Lena’s eyes flashed, and then she vanished.

A red streak shot toward Mingyue.

Clang!

The collision sent a violent wave through the corridor. Ice spread across one side, while blood mist exploded across the other.

Mingyue did not move back this time.

Her left sword blocked Lena’s claw, while her right sword slashed across Lena’s waist.

Lena twisted her body at a strange angle and narrowly dodged.

But the tip of the sword still cut through her side.

A line of blood appeared.

Lena jumped back and touched her waist. Her fingers came away red.

She stared at the blood on her hand for a second, then slowly licked it.

Her smile disappeared.

"You are really strong."

Mingyue raised her sword again.

"I gave you a chance."

Alex still stood where he was, watching quietly.

But his eyes had already turned cold.

Because the moment Lena bled, he had felt it clearly.

There was a filthy soul stench mixed into it.

Alex slowly lifted his hand.

Green fire gathered above his palm, but this time, there was also a faint black light hidden inside it.

Lena’s expression finally changed. She looked at the flame, then at Alex, and for the first time, real caution appeared in her eyes.

"What... are you?"

Alex took one step forward.

"You are not qualified to ask."

The green flame in his hand expanded at once, turning into a ring of fire that spread through the alley.

Rune symbols could be seen flickering through the embers.

Lena’s face changed drastically. She tried to retreat, but the ice lotuses under her feet suddenly bloomed.

Frozen space locked down the area around her.

Mingyue had already moved. Her figure appeared above Lena like a cold moon.

Both swords came down together.

Lena roared and raised both claws to block.

BOOM!!!

The whole corridor trembled.

Cracks spread across Lena’s arms. Ice climbed up to her shoulders. At the same time, Alex’s green flames rushed in through the cracks and started burning her from the inside.

Lena screamed, "Arghh?!"

Mingyue looked down at her with a cold expression.

Alex blurred forward, then smashed her into the wall.

BAM!!!!

"You all may be desperate, but to think the vampire race would do this now."

He had his suspicion before, but now it was confirmed. The vampires had regressed.

Lena’s breathing turned rough. Her body kept shaking under the double pressure of frozen space and progenitor suppression.

But then, instead of answering, a strange smile slowly appeared on her face again.

"I don’t know what you mean, but stop looking down on me," she said.

Lena’s red pupils trembled with madness.

"A vampire is a race that is proud of their achievements. They completely mastered how to utilize pure life force. Yet now, what are you doing..." Alex’s eyes narrowed.

He didn’t know what deal the vampires had made with Ghost Valley, but it was clear how they improved their power with it.

The vampire technique filtered everything and left only pure life force for them to use.

But now what Alex saw was different.

They purposely left soul remnants behind in the life force, creating intense emotion that strengthened the energy.

Rage, fear, pain, and hatred.

All of it was mixed into the life force like poison.

The result was stronger, but unstable.

Alex’s eyes grew colder. "So this is why you can resist the progenitor pressure."

Lena’s smile widened.

"So you’re the progenitor that the Sovereign warned us about. Stop talking like you understand us."

Alex’s hand tightened around her neck.

"I understand enough."

The green flame inside Lena’s body burned harder.

Lena’s skin started cracking. Thin lines of green fire spread under her flesh, but instead of burning normally, the wounds leaked black blood and gray mist.

Mingyue narrowed her eyes.

"She’s eating those emotions."

Alex saw it too.

His flame was purifying Lena’s blood, but it could not keep up with her swallowing it.

"You should stop. Is this worth it? You will lose yourself," Alex warned.

Eating all those intense emotions would have a huge effect on her soul and ego.

Seeing the intensity, even Alex himself was not sure if he could keep himself sane. Maybe he could if he turned off his emotions again like before.

"Just what are you all doing to get that much intense emotion?" Mingyue asked.

With so much intensity, Mingyue believed it should at least come from millions of people. Innocents who were tortured to create all this intense emotion.

Lena’s body shook harder. Her bones cracked.

Then she laughed. "Hehe... hahaha..."

Her laugh echoed through the corridor.

The space trembled with her voice.

"It’s from the pandemic," Alex said, answering Mingyue.

He released his grasp, then raised his progenitor pressure.

Lena’s knees almost bent again, but the blood seeping from her body turned solid, then pierced into the wall.

The entire space reacted.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It sounded like a giant heart beating.

Blood flowed from the walls into the threads on Lena’s back.

Her cracked skin closed, then split open again.

Something was growing under it.

Mingyue moved first.

Her sword cut down toward Lena’s neck.

Lena’s head snapped sideways. The sword missed her throat by a finger’s width and sliced through her shoulder instead.

Blood sprayed out. But the blood did not fall.

It froze in the air for a moment, then turned into thin needles and shot toward Mingyue’s face.

Mingyue raised her second sword and cut the air.

Space folded. The blood needles vanished into the cut.

At the same time, Alex slammed Lena into the wall again.

BAM!!

The wall cracked. Faces appeared inside the wall, screaming without sound.

Lena’s body sank into it halfway.

Alex raised his other hand. A rune formed above his palm.

The rune shot into Lena’s forehead.

Lena’s eyes widened.

For a split second, Alex saw something.

A black throne surrounded by a sea of blood.

A group of vampires kneeling around a giant soul formation.

Then the vision shattered.

Lena screamed. "Get out of my head!"

Dozens of blood threads exploded outward and wrapped around Alex’s arm, Mingyue’s sword, and the walls.

Alex frowned. The threads were not just blood. Each one had small faces moving inside it.

Soul remnants.

They bit into his skin, trying to drill into his body. Green fire flared around Alex’s arm.

Mingyue twisted her sword and released cold qi.

The threads wrapped around her blade froze from the inside.

CRACK!!

The frozen threads shattered.

Lena used that moment to slip out of Alex’s grip. Her body blurred backward and landed several meters away.

She bent forward, breathing hard. Black blood dripped from her mouth.

Alex looked at his arm. It healed almost at once, but his expression became heavier.

"You are planning to create an abomination."

Lena wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "So what?"

"You are even using the souls of other Sovereigns." Alex’s gaze turned cold.

Lena’s red eyes shook for a moment. Then her face twisted.

"Shut up."

Alex took one step forward.

"Those that don’t agree with you, those that prefer other methods. You all trapped them, then sacrificed them."

"I said shut up!"

Lena’s voice cracked.

The whole corridor shook again. Blood poured from the walls and gathered around her feet.

Mingyue glanced around. "The pocket space is helping her mutate."

Alex nodded. "This place is giving her more corrupted life force."

Lena raised her head. Her smile returned, but now it looked broken.

"You think we had a choice?"

Her fingers dug into her own chest.

"We were hunted, chased, enslaved. Those captured were used as materials. I saw my own baby brother cooked like some kind of elixir!!!!

Seven days and nights, he cried! Boiled alive while I couldn’t do anything!!!

Where were you then? Aren’t you our progenitor? Our God!?"