Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 397: Miranda’s Strategic Gift

|Dimensional Slash!|

A perfectly straight wave of cosmic spatial energy tore through the cluster, slicing from top to bottom, cutting through the space between universes at a flawless 180-degree angle, and even splitting and erasing the Millennium Council Station at the centre.

Reality’s colours went grayscale around the split, and cracks spiderwebbed across the massive Isolation Barrier enclosing the cluster, before the barrier shattered like glass, fizzling into raw cosmic energy.

’!’

Deryn’s eyes widened in shock as he traced the source of the sudden destruction, with Miranda’s gaze also following upward.

The moment her eyes caught sight of that familiar face, and the instant she met those blue eyes that immediately locked onto her in the centre of the cosmic storm, she grabbed the Nexus Fascinator in her hair and commanded.

|RETURN!|

Its cosmic spatial power immediately enveloped her, warping her through space as it returned to the source of the Authority within it.

Miranda appeared instantly before Jamie, whose hand was still holding the Galaxy Sword mid-swing, and faster than he could even call her name, she pulled him close and kissed him.

"!!"

Jamie’s eyes widened in shock, unable to understand what was happening.

Miranda didn’t offer any explanation either, continuing the kiss, and it wasn’t out of sudden passion from reuniting with her lover. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Jamie understood that quickly, because the next second, he felt the storm of cosmic energy Miranda had warped out of flowing after her, immediately replacing the energy she poured into her Cosmic Hearth as the Cosmic System governing Realm Progression tried to ’give’ her the energy she was entitled to as part of her multiplicative increase from Existence Realm progression.

Miranda was now channelling that energy into Jamie through their kiss.

She was killing two birds with one stone, getting rid of her excessive energy while helping Jamie recover.

All that had been stolen from him was his raw power—his energy—and if he recovered enough, he’d regain his full strength.

The energy would restore his Body’s weakened cells and expand his shrunken Energy Cores, which were currently operating at only a few percent of their full capacity.

The current state of Jamie’s energy cores could be likened to massive drums built to hold liquid, but at the moment, they held only two or three percent of their potential, leaving a vast empty space.

Through Miranda, those drums were being filled with her cosmic energy, far more than she herself needed or could realistically use.

Because his Soul remained at its original level, restoring his Existence Realm was easy, as his soul contained his Existential Records showing he’d already completed the requirements for all the Existence Realms below his original one.

He had completed the baseline energy requirements for the Cosmic Realms as a Primogenial, blurred the lines between physical and metaphysical at Phantasmal, perceived the natural interactions his comprehended laws could have within the fabric of reality at Law Echo, Assimilated and Transmuted those laws into his soul, refined his soul and reforged his existence across the Firmaments, coined his personalized expression of the assimilated laws at Quasi-Supreme, fused his Assimilated Origin Cores at Lesser Supreme, formed his Sub-Edicts to subtly warp nearby reality to align with his fused Laws at Supreme, merged his Aspects and Dictums at Grand Supreme to create a single declaration of existence embodying the ultimate expression of who and what he was, integrated his Existence Declaration into himself at Dicta Integration, and redefined the boundaries and limits of his existence at Zenith Haven.

If this excess cosmic energy had already been dyed in Miranda’s colour, then it wouldn’t have been possible for even Jamie to absorb it, but Miranda had essentially turned herself into a conduit to channel the energy directly into him, so it didn’t remain within her long enough for her existence to overwrite its signature and make it hers.

The energy transfer didn’t last very long as the amount the Cosmos was trying to pour into Miranda soon crossed its Error Deviation Margin, and its Error Correction Systems intervened, cutting off the excess infusion.

After that, the Realm Progression System began caching the extra energy.

Even though Miranda had forced her way into gaining more power than allowed within the Cosmic Limit of the Quasi-Supreme Realm by using her Hybrid nature to continuously refine her energy, she had still become a full Cosmic Being and ascended the first two Cosmic Realms through normal progression, so the excess power was rightfully hers.

So the Realm Progression System had basically ’said’, "I’m gonna create a folder and keep this extra energy for you to take later since you’ve reached your limit and trying to force it on you now would cause waste. But it’s still yours, so whenever space frees up in your existence, I’m gonna pump it back into you."

By the time it ’said’ that, Miranda had already diverted enough energy to return Jamie to the Ninth Stage of the Firmament Realm, and her Cosmic Hearth was only just half-full too.

She tried to pass on more power to Jamie, fully intending to use this chance to help him recover as much as she could, but Jamie, noticing this, pushed her away.

"Ja—"

"Keep it. You’re gonna need it for Sub-Edict creation and to form more Dictums," Jamie cut her off with a stern voice, taking a deep breath before adding,

"If we needed to breathe to live, we’d have both suffocated just now."

He was clearly talking about the length of their kiss, and hearing that, Miranda blinked silently, then reached out to grab his face, fully intent on kissing him again.

However—

"Ahem!"

A loud cough echoed from some distance away, drawing their attention to a blank-faced Sarina who was giving them a deadpan gaze.

"Not to be the third wheel here, but can you guys save your make-out session for later? We’ve got bigger issues on our hands..."

She turned her gaze to the white spear erratically darting around inside a cube of grey cosmic energy tethered to her, her expression darkening.

"Like that thing."

Sarina had used her power over Life to counter Gáe Bulg’s ’Cursed Death’ and keep it contained, but the spear kept punching holes through her containment barrier, forcing her to constantly patch it up.

Just then, the Galaxy Sword slipped out of Jamie’s grasp, assuming its humanoid form clad in the same oversized hoodie and joggers that made their body shape completely imperceptible, a wide, mischievous grin spreading across their face.

Their eyes gleamed with light as they dashed through space toward Sarina’s barrier, easily tearing right through it and grabbing the white Spear of Cursed Death as it tried to flee in the opposite direction.

[Hey there, Bulgy. Long time no see.

A little birdy told me Cú Chulainn got off-screened. Poor guy. Did they get Scáthach too?]

The Galaxy Sword’s voice dripped with dark amusement, and in response, a loud baritone voice echoed.

[Get your hands off me, you blabbermouth!]

Gáe Bulg’s voice carried equal parts anger and apprehension, cosmic energy lashing out from the spear as it tried to break free from the Galaxy Sword’s grip.

But the other Rule Breaker only tilted their head slightly, a mock contemplative expression on their face as they said,

[Hmm? Last I checked, that’s not how you speak to your senior, was it?]

Then, turning their gaze back to the struggling spear in their hands, Galaxy spoke.

[Down, boy.]

They tightened their grip, cosmic energy bursting from their arm, and in an instant, Gáe Bulg went still, an aggrieved groan rumbling from the spear as its Weapon Authority was forcefully cut off.

Miranda blinked in surprise at the sight, and Jamie, noticing this, reminded her.

"Rule Breakers are very hierarchical.

Gáe Bulg is #19, while the Galaxy Sword is #4. It has no choice but to listen to Galaxy."

Miranda had heard many times about the hierarchical nature of Rule Breakers, but she’d never actually seen it in action, which was understandable given how egregiously vast the Cosmos was and how there were only 999 Rule Breakers in all existence.

The odds of encountering two at the same time were incredibly low.

Thinking about it that way, the meeting of four Rule Breakers that Jamie and Sarina had come from was one of the rarest possible occurrences across existence.

That thought crossed Jamie’s mind for a moment, and then he frowned, eyes narrowing as he muttered.

"Still, we can’t have Galaxy constantly suppressing Gáe Bulg."

Right as he said that, a foreign voice echoed in his and the ears of the other two Hybrids.

|Then, you wouldn’t mind if I take it off your hands, right?|