Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 281: Supreme

[Of course, that’s the real one! Do you think a replica could stop that attack with its bare hand?!]

Flynn and Kalari’s microphones were still on. The entire Amphitheatre heard their exchange, and the realization swept through the spectators like wildfire.

Whispers turned to exclamations, and exclamations turned to uproar. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

In the arena, John narrowed his eyes, glancing at the man who had interrupted the fight.

"So, you finally decided to show up."

Jamie released his grip on John’s sword, a thin line of blood dripping from his palm vanishing faster than the eye could follow as he pushed the blade back and frowned.

"What the hell are you doing, John?"

John raised an eyebrow, pointing his sword back at Jamie as he replied.

"What am I doing? I should be asking you that. What the fuck are you doing, Jamie?"

Jamie’s frown deepened in confusion. He was about to retort that John was the one causing trouble, but before he could speak, the other Hybrid cut in.

"You blacked out 12,000 years and, in that time, I had a little breakthrough.

You of all people should know how difficult it is to get even the slightest bit stronger at our level, yet I managed that.

Then I thought, why not challenge this bastard when he wakes up from his beauty sleep?"

John’s expression went blank, his eyes glowing faintly as he spoke in a cold, dead voice.

"But then you woke up and I came over to see this bullshit!"

It was clear the bullshit John was talking about was Jamie’s power loss. While Jamie could keep it hidden from others, the Hybrids were on a level where a single glance was enough to see through it.

"Imagine how I felt, waiting thousands of years to challenge this guy, just to be disappointed because of your usual bullshit."

"That’s your problem to deal with, not mine. I have zero obligation to accept your challenges."

Jamie shot back, and John laughed before spreading his arms wide and replying.

"Oh, no. You have every goddamn obligation to."

He released his aura once again, but this time, he didn’t limit the release level, letting Jamie fully perceive his current Existence Realm.

"?!"

Seeing the stunned look on Jamie’s face, John grinned, pleased to have caught him off guard.

Why was Jamie so shocked? It was simple.

"Supreme...?! You’ve achieved full Cosmic Superiority!?"

Indeed.

John Cathedral had become a Supreme Realm Existence.

The power hierarchy among the Six Hybrids was now rewritten.

Formerly, it was Jamie at the top, followed by Miranda/Sarina, Richard, John, and lastly Olivia.

Now, it was John at the top, followed by Miranda/Sarina, Richard, Olivia, and finally, Jamie.

"Oh well. If it’s any consolation, you aren’t slacking in the recovery."

John retracted his aura as he spoke, noting the difference between the power Jamie had in Clurg a year ago and the Jamie standing before him now. Back then, Jamie was a Legendary; now, he was a Deity.

"And since you’re not slacking, I decided to toss you a bone to speed things up a bit. I’m really itching for a fight, you know?"

"...toss me a bone? Getting all big-headed now, aren’t you? You fuck up my plans and say you’re tossing me a bone?"

Jamie’s expression twisted in annoyance, and his soul power surged, merging with cosmic energy to manifest his irritation in the fabric of reality.

The space around them cracked like glass, and John laughed at the sight, shaking his head.

"You know, becoming a Supreme allowed me to understand why Mother called us ’Complete’, yet called you ’Perfect’.

She turned us all into some really ridiculous existences..."

Jamie wasn’t surprised by John’s newfound understanding of their Hybrid nature. He, too, had come to that realization—though it had been a billion years ago when he first exuviated.

The realization that Angela had tried to create a being with the immortality of a full Cosmic Being, but without the ’Cosmic’ part.

Now, if that existence were to become a Cosmic Being after already possessing the traits of one, they would become something that’d make even the Concept of Creation do a double take.

Sheathing his sword, John gestured to Jamie’s frozen Replica behind him and spoke.

"You came for that, didn’t you? Well, I brought it out for you."

Turning around, he continued.

"Don’t thank me. But if you still want to, then do it by speeding up the recovery."

As John finished speaking, he began walking away, but before he could go far, someone appeared beside him.

