Bloodline Hunters

Chapter 31 - Bloodline Hunters

The instant Aether disappeared, the woman in red sensed danger.

“Spread out!”

Too late.

Aether appeared beside the nearest hunter.

His weapon flashed.

The man barely raised his arm before Aether's strike sent him crashing through a tree.

BOOM!

He hit the ground hard but immediately rolled away.

Aether didn't pursue him.

His attention had already shifted.

Two hunters were moving toward the Crimson Fang Wolf.

Aether stepped forward.

A streak of lightning crossed his path.

Lyra.

She appeared between the hunters and the wolf, electricity wrapping around her arms.

“You heard him,” she said. “You're not getting past me.”

One hunter sneered.

“Origin Awakening Stage 2?”

He raised his weapon.

“You're not enough.”

Lightning exploded from Lyra's palm.

The hunter's expression changed.

He crossed his arms to block.

CRACK!

The lightning struck him and sent him skidding backward.

Lyra immediately followed.

Her Thunderheart Physique amplified the lightning flowing through her body, making every movement faster and more precise than before.

She wasn't simply throwing lightning anymore.

She was controlling it.

Aether noticed the improvement even while fighting.

Good.

She was adapting.

Across the battlefield, Nyx launched herself toward another hunter.

The small beast moved faster than anyone expected.

Her claws struck his shoulder, forcing him to retreat.

He stared at her in disbelief.

“What is that thing?”

Nyx growled.

Aether heard the question but didn't answer.

He had bigger problems.

Three hunters had surrounded him.

Their cultivation ranged from Stage 3 to Stage 5.

The Stage 5 cultivator attacked first.

Aether blocked the incoming blade.

CLANG!

The impact pushed him backward several meters.

The man's eyes widened.

“You're only Stage 3.”

Aether steadied himself.

“And?”

The hunter attacked again.

This time Aether didn't meet strength with strength.

He shifted to the side, allowing the blade to pass.

His elbow struck the man's ribs.

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The hunter staggered.

Aether followed with a palm strike to his chest.

BOOM!

The man flew backward.

[Foreign Origin Energy detected.]

[Absorption initiated.]

[Total absorption: 6%.]

Aether felt warmth spread through his body.

His Infinite Origin Physique began processing the foreign energy.

[Origin Adaptation: 18% → 18.3%.]

[Infinite Origin Physique Development: 0.25% → 0.27%.]

Aether's eyes sharpened.

The foreign energy was different from the previous bloodline energy he'd absorbed.

It carried a strange sharpness.

A weapon-based Origin technique.

He could understand fragments of it.

But not enough to copy it.

Not yet.

The Stage 5 hunter returned.

Blood covered the corner of his mouth.

“You'll pay for that.”

Hostility Detection activated.

[Direct killing intent: Confirmed.]

Aether's expression became cold.

“Then come.”

The hunter roared and attacked.

This time, Aether met him directly.

Their weapons collided repeatedly.

The hunter was stronger in raw Origin Energy.

Aether was faster.

More importantly, his newly stabilized Stage 3 foundation allowed him to control every movement without wasting energy.

He waited.

One opening.

Then another.

Finally—

Aether stepped inside the hunter's attack.

His weapon struck the man's wrist.

The blade fell.

Aether's second strike hit his chest.

The hunter collapsed.

[Target incapacitated.]

[Hostility: High.]

[Killing intent: Confirmed.]

Aether raised his weapon.

The hunter looked up.

For a moment, fear replaced his anger.

Then his eyes hardened again.

“I'll kill you…”

Aether didn't hesitate.

The strike ended the threat.

[Foreign Origin Energy absorbed.]

[Origin Points +2.]

[Origin Points: 175/200.]

Aether turned away.

He didn't celebrate.

There was no satisfaction in killing someone who had already lost.

It was simply the consequence of his choice.

Across the battlefield, the woman in red noticed.

Her expression darkened.

“Take him seriously!”

The remaining hunters changed formation.

Six of them immediately surrounded Aether.

The woman herself moved toward the Crimson Fang Wolf.

Her Stage 7 pressure erupted.

The Crimson Fang Wolf lowered her body.

Her pups trembled behind her.

Then the wolf roared.

A crimson barrier appeared around the pups.

The woman in red struck it.

BOOM!

The barrier shook violently.

