The Primordial Vampire Bloodline originally belonged to her Ex-husband... the one who once ruled the entire Empire with nothing more than the quiet curl of his fingers, as though the world itself rested obediently in the palm of his hand.

Those beneath him were never people in his eyes, only instruments, hollow things to be used and discarded once their purpose ended.

Because of his Bloodline, even the previous Sovereign Snape avoided crossing his path, choosing distance over defiance, until he gained the power of Ethereal Flames, a force opposite and capable of burning even the Primordial Vampire Bloodline itself.

But anyway, the truth remained buried beneath layers of fear and reverence; the Primordial Vampire Bloodline was not untouchable.

Within it existed the Origin Essence. This was Mother’s proudest creation... and her final one.

There was no way some lowly bloodline could devour it. Not even Arcane’s other creations possessed such authority, such audacity, to consume what stood at the very beginning of existence.

!~Ding~!

[🚨Alert: Forsaken Blood has initiated a devouring sequence targeting Primordial Vampiric Demonic Blood]

[Assimilation Progress: 1%... 2%... 3%... Stabilizing...]

"Oi... oi..." Lia’s voice slipped out, low at first, then rising with sharp disbelief. "Don’t tell me you are actually trying to devour my primordial bloodline?"

Her lips curled, not into anger, but something far more dangerous.

A grin.

"Haha... you insane fucker..."

Lia’s eyes widened slightly, a flicker of shock passing through them before it melted into darker and curious, as she realised he truly was attempting it.

Lia clenched her fist... her nails pressed into her palm, yet instead of pain, a strange thrill crawled up her spine.

’Morgana never informed me about this...’ she thought.

Aether’s body writhed against the sheets, his muscles tightening and loosening violently, his throat tearing apart with each scream that forced its way out of him. His veins bulged beneath pale skin, darkening, shifting, as though something alive crawled within them.

He groaned, choked, struggled, trying to contain a force that refused to be contained.

’Come to think of it... Yeah, Crimson Elixir of the Null does have the ability to devour other bloodlines...’ her eyes narrowed, studying every twitch, every tremor of his body.

’But... was it ever strong enough to devour something Primordial?’

A soft laugh slipped past her lips.

"Heheh... this is exciting..."

She tilted her head slightly, watching him as one would watch a flame dance, unpredictable, dangerous and yet... beautiful~

Even though she should have been annoyed, furious even, a part of her refused to feel it.

Instead...

’Hehe... can he actually do it?’

Her fingers relaxed, her breathing slowed, but her heartbeat... it quickened.

’If he does... then... Lia could...’

The thought never fully formed, yet the heat it carried spread through her chest, blooming into something that resembled hunger, or... perhaps hope?

She waited and waited.

Time stretched thin, each second dragging itself across the room as Aether continued to struggle.

His body withered, shrinking and tightening like an old shell being forced to crack open. His skin peeled away in faint layers.

His eyes slowly lost focus.

[50%.... 60%.... 70%....]

His limbs twitched violently, then stiffened.

Bones cracked, shifted, and realigned with sharp, sickening sounds that echoed faintly in the room.

His sharp jawline became even more defined, carved with unnatural precision, while his features settled into something colder and... dangerously refined!

His beauty sharpened into something predatory.

Lia’s expression softened... no, it brightened.

Her lips parted slightly as she watched him change, truly change.

His body was adapting.

Not rejecting.

Adapting.

She could feel it.

A faint thread, invisible yet undeniable, began to form between them.

A connection.

A pull.

’Fuck... this feeling...’

A shiver ran through her body, goosebumps rising along her skin as her breath hitched ever so slightly.

’I... I am connected to him?’

Her voice dropped into a whisper, barely audible.

’Just like... to my daughter?’

Her fingers trembled faintly.

This was her second time forming a Blood Kin.

[90%... 91%...]

Inside Aether’s body, chaos unfolded.

The monstrous blood bat, a grotesque entity formed from ancient essence, screeched silently as it was dragged into a spiralling vortex of devouring blood.

Crimson tides surged violently, crashing into it from all directions.

Storms of blood erupted, spiralling, twisting, tearing into its form, consuming it piece by piece, inch by inch, as it struggled to resist, yet failed to even move against the overwhelming force.

[94%...98%-Error!]

Suddenly—

A white flame flickered into existence.

Small yet impossibly pure.

It burned without consuming, glowed without spreading, standing in stark contrast against the violent crimson chaos around it.

Then, in the next instant, it expanded.

[Sacred Flames of Ethereal forcibly activated!]

Aether’s body suddenly flinched as he gritted his teeth, the white flames hissing out through his lips.

A thin stream of pale fire escaped the corner of his mouth, curling upward like a living breath, carrying a faint, searing glow that distorted the air around it.

The flames inside him surged violently, as if awakened by something far more ancient than instinct.

The white flames began to attack the devouring blood that had swallowed the monstrous blood bat.

!~Ding~!

[Alert: Sacred Flames of Ethereal have forcefully engaged the Forsaken Blood following detection of Primordial Essence assimilation]

!~Ding~!

The white flames surged forward furiously, colliding against the coiling devouring blood.

Crimson and white clashed within him like two storms refusing to yield.

The devouring blood twisted and lashed out, while the Sacred Flames burned with a silent fury, pure yet relentless.

Both forces flared, collided, tore into each other, neither willing to retreat, neither capable of submission.

Lia held one knee close to her chest as she stared at him.

’Something is happening... I could feel he was connected to me, but... hmm...’

