Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Vyaghra and Jambavan explained everything that happened while I was in closed-door meditation: how he received the invitation from El Dorado and was ambushed on his way to Ashenfall.

"He used every bit of his Soulforce to keep himself hidden until Sam took him back to the city," Vyaghra said, sitting in front of me. "The very next day, Forlorn City got surrounded by an army of hundreds of Awakeners, with a figure in a black robe leading them. He announced that he would turn the city into a bloodbath if he did not receive the head of Lucifer Morning Star."

"Such impudence," I muttered, tightening my fist. "So how did you respond to such an absurd demand of his?"

"The moment those words left his damn mouth, Ay 'n' Vyaghra unleashed an assault on them," Jambavan said, sitting beside Vyaghra. "More than half o' them died tryin' to stop us. But before we could completely wipe 'em, the black-robed man gave the order to retreat and they ran away. During his retreat, the coward declared that Forlorn City is done for because we opposed the order of Lady Nyx."

"Nyx again," I murmured. "Did that wretch come?"

"Not yet," Vyaghra replied. "She must be preparing a proper army to launch an attack. However," he continued with a sigh, "afraid of getting dragged into a war against El Dorado, most of the mortals have already left the city."

I rose to my feet and announced, "Let that cur come. I will personally destroy her."

With a movement of my finger, I drew the final inscriptions, completing the sigil that I had been working on for over twenty-four hours.

Jambavan and Vyaghra returned to the mines to bring more Soul Stones while I began placing them onto the inscriptions.

The reason for our haste was simple. All three of us were worried about his well-being. Just as lungs cannot be emptied of residual air as long as a person lives, some amount of Soulforce also remains in an Awakener's body and cannot be forcefully extracted. However, if someone does manage to exhaust even this last remnant, their body falls into a deep stupor—and the chances of waking again only decrease as time passes.

He had already been unconscious for over a month, and with each passing second, he was slipping further away from me.

After about five hours, the two returned again, breathing heavily and completely exhausted. Behind them stood around a hundred people, equally tired, yet all of them wore worried expressions.

"W-we mined all the stones available in the tunnels," Vyaghra said, offering me hundreds of space rings.

"You have done well," I replied, before shifting my eyes to the crowd gathered at the entrance of the cave.

"They're the people who volunteered to mine the stones with us," Jambavan explained before I could ask. "They're worried about his health and requested to see him. Ay wouldn't have agreed, but they earnestly helped us day and night without restin', so Ay thought they deserved to know their leader's well-bein' and brought them here."

"You may watch from the entrance, but you can't come inside," I ordered the workers, stepping aside to let Jambavan and Vyaghra in.

"Thank you, Lady Kitsune," they said, bowing slightly.

With a wave of my arm, numerous plum blossoms appeared before Vyaghra, each holding one of the space rings from the bag in his hand. The petals carried the rings into the remaining inscriptions that were still left to be filled with Soul Stones.

Since I couldn't afford to delay any longer, I flicked my finger, letting all the petals pop simultaneously.

The rings broke apart, and the Soul Stones inside them gushed out.

"Those rings were so expensive, yet she breaks them like worthless stones," a spectator from the gathered workers gasped.

"Forget about the rings—look how many Soul Stones are here," the one beside him added, his voice laced with astonishment.

The brightness from the countless boulders of Soul Stones was so intense that the workers could barely keep their eyes open.

"Is… is that Sir Morning Star on that bed?"

"I can't see clearly because of the brightness, but it must be him."

"Please, God, if you exist, look over him."

"Oh God, take all of my prosperity and exchange it for the misfortune that has befallen our saviour."

.

.

.

Soon, the crowd bent their knees at the entrance and began praying to the gods for the well-being of their chain-breaker.

Meanwhile, without wasting a moment, I sat on the bed beside him, put the face-changing mask on him, touched the phoenix on his lower abdomen with both hands, and poured in my energy, activating the sigil.

The patterns that had been hidden by the bright light of the Soul Stones radiated with an intense pink the moment the sigil activated.