The Crimson Fang Wolf was pushed backward.

Aether saw it.

His expression changed.

“Lyra!”

“I've got her!”

Lyra rushed toward the woman.

The woman turned.

A lightning spear formed in Lyra's hand.

She thrust it forward.

The woman blocked with one arm.

The collision produced a deafening explosion.

Lyra was thrown backward.

She landed on one knee.

The woman looked at her with surprise.

“Stage 2…”

She glanced at the lightning surrounding Lyra.

“That physique is unusual.”

Lyra stood.

“Thanks.”

She wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.

“I think.”

The woman attacked.

Lyra barely avoided the first strike.

The second nearly caught her.

The difference between Stage 2 and Stage 7 was enormous.

Lyra knew she couldn't win through raw power.

So she changed tactics.

She stopped trying to overpower the woman.

Instead, she filled the area with small arcs of lightning.

The woman moved through them.

Then she suddenly stopped.

Aether understood.

Lyra had been preparing something.

The scattered lightning connected.

A net of electricity formed around the battlefield.

The woman looked upward.

“What did you—”

“Thunder Net.”

The entire area erupted with lightning.

CRACK!

The woman blocked the attack, but the electricity forced her backward.

Lyra had bought time.

The Crimson Fang Wolf used it.

She charged.

Her crimson fangs struck the woman's defense.

The woman was forced to retreat.

For the first time, the hunters' formation broke.

Aether saw his opportunity.

He rushed forward.

His weapon swept through the nearest hunter.

The man blocked.

Aether twisted his wrist and changed direction halfway through the strike.

The weapon struck his shoulder.

Another hunter attacked from behind.

Nyx intercepted him.

She slammed into his back, sending him face-first into the ground.

Aether finished the first hunter and immediately turned toward the second.

The battle had become chaotic.

But Aether's side was holding.

Then—

BOOM!

A massive pressure descended over the battlefield.

Everyone stopped.

The ancient wolf had finally moved.

It stood before the Bloodline Shrine, its enormous body blocking the crimson light.

Its golden-red eyes swept across the hunters.

“Leave.”

The woman in red looked at it.

“You think we fear an ancient remnant?”

The ancient wolf's expression became cold.

“No.”

The forest suddenly trembled.

“You should fear what wakes when you refuse.”

The shrine pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

Then—

the entire Bloodline Shrine released a wave of crimson energy.

Every bloodline within the surrounding forest reacted.

The Crimson Fang Wolf's body began glowing.

The woman's expression changed.

“What is happening?”

The Origin System appeared before Aether.

[Bloodline Shrine Awakening: 58%]

[Major resonance detected.]

[Bloodline Evolution Trial accelerating.]

[Phase Two condition has changed.]

[Protection requirement fulfilled.]

Aether looked toward the Crimson Fang Wolf.

Her three pups were completely surrounded by crimson light.

The three evolution symbols appeared above her.

But the third symbol was different now.

It was almost complete.

[Unknown Path Compatibility: 11% → 24%.]

Aether stared.

The battle had accelerated the trial.

But then another message appeared.

[Warning.]

[External bloodline interference detected.]

Aether's attention immediately shifted toward the woman in red.

The woman had taken out a small black crystal.

The crystal was pulsing with dark energy.

The ancient wolf's expression changed.

“Put that away.”

The woman smiled.

“So you recognize it.”

Aether's Hostility Detection reacted violently.

[Foreign Origin object detected.]

[Purpose: Bloodline suppression.]

[Danger level: Extremely high.]

The woman's smile widened.

“We didn't come here only to capture the wolf.”

She raised the crystal.

“We came to prevent the shrine from completing its awakening.”

Aether's eyes narrowed.

That changed everything.

This wasn't simply a hunt.

They were trying to interfere with the shrine itself.

And if they succeeded, nobody knew what would happen to the Crimson Fang Wolf, her pups, or the ancient beings beneath the forest.

Aether tightened his grip.

The woman activated the crystal.

Dark energy spread toward the shrine.

Aether moved.

He wasn't going to let her use it.

But before he could reach her—

the earth beneath the shrine cracked open.

A deep roar emerged from below.

Everyone froze.

The woman slowly looked downward.

The ancient wolf's expression became grim.

Aether felt the Origin Energy around him tremble.

Something beneath the shrine had noticed the crystal.

And it was waking up.