Chapter 138: 138. Vivianne

The curiosity-filled conversation with the system stretched on far longer than William had expected.

Hours slipped by inside the domain of infinite without any clear marker of time.

William walked in the plains most of the time towards his hut.

sometimes he paced fast, sometimes slow, while staring at the sky, while the system talked to him.

They spoke of many things.

Some of the system’s theories made William’s skin prickle, some left him strangely smug, as though he had stumbled onto a hidden truth that most beings would never even consider.

But no matter how many angles they explored, no matter how deeply they tried to reason their way through it, everything circled back to a single conclusion.

They knew nothing.

They were ignorant of the true nature of reality itself.

William, for all his power and experience, found that realization heavier than any physical burden.

He was a transmigrator, someone who had crossed worlds and identities, yet he had never seriously asked himself the most basic question.

Why was he inside a novel? Who put him here? why?

Was this existence merely a prolonged dream, an elaborate illusion stitched together by some incomprehensible force?

Or was this life as real as the one he had lived on Earth?

He had seen too much gore. Too much suffering. Too many deaths after transmigration.

And yet, unlike others, his mind had not fractured under it.

The blood, the screams, the cruelty he displayed, none of it had hollowed him out the way it did to normal people.

These were questions he had always avoided, pushing them aside with excuses and goals like, Power first. Survival first. Revenge first.

But after what had happened earlier, after losing control of himself and after watching something omnipotent and unknowable descend into his personal domain, those excuses no longer held.

He needed answers.

Just as that thought settled, the system’s chime rang softly, cutting through the silence.

[Why don’t you start by investigating your origins?]

William blinked, then let out a short, humorless laugh.

“What origin? I am a nobody from Earth, am here to power up and have my revenge against demons.”

[I am talking about your origins in this world. Try to investigate who your birth parents were and why they abandoned you. I think that might answer many questions.]

William’s expression darkened slightly. He leaned back on his hands, eyes drifting toward nothing in particular.

“I was most likely abandoned by some commoner human parents who left me in the midst of the jungle to be consumed by beasts.”

The system didn’t respond immediately.

[I don’t think common people are awakening divine physiques these days]

William clicked his tongue. “Since you said that my lawless adaptation was related to the supreme system, why can’t it be that the divine physique is related to the system as well?”

[host!! The system has countless divine physiques, some even stronger than your sun god physique. Why would the system give you this physique specifically?]

He shrugged lightly, one corner of his mouth lifting. “I don’t know. gacha?? maybe??”

The response was instant and sharp.

[what the hell!! Why is your critical thinking ability so shitty?

Tskk,” William muttered, rolling his eyes, “It’s because you fog my brain with your assholery all day.”

By the time he finished speaking, the surroundings shifted as he appeared outside his hut within the domain.

He stepped inside.

The interior was quiet, filled with the faint scent of herbs and clean fabric.

Lia’s figure lay on the bed while her breathing was slow.

William stood there for a moment, simply watching her now weakened, twig-like figure breathing.

“Anyway,” he murmured.

“I also need to ask Grimlock where he found Lia, last time system tracking told me she was out of the continent.”

[Host place a binder on her!!]

William stiffened. “Huh? Why?”

[Host, she hasn’t awakened even after reaching the age of fifteen, and she has been injected with ???’s blood, yet she is surviving. I think there is something special about her. Place the binder you got on her.]

Realization struck William slowly.

His lips parted as memories replayed in his mind. The unbearable agony he himself had suffered after ingesting the mysterious veil essence.

The way his body had nearly torn itself apart resisting it.

And yet Lia…

According to Grimlock, she had been injected with that essence daily for the past two months.

Daily!!

Yet she was still breathing.

She hadn’t awakened, hadn’t shown obvious power, but she had endured. More than enduring the veil essence.

She had adapted to it in her own mysterious way.

“I hope you are right and the binder doesn’t go to waste.”

He nodded once, a decision made. Lia had already consumed his blood in the past. Without hesitation, he placed the binder on her.

[ding!! binder has been placed on the individual Lia]

The notification echoed softly in the room.

“Ahh shit!!” William sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Galeion would have to wait for another month.”

His gaze lingered on Lia before shifting away. “Let’s see what’s happening outside,” he said before leaving the domain.

