Chapter 151: Bloodline Authority
"A war? And who are you all to decide that?"
The voice cut through the air like a blade clear, female, and soaked in authority. It wasn't loud, yet it carried further and deeper than a shout could ever manage. The words themselves seemed to crawl beneath the skin, forcing the hearts of every listener to pound faster.
"Did I give permission for that?"
Instantly, bodies stiffened. Not one person whether the weakest commoner trembling in the crowd, the high dukes who stood at the pinnacle of power, or even Merisa herself escaped the unseen hand that bound them. Their bodies froze against their will, locked in place like puppets whose strings had been seized.
All of them.. except one.
Amid the silence and sudden oppression, Razeal tilted his head and let a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. His gaze shifted lazily toward the direction the voice had come from, as though he had been expecting this all along. And then he saw her.
Celestia.
She moved with deliberate, unhurried steps, each one echoing against the stone floor with a crisp click of her heels. Her entire form shimmered, engulfed in a multicolored aura that bled into the air like living flame. It wasn't one color it was all colors, every shade and spectrum woven together into something divine, something overwhelming. Her eyes blazed like twin jewels of rainbow fire, alive and Authoritative.
Her face was cold, beautiful in its severity, and her every movement radiated an authority that demanded obedience without the need for words.
Razeal chuckled inwardly, his smirk deepening. Great. I already ripped out my bloodline, or else I'd be stuck like the rest of these fools. How embarrassing would that be? He knew all too well how broken the imperial family's generational ability was. It wasn't power in the usual sense it was something more like a cheat.. fully aware of how messed up the author's logic or whatever he was smoking was when he gave the imperial family a blatant cheating ability. Totally unresonable.
The dukes fell into silence. Their faces remained calm, masks of indifference, even though their bodies stood unnaturally stiff under Celestia's suppression. To them, it was as if nothing was out of place. They accepted the invisible chains binding them as though it were perfectly normal.
But for those with lesser strength nobles, warriors, and commoners the effect was devastating. Their bodies twisted with strain, faces scrunched in agony as if flames burned within their veins. Anger and humiliation radiated from them, yet none could resist. Their wills, their movements, even their voices were simply rejected.
"I reject the war," Celestia's voice rang out, calm and absolute. She stepped forward, each click of her heels echoing through the silent hall. she raised her gaze and looked each one of dukea directly in the eye. Her words carried no hesitation, no opening for debate. It was not a suggestion it was a decree.
"Of course it is." Arabella chuckled, as if not all the dukes already knew that war was never going to happen in the first place while the Imperial family was still sitting without their permission.
Her tone was careless, her voice laced with scorn. But the moment the words left her mouth, Celestia's rainbow-blazing eyes turned to her.
"I did not give my permission to comment."
The statement fell like a hammer.
Suddenly, Arabella's body slammed into the ground. Her face smashed into the marble floor with such force that a shallow crater formed beneath her. She couldn't even flinch, or even move her lips freely. Every part of her body was pinned by a crushing weight, as though an invisible hand had pressed her existence itself into submission.
"Arghh!" A strained groan escaped her throat. But even then, Arabella had forced smile onto her lips, the expression trembling yet mocking. "Apologies… your highness." Her voice was muffled against the stone.
Celestia's aura pulsed brighter, her entire form wrapped in multicolored radiance. She passed Arabella without even looking at her, her words delivered with cold dismissal.
"Forgiven."
With that, she walked on and stopped between Nova, Marcella, Maximum, and Seraphina Faerelith. Both dukes stood in silence. None dared to utter a foolish word like Arabella. They simply stood, their calm masks hiding the storm that brewed inside. They understood too well power differences did not matter here. Even though Celestia was immeasurably weaker in raw strength compared to them, she carried something none of them could defy
Nova's face flushed blue with rage, her hands trembling as her aura seethed and boiled. To her, this was nothing less than a taboo, a violation of the rules every noble house lived by. The imperial family's generational ability was always despised. To use it here, openly, against dukes themselves it was beyond unacceptable. It was humiliation, and her blood screamed against it.
Celestia, however, ignored her completely. She swept her gaze over the gathered dukes, her expression unchanged, her presence suffocating. They held their tongues. That, too, was obedience.
Finally, her eyes turned to Merisa.
For a brief instant, her gaze flicked across Razeal. Her brows barely shifted, a faint flicker of surprise crossing her face when she saw him unaffected by her authority making her nerrow her eyes at realisation. But she didn't linger. She passed over him focusing entirely on Merisa.
