Beyond the Bloodline

Chapter 450: A Horrifying Fate

The waves of shock from Jamie and Akari’s confrontation continued spreading across the universe long after both of them vanished, violent ripples of cosmic energy tearing through space and causing entire regions of the Dead Zone to collapse inward.

The giant void Jamie had blasted through the grey fog was still visible even after days, its edges burning with blue flames that refused to extinguish themselves, while the surrounding regions of pseudo-existence continuously crumbled apart under the lingering influence of the powers of causality and the void.

Across the battlefields, the Accord’s forces were still retreating in disarray, countless ships drifting uncontrollably through distorted space while commanders desperately tried to restore order to their formations.

The Neo-Extinction Legion’s forces weren’t faring any better. Millions upon millions of dead lifeforms had been erased during the clash between Jamie and Akari alone, and the remaining combatants had retreated into the Dead Zone and were now watching the Intergalactic Accord’s retreating forces with caution after witnessing power on a level that even most Supreme Realm existences couldn’t begin to comprehend.

Questions rapidly spread across all levels of the Accord’s command structure, from the lowest battalion commander to the Supremes at the head of the Intergalactic Powers they hailed from.

What exactly had Jamie done outside the universe to anger Akari to such an extent?

What kind of plan could possibly antagonise multiple Eternals and even an Aggressor simultaneously?

And most importantly, what consequences would Jamie’s actions bring to Zanerth?

If Akari’s words were true, then Jamie had tried to trick several Eternals and had failed, instead antagonising them in the process.

If an Eternal decided to interfere directly with Zanerth, then the damage caused by that interference could eclipse the destruction already brought by the Neo-Extinction Legion.

The fact that Akari mentioned ’Roland’ alongside ’Julio’ only made the situation worse, because it implied that Jamie’s actions hadn’t merely caused trouble for himself, but had dragged others into the aftermath as well.

And now both Jamie and Akari were gone.

Every trace of their presences had disappeared from the universe completely, as though both of them had been removed from reality itself.

Both of them had started fighting outside the universe before crashing straight into Zanerth, their battle smashing through the universe’s barrier with enough force to shake millions of galaxies.

Entire stretches of the Dead Zone had been blown apart during their clash, while the aftereffects of their confrontation still distorted space throughout the surrounding regions.

And during that battle, Akari had revealed something that immediately threw the entire universe into unrest.

The Heart of Life was in Zanerth.

All those who heard those words, the Accord’s forces, the existences in the Cosmic Realms commanding them, and the dead lifeforms hidden within the Dead Zone, all began asking themselves the same question.

Just what was the Heart of Life?

Those who didn’t know of its existence became wary after witnessing Akari’s reaction alone.

Whatever the Heart of Life was, it was valuable enough for Zenith Haven Realm existences to openly fight over it without restraint.

And those who already knew what it was had already begun making plans.

Some immediately began thinking of ways to locate it and remove it from Zanerth before the conflict surrounding it escalated any further, because if the news spread beyond the current parties involved, then many terrifying existences would inevitably begin turning their attention toward the Zanerth universe.

Others, however, had completely different intentions.

They wanted it for themselves.

Naturally, those with the latter intention existed in the overwhelming majority.

The dead lifeforms within the Dead Zone were no different.

Deep within the mass of grey fog spanning millions of light-years of space, far inside the Dead Zone’s central regions where the pseudo-existence fog was at its densest, a meeting between the Neo-Extinction Legion’s top brass was currently ongoing.

The subject of the meeting was naturally the Heart of Life that had been mentioned by Akari.

Seated at the highest throne within the Neo-Extinction Legion’s headquarters, a humanoid being with a featureless face repeatedly tapped the armrest of their throne with their claw-like nails.

They were wearing a black collared shirt and a matching waistcoat with red buttons, their whole body constantly surrounded by a faint grey glow.

Suddenly, a small line appeared at the lower half of their face, and it parted to reveal the insides of a mouth, a faint mutter escaping it.

"The Heart of Life, huh?"

At this sound, the Neo-Extinction Legion’s Heralds, kneeling at the foot of the dais leading up to his throne, looked up, and one of them asked.

"Lord Kael, are you aware of this item?"

"Mhmm..."Kael responded.

"I have heard of it in the past. It is believed to be the heart of the former Aggressor who governed the Concepts of Light and Life."

"!"

"What?! Former?"

The Heralds were stunned by the words they heard, but Kael was calm as he enlightened them.

"The current Aggressor of Light and Life is a Third Generation Aggressor, unlike her Death and Darkness Counterpart, who is a Second Generation."

The implications of that statement were many, and one of the Heralds, one with an inquisitive expression, dressed like a butler with a monocle, lightly pushed it up and asked, "Who killed the former Aggressor?"

"Obviously the current one," Kael responded.

"And don’t misunderstand, the former Aggressor isn’t dead. The current one defeated them and stripped away their Conceptual Authority, taking away their inability to ’Die’, but rather than kill them, she tore out their heart while they were still alive, crystallised it, then infused the former Aggressor’s soul into it before casting it into Reincarnation, allowing it to be reborn over and over again as a mortal possessing that power, a power that would naturally attract existences of the Cosmic Realms.

It’s something they desire, something they wish to monopolise, placing the former Aggressor’s reincarnation under the threat of capture and exploitation."

"A horrifying fate indeed," one Herald muttered with a saddened expression.

"That’s entirely within the victor’s rights in battle!" another declared loudly.

"Silence, both of you," the monocle-wearing Herald said coldly. "Our Lord is educating us."

The loud Herald wanted to respond, but with the others glaring at him, he swallowed his words and lowered his head.