Chapter 19 — The Empty Sovereign
1914 Words
The Crimson Abyss was collapsing.
Massive chunks of black stone fell into the darkness.
Crimson lightning tore across the sky beneath the earth.
The ancient throne cracked.
And at the center of it all stood two beings with the same authority.
Noah Vale.
And the First Vampire.
[ULTIMATE THREAT DETECTED.]
[FIRST VAMPIRE — TRUE FORM]
[SOVEREIGN CLASS: ORIGINAL]
[AUTHORITY: SELF]
[WARNING.]
The enemy possesses an identical authority.
Noah stared at the system.
"Identical?"
The First Vampire smiled.
"Yes."
Noah looked at it.
"Then you're an Empty Sovereign too."
The creature shook its head.
"No."
It stepped forward.
"I was the first."
The Abyss shook.
"I became empty."
Its eyes burned white.
"You were born empty."
Noah's expression hardened.
"What's the difference?"
The First Vampire smiled.
"Everything."
---
THE FIRST EMPTY
The First Vampire raised its hand.
The world stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Falling stones froze in midair.
Crimson lightning became motionless.
Even the collapsing Abyss became silent.
Noah tried to move.
He couldn't.
The First Vampire walked toward him.
"This is the authority of the Empty."
Noah's eyes moved.
The creature continued.
"Nothing controls me."
It stepped closer.
"Nothing owns me."
Another step.
"I have no master."
It stood directly in front of Noah.
"And therefore..."
It touched Noah's chest.
"...I can become anything."
Noah suddenly felt something entering his body.
His blood screamed.
[WARNING.]
[FOREIGN SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY DETECTED.]
[HOST AUTHORITY UNDER ATTACK.]
Noah's vision blurred.
The First Vampire smiled.
"Give me your Empty Blood."
Noah gritted his teeth.
"No."
The creature's expression changed.
"Why?"
"Because it's mine."
The First Vampire laughed.
"That is the difference between us."
Noah stared.
"What?"
"I had nothing."
It raised its hand.
"You have something."
Noah's eyes narrowed.
"My family."
The First Vampire paused.
Noah smiled.
"That's what you never had."
---
THE WORLD MOVES AGAIN
Time suddenly resumed.
BOOM!
The Crimson Abyss exploded.
Noah was thrown backward.
He crashed against the stone.
Elara screamed.
"Noah!"
His father rushed toward him.
"Stay back!"
The First Vampire appeared above them.
Noah's mother raised her weapon.
The creature looked at her.
"You."
She stepped forward.
"If you touch my son—"
The First Vampire interrupted.
"Your son has already surpassed you."
His mother tightened her grip.
"He is not yours."
The creature looked at Noah.
"Not yet."
Noah stood.
Blood covered his face.
His wounds were already healing.
He raised his hand.
"Everyone move."
Elara shook her head.
"No."
"Elara."
"I'm not leaving."
Noah looked at her.
"This isn't a fight you can win."
She smiled.
"Then we'll lose together."
Noah laughed.
"You're impossible."
"I learned from you."
Kael stepped beside them.
"Can we save the family reunion for after we survive?"
Noah nodded.
"Fair."
His father raised his weapon.
"Then we fight together."
The First Vampire watched them.
Then it smiled.
"Good."
---
SOVEREIGN VS SOVEREIGN
Noah moved first.
Void Step activated.
He disappeared.
The First Vampire vanished at the same moment.
They reappeared simultaneously.
Their fists collided.
BOOM!
The shockwave destroyed the surrounding pillars.
Noah attacked again.
Shadow Step.
Blood Nullification.
Sovereign Authority.
Void Step.
Every ability he had accumulated exploded into one continuous assault.
The First Vampire blocked everything.
It was faster.
Stronger.
Older.
More experienced.
But Noah was learning.
Every movement.
Every technique.
Every reaction.
His new system analyzed the enemy.
[COMBAT ANALYSIS: 21%]
Noah ducked.
The First Vampire's claw missed his head.
[34%]
Noah countered.
His fist struck the creature's ribs.
[48%]
The First Vampire grabbed him.
"Too slow."
It slammed Noah into the ground.
BOOM!
Noah coughed blood.
The creature raised its hand.
Noah smiled.
"You're talking too much."
Void Step.
Noah disappeared.
The First Vampire's attack struck the ground.
Noah reappeared above it.
His fist descended.
