Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 317: Blood Transference

"Begin the Ritual!"

Davina Evangelista heard those words ring in her half-conscious mind, the loud sound amplifying the pounding in her skull, worsening her already unbearable migraine.

She could feel the warmth of her own blood pooling beneath her, seeping from her nose, mouth, and eyes. The floor beneath her was slick with it, the scent of iron thick in the air.

But despite the ridiculous amount of blood she was losing, she wasn’t feeling the least bit anaemic.

The eight-ringed magic circle beneath her pulsed rhythmically, siphoning her blood while simultaneously pumping foreign blood back into her veins.

Davina could feel the foreign presence slithering through her body, merging with hers in a way that made her stomach churn.

She couldn’t understand.

Why were her abductors trying to put new blood into her body? And more importantly, why did that blood possess the same special properties as hers?!

The young woman was confused, wondering if they were attempting to extract her Queen’s Blood.

’...but that’s a property of the soul reflected in the physical body via blood. They can’t take it unless they rip out my soul...’

The thought sent a shiver crawling down her spine, cold sweat beading on her skin as she considered the terrifying possibility.

She tried to move, but her body refused to listen, restrained both physically and by whatever spell was woven into the magic circle beneath her.

As she struggled futilely, one of the many vampires busily moving about around her screamed out.

"Why the hell does she have so much magic power in her blood?! And it’s high quality too! What the hell does this girl feed on?!"

As if in response, the magic power within Davina’s blood began to react, causing her blood to bubble like a boiling liquid.

Naturally, her abductors noticed as well, their eyes widening in shock.

"Wait, why’s the magic behaving strangely?!"

"This...someone’s using her blood as a beacon!!"

The moment those words were spoken, a massive wave of power swept over the entire area, and everyone froze upon sensing it.

"Shit, he’s already here!"

"How far have we gotten with the ritual?!"

"The hell do you mean ’how far have we gotten?’ We just fucking started!"

The vampires scrambled in a panic, some pouring more magic power into the circle at her feet, causing it to drain even more of Davina’s blood while forcing more of that strange blood into her body.

Davina’s vision grew hazier, and she could barely raise her head anymore.

"Move to the second location before he gets here!"

Hearing that line, her eyes widened slightly.

’Who’s ...he? Did, Lord Jamie...find out...that’s good...’

That was her last thought before darkness consumed her mind, and she lost consciousness.

Barely a moment later, a crushing wave of magic power engulfed the entire area, distorting space with its sheer intensity.

Then, a voice rang out through the speakers in the area.

[Brace yourselves, we’re making the jump!]

The vampires around Davina immediately latched onto whatever they could as their entire fortress lurched violently forward, tearing through the fabric of space.

But before they could fully break through, an unseen force seized them from behind, yanking them backwards with even greater force.

Cries of confusion and alarm filled the chamber as they tried to stabilize the fortress and attempt the jump again, but that same force took hold, violently pulling them back into their original space.

Panic spread among those at the helm as they scrambled to analyse their surroundings, searching for the source of this interference. Within moments, their screens locked onto a feed from one of the many external cameras positioned around their floating fortress.

On the display was a man in a suit, walking forward with an unnerving calmness, one arm outstretched towards the sky.

"Fuck!"

The curse barely left the vampire’s lips before the silver-haired man pulled his arm back, yanking their floating fortress out of the fabric of space and dragging it down from its position thousands of kilometres aboveground.

The space between the fortress and the ground was erased, and in the blink of an eye, it plummeted with devastating force, slamming into the earth below.

Everyone inside was violently thrown off their feet as the fortress crashed, bodies slamming against walls and the floor. Just then, a massive chunk of the structure was ripped out and hurled aside like a torn page from a book.

Jamie stepped through the opening, his pupils flicking around as he scanned the vampires present.

’They’re all High-Tier Deities. Some are even Vampire Kings...’

As he thought this, the vampires quickly scrambled to their feet, cursing aloud.

"Shit! Buy some time!"

Immediately, they activated various Authorities, and among them, one vampire activated a blood magic spell.

Seeing this, the one beside her reacted in alarm.

"You fool! Don’t use blood magic against him!"

But the warning came too late. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The vampiress instantly lost control of her magic as her own blood surged up her nostrils, piercing straight into her brain. Her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp—only to suddenly regain movement just before hitting the ground.

She lunged suddenly at the vampire who had tried to warn her, seizing him by the neck before he could react. With terrifying speed, she swung his body into the one beside him, sending both crashing through the fortress wall and tearing straight through the fabric of space into another dimension.

As the rift sealed behind them, she turned and lunged at another of her allies, unleashing all her Authorities.

While that unfolded, one of the Vampire Kings lunged at Jamie with his sword, but Jamie didn’t even spare him a glance.

He wordlessly summoned the Galaxy Sword and cleaved through both the Vampire King’s blade and his neck in one movement, instantly beheading him.

"While I do need to figure out what nonsense you were up to..."

Cosmic energy surged through the Galaxy Sword, and the stars scattered across its surface glowed brightly.

"...I don’t need all of you alive for that."

