Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 197: Skyhaven

Skyhaven Mountain

Vroln Region, Kligoth Continent

Gnocyl Prime

March 10th, Unknown Year.

899th Cosmic Cycle

"Oy! Get me the pope! I need to have a word with him!"

Those were the first words Jamie shouted as they got onto Skyhaven Mountain, his loud cutting through the serene air like a blade. Trailing behind him was a deeply frowning Miranda and a dark-faced Tiris.

Naturally, the Priests and Holy Knights of the Sky goddess’ faith did not like his attitude,

The Priests and Holy Knights of the Sky goddess’ faith exchanged uneasy glances. Jamie’s brusque demeanour was grating, especially in such a sacred place. However, Jamie was annoyed right now so he couldn’t be bothered to care about the thoughts of these mobs.

One particularly tall Holy Knight, bearing the insignia of a head guard, stepped forward, his eyes burning with indignation.

"You there! Show some respect. This is a holy—"

Jamie, without sparing a glance, raised his hand. Ambient spatial energy coalesced around him, invisible threads of power wrapping around the lead Holy Knight. With a flick of his wrist, Jamie sent the deity-level 25 knight hurtling through the air, as if he were no more than a discarded rag.

Words could not describe how shocked they were to see a Transcendent easily manhandle a deity.

The stunned silence was short-lived, however, as the Holy Knight recovered mid-air, anger radiating from him as he charged back towards Jamie, but Miranda acted before he could get close.

She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and swept him off his feet with a low kick before transforming her arms into claws and piercing his neck in one fluid motion.

"Move an inch and your head would roll."

"?!"

Miranda’s voice was cold with the promise of certain death. Her odd-coloured eyes glowed eerily as she made the calm threat, and the ambient temperature of the entire mountain spiked in response to her annoyance.

Everyone on the mountain felt the sweltering heat as the woman’s anger seemed to boil the air itself. If someone were to hold up a thermometer, they’d get a result of over 100 degrees Celsius.

Jamie and Tiris were the only ones who were unaffected by the heat, and the man continued his demand for the pope.

"Someone fetch the pope! I’m not asking again."

Now then, why were Jamie and Miranda pissed?

It was naturally because of the incident that happened shortly after they got to Vroln.

Jamie had encountered the Head Priest of a church near the Vroln Region’s borders who claimed that they were the ones meant to escort Tiris to Skyhaven.

This contradicted what Jamie had been told, so the man was suspicious of them.

His suspicion proved necessary as the Priests turned out to be traitors to the Sky goddess’ Faith, and they attacked Jamie the instant he turned around.

A brief but fierce skirmish ensued, forcing Jamie to expend precious energy—energy he had only just recovered after his little Cosmic Energy stunt earlier.

Jamie tossed an energy potion bottle onto the floor after drinking it, his eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at the priests who were trembling in fear.

In less than a minute, a contingent of Holy Knights arrived at the scene, their faces masks of shock and disbelief at the sight of one of their comrades pinned under Miranda’s foot, her claws embedded in his neck.

One of them demanded she release him, but the woman just silently pierced her claws deeper into his neck, causing bright red blood to trickle out.

"What is the meaning of this? Release him at once!"

The leader of the Holy Knights demanded with a voice filled with righteous indignation, but Miranda’s expression remained unchanged as she silently pushed her claws deeper into the man’s neck, causing bright red blood to trickle out and stain her fingers.

The pinned knight gasped, his struggles futile against her unyielding strength.

Jamie stepped forward, his aura radiating a cold fury that made the space around him distort. He then pointed at the leader of the Holy Knights and demanded.

"Fetch the pope. Tell him I demand his presence here, now."

The leader of the Holy Knights hesitated, his eyes flicking between Jamie’s commanding presence and the blood pooling beneath Miranda’s claws.

"The Holy Father does not come at the beck and call of anyone."

"Then say goodbye to your Saintess."

Jamie raised his hand and Tiris screamed as her body flew through the air and towards him, where he effortlessly grabbed her arm, then transformed his right hand into claws which he placed on her neck.

"I just killed a dozen of your Traitorous Priests. Adding a Saintess to that list wouldn’t be an issue."

He lightly tapped his foot on the floor, making the entire mountain shake as he continued.

"I don’t care about your protocols. Either he comes here, or I’ll dismantle this entire mountain top by top. The choice is yours."

"..."

The silence in the air was palpable.

The Holy Knight Leader was naturally informed about who Jamie and Miranda were, not only due to their fame on Gnocyl Prime but also because he was briefed on the names and faces of all the Mercs hired to guard Tiris.

From what he was told, Jamie was not an unreasonable person, yet here he was making a ruckus and threatening them with the life of a Saintess Candidate.

