Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 440: A Prophecy

Heaven’s Sovereign Peak, Hundred Sky Mountains...

"Are you alright, Lady Gumiho?" asked Lunaria, carefully tapping Ume’s face with a silken cloth to soak the beads of sweat from her skin.

"I’m just a bit tired," Ume replied, her pink emerald eyes barely opening. Dark circles had formed beneath her eyes, her entire body drenched in sweat, and her breathing had become uneven as she continued to pour her Divine Soulforce into Nymeria’s temples, who lay unconscious in her lap. The Death Energy had almost reached her thighs.

"Please hold on a little longer, Lady Gumiho," Lunaria pleaded nervously as she moved to her neck to wipe the sweat. "We have received news that the war has reached its final phase. Taranis might return any day now."

Updates about the war were being delivered regularly to Hundred Sky Mountains through letters. Of course, the news about Vortex being alive and Aurelion being injured and unconscious was kept hidden. The former was concealed to ensure that the soldiers did not lose morale upon seeing their almighty king in such a state, and the latter because Taranis did not want Lunaria to suffer further from what she was already enduring.

Although anger had overwhelmed Taranis’s emotions, he was still capable of making considerate decisions when it involved someone he deeply cared about.

"You need not worry, Lady Lunaria," Ume said, forming a faint smile on her tired face. "I can still hold on for ten days. We have more than enough time to save Sister Nym."

"I’m truly grateful for your help, Lady Gumiho," Lunaria murmured softly. Not a single day passed without her thanking Ume, and she meant every word of it.

After spending the last twenty days with Ume, she had learned that Ume and Taranis had shared a ring of engagement. Still, Ume was doing her best to keep Nymeria alive, whom Taranis clearly loved deeply. If it had been any other woman, she would never have agreed to save someone who might take away her lover.

Lunaria felt nothing but immense gratitude for Ume, which was why she thanked her every day from the bottom of her heart.

Ume parted her lips to speak, but suddenly something strange happened. The air within the faintly lit room stirred, the iron door broke open, and a barrage of plum blossoms rushed inside.

"An enemy attack?" Lunaria exclaimed in shock and confusion, a chilling aura immediately radiating from her body as she stepped forward to shield Ume and Nymeria from the incoming petals.

"N-no, it’s not an enemy attack," Ume murmured, her body trembling as the flow of Divine Soulforce from her hands faltered. "It- it’s a prophecy. But it hasn’t occurred since I returned from the forest. So why... why now?"

"A prophecy?" Lunaria asked in confusion.

Before Ume could respond, the petals reached her and began swirling around her like a storm. An intense pain throbbed in her head, low moans escaped her lips, and her eyes began glowing with a blinding pink light that filled the entire room.

The vision before her distorted, her hearing grew distant, and in the next moment, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.

Towering buildings covered the land, structures unlike anything Ume had ever seen. Between those buildings, broad roads stretched across the land, along which carriages of different sizes moved. Ume had never seen such carriages before. They had glowing stones embedded at both the front and back, while their outer structure was made of shining metal.

The people walking along the streets wore clothing entirely different from anything Ume had ever seen. In the sky, there was only one moon, a white moon that seemed much smaller compared to the usual large, bright one.

"What place is this—"

Before Ume could finish her words, several multicolored portals suddenly appeared in the sky.

From these portals emerged different races of monsters. Within seconds, thousands of monsters began wreaking havoc upon the land below. Chaos erupted among the people, towering buildings collapsed to the ground, and fire and smoke surged through the city.

After a few moments, several individuals who appeared to be cultivators rushed into the sky and engaged the monsters in a ruthless battle.

Suddenly, the vision blurred again, and this time she found herself standing before two dying individuals. One was a brown-haired man with a broken crimson axe lying beside him, while the other was a black-haired young woman with one arm missing, blood flowing from her nostrils and mouth.

"R-Raj, p-please run away," the brown-haired man murmured in a barely audible voice.

"L-listen to your brother, Raj. We cannot defeat them with our strength," the black-haired woman said. "W-we can’t lose you as well. You are the last hope of humanity."