Her eyes asked a silent question.
Merisa met her gaze steadily, her own narrowed dangerously but steady, calm, unwavering. The air seemed to thrum with tension between the two women Celestia's rainbow fire against Merisa's icy steel.
"My son's bloodline essence," Merisa said, her voice level and unbothered, though her hand slowly lifted, pointing directly at Arabella. "Or there really will be a war."
Her words carried no flourish, no plea, only straight statement. She was able to move because Celestia allowed it, her authority peeled back only for her. Whether it was out of respect, acknowledgment of her strength, or something else entirely, only Celestia knew.
"I see."
Celestia's reply was brief. She turned her gaze back to Arabella, her tone still as cold and measured as before.
"Lady Arabella… I presume you already understand." Her head tilted ever so slightly, her voice lowering to something like velvet steel. "I would hope I do not need to say more."
Celestia's eyes lingered on Arabella, who was finally standing up, as she let her do so.
"Yes, of course, Your Highness. I was only joking." Arabella's voice carried a sweetness, her lips curling into a smile as gentle as a spring breeze. Outwardly, she looked calm, unconcerned, as though this was nothing more than a natural conclusion. But beneath that serene mask, no one could truly tell what lay hidden in her thoughts. All they could see was that she had accepted reality there was nothing left she could do.
With both hands, she extended the deep purple pearl forward, the essence of Razeal's bloodline, offering it toward Celestia.
Celestia accepted it lightly, her fingers brushing the pearl as she held it up. Her platinum-colored eyes reflected the orb, its deep violet glow rippling faintly as though it contained a living fragment of Razeal himself. Her thumb traced its surface in silence, but something stirred behind her gaze something heavy, a ripple of emotions hidden deep within her.
"Can I have my son's bloodline essence back?"
The voice came from Merisa, calm yet unwavering.
Celestia blinked, as if pulled from her thoughts. "Ah, yes. Apologies." Her tone softened briefly. She closed her eyes, shook her head slightly, then tossed the pearl toward Merisa without ceremony. Merisa caught it easily, her grip steady and controlled, her face unreadable.
Celestia exhaled, almost a sigh. "And apologies for being so forceful, Everyone." Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose, a rare flicker of regret flashing across her otherwise cold demeanor. She seemed suddenly aware of what she had just done, as though recognizing she had crossed a line.
Her radiant multicolored aura withdrew, fading back into her body. In that instant, the crushing pressure blanketing the coliseum vanished.
All at once, the frozen bodies of every person present dukes, assassins of the Virelan unit, guards, nobles, and the common spectators finally released. Muscles that had been locked in place twitched as control returned to them. Some of the weaker people just stumbled, nearly collapsing to their knees as they gasped for breath, like drowning men finally reaching the surface. Others steadied themselves but couldn't hide the sharp, relieved intakes of air.
Yet, even though their bodies were free, a wave of emotions lingered. Disgust. Resentment. Quiet fury.
Even when they tried to hide their expressions, it leaked through their eyes. They avoided looking directly at Celestia, but the collective sense of indignation in the coliseum was palpable. The people had just been forced to bow before authority, stripped of control, and no one no matter their status could accept it easily.
Surprisingly, the calmest among them were the dukes. Despite being the strongest and most dignified figures present, none of them showed outrage. Their faces remained smooth, even indifferent, as if this scene was something they had long since accepted. Seraphina Faerelith's lips curved faintly, not in scorn but in that ambiguous smile that suggested she already understood the futility of resisting such authority.
Razeal, however, only chuckled quietly to himself. His smile amused, almost relieved.
As the only one being standing without fucked up. his mind would've been wrecked maybe or might have directly gone crazy from that eternal arrogance trait of his even. That serious attitude issue of his should've burned him out by now, maybe even pushed him to do something against his own will. Good he made that decision earlier.
As for what had just happened?
Celestia had used her bloodline ability. As holder of one of only three Imperial bloodlines that existed in the entire world.
This particular bloodline was ranked above even the rarest royal-grade lines. Yet unlike others, it was not born naturally. It was created.
[The Imperial Family's inheritance: Bloodline Authority.]
Razeal, watching from the side, could only scoff inwardly. To him, this was without question one of the most broken, absurd, and downright illogical abilities he had ever come across even in the countless novels he had read in his past life.
But what exactly did it do? And if it wasn't a natural bloodline, then how had it come into existence?
