Chapter 157: A New Enemy IV
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"Lord Klaus, should we inform the other sovereigns."
Klaus’s eyes shifted toward the subordinate.
The subordinate immediately looked down, regretting the question.
Klaus answered anyway.
"No," Klaus said. "Let them panic alone."
A faint laughter moved through the hall, but it was the kind of laughter that sounded like knives sliding out of sheaths.
Selene’s voice was smooth.
"But they may already move," she said.
Klaus’s smile sharpened.
"That is why we move first," he replied.
He paused, then added something that made the hall feel colder again.
"And if one of them reaches the origin vampire before us," Klaus said, "then we take it from them."
That was the true nature of the Blood Sovereigns.
They did not share.
They did not compromise.
They consumed.
Selene nodded once, accepting the brutal logic.
Then she asked.
"How will they find the origin vampire," she said. "The shockwave was brief."
Klaus’s eyes gleamed.
"They will not search like humans," he said. "They will follow blood."
He lifted two fingers slightly.
A thin line of red mist formed in the air again, twisting into a thread. It pointed downward, like a compass needle responding to something far away.
"The shockwave left a stain," Klaus said. "Not in the air. In the bloodline fabric. The Blood God trace is a scent."
Selene’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"So you can track it," she said.
Klaus’s smile returned.
"Yes," he replied. "But I will not go personally."
That surprised a few subordinates. Not because they doubted his power, but because Klaus enjoyed personal control.
Selene understood immediately.
Klaus could not reveal himself in the lower domain too openly.
A mid god-level presence entering the lower domain would shake too many eyes awake.
It would alert not only other Blood Sovereigns, but other factions, other gods, other creatures who would smell opportunity.
Klaus wanted the prize without the crowd.
Selene lowered her head.
"You want the hunters to bring the origin vampire to you quietly," she said.
Klaus nodded.
"Alive," he added. "If possible."
Selene’s eyes sharpened.
"And if not possible."
Klaus’s expression stayed calm.
"Then bring the blood," he said.
He set the bone cup down.
The subordinate backed away instantly, careful as if carrying a relic.
Klaus leaned back into his throne and looked at the ceiling again.
His eyes looked distant now, as if he was listening.
Not with ears.
With blood.
Selene watched him.
The hall waited.
Outside the castle, the middle domain remained quiet.
Mountains leaned.
Rivers pretended to behave.
The world continued.
But inside the castle, a decision had been made that would ripple through Null like a plague.
Klaus’s voice came again, soft and final.
"Go," he said.
The three chosen hunters bowed and turned.
They walked toward the hall’s massive doors.
The doors opened without being touched.
Not because servants pulled them.
Because the castle obeyed Klaus.
The hunters stepped into the darkness beyond.
Selene remained in the hall, her posture calm, but her mind already racing.
An origin vampire.
A new one.
In the lower domain.
If Klaus seized that blood first, his power would rise.
If his power rose, the hierarchy among Blood Sovereigns would change.
If the hierarchy changed, the middle domain could bleed.
Selene’s lips curved faintly.
Not joy.
Anticipation.
She did not know the new origin vampire’s name.
She did not know their face.
She did not know whether they were male or female.
But she knew one thing.
The moment Klaus’s hunters found them, the new origin vampire’s life would no longer belong to themselves.
It would become a bargaining chip.
A war seed.
A piece of meat thrown into a pit of starving gods.
Klaus spoke again, voice quieter now, almost to himself.
"How amusing... It came from the lower domain," he murmured.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"A weak one," he added, as if tasting that fact.
Then his smile sharpened into something that did not belong on a human face.
"Good," Klaus said softly. "That means I will be enjoying it. It’s been a while since I felt excited."
And in the middle domain hall, under red torchlight that did not warm anything, a god-level vampire sat on a throne of dried blood crystal and smiled at the thought of stealing another vampire’s beginning.
.
.
.
(Back to Sekhmet...)
When the twins looked at him with hunger.
Sekhmet’s own hunger answered theirs for a heartbeat, the predator in him recognizing new predators born from his blood.
He kept control. Then he spoke quietly.
"Breathe," he said.
The twins obeyed instantly.
Their bodies responded like their instincts had already accepted him as center. But the hunger did not vanish. It only waited.
Sekhmet called the system again, mind sharp.
"Why?... Why did they jump two ranks? Why did they become true vampires without awakening blood requirements?"
The system responded.
[Ding! System Answer: Reason Blood God trace.
Explanation Targets possess extremely distant Blood God lineage. Effect Conversion bypassed minimum blood awakening requirement.
Effect Rank Advancement: Triggered due to lineage resonance.
Rule: When host converts target of same rank or weaker, converted kin may rise by two ranks from host current rank.
Limitations: Does not apply if the target is a higher rank than the host. Diminishes at godhood levels Not guaranteed without compatible bloodline.
Note True Vampire classification achieved due to lineage purity threshold. Normal candidate results might be different.]
Sekhmet stared at the twins again.
"So this was not normal. This was not simply his skill. This was a bloodline answering bloodline."
The thought made his skin prickle. He remembered the faint note in the system earlier.
[Blood God trace confirmed.]
He had believed it was only potential. Now it has become reality.
Sekhmet’s voice came out controlled.
"You are Chaos Rank Three," he said.
Vera looked down at her hands, then clenched them slowly.
She could feel it. Strength and Speed.
A deeper reservoir inside her body, like a lake where there had been only a pond.
Vela lifted her gaze again. Her voice came out low.