— Bloodline's Call —
The cool, blue glow of the monitor illuminated Eren's face in the specialized cell. After ten agonizing hours, the progress bar finally reached its end.
The video began to play, each frame rendered in hyper-realistic clarity, as if he were there himself.
Eren's breath hitched. His heart hammered; his fingers trembled.
"Found it!" His pupils constricted sharply.
In the footage, as the killer stepped into the room, a nearly imperceptible shadow drifted down from his head—a single strand of hair.
A flame of hope ignited instantly.
With this, he could perform the Bloodline Tracking Art and pinpoint the true culprit's location.
There was no time to lose.
Eren immediately summoned Kane and headed straight for the Veyne family villa, which was still under strict lockdown. The scene remained intact, and the hair was quickly located.
Even the most powerful martial artist could alter their appearance and voice, but they could not change the spiritual imprint deeply rooted in their bloodline.
Eren carefully retrieved the hair, splitting it into two portions—one for backup, the other placed into the center of an activation array. Spiritual power surged, the runes flaring to life.
"Found you."
His eyes snapped open, gleaming with fierce excitement.
Eren immediately called City Lord Arden. "Target acquired. Assemble a team and move out with me, now!"
A moment of silence on the other end was followed by a stunned, low reply. "Understood."
After a moment's thought, Eren made a second call.
"Darius—bring Lyra. Tell her... the real killer is about to be revealed."
---
"What? The real killer?!"
Lyra felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
She had been utterly convinced that Eren was the demon, the one who had destroyed her life.
Now she was being told the murderer was someone else?
Then her revenge, her hatred—had it all been a cruel joke?
"No... Even if he wasn't the one who killed my family, what he did to me... is still unforgivable."
Lyra muttered to herself, trying to use her resentment to steady her crumbling sanity.
Yet, her feet, almost of their own accord, had already carried her out of the office door.
— Shadow in the Graveyard —
At the desolate entrance to the suburban cemetery, a bleak wind stirred dead leaves, creating a rustling whisper.
Arden arrived with a large contingent of men, converging with Eren.
Not far away, a black vehicle bearing a special emblem sat silently.
Arden's face tightened. "Vigil-Wyrm... That's Ethan's car? What is he doing here?"
Eren's expression grew stern.
Vigil-Wyrm—showing up now, of all times? Was the true culprit connected to them?
If so... the Caelthorn family massacre twenty-three years ago might not have been a coincidence either.
"Who the killer is, we'll find out inside."
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he was the first to step into the cemetery. Arden and his team followed closely.
The trees cast deep shadows, sunlight shredded by the leaves into dappled patterns on the tombstones.
Eren closed his eyes, his spiritual sense locking on—the target was ahead.
Soon, Darius and Lyra also arrived on the scene.
"He's inside. Stay close to me," Darius instructed gravely. "The Overlord's orders. The killer is extremely dangerous. Your safety is paramount."
Lyra bit her lower lip lightly, her heart trembling. That tone of concern and command inexplicably sent a warmth through her.
Who... who was he, really?
—
The distance closed—
One hundred meters. Fifty. Thirty.
The connection grew clearer, Eren's heart threatening to beat out of his chest.
Finally, the scene at the heart of the cemetery came into view.
Ethan, Aveline, and another Vigil-Wyrm agent, Fraser, were being brutally suppressed by a humanoid figure wreathed in sinister black energy!
Its aura was as cold as the grave.
Both sides noticed Eren's group's intrusion in the same instant.
"So, it's you?"
The black shadow's voice was a hoarse tear in the air.
"It's me."
Eren's eyes were as cold as frozen steel. "Didn't expect me to find you, did you?"
He felt a slight relief—the killer wasn't from Vigil-Wyrm.
But this demonic form... what forbidden art had he cultivated?
"Eren, get out of here! This monster is too dangerous!" Aveline shouted a frantic warning, sending a hail of ice spikes towards the shadow.
Ethan pressed the main attack with his black blade, Fraser's body was shimmering with golden light. The three fought in unison, yet they were still being forced back.
"Stand aside! Let me handle this!" Eren barked.
"You'll just get in the way—" Fraser's retort died in his throat
as he watched, stunned, the shadow freeze mid-action, locking up completely—
As if bound by invisible threads.
Eren's gaze was icy. "Move again, and you lose your head."
The "fishing line" had made its appearance once more.
"The Heavensilk Thread? You possess such a treasure?" The shadow spoke, surprise evident, a new wariness in its tone.
"Heavensilk Thread?" Eren's heart shook; he finally knew their true name.
"Speak! Who are you? Why frame me? Why slaughter the Veyne family?"
"Hmph, you think mere threads can hold me? Naive." The shadow chuckled lowly, then suddenly exerted force—
Its head tore itself free and flew into the air!
"—No!"
Eren was aghast. If it died, the truth would be buried forever.
Aveline and the other two, however, looked momentarily joyous, mistakenly thinking the fiend had been slain.
But in the very next second, all smiles froze solid.
From the severed neck of the fallen head, countless dark red, fleshy tendrils sprouted, squirming and intertwining like snakes.
In almost an instant—the head reattached itself!
The scene was utterly grotesque, sending chills down everyone's spines.
What... what kind of monster was this?!
"Good, good! You're not dead. Excellent."
Eren actually smiled, a cold, hard smile.
