The Bloodline System

Chapter 1573: The Fearful Return

The new Outworldly was already here. He had become a towering figure draped in a cloak of swirling stars and nebulae, constantly shifting and warping, as if it was a living, breathing piece of the cosmos itself.

Around him, the deities had gathered. Their colossal forms cast shadows across the vast expanse of space. They were poised and ready, waiting for the final barrier to fall so they could plunge into the mortal plane.

Elliasʼs sudden arrival was like a thunderclap in the void. His presence radiated an ancient, almost forgotten power, and it sent powerful ripples of reverence through the deities.

Even the new Outworldly, in all his cosmic grandeur, paused. His many eyes narrowed as he turned to face the intruder.

”Impossible,” whispered a deity with a face like molten rock, its voice rumbling through the space like an avalanche. ”He was erased... We saw it ourselves.”

”How can this be?” another deity, this one with wings of blinding light and a crown of flames, stammered in disbelief. ”He was wiped from existence... yet here he stands.”

The deities stared at Ellias with their titanic faces depicting fear and disbelief. They had witnessed his supposed destruction, the erasure of his very essence from the cosmos. None had thought he could return.

The new Outworldlyʼs eyes flared with indignation. ”Former Outworldly,” he spoke with a deep, resonant echo that seemed to come from every direction at once. ”You cling to existence like a remnant, a ghost of what once was. Why do you return now? You are nothing compared to what you were.”

Ellias floated before them while his body glowed with a dim, almost ethereal light. He raised his head as his eyes burned with a fierce, undying resolve. ”Perhaps I am but a ghost,” he replied with a calm tone. ”But even a ghost can haunt. I did not come here to be lectured by you.”

The Outworldly sneered while his form shifted in agitation. ”You dare stand before me with such arrogance? You are a shadow of your former self, a flickering candle against the eternal darkness that I am!”

Ellias didnʼt flinch. He stood his ground with his gaze locked onto the entity before him. ”You speak of darkness, yet all I see is a coward hiding behind stolen power,” he said, his voice cutting through the void like a blade. ”You seek to break the barriers, to unleash chaos upon the mortal plane. But I will not let that happen.”

A ripple of shock passed through the gathered deities. They had not expected this defiance, not from someone who had supposedly been erased from existence.

The fear on their faces was no doubt visible. They knew the power Ellias once held, and even in his weakened state, his mere presence was enough to stir doubts and dread within them.

”Enough of this,” the Outworldly growled as his eyes blazed with fury. ”You think you can stop what is inevitable? You are nothing but a relic, a fading echo. I will unravel you just as I did before!”

With that, the entityʼs form exploded into a storm of cosmic energy, tendrils of raw power lashing out in every direction. The deities backed away as their colossal form trembled in pressure.

Ellias braced himself, feeling the pressure of the Outworldlyʼs might pressing down on him like an immense tidal wave.

But he held firm.

Drawing upon the remnants of his celestial power, Ellias raised his hand, and a glowing sigil appeared in the space before him. It pulsed with an ancient light, a symbol of protection and defiance.

The tendrils of energy crashed against the sigil, sending out shockwaves that rippled through the void.

”You underestimate me,” Ellias said through gritted teeth. ”I may not be what I once was, but youʼll need to do better if you intend to take me down”

The Outworldly roared, a sound that shook the very fabric of space. ”Silence!” it bellowed. ”You should have chosen to remain hidden. You have doomed yourself by coming here today.

Ellias eyes narrowed. ”You seek to rule over realms not meant for you. That is the folly of your kind.”

Elliasʼs form burned with the intensity of countless stars. In an instant, he summoned his former Outworldly form.

Its vast presence seemed to stretch across the fabric of space itself. His body expanded, his very essence flaring up with a brilliance that rivaled the cosmic fires of creation.

Within seconds, dozens of Elliasʼs forms appeared around the new Outworldly and the gathered deities. Each form radiated with a slightly different hue—some bright as supernovas, others dark as the depths of a black hole.

