Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 662

Chapter 662: The Father Who Shouldn’t Have Lived

The boy in white vanished, leaving four women staring at one another in stunned silence.

Ethan’s mother, the Lord of the Underworld, wore a strange, unsettled expression. The boy’s final display had been nothing like his earlier demeanor, and that voice that followed—ancient, weary, and distant—still echoed in her mind.

Beside her, Amber Zane and Rainie Chen looked just as bewildered. It was clear they had no idea why they had been brought here, as though they had been pulled out of their own worlds against their will.

“Lyla… who is this? What happened to us?”

Amber finally dared to speak. She turned toward Lyla Silverwood and noticed that, like herself, Lyla’s body was faintly translucent. Her gaze drifted toward the black-armored woman in the distance, confusion written across her face. Until this moment, she hadn’t been brave enough to meet Lyla’s eyes.

Lyla didn’t answer. She only gave a faint, knowing smile, then reached up and tapped the milky-white gem resting against her chest. Two beams of soft light shot out, striking the foreheads of Rainie Chen and Amber Zane.

Slowly, the confusion in their eyes began to fade. Calm replaced it—clear, cold, and bright.

The three women looked at one another. In their eyes flickered the warmth of recognition, the kind that only long-lost sisters could share.

“Sister… you actually left the Nether-Realm for us too?”

If Rainie had still possessed her physical body, tears would have been streaming down her face. Guilt and affection twisted together in her expression.

“What else could I do?” Lyla said softly, her voice gentle. “I separated you both and sent you to the Ancestral Star so you could live, experience, and grow. I hoped that when you returned, you would bring back all that you had learned from the mortal world and transcend your old limits. But when I saw how beautiful your lives had become, how full of meaning… how could I bear to let the laws of the Nether-Realm erase your memories?”

Her lips curved in a faint, wistful smile.

“Sister…” Amber began, then stopped, unsure of what to say.

“Amber,” Lyla said, a mischievous glint lighting her eyes, “it seems you’re the older sister now.”

A sharp metallic sound rang faintly in the air—clang.

Amber’s translucent face flushed bright red. Embarrassment washed over her so strongly she wanted to disappear into the ground. Their memories had just merged completely.

Even Rainie looked stunned, her gaze flickering between Lyla and Amber as fragments of shared recollection surfaced in her mind.

Then Lyla’s attention turned to Rainie, her playful smile returning. “Who would have thought the three of us would all fall for the same man? And you—of all people—just because of a dream?” She laughed, her voice clear and melodic. “So that’s it. Now I finally know who Ethan’s first love was in this life. It was you!”

Lyla burst into hearty laughter, genuine and amused.

Amber and Rainie exchanged helpless, wry smiles. In this lifetime, they had never even met—yet now everything made a strange, fated kind of sense.

“Alright,” Lyla said at last, her tone growing serious, “we’ll talk more later. For now, we need to buy June, no, the Auntie—some time.”

Her gaze shifted toward the Lord of the Underworld, who still stood frozen in thought some distance away.

“Understood,” said Rainie and Amber together, their expressions hardening with resolve.

“Aubtie, are you ready?” Lyla’s tone became calm and steady. “The Nether-Realm cannot be without a master, not even for a moment. And a Divine-Status body cannot enter the Ancestral Star. These laws cannot be broken. Given our connection and the memories we share, we can shield you from the Nether-Realm’s awareness for a short time and temporarily hold the Divine Status of the Lord of the Underworld. You will have, at most, one hour. Take the Nether Jade—it might prove useful.”

As she spoke, Lyla swept her hand across her chest. The milky-white gem shimmered, its light bending and solidifying until it transformed into a flawless piece of pale jade resting in her palm.

—

In the deep ocean, the City of the Whale Fall had just been shaken by a violent tremor. Panic rippled through the streets as the seabed groaned and the waters churned into massive whirlpools. Thousands of feet below the surface, the currents raged like living beasts.

Had Ethan and the others not returned in time, the swirling force might have torn them apart. Even the Merfolk Veil that shielded the city flickered erratically, its once-steady glow dimming in and out like a heartbeat on the verge of stopping.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, the disturbance faded. The waters grew still again. No one knew what had happened or why.

Ethan, however, had no time to wonder.

His hands glowed faintly as he poured healing energy into Starfall’s broken body. The spells worked—partly. They could sustain his father’s life, but they couldn’t restore it. Starfall’s body was like a cracked vessel that could no longer hold light. No matter how many times Ethan healed him, the energy leaked away again.

When the tremors finally subsided, everyone nearby stood watching him in silence. Faces were drawn with sorrow and helplessness. Among the gathered Merfolk, many women began to cry softly, their tears forming shimmering pearls that drifted through the water like falling rain.

Starfall Caelum watched Ethan quietly, his expression calm, a faint smile softening the lines of his face. He looked at his son as if memorizing him, as though this moment alone was enough to ease the burden of all his years.

“Son,” he said at last, his voice gentle but weak, “don’t waste your strength. Let’s just… talk.”

Ethan froze. The word son hit him harder than any blow.

“We’ll have plenty of time to talk later,” he said quickly, refusing to accept it. “There has to be a way. You know your body better than anyone—think! There has to be something we can do!”

His voice broke into a near-shout. He didn’t even realize how desperate he sounded. This man had appeared in his life too suddenly, yet the bond between them—blood-deep and undeniable—was already clawing at his heart.

Starfall didn’t answer right away. He simply watched Ethan, eyes full of warmth and sorrow. He already knew the truth that Ethan couldn’t yet face.

Regis had told Ethan everything on the way back from the outskirts of the city—everything he’d learned from Blackie. And it was only then that Ethan realized the others already knew the secret of his bloodline.

Blackie, whose real name was Rhys, had once been given that name by none other than Overlord Caelum—Ethan’s grandfather. It was also his grandfather who had chosen Ethan’s own name.

Ethan had never imagined that he was the descendant of a Ninth Lineage—a bloodline that existed outside the Noble Eight. The Caelum family had always stood apart, producing only a single heir in each generation, and had never sought recognition among the Eight.

He remembered hearing a story, long ago, that Overlord Caelum had once sealed a mysterious clam in the Silverwood family’s Hidden Territory—a clam capable of producing Energy Cores, a creature said to possess its own consciousness and the ability to confuse the minds of men.

Because of that event, Overlord Caelum had somehow discovered a way to cross the endless Starfield and reach the Umbral Star—the Sea of Death. It was there that he brought his wife and son.

And it was there, in that same Sea of Death, that Ethan’s mother—the current Lord of the Underworld—met Starfall Caelum.

Later, when she was eight months pregnant, Overlord Caelum ordered Starfall to take her back to Earth through a secret passage known only to him. Starfall had never known why.

Ethan hadn’t said a word while Regis told the story. He had focused entirely on sustaining his father’s life, but inside, his thoughts had been racing. His grandfather must have foreseen something, he realized. Something great enough to move even a man who could cross worlds.

—

Starfall watched Ethan struggle and could only smile helplessly.

“I already died once before,” he said softly. “It was Eva and her husband who saved me with the Mercer Thirteen Needles. But even so, I’ve been half-human, half-corpse ever since. I no longer belong to the Cycle of Reincarnation. When I die this time… there will be nothing left of me.”

He spoke slowly, each word heavy but peaceful. “Still, getting to see you before I go—having this moment—is more than I ever hoped for.”

Ethan froze again, his healing light faltering.

“The Mercer Thirteen Needles?” he repeated, as if he hadn’t heard anything else.