Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 374: A Glimmer of Hope

Miranda expanded her perception range with cosmic energy to gather more details and detected multiple other existences in the area besides the combatants, though these were merely trailing them, circling the fighters.

The most significant detail she discovered was the level of power radiating from those in combat.

’Firmament?’

Initially, she had planned to ignore the fight after satisfying her curiosity, focusing instead on locating the Main Entities of the universe, who were supposed to be Firmament Realm existences, stopping by galaxies along her route to the central region to gather local intelligence on them.

But the fact that beings of that level were fighting in such a remote sector, far from heavily populated galaxies and without any functioning Galactic Rulers to consult, caught her attention.

After observing the weaker existences surrounding the combatants, Miranda felt this wasn’t something she should overlook.

’Let’s take a look. At the very least, find out why Firmaments are fighting here.’

With that thought, she adjusted her course, heading towards the fight to assess what was happening and whether it warranted her involvement.

◇　◇　◇

A colossal, planet-sized brown-furred wolf, their pelt matted with blood, glared with bloodshot eyes at an even larger black wolf floating in the space before them.

Encircling the massive brown wolf were eleven others, a mix of wolves, humans, and a dragon.

The brown wolf cast a brief glance at them, a force they could normally dispatch with ease, but in the short time it would take to push them back, the black wolf ahead, whose strength matched their own, could land a decisive blow, further worsening their already critical state.

’Just what the hell is this situation?!’

They had been out on an errand to investigate reports of strange occurrences in a remote sector, and just before their departure, their Master had been summoned to the Neutral Zone at the Cluster’s centre by another Universe’s Master for a discussion.

While they carried out their task and their Master went to respond to the summons, they were suddenly ambushed mid-route by this other wolf.

Most alarmingly, this black wolf served the person who had summoned their Master.

Anyone with half a brain could tell that the summons had been nothing more than a distraction.

They were trying to take her out, her, the Master’s right-hand woman, while calling her Master away to ensure he wouldn’t know she was in danger.

Every SOS signal she’d sent, every attempt to contact her Master, her allies, or her subordinates, had failed.

It was almost certain that the region they were in had been cut off from the rest of the universe, sealing away all her attempts to call for aid.

Realising death was drawing closer with each passing moment, she raised her head toward the larger wolf, baring her teeth as she bellowed,

|Ravok! How could you!? After everything Master Ulfur has done for your Master and Yoatune!!|

Hearing his name, Ravok burst into laughter, his voice echoing across the desolate expanse before he said,

|Trying to stall for time? Pointless! You think I haven’t noticed your emergency signals and the pulses of energy you’ve been releasing across this space? Do you know how far from habitable zones we are?

No one is coming to help you. Your little attempts at seeking assistance are futile.|

The brown-furred wolf clenched her teeth, cloaking herself in cosmic energy as she prepared for one last desperate stand, clinging to the faint hope that someone, anyone, might notice her struggle, however slim the chances.

’I can’t die here. I have to warn Master that those bastards from Yoatune have allied with Sonerth and Uetera!’

The vital information she had uncovered through this attempt on her life could not be allowed to perish with her. Her Master had to know about the threat.

Activating her Authorities of Fate and Destiny, the same powers that had aided her countless times over the years, she searched for even the faintest thread of fate or path of destiny that could lead to her survival.

Then, without hesitation, she charged the black wolf, using the clash to buy precious moments for her Authorities to calculate something... anything.

The battle that followed was brief.

Her attacks met the black wolf’s might, each collision sending bursts of cosmic energy rippling through space, but the disparity in power became clear almost instantly.

Ravok, who had once been weaker than her, had somehow gained a rare, destructive power from an unknown source, now easily overpowering her, especially with the serious wound she had sustained from his initial ambush.

A crushing strike sent her blasting through an entire planet, her massive form shrinking as she crashed onto the next planetary body, her wounds even worse than before.

Even as she fell, weakened, her body continued to emit faint pulses of energy, which Ravok sneered upon noticing.

|I told you, it’s futile. You could have used that energy to extend your life even slightly, yet you’re still trying to call for non-existent help. No one is coming to save you.|

As if on cue, his words overlapped with the moment her Authorities of Fate and Destiny returned their results.

Fate grasped desperately for threads that might lead to survival, but the strings it reached for were far too vast to control, snapping the instant they were touched.

Destiny revealed nothing but the black clouds of imminent death, a path from which no escape was possible.

