Chapter 226: Final Blessings
The silence that had wrapped around the arena did not last forever.
It broke slowly at first, like a dam beginning to crack under pressure, until it could no longer hold back the emotions that had been building inside the Moonshade family.
Then it burst.
"Madam Cornelia!"
"Madam Ivira!"
"Madam Faith!"
Their voices rose together, loud and full, no longer restrained by doubt or fear, no longer weighed down by the uncertainty that had followed them when they first stepped into this place. The names of the three sisters echoed across the colosseum, each call filled with pride so intense that it trembled in their throats.
They were no longer whispering among themselves.
They were declaring it.
Declaring to the entire world before them that these three women were theirs, that they belonged to the Moonshade family, that the blood flowing within them was the same blood that flowed through all of them.
"Our Madams!"
"They are ours!"
"Look at them!"
Their voices overlapped, some laughing, some crying, some shouting so loudly that their voices cracked, yet none of them cared, because in this moment, everything they had feared before had been overturned, crushed beneath the overwhelming brilliance of the three sisters.
Elder Ghurn stood among them, his old frame trembling not from weakness but from emotion, his chest rising and falling as he looked at the three palms, at the three figures seated upon them.
"...We have lived long enough to see this..."
He murmured, his voice thick.
"...We have lived long enough to witness something like this..."
His eyes glistened, and he did not bother to hide it.
Around him, the other elders nodded, their expressions filled with the same overwhelming pride, their earlier hesitation gone, replaced by a confidence that burned brightly.
"They are the future..."
"They are more than that..."
"They are beyond anything we imagined..."
Their words carried weight now.
Not because they spoke them loudly.
But because everyone else could see that they were true.
The vampires who were not part of the Moonshade family stood in stunned silence at first, their eyes shifting from one sister to another, their minds struggling to keep up with everything that had unfolded.
"...Those two..."
One of them whispered, pointing slightly toward Ivira and Faith.
"...They are also like that...?"
"I thought only the curly-haired one..."
"No... look at them..."
Their gazes sharpened, focusing more closely now, no longer dismissing the other two as mere companions, no longer assuming that only one among them held something special.
Ivira sat with her back straight, her silver hair framing her face as the faint glow around her deepened, her presence calm yet heavy, like a quiet force that did not need to shout to be acknowledged.
Faith, beside her, radiated something different.
Her long black hair shimmered faintly as the energy wrapped around her, her expression soft, her breathing steady, yet the aura around her carried a warmth that drew attention just as strongly as Cornelia’s earlier display.
"They..."
The whispers spread.
"They are not ordinary either..."
"They are the same..."
"No... they feel different..."
"They are... all of them..."
The realization began to take root, slow at first, then faster, spreading like fire among dry leaves.
The Moonshade family had not brought one anomaly.
They had brought three.
Three individuals who stood far beyond what the others could comprehend.
The Emperor level powerhouses, who had earlier reacted with disbelief and shock, now found themselves silent once again, but this silence was no longer empty.
It was filled with thought.
With calculation.
With something that resembled caution.
"...We must reassess..."
One of them muttered, his voice low.
"This is no longer about a single talent..."
Another responded, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"This is a group... a cluster of something unprecedented..."
Their gazes lingered on Ivira and Faith, their expressions no longer dismissive, no longer indifferent.
"...We underestimated them..."
Lord Vord stood above, his earlier emotional outburst settling into something quieter, his eyes still wide but now focused, taking in the entire scene with a new perspective.
"...Three..."
He murmured.
"...Three such existences..."
His chest tightened again, but this time it was not from overwhelming emotion alone.
It was from realization.
"If they all grow..."
He did not finish the thought.
He did not need to.
Because the implication was clear.
If all three of them reached their full potential, then the balance within the vampire race itself would be affected.
Elder Achilor remained silent.
But his silence was not empty.
His eyes moved carefully, observing every detail, every reaction, every shift in the atmosphere.