***

Blood Veil Empire…

A dark jagged mountain of dark sand and stone rose above the land, its slopes were sharp and unforgiving.

At its peak stood a castle forged from black granite and obsidian-like rock, its spires clawed at the sky like the talons of some colossal beast. This was the imperial palace of the Vampire Empress Vivianne Nightreign.

The sun was nowhere to be seen.

Thick, darkclouds rolled overhead, swallowing the sky as thunder rumbled in the distance, promising a storm that had yet to break.

But thunder was not the loudest sound echoing through the capital of Blood Veil.

Screams were.

The screams of a traitor.

They rang through the streets, bouncing off stone walls and narrow alleys, sending shivers down the spines of those who heard them.

Citizens shut their doors tighter, servants kept their heads low, and soldiers stood rigid, pretending not to listen.

The imperial princess had been kidnapped by demons a few weeks ago.

In the aftermath, the truth had surfaced that traitors had existed within the palace itself.

Some ministers who had sworn loyalty to the Empress turned out to be spies for demonic cults.

No one knew who had informed Empress Vivianne of the betrayal.

No one concerned themselves with that worry after they heard the screams echoing throughout the whole capital.

The source of the screams was clear enough.

Deep beneath the palace, in an underground cellar carved from stone, Empress Vivianne sat calmly.

In her pale hands were clamps lined with sharp, serrated teeth.

A naked male vampire lay chained against the wall, his body broken and bloodied.

Vivianne stood up and walked slowly.

“NO!!!!!” the man screamed in terror.

It went unheard.

Blood from other mangled bodies rose into the air, flowing like living serpents under Vivianne’s control.

It wrapped around the clamp, lifting it with precision. The metal hissed softly as it opened and closed like an eager serpent’s mouth.

Like a striking snake, the clamp shot forward.

The man’s scream pierced the chamber as the clamp latched onto the organ between his legs.

Vivianne didn’t pause. With a sharp motion of her hand, the conjured blood yanked back.

Flesh tore free.

The screams intensified, echoing off the stone walls, but to her, they were nothing short of music.

The space beside her rippled suddenly.

A small portal opened, spilling soft golden light into the dark cellar. From it emerged a radiant butterfly, its wings shimmering with delicate patterns.

“Again!!” Vivianne scoffed, annoyance flickering across her otherwise serene face. “Why the hell does this Eternal Sovereign keep sending me letters in such a fancy way? tsk show off..”

The butterfly landed gently on her pale, delicate hand and dissolved into light, reforming as a mysterious scroll.

Vivianne opened it.

As her eyes scanned the contents, a faint sheen passed through them, filled with astonishment.

————⁜⁜⁜————————⁜⁜⁜————

[Author’s Note:

I am here to justify a few things before the comments get flooded with questions like in the early Chapters.]

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1. If the shop has physiques stronger than Divine-ranked physiques, then why didn’t Will get them in the 24 free purchases during his 2 years before the academy?

Answer: Getting a physique is not as simple as claiming it with a button. He would have to suffer through the process, and his body would need time to adapt.

At that time, he was Unawakened and did not know that he would gain the Adaptation Talent, so he made purchases based on what he thought would suit his future progression.

The same applies to many other items in the shop that were deliberately avoided because he did not anticipate the Adaptation Talent or the awakening of his Primordial Affinity.

—–

2. I think I have said this before, but the MC will not be nerfed in terms of power. There will be emotional and mental roller coasters, and William will go through character development.

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3. He will never stop hating demons. His hatred for them will only increase, piece by piece. So drop any hopes of a demon waifu or demon friends.

Some might think it is too 1-dimensional to make all demons evil, but according to the lore and the style of world-building I have done for this story, demons can’t be kind. It goes against their origin and their very purpose of existence. If demons start being kind in my story, then there would be no Aris continent.

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4. Regarding whether Lia will be a part of the harem or not, to be honest, I have not decided yet. I might or might not make her a heroine. Please tell me your views in the comments of this Chapter, and tell me what I should do.

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I am exhausted after constantly having to justify my creative choices in the comments. From now on, I will only reply to readers who are genuinely interested in the novel, not to people who point out my creative choices as plot holes.

Thanks for reading. Take care. Sorry for making the note so long.

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