CRACK!
The First Vampire crashed into the floor.
Noah landed.
The system flashed.
[COMBAT ANALYSIS: 67%]
Noah breathed heavily.
"Almost."
The First Vampire rose.
Blood ran from its mouth.
It looked at Noah.
"You learn quickly."
Noah smiled.
"That's what systems are for."
The First Vampire shook its head.
"No."
Its aura expanded.
"That's what you are for."
---
THE FIRST VAMPIRE'S MEMORY
The First Vampire raised both hands.
The Abyss changed.
Noah found himself somewhere else.
A world without vampires.
A world without humans.
A world of darkness.
At the center stood a young man.
The First Vampire.
But he wasn't monstrous.
He was human.
He looked terrified.
Another being stood before him.
A shape made entirely of light.
Noah stared.
"Who is that?"
The First Vampire answered:
"My creator."
Noah froze.
The being spoke.
"You are the first."
The young First Vampire looked at it.
"Why did you create me?"
"To survive."
"Survive what?"
The being looked toward the darkness.
"The End."
The vision changed.
Stars disappeared.
Worlds collapsed.
Something enormous consumed entire dimensions.
The young First Vampire screamed.
"What is that?"
The creator answered:
"The Hunger Beyond."
Noah's blood ran cold.
The vision ended.
He looked at the First Vampire.
"What was that?"
"The reason I became immortal."
Noah frowned.
"You were trying to survive."
"Yes."
"And the bloodlines?"
"I created them to fight it."
Noah looked at him.
"Then why destroy everything?"
The First Vampire's expression became bitter.
"Because I realized the Hunger Beyond could not be defeated."
Noah remained silent.
"So I decided..."
The creature looked toward him.
"...to become stronger than it."
Noah whispered:
"And you failed."
The First Vampire nodded.
"Yes."
---
THE HUNGER BEYOND
Noah looked at his system.
"Does it know about this?"
[EXTERNAL ENTITY DETECTED.]
[CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN.]
[THREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE.]
Noah's eyes widened.
"You're telling me something exists that you can't measure?"
[YES.]
The First Vampire smiled.
"You see?"
It spread its arms.
"This is why I need you."
Noah shook his head.
"You want me to fight it."
"Yes."
"And if I die?"
The First Vampire answered:
"Then I inherit your authority."
Noah laughed.
"So that's the plan."
"Yes."
"You've been preparing me."
"Yes."
"Even the Blood Crown."
"Yes."
"The Seven Bloodlines."
"Yes."
"The Empty Sovereign."
"Yes."
Noah stared.
"You orchestrated everything."
The First Vampire smiled.
"Not everything."
Noah frowned.
"What didn't you control?"
The creature looked toward Noah's mother.
"Her."
Noah turned.
His mother looked away.
The First Vampire continued.
"She was the variable I couldn't predict."
Noah's mother stepped forward.
"Because I chose my son."
The First Vampire smiled.
"Exactly."
---
THE MOTHER'S SACRIFICE
Noah's mother walked toward the center of the battlefield.
She removed a necklace.
Noah recognized it.
It was the same pendant connected to the Blood Crown fragment from his childhood.
She held it out.
"Noah."
He approached.
"What is it?"
"The last piece of my memory."
Noah stared.
"What?"
"I sealed part of myself inside this."
She placed it in his hand.
The moment he touched it—
A massive memory entered his mind.
His mother holding him as a baby.
His father standing beside her.
The First Dawn scientists surrounding them.
Then a final scene.
His mother standing before the First Vampire.
She was crying.
The First Vampire said:
"Give him to me."
She answered:
"Never."
Then she did something unexpected.
She cut her own bloodline.
Noah's eyes widened.
She severed her connection to the First Vampire.
The First Vampire screamed.
She then placed the severed bloodline into Noah.
The memory ended.
Noah staggered.
"Mom..."
She looked at him.
"I gave you the part of my blood that could protect you."
Noah's voice trembled.
"That's why my bloodline is unstable."
She nodded.
"I gave you everything I had."
Noah embraced her.
For a moment...
The war disappeared.
There was only a mother and her son.
Then the First Vampire spoke.
"Beautiful."
Noah turned.
The creature was smiling.
"But unnecessary."
---
THE FINAL SEVERANCE
The First Vampire raised its hand.
The bloodline connection between it and Noah suddenly became visible.
A crimson chain.
