ATAPOW Chapter 246
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Chapter 246: I’m Getting Angry!
As the name implied, ancestral reversion physique was a re-emergence of long-lost ancestral traits —physical or physiological— in a descendant.
Despite the divide between their races, the human concept of ancestral reversion bore a striking similarity to that of the vampires.
This led Ji Bai to conclude, after analyzing the memories the pitch-black knight gave him, that the ancient vampire royalty and the God mankind worshiped shared close blood ties with each other.
In ancient times, all royal vampires, whether from main or branch families, could pass on their powers completely through virgin embrace. The fact that this ability had all but vanished in the present day had only one explanation: the [Primordial Vein] within the modern royal line was far weaker than that of their ancient ancestors.
This conclusion sparked a daring theory in Ji Bai’s mind.
He deduced that the only vampire in the current era capable of performing a virgin embrace may have just been a distant branch member from the second epoch.
After all, the true royal bloodline had been completely massacred by the allied army under the sway of the Lord of Sins, long before the calamity that destroyed the third epoch.
Of course, this was just Ji Bai’s speculation. The truth of what happened back then was likely far more complex.
In the present Fourth Epoch, vampires might have lost their former glory, but they had undeniably survived through two eras, rightfully earning their title as the most enduring noble race.
After all, how many mighty species could claim to have survived the ravages of time from the Second Epoch until now?
Only the vampires, the queens of survival, were capable of achieving such a feat.
Their resilience could also be traced to the physiques they possessed. Most importantly, the Ancestral Reversion Physique, a genetic trait so rare it was found in less than one in ten million individuals.
The primordial vein theory dictated that the purity of a race’s bloodline was directly linked to their strength. The closer the connection was to their ancestors, the greater the power they wield.
The wielder of the Ancestral Reversion Physique also inherited the psychological characteristics of a vampire’s true ancestor to some extent, resulting not just in a minor increase—
—but a complete qualitative leap in power.
That phenomenon truly made Ji Bai marvel at the wondrous and unpredictable nature of the world.
If his conjecture proved true, Lin would be the first vampire of this physique he met.
Ji Bai held his breath as he stared at her confronting Cherrywing in the air.
The bowl-sized wounds where his arms had been had mostly stopped bleeding, yet he paid them no attention; The numbness had already erased any traces of pain.
The chances of him dying from blood loss were extremely slim. After all, this was not the first time he had courted death before.
The memory of his throat being slit remained vivid in his mind – the chilling sensation, the blacking out, then the inexplicable return to life. Instead of descending to the underworld as he should have, he remembered waking up and feeling the familiar strands of supple silver hair at his forehead.
True death, it seemed, could only come in his vampire form.
This realization was also why he neglected the injuries on his body, becoming impassive and numb to pain.
At which point did his thoughts begin to stray so far away from humanity?
The standoff in the sky reached a critical juncture.
Yet despite the intense standoff, their eyes remained blank and lifeless as they locked onto each other, like porcelain dolls.
A black gust of wind burst forth, causing their long hair to flutter.
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the dark skies, becoming two brilliant streaks of light. A silent duel ensued, their movements blending and separating like brushstrokes on a canvas.
‘If the two of them continue fighting, they’re going to…’
He glanced at the ground, scarred and cracked as if littered with countless ‘wounds’ everywhere. The tremors beneath his feet made him feel as though the earth was about to give way with the slightest movement.
The air, charged with [magical energy], washed over Ji Bai, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Both parties seemed to be behaving abnormally, their actions driven by instinct rather than conscious decision.
The intensifying battle seemed to bring to mind an old adage in Ji Bai’s mind: When titans clash, the innocent suffer. The two experts unleashed their magic, without regard to the devastation it caused around them.
The resulting maelstrom of magical particles permeated the air, making him feel slightly suffocated.
If they continued, it was possible that everything within hundreds of miles around Swan Goose Castle would be completely obliterated. Even if he and his unconscious companions managed to escape the magical fluctuation from their attacks, they would find it hard to avoid their fate of being buried by the sand.
The two figures calmly stared at each other in the center of the storm, appearing evenly matched on the surface.
However, Ji Bai could tell from a single glance that Lin had nearly exhausted the magic in her body. Cherrywing, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, as if she was in complete control of the situation.
It was almost as if she possessed an endless reservoir of power.
Lin chanted softly, a trance-like tone in her voice. Despite the dwindling magic in her body, she continued to cast spells without any hesitation.
‘This is bad…’
If a [Primordial Vein] spell was cast without sufficient magic reserves, it would sap the caster’s essence dry, leaving them as a desiccated corpse.
He could not tell if she had forgotten that fact or if her primal instincts had completely overtaken her.
Yet the gap in magical energy between the two sides remained as vast as heaven and earth.
This overwhelming disparity in power had already decided the outcome.
As magical energy emerged and swirled around her, the tips of Cherrywing’s hair gradually took on a faint cherry hue as they danced about in the gale.
Despite her outwardly strong appearance, Lin had fallen into a disadvantage. However, she was oblivious to that, adopting a fighting stance as if ready to battle to the bitter end.
Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the tension in the air suddenly disappeared.
Cherrywing was the first to cease her magic. The listlessness in her eyes was disappearing, gradually giving way to a look of surprise.
The endless passage of time had left her apathetic, but in this moment, an energy she had not felt for eons was surging within her…
A small wooden box that had been untouched for ages, creaked open slightly in the recesses of her mind.
“Hurry up and leave, Yana. Evacuate this place with the others.” A figure flickered in and out of focus in her memory, as her voice, gentle yet tinged with a deep sense of hopelessness, resounded.
