God From The Abyss

Chapter 36: Chapter 036: The Progenitor.

It was a cathedral of darkness, with stone pillars rose to unfathomable heights, their surfaces covered with runes and sigils that pulsed red with mana. The crimson flames that burned in braziers and lamps that hung from the ceiling could not even do as much as banish the shadows that cloaked to the hall.

At its end stood a throne, one carved from the bones of a slain godbeast, one of the pinnacle of the magic beats. Its bones gleamed faintly, beneath veins of crimson red ran all around, further increasing the red of the hall.

Upon it sat a figure robed in silver and black, regal and disinterested. Vampire Monarch himself.

Nyx felt his gaze. Each of his eyes was cold and sharp, lingering on her. She stifled a groan as the trepidation threatened to keel over her body.

Beside him stood other noble beings, men and women alike. They all stood clearly with the reluctance of the man on the throne, and not a shade of reverence or fealty in their eyes, hidden by shadows.

Nyx’s body continued to move out of instinct, toward the throne. The glares from those in the room seemed to have no effect on her. Her body at least.

This made the Monarch smile — a warm smile plastered on a pale face that was anything but warm. He slowly rose up from the throne, standing just at the right hand.

Nyx’s face betrayed no emotion as her body moved forward, each strike of her bare heel against stone echoing like a heartbeat in the heavy silence. When she reached the throne, without pausing, she ascended.

The Monarch watched her. His eyes narrowed faintly as she sat upon the throne of bones. And in that moment, the throne pulsed with crimson energy like it came back to life.

The flames in the hall flared and burned brighter, illuminating the entirety of the dim chamber. By now, many of the people who had gathered at the corridors had also slowly filled up the room, from which someone gasped before suddenly screaming at the top of their voice.

"The throne pulses with life!"

"All hail, the Progenitor has returned!" the owner of the voice screamed once more, before bowing to the ground.

"The One Above All, hail our Progenitor. All hail, Syr’ Velmora Nocthrise, the Sovereign Root, the Eternal Mother of Night!’"

Cheers and shouts filled the hall as more vampires streamed into the throne room, bowing the instant they saw the girl on the throne of bones! They were mostly youngsters, filled with youthfulness and probably guided by the wiles of one older.

Nyx exhaled deeply, her chest tightening. She could sense that the words that came out of her lips next were most definitely not hers, and in a tone she never knew she had. Yet they were.

"Why do you kneel? Rise, come hither. Speak your names to me, so that I may know what is mine."

The command cracked through the hall like a whip. Many trembled, nobles and commoners alike. And when they glanced up at the throne, all they saw were gleaming, dark red eyes glaring at them as if they were worth not even a second of her time. Those who stole a look, bowed even lower.

The only question on Nyx’s mind was, ’How do I escape these ’troubled’ people. Where is Lily? Wait, who is Lily? Did I know anybody with such a name?"

Meanwhile at her right, the Monarch’s expression did not change even as he knelt, but unease flickered in his eyes.

At last he rose, his voice steady, laced with subtle challenge.

"The throne you sit upon has been mine to guard, my Lord. As my predecessor had. We have ruled in the silence of your absence, and what you call yours, we have protected. Tell me, mother of the Night — what claim do you lay upon us now?"

At this point, Aldridge flared rising up to feet in visible anger so much that he was trembling!

"Have you no reverence for the origin of your existence, Monarch!? Have you no respect?!"

"And have you, Aldridge, no shame?" The monarch retorted, turning to the old man. "Deceiving your own kind, and for what purpose? To dethrone me? Pitiful. I expected better from you."

"You....!" the accused fumed.

The Progenitor, for centuries and in the history of the race of the vampires, was one who was portrayed as eccentric and rather ’unstable’. She was believed to have lived for almost millennia, albeit in patches. She would at random just go to sleep for years, and die!

Just die.

But then after a century or so, she would suddenly reincarnate in an entirely new body and would require her most loyal aides to find her wherever she was in the world and restore both her memories and her Rank.

The concept of reincarnation was a feat no mortal could even dream of pulling off! No matter what they tried. But she, the Progenitor, used it like it meant nothing to her.

Till present day, no one in the vampire race, no being alive in the world had deciphered how she learnt the art or what it needed to succeed.