"You're happy I'm not dead?" The shadow was taken aback for a moment, a flicker of confusion in its eyes.
"Enough talk!" Eren's gaze was sharp as lightning, his tone cutting. "Who sent you?!" Eren roared. "Where's Lucien Veyne?!"
"Hmph—as if you're worthy to know?" The shadow's sneer was full of contempt.
"Then I'll beat the answers out of you."
Eren's figure blurred, closing the distance instantly! The wind from his palm howled, carrying force enough to shatter stone.
The shadow raised an arm to block, scoffing. "You think you can fight m—"
Before the words finished—
BOOM!
The kick landed square — thunder exploded.
Tombstones shattered as the shadow hurtled backward.
Eren gave it no chance to recover, teleporting after it, his foot stomping down hard!
The earth cracked, the shadow crushed down into the soil.
"Had enough?!"
Eren's eyes were bloodshot, spiritual light erupting from under his foot.
"Heh... Is that all the strength you have? It barely itches."
The shadow laughed lowly, its voice tinged with unsettling madness.
— Descent into the Ghost Realm —
The next moment, a sudden mutation occurred!
The black mist around the shadow swelled violently, transforming in an instant into a massive, spectral skull, its eye sockets flickering with a bloody light.
An aura of coldness, evil, and deathly stillness swept over them. Everyone's faces changed.
"Haha—Let me devour you!"
The ghostly skull let out a piercing shriek, its maw—filled with monstrous teeth—opening wide to swallow Eren whole!
A flash of lightning, Eren angrily unleashed five bolts of thunder, the roar deafening.
Yet the ghostly skull showed no fear, charging straight through the lightning to engulf him completely!
Then—darkness swallowed the world whole.
Eren felt himself imprisoned in a boundless, dark dimension. Pressure like mountains and oceans crushed in from all sides, holding him fast.
"Welcome—to my domain."
The shadow's voice echoed in the void, seeming to come from countless directions at once.
"This is—the Ghost Realm. Here, I am the master. Killing you? Too easy. But I won't let you die."
Eren roared, "Then what do you want?!"
"To break you!"
The voice was cold as iron. "To make you beg for death in endless agony! Now—kneel!"
As the words fell, the terrifying pressure doubled!
Eren's knees buckled violently, his blood vessels bulged, his bones emitting dull, cracking sounds!
"Never!"
He gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet his spine remained straight as a sword!
The shadow paused. "Interesting... You can resist the power of the Ghost Realm? Your will is even more... terrifying than I imagined."
Eren circulated all his spiritual power, fighting the Ghost Realm's pressure head-on.
And then—a flash of inspiration!
"Since I can't fight it... I'll devour it!"
The thought came in a flash. He sat cross-legged, the Obsidian Sigil within his sea of consciousness suddenly stirring to life!
Hum—
A resonant vibration echoed. The energy of the Ghost Realm began to crumble, madly sucked into the energy core within his body!
"Wha—what?!"
The shadow's voice suddenly filled with terror. "You... you're devouring my foundational ghost energy?! Impossible! What kind of monster are you?!"
Fear spread.
It struggled desperately, trying to reclaim its energy, only to find the Ghost Realm was no longer under its control!
"Stop... I beg you... cease this—!"
Its pleas grew weaker and weaker, until they were completely extinguished.
— CRACK!
Space shattered. Blinding light erupted.
When everyone's senses returned, Eren stood proudly in his original spot.
And at his feet, the shadow had been reduced to a withered husk, not a wisp of black energy remaining.
---
— When Truth Collapses —
"Thank heavens! Eren won!"
In the distance, Aveline nearly cried out with relief. The joy of having survived a catastrophe washed over them.
"The Overlord's divine might!!" Darius roared excitedly, his face fanatical.
Lyra, however, stood as if lightning-struck, completely rigid.
"Him... Eren?! —Overlord?!" Her voice trembled, disbelieving. "He's the one in the Power Ranger mask?!"
"No—It can't be! I don't believe it! I won't believe it!!" Her scream was like shattering glass, piercing everyone's hearts.
The man she hated most was the very one who had saved her multiple times in the darkness?!
"Why... Heavens! Why are you toying with me like this—!"
Tears burst forth. She rushed forward, screaming at Eren's back:
"Why did you do this?! Why did it have to be you?!"
Eren did not turn around.
After a long silence, he only let out a low sigh. "President Lyra... I did not cause the Veyne family tragedy. But for defiling you... I have no defense. Consider everything that happened after... as my atonement."
"President Lyra"—that long-unused title felt unbearably fragile now.
"Bastard! Who wants your atonement?!"
Lyra lost control, pounding her fists against his chest, tears streaming down her face.
"How am I supposed to face you after this?!"
Enemy becomes savior, savior is enemy—
That kind of tearing apart is enough to destroy a person's sanity.
Eren sighed again. "I know this is cruel... But back then, I couldn't just stand by and watch you die."
Lyra froze — words caught in her throat.
Then the dam broke.
All the hatred, grief, and confusion she'd buried came surging out in helpless sobs.
A long time later, her sobs gradually subsided.
Eren slowly turned, his gaze profound. "Calm down." Eren's voice was low, almost trembling.
"The one who orchestrated everything... is right here—before our eyes."
These words were like ice water, shocking her out of her nightmare.
Lyra took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and condensed all her emotions into a single point of icy hatred, her gaze locking fiercely onto the withered figure on the ground.