‘No burst of aura, no trace of magical fluctuation, it was so simply as if one step had surpassed the limit of his dynamic vision’s capture!’
‘Such speed…’
Dio’s heart pounded, and a chill mixed with unbelievable shock crawled up his spine.
‘He was already a seventh-tier warrior with extraordinary eyesight, but the speed Yize had just displayed had completely surpassed the conventional range of his understanding of the word “speed”!’
‘That was absolutely not something that a second-tier mage with “only magical talent” could achieve, nor even something an ordinary high-tier warrior or archmage could reach!’
“Yize… just how many secrets are you still hiding?”
Dio muttered softly, gazing at the night sky where Yize had vanished.
This reincarnation, the trajectory of the world had already deviated beyond recognition.
Powerful “teammates” were emerging one after another, although some had become enemies, and Yize was always the biggest and most mysterious variable.
But for some reason, seeing the determined and urgent look in Yize’s eyes after his return, the confusion and unease in Dio’s heart caused by the drastic changes instead settled down.
In any case, this was ultimately a good thing.
In the night, Yize kept his speed at a level that allowed rapid travel without breaking the sound barrier and causing a thunderous roar.
Even so, he crossed over three hundred kilometers in just over an hour.
That was with several stops along the way to ask sporadic night patrol soldiers or fleeing civilians for directions.
When Yize arrived at the Westis Family territory, the scene before him was even more tragic than Betty’s territory.
Most of the city wall had collapsed. Thin black smoke still rose from many places within the city.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and burnt flesh.
The survivors were like startled birds, numbly searching through the ruins or huddling in relatively intact corners, their eyes hollow.
Yize’s heart heavy, he quickly found a Westis Family officer directing the clearing of roads.
He flashed the emblem of Starlight Academy and asked for details about the “Silver-haired Strong One.”
The information confirmed Dio’s intelligence but was more precise in timing— Riya had appeared at Xisi Territory two nights ago.
With overwhelming force, she had directly crushed the Blood Race’s command structure, forcing their army to scatter.
She seemed to have briefly interrogated prisoners for information, then taken several obvious Blood Race leaders and headed toward the central region.
‘This foolish woman… does she really intend to single-handedly sweep through all the organized Blood Race forces within the Empire until she unearths the mastermind?’
Yize felt both anger and heartache.
This persistence and ferocity left a lump in his chest.
Not daring to delay any further, Yize quickly set up a simple magic teleportation coordinate in a hidden spot on the outskirts of Xisi Territory.
This was a habit he’d developed since returning from Stana— leaving coordinates at every important location or area he expected to pass through repeatedly, just in case.
Though the teleportation magic he currently mastered had limited range, multiple coordinate points could always increase strategic flexibility.
After setting the coordinate, Yize’s figure melted back into the night. He began a mad dash of over two thousand kilometers toward the northeast.
He had to catch up to Riya before she encountered unpredictable danger!
……
Meanwhile, in the central region of the Empire.
Riya stood on a wind-sheltered hillside, her silver hair gently swaying in the chilly breeze.
Not far behind her, eight figures sat, stood, or leaned against rocks, scattered about.
Without exception, these figures exuded dense blood qi and powerful energy fluctuations.
But at this moment, their faces bore varying degrees of fatigue, frustration, and barely concealed fear.
They were all the members of the Blood Race’s “Ten Pillars,” minus the deceased No.2 and the elusive No.1—from No.3 to No.10, eight in total!
In just a few days, Riya had swept through like a silver Death Whirlwind, starting from Betty’s territory and moving in reverse along the main routes of the Blood Race invasion.
With absolute strength and natural suppression at the bloodline level, she had “invited” these scattered, army-leading, infamous Blood Pillars to her side, one by one.
The method was simple and crude: find, beat into submission, bring along, then find the next.
More than half of the Blood Race threat within the Empire had been forcibly halted by her actions alone!
At this moment, the eight Blood Pillars’ gazes—especially those of the lower-ranked ones—were mostly fixed on No.3 with intense resentment.
If not for this guy initially “inviting the wolf into the house,” how could things have come to this?
How could they have become prisoners and guides?
No.3 felt their stares but didn’t care. He even had a somewhat carefree attitude, as if letting things fall where they may.
He spread his hands. Bruises from earlier still showed on his face. His tone was sarcastic.
“What are you all staring at me for?”
“My fault?”
“I got beaten that badly back then, and you weren’t any better off.”
“Blame yourselves for lacking skill—can’t even beat an outdated ‘Ancient Vampire.’”
He stressed the word “outdated,” with obvious self-deprecation and a counterattack against certain companions’ former arrogance.
“Not convinced now?”
“Feeling wronged?”
“Fine, whoever thinks they’re capable, go ahead and resist!”
“If you’re not satisfied, all of you can jump me.”
“I’ll definitely cheer you on!”
The Blood Pillars’ faces alternated between pale and red. They exchanged glances, but not one dared to move.
Resist?
What a joke!
Along the way, some had tried sneak attacks, escape, or even joint resistance.
And the result?
It only invited faster, heavier blows. The suppression from the source of their bloodline made it impossible to use even half their strength.
