Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 296: Space Beasts on the Rise

Lakssi Resort

High-Level World Kaelithis

Knesix Dimension

January 22nd

Year 2019

"What took you so long?"

Those words reached the ears of the three teenage vampires—Wanete Vespera, David, and Davina Evangelista—as they stepped out of the warp portal onto the terrace of a towering skyscraper.

They turned toward the voice and were met with a sight that could only be described as a god of beauty incarnate—no, correction—a certain Hybrid, lounging on a beach chair.

He was dressed in an unbuttoned shirt and plant-printed shorts, paired with a set of shades he had no real need for.

This was, without a doubt, the most casual they had ever seen him dressed.

His toned chest and abs, effortlessly sculpted, caught the light just right, and the way he carried himself—relaxed yet undeniably confident—radiated an almost unfair level of allur—

*SLAP!

A loud sound rang out through the area as Davina clapped her hands against her face and shook her head furiously, snapping herself out of it.

’That’s a married man, Davina.’

...Well, Jamie wasn’t actually married, but that wasn’t the point here.

Wanete let out a wry smile at Davina’s actions, clearly understanding what thoughts had just gone through the other young woman’s head.

She returned her gaze to Jamie’s direction and then moved her gaze to the woman seated on a stool beside him, next to the one holding his drink.

It was a woman with a slender figure, clad in a black one-piece dress that barely reached her knees.

Her shoulder-length green hair and crimson eyes created a striking colour contrast, yet her elegant facial features somehow made the combination work.

She barely spared the new arrivals a glance, her attention fixed instead on the silver-haired man lounging beside her.

"What do you think of this combination?"

She tilted the tablet in her hands to face him, revealing an image of a dress displayed on the screen.

Jamie’s gaze shifted from the vampire teens to the tablet, his brows quickly furrowing.

"Nah. It’s too flashy. Mira wouldn’t like it."

"Are you sure she wouldn’t? Or is it just the open back that you don’t like?"

Her teasing tone made Jamie narrow his eyes.

"You showed me this on purpose, knowing I wouldn’t like it, didn’t you?"

"I did nothing of the sort."

The woman responded to Jamie’s accusation with a chuckle, turning her attention back to the tablet. A stylus materialized in her fingers, and she began sketching as Jamie refocused on the teenage vampires.

"Back to you. It’s been two days since I told Lapis to send them over. Why are they just arriving now?"

Jamie directed his words at the Vampire King who had escorted the teens, prompting the man to bow deeply.

"My apologies for the delay, Lord Westley. Certain travel complications arose due to the ongoing Eternal Trials."

The words reminded Jamie that, despite the chaos of the first day, the Amphitheatre of Eternity was still proceeding with its Eternal Trials.

Its operating time was limited, and with a thousand matches scheduled, there was no room for wasted time.

Not particularly interested in the Amphitheatre anymore, Jamie simply waved his hand. A warp gate opened behind the Vampire King, and before he could react, he was flung backwards into it, vanishing in an instant.

The woman beside Jamie barely reacted. Instead, she turned her tablet toward him again, revealing another dress design.

Jamie’s brow twitched at the sight.

"Rowena, what the hell?!"

"Pfft—!!"

The green-haired woman—Rowena—burst into laughter, clearly pleased with his reaction to the strapless, high-slit dress she had just designed.

Clearly, she knew exactly how he would react, and yet, she did it anyway.

"Come on, Sir Jamie. There’s no way Lady Miranda wouldn’t like this one. It even has your colours."

True enough, the dress featured sky blue and silver tones, but that was about the only thing Jamie approved of.

"Rowena, I wanted a dress that showcases her beauty to the entire universe—not her skin!"

"Same difference."

"That phrase definitely does NOT apply here."

Their exchange made it clear they were close—close enough that Jamie trusted her to design party dresses for Miranda.

Jamie sighed while Rowena chuckled, her amusement evident. Choosing to ignore her antics, he turned his attention back to the three teens, who had been watching silently.

"Now then, you three. I’m going to be busy for the next few weeks, so I was thinking of enrolling you in a little training camp."

Then, shifting his gaze back to Rowena, he continued.

"And that’s where you come in, Rowena."

"Huh?"

Rowena blinked in confusion, caught off guard by her sudden involvement.