In the simplest of words, it all began in the ancient era an age when humanity stood on the brink of extinction.
It was the time when the first portals and dimensional cracks split open the skies, spilling forth horrors from countless unknown realms. The newly awakened powers of mankind were still in their infancy, crude and underdeveloped. Though humans fought bravely with their newfound methods, they were constantly pushed back, suffering defeat after defeat. For every rift they closed, two more opened. For every battle won, ten were lost. There were too many portals, too many invaders, and too many uncaring enemies who struck without warning.
Humanity bled, faltered, and fractured. And above all, they lacked one crucial thing a leader. No single figure had risen to unite them all. Kingdoms and clans clung to their own survival, but in their isolation, they doomed the race as a whole.
It was in this desperate age that humanity came together to make a single, monumental decision.
They turned toward what they understood best.. The bloodline essence.
As by then, humans were already familiar with the concept of bloodline essence. Though extremely rare and excruciating to form, it was the purest distillation of one's bloodline which could actually be passed on someone else.
Bloodline essence was rare, almost impossible to take out, and even more painful to transfer. Knowing well that to part with it meant certain death, and not a peaceful one either. The process would tore body and soul apart in excruciating agony, leaving only ashes of the giver behind. Yet in those desperate times, countless warriors knowing full well what awaited them chose this fate. They sacrificed everything, offering their own hard-earned essence as a legacy to someone they deemed worthy, someone who could carry humanity's dwindling hope.
Through such essences, one could inherit the full of that bloodline. Of course, absorbing them was not without risk if the vessel was too weak, the essence would overwhelm them, leading to death. Yet the possibility of passing on a bloodline, even at such risk, was enough to give mankind hope.
But one essence was never enough. Even the greatest of legacies could not turn the tide of endless dimensional invasions.
So humanity chose a single, terrifying direction. They would not rely on one clan, or one bloodline. Instead, they would gather all of them. Every clan, every warrior, every noble and royal bloodline would surrender their essence. All of these sacrifices would be etched into a single chosen vessel.
This vessel would bear the weight of every bloodline and rise as the strongest of all a figure powerful enough to unite humanity and stand as their absolute leader.
Of course, scholars and warriors alike knew this plan bordered on madness. It was already deemed nearly impossible for one person to bear three bloodlines. The conflict of powers would lead to tanglement, chaos, and ultimately, destruction. A body could not withstand the clashing forces of multiple essences. The end result was always the same: the vessel would explode.
And yet, there was hope.
Among them, they discovered a man whose body was… different. His constitution was unlike anything recorded before something abnormal, something beyond natural. They decided to test him. At first, they grafted only a few essences into his body.
To their astonishment, he endured.
The bloodlines fused within him, not devouring each other, but evolving together. They did not tear him apart instead, they grew stronger. Each new essence he absorbed did not dilute or weaken him; it amplified him. He suppressed the chaos within and bent it to his will. His body did not shatter it adapted. His bloodline did not collapse it transformed.
And so, humanity placed all of its hope upon him.
One by one, warriors lined up to offer their bloodline essence. Fire, frost, light, storm, steel, and countless more rare, noble, and royal essences alike were given freely. Men,women, Old or young walked knowingly into their deaths, smiling even through the agony, for they knew their end would forge humanity's beginning.
The chosen vessel absorbed them all. Slowly, his bloodline from common evolved to noble rank, then further to royal grade. His strength grew endlessly, until at last… something happened that none could have imagined.
His bloodline shattered the restraints of nature itself.
The vessel's bloodline tore through every boundary. From common to noble, from noble to royal and then beyond. It broke past the very limits that the world had set, ascending into a new, unknown realm. A grade that no one had ever seen, that no one had even known could exist.
The Imperial Bloodline.
The man stood no longer as a vessel, but as the absolute. The convergence of millions of legacies, the culmination of all of humanity's sacrifices. And with this new bloodline, a power unique and terrifying was born.
Thus, the man, forged from sacrifice, was crowned as the first King of Humanity.
Arther Gwon Valentine
His gift was named Bloodline Authority.
[Unique Ability – Bloodline Authority: The power to command, suppress, and wield the abilities of every bloodline it had ever absorbed.]
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Sorry, guys. Yesterday, when I went to drop my sister at college on the bike, it started raining midway. I usually don't get sick, so I didn't even realize I had a fever.. I just thought I was sleepy and went to bed. Only this morning did my mom point out that I was actually sick. So yeah, let's see how it goes.
Sighh Thanks for reading.
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