Ancestral Lineage

Chapter 149 A Primogenitor's Wrath.

Cassandra shivered violently, clutching her chest as an intense pain pierced her heart. Lusamine, who had been barely conscious, fell to the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably. The other students—Lu Qi, Pierre, and the rest—wore a kaleidoscope of emotions: grief, disbelief, sorrow, and shock. They couldn't comprehend it. Lamair, their protector, the strongest third year, the academy's sole Puppeteer, a friend, a brother, a lover—was gone.

His battle had been nothing short of monumental, a clash of titans that lasted a lifetime. But in the end, it had concluded in a single devastating moment, the beast's triumphant roar confirming their worst fears. Lamair was dead.

"Why? Why?! What did he do to deserve this?" Cassandra wailed, her voice breaking as she cradled Lusamine, whose cries were so heart-wrenching she couldn't even form coherent words.

"He... he promised..." Lusamine choked out between sobs, her entire being wracked with grief. She clung to the faint, irrational hope that it wasn't over. Deep in her heart, a sliver of warmth persisted, though she couldn't understand why.

"He promised he'd come back..." Cassandra muttered through tears. The pain in her voice cut like a blade, raw and unrelenting. She had barely begun to hope that her love for Lamair might be returned, and now he was gone. Her heart burned with despair, the flames of sorrow consuming her entirely.

As the group mourned, a sound shattered the air—a deafening clap, like thunder striking upon thunder. It was so loud, that the beast's earlier roar seemed insignificant in comparison. The students froze, their tears forgotten for a moment as the skies above them turned crimson. Even the moon was bathed in the ominous red glow.

A heavy, dreadful aura descended upon them, primal and ancient, suffocating and unyielding. It was worse than anything they'd felt before, more terrifying than the beast itself. The weight of it pressed them to their knees, and some students outright fainted. Shockwaves rippled outward, obliterating everything in a 3-kilometer radius—trees, rocks, and the land itself reduced to rubble.

Yet, inexplicably, the students remained unharmed. The crushing aura left their surroundings untouched, though their spirits trembled under its suffocating presence.

"What's that on your hand?" Lusamine asked, her voice trembling as she stared at Cassandra's left hand.

"What?" Cassandra blinked, raising her hand to see a glowing golden mark forming on the back of it.

"Ethan..." Lusamine whispered, her voice barely audible.

"What do you mean?" Lu Qi asked, his face a mix of confusion and dread.

"He's here," Lusamine replied, standing abruptly as the mark's glow intensified. A transparent, golden barrier formed around the students, encasing them in an unyielding shield of light.

Lusamine ignored the barrier, her gaze fixed to the north as another clap of thunder reverberated through the air, this one even louder than before.

Then, they saw it.

Space itself seemed to crack and warp as a figure tore through the sky at an incomprehensible speed. A hill beside the group disintegrated into fine sand as the shockwave from its approach hit.

"I will destroy you," a voice rang out, cold and unfeeling, yet filled with an anguish so profound it sent chills down their spines. The words carried not volume but an oppressive weight, and in them, the students felt an overwhelming sense of pure, unadulterated despair.

Floating above them was a tall figure, his form wreathed in a dark, malevolent aura. A massive, blood-red wing extended from his back, glowing ominously against the crimson sky. His elongated red hair billowed wildly in the wind, his glowing crimson eyes—featureless and haunting—fixated on the battlefield. The vein-like tattoos across his body pulsed like molten lava, illuminating his ghastly pale skin.

"It can't be..." Lu Qi muttered, his voice barely a whisper as his face turned pale. Find more chapters on My Virtual Library Empire

"So, this is what he meant..." Pierre said, his tone hollow and disbelieving.

"Vengeance in its purest form..." Cassandra murmured, her tear-streaked face slowly lifting toward the sky.

"Ethan is angry," Lusamine said softly, her voice trembling. "Very angry."

The beast's deafening roar shattered the silence. It roared in fury and defiance, golden eyes glinting with malice as it faced the intruder who dared challenge its authority.

...

Lusamine stared dumbstruck at the floating red screen in front of her. She was familiar with how all of Ethan's subordinates could see screens, but this was... different. The weight of it was suffocating. She felt compelled, no, it was beyond compulsion. It was an Absolute Order to stop Ethan, her master.

Her eyes skimmed over the rewards and penalties, but they felt irrelevant in the face of the quest's gravity. Just reading the details filled her with a cold, paralyzing fear. For the first time, Lusamine truly understood the immense, overwhelming weight of Ethan's Path through the bond they shared.

...

Trevor, Clara, Emily, Harley, Andriel, Lisa, Jerry, Reginald, and surprisingly Sixtie sat in Ethan's cave with grim expressions. Their eyes were fixed on the floating screens in front of them as the weight of the quest pressed down heavily on their shoulders. Only Sixtie seemed somewhat in the dark about the gravity of the situation.

"What do we do? We don't even know where he went," Clara said, her worry evident in her trembling voice.

"He just got up with a tense face and vanished..." Harley added his tone a mix of confusion and concern.

"Trevor, darling? I can feel how tense you are. What's wrong?" Emily asked gently, patting Trevor on the back, her face lined with anxiety.

"I... sigh... Something is very wrong," Trevor admitted, rubbing his temples. "It's just a hunch, but based on the system's message and what I feel right now, Ethan has probably turned berserk. Ethan is a Primogenitor, just like me. If he's gone berserk, it means his true power is unsealed, and his strength increases tenfold. Worse, all vampires connected to him will also turn berserk."

"So, you're saying you're the one keeping everything in control right now?" Sixtie asked, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and disbelief.

"Exactly. But it's no easy feat," Trevor said with a dry smirk. "I can feel Ethan's emotions tearing through my mind right now. If I lose control... well, you'll have two berserk Primogenitors to deal with, and trust me, you don't want that."

"But how do we even find him? All we can do is sense his emotions and presence through the Soul Mark. It's not like we can pinpoint his exact location," Lisa said, frustration creeping into her voice.

"And even if we could, how would we get there? He's far away," Andriel added her tone a mix of irritation and worry. Her emotions were conflicted; she didn't know where Ethan was, but her heart ached for him. The thought of him losing control was unbearable.

"I might have a way to—" Trevor started, but he was cut off by a loud, synchronized ding in their minds.

...

Ding!

System Assistance Protocol Initiated!

Calculating Distance of Subordinates from Master...

...

Meanwhile, in her office, Carmen sat pale-faced, her usual composure shattered by the floating screen in front of her. Her expression was one of sheer dread as she processed the implications of the quest.

Her investigation into the interference with Ethan's teleportation had yielded only fragments of information, but it was enough to hint at a coming storm. A war loomed on the horizon, and Ethan was the variable that would decide whether Anbord emerged victorious or succumbed to their hidden enemy.

Carmen's knowledge of Primogenitors was extensive—her family had been founded by one, after all. She knew all too well the cataclysmic consequences of a berserk Primogenitor. What terrified her most, however, was the fact that Ethan, someone with exceptional mental and psychological strength, had succumbed. For him to turn berserk, there was only one explanation, and it was a possibility she refused to accept.

Her hands trembled as she clasped them together. Carmen was truly scared now.