The deities stood frozen in confusion and fear. The sudden appearance of so many versions of the old Outworldly was enough to make them hesitate. Whispers of panic rippled through the crowd.

”Is it really him?” Nocturnis, the deity of the Eternal Darkness, murmured

His form which was a swirling mass of shadow trembled with uncertainty. ”I thought he was gone forever... But looks like it is truly him.”

”Shut up,” growled Ignara who was wrapped in a cloak of living flames, her eyes like burning coals. She tried to mask her fear with anger, but her voice was tight, almost strained. ”It doesnʼt matter if itʼs him or a trick. He canʼt be as powerful as he once was!”

The new Outworldly hovered at the center of it all, his form an ever-shifting vortex of cosmic energy.

Stars swirled and died within his body as he watched Ellias with cold gazes. A sneer formed on his featureless face. ”Do not be deceived by his theatrics!” his voice echoed across the emptiness of space. ”If the old Outworldly truly had the power to stop us, he would have put us in our place by now. This is nothing but a bluff!”

The deities exchanged uneasy glances, but the Outworldlyʼs words carried weight. He was right. If Ellias was truly back at full strength, he would have already struck them down. Sensing the seeds of doubt starting to sprout into confidence, the new Outworldly pressed on.

”Do you fear a fading echo?” the new Outworldly taunted with a tone laced with mockery. ”Attack him! Tear his illusions apart while I finish unraveling the final cosmic dimensional webs. Soon, we will have access to the mortal plane, and nothing will stand in our way!”

His words ignited a fire in the deities, dispelling their fear. With a collective roar, they charged at Ellias as their divine forms glowed with power.

Nocturnis, Ignara, Oceana, Kailor, and a host of other deities surged forward, their bodies blazing with their respective celestial energies.

Nocturnis unleashed torrents of darkness, tendrils of shadow that reached out like a thousand grasping hands, aiming to crush Elliasʼs forms.

Ignara launched a barrage of fiery meteors, each one carrying the heat of a dying star. Oceana with flowing hair like the endless ocean, summoned tidal waves of liquid starlight, crashing down with the force of a billion collapsing suns. Kailor, the storm deity, called forth thunder and lightning, splitting the fabric of reality with bolts of raw, primordial power.

Elliasʼs multiple forms responded in kind, moving with a speed that blurred the lines between light and shadow.

Each version of himself clashed with a deity, their impacts creating shockwaves that rippled across the void.

Though he only had 7% of his original power, it was still an awe-inspiring force. His movements were precisely calculated to counter the deitiesʼ furious assaults. He danced through the chaos like a maestro orchestrating a symphony of battle.

”You think you can defeat me?” one of Elliasʼs forms taunted as he parried a flurry of strikes from Nocturnis. ”I have fought battles before the stars took their first breath!”

”Youʼre nothing but a phantom!” Nocturnis hissed, lashing out with a claw of pure shadow. ”And phantoms can be dispelled!”

Elliasʼs form twisted and contorted, dodging the blow and delivering a counterstrike that sent Nocturnis spiraling back. ”Then try and dispel me,” Ellias replied with a calm tone amidst the storm.

Another of Elliasʼs forms engaged Ignara, her fiery onslaught scorching the space around them. ”Burn, young old one!” she screamed, her flames intensifying. ”Burn and be reduced to ash!”

Ellias raised a hand, summoning a shimmering shield of starlight that absorbed the inferno. ”Your fire burns bright, Ignara,” he said with a hint of admiration, ”but even stars can be extinguished.”

He pushed forward, shattering her flames with a blast of his own energy, sending her reeling. But even as he held his own against the deities, he knew it was not enough. He could feel his energy dwindling with every passing moment, while the new Outworldly continued its work, tearing apart the final threads of the cosmic dimensional webs.

Ellias cast a quick glance toward the center of the chaos, where the new Outworldlyʼs form pulsed and shifted.

His many hands weaved through the fabric of reality. Elias copies tried to reach it, but every attempt was met with swift and brutal retaliation.

The new Outworldly swatted them away with ease, dissolving them back into nothingness. None of Elliasʼs forms could even stall it for a second.