My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 36: Cornelia’s awakening

Darkness clung to Cornelia like thick water.

It pressed against her thoughts, against whatever part of her still knew how to be afraid, how to remember, how to be herself. She could not tell how long she had been floating there.

There was no sense of time, no sense of direction. Only an endless hollow where even pain felt distant, muted, like it belonged to someone else.

The first thing she noticed was thirst.

It was not a gentle dryness in her throat. It was a deep, aching emptiness that felt carved into her chest, as if something vital had been scooped out and left raw. Her lips felt cracked. Her tongue felt heavy. Every attempt to swallow brought nothing but a sharp reminder that she needed something, desperately, violently.

Her body reacted before her mind did.

A single finger twitched.

The movement was so small it almost didn’t exist, just a faint tremor along her left hand, buried somewhere beneath fabric and cold stone. Then it happened again, a little stronger this time, as if her nerves were testing whether the world would answer back.

Her wrist moved. Her elbow bent slightly.

A low sound escaped her throat, not quite a groan, not quite a breath. It dragged itself out of her chest without permission.

Her shoulders jerked.

Something rippled through her spine, a wave of pressure that made her back arch and her head tilt to the side. Her legs followed, one knee drawing up, the other scraping weakly against the ground.

Each movement sent dull echoes through her body, sensations returning in fragments, cold against her skin, the weight beneath her, the stale smell of blood and metal lingering in the air.

Her heart began to beat faster.

With every pulse, the thirst grew louder, sharper, turning from an ache into a command. It wanted. It demanded. It clawed at her from the inside.

Her fingers curled into the stone beneath her, nails scraping, leaving thin white marks as her grip tightened without her realizing it. Her breathing became uneven, shallow at first, then suddenly too deep, as if she were gasping after being held underwater for too long.

Her body convulsed.

This time it was not subtle. Her arms snapped inward, her shoulders shaking as power rushed through muscles that had been still for far too long. Her head rolled to the side, brown curls spilling across her face, spreading like a dark halo against the ground.

Her eyes flew open.

Red flooded her vision.

Not light, not color, but hunger, raw and burning.

Her pupils were sharp and focused, glowing with a feral intensity that had nothing to do with thought or reason.

A roar tore out of her chest.

It was loud, brutal, shaking the air around her as if the space itself recoiled from the sound. The ground beneath her trembled. Loose stones jumped. Blood that had dried nearby cracked and flaked from the vibration.

She pushed herself upright in one violent motion.

Her body moved with unnatural speed, muscles tightening and stretching as if they had always known how to move this way. Her spine straightened. Her shoulders rolled back. Her head snapped up, eyes scanning the world around her with predatory focus.

She did not recognize where she was.

She did not recognize the bodies scattered around her, the broken ground, the heavy smell of fear clinging to the air.

All she knew was hunger.

Another roar burst from her throat, louder than the first, layered with rage and instinct so pure it burned.

"Fortunately," a calm voice said nearby, cutting cleanly through the chaos of her scream, "I came not too late."

Cornelia’s head snapped toward the sound.

Cain stood a short distance away, his cape settling behind him like living shadow. His eyes were fixed on her, sharp and focused, but there was no fear in them, only calculation and a strange trace of relief.

"Otherwise," he continued lightly, glancing at the ground around her, "these bodies would have become your nourishment."

His arm moved.

With a flick of his wrist, several human figures were hurled forward, their bodies still bound by thin threads of dark red blood that shimmered faintly in the air. They hit the ground hard, rolling and groaning as the bindings dissolved and vanished.

Cornelia roared again.

She lunged.

Her feet tore chunks of stone from the ground as she launched herself forward, claws reaching, mouth open wide as if she could tear the world apart with her teeth alone.

Cain did not move to stop her.

Instead, he stepped back and snapped his fingers.

The blood threads vanished completely.

The humans gasped as control returned to their bodies. Panic exploded through them as they scrambled to their feet, eyes darting between the raging figure of Cornelia and the retreating silhouette of Cain.

"Protect yourselves!"

"Formation, now!"

"Don’t let it close in!"

Their voices overlapped, frantic but trained, years of battle instinct forcing order onto fear. They spread out, weapons coming up, light beginning to gather around them as mana surged into shields and spells.

Cornelia slammed into the space between them like a living storm.

A holy blade grazed her side, burning, searing, but she did not slow. She swung her arm and sent one knight flying, his body spinning through the air before crashing into the ground in a cloud of dust.

Light burst around her as spells detonated, flashes of gold and white hammering into her body. Pain flared, sharp and blinding, but it only fed the hunger, turning it hotter, wilder.

Cain watched for a moment longer.

Then he turned away.

"He’s hungry," he murmured to himself, his lips curling into a faint smile. "And so am I."

His body blurred, shrinking and twisting as crimson energy wrapped around him. In the blink of an eye, a massive red bat burst into the air, wings snapping open with a thunderous crack before beating once, twice, and then vanishing into the distance.

Far away, Cornelia screamed again, her battle just beginning.

Cain did not look back.

He cut through the air like a streak of blood, his senses stretching outward, locking onto two vast presences locked in violent opposition. The clash of empires echoed even across planes, power colliding with power in waves that bent reality itself.

Cain slowed as he drew closer, his bat form dissolving back into his humanoid shape as he hovered above the battlefield unseen.

Two Emperors faced each other.

Golden light clashed with monstrous authority, the sky fractured with every exchange, space screaming under the weight of their blows.

Armies burned and shattered below them, caught in the aftermath of forces far beyond their control.

Cain folded his arms, watching with interest, eyes gleaming.

"Good," he said softly. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Do it faster!"

He leaned forward slightly, savoring the tension, already imagining the taste of victory when exhaustion finally claimed them both.

Suddenly, Cain’s stomach rumbled. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

But then he’d hear them talk to each other.

"Go back to your realm, otherwise there will be consequences!" the Chimera Ant Emperor declared to the Human Emperor.

The Human Emperor looked at the Chimera Ant Emperor, but he couldn’t sense the terror he had felt earlier. How could this be? Is this really the one who had instilled such a deep sense of urgency in him earlier? Why couldn’t he feel it now?