Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 288: The Yearning to Revive the Lost

"...Given its size, I assumed it was some kind of star. As far as I remember, there are different types of stars, aren’t there?"

It was a logical assumption—something that immense, radiating such intense light, heat, and energy, could easily be categorized as a star.

Jamie had thought the same at first. But closer inspection and analysis had revealed otherwise.

"I’ve encountered an energy core of similar size and with comparable thermal and luminous properties before."

As he spoke, Jamie walked towards one of the massive mainframe screens displaying a graph with a sine wave. As she was still hanging on Jamie’s arm, the woman was pulled along with him, her gaze moving to the mainframe screen as Jamie continued speaking.

"That energy pulse signature matches the one I’ve seen before."

"Oh, so that’s your reasoning? Given the gaps in my memory, I see little reason to doubt you.

But tell me, where did you come across an energy core of this magnitude? The existence it originated from must have been enormous, I imagine?"

Though she posed these questions to Jamie, he didn’t answer. His attention stayed fixed on the sine wave, studying it silently.

After a while, he sighed and spoke.

"Let’s move on to the next chamber."

Hearing him, the woman shrugged and cast her gaze toward the star-sized purple orb at the centre of the Alderson disk.

Before she could utter a word, Jamie snapped his fingers. The space between them and the orb collapsed, shrinking the distance to nothing in an instant.

In mere moments, they floated directly before the orb.

Though the searing heat and overwhelming energy would have reduced most Deities to ash at such proximity, both of them remained unscathed.

She extended a hand, pressing her palm against the surface of the orb. Energy and memories surged into her, flowing like a torrent as she absorbed them, just as she had done before.

As the absorption reached its crescendo, the orb flared violently, igniting a blinding explosion that engulfed them and hurled them into the next chamber.

When the brilliance subsided, they found themselves in a different section of the Alderson disk. The purple star-sized orb remained visible in the centre, but this area was alive with frantic activity.

Scientists darted back and forth, their movements hurried and chaotic.

It was clear this wasn’t their usual tension. From their panicked exchanges, it became apparent that someone important was arriving—someone to whom they were expected to present their findings on the orb.

The problem, however, was that their efforts had produced little in the way of results.

As the scene unfolded, a spark of recognition lit up in the woman’s eyes. She clapped her hands together, her expression brightening as if a long-forgotten memory had surfaced.

"Aha! This does stir up some memories I’d forgotten. This was the day they were reporting to the mastermind behind all of this. That woman... the one trying to revive her husband."

"...huh?"

Jamie froze, caught off guard by her words. He turned to her, his expression demanding clarification.

Sensing his shock, she opened her mouth to explain, but something in her peripheral vision caught her attention and she immediately turned toward it.

"There she is."

Jamie followed her gaze as a door slid open, and a group of people entered.

Leading the group was a figure Jamie instantly recognized—a woman with shoulder-length white hair, refined facial features, and piercing royal blue eyes. She wore half-framed glasses that gave her a scholarly air.

It was his dear disciple; Lapis Argeryan.

Trailing closely behind her was a man with tousled grey hair and crimson eyes—Christoph, the Vampire King who was essentially Lapis’ right-hand man.

Christoph was glaring sharply at two men walking nearby, both of whom seemed to be frantically explaining something to the visibly displeased Lapis.

Jamie recognized one of them as the leader of the Creator Society, though he wasn’t familiar with the other man, who was, in fact, the society’s former Vice Leader.

Suddenly, something unusual happened, leaving Jamie even more surprised and confused.

As Lapis walked, Christoph’s attention was drawn to her neck.

A black marking had begun to creep from beneath her clothing, its dark hue standing out starkly against her pale white hair. The moment he noticed, Christoph stepped forward, carefully adjusting her hair to conceal the mark.

No one nearby seemed to notice his actions, too preoccupied with attempting to placate the clearly irritated Lapis. But the other Creator Society members who were watching from a distance caught everything.

After concealing the mark, Christoph turned and directed a sharp glare in their direction, his crimson eyes glowing briefly.

The subtle flash signalled the activation of his vampiric compulsion, ensuring that anyone who might have noticed his actions would forget them entirely.

"I think she mentioned his soul was devoured...?"

The voice of the woman beside Jamie prompted him to turn his head towards her. She had the fingers of her free hand on her chin, her expression pensive as she worked to piece together the fragments of memory.

"Ah, yes!"

She turned abruptly, pointing toward the massive purple orb at the centre of the Alderson disk as she explained.

"That woman was trying to revive her husband. She said his soul was trapped inside that giant orb—and that it had been devoured!"

"..."

Jamie remained silent after she spoke, his expression unreadable. Sensing his stillness, the woman turned to him, one brow raised in curiosity.

"Perhaps, do you... know her? Or is that the energy core you mentioned having encountered previously connected to the one we see here in this reflection of my lost memories?"

Jamie didn’t respond.

He simply turned and walked in the direction of the purple orb, dragging the woman clinging to his arm along with him.

Like before, the energy that composed it was absorbed into the woman. The process triggered a brilliant explosion of light that consumed them and transported them into the next memory.

This time, it was another memory of Lapis’ visit, though the scene was markedly different.

In this memory, Lapis looked like a wreck, a shadow of her usually composed self. Dark circles marred her eyes, her white hair was a tangled mess, and even her signature glasses bore a crack running jaggedly through one of the lenses.

But she wasn’t the only one in a sorry state.

The entire place was a wreck.

The star-sized purple orb seemed to be burning with fiery purple flames, its surface roiling with what Jamie could only describe as solar storms.

These violent eruptions sent waves and flares of purple energy surging outward, tearing through sections of the Alderson disk with destructive force.

All around, fires raged, and Creator Society members scrambled to extinguish them.

Suddenly, another massive storm erupted on the orb’s surface, releasing a pulse of energy that surged straight toward the section of the disk where Lapis was.

One pure reflex, she raised her left hand and released a surge of her moonlight-silver coloured magic power, forming a shield that absorbed the impact and prevented this section of the disk from being obliterated.

However, her shield unintentionally reflected the energy back toward the orb. The rebound struck its surface, causing a visible crack to form.

The sight of the crack made Lapis’ expression shift, contorting into one of despair.

She withdrew her hand at once, and dashed out of the Alderson disk, summoning more of her magic power.

Blood streaked down her lips as she summoned more of her power, and Jamie caught sight of the black markings Christoph had concealed before once again.

This time, the marks crept out from beneath the sleeves of her shirt, spreading across the backs of her hands. The tendrils extending from her neck grew further, curling up to cover the sides of her face.