The Bloodline System

Chapter 1583: I Can Hear Them?

Authorʼs Note: Unedited Chapter

------------

Ria crouched low and placed his hands firmly on the ground. The earth trembled beneath him and slowly, the stone and dirt around the base of the sword began to shift.

Molten rock bubbled up from beneath the surface, turning the ground into a churning sea of fiery liquid. The glow of the lava illuminated the sword, casting eerie shadows across the battlefield.

Endric focused his telekinetic powers, reaching out with his mind to the bonds anchoring the sword to the ground. He could feel them now—thick, ancient tendrils of energy running deep into the core of this world.

He gathered all his strength and pulled at the bonds, trying to tear them apart.

”Theyʼre strong,” Endric muttered through gritted teeth.

Riaʼs hands shook as he poured more energy into the ground. The molten lava surged higher and higher, creeping up the sides of the swordʼs enormous blade. ”Iʼm giving it everything Iʼve got!”

The bull-like warrior muscles rippled with exertion while he swung his lightning axe with intensity, cutting down the spiritual guardians as they surged toward his companions. The air crackled with electricity as he moved with unmatched speed.

”Move faster!” he roared, glancing back at Ria and Endric. ”Theyʼre not slowing down!”

The ground shook beneath their feet as Endric and Ria strained, pouring all of their combined efforts into trying to pull the massive sword from the earth. Molten lava bubbled around the base of the blade, the ground softening from Ria abilities, while Endricʼs telekinetic powers surged against the invisible bonds still holding it in place.

But no matter how much energy they threw at the task, the sword wouldnʼt budge. Its ancient power was too deeply rooted, and something far beyond their control was keeping it anchored to this strange world.

Wilendor, the bull-like Tark warrior, grunted as he swung his lightning axe, cutting down another wave of the barely clothed spiritual beings that had surrounded them.

But even he could see that their time was running out. Despite his best efforts, the spiritual beings were no longer falling as easily as they had before. Their forms flickered, and with a terrifying shimmer, they began to merge into larger, more grotesque creatures.

”These damn things just keep getting bigger!” Wilendor growled, cleaving through one of the larger merged beings with his crackling axe. ”Weʼre running out of time!”

Endricʼs face was doused with sweat as he pushed harder with his telekinetic abilities, trying to wrench the sword free. But it was as if the sword was part of the planet itself, immovable, unbreakable.

Endric telekinetic ability could easily split a whole planet in two and yet he was finding it difficult to deal with this situation.

He could feel it in his bones: something was missing. Something critical.

”Itʼs not moving!” Ria shouted in frustration.

He glanced at Endric in desperation and exhaustion. ”Why isnʼt this working?”

Endric opened his mouth to respond when, suddenly, both he and Wilendor froze mid-action. Their eyes glowed a vibrant green, the mark of the Time Candidates.

Wilendor lowered his axe, his chest heaving with deep breaths, and exchanged a look with Endric. There was a moment of shared understanding between the two of them—something that only Time Candidates could perceive.

The truth of why they couldnʼt pull the sword from the ground hit them both at the same time.

Ria, who hadnʼt noticed the change at first, frowned as he looked between them. ”Endric?” he called in concern. ”Why did you stop?”

Endric blinked as the green glow faded from his eyes, and he released a slow breath. ”Ria,” he said, his voice quieter but filled with certainty, ”we canʼt pull this sword out.”

Riaʼs eyes widened, and he straightened up, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ”What do you mean?”

Endric stepped back from the molten ground surrounding the sword. ”Itʼs not a matter of strength or technique. This sword… it can only be pulled out by the Outworldly.”

”The Outworldly?” Ria repeated, confused. ”Gustav, right?”

Endric nodded slowly. ”Yeah. This sword is one of the five sacred items— Thatʼs why it wonʼt move. Itʼs waiting for him.”

Riaʼs eyes flickered with realization. It suddenly made sense why no amount of power or manipulation had worked. ”The sword is the fifth item,” he muttered as his gaze fell on the massive weapon.

Wilendor breathing steadied as the green glow faded from his eyes and he wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm. ”So, weʼve been wasting our time trying to move something that only the Outworldly can touch.” He gave a grim chuckle, though his tone remained serious. ”Not the first time Iʼve been in over my head.”

Endric mind raced as he processed what this meant. ”The problem,” he began with a look of frustration, ”is how do we get Gustav here? Even we barely made it to this place.”

Ria looked around, his eyes scanning the strange and dangerous landscape that surrounded them. The planet they were on was harsh and unforgiving, a world surrounded by multiple black holes, with a distant red star casting a foreboding light over everything.

The gravitational anomalies alone had torn their ship apart when they arrived. Getting here had been a nightmare, and the journey back wasnʼt something they could afford to waste time on.

”How did we even get here?” Ria voice tinged with disbelief. ”This place… itʼs practically a deathtrap. Even finding it was pure luck but I believe rival can do anything.”

Endric nodded in agreement. ”but getting Gustav here in time…” His voice trailed off as he gazed at the massive sword. He could feel its significance. They had come all this way to find this sacred item, only to realize they couldnʼt get it back to the Outworldly.

Meanwhile, back in Dimension Six, Gustav had just emerged from the shimmering construct. He stood amidst the desolate landscape of Planet Humbad.

His eyes scanning the crumbling ruins that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The planet had once been a thriving hub of life, but now it was nothing more than a barren wasteland, a graveyard for civilizations long past.

Gustavʼs eyes narrowed as he focused on the task at hand. He could feel it—the faint presence of a fraction of the Outworldlyʼs vestiges, sealed away on this forsaken planet.

The vestiges were scattered across the universe, hidden in places like this, waiting for him to reclaim them.

This fraction had been here since but he was unable to sense it until after going through the full revelation of who he was.

Without hesitation, Gustav vanished in a blur and reappeared on a distant plateau, overlooking a massive, crumbling structure.

The remains of ancient towers and temples lay in ruins, half-buried beneath sand and stone. Beneath it all, Gustav could feel the power thrumming deep below the surface.

”There,” he muttered to himself, his eyes locking onto a particular spot in the distance. He could sense the vestige hidden beneath the ground, buried for eons.

As he prepared to move, his mind flickered with a sudden, intense sensation—a connection.

He froze and his eyes widened as he felt the faint presence of his brother, Endric and someone else, Ria, talking about him.

-”We wonʼt be able to get it out unless we get him here.”

-”Then what are we waiting for, we need to find the Outworldly.”

-”He has been gone for months already. We canʼt get to him unless he returns.”

Their voices—muffled and distant—drifted into his consciousness.

”I can hear them? But I am in an entirely different timeline,” Gustav couldnʼt hide his disbelief.

Something was starting to stir inside him. Even though he hadnʼt regained his full Outworldly abilities, it still felt like he was starting to embody deity like identity inexplicably.

Gustav figured out what they were talking about almost immediately. ʼThe fifth sacred item... Looks like they found it.ʼ

Their faces and dialogues were becoming more clearer in his mind and he soon discovered that they couldnʼt move the sword.

ʼMy presence is required? I still havenʼt even figured out how to leave the stagnant void,ʼ Gustav thought with a slightly distraught look.

”Oh well, I better absorb this first,” Gustav snapped his finger and a nail sized milky light appeared.

The light descended from mid air like a shooting star and the moment it made contact with the ground, everything within a one mile radius vanished.

The debris and collapsed pieces of buildings were all gone and all that was left was a large hole in the ground.

Gustav hovered above the large crater and a strange statue could be spotted. For reasons unknown, this statue was unaffected by the power he used earlier.

It stood undisturbed by the passage of time and the destruction of Humbad.

######