"...This changes everything..."
He thought.
"...Everything..."
At the center of it all, Cain stood quietly, his presence almost forgotten amidst the overwhelming attention directed at the three sisters.
He did not complain.
He did not interrupt.
In fact—
He welcomed it.
"...Good..."
His thoughts flowed calmly, his gaze steady.
"...Keep looking at them..."
He shifted his weight slightly, blending into the background even more as the focus remained fixed elsewhere.
"...The more they shine... the less I exist in their eyes..."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, though no one noticed it.
"...This is exactly what I need..."
He watched as the crowd continued to react, their attention locked entirely on Cornelia, Ivira, and Faith.
"...Let them become the center..."
His eyes flickered briefly toward the three sisters.
"...And I will slip through everything unnoticed..."
But before he could continue that thought—
Something else began to happen.
The massive clawed palms.
All three of them.
They began to change.
At first, it was barely noticeable.
A faint distortion along the edges.
A slight wavering in their form.
Then—
They began to melt.
Not like ice under heat.
Not like stone breaking apart.
But like something dissolving back into the world itself.
The sharp claws softened.
The defined edges blurred.
The dark surface began to drip, not physically, but in a way that made it seem as though the structure was losing its solid form and returning to something more primal.
"...What is happening now...?"
Someone asked, their voice filled with confusion.
"The palms... they are disappearing..."
Elder Achilor stepped forward again, his gaze intense as he observed the transformation.
"...This is not destruction..."
He murmured.
"...This is completion..."
The melting continued, the massive structures slowly collapsing inward, dissolving into streams of dark red energy that flowed downward and then rose again, forming a swirling mass above the three sisters.
The entire arena darkened.
Not completely.
But enough that the sky above seemed to take on a different shade.
A deep, dark red.
And then—
The clouds appeared.
They formed suddenly, yet naturally, as if they had always been there, hidden, waiting for this exact moment to reveal themselves.
Dark red clouds.
Heavy.
Rolling.
Layer upon layer, they gathered above the arena, stretching outward, covering the sky like a vast ocean of blood.
The air grew thicker.
The scent of iron became stronger.
The atmosphere itself changed.
"This..."
One of the Emperor level vampires whispered, his voice filled with awe.
"...This is a vampiric phenomenon..."
"No... this is beyond a normal phenomenon..."
Another corrected, his gaze fixed on the sky.
"This is a sign..."
The clouds churned slowly, their movements deliberate, their presence overwhelming, casting a deep crimson glow over everything below.
Lightning did not strike.
Thunder did not roar.
Yet the pressure they brought was undeniable.
It pressed down on everyone, not to crush them, but to make them aware.
Aware of what was happening.
Aware of what was being born.
The Moonshade family fell silent again, their earlier cheers replaced by wide-eyed stares as they looked up at the sky, their expressions filled with awe and something close to reverence.
"...This is for them..."
Someone whispered.
"This is all for them..."
The three sisters remained at the center.
Unmoving.
Eyes closed.
As the melting energy from the palms rose around them, intertwining with the descending force from the clouds above.
The two forces met.
And then—
They wrapped around them.
Slowly.
Gently.
Yet with an undeniable inevitability.
The energy formed layers.
One after another.
Enclosing them.
Encasing them.
Until their figures were no longer fully visible.
Only their silhouettes remained for a brief moment, outlined by the glowing red energy that continued to gather.
And then—
Even those silhouettes faded.
In their place—
Three cocoons formed.
Dark red.
Pulsing faintly.
Floating just above the ground where the palms had once stood.
The entire arena fell into silence once more.
No cheers.
No whispers.
No questions.
Only stillness.
Because everyone understood.
This was not the end.
This was only the beginning.
And as the dark red clouds continued to churn above, casting their heavy glow upon the three cocoons—
Cornelia.
Ivira.
And Faith.
Were fully enveloped within them.