However, he didn’t have the time to reason this as Miranda and Jamie looked like they were really about to kill their respective hostages so he swallowed hard and spoke to a Junior Knight.

"Go. Inform the Holy Father that his presence is urgently required."

"!? Sir?!"

"Go."

The Knight’s protest was shot down before it could even begin and despite his indignation, he turned to accomplish his superior’s orders.

However, he hadn’t even taken a single step forward when Jamie suddenly cursed aloud.

"Fuck, too late."

Without warning, Jamie abruptly hurled Tiris’ body towards the stunned Holy Knight Leader, who scrambled to catch her.

The leader looked up at Jamie, ready to protest, but the words died in his throat as he saw a blade pierce through Jamie’s chest from behind, the tip emerging from the front.

"?!"

The Holy Knight’s eyes widened in shock as the realization hit him.

If Jamie hadn’t thrown Tiris at him, then the blade now embedded in Jamie’s chest—

’It would have hit her since she was right in front of him!

—and killed her instantly.

A weapon that could easily pierce through Jamie’s multi-layered barriers and penetrate his clothes and skin’s durability was more than enough to end Tiris’ life in an instant.

"Well, Hello there. This is the fifth time I’ve been stabbed in the back today. Am I correct to assume you’re also responsible for the first four?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Jamie spoke as he turned his gaze towards the man who had literally appeared out of thin air and stabbed him in the back. In response, the man looked up at Jamie with a wry smile and spoke.

"Well, I’m the one who hired those Mercs...so yeah, I am."

"Is that so? Then goodbye."

Receiving the response he wanted, Jamie snapped his fingers and immediately, a rune ignited on the man’s shoulder, flaring with an intense light as it erupted into a devastating spatial explosion that engulfed the assailant in a vortex of energy.

The man’s scream was cut short as he was torn apart, his form disintegrating into nothingness.

Jamie sighed, feeling the blade still lodged in his chest. He reached back, gripping the hilt, and yanked it out with a grimace. Blood oozed from the wound, but it began to heal almost immediately, the flesh knitting together as his regenerative abilities kicked in.

The Holy Knights and priests, who had been frozen in shock, watched in awe and horror.

Miranda on the other hand, ignored the Holy Knight she had pinned down and dashed towards Jamie with a worry-filled gaze.

"Jay, are you okay?!"

Jamie laughed at Miranda’s question, one she needn’t ask considering she knew he was an immortal.

"Just another day."

Jamie replied, tossing the bloodied blade aside. Just as he was about to speak to the Holy Knights, the voice of the man he had just killed rang out.

"And here I thought I could use that Clone to tag team you..."

"?!"

All eyes turned in the direction of the voice and saw the exact same man whom Jamie had just turned to nothing standing atop the gate of the compound, a long sword resting over his shoulder.

Dressed efficiently for combat, the man wore a sleek, dark combat suit that clung to his muscular frame, adorned with a utility belt and a pouch on his waist. He wore sturdy combat boots and gloves reinforced with a metallic sheen for enhanced grip.

A helmet with a retractable visor was pushed back to reveal his face, which was neither ugly nor handsome, just average and nondescript.

His features were unremarkable: a straight nose, medium brown eyes that held a faint predatory gleam, and lips set in a confident smirk. His hair was a common shade of brown, cut short for practicality, and his skin was neither too pale nor too tanned, blending seamlessly with his surroundings.

The man’s presence sent a chill through the air, and even the Holy Knights, who were trained for such encounters, shifted uneasily. Miranda roused her energy in preparation for combat, her eyes narrowing as she assessed this new threat.

Jamie’s eyes locked onto the man, a mixture of irritation and curiosity flickering in his gaze.

"Well, isn’t this a surprise? You’re persistent, I’ll give you that."

The man smirked, his voice dripping with arrogance.

"Persistence is a virtue in our line of work. Besides, I’m curious. When did you stick that rune on my clone? I didn’t notice it even when I was running maintenance this morning."

His words revealed that he was the same man whom Jamie had bumped into in Kauron three days ago. The one who no one was able to perceive beside him.

Jamie had drawn a rune on the man’s shoulder when he bumped into him, and that same rune was the one he just activated now, using the man’s own energy to erase his existence with the power of the void.

However, it turned out that from the get-go, Jamie had not encountered the real him, just a clone of his.

Jamie didn’t provide any answer to the man’s query, but the man wasn’t bothered. He shifted his gaze to Tiris whom he had been aiming to take out with the first strike but had failed due to Jamie’s sharp senses.

’My skill was designed to hide from Spatial Manipulators like him. He shouldn’t have detected me unless he was using his Pseudo-Authority, so I’m guessing it’s that Rune he used to find me.’

The man thought this to himself as he moved his gaze back to Jamie.

"Now, then...I’m sure you know why I’m here...right?"