“Big sister, didn’t you always say that a Lasombra dies with their feet on the ground? I’m ready to stand with you to the end. ”
“This time is different.” The blurry figure gently shook her head. She tenderly rubbed Yana’s hair, before abruptly slicing a lock of it off with her finger.
“Evacuate with the citizens. You are the last hope for our Lasombra Clan.”
“In the name of the Scarlet Queen, I hereby relinquish the title of Eldest Princess to Yana Lasombra.”
“The glory of the Lasombra Clan rests on you now, Yana…”
With a dazed expression, Cherrywing’s eyes widened slowly as she floated motionlessly in the air.
As her consciousness began to return, blurry and unfamiliar images flashed in her mind like a slideshow.
‘Drip.’
Only when water droplets hit her palms did she finally come to her senses.
‘Hmm?’
A trace of moisture lingered on the cheek her finger had brushed against.
“How strange, why did I suddenly…”
Unfortunately, the blazing energy gave her no time to recover from her indecision, leaving her incapable of processing her emotions and reacting.
[Despair Class — Scarlet Essence]
Still reeling from the foreign memories’ influence, she instinctively reacted in self-defense.
Waving her hand, she summoned a swarm of small scarlet bats, which coalesced themselves into a comet with a long trailing tail.
With ease, it deflected and dispersed the destructive power charging towards her.
After exhausting the last shred of magic in her body, Lin’s eyes went dark, and she collapsed to the ground in a free-fall.
To any observer, the conclusion of this battle was all too apparent. In fact, the outcome between these two unevenly matched factions had been set in stone since the very start.
“Who are you, exactly?” Cherrywing’s gaze shifted from Lin, who was lying unconscious on the ground, to the water droplets shimmering in her palm.
Her father’s commands were absolute. So, does that mean she had to kill the person in front of her?
‘Kill… her?’
In her trance, she instinctively walked up to Lin and bent down to stroke the unconscious girl’s hair, which was nearly identical to her own.
“As long as Father exists in this world, that is enough.”
That was what Cherrywing believed before, but now she found herself at a loss.
The memory fragments, which appeared sporadically and fleetingly in her brain without consent — what were they?
Pushing away the distracting thoughts in her mind, she stared at the unconscious Lin and steeled her heart for the ruthless act that was to follow.
“I’m sorry. Even though I don’t know who you are…” Gritting her teeth, Cherrywing spread her palm, magical particles swirling in her hand.
“Sorry…”
“Bzzt…” The magic gathered in her hand suddenly flickered out.
“Why…” She froze and looked at her palm.
Why couldn’t she harm this young girl? The latter had tried to kill her before, so why was she showing mercy now?
After a moment of silence, Cherrywing slowly shook her head.
What was holding her back?
She glanced at Swan Goose Castle, now a scene of utter desolation. The few pitiful remnants of its earthen walls had vanished, while its surrounding ground was overturned and ravaged.
That was most likely the ‘masterpiece’ she created while she was unconscious.
Finally, Cherrywing gave Lin a profound stare.
She unfurled her twelve demon wings and soared into the sky, gradually turning into a small black dot in the distance.
Although Ji Bai was unsure what had happened, he was certain that it marked the end of their battle… or so he hoped.
He got up to his feet, armless and disorientated. As he looked at the black dot disappear into the distance, a sigh escaped his lips before he collapsed, unmoving.
What kind of being was she to possess such boundless and unfathomable strength?
‘Forget it, I’m not going to think about this anymore. Time for a short break.”
As soon as he got up from his rest, he would use his vampire form to bring them all back.
Ji Bai lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath as his heart pounded frantically, desperate for oxygen.
“Thud, thud, thud…”
The sound of footsteps resounded out of nowhere, sending a tingle down his scalp and jolting him out of his somewhat relaxed state. He quickly sat up from the ground.
An object overhead seemed to be casting its shadow on him.
When he looked up, he nearly got the shock of his life.
A silver-haired girl was standing before him, her eyes vacant and unfocused.
“???” Ji Bai was bewildered.
‘She was out cold just now, wasn’t she? How is she on her feet already? There’s no way she could recover that quick, right?’
“Great, you’re able to move on your own. Save me the trouble of carrying you back… Also, if you’re not too tired, you can bring those three along…”
The danger his intuition warned him of caused Ji Bai to tense up suddenly. He desperately rolled his armless body, which now resembled a stick, away from danger.
As always, his intuition was spot on…
…He thought, surveying the blackened wasteland where he had stood moments before.
“Are you trying to take this chance to settle a personal score, Parasite?” Ji Bai said, his eyes narrowed into slits.
Lin did not respond. Her face was icy, and her eyes glazed over.
Was she still unconscious, or had some other entity taken over her?
Could that possibly be a side effect caused by her Physique? Whatever the case, it did not seem like she could undo this state on her own.
“Hey, snap out of it. The enemy has already left, we’re all on the same side here.”
“Boom!”
“Seems like it’s too much to expect a single-celled organism to recognize friend from foe.”
From the way Lin swayed, it was clear she was badly injured and might collapse at any moment. Even so, she was more than a match for him, whose mobility had been restricted due to his severe injuries.
Alas, it seemed that fate was determined to have his head.
“Boom!” Her strike landed squarely in the center of his forehead; Leaving Ji Bai, now without the protection of his Radiant Armor, to take the full force of the blow.
A magical blast of this magnitude would have instantly killed any human – but ‘he’ was special.
“Ugh, how infuriating! Do you really think I’m incapable of anger? I’m mad now!”