Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 328: The Amphitheatre’s Crisis

The Amphitheatre of Eternity was in chaos.

At the moment, it held the highest concentration of people in the entire Pinecone Galaxy, thanks to the ongoing Eternal Trials.

Naturally, it was also one of the most heavily defended locations in the galaxy—second only to certain private facilities under Lapis’ direct control.

However, those defences were now stretched thin.

A significant number of the Race Ruler-level subordinates stationed here had been redeployed across Pinecone to confront the widespread Space Beast attacks on various planets. As a result, the Amphitheatre now operated with barely half its original defensive strength.

And the timing couldn’t have been worse.

The Space Beasts had already launched their attacks, and other powerful opportunistic monsters, drawn by the chaos and feeding off the disruption caused by the Space Beasts, joined the fray.

Worse yet, the undead Amorphous Space Beast was slowly but surely making its way towards the Amphitheatre.

Inside the Amphitheatre itself were throngs of evacuating spectators from the Eternal Trials, along with many powerful figures from foreign galaxies. From Galactic Rulers, regular Race Kings and even a few entities that had long surpassed the universe’s highest Existence Realms.

Yet, only about 25% of these beings chose to stand alongside Lapis’ subordinates to help defend the Amphitheatre.

Honestly, that was already more than one could reasonably expect. After all, most of these beings had no real stake in Pinecone’s fate. As stated previously, it wasn’t their galaxy.

They planned to watch the chaos unfold around them, only stepping in to interfere if it became absolutely necessary. Some were even planning how they were going to make their dramatic entrances and how they’d demand compensation from Pinecone after this whole mess was over.

But that luxury of choosing when to act—they were about to lose it.

Amid the chaos and confusion, while the defenders were fending off the Space Beasts, dealing with the other attacking monsters, and evacuating civilians who couldn’t survive a battlefield of this magnitude, unidentified assailants suddenly emerged and began attacking the high-profile figures in the Amphitheatre.

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It started suddenly.

One of the many Race Emperors was seated quietly in his private booth, watching the chaos unfold outside.

Without warning, a masked and hooded figure appeared right in front of his booth, and in the instant that it took him to react, the figure unleashed a blast of cosmic energy that tore through the booth, obliterating that entire section of the Amphitheatre.

The explosion rippled outward in a blinding flash of light and sound, swallowing everything in its immediate radius. Several nearby spectators who hadn’t managed to flee in time and some defenders were caught in the blast, their bodies hurled through the air like ragdolls.

The devastating explosion caught the attention of those who were fighting against the space beasts, and they turned towards its source, only to see more masked figures emerging.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the blast, the new assailants launched surprise attacks, catching many of the defenders off guard.

Simultaneously, multiple other VIP booths were attacked by similar figures, each one of them radiating an aura just as powerful and menacing as the Race Kings and Emperors they attacked.

Seeing this, Lapis’ subordinates felt their hearts sink.

They were already barely holding things together with the millions of Space Beasts attacking, and now these powerful attackers had appeared from nowhere.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that these new attackers were likely responsible for both the resurrection of the ASB and the current space beast invasion.

But knowing that didn’t change the situation. Their hands were full.

Multiple sectors of the Amphitheatre erupted violently as fights broke out across the stands, prompting the activation of the Amphitheatre’s defensive systems.

Cannons and guns emerged from gaps between spectator seats, unleashing concentrated beams of cosmic energy toward the intruders.

Some of the attackers dodged the blasts with ease, but others were taken by surprise—not by the weapons themselves, but by where they were hidden.

After all, who in their right mind would expect a toilet door to swing open and reveal a railgun with a two-metre-wide barrel?

The Amphitheatre’s arena operating system, originally designed to generate a variety of battle arenas for the Eternal Trials, immediately switched configurations to defensive mode.

Using its ability to scan and record the combat data of existences within, it created hostile environments tailored to counter the masked attackers based on the elemental signatures of their first strikes.

