.’

Jay knew about the spatial disturbance earlier, so he was waiting for the cause to show up. He probably noticed them earlier when he paused after scanning with his spatial perception.

Seeing as Jay casually displaced them to random locations using his skill, I could only think ’As Expected.’

Then as he walked towards me, my thoughts naturally went to him helping me remove the wolfsbane-coated sword.

The paralysis effect prevented me from moving my hand enough to do so myself, so I needed his help.

However, before I could voice out my desire for him to help me, he spoke words that shocked me to my core.

"How’s that sword holding up?

I knew they had wolfsbane but I didn’t think it was this potent."

...what?

I could not understand the words coming out of Jay’s mouth.

Why did he know this?

’Or rather, if he knew this, why didn’t he tell me?’

Jay knew that the current me was vulnerable to wolfsbane. Considering that I had only used my Werewolf bloodline powers since coming to Gnocyl Prime, the consensus was that I was one.

If our enemies had wolfsbane on them, it was only natural that I was their target. So how could Jay know this and not tell me?

’No...’

’It’s probably one of his bad jokes.’

’I probably heard wrong.

’Jay wouldn’t know about a danger to me and not tell me.’

I tried to deny the truth in every way I could.

"...you...knew?"

What was I expecting him to say when I forced those words out of my lips?

Whatever it was, Jay definitely did not say it.

"Yeah, Mira. I knew."

"..."

Silence.

I had no words

The smile on Jay’s face disappeared and his whole demeanour changed as he continued.

"Do you really hate it that much? That you still wouldn’t use it despite knowing it’s the only thing that can help you right now?"

...

This was the first time I ever hated the fact that I understood Jay so well.

It was because of this I could interpret the message hidden in his statement.

His words did not include himself in the scenario. He said it was the only thing that could.

Jay wasn’t going to help me.

He just stood there and watched me silently.

I knew what he wanted me to do.

The it he was talking about was naturally my Hybrid Nature.

Sure, if I unsealed it right now, my nigh immunity to wolfsbane would return, making it such that you’d need an ocean’s worth of wolfsbane to even make me flinch.

The wolfsbane flowing through my body would be instantly expelled and I’d regain my mobility. With that, pulling out the sword would be easy, and healing the wound would be handled in a second.

Yet...

YET...!!!

HOW COULD HE???!!!

Jay knew exactly how my I hated those powers.

He knew how much I detested and abhorred everything about them. From the circumstances I gained them, to the way they made me feel.

So how could he of all people, suggest I should unseal them?!

I stared at him, my vision blurring with unshed tears of pain and betrayal. Jay’s expression was unreadable, his eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my heart clench.

"...why...Jay?"

My voice was trembling. Barely a whisper.

But Jay heard me. He silently crouched down to my eye level and wiped the tears that had started running down my cheeks.

"Why? You shouldn’t ask me that, Mira. You know exactly why."