My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 63: Blood Pressure

Cornelia’s gaze shifted away from the fallen body and landed squarely on Vance.

"Where is the military token?" she asked, her tone steady, as if the duel had not just shaken the ground beneath their feet.

Vance flinched. He opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. His eyes darted to the side, widening.

"...It was on Sevette," he said slowly. "But—"

He pointed.

The spot where Sevette’s body had fallen was empty.

Cornelia’s brow furrowed. The air changed, a subtle tightening that made the hairs on her arms rise. She felt it too, that faint but unmistakable presence, like blood humming beneath the earth.

"There," Vance muttered.

They turned.

Sevette lay several meters away, half submerged in a shallow depression of cracked stone and darkened blood. Her body was twisted at an unnatural angle, neck bent sharply to the side, unmistakably broken.

Cornelia’s chest tightened. She was certain she had ended it cleanly.

Then it happened.

A sound, faint at first.

Crack.

Vance sucked in a sharp breath.

The sound came again, louder this time, grotesque and wet.

Crack.

Sevette’s neck twitched.

Cornelia’s eyes widened as the broken angle slowly corrected itself, vertebrae grinding back into place as blood flowed upward like living threads, weaving muscle and bone together.

Another crack echoed as her spine realigned, followed by a low groan from Sevette’s throat.

"What...?" Cornelia whispered.

Vance staggered back a step, his face pale. "Blood Recover," he said hoarsely. "That’s Blood Recover."

His mind reeled as he spoke, disbelief flooding his voice. "That technique reconstructs the body by controlling blood down to the smallest detail. You can’t just use it like this. You need massive reserves, precise control, and usually... you need to drink blood first."

His hands trembled. "I can’t even do that. Not without preparation. Not without external blood."

Sevette’s eyes fluttered open.

She drew in a slow, ragged breath, then another, as her body finished knitting itself together. She rolled her shoulders once, twice, testing the movement, then pushed herself up to her knees.

Cornelia stared.

She had not expected this. She had felt the life slip away, had felt the final slackening of muscle beneath her grip. And yet here Sevette was, breathing, recovering, standing back up as if death itself had hesitated.

Just how talented is she...?

Cain let out a quiet scoff.

In Cornelia’s mind, his voice carried a familiar edge, half annoyed, half dismissive.

You’re surprised? You’re nourished by my blood. You can do the same. No! Even better! Heal. Regrow. Reconstruct. If your head were cut off, you’d still crawl back together if you listened to your body properly.

Cornelia stiffened.

Your body is far above hers now, he continued. You just don’t know it yet.

Sevette rose to her feet fully this time, rolling her neck with a faint grimace before straightening. Her gaze met Cornelia’s, no longer playful, no longer mocking. Something sharper had taken its place.

"I’ll admit it," Sevette said, her voice calm but tight. "I didn’t expect you to be this tough."

She wiped a smear of dried blood from her chin and smiled thinly. "It seems this won’t be as easy as I thought. I was planning to save this for those who defeated me back at the academy."

Her eyes gleamed.

"But I suppose now is as good a time as any."

She spread her arms slightly, blood beginning to seep from her pores, dripping onto the cracked concrete beneath her feet.

"It’s time to get serious."

The blood pooled unnaturally fast, spreading outward in a widening circle, dark and glossy.

The ground hissed faintly as if reacting to the concentration of mana saturating it.

Cain frowned.

Another illusion, he muttered internally.

Sevette stepped backward, then suddenly dropped, her body sinking into the blood pool like a shadow slipping beneath water.

Cornelia’s eyes darted around.

"Where did she—"

She felt it was a heartbeat too late.

Sevette erupted behind her, arms wrapping around Cornelia’s torso with serpentine speed. Her grip was tight, precise, her body pressed flush against Cornelia’s back as if she had always belonged there.

"Got you," Sevette whispered into her ear.

Cornelia reacted instantly, twisting her hips and grabbing Sevette’s arm. With a sharp grunt, she flung her forward, breaking the hold through raw strength.

Sevette flew through the air and crashed back into the blood pool, vanishing again before her body could even hit the ground.

Cornelia turned in place, breath steady but senses stretched thin. The blood pool rippled, then stilled.

Sevette burst out again, this time from Cornelia’s left, claws flashing toward her neck.

Cornelia blocked, sparks of blood and mana colliding as she shoved Sevette away once more.

Again, the pool swallowed her.

Again, she reappeared.

The exchange grew faster, more chaotic. Sevette struck from impossible angles, her movements flowing seamlessly from one illusionary position to another. She attacked from above, from below, from behind, sometimes all at once, her laughter echoing faintly through the air.

Cornelia blocked, dodged, countered, but her timing wavered. Each defense came a fraction too late, each grab just missing its mark.

Cain watched, irritation creeping into his chest.

She’s still off, he thought. Her reaction is slow.

Earlier was luck. She still hasn’t fully grasped her rhythm.

Sevette lunged again, this time feinting high before sweeping low.

Cornelia jumped back, barely avoiding the strike, her boots skidding against blood-slick stone. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Cain clicked his tongue.

Why not use blood pressure? he thought sharply. A basic compression technique. You could crush her circulation in seconds. Even someone at peak Blood Condensation would collapse under it.

The thought ended abruptly.

He froze.

Wait.

I want her to lose.

The realization hit him like cold water.

If Cornelia lost, the duel’s terms would stand. The marriage would be void. He could finally leave Moonshade behind.

Why am I helping her?

His jaw tightened.

Fine.

His stance shifted, his thoughts turning deliberately, forcefully.

Go on, Sevette, he sneered internally. Beat her. Suffocate her. Show her the difference in realms.

Cornelia faltered.

Not physically. Emotionally.

The sudden change in Cain’s thoughts struck her like a slap. The guidance vanished, replaced by something sharp and alien. Her focus wavered, confusion flickering across her eyes.

Sevette noticed.

She appeared behind Cornelia once more, faster than before, arms wrapping around her shoulders and neck. One hand clamped over Cornelia’s mouth, cutting off her breath, while the other locked around her throat.

"Enough," Sevette said softly. "You fought well."

Cornelia’s body is still.

Sevette relaxed slightly, thinking she had won, feeling the resistance fade.

Cain’s heart leapt.

Yes—!

Then the air changed.

A pressure exploded outward from Cornelia’s body, invisible but crushing, like the sudden descent of a mountain. The ground cracked further beneath her feet, blood in the pool surging violently away from her as if repelled by an unseen force.

Sevette screamed.

The pressure crushed inward, squeezing her from every direction. Her arms spasmed, fingers losing their grip as pain unlike anything she had felt tore through her body.

"What—what is this—?!" Sevette gasped.

Cornelia’s eyes burned crimson.

Her aura flared, heavy and suffocating, the pure dominance of Overgod Blood finally awakening in full.

The pressure intensified, forcing Sevette’s body to bend unnaturally, her knees buckling as she was pried away.

Sevette’s grip broke.

She was flung backward, slammed into the ground with bone-shattering force.

The blood pool evaporated into mist.

Sevette lay there, unmoving.

Silence fell.

Her body twitched once, then went still as consciousness slipped away again.

Cornelia stood at the center of the cracked ground, chest rising and falling slowly, her eyes still glowing faintly as the pressure faded.

Cain stared at all of these.

...Oh fuck.