Before the sound of his words could even reach them, Jamie swung his blade in a horizontal arc, unleashing a spatial slash charged with the power he had just reclaimed from the Stellar Keystone on Kaelithis.

Anyone too slow to evade it found their upper halves cleanly severed from their lower halves.

But strangely, not a drop of blood spilt.

Their upper halves crashed to the ground, still tethered to their lower bodies through space—an invisible link Jamie could sever at any moment.

Reversing his grip, Jamie swung his sword in the opposite direction, unleashing another sweeping slash of cosmic spatial energy. Midway, the slash transformed into a projected cutting field that tore through the air.

This time, those who had evaded the first attack weren’t as fortunate. The cutting field slashed through their bodies, deep wounds splitting open as crimson blood spilt into the air.

The blood didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, it defied gravity, twisting and morphing into arrows that shot through their bodies at light speed.

’Blood Puppetry.’

Jamie’s will was exerted through the blood he had seized control of, and with a slight twist of his wrist, he issued his command.

In perfect unison, over a dozen High-Tier Deity Realm Vampires—beings powerful enough to rule entire galaxies—clutched their heads and snapped their own necks.

As their bodies collapsed to the floor, Jamie stepped forward and drove his sword into the chest of one of the severed vampires. Instantly, agonized screams filled the air as identical stab wounds appeared on the others, as though an invisible blade had pierced dangerously close to their hearts.

Ignoring their torment, he turned his attention to the magic circle at the centre of the room, where the unconscious Davina lay. His voice was low as he muttered while walking.

"Blood transference? Just what insanity were you lot up to?"

Jamie stomped his foot down on the magic circle, shattering and stopping Davina’s blood from flowing out while preventing the foreign blood from entering her body.

He snapped his fingers and teleported David and Wanete into the room, leaving the young vampires momentarily stunned at the sight of so many wounded Deity-level vampires sprawled across the floor.

Jamie’s voice, however, quickly snapped him to their senses, making them notice what the overwhelming magic power saturating the area had prevented them from noticing immediately.

"Handle your sister."

David’s eyes widened and he spun in the direction Jamie pointed, immediately rushing over and lifting Davina from the crimson pool she lay in.

Davina stirred in David’s arms, a weak groan escaping her lips as consciousness slowly crept back into her. Her eyelids fluttered, heavy with exhaustion, and her vision swam in and out of focus.

"Davina... Davina!" David called, his voice laced with desperation as he wiped off the blood from her face with his hands.

Wanete knelt beside them, using her magic to scan Davina’s body for internal injuries or anything else that might be wrong.

David’s grip on his sister tightened as he called out to her, his voice filled with worry.

"Come on, wake up! Please... You’re safe now.

Lord Jamie, Wanete and I came to get you out of here. Those bastards who took you—they’re dead. You’re safe now."

Davina blinked, her vision still hazy. She glanced around, struggling to make sense of her surroundings, and upon spotting Jamie nearby, her eyes widened slightly.

"...sir...Jamie..."

Jamie, who had been heading toward another section of the fortress, stopped when he heard her call out to him. Turning to her, he asked.

"Are you okay?"

Davina winced, pressing a hand to her temple as she forced out her response.

"...I don’t feel good..."

"Where does it hurt?"

David immediately latched onto her words, his worry spilling out as he questioned her further.

Meanwhile, Jamie shifted his gaze and, without hesitation, slashed at another vampire who charged in from a different section of the fortress and attacked him.

He locked them in mid-air by freezing the space around them, then beheaded them with that slash.

Then, using his spatial power, he lifted the fallen vampires and hurled their bodies outside the burning fortress.

He strode toward them, letting go of his sword to float at his side, his attention fixed on those he had spatially cleaved in two, while David and Wanete helped Davina to her feet and guided her out of the wreckage.

The two supported the staggering Davina from either side, but even with their help, she struggled to walk properly. She stumbled repeatedly, and at one point, one of her loosely worn shoes slipped from her foot and tumbled across the ground.

Wanete quickly moved to pick it up, but the moment she did, her blood suddenly ran cold and an overwhelming chill ran down her spine. Every survival instinct in her body screamed at her, warning her of imminent danger.

Faster than she could act on that warning, a beam of concentrated magic, nearly a meter wide in diameter, streaked past her left side from behind, tearing through the air at light speed.

As it brushed past her, the force of its passage generated a shockwave that sent her hurtling like a ragdoll.

"Huh—?!"

David’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden appearance of the beam, and that shock only doubled when he saw where it had come from.

Tripling that shock was the sudden searing pain that tore through his chest.

His gaze dropped, and he found himself staring at a blade of white magic power, its length crackling with blood lightning, now slick with his own blood as it protruded from his chest.

Before he could utter a sound—whether a gasp of pain or a cry of disbelief—a hand blurred forward, clamping over his mouth, clawed nails digging into his skin and drawing even more blood.

The young man’s eyes were wide with shock and confusion, his mind struggling to process the sudden, incomprehensible turn of events.

He couldn’t be blamed—after all, the beam that had just grazed Wanete and the blade now impaled through his chest had both come from the very person they had come to rescue:

His twin sister, Davina.