This silver-haired fiend was simply a monster beyond reason!
Riya paid no attention to the subtle movements and eye contact among the Blood Pillars behind her.
Her mind wasn’t on them at all.
The continuous high-intensity battles and tracking had left her tired, even with her current constitution.
But what annoyed her more was that, up to now, she still hadn’t found any clear leads on Yize’s whereabouts, nor had she forced out the so-called “Black Robe Lord.”
These Blood Pillars, including No.3, seemed genuinely unaware of Jellal’s specific movements.
She turned, her icy silver eyes sweeping over the Blood Pillars. Her voice betrayed no emotion.
“Next, where to?”
Her tone was flat, but it carried an unquestionable command.
No.3 immediately put on an obsequious expression, stepping forward to analyze.
“Chief, based on the route and known intel, the most likely next encounter is No.1’s area of responsibility.”
“That guy always operates alone. His whereabouts are almost as unpredictable as Lord Jellal’s, but he’s definitely active in this region.”
“As long as we take him down, I swear with all my remaining blood qi that Lord Kasmir and Lord Jellal won’t be able to sit still—they’ll definitely show up!”
His calculations were clear: No.1, that arrogant, unfathomably powerful bastard, had always been someone the lower-ranked Blood Pillars both feared and secretly resented.
If even No.1 fell to Riya, then their collective defeat as captives wouldn’t seem so glaring.
It’s not that we’re useless—it’s that the opponent is absurdly strong!
When the time came to face the furious Kasmir and the mysterious Jellal, the pressure would fall hardest on No.1, the top-ranked.
As “accessories,” they might even receive lighter punishment.
The other Blood Pillars were disgusted by No.3’s demeanor, but deep down, they agreed with this strategy.
When the sky falls, the tallest takes the hit.
No.1 and the two “Lords” were the tallest.
Riya frowned slightly, catching a detail.
“Ten Pillars? Shouldn’t there be ten? One is missing.”
Bart quickly stepped forward, forcing a fawning smile, and answered eagerly.
“Chief, don’t you remember?”
“I reported to you before—Lord Yize, invincible in his might, used that magical ‘Obedience Water’ to make that No.2 blow himself up!”
He deliberately emphasized “Lord Yize” and “invincible in his might,” trying to flatter Riya by praising Yize.
Sure enough, at the words “Obedience Water,” an extremely rare, subtle, unnatural blush flickered across Riya’s face, which had been like a frozen lake. Even her cold eyes wavered.
Certain overly “stimulating” and “shameful” memories uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.
“Ahem… Got it.”
She quickly suppressed that trace of anomaly and returned to her icy demeanor.
“Then let’s go find No.1.”
No.3’s heart leaped with joy. He quickly replied, “Yes, Chief! This way, please!”
He could already picture No.1 getting beaten black and blue, joining him in this “wonderful” future.
……
Just as Riya was escorting the eight Blood Pillars and searching for No.1.
Having slept for several days to digest some special power and adjust his condition, Kasmir slowly opened his eyes.
“It’s about time… Those children should have delivered enough ‘gifts’ to the human empire, right?”
He murmured to himself, the corner of his mouth lifting into a confident arc.
He habitually used the special connection imprinted in the bloodline depths of all newborn Blood Race to sense their status and location, receiving vague feedback about their mission progress.
But then, the arc at his lips froze.
The scene reflected back in his perception left him—the New Vampire King, the ambitious builder of the Eternal Empire—briefly stunned.
Ten powerful bloodline connections. One had been completely extinguished.
But the remaining nine… except for No.1’s, which was still independent, active, and wandering, the other eight were now tightly gathered at the same location!
Moreover, the emotional fluctuations vaguely transmitted through the bloodline link were filled with oppression, humiliation, fear, and… a sense of bound helplessness?
What made his pupils contract even more was that, through the shared “vision” of the eight Blood Pillars,
He “saw” the figure standing before them—silver hair streaming, profile cold.
“It’s her.”
Kasmir’s eyes instantly turned razor-sharp.
“That Ancient Vampire!”
He quickly pieced together the situation.
No wonder the vague information about the frontline war he’d been receiving had grown scarcer and more chaotic!
It wasn’t that things were going so smoothly that reports weren’t needed—it was that the blades he’d sent out had been snapped off and confiscated, one by one!
“Good… Very good!”
Kasmir’s voice dropped low, holding the terrible calm before a storm.
“To dare drive and imprison my meticulously crafted ‘Ten Pillars’ like livestock… Do you think that being a Pureblood allows you to do whatever you want?”
Toward Riya, his only surviving Pureblood kin, Kasmir’s emotions were extremely complex.
He felt a faint, almost imperceptible wariness and an odd connection from the bloodline source.
But he also harbored a rejection and hostility, seeing her as a “relic of the old era” and a “stumbling block to the new empire’s establishment.”
“It seems it’s time for the remnants of the ‘old era’ to witness the power of the ‘new era’ firsthand.”
Kasmir slowly rose from his throne, built from dark red crystals.
In a violent spatial distortion and thick bloodlight, his figure vanished abruptly.
His target was the location where those eight bloodline connections converged—the place where Riya was.