My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 69: Awakening

The explosion of stone and dust had barely settled when a massive slab came hurtling through the air like a guillotine.

Cain felt it before he saw it.

A coffin pall, thick as a fortress gate and soaked in ancient blood mana, tore free from the shattered coffin and slammed straight toward him.

There was no warning, no time to think, only the instinctive scream of danger echoing in his bones.

Before his mind could catch up, his body moved.

He stepped forward and pulled Cornelia in, his arm wrapping around her shoulders as he turned his back to the impact.

The pall smashed into him with a deafening crack, stone grinding against bone, blood mana exploding outward in a violent wave.

And then it shattered. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Fragments flew in every direction, reduced to dust before they could even touch the floor.

Cain blinked.

Cornelia blinked too.

For a brief second, they stared at each other in stunned silence, her face inches from his chest, his arm still firmly around her.

What the hell?

Cain’s heart thumped hard, not from pain, but from shock.

Did I just... protect her?

The realization hit him like a second blow, sharper than the first.

I wasn’t even thinking.

Cornelia felt it too. She could hear the confusion in his thoughts, the irritation layered beneath it, and something else that made her chest tighten in a strange way. Her fingers curled slightly against his sleeve before she caught herself and straightened, pretending nothing had happened.

Around them, the room had fallen into dead silence.

Ten figures hovered above the shattered coffins.

The blood ancestors of the Moonshade family were suspended in mid-air, their feet hovering just above the broken stone lids as if the coffins themselves were holding them up.

Their bodies were thin and withered, skin stretched tight over bone, their bald heads gleaming faintly under the red glow of blood mana.

Veins like dark roots pulsed across their scalps and down their necks, each beat slow and heavy, carrying centuries of accumulated power.

Their eyes were still closed.

Yet their presence alone crushed the room.

No one dared to breathe.

A vampire near the back finally whispered, his voice shaking so badly it almost broke apart.

"The ancestors... why did they awaken?"

The words spread like poison.

"What?"

"That’s impossible."

"They shouldn’t be awake."

"Did the ritual fail?"

Murmurs erupted, panic bleeding into every voice. Older vampires felt their knees weaken as memories of old teachings surged back.

The awakening of ancestors was never a good sign. It meant catastrophe, bloodshed, or judgment.

Someone shouted, louder this time, desperation seeping through his words.

"Ancestors! The Moonshade family is not in danger!"

Another dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead to the ground.

"Please return to your slumber! We beg you!"

More followed, kneeling, bowing, voices overlapping as fear took hold.

"Please forgive us if we offended you!"

"We did not mean to disturb your rest!"

"We are loyal to the Moonshade bloodline!"

The pleas grew louder, more frantic, filling the chamber with desperate noise.

The ancestors did not react.

They did not open their eyes.

They did not speak.

Then it came.

A wave of blood mana rolled out from their bodies, slow and heavy, like an invisible tide. It swept across the chamber and slammed into everyone present.

The effect was an instant.

Vampires cried out as their legs gave way, knees smashing into the stone floor. Some tried to stand, only to be crushed back down as if the air itself had turned solid.

Chests tightened, breaths came shallow and ragged, and blood mana inside their bodies went wild, responding instinctively to the overwhelming pressure.

"What is this?"

"I can’t breathe!"

"My blood... it won’t move!"

Panic turned to terror as realization dawned.

This wasn’t anger.

This was judgment.

The pressure pressed down harder, heavier, forcing spines to bend, heads to lower. Even proud nobles with centuries of status were reduced to trembling figures groveling on the floor.

"Forgive us!"

"We were wrong!"

"Please show mercy!"

Begging echoed through the hall, raw and undignified, but the blood mana only grew denser, sharper, cutting into them like invisible blades.

Cain felt it too.

The pressure crashed into him, testing him, probing his blood like a predator sniffing prey. His feet sank slightly into the stone, cracks spreading outward as he absorbed the weight.

Cornelia staggered beside him, her breath hitching as the blood mana pressed against her chest.

Cain reacted without thinking.

He shifted closer, placing himself between her and the ancestors, his body taking the brunt of the pressure. His blood surged instinctively,

Overgod blood rising to meet the challenge, stabilizing her even as irritation flared hot in his mind.

Tch. Annoying old corpses.

Cornelia felt the difference instantly.

The crushing weight eased around her, replaced by a strange warmth that grounded her feet and steadied her breathing. She looked at Cain again, eyes widening slightly.

He’s doing it again.

Protecting me.

She clenched her fists, hiding the surge of emotion threatening to break through her calm exterior.

The blood mana pressure reached its peak.

Then, slowly, it withdrew.

The invisible weight lifted, like a mountain being pulled off everyone’s backs. Vampires collapsed forward, gasping, hands clutching at the floor as they sucked in air like drowning men.

"What... what just happened?"

"Did we survive?"

Some sobbed in relief. Others trembled, too afraid to even look up.

The ten ancestors descended slowly, their bodies lowering until their feet touched the shattered coffins beneath them. The blood mana receded back into them, calm and controlled, yet far more terrifying now that everyone had tasted its edge.

Then, one by one, their eyes opened.

Red light flared.

The room froze.

Their gazes swept across the kneeling masses, indifferent and cold, before finally settling on two figures still standing.

Cain and Cornelia.

The ancestors’ eyes narrowed slightly, ancient minds already piecing things together. They could smell it now, the strange blend of blood in the air, the residue of something far beyond this territory’s limits.

One of them spoke, his voice dry and ancient, carrying the weight of countless years.

"So," he said slowly, eyes locked on Cain and Cornelia. "It is you two."