The Bloodline System Chapter 1668: Residue

Aildris tightened his grip into white-knuckled fists. "We are splitting into two combat-ready squads. Falco, you take command of the first. Endric, you lead the second."

Falco gave a stiff nod, though his features were etched with deep fatigue. Silver fractures—the physical toll of his deity heritage—still marred his skin, serving as grim reminders of the brutal conflicts and overexertion he had endured over the recent months.

Angy observed him in silence. A heavy thought weighed on her: he shouldn't be on the front lines... none of them should.

Yet, they were left with no alternative.

A fresh surge of agony tore through her midsection. She gripped the edge of the table with such intensity that her fingers turned pale.

Falco caught the movement and looked at her. "Angy? Are you alright?"

She forced herself to stand tall immediately. "I’m fine. Just exhausted."

Endric’s gaze sharpened. Over time, his senses had become exceptionally keen, allowing him to detect even the slightest shifts in aura. "Your aura is erratic. You are pushing yourself past your limits."

Angy managed a strained smile. "We all are."

The two men lingered on her for a moment before turning their attention back to the tactical map. It was only after they looked away that she allowed herself to exhale.

An hour passed, and the preparations were complete.

Endric, Sersi, and Xanatus were the first to depart. Their mission took them toward the fragment located near the Ruptured Nebula.

The second team, consisting of Falco, E.E, and Aildris, boarded a stealth skiff—a needle-shaped vessel masked by the lingering distortion of Outworldly energy.

As the ship readied itself for a space-warp jump, its hull emitted a faint, shimmering violet glow.

Angy walked with them to the launch bay. Before boarding, Falco turned back toward her.

"Stay safe," he urged.

"You too," Angy answered, though her voice wavered under the weight of a pressure she couldn't fully suppress.

He frowned with concern. "Are you certain you’re okay?"

"Yes." She quickly added a defensive explanation. "I’m just worried. For all of you."

E.E offered a tired grin. "We’ll be alright. You know Falco’s deity senses are basically cheats. Nothing can sneak up on him."

Falco looked away, a flicker of guilt crossing his face. He loathed the fact that he had to rely on the power he had inherited from Nocturnis.

The skiff’s hatches hissed shut. Angy stood still, watching as the vessel shimmered and vanished out of the pocket star’s thin atmosphere.

Once they were gone, she pressed her hand against her stomach once more.

"Just a bit longer... Gustav... please, just hold on a little more..."

...

Space buckled violently as Falco’s skiff navigated through a region of floating wreckage near the Void Axis—a sector heavily guarded by some of the most powerful deities in existence.

They were nearly at the essence’s coordinates when Falco suddenly went rigid.

E.E noticed the change instantly. "What’s the matter?"

Falco didn't even draw a breath.

"...We aren't alone," he whispered.

Aildris rose from his seat with measured movements. "Deities?"

Falco nodded slowly. "Just one. But... it’s close. Dangerously close."

E.E’s stomach dropped. "Fuck."

The radar flared like a cosmic eye snapping open for a single blink.

In the next instant, the very fabric of space began to vibrate.

A massive wave of divine presence washed over the area, causing the skiff’s hull to groan under the strain.

A thunderous voice resonated through the vacuum of space itself:

"I SENSE... OUTWORLDLY RESIDUE..."

The sheer power of the voice rattled E.E’s bones. Aildris had to steady himself against the bulkhead to keep his balance.

Falco’s pupils expanded until his eyes were entirely dark as his deity bloodline surged to life instinctively.

"It’s an Arbiter Deity," he whispered hoarsely. "Rank Four."

"Rank Four!?" E.E hissed through gritted teeth. "God dammit—we’re dead."

Falco held up a hand for silence. "Shut up. Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Don’t even let your thoughts be loud."

"What?"

"I SAID DON’T THINK LOUDLY!"

The oppressive presence of the deity drew nearer.

A massive ripple tore through the surrounding space as the Arbiter took form—a colossal humanoid entity composed of crackling red energy, its single eye burning like a collapsing star. It began to scan the sector, its gaze sweeping back and forth like a searchlight.

Trembling, Falco began to project his own signature outward, wrapping it around the crew and the ship.

Hide... Mask the presence... Muffle the pulse... Collapse every trace.

He wasn't just hiding himself; he had to cloak them all.

Closing his eyes tight, he triggered his latent ability: Voidborn Misting.

A localized distortion of shadow enveloped the skiff. The ship’s light faded and its form blurred, as if it were being shielded by the shadow of a god.

The deity’s searching gaze passed directly over their position.

The hull creaked under the weight of the divine aura. E.E clamped his hand over his mouth while Aildris remained perfectly still, holding his breath.

The Arbiter slowly reached out a gargantuan finger, probing the void only meters away from their hull—

Blood immediately began to leak from Falco’s nose, ears, and eyes.

The sheer pressure and the mental strain were hitting his limit. His physiology wasn't designed to maintain deity-rank concealment for long.

E.E whispered in a panic, "Falco—stop! You’re going to kill yourself!"

Falco kept his eyes shut tight. "If I stop... we all die."

The Arbiter paused, its massive finger hovering in the void.

"...STRANGE," the voice boomed. "THE RESIDUE... IT HAS VANISHED."

Falco was on the verge of losing consciousness, but he refused to let go.

Seconds felt like centuries.

Finally, the Arbiter turned its attention elsewhere.

It began to drift away, its massive form dissolving into the darkness like mist.

Only when the presence had completely vanished did Falco finally collapse to the floor, unconscious.

---

Back within the pocket dimension, Angy stumbled as a sudden, violent wave of vertigo hit her. She reached out to steady herself against a wall.

She could feel the faint, rhythmic pulse of her child’s heartbeat in her mind. The child seemed to have developed a peculiar cosmic sensitivity, allowing her to sense its reactions.

The child was responding to something. Faint ripples of spatial disturbance were echoing through her own body.

‘Did something happen to Falco’s team? Oh, they’re safe? What a relief...’

Throughout the ordeal, she had been receiving intuitive feedback through her womb regarding those who had ventured out.

Soon, she sensed that Endric’s team was on their way back.

She had little time to dwell on it before Endric’s squad reappeared within the hidden star, bringing with them a senseless Xanatus.

Angy gasped in shock. "Was there another attack?"

Endric gave a grim nod. "A close call... a deity patrol spotted us. We barely made it out."

Dread settled deeper into everyone’s hearts.

Two missions conducted.

Two direct encounters with deities.

The net was closing in around them.

And Falco’s team had yet to return.

...

...

Meanwhile, in the heart of a shadowed palace constructed from the remnants of shattered galaxies, Nocturnis stood upon a hovering dark dais.

An Ancient Executioner, a being as vast as a galaxy, knelt in submission before him.

"My lord... your son’s location remains unknown to us."

Nocturnis’s eyes burned like twin abysses of eternal darkness.

"And the others? The Endric boy? The woman, Angy?"

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the hall for several seconds.

"...We have found nothing, my lord."

The cold smile on Nocturnis’s face vanished.

His aura erupted with sudden violence, instantly vaporizing three moons that orbited the palace.

"How," he whispered, his voice calm yet utterly terrifying, "is my own flesh and blood able to hide from me?"

No one shared his bloodline should have been capable of concealment. His divine senses were woven throughout the cosmos like a web of sentient shadow.

He should have been able to pinpoint Falco... Endric... Ria... Sersi... Angy and the rest...

And yet, they had simply vanished.

Invisible.

Beyond his reach.

Impossible to track.

"...This should be impossible," he hissed. "Unless—"