Fire users were instantly targeted by cosmic beams and dropped into freezing terrains. Lightning users found themselves swallowed by swirling tornadoes of rock that absorbed their electricity.

Many of the masked attackers broke free before these terrains could fully trap them, but some of the weaker ones were caught and neutralized...permanently.

The rages of the Race Emperors who had been targeted were felt across the entire Amphitheatre. Their auras surged as they struck back, instantly wiping out some of the attackers.

Thus, the chaos in the Amphitheatre erupted to a new high.

The masked figures and the foreign Race Rulers clashed violently across multiple sectors of the Amphitheatre.

Some of them took advantage of the constantly shifting terrain of the arena, which was actively transforming to deal maximum environmental damage against the masked figures.

The more the masked attackers fought, the more data the Amphitheatre gathered on them—adjusting its terrain to create environments that countered their powers.

This shift allowed the defending side to recover from the initial disadvantage caused by the abruptness of the ambush, slowly dragging the battle toward a chaotic stalemate.

Still, none of the defenders could identify who these attackers were. All appraisal and analysis Skills and Authorities simply failed to work on them.

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With every passing moment, more of the Amphitheatre’s stored cosmic energy meant for activation was consumed to power its defensive systems.

Even with its immense durability, the Amphitheatre could not escape serious damage as multiple galaxy-level existences fought within and around it.

Amid the numerous battles, another group of five masked figures appeared, hovering silently in the space above the Amphitheatre.

Their presences carried no detectable energies, and even the most perceptive of observers couldn’t sense an iota of power from them, despite physically seeing them hover in space.

This meant only one of two things: either they were so pathetically weak that their powers were beneath detection, or their strength was so high it exceeded the perception limits of everyone present.

Those hidden figures from distant galactic powers who had come in secret to observe the Eternal Trials in hopes of recruiting talented people—those whose power had already surpassed the Deity Realms—immediately recognized what they were looking at.

Attaining their level of power demanded Cosmic Superiority. And with a single glance, they could detect the cosmic energy coiling around the bodies of those masked figures, shielding them from the shockwaves and violent energy surges erupting all around them.

Realising that these new masked figures were cosmic superiors made everything happening now infinitely more dangerous.

Down within the Amphitheatre itself, the attackers and defenders clashed over and over, each clash unleashing blasts of law energy tearing through space, smashing into anything and everything in their path.

Enraged by the strikes against them, some of the foreign Race Rulers—especially those caught off guard while lounging and observing the unfolding chaos—unleashed devastating counterattacks, indifferent to the collateral damage they caused.

Others, witnessing this, shouted at the frenzied Rulers, demanding they rein in their power. They urged them to focus on their attackers, to control their strength so the evacuating spectators wouldn’t be harmed in the process.

But the wounded pride of those caught off guard, already stung by the sheer humiliation, made them deaf to reason.

They didn’t listen and continued unleashing their power without restraint, caring little for who else might be caught in their blasts.

And it was then, that it happened.

One of the Race Kings from a distant galaxy, overcome with rage and unleashing his destructive force without restraint, was suddenly targeted by the Amphitheatre’s defence systems.

He caused so much collateral damage that the Amphitheatre recognized him as an enemy, and immediately unleashed a beam of cosmic destruction at him, in the same manner it did his opponent.

The sudden attack from the Amphitheatre caught him off guard, and in that exposed moment, his attacker, who easily evaded the attack meant for them, seized the moment to deliver a devastating blow.

His Race King Authority instantly vanished, and the realisation of what just occurred hit everyone present simultaneously.

The first Race King-level existence had fallen in this chaos, and a wave of stunned disbelief spread through everyone close enough to witness it.

Both the masked assailants and the defenders froze in shock as the corpse crashed to the floor of the arena.

Gasps and angry shouts broke out as some of the defenders immediately spun around and grabbed nearby members of the Creator Society, fury blazing in their eyes.