Multiple threads of bright energy emerged from the top of each boulder of Soul Stones and converged at the centre above the bed.

Slowly, after several hours, all the Soul Stones vanished, forming threads of light.

These threads tangled together, merging into each other until they turned into a small jagged stone pointing downward.

A humming sound echoed through the cave, coming from the stone that radiated overwhelming energy.

Beads of sweat rolled down my face; every breath took a toll on me. My sea of Soulforce had already dried, yet resting—and failure—were out of the question.

To keep this sigil functioning smoothly, the realm of Peak Mid-Tier Beast was the bare minimum.

I knew I wouldn't be able to use this sigil successfully at my current realm, so I had already prepared to make the necessary sacrifice.

A tail unfurled behind me as I continued pouring energy, and it began emanating pink light.

Suddenly, two hands tapped either side of my shoulders, and a large amount of Soulforce surged into my body.

"Wh-what are you two doing?" I asked, flustered.

"There's no way we're lettin' ya sacrifice yer tail again," Jambavan declared.

"His well-being is our concern as well, Your Majesty. You do not need to bear the burden alone."

Taking a deep breath, I murmured, "Very well, then. Let me depend on you two again—Jambavan and Vyaghra."

As my body filled with Soulforce once more, I completely unleashed the sigil.

A small white liquid drop appeared at the pointed end of the stone, and the moment it did, the white stone turned grey and dull.

After a brief moment, the white drop detached from the stone and fell onto the head of the phoenix drawn on his lower abdomen.

---

Ding…

"The purest form of Soulforce is detected inside the Host's body."

"Absorbing the pure Soulforce into the core…"

"Absorption completed!"

"The depth of your Soulforce has significantly increased."

Ding…

"10% pure Soulforce is still remaining…"

"Using the remaining amount for the Manifestation of Blood, Flesh, and Bone."

"Bones Manifested: 2.5%… 2.7%… 2.9%… 3%… 3.6%… 4%

Blood Manifested: 1.5%… 1.8%… 2.3%… 2.7%… 2.9%… 3%

Flesh Manifested: 1.6%… 1.9%… 2.2%… 2.8%… 3.1%"

"What in the world is happening?" I murmured, slowly opening my eyes.

As I woke up, I found myself suspended horizontally in mid-air inside a cave, facing upward.

"Am I flyi—"

Before I could complete my sentence, my body suddenly remembered that gravity existed, and I descended freely.

Thud…

Strangely, I didn't feel any pain, but I definitely felt something breaking beneath me.

I rose to a sitting position and found the bed that used to be placed in my room broken into pieces.

"How did I reach—"

"Raj."

A familiar voice I had longed to hear for several days filled my ears.

I raised my face and found Ume, Jambavan, and Vyaghra with several workers from the mine standing before me.

I was about to rise to my feet, but suddenly Ume's tight hug wrapped around me.

"You finally woke up," she murmured, her soft voice carrying a hint of respite.

Only when she hugged me did the events of that night, when I was ambushed, come back to me.

"U-Ume, I'm sorry," I whispered, my arms coiling around her back. "You must have been worried."

"Ah, finally…"

Her body leaned onto me, her hands that were brushing my back fell freely as she collapsed mid-sentence.

"Ume? Ume, are you alright?" I asked, holding her in my arms.

"Her Majesty is tired," Vyaghra said. "Do not disturb her sleep."

"Oh, is that so?"

I said, gently brushing my hand against Ume's cheek.

"Brat, ya had us worried for so many days," Jambavan said, joining in.

Before I could respond, a sudden shower of greetings hurled at me.

"Welcome back, Sir Morning Star. We are glad that you are safe," the workers gathered behind Jambavan and Vyaghra announced.

There were many familiar faces in the crowd, filled with all kinds of expressions. Diego and Daniel's faces were laced with matured smiles of relief. Silvia and Aris's eyes were brimming with tears as they sniffed lightly, while Sam, covering his eyes with his forearms, sobbed heavily.

In between all these faces, there was one face I kept searching for… only to remember I could never see him again.