Noah stared.
The chain stretched between them.
The First Vampire grabbed it.
"I can still reclaim it."
Noah's expression changed.
"No."
The First Vampire pulled.
Noah screamed.
The six Blood Crown fragments inside him began shaking.
His mother fell to her knees.
Elara shouted.
"NOAH!"
His father attacked.
The First Vampire knocked him away.
Kael charged.
He was thrown aside.
Noah fell.
The chain tightened.
The First Vampire laughed.
"Your blood is mine."
Noah's vision blurred.
Then he remembered.
His mother.
Elara.
His father.
The Werewolf King.
The Dead Queen.
Lucien.
Everyone he had met.
Everyone who had chosen him.
Noah slowly stood.
The chain remained attached.
But Noah smiled.
"You made one mistake."
The First Vampire frowned.
"What?"
"You think blood defines me."
Noah raised his hand.
The Blood Crown appeared.
Seven fragments.
Seven lights.
Seven powers.
The Crownless King aura exploded.
[SOVEREIGN DECREE AVAILABLE.]
Noah stared at the system.
"One command."
[CONFIRMED.]
Noah looked directly at the First Vampire.
"I know what my command is."
The First Vampire's eyes widened.
"No."
Noah raised his hand.
"I don't command you to die."
The First Vampire froze.
"I don't command you to obey."
The chain began cracking.
"I command..."
Noah's golden-white eyes burned.
"...that your blood no longer recognizes me."
The First Vampire screamed.
[SOVEREIGN DECREE ACTIVATED.]
BOOM!
The crimson chain shattered.
The entire Crimson Abyss exploded with light.
The First Vampire was thrown backward.
Noah fell to one knee.
The Blood Crown disappeared.
Silence.
Then—
[ANCESTRAL CONNECTION SEVERED.]
[FIRST VAMPIRE AUTHORITY: REJECTED.]
[HOST STATUS: INDEPENDENT.]
Noah looked up.
For the first time...
The First Vampire looked truly alone.
---
THE SEVENTH LAW
The First Vampire slowly stood.
It looked at Noah.
Then it laughed.
Noah frowned.
"What's funny?"
The creature wiped blood from its mouth.
"You finally did it."
"What?"
"You severed yourself from me."
Noah stared.
The First Vampire smiled.
"And now I can finally fight you."
Noah froze.
The creature's body began changing.
Its white eyes turned black.
Its wings disappeared.
Its monstrous form collapsed.
The ancient vampire became human.
A man.
A normal-looking man.
He looked almost like Noah's older brother.
The First Vampire smiled.
"My name..."
He paused.
"...was once Aurelion."
Noah stared.
"Aurelion."
The name echoed through the Abyss.
Then the system appeared.
[ANCESTRAL IDENTITY RESTORED.]
[FIRST VAMPIRE: AURELION]
[STATUS: INDEPENDENT]
[CURRENT OBJECTIVE: UNKNOWN]
Aurelion looked toward the collapsing Abyss.
"The next phase has begun."
Noah narrowed his eyes.
"What next phase?"
Aurelion looked upward.
The ceiling of the Abyss shattered.
Beyond it was not the sky.
It was space.
Stars.
Galaxies.
Then something moved between them.
Something enormous.
Something that made even Aurelion look afraid.
Noah stared.
"What is that?"
Aurelion whispered:
"The Hunger Beyond."
The stars began disappearing.
One by one.
Aurelion looked at Noah.
"And now..."
He smiled.
"...it knows your name."
Noah's system flashed.
[UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED.]
[THREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE.]
[NEW MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED.]
THE HUNGER BEYOND
Objective: Discover the origin of the entity consuming worlds.
Objective: Unite the Seven Bloodlines.
Objective: Determine why Noah Vale was created.
Objective: Survive the arrival of the Hunger Beyond.
[WARNING.]
The First Vampire is no longer your enemy.
The First Vampire is now your potential ally.
Noah stared at Aurelion.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Aurelion laughed.
"No."
He extended his hand.
"The war you thought was yours..."
His eyes turned crimson.
"...was never the real war."
Noah looked toward the disappearing stars.
Then he looked at the hand.
He didn't take it.
Not yet.
Instead, he smiled.
"You're going to have to earn my trust."
Aurelion laughed again.
"Good."
The Crimson Abyss collapsed completely.
And above the world...
The first star disappeared.
To be continued...
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD