Pirate Kingship-Chapter 583 - 422 – Burp~ Can’t Finish Absorbing, It’s Endless! (6600 word merge)_3
The twelfth arm came from Byron's cheap disciple, King Miktlan of Uxmal City, and the thirteenth from Beret Tanya of the Lancaster Party, known as [Preempting the Enemy]. These individuals were the core representatives of the various factions under Byron's command.
The "bones of kin" weren't an issue either; the entire ship's contingent on the [Blue Dragon King] were Lancasters. This group of Lancasters had met their demise last October, less than a year ago, perfectly fulfilling the "within three years" requirement. Never mind just six; ten or even sixteen could be produced. Among them were valuable specimens like his great-uncle, [Mad King] Henry VI, and his father, Prince Sorrenberg—both Fourth Order Transcenders. They had died as a King and a Prince respectively, having wielded immense power in life, making them highly compatible with the ritual's requirements.
CRACKLE... POP...
Blood-red flames roared as Byron intoned the incantation: "The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to tame my heart. Sea of Blood, Day of Blood, Panacea of Everlasting Life..."
The gist was that when encountering the eternal will of Hermes, one must consume his bird wings (the wings of his sandals) to gain mastery over one's own heart, achieve individuation, and concoct the Panacea... This was Black Sorcery, and also the highest form of immortality Alchemy from the Mythological Era!
The thirteen collected arms and six ribs were reshaped within the blood-red flames, swiftly transforming into an ethereal, winged Holy Grail of white bone. This was the focal object for the [Crimson Holy Grail] ritual.
Next, the most crucial part was to pour one's own Blood of Transformation into the grail, then supplement it with the blood of a loved one to complete oneself, thereby fulfilling the ritual's prerequisites.
Most paths to immortality could only be achieved at the Fifth Order. However, Night Demons, almost unique among Mythical Creatures, existed in a state between life and death. For years, following the Church's lifting of bans, historians and Naturalists had gradually begun studying the history of various major species from the Mythological Era. Even so, they struggled to accurately classify Night Demons. Some classified them as a type of Undead Creature, ranking them alongside Stitched Monsters and Reanimated Corpses. Others considered them magic-infused sub-humans brimming with vitality, not much different from Werewolves—one merely leaned more towards wolves, the other towards bats.
This peculiar quality, defying the distinction between life and death, stemmed precisely from this blood exchange with a loved one. Regardless of whether the ascendant was male or female, since the ritual required replacing at least two-thirds of their blood in one go, the other party theoretically could not survive. Moreover, an annotation indicated that once the feeding began, the temptation brought by the sublimation of bloodlines would induce a potent bloodlust. Unable to control themselves, the ascendant would drain their loved one's blood and all their essence, continuing until they could drink no more, most likely leaving behind only a withered corpse.
At this point, everyone else retreated far away at Byron's command. Only Byron himself and the law projections of two Queens, Violet and Catherine, remained.
As soon as Byron saw everyone had moved away, he immediately clutched his backside, HISS... HISS... Clearly, he had just been thrashed! The one who had beaten him was none other than Catherine, who had projected her presence from afar to provide blood.
In fact, Violet alone was a Fourth Order Whale Girl. For Byron's small frame, even if he drank until he was bloated, it would be no different than a normal person getting a mosquito bite. And [Mithril Dragon] Catherine was even larger. Logically, one Whale Girl would have been completely sufficient; there was no need for Catherine, the giant dragon lady, to step in. But Byron knew very well that if he dared to exclude his sister this time, he would definitely be in serious trouble later on. It wasn't her blood he would be excluding, but her status. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Byron simply put himself in her shoes and decisively used this opportunity to offer her the other Queen's position.
It was all because before he had asked his "former good 'brother'" to "bear him a child," he had paused dramatically while trying to lighten the mood, hesitating slightly when announcing the dismissal of her duties as Regent King and as his sister. Upon hearing this, Catherine, fearless as ever, had only one reaction... her fists hardened! Wrinkling her brow on the spot, she activated her [Golden Law] projection and attacked. Raising the [Mithril Dragon]'s fist, larger than a millstone, she gave Byron a sound thrashing on the spot. This had been a privilege exclusively belonging to Catherine, his sister, since childhood. Even his great-uncle, father, and cousins had all turned a blind eye, ignominiously starting up the [Blue Dragon King] and making a clean getaway.
Looking across the known world, those political creatures perched in the various ruling strata could hardly be called human anymore. In any country, if an Emperor or King spoke of dismissing their Regent King—even if the latter were usually their own sibling—it would be hard for anyone involved to remain calm and composed. Such an act would inevitably be accompanied by countless undercurrents, factional disputes, and realignments, with bloodshed among the "nobles" all too likely. But compared to those political creatures, their "Royal Family," which didn't even contain a single normal human, more closely resembled a group of "people" in the conventional sense.
Only when Byron, freshly bruised, respectfully offered his sister the second Queen's Crown did he manage to save his own skin.
Nearby, two beautiful young women of comparable grace walked side by side along the shore, lifting their skirts and holding hands. Their bare feet left neat footprints on the ravaged sand. Their changed statuses hadn't affected their close friendship; they chatted and laughed, showing no hint of nervousness about the impending ceremony.