"I need you to assess their skill levels and find suitable teachers to brush up their blood manipulation.

They should also be at the level where they can start tapping into more of their racial traits, so make sure that gets handled as well."

"..."

Rowena silently frowned at Jamie’s words, clearly unenthusiastic about dealing with a bunch of teenagers from out of nowhere.

It wasn’t until then that she actually turned to look at them, and upon spotting Davina, her eyebrow raised in question.

"Why does she look like that kid who was clinging to you during the Mirror Dimension incident?"

"Because she’s that kid’s grandkid."

Rowena blinked at Jamie’s response, glancing at him as if to check whether he was messing with her. But when she saw he was serious, she turned back to Davina, mulling it over.

"...Hmm. I guess I wouldn’t mind."

"Like you had a choice."

Jamie snorted, ignoring Rowena’s glare as he turned to the three teens and gestured toward a card resting on the drink bar beside them.

"You can take that card and go have fun wherever you want on the planet. If anyone gives you trouble, flash that—it should shut them up 90% of the time."

"...90%?"

David eyed the card warily as he picked it up, and Wanete glanced at the gold-crusted black card before looking back at Jamie.

"Might I ask about the other 10%?"

"Well, in that case, run back here as fast as you can."

"""... ..."""

Wanete suddenly regretted asking. But Jamie had already shifted his focus back to Rowena, so she and the others silently left the terrace.

Once they were gone, Rowena leaned forward slightly.

"So, Sir Jamie..."

"Hmm?"

Jamie raised a brow as he scrolled through the thousands of dress designs Rowena had compiled over the years.

"About the thing you asked me to check on..."

"Ah, right. What did you find?"

"I’ve confirmed a 13% increase in Space Beast activity. But it looks like little Lapis and her underlings haven’t noticed since they’re too busy with the Amphitheatre.

Then again, the affected areas are near the outskirts of the galaxy, so even if the Amphitheatre wasn’t open, it would’ve taken them a while to notice."

Rowena’s previously playful tone was nowhere to be found as she spoke. Hearing her words, Jamie pursed his lips in silence.

Pinecone’s exact size had never been mentioned before, but the galaxy spanned roughly 1.5 million light-years in diameter.

Calling it merely ’huge’ would be an insult to its size.

Overseeing such an enormous expanse was no easy task. Despite the ever-increasing speed of information transmission, it still took time for reports to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other.

It took time for those living in the outskirts to notice the rise in Space Beast activity. It took more time for their reports to move up the chain of command and eventually reach the galaxy’s centre.

One planet’s people might sense something was wrong, but it would take longer for their Planet Lord to escalate the matter to the Star System Overseer.

The Star System Overseer might initially believe the issue could be handled locally. But when multiple planets reported the same anomaly, they had two choices: maintain confidence in their own forces or escalate the matter to their Stellar Region Lord.

Some Region Lords might decide their own forces were enough to handle it, choosing not to report the incidents any further. If multiple Region Lords made this choice, it would delay awareness at higher levels, as there wouldn’t be enough reports for the situation’s urgency to become apparent.

And so, the cycle continued—delays accumulating until the matter finally reached Central Galactic Command.

The same Central Galactic Command that already had its forces stretched thin, dealing with the influx of Intergalactic Dignitaries arriving for the duration of the Eternal Trials.

"That’s why, in times like this, it’s best to rely on an outsider’s perspective to notice when something’s wrong."

Jamie muttered the thought aloud, mentally comparing Rowena’s report to the one he had received from Lapis’ subordinates just the day before.

They had only confirmed a 2% increase in activity. Meanwhile, Rowena’s findings showed 13%.

According to Lapis’ subordinates, Space Beast activity increase typically fluctuated by 5–10% during the Eternal Trials, and they were prepared to handle spikes of up to 20%.

But if they were already at 13% on just Day 3 of the Eternal Trials, then the situation was far more serious than Pinecone’s Central Galactic Command seemed to realize.

"They wouldn’t notice it from the inside," Jamie mused, "but someone scanning carefully from the outside would."

Rowena stretched her arms, glancing at him as she spoke.

"But Sir Jamie, you could’ve done this yourself. Can’t you cover way more ground than I can? And in much less time? You can even see things in directions I can’t."