And due to her continuous absence a new faction took over ruling the race, only giving way whenever she returned. But as later generations came, more power hungry than the last, they slowly began doubting her ’capability’ to be a ruler, in addition to the fact that it had also been nearly five hundred years since she was last seen. This was a scene the Progenitor’s faction were not willing to let happen.

Her human heart froze. "I... I don’t even understand what is going on...?!"

Yet her mouth curled into a faint, regal smile that was clouded by the shadows and her eyes showed no amusement.

"Be not mistaken, Monarch. The power you lay claim to and wield, I gave you. Now I have returned, and you shall return it. Like I ordered earlier, state your names." The last statement was accompanied with the release of a pressure that downed most of the persons present!

For the much older and possible nobles who stood now behind the Monarch, the pressure was nothing much but the words themselves hit heavy and hard.

But the Monarch’s gaze sharpened when she noticed it; the mere Grandmaster Rank aura. The Progenitor was not yet fully reborn! This was their window and who knows just how long it would last.

The Progenitor’s faction kept shut out from everyone the method they used to quickly raise her rank whenever she awoke over the centuries and this time was no different. If only he had that method.....

He turned and cast a glance on one of the people behind him.

One of them came forward, clad in a dark red three piece, with a face that showed that his pride had been greatly injured.

"Such nonsense," he hissed. "You’d betray your Monarch for a farce we aren’t even sure is the truth. You fools!" His rant was directed to the people, and his aim was to shake their belief.

If their plan was to be legitimized, they need to win over the entirety of the vampire race by proving to their face that the much revered Progenitor was unreliable and was an overhyped piece of a time long past.

"Qavresh vel’thunar...a fake legend. Pay no heed to the throne of bones, for it deceives!" He turned to her.

And the regret was instant.

Her crimson gaze locked on his, the same way a predator’s locked on its prey before it finally struck and he froze.

His veins bulged and his body began trembling violently. In his eyes blood welled, and from the orifices of his body, he bled!

He screamed or rather tried to, but only gurgling sounds came forth and red sprayed on the floor.

The noble fell to his knees, trying to apologize. But words, any reasonable sound betrayed him.

Nyx’s gaze switched from unsure to cold and her lips pursed in disgust.

"Disrespectful spawn."

SPLAT!

The body burst, covering the stone tiles with blood and lumps of flesh. This scene made a few recline in near fear and awe. Cheers, however, came moments later.

Her hands shook, and she blinked repeatedly. The scene was revolting, but not as horrifying as she had thought it would be.

Everything was slowly becoming normal to her, as memories of a life she never remembered living, continued flooding her mind. Her aura flared in response.

" None shall question me, or my authority," the cold voice came again. " And as for you that did oppose me......I will be coming for your lives. Now, come before me and state your names."

The hall bowed as one this time, most heads touching the ground. Even the Monarch inclined his slightly and on his face, a thin defeated smile lived on his face.

They had lost that window.

During the very short moments, the Progenitor’s aura had broken out revealing that she had effectively reached the Sage Rank.

In his mind he cursed the methods of her faction, and her.

" A pleasure to meet you once more, Progenitor. I am Veythera Noctriel," he introduced. " The throne has remembered its owner! So be it! All Hail, Syr’ Velmora."

"All Hail, The One Above All!" Aldridge suddenly pitched in, causing Veythera to grit his teeth in humiliation. They had won, again.

"All Hail, The One Above All!"

Deep inside Nyx’s subconscious, she felt herself being dissolved in a sea of blood. All around her, countless skulls seemed to gaze at her in pity and with happiness.

While the sensation told her that this was probably the end, there was a strange happiness that welled up in her.

Memories of the man and woman she had had all her life slowly dissipated. Memories of the lady, Lily, the friends at the establishment. All slowly washed away, like they never existed.

When she opened her eyes again, the uneasiness was gone. Instead, plastered on her face was a faint, twisted and quite eerie smile grew as she framed her chin with a hand.

’Took a bit longer this time,’ she thought. She glanced at the bowing Monarch.

"Yo. It’s been a really long while, hasn’t it, Aldridge? Scion of Noctriel?"

And so the girl who the world knew as Nyx ceased to be.