Ume turned her gaze toward the two figures standing before the dying individuals.

One of them was Ume herself, disguised as a human, while the other was a short black-haired man with brown eyes. His appearance was strikingly similar to Taranis’s. Both Ume and Taranis bore numerous wounds across their bodies.

"Ume, protect them," Taranis ordered with a darkened expression, tightening his grip on a long crimson katana.

"Taranis, don’t do it," Ume pleaded, tugging at his tattered shirt. "Please, let’s return."

Taranis gently patted her head and whispered, "We both know that I can’t do that, Ume, when all of this is happening because of me."

Before Ume could protest further, half of Taranis’s body radiated a blinding white light, while the other half emitted an abyssal darkness. The two energies converged at the center of his back, forming a yin-yang Taiji formation.

A trace of bright white formed in one of his eyes, while a dark trace formed in the other. With a single swing of his sword, Taranis shattered the ceiling of the small room where they stood.

The open sky revealed a purple humanoid monster with a hole in its chest. Its face had a single eye at the center, and just below it, sharp canine teeth gleamed menacingly.

Goosebumps spread across Ume’s skin as she recognized the creature.

"A-a pisache?" she murmured, her eyes widening in confusion. "B-but how is that possible?"

"You otherworlder. Not enough. Defeat me," the pisache muttered with a terrifying smile.

Taranis did not respond to the provocation and immediately clashed with it in the sky.

Ume had countless questions. Where was this place? Who were those people? And most importantly, how could the pisaches still be alive?

But none of that mattered as her eyes locked onto the battle before her. The pisache was far too powerful, and within seconds, it pierced Taranis’s chest and tore out his heart.

"No!!! Taranis!!!" Ume screamed, fear surging through her entire being.

Her vision distorted again, and she found herself back in the dimly lit castle room.

"Lady Gumiho, please wake up!" Lunaria’s desperate cries reached her ears. "Please, or my daughter will not survive."

Ume’s gaze fell upon Nymeria. The Death Energy had already spread to her chest, as the flow of Divine Soulforce had been interrupted when Ume was pulled into the vision.

She pushed aside all her thoughts and once again poured her Soulforce into Nymeria’s temples, halting the further spread of the Death Energy.

"Oh no," Ume murmured, her lips trembling. She was already deeply shaken and confused by what she had witnessed, and now an even greater problem stood before her.

---

On the battlefield, outside the Ironvale Duchy...

"Alert! Due to an unknown interruption, the spread of Death Energy within Nymeria El Snowbane has increased exponentially!"

"The deadline has decreased by one day!"

"The deadline has decreased by one day!"

.

.

.

"The deadline has decreased by one day!"

Ding! The Main Quest has been updated!

"Main Quest: Save Nymeria’s life

Description: Nymeria El Snowbane’s survival is necessary for the return of the Mythic Bloodline. To save Nymeria, reach Level 9 of the Transcendent Realm, absorb the Heart of the Fallen, and break the second seal on Nymeria’s bloodline.

Deadline: 1 day, 7 hours, 12 minutes.

Reward on completion:

1. Favor from the heavens for saving their child.

2. A hint to find the third ancient relic needed to lift the third ban on the Mythic Bloodline.

Penalty on failure:

1. Disappointment and loathing from the heavens for becoming the cause of their child’s death.

2. Extinction of the Mythic Bloodline."

"What the hell is happening?" Taranis muttered, slicing through an imperial knight, his heart pounding restlessly. An unusual mix of desperation, frustration, and fear surged within him.

He still had four more levels to break through to reach Level 9 of the Transcendent Realm, which was clearly impossible to achieve within a single day if he followed conventional methods.

It was now or never. He had to surpass himself in that very moment and push beyond limits he had never reached before if he wanted to save Nymeria.

With a swing of his sword, he hurled the imperial soldiers backward, creating distance between himself and them.

What he did next confused both the Bane and Imperial forces. He removed his helm, revealing his scarred face, followed by the heavy armor encasing his body.

Taking a deep breath, he murmured in a low voice,

"Vivi, activate the first stage of Mythic Transformation!"