As her eyes darkened, Ravok laughed and said,

|We’re so far out here that I could spend hours explaining every plan we’ve made, and still, no one would arrive.|

Then, mid-laugh, he abruptly stopped, scoffing.

|Well, I’m not stupid enough to do that. Die!|

Infusing the power of an Assimilated Law Authority into his claws, he brought them down in a killing strike toward the brown-furred wolf.

But just as his claws tore through space, about to rip apart both the wolf’s body and the planet beneath her with the power of Extinction, his vision suddenly went black.

Light ceased to enter his eyes for a second.

|!...!|

Then, in the next second, light re-entered, and his vision returned, only for him to see an empty planet before him.

His claws, already mid-swing, cleaved through the planet and obliterated it, but the brown wolf who should have been there was gone, as if she had never been there in the first place.

His heart trembled as, when faced with this terrifying situation, a shocking thought passed through his mind,

’That power... at least Seventh Firmament. No... Eighth! That means a Master... or even higher!’

He shuddered as the realisation dawned on him, understanding how an existence could simply vanish from his sight without him, a Fourth Firmament, perceiving any sign of what had occurred.

The kind of power at play was one he had only recently come to truly grasp as existing within the vastness of the multiverse, the same kind of power he had borrowed to corner the brown-furred wolf.

’Supreme...!’

◇　◇　◇

"...w-whaat?!"

The brown wolf’s voice trembled with fear as she instinctively tensed, releasing what little magic she still had in a desperate attempt to appear intimidating.

"Who?! Who?!"

"Be quiet for a bit." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

That calm voice silenced her, and she immediately turned around, but the moment her eyes locked onto the small humanoid figure behind her, an overwhelming force pressed her down onto her knees, her large body collapsing as she stared at the figure in shock.

The woman appeared completely unaware of the wolf’s shock as she rummaged through a sack, searching for something.

It took the wolf a moment to realise why she had been forced to her knees before this woman.

"...bloodline...suppression..."

Hearing the mutter, the figure finally looked up, raising an eyebrow as if only now understanding why the brown wolf had suddenly fallen.

"Oh? Even if it’s faint, it seems you carry Scott Clan blood."

The moment the woman spoke, the wolf felt the oppressive force vanish, and control over her body returned instantly.

’Scott Clan bloodline... me?’

She was stunned, to say the least.

The Scott Clan was a prestigious werewolf lineage from the Main Universe of their Multi-Universal Empire, its members were figures she had never imagined meeting in her lifetime, as they existed far beyond her station.

She was only an aide to the Master of a border universe, so hearing that she carried even the faintest trace of Scott blood left her deeply shaken.

At that moment, the woman before her seemed to find what she had been searching for and pulled out a crystal containing a swirling green liquid.

She tossed it at the wolf, and the crystal shattered upon impact, releasing a burst of green life energy that poured into the wolf’s body, mending her wounds and dragging her back from the brink of death.

Ignoring the wolf’s astonishment at her instantaneous recovery, the unknown woman spoke.

"Good. You’re not going to die."

She stowed the bag away and produced a tablet, scrolling through it while the wolf could only stare in disbelief.

The woman had the distinctive purple hair of the Scott Clan, though hers was streaked with silver.

What drew the brown wolf’s attention most, however, were her mismatched eyes. Her left matched the purple of her hair, while her right was a clear sky-blue.

As she noticed this, something in the brown wolf’s mind clicked.

’Wait... a Scott Clan werewolf with heterochromia?’

In the vast expanse of the Zanerth Empire, there were no doubt others with such traits, yet when those features were mentioned, one particular figure always came to mind before any random nobody who happened to share them.

The brown wolf’s eyes widened, and she muttered absentmindedly,

"Odd-eyed Wolf goddess..."

The words reached the woman’s ears, and she replied,

"You recognise me? Good, that makes things easier."

Her response confirmed that she was indeed who the brown wolf had suspected, but she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

"Impossible..."

’How could someone like her be out here?!’

Catching only the word "Impossible," the purple-haired woman raised an eyebrow.

"Impossible? If you’re still doubting, I can toss you back to those other wolves and let them finish the job. Is that what you want?"

Realising that the same woman who had just saved her from certain death could just as easily doom her, the wolf’s heart pounded.

"No... please, don’t," she begged, shaking her head frantically.

The woman merely shrugged, unbothered, and turned her gaze back to the tablet in her hands.

"Now then, based on the information I have here and the Authorities I can sense from you, you’re supposed to be Mei, aide to Ulfur, Master of Luabos, and the Main Entity governing Fate and Destiny."

Looking up and meeting Mei’s eyes, she asked.

"So tell me, exactly why was Ravok, the Main Entity governing Destruction in Yoatune, trying to kill you?"