“You are our pureblood King. You should prioritize the honor and order of the bloodline!“}
“The vampire hierarchy is sacred and absolute. If you break the rules, what’s to stop others from doing the same? Our society will descend into chaos!”
“Your Majesty, we urge you to execute Serena, here and now, under the eyes of us all!”
Oliver’s body trembled uncontrollably, his gaze locked on me, filled with despair and helpless pleading.
“Serena, please wake up.”
But no matter how desperately he called out, I remained curled in the corner like a shadow, silent, wary, watching the vampires with the cold alertness of a wild creature.
Then, one of the nobles stepped forward.§
“If the King cannot bring himself to act, allow me to carry out the task on your behalf.”}
He raised his palm. A flickering green flame appeared mid–air, its eerie glow seething with devastating power just a touch, and it would reduce me to ash.
Just as he hurled the fireball toward me, a strange and ominous blood moon rose outside the castle window.
A dense gray fog rushed through the air like a thunderclap, swallowing the castle in seconds.”
The pressure was suffocating.
One by one, the nobles buckled to their knees in terror. Even Oliver and the highest–ranking elders staggered back, their proud forms bent under the crushing weight.”
In that moment, a fire blazed from deep within me.§
It wasn’t just heat it was power. Ancient, primal. A force older than the castle’s stone, older than the vampires themselves.
The power of the Vampire Ancestor stirred awake inside me.
The endless sea of blood–red haze in my vision cleared. My eyes saw the world again, not as a beast, but as myself.”
The fog lifted.
The ballroom returned to silence.
Laura was the first to break it, her voice sharp with disbelief and fear.
“You, you monster! You were bitten by a low–class vampire. Why are your eyes black again?!“}
Even Oliver, the Prince of the bloodline, had never witnessed anything like this. His brows knit tightly, his voice hushed and stunned, “This this is impossible.“}
Before his words had even faded, Laura screeched.
“I know what happened! She was already turned by a stray dog seven days ago. But Your Majesty, you, you kept giving her your pureblood! Out of mercy!”
“You tried to save her and ended up creating this. A mutated abomination!
Gasps echoed. All eyes shifted to Oliver, waiting for his judgment.
Laura pressed on, voice shrill with panic and venom, “Serena is a low-class vampire but she now wields power that rivals the royals! If we don’t destroy her now, she’ll devour us one by one!“}
“She absorbs everything she consumes, blood, power, abilities. If she continues, not even the King will be able to stop her!“}
That tipped the balance.}
The nobles turned cold, vicious.
No more mercy. No more curiosity. Just raw fear.}
They each unleashed their deadliest powers. Flashes of fire, waves of ice, shadows that tore through stone all of it rained down on me.
But not one attack left a mark.
Every strike was swallowed into the void, like stones thrown into the ocean.
I didn’t fight back, at least not yet.”
I merely raised my eyes and looked at one noble.
He disintegrated on the spot. Not even a scream.”
“Serena? What are you?“}
Laura’s terror turned manic. Her voice cracked as she shrieked.§
“Monster or not, even you can’t survive if all of us strike together! You’re not walking out of here alive!”
I stared at her, cold and disgusted. So loud. So petty. So pathetic.}
I was ready. One move, and she would be dead.
But then suddenly, a wave of power struck me head–on.}
Oliver.
He had attacked me to protect her.