A smile stretched across her face, and both her hands were held up in peace signs.

"Hello, Jay."

She was a beautiful woman with jet-black hair, a stereotypical witch’s hat perched atop her head, and a long, flowing gown with a black and red theme.

Just as she was about to speak again, John grabbed her by the collar of her dress, pulling her in close.

"Not now, Olivia."

Olivia frowned slightly and pouted in dissatisfaction.

"But I wanted to talk to Jay."

John’s response to her was curt.

"You can do it later."

With his free right hand, he held it out, and the space before him cracked open, forming a spatial gate.

Still holding onto Olivia, he pulled her in with him, tossing her into the portal before stepping in himself. They vanished through the broken space.

After they disappeared, Jamie, still with a frown on his face, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He turned to face his Replica, placing his hand on the Replica’s head. In an instant, all the power that constituted the replica condensed into a sphere the size of the head.

With the orb in his hand, Jamie broke open another spatial gate and stepped through it, vanishing just as John had.

The Amphitheatre was left in stunned silence, the crowd too bewildered to react as both Hybrids disappeared from view.

◇　◇　◇

Tens of billions of light-years away from the Amphitheatre, a woman sat atop something massive, her chin resting on her palm as she gazed at the distant Pinecone Galaxy.

A soft sigh escaped her lips, the sound more a reflection of long-standing exasperation than anything else.

"Boys will always be boys."

She muttered to herself.

This woman was Sarina Aster, the Sixth of the six legendary Hybrids.

Her long hair, a mesmerizing blend of black and white highlights, shifted to a kaleidoscope of colours at the tips, changing hues depending on the viewing angle.

The thin ring of blue light encircling her black irises faded as she shook her head and sighed once more.

A moment later, a voice called out to her.

"Lady Sarina."

Turning, she faced Ghizud, one of her Dragon Emperor subordinates who asked.

"Was there a problem?"

Sarina shrugged, letting out a light yawn as she responded.

"No, I sensed John’s aura. I was just curious about what he was up to."

She paused, her gaze distant as she recalled what she had sensed.

"Strangely enough, Olivia was nearby too. And it turns out John was fighting Jamie’s Replica in the Amphitheatre of Eternity."

A small, wry smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she shook her head and repeated.

"Boys will always be boys."

Ghizud raised an eyebrow, but Sarina continued before he could get a word out.

"John always liked to challenge Jamie. I suppose it’s just one of their usual spats."

Sarina stood, stretching her arms above her head and yawning once more. But in the process, her control slipped momentarily and a surge of energy burst out from her body, an overwhelming force that seemed to crack the very fabric of space around her.

Ghizud immediately tensed, his eyes flashing with caution...and instinctive fear.

"Lady Sarina, your aura..."

Sarina blinked, noticing the warning. She yawned a third time, retracting the powerful aura she had unconsciously unleashed.

"I’m sleepy."

She rubbed her eyes, her appearance momentarily resembling that of a harmless, overworked young woman rather than the dangerous Higher Dimensional being she truly was.

If John, Jamie, or Olivia had been present to perceive Sarina’s energy, they would have realized one crucial fact—her aura eclipsed John’s.

"Still, John’s reached the Supreme Realm, huh? Not too surprising... but a bit surprising.

I always thought Richard would be the first to get there. Guess his little brother beat him to it."

With a final stretch, Sarina stepped off the head of the colossal titan’s corpse she had been perched on. Her steps were light, like she was having fun, rather than walking on a massive star sized existence’s corpse.

She lightly skipped towards the titan’s caved-in chest, where a chained soul was bound to its remains.

Stopping before the titan’s mutilated corpse, Sarina looked down on the soul trapped there and asked.

"Now then, you called yourself a Herald of the new Extinction Legion, didn’t you?

How about you tell me everything you know about this new Extinction Legion?"

Sarina’s voice came out in a questioning tone, but she wasn’t ’asking’.

With those words, she reached out with her left hand, her fingers sinking deep into the titan’s tortured soul.

What followed was a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the expanse of this dead galactic region.