Her fingers tightened slightly around her leg as she leaned forward just a little, watching every flicker of change on his face.

!~Ding~!

[Conflict Status: Sacred Flames of Ethereal and Forsaken Blood are in direct confrontation for internal dominance]

The white flames inside his body soared powerfully, spreading like wildfire across an unseen landscape, burning through the Forsaken Blood.

Yet the devouring blood did not yield.

It resisted.

It fought back.

It swallowed, regenerated, surged again.

Both forces continued tearing into each other, locked in a violent struggle, each trying to erase the other’s existence.

If things continued like this...

Aether would die or... lose one of the most important things in his life.

Just then,

"Sigh... so noisy."

A tiny, irritated voice echoed within the chaos.

Inside a small black cage, suspended within the depths of his twin domains, a beautiful, delicate purple fairy sat lazily on a bar.

Her tiny legs crossed, her wings faintly shimmering yet still, her expression carried pure annoyance as she looked up.

Before her, the two monstrous forces raged endlessly, crashing into each other like beasts fighting over dominion.

Crack.

Her forehead, exactly between her eyebrows, split open with a thin fracture.

From within it, a purplish-black energy flickered into existence, dark, dense, and suffocating.

Then—

A third eye opened.

Vertical.

In the next instant, both the Forsaken Blood and the Sacred Flames of Ethereal visibly flinched.

Their violent clash halted for the briefest moment, as if both had suddenly sensed something far beyond their understanding.

Before either could react—

A massive purplish-black eye manifested between them.

It appeared like an unbreakable wall, vast and oppressive, its presence alone forcing the surrounding chaos to bend.

Clang~

Purple-black chains shot out from the pupil of the eye, warping through space itself as they wrapped around both the Forsaken Blood and the Sacred Flames.

The chains tightened instantly.

Both forces struggled.

Both resisted.

But neither could move.

!~Ding~!

[Status Update: Forsaken Blood has successfully assimilated and integrated Primordial Vampiric Demonic Blood into its core Essence]

!~Ding~!

[Warning: Active Skill: Crimson Veil: Wrath of Dominion is undergoing forced mutation due to the presence and influence of Primordial Vampiric Demonic Blood within your Essence]

[Mutation Progress: 1%... 2%... 3%...]

Meanwhile, Lia stared blankly at Aether.

He lay on the bed in complete stillness, his chest neither rising nor falling.

As if he...

"Are you dead?"

Lia asked, her voice carrying both worry and... a freaking hope!

Her eyes glowed faintly as she observed his body.

There was nothing inside him.

Only raw energy remained, circulating through him in place of organs, shifting, forming, sustaining him in a way that no normal body ever could.

"Looks like you failed..." she muttered under her breath as she sensed her connection with Aether, the same kind of bond she shared with her daughter.

It was there.

A thin thread linking them, pulsing softly, refusing to disappear.

Yet her eyes dimmed with disappointment.

"Well... I shouldn’t have placed my hopes on you... oh well~"

She shrugged lightly, almost dismissively, as though she had already lost interest.

Just then—

"Arrh!"

Aether groaned, his voice rough, dragging itself out from somewhere deep within his chest.

He pushed himself upright, his movements unsteady, his expression twisted with confusion as his eyes remained tightly shut, his fingers pressing against his forehead as if trying to suppress something clawing inside his mind.

Lia’s gaze sharpened as she looked at him carefully.

At first glance, there was not much difference from before.

The same frame.

The same presence.

Except—

"Tsk..."

She clicked her tongue in irritation as her eyes lingered on his face.

It had changed.

Subtly.

Yet enough to be infuriating.

Unnaturally handsome in a way that stirred something unwanted within her chest for the briefest moment.

Just a second!

Okay!

Nothing serious!

She would rather eat shit than fall for this bastard!!

Lia inhaled slowly, regaining herself, her expression turning cold and haughty once more.

"Haha... how pathetic. This is exactly what happens when you remain ignorant to everything," she said with mockery.

"Drinking Primordial Vampire Blood as if it were some everyday juice?"

Her lips curled slightly.

"Are you completely brainless?"

She raised her slender leg and placed her foot against his forehead, pressing lightly, asserting control without effort.

"Since I have blessed you with my blood..."

Her smile deepened, dark and amused.

"You are nothing more than my servant now... hehe..."

Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Now... kneel before your Queen."

Her heart began to beat faster.

Then faster.

Excitement surged through her veins like wildfire.

The thought alone...

This man.

This proud, arrogant existence.

Reduced and Broken.

Beneath her.

It made her tremble.

It thrilled her more than the memory of killing her ex-husband ever did.

’Oh my goodness...’

Her breath grew uneven as she waited—

Waited to see him crumble.

To see his pride shatter.

To watch his face twist into something pitiful.

Then—

!

She flinched when his hand caught her ankle, not violently.

But with gentleness and firmness.

And then—

He lifted his head.

Slowly and deliberately, he opened his eyes.

Pure crimson.

Deep and Endless Crimson.

The same shade as Mary.

!!!!

Lia’s entire body shuddered.

Not from fear.

Never fear.

But something far more dangerous.

Those eyes—

They were not filled with anger.

Not rage.

Not even madness.

What stared back at her was something raw and unfiltered... Hunger!

As he kissed her ankle gently, and yet,

!!!

A shiver ran down her whole body when his lips touched her.

Gulp~

[+300 AP]

Aether’s lips curled into a slow, deliberate smirk.